natsumikan marmalade

The other day, I got together with Kazumi and several of her friends to make natsumikan (chinese citron) marmalade.

Apparently, every year they get together to make this marmalade, but this year was a little different.

See, Kazumi broke her wrist last month and hasn't been able to use her right hand, well, I was there to be her "right hand".

From 19 fruits, we had two large colanders of peel and nearly two liters of juice.

After cooking it with some sugar, we came out with 15 jars of marmalade and 1 large ziploc bag (we ran out of jars!).

There was lots of chatter, lots of contemplation as to how to go about making the marmalade (apparently every year is a little different).

Good times.

kikkodo

It is amazing what you come upon while walking around.

I recently found this tiny senbei (wafer/cookie) shop called Kikkodo.

Apparently they have been around for more than 100 years! And they do everything by hand. Amazing.

These ginger senbei caught my eye...700 yen for a package of 12. (I counted them, there are more than 12 in the package, more like 18)

Delicious, crispy with a lot of ginger flavor. Perfect with a cup of green tea.

Kikkodo (UPDATE: no longer in business)
4-6-9 Katsuyama
Tennoji, Osaka
Phone: 06.6772.4168

p.s. It's Friday here, I hope you have a great weekend!

leai

Made it back to Leai to try their lunch.

It was crazy!

Their lunch service starts at 11:30. A couple of people ahead of me, went upstairs to their cafe area.

They ordered, paid and then went to sit at a table.

I ordered, paid and went to sit at another table.

And then by 11:45 there were 10 of us waiting for lunch...and waiting.

They only have the plate lunch on their menu, so I was kinda shocked that it took so long for the food to start coming out.

By the time the lunches started flowing out it was almost 12:00.

And then all the chatter stopped...everyone was eating.

Portion-wise I'd say it was worth it.

There was pumpkin soup, salad, a pasta with cabbage, peas and ham and a beef stew (pot roast) type of dish.

Some bread on the side to mop up the gravy.

Coffee or tea...1000 yen.

If you chose not to have coffee or tea, the plate lunch is only 780 yen.

I think if you have time for lunch, this place is worth the wait.

I'll be back.

la maison de graciani

I've written about Grand Maison Graciani before here.

Sadly, this restaurant had a fire in 2012. The restaurant was in a historical building, so I am not sure they were able to rebuild after the fire.

I'm not sure of the whole story, I think the kitchen may still be working, but they are no longer operating as a restaurant.

Anyway, with the recent renewal of the Hankyu Department store in Umeda, they opened a new brand called La Maison de Graciani.

The other night, on his way home from work, Satoshi picked up a couple desserts for us to try.

This cake had a sweet sour taste. I think they combined strawberry and cherry. The middle was quite dense like a cheesecake but reminded me of buttercream.

This dessert was really airy.

There was a little cake, a lot of cream, some strawberries and pistachios...we liked this one of the two.

I hope in the future the restaurant will make a comeback, but in the meantime, we'll be back for their sweets.

La Maison de Graciani
Hankyu Department Store Umeda B1
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6361.1381

naminori johnny

This caught my eye at the market recently.

Chocolate tofu.

Naminori Johnny means wave riding Johnny, a brand of tofu by Sanwatousuian.　Which is probably why the container looks like a surfboard.

The package says it is a "dessert tofu". In Hawaii, we have a pie that uses tofu, gelatin and whipped cream, so I thought it would taste similar.

It was more greyish than brownish.

I thought it could've been more chocolatey. Satoshi thought it was quite sweet.

By the way, they also have strawberry, cream cheese & pumpkin flavors...we agreed it was a bit too funky for us, but it was interesting to try.

benchi

Next door to Les Petites Papillotes is a tiny sweet shop called Benchi.

Did you know that "benchi" is the Japanese pronounciation for bench?!

Somehow we missed seeing this shop before, so we picked up some sweets to try like their vanilla cookies...220 yen.

These were dense, not very vanilla-y in my opinion. I think I would've preferred a crispier cookie too.

Their almond financier (150 yen) and ginger madeleine (120 yen) were moist and had a nice crumb.

The ginger madeleine had a nice kick to it too.

The rose marshmallows were soft, fluffy and the rose flavor "bloomed" in your mouth...delicious. (120 yen)

And the strawberry pâte de fruits (160 yen) was delicious too. The owner said it was quite sweet but we thought it was just right and had lots of strawberry flavor.

The cakes looked delicious too...we'll be back.

Benchi
1-12-25 Kyomachibori
Nishi-ku, Osaka
Phone: 06.6225.8831
Hours: 11:00-21:30
Closed Mondays and the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays

mannan hikari

A couple of posts back, Rowena asked me if we'd ever tried "rice" made from konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly) flour. We hadn't but I had heard of a diet food called "mannan hikari", a "rice" which I had heard was made of konnyaku.

Since one of the foods Satoshi is supposed to eat more of is konnyaku (it apparently has a lot of fiber), I thought we should try this, as it may be an easy way to add more konnyaku into our diet.

If I understood the Japanese correctly, the konnyaku flour has an enzyme called "mannan" in it, which helps with blood sugar too.

The packets look like rice.

Here's how to make it according to the directions on the package: Wash a cup of "real" rice and then add 1 packet of the konnyaku rice. The package cautions you NOT to wash the konnyaku rice (for some reason I have a feeling it may melt if washed). As for the amount of water, you should add 1.5 cups. Cook as you normally do.

If you want to be brave, the package also suggest you do 1 cup of rice and 2 of the konnyaku rice, but we haven't tried this version yet.

There isn't any distinct flavor, but texture-wise it is a little like instant rice, not really sticky.

For this reason, the company website suggests that you do not cook the "rice" by itself.

Dunno how this product would fare as musubi or as fried rice, though their website says that it does freeze well.

Have you ever tried this or something similar? What do you think about it?