tree to bar

One of the supermarkets in our area called LIFE, has an organic brand called Bio-Ral (According to their press release, it is a combination of the German word "Biologisch" (organic) and the English word "Natural")

They have exclusive 7 Bio-Ral stores: 2 in Osaka, 1 in Kanagawa, 1 in Saitama and 3 in Tokyo, I want to check out the ones in Tokyo, but would need to ride the train to do so, so I am happy they sell a few products at the LIFE supermarket in our neighborhood.

Like these Tree to Bar Organic Chocolate bars.

I had heard of Bean to Bar chocolates, but this was my first time coming across Tree to Bar chocolate

According to the info I found online, it implies that the chocolate maker has complete control over how the cacao was grown, processed and that the chocolate itself was made in the country of origin.

The maker is located in Hokkaido, and used Organic Peruvian 70% cacao with golden berries and pink salt respectively.

Of course pictures on the package were deceiving, the one of the golden berries had a little more berries on the bar...

it was my first time trying golden berries which tasted like really dry raisins...meh.

The pink salt was slightly detectable, but was nothing special 

I did enjoy the chocolate and glad I got to try these.

They also have a cacao nib version, so I'll get that one in the future.

hokkaido

Since Family Mart was having a Hokkaido Fair and we can't travel we bought some foods to eat our way through Hokkaido.

Chicken skin chips...oh em gee...so bad for you but so good!

Almost $5 for a teeny bag but so worth it...I would get this one again.

They had different flavors but we tried their salt version.

Fruit beers made by Hokkaido Beer.

Yubari melon and Yoichi Cherry & Berry ales.

Just like drinking the actual fruit juices!

Hotate Butter Shoyu Ramen by Fujiwara Seimen.

So much scallop and butter flavor!

On the package it also said to add rice at the end for zosui.

Satoshi was excited because he thought Kat was gonna let him drink all the broth...ha!

He was bummed when he found out he had to use the spoon with holes to eat the zosui...

Yakisoba bento. I had been wanting to try this but apparently this is only sold in Hokkaido.

I was excited to see that Family Mart brought it in,  add the hot water to make your yakisoba.

Then instead of throwing the water out, pour it into a cup and add the instant soup to have with your yakisoba.

I only took a sip of the soup because eating the yakisoba and soup would be too much salt, but you know who drank all of his soup...ahem.

I'm glad we got to try all these different items from Hokkaido but am looking forward to the day when we can travel safely again.

genghis khan

If you visit Hokkaido, one of their local foods is called Genghis Khan, which should actually be called Mongolian Barbecue.

Not to burst your bubble about Japan, but the Japanese language can be kind of racist...using descriptions of a culture as the name of a food or person.

Like Caucasians are literally "white people" in Japanese and  colored people (can you still say that?!) are literally "black people" in Japanese.

Anyway, Genghis Khan uses lamb as the main ingredient of this dish which apparently was the protein of choice of the Mongol soldiers back in the day.

The convex shaped pan that the dish is cooked on apparently resembles the Mongol soldiers helmets which they used to cook their foods on. (photo from internet)

Apparently the Japanese government had intended to increase their sheep flocks in 1918 but most of the sheep farms around Japan were destroyed with the only 2 sheep farms surviving in Hokkaido.

Which is why you can easily find lamb to consume at their markets.
 (photo fro the internet)

I had recently seen an episode of "Kodoku no Gurume" and he had eaten Genghis Khan.

While at the market yesterday, I ran across lamb from New Zealand (top photo), so using my grill pan, I cooked up some lamb for our dinner.

This dish is usually served with moyashi (bean sprouts) but the market I had bought the lamb at didn't have any! so I just served it with the veggies I had at home.

The meat was tender but there was also lots of fat and some gristle.

The sauce that came with the lamb was shoyu based, a little sweet from apple and punch from a little ginger and onion.

I would definitely buy lamb again especially if I come across Hokkaido lamb, to make this dish again.

pray for japan

Sadly another natural disaster occurred early Thursday morning...a huge earthquake in Hokkaido.

They said it was 7 magnitude.

Many homes were covered by landslides, so there are many missing.

Right now there is no electricity in Hokkaido...the airport is closed and Shinkansen is stopped so people are trying to get to and from Honshu on ferries.

Pray for Japan.

I hope we will all be able to get back to our daily routines soon.

Take care and be well everyone.

berry tomatoes

I think these berry tomatoes were from Hokkaido.

They kind of looked like scotch bonnet peppers, so I made sure to re-read the sign at the market.

I'm glad we got to try these, they were super sweet.

bocca

Whenever they have Hokkaido fairs in Osaka, I try to see if they carry Bocca's products because we love their yogurt drinks...super thick and not too sweet.

Recently though, we tried their puddings.

The white pudding comes with a caramel sauce.

Pop the balloon to release the pudding and then drizzle on the sauce.

I screamed a little when I popped the balloon.

The pudding was thick, rich and creamy.

The crème brûlée version was nice too with crushed caramel bits to sprinkle on top.

I'm glad we got to try these, if I see them in the markets, I'll be sure to get more.

hakodate-osaka

Our last day in Hakodate started off with the monkeys at the Tropical Garden (which was next door to our hotel) screaming from their hot springs.

It had also snowed overnight so everything else was blanketed in white.

Breakfast was buffet-style and there was quite an assortment of things. I had some rice porridge, salad and other items.

Luckily, Satoshi didn't go overboard with rice this time...

From our hotel, it was a 10 minute bus ride to the airport.

Since we had some time before our flight, we decided to have soft serve (our first on this trip) at Misuzu. To take-out their cones it would cost 300 yen but to eat-in it would cost 500 yen!

The waitress claimed that the take-out version had a lesser portion. She also said that even if we didn't want the jam on it, it would still cost 500 yen, so we went with blueberry and strawberry jam...

So we made it back, Osaka's cherry blossoms had started to bloom while we were gone, the weather was 10 degrees higher too. (actually when this post uploads we'd have hit another cold snap)

Some things we bought...Misuzu coffee caramels.

Misuzu instant coffee. Apparently, they were the first to bring coffee to Hokkaido in the 1930s.

Arare with Ohotsk sea salt and Hidaka Konbu Shoyu.

Flavored arare by Gotoken, a local western-style restaurant. Flavors include beef stew, corn potage & curry.

I hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did.

I also gotta say "thank you" to the staff at the tourist information counter inside the JR Hakodate Station, they were always pleasant, patient and had loads of information.

It's Friday here, I hope you have a great weekend!

hakodate day 4

Breakfast on the 4th day, was pretty impressive.

Salad, corn potage, yogurt with some blueberry jam, fruits, breads and grilled salmon, thick sliced bacon, a poached egg on stir-fried veggies and topped with homemade ketchup. There was also a bacon onion quiche.

Since we still had lots of time before check-out, we walked around the brick warehouse area which was turned into a shopping area.

Then after checking out, we headed to Hasegawa store to check out their yakitori bento.

Hasegawa store in business since 1978 was apparently the 1st convenience store in Japan to run 24 hours.

Their yakitori bento has nothing to do with chicken, apparently pork was more easily to come by back in the day, so their bento is topped with skewers of pork.

Choose the amount of rice you want, type of seasoning (tare (special shoyu sauce), shio (salt), shio tare (garlic salty sauce), umakara tare (extra tasty special shoyu sauce).

We chose the small (200 grams of rice) with the tare (special shoyu sauce). The sauce was a little sweet-salty, the pork very tender. Satoshi also ordered the shiso maki (pork wrapped with perilla) and beef tongue.

They have an eating area, so when our food was ready, we shared it. Satoshi, who doesn't really care much for pork, inhaled this.

Simple and delicious.

We then caught the tram to the Yachigashira area. Satoshi wanted to see the Hekketsu-hi, a monument dedicated to the fallen Tokugawa shogunate warriors.

It is up on the hillside near the Hakodate Hachimangu Shrine and Myoshin-ji Temple. Talk about trekking in the snow!

We hiked back down and caught the tram from Yachigashira to Yunokawa, which is the end of the line.

Yunokawa is an area with lots of hot springs.

We bought some yakidango (grilled dumplings) from Gingetsu.

After checking-in we ate the yakidango and cake donuts from Kin no kokoro and then went to relax in the hot springs.

Dinner was buffet-style at Tanta-an. Tanta-an is Ainu (language of the native people of Hokkaido) for lively. There was all sorts of things like crab, even curry.

Satoshi said that Hokkaido tends to cook their rice on the softer side. Their rice was a little too soft for my liking.

We also tried a soft drink called Citron, which is made with beet sugar. Nothing out of the ordinary, though it boasts that the flavor hasn't changed since 1950!

It was a great day, though our trip was coming to an end.

Hasegawa Store
23-5 Suehiro-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.24.0024

Yakidango Gingetsu
2-22-5 Yunokawa-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.57.6504
Call before going, days closed are not set

Imagine Resort
3-1-17 Yunokawa-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.57.9161

hakodate day 3

Day 3 was "warm". Instead of the minus temps, we were in single digits, which meant, the snow was melting and we were walking around in slush...

Breakfast was buffet-style, which Satoshi always goes overboard on. He ate 3 bowls of rice and lots of tsukemono...someone is supposed to be watching his salt intake...ahem!

After breakfast, we walked through the asaichi (morning market) and to the Mashu Maru, a ferry that linked Honshu to Hokkaido for 80 years.

Apparently, ships in Japan attach "maru" to the names of their ships because they thought of their ships as castles and to have a circle (the meaning of maru) is like having a barrier (like the moats for castles) around to protect it.

One of the interesting things was the blanket origami. Apparently, this art-form was done for the upper class passengers to commemorate special events like anniversaries, even the New Year.

The stewards would learn from the elder stewards how to fold the blankets. Unfortunately, this tradition was stopped in the 60's because it hindered the amount of time it took to prepare the rooms for the next passengers.

We then went to drop off our bags at the hotel we would be staying at called the Winning Hotel.

Down the street from this hotel is the 1st cement electric pole in Japan. It stands 10 meters (about 33 feet) tall.

I was intrigued by this old liquor store, which turned out to be a sweets shop called Kin no Kokoro.

It was here that we picked up some of their delicious cake donuts.

We then walked up the hill to check out the old British consulate.

I was amazed at how big these older buildings were. It was hard to believe that we were in Japan.

And then we came back down for lunch at California Baby, another local establishment. This place has a concoction called Cisco Rice...buttered rice, topped with meat sauce and 2 grilled frankfurters.

Really filling and a taste of Hakodate's B-kyu gurume.

I was bummed that their meat sauce was a store-bought type, but was happy that I got to try this.

Satoshi had their meat sauce spaghetti, and after eating 3 bowls of rice at breakfast, he was quite stuffed.

So we walked around a bit and saw the area where foreigners 1st stepped onto Hokkaido soil. And then we checked in at our hotel.

After putting our things away, we then headed to Tachikawa Cafe where we shared this tarte Normandie (apple tart) and had some coffee.

A common sight were these buildings that had Japanese style architecture on the bottom floor and Western style on the top floor.

I think it was about this time that the winds starting whipping rain and sleet at us and when my folding umbrella's shaft snapped like a twig.

We made it back to our hotel, a bit wind blown and lots wet.

It was still early for dinner, so we watched the Spring high school baseball tournament on television and took a little nap.

Dinner was at Ika ika tei.

We both had the isaribi set, which came with assorted sushi and miso soup which seemed to have ogo (red seaweed) in it.

I was bummed that my uni (sea urchin) had something crunchy in it...ew!

Despite the weather, it was another day of great sights and eats.

Kin no kokoro
16-13 Suehiro-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.27.3153
Closed Tuesdays

California Baby
23-15 Suehiro-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.22.0643

Tachikawa Cafe
15-15 Benten-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.22.0340
Closed Mondays

Ika ika tei
12-12 Toyokawa-cho Hakodate Kaisen Ichiba
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.22.5656

Winning Hotel
22-11 Suehiro-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.26.1111

hakodate day 2

The next morning, we awoke to what seemed to be a clear day, though that wouldn't last very long...breakfast was at the Asaichi (morning market) at a shop called Yosakoi.

Choose three toppings for your donburi and with it comes some ika somen (thinly sliced squid), some pickles, ika shiokara (fermented squid) and miso soup.

I chose crab, amaebi (northern shrimp), and salmon, while Satoshi chose ikura (salmon roe), scallops and maguro (tuna).

We agreed this was WAY better than our dinner the night before.

After breakfast, we went to the Goryokaku area.

Goryokaku literally means 5-sided fort. This area was built in 1864 and built in this shape to protect against attacks on the Magistrate office.

The tower was built in 1964 and renovated in 2006. It looks out over the fort area and city.

Here is what the area is supposed to look like.

And, around the perimeter are 1600 cherry trees, you can imagine how beautiful it must be all pink! Too bad we would miss their cherry blossom season (which is in May).

Satoshi was interested in all the history behind this area, so he took his time looking at the exhibits.

While I waited for him, I had some coffee and this delicious black sesame gelato from Milkissimo.

We then went to check out the Magistrate's office located in the middle of the park which was re-opened in 2010.

The site is approximately 1000 square meters (about 10,000 square feet) and involved the work of "miya-daiku" (carpenters who are trained to do work on shrines and temples) from around Japan.

Lunch was at a tiny cafe called Peaberry on the perimeter of park.

I ordered their beef stew topped with bread. Usually you find something like this topped with puff pastry.

The stew was demi-glace based. I'm glad they used bread and not puff pastry because it was fun dipping it into the stew.

Satoshi went with their homemade pizza.

The crust was thin and there was lots of veggies and sausage on it.

I'm glad we found this place, it was nice to get out of the snow for a bit and a nice way to warm up.

We then went to find Gekko-kamen (Moonlight Mask), a Japanese superhero from the 60's. Its creator was from Hakodate, so there is a statue in a park in the Matsukaze-cho area.

After going back to the hotel to freshen up, we headed to the Motomachi area. In this area, there are many Western style churches, from many different religions like this Catholic church.

The city reminded me of Kobe, with its hilly landscape, though Hakodate was a bit more steep.

Alongside the streets, you could see these things emitting steam, it is a heating system so that the roads don't freeze over.

I think by having these heating systems, they save on having someone come and shovel the roads.

Dinner was at Hakodate Beer Hall, which was similar to Otaru Beer.

I was surprised to see soft shell crab salad on their menu, actually I haven't seen this anywhere I've been in Japan. Besides the salad, we also had this sushi (pictured above), some scallops in a ankake (thick) sauce and spicy shrimp.

Their beer, food and service was good.

Since the weather looked like it was going to hold up, we checked out the lookout from Mt Hakodate.

We were glad we did because it was clear.

I shot a few videos here and here. I also forgot to add a link to the short video I shot of the trams. Check them out if you wish.

Another long day, but we were happy we got to see and eat a lot.

Yosakoi
10-9 Wakamatsu-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.23.3751
Hours: 5:00-14:00

Milkissimo
43-9 Goryokaku-cho Goryokaku Tower 2F
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.30.3369

Peaberry
27-8 Goryokaku-cho
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.54.0920
Closed Mondays

Hakodate Beer Hall
14-12 Suehiro-cho Hakodate History Plaza
Hakodate, Hokkaido
Phone: 0138.27.1010