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.

sometimes for "clarity" you just need to "detox"

I think I've gotten your attention with the title of the post, no?

I was recently in the gourmet supermarket (Seijo Ishii) and came across their sale on teas.

Pukka Teas is a UK brand which I was introduced to when I won a couple of boxes from a Japanese foodie magazine that I used to subscribe to.

These two really jumped out at me...

Clarity---organic lemongrass, ginger & amla fruit. I didn't know what amla fruit was, but after looking around on the internet found out that it is an Indian gooseberry. This tea was warming from the ginger. The ginger flavor stands out the most and makes for a nice tea after lunch.

Detox--organic aniseed, fennel & cardamom. Loved the spicy aroma, this is definitely nice after dinner or a heavy meal.

If I am not mistaken, a reader once recommended "Detox" to me??

What kind of teas are you enjoying?

banmai

There is a cute little organic restaurant called Banmai about 10 minutes walking distance from our place. Underneath the restaurant, they also have a little store which sells organic fruits, veggies and other organic products.

Because it is nearby, we've always had it in the back of our minds to go, but never have, until today.

Their lunch costs 1260 yen (about US $13), you might think this is quite pricy, but for organic vegetables, I think it is about the going rate.

They have two entrees to choose from and two types of rice to choose from.

Satoshi chose their karei (flounder), it comes with a kobachi (small bowl) of aburage (fried tofu) covered with a veggie ankake (thick) sauce, a nice plate of gomaae horenso (spinach dressed with sesame seed), tsukemono (pickles), miso soup (soup made from soy bean paste), grapes and renkon gohan (lotus root cooked with veggies and rice).

I ordered their satoimo croquettes (taro) and the azuki, black rice mixed with genmai (adzuki beans, black rice and brown rice). Usually croquettes are deep fried, but these were baked, not oily and very filling.

I was surprised at how crowded they were for a weekday. Everything was tasty and didn't make you feel like you were only eating veggies. The menu changes daily and according to what veggies they harvest. I can't wait to go back.

Sidenote: around our area, you can often find rice fields/veggie patches, actually they take turns with what is planted throughout the year. This field of rice is just about ready for harvesting. It is kind of neat to still be able to find some nature between the tall buildings and condos.

Banmai (UPDATE: 2024 name changed to Kurumido)
3-15-5A Hachizuka
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.761.0064
Open everyday
Lunch served M-F 11:30-14:00, Sa-Su 11:30-14:30
Dinner from 18:00-21:00

organic beer

Awhile back, a fellow blogger, Martin, posted about Japanese organic beer, here. I don't know if it was the word "organic" or the word "beer" or a combo of both that piqued my interest, but I wanted to try it. The other day, I happened upon it at the market, so I picked up a couple to try.

Made by the Yahho Brewing Company, they have several beers. (Yahho by the way, is what the Japanese yell in the mountains as a kind of yodel, kind of like Yode-lehi-hoo (sorry don't know how to spell it) in other countries.) The organic one is called Shinshu San-San. Shinshu is an area in Nagano prefecture that is known for their soba(buckwheat noodles) and beautiful mountains and san-san (means to shine brilliantly). On the can it is written sun sun (the sun shining brilliantly, get it??). Both the hops and malt are 100% organic from Germany. I was surprised that it was relatively inexpensive. I would have thought since it was organic that it would have been more pricey. I was also surprised that this beer was a little fruity and the foam didn't last too long on top. It still went nicely with the spareribs and cole slaw I made for dinner on Saturday.

Another beer made by this company is called Yona Yona Ale. (I'm not sure if yona yona means something) This beer has won several awards and was more expensive than the organic one. It is also a bit darker than the organic one. And like the organic one, is a little fruity, but I think I like this one better. It paired nicely with the okonomiyaki that I made for dinner tonight.

They also have a dark one which I am really interested in trying, hopefully it will appear in the supermarkets around here.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend, have a nice week.

odds & ends

Today was actually a nice sunny day, except for the humidity and heat....sigh...

During the month of June here in Japan, you'll notice that most fields get filled up with water and these little plants are planted--which is called taue. The rice harvesting, if the weather is cooperative, should be sometime in September. These are some of the rice fields we have around our neighborhood.

There is a little store & restaurant nearby called Banmai. I've never been to the restaurant, but heard that they serve a mostly vegetarian fare. I have been to the little store on the bottom several times, and they sell organic veggies, fruits and other health food items. Every Tuesday, they have a 10% off all veggies sale. Today, I got some tomatoes, zucchini and a really fragrant peach.

I roasted these veggies for tonight's dinner and we'll have the peach for breakfast tomorrow.

In the past two days, we received 2 boxes of BEER! (Satoshi's favorite drink!)

The month of July is o-chugen season here. O-chugen is a gift giving custom where you give gifts to people, such as company supervisors, relatives to show appreciation for what they have done for you. Since it is very hot during the summer here, a favorite gift to give is usually some type of drink. We got a box from Satoshi's parents and one from a client of his. The next season for gift giving is in December and is called O-seibo.

This week, I started eating this dark chocolate by Green & Black's. It is called Maya Gold, it is a 55% cacao with orange, vanilla , cinnamon and nutmeg. The cinnamon & nutmeg really stands out, and the orange tends to linger in your mouth, but overall it is really delicious. This brand was supposedly the first in the world to make an organic chocolate, and is now owned by Cadbury-Schweppes(C-S)--which I'm not really too keen about, especially since they(C-S) had a really big recall recently for probability of salmonella in their other brands of chocolate.

Hope you are keeping cool where you are!