Japanese Hot Pot Party!

Before I attended this feast I was ignorant to the fact that Japanese Hot Pot and Shabu Shabu are two separate things. Both involve cooking at the table, but in Japanese Hot Pot everything is put in at the same time, whereas with Shabu Shabu, the meat is put in at various times throughout the meal. The thinly sliced meats make a specific "swishy" sound which is where the name comes from. Ponzu sauce is an integral component of this meal as it lends a lot of flavor to the meat -- in this case it was halibut and chicken meatballs. Towards the end of the soup-fest, we added udon noodles. Yum!

Our gracious hosts had us over in January, at a time in Boston when hot soup is very much appreciated! They had a very fancy hot pot apparatus which they brought with them from Japan when they moved over here.



There were several tasty appetizers - an asparagus dish and a tasty Japanese fried chicken that Japanese boys have a particular liking for. My friend Mayumi (the chef), claims this is very easy to make and that her husband can even make it, so has challenged the other boys to also make it for themselves. That sounds like a Japanese fried chicken throwdown!




Some happy hot pot participants!

Authentic Japanese Feast - Part III

This is the final installment in my three-part Japanese feast. Tonight I will feature our desserts and an extra special Japanese breakfast!

We had two different desserts. The first was vanilla ice cream mochi. For those who have not tried mochi, it is a rice paste that is sticky and it often surrounds a small ball of ice cream. So cute and round.



Then we tried a very famous brand of cookie with some green tea. I'm not sure why this cookie is called "chocolat blanc et langue de chat". That translates into "white chocolate and tongue of cat". It makes it sound like a witch cookie.



I told my Japanese friend that I worked in vitamin K research and that I had heard of a natto being very rich in a certain form of vitamin K, but that I had never tried it. She was kind enough to go out an buy some natto for me to try!



Natto is a fermented soybean product that is a very common breakfast food served with white rice. The beans are rich in vitamin K because the bacteria that ferments it makes vitamin K! It is quite stinky and as you can see very goopy. The goop is much like okra goop but thicker.



Here you can see that I'm not quite sure if I should swallow it and my silly man friend is laughing at me. I'm not sure if I would replace my usual breakfast of yogurt and fruit or eggs on an English muffin, but it's good to know that I have options!

Authentic Japanese Feast - Part II

Here I will feature our fish courses of the Japanese meal.

According to my Japanese friends it is much more difficult to find sushi grade fish in Boston as compared to Japan, where it is readily available. That being said, she made some delicious sushi with smoked salmon. The presentation was beautiful, with them being housed in a two tier box. It was like opening a tasty present!



The second fish course was Roasted Mackerel with Herbs. It was again like opening a fish present, as it was wrapped in special Japanese wax paper. Mackerel (or Saba in Japanese) is a very popular fish to eat in Japan. I mentioned to my Japanese pals that while in Munich we ate "Steckerlfisch" which is essentially mackerel inserted on a stick and BBQ'd. They have never dined on it this way, but seemed enthusiastic to try it, especially when I mentioned it washes down well with a big stein of Biru!



The last installment in the trilogy will have the dessert course and a special traditional Japanese breakfast...

Authentic Japanese Feast - Part I

This will be the first installment in what I think will end up being a three-part series. My Japanese friend and her husband invited myself and the man friend over as we will soon be moving out of the apartment building we all live in. She promised a traditional Japanese dinner and boy did she deliver!

When we arrived at their unit it became very apparent that they had been cooking all day. There were yummy smells out in the hallway leading to their door. I think it must be a custom to have slippers available for guests. Whenever I've gone over there, one pair awaits me at the front door. This time there were two pairs for our four feet!

A beautiful salad was already occupying the table. It was Rei Shabu Salad. "Rei" meaning cold and "Shabu" referring to Shabu Shabu. Fun fact #1: Shabu Shabu is an onomatopoeic word: the thin meat makes that sound when it is dipped and waved around in the boiling water!



Also on the table was a Japanese Squash Salad. This squash is also known as Japanese pumpkin and I think is called "Kabocha". The outer skin is green and the flesh is orange. Fun fact #2: the Japanese do not celebrate Halloween.



My favourite dish of the evening was one of my friend's mom's specialties. It was asparagus wrapped in thin pork cutlet (tonkatsu) and then dipped in egg and breaded with panko. Delicious. Fun fact #3: Teenage boys especially enjoy eating tonkatsu with rice.



I was lucky enough to get some leftover asparagus and tonkatsu to bring home which we feasted on at various points throughout the next day. I was sad to see the last one pass my lips this afternoon.
More of the feast to follow...

Gyoza Lesson

My language exchange has morphed into a recipe and cooking exchange which is perfectly fine with my belly. Food is after all a very important part of learning about a different culture. I introduced my Japanese friend to beets and how to roast them. In return she invited me over to make dumplings!

Still in the spirit of learning Japanese she prepared me an ingredient list with translations.



We mucked around a bit with the ingredients.



She had the coolest ceramic ginger grater that eliminates all the fibrous material from the ginger and puts all the gingery goodness into the surrounding moat. A quick google search found that I could easily purchase one for about 10-15$ or one that is in the shape of a blowfish for even less. Fugu!



And then we got down to business with the wrapping. Hers are prettier and less oozy than mine. It's a bit like arts and crafts and I'm like the toddler who uses too much glue and sparkles.



Fry em' up! Yum!

クッキー = kukki = cookie

My Japanese language skills are improving, although I think my vocabulary is expanding, the grammar is still very challenging. This was made very obvious to me when I tried writing a "thank-you" card to the parents of my Japanese friend. They came to my Canada Day party and in traditional Japanese style came bearing presents. They gave me some deeeelicious Yoku Moku cookies (kukki) and some beautiful bookmarks with drawings of Kabuki. I drafted up something for Mayumi to check to make sure I wasn't calling her parents, "stinky fish face" or something else insulting. Much giggling ensued because I wrote everything out of order due to my English grammar translating into Jap-lish. Here is the final edited version of my card.




Japanese things are always so pretty -- packaging is esthetically pleasing and there are often opening instructions. Portions are smaller but flavours were delightful. Orangey and lemony goodness.

Ekiben - Korean/Japanese in Bethesda MD

My last day in Bethesda I was feeling faint/cranky and it was HOT so I decided to grab a bite to eat before dragging my bags from the hotel into D.C.. I always know that when I start to feel worried or start to feel like hyperventilating, the most likely reason is due to hunger. My learned self soothing technique is through food. I also thought it would be a good idea since there were several fires in the Metro due to power failures that morning. Who knows... I could have been trapped in the subway with nothing to eat! Imagine languishing in the underground with no sustenance. Although you can't eat or drink on the Metro in D.C. so the point is moot.

I stopped at Ekiben, which was right across the street from my hotel. I had been there for take-out earlier in the week but ate Japanese, so I thought I'd try the Korean as I had read that it was even better.



At lunch (which is defined as from noon to 4 pm) they have lunch specials and 1$ sushi, so I couldn't resist having some sushi as an appetizer. I was the only one in there since it was way past noon and it came out really fast.

The BiBimBap was very fresh -- crunchy vegetables and tasty meat and eggs. It was really big so I overindulged and then had to sit for awhile during the expansion phase. The sushi appetizer was okay, with pieces that were a little small, but also fresh.


I asked for an itemized receipt since I was going to claim the expenses and I think I caused them to break their cash register. It took two employees to fix it and I admire their patience!

Here is also a picture of what I had eaten earlier in the week. Not as yummy as the Korean food, so I think if I was in the area again I would stick with the Korean side of the menu.

Konichiwa B*****s

I am learning how to speak Japanese from a friend that moved into my building 9 months ago from Japan. She is the cutest thing and very enthusiastic to practice her English and help me learn her language. I'm really excited because this means she might also teach me how to cook Japanese food! She loves to cook because she thinks the US portion sizes are way too big and also it is not customary to tip in Japan for any service, so she thinks that is a bit weird.

Since starting my lessons, I realized that there is a song out by the very Euro, Robyn, called "Konichiwa B*****s". Okay, come on admit it... you remember her song from the mid 90s "Show Me Love". So let me see if I can include her youtube video of the song below. Oops it ended up above, don't know how to change that.

Anyway... I just want to let Robyn know that she spelled "Konichiwa" wrong in the title -- it should be "Konnichiwa". Also, having pediatrician experience I can't say that I've ever "hammered a toe", although the phenomenon of "hammer toe" does exist and I am a sufferer of this rather unsightly and annoying condition. I really don't know what my new Japanese friend would think of this. I think I'll ask her this afternoon...