An Buta- Shoyu: Another weird creation from the Japanese bakery, but pretty tasty.
This is two pieces of bread with ‘an’ (red azuki bean paste) filling that he been sauteed in a butter and soy sauce mixture, grilled cheese sandwich style and finally encrusted with sesame seeds.
When I first saw it I thought, oh gross. But, being a foodie, I thought that I had better give it a try. It was actually pretty good. While I am not a huge anko (azuki bean paste) fan, the taste itself I am OK with. The problem for me is that usually there is just too much of it and it is just too sweet. This only had a small amount. Butter and shoyu is often used in Japan for sauteing everything from fish to steak, and it is excellent! Give it a try.
This came from Browny Bread and Bagels in Kyoto, near Kitaoji Station/Bus Terminal.
1 month ago
I was in Osaka today and when I got back to Kyoto, I was in Nishijin, so I stopped in at my favorite yakiniku restaurant, Chiran for a light dinner. I didn’t have yakiniku, I did have chijimi and bibin (bibimbap) reimen though. Chiran’s bibin reimen is killer! Surprisingly spicy. Yum yum.
1 month ago
I was taking a peek at an ex-girlfriends blog and I noticed that she had a post about this new Häagen-Dazs flavor: Salty Butter Biscuit. I just happened to be in the mood for ice cream, so I ran to the convenience store and bought a cup. I was torn between vanilla and this funky Japanese flavor. If I had decided on vanilla, I was going to flavor it with this incredible ume syrup that I made. I made the wrong choice. Häagen-Dazs’ Salty Butter Biscuit was positively underwhelming. It wasn’t particularly salty or biscuity. Too bad. I only treat myself to ice cream once a month or so.
1 month ago
It is summer again, it is pouring rain so hard that it has not gotten hot the last few days. A very welcome relief! Never the less, I have switched into summer cooking mode. That means small meals, preferably served cold.
I recalled this dish that Miwa used to make when we were together after a Skype call with Frenchy, who particularly enjoyed it. So, I made it tonight.
It is udon served on ice with some cold tsuyu broth and an assortment of chopped veggies and natto. The veggies include grated nagaimo and chopped okura. These three ingredients are all nebaneba, in Japanese. That means gooey and slimy and stringy. I also added some simmered goya bitter melon which was a bit underdone, so quite bitter.
Looking back at the photos of when Miwa made it for us, I see I had it with egg and beer. Oh, yummy! (I haven’t drunk any alcoholic beverage for nearly 2 months and I lost 7 kilos, without really trying! I guess I eat less in the summer, but I am not dieting per se.) I think pretty soon there is a big meal with plenty of beer and sake - in my future. Near future. Yebisu Beer. Oh! Yum!!
1 month ago
On July 3rd, in the discount 99 Yen shop, I found a variety of Kit Kat that I had not tried before. I was a bit surprised to see sakura themed anything in mid-summer, I mean the rainy season is upon us! I guess it was leftover from spring and had made its way to the discount shop. It was the very last one on the shelf.
Though Japanese junkfood is generally pretty good, these weird flavored Kit Kats in Japan can be pretty horrible (Ramune Kit Kat) and I don’t really expect to much of them. There was a Kyoto themed one two springs ago that was maccha (powdered green tea) from Uji, the tea producing region of Kyoto. That Kit Kat was excellent, but quite expensive. I guess they used some dang good maccha in it!
On the package, this one says that it is .05% sakura leaf extract and uses real Uji maccha. The chocolate covering is maccha and the interior wafer is slightly pinkish and flavored with sakura. (That itself is strange because the sakura flavoring comes from the leaf, which is green, not the blossom which is pink.) Oh well, the sakura flavor is probably bolstered with chemicals anyway. It does taste really good, very delicate and not too sweet - for junk food.
How to spell matcha/maccha: Somehow everyone has this wrong. The Romanized spelling of 抹茶 cannot possibly be ‘matcha’, the proper spelling is ‘maccha’. This isn’t my personal opinion or something but is based on how Japanese is written in Roman letters (English). This system is standardized and has been with us since the Meiji era. Even the wikipedia article spells the word wrong. That is really too bad. Maccha!
2 months ago
I finally had a really good experience at Aritsugu.
I wrote an article on OpenKyoto last summer about knives in Kyoto and my take on Aritsugu. I got some comments to the contrary and some scathing mentions on other forums. So be it.
I am pleased to report that today I spent about 30 minutes at Aritsugu and the service was very friendly.
I took Amy Ma and her friends around Nishiki Market and Claudia and Dominique had Aritsugu knives on their list of things to purchase.
Claudia getting her name inscribed in her Aritsugu knife
Aritsugu Staff Demonstrating How to Clean a Japanese Knife
In my OpenKyoto article, my main complaints about Aritsugu were:
・Unfriendly, haughty service. (Unfortunately all too common in Kyoto)
・Knives are not made in Kyoto. (I think that the customer is usually not aware of this.)
・Premium prices for standard quality. (I am not an expert, but have heard this from several Kyoto chefs who are.)
・Can’t pay with credit cards. (Needs no explanation.)
After I wrote my OK article, based on numerous experiences, I have heard from several people that they had good experiences at Aritsugu. I consulted several Kyoto chefs I know and was told that the Aritsugu store in Nishiki Market is relatively new. Previously Aritsugu catered more toward restaurants and chefs and perhaps Aritsugu isn’t the same Aritsugu as it was some years ago, they have gotten better at friendly customer service.
I certainly hope that is the case!
Sure enough, Claudia and Dominique bought several knives expecting to be able to pay with a credit card. (I suppose the cost was around $500 USD total.) We had to take quite a bit of time to go to a bank and get cash.
As stated in my OpenKyoto article, while Kyoto is not a Mecca of knife making there are a number of long established knife makers and if you are coming all the way to Kyoto you might want to get one actually made here! (Or at least know that Aritsugu doesn’t make their knives.)
Eating Keiran Somen (fios de ovos) at Tsuruya
As we were nibbling some Tsuruya keiran somen, I quickly realized that though Amy takes a lot of photos herself and is a very confident and assertive person, she does not like having her photo taken! If you want to make her go all to pieces just start taking her photo! (I couldn’t resist posting a few photos here.)
Amy and Dominique
2 months ago
F-I-N-A-L-L-Y ! My 10 kilos of orchard ripened ume arrived today.
These are from Wakayama Prefecture, called Kishu Ume, in Japanese. Kishu is the former name of the country now called Wakayama and is where the best ume is grown in all of Japan.
This year I finally resolved to make umeboshi. I ordered my ume plums, purchased and assembled all the accoutrements, tools, tubs and so on, then it seemed like the ume would never ship. The stubborn ume farmer down there will harvest and ship no ume before its time, I gather.
I was getting a bit worried, but finally they arrived and I am going to start making my first batch of umeboshi tomorrow.
2 months ago
Early summer has come and that means ayu, or sweetfish are in season. Also, I have somehow been crazed with tempura donburi recently. I am not sure what took so long for me to really discover this dish. It is easy to make and very tasty; just some tempura on rice with a splash of tempura tsuyu. Normally I would never make tempura at home as I don’t like to cook with oil in my house and tempura makes a big mess and stink. So, I just buy a few pieces at the supermarket and them heat them up in the toaster oven. That helps to removed excess oil.
I found whole young ayu (waka ayu) today and served it on genmai (brown rice) with a healthy amount of yukari. Yukari is a powered condiment made for red shiso and salt and is a byproduct of some umeboshi recipes. Wakaayu tempura may not appeal to everyone, it is whole ayu deepfried; head, bones, guts and all, intact. If it is not cooked properly the bones are too hard and the guts too bitter. It needs to deep-fry a fairly long time.
There are many ways to enjoy ayu. The most common is shioyaki (salt grilled) and in this preparation, only the flesh is eaten. One of my favs is the entire ayu, full of eggs simmered in sweetened soy sauce. See this KyotoFoodie article for more: Whole Ayu Sugatani on Jukkokumai Rice. One of my favorite Japanese confections is also called waka-ayu, or ayugashi. It is a sweet and in the shape of an ayu. It is also available this time of year as ayu is in season. Here is my definitive article on ayugashi: Wagashi: Ayugashi or Waka-ayu Sweetfish Shaped Confection.
2 months ago
