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!