lemon chicken

The other day, I was craving lemon chicken.

Thing is you don't really see it on menus here.

So, I figured I had to make it from scratch.

I didn't want to fry chicken though, so I cheated and bought some pre-made karaage (fried chicken).

The surprising thing is that many of the cookbooks I have, have the sauce recipe for lemon chicken but most only call for a tablespoon of lemon juice?! and lots of vinegar...Really?!

I had some local lemons that I wanted to use, so I made up this one:

juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup water
slurry (cornstarch & water)
thinly sliced lemon
pre-made karaage (fried chicken)

Bring the lemon juice, honey and water to a boil and drizzle in the slurry until you get the thickness desired.
Add the sliced lemon at the end.
Drizzle over the chicken.

NOTES: I think my sauce could've been a little thicker but this really hit the spot. I served the chicken over stir-fried veggies.

p.s. It's the start of a 4-day weekend and the tail-end of Golden Week, have a nice weekend, everyone!

hamburger onion

I saw this recipe in the Orange Page magazine and thought "I can make this".

I didn't scribble anything down, just did everything by feel.

This was good but I think I need to cook everything a little longer. The middle of the burger & onion were still a bit raw.

Hamburger onion : serves 2

2 round onions
some oil
100 grams hamburger (mixture of ground beef & pork)
some diced onions
some chopped Italian parsley
ground pepper

Peel round onions and cut off the tops and bottoms
Then make a "X" cut into the onion BUT don't cut all the way down.
Drizzle some oil so that it goes down into "X".

Prepare hamburger.
Dice some onions, chop some parsley and grind some pepper.
Mix hamburger well.

Split hamburger into two portions and top each onion.

Cover with foil and bake at 180C (350F) for 40 minutes.

Take off foil and bake for another 10 minutes uncovered.

NOTES: Originally, I had cooked it at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes covered then uncovered at 200C (400F) for 15 minutes. But like I said, the middles were still raw.

I want to try this again.

le beurre noisette

Last Friday, one of the largest shopping areas opened in the Umeda area of Osaka. Grand Front Osaka.

200-something shops and restaurants. As if we don't have a lot of places to shop and eat at in the area already.

Many shops and restaurants are "first timers" in Japan as well as "first timers" in the Kansai area.

Honolulu Coffee for one (first time in Kansai), as well as an Italian restaurant in Waikiki called Taormina (first time in Japan).

We also got a Dean & Deluca shop, which I mentioned in yesterday's post, and they also have a cafe.

Sunday, I had some time to spend while waiting for Satoshi to finish his German class, so I thought I could have some breakfast at Dean & Deluca (because I've done just that in Tokyo) and then maybe wander around the new shopping area afterwards....

Well, I got there at 9:30 (half an hour before opening) and found thousands of others with the same idea. In fact, there was a line to get in to the shopping areas!

10:00 came around and I found out I didn't need to be standing in line after all...boo!

I also found out that Dean & Deluca doesn't do morning service only lunch...boo!

Hungry and a bit peeved with the lack of organization...I found a creperie right across from Dean & Deluca.

I quickly grabbed a seat and ordered.

A salted butter caramel crepe...650 yen. And for an extra 500 yen, I could add the soup set which was a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee or tea.

I wasn't too sure about ordering soup with a sweet crepe, but looking at the menu a cappuccino by itself was 500 yen, so to get my money's worth, I chose the soup set and chose coffee.

The soup was a potato cream soup served warm.

After I finished my soup, it took awhile after that for my crepe to come out but the sweetness went nicely with the strong black coffee.

They also serve galette (the crepe's savory cousin). These actually looked quite hearty.

It was only afterwards, I found out that the main shop is actually in Paris.

I'll be back...probably after the crowds dwindle down a bit though.

Le Beurre Noisette
Grand Front Osaka, Umekita B1F
Phone: 06.6485.7795
Hours: 10:00-22:00

bellocq teas

I'm not too sure when I heard about Bellocq teas, but have been wanting to try them for awhile now.

Luckily, Dean & Deluca Japan started selling samplers online.

I picked up the Bellocq Blends line. 8 different teas, 10 grams each.

On the inside cover of the box, they note optimal brewing times and water temperatures for each tea.

I like the packaging.

They also give you these unbleached tea bags to brew your tea in.

We first tried No 01, Bellocq Breakfast.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Next No 20, Kikuya.

A green tea base with rose petals and a rose essence. The rose essence is delicate and doesn't overpower the green tea, a nice combination.

No 35, The Earl Grey was no different from other Earl Greys I've tried.

No. 47 The Queen's Guard, had a delicate floral fragrance.

And when brewed the lavender stands out the most. A good tea when you want to sit and relax.

No. 52, Etoile de l'Inde, is made with Dragonwell (a pan fried green), Jasmine silver needles, flower petals and a natural essence.

To me it had a bit too much floral fragrance when first brewed, but by the second brewing the flavor reminded me more of a Yunnan tea.

Majorelle Mint, No 38, is perfect after dinner.

It combines Chinese gunpowder, green tea, mint, marigold petals and citrus essence.

No 29 White Nixon, white tea, lavender, flower petals and natural essence.

Is also a nice blend to sit and relax with.

And lastly, we tried No 12, Le Hammeau, a blend of lemongrass, lemon verbena, chamomile, lavender, rose petal, mint, sage, and a natural essence. This is also perfect after dinner.

I'm glad we got to try these teas and now that Dean & Deluca has opened a shop in Osaka, it should be easier to get.

Are you enjoying any teas lately?

cafe dona

Satoshi and I tried Cafe Dona the other day.

This cafe is quite small, only 3 tables and some seating along a counter.

I like that the owner makes siphon coffee, but dislike that she allows smoking.

The cheesecake and nut tarte that we tried were a bit overdone.

And at 780 yen a piece for the sweets and coffee...a bit pricey.

I don't think we'll go back unless they get rid of smoking there.

Cafe Dona
3-6-13 Fukushima
Fukushima, Osaka
No phone number given, no info on hours or days off

sanku

The other day Satoshi had an appointment so we grabbed a quick bite at Sanku.

Satoshi went with the large udon (380 yen) topped with aburage (100 yen)...look at the size of that thing! Satoshi chose to have hot soup poured over his.

I chose the small udon (280 yen) topped with meat (100 yen). I chose to have my noodles cold (no soup) and drizzled a little shoyu on top.

The meat was simmered in a sweet-salty sauce and it was also served with grated daikon and half a sudachi (a type of lime).

The food was good and the price was quite nice on the pocket too.

This place is open really early, so if you're ever in this area, check them out for breakfast!

We'll be back.

Sanku
2-150-1 Fukushima
Fukushima, Osaka
Phone: 06.6455.6613
Hours: 7:00-10:00, 11:00-14:00
Closed Sundays & Holidays

anne shirley

While on my way to an appointment, there was a tiny bakery I happened to pass by called Anne Shirley.

Satoshi and I shared the milk bread...so soft! A brioche type dough, so good.

We also halved this an france. Baguette outside filled with sweet bean paste. Toasted, the baguette got crispy and also warmed up the sweet bean paste, heavenly!

I had this one for lunch, a chorizo cheese and curry bread...meh! This one was dry! There was also too much bread.

Two out of three isn't bad, I'll be back.

Anne Shirley
8-8-11 Uehonmachi
Tennoji, Osaka
Phone: 06.6773.4850
Closed Sundays & Holidays
Hours: 7:30-19:00

p.s. It's the start of Golden Week, we're laying low and trying to avoid any crowds...