anno imo potage

Ever since Soup Stock Tokyo opened up in Osaka, there is always a line to get in.

Oddly, I bought the Soup Stock Tokyo cookbook even before I tried this place.

So, on Sunday morning, while I waited for Satoshi to finish his German class, I went to have breakfast there.

There was a line, but it wasn't as crazy busy as it usually is at lunch or dinner time.

I'll write about eating here later, but I wanted to share this with you...

Anno-imo potage.

A creamy soup that is so sweet, you'll think the person who made the soup added sugar to it.

2 anno-imo (600 grams)
100 milliliters water
800 milliliters milk
150 milliliters cream
salt
white pepper

topping:
slices of anno-imo
some oil to fry potato in

After washing the potato well, cut the potato into 5-7 millimeter slices.
With the 100 milliliters of water (about 1/2 a cup) steam the potatoes until soft
When the potatoes are soft, add the milk and cook to heat the milk through (do not boil)
Take everything off the heat and with a hand blender (immersion blender), puree everything.
Put everything through a fine strainer.
You should have only the skins of the potato left in the strainer.
Return soup to pot and add cream
Cook on low to heat cream through
Add salt & pepper to taste
Prepare topping, fry slices of potato in some oil

NOTES: I added more water than the 1/2 cup to steam just because I thought the 1/2 cup would be too little. My strainer wasn't too fine so I had some bits of potato skin in the soup, I also didn't fry slices of potato, I bought sweet potato chips.

Still, this was an easy and very tasty soup. I'm making this again.

anno imo

Another veggie that is in season now are sweet potatoes.

There is a very sweet potato (pardon the pun) called Anno-imo (ahn-know-ee-mow). It is grown on Tanegashima, a tiny island that is part of Kagoshima prefecture.

The flesh is orangy but when cooked turns a bright yellow.

I recently made some sweet potato salad with it. The regular satsumaimo is almost "white" compared to the anno-imo. (see the photo above)

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try making this.

1 anno-imo
1/2 satsumaimo
2 small green bell peppers, chopped
1/4 red bell pepper, chopped
part of a red onion, diced
Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup salad oil
grinds of pepper

Wash your potatoes well
Steam your potatoes until they are soft to your liking
Peel potatoes while they are still warm
Make dressing and set aside
Chop all veggies
Cut up potatoes into bite sized pieces
Combine and if possible chill overnight

NOTES: I like the sweet-sour combo of this salad. Satoshi had no idea what I had made this salad of and thought it looked like pineapple at first. After taking a bite, he realized it was sweet potato.

I'm making this again.

marguerite de marillat

Another thing that is in season now are pears.

When I first saw this pear in the market, I had thought it was a La France.

But upon looking closer, I realized it was a different variety.

Marguerite de Marillat is a rather old variety that was originally grown by a person named Marillat near Lyon, France in 1872.

Later, it was grown commercially in the early part of the 20th century in the United Kingdom.

The skin is rather tough and a bit sour, but the inside is very juicy and sweet.

The website that I found information for this pear on, said that this type of pear is usually used for desserts.

We had this with our breakfast the other day.

I put it next to an egg to show you just how big it is.

This particular pear was grown in the northern part of Japan in a prefecture called Yamagata.

recycle

I told you that our laptop went to "computer heaven"...well, after we got a "diagnosis" and purchased a new laptop, we went back to talk to the tech support guy.

If our old laptop were in better condition, they could've bought it to re-sell, but since it was kaput, he told us about recycling it.

On the underside of the laptop is this mark (see the photo). He explained that since it has this mark the maker will take it back to recycle at no additional cost to us.

You should know that in Japan, most EVERYTHING costs something to recycle.

For our city (Minoo), if the item fits in the proper recycling bags, then it is usually paid for through taxes.

If it doesn't, our city requires us to pay at least 300 yen, up front, for it to be recycled. The bigger the item, the more you pay.

So, we're always looking for places that will take things (at no extra charge) to be recycled. Like if you buy a sofa, will the company you are buying from, dispose of your old sofa at no extra charge...things like that.

If our computer didn't have this mark, then we would've had to pay about 3000 yen to have it recycled.

I like the fact that the maker is going to send me a package to put the laptop into and send it back to themselves at no extra cost to us.

Does it cost a lot for you to recycle where you live?

marinated mushrooms

It's kinoko (mushroom) season here, so there are many different types in the market these days.

I found this super easy recipe in one of my Mom's cookbooks, "Moosewood Daily Special".
Serves 4

1.5 cups sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon or dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash of ground black pepper

Combine everything, coat well and let sit for 15 minutes before chilling.

NOTES: I used maitake (hen of the woods). I also used all olive oil. I didn't have cider vinegar so I used white wine vinegar. I also used 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill. I omitted the salt and put in several grinds of black pepper.

This was so easy, I'm definitely making this again.

carboncino

We recently tried this cheese called Carboncino.

It is an Italian soft cheese made from the milk from cows, sheep & goats.

The outside is coated with an edible vegetable ash.

I really liked the creaminess of this cheese. It reminded me of butter.

This cheese really went nicely with a glass of Bordeaux by Chateau Campet.

It's Friday. A typhoon is passing by as I type this and we are expecting lots of rain today and tomorrow.

Hope you have a nice weekend!

foodie friday

Sorry it's been a bit quiet here.

Our laptop went kaput and after having it looked at, it was determined that it wasn't worth fixing, so we got a new one.

Anyway, I wanted to tell you about a foodie adventure Satoshi and I had last Friday.

We went to Shitennoji, in the southern part of Osaka.

This area was the first state-established Buddhist temple in Japan and was created in 593 by Prince Shotoku.

The property is huge! spanning 110,000 square meters (27.18 acres). To see so much land not filled by condos is definitely rare especially in the heart of Osaka.

Unfortunately, most of the buildings on the property have been re-built over the years.

Like this 5 story pagoda, it houses some relics of the Buddha.

There was also a building in the same area called the Kondo that had beautiful hand painted frescoes of the Buddha's life by artist Nakamura Gakuryo.

In this area there are also many slopes, leading to and from temples and shrines, as well as from homes and schools.

It was neat to see these, especially since most cars are not allowed in these areas.

And then it was time for lunch.

I dragged Satoshi many blocks to an area I often walk called Momodani.

There was a tonkatsu place called Tawara that was featured on a local news show that I thought Satoshi would like.

It was crowded, there was a line out the door!

After waiting about 10 minutes, we were seated.

Satoshi had their special ro-su (pork loin)...1300 yen. While I chose their bite-sized tonkatsu...1100 yen.

Besides the main dish, you are also allowed one time through the salad buffet.

Boy, did Satoshi load up his tiny plate!

Lunch also comes with rice and miso soup too. So filling, but the tonkatsu was so tender and moist.

After eating so much, we decided to walk back to Umeda.

It's about 3 miles from where we were, but a good walk.

We also stopped in for coffee and shared this doughnut at Brooklyn Roasting Company.

Satoshi enjoyed the view from their terrace.

It was an overcast day, but I think we saw a lot and definitely ate a lot.

Tawara
1-6-15 Saikudani
Tennoji, Osaka
Phone: 06.6771.3981
Hours: 11:00-14:20, 17:00-19:00
Closed Sundays & Holidays