tentokan

In our kitchen and bathroom, we have fluorescent lighting.

One of the first things that the building manager taught me is that 9 out of 10 times when the light flickers, it is the glow lamp or tentokan in Japanese.

The glow lamp or tentokan is a teeny bulb that "starts" up the larger fluorescent bulb.

Unfortunately the other night, when the light started to flicker (like a neon sign) in the kitchen, it was the larger bulb.

Which of course I don't really keep spares around because 9 out of 10 times it's that teeny one that needs changing.

I could've ran to the convenience store, but who wants to go out in -3C (26F) weather, especially at night...

So, I went to the DIY store the next day and was surprised that the Japanese made bulb was 3 times the price of the one made in China.

I guess I could've bought the cheaper of the two but thought if I did, I would only need to purchase another one in a couple of months.

Anyway, at least we have light now (that is not blinking like a neon sign).

taiwan style soy milk soup

Made this Taiwan-style Soy Milk Soup last night.

The cookbook that I found the recipe in says to make this soup when you are tired of eating out.

Taiwan-style Soy Milk Soup adapted from "Soup Stock Tokyo 2" : makes 4 servings
Soboro
120 grams minced chicken (or pork)
50 cc water (1/4 cup)
5 grams takuan (minced), optional
nub of ginger, grated
1 tablespoon shoyu
1 teaspoon sugar

Furikake
2 tablespoons jakko (dried young sardines)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon fried onion
1 teaspoon white sesame seed
2 tablespoons cashew (or peanuts), finely chopped

Soup
2 dried shiitake, reconstituted
200 cc water (1 cup)
600 cc soymilk (3 cups)
salt to taste

Toppings
cilantro
1 teaspoon black vinegar (per serving)
croutons
chili oil

Make the soboro. Soboro literally means "minced".
In a pan, put the water, meat, takuan, shoyu, sugar and ginger
On medium heat, break up the meat while cooking
Cook until all the liquid has evaporated

Make the furikake.
In a frying pan, heat the oil and add the jakko.
When it is coated with the oil, add the fried onion, sesame seeds and nuts
Saute until fragrant and crispy

Make the soup.
Reconstitute the shiitake then slice thinly.
Strain the reconstituted shiitake water and put in the soup.
Add the soymilk and salt to taste.
Heat but do not boil.

To serve: add 1 tablespoon of soboro, 1 tablespoon of furikake, ladle in soup.
Top with some cilantro, croutons, chili oil and 1 teaspoon black vinegar.
*if you do add the vinegar, the soup will curdle/thicken slightly.

NOTES: a bit tedious but super comforting soup.

I forgot to put the vinegar when we had this last night, but will try it tonight with the leftovers.

This winter has been quite harsh, and soup has been a nice way to warm up.

david lebovitz's venetian style sardines

Last night I made an adapted batch of David Lebovitz's venetian style sardines, which can be found in "The Sweet Life in Paris".

His version directs you to fry the fresh sardines, but of course, I took the easy way out using canned and sauteed them in the marinade.

The portions I used are below: makes about 2 servings

2 tins canned sardines packed in oil (about 70 grams each can)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil

marinade
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sake (rice wine)
chili pepper flakes

handful of dried cherries
handful of pine nuts, toasted

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onions until soft
Add the sardines with the packing oil
When the fish is heated through, add the marinade and cherries
Top with pine nuts before serving
Serve with crusty bread

NOTES: I didn't want to fry or go through having to clean the fresh sardines, so I used canned.

Our tinned sardines are quite teeny, so I used 2 cans.

His recipe called for golden raisins but I didn't have any and didn't want to buy, so I just used some dried cherries that I had in the freezer.

Next time I will use the packing oil of only 1 tin.

We enjoyed this...sweet and sour.

Crusty baguette was also nice to mop up all the juices.

I'm definitely thinking about making this again!

maangchi's braised lotus root

I recently tried Maangchi's braised lotus root recipe.

Super easy and super tasty.

I also like that the lotus root stays quite crisp/crunchy.

I'll definitely make this again.

Had to share with you the krazy fog we had this morning.

It actually got thicker after I took this photo.

Have a nice weekend!

meishi

In Japan, many businessmen have meishi (calling cards).

The calling cards help to know what "status"/"rank" the person you are meeting with is.

Recently Satoshi went to a seminar during his lunch break.

The man was a small business farmer in Kyoto and his calling card was this (photo above).

300 grams of rice, grown by him.

I thought it was very innovative.

I like that he uses organic fertilizers and sells directly to his customers.

Most rice goes through brokers which in recent years has had some problems with LYING about the types of rice actually being sold.

We've been supporting Kumamoto prefecture (cute packaging, yeah?!) to help them rebuild after their earthquakes, but this rice came through a broker...

After we finish the rice from Kumamoto, I'll probably purchase some rice from this farmer to support small business.

budo-tei

Saturday, after Satoshi's German class, we checked out Budo-tei.

They are located next door to Udon Bo.

But in comparison to Udon Bo, the line for Budo-tei is always long.

The line in front of the shop is just the tip of the iceberg.

Be sure to look across the shop, the people standing there are the rest of the line waiting to get in...eep!

Click on the photo to see Satoshi's sizzling lunch...ebi fry (fried shrimp) and hamburger.

I got the A set...hamburger, croquette and ebi fry.

I loved the hamburger, so moist!

And the cole slaw had a little grated apple in the dressing, delicious.

We'll be back!

Budo-tei
Osaka Ekimae Dai-san Building, B2F
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6341.5211
Hours: 11:00-22:00

jinx

Friday, it was forecast for some snow.

Me, I just wanted to see some falling snow...but "someone" in our household said that "if it is gonna snow, it should stay frozen"...

How is this poor electrician...at least he had a tarp to block the falling snow. (click on the photo to see the video)

Apparently 7 years back there was another electrician during a snow storm too...

Saturday when we awoke...at least a couple of inches had fallen.

(click on the photo to see the video)

At least it wasn't a lot, where we needed to shovel (not that we have a snow shovel).

It also made for walking to the train station interesting, at least it wasn't slippery and the snow melted by the time we came back.