Tempura Sakamoto (天ぷらさか本) in front of Tsu Shinmachi Station (津新町駅) is my favorite restaurant. Numerous times I’ve mentioned my experiences there, but let me summarize: a variety of tasty and healthy foods, reasonable prices, and a kind family.

Before my calligraphy class today I stopped in for their O-Banzai Lunch, a selection of about seven tasty dishes for one low price. There is always seasonal variation to the dishes, but for the most part it is free of surprises; however, new policy presented me with something different today. A local producer of organic greens and vegetables has convinced them to try his wares.

The tempura dish today had the staple shrimp, but it was accompanied by slender, tender carrots and carrot greens. Lightly fried carrot greens have a fascinating, intricate appearance and the delicate flavor is no disappointment either.

The yosedofu salad had additional Japanese radish greens, which also gave a nice, fresh taste. Today’s lunch was a special treat. Hopefully the arrangement with the local farmer will turn out well. Delicious, healthy food and support for local business make a great combination.

When you’re in the area, please stop in and enjoy the restaurant.

It was Mfluder’s birthday and the inimitable Tricia, together with Mr and Mrs Sailorboy, put together an amazing dinner at then-new Kiraku. (Sorry Mfluder for posting this late, happy birthday plus 8 weeks!) Almost 20 of us took up the centre of the restaurant (not enough space in the private room) for Mfluder’s Sake-To-Me Night of Indulgence and made enough noise for 40! Mrs Sailorboy arranged for a special menu and the restaurant graciously gave us, among other things,  little bites to start the meal. The first little bite was fish liver. It tasted like rather fishy foie gras, not too bad but I probably wouldn’t want more than the few morsels in the bowl.

Then they probably ran out of fish liver because the rest of the late ones streaming in got this rather nice unagi starter. Boy were Hypodermically and I pleased that we got there early as we got two types of nice bites!

Because Hypodermically and I couldn’t wait for the rest to arrive so dinner proper could start, we ordered a very competent sashimi salad that was very fresh and left us hankering for more.

The first dish was the star of the entire dinner: oyster chawanmushi like nothing we’d tasted before. This truly brought chawanmushi to a new level. The uber-soft egg custard lay under half an inch of clear broth. Taking an exploratory spoonful of the broth, I tasted dashi broth and ginger. Dipping my spoon gently into the custard, I got ready for the egg part. And the silky yielding custard was an epiphany of oyster. I don’t know how they got it so soft and how they got the oyster bits just cooked without tasting at all fishy, but this is top of my list in chawanmushi. It’s the best one I’ve had. Ever.

Next came assorted sashimi, which was fresh, though not astoundingly fresh like on lucky days when you intercept the shipment straight from Japan. I liked it even more when Hypodermically agreed to swap her maguro for my salmon. The sweet prawn was quite nice…

… but even nicer was Mrs Sailorboy making sure that everyone surrendered their prawn heads for frying. Now these deep-fried prawn heads made for an ideal snack to go along with sake…

… which by now everyone was downing. The owner gave us what seemed like a free flow of very good, very smooth sake that kept coming. I don’t remember very much what it tasted like because DC didn’t let me take more than a few sips. Before you think he was being evil (though he normally is, heheh), he didn’t want me to repeat a Smokin’ Frogz. We also shared a small bottle of very lovely (even better than the free flow stuff!) sake between the four or five of us in the vicinity.

Next up was the tempura, nice and crisp. Good standard, though not particularly special.

But the sushi was very good. Somehow the rice was done perfect: balanced perfectly on the edge of hard and flavoured with just the right amount of vinegar. The three here beat my Singapore gold standard of Isetan supermarket sushi (go try it for yourself before you scoff). Excellent.

Emboldened by the excellent sushi, we rather paradoxically ordered more sashimi. The otoro was amazing. Having not been to Tsukiji market, I obviously don’t know what otoro is supposed to be like, but this one was another epiphany. Even DC was uncharacteristically uncharitable: we had to split the last piece. Being on the more despotic side of the relationship, I obviously got the slightly bigger and therefore better half.

It was a pity that my favourite ikura gunkan didn’t fare as well. Here, they soak the salmon roe in sake which gives it a rather interesting alcoholic edge. I prefer it done the normal way where you can really taste the fish oil. It didn’t help that the sacs were quite thick, so the ikura wasn’t as bursty as I like.

Everyone else oohed and aahed and loved the oyster sashimi. It was so big that it had to be served cut into little bits. I felt that it was a competent and fresh enough oyster. However, it just doesn’t beat oysters in the half-shell that still taste of the sea. This one somehow didn’t. It felt more like it belonged in a (very) high-class or luak.

The savoury courses finally came to an end with sukiyaki and shabu shabu.

True to form, ours wasn’t any old sukiyaki or shabu shabu. It came with wagyu beef…

… and kurobuta pork.

No pictures of the cooked product because we were busy squabbling and fighting over who was hogging (pun intended) the beef and the pork. All’s fair in love, war and eating. Amen.

Now the last course was something off-menu. Even the owner only tasted it the night before when the chef had finished the cake. It was a lovely strawberry cheesecake, very rich and homey tasting. It was unanimous, everyone wanted it to be put on the menu.

Kiraku
55 Market Street
#B1-01
Tel: 6438 6428

3236 S White Rd
San Jose, CA 95148

The wife and I went to Yuri’s once many years ago and I was definitely not impressed.

We had an appointment in the area so it was either pizza, pizza, pasta, or sushi, so Yuri’s it was. And, I am very glad we gave Yuri’s another try. The wife had the tempura appetizer with an order of a version of their spicy tuna. I had the ichiban bento box (tempura, teriyaki chicken, soup, rice, salad) and an order of unagi. Pretty much the most common dishes you can find in any Japanese restaurant, but the execution of the dishes was what set Yuri’s apart; it was uncommonly good at the common (crossfit virtuosity!).

The portions were pretty big, and we split a portion of her’s and mine’s to pack my lunch for today. The server was doing the whole diner dash thing, but was very attentive and checked in with us several times. Overall, I was thoroughly satisfied and will be coming back again soon!

My human is crazily busy with preparing for our big move to Australia – so please forgive me if I can’t visit your blogs much in the next few weeks!

I had a very exciting experience last weekend: I went to my very 1st dinner party! My lovely friends, Cookie & Cinnamon, invited me and my humans to dinner at their home and it was great to have one last playdate with them before I leave NZ.

Although they are both Beagles, Cookie & Cinnamon are so different in personality. Cookie is like me – very calm and laid-back and quiet – while Cinnamon is full of energy and always whizzing around excitedly!

So Cookie took it easy…

…while Cinnamon showed me around her garden…

And we had a good play together!

We especially enjoyed chasing each other around the garden table!

But oh! What was that? I think dinner is ready!! Quick, Cinnamon – FOOD!!

Unfortunately, the humans said we doggies couldn’t join them at the dining table – in fact, Hsin-Yi even made me do the “Bed” command on some lovely soft cushions that Cinnamon’s human put down, for the whole time they were eating…humph! So unfair!

And everything smelled so delicious too!  Cookie & Cinnamon’s humans had prepared a special kind of Japanese food called tempura and my humans were just stuffing their faces like pigs…without even saving a bit for me! Humph!

Still, they did let me get up when they had finished and we doggies were finally allowed to come and join in…

Are you sure you don't need me to lick that bowl clean for you?

Cinnamon trying the sneaky Beagle attack...

Oh! She was caught red-pawed!

.

It was such a lovely evening and I had a wonderful time!

Thanks to Cookie & Cinnamon for this photo! (www.beaglesnz.blogspot.com)

My humans and I are so sad that we have only got to know Cookie & Cinnamon and their humans so late and now we’re leaving NZ so we won’t get to spend more happy times with them. But I guess we will just have to catch up with each other’s adventures through our blogs and hope that we might get a chance to meet again when they go to Australia for a visit or we come back to NZ!

The Belly is back after a long work-related hiatus.  I’m jumping right back into it with reviews of 2 of Austin’s most popular restaurants, Garrido’s and Uchi.

Garrido’s, in the swanky 360 building (Nueces and 3rd), is one of several high-end Mexican places that have popped up recently downtown (La Condesa and Cantina Laredo being the others).  I was pretty excited to try it out as the founder, owner, and head chef is David Garrido, who was head chef at Jeffrey’s in its heyday.

Like any respectable Austin Mexican joint, Garrido’s does an array of tequila-based drinks, heavy on the margaritas.

The Mexican Martini (basically, a margarita with olives) was very strong.  This is a good thing, as it’s a wallet-exploding $8.50, and it comes in a single glass, not a 3-glass shaker like at Trudy’s, purveyors of the original and standard MexiMart.  I hoped this one would be better than that cheaper but reliable classic, and it was.  There was a little saltiness from the olive juice, and the citrus flavors were aromatic rather than syrupy sweet.  Still, Trudy’s is a better value.

The Paloma, on the other hand, at $6, was my fave tequila beverage of the night.

With El Jimador, grapefruit juice, and a splash of soda in a tall glass with crushed ice, it was basically a greyhound with tequila instead of vodka: simple and refreshing, mildly sweet, perfect for a summer night.

For dinner I mixed it up with some bocaditos (literally, little mouthfuls, the heartier Mexican version of amuses bouches) and some tacos, which are the mainstay of the menu.

The pork tostadas with goat cheese, pepitas, watermelon, and chipotle ($7.50)

and coffee marinated ribeye steak tacos with queso asadero and chipotle horseradish aioli ($10.75)

were both clearly made with fresh, high-quality ingredients.  But the flavors didn’t jump off the tongue the way I expected them to.  With the tostadas, the pungent goat cheese completely dominated everything else, and the pork was dry.  With the ribeye tacos, the coffee, horseradish, and queso flavors were missing in action, leaving me with the Taco Cabana-esque taste of beef tacos with mayonnaise.

Garrido’s was a little disappointing given its lofty pedigree and reputation, but I’d go there again.  If you’re a taco purist, you’re probably better off hitting a cheaper 1st street or east side establishment, but Garrido’s has more going for it than against it–reasonable prices, high-quality drinks, nice decor, a great back patio with a view of Shoal Creek, and a sexy clientele.  And nice bathrooms.

Uchi, on the other hand, never disappoints.  Since its opening I have failed to find a better restaurant in Austin.  Add the hip architecture and decor courtesy of Austin local Michael Hsu, the chic but friendly service, and the extensive wine/sake list to the world-class food, and Uchi is the undisputed king.  (Also, for you star-chasers, once I saw Jake Gyllenhall and the guy who plays Sabertooth in Wolverine on the same night.  My wife almost had a heart attack.)

Uchi’s concept is Japanese/Western fusion.  Before founding Uchi, Chef Tyson Cole (who’s been on Iron Chef America but lost to the master, Morimoto) was a sushi chef at Musashino, Austin’s best traditional Japanese place, and he has trained in Japan with the best.  For some reason though, the more traditional Japanese fare here isn’t as good as Musashino’s and doesn’t hold a candle to the much more inventive fusion fare.

Every time I go, I try something new from the nightly menu, but I always return to a few mainstays from the permanent menu.  This time my go-to was the bond roll with salmon ($10).

The menu says it consists of avocado, sundried tomato, white soybean paper, and salmon.  That’s a simple ingredient list, but it explodes with flavor.  That’s because, like everything else on Uchi’s menu, the ingredients are the freshest and most expertly prepared in town.  The avocado is creamy and buttery, the salmon is tender but not mushy, and the rice (something lesser sushi joints neglect) is perfect–toothsome, not overly vinegared, rolled tight.  The accompanying mango sauce lends a wild kick of perfume that transforms this dish from merely fresh to unforgettable.

Another classic is the age dofu ($5), cubes of battered and fried tofu with dried bonito shavings and green onion in dashi (fish-and-kelp) broth.

Everything about this dish is perfect at Uchi–the hot, crispy exterior and gelatinous interior of the tofu, the heaps of bacony bonito shavings, the gentle and distinctly Japanese umami flavor of the broth.

One of the new things we tried from the nightly menu was the tara miso (casco bay cod with celery root and toasted almonds).

I loved the play between the sweet/savory almonds and caramelized exterior of the fish against the cool celery.  You can seldom go wrong with celery.

The star of the night though had to be the madai carpaccio (thin slices of raw Japanese black snapper, with shiso oil, san bai sweet vinegar, sea salt, micro greens, and green onions, $18).

The fish couldn’t have been fresher, and it had just the right combination of sea salt, vinegar and green onions to gently swathe it in a translucent sweet/sour/green cloak of flavor.  The salt, simple as it sounds, was key–it’s very rare that something will be perfectly salted in a restaurant, when the kitchen has to turn out plate after plate.  Somehow Uchi always gets it exactly right.

Some other new delciacies we had that night:

tomato katsu (fried green tomatoes Japanese-style in delicate panko breaking, with hot mustard sauce, $5),

hotate adzuki (diver scallops, adzuki bean, bacon, brussels sprouts), a combination of silky, sexy scallop and homey smoke flavors,

tempura ($12 for a vegetable combo, $5 for shrimp), very good, fresh, hot, and crispy, but again, for some reason, greasier and heavier than Musashino’s flawless rendition,

and jizake creme caramel with brown butter sorbet and ginger consomme, $9 (one of my all-time favorite desserts–it needs no explanation).

在yl的鼓励下，试了试tempura. 用的是现成儿的batter mix, 真的很简单。那个mix有盐，所以什么都不用加。还挺好吃的。我仔细阅读了package, 好像没有味精的说。一定要用凉水啊。冰水就更好了。如果没有，可以把batter放到冰箱里面chill一阵子。

Well, I had to give way to the Butterball all-out feasting for a couple of days but now that it’s over, I’m back in the green and sensible eating business.

Now, not only did I have fish, veggies and fruit pieces leftover from making the baked tempura, I also had a few tempura pieces that I didn’t get to finish. So I thought of making soup out of all this today. Which turned out to be a winner. The tempura gets soggy when dipped in the soup but that’s how you want it. I’ve never tried making soup out of fruits before and I gotta tell ya, this ain’t gonna be the last time. So yummy and refreshing!

Ingredients: Assorted Veggies (I used Zucchini, Mushrooms, Carrots and Sweet Potato) and Fruits (I used Apple, Pear, Peach and Avocado), Leftover Tempura Pieces, Chicken Stock, Dry White Wine, Garlic, Olive Oil, Chives or Scallions, Salt & Pepper

Directions: Dice all veggies and fruits into small pieces. In a pot or dutch oven, saute garlic in a little olive oil. Throw in all veggies and fruit pieces, season with salt & pepper and stir. Add just enough stock to immerse everything then add a splash of white wine. Let boil for 10 minutes or until the veggies and fruits are very soft. Ladle the veggie and fruit pieces and some stock into the blender and puree. Pour back into the pot and if needed, re-season to taste. Reheat leftover tempura pieces in the mircrowave. Ladle soup in a bowl, add tempura pieces and garnish with chives or scallions.

In light of my great respect for the fine art of Kaiseki, Yuki’s mom decided that she wanted to take me out for another style. That woman loves me! Frankly, I can’t blame her. At any rate, a friend of hers had recommended Ushiyama in the Meguro neighborhood of Tokyo, so we gave it a shot last night. And what a shot it was! Slam dunk!

It started off with a plate of carrots, shiitake, and mibuna with grated apple. Who would have thought of putting grated apple on mushrooms? Ushiyama, that’s who. I’m damn he did, it was amazing!

After that came a dish of four. I ate them clockwise from bottom left. Ama ebi (sweet shrimp), raw sardines with thinly sliced onion that’s been soaked in cold water to remove the sharpness, warm salted ginko nuts skewered on pine needles on top of seitan (wheat gluten) cakes on top of grilled sweet potato that was shaped like a ginko leaf, and uni in a lily blossom. No, I did not eat the maple leaf in the center of the plate nor the pine needles.

Next was the soup course. I heavily bonito flaked dashi broth that was nice and smokey with a rinkon (lotus root) and mochi dumpling and a bok choy leaf with some yuzu zest. It ranks right up there with the best soups I’ve ever eaten, next to the one I ate a few years ago at Iron Chef Michiba’s restaurant.

After the soup course was the sashimi course. It consisted of suzuki (sea bass), melt-in-your-mouth tuna, and ika (squid). It must be ika season because the ika I’ve eaten on this trip is by far the softest and sweetest I’ve ever had.

Then they served us home-made soba noodles in a light soy-dashi with some thinly sliced negi (green onions) on top. I’m telling you, there is absolutely nothing like top quality freshly made soba noodles. I don’t know if I can go back to store-bought dried soba when I get home. I mean, of course I can, but it just won’t be the same. So chewy and clean tasting.

Next up was the grilled course. Sawara (a cousin of the spanish mackerel) grilled with yuzu-miso and served with yuzu-miso konnyaku and daikon that was cut into a flower with a small slice of red pepper. I’ve never had yuzu-miso before, I’m a huge fan!

After that was the simmered course which was kinmedai (splendid alfonsino) in a ginger sauce. It was served with spinach and daikon radish with chawanmushi in the middle.

For the fried course we got a dish with some tempura. Shishito pepper and ebi imo (a kind of yam) served in a light dashi with momiji oroshi and chopped chives.

Then came the rice and miso course. The rice was a glutinous rice with chirimenjako (baby sardines simmered in saltwater, dried in the sun, and covered in a sweet soy marinade), sliced shiso, and served on top of a cherry leaf. The miso had mizuna greens in it. There was also some lightly pickled cucumber and daikon on the side (yes Nick, I even ate the pickles!).

Finally, for dessert we got sweet potato mousse. It was so soft and lightly sweet, it was really more like a light sweet potato cheesecake. Served with a sweet potato chip on top.

This Kaiseki was Kyoto-style which is considered to be the most sophisticated and delicate of all styles. Hard to argue as the food was simply magnificent! Plus, all of that food for only $50 per person! I challenge anyone to find a deal half that good for a meal of that quality prepared with that caliber anywhere in the states. Thanks so much for bringing me here Tamiko!!!

This magazine I was flipping through the other day had a restaurant ad with a very hypnotic photo of tempura. That got me all excited about my next kitchen project. The only thing is that I forgot that deep frying is a big part of how you make the dish. And deep frying is something I was trying to remove from my cooking vocabulary these days. So, I immediately thought of the possibility of baking it instead. I wasn’t sure if it would work, though. But then again, I’ve made baked tonkatsu in the past with excellent results, so that, at least, gave me some confidence that it might actually work for tempura also.

Well, it’s not quite the texture you get when you deep fry it, obviously. As you can see, it’s not as shiny as when it’s soaked in oil. But this is a very acceptable alternative, nonetheless, if health awareness is something you’d consider. The flavor is authentically tempura. Especially, when you factor in the dipping sauce.

Ah… the sauce, yes! Now, this is a whole new ball of wax, I have to say. I’ve tried in the past to make tempura dipping sauce but I couldn’t quite get the authenticity part down. I know because I’ve had it in Japanese restaurants before and there’s always a depth to it that’s more than just soy sauce, rice wine and sugar. But after a little research, I found out that there was yet a missing piece to the puzzle. The chicken stock. Now, why didn’t I think of that? Anyhow, I’m finally pleased that my dipping sauce has come as close as it could to the real thing.

But wait! There’s so many ingredients I couldn’t possibly consume this much tempura. Not to worry. I already have something in mind for the leftover veggies. Stay tuned.

Ingredients: Seafood (I used Salmon and Catfish),Vegetables (I used Mushrooms, Sweet Potato, Green Beans and Zucchini) and/or Fruits (I used Apple, Pear and Avocado) of your choice, Cooking Oil Spray, Salt & Pepper, Tempura Batter, Ice Cold Water. For dipping sauce: Soy Sauce, Mirin, Chicken Stock.

Directions: Preheat oven to 450F. Cut seafood, fruits and veggies into bite size pieces. Place them on a prep tray, spray with cooking oil spray and season with salt & pepper. In a big bowl, mix batter with ice cold water to right consistency. Spray baking pan with cooking oil spray. Dip everything in batter one piece at a time, shaking off excess batter and placing them on the baking sheet. Make sure to not crowd everything together or they will stick. Spray another coat of cooking spray on top of everything to keep from drying. Place pan in oven for roughly 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the dipping sauce by combining 3 parts chicken stock, 1 part soy sauce and 1 part mirin in a sauce pan. Stir until warm.

My son absolutely adores seafood, particularly prawns!  So I thought I would share some recipes I’v found to be absolutely divine!  What’s great about prawns is that they can be served as a snack or with egg fried rice for example as a full course meal!

First up we have Sesame Prawns, and for this you will need the following:

1kg king prawns shelled and deveined
Maizena (Cornflour)
1 cup self raising flour
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
1 1/2 cups cold water
1 egg beaten
2 tablespoons honey
sesame seeds
Oil

The method:

In a bowl, sift the flour, salt and pepper together, make a well in the center and add the water and beaten egg. Mix with a whisk or a fork to a thin batter. Heat oil for deep frying to medium hot. Place the maizena on a plate, coat each prawn in the maizena, shake off the excess and then drop into the batter. remove from the batter and drop into the hot oil until golden brown. Remove and place on kitchen towel. You can do a few at a time but dont overlaod the pan, the oil temperature will drop and the batter will be very oily. Once they are all done, remove the oil from the pan, leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil in the pan. Reduce the heat to low, add the honey and allow to melt and become liuid. Place the sesame seeds on a plate. Add the prawns to the honey and toss or move around to coat each prawn in the honey nectar. remove from the heat and coat the prawns in the sesame seeds.

Serve immediately!

The other family favourite is Tempura prawns and Kingklip (my personal fav!).  Now with anything that you cook Tempura, the secret is in the batter, and whats more you can cook basically any shellfish or vegetable Tempura style! Simply Divine!

This is what you need:

Peeled large prawns (leave the tails on
Kingklip strips (3-4cm wide, 6-8cm long)
Flour seasoned with salt for dusting

Batter

2 egg yolks
300ml iced water
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Then to make them you do the following:

Heat oil in a wok or pot and make the batter just before using, it is important to have the batter cold when it hits the oil.

Whisk the yolks and ½ the water together, sift in the flour and salt and stir lightly with chopsticks, add the rest of the water and mix to a smooth batter.

Dip each prawn or piece of fish in the seasoned salt, dip in the batter and then straight into the hot oil for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown and crisp.

Remove from the oil and drain in a sieve over a pot, don’t place on absorbent paper, they will lose their crispness.

Serve with soy sauce with some grated ginger for dipping.

Happy Cooking!

Last week, everything was unplanned when my family and I had a glutton’s gastronomic adventure from breakfast at Starbucks Coffee and lunch at Filipino restaurant, KKK,  to ultimate dessert at  HAAGEN-DAZS and ending the day at YAKIMIX!  

My wife, Tina, our son, Gabby and I, all came with hungry tummies with my youngest brother, JC  for dinner to this buffet-and-grill-all-you-want-restaurant that we’ve been wanting to try for several weeks now.  Initially, we planned to try it months ago as we spotted Yakimix in their branch along Macapagal Avenue in Pasay City near those seaside-’dampa’ restos. But unexpectedly, after long hours of strolling in SM-Mall of Asia last week, finding difficulties in deciding where to chow down from so many choices, we’re just lucky to find Yakimix’s  posters at the entrances of the mall as one of its newest food places. 

We had to wait for few minutes when we came to Yakimix-SM-MOA before 5:30PM as it re-opens in the evening.  When we’re ushered in to our table, we saw this impressively spacious buffet place…

This was just one view taken from where we’re seated. Another section is available to accomodate, more or less 60 to 70 pax inside and few more tables are outside catering to those who prefer al fresco dining.  Believe it or not, before we get to taste our first choices from the spread, the place was packed in a heartbeat…

I know you’ll agree with me that whenever an oriental food place is full of chinky-eyed diners, then it verifies the taste of Japanese and Chinese foods it offers.   That was so apparent when we dined at Yakimix; the more we got excited to try all dishes at the buffet table.

I got this plate filled with raw seafoods and marinated meat for us to cook in our smokeless grill at our table…

Soon after the wait staff smeared oil on the grill and turned it on, our little ‘chef’, Gabby became too busy

Obviously, our son enjoyed cooking for us   Look at his ‘masterpiece’…

We’ve tried Shabu-shabu few times before and still enjoyed Yakimix for it’s purely grilling pleasure.  Everything was browned by Gabby to almost perfection

There were more seasoned cut meats and seafoods on the buffet spread; skewers which we failed to sampled; there’s always a next time.

It may not be the best Sukiyaki in town but it satisfied my craving for that sweet and salty Japanese soup. For me, UMU in DUSIT THANI, Makati City serves the best Sukiyaki.  My brother, JC had the other bowl of Hot and Sour soup which was also just OK.

I got few sushi and two slices of sashimi

On Tina’s ONLY plate :  ebi tempura, fried unbattered prawns, california maki, bacon-wrapped shrimps,  crab sticks, mushroom and veggies,  and according to her, the best among she tasted from Yakimix were those “seafood balls” .  I cannot agree because I failed to bite at them

On my plate : almost the same thing but I got to try the noodles.  There were more on the spread that we passed on simply because we’re so satiated already. And unlike what you might be thinking, we don’t have bottomless gastric pits, LOL.     There were just so many dishes, but so little time!

There were salad bar, fresh tropical fruits and yes, cakes and pastries too, mostly from Red Ribbon and Goldilocks.

On our table :

Yakimix offers Selecta Ice Cream included in the buffet! Gabby went several times to the dessert table for these ice cream sprinkles…

Although I found Yakimix’s dishes plain and ordinary,  it gets our nod because of its wide-array of choices, better traffic of diners and spacious ambiance.  Our drinks were refilled at an instant even without asking, but nothing special for the commonly tasting instant juices and iced tea.  Far from the other blog reviews of Yakimix-Macapagal branch,  service at SM-MOA was quick and friendly exceeding my expectations.  :)   Yakimix’s buffet costs half as hotel buffet prices and can surely give Dad’s Saisaki Kamayan Ultimate Buffet a stiff competition.

Another reason to give Yakimix a try :  where else can you find an eat-all-you-want-Selecta Ice Drops ? LOL

We’ll visit their branch in Tomas Morato, Quezon City whenever possible because it’s closer to our place.

Have you been to Yakimix?  How’s your experience ? 

————————————-

YAKIMIX /Unit 122-126 Ground Floor SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City /

Yakimix Weekend Buffet rate : PhP 580 per pax; bottomless drinks at PhP 55.

PS : Gabby ate for free (children below 4 feet get to dine free of charge)

Kinpachi’s sushi set

Tasty and healthy –two apt descriptions that Kinpachi Restaurant maintains for the food they had been serving to more than half a million customers for almost three decades.

Despite being squeezed amid rows of restaurants, bars and food outlets in the heart of Garapan, Kinpachi Restaurant does not lack for customers with their Japanese cuisine specialties that had been gaining popularity through the years.

With over a hundred items on its menu customized to suit the varying tastes of individuals, Kinpachi has one focus — that is to serve tasty, satisfying and healthy Japanese dishes to their customers.

The menu contains regular Japanese favorites, Japanese drinks and beverages, and Health Alert food items. Even vegetarians are not left out because the restaurant meets their needs.

Famous favorites at Kinpachi among tourists and locals alike includes the Sushi set, a mouth-watering array of assorted shrimp, octopus, tuna or yellow fin on sushi rice and tekkamaki. This is served with vinegar     and marinated vegetables, miso soup and pickles, all for $19.

The Broiled Japanese Fish, ($11) allows you to savor your choice of grilled sanma, saba or salmon fish served with rice, vinegar marinated vegetables, pickles and miso soup.

Kinpachi’s signature tempura set is a must-try item that comes with crisp and crunchy prawn, shrimp, fish and vegetables, with your choice of sashimi or broiled fish, priced at $23. This is one menu that you can’t keep your hands off as soon as it’s set on your table.

katsu curry

Bite into crunchy slices of boned deep-fried chicken. The set comes with rice, miso soup and pickles for $7.50.

The Katsu curry, or rice on curry sauce toppings with breaded pork comes with a serving of salad. This has become a favorite among locals and can be had for $8.50.

A huge bowl of Miso Ramen with pork and bean sprout is another favorite, a generous serving at $9 to warm your stomach on a cold day or night.

Miso Ramen

“Customers come and go, but we give them a reason to come back not only for our tasty dishes but for excellent customer service, too,” Kinpachi Restaurant and Paseo De Marianas Promoters general manager Misako Kamata said.

Kinpachi  tempura set

fried chicken slices

Check out Kinpachi’s menu and get your fill of Japanese cuisine. You’ll be craving for more. Kinpachi Restaurant is located across from the Hyatt Regency Saipan and Fiesta Resort & Spa. They are open from 7 a.m. until 2 a.m. For reservations/inquiries please call 670-234-6900.

(This article was first published HERE)

I’ve actually been lying fairly low the last couple of weeks, due to lack of expendable funds – but this past Wednesday I got a text message from the Yamamotos, a kind older couple that I met at Osako-san’s October BBQ party. The last time we spoke in person, we got onto the topic of cooking, and I mentioned that I wanted to learn how to make tempura at home – mine never seems to turn out right, even though it appears such a straightforward process. Ms. Yamamoto offered to teach me, but up until recently they were actually out of town visiting one of their daughters (turns out the reason was she fell down the stairs in her house, and had to get a neckbrace… scary. She’s okay though.) This text said they were back, and invited me to come to their house on Saturday.

During the negotiations on when and where to meet, I admitted I really had nothing at all planned for the weekend and so could go wherever, whenever. This reminded Fumiko-san that the community center near their house was having a neighborhood matsuri, so we could have lunch there, and then explore a shrine just up the hill. Festivals and shrines always being an easy sell for me, I happily agreed, and we met at noon to drive into Fuchu Town. Japanese Wiki entry here.

The matsuri was very small and homey, held in the center of an apartment complex’s courtyard around the corner from the community center. There were a lot of happy kids running around playing with balloon animals, and four or five small food stalls selling hand-made treats: we started out with the udon line being manned by about a dozen obaasans, and then picked up some takoyaki and dango mid-meal. The dango were really good, and of a type I’d never had before: the fresh, sticky skewered rice balls were coated in a sweet soybean flour called kinako. Like Wiki mentions, it kind of tasted like peanut butter. The Yamamotos were impressed with my taste and knowledge about Japanese food (though that’s a typical compliment for foreigners, admittedly) and we chatted about my upbringing in an internationally-minded house in Alaska.

The festival also featured a flea market, so we waited in line for the next opening to see what we could pick up. It was actually pretty hard to scramble through the jostling obaasans all looking for a deal, but I got a cute Hello Kitty plate for 10 yen since I’ve been needing another at the apartment. When we came out, though, I was astonished to see an authentic kamishibai storyteller performing in front of the steps outside; she even had the traditional bike, with the small wooden “stage” box mounted on it to hold and display the pictures. As she narrated and provided the voices for the characters, she pulled the panels out one at a time and rotated them into a separate compartment built into the box. The illustrations for her tale were lovely, they looked like original oil paintings or maybe pastels, and mostly featured Starry Night-style forest-scapes. I have no idea what story it was (it didn’t look like one of the traditional tales – caught the title just for a second and it was ’something something チの木’) but I was thrilled just to get to see her. I thought that performance art had died out entirely in the 60s.

Next was Take Jinja across the street. It’s Shichi-Go-San time right now, and we saw a couple of cute kids hauling “thousand year candy” and being taken for their shrine visit by kimono- and suit-clad adults. There were also a couple of priests performing rites for the children inside the main honden building, which we walked all the way around. Seems like it might be a popular or provident shrine for kids, since there was also a monument on the grounds dedicated to the practice of taking a picture every year to see how much you’ve grown: a big stone set in the ground, with a graduated line on it for one to put their back against.

Inside of the community center itself, I was delighted to find a fantastic and well-hidden museum dedicated to the nature and history of the area. The first floor has displays of stuffed local wildlife, and explanations of the ecology in the nearby forest; but upstairs is the real treasure, a whole floor of antique instruments and displays explaining many aspects of traditional Japanese country lifestyle. There’s even a bit of signage in English! The insides of two old farmhouses have been transplanted into the museum, along with cooking implements, furniture, and other perfectly preserved relics. (I’m definitely going back with a camera, so I’ll go into more detail in a future entry – Fuchu Machi itself has many more shrines and locations to offer, so on the way out I grabbed a couple of maps so I can come back and do some detailed exploration.)

Also, Mikumarikyo Gorge, a large park and collection of hiking trails, is only a little ways up the road – we went and walked around the very bottom part of the park for a few minutes, and it’s gorgeous, full of waterfalls and tall trees. I think I’ll be happy to make a day or two of Fuchu and walking the mountain in the near future.

The Yamamotos’ house is actually up the side of a mountain, five minutes away from the entrance to Mikumarikyo, and they have a ridiculously stunning view of Hiroshima City and the bay beyond. You can see all the way out to Miyajima and Iwakuni from their front porch. Hopefully Mr. Yamamoto will be able to send me some pictures he took of the sunset soon, though I will have to go back and try for a nighttime panorama too, because I was just blown away.

The Yamamotos are so easy to talk to, and it’s great practice for my Japanese even if we sometimes have to resort to the dictionary (A-san got really good at using it on-demand, so Fumiko-san put him in charge of vocabulary checks while we were doing our cooking lesson.) I really had such a fantastic time. Of course, we talked about food a lot! So here’s some wisdom I gleaned during our time.

~ Although it’s possible to make tempura 100% “from scratch,” the pre-mixed batter powder is, quite simply, better-tasting and easier to control.

~ If the ingredients are already cold, it’s not necessary to keep the batter in ice-water. But if they’re at room temp, put the batter container in an ice-water bath.

~ Don’t mix the tempura batter 100% smooth. Leave some lumps and powder in it. Just stir enough to bring the water and the batter barely together. The overall consistency should be thin enough to coat the food evenly without thickly “breading” it.

~ Don’t mix the batter ahead of time. If you do, the starch will start to dissolve into the water and the consistency will come out wrong. It’s better to mix a small amount of batter just before you’re about to fry; if you wind up need more during the cooking process, keep adding new powder and new water little by little to the batter bowl.

~ The ingredients need to be very dry before you batter them. Pat dry any veggies, even scrape out as much moisture as you can from the shrimp tails.

~ The oil should be hot enough that when you press a bamboo chopstick against the bottom of the pan, it will start making bubbles boil up around it. Also, concerning oil temp, most things should go in, cook, and come out within very little time. You want to always be busy rotating items through, unless you have something pretty thick, like lotus root, which has to stay in for a little bit.

~ Rather than trying to time it scientifically, just look at the color of your food to know if it’s done or not. Tempura is best if it’s pure gold, maybe with just a tiny touch of brown at the edges.

Also, here are some recipes for a really fast lotus root side-dish, and a fast spinach side-dish, which we also had at our dinner.

Lotus Root with Bacon

- about half a lotus root bulb, boiled and sliced
- a small piece of bacon or ham
- grated Parmesan cheese
- salt (+ spices, i.e. garlic powder)
- soy sauce
- cooking oil (+ sesame oil)

Chop the meat into small strips, and also cut the lotus root into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a pot or pan over a high flame. Put in the meat first, just for a few seconds, and then add the lotus root. Saute, stirring constantly, as you add the cheese, spices, and just a small dribble of soy sauce. Cook until the lotus root is a pleasing texture, soft but with a bit of resilient crunchy chewiness – about 5 minutes.

Spinach With Sesame

- four bunches of whole, raw spinach
- whole sesame seeds
- Japanese flavoring broth (tsuyu or dashi)
- a Japanese mortar and pestle

Put the sesame seeds into the mortar and grind them against the edges until they reach a slightly pasty consistency. On the stove, bring water to a boil in a medium-sized pot. Turn down the heat and put the spinach bunches into the water until they are soft (only a minute or two); then extract them again and wring out as much water and juice as possible. Chop into bite-sized lengths, and then mix with the sesame paste. Add a small amount of tsuyu for flavor and to help the sesame adhere.

By the way, if you don’t have any sort of grinding device to make up the sesame paste (I actually don’t at my house) I theorize you could get most of the same flavor by adding a little sesame oil to the spinach, and then sprinkling on whole sesame seeds at the end.

S U S H I

I made sushi on the weekend with Andrew. Now I won’t go into all the fancy schmancy details on how to make them, because there are a million other blogs that will explain this better than me! But my favourite combination that I concocted on saturday was an inside out roll filled with king prawns in a tempura batter, with strips of vegetables, a tiny bit of mayo (I want to try wasabi mayo with this next time), and finally, rolled in sesame seeds! The crunch of the tempura batter was delightful. YUM!

We were on a cheap budget, but wanted to make some sushi that didn’t consist of just carrot sticks… So instead of yummy but expensive sashimi grade tuna and salmon, we opted for some cheaper (but still very yummy!) fillings. Crab sticks, smoked salmon (it was on offer ok!), a couple of king prawns, chives, avocado, carrot, cucumber, japanese rolled omelette, sesame seeds, mayonnaise, and capsicum. Obviously not all in the same roll, divide them up into combinations that take your fancy!

Always serve with soy sauce, wasabi, pickled ginger, and a MASSIVE bowl of steamed edamame beans sprinkled with maldon sea salt to snack on.

Häromdagen var jag på en Japansk restaurang och åt riktigt gott: Tempura, friterad fisk. Som tur var blev jag bjuden på middagen, för det var en krog som var ganska dyr. Men efter litet research visar det sig att det ska gå utmärkt – och vara billigt – att laga japanskt hemma. Och inte ska det vara svårt heller. Här är receptet på Tempura, friterad fisk och friterade grönsaker.

Vilken vit fisk som helst, skuren i lagom munsbitar, passar bra. Och grönsaker: hela champinjonger, stänger av sparris, fint skivad sötpotatis och stora bitar paprika. Blomkålsbuketter eller broccoli funkar också fint. Huvudsaken är att bitarna är så små att de snabbt blir tillräckligt mjuka, eller att de passar bra al dente.

Doppa bitarna av grönsaker och fisk i smeten och låt den bilda ett tunnt lager -  det behöver inte fästa över hela. För smeten blandar du:

1 uppvispat ägg
2 dl mjöl
2 dl kallt vatten
1 msk vitvinsvinäger

Fritera i rikligt med olja utan smak, och låt sedan vila på hushållspapper för att bli av med extra fett. Men inte för länge, det här är mat som ska serveras riktigt varm!

Servera förslagsvis med citron och soya i vilken du skivat ned en chilifrukt.

After two consecutive days of bustling Tokyo, our next destination would be a lot quieter in comparison. On 8 September, we began our quick-stop tour of western Japan, moving from city to city with more speed than a Kenyan sprinter on…speed. Naturally, I’m not going to cover all of the exciting places I visited in one go, so stay tuned for the other four parts after this one (yes, this is a ten part ordeal, be amazed). Having spent a week in and around the buzzing centre of the country, I was beginning to think that nothing outside Tokyo or Yokohama existed.

I was filled with considerable anticipation, then, when it was announced that we would be travelling deep into the unknown hill-country of Shizuoka. Of course, it wasn’t unknown at all, but I liked to think it was, like I was some sort of intrepid Anglo-Irish explorer, conquering the terrain of some utterly alien new land. In writing that sentence, it has become clear to me that I need to start reading/playing less fantasy lest I sound like a total psychopath. Regardless, on our drive from the suburbia (I use the term suburbia very lightly, as it doesn’t seem to exist in Japan) of Kanagawa, there was plenty a beautiful sight to behold, and most of it to the soundtrack of Pokémon, as during our four hour drive to our mountain lodgings, I don’t think H.’s mix-CD was changed once. I now know the lyrics to two of the said cartoon series’ opening themes, as of course for me to have known them beforehand would have been absolutely preposterous…ahem.

Surviving miles of long-winding and often treacherous roads, we eventually arrived at our ryokan, a traditional Japanese-style inn. Nestled deep in the hills, ‘idyllic’ would have been putting it lightly. Indeed, as the title of this post suggests, I really did feel like we were some sort of travelling samurai, stepping backwards in time to a now sadly dwindling Japanese Japan, with paper walls, sliding doors, futons and the like. Aside from my unfounded nostalgia and the obvious impracticalities of using paper walls and mats for flooring in a 21st century world of skyscrapers and bullet-trains, it was fantastic nonetheless. Taking off our shoes at the entrance (as is typical in Japanese houses), we were escorted to our room. Sliding the highly ornate door aside revealed a large open space with nothing but a table and some small cushions for us to sit ourselves down on, an alcove by the window adjoined.

Up the road from the ryokan.

Setting our bags down and helping ourselves to a rather pungent, yet equally delicious sweet rice-ball thing, we decided to bathe. This particular ryokan was of the hot-spring variety (more sausage, folks!), though this time it was a  private affair, so the three of us had a bath to ourselves. For any reader that’s just joined in this epic tale, nakedness is something that the Japanese take with a pinch of salt and a degree of gusto, and rightfully so. I think it’s high-time that the Europeans and Americans got off their high-horses of prudery and realised that, well, every man has a penis and every girl has a vagina. Unless you are transsexual and therefore have the best of both worlds. Either way, big bloody whoop. Inconveniently for three heterosexual males, our outdoor grotto bath was shamefully romantic, perhaps best suited to couples, rather than rabbles of young men. The water was hot indeed, whilst the overpowering odour of sulphur made soaks of more than five minutes difficult.

More of the ryokan's scenery. No bathing men, sorry!

Returning from the bath-house to our rooms, adorning some traditional Japanese robes in the process (think tailored dressing-gowns), we were quickly ushered into an adjacent dining room where supper had been delightfully provided for us. It was the real deal – sushi, sashimi, tempura, you name it. Salmon, tuna, squid, shrimp and chicken (the cooks had angelically taken it upon themselves to rustle up some meat for the duo of European palates) accompanied by pickled vegetables, all washed down by a pint of very refreshing beer. It was a mouthgasm, and that was putting it lightly. Stomachs full, we lumbered back to our room to find that while we had been eating, the small table that had once graced the centre had now disappeared and laid down in its stead were futon, Japanese bed-rolls. Considering the handiwork of magical Japanese elves (and not the inn staff), I collapsed into…well, not sleep, actually. It took absolutely sodding ages for me to venture off into the realm of slumber because of my ridiculously hard pillow; so hard was it in fact, that when I woke up in the morning, I had more knots in my shoulder muscles than a suicide-bomber has virgins in Paradise.

A scroll in our room, supposedly to ward off evil spirits.

Sadly, we had to make a quick exit if were to get to Nagoya (our next stop) on schedule. We had a huge and hearty breakfast; traditional meals are hard to differentiate in Japan.  Breakfast has miso soup, as does supper. It has fish and meat too, not unlike supper. And of course, the ubiquitous pot of rice is on hand at any meal you care to imagine. Fresh fruit was pretty much all that defined our morning meal from the food we had eaten the night before, though it was still thoroughly delicious. If there’s one thing the Japanese have certainly mastered, it’s the culinary arts.

Breakfast.

Thus it was over; we exchanged our yukata robes for our t-shirts and shorts, our wooden sandals for our shoes, our welcoming, slightly uncomfortable futon for our travel-bags and headed for the entrance. The ryokan keeper pounced on us from the desk (in a nice way, you understand, not in some sort of angry lioness way) and demanded we take a free gift back with us. From amongst paper-fans, cloth and chopsticks, I took a  black and gold floral wash-bag, something that my father now uses to keep his Fixodent and dental-floss in. Nice.

Out into the mountain, we hit the road.

leftovers from dinner with my friend seany last night at taj mahal – yum!

veggie section:  sweet potato tempura, star-cut radish, purple broccoli, yellow wax beans, twist-cut cucumber, red grape tomatoes, snow peas, and a purple potato flower (pea center).

as seen on: yoshiko yutaka sakai delicious blog

Tonight’s James Beard dish is pretty basic on the surface: lamb shanks braised in red wine and beef stock with a bit of tomato paste, bay leaves and other herbs. But as usual, we at the Bistro like to change things up a bit, so we couldn’t just serve plain old white beans alongside: our beans are a bit dressed up with bacon, onions and shallots, and some fresh rosemary and thyme. You can really smell the perfume of the herbs coming off this dish and making the beans and the lamb even more flavorful.

But, of course, that’s not all. We’ve got a full lineup of other standards and specials to tempt you. Like a little spice? Has the great weather today made you feel like pretending for a while that you really do live someplace where it’s always warm like this? Go Jamaican tonight with a jerk barbecue mahi-mahi accompanied by tropical fruited rice, rich with bananas, papayas, pineapple and coconut. Or try something else on the specials that’s caught your fancy. For example, the Four-Cheese Macaroni & Cheese with Smoked Chicken and Black Truffle:

This is creamy, smoky, cheesy comfort of the best kind. Or maybe you’d prefer a “Petit Poulet” (chicken) wrapped in bacon with cornbread-andouille sausage stuffing and a cranberry-orange chutney. Or an Italian seafood cioppino, rich with South African lobster tail, scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, crab leg, Italian sweet sausage and penne pasta in a spicy marinara broth, topped with tempura calamari.

Whatever you do, again, you want to keep one more course in mind, because, as always, there are some beauties in our dessert case. Some of the ones we have on hand right now: pumpkin pie topped with maple-brown sugar whipped cream; triple chocolate cheesecake; and fresh vanilla-bean ice cream. Oh, and did we mention we still have Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Pie?

It’s Saturday night, and it’s going to be a beautiful one. Come celebrate it at the Bistro!

In his second installment of Michael’s column for short order, it’s all about the blossoms. Things are blooming in the garden, and these beauties are ripe for stuffing.  The combination of cheese inside flower is at once light, yet so decadent!  Try your hand at filling, dunking, and frying for a grand finale you’ll soon repeat. Click here to jump to the recipe.

O Sushimar apresenta novidades no cardápio para o Dia do Sushi,
que acontece na segunda-feira (02-11) . A casa lança novas duplas de sushi:
Camarão com lichia (R$ 12,50), Salmão com shimeji (R$ 12,00) e Salmão
com amêndoas (foto – R$ 12,50).

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