yakatabune

Last night, Satoshi had the opportunity to have dinner on a yakatabune.

Yakatabune literally means house boat.

The usual price for dinner on one of these boats is 10,000 yen (per person, tax excluded).

Satoshi and his department entered a company lottery of sorts and were chosen to go, everyone had to pay a small fee and the company paid the rest.

They had lots to eat (and drink).

And the sights from the boat were beautiful.

I didn't get to experience this but if you have a chance to go on one of these dinner cruises, you should definitely try it.

If you are interested, this is the boat company that they went on...Funasei.

oyakodon

The other night for dinner I made some oyakodon (literally parent-child bowl because it uses chicken and egg) to use up some rice that I had in the freezer.

I adapated a recipe from sirogohan...makes 2 servings

160 grams chicken thigh, deboned and cut into bite sized pieces.
sliced onion
4 tablespoons dashi (liquid stock)
4 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
2.5 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 eggs
milk

In a non-stick pan, put the chicken and onions
Add the liquid ingredient and sugar and turn the heat on to medium
Cover and cook for about 3 minutes
Scramble the eggs with a little milk and pour half over the chicken and onions
Cover and cook for about a minute
Then add the other half of the scrambled egg
Cover and cook for about a minute
When the egg is cooked to your liking, spoon over rice
Serve with your favorite greens.

NOTES: this was super easy and delicious.

I served this with some sugar snap peas and a salad.

It was a nice way to use up rice that I had in freezer...I'd make this again.

throw together dinner

Sometimes I get into a rut as to what to make for dinner.

Usually when I feel like this, then "laziness" also follows...

Not really knowing what I wanted to eat, I decided to use a can of sardines and bake something off in the oven.

I sautéed some spinach, red bell pepper and onion.

Then I mixed some diced tomato sauce with some garlic and anchovy.

I cooked a little amount of quinoa.

And then I put everything into a baking dish and topped it off with some panko, parmesan and a little pepper.

Then I baked everything for about 5 minutes then under the broiler for another 5.

Relatively fast, easy and definitely delicious.

What did you have for dinner?

wagokoro

　Saturday night, we checked out Wagokoro which is next door to Cafe Yooi.

If I'm not mistaken, Wagokoro used to be closer to Ishibashi station, but moved to this area in the last couple of years.

I remember eating there with Satoshi (pre-blog).

This restaurant specializes in dishes using ingredients from Hokkaido.

I was sort of leery about eating here because every time I passed by, no one was ever eating there, ever.

We started with some "toba".

Salmon is dried in strips until hard like jerky. The owner/chef makes her version softer.

We enjoyed this. A bit on the salty side, the fish has a slight chew to it and the smoky flavor isn't overpowering. (sorry the photo is blurred)

Next came a plate of some side dishes--these were kind of bland.

The fish that was in the middle of the plate was a bit "too fishy" for my liking.

We also tried the curry with summer veggies.

This was good, nice kick and lots of grilled summer veggies like okra, corn, zucchini.

A bit pricey, small on portions and a very tiny menu, we don't know that we'll be back.

We're glad we got to try this place out though.

Wagokoro
3-2-13 Iguchido
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.763.1154
Closed Sunday and Monday
Lunch: 11:30-14:00, Dinner: 17:00-21:00

w & m style sliders

With all the rain and gloom, I was craving some comfort food...a W & M Bar-B-Q burger.

Inspired by a recipe I found in the Hawaiian Electric Cookbook, I marinated some hamburger and made sliders.
makes 4 sliders

1/4 pound (total) ground beef & pork
1 tablespoon shoyu
1 tablespoon sugar
several grinds of pepper
1/2 clove garlic, grated
little nub of ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon sesame seed oil
4 walnut rolls (or your favorite)
lettuce, washed
mayo

Mix the shoyu, sugar, pepper, garlic, ginger and sesame oil together, this is the marinade
Massage the marinade into your ground beef pork mixture and let it sit in the refrig for at least half an hour or overnight.
Divide the mixture into 4, roll into balls and then flatten out into patties
In a non-stick pan, cook these to your liking on medium heat
While the burgers are cooking, cut your rolls and toast them, if you wish
After your rolls are toasted, place the lettuce on top
When you sliders are cooked, put them atop the lettuce and add some mayo
Enjoy!

NOTES: I think marinating the meat overnight made the burgers really juicy! After cooking these up, I had these with some rosé and they hit the spot!

I'm making these again, next time, I'm adding cheese...

this and that

So the weather has gone from Spring back to Winter (Tokyo had snow!).

Most days are gloomy, cloudy. Sometimes it rains.all.day.long.

Have been entertaining myself with all the spring veggies at the market.

I was excited to find portobello mushrooms, they're being grown in Chiba prefecture...whoo!

Not as big as some I've seen in the States, and they look more like brown mushrooms on steroids, but still excited to see them in the markets.

If I see them at the market again, I want to try making "burgers" with them.

From the lanai, I harvested some baby kale, swiss chard and beet tops.

Last night, dinner was the portobellos with a touch of butter and tonkatsu sauce. I sauteed the kale, swiss chard and beet tops with some sweet onions in olive oil. We also had avocado (it was a little firm) and Japanese cole slaw using purple cabbage.

Also brightening up the days are all the freesia from the lanai...love the fragrance!

And the double petal sakura have started blooming.

Today is one of those "supposed to rain all day" days, so I'm hanging out at home.

Hope you have a nice weekend!

the past couple of days

Sorry it's been quiet here.

Friday, Aunty M came to Japan and stayed with us.

Saturday, the weather was sunny and WARM, so we headed to Nakayama Temple to check out the ume (apricot blossoms)...beautiful!

Dinner that night was pupu party style...all sorts of stuff, including leftovers...

Sunday, the weather was again really nice, so we packed a bento and went on a little picnic at Suigetsu Park.

The ume were almost over here so it was nice to sit in the sun.

Dinner that night was again pupu party style.

This time we had 2 bottles of wine and lots of nibbles.

Monday...cold snap! we didn't do much of anything...

Tuesday, Aunty joined up with her tour group.

Lots of eating, walking and talking.

We hope she enjoys the rest of her trip around Japan!

sunday dinner

So yesterday it rained all day, perfect for simmering something on the stove...spareribs.

I used this recipe.

Super easy and the perfect comfort food.

I served this over brown rice with some steamed broccoli and gravy over everything.

These ribs were super meaty!

What did you have for dinner?

dinner

Last night we had "chinese" food for dinner since it is Chinese New Year.

Lup cheong rice & cantonese chicken with broccoli & maitake.

I marinated chicken using the recipe for the clay pot chicken, then stir-fried it with maitake and some steamed broccoli.

For dessert, mooncake.

I know it is for a celebration in Autumn, but you can find it here year round.

Nothing really authentic, totally just in the spirit of the holiday.

Have a nice weekend!

e.a.t.

Recently the fruit/vegetable stand I go to had beautiful avocados from Mexico. Usually at the big supermarkets we pay 100 yen or so for a teeny orb, but this time the fruit/veggie stand was selling 2 for 250 yen and they were at least 2 times bigger!

I got this idea from Rachel's blog, La Fuji Mama.

Take a piece of bread and toast it.

Mash up an avocado with some lemon juice.

Top it with an egg cooked to your liking.

Breakfast, lunch or dinner is served.

NOTES: so simple but so delicious! I mashed my avocado with some lemon juice and a little balsamic vinaigrette. I also added a little ground black pepper. I topped my toast with an over-easy egg. And the bread I used was a walnut raisin. I have to admit I added a little too much lemon juice, so it was puckery, but for breakfast, it really woke me up!

What have you been eating?

chicken (meatball) soup for the soul

It's been quite rainy and gloomy the past couple of days.

I usually plan ahead and stock up beforehand so that I don't have to go out in the bad weather, but didn't get a chance to do so this time around.

So I walked in the rain to the market, thinking about what to make for dinner.

It had to be soup I thought...then meatballs popped into my head.

I picked up some chicken breast and used the veggies that were in my fridge.

I whizzed the chicken with a nub of ginger and an egg.

Then I diced half a carrot, part of a red bell pepper, and some maitake.

I also chopped up a couple leaves of cabbage.

In a pot, I added 4 cups of water and a bouillon cube.

Then on medium heat, I cooked everything for about 5 minutes.

I then scooped out chicken meatballs into the pot and let them cook with the veggies, scraping the scum that formed on top.

After another 5 minutes, I checked to make sure that the meatballs were cooked and added a couple drops of chili oil and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil.

Then, just before serving I threw in some chopped frozen green onion.

Dinner was fast, easy and really comforting.

The addition of ginger to the chicken meatballs gave it a nice zing.

Hope the sun comes back soon and hope you have a nice weekend!

sunday dinner

Awhile back, I made mille feuille in my frying pan with a cover.

On a recent trip to visit MIL, I asked Satoshi to look for a donabe (clay pot) amongst her "stash".

She had several and Satoshi brought home this one made by Ginpo. These are made in Japan and are very sturdy (and heavy!). They hold heat well.

Last night we had mille feuille for our Sunday dinner, made in the donabe.

I had to adjust my recipe because this pot holds more liquid.

Instead of 1.5 cups of water, I used 6 cups. The flavors were a lot lighter but since Satoshi is watching his sodium, it was just right.

We had this with beer.

And at the end, I re-heated the soup, added some rice and egg to make a dish called Ojiya (which is also known as Zosui--a porridge of rice and veggies).

You might be wondering what the difference between zosui/ojiya and okayu is? Well, Okayu is just the porridge of rice (plain, if you will). Zosui/ojiya is a rice porridge that is seasoned with condiments like miso, shoyu or salt.

Dinner was easy to put together and I can see why lots of families like to make this during the winter.

I think we'll try other dishes in this donabe (clay pot) for our Sunday dinners in the coming weeks.

Have a nice week!

amarcord ama mora

We had this Amarcord Ama Mora beer last night. Chocolatey!

Apparently it is made by a tiny brewery in Apeccio, Italy. The beer uses a selection of Pascucci coffee and Malawi sugar.

Too bad I didn't read about it before trying it, I could've paired it with some ice cream since it was like a porter.

Instead, we had this with kim chee gyoza and a salad.

I enjoyed this and would definitely buy it again.

What have you been enjoying these days?

"sunshine"

The past Mondays have been total downers...dreary, grey, rainy.

2 of the 3 Mondays have been typhoon related too.

I've been hooked on this salad lately.

Slice purple cabbage, onions, red or yellow bell peppers.
Using a peeler make carrot ribbons.
And throw in lots of chopped curly or flat leaf parsley.

For the dressing I used this marinade recipe:
9 tablespoons olive oil
6 tablespoons white or red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
lemon slices

NOTES: I juice the lemon and then slice the lemon thin to add to the salad. The puckery taste of this and the colors have really been brightening up those gloomy days.

Have a nice weekend!

sunday dinner

With the salts that we received from Kirk, we tried them with dinner yesterday.

Kirk mentioned that the habanero salt was good with steak, so that is what I served. A-5 Kagoshima kuroge wagyu ichibo (top side).

I wasn't too sure what to serve the uni (sea urchin) salt with, but after tasting it, I thought it might be nice to dip seafood into it.

So I pan seared some scallops.　Since I didn't season the scallops before searing them, the uni salt gave the scallops a nice ocean-y flavor.

And we dipped our steak into the habanero salt...boy, did it have a nice after burn (cough!).

The fried ika (squid) and fried shrimp I picked up at the market so these were already pre-seasoned. We ate them as is.

For veggies we had some kiriboshi daikon mustard salad.

and washed everything down with this Italian Collesi Amberata. This amber ale was a little fruity and with 7.5% alcohol content had a nice kick.

This beer is unpasteurized and naturally fermented in the bottle. They suggest you serve this with grilled meat so this was perfect with my menu.

I'll keep experimenting with these infused salts. Do you use infused salts? Write how you use them in the comments. We both enjoyed our first try of these salts...Thanks again Kirk!

sunday dinners

We had Sunday dinner at my Aunty's the other night.

In addition to all the delicious food, we ended with this beautiful mango tarte.

Apparently this year's mangoes are kinda scarce due to bad weather...boo!

Hope your week is going well.

christmas dinner

What did you have for Christmas dinner?

For our Christmas dinner I made Rolled Beef with Japanese Tartar Sauce.

Besides the shiso (perilla) leaf, I used baby leaf, a slice of red bell pepper, as well as some maitake in each roll.

This cooked up really quickly because the beef was paper thin.

We also had some cherry tomatoes, some bleu cheese and some beer.

Dessert was a rich custard pudding by Tada Farms, from the Tohoku area.

Nothing too fancy nor time consuming, my kind of cooking.

It's Friday here, Satoshi is off for the next week. We'll be doing O-soji and maybe getting out and about if the weather is cooperative.

Happy Holidays everyone!

raclette

Have you ever tried raclette? It is a Swiss dish which I've actually had in Hokkaido (pre-blog).

Half a wheel of cheese is heated by a lamp and then the melted cheese is scraped (to scrape is racler in French which raclette is thought to be named) off onto veggies and such.

It is a wintry dish for the Swiss but when I had it in Hokkaido I think it was summer.

It was also summer when we had it again for part of our Sunday dinner the other week.

Each person has their own pan and spatula to stick onto or under the heater, think "easy bake oven".

When your cheese starts to bubble, use the spatula to quickly scrape the cheese out of the pan and onto your "toppings".

Along with colored fingerling potatoes, we had sweet gherkins, pickled onions, sun dried tomatoes in oil, sweet pickled peppers and some proscuitto.

If possible, be sure to get cheese that is exclusive for raclette, which I think is made to melt nicely.

We only had this as an appetizer, but I'm sure you could add a salad to make it a meal.

Thanks for a great experience Aunty!

barumiche

Sometimes Satoshi and I try new places and they just aren't what we envision.

I won't tell you the name of the place we tried last Saturday, though I will tell you that they charged us 900 yen each for barely a 1/4 of a glass of wine and 1500 yen for a cheese plate that was so skimpy, it seemed like someone's leftovers...

I will tell you about the place we went to afterwards because we were starving...Barumiche.

We had anchovy sauteed cabbage, tai carpaccio, baby leaf salad and this char siu miso negi pizza (pictured above) which was really tasty. The pizza reminded me of the chinese meat pizza I made before.

And guess what?!... with all of this food, 3 glasses of wine it was a little less than that first place we went into.

We're still talking about being ripped off by that first place, but we'll definitely be back to Barumiche.

Barumiche
1-6-14 Shibata
Kita, Osaka
Phone: 050.5796.2425
Open from 17:00 on weekdays and from 11:30 on weekends

omi gyu

The last item left in our fukubukuro from the mystery tour was the Omi gyu (beef from Omi). About 100 grams each.

I didn't read the instructions that came with the beef, apparently it had been soaked in their homemade sauce...

So, I served it with some sauteed brussels sprouts & dried cherries, garlic mashed potatoes and some mango chutney.

After cooking the beef and sitting down to dinner on Sunday, we realized the beef was teriyaki flavored...

Oh well, it was still delicious, really tender.