kondo tofu

Bought some items from Kondo Tofu the other day...Oboro tofu (round container)...250 yen, a cup of freshly pressed soy milk...140 yen and 1 piece of aburaage...90 yen.

Everything was so cheap and delicious!

The cup of freshly pressed soy milk was their last one for the day, was glad to be able to try it! definitely different from the soy milk the markets sell.

The oboro tofu was so huge that I made two batches of kim chee miso soup (recipe below).

For the soup, super easy recipe (for 2 servings)
300 milliliters water
2 teaspoons miso
25 grams kim chee
1/2 oboro tofu (about 150 grams)

In two bowls, put a teaspoon miso in each
In a pot, heat the water and put the tofu in to heat
Divide the heated water between the two bowls and mix to dissolve the miso
Divide the tofu between the two bowls.
Top with kim chee.

NOTES: you could substitute dashi (stock) in place of the water, but since I didn't make dashi ahead of time, I just used water and it still had a lot of flavor.

The weather is getting cooler, some areas of Japan already have snow.

Hope the weather is nice where you are.

sweet sour spare ribs with pineapple (juice)

The weather is getting cooler here and I had some time on my hands on Tuesday, so I tried this recipe from my grandma's stash.

She actually had a lot of recipe variations for sweet sour spare ribs.

Love how she pasted it to an index-like card...probably so that she wouldn't lose the newspaper clipping.

This was a little more puckery than my mom's and aunties' versions, but this type of spare ribs are still comfort food for me.

Especially putting rice into the gravy...

I'm not sure where she got the recipe from, but if you try this, I hope you enjoy it.

Have a nice weekend.

monday

Monday was the observance of Culture Day.

We got out and about early and went on some errands.

We also stopped into Starbucks...it's Gingerbread Latte season!

While the US is pumpkin spice-ing...in Japan it's gingerbread latte.

I also love seeing all the different paper cups during this season (I know totally un-ecological, but still fun to see!)

We walked from the Aoyama area to Shibuya and had lunch at Suage, a soup curry shop from Hokkaido.

I ordered the Lavender Pork with a small order of rice.

Too bad that egg they served was still cold.

You couldn't taste any lavender (I think they feed the pigs lavender plants).

The pork was super tender.

I got the lowest spice level which was just right for me.

Satoshi ordered the veggie curry and picked spice level 4.

Boy, was he perspiring!

He thought the rice should have been softer.

I was surprised they had served him some slices of avocado in there!

After lunch, we wanted something sweet and checked out Kajitsuen.

We shared the seasonal fruit crepe which was served with shine muscat grapes, some chestnut pieces, asian pears, kaki (persimmon)...I was bummed with the plating.

And we were both bummed that their coffee was so bad!

Totally stuffed, we walked from Shibuya to Naka-Meguro.

Dinner was pasta using the tomato miso paste I bought the other day at the Kochi Antenna shop.

The paste has some katsuo (bonito) in it making it super flavorful...I want to try to re-create this sauce!

I also topped the pasta with the katsuo stick also from the Antenna shop.

The temperature has been dropping especially in the mornings and evenings...hopefully the leaves will change color later this month.

Suage
2-22-11 Shibuya, B1F
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6803.8270
Hours: 11:00-23:00

Kajitsuen
Shibuya Hikarie 6F
Shibuya, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6803.8917
Hours: 11:00-23:00, open when Hikarie is

sunday

Sunday, Satoshi went to watch some baseball and have dinner with his friends, so I went to Jiyugaoka for lunch.

I reconnected with the Jiyugaoka Bakeshop, which I visited back in 2010.

For lunch they have a set menu...choose your main...I chose their seasonal quiche.

Choose a side...I chose a salad.

And choose a drink...I chose a cup of coffee.

The quiche was so delicious...the crust was flaky.

A little salty from the bacon and cheese that was sprinkled on top.

Lot of pumpkin in the quiche.

The vinaigrette that dressed the salad was nice and puckery.

It was pretty quiet in the restaurant which was nice.

The cup of coffee which was served with a tiny (hard) piece of coconut rusk (toast) the size of a oversized crouton was good too!

After lunch, I walked from Jiyugaoka to a station on our train line, Yukigaya Otsuka.

It was a nice way to see different neighborhoods and get more familiar with our area.

I'll be back to Jiyugaoka Bakeshop and will definitely do this walk again.

saturday

Saturday was the start of a 3-day weekend for us, I went to Shinjuku to do some shopping, in the corner of my eye I spotted Takibi Bakery's stollen (love their packaging)

We've tried Takibi Bakery's stollen a couple of times in the past and enjoyed them.

This version had lots of spices. There is no tea in this, but it was similar to the spices used in chai.

I look forward to trying more stollen in the coming weeks.

From Shinjuku I walked to Shibuya.

It was interesting seeing neighborhoods that aren't visible from the train.

Like this cool building that is split in half and connected by their wallkways.

I also stumbled upon a day of the dead procession...which reminded me of the movie "Coco".

I met Satoshi after his German class for dinner at Jiyugaoka.

He said he wanted to try Devil Craft.

I tried their Imperial Stout, a kick-a 11.8% chocolatey brew...delicious!

Also appreciate them filling their 200 milliliter serving to the 200 milliliter line on the cup.

We shared this caesar salad while waiting for the deep dish pizza to cook.

We also watched the World Rugby Finals between England and South Africa (South Africa won).

Satoshi enjoyed the pizza and also ordered several pints.

I'm glad he enjoyed this place, and I'm sure we'll be back.

Wanted to share with you this "interesting" suit I saw while waiting for Satoshi...it says "F*ck off" in full lettering over and over on the stripes...amazing what you see in Japan, yeah?!

Have a good week!

foodie thursday

Thursday I went to check out some antenna shops in the Shinbashi-Yurakucho area.

My first stop was the Tottori-Okayama shop because I was in search of rakkyo (pickled scallions).

A lot of makers in Japan use scallions from China along with artificial sweeteners (because both are probably cheaper), but the ones from Tottori prefecture seem to be more "natural" using their locally grown scallions and sugar.

The shop also had a kim chee version as well as some anpogaki.

Then I walked towards Ginza and stumbled upon Kuuya.

Apparently they have been in business since 1884!

Their monaka (wafers filled with sweet bean paste) is so popular that normally you need to reserve the amount you want to purchase.

Luckily, they were not sold out and I was able to purchase a box.

Actually, I had originally only wanted 2 pieces (1 for me and 1 for Satoshi) but they don't sell them individually, so bought a box 10 pieces.

These were delicious! the wafer was light and a little crisp, the sweet bean paste wasn't overly sweet.

Friday, I sent Satoshi with the rest of the box to share with his co-workers.

As I walked towards Ginza, I enjoyed looking at the different buildings...like the Shiseido Building.

And the Mikimoto Building.

I also checked out the new Muji.

They sell veggies as well as have a Muji Hotel above the store.

At the edge of Yurakucho is the Kochi Antenna shop.

I bought some katsuo (bonito) products and look forward to trying them.

Across the road is the Marunouchi area.

Japan has been hosting the Rugby World Cup since mid-September and the finals are this weekend.

They also have a temporary Rugby Shrine at the Maru Building...it was fun to see various objet, like this ninja

and a bronze statue of sumo wrestler Tochinoshin in "rugby mode".

Lunch was at Wise Sons, a San Francisco Deli.

I had the small pastrami reuben...delicious.

The basement area of the Maru Building have many eateries and shops.

I checked out Akomeya...a shop that is dedicated to rice and all things that can be eaten with rice. Will check out the main shop in Ginza another day!

We tried this rice flour sweet filled with sweet potato and sweet bean paste and these soy beans with seasoned arare (rice cracker) coatings.

My last stop before catching the train was Zopf's curry pan stand.

This popular Chiba bakery sells their curry pan inside of the wickets of the JR Tokyo station in an area called GrandSta.

The curry is spicy, I'm glad we tried this.

Lots of walking, lots of eating..I'm glad the last day of October was a sunny one.

Tottori Okayama Antenna Shop
1-11-7 Shinbashi
Minato, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3571.0092
Hours: 10:00-21:00

Kuuya
6-7-19 Ginza
Chuo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3571.3304
Closed Sundays
Hours: Mondays-Fridays 10:00-17:00, Saturdays 10:00-16:00

Kochi Antenna Shop
1-3-13 Ginza
Chuo, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3538.4365
Hours: 10:30-20:00

Wise Sons Tokyo (UPDATE: 2024 no longer in business)
2-4-1 Marunouchi, Maru Building B1F
Chiyoda, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6551.2477
Hours: Mondays-Fridays 7:30-21:00, Saturdays & Sundays 8:30-21:00

Akomeya (UPDATE: 2025 no longer at this address)
2-4-1 Marunouchi, Maru Building B1F
Chiyoda, Tokyo
Phone: 03.6206.3349
Hours: Mondays-Saturdays 11:00-21:00, Sundays & Holidays 11:00-20:00

Zopf
inside of JR Tokyo wicket, in GranSta B1

miraian

Have been wanting to try the sozai (pre-made foods) from Miraian, but every time I have gone to Hatanodai, they weren't open yet.

Since I had already picked up some other items for lunch from another shop, I only picked up their croquette to try.

Very thick but fried perfectly.

Potato based with a little ground beef here and there.

I am glad I got to try them and will pick up a bento the next time I am in the area (hopefully they will be open).

Miraian
3-14-2 Hatanodai
Shinagawa, Tokyo
Phone: 03.3786.5209
Closed Saturdays
Hours: 10:30-21:30