thanks for today

Saturday, V invited us to dinner for her birthday at Hanamusashi, a Japanese restaurant in the Metropolitan Ikebukuro 

I started off with a glass of Yamagata toro umeshu (thick plum wine) diluted with soda water...delicious

Satoshi and V shared a bottle of sake...it'll show up later in these photos...

the apertif for the meal was a tiny glass of ice cold umeshu...this one delicious too, a little sweeter than the one I had above

The course was all delicacies from the Hokuriku area (Fukui, Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures)

Kobakogani (female snow crab with eggs and innards) eaten with a vinegary sauce : probably my first time eating the crab eggs and innards, I ate those areas first then saved the sweet flesh for last

Koun (good luck) sake : Junmai Ginjo by Yahiko Sake in Niigata

The bottle of sake V and Satoshi shared

The menu

Appetizers: kaki cheese shiroae (Persimmon with white cheese dressing) : we ate the persimmon too! V said she eats the peel too!

momiji yorodofu (Autumn leaf yorodofu)(square container) : soft "tofu" made with grated yam, this was vinegary and topped with zuwaigani (snow crab)

komochiayu arimani (sweet fish with roe simmered with shoyu and Japanese pepper)

Kaki tamago (seasoned egg yolk made to look like kaki (persimmon))

Fu no Karashiae (wheat gluten mixed with mustard)(leaf like container)

saba Hoshozushi (mackerel pressed sushi)(sudachi(lime) on top)

momiji renkon (marinated lotus root)

ebi ginnan mochi (shrimp fried with ginkgo nut mochi)

shiroebi shinjo daimon somen (white shrimp fishcake) with daimon somen (a type of somen from Toyama) in a clear soup…getting full

keeping the sake cool in a katakuchi (lipped bowl)

Assorted sashimi: maguro (tuna), trout, fresh sweet shrimp and hotaru ika (firefly squid) : first time eating raw hotaru ika, crunchy, super fishy

konowata tororomushi (salted entrails of sea cucumber) steamed with chinese yam : sometimes it is best not to know the english version...this actually tasted more yam then sea cucumber entrails…

amadai (tile fish) 

wakasayaki (grilled with scales then topped with sauce so that the scales do not "stand up") topped with shaved tororo kelp

cooked satoimo (dasheen) made to look like acorn

kikuhana daikon (long radish cut to look like chrysanthemum)

toyama pork harihari nabe (hari hari is the onomatopeoia of the sound when eating mizuna (potherb mustard))

heshiko chazuke (heshiko is a fermented mackerel) : satoshi ate this

echizen oroshi soba (cold soba served with oroshi daikon (grated long radish) : V & I had this

Happy Birthday V!

Tomitsu kintoki mont blanc (sweet potato cake topped with chestnut cream and chestnuts)

Persimmon and Fig Gelee

Sencha in Choju Giga cups 

Choju Giga was the first "manga" in Japan

So full and thankful that V shared her birthday celebration with us

We walked around Ikebukuro before heading home

And along Meguro River...we've done this before.

Thanks for today V, we hope you enjoy the rest of your trip! and have many more birthdays

Hanamusashi

inside Metropolitan Ikebukuro

1-6-1 Nishiikebukuro

Toshima, Tokyo

tankuma

Saturday we gathered to put MIL's remains into the family grave.

It was actually MIL's birthday, she would have been 93.

The weather was beautiful and there were lots of ume trees in bloom.

After the service, lunch was at Rhiga Royal Kyoto's Tankuma.

Since explaining each dish is difficult, I'll tell you what I know and leave the rest to the photos.

Takenoko (bamboo shoots), nanohana (rape blossoms), etc.

Ebi shinjo (shrimp dumpling)

Sashimi

Misoyaki salmon..this was so delicious!

Takenoko nimono (simmered bamboo shoots & veggies)

Sunamono (vinegar marinated foods)

Takenoko gohan (bamboo shoot rice)

I loved all the dishes that the food was served in.

It was a very filling meal too.

I'm glad we were able to gather and thankful that BIL and SIL took care of all the arrangements.

Tankuma

Rhiga Royal Kyoto

1 banchi Taimatsucho B2

Shimogyo, Kyoto

kyosaimi nomura

　Kyosaimi Nomura is a shop I stumbled upon while surfing Tabelog (kind of like Yelp but mainly for restaurants).

The company specializes in pre-made foods that are sold online as well a used at various restaurants.

Satoshi and I both tried the Miyabi Gozen...1080 yen (tax included).

12 different items all presented in tiny glass bowls/cups on a wooden tray.

A huge yuba (bean curd skin) donburi (rice topped with yuba and a thick sauce) and a bowl of miso soup also comes with the meal.

I really liked all the items and the tiny bowls/cups were nice to look at too.

I think the next time we come to Kyoto early in the morning, we might try their breakfast...we'll be back.

Kyosaimi Nomura
224 Hashibenzen-cho
Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 050.5589.7541
Hours: 7:00-20:00

peanut nishime

After trying peanut nishime in Tokoname, I wanted to re-create it.

My mom and aunties make nishime, mostly for special occasions (or whenever my Grandma wants to eat it) but I've never written down their recipe.

I've also never tried making it myself.

Apparently, adding peanuts to nishime is a southern Japan thing.

I looked online and there were many recipes to choose from.

I adapted this one a bit because the original recipe did not specify how much dashi to use.

Also, the original recipe had chicken in it and I wanted to leave it out.

I was happy that when I went to Kobe, I found raw peanuts at the halal store.

Peanut Nishime : adapted from the internet

handful of peanuts (raw)
4-inch piece of renkon, cut into 1-inch slices then cubed
1 carrot, cubed
1/2 konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly, about the size of your palm), use a spoon to make bite sized pieces
16-inch piece of gobo, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups dashi (stock)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
3 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
3 tablespoons sake (rice wine)
1 cup water

Put all ingredients into a pot and put in 1 cup of water.
Bring to a boil.
Then put an oshibuta (drop lid) on for 10 minutes, drop heat to medium
After 10 minutes, take the oshibuta off and add the dashi, sugar, mirin, shoyu & sake
Cook on medium for 20 minutes.

NOTES: I cooked this until the peanuts were half-cooked because I like that "crunch". Cook longer if you want the veggies and peanuts to be tender.

At first I used 4 cups of dashi but ended up with way too much "soup", so I would cut it back to 2 cups.

I have a little more peanuts and "soup" left, so I will definitely make this again (soon)!

Hope you have a nice weekend, we have a 3-day weekend here.

kohaku

Phil is in town for a quick visit and it was nice of him to take some time out of his busy schedule to contact me to meet up.

We had drinks and some pupus (appetizers) at Kohaku.

This bar is a French-Japanese fusion type of place.

Let's start with the bad...chintzy servings of wine...and a bar atmosphere way too loud (you can barely hear each other talking)

The food...so-so.

We shared this daikon covered with a porcini cream sauce.

The daikon is cooked until tender then smothered in a rich porcini cream sauce.

We also shared this "okonomiyaki". Lots of cabbage and some beef is smothered in a fondue cheese sauce and topped with a red wine tomato sauce.

Since the waitress asked if it was our first time eating there (and it was) I think she should have told us about ordering bread on the side to mop up all that melted cheese...grr! (actually I think more places should serve bread (for free) with their dishes that have sauces that need mopping up)

Our ears blasted from the noise of the bar, we then headed up to quiet Tsutaya to hang out and chat.

Phil was kind to bring a foodie magazine from Australia for me, which I look forward to reading. (Thank you!)

The day was nasty humid and I probably won't be back to that bar, but the company and conversation was nice as always.

Thanks for meeting up Phil it was nice catching up with you!

Kohaku
Lucua 1100 Bar Chika, B2F
Phone: 06.6341.5089
Open 11:00-24:00, when Lucua 1100 is

"pain to ippiki 2"

I enjoyed the first book so much that I was excited to find the second book while roaming the aisles of a book shop over the weekend.

I'm glad I was able to get this one.

There are many recipes in this book as well.

I can't wait to try some of them.

furin

Satoshi and I recently tried a Japanese restaurant in Umeda Sanbangai called Furin.

I ordered their Nasu-ju, grilled eggplant is put onto rice with thinly sliced omelette and then topped with a delicious minced meat that is seasoned with sansho (Japanese pepper), shoyu and other seasonings.

This really reminded me of the Nasu Kabayaki Donburi I made before, but I really liked their addition of the meat sauce.

Satoshi had their kaisendon.

Rice topped with lots of seafood.

It is a tiny place but the food is good, we'll be back.

Furin
Umeda Sanbangai　B2
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6372.5700
Hours: 11:00-22:00, Closed when Sanbangai is

wagashi

Most times for these memorial services we bring some sweets or arare as offering to the deceased while the prayers are being said.

After the service for FIL, MIL gave the church some wagashi (Japanese sweets) and what was left, we divided up.

Tons of sweets that need to be eaten soon...sigh!

"pain to ippiki"

I first heard about this book from Dennis' post.

"Pain (the french word for bread) to Ippiki (the Japanese word for "one animal")" is a lovely book filled with photos and some narration about each photo.

At first I thought the cover was an illustration, but it is an actual photo.

Most of the photos are of the author, Kuwabara Natsuko's breakfasts and her dog, Kipple.

There are also some recipes at the back of the book for some of the foods that appear in this book.

I recently tried the one for french toast. Instead of using baguette, I used two slices of sesame bread.

Another recipe I tried was the one for black sesame pancakes.

Black Sesame Pancakes adapted from "Pain to Ippiki" : makes 9 small pancakes
100 grams flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
10 grams ground black sesame
60 mililiters plain yogurt
50 mililiters milk
20 grams sugar

Mix everything together.
On medium-low heat, pour a serving spoon size of batter into a non-stick pan.
Cook about 1 minute 30 seconds on each side.
Serve with butter and maple syrup.

NOTES: The original recipe called for black sesame paste, but I used ground sesame instead. It also called for cream but I used plain yogurt instead. The recipe also called for salt and some oil but I left those ingredients out.

I also made my pancakes smaller so I came out with 9 whereas the original recipe only makes 5. I really liked this sesame version.

I hope to try more of the recipes.

Thanks again Dennis for telling me about this book.

kitanozaka eita

Met up with my Twitter friend, H.

She introduced me to my first Michelin restaurant, Kitanozaka Eita.

Apparently they recently received 1 star...so now it is very hard to get a table. (Luckily, she was able to get us a table.)

This was part 1 of our lunch.

I can't tell you all the details of each dish, just that everything was delicious.

This was part 2.

I do remember that dessert (top right corner) was a pudding made from sake kasu (the lees of rice wine)...even though I ate it, the alcohol flavor was really strong, so I didn't really care for it.

Overall though, everything was delicious and service pretty quick, total price for lunch was 1500 yen.

Thanks for a great day H!

Kitanozaka Eita
1-22-13 Nakayamate-dori Hillside Terrace 5F
Chuo, Kobe
Phone: 078.221.1608
Closed Sundays and 1st Mondays
*Try to make reservations if possible