toba (food)

When you stay at a hotel or ryokan (Japanese inn), more than likely they will serve you a kaiseki dinner. Kaiseki is a meal that is served in many courses and in tiny portions. The thing I don't like about kaiseki is that there is always way too much food that is served. I was probably brought up to eat what was on my plate and that was it, no seconds. In Japan, everything comes in tiny dishes or plates and is kind of hard for me to pace myself and graze. Another thing I don't like about kaiseki is that if they don't give you a layout of what is being served, you don't really know what you're eating, which can be good at times.

If you have allergies, you should tell them when making your reservations, this way they can prepare a special meal for you.

This is what a kaiseki looks like before you start eating. When you start to eat, if there are more courses involved, then the nakai-san (like a maid & waitress combined) will come and bring more food (I think that is what the other table space to the right is for). So, this is what we had for dinner. Now, I'm not too sure about everything, so I will probably tell you what I can and let the photos tell the rest.

There was half a crab.


Do-bin mushi (asari (Japanese little necks) with maitake (hen of the woods) cooked in an earthen tea pot)

Awabi steak (Abalone steak)


Ise-ebi (spiny lobster) cooked with mayonnaise.

Sashimi (raw sliced fish) platter with sazae (horned turban), maguro (tuna), ise-ebi (spiny lobster), tai (sea bream).

Tai shabu shabu (sea bream and veggies that are swished in a konbu (kelp) stock) then eaten with a sesame dipping sauce).

Dessert was a little matcha mousse gelee with some type of citrus (I think it might have been grapefruit or the local tachibana( a type of orange) with a red fruity gelee on top.

Whew! (see we went onto the other table to the right)....

As for omiyage (souvenirs) there is

Akafuku--a mochi (rice cake) that is covered with koshian (smooth bean paste). You can actually buy this in Osaka, but it originated in Ise.

They give you this little wooden paddle to scoop it out.

Delicious!

Then there is Shinto Beer. Ise is an area that is known for their many Shinto shrines. This beer is said to have been started in the 1800's. We haven't tried this, but it sounded good.

And from Mikimoto, madeleines shaped like oysters. They are not your ordinary madeleines, they are made with a special calcium taken from pearls. This was buttery and delicious.

There are also many vacuum packed seafood items or fresh seafood items you can buy and have sent within Japan.

Did you enjoy this foodie travel adventure? I sure did. Have a great week.

toba (sights)

Toba is about 2 hours from Osaka on the Shimahanto (Shima peninsula). It is a very touristy area, mainly due to the pearls. This is where Mikimoto have their pearl farms, museum and shops.

Toba also has lots of seafood, awabi (abalone), ise ebi (a spiny lobster), sazae (horned turban). If you're not able to eat seafood or don't like seafood, this is definitely not the place to visit.

There are lots of areas in Toba that have been featured in a book by Mishima Yukio called "Shiosai" (I don't think I've read this book, so I'm not too familiar with it).

If pearls aren't your thing, there is also an aquarium and a cruise around the bay.

The cruise ship was supposed to resemble the characters in a folk lore "Urashima Taro" similar to "Rip van Winkle". Also, some of the scenery along the bay was used in the story "Urashima Taro". The boat actually reminded me more of a floating Chinese restaurant that used to operate in Hawaii a long time ago (Oceania? Is it still around?).

At the hotel we stayed at, there was a nice garden area with a pond.

Have you ever seen one of these? They are called kemushi (hairy worms). If they touch you or if you get too close to them, you can get a reaction and break out into hives.

At the aquarium, we came upon these kuwagata (a type of beetle). If you find these in the wild around Japan, you can sell them to the pet stores for big bucks!

At the Mikimoto Pearl Island, there was a diving show. Here ama (pearl divers) dive in the water without any scuba gear except a mask. Some going as far down as 6meters (about 19 feet)! They don't even wear wet suits!

I was surprised that they jumped in the water with all the kurage (jellyfish).

In the Mikimoto museum, there were many beautiful sculptures and jewelry from around the world, plus Mikimoto's special collections.

And of course, there was a beautiful sunrise.

My next post will be about...the food...stay tuned!

ikeda

Today after my lesson, I met Satoshi at a nearby park and we walked to Cafe Alfonso. I had read about this cafe on another website and had wanted to go there for sometime. The great thing about this cafe is that next door is their bakery. I found out that they also open for breakfast, so we may come back to try that some time.

I had their pork cutlet curry.

Satoshi had their fried shrimp curry.

Each entree came with a salad

and these pickles--rakkyo (pickled onions) and fukujinzuke (small pieces of veggies pickled in shoyu (soy sauce)).

On the way home, we stopped in at a little shop called Dolce I-an. The chinese characters mean Italian place. They were recently written up in a foodie magazine. They also have a restaurant next door which is turns into a bar at night.

We tried their latte-cotta (a pannecotta made with milk) and their mattcha mousse (a fluffy mousse made from green tea topped with a little layer of cream).

It was a great day for a walk and lunch.

Cafe Alfonso (UPDATE: 1/2011 this cafe has closed)
1-24 Ueikeda
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072-753-4571
Closed Sundays

Dolce I-an (UPDATE: 1/2008 this restaurant has closed and has moved)
4-19 Daiwacho
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072-752-8333
Closed on Mondays and every 1st Tuesday

keema ala tm

Last time I tried making keema curry it was okay but not how I had envisioned it would taste. I posted the recipe that I used here. I then e-mailed my friend, TM for her recipe. (Thank you!) She is an expat living in Tokyo. She happened upon my blog awhile back and we've been e-mail friends ever since.

Yesterday after the rain subsided, the winds picked up and brrr it is a bit nippy today. I wanted something warm for dinner tonight, so I decided to make curry and to try her recipe.

Now, I grew up eating the frozen type, and never actually had to take them out of the pods, nor have I ever bought them in the pods. But, as I was looking at her recipe and reading up in my Japanese cookbooks, I realized peas are in-season.

So, I looked up peas in the dictionary and they are called endo mame . Then I was off to the market to buy my ingredients. Another bonus beside being pea season was that the market I go to had a 10% coupon off all veggies for today!

I bought my peas and removed them from the pods (is there something you can make using just the pods? I thought it a bit wasteful to throw out) then proceeded to make the curry.

Here is her recipe, there aren't any measurements, so I'll give you my notes at the end.

Keema curry by TM

onion
minced beef
garlic
ginger
spices
tomatoes
cilantro
lemon

1. Saute 1 thinly sliced onion in oil until golden/light brown/red--caramelized basically, and crispy

2. Add minced mutton or minced beef, and saute with crushed garlic (5-6 cloves) and same amount of ginger.

3. When meat is browned, add spices: ground coriander, ground cumin, salt, tumeric, red chili powder, and either garam masala powder, or preferably whole cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and black peppercorns. You can also add green peas and potatoes if you are using, at this time.

4. When you can smell the spices cooking, add 1-2 tomatoes--diced or crushed. Tomatoes should be the same amount as the onion.

5. Let simmer covered until the tomatoes blend in with the meat and spices and make a curry. Saute on high until properly cooked. Then you can add a bit of water if you want a wet curry, and let simmer for about 10 minutes until incorporated, or leave as is if you want a dry-ish curry.

6. If you can find it, finely mince fresh green coriander/cilantro leaves and sprinkle on before serving. You can also add a squeeze of lemon juice at this too, if you like, just before serving.

NOTES: I used about 1/2 teaspoon of each spice and 1 can of whole tomatoes. I then added some water so that the potato and peas would cook. And cooked it for about 20 minutes. I didn't squeeze the lemon at the end. It tasted great, still not the flavor that I envisioned but still good. I guess I'll have to figure out what spices I need to come up with the flavor that I'm looking for.

Have a great weekend!

yomogi mochi

I've been on some kind of "wa" (japanese) kick these days. For some reason I want to eat mochi or a Japanese type of sweet. Maybe it was my success making these, but today I wanted to try something a little different. Yomogi mochi. Yomogi is mugwort, the Japanese word sounds much nicer than the English translation. Yomogi is actually a weed (no, I don't think you can smoke it), and you can often find it amongst other weeds outside. Sometimes yomogi mochi is also called kusamochi (literally weed rice cake).

I bought the yomogi dried. You have to reconstitute it in hot water to get it to the consistency to use for mochi making.

I followed the daifuku recipe which I posted previously and added the reconstituted yomogi after cooking the mochi for 4 minutes in the micro. I then put a dollop of koshian in the middle and sealed them up.

The mochi was so soft and the sweetness from the koshian was just enough. I think next week I'll make a western version mochi. Stay tuned!

iwashi pasta

The weather was awful today. Raining hard at times and the wind picked up....brrr...what happened to the nice weather?

Anyway, after coming home from beads class I didn't feel like cooking. So, I threw this together for dinner....canned iwashi (sardines) in olive oil, sliced onions, pasta, capers, nori (seaweed) and several grinds of pepper. Heat the onions with the sardines, add the pepper and cooked pasta and top with capers and nori. If it is a bit dry, you can add some of the pasta water. It was super fast, easy and delish!

ichigodaifuku (part 2)

Today I met my friend Kathy in Takatsuki. We get together about once a month for lunch and shopping. We always have fun talking about different things that we find while living in Japan.

On our way home, we went past a fruit stand and he had baskets of strawberries for only 200yen (about $2) a basket. You might think that that is expensive, but in the supermarket, the price is nearly double. These precious jewels were very ripe and made the train ride home very pleasant with their sweet aroma.

When I got home, I tried making ichigo daifuku (strawberry rice cakes with sweet bean paste), I made them earlier this week and decided to make the mochi (rice cake) from scratch.

It is really easy to make, but kind of messy.

Ichigo Daifuku makes about 12

150 g mochiko (rice flour)
170cc water
12 small strawberries, washed and tops cut off
koshian (smooth sweet bean paste)
katakuriko (cornstarch)

Cut the tops off and wash the strawberries, drying them with a paper towel. Leave aside.
Mix water with mochiko and zap in microwave at 500W for 5 minutes.
When it comes out, be careful, it is very hot.
Sprinkle some katakuriko onto a board or in a pan and pour hot mochi out onto it.
Knead a bit to get mochi soft.
Break into 12 pieces (about 20-30g each).
Flatten a piece add some koshian and then invert the strawberry into the koshian.
Bring up the mochi sides and seal in the center.
Round between your palms, adding katakuriko as needed.
Repeat until all mochi and strawberries are gone.

NOTES: If the koshian that you use is a bit stiff then you can "pre-wrap" your strawberries in them. My koshian was a bit wet, so I scooped it onto the mochi as I made the daifuku. I only zapped the mochi for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Be careful, you need to work with the mochi while it is still hot. Sprinkle katakuriko onto your hands so the mochi won't stick too much. I only put about a teaspoon of koshian, but you can put more if you'd like. Just don't too much that you won't be able to seal up the daifuku at the bottom or rip the mochi. Goes well with hot green tea or cold mugicha (barley tea).