Tokyo Five Foot Eater

Cleaning Out the Kitchen :: Leeks and Pasta

2012-01-26T00:01:00.002+09:00

Creamy Bacon and Leek Pasta via the Pioneer Woman Cooks

When you go to the grocery store in Japan, one thing you will always notice is the giant green stalks of leeks sticking out of everyone's shopping baskets and grocery bags. Leeks, or welsh onions are a big part of Japanese cuisine. I've talked about this Creamy Bacon and Leek pasta before and was reminded at how easy and filling this dish is when remaking it this week.

Cleaning Out the Kitchen :: Quinoa and Fried Onions

2012-01-24T22:13:00.001+09:00

Lemon-y Quinoa with parsley and pine nuts (made it up)

Paprika dusted salmon with mint mango salsa (mom's recipe)

Spicy Broccoli in olive oil and fried onions (tried to copy a dish i liked from a restaurant)

I'm especially proud of this meal because it helped me get rid of an entire package of quinoa and the last of my fried garlic, plus it was a healthy Sunday night meal. Even though I hardly ever used it, I'm really going to miss our Japanese fish fryer. It is the epitome of "set it and forget it. Marinate your fish however you like, then turn on the fish fryer and it does the rest - 8 minutes later, you'll have a perfectly cooked and crusted fish filet.

Shout out to the black flower coaster my mom just crocheted me.

Cleaning Out the Kitchen :: Powered Sugar and Walnuts

2012-01-19T23:59:00.003+09:00

I've finally started thinking about all the practicalities of moving. I had a mental block on it all month but there's really no hiding from it now. It's happening and it is happening soon. Oddly, one of the first things I thought of was cleaning out the kitchen. What am I going to do with all this stuff? Do I take it? Leave it? Give it away? I did a quick inventory of our cupboards and wow, we are really weird. Why do we have 2 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese (saw it on our first trip to an international market and were probably feeling homesick), 2 kg of cous cous (because we thought eating cous cous made us healthy and fancy) and Betty Crocker instant mashed potatoes (odd Christmas gift from younger brother).

I'm a bit of a spoiled cooker. I tend to pick something I want to make and just go out and buy what I need without thinking about how practical a whole bag of shredded coconut may be, despite only needing 1/5 of the bag. I blame my mother. I don't blame her for a lot of things because she is wonderful, but I definitely blame her for allowing my sister and I to have anything and everything we wanted from the grocery store. We would just wander the aisles and throw random things in the cart. Shark Bites? Score! Ritz Crackers? Yes please! Alcoholic Strawberry Daiquiri Mix even though I'm 8 and my sister is 13? Obviously. This kitchen cleaning task will be a really great practice in Home Economics and Resource Allocation. Plus...it actually seems kinda fun.

Tonight, I made a dent in the 1 kg bag of powdered sugar I had leftover from holiday cookie extravaganza 2010 and a bag of walnuts I bought for the 1 salad I made last week.

The result? Nut Ball Cookies

P.S. - Ok, actually, there were a few things my mom did NOT let us have. Mostly, Kudos Bars, any cereal that was the color of rainbows and brown sodas. Though I despised her for these rules at the time, I now see the error of my ways and am thankful that I do not have metabolic syndrome. You're the best mom!

Hokkaido New Year

2012-01-18T00:37:00.003+09:00

17 days ago, we rang in the New Year in Hokkaido, Japan's most northern island. We only made as far as Hakodate and even though it was cold and everything was closed for oshogatsu, we had a great time. On New Year's Eve, we rode the ropeway up snowy Mt. Hakodate to see one of the "top 3 night views in the world." I don't really know what that means, but it was very pretty.

We spent the night at a Japanese onsen so that we could enjoy some natural hot spring baths in the cold snowy scenery. After we warmed up with our baths, we had our in-room dinner. And because it was New Year's, we were treated to an unholy amount of food.

This is osechi. Like most Asian cultures, the New Year is the most important holiday of them all. Japan celebrates the New Year (oshogatsu) according to the western calendar, while other countries like China, Vietnam and Korea celebrate according to the Lunar Calendar. (This year, it is on January 23rd)

During oshogatsu, families are not supposed to cook or clean. But you still gotta eat, right? That's where osechi comes in. It's a 3-tiered bento box filled with food that can keep for 3 days without spoiling. Families order their osechi meals in early December and pick them up just before the New Year, and they don't come cheap. The contents vary and are heavy on fish and pickled veggies. Many of the contents are symbolic, such as fish roe for fertility and beans symbolizing good health.

(yes, those are gold flakes on my salmon)

We were treated to a single tier of traditional osechi foods at the Hanabishi Hotel in Hakodate. Some of it was good and some of it was...not so good (I'm looking at you slimy thing I still can't identify). But it was a really cool way to ring in the new year, one last time in Japan.

In addition to our bento, we also had mini-hot pot

Fresh sashimi

Roast beef and potatoes

Hairy Crab

Miso soup

Sake and fresh fruit

What I'm trying to say is that it was a lot of food and I rang in the new year completely satiated and relaxed. If it's any indication of the things to come, I think it's going to be a good year.

Momofuku Cornflake-Chocolate-Chip-Marshmallow "Cookies" :: Toffee x Cookie Time

2012-01-16T21:52:00.001+09:00

I finally now have in my possession, copies of the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook. Yes, copies plural. My love of all things Momofuku is so widely known that I've made it dead-simple for people to shop for me. To all of you that gifted me with the Milk Bar cookbook, one million thanks to you. I will probably need all 3 copies, somehow, someway.

People rave about the compost cookie and everyone is obsessed with the cheeky crack pie. Those are amazing, yes. But me? I love the Cornflake Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Cookies. It is everything I love in a cookie. Super chewy, super buttery, not too chocolate-y and has a nice texture. So naturally, when I got the book, I flipped right to this recipe and started gathering everything I needed.

And that didn't take very long since I had everything but cornflakes on hand. This is a pretty basic cookie recipe...sort of. Before you start creaming your butter and sugar, you have to make the Momofuku Cornflake Crunch. Basically, you toss a box of cornflakes with sugar, milk powder, salt and melted butter, then bake until you get golden brown crispy clusters. It's not hard, just an extra but necessary step. If you've been to Milk Bar, this is the stuff they crumble on top of their soft serves as a salty-sweet topping. And yes, you can just eat it plain. I know because I've tried.

After you have the cornflake crunch, it's pretty easy. I would highly recommend refrigerating the dough for at least 3 hours. The book says just 1, but these cookies spread like a motha'f*#%^ in the oven. Mine came out a little funky texture wise: crispy like toffee on the edge but gooey and cookie-like in the middle. Not necessarily a bad thing though! I brought a batch on a ski trip over the weekend and we renamed these "Tookies".

Here's the recipe online, but get the book! It's filled with a lot of great stories and recipes.

Year in Cookies

2011-12-29T12:29:00.004+09:00

A friend's friend is responsible for this and it makes me so ashamed of my lack of creativity and dedication:

Year in Cookies

Enjoy!

Last Christmas

2011-12-29T12:27:00.001+09:00

And so the time has come to say good bye to Tokyo. In February, Mister and I will be starting a new adventure in Hong Kong. (gasp! applause! tears?) I've done quite a bit of moving around, but this Hong Kong move has been unique in that, even though I've known about it for awhile, it kind of snuck up on me. So, here I am, a month and a half before we move, freaking out over having to enjoy every single minute Tokyo has to offer me.

Party throwing really freaks me out, but I decided to seize the day this Christmas, since it will be our last in Tokyo. We resurrected the KFC Fried Chicken-Fancy Christmas Cake party and I think that this might become one of our first true traditions as a married couple. At least I hope, because it was a lot of fun and not at all stressful. Or maybe next year, it will be a Peking Duck-Egg Tart party? That doesn't sound so bad either...

Jamie Oliver's Mulled Wine Recipe

The Pioneer Woman's Creamed Spinach

Adorable musubi brought by my friend Natsuko. The one on the left is me and the one on the right is Blammo. Aren't these the cutest?

KFC is really amazing if you eat it once a year. Finger lickin' good indeed.

Hungary in da house! My Australian by way of Hungary coworker brought some amazing spicy Hungarian sausage. A real treat for sausage lovers in Japan.

And she made Hungarian cold cherry soup! Perfect for this carb filled meal.

And of course, in honor of Hanukkah...

Latkes and Apples (I don't have a blender, so we couldn't make Applesauce - oops.)

Bacon and Chive biscuits (or "savory scones" as the Aussies refused to call them "biscuits") a la me. Whatever you call them, they were 100 times better than those soggy biscuits from KFC.

And my favorite part, the Christmas Cakes. Christmas Cakes, while festive and a real crowd pleaser, don't actually taste that amazing. But I enjoy the hunt for the craziest ones and I think I did an alright job this time around.

Tiny mushroom sized elf/santa.

Make shift masking tape tree. We asked everyone to "hang" an ornament. I will look back fondly at this picture for years to come.

Sign of a good party. Along with mulled wine, we also had hot toddies and hot buttered rum. Have you ever made hot buttered rum? It's incredible. Not only because it tastes good, but also because it is dead simple. My sister says that she's messed up every batch she's ever tried to make and I just find that incredible. It is literally just a crazy amount of brown sugar mixed with butter and spices, melted in hot water and rum. She can make a perfect roast that feeds 20 people but can't do that?

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T22:51:00.003+09:00

Sip Your Dreams By Drops

2011-12-14T23:16:00.002+09:00

Chasing dreams and sippin' schochu

Fukuoka :: Home to Hawks and Ramen

2011-12-13T00:26:00.003+09:00

Last month, my husband had an opportunity to watch the final game of the Japan Series from the owner's box of one of the competing teams. That is not an opportunity you turn down, especially when it means you get a good excuse to take a weekend trip. I myself did not have a ticket to the game, but was happy enough to tag along for the 6 hour Shinkansen ride to Fukuoka.

Fukuoka is the largest city on the island of Kyushu. It is known for tonkotsu style ramen, my personal favorite. Typical ramen broth is made with a salt, soy sauce or miso base. Tonkotsu ramen, or Hakata Style, is made with a pork bone based ramen that is milky and very rich. One of the most famous ramen restaurants in the world (not an exaggeration) is Ippudo. If you've ever waited in that line in NY, you probably know why. Ippudo originated in Fukuoka and serves up a bangin' bowl of tonkotsu ramen. Another famous chain in Japan is Ichiran, which I wrote about way back when.

Going straight to the source. It's what dreams are made of. This humble looking bowl of ramen may have been the best thing I've eaten since moving to Japan. *WHOA* To be fair, there were a lot of factors working in its favor - it was cold, I was eating outdoors and I had just drank a 500 ml bottle of beer on my own.

"Eating ramen outdoors alone?" you may have asked yourself. Why, yes. Fukuoka is also known for their delightful yatai - outdoor nighttime food stalls. And since I didn't have tickets to the game, I wandered around downtown Fukuoka in search of ramen. As with most places, some of the best food can be found in or near the red light districts. What can I say, pervs just know how to eat. These yatai along the river were just a stones throw away from some pretty seedy stuff. Gross or convenient, depending on who you are.

Meal of champions.

Fukuoka is also known for their adorable bite-sized gyoza.

The opposite of bite-sized - a sumo wrestler. November is sumo season and along with the Japan Baseball Series, there was also a big tournament over the weekend.

It's really hard to find experimental sushi that is not gross, but I managed for find something really unique and delicious at a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in the basement of a shopping mall. This is raw salmon nigiri brushed with mayonnaise, half-cooked and caramelized with a blow torch, topped with a slice of jalapeno pepper and cracked pepper. I really wish this shop had an outlet in Tokyo because it was amazing.

Oh yeah, the baseball. Now, as you may know, I am a big Yakult Swallows fan. The Swallows made the playoffs this year and even beat their nemesis, the Yomiuri Giants, to move on to the 2nd stage. That's not nothing. But they eventually lost to the Chunichi Dragons. Needless to say, for various reasons, I was rooting for Softbank Hawks to beat Chunichi.

This by the way, is a bronze mold of the hand of Sadaharu Oh. Along with being a lyric in a Beastie Boys song, he is also the original Homerun King of Japan and former manager of the Softbank Hawks.

I watched Game 7 from the Stadium Gift Shop with a bunch of die hard fans who were also ticket less.

And Softbank won!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Blammo-Squidward

2011-12-09T00:37:00.001+09:00

11.30.11, Tokyo, Japan

Winter Hot Pot in the Fall :: My First Nabe

2011-11-18T00:19:00.001+09:00

I love Autumn. I like the drop in temperature. I like taking out my jackets and scarves from the back of the closet. And I like eating soups and stews. Food blogs go soup crazy around this time of year and it makes my belly warm just sifting through all the recipes. There is one dish I have always wanted to try in Japan. More of a stew than a soup, nabe (nah-bay) is a Japanese cold weather staple. Though it is incredibly simple to make, it is very hearty and filling. This is after all, the dish that sumo wrestlers eat when they want to gain weight.

This version I made is probably the simplest type of nabe. I was feeling sick and nabe sounded perfect. I didn't know how to make it exactly, but I knew what I wanted to go in it, so I bought my ingredients and kind of winged it. It turned out great so here's my overly simple nabe recipe:

Make a simple dashi with water and dried kombu seaweed. You can also use plain water or a low-sodium chicken broth.

Prepare bite sized pieces of veggies you like. Mushrooms, leeks, tofu and no calorie konnyaku...

...cabbage, bean sprouts, chinese chives and carrots. Nabe is so popular in the winter that grocery stores stock prepared nabe sets like this one above with pre-cut veggies and instant broth.

Dice up some meat. My two favorites shown here - chicken and pork

Once your dashi comes to a boil, remove the seaweed and turn down to simmer. Then start adding your ingredients being sure to add the meats and tofu first, since they take longer to cook. When you're sure the meats are cooked, ladle the contents into small bowls with a little bit of broth and start eating. Usually, nabe is cooked in a clay pot right at the table over a portable gas burner. I don't have one of those and just used my dutch oven on the stove. You miss out on some of the communal fun of family style hot pot, but it tastes all the same. You can add different kinds of sauces to this simple dish, but my favorite is definitely this yuzu ponzu sauce. It's tart, vinegary and delicious. Of late, kimchi has become a popular pairing.

My favorite part of nabe is how you finish off the pot. Once most of the ingredients have been eaten, add udon noodles to the leftover broth and you have a super flavorful udon soup! Japanese families never waste a single grain of rice, so this is a great way to put that leftover broth to use.

California, I love you

2011-10-26T21:51:00.002+09:00

Sure, sure, this blog is supposed to be about Tokyo, Japan and food food food! And I promise, I'll get back to that sometime.

When you live abroad, you get asked "Where are you from?" a lot. Most people answer with their home country because it's easier to say that than explain where exactly it is you're from. I always answer proudly, and obnoxiously, "California".

Here's why:

Not So Subtle Hint

2011-10-10T23:21:00.000+09:00

This comes out 4 days after my birthday. Thank you in advance.

Downtown LA Wonder Wedding

2011-10-10T23:14:00.000+09:00

How do you know you're in your late 20's? It's getting harder to stay in shape, you have to start using eye cream and you're going to a lot of weddings. And if you're lucky enough, you get to have a front row seat at said weddings as a bridesmaid. Did you know that it's bad luck to be a bridesmaid more than 3 times? Curse or no curse, there was no way I was sitting out of one of my closest friend's wedding.

There she is! Drinking a cup of tomato soup and holding a grilled cheese sandwich, looking like the beautiful baby bride that she is.

As this is technically a food blog, I will briefly touch upon the refreshments in this section of the post. The food was catered by an LA food truck serving pulled pork sandwiches, sweet potato fries, grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. And the bar hosting the reception served two signature drinks chosen by the bride and groom.

I have to admit that I was very biased going into this trip because my previous experiences with Los Angeles have never been positive. Impossible traffic, impossibly perfect looking people (everyone has such nice hair!) and as a native NorCal girl, it's just in me to dislike LA.

But this trip reminded me that all that is silly and LA is pretty neat. We stayed downtown at the historic Los Angeles Athletic Club that reminded Blammo and I of LA Noire. Comfy rooms, good food, guaranteed parking and 10 floors of exercise options. (Not that I took advantage, wah wah)

Green rice, mole chicken taco and spicy pork taco. Hubbah hubbah!

We were blessed to be in the company of lots of LA natives with very strong opinions about the best tacos, burgers, Bloody Marys and French Dips in town. Did you know that French Dips are a thing in LA? Blammo tried Cole's and said it was great.

Before heading out on our 2 day Pacific Coast Highway trip north, we were told to go to Loteria in the Farmers Market. Uh. May. Zing. That shredded beef nachos plate ~ I will have dreams about it until our next trip to LA. I will however, have nightmares about this lady we saw walking off our meal. Oh LA!

It's like a frickin' Sheryl Crow song or something!

Lonely goldfish by the sea.

And of course, we had to stop off at the beach before heading out of town. This is actually the very beginning of our road trip - Santa Monica. The weather was too perfect not to stop and dip our feet in the water.

LA, you treated us real good and for that, I will not say anything bad about you for at least a few months.

End of Summer

2011-09-20T23:29:00.000+09:00

Today was the first time I've woken up needing a blanket. I am loving the cool breeze, though it makes me feel guilty knowing that it's because a typhoon is rolling through Japan, threatening to displace millions of people in Nagoya. Sigh. Mother nature, why won't you just leave Japan alone!

On a lighter note, here are some pictures from the end of summer.

Chillin' by the pool.

Mori Art Museum Sky Aquarium. I have no idea what this thing is but they were for sale in the gift shop. And alive.

Vietnamese dancers performing at the Harajuku Yosakoi Festival.

My favorite: kakigori

A little traditional...a little country.

Yakisoba heaven.

Tsukune (chicken meatballs) at Urawa's famous izakaya Riki.

Deep fried fish cakes and cheese. I know that sounds awful but they are awesome.

Birthday Food

2011-09-13T21:08:00.000+09:00

Happy Birthday 6 Foot Eater!

Major League Curry plate from Go Go Curry. We always joked that he would order this before the dirty 30 and well...time was a ticking. Going counter clockwise from the top: chicken katsu, shredded cabbage, fried shrimp, pork katsu, boiled egg, wieners and more boiled eggs. All on top of rice covered in that thick, sweet Go Go Curry roux.

OOOF.

Earlier in the week, I tried to cook as many of Squidward's favorite meals. Spaghetti and Meatballs, Kimchi Yakiudon and Japanese ginger pork and veggies shown here. I have to say, cooking all this food was really exhausting! I can't believe there are women that do this every single day without batting an eyelash.

Special birthday dinner at Kyushokutoban. This is a small Japanese school lunch themed izakaya in Taito-ku that Squidward and I heard about long long ago. He was always really jealous of my 1,600 calorie school lunches back when I was teaching. Above, you'll see a package of soft noodles, curry and a tomato meat sauce. According to my friend, the tin trays used at this izakaya are very nostalgic for those growing up in the 80's.

This little beauty is age pan - fried bread. It's really just soft bread covered in sugar and tastes like a donut, but it's delicious!

I swear, I did made a birthday cake...but I also had a lot of leftover cake scraps and frosting so we made cake soup. Watch out! It's gonna be a thing...just you wait.

Broccoli Rob

2011-09-12T00:20:00.002+09:00

Croissants in the Summertime

2011-09-12T00:17:00.002+09:00

August was flaky pastry month at ABC. The actual process of making croissants is hard enough to begin with, but the added pressure of the warm summer heat threatening to melt your butter is not ideal. Croissant 101: Butter is gradually added and rolled throughout the dough to make lots of delicate dough-butter-dough-butter layers. When you bake the dough, the the water from the butter turns into steam and puffs the dough up, creating all those flaky layers you know and love.

I made these croissants on a warm August evening and though it was a lot of work (mix, chill, roll, pound, flip, chill, roll, pound, fold, chill x 4) it was totally worth the sweat and stress. Warm croissants, (even on a warm night) there's just nothing like it.

Snickerdoodles :: Apparently Just an American Thing

2011-08-17T00:31:00.000+09:00

I've been baking a lot for my office lately. For one thing, I think my coworkers deserve better treats than Restaurant Cravers Pringles and bread stick crackers on the snack counter. But it also gives me a great outlet to bake like crazy but not get diabetes by eating up a whole batch of cookies before they go bad.

I made Snickerdoodles from the Flour Bakery cookbook last week and they turned out great. That book is amazing. The response in the office to this particular batch was interesting. The Americans nearly jumped out of their seats to grab one, swooning over how much they loved Snickerdoodles. The non-Americans all sent me messages like "What is that?" and "A Snickerwhuddle?" and "Why's it called that?" Both responses surprised me. I like Snickerdoodles but they're such a simple cookies, I didn't think anyone would go ga ga over them. I also didn't expect anyone to question them and look at me like I'm playing an evil trick on them. It's just a cookie, man. Chill out.

Here's the recipe I emailed to an inquiring coworker:

Snickerdoodles

114g room temperature butter

150g white sugar, plus about 30g for coating

1 room temperature egg

175g flour (I prefer a half and half mix of bread (strong) and cake (weak) flour but just one or the other would work too)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt (basically a pinch)

1 tsp cream of tartar

30g cinnamon

30g white sugar

1. Using a standing or hand mixer, cream the butter and 150g sugar until light and fluffy. About 5-8 minutes. Or you can use a wooden spoon, but this will take about 10-15 minutes. がんばってね！

2. Beat in the egg on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it is thoroughly combined. Remember to use a rubber spatula to make sure all the butter and sugar a the bottom of the bowl is mixed in too.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tar tar. On slow speed or with a wooden spoon, mix in the flour mixture just until all the flour is mixed in.

4. In theory, you're supposed to fridge the dough over night so that the butter and sugar flavors really absorb into the cookies. But who has the patience? You can get away with just putting it in the fridge for a few hours, but I think the dough needs somewhat chilled before you bake so that it's not sticky and they don't spread too much.

5. Mix the 30g sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside. Using a spoon, scoop up some chilled dough and roll into a ball in your hands. Roll the dough in the cinnamon sugar mix and place the ball on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. The size depends on how big you want your cookies to be. When I made this recipe, I had about 22 cookies.

I like lots of cinnamon and sugar, so I dip the balls in the sugar mix a second time just before going into the oven.

Bake for 15-18 minutes at 180C or until the edges are golden. Let them cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before moving to a plate to cool.

Jam On It :: Easy Little Bread

2011-08-07T23:36:00.000+09:00

Baking a loaf of bread from scratch - there's no better feeling. Except for when you actually get to eat said loaf of bread. Whatever your toppings of choice, there's really no substitute for warm freshly baked bread.

But of course, it can also be very intimidating and most people just don't have the time or patience for it. Sometimes, it is a giant headache. But sometimes, it's awesome. So, if you've ever wanted to bake a loaf on your own but were too scared, please give this Easy Little Bread recipe a try! I found this recipe on 101 Cookbooks and was intrigued by the home-y, simple approach. It's not messy (no kneading) and the bread is hearty and delicious. This loaf was our Sunday night dinner and I think we'd be perfectly happy if this was a weekly meal.

Easy Little Bread

1 1/4 cups / 300 ml warm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup / 4.5 oz / 125 g white flour
1 cup / 5 oz / 140 g whole wheat flour
1 cup / 3.5 oz / 100 g rolled oats (not instant oats)
1 teaspoons fine grain sea salt
2 tablespoons butter, for brushing

1. Dissolve the yeast and honey in warm water. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, sift the flours, oats and salt in a large bowl and grease an 8 cup bread pan with softened butter.

3. When the yeast mixture looks foamy, add the dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Pour the batter into the pan. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm dry place for 30 minutes.

5. Pre-heat your oven to 350F/180C. Bake the bread for 35-40 minutes.

6. Remove loaf from the oven. Run a paring knife along the edges to loosen up the loaf and turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.

7. Optional - Brush the top of the loaf with softened butter to give it an extra buttery crust.

Slice and eat!

Bacon and Leek Pasta

2011-08-04T23:51:00.000+09:00

I'm not sure why it took me so long to make this dish. There are lots of ingredients that are difficult to find in Japan. But thick cut bacon and leeks are not. In fact, they're plentiful and of the highest quality. If you watch people leaving any grocery store in Japan, you'll notice a slender green stick poking out the top of everyone's bags. They're leeks and Japanese food relies heavily on it. Back home, I always stayed away from leeks because they were such a pain to clean. But in Japan, they're already cleaned for you so you can just rinse quickly and cook away. It's great!

You can use regular bacon or pancetta if you're fancy. I used thick cut bacon because you can find it easily in Japan. I cut back on the amount of cream on this particular evening because I was feeling healthy, but if you want to have a super rich sauce, go crazy on that cream and butter.

Bacon and Leek Pasta

2 Leeks, just the white and light parts
2 slices of thick cut bacon or 8 slices of regular bacon
2 TB butter
1/4 cup of white wine or chicken broth
1/4 cup of heavy cream
Your pasta of choice - enough for 4 people
salt and pepper

1. Slice the leeks and bacon
2. Cook the bacon until brown on medium high heat.
3. Lower the heat to medium and add the leeks and butter. Sautee until translucent and soft.
4. Turn the heat back up to medium high. Deglaze the pan with white wine or broth.
5. Turn the heat back down low and add the heavy cream. Stir and cook for 2-4 minutes.
6. Add cooked pasta and pepper generously.

Top with parmesen cheese and eat! Great for leftover lunch.

Recipes From Mom :: Warm Crab Noodles

2011-08-04T00:32:00.003+09:00

Remember when my mom put me through Vietnamese cooking Bootcamp before I moved to Japan? Well, this was one of the dishes she taught me but I hadn't made it in Japan until this week. Mostly because I wasn't sure what kind of noodles to buy but I gave it a guess this week and guessed right! Hooray! This is a super easy recipe if you can buy cooked crab meat easily. In Japan, it's a seafood aisle staple and not too expensive either.

Crab Cellophane Noodles (Mien Xao Cua)

two packs of cellophane noodle
one full cup of fresh cooked crab meat
3/4 cup chicken broth
one small white onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper 3 scallions chopped
1 tablespoon sesame oil
olive oil

1. Soak noodle with cold water for one minute. Drain and cut to preferred size (4-5 inches long)
2. Heat two table spoon of olive oil
3. Stir fry onion until clear
4. Fold in crab meat, add salt and pepper to taste
5. Cook two minutes at medium heat, and set aside the crab mix in a bowl.
6. Put pan back on the stove, bring two tablespoons spoon of chicken broth to boil7. Add the noodles and slowly spoon in chicken broth. The noodles will soak up the broth so keep adding more broth until the noodles look clear and tender, but be sure not to add too much broth at a time. This is process is similar to making risotto.
8. Fold in crab mix at low heat for one or two min. Add the sesame oil.

Transfer into a dish, garnish with cilantro or chives.

And as my mom said in her emailed recipe - "Voila, bon appetit!"

ABC Cooking School :: Dutch Crust

2011-08-02T21:14:00.000+09:00

I finished the basic bread course at ABC in the Spring and am now onto the Master Course. These breads are, in theory, more difficult than the basic set, but they're actually not that hard. Each month focuses on a thee or technique. July was French bread month, so obviously I made...Dutch Crust rolls? No matter, I love this bread. My dad would occasionally buy dutch crust rolls on the weekends for our weekly German brunches.

So, to honor that tradition, the 6 Foot Eater and I made sandwiches for dinner after class. There's nothing like a sandwich made with right out of the oven bread.

** Yes, that is another nickname change for the boyfriend formally known as Squidward and Blammo. He would like me to point out that he is actually 6'1".

The Best Banh Mi in Tokyo

2011-07-31T02:38:00.002+09:00

I've searched high. I've searched low and I can say with certainty, that the Banh Mi Sandwich shop in Takadanobaba is the best Banh Mi you'll find in Tokyo. The bread is baked fresh on site and they flavor their meats with a lot of lemongrass. Now, keep in mind, I didn't say these are the best banh mi sandwiches ever but definitely the best in Tokyo. For example, there's no pate and no hot peppers. I'm also pretty sure they use Korean kochujang instead of Sriracha. But hey, they do their best.

In any case, this place makes me happy and gets the job done. They also make desserts and breads you can buy to go.

Banh Mi Sandwich Takadanobaba (バインミーサンドイッチ　高田馬場）
新宿区高田馬場 4-9-18
畔上セブンビル101

* Take the Waseda exit at JR Takadanobaba Station, go left down the main street, take your frist left after the Becker's Cafe then a right down a small street/parking lot. Keep an eye out for the red awning.

* Be warned that they sell out fast and once they sell out, they're done for the day. Go early if you can.

Perfect Day Hakone

2011-07-28T23:17:00.000+09:00

Last weekend I went to Hakone with my new friend Dezza. (Nickname alert!) Dezza just moved here in June and hadn't left Tokyo since arriving. So we got on the Odakyu Romance Car to Hakone and had ourselves a day of fun and nature.

One of the best things about going on a trip is starting the day with an eki-ben, a bento from the departing station, and eating it on the train while enjoying the views of the countryside. This bento was on the more expensive side, but it included 3 pieces of chu-toro (medium fatty tuna) so in my eyes, it was worth it.

Our itinerary.

Cooled off with a free footbath and kakigori (shaved iced) with ice cream on top at the adorable Naraya Cafe outside the Miyanoshita stop on the Hakone-Tozan Line.

After a short ride on a cable car and a scenic stroll across a ropeway, we got to Owakudani, which translates to "great boiling valley". And that's exactly what it is! Hakone is known for its natural hot springs and at Owakudani, you can see (and smell) the source.

If you go to Owakudani, you might as well make the mini-hike up to where they sell the kurotamago, black eggs. These eggs are boiled in the hot springs and turn black due to a chemical reaction with the sulphur. I'm sure my dad can pop in and let us all know exactly what the reaction is but let's move on.

They say that you'll extend your life by 7 years for every egg you ate. I had 2, generously dipped in salt so...with my math that's something like 13 and a half years. Not too bad.

Other things that are not bad: clear views of Mt. Fuji! We picked the perfect day to visit Hakone. On clear days, it's a great place to see Fuji but many people are left disappointed because it's usually too cloudy to see anything. Earlier in the week, we had a lil typhoon sweep through Japan. Generally speaking, typhoons are bad. But it did clear away the clouds and drop the temperatures for a few days.

There are lots of "black" themed foods around Hakone, including this black steamed bun. Looks gross, but it was delicious.

Of course.

After taking the ropeway down, we crossed Lake Ashi in this ridiculous boat. Beers, boats and Japanese pirates. Just another day in Japan.

And finally back down to the main station for some tenzaru soba (tempura and soba with cold dipping sauce) and cold sake at Yama Soba.

This little dish is a specialty of Hakone. It's goopy and slimy, which is a good sign that people in Japan love it. It was very yummy and wish they had given me more. It's a mixture of wild mushrooms from the area on top of grated daikon radish.

And of course, it wouldn't be a proper trip to Hakone without a dip into an onsen, or hot spring bath. We went to the Yumoto Fujiya Hotel and relaxed in their indoor and outdoor baths before taking the last train back to Tokyo. Obviously, you can't take pictures in the onsen because everyone is naked, but this is the path to the hotel. Isn't my camera kind of boss?! It's a Samsung TL500 and I highly recommend it.

And in case you doubt that I actually went to Hakone, here is proof! A certificate from the Hakone Tourist Association!

Hakone is only an hour and half away from Tokyo on the Odakyu Line from Shinjuku. You can do it all in one day like we did, or you can book a night in a traditional ryokan and really experience Japanese hospitality and cuisine. It's a great trip either way.

No Bread for You

2011-07-27T00:12:00.000+09:00

This happened such a long time ago I almost forgot about it until I came across this photo. My wonderful, awesome, Tennis blogger sister gave me the Tartine Bread Cookbook for Christmas and I finally decided to give the basic country bread a try. Do not be fooled by the name of the bread. Even though Chad Robertson tried to simplify his process for the home baker, it's still pretty complex. I studied the recipe religiously for weeks before diving in. It is intimidating, but not impossible. In the meantime, I embarked on my first attempt at growing a healthy starter.

Real bread bakers use home grown starters to bake bread. Making a starter, or "mother", is actually not too difficult. After all, it's just water and flour mixed together and left out on the counter. But it takes a lot of love and a watchful eye (and nose) to make a starter that will be flavorful and strong enough to bake into a rustic loaf. Everyday at the same time, you have to discard about 80% of the mixture and replenish with fresh flour and water. The bacteria will feed on this fresh flour and water mixture, create gas bubbles, rise and then fall. The goal is to train the starter to rise and fall in a consistent manner. It's like having a puppy and you definitely get attached to it. It's a alive. You start talking to it. You yell at it for smelling bad. It makes messes you have to cleanup. But you continue to give it love.

Anyways, after about 2 weeks, I got my starter, which I named "Gross", to where the book said it should be. I set my alarm for 6am on a Saturday so we could have some fresh bread for dinner. I'm not a morning person, so I of course measured out my ingredients wrong. I literally messed up on the very first step. Heartbreaking! And of course, I didn't have enough starter to start over...so that's where this story ends. No pretty pictures of fresh crusty bread. No stories about how easy and fun this recipe was. It wasn't easy. And it wasn't that much fun either. Sorry.

It turns out, my fake oven doesn't even get hot enough to bake this bread, so even if I hadn't been a bozo and messed up on step 1, I would have found out by step 8 that this was a lost cause. It just wasn't meant to be. Maybe one day, when I have a real oven, I'll give it another go, but until then, the Tartine Cookbook is getting packed away.

If you do ever try making a starter, I highly recommend keeping a daily log of the look and smell of your starter. Keeping track of the times you feed it and how it behaves throughout the day will help you with making adjustments so that you get a sweet, flavorful loaf.

Shōwa Nostalgia

2011-07-25T23:20:00.000+09:00

After a few months of blaming the heat for everything, I've made a pact with myself to take more pictures, cook more and post more.

Here are a few from a recent random day in Tokyo.

A handmade train station sign warning riders about bird pooping out hearts. Leave it to Japan to turn something so gross into something super adorable.

On on our way to lunch, we stumbled upon a Shōwa Era candy shop. Japan counts their years using the name of the ruling Emperors of that time. Emperor Showa rules Japan from 1926 to 1989 and chances are, if you see something in Japan that looks "retro", it's from the Showa Era.

I know that these Hipstamatic/Instagram camera apps can be a little annoying. But I can't help but use these apps when taking pictures of Showa Era candy and toys.

Remember when candy was just simple, colorful and fun?

Squidward says this is what the inside of my brain looks like

Baaaabies...lots of baaaabies

We ended the day at one of our favorite burger restaurants in Tokyo, Sunny Diner in Kita Senju. This is how they brought me my ketchup. That's why I like this place.

There are two Sunny Diner's in Kita Senju:

Lumine Shop:

Kita Senju Lumine 8F

Original Shop:

SUNNYDINER　本店

東京都足立区千住３−４５

Home, Sweet Home :: Doo Dads, Tchotchkes & What Nots

2011-07-21T22:37:00.000+09:00

If you thought I had a lot of randomness in the kitchen, just you see what we have laying around the rest of the apartment. Most things were won in machines, ~~stolen~~ borrowed late at night or given as charity.

We are essentially hobos living on the 31st floor of a high rise building.

The budding tiny musical instrument collection on a Sapporo beer crate.

Bookshelf of orphaned things.

Yes, there's a tiny Alf figurine on our bookshelf.

Squidward strangling a mean giraffe.

Concert posters from around Tokyo.

View from above.

Home, Sweet Home :: World Kitchen

2011-07-19T21:31:00.000+09:00

I was a little bored this weekend and decided to take some snaps around the house. It turned out to be a fun couple of hours. It gave me the opportunity to marvel at all the weird stuff we've accumulated over the past 2 years.

I'm really proud of all this weird stuff!

I love this. These are the various sauces and seasonings that sit on my counter top.

From left to right: Mediterranean sea salt, rice vinegar, olive oil, grape seed oil, thai fish sauce, light soy sauce, mirin, parmesan cheese, maggi sauce, black pepper, kochujang, sesame paste, shichimi, chinese chili oil.

Smiley spoon, various mismatched chopsticks in empty sake one cups

These were actually scattered around all over the kitchen. I have a tendency to make lists of ingredients from recipes on the super cool internet on the back of whatever is near me - old bills, actual notebooks, cute stationary from Japan and elsewhere

Fridge craziness. This is actually a really great story board of our life in Japan so far. Every piece has a memorable/funny story behind it and you might recognize some of the stuff because you gave it to me. Congratulations! You've made the fridge of fame!

Doodles of Squidward killing animals in various super radical ways

Moneys from around the world, running bib, silly magnets

I love getting post cards. They seem to be falling out of fashion, which makes receiving them even more of a delight. If you send me a postcard, it goes straight to my heart and onto my fridge

My First and Favorite Korean Dish, Japchae

2011-07-17T22:57:00.000+09:00

I love Korean food, but aside from a few dishes that use kimchi or recipes from my beloved Momofuku cookbook, I've never cooked any Korean dishes. Grilled pre-marinated bulgogi? Yes. Cooked a dish from start to finish? No. When I lived in New York, I worked on 34th and Madison, a real crappy part of town for good food. My saving grace was that I was a short walk from 32nd Street. For those in the know, this short block in Midtown is K-Town. I ate at a Korean deli called Woorijip at least twice a week, if not more because it was cheap and good. There was a rotating to-go buffet filled with spicy toppogi, tender bulgogi and my favorite, japchae.

I love cold noodles of any kind, so it's not surprising that I love this dish. It's surprisingly filling and pretty easy to make. It takes a little bit of time to prep all the veggies, but it's kind of soothing to just chop, marinate and mix.

Considering that it's summer and you're probably craving something healthy and light, might I suggest this dish? I found a great recipe on Beyond Kimchee, a great blog for Korean recipes. Finding the ingredients, namely, the dang-myon sweet potato noodles, was pretty easy for me since there are quite a few Korean grocery stores in my neighborhood. I substituted pork for beef with nice results and used bok choy instead of Korean Spinach because...I don't know what Korean Spinach is. This substitute worked out well too.

I don't have a pair of kitchen scissors so I skipped the step where you cut the cooked noodles into shorter strands. Big mistake. That is definitely not a step you want to skip, especially if you're going to try and eat this in public...say, at work in front of you computer. You will look very very silly and get sesame oil all over your screen. Sweet potato noodles don't break as easily as cellophane noodles or other glass noodles. You can't break off a bit with a little nibble. So you basically get a super long bunch of noodles in your mouth and you just have to keep stuffing your mouth until they're all in.

For the recipe, head over to Beyond Kimchee and give it a try!

Vent Session:: That's Rude!

2011-07-15T23:59:00.001+09:00

An interesting thing happened to me today. An "acquaintance" (Google+ tells me that this is "people you've met but aren't particularly close to" so let's go with that) today asked me if I spoke Vietnamese in front of a group of other acquaintances, to which I answered honestly. (I don't) His response was, roughly:

"What is wrong with you Californians? You grow up in a multicultural place and you can't even speak your own language."

Whistle! Penalty! Foul! Red card! Technical!

What I am about to write is more for me than it is for you because this exchange has really thrown me into a tizzy and I need somewhere to work out my thoughts in a meaningful way. Something more productive than "F#%! that guy!" and "Are you effing kidding me?!" Though it feels good to go on a whinge like that, it's not that helpful. But if you want to keep reading, please do. It is a blog after all.

I think I responded to this comment as best as possible given the shock and embarrassment I was experiencing at the moment. That is to say, I gave him the stinkiest stink eye I could muster and just waved him off because it wasn't worth my time. And it's not. I can't be bothered with stuff like that at this point in my life. Maybe if I were 22 and still minoring in American Ethnic Studies, I'd have some awesome speech for him quoting Ronald Tataki and Spike Lee. But I've calmed down a bit since then when it comes to racial stuff. It can get really tiring being offended all the time. It's also really hard to explain yourself without sounding defensive or like you have something to apologize for. So it's better to just pull the stink eye out. That's what it's there for.

Rough transition: I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before, but the Tokyo expat community is pretty weird. I don't mean that as an offense, but it seems to be very different from other expat communities in the world. Foreigners just aren't that friendly with other foreigners here. Everyone thinks their better than the other guy for various illogical reasons. Because you can speak Japanese fluently. Because you're not an English teacher. Because you've lived here longer. Because you have Japanese friends. Because you're married to a Japanese person. Because you think you're not an obnoxious foreigner. It's weird and I think that this is just a Japan thing.

Another interesting thing about foreigners in Japan (or actually, just people in general) is that they tend to fall back on wildly stupid generalizations about each other in a not jokey kind of way when meeting strangers.

"Oh you're from Australia? Have you ever pet a Koala?" -- No, because they all have chlamydia and are high on eucalyptus leaves
"Oh you're from England? Do you know Kate Middleton?" -- No, but she's hot.
"Oh you're American? Fuck you." -- Oh...umm, ok. Nice to meet you too.

You know that tidbit about the rest of the world hating Americans? It's totally true! Hating on American simply because they are Americans is a thing. Fair enough. I get it. Sometimes I hate America too. (Okaaay, "hate" is a strong word but whatever, free speech! Yay America and the internet!) But their understanding of Americans and American culture can be very limited. Rightfully so! You didn't grow up there, so why would you know the difference between the East and West coast? Why would you understand anything about Asian-American families and the American immigrant experience? I tend not to fault people for their first offense of ignorance. I try my best to educate people about my country and culture in a non-condescending and polite way. But..I don't know, what happened today went beyond that. I just don't feel like I need to explain myself. This was personal for the kind of relationship we had.

My feelings over this whole matter are pretty weird in that I'm really surprised that I'm so affected by the exchange. I had a pretty intense fight or flight response in the moment. And once that kind of settled, I was just sad. My mind was rationalizing everything saying "It's fine. He didn't mean to offend you. He just doesn't know." but my body wanted none of that. I just wanted to punch something. Or cry. So I did a little, in the bathroom. I'll admit it. And it felt good I guess. But then I was upset that I had let him get a reaction out of me which made me want to cry more...a vicious cycle!

Truth be told, I am really sensitive about my inability to speak Vietnamese. It's always been a sore subject for me since my teens, so it's no wonder he struck such an emotional nerve. But even though it's an issue for me, it's really not something people should comment on. That's my opinion. There are plenty of people who, for various reasons, can't speak their parents' native tongue fluently. That's America and that's what's great about it. How many Italian-Americans can actually speak Italian? Why isn't anyone up in arms over that?

Look see? I'm totally Vietnamese! I've BEEN to Vietnam! My last name is NGUYEN!

Just because I don't speak Vietnamese doesn't make us any less Vietnamese. I'm really proud to be Vietnamese-American. I really am. And I'm proud of both - to be an American and to be of Vietnamese descent. Maybe I didn't always feel that way - yeah, when I was little, I wanted to be taller and have blonde hair. I've been called "whitewashed" a plenty of times. I'm not Asian enough or not White enough -- that's sort of the feeling. But I've come to terms with all that. When I went to high school and started seeing more people "like" me, it sort of washed away all those insecurities. I guess today was a little bit of a wake up call.

A gay friend of mine recently told me a story about how his Japanese boss put him on the spot at a work function about which woman in the office was his type, basically trying to get him to admit that he was gay. I remember him telling me this story and feeling sorry for him, but now I really get why that was a big deal to him. Both being Bay Area kids, we're brought up in this little bubble where people are slightly more educated about diversity, be it homosexuality or race. But we're not in the hand-holding, flag waving, accepting Bay anymore and things like this are bound to happen from time to time. Even though we grow out of these insecurities, the scars are still there. If you poke at it hard enough, it'll remind you how you got it in the first place.

Excuses, Excuses. New York, New York.

2011-07-12T00:39:00.001+09:00

Yes, it has been a really long time since I've updated this blog. I've been busy! It's hot! I don't like food anymore! Ok, that last one is a giant lie but the first two are true. Since I last posted, I went to New York for a week for an amazing vacation with my beloved friends and family and the temperatures have creeped up to the 90's in a power saving post nuclear meltdown Japan. I also took the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) a few weeks ago, so any time not working or sleeping was spent studying kanji and grammar. Blech.

All these variables mixed together not only equals an abandoned blog, but also an abandoned kitchen. Sadly, I haven't cooked a single thing since early June. Bad girl! Actually, truth be told, I just made Muddy Buddies 5 minutes ago in the microwave and now look like I just got out of an intense session of Bikram Yoga.

But enough complaining! New York was perfect. I saw some of my most favorite people in the world and ate amazingly well. A perfect mix of old and new. The highlight would have to be conquering the
Bo Ssäm at Momofuku. This is the dish that really but David Chang on the map. A whole pork butt perfectly braised in a sweet brown sugar brine for 6-7 hours served with lettuce, kimchi and oysters. As with most things at Momofuku, I highly recommend it. Since it is such a labor intensive dish, you have to order it in advanced and make a reservation with at least 6 people. We had 7 hungry boys and 3 Asian girls that know how to eat tackling this butt and I am proud to say that we polished it off nicely. As I always (never) say, never leave any butt on the table.

This may be my 3rd or 4th ode to NY eating picture show and it just never gets old...at least for me.

Vanilla Mr Softee with Olive Oil and Sea Salt from The Big Gay Ice Cream Truck. I might start trying to make this at home. So simple! So yummy!

You just don't see cheese like this in Japan. Ultra milky, creamy Burrata Caprese from Bar Pitti.

Oh The Donut Pub. I have had so many wonderful late night stops at this 24-hour donut shop on 14th Street. I used to have taxis drop me off here and walk home happily, stuffing my face with a Maple Bar or 2. I was the vision of beauty.

I don't remember taking this photo or eat/ordering any of these pizzas which means it was a very fun night.

Murray's! My favorite bagel. Whole Wheat everything with sun dried tomato cream cheese. The coconut water was a failed attempt to erase any ill effects of the even before. Natural electrolytes my ass.

If you really want to cure a hangover, everyone knows you need to eat a cheese burger! And fries! And a strawberry milkshake! All from the Shake Shack. Those things are popping up everywhere and I'm totally ok with that.

And here we go. Momofoku Ssam Bar, 11pm reservation for 10. They handed us menus but our food had been ordered two weeks prior. First up, oysters.

Followed by this beautiful thing. 1 whole pork butt that melts in your mouth.

Granted, I have small weird hands, but this kind of shows you how large it was.

Wrap it up in some crisp lettuce and sprinkle some kimchi - somehow, it makes it seems somewhat healthy. Bwwahahaha.

Truckin' along. Not too shabby.

And bam! Done. Totally impressed.

You would think that after a late dinner of pork and drinking I'd still be stuffed by morning. But no. I strolled over to my old favorite morning hang out 'Snice (for the record, I hate the name of this place) for a Nutella and banana sandwich.

Cereal Milk soft serve from Momofuku Milk Bar. These too are popping up everywhere.

And what the hell, why not stop by Momofuku again for an afternoon drink before flying out? This sake was one of the best I've ever had and sadly, it is made especially for David Chang and his gang of restaurants so I can't get it in Japan. Ironic.

Non-food things that were delicious on this trip:

Seeing my mom and dad during their cross-country road trip
Helping a dear friend shop for her beautiful wedding dress
Alexander McQueen Met Exhibit
Duty Free Shopping
Walking down the extended Highline
Exploring more of Brooklyn
Depositing my hard earned Yen into my US Bank Account
ANA In-Flight Entertainment

Minimal Light, Maximum Smile

2011-05-23T22:35:00.009+09:00

I've really been looking forward to this post. I've been snapping pictures of post-disaster Japan for the past month in hopes of sharing what it's like here right now. Like I said earlier, life is back to normal in Tokyo but that doesn't mean that anyone has forgotten about the earthquake/tsunami/Fukushima Nuclear Plant situation. The country is in a recession, people are still missing and without homes and the summer heat is coming, which will put a strain on power in the greater Tokyo area.

By far, my favorite sign posted around my neighborhood, Akasaka. The big type above the adorable pig cartoon roughly translates to "Turn on your energy!" however "energy" here is not electrical energy (that's sort of the opposite of what they're trying to tell us) bur rather, your courage/energy/vigor. I see this sign all the time, but it wasn't until yesterday that I realized that at the bottom it says:

"We are open with minimal light and maximum smile"

Though normalcy has been restored in Tokyo, there are some signs of change. Buildings and metro stations are noticeably darker and many escalators are roped off to save power. Signs informing the public of cutbacks in power can be seen everywhere. It is a bit of a graphic designer's wet dream if you ask me.

Before the earthquake, Tokyo Metro unveiled big shiny TV screens at the entrances of their stations and also on the platforms. Poor timing for them but I like how they're using the monitors to show the daily power usage in Tokyo. This sign basically shows how much energy is being used compared to estimated capacity.

This is a sign from our local Pachinko parlor. Pachinko is BIG in Japan. I still don't understand it, but they're kind of like a hybrid between arcades and casinos. People sit in front of these pachinko slots for hours smoking and waiting to win. They're a big problem in Japan actually. There's always some sad story in the news about a baby that died because their parents got so into pachinko that they forgot to feed them. They're loud and smoky but also well air-conditioned. Many people say that if all the pachinko parlors in Japan were shut down this summer, we wouldn't need brown-outs. I'm not sure if that's true, but it's not a bad idea. Seems that the Pachinko owners are self-aware, as they are advertising a 25% cut back in power.

Apparel stores are helping consumers gear up (or down) for the extra summer heat with tips on how to dress properly for the warm weather. Workers are allowed to wear t-shirts and jeans this summer under the government backed "Super Cool Biz" energy-saving campaign. I'm curious to see if women are still willing to shield their porcelain skin under matte black tights this summer.

More trendy PSAs. The rainbow banner above again uses the kanji for "genki" meaning healthy/robust/vigor. It's basically saying "Be Healthy/Be Energetic for Japan" The "Power Off and Carry On" poster is another favorite of mine since all the morale boosting posters around town are reminiscent of the classic British WWII "Keep Calm and Carry On" advert. (See how I threw in some Brit slang there?)

Ganbarou Nippon! Ganbare Nippon! Let's Go Japan! Go Japan!

There is no shortage of "Ganbare" posters in Japan. The verb "ganbaru" is one that you learn early on when you move to Japan. It means "to fight/to do one's best" and Japanese people will say to you a lot when they realize that you don't speak Japanese. It is meant as encouragement and you hear it all the time. It's also used in sports, the Japanese equivalent to "Go Team!"

I had a hard time figuring out the sign on the right but from what gather, at the top, they're using some Northern Japan slang for "Ganbare" "Keppare Tohoku" is how it reads. I think that's a nice show of solidarity from a small town near Tokyo, Ome. It's kinda like when the Saints were in the Super Bowl after Katrina and everyone kept saying "Who dat dem Saints"

And this concludes the Japanese language lesson portion of this post.

Even the fashionistas and too cool for school kids in Harajuku are getting in on poster fun. I like their angle of promoting the Red Cross.

Though it has died down a bit, you'll still see collection boxes at convenience stores. The picture on the right is actually of 2 TV personalities collecting donations at Shinjuku Station. I don't know their names, but I recognized them. The one in the blue coat once had to bounce 10 times on a pogo stick on the edge of an active volcano in South America.

By the way, if you want to donate, my charities of choice is Second Harvest Japan and you can donate here.

I'm sure I'll come across more great signs in the future, but this seems to be a good stopping point.

Just kidding, I forgot that I wanted to share this JR commercial that makes me teary eyed every time I watch it. It was filmed prior to the earthquake and I don't think it ever aired but I think that it has a nice message in light of everything. This is the debut of the Kyushu Shinkansen route. Kyushu is the very southern part of mainland Japan and even though this has nothing to do with the North, it has a nice message. It really capture the playful and supportive Japanese spirit.

ABC Cooking School :: A to Z (with a few missing in between)

2011-05-22T22:36:00.000+09:00

This isn't actually new news, but I finished my basic bread baking course at ABC Cooking School this past winter. 27 breads - some good, some bad - all under my belt. I really enjoyed my Monday night classes with ABC Cooking School and our favorite teacher, Abe-sensei. So much so, that I signed up for the Master Course. It sounds like a fancy name, but I think it's just a marketing thing. The other options were "Twinkle Course" and "Club Riche". At some point, I'll be making a real baguette and croissants. Hoorah! Now that, in theory, I've know the right kneading and shaping techniques from the Basic course, I can really get some good practice in during the Master Course. At least I hope. If not, it's just more casual/awkward Japanese language practice for me.

I wish I had been more diligent about taking pictures of all the breads we made. Some of them were pretty boring so at the time, I didn't see a reason to document the non-event. In any case, here's a little taste of what the last 9 months of Mondays looked like for me:

A - Kabocha and Paprika Gallette

B - Maple Almond

F - Berry Cream Cheese

G - Spicy Tomato Hearts

K - Pain de Mie

M - Wiener Branch (a personal fave both in name and flavor)

N - Twin (?) Cream Kuchen

O - Honey Cinnamon

P - Pizza Tomato & Anchovy Sauce

V - Mille Tea Raisin (Maybe? I can't figure out the translation on this one)

X - Stollen

Y - Cream Custard Pie

Master Classes

My first Master class - a Japanese classic! Mushipan (steamed bread...think steam buns) These were mugwort flavor, hence the green color.

Another Japanese stable, Curry Pan! Fried bread with a curry filling.

Fried Chicken Carnival + Random Japan

2011-05-22T22:15:00.000+09:00

Last weekend, in an attempt to cure a wicked hangover, Blammo and I went to the Karaage Carnival in Yebisu Garden Place. Simply put, karaage is friend chicken. But in Japan, it is coated with a very flavorful batter usually consisting of soy sauce and a lot of pepper, perfectly fried and very popular. Another popular thing in Japan are food "Grand Prix" competitions where cooks from around the country gather to compete for the title of best (some type of food) in Japan. This Carnival gathered the top 6 finishers at the Fried Chicken Grand Prix 2011 so that people in Tokyo could sample the very best.

Basic karaage - salty, crunchy, good.

This being Japan, fried chicken is eaten with chopsticks.

A miso flavored thigh.

My favorite of the bunch - tebasaki - a specialty of Nagoya.

A dangerous looking wing.

It was a fun day but unfortunately, the chicken did nothing but make me feel even more unhealthy and disgusting.

Other random sights from the weekend - a giant Monchichi roaming the streets of Ginza.

Sure, OK. Typical Sunday afternoon in Japan.

A ferret on a leash. Of course.

Giant Koi fish in Kanda at a not-well publicized cancellation of the Kanda Spring Festival.

MEOW!

My First Home Party

2011-05-05T21:23:00.000+09:00

My apologies to the group of Japanese people in this photo. I don't remember any of your names and I am now posting a picture of you on the internet. If you want me to take it down, please leave a comment!

This is a bit of a long story, but since it's Golden Week and I don't have to work, I might as well take the time to share it. Awhile back, I was waiting for Blammo in his office building's Starbucks. As I nursed my soy chai latte alone (what a loser!), a Japanese girl around my age sat down next to me. I apparently smiled at her, but I don't remember that. She remarked upon my iPhone and when I ran out of Japanese phrases to spit out, I quickly told her that I didn't actually speak Japanese. She then busted out some of the best English I've heard from a Japanese person since moving here.

Turns out, she had studied abroad in the United States. Where exactly? Hayward, California - near, but thankfully not too near my hometown. Now, for those of you not from the Bay Area, Hayward is...shall I say, kind of a dump. No offense to anyone from Hayward, but let's be real, it totally sucks, right? But Japanese foreign exchange students get sent to some wacky places in America and they always come back with glowing reviews of these small towns and funny American accents. We kept on chatting, flattering each others' language skills and sharing stories about living abroad. Eventually, we exchanged numbers and went our separate ways.

This exchange might not sound abnormal to you, but every time I tell someone in Japan about how I met my Starbucks friend, they flip out. That's because you just don't talk to strangers in Japan. Not in a, "don't take candy from a stranger" kind of way but it's just not common for strangers to intrude into each others lives like that. Also, for foreigners in Japan, it's quite common for Japanese people to hunt you down like prey, in hopes that you'll tutor or help them practice their English.

In any case, she didn't seem like the serial-killer type to me and her English didn't really need any help. We hung out a couple of times afterwork, getting drinks once a month and recently, she invited me over to her house to make curry rice together. I thought it was going to be a relaxing girls night but when I showed up, so did 20 of her friends. I had just been bamboozled into a Japanese home party!

A home party, if you didn't already know, is the Japanese phrase for a house party. I think it's more like a house party meets dinner party because it's more about eating dinner than getting wasted and doing keg stands. Of course, none of them spoke English so my Japanese was really put to the test. I was asked lots of softball questions in the beginning, like "Where are you from?" and "What do you do?" but as the night progressed, the questions got more and more complex.

"What was your image of Japan before you moved here?" -- I thought it was cool, had good food and lots of robots.

"What did you think of the Mona Lisa?" -- It was really small.

"What are American home parties like?" -- Everyone stands, it's really loud and you drink a lot.

"What's the difference between East Coast and West Coast rap?" -- Umm....

I was also put on the spot and forced to come up with an "American-style" appetizer. If it were up to me, I would have totally busted out some pigs in a blanket or another Rachel Ray 30-minute meal (just kidding, I hate her), but I was handed a packet of spaghetti and various vegetables. The pasta salad I made was pretty flavorless but it looked pretty and everyone was nice to enough to eat it and pretend I was Mario Batali.

The main course was curry rice, a Japanese staple and favorite to many. Japanese curry is very delicious, but tastes nothing like Indian, Thai, Vietnamese or any other kind of curry you've ever had. It's pretty sweet, thick and not spicy at all. You can throw anything into curry rice and it will taste good. This variation had carrots, beef, chicken, mushrooms, onions and pumpkin. It was very tasty and much much better than my spaghetti salad.

And of course, like most Japanese gatherings, there was some drinking too. This I'm sure is what led to some of the funny questions thrown my way. Though a bit stressful, it was a great first home party experience. It was unique in that my friend's apartment is actually a family style house shared by 5 girls. Again, this is not new territory for us Americans, but in Japan, sharing a house with complete strangers Craigslist style is virtually unheard of. You either live alone, in a dorm or with your parents. Shared housing and having roommates seems to be getting more popular, especially for Japanese people who have lived abroad. I shared this story with a few friends of mine here and they all commented that the only people they knew that had roommates were friends that had studied abroad in Europe or the U.S.

And this concludes my Japanese Cultural Studies blog post. The floor is now open for questions.

The Mandatory Hanami Post of 2011

2011-05-04T18:41:00.000+09:00

You can't have a blog about living in Japan and not write about hanami. The cherry blossom season is short lived which makes it all the more special. This year, many politicians urged the public to refrain from celebrating too much in light of the national disaster. This basically meant "Hey, please don't get too drunk this year. There are people suffering." Very true, but it didn't stop the crowds from gathering and it seemed like a pretty normal hanami season to me. My Japanese friends felt that the country could use a distraction and I have to agree with them. Despite the crowds, hanami season is very peaceful and a great time to reflect on the things that you're thankful for.

Nakameguro Canal at night. This is the "cook kids" hanami spot in Tokyo.

Every year I try my hardest to catch a single petal from the air. They say it's good luck and I'm a total luck whore. I had never been successful in catching one until this year. Or so I thought! Blammo tricked me into thinking I had caught one when really, he had secretly planted it in my scarf. I eventually did catch one on my own but I must say, it was awfully nice of him to help me cheat my way to it.

This was my first time to Ueno Park for hanami. Last year, I had a picnic in Shinjuku Gyoen, the other popular park for hanami in Tokyo. It was super duper cold and windy. My parents and sister were visiting and the weather really showed up for them. We had a nice day strolling through the park and reveling at all the beauty.

Uh oh! Someone bought the Hipstamatic app for her iPhone!

And someone also finally learned how to use the macro setting on her camera!

I also visited Inokashira Park in Kichijoji for the first time for one last final hanami picnic with coworkers. It was a great excuse to buy this 3-tier bento box that I will probably never use ever again and cute collectible sake one cups. I made minced chicken onigiri and various veggies wrapped in pork.

Others bought food from a nearby Seiyu, a Walmart subsidiary and go-to store for Western food and candy.

Inokashira Park is adorable. It has a little river flowing through the center lined with cherry blossom trees. There are buskers and cute cafes inside the park that add to the whimsical atmosphere.

I found this cute set of sakura themed sake one-cups at the grocery store and couldn't resist. One-Cups are normally associated with drunk homeless guys in the park. It is literally a glass cup full of cheap sake. You just pull off the aluminum top and party. They're pretty awesome and you can get higher quality sake in one-cup form with collectible glasses too.

Here are some really kawaii ones with Yoshimoto Nara characters.

Sake is one of those wonder alcohols that I can somehow drink without getting too weird. I still get red and I still get drunk, but it's a more sustainable kind of drunk. And the hangovers are much easier to shake off. Most other kinds of hard alcohol lead to me passing out in public like this lucky chap.

Creamy Crabby Croquettes

2011-05-03T23:05:00.000+09:00

I was feeling extra adventurous a few weeks ago and was fangin' (a new word I've picked up from my Australian friend) for something fried. You can buy warm creamy croquettes at any grocery store in Tokyo. The fillings vary from plain old potato to minced pork and creamy crab. I decided to give the crab variety a shot at home with a Harumi Kurihara recipe found in one of her monthly magazines.

I love fried food a lot but absolutely hate frying things at home. For one, I'm constantly dodging oil splatters left and right. Due to my height, I guess my face is probably more in danger of scarring than others. I also hate frying because it ruins my grand plan to remain ignorant to how unhealthy my foods are.

In any case, these were delicious! The filling is composed of a homemade white sauce, potatoes and crab. Being in Japan, you can get prepared crab at any grocery store for pretty cheap. The white sauce was made in the microwave which made the whole process easier to manage. Once you mix the filling into balls, a quick roll in potato starch, egg and panko crumbs and you're ready to fry.

These were super tasty but I felt pretty guilty eating more than 2. I guess they're better for parties or picnics where you can unload the guilty delicious calories on others, but it was fun to make at least once.

In an attempt to health-ify the meal, I made a really easy soft tofu chicken salad with sesame dressing. This was tasty in its own right and probably something I'll make more often than the croquettes.

Crab and Cream Croquettes recipe via NHK World/Harumi Kurihara

Soft Tofu and Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing

1 skinless chicken breast
1 inch knob of ginger
3 scallions

1. Put the ginger, scallions and chicken in a pot. Cover with water and bring to a boil.

2. Shut off the heat and cover with a pan. Let stand until the chicken has cooked all the way through.

3. Remove the chicken from the pan and let cool. Shred and set aside.

1/4 cup white sesame paste
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
1 TB rice wine vinegar

1. Mix all the dressing ingredients together until incorporated. Alter the amount of vinegar to your own taste.

Drain 1 package of soft tofu. Slice into 8 cubes and place on a plate. Pour dressing over tofu. Top with chicken and more chopped scallions. Eat chilled.

Five Foot Traveler :: Ooooooh, Blue Savannah Song

2011-04-26T23:26:00.000+09:00

This right here, this is America. The 3rd leg of our Winter Vacation was a 3 day stop in Savannah, Georgia - the first real Southern city I've ever visited.

Classic Pralines - So sweet. So good.

There are many different sides to Savannah. There is of course, historic Savannah. The downtown area is comprised of 22 historic squares. Downtown Savannah is one of America's largest National Historic Landmark areas (thank wikipedia!) and much of the city revolves around maintaining that good 'ol Southern charm.

Then there's Savannah College of Art and Design, which plays a major role in the city landscape and attitude. It seems as though every building was owned by the school or part of the school. There are lots of adorable college-y cafes and boutiques and if you want to pick up some student-made art, you can do so at the SCAD Shop. There are, admittedly, many annoying young folk walking around with their canvases taking advantage of the city's no open container law.

Some girly breakfast at the SCAD owned cafe, Gryphen Tea Room

Right now, it seems like there's a good balance between maintaining the traditional charms and welcoming young, innovative ideas but I could see SCAD trying to overstep their bounds. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Super find of the day on Tybee Island

If art and history don't interest you (you plebeian!), there's the beach and everyone loves the beach! Tybee Island is I guess, not technically Savannah, but it's a very short drive from downtown. I found both a live and dead sand dollar hanging out in the sand which was beyond super way exciting for this tide pool loving gal. To the left is a live sand dollar - left this lil guy at the beach. On the right, my lucky find (well, I guess not so much for the sand dollar) a pristine dried up test, which is the confusing name for a dead sand dollar.

And of course, you can't talk about Savannah without talking about the queen of the town - Ms. Paula Deen. Her original restaurant, Lady & Sons, is one of the biggest attractions in Savannah. To get reservations, you have to line up at 9am to put down your name. Kind of obnoxious, but whatever - I need my hoe-cakes! Upon arrival for your reservation, you are made to wait in her merchandise store (which is genius from a business perspective) filled with XL tee-shirts emblazoned with her face, "Hey ya'll!" and "Put some south in your mouth" (genius in other ways)

There is a full menu available but apparently you're supposed to get the world famous all-you-can-eat fried chicken buffet. And we did. And it was amazing. For the first 10 minutes. Then it just got sad because there's no way you could ever eat that much food in one sitting even though it is so delicious. And then you just get even sadder looking around all the American tourists that are packing down their second helping of fried chicken and collard greens (which were, really really amazing.) Of course, you should still go if you have a chance but don't say you haven't been warned.

And lastly, if you're not a huge Erasure fan (which you should be) then the title of this post probably makes no sense. To help clarify, please press play and let this soothe your soul. (I don't think this song is about Savannah, Georgia but do we really need an excuse for Erasure?) (The answer is no.)

Five Foot Traveler :: Chile and Argentina, es muy rico

2011-04-15T00:12:00.001+09:00

2011 has proven to be pretty exciting so far. Exciting in both a "yay this is fun!" way and also "holy $&#% this is scary" kind of way. I have to admit, I wouldn't mind if it were completely boring for the rest of the year. Last month's earthquake distracted me from writing about our epic trip to Chile and Argentina. This post is long overdue, but here we go...

It basically all comes down to this photo. This is a lomito from La Fuente Alemana in the Bellavista neighborhood of Santiago. It is epic, iconic and delicious. I learned about this masterpiece from the Chile episode of No Reservations and it's all Blammo and I could think about before our trip. Actually, it's all we thought about during our trip and it's all we think about after our trip. Paired with a schopp of beer, nothing gets more Chilean than the lomito. Composed of a large pile of pork topped with tomatoes, a generous slather of avocado and homemade mayonaise, needless to say, this is one messy sandwich. Did I mention that the white stuff oozing out isn't cheese? It's mayo. Creamy, yummy, handmade mayo.

Just like every other South American country, Chileans love their meat and potatoes. This is a plate of chorillana - steak on top of fries topped with a fried egg. Chileans are very proud of their potato heritage. Much to the chagrin of their Peruvian neighbors, Chile claims to have been the first to ever harvest potatoes. Not entirely sure if that is true, but they do grow very different varieties of the spud and opt for potatoes over rice in just about every single dish.

Another Chilean classic - pastel de choclo. A corn casserole filled with ground beef, onions, chicken, raisins, hardboiled egg, olives, and topped with sugar and butter. Very very delicious, but also very very rich. If I had to choose one word to describe our entire trip, it would be rico, the Spanish word for "rich". If you want to compliment a Chilean chef on their food, just tell them it's "muy rico".

Moving on to some sweets. Chile has incredible ice cream. Why? I have no idea, but you'll get no complaints from me. Super creamy with lots of interesting fruit flavors.

This might be my favorite discovery during our trip. Mote con huesillo is a summertime drink made up of cooked dried peaches and stewed corn. This is essentially, a really sweet cold peach tea with corn and the perfect way to cool down in the summer heat. I wouldn't mind finding a recipe for this for the coming air conditioning free/power saving Summer in Japan.

We did more than eat, I swear! My favorite mural in Valparaiso; a must see if you go to Chile.

Let's talk condiments. Who puts ketchup in a green bottle?! People who like spicy sauce is who.

Drinks. At the top, cafe tres leches (condensed milk, milk and...foam? I'm not exactly sure what the third milk is but it was sweet and delicious). Next is pisco sour and draft beer, the national alcoholic drinks of Chile. Lastly, fresh raspberry juice. Chile has a lot of great fruit and you can get fresh juice on the street that will make you rethink your juice from concentrate.

Sweets! So, I didn't know before going to Chile, that there was a heavy German influence in both their architecture and cuisine. The Germans introduced beer, cakes and streudel to Chile and Chileans have really embraced the cultural exchange. Actually, one thing people say about Chile is that it has no culture of its own. They sort of allow other cultures to come in and influence their own society. I have to say, after walking away from Chile, I have to agree. Aside from native mapuche culture, Chilean culture is hard to describe.

Again, we did do more than eat. This is proof of it. If you go to southern Chile, definitely go to Puerto Varas and explore the many volcanoes and lakes in the area. We took an awesome boat/bus trip from Puerto Varas to Bariloche, Argentina that I'll never forget. Just make sure you have a return plan. Trust me, getting stuck in Argentina is not that fun. This is a photo of Volcan Osorno, which looks a lot like Mt. Fuji to me. Actually, Chile and Japan have quite a lot in common. More on that later.

View from a helicopter - glaciers galore!

View from a helicopter II: turquoise lakes of wonder!

Would you like to spend 7 hours in this taxi? Probably not, but I can tell you from experience, it's not the most comfortable or economical way to cross the border. Again, be sure you have a return ticket to Chile before entering Argentina!

One of the coolest parts of our trip was renting a car in Santiago and driving around aimlessly. We found this empanada stand on the side of the road. This is the proprietor and he bakes a mean twig fueled oven bread.

Simplicity is best - fresh baked bread, ham, cheese and butter. Muy delicioso!

The NY Times picked Santiago as one of the places you must travel to in 2011. After visiting, I totally understand their reasoning. It is a completely livable city, which is rare in South America. It has great transportation and an old European feel to it. If you ever have a chance to visit - DO IT.

Final thoughts on Chile: Chileans may not be overly friendly, but they are kind and mind their own business. When I went to Europe for the first time, I was really taken aback at how people treated me. What I mean is, I was really offended that people would walk past me and say "ching chong" or "nee how!" while pulling back their eyes. (I'm looking at your Brits and Spaniards!) I've come to realize over the years that maybe they're not trying to be offensive, but it's still jarring. I sort of prepared myself for this kind of behavior in Chile but not once was I made to feel like a total outsider-Asian-weirdo (even though, let's face it, I am one). Honestly, people just didn't care and I appreciated that.

One of our awesome tour guides in Puerto Varas said that Chile has 112 active volcanoes and is prone to earthquakes. He joked that he didn't know why we would want to travel to such a dangerous place. The dangers Chile faces are the same as in Japan and throughout our trip, I couldn't help but draw parallels between the two countries. Earthquakes, beautiful mountains, active volcanoes, reserved but friendly people and an intense love of mayonaise.

The Holy Trinity of Japanese Cooking :: Soy Sauce, Mirin + Sake

2011-04-05T00:06:00.001+09:00

I've been cooking a lot of Japanese dishes lately. Somewhere deep down, I feel cooking Japanese dishes at home is my own tiny way of showing solidarity with the rest of the country. I dusted off my Harumi Kurihara books and also picked up a few Japanese food magazines. They have (relatively) simple instructions and those have been a lot of fun to tackle. Both in cooking and trying to translate the recipes properly.

One thing you'll see over and over again in Japanese recipe is the prolific use of soy sauce, mirin and sake. Used in varying ratios, these 3 ingredients tenderize and flavor meat and fish in a distinctly Japanese way. These days, you can get all three in the Asian food aisle and if you want to have an under 10 minute dinner during the week, these are staples in your kitchen. Used either as a marinade or sauce, this mix is essentially what we Americans know as teriyaki sauce. The flavor is strong and sweet, so it goes perfectly with plain rice and veggies like shredded cabbage, boiled green beans or bok choy. Here's a really basic and super easy recipe for teriyaki chicken that I've come to crave weekly.

Basic Teriyaki Chicken

1 boneless chicken leg (with skin)

sake ... 2 TB

soy sauce ... 2 TB

grated ginger ... 1/2 TB

oil ... 1 TB

sugar ... 1 TB

soy sauce ... 4 TB

mirin ... 4 TB

1. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and season with pepper (no salt). Marinate for 10 minutes in the ingredients in red. Mix the sugar, soy sauce and mirin and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a frying pan on medium high heat. Add the chicken, skin side down and brown both sides.

3. Once the meat has browned, add the rest of the ingredients to the pan. Once the sauce bubbles, turn the heat down to medium low and let it reduce until the sauce is thick and shiny. Careful not to burn the sauce.

Serve with simple rice and vegetables. Serves 2.

An Unexpected Trip To Nagoya

2011-03-21T22:25:00.000+09:00

Hello friends. It's been a busy and stressful week but thankfully, it's starting to chill. We woke up Tuesday morning to some grim news about an emergency unfolding at the Fukushima nuclear power plants. The news sounded scary but I didn't panic until I started getting emails from work telling me the office was closed and to stay home. People, (mostly foreigners and women and children) started making plans to leave the city and head south or home; basically anywhere far away from the reactors. Long story short, we went to Nagoya where Squidward's firm rented temporary office space for them to work from while things cooled down (no pun intended).

Were we in any immediate danger? In retrospect, probably not. But you know what? When people start panicking around you and the words "radiation" and "nuclear meltdown" start getting thrown around, your natural reaction is to panic too. I'm not an expert on nuclear reactors and as adorable as the Chief Cabinet Secretary was in his workman's jumpsuit, he wasn't giving out a lot of information at the time.

So we're back in Tokyo now. I had heard that Tokyo was totally normal despite reports of a mass exodus. Tokyo is definitely not normal right now. Sure, shelves are fully stocked and there are people around, but this is definitely not the Tokyo I left on Tuesday. The city is dark. Literally. Many shops and restaurants are closed or open for only lunch or dinner. The famous Shibuya lights are off, trains are running at reduced schedules and most escalators in the subway are off too. This is all in an effort to avoid blackouts.

So, what'd I do in Nagoya? I tried my best not to watch a lot of news, especially western channels. I watched a lot of news stories twice - the original broadcast in Japanese on NHK which reported the facts and then the CNN version which was made to make me cry. To be quite honest, I was totally confused by all my friends' Facebook statuses telling me that they were in tears over what they were watching. I totally get it now.

I visited the Nagoya Aquarium on a quiet Wednesday afternoon. It was the perfect place for me to reflect and take a deep breath. I've been to quite a few aquariums in Japan and this one is pretty well put together.

We were hearing that food and supplies were running scarce in the Tokyo area, so ABC Cooking School friend and I picked up some stuff to donate to Second Harvest Japan. We looked pretty cool buying 12 packs of ladies sanitary napkins and baskets full of Soy Joys.

By the way, this is where I recommend donating to Second Harvest. They have trucks making daily runs to Miyagi Prefecture, where the tsunami hit. These trips don't pay for themselves!

Ate some delicious food such as this inside out オムライス (omelet rice).

My favorite Nagoyan treat? きしめん. Kishimen are flat udon noodles and they're a Nagoyan delicacy. They're cheap and fun to slurp.

Took a day trip to Ise which is famous for it's shrines, most notably Ise Jingu, the holiest shrine in Japan. Kyoto is also known for their shrines, but the ones in Ise are not like anything I've ever seen in Japan. They are simple, very traditional and even though the majority of the site is off limits to the public, it's still a great place to visit. This might be the one place in Japan where you can't find a vending machine. It was a nice peaceful day. We just walked around the forest that surrounds the shrines and took in the 500 year old trees and power spots.

What is a power spot you ask? Well, this is a relatively new craze in Japan. Crash course in Japanese spirituality: In Japan, there's Buddhism and there's Shinto. If you're Japanese, you are Shinto. Shinto isn't a religion, but more a spiritual guide. Many Japanese are both Buddhists and Shinto. Shintoists believe that their deities take the form of rocks and trees and some of these rocks, trees and shrines have been deemed "power spots" by travel agencies.

This explains why so many people were hugging trees and waving their hands over rocks throughout the forest.

On our way back to Tokyo, I ate some delicious red bean filled mochi while whizzing by the countryside. It's hard not to think about how acres of land that looked just like this just a week ago are completely gone.

And on that, I'm going to end with a few more donation options.

It's Been A Bad Day

2011-03-11T22:13:00.002+09:00

So, yeah...there was a pretty huge earthquake today in Japan. The biggest in Japanese history, bigger than Loma Prieta and the 6th biggest in the world EVER.

Even though I grew up in CA, earthquakes are always scary. Even little ones. We had a little tremble earlier this week so today makes a little more sense. Sort of? I'm glad I was around my coworkers so we could crack jokes even though deep down, we were all pretty scared and spooked.

Cell service is down nationwide but email and SMS work on and off. Oddly, Twitter and Facebook have been very reliable. As much shit as Facebook gets, Im glad there was an easy way to tell my friends and family I was ok. Key takeaway: Technology is your friend!

Our apartment is really safe. We are only 1 of 3 buildings in Japan that uses Takanaka Super Flex Wall Technology (patent pending) which promises us working wifi during earthquakes up to 6.3 magnitude. I can now vouch that it works after an 8.8. Some things are NOT working, such as our elevators. We had to hoof it up 31 long flights to get home. Home sweet home indeed!

Now I'm plopped in front of the tv watching the crazy video on Miyagi. My coworker will be spending the night here as the trains have stopped and thousands are stranded in Tokyo with nowhere to go. My teacher friend is sleeping in her school but many department stores and parks are serving as shelters. Also, I learned that there is a sticker at the top of all Suntory vending machines that you can pull off and all the drinks are free. Kiiiiinda tempted to try it out, bit I don't want to walk back up these stairs.
We've been getting lots of aftershocks which is to be expected through tomorrow. I suspect it will be a quiet weekend around town. I've packed an emergency backpack just in case, but I hope it never gets used.

It's been a scary day. We were really lucky to be here in Tokyo and close to home. Others weren't as lucky. Maybe for the first time ever, I have nothing clever to say and have zero appetite.

¡Holy Guacamole!

2011-03-10T20:43:00.001+09:00

Waiting for a friend at Tully's and got tired of studying kanji. Now I'm clearing off my iPhone pix. Here's one from Chile.

Chicken Lomito with about a pound of smooshed avocados. I do believe this was my last meal in Santiago. Chile recap coming soon.

Ice Cream Sandwich Meets Ice Cream Bar

2011-03-10T20:36:00.001+09:00

Two of my favorite things had a baby AND got more environmentally friendly. What will you think of next Japan?!

My Funny Valentine

2011-02-11T00:35:00.000+09:00

I really shouldn't be writing this post. My apartment looks like a giant explosion of toiletries, winter clothes, summer clothes and plastic bags. That's right, I'm packing for vacation! This time around, Blammo and I are hitting up New York, Chile, Argentina, Savannah and The Bay Area for about 2 weeks. Yeah. It's going to be nuts. And awesome. And delicious.

We will arrive in Santiago on Valentine's Day, so I decided to bake some vday sweets well in advance. One of the season cake classes at ABC is a White Chocolate Strawberry heart shaped cake. It was adorable but not really my kid of cake. Buttercream frosting seems to be exclusively American and cakes in Japan are almost always topped with whipped cream or ganache. Nothing wrong with that but just not my style. It's pretty though, right?

For my lovely coworkers, who I am getting to know more and more these days I made a batch of Pink Frosting Cookies. When baking for my expat office, I try my best to bring a little piece of home to them and one bite of these cookies will bring you back to elementary school. My birthday is in October near Halloween, so whenever it was my turn to bring in a treat to share for my class, I always got white sugar cookies with bright orange frosting from Safeway. Well, regardless of what color the frosting is the taste will bring you back to those store bought Lofthouse style cookies.

The batch I made tasted spot on and I was so pleased to hear all the Americans say "oh my gosh, these totally remind me of ". Because I always use a 50/50 mix of bread and cake flour, the texture of my cookies turned out more cakey than I would have liked. They were basically cupcake tops. Not a bad thing at all. I don't mind the softness but maybe next time I'll try an 80/20 bread to cake flour mix to see if it makes a difference.

Ok, I'm running out of things to say about Valentine's Day. I've watched all the new TV shows on my Apple TV and washed every single dish in the house which means, I have to either go to sleep or finish packing.

See you in 2 weeks with lots of pictures and stories from far and away!

Chao Ga :: Vietnamese Rice Porridge with Chicken

2011-02-06T19:15:00.000+09:00

It's officially Tết, or the Lunar New Year, so again, Happy New Year! I had a lot of ambitious dreams of making some traditional Tết treats, like Banh Chung and Thit Kho but decided to go with something much simpler. We're talking 2-ingredients simple. Rice and water. That's all you need. Of course, you can fancy it up with toppings and flavorings, but at the core, it's just boiled rice and water. It's simple, healthy and perfect cold or sick food. In our house, when we were feeling under the weather, we got a steaming hot bowl of gingery, peppery Chao Ga instead of Chicken Noodle Soup.

I've made this a few times in Japan and I think I've finally worked out all the toppings and flavorings to my liking. So here it is:

Chao Ga :: Vietnamese Rice Porridge with Chicken

Porridge

1 cup of rice, jasmine or japanese short grain

8 cups of water

2 inch piece of peeled ginger thickly sliced

1 bunch of scallions chopped in 1 inch pieces, whites only

8 whole black peppercorns

1. Put everything in a large pot. Bring to a boil then simmer on low for 1 hour. Stir occasionally and scrape rice from the bottom of the pan.

Chicken

1 chicken breast

1 inch knob of ginger, sliced

1. Poach the chicken breast in water with the ginger until done. Set chicken aside to cool.

2. When the chicken has cooled, use two forks to shred into bite sized pieces.

Customize your own bowl with different toppings. I put the chicken on top of a small bowl of soup and splash some fish sauce on the chicken. Then flavor the soup with Maggi Sauce. It also gets a healthy sprinkling of chopped green onions. One of my favorite toppings when I was little was something I called "carpet" which is a really salty dried pork that is then shredded (thịt chà bông). It looks like a giant jar of dog hair but it is delicious, especially in chao.

In Japan, rice porridge soup is called okayu and is eaten with sesame seeds, mushrooms or umeboshi, pickled plums. In Hong Kong, congee is a popular breakfast meal filled with meat, fresh green veggies and greasy donuts. I'm sure other Asian countries have their take on chao and I'm sure that it's a sentimental dish for everyone since it can be topped and mixed with just about anything.

Brioche :: Eggy, Buttery, Sugary Good

2011-02-01T23:14:00.002+09:00

I haven't done a lot of home baking in 2011. Maybe it's because I was burnt out from the Great Christmas Cookiefest of 2010 or pre-occupied with the half marathon healthiness. But now that things have calmed down, I've been turning to my trusty cookbooks for some at-home fun. I was feeling ambitious last weekend, so I gave Joanne Chang's Flour Bakery Basic Brioche recipe a try. The basic recipe can then be used to make different treats like gooey cinnamon rolls (the ones that beat Bobby Flay's throwdown) and various other morning sweets. I chose the Brioche aux Chocolat and Sugar + Spice Buns.

Fun fun fun! Ever since I started my bread courses at ABC Cooking Studio, I haven't really utilized the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer. If I bake bread at home, it's a good opportunity to try out the tips and tricks I've learned in class and we always knead by hand. But that's messy. And this recipe is especially messy, calling for 6 eggs and 2 1/2 sticks of butter. Plus, Joanne Chang gives really detailed instructions on making the dough in a mixer, down to the sounds (slap slap slap) and feel (cold playdough) of the dough. Seriously, it's really hard to mess up her recipes. From her book and some magazine interviews, I get the sense that she truly understands what it's like to be a baking hobbyist. She recognizes the motivations, struggles and insecurities we all face when baking at home, alone. Which is my way of saying, get the book.

Of the two, I preferred the Brioche aux Chocolat. The melted chocolate and warm pastry cream center go perfectly together. Again, the pastry cream recipe in the book is so detailed, it is pretty hard to botch. Timing and temperature are key but if you read the instructions a few times beforehand and are well equipped with your ingredients in place, you can't fail.

The basic brioche dough recipe in the book is BIG. Like I said, 6 eggs and 2 1/2 sticks of butter. But that is so that you have a dough large enough to knead properly in a standing mixer, so you can freeze the dough for up to a week and try out the various morning treats over the course of a few days. It really is the gift that keeps on giving.

Scallion Pancakes :: Homemade Delivery

2011-02-01T10:34:00.002+09:00

A list of things I miss from home deserves an entire blog of its own. And while I can't make my own Wheat Thins, Cheez-Its or Corgis at home, there are a few things I can recreate pretty nicely here. Scallion Pancakes are one of them since it is such a simple recipe. Before I moved to New York, I didn't quite "get" the whole Chinese takeout phenomenon. But once I was introduced to Mama Buddha (now closed, wah wah) that all changed. Delicious egg noodle soup delivered to your door for less than $10?! Done. Scallion Pancakes were always a must order item for me - salty, crispy, chewy and the perfect vehicle for soy sauce. I imagine if I lived in NY right now, I'd be ordering a lot of Chinese take-out to avoid slipping on black ice and into a snowbank, as I'm prone to do.

Ingredients

2 cups of flour (bread or all-purpose)

1 cup of warm water

1/2 cup chopped green onions/scallions

1 TB sesame oil

1. Slowly mix the warm water with flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

2. Once the water has been completely absorbed, knead the dough on a clean surface until the surface of the dough is smooth.

3. Flatten the dough into a large rectangle and brush the surface with sesame oil. Sprinkle with chopped scallions.

4. Roll the dough into a log (like a taquito) then roll the log into a ball (like a cinnamon bun).

5. Flatten the dough out into your hands. The point of this is to knead the scallions into the dough and distribute evenly. There are several ways to do it and I'm using the method I learned at ABC Cooking Studio.

6. Flatten the dough again, this time into a large circle, about the size of your skillet.

7. Heat some vegetable oil on medium high, then add the pancake. After about 4 minutes, the bottom of the pancake will be browned. Flip the pancake over and brown the other side.

Remove and blot with paper towels. Then cut into wedges. You could eat these with just plain soy sauce, but I like to make a soy-vinegar-ginger-sriracha sauce.

Tokyo Five Foot Runner :: Race Day

2011-01-11T22:56:00.000+09:00

I did it! The girl who very rarely follows through saw this whole running a half-marathon thing to the very end. To be completely honest, race day really snuck up on me. The weather was perfect, even a little warm for a January morning. For anyone interested in running a race in Japan, I highly recommend the Tanigawa Mari Half Marathon. It is very well organized and has a great atmosphere. There were over 7,000 runners for the half-marathon alone plus a unicycle half marathon. Apparently, unicycling was very popular in Japan in the '80s. Boys, girls, men and women - it doesn't matter. It looked AWFUL!

No race day drama for me this time around. Blammo was an incredible stage dad from start to finish, making sure I was well hydrated, properly warmed up and stylishly dressed. I also got a wonderful surprise with a mile left and no gas left in my tank -- my 1 Japanese friend remembered that I was running that day and tracked me down to cheer me on. It was such a shock that I ran right past her attempts to flag me down. It was exactly what I needed with just a mile left to go. I even started to get a little misty eyed. That is until I came to the homestretch and realized that I'd be ending these 8 tough weeks of running to Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love For You" blasting over the loud speakers. I was pretty confused by the music choice but it was a good distraction from my heavy legs and swelling feet.

On the matter of race day music, here's some good advice. If it's a good karaoke song, it's a good running song too. I'm pretty ADD when it comes to running music. If the first 3 seconds of the song don't catch me, I'm hitting the shuffle button. But I got really lucky on race day because it was hit after hit after hit. If I recall, around mile 6, I was treated to this little gem:

Erasure's "A Little Respect"
Journey's "Don't Stop Believing"
Weezer "Buddy Holly"
Red Hot Chili Pepper's "Can't Stop"
Rihanna "Rude Boy"
Beach Boys "California Girls"

At around mile 3, I stumbled upon "Look Down" from the Les Miserables soundtrack, but it was too early for that kind of revolutionary passion. It's a great workout song though. "Look down, and see, the beggars at your feet!"

I'm signed up for another half-marathon in Yokohama in April and plan to shave 10 minutes off my time. I'd love to be able to complete a half-marathon in under 2 hours, but that's a tall order for a short legged gal like me. But I'm up for a challenge and this might be the perfect goal for that daruma I picked up during o-shogatsu.

The True Test of Love :: Climbing Mt. Takao

2011-01-07T00:20:00.000+09:00

Mt. Takao is located just 52 minutes from Tokyo on the Keio line. If you're in Tokyo and want to work off some of those ramen, katsu curry and cream puff calories, spend a day at Takao-san. I used to think that the -san added to the end of mountains in Japan was a cute way of showing respect to nature. "Mr. Fuji looks beautiful today!" Doesn't that just seem like a very Japanese thing to do? Well, I was wrong. It is actually the on-yomi, or Chinese reading, of the character for mountain 山. (The kun-yomi, or Japanese reading of that character is yama.)

There are 7 trails to choose from and a cable car that will drop you off halfway up the mountain. On this particular day, we took the Inariyama Trail up and followed Trail #3 down. They were challenging but not impossible and served as a nice cross training day for me. There's a good combination of man-made and mother nature made steps. If you can muster up the leg muscle and are a little lucky, you'll be rewarded with a clear view of snow topped Fuji-san in the distance. In the first photo, all the way to the right, you can sort of see it/him/her.

There are a lot of snack shacks at the peak selling food to help you refuel for your descent. One of the signature dishes in the winter time is とろろそば (tororo soba). Soba, as you probably know, are Japanese buckwheat noodles served either in hot broth or with a cold dipping sauce. The white goo on top of my soup is raw grated nagaimo yam. Japanese people love slimy food. Have you ever heard of natto, or fermented soy beans? Slimy. Super slimy okra? They love it! Well, leave it to the Japanese to find the food that most resembles mucus and turn it into a delicacy. It doesn't taste like much but was fun to eat. However, it did make the noodles extra slippery and kept falling through my chopsticks. They really make you earn it at Takao.

There's lots to see and do on the mountain. Since the longest trail is only about a 90 minute hike, spend some time taking in the sites and attractions. There's a buddhist temple, monkey park, waterfalls, creeks and a beer garden just to name a few activities. Along your hike, you'll also come across little statues begging to be photographed. such as these little dudes in red caps and bibs and that angry fox.

This was actually my second time climbing Takao-san. I tackled Takao-san alone the first week I arrived in Japan. Blammo was on a business trip and had also hiked it solo before I got to town. If it seems weird that we did it separately, it's not. Apparently, there's a superstition that if you climb Takao-san as a couple, you will break up. YIKES! Some people swear by it and discouraged us from doing it. Other Japanese friends had never even heard of this so-called love curse.

Perhaps it's our New Year fortunes, but so far, Blammo and I have not parted ways and do not currently have plans to do so. (To my knowledge.) You're apparently not supposed to eat together at the McDonald's in Kichijoji either. I think we may need to test that one out now that our love has stumped good 'ol Mt. Takao.

O-Shogatsu :: Eat, Pray, Clap

2011-01-03T22:32:00.003+09:00

あけましておめでとう！

Happy New Year! Last year, Blammo and I searched for a traditional countdown party-like atmosphere with disappointing results. This year, Blammo's family was in town, so we did what all the other people in Japan do - we went to a shrine.

The New Year's holiday is arguably the most important and busy holidays of the year in Japan just like Lunar New Year in China and Tết in Vietnam. O-shogatsu follows a lot of the same traditions, but is celebrated during the Gregorian New Year. Offices close around December 29th until around January 3rd so that everyone can return home to their respective towns and celebrate the new year festivities with their family. Depending on how you look at it, it's a great time to visit Tokyo. It's very peaceful but on the other hand, most shops are closed.

We went to Hie Jinja Shrine near our apartment after a delicious sushi dinner. We arrived around 11pm but the shrine was still setting up. Hatsumode is the most important aspect of o-shogatsu and it refers to the first prayer of the year. Many people visit the shrines around midnight on December 31st because being one of the first to pray brings good luck. Since we got there so early, we were in the front of the line to ring in the new year.

Around 11:30pm, the line was pretty long. There were police officers manning the scene to lay down the law (don't push, go slowly and exit to the right). There was a lot of bumping and pushing but it was all harmless and probably due to drunkeness. It may be taboo to show up drunk to midnight mass, but it's almost expected that you show up tipsy to a shrine on New Year's. In fact, the shrines sell beer and sake on sight. It's a great time to try warm sweet milky sake called amazake.

When the clock struck midnight, everyone clapped and yelled "akemashite omedetou!" which literally means, congratulations on the opening. Pro tip - in English, we say "Happy New Year" both before and after December 31st. Not so in Japanese. You say "yoi otoshi o" before the New Year and "akemashite omedetou gozaimasu" after. I've confused a lot of people by mixing them up and am grateful that someone finally corrected me.

The gates opened at midnight to let everyone in to pray. At shinto shrines, you clap twice, bow, throw money into a wooden box, pray and ring a bell. The order is still a little fuzzy to me, but that's the gist of it. On New Year's, monks strike a large gong 108 times so that was going down in the background. I have to say, it was a pretty deep experience and I preferred this spiritual celebration much more than your typical get wasted party/fight for a taxi home.

This being Japan, there was plenty of good fortune to be purchased from pretty young shrine maidens. The most popular on New Years is a hamaya which means "demon breaking arrow".

When placed in your home, the arrow will ward of evil spirits for the year. A whole year's worth of protection for $16, plus cute bells and a picture of a rabbit? Done.

An interesting fact that will either make you look smart or like a jerk depending on how you present it: In the Vietnamese Zodiac calendar, the year of the rabbit is actually the year of the cat. The word for "rabbit" in Chinese sounds a lot like the word for "cat" in Vietnamese, thus the mistranslation. So this year is both the year of the cat and rabbit, depending on where you are.

You can also buy your year's fortune, おみくじ (omikuji). These are pretty complicated and if you can't read Japanese, a waste of a dollar. There are 12 fortunes ranging from a great blessing (daikichi 大吉） to a great curse(daikyou 大凶). I visited another shrine with my Japanese friend a few days after the new year and my fortune this year was right in the middle - kichi 吉. Phew!

Your omikuji also goes into length about travel, romance, lost items, law suits, examinations, business and health. According to my fortune, my lost items will be returned and I will win a law suit this year. It also said that I if I consult others about my problems, I will have a good year.

You can also buy a daruma, the red doll shown above. These are little dream catchers. You set a goal and fill in the right eye and when you accomplish your goal, you fill in the left eye.

And of course, there's incredible food during o-shogatsu! Typically, families eat very special bentos (osechi ryori) on New Years. They're very symbolic but according to my friend, not that tasty. She was a little late to pick me up from the train station because she had to buy some bread - they were tired of eating Japanese food! We visited one of her local shrines, Hikawa Jinja in Omiya. It is the largest shrine in Saitama and also the 8th most popular during the new year. (Meiji-jingu in Harajuku is #1) It was indeed very crowded, but the food was INSANE! I was wearing a very expensive kimono that didn't belong to me, so I couldn't really get down on it, but it looked great. Lots of fried and grilled meats covered in butter, eggs, mayonaise and salt. If your new year's resolution is to eat better, this is not the place to visit.

Monjayaki on a stick with a fried egg on top. It's not clear to me how you eat this, but I definitely would have ruined my friend's mom's kimono had I tried to figure it out.

Grilled fish on a stick.

Mini okonomiyaki

Takoyaki with a whole mini-octopus inside.

Grilled potatoes with butter

The 7 spices that make up shichimi. Chili pepper, mikan peel, white sesame, black sesame, hemp powder, ginger and seaweed.

Our big souvenir of the day was a personalized blend of shichimi. I like to put shichimi on everything. Plain rice, chicken meatballs, soup, noodles etc. At this stand, you tell the spice guy what you like and he makes a special blend just for you. Blammo likes spicy so he asked for a very spicy Blammo blend and the man did not disappoint. As much fun as all the talismen and fortunes are, this is a nice practical souvenir to remember our first traditional oshogatsu.

Bye Bye Tiger, Hello Rabbit :: 2010 in Review

2010-12-30T01:11:00.000+09:00

Last meal of 2009/First meal of 2010 :: Kamakura Ramen, Shibuya

Bun Bo Hue in Nha Trang, Vietnam

Fell in love with dagashi, old school Japanese candy.

Ate lots of burgers.

Had my final Japanese school lunch.

Ate Okonomiyaki in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo.

Had my first hanami party in Shinjuku Gyoen.

Escaped Tokyo and ate wild greens from the mountains of Saitama.

Went home to the Bay Area twice. Ate lots of Monte Cristos and established myself as a regular at Mama's even though I don't live in SF.

Cut my throat on some delicious and ambitious bacon in Inverness, CA

Flying solo with Vietnamese cooking. I still prefer my mom's cooking, but I'm improving.

Spent too much money on fancy food. Some good. Some not so good.

Made an awesome cake for Blammo's birthday.

Enjoyed Yokote Yakisoba at the Super Genki Festival in Tokyo.

Survived one of the hottest summers in Japan with shaved ice, ice cream and soft cream.

Checked out all that Hong Kong has to offer. (And 30 minutes of Macao)

Whoopied it up in Pennsylvania.

Went to a lot of weddings.

New York, New York!

After 22 bread classes, I'm getting pretty good at making mushy pan!

Really missing my friends and family but glad to know that they have my back when I need them most.

My first nabe.

And my first Japanese birthday cake. I should mention here that I am also thankful for the friends I have made in Japan and am happy to know that they too, have my back when I need it most.

Joanne Chang - I love you!

Finally found a sushi restaurant that is high quality and foreigner friendly in a non-pandering way.

Finally went to karaoke.

Hopefully, started a new tradition.

It's been a long year. I think I need a nap.

Merry Christmas! :: Cookie City

2010-12-25T15:27:00.000+09:00

Merry Christmas from Tokyo! Apparently my family is having a big German Christmas dinner back in California. Me? I just ate a 5-piece Chicken McNugget kids meal set for lunch and am baking my last batch of Christmas cookies from Blammo and Company. Last week, I decided to give some homemade holiday cookies to friends and coworkers. It. Was. Crazy! But fun too! When I was growing up, our neighbors, the Hendersons, always gave us a tin of Mrs. Henderson's homemade Christmas cookies.They were so delicious and unlike anything I'd ever had before. The memory stuck in my mind and I've always wanted to carry on the tradition. 2010 marks the beginning of my cookie tin holiday giveaway.

This event began on December 6th, with some pre-planning. I took out all my cookbooks, bought the Martha Stewart Holiday Cookie magazine and looked up all those Google Reader starred recipes I'd been eyeing all year. I think my first list of cookies was 13 recipes long. Eventually, that got whittled down to the final 6. Then came all the converting - Martha is not metric friendly. The flour cookbook came in handy because throughout her book, she lists how many grams X amount of sugar, flour etc. weighs. And this butter conversion website is a lifesaver.

The plan was to make my staple chocolate chip cookies, 2 icebox cookies that could be made days in advance, 1 stovetop treat and something classically Christmas. The decision to do 2 icebox cookies was my saving grace since they're so easy to make and can be made up to a month in advance. You can freeze the doughs in logs and when you're ready to bake, you just slice and go. Martha has a genius suggestion of saving you paper towel rolls to store the logs in so that they don't flatten out at the bottom. It worked like a charm.

Brown butter rice crispy treats (Flour cookbook), cranberry coins (Martha Stewart Magazine) and buttered rum meltaways with no powdered sugar topping (Martha Stewart Cookie Book).

Chocolate chip cookies (my own recipe adapted from The NY Times), gingerbread men (Martha Stewart Cookies) and buttered rum meltaways with powdered sugar (Martha Stewart Cookies).

I couldn't fine suitable tins anywhere in town, so I got these egg carton looking boxes and did what I could to jazz them up and make them my own. Not to shabby, I have to say.

Our apartment's reception desk and my coworkers got extra big boxes thanks to Ziploc Snap 'n Seal tupperware.

Me on the way to work carrying about 150 freshly baked cookies.

My coworkers and friends seemed to enjoy the treats however, I get the sense that people don't bake and share in Japan as much as back home. It was almost expected that people bring in treats once and awhile at my old office in NY. I think it mostly confused people here.

I had a lot of leftover cookies, so I've been passing them out to local restaurants we frequently visit. It's been really fun to share a little American tradition.

To top off my 2nd Christmas in Japan, I made a raspberry chocolate Buche de Noel at ABC Cooking Studio. ABC Cooking Studio friend and I have never taken a cake class so this was a lot of fun for us.

Have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Tokyo Five Foot Runner :: Week 5 and 6

2010-12-24T13:55:00.001+09:00

I've been pretty busy with work, cooking classes and cookie making, so I had to take a little break from blogging. But despite the busy schedule, I've kept to my running plan to the T, minus one day where I cut 2 miles off my night to get home and bake. What can I say, I love cookies.

I ran my first organized race in Japan last weekend. The Christmas RUN at the Imperial Palace, my normal stomping ground. It was an incredibly trying day but yielded uplifting results. I signed up for the race a few months ago on runnet.com. It was a pretty simple process - make an account, find an open race for your age and gender, sign up and pay at the convenience store. If you have questions on how to do it, you can email me. With the help of Google Translate or Rikaichan, you'll be able to figure it out.

Then came race day. I didn't realize that this race was SO organized - running chips, race numbers and a write up in the newspaper. The description on runnet was "Let's have fun running together for Christmas! There will be prizes!" To which I responded with, "Yeah sure, ok - that sounds easy." I've seen races on the weekends before and they're always pretty casual affairs. Well, I showed up about 40 minutes before ready to get my run on but was greeted with a crowd of folks with runner's chips on their shoes and numbers pinned across their chests. Apparently, I was supposed to go to the sponsor's shop, High Tech Town, in the morning to pick up all my stuff. I tried to tell two volunteers that it was my first time running a race in Japan so I didn't know what to do, but I think they interpreted my sorry Japanese as "Today is my first day running. What do I do?" To this, they responded that it would be very difficult and that I couldn't join the race.

Already in a fragile state, I threw up my hands and gave up. Defeated, embarrassed and frustrated, I walked away with Blammo ready to go home. I may or may not have had tears in my eyes. Those tears may or may not have been streaming down my cheeks. Not embarrassing at all! Just as all hope was lost, one of the race organizers ran over with my number and chip and got me ready. (All the while, apologizing profusely even though it wasn't her fault at all) I guess since I was the only idiot that didn't pick up my stuff, they knew that it belonged to me. I spent the remaining 5 minutes until race time drying my eyes, though, in retrospect, I should have been stretching.

And then it was time to run. And I did. At first, very slowly and hesitantly. I eventually got into the groove and finished 6.2 miles faster than I've ever run before - shaving 7 minutes off my last time. I guess had I picked up my participant gear before the race, like I was supposed to, I would have learned that this Christmas RUN was a tuneup race for the half marathon I'm running in January. In any case, I'm glad I got my first race under my belt before the big day - I'm not sure I would have been able to survive all that drama AND 13.1 miles in one day.

Empty Orchestras :: Everyone Loves Karaoke

2010-12-13T00:32:00.000+09:00

Friday was my company's ぼねんかい (bonenkai - end of year party). I don't actually socialize much in the office, but that's not to say that I don't want to. I share a desk with the boss man and that doesn't exactly make you the most popular or approachable girl in the office. I've tried to woo people over with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and homemade pumpkin pies with limited success. But all it takes to get people to talk to you is...a party! And booze! And getting as far away from the office as possible.

I haven't seen this in awhile. I only made 1 cup but it was my specialty cup - the overflowing "money cup". I'm debating whether or not to tell you my favorite beer pong story from college but it's kind of gross and I've told it so many times, most of you already know it. It involves a side pony tail, rat poison and a balcony.

The party ended around midnight and a few of my coworkers and I met up with Blammo in Shibuya for more drinks. We stumbled upon a teeny tiny 8 seat bar under the train tracks. We drank special winter sake, spoke Japanese and made friends. That is until, they started asking us about Wikileaks. Then it was time to move on...

...to karaoke! I'm a little embarrassed to say this, but I've actually never gone to karaoke until this past weekend. What have I been missing out on?! Perhaps it was really fun because of all that special sake we drank earlier but singing '80s tunes at the top of your lungs with a tambourine in your hand seems like it'd be fun dead sober too. There are karaoke establishments everywhere in Japan. You rent a small room for you and your friends and order drinks and food through a telephone. It's pretty great. Also really great? Karaoke videos.

Can you name that tune?

It wasn't until after I took this picture that I realized what this is implying. No comment.

She looks pretty gangsta, no?

Blammo's jam. Very impressed by his rapping skills.

It's not hard to guess that this last one is now officially my karaoke song.

Ode to Seattle :: U-U-U-U-DUB!

2010-12-10T00:37:00.000+09:00

It pays to have friends in high places. My dear dear friend, Sarah J recently gave this tiny 'ol blog a shout out in the Seattlest's Countdown to 2011: Top 10 Best Local Baking Resources in Seattle. Hey, thanks girlfriend! I may not actually be the best and I most certainly am no longer local, but cooking knows no borders...or something.

I love Seattle. I enjoyed every minute of my 4 years there at U-Dub. The rain didn't really get me down, I enjoyed the granola-ness of the city and I made some amazing friends and memories. What I didn't make while I was in college, was food. I was going to share some pictures of food I made in college, but I don't have a single one. I may have once baked a cake, but it was probably store bought. Cooking for me in college meant heating up Mini Beef Tacos from Trader Joe's and spooning on cheese and salsa verde. For the Oscars and Super Bowl, my roommates and I would each make something totally unhealthy, but totally delicious...but that was twice a year at most. They were called Gluttonfests by the way. The only time I ate well was when my money bags sister came into town. Ahhh, those were the days.

But this doesn't mean that I don't know a thing or two about good food in Seattle. So, in honor of Seattle and Sarah J, here is my Top 10 Best Restaurants in Seattle (according to college me and in no particular order):

10a. Gorditos: Gorditos in Greenwood was, for awhile, a once a week trip for me and my friends. The burritos are delicious and according to them, healthy. This probably does not apply to the Grande, which is marketed as a "a burrito the size of a baby". They used to run ads in the college paper of someone holding a baby up next to a Grande. They were right, it was indeed the size of a baby. The Grande is delicious and for college students, a very good deal, as it will feed you for at least 2 days. I only know 1 person to eat one in one sitting and it wasn't pretty. I miss the food. I do not miss the parking lot.

10b. Mango Chicken Curry from Cedars: I do believe that this was my first food obsession upon moving to Seattle. When people came to visit, I always took them to Cedars and I always ordered the Mango Curry with a Mango Lassi. Mango overload? I think not. Oddly enough, I lived down the street from Cedars senior year and never once ate there. Stupid me.

9. Pink Frosting Cookies from the Haggett Hall Cafeteria and the HUB: What happens when you give a 17-year old a plastic card pre-loaded with $800 to be spent solely on food for 10-weeks? A whole lot of unhealthiness. The food in the cafeteria got old, quick but the pink frosting cookies never did. They were rare, either because they sold out or weren't an everyday item, which probably made them even more delicious in my mind. I had to cut back on my cookie consumption when I learned that UW gave you the leftover cash on your Husky card at the end of the quarter. I used that leftover money to buy some shoes. Smart me.

8. Sourdough Jacks, Oreo Milkshakes and the 2 Tacos for 99 cents Deal at Jack and Box: Don't judge. I am not at all embarrassed to tell you that I love Jack in the Box. When I moved to New York, I used to talk my coworkers' ears off about how great it was/is. Being a college student, I frequented the Jack in the Box on the Ave quite a bit. I have a special place in my heart for that location because it is where I first met Sarah J! Sort of. Actually, I think what happened was that I was at a party and decided to do a Jack run and then while waiting to order in the drive through, I mentioned that I wish they served breakfast at night. Then a strange voice from heaven (or the backseat of car) told me that they did. I responded with "Shut up. I will punch you in the face." And then we became friends. They do in fact serve breakfast all day, but I never punched Sarah in the face. She's got one comin'.

7. Spumoni at The Old Spagetti Factory: Another place that is more sentimental than quality grubbin'. Once a month for about 3 1/2 years, my 2 good friends and I would go out to dinner at The Old Spagetti Factory downtown and caught up on the latest gossip. When I think of college, this is one of the things I miss most. Sitting in a replica train car in the middle of an Italian restaurant talking about how your roommate sucks and who's hooking up with who and who else was pissed about it.

6. Burger Master: Most people at UW will tell you that Dick's is the best burger in town. Dick's is fine, but Burger Master is really where it's at. Juicy and messy with a delicious thousand island sauce. I'd like to give an honorable mention to the Whiskey River BBQ burger at Red Robin's.

5. Plain + Cinnamon Sugar Donuts from Daily Dozen in Pike's Place: I LOVE PIKES PLACE MARKET. I love it. The smell of the water, the bearded hot flying fish dudes, those weird fruit logs everyone sells, cheap flowers and of course, Daily Dozen. I just learned 30 seconds ago that this place is called Daily Dozen. I always called it "the donut place in Pike's Place Market" but people always know what you're talking about. Piping hot and fresh mini-donuts in a brown paper bag. I don't have anything clever to say about them - they're just very tasty.

4. Cedar Plank Sockeye Salmon and Chocolate Molten Cake from Cutters Bayhouse: Hey look! A fancy restaurant! My sister and I love Cutters. I made reservations here every time she came to town. We loved it so much that I had my family graduation dinner here. We are most likely not welcome back as someone got overly ambitious with his drinks throughout the night. I'm not naming names.

(It was my dad.)

3. The Firecracker from Tubs and Subs: Ahhh, Tubs and Subs. Not to be confused with S.U.B.S (another sandwich shop) on the Ave or Tubs (a rent by the hour jacuzzi/sex hut), just off the Ave. Since I had a car, I was able to discover the delicious subs at Tubs in Lake City. I love just about any sandwich that comes with a dipping sauce, which makes the Firecracker a natural favorite of mine. It comes with a side of warm BBQ sauce and apparently, people like it so much that there's a picture of it on the internet. Kind of creepy location, but totally worth it.

2. Thai Tom: Hot, fresh and spicy. Anything you get here is delicious, but be careful with their 5 star spice ratings - they mean business.

1. Soy Chai Steel Cut Oatmeal from Portage Bay Cafe: Thank you Seattle, for introducing me to brunch. I may have really developed my brunching skills after college in San Francisco, but Seattle, you really set the bar high with Portage Bay Cafe. Everything on their menu is good but I have never had anything more addicting than the Soy Chai Oatmeal. The first time I had it, I ate my friend's leftovers after polishing off my eggs benedict. I just couldn't stop spooning it into my mouth. I'm sure she really appreciated that.

Pho Ga :: The Inaugural Bowl

2010-12-07T23:59:00.000+09:00

Ever since I watched the video above, I've been craving Pho. There is a pretty good Vietnamese restaurant in my neighborhood but since I've been cooking and blogging so much these days, why not give it a try at home? I googled a couple of recipes and decided that this Wandering Chopsticks post was a good jumping off point. I emailed my mom the recipe and she gave it the thumbs up with a few tips of her own. She suggested using fewer spices and concentrate on the ginger and garlic since those go so well with chicken.

This being Japan, I of course had to make a few compromises. First, no whole chicken. Usually, you make the broth from a whole chicken. The bones are the most important part but most cuts of chicken are deboned in Japanese grocery stores. I managed to find 2 large chicken thighs with the bones still in and used those with a couple extra drumettes. In the end, this didn't turn out to be a deal breaker but the broth wasn't as deep as I had hoped for. Blammo begged to differ. He enjoyed the soup very much. I myself liked the chicken the best.

Ingredients

1 whole onion, halved

2 inch nob of ginger

1/2 a head of garlic, smashed

8 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

4 cardamom pods

2 pieces of star anise

1 whole chicken or a suitable amalgamation of pieces, as mentioned above

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of fish sauce

1 large piece of rock candy (or 3 tsp of brown sugar)

1 package of Banh Pho (wide flat rice noodles)

bean sprouts

cilantro

lime wedges

chopped green onions

thai basil

sliced hot chilis

Sriracha Sauce

Hoisin Sauce

1. Char, roast or dry pan fry all the ingredients in red. The point of this is to bring out the flavors of each seasoning element. Keeping the broth clear is an important part of making Pho Ga. You don't want to have to worry about biting into a big chunk of star anise or clove. My mom suggested straining the broth through a fine sieve before serving, but that just seemed a little too much work for me. Also, I don't own a fine sieve. (Do you?) So, I got all MacGruber in the kitchen and whipped up my own little spice contraption.

E voila! I cut open a jasmine tea bag, poured out the tea leaves, replaced them with the pho spices and tied it back up. Worked like a charm. Removing the spices was a breeze and I didn't have too much debris floating around my broth.

2. Wash the chicken and place it in a large soup pot. Add 2 tsp of salt and the charred flavorings. Cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for an hour. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool. Then refrigerate overnight.

3. The next day, skim all the solidified fat off the surface. I am sparing you a photo of this step. It is a little gross, but very necessary.

4. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred the meat off the bones. I suggest using your hands. Again, it's a little gross, but very necessary. I like big meaty pieces but you can make yours whatever size you want.

5. Set the meat aside in a bowl and add the bones back to the broth.

6. Bring the broth back up to a boil and simmer for another hour. If you have a slotted spoon, occasionally skim as much floating spice and chicken bits out of the broth as possible.

7. Season the broth with fish sauce and sugar. Traditionally, the broth is sweetened with rock sugar but brown sugar will work as well. You can also add carrots to the broth from the very beginning and the natural sweetness from the carrots will do the trick.

8. Boil the noodles and add them to a large bowl. Top the noodles with pieces of chicken, cilantro, green onions and bean sprouts. Ladle the hot pho broth over the chicken until everything is covered.

And that's that! Homemade chicken pho. Don't be intimidated. I was at first, because pho is something I usually only have at restaurants that specialize in it. But this was just as easy as making good old chicken noodle soup just with different spices and flavorings. I'd say the toughest part is getting all the ingredients, but if you're in the U.S., you won't have a problem at all. If I recall, they sell Vietnamese noodles in the Asian sections of Whole Foods and other grocery stores.

Tokyo Five Foot Runner :: Week 4

2010-12-07T02:08:00.000+09:00

Milestones galore this week! I logged in 20 miles total, the most ever in a week with the help of a 7 mile long run yesterday, the longest I'd ever run in one day. Nike+ informed me just now (via a creepy video of Olympic marathoner Paula Radcliffe) that yesterday was also my fastest 10K. A nice accomplishment considering I'm not setting any time goals. So how do I feel today? Pretty good actually. I'm really surprised I'm not sorer but that's a good sign. Though mentally, I felt great after completing 7 miles yesterday, physically I was a mess. The moment I stopped running I was hit with the most intense hunger pangs I've ever experienced and my ankles, hips and calves screamed "YOUCH!" all night long. I got home and quickly ordered half a rotisserie chicken, a salad and shoestring fries for delivery. I really should have ordered the whole bird.

This meal reminded me of when I lived with my sister in Russian Hill. This chicken was good because I had just burned 700 calories and rotisserie chicken is hard to find in Tokyo. But my sis and I used to get Peruvian chicken and fries for dinner at Il Pollaio. I got very fat that year, but I was also very happy. Have I mentioned that I miss my sista?

So what else fueled my record breaking week?

More latkes with a side of Hokkaido sausages. In Japan, if something comes from Hokkaido, the island north of the main island, it is special. Notably, dairy products and beer. (Sapporo beer is named after the capital of Hokkaido)

The week started off with some delicious Vietnamese Curry and bread, which I can't get enough of these days.

My 3 weekly obsessions this week: this donburi (rice bowl) from a local bento shop for lunch. It's mushroom flavored rice with ramen toppings. Look how ooey gooey that egg is! My favorite.

Obsession #2 and #3 sort of go together. #2 is Gravo ice cream bars from my local conbini (Japanese word for convenience store). These taste exactly like Snickers ice cream bars except it's on a stick and has oreo cookie chunks in it. Can't go wrong there. Obsession #3 - eating food in bed right before I go to sleep. I devoured this Gravo about 1am. And I forgot to mention that I ate the last piece of my rotisserie chicken at 2:30am after falling asleep for an hour. I am the vision of beauty and health right now.

I did manage to put something healthy in my body this week. The weather in Tokyo has been unusually warm for November/December, so Blamward (credit to sjohnston for coining that hybrid nickname) and I read in Shinjuku Gyoen while soaking up some Vitamin D. The maple leaves were so vibrant this weekend and the old men with big cameras were out in full force capturing the change in seasons. There are two places we inevitably end up at after going to this park. Go Go Curry or a juice shop called ピーまん (Piman). Blamward loves his green vegetable Mixed Jumbo (it tastes...healthy), while I prefer the Fruits Jumbo.

Japan at its best.

Tokyo Midtown :: Designed to Blow Your Mind

2010-12-05T00:45:00.001+09:00

If you're ever in Tokyo, I highly recommend stopping by Tokyo Midtown. You will most likely make your way to the Roppongi neighborhood to check out Roppongi Hills. Tokyo Midtown isn't that far away and in my opinion, there's a lot more to see and do here. First of all, it's where I take bread classes at ABC Cooking Studio. On the weekends, ABC offers 1-day English cooking lessons where you can learn how to make some Japanese dishes but they're only offered at the Tokyo Midtown location. Second, Tokyo Midtown is a great place to pick up not-cheesy souvenirs. It's a design nerd's wet dream and they're always hosting interesting art and design exhibits on the premises.

Their annual Design Touch event took place last month and I took a few pictures of one of the cooler displays. Basically, a computer takes a picture of you and prints your silhouette on black adhesive sticky tape. Sponsored by Epson, the idea was to have people put their shadows up on a wall with a message about what they cared most about in the world, such as the environment or community. It was a really cute idea, even though most people ignored the whole social message angle.

Currently running at Tokyo Midtown is their holiday light show. Oh man. It is BONKERS. Most Japanese people don't even celebrate Christmas, but boy do they love holiday decorations. And this being Japan, they took the original idea, flipped it on it's head and made it bigger, over the top and totally fun. A few weeks ago, I was stopped dead in my tracks when I turned the corner and saw the incredible light show taking place. The garden lights run every night until December 26th from 5pm - 11:00pm. Here is a description of their concept:

In a large grassy space of around 2,000 square meters, 250,000 blue and white LED lights represent the vastness of space and the night sky.

I don't know what the vastness of space has to do with Christmas, but I don't care! It's gorgeous! People, there's dry ice and fake shooting stars! Pictures really don't do it justice. And the holiday cheer doesn't stop there. There are Scandinavian Christmas shops, red "cracker" streamers draping from the ceiling and lights everywhere. Perhaps you won't be in Tokyo this holiday season, so here's a little preview of what you're missing:

Infinite box of lights that will make you feel like you're in a Madonna video.

Happy Holidays!