Peter Green

Oh,there's got to be more! What's the Korean soap opera about the intrigues in the palace kitchen (I really should know this...Jewel In the Palace or something like that)...

If you like Osaka, you might not like Kyoto so much. But Osaka is just a hop skip and jump away, so you can always hop back for a visit. Where are the food pics? Or maye they're soooo good, you can't tell what they are! Just a little taste of Thailand fo ryou. I'm al ittle tipsy, and must sleep now. I hope neither of us is hung over tomorrow. It might nt make suckh a good impression on our hosts! ← Ahhh, isn't it fun being "cultural ambassadors" Hee hee! (I promise to be good, even if I have been seeing Lupin III's face on every pachinko parlour tonight)

right, I was only looking for a place to post the the Asian food flick that I'd just watched on Cathay, Le Grand Chef which was a great food porn flick for the Korean market, with loving scenes of dousing green peppers in deangjang and stuff like that that'll just get any normal man really excited....okay, maybe "normal" isn't the right word..... Anyways, there must be other Asian films that people get hungry over. Tampopo? The Scent of Green Papaya? Eat Drink Man Woman? Any Wong Kar Wai film? The liver eating scenes from P (I'm shameless, I know) Let's hear from you! This end of the threads has been way too quiet for too long!

Okay, I promised I'd try to stay on track with the Japan thread line...okay, maybe I didn't actually promise, but I had a serious intentions......but here's the follow up to the last post Okay, maybe I was just thinking that this didn't belong there..... Le Grand Chef [Korean - really recent] this is something I just saw in-flight on the flight from Hong Kong to Narita so I don't know if it's generally available yet. The premise of this film is that a Japanese citizen has had a change of heart, and is going to return the knife of the master chef of Korea, who had served the King up until the Japanese annexation in 1911. At that point, he used his favourite knife to cut off his right hand so the Japanese couldn't force him to cook for them. The premise of the film is that the knife will go to the top chef, the one who can uphold the traditions of the King's chef. Right. We're talking serious food porn here. On the down side, it's like watching a {name this country} food video for a lot of this. Let's talk broken display with three windows flying about highlighting the dish of the moment. The shots of the food are generally reminiscent of what Doddie and I saw in Seoul at the Korean Food Expo But, we're also talking about a lot of good thought on the things that go into making good food (like the charcoal, and the animals themselves), so there are a number of good items to recommend the flick, beyond the ability of the Koreans to pull tears out of any audience. (general recommendation: take your girlfriend to see this film, then cook for her. Heck, even better, take her to see this film, then put a season into growing fresh vegetables for her.....maybe I commit for too long a time?)

A little biased? You? What are you doing awake? Am I there yet?. Yes, in the words of Buckaroo Banzai....Whatever you do....where ever you go....well....there you are I'll post more after a few more Asahis. (I found a vending machine) I think I like Osaka. p.s. - no katoeys to be seen. I think they're just winding me up.

Okay, in order to keep Sheena and the others at bay, I'll post my airplane food pictures. After Lan Tai I sharpened up and remembered to pull my little Canon out of the bag so I could use it. (The food on the earlier leg was nothing special, a smoked salmon plate to start, and then a breaded lamb with potatoes....mind you, there was a nice Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough, a decent Medoc, and some Dow's Late Vintage 2001 port) so that made up for a lot). But on this route Cathay laid on a Champagne Deutz Brut; a Domaine de La Baume Viognier 2006,; a Watershed Margaret River Chardonnay 2005 (unoaked), a Peter Lehmann Barossa Cabernet Sauvignon 2005, and an Ada Minotauro Rojo Nafarra 2004. Plus they still had the port there. (here's a shot of the champagne.... and we can still get peanuts and other nuts to eat! they're not banned out here yet). Anyways, the lunch/dinner they put on wasn't what I was expecting. I mean, I've flown a lot of business class, and there've been good moments (like the pheasant on KLM last time to America), but this was just plain pretty. What we have here is a crisp king prawn with scallop and tuna tataki; a "frisee" with green apple, raisins, and walnuts (with a lemon myrtle dressing); and nameko mushroom soba. There's a nice bit of kelp there under that extraneous bit of lettuce, too. And a good soba, helped along by the "noodle sauce" in a little plastic bottle that you add to it. The salad was very good, too. Darn, I'm left with nothing to whine about. I can't even whine about the wine, as the chardonnay was quite a nice thing to sip while watching the film start up, and then the Voignier went very well with the plum sauce with the fish. And then there was the red. I went for the Rojo, as I was having the pork belly for my main. Pork belly on an airplane! I'm in love. Braised pork belly with preserved vegetables, steamed rice, and a mix of Chinese vegetables, which included lotus root, one of my favourites. The photo does no justice to the gooey, fatty luxury of this dish. Fat just turning to liquid in your mouth in a Homer Simpson moment.....Why can't I get stuff like this on KLM or BA (and I have no delusions whatsoever about Northwest, AA, or Continental)? And after a gargonzola and a good, soft French cheese (robu-something or other, I was having too much fun at this point with the movie to keep up my notes). I'll mention the movie in passing, and then get a fuller posting up in a more appropriate place. Le Grand Chef - a Korean film in the great tradition of tear-jerkers (if you cry over cooking scenes). What's really important here is that, after Helen mentioned fugu, and I made my comments earlier from Lan Tai, this film opened with a really good fugo poisoning scene. The premise revolves around a cooking contest between two rivals years after the poisoning. The knife of the king's chef is being handed back to Korea by the Japanese whose ancestor "acquired" it. The story is that the master chef used it finally to cut off his own hand so that the invaders couldn't force him to cook for them. Great food porn movie, with lots of extra windows flying in to highlight the food. And the dishes look like the things that Doddie and I had seen back last year when we did the food expo (on different days) in Seoul. Great eye candy! Plus, the Koreans can always wrench a tear or two out of you (the cow scene is really sad). Sheena, you have to see this one. I won't say any more on that (although there is a Japanese angle), but I'll get it in the food movies section (when I have time). Now, why am I using up Osaka time writing for you lot when I should be eating? Tomorrow, Rona and I are going to Fushimi to see the Torii and get an education on sake. Cheers, Peter

Peggy, I'm blushing! Hey, is that an emerald or a tsavorite you're using for your image?

Yeowch! 430 yen per minute internet access here at Narita (it's my own fault, I know). I'll start posting more when I get to Osaka tomorrow. Peter

The flying tube has dumped me out in Hong Kong at Lan Tai. I must say, this is the nicest lounge I've ever been in. Lots of space, big ceilings, tasteful lighting, no crowding like Schiphol, and there's a Noodle Bar with DaDienMien, udon, and about two other selections. Plus there's Asahi in the fridge! But me, I'm watching my girlish figure. Really, there's just enough time between flights to get in a Merlot, a shower, some pictures, and this post. I am now close enough to Japan that I'm hearing it constantly in the background. For a Japanophile like me, that's a comfort (I recall, in 1984 flying from Houston to Seatac to be picked up there, and folks listening to the Japanese announcements. Their comment? "People shore do talk funny English up here"). I know that, as far back as the first of the Jesuits that came here, the Japanese tongue was referred to as "clickity clackity" but I really do like listening to it. Can't understand 99.999999% of what they're saying, but I like the resonance. Okay, next flight. Next stop.....Narita.

Mmmmm....my initial reaction based upon experiences in Seoul long ago, would have been to blow off the pufferfish (sorry). However, the idea of tempura fugu does sound really good. I'll have some time on Thursday after I arrive before my accomplices free up, so maybe this good be a good entry point. Can you pass me some explicit directions (landmarks), please. I'm rather dense. And "transvestite" sounds so......Romanianly painful. Why not "gender reclassified" as they say at Bumrungrad Hospital?

This is one we've done before, but I'm beginning to think, aside form sashimi, that it's one of my favourites for grouper. Okay, seeing as how I'm going to be away from the kitchen for a few weeks, I used last Monday as my final opportunity to make an oil-spattered mess out of the kitchen. This is a hamour, filleted, and then fried on the skin side to get nice and crispy. Then I cleaned the pan, added the roasted red bell peppers, nestled the fish, and poured in a lemon rosemary vinaigrette for braising. A nice Spanish olive oil. Not only does it look pretty, and taste very pleasant, but I get the male enjoyment of watching the little fires flare up on all the other burners from the splash action I managed. At least until Yoonhi gets the smoke detector to quiet down and she's free to drive me out of the kitchen.

As with most of my travel bits, this begins in an airport. It doesn't really matter too much which one, as they're all really starting to look alike....well, with some noteable exceptions, but I'm not going to Penh or Luang Prabang or Ulan Bator, so let's stay relevant. I've gone to ground in the Cathay Pacific lounge, which is a nice enough place. Clean, internet access, and stuff in steamers if I get peckish. I did try some of the first item up. It was a beef and broccoli with vermicelli. It had been stir fried at some point, so I guess the steamer was only there as a stay-warm item with some class. It did look a lot nicer than those baine-maries we usually see. That bit of elan was muscled aside and off the shoulder by the wine. I'm sorry, I don't expect my wine to come in a box when I'm in a business lounge. Okay, there's only about four of us in here, but still, you think, with only one choice of red and white, they could open a bottle for the evening? By the by (or is that "bye") it's a Stanley Wines' Smooth Dry Red. They're very apologetic about the name change, as this used to be known in Oz as a Red Burgundy, but the EU has gotten on their case and said they can't call a wine a Burgundy if it doesn't come from Burgundy. Bundaburgy would be an interesting name for a wine...... Anyways, after apologizing for this Euro-foisted impingement upon free speech, they put "Red Burgundy" in big letters under the "Smooth Dry Red" label anyways, so I don't think anyone's too put out. In downloading the shot of the noodles, I also came across Yoonhi's shot of our backyard earlier today. She's having them take out the concrete in the patio out back, and repour it so the rain doesn't drain into the house. Jackhammers for the next five days, they estimate. And I'm not there to share! Okay, I'm going to go back into my notes and stuff for awhile. Cheers, Peter

Hey! Weren't you the one that said there weren't any "bad" areas in Japan? Is this going to be on par with my Hotel 88 Bencoolen stay in Singapore? (Not to worry, I've watched enough Takashi Miike films to expect the bizarre )

I highly recommend trying kushikatsu (deep fried stuff on skewers) in Osaka, specifically in the seedy Shinsekai area. Daruma is my favourite place but the area is filled with kushikatsu restauarants. For extra fun you could have kushi-age, kushikatsu's refined cousin, while in Tokyo. Hantei in Nezu (will shortly be posting about a recent lunch there) is tops for atmosphere and fanciness of food; Kushinobo (chain) is almost as nice and better value; Kushiya (chain) is the least fancy: you have to cook it yourself, in little vats of oil that are built into the table. Let me know if any place interests; will provide addresses/directions. ← Thanks, Amy! I'll get back to you on these. Gotta catch my ride to the airport. Peter

I'm moving, I'm moving. There's a limo waiting on the other side of 8 hours of work. From there to the airport, from there to Hong Kong, from there to Narita. I so enjoy sitting in a metal tube in the sky for extended periods of my life. But it'll be worth it. Cheers, Peter

There's a thought..... Would Godzilla, King Ghidora, Gamora....the lot of them..... Would they taste like chicken? (I left Mothra out. He's more of a bug)

Advance notice? Heck, I'm out of here in three more wake-ups! I still haven't packed, and my business cards haven't arrived for Scud to drag along (more on our cunning plan as it develops). Cameras need to be checked out, passports found, and money secured. And, to prepare myself, I need to read more Azu Manga Daioh! (That's what Serena says). Spot Serena in this picture. (Serena and I are still trying to figure out the link between meatball sandwiches for school lunch and Osaka)

Hey! I didn't even get to Plan B for when we're really down and out! He'll function perfectly well on one kidney.

Cho Eun Mat. It means Good Taste and Yoonhi says they're anju (drinking food) a mixture of red bean and rice crackers and nuts. The katakana is just a read of the Korean - jyo en mashi. I would've thought they'd have translated, but maybe it sounds more exotic?

Nicely put, Amy. The balance of work, family, and being where you want to be is the eternal frustration for expatriates. For must of us, we either choose what our work will be, or where we will live. It's a lucky person that gets both of those criteria to match. Peter P.S. - and thanks again for this blog! You've answered a number of questions that were nagging me, like shooting pictures in stores.

Dear John, We'll be in the under $200 a head range for most of it, I should think, but I could probably up the ante at individual moments by feeding the boy separately and then sedating him with electronics. Parenting skills, you gotta have them. Cheers, Peter

Amy's current blog has triggered me to get my act together and start collecting more info. As a number of you figured out from my not too subtle hints, I'm off to Japan. The boy is flying out from Vancouver and the two of us will see how much trouble we can get into. I've had a lot of help from Prasantrin (Rona) already, and the itinerary is pretty well firmed up. The lodgings may not be, but the itinerary is (I take all blame for the really stupid parts, however). It'll be Osaka first, then Kyoto, and finally Tokyo, where we'll wrap up with the Tokyo International Anime Fair. (Plus a couple of nights in Hong Kong on the way back, but that'll have to go in another spot, it won't belong here). I'm looking for the "must eats" that people feel strongly about. No guarantees that we'll make it to them, but if I don't know, I won't try. And I'm a very trying person. Okay, let's get this party started.

Amy, I'm so glad you're doing this, and that you're doing it now, and not next week! Timing is everything!

One of my friends here at work arranged for a personal class at the Blue Elephant, and worked with them in advance to tailor the program to his needs. He was satisfied with the results. Second hand advice, I'm afraid, but I'd agree with you that the bulk of cooking schools are servicing more of the casual tourist approach ("trophy cooking") than serious learning for the intermediate student. What will be interesting is if Le Cordon Bleu gets a programme of Thai workshops going (I still need to write up the CB bit.....) Cheers, Peter

Sheesh, I'm getting old and forgetful. Khao Soi! If you have the time, get a tuktuk and head out to Thanon Faham for Khao Soi. I think the name was lam duan (or something like that). That's the famous one, a good place for lunch, but it is out of the way. Across from the Night Bazaar is the Galare Food Court. A typical Thai food court packed out with individual stalls. Buy a roll of tickets, and eat your heart out. Friends of ours living in town recommended the place here that was doing sticky rice and mango as one of the best, and there was also good khao soi available here, just as you entered on your right, if what's left of my memory is functioning at all. One caution, especially if you're travelling with kids....lather on the anti-mosquito repellent if you're going to be by the Ping at dusk. Even with malaria is under control, you don't want to be gnawed on all through your meal. Okay, I'd better get to work (and, yes, I do have a job!) peter