Tag Archives: food

Feb 24

An easy “one bag” sous vide meal

This was one of my earlier experiments using the Sous Vide Supreme- veal shank ala osso bucco with vegetables and a mashed potato.  What I liked about this dish was that this and other similar ones could be made into quick and easy meals for those busy workdays.  You could cook a batch in advance and then toss the individual portions directly into the freezer (already vacuum sealed) for easy reheat later.   Since meats cook at a lower temperature than vegetables, you can toss your veggies and broth in without worrying about overcooking.

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Feb 23

36H & 9H Pork Belly sous vide

This pork belly is based on the Heston Blumenthal sous vide technique for making 36 hour Pork Belly.  The brine I used is a simplified version of a recipe from a cooking class at ToTT taught by Stephan Zoisl.  Unfortunately, there is no online recipe for the brine, but a quick search on “pork belly sous vide” will return a number of great posts and how-tos (two of which I’ve included below).

The general cooking process for tasty sous vide pork belly is as follows: brine the belly, sous-vide, sear/boil the skin, and serve.

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Feb 22

Poached egg (sous vide) in tsuyu

Sous vide cooking makes poached eggs ridiculously simple.  Set the water bath to 64.5 °C / 148 °F, add eggs, and cook for 45-60 minutes (does not have to be exact).  If you prefer your egg yolks more runny, lower the temperature by 1 °C.  Voila- perfect consistent poached eggs that you can make dozens at a time.

A nice Japanese twist is to serve the chilled poached egg in a tsuyu broth and garnish with tobiko, wakame, and green onions (a bit of ginger is also nice).  It makes for a refreshing, slightly tangy starter.

Feb 19

Nutella Hot Chocolate

My new favorite comfort drink.  Been making these a lot lately.

  1. Mix 1 big spoon (2 tablespoons or so) of Nutella to 1 cup of milk and heat to desired drinking temperature.   Don’t worry, the Nutella will dissolve as the milk is warmed.
  2. Optionally, froth the drink with an immersion blender for that “cafe” touch.
Feb 18

And the secret ingredient is… Tofu!

Long before Iron Chef aired its tofu-themed battle, Sasanoyuki had already been serving tofu-based meals for a few hundred years (open since 1691).  While the Iron Chefs and challengers typically create 4 or 5 dishes based on the theme ingredient, this restaurant delivers at least 9, that’s right 9, dishes where tofu is the star.  While it may be hard to imagine how this humble curd could be served up in so many ways without patrons leaving in bland disgust, our meal here really opened my eyes to the possibilities of tofu-based cooking beyond just adding it to soup.  Second to the all-beef based meal at Sutamina-En, the lunch at Sasanoyuki was my other favorite of the trip.

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Feb 18

Mmmm… Sushi for Breakfast

G and I were too tired (lazy) to head over to Tsukiji fish market at 430am to watch the tuna auctions, but we did make it over at what we thought was a very early 6am for a sushi breakfast at the “#1″ sushi stall in Tsukiji – Sushi Dai.  Turns out we weren’t the only ones.  When we arrived there were already at least twenty people waiting already.  So we queued.  After one hour the line had barely moved, but die die we would wait a couple more hours if need be in order to eat our fill of the freshest raw fish in town!

After two hours of waiting, we finally made it into the tiny twelve seater stall.  The omakase cost around 3500 Y, and included 10 nigiri of the chef’s choosing + 1 “gift” of our choosing.  Soup and a tuna maki were also included in the meal.  Not a bad deal considering the cost and quality of the fish.

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Feb 16

Sutamina-En – Yakiniku!

Tucked away on a side-street at the northern edge of Tokyo is a gem of an yakiniku restaurant, Sutamina-En (Stamina Garden). We were initially hesitant to make a trip so out of the way, despite the strong recommendation of a well-traveled foodie couple. But, since we were on a foodcation and Japanese wagyu is one of our favorite foods, we decided to make the pilgrimage.  This turned out to be one our favorite meals of the trip!

Sutamina-En is well known amongst the locals and is frequently featured in magazines and on TV shows.  Since they don’t accept reservations, we showed up before opening on a Friday evening to stand in line.  When we arrived there were a couple groups waiting.   A short 20 minutes later and the door opened for business.  While no English is spoken here, we were tipped by the same couple that mandarin however is.  Turns out, the 老闆娘, 帶 “姊”, is a fellow Taiwanese and a very excellent host.

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Feb 14

Tokyo – Where to Eat

4 days are simply not enough time to eat your way through Tokyo.  This is a city that boasts the most Michelin starred restaurants in the world (not that we could afford to eat at any of them).  The places that we did visit were all memorable and we highly recommend to fellow foodies.  Below are our favorites from the trip with a brief description, details, and of course links to food photos.  Be forewarned, English is not spoken at most of these places.  Ita daki masu!

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Feb 10

Potato Farm – Hokkaido @ Narita Airport!

One of the tastiest and hardest to find snacks has suddenly shown up in Narita Airport!

If you’re not familiar with Jaga Pokkuru from Potato Farm (a division of Calbee apparently), you’ve been missing out on one of the great snack finds in the past few years.  Until recently, they were only available in Hokkaido and often in limited quantity.  We’ve received the occasional box from our Japan-faring cousin and have always pined for more.  While similar to other fries-shaped snacks, there is a certain butteriness to the Potato Farm ones that is just other-worldly.

So if you happen to be transiting in Narita, do your tastebuds a favor and pick up a box of Jaga Pokkuru!

Feb 9

Ginza Tenkuni – Tempura Kaiseki

Sticking out like a brick thumb at the southern end of Ginza’s shopping district is the multi-floor shrine to tempura, Tenkuni.  From its humble beginnings in 1885 as a simple yatai stall, it is now a destination for tempura fans.  G and I decided to try Tenkuni based on the recommendation of our Japanophile and tempura-fanatic friend.  While neither of us are particularly crazy over tempura (too doughy and oily), the way Tenkuni served up deep fried cuisine has certainly has made me reconsider my stance on this battered tastiness.

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