Ryan's tanjoubi

This week was Ryan's birthday (or "tanjoubi" in Japanese). Without much planning, I decided to go home a little early from work and bake him a cake before he got home from his lessons. You may recall I only have one tiny pan, so decided to make it a square layer cake by making one square at a time. I guess I rushed it a bit trying to remove the first square. This pile of bits comprising the first layer didn't leave me very optimistic about the rest of the cake, but I decided to push forward anyway.

While the second layer was cooking, I looked online for a frosting recipe. I found one for bourbon cream cheese. I figured a little Jack would do the trick just as well. I made a big batch of it and used it to fill in some of the holes and cracks in the first layer. I added some chopped roasted almonds for texture and because the bourbon reminded me of New Orleans and pecans. But I didn't have any pecans. or bourbon.

The second layer came out much much better. More frosting. Oh shoot, that part about waiting until the cake cools to frost it was rather important. The frosting on the top started to melt and droop precariously off the sides. I quickly put it all in the fridge until Ryan got home.

Then I threw on a whole bunch of nuts on the top and sides to hide the misshapen, melty mess and set it out with a candle and all of his presents that had been coming in the mail during the week.  Yay!

But before we ate cake, we went down to our local Italian/Japanese restaurant. Our favorite waitress greeted us at the door and even knew it was Ryan's birthday since we had filled out our info on a previous visit.  First course was an appetizer of, from left to right, ham and cheese blintz, wagyu beef, thin sliced white fish with a pesto sauce and foie gras creme brulee. 

For mains, we each had incredibly tender Japanese beef. Ryan's was grilled and served with a croquette and a pile of herbs...

...and mine was slow roasted and served with mashed potatoes. Oh my, it was just melt-in-your mouth goodness! We also had pastas with mushrooms and a scoop of fois gras cream, but I was so full by that time that I forgot to take pictures.

And actually, we were so stuffed from dinner that we didn't even break into the cake until the next day. Despite my winging almost the whole thing and not having much faith in it, the cake was pretty darn yummy, so I am going to link to the recipes. For the cake itself, I used this funny one that called for a cup of coffee. The only change I made was to replace about 1/4c of flour with almond flour because I had some left over that I wanted to use. Oh and I added some cinnamon. And here is the recipe for the frosting. Jack Daniel's works just fine too.

Shogatsu Party

This month I went to a start-of-the-new-year party with my rock climbing friends. We went to an Izakaya by campus. I guess we weren't the only ones to have the idea. The restaurant was absolutely packed with business people having nomi-kais, or drinking parties, with coworkers. It was a sea of black suits and a cloud of cigarette smoke. We ate lots of yummy sashimi and tempura...

...had some beers...

...and some yuzu cocktails and had a really nice night. Next week it's back on the wall!

Tetsu Ramen in Bunkyo-ku

Since I returned from the States, I have been craving ramen like nobody's business. Not the packets of DIY stuff, of course. The real thing, with the long lines and the short counters and the thick broths with giant chunks of pork. I checked my go-to blog (Ramen Adventures) and searched for a place close to work. It was sort of an unofficial holiday that day. There's nothing on the calendar, but apparently it is common knowledge to everyone but me that nobody actually comes to work on January 3rd. They wait until Tuesday, Jan. 4th. Since I was literally the only person in the building, I decided that it didn't matter if I took an incredibly long lunch and decided to try out Tetsu Ramen, which is infamous for having a really long line.

I bundled up and got on my bike, headed downhill from campus to Shinobazu dori and headed North past Sendagi station. As I rode down the unusually quiet street past one boarded up business after another, there was actually a moment when I feared that a) I might not see it and would pass it up, or b) it might be closed because of the holiday. I was wrong on both accounts. Not only was it the only business open on the entire block, it already had a line that was 10 people deep. And it wasn't even noon yet. There was no way I could have missed it. 

I got in line and tried to figure out the system. A guy walked up after me and went directly to the machine beside the door, got a ticket and got in line behind me. Oops - this is a buy-your-ticket-right-away kind of place. I put my money in and took a wild guess at the buttons. I usually opt for something that is the 2nd or 3rd most expensive on the list, that way I get something good, possibly special, but probably doesn't contain extra portions of pork, etc. This strategy often works for me. On this occasion, however, I got it wrong and ordered cold tsukemen (noodles that you dip in thick broth) instead of hot. Fortunately the guy who comes out to seat people spoke english and fixed my order for me. Inside, there were only about 9 seats. My order was ready only a minute or two after I sat down.

The noodles came in water, which was a little surprising to me, but maybe that is how they keep them hot. The broth was really thick and tasty, had a perfectly cooked egg, huge chunks of pork and some chopped onions. 

Toward the end of the meal, you can ask for a hot stone to lower into your broth to warm it up. (I forgot the japanese word for it, but I just copied the people to my left).  As you can see, the broth is really thick and sticking to the side of the bowl (and to my ribs!)  I will definitely go back to Tetsu ramen the next time I accidentally show up to work on a holiday.

Kyoto III: the food

Final post about Kyoto. Lots of yummy food, including all things green tea. At one point we ducked in to a cute little tea house for an afternoon snack. The tea house had a nice Japanese garden and koi pond and a menu filled with a million different varieties of tea flavored treats: hot green tea, iced green tea and even a phenomenal green tea ice cream sundae below.

Not too far from our hotel was the Nishiki Market, a narrow, indoor shopping street lined with hundreds of small food shops, some of which have apparently been operated by the same families for generations.

On the left here is a bucket of preserved eggplant I think. I can't say I totally understand what this is all about, but it is a common sight to have various vegetables in this paste stuff. It must help to keep the vegetables moist and fresh in the winter months. On the right is something I am far more familiar with: breads, meats and veggies, all deep fried and crispy. Yummy!

And here was a curious sight at the market: a small quail egg atop a baby octopus body on a stick and dyed in maybe beet juice.  Pretty cute, but I can't attest to the flavor.

On the last night in Kyoto we all went to a fancy restaurant called Minokichi near the hotel and ordered a Kaiseki tasting menu. We opted for the fall-themed menu. 

The highlight was definitely the duck breast, which was cooked at the table in these leaves (maybe banana leaves?) with mushrooms and an amazing miso, walnut, butter sauce. Oh my god, I get happy just thinking about that dish.

All told, we had about 10 courses, each served in beautiful dishes by our kimono-clad waitress.

We even had a small tatami room all to ourselves.  As is usually the case when Ryan and I dine, we were the last people to leave. If you ever find yourself in Kyoto, please check out Minokichi restaurant. It rocks.

And we couldn't let the folks go home without experiencing at least one multi-bowl traditional breakfast. Smoked salmon, egg, simmered tofu, rice, pickled bits, miso soup and even some natto.

Korea: food!

Okay, so final dispatch about South Korea. This one focuses on the food, that is, the food we sat down for, and, in most cases, cooked ourselves. The food in South Korea was generally far spicier than in Japan, but often served in a very practical, no-frills manner. The top stone bowls were probably the mildest dishes of the whole trip. On the left was a kind of abalone goulash and on the right was the house specialty, ginseng chicken. There were glass jars of ginseng (which looks like a skinny, hairy ginger root) all over the restaurant, and really all over Seoul. Not sure what the medicinal purpose is supposed to be, but the taste is just extremely subtle.

Every meal in Korea comes with all you can eat kimchi on the side. Somewhere in between the temples, we ducked into a tiny shop for an afternoon snack of cheesy rice. Yummy!

At dinner time, all the dishes come out. Honestly, all we did was point to the kind of meat that we wanted and all this other stuff came out to accompany it. Some of it was tastier than others.

Following the cryptic directions in our awful Fodor's guidebook, we somehow managed to find a famous potsticker joint (after failing to find our previous three choices). They only have 4 options on their menu, so we chose three of them: soba noodles in a spicy sauce, thick noodles in a broth with I think ground beef and of course the potstickers, which were pretty amazing.

And we had to do the thickcut bacon cooked at the table with all the fixins. Once it is fully cooked, the proprietor comes around with big scissors and cuts the bacon into bite size portions. Dip the bacon piece into the sauce and place it in the lettuce leaf, roll, and Voila!

Truth be told, we had the bacon thing several times. If you have never had the experience of eating kimchi soaked in bacon fat, you must run now, NOW, to Korea, or at least to your local Korean BBQ. Hopefully they too will have the grill propped up like so.

And finally I got my bibimbap. This is the perfect meal. Veggies, pickled things, kimchi, rice and an egg served in a hot stone bowl so that the bottom gets crispy like paella. 

But over a 10 day trip, we didn't ALWAYS eat the local fare. Sometimes we dipped back into the familiar. In the shopping district near Jagalchi, we found a burger joint with all of the burgers named after states. I went with the Texas burger, which had BBQ sauce and was thus the only one that had any actual connection to its namesake.

But while we were eating our burgers up on the second floor, we looked across the street at the strangest thing. This coffee shop has set up little semi-private cubicle rooms for its customers. Each room has a tv and a pile of pillows and I guess folks rent by the hour and just lounge a bit between shopping. Couples cuddled, girlfriends gossiped and displayed their shopping finds and one exhausted mom slept while her kid jumped on the couch and waved to people out the window. Fascinating.

More meats and miscellaneous sides.

And for something different, imagine throwing all those ingredients into a pot...here is kimchi and bacon stew. Awesomeness in a pot.

Sukiyaki

Every now and then I go to dinner with my boss and another female professor. We use it as an opportunity to try new restaurants or, more often, introduce me to a new style of Japanese cuisine. After being here over a year now, I have tried just about everything, but one thing that I never managed to cross off the list was Sukiyaki. With a little research, my boss tracked down a very traditional, old restaurant right by campus and last Friday the three of us went.

The restaurant, called Echikatsu, has apparently been around for as long as the University: 140 years!

With tall apartment buildings on either side, it is this small chunk of old world charm in the middle of Bunkyo-ku. After walking through the front garden, we made our way to the proprietor, who was waiting for us. We dropped off our shoes and were led down this old hall way - one side is glass looking out to the garden, the other side is full of paper screen doors - to our private tatami room.

Sukiyaki is very similar to nabe, or stew, that we often have during the winter. However, with sukiyaki, you typically use much higher quality beef, and a lot of it. So that you don't lose track of your high quality beef (in this case, Matsuzaka beef), you use much less broth, just about a half inch or so. A handful of vegetables and some tofu are simmered in there as well, but really this dish is all about the beef. The other thing that separates sukiyaki from other dishes is that you dip everything into a beaten raw egg before eating it. Our association with raw eggs is probably why this dish hasn't really become popular in the States. It's a pity, because it really was amazing. I can't remember eating more meat in one sitting before.

After dinner we poked around the building and went to see their back garden and small koi pond. Here I am with my boss.

Brasserie Perle

The other day on one of my jogs I stumbled upon an interesting looking french brasserie. Brasserie Perle is in a bright yellow house with a cute front patio and is the only commercial building on the entire street. It is in the middle of the block and three turns from the nearest main street. I have no idea how anyone ever finds this place. But once they do, I guarantee you they keep going back. And we know why.

After spending the day with my kanji translator (and failing that, asking my boss) and a copy of the menu I'd swiped, I already had my mouth watering over the beef cheeks, duck confit, lamb and market fresh salmon to come. When we arrived, we also found a chalkboard full of daily specials and a very friendly trilingual french waiter at the ready. Ryan opted for the 5-course chef's menu, whereas I had my eye on two things off the a la carte menu.  Here was Ryan's first course, a small cube of pork something and a sea snail, which he said was quite tasty.

After that, he had a ham and cheese quiche with green salad and a cold pumpkin soup that he said was subtle and creamy and, well...as good as it all sounded, I stopped paying attention to what he was saying when my foie gras arrived. I mean, look at this thing! It was huge and perfectly cooked, with some root vegetables underneath and a wine reduction on top. I usually like foie to have a sweet element and was worried with all the savory that arrived, but the tang of the sauce combined with the ever so slight crunch from the sear were just perfect. Then Ryan had some very tender beef atop veggies and I had the duck confit with a mustard sauce. Once again I was bowled over. How could this small restaurant on a sleepy street in the quietest district in Tokyo have such a great chef turning out such amazing food? It boggles the mind. 

Even the coffee was good!  For dessert I went with the chocolate cake and Ryan had creme brulee. Both delicious. Can't wait to go back!