Tsukiji lunch

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Tsukiji fish market is the largest wholesale fish market in the world. They have fish auctions in the early mornings (think 4-5am), which they still open to the public I think.  (they had to ban the public from the auctions at one point, just to keep out the drunken and drugged out clubbers who flocked to the market as their final stop on a night's out!)

There are many many great sushi restaurants in the market place, but my recent favorite is Wakatake. They have fantastic deals on fresh sushi and non-sushi meals, and their service is impeccable. I ordered the 'grilled fish set menu' that day, which came with grilled sanma (saury), sashimi, chawanmushi (steamed egg custard in a cup), hijiki (sea vegetable), pickles, karaage with daikon (fried chicken with radish), rice and miso soup.
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(grilled sanma not pictured here..it came a bit later on 

by which time I was too busy devouring my meal to take a picture)

I also recommend Sushi Zanmai, my usual place for sushi indulgence. It's a 24 hour franchise spread across central Tokyo, known for their fresh and reasonably priced sushi. I highly recommend sitting at the counter on the 1st floor of Honten, in Tsukiji. It's exciting watching the sushi chefs at work, who are usually very witty and great fun to chat with as well.

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Spaghettini with 2 kinds of mushrooms and shiso

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We have all sorts of mushrooms in Japan, especially this time of year. There's shitake, shimeji, maitake, nameko, engiri, enokitake, matsutake*, just to name a few, all of which can ben easily found at most supermarkets around Japan.

*mastutake are considered the King of all mushrooms,  found only in the fall, in certain areas of Japan. They range in price but are generally quite pricey.. I wouldn't be surprised to see one for $100. Yes, that's $100 for one mushroom.

I made a quick and easy to make pasta dish using two kinds of mushrooms, shimeji and maitake, and also some shiso (aoba/perilla/Japanese basil), an herb that belongs to the mint family used in many Japanese dishes.
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XX(from left: shimeji, maitake, shiso)

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Ingredients (serves 1)
handful of shimeji mushrooms
handful of maitake mushrooms
4-5 leaves of shiso
garlic (however much you like)
pinch of salt, black pepper
a bit of olive oil
freshly grated parmesan cheese
spaghettini

While the spaghettini boils, wash shimeji, maitake, shiso leaves, take apart shimeji and maitake into smaller bunches. Cut shiso leaves into thin strips, and mince the garlic.

Heat skillet, saute minced garlic with olive oil until golden, throw in shimeji and maitake, add a bit of salt and pepper, stir for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked spaghettini, shiso leaves, saute until well mixed. Sprinkle freshly grated parmesan cheese. Enjoy!
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Organic lunch

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I had lunch at nestRobe yesterday. An organic cafe on the 3rd floor of a lovely boutique (men's clothing on the 1st floor and women's on the 2nd), tucked away in one of the sidestreets of Omotesando. The interior of the cafe - all the tables and chairs - are made of light wood, with clean white walls, soft light coming through the windows. One of those perfect places to escape to and breathe in between some intense shopping. That said, Omotesando is one of my favorite places to window shop and people watch. Unlike Shinjku for example, it's quite civilized and tame, even on a busy Saturday afternoon.

Back to the subject of food... I had crab meat & mushroom risotto. Subtle in flavor but the fragrance of crab and mushrooms aplenty. Beautiful. They have set menus for lunch, pasta, curry, or plate of the day, which all come with a beautiful green salad, bread, and coffee or tea.
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A Japanese Brunch

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Japanese breakfasts can be a bit overwhelming for those who run on coffee and bagels - rice, miso soup, grilled fish, vegetables, pickled vegetables.. varies depending on region/family. But since most of the ingredients consist of vegetables, it doesn't leave you feeling unnecessarily full. My mother made us a wonderful Japanese breakfast-turned-brunch, made from fresh seasonal vegetables from the garden. She made rice, miso soup, boiled nozawana, cooked daikon & tofu, green salad, shiso & white fish tempura (small portions), and seaweed salad. I feel blessed being in the countryside, eating what the land has to offer, in the hands of a great chef.

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Fresh from the garden - tomatoes, corn, lettuce, nozawana, daikon

No-fuss Soba Noodles (so my mother says..)

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One of my favorite dishes my mother makes is home-made soba noodles. Soba is a type of noodle made from buckwheat flour. It’s a typical Japanese dish, quick and easy to eat and prepare, served at restaurants all over Japan. When I say ‘easy to prepare’ I mean if you buy already-made noodles. Like pasta, you can buy them fresh or dried.

Soba can be served hot or cold, and will come in a bowl of broth if hot, and on a woven bamboo plate called zaru with a side of dipping sauce if cold (thus called zaru soba). I like my soba served cold, especially in the summer.
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Soba lovers can get fussy over how soba is made. This recipe is for the unfussy.
Ingredients for soba noodles (serves 4-5)*

350g (12.35 oz) soba (buckwheat) flour
150g (5.3 oz) regular (wheat) flour
250g (8.81 oz) water

Mix soba flour, regular flour, and water with hands until mixture becomes dough-like consistency, then shape into ball. Let dough sit in tupperware (or any container with lid) in room temperature for 30-40 minutes.
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*There are different consistencies in soba noodles. This depends on the ratio of soba flour to regular wheat flour. The more soba flour you use, the brittle the texture of the dough but flavorful. The more regular flour you use the easier it is to handle the dough but less flavorful. This soba is 70% soba flour, 30% regular flour.

30-40 minutes later…

Roll well-rested dough into thin sheet with wooden rolling pin.

Tip: It’s not necessary, but encouraged to get violent by pounding dough rolled on to pin onto table/wooden slab- see bottom photo. This is the most difficult bit, to thin out the dough without it tearing.
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Tip: The last thing you want is for the dough to get gooey and sticky, so sprinkle soba flour on the dough when rolling into sheet, pounding, and cutting

Then...fold sheet of dough and cut into thin strips.

Tip: It doesn’t have to be super-thin, like capellini, but you also don’t want it too thick like udon, which is a type of Japanese noodle made from wheat flour.
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This scary looking knife is a piece of cratsmanship, made especially for cutting soba noodles. It's not tye type of knife you can get just anywhere, so a regular kitchen knife will do just fine.

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Finally...boil water (make sure it's bubbling hot), put in noodles, wait for a minute or two until the water starts to rise (see 2nd photo), put in half a cup of water to calm, wait until the water starts to rise again, put in another half cup of water, let calm, take soba noodles out immediately and quickly.
Tip: Don't drain, but scoop the soba, as you will want to keep the water for soba-yu, which is the hot water full of nutrients in which the soba noodles were boiled, served at the end of the meal. Pour however much soba-yu as you like into the same cup used for the dipping sauce (it's better when you have some leftover dipping sauce in there). Drink as you would tea or soup.
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Rinse soba under cold running water, until noodles are cold, then place on zaru or plate.

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The noodles are done and ready to be served!

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Side of condiments which go into the dipping sauce. I put in wasabi, negi (green onions or scallions), and sometimes nori (dried seaweed), roasted sesame seeds, or shichimi.

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How to make soba tsuyu (soba dipping sauce) although store-bought sauce will do just fine.
Ingredients for soba tsuyu:
A
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 oz mirin (Japanese cooking sake)
a little bit of sugar
Add the above ingredients in small sauce pan over low heat, let simmer until sugar melts.

B
3 cups water
2 large strips kombu (edible kelp commonly used to make broth)
3 dried shitake mushrooms

Soak kombu and dried shitake mushrooms in water overnight. (It’s not absolutely necessary to soak overnight, but the longer you soak, the better the flavor of the dashi broth.)
Combine A and B (take out the kombu and shitake right before combining with A) in a pan, bring to simmer on very low heat for 5 minutes. Let cool.
Tip: If you like your dipping sauce salty, control the amount of B).
Soba noodles very healthy, and good on their own, but I personally like having a side-dish of tempura.
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Enjoy!
(I hope I've not left anything out)

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Food Heaven

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I'm at my parents' house in the countryside this week. I eat, drink, read, take walks, go to the nearby museum (designed by architect Tadao Ando), and play with the family dog Rubee when I'm here. But I find myself puttering around the kitchen area most of the time. With 2 fridges loaded with food, and baskets full of veggies and fruits, it's hard not to! My parents have a little organic vegetable garden by their house, where they grow pretty much everything from tomatoes, corn, to edamame. I'm sure they can live off their harvest in the summer..

Corn and edamame picked today

(I wish I were able to send these edamame to my friend Lara in New York,who has been finding it particularly difficult to come across the organically grown)

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Very nice wine

(Far Niente, 1994, Cabernet Sauvignon)
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Introducing.. the food blog!

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In my other blog (Random Notes of a Tokyo Girl) I talk about whatever interests me, not excluding food. But I felt like I needed a separate blog dedicated to food. I am a bona fide foodie. I like going to grocery shops, farmer's markets, cook, watch other people cook, eat. I enjoy home-cooked meals as well as casual and fine dining at restaurants. And dinner parties - there is nothing better than hanging out in the kitchen with friends whilst cutting, stirring, boiling, and sipping wine.. the kitchen is where are the good stories are told after all.

I grew up being fed by a full-time mom who loves to cook. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner almost everyday, plus sweets on weekends. She has always been an adventurous chef, gracing the family (and friends) with her culinary skills, from traditional Japanese to Italian, and almost everything else. And although I never showed any interest in helping her as a child, I loved hanging out in the kitchen while she whipped up something wonderful. So in a way, this blog is dedicated to her, to thank her for all the wonderful meals she has cooked for us.