I want to thank my dearest readers for reading my Japan Trip posts.  I received a lot of feedback from you and I enjoyed reading them.  I wish there are more stories to share about where I came from but I was there for only 2 short weeks.  Half of the time our children were still jet lagged and my husband was working, so we didn’t go out as much as we normally do when we visit Japan.

This is my final post about our trip.  If you missed my previous posts, here are the links: Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 (Kobe & Osaka) | Vol. 3 (Hakone).

After we came back to Yokohama from our trip to Hakone, sakura (cherry blossoms) was in full bloom.  I thought of going to Shinjuku Gyoen (新宿御苑) for cherry blossom viewing.  It is a large park with famous gardens located in Shinjuku and Shibuya, Tokyo and the park has 1,500 cherry trees there.  After thinking over, I decided not to (next time!) because of how crowded it could get and I still had two little ones with us.   There is a lot of walking and train switching to go from place A to place B in Tokyo area and I wasn’t quite comfortable doing that with my children.  So instead, we decided to just walk around our neighborhood.

All the cherry blossom trees are full with delicate pink flowers.

When wind was blowing, petals falling down from the trees made the scenery seem like it’s snowing.  I enjoy the full bloom but I also enjoy this Sakura Fubuki (cherry blossom storm).  You have to be there to experience this beautiful moment.  I found this video clip online that shows what it’s like.  By the way, you can see some people are having a picnic under the tree.

In my neighborhood, there are small bamboo forests and our children wanted to see “pandas” so we walked there to check out the bamboo forests (of course there are no pandas!).

When entering the forest, I particularly love the soothing noise of bamboo leaves brown by the wind.

During our short stay in Japan, I had a few goals that I needed to accomplish.  One of them was to take my children to a photo studio and take their pictures wearing traditional kimonos.   My son is 5 years old (turning 6 next week!) and my daughter then was 3 years old.  So it was time to celebrate Shichi-Go-San (七五三, “Seven-Five-Three”).

November 15^th or the closest weekend is Shichi-Go-San in Japan and it’s a day of prayer for the healthy growth of young children.  Boys and girls aged three, boys aged five, and girls aged seven visit a Shinto shrine with their parents.  Girls wear kimonos and boys wear haori jackets and hakama trousers.

Since November 15^th has long passed, we just took pictures of them for the memory.  It takes a long time for a girl to wear a kimono and do special hair style, and our baby did really well.  Something to remember when they get older…

My husband had purchased 3 magazines that featured things to do and places to eat around our neighborhood.  Every time we go to Japan, he studies these magazines and decides what new restaurants we should explore.  Since he’s has been to Japan many times he has had the opportunity to try a lot of authentic dishes there.

But one thing he hasn’t tried was really good unagi (eel) in a unagi specialty restaurant.  I cook Unagi Don at home, but the quality of fresh unagi in Japan is much better than the frozen ones we buy from the supermarket in the US.  This was our last meal with my family and we went to Uyagawa restaurant featured in one of the magazines.

After my dad and my husband ordered Japanese beer, otooshi (お通し), an appetizer, came as part of the drink order.

The otooshi was chutoro, medium fatty tuna sashimi.  My husband said it was so good that he decided to order another chutoro sashimi for our kids.  They are crazy about sashimi.

I’m still amazed how raw fish in Japan can be so fresh.  It’s just amazing.  I wish I can get this quality in the US.

Then my dad told my husband we have to try grilled unagi kabuto (head) and unagi liver.

Unagi liver on the left and head on the right.  Because of the delicious sauce you don’t really taste anything weird or fishy.  Even our children tried and they liked both.  The unagi head was cooked until the bone almost dissolved so you couldn’t really feel the skull bone.  The liver was very fresh and my husband said it’s similar texture to pig intestine, but much smaller and refined (I’ve never had pig intestine before…).

We also order Yanagawa Nabe (dojo loach hot pot).  Dojo is known as weatherfish or weather loach and enjoyed in many Asian countries.  The dojo was simmered in stock with sliced burdock root and egg in a shallow hot pot.

Dojo is not something we eat normally, so it was a great experience for me too.  This dish was actually very good.  I ate quite a bit with steamed rice and it was yummy!  The burdock root goes so well with this sweet soy sauce stock and egg made the dish creamy and mild.

We asked the chef if we take pictures of him grilling unagi and we were told it’s okay as long as we stood outside the kitchen.  You can Google and find how they dissect the fresh eels but I will skip since not all readers would be comfortable with the process.

Now the chef started to grill.

Here’s a very short video clip of how he grilled.

He grilled unagi till about 70% cooked, then dipped the eels into his homemade unagi sauce pot you see in the back.  He grilled again and dipped, and grilled…until unagi was perfectly cooked.

Then he put unagi in a special steamer for the last process.  He drizzled the sauce over rice then place the unagi on top of the rice.

Usually unagi is served in a jubako, a lacquer bento box (above).  This unagi dish is called Unaju (うな重).  “Una” is the abbreviation of “unagi” and “ju” is the abbreviation of “jubako.”  If you serve unagi over rice in a bowl (donburi) at home, then it is Unadon (うな丼) (unagi + donburi).

Depending on how much unagi you want, the price is different ranging from $30 for a small to $60 for a large.  The above photo is for the medium size.  Eating unagi in a specialty restaurant is a real treat and quite pricey due to lack of domestic eels.

After opening the jubako cover, and biting into the soft tender eel meat with fabulous sweet sauce and a bit of rice, the price is well worth it.  The recipe for the sauce is secret for each store.  Some restaurants has been using the same sauce for many many years and just keep adding base sauce in the pot every day.

The next day we took a bus to go to Narita Airport.  We passed by Tokyo downtown, and Tokyo Tower (東京タワー).

As soon as you leave the downtown area, you will soon see a panoramic view of Tokyo Bay and you still see the Tokyo Tower there.

Next you see the tallest tower in the world, Tokyo Skytree (東京スカイツリー) in the back of the buildings.  Maybe it’s too small to see from this photo below.

Here now you can see it.  The construction was completed in February 2012 and it just opened to the public 2 days ago.  This is a broadcasting, restaurant, and observation tower.

We had a great time in Japan.  Our children always long for going back soon.  They love the food, activities, hot springs, and they can go on and on.  After having my blog, I also realize that I have a great opportunity to introduce Japan and share the pictures about it.  We go back to Japan every year so I am looking forward to sharing many things in the future.

Next Monday is Memorial Day and it’s a holiday here in the US.  I’m very behind in my correspondence to your feedback and questions, so I’ll be taking Monday off.  I will come back next Thursday with very easy Unadon (unagi over rice) recipe with homemade sauce, just like you saw in my post today.  I hope you will come back to check it out.

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Lastly, it was my son’s turn to pick the winners via random.org.  Two lucky winners of my recent giveaways, a box of Japanese Blueberry Cheesecake Kit Kat, are:

Congratulations Sylvia and Lynn!  Thank you everyone for participating the giveaways.  I’ll be contacting the winners soon.

A couple months ago Tuttle Publishing sent me a copy of a cookbook, Easy Thai Cooking by Robert Danhi.  As I consider Thai food is one of my favorite cuisines, I was very happy with this surprise gift and looked forward to trying all of my favorite recipes as well as other delicious new dishes from this cookbook that I have never tried before.

I put post-its everywhere in this book to mark my favorite ones, but the first recipe I wanted to try was one that everyone in my family loves – Grilled Lemongrass Chicken.  My husband loves spicy food but both my children and I can’t eat really spicy food so we always go for mild flavor when we order Thai food.  Now being able to cook Thai food at home and being able to control the amount of spice, I look forward to trying many recipes from this book at home.  Maybe even making a few spicy ones just for my husband to surprise him.

This was my very first time making Grilled Lemongrass Chicken at home, actually my first time making anything with fresh lemongrass but I was extremely happy with the result.  It’s quite easy process too.  I couldn’t find finger-size chilies for the homemade Thai Sweet Chili Sauce so I substitute with dried chilies.  But all the ingredients should be easily found in your nearby Asian store.  I never had palm sugar before but the flavor and fragrance from this sugar is really amazing that I wouldn’t substitute with light brown sugar as the author suggested (unless you really can’t find the palm sugar).  If you are worried about buying lemongrass and don’t know other lemongrass recipes, don’t worry.  There are other delicious lemongrass recipes in the book like Silky Butternut Squash Coconut Soup, Green Curry Pork with Eggplant, Cinnamon-scented Beef Noodle Soup, and more.

Everyone in my family really enjoyed this chicken that I’ll be cooking this often without a doubt.  This time I had prepared other main dishes so I only cooked 4 chicken thighs.  At the end we wished that we cooked more because the chicken was fabulous and we wished that we had leftover for next day lunch!  If you like Southeast Asian dishes, especially Thai food, this is a must try.  Enjoy!

*The giveaway winners are announced at the end of this post.

Please Note: The Grilled Lemongrass Chicken recipe is reprinted with permission by Tuttle Publishing.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the book but was not asked to review this book by the publisher or author. I chose to review this book because I really enjoy this cookbook.  All the opinions expressed are my own.

Enjoy!

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If you still have time, please check out my interview at Spicie Foodies today.  It’s one of my favorite food blog that I get constant inspiration from.  The blog author Nancy is a remarkable food stylist and photographer.  My husband showed me her website for beautiful photography before we even started our own blog.  Life is totally unexpected as I didn’t imagine that I would be being featured on her blog.  Hope you enjoy my interview session with her.  Enjoy your visit!

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Finally, the lucky winners of my recent giveaways, a copy of Lemongrass & Ginger Cookbook: Vibrant Asian Recipes by Leemei Tan, are:

Congratulations Candice and Sandra!  Thank you everyone for participating the giveaways.  I’ll be contacting the winners soon.

Welcome back to my Japan Trip 2012 series.  If you missed my previous posts, here’s vol. 1 and vol. 2 (Kobe & Osaka).  Today we’re going to Hakone (箱根)!

Hakone (箱根) is a town of 13,000 people and is part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.  It’s located in the mountainous far west of Kanagawa Prefecture, about 60 miles (100 km) from Tokyo.  It’s a famous onsen (hot spring) resorts destination for both Japanese and international visitors because it’s relatively close to Tokyo.

If you are staying in downtown Tokyo, you can get to the Hakone area from either Tokyo or Shinjuku Station, taking the express train Romancecar and it only takes about 90 minutes.

Image: Odakyu

For us, my dad drove us there as we wanted to stop by the amusement park, Fuji-Q High Land (富士急ハイランド) before reaching to Hakone.  From the parking lot of the theme park, we could see the beautiful Mount Fuji.

We were lucky to catch a cloudless Mt. Fuji when we first arrived because by the time we left it was already covered by clouds.  In Japan, Mt. Fuji is very well known to be the mountain “hidden” in clouds.  If you visit Japan and get to see Mt. Fuji on a clear day, consider yourself pretty lucky.

My children did not meet most of the height requirements in Fuji-Q High Land for the thrill rides.  So we again ended up in Thomas Land inside the theme park (last visit was 3.5 years ago).

After we spent 3-4 hours in the park, it was time to go to Hakone.  We booked this ryokan (Japanese styled inn) called Hakone Kowakudashi Onsen Mizunoto (箱根小涌谷温泉 水の音) about one week before the trip based on reviews from a Japanese travel site.

Image: Hakone Kowakudashi Onsen Mizunoto

Internationally, hotels are mainly for travelers to sleep at night.  It’s a bit different for Japanese ryokans (Japanese inns); after we check in, we spend most of the day inside of the ryokan.  A person can enjoy different onsen (hot spring) baths throughout a day, relax at the lounge, take advantage of services such as massages and spa, and walk around the gardens in the premises.  Typically there are also souvenir shops that carry local crafts and food inside the ryokan.  My favorite part besides the onsen is the food.  Typically ryokans serve extremely delicious kaiseki dinners (a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner) and breakfast.  Meals are usually included for the accommodation fee and the cost is calculated by per person rather than by per room.

The room at this ryokan was decent, I would say.  It’s not the super fancy kind of ryokan, but it’s clean and spacious for my children to run around.  Although there are just 2 full-size beds in the room, a family of 4 can comfortably stay in this room as children can sleep on futon (traditional Japanese style beds) in Japanese tatami room.  Ryokans typically start at $150 USD a person for the standard rooms all way to $500 a person for the more exclusive ones on the weekends.

There are total of 7 onsen baths, including both outdoors and indoors, at this ryokan.  Each bath has several kinds of tubs with different shapes and materials.  Some made of natural rocks, some made of hinoki (Japanese cypress).

This ryokan also has some rooms with a private onsen bathtub in the balcony.  That’s nice for those who are not comfortable taking baths with strangers.  This ryokan also has 3 separate private baths outside in the garden (on premise) available for the hotel guests (below is one of private baths).

By the way, you might ask, what’s an onsen?  Onsen is a term for hot springs in Japanese and this term is also used to describe the bathing facilities and inns that serve hot spring baths.  As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen throughout the country.

Onsen water is believed to have various medical effects derived from its mineral contents. A particular onsen may feature several different baths, each with water with a different mineral composition for different benefits.  The Japanese believe that a good soak in onsen heals aches and pains and promotes beautiful skin.

Many onsen ryokans have alternating male-only and female-only hours, so be sure to visit each bath before the daily switch, usually at/after midnight.  That way you can enjoy various kinds of baths during one stay.

If you are curious about how to take a Japanese bath, click here.  After you take a bath, you wear yukata (summer kimono) and relax until dinner.

Now that we are relaxed and feel refreshed, it’s time for dinner.  Dinner is usually served in your room or main dining area.  Traditionally, meals are served in your room.  Due to the slow economy, more ryokans are saving costs and prefer to serve in a main dining area since it requires less staff.  If your ryokan allows you to dine at the tatami area of your room, a designated staff comes to serve a kaiseki style meal a course at a time.  Here at this hotel, we had to go to a main dining room.

The following meals are for one person.  We started off from…

Appetizer | Zensai (前菜)

Lotus Tofu (蓮豆腐), Grilled Bamboo Shoot (焼き筍), Grilled sawara/Japanese spanish mackerel (鰆木の芽焼), Simmered octopus (蛸柔らか煮), Simmered red snapper (鯛の子旨煮), Vinegared myoga/Japanese ginger (酢取り茗荷子), Noshi Ume (のし梅), Wakamomo (若桃)

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Warm Vegetable Dish | Onsai (温菜) (top right)

White fish wrapped with Yuba (tofu skin) (白魚東寺巻き)

 Sashimi | Otsukuri (お造り)

Tuna Sashimi (鮪引き造り), Alfonsino Sashimi (目鯛平造り), Fuji-Iwana Sashimi (富士岩魚重ね造り), Handmade Konjac (手延ばし蒟蒻)

 *****

Simmered Dish | Nimono (煮物)

Steamed spring snapper wrapped with sakura leaf (春鯛桜蒸し)

*****

Grill | Aburi Yaki (炙り焼)

Wagyu Calbi (和牛カルビ), Hakone piedmont pork rib eye (箱根山麓豚ロース), Masu salmon (桜鱒), Turban shell (サザエ壺焼き), Assorted vegetables (旬野菜のいろいろ)

 For the main course, we were able to cook the ingredients on the grill built in our table.  You can eat right after they are cooked.

*****

Vinegared Dish | Tomezakana (止め肴)

Scallope (貝柱), Prawn (海老), Udo (独活（うど）), Lotus root (蓮根) in vinaigrette sauce

*****

Traditionally kaiseki meal ends with rice and miso soup.  Since the start of the meal, Kamameshi has been cooking in an individual size iron pot and was just about ready when we finished most of the food.

Rice | Oshokuji (お食事)

Ainame & burdock root kamameshi (油目(あいなめ)と牛蒡の釜飯), Pickles (香の物)

 Soup | Tomewan (留椀・味噌汁)

Akadashi Miso Soup (赤だし)

* Remember, the Japanese has the miso soup when rice is served.

 *****

Dessert

Black sesame mousse, fruits, and mochi (本日のデザート)

The food was more than enough.  We really have to try hard to finish everything on the table.  Typically the meals served at ryokans are really delicious, comparable to high end restaurants in the US.  The kaiseki meals use seasonal and local ingredients and the chef and the ryokan really take pride in the quality of food they provide.  The food always tastes very fresh and the colors are mesmerizing.  The chef’s job is not only to make sure the food tastes good, but looks good as well.  If you are serious about the quality of food at ryokans as your decision factor for staying, Japanese travel sites offer reviews on ryokans and the rating of their food.

After we took a rest from our full meal, we went to take a bath again.  Yep, that’s what you do when you visit an onsen ryokan.  Your body become nice and warm after the bath and you have a good night sleep!

Next morning after we woke up, you know what we did… go take a bath again!  By this time our skins are so nice and smooth… my children love taking Japanese baths.  They even requested us to remodel our American home bath tub to Japanese style deep tub.  I also hope we can change it one day!

By the time we were done with a quick morning bath, we were hungry and ready for breakfast!

Japanese Style Breakfast

(from top left) Onsen tamago, natto (do you like it?), simmered bamboo & taro, strawberry Jelly, miso soup, salad, tamagoyaki, kamaboko (fish cake), spinach gomaae, (forgot what this was), vegetable juice, rice, tuna sashimi, grilled horse mackerel (aji), simmered fuki  (Japanese butterbur sprout) & potato, pickles.

As I was enjoying the gorgeous food and looking out the window at the beautiful scenery, it made me a bit homesick and realized that there are parts of Japan I deeply miss.  Great food of course, the joy and beauty of having seasons (I live in California…), history and culture Japan offers… I left Japan when I was 20 years old and I really wish I had traveled more to see my country.  Anyway…

After we checked out from the ryokan, we decided to go to volcanically active Ōwakudani geysers.  First we went to Gora (強羅) Station to take Hakone Tozan Cable Car to Sounzan (早雲山) Station.

Then from Sounzan Station, we took Hakone Ropeway to Ōwakudani (大涌谷) Station.

On the way, we could see Mount Fuji on the right hand side.  Again, most of the mountain was covered by clouds.

These are the pipes that carry hot spring water to hotels and ryokans in the area.  We see Ōwakudani Station in front of us.

Here we are at Ōwakudani (大涌谷 “Great Boiling Valley”).  It is a volcanic valley with active sulfur vents (left) and hot springs (right).

A lot of domestic and international tourists come here to watch volcanic activity and eat Black Egg (黒卵).  We were able to see the worker trying to put fresh eggs in the hot spring water.

These eggs are hard-boiled in the hot springs.  The boiled eggs turn black and smell slightly sulfuric.  Consuming the eggs is said to increase longevity; eating one is said to add seven years to your life.

Look, my daughter was pinching her nose while I was taking a picture of these eggs for my facebook page…

Yeah, it’s pretty smelly around here because of the strong sulfur odor.  Oh by the way, onsen water at ryokans doesn’t have any smell because it’s already treated.  So don’t worry, you can take a bath without pinching your nose!

Thank you for reading this long post today.  The next Thursday will be my final Japan Trip post.  I hope you will come back to check it out!

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We had a lot of luggage for this trip and I could only bring back something small and light as souvenirs this time.  If you have been to Japan, you probably know that each region likes to come up with unique flavor snacks featuring their famous produce (sometimes not related at all).  I got these blueberry cheesecake Kit Kats at Narita Airport on my way home and I’d like to give these as giveaways.  I thought about getting wasabi flavor Kit Kats for fun instead, but my husband convinced me not to (Remember?  We both don’t like wasabi…).  I thought it’s cute that these Kit Kat Boxes are the shape of Mount Fuji.

By the way, did you know Kit Kat has over 100 flavors in Japan?  Check out this link for all the flavors invented in Japan.  Isn’t it crazy?

So here we go.  Enter to win one of two (2) boxes of Kit Kat!

• This giveaway is WORLDWIDE!
• The giveaway expires on May 23th 2012, Wednesday, 12:00pm PST.
• Entries that do not meet the entry requirement will not be considered.
• The winners will be randomly chosen using random.org and announced in the post on Monday 24^st.
• Full disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by yours truly.

Required Entry: please leave a comment on this post.

Extra Entries:

• Subscribe Just One Cookbook by Email, then leave a separate comment (even you are already subscribing).
• Like Just One Cookbook on Facebook, then leave a separate comment (even you already follow the fan page).

Good luck!

While we celebrated Cinco de Mayo (Mexico’s Independence Day) last weekend, the Japanese celebrated the Children’s Day (formally Boys’ Day) on May 5^th.  Even though that was over a week ago, I didn’t have a chance to talk about it till now so let me share what I prepared for the celebration.

In Japan, there are several annual celebrations related to children and we decorate our houses with special displays.  On The Doll’s Festival (Girl’s Day) in March, we would display the set of the traditional Emperor and Empress dolls dressed in kimono.  On the Children’s Day, we would display Kabuto (ancient Japanese warrior helmet) and armor.

Usually on this day the Japanese eat Kashiwa Mochi (柏餅 picture on left).  It’s a round shape mochi filled with anko (sweet red bean paste) and wrapped with an oak leaf.  I tried to find oak leaves at every Japanese supermarket in my area so that I can make Kashiwa Mochi but had no luck.  So in the end, I just bought the premade Kashiwa Mochi from the store and I decided to make a different wagashi (Japanese sweets) to share with you.

This sweet is called Mitarashi Dango (みたらし団子).  It’s a type of dango (sweet dumplings) skewered onto sticks.  Usually 3-5 dangos (traditionally 5) are covered with a sweet soy sauce glaze.  Mitarashi Dango was originated from the Kamo Mitarashi Tea House in Kyoto.  The ingredients are similar to Strawberry Daifuku (Strawberry Mochi) but much easier to make so I hope you give it a try!

Enjoy!

If you like anko (sweet red bean paste), you can put your homemade anko on top of dango to enjoy.

Dear readers,

It’s been awhile since we’ve written a restaurant review on Just One Cookbook so we’re very excited to share this review with you.  Before I jump into the restaurant review, I want to share my thoughts on the amount of effort the Japanese dedicate into refining their food.

Every time when I visit Nami’s family in Japan and stop by the department stores’ food plaza, I love going from stall to stall just admiring the various food inside the glass display.  Everything looks super delicious, from cheesecake to Japanese rice crackers and each one is placed perfectly in its own unique packaging inviting you to take it home.  If I had my way I would probably camp out at the food plaza for an entire week trying everything.  It’s evident even from these casual food stalls that the Japanese puts in tremendous effort to deliver what they consider the best product possible.

The spirit and commitment to food excellence is present everywhere and the number of Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo (266) and Osaka (243) area speak for themselves (there are more Michelin star restaurants in Tokyo than all of the US cities combined).  Even at local neighborhood restaurants, it’s impressive  how much effort they put into their food and service to make sure their customers have the best possible experience.

Japan’s passion for food aren’t just experienced when dining in restaurants, but also communicated through popular TV food shows like Iron Chef and Dotch Cooking Show.  Watching these shows, they are very entertaining yet impressive how much the effort the chef puts into refining simple dishes such as curry or tonkatsu to prepare the best possible dish.  If you have never seen an episode before, there are a few episodes on YouTube.  Sometimes the refinement does go a bit far, such as  $50-$100 dollar Yubari melon (cantaloupe).  Speaking of refinement, one Japanese ingredient that is world renowned for its quality is the super premium Japanese beef (Wagyu – translates to cow raised in Japan).

During our trip to Japan, we had the chance to dine at New Matsusaka, a traditional teppanyaki restaurant, literal translation “grill on iron plate” and enjoyed this super premium beef.

Most restaurants in Japan that serves branded premium beef (such as Kobe, Matsuzaka, or Yonezawa beef) would usually display the heritage and certificate of each cattle as you enter the store.  Information includes who the farmer is, where the farm is located, what is the grade of the beef, and when the calf was born as well as how long the calf was raised.  With other non-branded high end beef, usually each particular cattle is cataloged carefully and origination location detailed.

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Many of you in the US are probably familiar with teppanyaki since Benihana introduced the cooking style in 1960′s.  For those of you who are not familiar with teppanyaki, it is the style of Japanese cooking that prepares and cooks the food on a hot flat metal surface.  The cooking surface is typically surrounded by guests seating around in a half circle allowing the chef to serve everyone from the center.  The chef uses a flat metal spatula and a few other metal utensils to prepare and cook the food on the hot metal surface.

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In front of each guest, there is a small metal plate that help keeps the food warm after the chef is done cooking.  The teppan (iron plate) offers a wok charred taste that is very delicious to the palate.  Grilling on teppan is different from a regular grill because all the juice stays on the cooking surface instead of escaping through the bottom.  In the US, there is an emphasis for the chef to entertain the guests with trick moves at teppanyaki restaurants but that actually does not happen in Japan.

The meal started with stir-fry napa cabbage, and then followed with Japanese kabocha (pumpkin), renkon (lotus root), yomogi-fu (glutencake), and konnyaku (konjac).  The grilled appetizers were also served along with a smoke salmon salad.  The napa cabbage tastes similar to a wok charred stir fry cabbage and the soft texture of yomogi-fu contrasted the crunchy renkon very well.

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Then the main show started; we were in for a real treat.  On the menu that night are live abalone and lobster.  The lobster was cut in half, placed shell side down first then the meat side and steam cooked by sealing the vapor with a metal cover.  The lobster meat was then taken out and cut into pieces for a bit more cooking.  When done, it was served in its shell.

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The abalone was placed open side down first which made them come off their shells rather quickly.  The chef then removed different parts of the abalone leaving only the center muscle intact.  To cook the abalone, he made diagonal crisscross incisions on both side and placed a piece of butter on top and covered with the shell.  Needless to say, both the lobsters and abalone were super delicious leaving your mouth watering and wanting more after each bite.  The lobsters shells and head were later used to make a savory miso soup so no parts were wasted.

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After the seafood courses, the restaurant made their specialty fried garlic for us.  They get their high quality garlics from Aomori Prefecture which are extra-large.  I had thought the fried garlic were made by simply throwing them into a deep fryer.  My assumptions were way off, it actually took the chef about 25 minutes to slowly cook garlic on low heat to achieve that perfect color and taste (in Japanese they say similar to color of a fox(Kitsune Iro)).

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It’s now time for the beef course.  We did not have the Matsuzaka beef that day but the special select “rōsu” (ロース/rib eye) and “hire” or “here” (ヒレ or ヘレ/tenderloin) were both extremely well marbled.  The rib eye is typically much fattier than the tenderloin.  Most steakhouse and tonkatsu restaurants in Japan offers two types of meat so guests can choose based on their preference.

The chef started by removing all the fat surrounding the beef and then browning all sides.  The removed fat was slowly cooked and melted to use as the cooking grease.  The rib eye was cut into 7 pieces and moved to the wooden board.  For the tenderloin, he used the garlic oil to brown all sides and divided into 9 pieces.  After the tenderloin were cut, the rib eye was further divided into 15 slices.

Each slice was cooked to perfection and the flavor was only slightly accented with the house special salt along with a bit of soy sauce.  You can taste the sweetness of beef with each slice.  The best way to enjoy beef at New Matsusaka is to place a few slices of fried garlic together with a slice of beef.  This combination tasted like a bit like fireworks going off in your mouth, the beef is so soft and tender that it melts in your mouth yet the crunchy garlic offers a completely different texture and complexity to the flavor.  Each person only had 3 slices of the rib eye but it was more than enough even for a meat lover like me.  The experience was not unlike eating 3 small sticks of butter.  The tenderloin was also excellent but not nearly as fatty as the rib eye so we had a few more slices each.

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We had a lot of great meals in Japan but this particular one is going down in the history book as one of the best meals we’ve had.  Each of the courses was cooked perfectly and it was a real treat.  We look forward to going back again when we visit Osaka.

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Full Disclosure:  New Matsusaka was founded by Nami’s grandfather and still run by her family today.

*****

We have a good news to share today.  If you are a food blogger you might already have heard of the Fairy Hobmother from Appliance Online.  He brings joy and happiness to the world’s bloggers by providing treats for hard work in the blogosphere.  And guess what, the Fairy Hobmother stumbled my blog and decided to give me $75 Amazon Gift Card (it was our 2nd time)!

The Fairy Hobmother told us that if you (bloggers) leave a comment on this post and he might read your comments and surprise you with treats, just like what he did for us!  So make sure to leave a comment because you never know what surprises are waiting for you. 

Today I’m honored to introduce my favorite new book called Lemongrass & Ginger Cookbook: Vibrant Asian Recipes.  When the cookbook author Leemei Tan contacted me if I was interested to review her cookbook a month ago, I was thrilled with joy to have this wonderful opportunity.  This is not just a review from an ordinary cookbook – it’s now my favorite cookbook.

Leemei Tan is a freelance recipe writer, food stylist and photographer. Born in Malaysia, she is now based in London and travels extensively.  She has been authoring the ever popular and well-known food blog My Cooking Hut since 2007.

I have been following her blog ever since I discovered it last year, and when she mentioned about her new cookbook release a few months ago, I was really happy for her great achievement and I remember telling her how beautiful the book cover design is.

Thanks to Leemei, home cooks can now easily master the art of preparing delectable Asian cuisine.  From Korean Spicy Seafood Noodle Soup and Japanese Pork Dumplings to Thai Green Papaya Salad and Indian Aubergine Curry, these imaginative recipes will inspire and delight, whether you have in mind a quick weekday meal or a feast for friends and family.

There are 7 chapters in the book that cover more than 100 recipes from all over Asia – Japan & Korea, China, Philippines & Indonesia, Malaysia & Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam and India & Sri Lanka.  You can read more about her cookbook and take a sneak preview of the book here.

After reading her cookbook thoroughly, I had few questions that came to my mind and I wanted to ask her personally, so I interviewed her.

You have traveled a quite bit all over the world.  Can you name 3 of your favorite dishes from 3 countries you have been to?

This is really tough as I have so many dishes that I love from all the countries that I have been to so far. If I had only 3 favourites, the first one has to be Pho Ga (Chicken Pho) that I had in Ho Chi Minh City. There are many shops and even mobile stalls that can easily be spotted for a good bowl of Pho. I love the light and fragrant chicken soup base. I could eat Pho everyday!

Sushi is another of my favourite. The freshest sushi I have ever had was at one tiny sushi shop at Tsukiji Fish market in Tokyo. Last but not least, a good Bouillabaisse (a traditional Provençal fish stew originates from Marseille, France) is always a must-eat whenever I go to France. The best bouillabaisse experience was at a random brasserie that I walked in near Gare du Nord, Paris.

Can you share with us how much time and effort took you to complete this book?

I had a very tight deadline. I was given only slightly more than 3 months to complete my manuscript and get all the recipes in the book tested. So, I worked more than 8 hours a day in order to keep everything on track. 

What’s your must have kitchen utensil?

Wok – a good wok! I use wok to cook everything! It’s such a versatile piece of kitchen utensil that you can just rely on to stir-fry, deep-fry or even steam.

Can you share with us which recipe in the book reminds you most of your mother’s flavor?

It has to be Cantonese steamed fish. There are many different style of Cantonese steamed fish that one can come out with. But my mom’s signature is the addition of tomato. 

My mom made me prep for dinner for years similar to how your mom trained you.   What advice do you have for someone who has to cook for the first time in their life as the best way to start their culinary journey?

For me, prepping food is really important to make sure that you don’t miss any ingredients. Besides, if you allow more prepping time, then it makes the whole cooking process to run more smoothly. Cooking is an art and it shows one’s personality too. During the cooking process, try not to be shy to taste and adjust the seasonings. Always have confidence when you cook as the more confident you are, the tastier the food is! So, never say that you can’t cook. Everyone can cook!

If you, your family, or your friends love Asian food, but you don’t know which book to buy for trying some Asian dishes, Lemongrass & Ginger will be a great introduction.  It can be purchased at all major bookstores and online stores such as Amazon (US, Canada, UK), Barnes & Noble, Book Depository (US, UK) and etc.

*****

After I was inspired by many of her recipes and placed post-it notes to mark my favorite ones, I decided to cook her mom’s signature dish Cantonese Steamed Fish for my family’s lunch.  Her mom uses a tomato in this recipe which had intrigued me to try this unique recipe.  My family enjoys fish, especially my children, and we always love steamed fish when we go to Chinese restaurants with a large group of friends or family.

The ingredients are pretty easy to find.  Besides the fresh red snapper, I have everything in my fridge and pantry.  I asked my fishmonger to scale and gut the fish for me so that my cooking time is minimized.

Since this recipe uses a whole fish which can be pretty big, you must have proper cooking equipments such as wok and large slightly deep plate that hold the entire fish with sauce.  Make sure your wok has a large lid that covers the entire wok tightly.

Since it was Sunday and my kids were at home, they were so excited to see me photographing uncooked fish by the window in the living room.  I usually do photo shooting when my kids are not at home so this suddenly became a huge family event.

When the fish was about to finish cooking, my entire family was in the kitchen.  I had to cook a little longer than the time the recipe suggested as my fish was slightly bigger.  When I opened the lid, everyone said WOW! for my first Cantonese Steamed Fish.  The steamed rice was done cooking just minutes ago and we were waiting for this moment.

My family was supportive about me taking pictures before our lunch, and when I finally brought the fish to the dining table, everyone couldn’t wait to taste this fish.

I put my first piece of fish in my mouth.  Hmmm!!!  I could taste both acidity and sweetness from the tomato in the sauce and the complexity was just wonderful.  I love this sauce so much that I dip the fish in the sauce before I eat it with steamed rice.

Whether you are Asian or not, this dish definitely makes you feel home.  It’s a great choice to serve to guests as it is very inviting and welcoming.  I cooked several side dishes along with this steamed fish and we felt light even after the full meal.  This will become our staple fish recipe from now on.  Now here is the delicious recipe.

Enjoy!

 *****

Because I love and enjoy this book so much and I think this book is a perfect gift to anyone who enjoys cooking Asian recipes, I have two (2) copies of Lemongrass & Ginger: Vibrant Asian Recipes to giveaway!

• This giveaway is WORLDWIDE!
• The giveaway expires on May 20th 2012, Sunday, 12:00pm PST.
• Entries that do not meet the entry requirement will not be considered.
• The winners will be randomly chosen using random.org and announced in the post on Monday 21^st.
• Full disclosure: This giveaway is sponsored by yours truly.

Required Entry: please leave a comment on this post.

Extra Entries:

• Subscribe Just One Cookbook by Email, then leave a separate comment (even you are already subscribing).
• Like Just One Cookbook on Facebook, then leave a separate comment (even you already follow the fan page).

Good luck!

In my Japan Trip 2012 vol. 1 post, I mentioned that we took Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train) from Yokohoama to visit Kobe and Osaka in western Japan.  My best friend was getting married in Kobe so our family trip to Japan was planned so that I could attend her big day.  Also, my maternal side grandparents and relatives live in Osaka, so we extended our trip 3 more days to spend time with them afterwards.

We stayed in Oriental Hotel in Kobe, where my friend was wedding at.  It was a nice newly remodeled hotel and we enjoyed our stay.

Our room, Breakfast Buffet, Bar (photo credit: Oriental Hotel)

At the hotel I had the breakfast and wedding banquet course meal for lunch.  I was very pleased with the quality of food they served.  I was way too busy socializing during the wedding so I failed to take the beautiful course meal.  The only photo from the hotel was the breakfast.  For breakfast, guests can choose Western style or Japanese style, and to share pictures for my blog I picked Japanese style.  All the basic Japanese breakfast dishes were served on the tray.  Tofu, pickles, Onsen Tamago (hot spring egg), seaweed, Nimono (simmered vegetable dishes), rice, Gindara Saikyo Yaki (Miso Cod), and Miso soup (from left top to right bottom).

No, these are not the only thing that I ate actually.  You can also go to a buffet section to get the various side dishes including two different kinds of Chinese dumplings, stir fried vegetables, sausages, eggs, and so on.  At another area, there were various kinds of bread and pastries.  They also serve fresh fruits, yogurt, cereal, and several fresh juices at another station.

The afternoon after we arrived in Kobe was free so we booked tickets to KidZania Koshien in advance.  KidZania concept was created and developed by a Mexican founder.  It’s a child-sized replica of a city, including buildings, shops, banks, theaters, and there are vehicles moving on streets.  There was one KidZania in Florida in the US but it is now closed.  The first KidZania location in Japan was in Tokyo.

When a child enters KidZania, they are free to choose from any of the 80 occupations, from an airplane pilot to photographer.  For our children, we booked EAP (English Activities Program) since they are not very fluent in Japanese so there were fewer job choices.  However, the benefit of the EAP program is that kids in EAP don’t have to wait in line to work at job they want.  The jobs in the program are already pre-arranged so the teachers will leads the students from the assigned job to the next.

For that day, our children were assigned to work as a jet pilot (ANA airways), a factory worker at Coca Cola bottling plant, a pizza maker at Pizza-La, a worker at Idemitsu gas station, and a photographer at SONY Photo Studio.

Our kids worked really hard from 4:30 to 8:00pm.  After each job is done they get paid a salary (play money).  For kids in the local area, they can save the play money in the bank.  Since we don’t know when/if we’ll return to Kidzania, we told them that they can spend all the money they earned at the department store (inside the complex as well).  I was going to help my kids pick their gift, but adults weren’t actually allowed to go inside the store.  They were happy with small toy they could buy with the salary they had earned on their job.

While I was attending the wedding, my husband took the kids to Suma Aqualife Park Kobe (須磨海浜水族園).  It was great because children were free and they got to see a lot of creatures and a dolphin show.

After the park, they stopped by for the traditional western Japan snack – Takoyaki (たこ焼き).  It’s a popular street vendor snack in the Osaka area.

Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese pancake made of batter.  It’s cooked in a special grill with rows of semi-circles (picture above) and filled with diced octopus (tako), tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, and green onion.  After it’s cooked, they brush takoyaki sauce and customers have the option of mayonnaise, topped with aonori and katsuorubshi (shaving of dried bonito).

The wedding banquet was over by 3pm and our trip continued to Osaka that day.  Kobe, which is known for Kobe Beef, is about a 25 minute train ride from Osaka.  For the next 2 and half days, we spend most of the time with my grandparents and my relatives.

While we were in Osaka, Sakura (cherry blossoms) were blooming everywhere.  It was so pretty.  My family took my grandparents out for Hanami (花見; flower viewing) in the neighborhood.  We walked around a little bit and took family pictures.  It was a clear sunny afternoon with beautiful blue sky, and everyone look up to see the full bloom Sakura.

We didn’t have much free time but whenever we had some time for ourselves, my husband and I took our kids on mini sightseeing trips in Osaka.  We went to ride Tempozan Ferris Wheel at Tempozan Harbor Village next to the famous Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan (one of the largest aquariums in the world).  At the time it opened in 1997, the Tempozan Ferris Wheel was the tallest at 112 meters, roughly 35 stories tall.

Two of the cars were completely clear including the floor so we decided to take it for fun.  Below is the famous aquarium, Kaiyukan.

And some views of Osaka Port.

The views toward Osaka downtown.

Later on that day my cousin and his wife took us for a walk to check cherry blossoms along the river near the Imperial Hotel.

During Hanami (flower viewing), a lot of people picnic under the trees and enjoy the scenery.  Friends and family bring some food and drinks to get together to relax for the day.  You have to get to the best spots very early in the day to claim them because there are literally thousands of people along the river.

Another afternoon, we went to see Osaka Castle.  We often stop by Osaka Castle because our kids love seeing it.  Here, the entrance to the Castle.

We started to see the castle.

Behind them, it’s the single biggest rock that makes up the castle’s wall.  Look at how tiny our children are.

There were lots of tourists because of the cherry blossom season.  Some people enjoy the gardens but our focus was checking the castle so we continued to walk.  Osaka Castle is one of Japan’s most popular castle to visit.  If you are curious about this castle, you can continue reading about it here.

Now here we are!

It makes a huge difference when there is cherry blossom tree in front of it.  We went up to observatory in the central tower.  Just one picture from the top.

On the way down to the main entrance to the central tower, we also quickly went through Osaka Castle Meusum (as our kids were too young and impatient to understand the history).

The miniature figures show the scenes from the folding screen depicting the Summer War of Osaka.

After seeing the samurai worriers, my son wanted to take a picture with the cannon.

Lastly I’ll just show our lunch boxes we had on Shinkansen on the way back to Yokohama from Osaka.  Anago (sea eel) Sushi on the right is very famous in Osaka.

Next Thursday, my husband will be a doing restaurant review at Japanese Teppanyaki dinner.  We had high quality Wagyu (Japanese beef), lobster, and more!  This was an unforgettable meal, so make sure you don’t miss it!

When my family decides to eat out for dinner, we start asking each other “what do you want to eat?” including our children.  My son usually responds immediately and says “Sushi!  Sashimi!” and my daughter goes “Chinese food!”  My husband asks, “how about Ramen guys?” and kids usually say nah.

I always crave for something I can’t cook or I don’t eat often, so my vote is always to eat Peruvian or Thai food or maybe Italian food.  Unfortunately, it is very rare that my pick wins (I’m just being nice to let my family pick! ).

A month ago as our family started the similar conversation again in the car, my son actually said “Thai food!”  Eh?  That threw all of us for a surprise.  It was rare for him to say that.  My husband asked him why and he said “it’s because mama’s favorite food.”

Sweet.  He knows I love Thai food.  When I saw this recipe at Valerie’s Kitchen, I bookmarked right away because I knew I would want to eat it one day and I wanted to have the recipe handy.   I’ve cooked this coconut curry recipe at least 3 times after seeing the recipe.   It was easy to prepare and delicious!  If you enjoy coconut curry and never tried making it before, I suggest you give it a try.  Have a wonderful week ahead!

Enjoy!

Last time I went back to Japan in the spring time was about 5 years ago when my son was really small.  We were really excited to go back in spring again hoping to catch sakura (cherry blossom) blooming while we visit.

After cold winters in Japan, the Japanese look forward to every sign of spring.  We have a special fascination toward sakura as they only bloom for several days in a year and we’re lucky if they even last one week.  Spring weather is very unpredictable so strong wind or rain could shorten the time of flower viewing.  It would be very meaningful for us to see sakura blooming as it’s usually hit or miss when visiting Japan in the spring.  This year it was a particularly cold winter in Japan that sakura didn’t start blooming yet even if April had arrived.  When we first arrived in Tokyo area, sakura has just started to bloom.

After 10+ hours of flight from San Francisco to Narita (Tokyo), I was home.  I lived in Japan until I was 20, so I still consider Japan as my home.  The next morning after we arrived, we decided to go to our nearest subway station, which is about 10-minute walk from my home.

As you see from our clothes, it was still cold, much colder than San Francisco.  By the way, I usually don’t show my kids pictures on my blog, but I really don’t have many pictures that do not include my kids… so my husband and I have decided to share some pictures of my family.  That’s my son who will be 6 next month and my daughter just turned 4 this month.

Here, we have a subway station behind us, and there are a department store and shopping mall on the left.  Usually all the office buildings and restaurants are very nearby stations as well.  Sometimes the department stores are built directly on top of the stations.

In our neighborhood, we have all kinds of restaurants including my husband’s favorite Yakitori restaurant that we always go to.  Not to mention, there is ToysRUs where my kids go crazy for Japanese toys, Starbucks to try out special drinks only available in Japan, Mister Donuts (my husband’s favorite junk food store), Baskin Robins…

Until kids were born, I’ve never realized how convenient my neighborhood was for the family life.  I used to go to downtown Yokohama or Tokyo for shopping or meeting with friends.  But after having kids, life is pretty comfortable around here.  There is no need for us to get on a train and get squashed by the crowd.  Not to mention, super crowded city (Yokohama has 3.6 million people) could be quite scary for kids who didn’t grow up in this crowded country.  My kids are not used to navigating in the crowd and it probably doesn’t enter their mind that there are millions of people around them and they could be easily lost in the crowds.

Japanese neighborhoods are typically built around the stations, not around the highways like the US.  A lot of signs you see for houses on sell or any advertisement always refers to the walking time to the nearest station.  Around stations, they are usually surrounded by shopping areas and then residential areas.  Below is Japan Railway (JR) map around Tokyo/Yokohama area.  Yes, this is just around Tokyo area…

Click to see details

This is not including all the subways and local trains.  You see how many stations in the area?  We can pretty much go everywhere with trains, but it takes a bit of time.  It’s not uncommon for Japanese to commute 1 hour to 1.5 hours on trains to get to work.  A complete loop on the famous Yamanote Line in Tokyo takes about 1 hour.

Back to my neighborhood, one morning after we check out cool Japanese toys in ToysRUs, we stopped by a Tonkatsu restaurant inside the shopping mall that my husband always needs to go every time we visit.  I can make pretty decent Tonkatsu, but 1,200 yen for a Tokatsu set lunch is a pretty good deal.  You can also have as much as the cabbage salad with ponzu dressing, rice, and clam miso soup refill as you want.

Between eating and sleeping, we usually take the kids to the park so that they will recover from jet lag quickly.  In California, we always drive everywhere.  It’s actually really nice to walk around the neighborhood and take in the fresh air.

My home is only about 40-50 minutes away from Tokyo (Shibuya Station) yet we have lots of greens around the neighborhood.  There are lots of nicely paved walkways everywhere that kids can safely walk without worrying about cars.  It was a great exercise everyday to walk, walk, walk…

Here, instead of going to take lots of pictures of foods and sceneries of Tokyo & Yokohama for my readers, I was in the suburb finding tad poles with my kids.  LOL!

If you wonder about the pictures on my travel posts, most of the photos you see during my trip are taken by my husband.  I’m usually with the kids, so he takes pictures.  I have to mention up front because my husband and I really need to work on our ability to take indoor pictures, especially when it’s dark.  Here’s our dinner at Yakiniku (Japanese BBQ) restaurant one night.

Obviously the photographer was way too busy eating and I see only first few pictures of 3 kinds of meat, and then it jumps to a dessert (yuzu sorbet) picture… I think you started to worry about my Japan trip pictures!  This yakiniku restaurant is another one that we always go to every time we go back home to Japan.  The meat just needs to be grilled for about 10-15 seconds on each side and then they just melts in your mouth.  Even when we buy the best rib eye from Snake River Farm in the US, there is just no comparison to high end Japanese beef.

Like I mentioned earlier, if your home is in a big city, public transportation is very convenient.  One of the great things about life in Japan is that even after a big meal you have to walk, without a choice.  It’s very expensive to own a car in Japan.  The parking can be one issue as you might need to pay for it.  When going out, hourly parking varies between $6-$10 an hour and gas is about $8-9 dollars a gallon.  A lot of times it just makes sense to walk and utilize public transportation due to the cost.

The benefit of taking public transportation is not only just eco-friendly and healthy, but also you get to enjoy small pleasures such as seeing sakura at night under the moon.

On the day we left for Kobe to attend my best friend’s wedding, sakura trees near my neighborhood started to bloom more all the sudden.

From Yokohama to Kobe, we took Shinkansen (Japanese bullet train).  Both of my kids had been on it many times before, but they still love this fast train.  Living in the US, we rarely take trains to go places.  Sometimes for fun we would take the train a few stations to get ice cream or snacks in a different town, but the experience is just not the same.

My favorite part of train ride is of course eating lunch box inside the train.  Japanese stations have many bento stores providing travelers lots of choices to Japanese style bentos.  Some of the train stations carry bentos that have local ingredients.  Our picks included: temari sushi bento, Maisen’s tonkatsu sandwich, and classic Japanese bento with salmon and shrimp tempura.  All the bento are served at room temperature.

When you are traveling on Shinkansen around Shizuoka area, you may be able to enjoy viewing Mt. Fuji from the window if the weather is permits. Depending on the season and weather, it is sometimes hard to find the mountain.  Here, we were unlucky – the clouds covered most of the top.

Next week I’ll be sharing my short trip to Kobe and Osaka.  Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you had a great weekend.  We had our daughter’s birthday party over the weekend (our little princess turned 4!) and it was pretty a chaotic weekend for us.  Due to jet lag, my son still wakes up around 4 AM everyday and makes my day extra looooong.  Therefore, needing some time to rest and write posts about my trip to Japan, my great blogger friend Laura from Family Spice came to rescue and blog-sit for me today.

I virtually met Laura sometime last year and we’ve been continuously discussing about how we can improve our blog.  It’s been fun talking to her because she has a long blogging career and she’s very experienced.  She’s knowledgeable and a little geeky “enjoying” coding and technical stuff.  As we are both stay-at-home moms whose priority is our kids, we often struggle to find time for blogging (cooking + photo shooting + writing recipes/posts) between volunteering in school and driving the kids to extracurricular activities.  She’s been really sweet and generous to support me and help my blog with all the technical knowledge, and I cannot thank her enough for her kindness. 

On her blog Laura shares Persian recipes and a lot of family friendly recipes as she has 3 beautiful children to keep their tummy full and happy.  You must check out these delicious Orange Barbecue Pulled-Pork Sandwiches and Persian Ice Cream with Saffron and Rosewater.  Today she has a treat for grownups!

Now please welcome Laura with Sake Mojito!

*****

Hi Everyone! I’m Laura and I’m the insomniac-stay-at-home mom over at Family Spice! I started my blog about 3 years ago as a way to document what I fed my family and to share recipes with family and friends. And of course, to keep my sanity while home with my babies! The only cooking class I’ve ever taken was 7th grade home-economics some years back where I was traumatized after chopping up about dozens of chickens for a school banquet! My passion is graphic design and I love to create new things, any new things from food to art to house projects for my husband. Lucky for me, he’s an engineer and loves to create, too, so we keep busy in San Diego with our three kids, The Professor (10), Middle-Child (8) & The Princess (6). I am half-breed Iranian married to a full-breed Iranian so I share Persian recipes as well as everything else I come up with in the kitchen. My favorite ingredient? Pomegranates!

I am truly honored that Nami asked me to guest post on her blog. I virtually met Nami through comments I left on her blog and comments she left on mine. A short thank-you email has blossomed into a pen-pal friendship, where we talk about our kids, our husbands, our blogs and how we try (unsuccessful at times) to balance it all! Nami has taught me so much about Japanese cooking, and how it goes beyond sushi and teriyaki sauce. I look forward to her posts & recipes, as I’m sure you do, every week!

But, with great honor comes great responsibility, or something like that! I wanted to share something really special here, something that could hold it’s own compared Nami’s beautiful photography and creations. The other night, the hubby and I were watching “Modern Marvels,” the hubby’s favorite show. They were talking about rice, everything you never knew about rice: how it’s grown, how it’s evolved and the 101+ apparent uses of rice that goes beyond food!

And of course, I learned everything sake. Sake is made from fermented rice. The brewing process is similar to beer more than wine, and it is a colorless beverage. Sake is not for the faint at heart, with an alcoholic content of about 15%-18%, compared to beer which is significantly less. I also learned that sake in Japanese refers to any alcoholic drink, but here in U.S. we like to simplify things!

Sake dates back centuries where the monks began brewing sake for religious ceremonies. And now, you can find hundreds of different varieties of sake, of different qualities and prices, from $6 and up to $400 a bottle, priced here in the U.S.

So with all of this talk of Sake, you’d think I’m an expert or drink a lot. Honestly, the first time I drank sake was with my husband at a sushi restaurant. I wanted to impress my then-boyfriend and smiled as I drank the warm liquid and let it burn down my throat. Mmmmm! No, not really. I am a light-weight when it comes to alcoholic drinks. I don’t do beer and don’t care for wine. Most of the time I prefer Margaritas, Mai Tai’s and the sort – girly drinks. All alcohol puts me to sleep, so I keep to my 1-drink limit. Yes, I’m a cheap date.

Which brings me to my next favorite drink and I’m proud to say, NOT a girly drink: The Sake Mojito!

You begin like you do with a regular mojito, crushing fresh mint leaves with chopped up lime and a bit of sugar. Mix in your sake. Do your dance while you shake and strain the liquid into your glass. Then top it with a splash of club soda and Salut!

This drink goes down like lemonade. The sugar and club soda helps the sake go down nice and smooth, which can be deceiving, so beware! It can go straight to your head pretty quickly!

And if you are making this for a party and don’t want to be crushing mint & lime all night, drink by drink, the hubby came up with a great solution. Put the sake and mint combo in the blender and pulse until coarsely chopped. Strain and pour into each glass, topping each with club soda.

So, raise your glass and cheers to you all!

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]]> http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/sake-mojito-guest-post-by-family-spice/feed/ 83 http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/sake-mojito-guest-post-by-family-spice/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JustOneCookbook/~3/ApzV_lGML_A/ http://justonecookbook.com/blog/recipes/nikujaga/#comments Thu, 19 Apr 2012 07:00:02 +0000 Nami http://justonecookbook.com/blog/?p=16108

Hi everyone!  We’re back to the US and had a great time in Japan!  We’re trying to recover from jet lag and get back to our regular routine (which is really hard to do with the kids!).  I want to thank my readers and blogger friends for visiting my site to check the guest posts while I was away, leaving kind comments for my lovely blog sitters and visiting their blogs.  This time I was especially delighted to share my close male blogger friends because they are all amazing home chefs that I wanted to introduce to my readers!  Food blogs tend to be dominated by female bloggers but there are definitely lots of great male bloggers who are talented with both cooking and photography.

I also want to thank my fans and readers for your kind messages and emails while I was in Japan.  I haven’t had enough time to respond to everything yet but I promise I’ll get to all of them, please give me a bit of time.  I apologize in advance for my late correspondence.

My trip to Japan was great – lots of great food and family time.  I was really happy that my children got to spend a lot of time with my parents.  Although I planed to take pictures of famous and popular places and introduce to my readers what it is like to live in Japan, I realized it’s quite difficult to bring my small children who were on jet lag to crowded places and not to mention, lots of walking…  My children are so used to being driven everywhere by cars and most places I wanted to visit are still too young for them (or boring for them).  As they get older, I’m sure we have more chances to visit different places in Japan and I hope to share my experiences with you then.  I am planning to write a post (or posts) about my trip with some pictures – hopefully I can start working on it as soon as my family gets back to our normal routine!

Today I’m guest posting at Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner.  The person behind this amazing Filipino food blog is Tina, who lives in Texas now but was raised in the Philippines.  She’s a wonderful mom to her two children and makes amazing meals at home.  She makes really cute bento (lunch box) for her daughters everyday and shares a lot of great tips on how to make them on her blog.  But my big admiration goes to her skills being able to pull off a big party with all homemade food!  I told her many times I don’t know how she’s able to pull them off but she just does it.  She has a variety of recipes from appetizers to a lot of wonderful main meals, and not to mention delicious desserts.  She covers it all.

This month Tina has launched a new series on her blog called Pinay in Texas Cooking Corner’s Favorite Dishes from Around the World and today she’s featuring my recipe.  Guess what her favorite Japanese food is?  It is Nikujaga.

Nikujaga (Japanese: 肉じゃが) literally means “meat and potatoes”, from two of the main ingredients niku (meat) and jagaimo (potatoes).  It’s a comfort food for the Japanese and it is a very popular meal cooked at home.  It is often considered as “mother’s taste” meal (“ofukuro no aji”  おふくろの味 in Japanese) as each household cooks it just slightly different.  The food itself is very simple and homely, and the warm bowl of your mother’s nikujaga brings one back to their roots.  It is probably the most popular dish among all kinds of nimono (煮物 Japanese stewed dishes).

It’s the Japanese version of beef stew; however, it contains a fairly small amount of meat.  The meat is added for flavor rather than substance, just like most of Japanese cooking.  It is simmered in the classic Japanese seasonings of soy sauce, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Unlike Western stews, the simmering time is much shorter because nikujaga uses thinly sliced meat.  Beef is commonly used for this dish but in eastern Japan, pork is more popular.

Now please click HERE to check out the recipe.  Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Enjoy!

While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I have asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Raymund from Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for “It’s Delicious”).  He’s my last guest blogger during my trip.

I told Raymund once that if I ever become a billionaire (not a millionaire haha), I would want to hire him as my private chef.  The main reason why I said that is because he posts delicious food almost everyday, and they are not just Filipino dishes but include many other international recipes as well.  When you visit his blog and see the category list on the right hand side, you will immediately see cuisine’s names there.  As of today, he has made dishes from 55 different countries.  Me?  Maybe less than 8-10 if “non-authentic” recipes counts! 

Since I started blogging, I learned that my Filipino food blogger friends (male and female) are passionate about food, just like Ray whom I introduced to you last week.  That’s probably the reason why we don’t see too many Filipino restaurants even in a big city; they are all cooking at home for the family!

Now please welcome Raymund with a popular Filipino stew called Kare Kare.

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This is my third time to guest post, I know it is not a lot but there is a popular saying which is “third time lucky” and indeed that true as I am invited in this blog, definitely one of my favourite food blog sites around.   So let me first tell something about me before the recipe that I will be sharing.

Well my name is Raymund and I am the person behind the blog called Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for “It’s Delicious”) , I am an Software Developer / Architect by profession and my passion is to cook, travel and take photographs (isn’t that the best combination).  I’ve been cooking since I was 7 years old and since then I have been cooking my family dinners. I’ve travelled a bit and lived in different countries due to my profession hence I have a good grasp of local the different cuisines which is very evident on my blog.

The blog is nearly two years now and it has a good reception in the food blog circle as well as Filipino communities around the world.  It showcases dishes basically from everywhere but with Filipino, Spanish and Chinese twist which are the primary influence in the Philippine cuisine.  The goal of my blog is to educate people with what Philippines have to offer in terms of culinary arts and like I said in my past posts why Philippines is the only Asian country without an identity or even representation, what I mean by that is you have the Malaysian, Singaporean, Vietnamese, Indian, Japanese and Thai but where is the Philippines, it is even known? That’s what I want to change, and I hope I can start with this blog.  Now I guess that’s enough about me and if you want to know further please follow my blog and start learning about what you are missing if you haven’t tried Filipino dishes yet.

For this guest post I was thinking of introducing something very uniquely Filipino and it was hard choosing it as I don’t want to present something that might be already popular like the Adobo or a dish that might be Filipino but tastes something similar in other neighbouring countries like Sinigang.  So after several sleepless nights I think Kare-kare might be a good dish to showcase as I never had tasted or seen something like this elsewhere.

Kare-kare is a popular stew in Philippines that is served on special occasions like Feast Days (fiesta), Birthdays and family gatherings. The dish’s defining ingredient is its peanut sauce which is made out of peanut butter, ground toasted rice and annatto seed extract this is then cooked with variety of local vegetables and meat (usually ox tail or ox tripe). It’s a bit pale in taste compared to other rich Philippine dishes that’s why it is often always accompanied with a salty shrimp paste called bagoong.

This dish probably had originated from Pampanga as it is really popular there and every household in the said province offer this as their specialty and have their own better versions that stand out among the others but there are also some suggestions that it originated from the Southern island of Mindanao where this dish is popular as well, it was said that this is one of the regal dishes of the Moro elite who settled in Manila even before the Spanish arrival. Another suggestion says that it has a Japanese influence as the name “Kare-Kare” is derived from the Japanese word “Kare” which is a Japanese word for curry.   So where this dish did really came from? Well I don’t really know but most experts say it was from Pampanga also called the culinary capital of the Philippines.

I guess this is not for everyone due a lot of people has allergies over nuts and if you don’t have one you might freak out with the part of beef used.  But if you are adventurous in food, this is a must try especially for those who loves peanut butter, you will feel good about this dish.

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While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I have asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Tobias from T and Tea Cake.

Tobias is a food-loving university student from Europe and on his blog, T and Tea Cake, he mainly focuses on European cuisine but sometimes experiments with more exotic food and ingredients that inspire him.  Most of his recipes are easy to prepare and budget-friendly. 

When reading Tobias’s blog, it’s hard to believe that he’s been blogging for less than a year.  Despite his humble attitude toward his work, Tobias’ photography is simply breathtaking and this self-taught home cook and baker makes beautiful dishes like Parsnip Dumplings with Scallion & Bacon Filling and Cherry & Red Wine Chocolate Cake.  His blog is welcoming even for a beginner cook and he tells you:

“I do not think I am the most skilled cook or baker with too much expertise – so I doubt you will need too much skill either [to try my recipes]. I’m going with the mantra: When I can do it – you can do it! In fact, if there is any skill required for a recipe I believe that it can be acquired by going through it in a learning by doing manner.”

Are you inspired?  Now please welcome Tobias with these delicious fusion cupcakes.

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Hiya avid readers of Just One Cookbook! I feel genuinely honored to be chosen by Nami to write a post on her blog while she is away.  I know you are all spoiled by her quality content, so I hope I won’t let you down. She is one of the most ambitious bloggers I know and puts a lot of effort into her blog and recipes.  Nami really has got a talent for making Japanese cuisine approachable and never leaves any questions unanswered. She is such a sweetheart and I am happy to call her my blogger friend.

When she invited me to blog-sit for her, I (besides doing the happy dance and immediately saying yes) had to think long and hard about what to share. I wanted something I thought she and her loyal readers may like and that somewhat fits into her repertoire. The result surely isn’t anything Japanese (I’ll leave that to our expert) but more of a fusion food.

She once said she likes roasted sesame seeds (something we have in common and yes, I have no problem remembering the most random things. It’s a gift.) so the idea for this recipe was born.  The texture of these cupcakes is wonderfully airy with a crisp outside. It also is a great recipe for using hulled sesame seeds which are a bit more grey-ish but even healthier than there unhulled counterparts.  There is nothing that fits better to sesame than honey, so why making the terrible mistake of keeping two things apart that obviously belong together, right?

Making the frosting honestly takes not more than ten minutes. The key is to cook the honey mixture to the point where it starts to brown. This gives enough stability to the frosting.

Anyway, let’s get our baking mojo on!

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While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I’ve asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Ray from Work with Ray.

I love visiting Ray’s blog and I know you will, too.  He’s what I would call a “master of savory dishes.”  A lot of Asian savory dishes tend to be brown color from the soy sauce and sometimes it’s not easy to capture the flavor in photographs no matter how delicious the food might be.  I often struggle a lot trying to take pictures with “brown” foods; however, Ray knows exactly what to do and make all the dishes such drool-worthy photography.  I’ve been trying to learn the skills and improve for the past several months from Ray’s photography techniques. 

Filipino food is mysterious to me since we don’t really have Filipino restaurants around.  However, Ray has introduced so many signature dishes from the Philippines and I wish that I lived in Southern California so that I can call his catering service for my parties.  If you live in Santa Clarita Valley, San Fernando Valley, and Los Angeles Area, you are in luck!  His favorites among his foods include Sweet and Sour Fish and Grilled Pork Belly with Mango Salad and you can even have them catered for your party!

Now please welcome Ray with quick and easy Stir Fried Shrimp & Asparagus dish.

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I am thrilled, honored, and at the same time nervous about guest posting here at Just One Cookbook. Why am I nervous? We are talking about Nami’s blog here.  Well, let me rewind to about a year ago.  The very first time I wandered around Just One Cookbook, I felt like a kid visiting in big toy store for the first time.  I said to myself… wow I wish my blog is as beautiful as this.  I also wandered around the comment section and I saw the big names in there.  So now why am I nervous? (Sigh).

I was born and lived in the Philippines before moving to California in 1982.  I am a self-taught home cook and also a caterer that specializes in Filipino and other Asian home-style cooking.  Even though I am a self-taught home cook, my influence in cooking came from relatives of cooks who ran restaurant businesses in the past.  But my biggest influence was from my late parents who had an unbelievable passion for cooking.

Although blogging is a fun activity, I take it very seriously because it plays a big role in my catering business.  Blogging is where I can showcase my menu, my recipes, and presentation of the food that I serve and to the customers I serve.  Actually, a lot of the recipes that I share in Wok with Ray are the very same dishes that I cater; and why not? If I can inspire readers to cook for their families and friends on a regular dinner meal, I’ll be happy.

Okay, what I have for you is a dish that is really easy to make; so easy that even Ray can do it.  Why did I choose an easy recipe?  He he, I’m a guy! Guys like easy cooking so they can go back to the couch and watch the game.  So where was I? Oh yes, the recipe.   Well, what we are cooking today is Shrimp and Asparagus stir fried in black bean sauce.  This is a dish that is perfect on a week night meals.  Just prep the shrimp, cut the asparagus, make the sauce, and stir fry.

So here is the recipe and I hope you all enjoy it.  I want to thank you for your time reading my post and of course a very BIG thanks to you Nami for this opportunity of guest posting on your beautiful blog.  It is truly an honor!

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Enjoy!

While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I have asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Charles from Five Euro Food. 

It’s been a truly wonderful experience for me to learn new dishes and recipes from Charles.  Originally from the UK but now living in France, Charles exposed and introduced many European dishes to me that I never knew about.  It’s very exciting for me to follow his blog because I have never been to Europe and it’s always been a dream of mine.  He is a nice supportive gentleman who answers to each everyone’s questions with sincere care.  His blog is like a cozy private cooking lesson and he creates a very warm atmosphere on his blog.

Charles not only makes very budget-friendly recipes that all of us can appreciate, but his recipes are very easy to follow with step-by -step pictures and clear instructions.  Check out his Swedish Waffles and Gluten-Free Crisp Bread for example.  He pays close detail attentions to his creations which is why his recipes are all very clear and well written.  If you are a visual learner, you will love his video recipes with cool British accent. 

Now please welcome Charles with this easy and delicious French inspired dessert.

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I’m a 29-year-old English guy, living and working in France for the past 7 years. I’ve always loved being in the kitchen – ever since making my first macaroni cheese for my family when I was about 7. I’m very honoured to be here  guest-posting for Nami today while she’s taking a well-needed vacation – I’ve been reading her site for many months now and really love the food she makes – such beautiful food and photography is always a pleasure to see. When she asked if I wanted to guest post for her I was very touched, but I just hope my dish can be as interesting, and appetizing as the wonderful things Nami normally posts herself.

I notice that it’s not so often that she posts desserts, and as I am English, I live in France, and my wife is Swedish, I had three different countries to draw inspiration from. I finally settled on something which I feel is wonderful in that it’s fast and easy to prepare, can be customized in any one of a hundred different ways and looks very impressive, plus everything sounds more fancy in French, right?!

The dish is also cheap to prepare, which fits in nicely in the theme of my site, FiveEuroFood.com. I knew I wanted to start blogging about my kitchen adventures – I also knew I wanted to have a creative outlet and a way of slowly improving my food photography. I figured making dishes to serve two or more people, for less than the cost of one burger meal in a fast-food joint was a worthy goal and so my site started from there.

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Enjoy!

While I’m visiting my family in Japan, I’ve asked several blogger friends to blog-sit for me and today’s sitter is Biren from Roti n Rice. 

Biren currently lives in Twin Cities, Minnesota, but she grew up in Malaysia where home cooking was an eclectic mix of Chinese, Malay, and Indian cuisines.  After moving to the US and having her own family, she started baking and cooking more diverse recipes.  On her blog, she shares Western, Japanese, and other East Asian cuisines like these delicious Chicken Curry with Kaffir Lime Leaves and Tau Sar Bao and Matcha Anpan. 

When you visit her blog, you will realize that her recipes are very nicely sorted and organized in different categories.  Her attention to detail has made it very easy to find recipes you are looking for.  She has a wide range of recipe collection spanning over 300 tasty recipes.  Check out her blog for tonight’s dinner ideas after this post.

Now please welcome Biren with these easy and delicious Lavender Madeleines.

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On behalf of Nami, I wish all fans of Just One Cookbook  Irasshaimase or Welcome to the “store”! My name is Biren and I blog at Roti n Rice. Today, I am honored to be “blog sitting” for Nami while she visits family in Japan. Like you, I am usually the visitor coming here to get a glimpse into the Japanese home kitchen afforded by this blog to the English speaking world. I am sure you will agree with me that Nami does a fantastic job of sharing her food and culture with us.

Although Nami and I have only met virtually for about a year and never in person, it is as if we have known each other for a while. Our passion for food and family brings us together. I have two teenage boys myself and Nami enjoys reading about their antics when they were her children’s age. On the food front, I enjoy an eclectic mix of cuisines in my home cooking and easy Japanese food is in that mix. Onigiri, miso soup, grilled fish, and tsukemono are some of my go-to dishes when pressed for time to lay a meal on the table. Ocha-zuke is comfort food for me.

However, I also do enjoy a little baking and since Nami has always said that she does not have too many baked desserts here, I have decided to share one with you today. Madeleines immediately came to mind when I was planning for this guest post. These little cakes are in keeping with the Japanese’s love for all things dainty and the philosophy of Hara Hachi Bu (腹八分) – eating until you are 80% full.

Madeleines are mini sponge cakes with a distinctive shell shape. They are made famous by Marcel Proust in his novel Remembrance of Things Past where the madeleine episode has been well quoted. A pan with shell-like indentations is needed to make these cakes. These pans can be purchased at specialty kitchen stores.

If you have never eaten madeleines, I urge you to give these a try. They are pretty easy to make and relatively fuss free. I mixed in some culinary lavender for added flavor and fragrance. Lavender also reminds me of summer days ahead…

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Enjoy!