viral

There was a viral “cheesecake” that everyone was making which apparently started in Japan

All you needed was greek yogurt and your favorite cookies 

Stick the cookies into the yogurt then put it into the refrigerator for 4 hours to overnight

I used my favorite greek yogurt & found a teeny package of biscoff

And we tried it

The cookies get mushy and replicates the “crust”

The tartness from the yogurt replicates “cheesecake”

It was fun to try something different

Would I make it again? probably not but I’m glad I tried it

arirang bbq

Saturday, V contacted me, she had some avocados and wondered if I had some time to meet up.

Wednesday, I had an appointment, so we planned to meet up for lunch after that.

Near the area my appointment was at, is V's favorite place for Korean food, Arirang BBQ.

Apparently this place used to be at the Moanalua Shopping Center and moved to Kalihi.

A tiny shop, this place is run by two ladies that make everything from scratch.

No MSG is used.

I tried the Bi bim kook soo...cold noodles, veggies and some beef.

I got the mild and it was just enough spicy for me.

(That's V's banchan in the photo)..and even though it was super humid, she ordered their Hot Beef Vegetable Soup.

It was nice to catch up with her.

Besides the avocados, V also gave us all these other goodies.

Like Ubae, which uses ube (ooh-bay...Filipino for purple sweet potato) and sells these tiny cheesecakes...a little too sweet but I'm glad she gave these to me to try.

The avocados were creamy and delicious.

There was also peanut and mac nut candies from Sing Cheong Yuan Bakery.

And a nori almond snack which I'm planning to bring back with me to Japan.

It was nice chatting with V and I appreciate her kindness and thoughtfulness.

Thank you V, for lunch, meeting up and for all these goodies.

Arirang BBQ (2021: no longer in business)
1111 Dillingham Boulevard
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.848.0803
Closed Sundays
Hours: 11:00-20:00

Ubae
1284 Kalihi Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.439.3224
Hours: Mondays-Saturdays 9:00-18:00, Sundays 9:00-16:00

bake

A well-known Sapporo sweets shop, Kinotoya, branched out and started selling these cheese tarts, under the name BAKE.

Last August, they opened a shop at Hanshin's food floor and of course the lines were krazy!

A year later, I finally got to try them.

On their instruction sheet they said you could eat it cold, frozen, room temperature or warmed up.

I enjoyed this cold.

The cream cheese was tart and the crust more like a cookie.

I'm glad I was able to try this without having to stand in line.

I'll be back.

BAKE
Hanshin Department Store, B1
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6348.8502
Open from 10:00-20:00 (Sun, Mon, Tues), 10:00-21:00 (Wed-Sat)
Closed when Hanshin Department Store is

pablo x sweets+

The last time I talked about Pablo Cheesecake, was in this post, they had teamed up with Family Mart (a convenience store) and had a cheesecake that I particuarly didn't like.

Well, they again teamed up with Family Mart and this time came out with a chocolate cheesecake ...

This was fabulous!

The chocolate was rich and creamy. The crust flaky. The whole dessert actually reminded me of a chocolate cream pie more than cheesecake.

I would definitely want this one again.

c-h-e-e-s-e

It's Winter which means it is perfect weather for cheese...melty, oozy goodness.

I thought I had talked about this cheese but figured out I hadn't. We actually had this Rosso di Langa back in October.

It is made from sheep & cow's milk. This cheese was a bit pricey...880 yen for that piece in the photo.

After trying it, I thought this one wasn't as creamy as the carboncino we tried, but still delicious.

Then, when I had lunch with my host brother's wife, she mentioned Kannonya's cheesecake.

She said, "if you go into trying it thinking it is "cheesecake", you'll be disappointed"...

Actually, I've been meaning to try this for many many years, but hadn't gotten around to until recently.

From the directions, you'll know off the bat it is different.

You'll need to heat it up before eating...

The cheese needs to get melty (but not burnt--said the directions)...

Spongecake topped with Denmark cheese (I think it is similar to the type of cheese used in fondue).

Pop it into the micro and nuke for a couple of seconds...until melty.

Yup, it is really "cheese" cake.

Sweet-Salty. Nothing like the cheesecakes I have ever tasted.

Super delicious with wine.

I'm glad we finally got to try this. I think these would be a great gift for wine lovers.

What foods are you eating this winter?

kissa stove

We recently checked out Kissa Stove.

Kissa is the Japanese word for "tea house".

This cozy shop is about 10 minutes from the JR Fukushima station.

We tried their Stove blend coffee which was a city roast and their Mamedake blend which was a French roast. Both were delicious.

There was a bit of confusion when we ordered the cheesecake, the way the waitress mentioned it, it sounded like there were 2 kinds, chocolate and caramel, so we ordered one of each.

When it arrived at our table, we realized that she meant caramel chocolate cheesecake...it was delicious though.

And how is this cute dachshund bench in front of another shop?!

We'll be back whenever we are in this area.

Kissa Stove
2-10-3 Sagisu
Fukushima, Osaka
Phone: 06.4981.0875
Closed Mondays
Hours: 10:00-20:00 (weekdays) 10:00-19:30 (weekends)

foodie saturday in kyoto

Saturday, Satoshi had to work, so I met up with Tamakikat for lunch.

She took me to Kani Doraku for my birthday. It was my first time here and they serve crab, lots of it...

And how neat is this wooden tool to scrape and "poke" out the crab meat?!

After lunch we did a bit of walking and came upon this tiny bakery.

Cute with the giraffe painted on the outside, yeah?!

Sidenote: Satoshi and I halved their an france (an pan) & curry france for our Sunday breakfast.

We loved the chewiness of the bread and there was a lot of filling. The an pan also had walnuts alongside the sweet bean paste.

After picking up some baked items, we then walked up towards Kiyomizu temple and stumbled upon this taiyaki shop.

They were having a special for their custard & chocolate filled taiyaki...only 100 yen!

I thought this was better than some taiyaki I've eaten before, the outside was crisp, almost like a waffle cone.

While walking past some shops we came upon Happy Bicycle.

The owner, an expat of Chile, makes these wire bicycles. This particular model is made from 1 piece of wire!

He also had one which cheered on the Tohoku area.

We ended our day at a retro coffee shop called Otafuku Coffee.

Their prices are reasonable and their coffee delicious. Downside of this place was that there weren't many seats and they allow smoking.

All in all, it was a great foodie day. Thank you Tamakikat!

Kani Doraku
525 Tenshojimae-cho, Sanjo Teramachi Nishi
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.211.0671
Hours: 11:30-22:00

Pain Raku
458-2 Masuya-cho, Takatsuji-dori
Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.344.2378
Closed Sundays & Holidays
Hours: 10:00-20:00

Shiawase no Ougon no Taiyaki
5-126-2 Kiyomizu
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.551.3160
Hours: 10:00-19:00

Otafuku Coffee
609 Teianmae-cho, Teramachi Shijo
Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone] 075.256.6788
Closed every 15th of the month
Hours: 10:00-21:30

hawaii foodie thursday

Yesterday, I met up with Deb for a tasting of some "haute" dogs.

Before meeting her though, I stopped in at the Moanalua 99 (the old 99Ranch Market), I had heard about a tea shop called Bibbitea Bobbitea Brew. They were listed as selling some Revolution teas, as well as other tea items, so I wanted to see what they had.

They had these individually wrapped 1 infuse (1 bag) types, so I picked up some for Deb to try (Earl Grey Lavender & Honeybush Caramel) and also some for me to try (Honeybush Caramel & Sweet Ginger Peach).

As I headed to the parking lot, I noticed that Imari Bento now sells their bento there. On a previous trip home, I was saddened when I noticed they were gone from their Keeaumoku location. Satoshi and I love their Wa-hamba-gu bento (Japanese style hamburger). Hopefully the next time I'm home I'll be able to try their bento again!

Heading into town, I noticed the Emperor of Japan's plane cruising past me as I waited at a light. (I left a little early because I had heard that they stopped traffic when the entourage passed and didn't want to be late.)

I parked on Auahi Street, they have 2 hour metered parking there. If you find parking in front of the shop, their meters are only an hour.

We ordered the Fat Boy (a hot dog wrapped with bacon then deep fried, topped with mayo, lettuce & tomato...think hot dog blt)US$5.95, Buffalo Brat (a smoky brat made from buffalo meat (I am assuming), brown ale and chipotle, topped with pineapple relish, sauerkraut & guiness mustard US$8.50.

Both of these dogs were good, they had a nice crisp snap to them and were very flavorful.

We also ordered their fries US$2.50, onion rings US$3.75 and lilikoi lime sodas (don't remember the price). The lilikoi lime soda was really refreshing, though Deb thought it had a bit more lilikoi the last time she tried it.

We also got their special dipping sauces...curry ketchup and garlic aioli...the curry ketchup had a nice zing to it and the garlic aioli was creamy with a nice garlic taste.

Earlier that morning, the shop was featured on a local morning show, also, Hank's was recently featured in Bon Apetit magazine. We weren't sure which reason the customers were lining up for, but it was nice to see the line. I myself was a bit leery about trying this place, I mean, paying a lot for a hot dog, it has to be good or else...

After eating, we chatted a bit and of course we talked about dessert too....Hank's has a creme brulee....

Instead, we went into Chinatown to the newly opened Otto Cake. This tiny shop, a couple of doors down from Char Hung Sut, sells cheesecake.

Deb and I had a slice US$5 each, I had lemon and she had banana coconut cream.

I loved the citrusy flavor and it was really creamy, oh and the crust was delicious too.

Deb's banana coconut cream, had a subtle banana flavor with coconut shavings on top.

I also bought two slices to take home for my dad (chocolate chocolate chip) and for my mom (banana coconut cream). (UPDATE: dad loved his and mom did too, except she felt that the banana bits in her cheesecake were kinda green.)

They don't really have tables to sit at to enjoy your cheesecake, so we borrowed their bench to enjoy ours.

All in all, it was pricey but a great foodie day. (Thanks Deb!)

Bibbitea Bobbitea Brew (inside old 99Ranch, near post office)
1151 Mapunapuna Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.834.5323 UPDATE: this shop no longer at this location

Hank's Haute Dogs
324 Coral Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.532.4265

Otto Cake UPDATE: moved to Kaimuki (1127 12th Avenue), phone number the same
1160 Smith Street
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.834.OTTO (6886)

award and meme

The lovely Deb at Kahakai Kitchen was so nice to give me a Kreativ blogger award. There are options of passing on the award, doing a meme, doing a scenario or all of the above.

Since it is too hard to choose 7 bloggers, I will just do the meme.

7 things I did before:
1. drink only LION coffee
2. drive a car
3. work at the airport and do coffee demos at supermarkets
4. come home to meals cooked by mom
5. go to brunch on sundays
6. eat milk chocolate
7. buy lots of clothes/bags/shoes (things) with every paycheck

7 things I do now:
1. drink more tea and go to Starbucks
2. ride trains or walk
3. work at "home" (housewife)
4. cook my own meals (or buy them pre-made), try making things from scratch
5. blog and photograph everything I eat
6. eat dark chocolate, rarely milk chocolate and never white
7. buy books on food, including cookbooks...I also like to linger in tableware and gadget shops

7 things I want to do:
1. revisit Europe (mainly France)
2. learn more foreign languages (like Chinese, Korean, German & Italian)
3. move to a bigger apartment or house, maybe have a garden/yard
4. cook more recipes from my cookbooks
5. be able to read Japanese more fluently
6. have children
7. lose weight though I would probably have to stop blogging or being a foodie...

7 things that attracted me to Satoshi:
1. smile
2. love to travel
3. interest in living abroad
4. looks good in a suit
5. says funny things and eats whatever I cook no matter how bad it is
6. let's me go home every year
7. thinks I am stubborn (which I am) but is actually more stubborn than me

7 favorite foods:
1. dark chocolate
2. earl grey tea
3. macaron
4. pineapple shrimp
5. anything tex-mex
6. bread pudding
7. ice cream with "stuff" in it

7 things I say most often:
1. "Satoshi get up"
2. "Let's go"
3. "Did you take a bath yet?"
4. "Ki o tsukete" (be careful)
5. "Sumimasen" (excuse me)
6. "Onegai shimasu" (please)
7. "Arigatoo" (thank you)

If you would like to do the meme, just link back to this post!

I'd like to leave this post on a foodie note: about a year ago, I visited Fromage de Hikita, well, since I was in the area, I picked up a slice of satsuma imo (sweet potato) cheesecake...367 yen (about US$3.67) This cheesecake was dense, not too sweet. The crust could have been more flaky, the roasted sesame seeds on the top added to the subtle sweet potato flavor. This went nicely with some darjeeling tea and a splash of milk.

Thanks again Deb for the award and thought provoking meme!

fromage de hikita

There is a new cheesecake counter called Fromage de Hikita that opened recently on the food floor of the Hankyu department store nearby. If you've never been to Japan, the food floor is just that, a floor (usually in the basement) filled with groceries and pre-made foods in a department store...foodie heaven. And if you could afford shopping there everyday, you would never have to cook again.

I recently read that there were several counters added to the floor, so I went to check them out.

There is a baum kuchen counter called Madame Shinco. Apparently the owner used to be an owner or what the Japanese call "mama", for a club in Ginza. She has a shop in Minoo, but since we don't have a car and it is in an out of the way place, buying it from here was very convenient. I was quite disappointed because they had everything pre-packed and bagged. Usually when you buy something from the food counters, you can watch as they pack the item you are buying. I hope it tastes good, I bought a baum kuchen to give away.

So back to Fromage de Hikita. The chef has a restaurant in Toyonaka, which is 2 stations away from us called Bistro Hikita. From the looks of his site, he is also supposed to have a cheese shop next door to the restaurant.

I've always wanted to try his restaurant because he is supposed to grow his own veggies, hopefully we try this restaurant soon. UPDATE: this restaurant closed in 2013, but the cheese shop is still there

Anyway, the counter had 6 different kinds of cheese cake. You could buy them by the slice and they also sold whole ones too.

I picked up a slice of pink peppercorn cheesecake. It was great with a salad and coffee for lunch. The peppercorns don't overpower the cheesecake and is nicely balanced with the cheese. For this one I think they used a cheese and not cream cheese.

The other slice was an Earl Grey cheesecake. I really love the citrusy flavor of Earl Grey tea. This was perfect for an afternoon snack and went well with a cup of straight black tea.

These cheesecakes were different and delicious, I think the next time I'm on the food floor, I'll pick up another slice....or two.

happy 2nd birthday!

Last year, I made cupcakes with Magnolia Bakery butter cream frosting to celebrate this blog's birthday. Blogging for me this past year has been about trying new recipes, learning from others, sharing new food experiences and making new friends.

For this year's celebration I wanted to try something different...cheesecake.

I've made cheesecake in the past, but with those ready-made pie shells. To try something different, I wanted to use earl grey tea since I love the taste and aroma of it. I've also only discovered earl grey since moving to Japan (I know, I was living under a rock....plus, I had some leftover from our trip to New Caledonia.)

For the crust, I used the shortbread recipe that I used to make macadamia nut shortbread in August, but I cut the recipe to one-fourth. Instead of the nuts, I added about a teaspoon or so of earl grey tea. (I emptied one tea bag into a little bowl and sprinkled in the tea (not all of it) as the dough came together.)

This was my first time using a removable bottom pan. Since there are only the 2 of us, making a huge cheesecake would be nice, but you know who would be eating it?? Yours truly!...So, I found these cute removable bottomed tins at the 100yen store (only US $1! each). After pressing in the dough (which I thought was pressed in quite thinly)into the 1st pan, I had only a little left for the 2nd pan (which turned out to be the best). I filled the one with only a little "crust" with the cream cheese filling and put it into the refrigerator to set.

The one which I thought was thinly pressed in (I think I was supposed to use the weights to keep the dough from puffing up), turned out to be a thick shortbread cookie. Light and flaky this went nicely with a glass of milk.

Even though the cheesecake didn't turn out how I envisioned it would, I am happy with the results--the crust was flaky and light, the earl grey flavor was just right and matched with the cream cheese filling.

I can't believe that another year has passed, it has definitely been filled with lots of exciting foodie experiences, disasters and successes in the kitchen and the most important...friendships. I really appreciate all of you who take the time to read my adventures, I am surely having fun writing about them. I'm looking forward to Autumn and Winter because it will be cooler, but most of all, I'm looking forward to all the delicious ingredients and adventures they bring.

Happy Birthday!

ho ho ho....bah humbug...sigh

It is Christmas Eve. Satoshi had to work. He also has to work tomorrow, Christmas Day.... Christmas, what is that? I grew up celebrating Christmas with my family, having dinner with family and friends, but in Japan it is different.

Christmas is for couples. Restaurants have expensive romantic dinners for two. Last year, we went out for a nice French dinner. The price of cake also goes up. Can you imagine paying $40 for an 8-inch round cake? I can't, so I usually make some kind of dessert instead of buying.

Here is a picture of our tree.

In Japan, they don't sell freshly cut ones, so for our first Christmas I bought one in a pot. That one died after 3 years, so this is the one we've had for the past 2 Christmases.

Anyway, because of a flight delay or something, Satoshi called to say he would be late, so dinner was my usual "table for one"--I guess I should be thankful that he called early enough for me to eat at a decent time.

I started off with some olives and cheese...one of the cheeses was interesting with bits of almonds. It really went well with the Yalumba 2004 Shiraz Viognier--a dry red with hints of cinnamon and spices.

A filet and baby leaf lettuce with bistro-style vinaigrette, a recipe I saw on Bean and Plum Discover the World (this blog no longer exists) and mashed turnips with olive oil, salt and pepper.

And for dessert a little cup of chocolate pudding infused with Republic of Tea's Green Earl Greyer (a green tea with bergamot oil) tea--I actually intended to make truffles, but the ganache was too soft, so now it is a pudding... strawberries and a slice of cheese cake by Marutoya, from my host-sister, Tomoko, she is a foodie too and loves to order food items from different places around Japan. The cheese cake reminded me of New York style cheese cake with a nice cookie crust.

I guess while I'm feeling sorry for myself, I'll have another glass of wine while I wait for Satoshi to come home.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

"uwasa no kuroi" cheesecake

Today was my beads class, boy, was it rough! I am still trying to catch up with the other students in my class...

After class, I was exhausted, so I decided to buy myself a treat (don't worry, I bought one for Satoshi too!!) The sign over the glass case said "Uwasa no kuroi cheesecake", which means "the rumored black cheesecake"...

I thought, I hope it isn't black sesame seeds on the cheesecake, but when I looked closely at it, it was dark chocolate cookie powder!! (like ground up Oreo's) 

As I waited for the lady in front of me to purchase hers, a line started to form behind me...(FYI: A line in Japan usually means that whatever the people are lining up for is GOOD or ON SALE, or something LIMITED to that store or in count) 

Anyway, I bought my two pieces and by the time I left, a good 10 people were behind me in line. This cheesecake is made by Esola. 

They have an online shop as well as two shops in Osaka. It is take out only. The top and bottom are ground up dark chocolate cookies, the middle is very fluffy and light. It wasn't very sweet and really hit the spot. 

 Now to catch up with the rest of my projects... 

Esola-Original shop (update: 2011: this shop is no longer there) 

2-5-14 Azuchi-machi 

Chuo-ku, Osaka 

Phone: 06-6271-7645 

Esola-Tsuruhashi shop (update: 2011: this shop is still open) 

3-6 Shimoajiharacho 

Tennoji-ku, Osaka 

Phone: 06-4305-8136 

Online shop: Esola Cheesecake (in Japanese)