Lioness In Japan

Gomaya: Neo-Japonesque izakaya fare

yuming — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:49:15 +0000

What’s “neo-Japonesque” cuisine? Well, it’s basically a mix of European/Asian faves and Japanese dishes with a twist. The twist could go either way: a Japanese dish with a European touch or vice versa.

This approach is very common in Tokyo izakayas — you often find pasta and pizza next to hot pots and sashimi salads or what I call Japanese-Chinese dishes like mapo anything (from tofu to prawns) and fried rice, cha-han. Despite the attempt to make things fusion, there is almost always nothing complicated in a neo-Japanese izakaya.

Now there are those who do it okay and those who make it a little more special and I think Gomaya (details here) is a cozy nook in the heart of Shibuya that does neo-Japonesque well.

The dishes are simple but very full of flavour and it won’t cost you very much (3,500 – 4,000JPY).

We started with a few salady things as usual.

Raw veggie sticks with dark miso paste. Obviously this is one of my favourites because it’s raw, but you will find this to be true — the vegetables were fresh and succulent when dabbed in the miso. It was just the perfect way to ease into our meal.

A hot salad of sautéed mushrooms in olive oil and herbs with some lettuce on the side was the first non-Japanese dish. I think it was a bit Italian? It was quite delicate and savoury but the serving was teeny tiny.

Though thoroughly French, the liver pate salad with sliced baguette was very Japanese in terms of presentation where you can see its miniature spirit at play and carefully scooped out pate.

Steamed fava beans — 100% Japanese. You will find this at any yakitori or bbq party. I can’t stress this enough about dining out in Japan: fresh produce plays an essential part and they always never drown it in heavy sauces. It makes you appreciate dainty, wholesome flavours.

The pumpkin gratin was just delightful in that it used a tasty but light cheese so that the pumpkin could take centrestage.

This dish doesn’t look like much but it was extremely savoury, even though we requested for the bonito flakes to be left out. I think it was just shoyu and sesame oil and seeds tossed together but it kept me very happy.

Above is a typical Japanese steamed veggies wooden box with broccoli, okra, cauliflower, baby corn and carrot. You can’t see the sauce but it was a lovely Asian sesame based sauce.

I ended my meal with an ume onigiri. It wasn’t as tart as some that I’ve tried at other joints, so I totally savoured every mouthful.

The meat dishes were karage (deep-fried chicken nuggets) and prawns drizzled with mayonnaise (another very Japanese fusion dish) which are ubiquitous izakaya fixtures. Just looking at the pictures, you would find this is what you would normally get at typical bar restaurants that dot the city.

I wouldn’t call the food at Gomaya out-of-this-world “wow”, but it definitely has homey fare that is very comforting and delicious for a casual evening out. If you’ve got an out-of-towner who is keen to visit an izakaya, I would highly recommend Gomaya because you can show off that you know a little about “hole-in-the-wall” places in Tokyo so you can impress your guest without breaking the bank.

Where to get an awesome birthday cake in Tokyo

yuming — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:42:49 +0000

This seems like a strange blog post but I asked this question myself when I had to buy one recently and was truly stumped.

In my neighbourhood, Akasaka, there are two options: confectionary chain Ginza Cozy Corner and Haagen Daz. The former has pretty good cakes but they only have three designs and unfortunately I have bought the chocolate one for different people’s birthdays, maybe even twice for the kangaroo, but he didn’t notice so that’s okay. I wanted to make a little more effort in not presenting the same birthday cake twice so hence why this serious hunt for a decent (different) one.

Though Haagen Daz is always a winner (who doesn’t like ice-cream cakes?), it costs almost 5,000JPY for a small 500g one that will maybe feed five people tops. Also, if you are in a screaming hurry, this is not a good choice because you need a minimum of two hours before 6pm for them to prepare your cake.

And to make one at the last minute was just out of the question. Some expat folks do that here which is pretty impressive in my book.

So what’s an expat girl to do?

I asked around and did some research on the Internet to get ideas. What surprised me was no one has written a comprehensive post on where to get affordable birthday cakes that are of a decent size (yes, food is often served in too-tiny portions here) in Tokyo so I decided to set up a quickie guide right here.

+ Atre. This ubiquitous shopping mall (can be found in Ebisu, Meguro, Yotsuya) apparently carries delicious, luscious cakes that are ready for pick up on the spot. But this can be said for most cake shops or department food stalls — they can write a birthday message on a piece of candy or marzipan that is added to the cake and it’s a lovely, albeit convenient, touch.

+ Tokyo Food Show in Shibuya’s Tokyu department store. Don’t be deceived by what you see on the ground floor — there are more culinary treasures to be had in the basement. The veritable field of savouries and sweets will make your head spin but this is where the birthday cakes are. What’s awesome is there is such a huge variety and price range.

+ Kyle’s Good Finds is an American-style bakery in Nakano where you can buy custom-made birthday cakes without costing an arm and a leg. They do character cakes for only 5,500JPY — great if you want to splash out for your kid or friend.

+ If you need a huge cake (3kg), The Flying Pig is the answer and they deliver to your doorstep too. The catch is you have to order it a week in advance.

+ Baskin Robbins does birthday cakes too and you can pick it up whenever you need it (includes personalizing). The great thing is this ice-cream chain is pretty much everywhere so it’s very convenient. Prices start from 3,000JPY and here is a list of shops in Tokyo (central locations: Shibuya, Shinjuku, Azabu Juban).

+ Notting Hill Cakes in Nishi-Azabu does fancy custom cupcakes and you can get them to write a birthday message on them, too.

+ Zip Zap in Harajuku carries cakes where you can write the birthday person’s name on them on the spot. If you can’t understand Japanese on their access map, just start walking from Lotteria (it should be on your left), go down the street and turn left into a side lane, then turn right, and right again.

+ Other suggestions: Food halls in Shinjuku’s Isetan and Takashimaya Times Square and Ginza’s department stores, like Mitsukoshi and Matsuya.

Photo credit: here

Even creepy crawlies are “cute” in Japan

yuming — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:06:10 +0000

Apologies for not posting this week. I’ve been very busy with work and I accidently deleted many LIJ posts so have been re-posting them during any spare moment I could snatch. I’m still not done yet — I’m a bit of a procrastinating queen this week…

So I was giving my feral apartment a good clean last Saturday afternoon and I turned on the TV for some company. I let the Japanese dialogue wash over my ears as usual but after washing the dishes, I glanced at the TV and saw this…

OMG, fake edible insects for bento-making. ヘ。。。なにそれい? (What’s that?)

They even had fake larvae sushi… I wouldn’t want to eat that….Gross…

A fake scorpion on a hotdog…

And she really eats it!

By this time, I sat on the couch to watch the entire show which is called デコニューズ, or deco news (deco is the art of decorating your belongings with sequins or anything pretty and cutesy). It was hosted by a girl who was dressed like an ageha (a living doll; or girls who dress up to look like dolls) and I suppose girls who like to dress up cute love making cutesy things, too.

And the programme went on to explain how these rubbery looking insects are made into edibles.

Apparently, there are insect molds on sale in deco shops.

I think the clear liquid being poured in is some form of gelatin because it makes the whole thing come out looking like very firm jelly.

Then come in the ingredients. From the picture, you can see soup stock, chocolate, honey, and maybe cheese. I can’t really make out the rest.

For the cockroach, they used a soy sauce based mixture and in it went, too.

It seems so simple — you close it up and press it all together.

Now I’m not sure if you have to put it in the fridge for X number of hours for it to firm up. Since it was a TV show, it looked like it happened miraculously on the spot. Yeah, as you can tell, I’m only able to get 50 per cent of what I’m watching on Japanese telly.

And it’s done! You can decorate it with stars, hearts, and other baubles.

Since it was made from soy sauce, it seemed that it would pair well with a bowl of gyudon (beef rice bowl).

Here’s a plethora of insects and their moulds available from the store they were showcasing.

Weird-ass, eh? すごいね。。。 (Amazing, ne)

Even though I only make raw bentos, I still love getting into the whole bento culture in Japan.

Korei wa nan desu ka?

yuming — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:10:51 +0000

Tokyo can be a cold place, even when it’s not winter, because it’s an uber city where everyone minds their own business.

But once in a while, I get some warmth from the most unexpected people.

A few weeks ago, I was down with an awful migraine for almost 10 days. The day before an early morning lesson, I caved in and took some Eve. Although it helped with the pain, the caffeine in the medicine kept me up all night, and so, I arrived at the lesson looking very much like a ghost. Well that was because I was so exhausted I wore no makeup and tied up my unwashed hair — it certainly shocked my student enough to ask, “Are you okay? You look very sick!”

She then kindly suggested that we go to the kusuriya (pharmacy) after our lesson so she could help me buy a “herbal headache medicine” that works wonders for her. She insisted on paying it for me but I managed to squeeze some cash through to the cashier.

I was very touched by her gesture as she waved goodbye with, “Please take care!” and it made me feel better. Big awww…

But, I was quite traumatized by my sleepless night and read the instructions which showed up caffeine in the ingredients list. I would probably try this when I have another headache, but in the morning, just in case.

In the meantime, can anyone tell me what is this medicine made of? I know it is a brown granular powder and have heard that it is great for preventing flu, too. I blogged about another flu-related medicine here before and wonder if it’s the same…

Teacher’s pet…not

yuming — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:36:38 +0000

My sensei gave me this piece of macadamia chocolate for beating the kangaroo at the JLPT 2 test.

BUT, we both failed. Hardly a triumph in my books.

I must give her credit for being such a cheerleader, though. I expressed feeling discouraged over being unable to remember much of the grammar I have been studying. Everyone knows the answer to this common problem: you hardly get to use these complicated grammar structures, so they just don’t stick around in your head.

But she said that repetition is the key to being successful in learning Japanese and we have one more year (technically 10 and a half months) to give it another go.

Out of curiosity, I asked her how many times her students take the JLPT 2 test before they passed and she said, “Three to four times.” Hmm, good to know. She also added that it’s the same for JLPT 1. You know, that would take a good six years at least to get to the highest level. Wow, what a reality check.

Onigiri take two

yuming — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:33:34 +0000

Last Sunday was a friend’s housewarming in Tokyo so I racked my brains to make something that was simple but tasty….

ONIGIRI.

I have eaten many onigiris from the conbinis and izakayas here but have only made it once at home.

I don’t make onigiris at home because I’ve always seen it as a snack, not a meal, and it seems a bit troublesome to make on a whim, especially if I don’t have leftover rice. And I very seldom have any cooked plain rice lying around because the kangaroo doesn’t eat rice and if I do cook rice, it would be a one-pot wonder like porridge or fried rice.

Anyway, here’s my second attempt at making onigiris — all 19 of them… Some of them don’t look very triangular and this is a skill that I really need to practice!

I stuffed them with wakame & sesame seeds, or ume (preserved plum), konbu (kelp), and teriyaki chicken & black sesame seeds.

I used brown rice so I don’t think it was everyone’s cup of tea but the Japanese and gaijin at the party were really nice about it and said they were oishii. I ate a couple and thought they weren’t too shabby.

Reverse culture shock: Feeling like a fish out of water

yuming — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:39:29 +0000

“Let’s go Skinny Pizza!”

I furrow my brow and go, “What’s Skinny Pizza?”

“It’s a restaurant that sells pizza with very thin crust.”

“Hmm, okay.”

I just go with the flow when I go back to Singapore for visits. Today’s discussion is about the unrelenting weirdness that never shakes off when you go back to your home country for a visit. As much as experiencing the new is part of your life in your adopted country, going back can also feel “new”…

During my last visit to the little Red Dot, I felt as if I were morphing in and out of surreal scenes on the MRT, jostling among pedestrians on Orchard Road, talking to friends about parking fees and ERP.

“You feel like a stranger in your adopted home and a tourist in your own home country. If you tell anyone that, they’ll be like, ‘How snobby!’” a friend who repatriated back to Singapore recently said. I have to agree that many other folks not in these shoes would think you making much ado about nothing. You’ve gone abroad and now you dare say you are/feel like a foreigner?!

But it is something. You have two homes but you don’t really feel 100 per cent at home in either.

For example, I was wrestling with the Japan Post customer service the other day and for the life of me I couldn’t get the lady over the line to understand what Kuwait meant. QUEUE-way-to, queue-WAY-TO, QUEUE-WAY-TO, KOO-WAAAY-TO…I tried different intonations and pronunciations, so in the end I said, “Saudi Arabia no chikaku desu (It’s near Saudi Arabia).” Still nada. I gave up and so did she.

Back to my visit in Singapore, I had no idea what Skinny Pizza was until I had one. For a skinny pizza, it was very filling. The folks at House were very generous with the mushrooms and the kangaroo lapped it up when I presented the rest of my uneaten pizza to him in a doggie bag.

Here are pictures of my dinner at House (Skinny Pizza has branches in Wheelock Place and Suntect City). I know you love food porn…

Parsnip veloute with fried mushrooms.

Truffle fries. These were really good.

Fruity champagne cocktail in a tiffin.

Singapore is developing at lightning speed so even with six-month intervals between my visits, some buildings would’ve disappeared and last season’s “in” bar would be this season’s no man’s land. The taxi fares have jumped two-fold and it’s not cheap to wave a cab down to flee from the hot humidity anymore.

There are also imperceptible changes in family members and friends that are only apparent when you see them in person. It could be a new interest you never knew they had, or they overhauled the entire living room so it became unrecognizable (my folks, obviously), or new habits/hairstyles/jobs/businesses they acquired. I’ve also lost touch with ex-colleagues and friends whom I weren’t very close with — all inevitable and par for the course.

Sometimes I wish I could be there to see the changes but I need to go back to my reality, Tokyo, which constantly looks like a scene out of a William Gibson novel. My work is here so it makes sense to live here. For now, anyway…

Do you feel like a stranger at home too?

Cuteness around the corner

yuming — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:47:09 +0000

It snowed on Monday night and Tokyo was under a blanket of romantic white fluff. Someone must have played in the snow early in the morning or late at night and made this adorable snowman. Look at the carrot nose and red candy lips! Aww…

I took a photo of this melting mini dude when I took my usual shortcut from the apartment to the subway station.

I missed the train the was supposed to make me on time so I was late for my appointment for five minutes but it was worth it.

I love snow.

Celeb de Tomato: A tomato-themed restaurant

yuming — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:34:13 +0000

It’s been a while since I did a proper restaurant review, eh? I know that I made quite a dramatic announcement last year about not being very interested in cooked food anymore.

I think many folks might have thought I transformed into a hermit and only ate at home (or my own bentos). It’s been quite the contrary, I must say. I have been eating out but have not been actively taking photos and posting them here.

The truth is, while preparing food is a great passion of mine, I obviously still appreciate good food, flavours, and textures and find immense pleasure in dining out with friends.

Well, any food reviews from here on in would have a more vegetarian focus. I actually don’t eat at veggie places in Tokyo because my friends aren’t vegetarian, so I hope my reviews will help those who want to chow on veggie dishes in “normal” restaurants. Since the kangaroo is omni, I might take photos of his food and let you know what he thinks of it.

Celeb de Tomato (website here) is one such restaurant that has something for everyone. It’s quite common to find a specialty restaurant in Tokyo, but to give the spotlight to the humble tomato in chic surroundings, now that’s quite unique.

We kicked things off with a couple of salads.

The mixed tomato salad had red, yellow, green tomatoes in different shapes and sizes. Drizzled with just olive oil, I could taste the sweetness and tartness of the different varieties. The freshness of the tomatoes stood out for me, especially the green tomatoes.

The second salad had parma ham, black olives, tomatoes, arugula and crutons. Another simple but delicious dish. My friends kindly took their share of parma ham so I could eat the veggies.

Here’s a photo of my half-drunk Bloody Mary:

I thought it was one of the best Bloody Marys I’ve had — it was mildly sweet instead of salty or spicy like most I’ve tried. There was no hint of celery and it seemed it was just tomato juice and vodka. Even my friend who dislikes Bloody Marys thought it was surprisingly good.

For my main, I had the sundried tomato risotto with black truffles. I think there was a hint of cream or cheese in it and the chef was generous with the oil, so although it looked small in size it quickly filled me up.

My friends had the prawn pasta, tomato carbonara, and lamb dishes, which looked pretty good in terms of presentation. They didn’t ooh and aah but I personally thought my risotto was very tasty.

So what is my conclusion? This restaurant is typically Japanese in that it uses high quality, fresh ingredients and cooks its food with a gentle hand. I would recommend this for a weekend brunch or lunch instead of dinner because of its small portions and subtle flavours.

Receiving presents from students

yuming — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:39:48 +0000

A recent gift from a student inspired this post. I get all kinds of things from my students and this one made me laugh — freeze-dried space ice-cream from the NASA space centre in Florida.

“It looks cute but it doesn’t taste good,” warned my student.

One of the small pleasures of teaching Japanese adults is that they are very thoughtful to give me omiyage (it means souvenir but people mostly give food) after they return from a holiday, be it local or overseas.

Omiyage is such a huge part of Japanese culture that most train stations and airports hawk bite-sized Japanese sweets amid a plethora of “useless” tourist stuff. That would be a Tokyo Nugget by itself…

My first gift was a floral bookmark from a student I had two years ago. She went to an onsen in Hakone with her mother and got me this little gift. As I taught more and more students, I received gifts like pears, apples, chocolate, mochi (sticky rice flour desserts), lipstick, blusher, lip gloss, masks, Krispy Kreme donuts…

I felt grateful that they thought of me but I maintained (to myself) that if I gave omiyage to my students every time I went on a trip, I’d be constantly buying gifts and be flat broke.

Just before I left teaching in 2008, I had a slew of farewell gifts and one that stood out in my memory is a gorgeous crème cashmere scarf given to me by a student I was very fond of. She was genuinely sad that I couldn’t teach her anymore and I was touched by her generous gift.

Back to the space ice-cream: it felt like Styrofoam but it really tasted like chocolate ice-cream. No, it wasn’t cold at all. It was like noshing on a dry biscuit with chocolate flavour.

If you want to read more about teacher-and-student gift giving, there’s a lovely post at Blue Lotus’ blog.