Natto - Healthy and stinky. Love or hate it

When I was little, my mom would take the siblings and I to various Japanese grocery stores- Yaohan (remember them?), Nijiya, Mitsuwa or a mom and pop place. Amongst the Japanese cookies, wakame salad, furikake, and occasional treat of anpan in the shopping cart, was the stinky, sticky, gooeyness of natto. For natto newbies, it is basically fermented soybeans that is added as a topping on white rice. I don't get why people enjoy the flavor or texture, but they do. As in most things in life, I say don't knock it until you try it, but my experience tells me not again, EVER!

Here are some creative ways people enjoy natto...

(Natto spaghetti - Trotch.com)

(Natto sushi - Umamiart.com)

(Typical style of eating natto - Wikipedia.org)

(Natto bath)

(Healthy natto with brown rice - Wired.com)

(Iron Chef Natto Battle - Video dubbed from Food Network)

Maybe eating natto isn't so bad after all. According to a Wired.com article, it may prevent Alzheimer's. So eat up I guess!?

New York City and Hawaii turning Japanese

Just returned from visiting New York City and Hawaii. I've gotta say the Japanese food in these two spots are just as authentic as being in Japan. In NYC, I visited MOMO's in Brooklyn, then Kambi, a ramen spot. My friends and I started at Momo's while waiting for a table at ROBERTA'S (excellent pizza!). Momo's served fusion Japanese food. We ordered lamb gyoza then tofu salad. At first I was disturbed at the thought of lamb gyoza due to the imagined "gamey" flavor, but it was cooked perfectly and seasoned well. Pheww. The tofu salad was also interesting because the texture of the tofu was thicker and creamier than regular tofu. I liked the avocado and drizzle of light shoyu (soy sauce) with it. A few days later I checked out Kambi, a ramen spot, and enjoyed a yummy chicken shoyu ramen. The ramen broth here is more fuller in flavor and appearance. The chicken had a nice fatty flavor to it and the green onion and tea egg were perfect accents.

    Tofu salad at Momo's

Shoyu chicken ramen at Kambi

Hawaii, of course, has an abundance of Japanese inspired foods. One place to start is Shirokiya at ALA MOANA MALL. SHIROKIYA was the oldest mall in Japan started in 1662. They've got a fun food court to purchase bento boxes or made to order food. I ordered a chicken katsu on bed of salad from one of the stalls. It was perfectly fried with just the right amount of tonkatsu sauce. 

If you are ever traveling outside Japan, and want a touch of Japan, then visit these locations!

Momo's Brooklyn

Kambi

Shirokiya

Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a $300 Japanese dinner

Been busy with work, however, found the time to watch "Jiro Dreams of Sushi". It is about an 85 year old man in Tokyo, who owns a 3 star Michelin restaurant. It's the rags to almost riches tale of a man with a single dream of running his own sushi restaurant. This is an inspiring movie because it shows the dedication, hardwork, and love this man brings to his craft. When you watch the movie, you will see that even at his age, he still moves around- going to the market, overseeing the sushi chefs, personally serving his customers, and he still tells himself that he is still learning how to perfect his craft. It's truly a Japanese trait to strive for perfection while being humble. LOVE IT!

Photo courtesy of hardergeneration.org



(Trailer courtesy of Magnolia Pictures and VISO Trailers Youtube page)

Asia 2012! アジア2012！

I am finally back and settled into life after a much needed vacation in Asia! Destinations- Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong. There was so much food and amazing sights to see. Even though, I could not visit Japan, I did my best to seek out Japanese products. I went shopping at Muji at Mall of Asia in Manila. It is a huge, big, GIGANTIC (you get it?) mall. Muji is a lifestyle store selling houseware, clothing, personal care and snack foods based on minimal design and organic materials. Their store layout and products are layed out in a clean, orderly fashion. I enjoy the simple product packaging with neutral colors of olive green, light pink, white milk or granite gray. While in Bangkok at CentralWorld, a beautiful shopping complex near Chit Lom Skytrain station, I visited Uniqlo. I bought a pair of dark blue denim for about $50 USD, and they hemmed it for free! Can you get this kind of service in the States? Yeah, I didn't think so either... I am super excited to learn Uniqlo is opening in San Francisco Union Square this fall. Hopefully they do an opening party, which I would love to attend. Also in Bangkok, I ate at MOS Burger, a Japanese fast food restaurant, in Paragon Mall. I ordered a pork burger, but wished they sold melon soda as they do in Japan. The trip was a nice blur of eating, drinking, laying at the beach, and getting drenched at the Songkran festival, which celebrates the Buddhist New Year in Thailand. I had white mud caked on my face and ice cold water splashed on me by complete strangers. It was refreshing to walk around in the heat and seeing people at the train station or mall kind of drenched and happy about it. Last leg of the trip was in Hong Kong, which I left in 2005 from my study abroad program. Lots of good eats there too. I also visited the most affordable Michelin star restaurant called Ho Hung Kee in Causeway Bay.

All in all, it was a great trip and I will return to Asia in the near future... Check out the food pics below.. drooooolll...

 MOS BURGER!

EATS in Hong Kong

Horumonyaki ホルモン焼き

No, it is not a Pokemon character! Today I found a new side to Japanese cuisine I did not know existed. This thanks to one of my favorite shows 'Bizarre Foods' with Andrew Zimmern from Travel Channel.

Horumon was created by Korean immigrants to Japan who created tasty meals out of cuts of meat such as trachea, heart, and stomach that would otherwise be discarded. Apparently, they are super oishi (delicious). おいしい!




Videos courtesy of Travel Channel

I am going to add Andrew's recommendation for the Horumon restaurant featured in this video or find a hidden gem in San Francisco that would serve Horumon. Watching this entices make to want to go back badly!

Japanese curry recipe

こんにちは (Hello)!

This past weekend I had time to cook my favorite Japanese curry. Japanese people love to incorporate foreign food cultures and make it their own. It may not seem very original, but Japanese people are able to create a very original spin on a culturally traditional dish like curry.

Japanese curry can be sweet or spicy, depending on your taste. I go for the latter. My take on Japanese curry is pretty straightforward. First, I saute chicken pieces after dashing salt and pepper. They are cooked until lightly browned. I would not overcook them since they have to boil in curry soup later. I chop onions, carrots, and potatoes and add them with the chicken for a bit of sauteing. After boiling about 6 cups of water, I add the sauteed chicken and vegetables. Once the vegetables are soft, I would add the curry paste. You can purchase them at any Japanese or Asian grocery. All this takes about 20 minutes.

The surprise with my take on Japanese curry is to add curry sauce over a baked potato. The baked potato is very simple. Poke about 10-12 holes with a fork into the potato so moisture can escape. Drizzle oil and dash of salt. Wrap it in foil and bake in an oven for about 1 hour for 350 degrees. Or you can cook about 2.5 cups of rice. Voila! The results below...

Japan in my belly..

I went to San Francisco's Japantown for a grocery run. I am lucky that I live near diverse markets, whether it is Chinese, Latin or Japanese. I can go to an authentic grocery for snacks, dinners, and seasonings. My favorite Japanese foods to cook are Yakisoba, which are pan fried noodles with ham, onions and veggies, and Japanese style curry, which is sweeter than Indian curry. Growing up, my mom would spend an hour or so cooking curry and it is one of my favorites foods to this day.

Yakisoba is the easiest to cook since you sautee onions and ham for a few minutes then add noodles and the pepper/soy sauce seasoning. Voila! It's an instant lunch and dinner meal in about 10 minutes. In another post, I will list the ingredients for a curry meal and how to prep. All of my purchases were made at Nijiya, a Japanese grocery off Post St. in the City. I alternate between this store, Ichiban Kan, and Daiso for the best prices on seasoning and snacks. Nijiya is your best go to for fresh fish, bento boxes (Japanese meal sets, which include an entree and sides), and snacks.

Japan has some of the most unique fast food to eat. Places such as MOS Burger and Yoshinoya are the best! They are cheap, quick and flavorful. I especially love Moss Burger because they make burgers with rice buns instead of typical hamburger ones. They also serve unique soda flavors such as melon. Yoshinoya specializes in Gyudon, which is thin slices of beef marinated in a sweet ginger, soy sauce blend then sauteed with onions and served over soft, warm white rice. These beef bowls are about $5US and so freakin good!