Japan, I'm coming to eat you!

Week 8 of the year, Week 5 (is that all?  it feels like I've been slogging through this forever...) of term.  It has been a rather uninspiring week on the food front, at least as far as new experiences go: I've eaten the same dinner (carrot and coriander soup) on four nights of the week and been to four restaurants that I've been to before: Kro Bar for lunch, Try Thai and Zouk for dinner and Tribeca for Sunday brunch.

One thing that I hope will get me out of this (both gustatory and general) rut is the fact that I'm off to Japan tomorrow!  The trip is the product of a most welcome work invitation that also gives me the opportunity to explore this fascinating country further, by way of a few days in Tokyo and then nearly a week in Kyoto.  It also gives me two reasons to post:

The first is that, in preparation for two weeks away (I'm coming back via a weekend in the Netherlands) I need to clear the crisper drawer of the fridge.  Four days of carrot soup still haven't managed to use up my root vegetable surplus, and the cucumber I bought in a fit of salad-days optimism (what was I thinking?  It's still winter!!) one week ago is sitting there entirely untouched, plus there's a wedge of cabbage and a stray onion.  The carrots and cabbage might just last out the fortnight, the onion probably, but the cucumber -- no chance; it was already going soft at one end.  This means: Pickle Time!

There are bazillions of pickling recipes out there that vary in the amounts of vinegar, sugar and salt called for.  Some explicitly state they are meant to be eaten within a few days; others, with proper sterilisation techniques and a higher ratio of acid, sugar and salt to Other Stuff, will last at least a year.  I'm going for a decent whack of the chemical preservation agents heated to boiling point, a sterilised jar, and a good dash of hope that when I get back, my pickles will be crunchy, delicious and above all edible -- as opposed to a rampant source of botulism.  Pictures when I get my phone connected...

The second Flimsy Excuse For A Post is that I'm not ashamed to admit, one of the things I'm looking forward to on my Japan trip is the food.  I went to Japan for the first time last year; I loved every bit of it, but the eating and drinking experiences definitely ranked among the highlights -- my first venture into a restaurant in Osaka where there was not a word of English on the menu, and my triumphant delight at being able to order a bowl of delicious noodles nonetheless; sampling real okonomiyaki in Osaka, the home of the dish; making new friends over sake tasting in a tiny bar in Nara; the sashimi bar where, to our mixed horror and titillation, we realised those strange characters on the menu translated as 'whale'...

So, in anticipation, I thought I would share with you some of the food experiences I'm looking forward most to repeating on this return visit, along with some of the memories (in picture form) from last year's trip:

My first takoyaki, fresh and hot from the grill

Giant angry octopus!

Takoyaki (literally "octopus-fried") are little spherical savoury pancakes, delectably tender and moist, each with a small morsel of octopus inside and served with a drenching of tonkatsu sauce, a drizzle of Japanese mayonnaise and a sprinkle of dried bonito flakes and aonori.  I've had Chinese street versions before, but the real thing -- first tried at an Osaka takoyaki joint with a giant angry octopus climbing up the neon sign out front -- was entirely different, and a revelation. 

Tori Kizoku is an izakaya (Japanese pub) chain that apparently originated in Osaka, which possibly explains why I managed to find them all over Kansai.  Liking Tori Kizoku, I suspect, is possibly the equivalent of liking KFC or McDonald's.  But I can't help it -- I loved them!

The start of the night at Tori Kizoku

Everything is 280yen, which makes it easy to calculate the bill and far too tempting to order just one more -- be it one more sake ('reishu', chilled, was my preferred style) or one more dish.  I had to try yakitori, of course, which were grilled right in front of me amidst clouds of billowing smoke; other delicacies included an eggplant pickle, and there were all manner of grilled-chicken-bits-on-sticks that I could have ordered.  Possibly my favourite, though, was "tako-wasa": raw octopus pieces marinated with a wasabi dressing, and utterly delicious. 

It may be a dumbed-down version of izakaya made simple for Western tastes (there was an English menu), but the ever-friendly staff and the cute yellow chicken made this place one of my fondest memories of Japan -- so much so that I bought a little Tori Kizoku keychain, with an enamel chicken on it.  It still makes me smile.

Fish-testicle sushi is not, in itself, an experience I'm hanging out to repeat; then again, neither is it something I'd avoid.  It was reasonably tasty: salty, sea-tasting, fresh and slightly creamy-textured.  I'd picked it off the belt before I knew what it was, and then had an interesting exchange with the waitress, who spoke about as much English as I spoke Japanese (ie, very little), trying to work out what it actually was.  Much amusement ensued, and the waitstaff seemed impressed that I actually ate it in the end!

Anyway, I might eat it again if it passes in front of my nose, but what I'm really looking forward to is the array of fresh seafood and seeing how the high-end sushi chefs live, at the Tsukiji Fish Market.  I'm morally conflicted about the tuna auction and the fishing practices in general (Unsustainability R Us?) but interested to see the sheer size and scale of the place.  Apparently one has to arrive very early in the morning to get in and watch the action; my hotel just happens to be under a mile away, so this may well be possible.

Gyoza... 'nuff said.  These dainty, bite-sized morsels of amazingness are even better when paired with sake from an elegantly-shaped-yet-mass-produced bottle.  These particular samples came from a small gyoza restaurant in Gion, the famed geisha district of Kyoto.  I took the sake flasks home with me as a souvenir -- again, to the amuseument of the waitstaff!  At least I am keeping the service industry of Japan entertained.

The Nishiiki Market in Kyoto is a veritable Paradise-on-Earth for foodies.  It's about a mile-long covered alley lined either side with shops selling all manner of foods, both ready-to-eat and ingredients for further preparation...

Sashimi on sticks and every imaginable flavour of tsukemono were just some of the delights to be sampled here!


(This was also the home of the Japanese-menu-only sashimi bar where we discovered whale on offer...)

And finally, depachika: Japanese department-store food halls.  If I lived in Japan, I would probably never cook; I'd just live on scrumptious ready-to-eat goodies from the plethora of stalls in the food hall basements.  Everything from sushi and sashimi to korokke, ready-made salads, all kinds of side-dishes, fresh and pickled vegetables, onigiri, inari pouches, bento boxes...  Even supermarkets have a pretty impressive array of to-go foods, still with less of the plastic feel than UK supermarket ready-meals.

Other than that, I somehow managed to go the whole time I was last in Japan without getting a picture of ramen; that's not to say I didn't try it (traditional chashu ramen at a shop in central Osaka; tsukimi ramen at the Kiyo-mizu-dera Temple in Kyoto), but I understand Tokyo is particularly well-known for its ramen shops, so I shall be checking out a few of its best while I'm there, if I can!

I may not have done everything I need to do here before going; I may not have done everything I'll need to have done to go (packing?  what's that?), but Japan, I am coming to eat you.  Watch out!

Weeks 4-7: pizza, kale, Ma Po tofu, mancakes and duck tongues

No proper posts (complaining about not being able to post doesn't count) for the last three weeks?  It must be term-time again!  However, since this blog is for talking about food, not complaining about the rest of my life, we will say no more about that and instead focus on what I have managed to do in the last three weeks, even if not post about.

Ham, pepperoni and pineapple - Lee's favourite

Week 4's New Culinary Adventure: making pizza!  This really deserves a post of its own as it was rather exciting and more successful than I expected it would be.  But for now, have a picture!

Kale seems to be the latest thing all the cool kids are eating, and recipes for kale caesar salad are popping up everywhere.  I'd never really tried kale and I'm still not sure whether I have -- this vegetable was labelled "British Spring Greens" at the supermarket.  The idea of a pile of hearty dark-green shredded leaves with a rich-but-not-too-oily dressing appealed, though, and I've been craving Parmesan lately, so these looked close enough to try.

I used a ready-made low-fat mayonnaise (the full-fat stuff is just too creamy for dolloping on salads, to my taste) and added worcestershire sauce, lemon and a little grated garlic, mixed the dressing through the greens and added a soft-boiled egg, some tuna and lots of grated parmesan.  The result was tasty, though the greens were a little on the tough side.  Leftover undressed greens were perfect stir-fried with a little soy, vinegar and chilli the next day; I think I will be eating them cooked in future.  Still, it counts as a new thing for Week 5!

Vegetarian Ma Po Tofu

I've been eating Ma Po Tofu for years, ever since the first time I tried it at one of the (at that time only two) local Chinese restaurants near Traralgon, the Dragon's Pearl.  I can barely remember what their version was like, but "Mapose Beancurd" was a firm favourite of ours.  I've since had versions of the dish at several other restaurants, some of the best of which have been packed with Sichuan peppercorns and chilli.  I don't recall ever trying to make it myself before, but it wasn't exactly difficult: ginger, garlic, onion; Quorn mince substituted for the usual beef (or sometimes pork); soy sauce, shaoxing wine, chinkiang vinegar and chilli bean paste, along with some extra chopped chilli, to season; cubes of firm silken tofu folded through at the end, and sprinkled with sliced spring onions and sesame seeds.  Slimy but satisfying, and a new recipe to add to my repertoire for Week 6.

Sweetcorn mashed-potato fritters

One of the very first recipes I posted on this blog was for sweetcorn fritters, so I really don't think this should count as new, though I did use a slightly different recipe.  We were invited to a friend's potluck birthday lunch and I offered to bring 'finger foods'.  I had a pizza base already stretched and risen, so a mushroom and olive pizza was a given, but I wanted to do something else too.

Needing to be used up in the fridge: some eggs and some mashed potatoes with which I had been intending to make cottage pie, except that I hadn't been at home to cook any day since.  Could they be put into sweetcorn fritters?  Common sense and Google both said yes.

We know already from previous Adventures in Sweetcorn-Fritter-Land that these tend to be forgiving recipes.  I used a can of sweetcorn kernels, what seemed like a proportionate amount of onion and cheese, a middling amount of flour, all the mashed potato that was left, and enough eggs to get the consistency right.  They turned out pretty good!  The mashed potato adds body, keeps the fritters tender and helps them hold together without making them doughy.  I might not bother mashing potatoes specially for the next time I want to make sweetcorn fritters, but the next time I make mashed potatoes I will certainly make extra, and if I have to use them up by making these... oh well!

Sweetcorn mancakes*
makes: lots!  (two platefuls, or probably about 36 cakes; obviously depends how big you make them though)

1 can (400g) sweetcorn kernels, drained
1 small red onion, finely chopped
about 1/4 cup spring onions, finely chopped
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 cup flour
4 eggs
handful (about 1/2-2/3 cup?) grated cheese
2-3 cups leftover mashed potato

1. Place sweetcorn and chopped onions in mixing bowl; season with salt, freshly ground black pepper and cayenne; sprinkle over flour and toss gently to mix.  
2. Crack 2 eggs into bowl, dump in potato, start mixing eggs into potato and then realise you've forgotten to add cheese; add cheese, continue to mix; realise mix is going to be too stiff; add another 2 eggs, mix everything together until well-combined.
   (Alternative step 2, for sensible non-forgetful people: add cheese and mix together in step 1; then add eggs and potato and mix everything together.  You might still not want to add the eggs all at once though -- the consistency of the mixture will depend partly on how much potato you have and how stiff it was to begin with, and you don't want it too runny: it should hold its shape rather than spread out in the pan.)
3. Heat frying pan over medium heat with a little oil.  Scoop dessertspoonfuls of the mix into the pan, flattening down slightly to make little cakes (I can fit 6-7 at a time in my pan).  Cook for a few minutes each side, until nicely browned and no longer squishy.
4. Repeat until all the mix is used up, marvelling at just how many fritters one can get out of a bowl of mix... isn't it gone yet??
5. Serve hot, warm or room temperature.  A tomato sauce with a bit of chilli goes nicely with these.  I imagine eating them hot with bacon would also be rather delicious, but it wasn't really appropriate for a finger food situation...

* Lee had these cold for lunch on Pancake Tuesday and dubbed them mancakes, which I've decided is short for mashed-potato pancakes, although I don't think he knew that was what was in them -- don't ask me why he thought 'mancakes' was a good name.  In any case, henceforth this is what they shall be called!

So, that leaves me short a new food experience for Week 7, except that today I met up with my long-time-no-see friend Richard for lunch at Lameizi, a Sichuan restaurant in the Chester Street strip that I have been interested to try for some time.  An encouraging review and its proximity to the MIB combined to influence our decision, which we agreed in retrospect was a good one!  I don't feel I can do a proper review as I was focused more on the social aspect of the occasion than the food and didn't take any pictures, but no doubt I shall return at some point soon, as it was rather good and worth a return visit.

To give a brief overview, however: the flavours were perhaps not quite as punchy as Middle Kingdom, which is still my favourite Sichuan, but the food was nonetheless very tasty (and possibly more user-friendly for those who have some trepidation about ma-la seasoning and its digestive effects).  The tripe salad, a dish for which I have developed an unusual fondness after being introduced to it by my friend Yo-Han on a trip to the aforesaid MK, was especially good, the chewy texture providing the perfect vehicle for the deep spicy flavours, with a fresh counterpoint from sliced chilli and cucumber and not overly drenched in oil.  A hot and spicy squid was also decent; the squid was tender but still had some bite, and the sauce was 'not too heavy, not too light' (though Richard found it a little on the hot side).

One of the nice things about dining with adventurous friends is that you get to expand your eating horizons without risking being stuck with an entire plate of food you don't like, and I was game for it when Richard suggested ordering duck tongues stir-fried with hot peppers.  I'd seen poultry tongues at the Chinese BBQ counter but never tried them before.  They were... unexpected!  I thought they would be meaty and chewy, perhaps a bit like beef tongue.  Instead they were slightly gelatinous with a soft chew, and most surprising of all, had a strip of hard cartilage, almost like a bone, in the middle!  I quickly adjusted to sucking the soft flesh from around the 'bone' and scraping it off with my teeth while pulling the bone out, sort of like eating artichokes, but was then impressed to notice that Richard was simply crunching his up cartilage and all!  (Then again, he admits to eating the bones from chickens' feet too...)  I'm not sure duck tongues are a cut I will go out of my way to eat again soon, but they definitely weren't bad, and the fresh sliced chilli peppers in the stir-fry were particularly tasty.

So, a new restaurant and a new food for Week 7!  Even the insanity of term-time can't hold me down completely...

The wonderful world of mobile apps

Well, after struggling for 30 minutes to get the Blogger app downloaded, and another 15 minutes trying to get it to log in, I find that not only am I no longer in the mood to post, I've forgotten anything I might have wanted to say except AAAARRRRGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Technology hates me. I assure you, the feeling's mutual.