Temakizushi... Easy Japanese Deliciousness

Now... I have to admit that I'm struggling to get time to blog, so this is a little disjoint. However, as I'm the only one really reading the blog, I guess it doesn't matter too much. So let's get back to our post-Children's Day celebration. Our daughter, C-chan's first... but of course, she wasn't enjoying the food (except several hours later through the breast milk, if that counts).

In some parts there's also a tradition of eating mochi, or rice cake however, we don't have that tradition in our family. Whilst we didn't really have time this year (with our daughter C-chan still taking up most of our spare time), T-chan did put together a simple though delicious temakizushi (or hand-rolled sushi)... ably assisted by L-kun. Nothing exotic... but it's always a fun family meal.

Ingredients are simple... freshly cooked rice (I'll talk about recipes later...) cut nori or seaweed...

A selection of cold fillings... we went with Atlantic Salmon, cucumber and crab-sticks.

With a simple tuna filling... 

A beef filling...

And an ebi (prawn) filling...

Not to mention some natto... fermented soy beans. Sounds nice doesn't it (can anything fermented be bad)?....really? 

My wife tends however to also describe them as rotten beans.... and they are a Japanese institution (especially in Hokkaido). Me - well, I prefer my food NOT to be rotten. Even if it's described in warm glowing terms. IT'S STILL ROTTEN! And I have to say, not only are they oozy and gooey... but they also have a very strong flavour as well! A lot of people compare them to a Japanese version of the Australian savoury spread Vegemite (which people either love or hate). I'm not sure which side of that analogy should be more offended however...

Now this photo's not meant to show how extravagantly elegant the temakizushi is... it's not that sort of dish. Rather, it's just the sort of thing you whack together, dip in some soy sauce, and throw down the hatch.... and have a lot of fun doing it... 

And don't forget, whilst appearance is always an element in Japanese food, when you're family's home alone you can always be as messy as you want.

What it lacks in terms of sophistication, it more than makes up for in terms of deliciousness and ease. What's more, you eat the serving plate. What more could you ask for?... An empty rice dish.... 

And a satisfied grin....

And the great thing is that you can generally come up with ingredients for temakizushi from just about anything... including rotten beans!

Wherever you are, whatever family traditions you hold - it's always a joy having a nice family dinner together. And it's always nice to have a day to reflect on how lucky we all are with our children, which we often take so readily for granted.

And this was C-chan's first Children's Day... next year, she might be enjoying some good temakizushi with us!

All Hallows Eve - A Tale Tricks and Treats

 

Well - Halloween is over for another year... and although it's not a particularly big deal here in Australia, it's gradually gaining momentum. Somewhat reluctantly in many quarters I might add. Indeed, there's many people that view the whole Halloween thing as being just too American! Indeed, I'm sure that Halloween has become somewhat of a corporate-lead experience these days in the US, but I believe even now at it's heart it remains based on the fun of being a child again. I won't get into the debate about the rights or wrongs, but instead talk about our experience of it.

Actually Halloween (potentially) comes from the old celtic tradition known as Samhain... which links into the newer Catholic tradition known as All Saints Day (the special day to remember all the Saints that didn't quite get a day for themselves... there are only 365 days in the year, you know). Anyway... All Saints Day (also known as All Hallows) is celebrated on the 1st November - and hence the 31st October was known as All Hallows Eve... which became Halloween. Even the 'Trick or Treat' tradition dates back hundreds of years in Europe - but the first recorded reference in the US only dates back as far as 1919 (or so Wikipedia tells me). But there's no doubt about it - the uptake and extra meaning that the US have placed on trick-or-treating has certainly given Halloween it's special flavour... if you discount the rather schlocky horror movies of the late 70's/80's by the same name). By the way - it's also becoming popular in Japan as well... but the Japanese do love any excuse to have a festival!

Well - that's the history lesson... now on to 2011. For the last week or so L-kun has been talking about Halloween... and wanting to do something (like have a Halloween picnic). Well, we left our run with costumes a little late, so L-kun had to make do with some stuff we had laying around. 

Anyhow, last Sunday (All Hallows Eve eve), we caught up with my family... and it was the perfect opportunity for L-kun to practice his T'n'T technique. He gets out of the car expectantly... time for business! Now remember, L-kun, it's all about confidence... just knock on the door and yell out, "Trick or Treat".... L-kun knocks on the door expectantly... ready to yell out... but no sound can be heard.

Alas, everyone's out the back, and L-kun's practice run falls flat. Kawaisou! 

Still, L-kun always enjoys catching up with family - and there were plenty of goodies to keep his belly full (not least of all Grandma's biscuits).

And when we got home... there was something special waiting for L-kun for dinner. A special smoked salmon and avacado rice cake. Ooooh, spooky. And delicious.

And that wasn't all... there was a beautiful plate of scary eggs and carrots - combined with lovely yakitori flavoured chicken meatballs and broccoli. Strangely enough, many kids are scare of broccoli - but L-kun absolutely loves it.

And whilst the proof is in the eating, they also say a picture's worth a thousand words.

As is the case every year, just as we're sitting down for dinner - the kids arrive for trick or treat. Some try really hard, others - not so. But what it did was remind L-kun about what he missed out on last year (we thought he was a little too young to try trick or treating). This year however, at a whopping 4 years old, he was more than big enough.

So we set out - Mummy and Daddy standing well back so that L-kun could show his courage.... which didn't get him far... as he couldn't even approach the first two houses (being too nervous). The first door he did go to, L-kun knocked so softly that I think even he couldn't hear it... with a trick or treat... no one answered. Next door... Mummy and Daddy moved a little closer, and the knock was just that little bit louder. No answer (of course - who answers the door if everyone trick-or-treats?) On the third door - the door opened... L-kun jumped back (L-kun, it's the people on the other side of the door that should be scared!). Still, the lady was very kind and gave L-kun some candy. He was so happy that his courage had been rewarded.

Successively he was getting braver and lounder... and before long he was running up to doors with a KNOCK KNOCK TRICK OR TREAT! But it was getting late, and a walk around our block was enough for his first T'n'T. He didn't want to stop, but he was satisfied.

And once he was home, it was time to get out the spoils of his work, and do what all clever boys want to do. Count it. Gotta make sure you know how much candy you're putting away. Just in case.

And once you've counted it... then you may as well eat it!

But watch out... who's that behind you L-kun. It's Mummy making an extra special Halloween cameo performance! And she looks like she wants to eat a little more than just your candy.... bwaaarrrgghh!

So in the end, I would have to say that we felt that the whole Halloween, and especially the Trick or Treat, was a great success. It was good in that it was:

• a source of much expectation for L-kun... and like all festivals, it's nice to mark special events throughout the year
• it also showed him about how to approach other peoples houses (and we discussed the safety issues about this - especially when meeting strangers)
• it was so fantastic to watch his confidence grow and grow - as he became more courageous
• it's a good time to talk about how to handle when things don't go the way you want (like people not answering, or worse yet... not having candy). The last point was a lesson for L-kun, as he started to say 'that's not good' when there was no candy on offer. Needless to say, mummy and daddy had a few words to explain why that wasn't appropriate.
• but most importantly it was a fun evening... even if a little quiet here in Adelaide.
• oh... and did I forget to mention the candy (which he can have one a day....)

So I hope you all had an extra special Halloween this year. And that you didn't have too scary an evening!

Yakitori Recipe - BBQ Bliss

One of my all time favourite dishes is yakitori.... or grilled chicken. This is a wonderful meaty dish (actually, as I look back on the recipes that I've posted, I realise just how much of meat-lovers we are). It's been a common companion in our time together, although I have to admit that we don't tend to cook it ourselves. Which is a shame, as it's really quite easy.

The first thing to do - is make the skewers of chicken, onion etc...The thing to try to remember is that if you're going to use wooden skewers, it's best to soak them for a good ol'time... to avoid them spontaneously combusting on the bbq. Ok... I most probably didn't soak them quite long enough on this occasion. Another word of advice. Use free-range chickens. They're tastier, and your meat-eating soul will be all the more salved for it.

Of course the great thing about yakitori is the yakitori sauce... which is really easy to make.

Ingredients:

Approx 70 ml soy sauce

Approx 50 ml mirin

Approx. 1 Tablespoon Sugar.

Just add the ingredients into a small saucepan and put on a medium heat until the liquid reduces to 2/3 the original volume... then voila, you have it. Simple yakitori basting sauce.

In terms of yakitori themselves, well, other than chicken on skewers, you can also try a few other variations - two we tried this night was asparagus wrapped in bacon (yumm-o).

And here's a simple but tasty one - chicken skin. Yes, that's right. chicken skin. I know - healthy isn't a big concern at this point.

But to prove that we weren't wasting bits of the chicken... then you have the good old chicken wings. With all of these things you should cook lightly on the bbq first, and only then apply the yakitori baste... otherwise it will tend to cook/burn too quickly. At least that's our method - I'm sure there's many others. You paint the yakitori (and chicken wings) at least twice. My technique is to fill a flute glass with the sauce and then just dip the skewers in quickly. Simple.

So that's our recipe for yakitori... a Japanese delight and a must-eat food (especially of an evening if you've had a bit to drink... in fact, nothing like combining those two activities).

Happy eating. ?:-)

Note: The last thing I was going to do was plug my new Recipe Collection page, which I'm sure you would have missed on the top right hand side pane. This is just a collection of the recipes that I've been adding. We don't do many, but they're all favourites of ours. Have a look when you get the chance!... and in the mean time, enjoy thinking about yakitori!

Restaurant Review - Spats Cafe and Coffee Lounge

Well, I've already posted on our meal at Mapo Restaurant, but after watching our movie (The Last Ronin which is also known as The Last Chisingura), as part of the 15th Japanese Film Festival, we found that it was raining quite heavily. L-kun was safely sleeping over at a friends house - so the night was still early. What to do? We headed to an old haunt of ours, known as the Spats Cafe on King William Road. Now along with the Elephant Walk on Melbourne Street, this is one of the nice places to go for a coffee and a chat in Adelaide; although you can also grab a bite to eat there as well.

The cafe is a renovated house on King William Road, just south of the CBD. It doesn't look that interesting from the outside.... nor that big. Don't be deceived however. It's quite big extending both up, back and across, and the real joy occurs once you step through the front door.

Stepping across the threshold, it's as if you've been translated both to another time, and another country. I've read it described as Edwardian in style... and whilst it may be slightly more cliche than chic, it embraces the theme with wild abandon. Don't be surprised however that you'll find yourself having a long time to enjoy the ambiance. We arrived around 9:45 pm on Saturday night - only to find a line up inside of about 15 people. It took us about 20min to get a seat. Popularity has it's price. But it does give you ample time to soak up the vibe (but if you're seated in the front room, you might find it a little like being in a fish bowl).

The enjoyable part of the cafe, or lounge as they are alternatively described, is the private booths on the side rooms and upstairs. There you can relax, away from the milling mob of table-desirers. And this is one of the distinctions of Spats. You are encouraged to ensconce yourself in this dimly lit fantasy world of wicker and wonder. Take your time, and don't be surprised that it will be a while (especially on a Saturday night) before you're order is taken. Be patient.

Actually the decor upstairs is quite different from the front rooms. I can't help but imagine it as some seedy opium den or Bordello of the early twentieth century... The reddish glow, the quiet whisper of couples, and friends alike sharing their lives over a plate or cup makes for a welcoming feeling. The lounges are quite comfortable, and it doesn't take long before you'll find yourself feeling more at home than you might feel even at home.

Now you can buy dinner here, and they have a reasonably selection of cafe-style meals (though lending more from an Italian cafe rather than something in tune with the theme). However, T-chan and I tend to come here for only coffee and desserts. The meals themselves are reasonable, but not what Spats is about. 

I enjoyed a fresh pot of New Guinea Gold, a nice brew served in china. Good for the eye, but for a die-hard coffee drinker, just a little too dainty for me. Still, when in Rome...

T-chan instead went for the the Chai Latte Crunch... an iced version of the tea that in my mind really typifies the Imperial, or should that be colonial, era when tea and coffee houses became the place for meeting of the artistic and the exotic.

Now we also sampled some of the delicious desserts for some late night indulgence. T-chan went with the Chocolate Cream Gateau. Quite rich and luxurious, decorated in Spats style with a splash of red, blue and white... much like the lighting. 

I would normally have gone with the banana crepe, but instead went with the Mixed Berry Sundae. Not too bad, but definitely preferred the Gateau.

So there you have it... if you're looking for somewhere to have a bit of a break one evening, and you have a car (and prepared to travel out of the city), then I'd definitely recommend heading south to Goodwood and trying out Spats Cafe and Coffee Lounge. You don't go for the food, though the desserts are worth it -but instead, you go for the broader range of coffee selection, the touch of the mystery and fantasy, and of course, the opportunity to take a pause from a busy week and enjoy spending time just chilling. Just try for a booth seat rather than the front room... And despite the long wait (even when we left, there was a long queue), you never feel pressured to finish up. The drinks and desserts set us back about $30, so whilst it's not cheap, it's a relaxing way to spend the evening. Take your time and enjoy the moment.

Spats Cafe (Cofee Lounge):

108 King William Road, Goodwood

(08) 8272 6170

Open from 6:30pm to 12am, or 2 am Friday/Saturday night.

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Restaurant Review - Mapo

Saturday night we had a bit of a break, with L-kun being looked after by some friends of ours (thanks a squillion!). We decided to go out and catch a dinner and a movie. The movie I'll talk about later, the dinner was at Mapo, a Korean Restaurant on Adelaide's premier eating street, Gouger Street. Now Mapo has been around for a long time though has undergone a bit of a revamp from the original Korean BBQ that we knew it as years ago. It's now a modern fusion masterpiece.

Things start of interesting as your entry is announced with a deep resonant gong. The atmosphere inside is simple, and whilst there's a traditional floor seating area, the majority is western table dining. As we had a movie at 7, we had an incredibly early booking for 5:30 to try and give us barely enough time to eat and get to the cinema. As a result, we were the only ones in the restaurant. That's a good and bad thing. The good side - no noise and you get the undivided attention. The bad side - it sort of shows up any deficiencies in the service and makes you realise how much of eating is atmosphere.

Now the a la carte menu was fairly small, and we were a little underwhelmed by the choice available. And I have to say, as T-chan and I don't go out that much, we were surprised a little at the cost. Having said that, when we go out, we don't mind indulging a little.

Mapo Money Bags - "Filled with local tiger prawns, fresh fish & squid served on a peanut puree". These were delicate little delights, with a fairly light seafood flavour. They're perhaps a modern take on the Japanese dish of takoyaki. The puree was nice, though understated. Great texture and a good way to start the night (they normally are served with 3, but they nicely upped it to 4 to make it easier to share). Cost $14.90 (for 3).

Ginger Pork - "Lightly battered pork balls served with a lime chilli sauce". These were quite nice, and my first though was that they'd be hot. But hot they were not (says Dr Seuss). The pork balls themselves were fresh, nicely cooked. The garnish of pumpkin was a particularly nice touch. The chilli sauce on top was perhaps a little too similar to sweet chilli sauce you'd have at home, and the sauce below (I assumed for aesthetics) was largely light and a good splash of red that added to the expectation of heat. Cost $13.90.

Tender Duck Fillet (210g – 250g) - "Marinated duck breast, oven baked then char grilled served on a nest of tempura vegetables. Topped with Chung Jae’s creamy basil sauce". We often order duck, though I've never had a Korean duck dish... and I suspect that I've yet to. This was a slightly different take on a European-style duck and (light) orange sauce. The Basil sauce was nice, but a little hidden away. One of the surprises was a massive grilled garlic, sliced in half. Quite nice, but I feel sorry for the people we shared a movie with later in the evening. Cost $28.90.

Crying Tiger Wagyu Beef (marbling score 7-9%) - "Chargrilled SA Mayura wagyu skewers with tamarind, coriander and chilli sauce accompanied by tempura veg and a tomato and cucumber salsa". This for me was the winner of the night. For the price, I was surprised to see it served on skewers. It was however, delicious. Tender and flavourful. The sauce really did set the meal off so well, and once again the chilli sauce was incredibly restrained. The tempura mushrooms were an interesting selection for accompaniment. The nest made of noodles was brilliant and gave the dish as sense of curiosity. Now T-chan would say to anyone that asked, Ben-chan loves his beef. I do, it's true. So I was pleasantly surprised by the enjoyment from these skewered beauties (even if a little on the pricey side). Cost $34.90.

Now we had unfortunately run out of time (due to our movie date) - but even with a fairly quick dinner, we enjoyed ourselves. We had been wanting to visit Mapo for a long time, especially since it changed it's image. Whilst we enjoyed the experience, a quick meal set us back $130+  when you threw in several of drinks. While I'm not necessarily a buy-by-bulk kinda guy, I felt that this was a little over valued (or am I just being a bit tight arsed?). The only other thing that I felt was that for a asian fusion restaurant, there was a little too much fusion going on, but too little asian (especially Korean). We didn't get a strong sense of the underlying Korean flavours, and these dishes wouldn't have been too exotic in any modern restaurants. Perhaps a different choice of dishes would have changed this view.

Mapo does come with a fine record, and a number of awards including the South Australian Award for Restaurant and Catering 2011 (Award for Best Asian Restaurant in South Australia), and Finalist in the Award for Best Chef in South Australia.... actually the list is too long to do justice. So there's obviously a lot of poeple that have been very impressed. In our opinion, it was a good quality restaurant, with good food and friendly staff that were very accommodating. A good night out!

Mapo:

113 Gouger Street

Ph:  8211 6042

Fax: 8357 2810

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Doing the Shabu Shabu Shake

Now as winter's coming to a slow close here in Australia (although today seems to be a fairly wintery day again in Adelaide), we thought we'd throw together a bit of an old Japanese classic together. Shabu Shabu. Actually this dish has some significance for us as a couple - as it was perhaps the first Japanese dish that we had together as a couple way back in 2002. So it has some meaning... even though we don't have it that often these days.

So what's Shabu Shabu I hear you ask? In typical Japanese-style, the name Shabu Shabu is an onomatopoeia (big word, means word describing a sound) for the bubbly swish noise made by the cooking meat being dragged through the boiling water. Well, so the story goes, the dish came from the same origins of many of the asian dishes, on the Mongol steppes... it then travelled through China to eventually end up as a fairly simple dish in a small Osaka restaurant known as Suehiro in the early 1950's. It was there that the secret ingredient was added that makes Shabu Shabu so special. It's name. From it's humble beginnings, it's become one of the most readily recognised Japanese dishes, and a perennial favourite amongst  both Japanese and foreigners alike. It also has to be one of the simplest of all Japanese nabemono (hot pot) dishes... as there's very little required in terms of preparation other than cutting a few ingredients.

First off, you're going to need a Shabu Shabu pot. Ok... you may not "need" to use one of these, but it makes it easier. You'll also need a gas (camp) burner for the table - always take care when dealing with gas cylinders, fire, boiling water... especially around children (of course).

The first step is heating the water - which has Konbu for flavouring. There are many things that you can add to the cooking water, but we work on the principal that you're coating the cooked ingredients in a sauce at the end anyhow. You can make this a dashi-based cooking broth, or T-chan's otousan also adds soy sauce. T-chan often likes to quietly eat the Konbu at the end of the meal when no-ones looking (shhhh that's our secret).

Now speaking of ingredients - like many winter Japanese dishes, the ingredients are fairly standard:

• Thinly sliced beef / pork or lamb (lamb is more popular in Hokkaido) - we had about 1kg all up
• Garlic chives
• Chinese cabbage
• Enoki mushrooms
• Tofu
• Fish cake (chikuwa)
• We also tried some beansprouts tonight (not normal)
• Konbu for cooking broth
• Rice (for side)

Now once the water is starting to boil you take the Konbu out, and throw the vegetables in... they'll start cooking down, but will take quite a bit longer than the meat to cook. Indeed they can stay there throughout the duration if necessary (though you lose some of the nutrition to the broth, which is not used).

The important thing is the sauce. We often use a simple Ponzu (ポン酢) sauce for Shabu Shabu. This can be bought from most asian grocers. An alternative to Ponzu sauce a sesame seed sauce (gomadare).

T-chan made a home-made sauce (trialled from an internet recipe) from a mix of grated apple, soy sauce, mirin, sake and garlic. However, she much preferred the Ponzu ready-made sauce.

The key to Shabu Shabu is that the meat is thin enough that it is cooked very quickly - typically after about 5-10 seconds - by swirling it through the near-boiling broth. The Shabu Shabu Shake! Now the one word of warning - the thing that looks like a conical chimney... is exactly that. So don't put your hands anywhere near the opening at the top as there's very hot air being exhausted directly from the burner below.

And before you know it.... cooked lightly to perfection...

Here's a quick vid of my lovely wife's hand... doing the Shabu Shabu shake.... L-kun sits in the background getting impatient for dinner. This is also the first time I've tried to use my Canon KissX3 as a video camera, so appologies for that crapiness of it... but that's HD crap thankyou.

Interesting But Almost Totally Unrelated Fact of the Day:  As the meat is progressively cooked (noting that we went through nearly 1 kg of meat) you get a slightly dirty looking foam on the top - known as aku or simply lye. Here's a simple food chemistry lesson - when meat is under stress, the meat becomes denatured which means that the proteins begin to breakdown and dissolve in the water in the form of lipids (like fats) and amino acids. Now lye is more typically known for its role in saponification - making soap from fats - however, the word comes from the Old Norse Laug, which means "warm bath". I'm not sure what this says about the Old Norse - but I don't want to imagine where they did their cooking - or their bathing. This all sounds a little gross, I know, but the good news is that it can readily be skimmed off the surface. Using leaner meats help reduce this, but for us, a bit fatty meat adds to the flavour.

So there you have it - a very simple hot-pot dish that is as Japanese as well just about any other dish that was integrated from abroad but made distinctively Japanese in the process. But I will let my son, L-kun have the final verdict. What do you think L-kun? I think a picture can definitely say at least a thousand words... Heavenly Shabu Shabu Shake Baby!

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Note: This post is my contribution to the JFesta compendium for August 2010. Don't forget to check out the links to contributors here on of Japingu.com.