nakji

Wow! That looks really good. The egg-whites look like ground pork - it seems like this would be a slightly healthier version of bitter melon with pork. Does it taste similar? I've decided to try and do at least one main-dish salad a week for the summer, since it suits my crazy schedule to eat something lighter for dinner, and its too warm for hot soup now. Also, I just got an awesome new salad spinner and dressing shaker, and I have to justify its purchase. I made a basic salad with sherry vinegar dressing, some lardons (from a charcuterie place in Kamakura) and a poached egg. Lots of crusty bread to soak up the dressing, and you've got a perfect meal.

I finally made it to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum a couple of days ago with my husband. We've been saving it up for a special occasion, and since we have ten days off, and nowhere to go, it seemed like a good time. Set up like a 1960s-era downtown, the museum has a eight ramen restaurants of various styles. The top floor has a smallish gift shop where must-have souvenirs like porcelain Cup Noodle cups, kamaboko key chains, and mystifyingly ugly kewpie dolls-dressed as bears-dressed as maids (helpfully labelled as "popular in Akihabara Maid Cafes"). Then you descend into the "neighbourhood" and choose your shop.Fortunately for us, the shops all offered a mini size for around 500 yen. After a careful reading of the museum's brochure, we decided to focus on two kinds; miso style from Sapporo, and Kumamoto style, from Kyushu. Our first bowl was from Komurasaki, and was in the Kumamoto style. It had a tonkotsu broth and the noodles were thin and round; not curly, and it was topped with cloud ear mushrooms, bean sprouts and char siu pork. It was garnished with grilled garlic chips. At the first taste, the broth was a little bland and unassertive, but as the bowl progressed, the garlic melted into the broth to form an intensely garlicky soup - but not sharply garlic - more of a strong, mellow garlicness. We were off to a great start. The second bowl was at Keyaki, a shop from the Susukino area of Sapporo. It had a miso broth, curly noodles, and a substantive topping of vegetables including steamed carrots, cabbage, shredded green onion, and mushrooms. It had ground pork, rather than the standard char siu, and also a few flakes of red pepper, which together made an attractive multicolour tangle on the top of the bowl. The bowl itself belied its "mini" status, and was as big as my head. I was in trouble. The first taste of the broth yielded an incredibly rich, ginger-scented mouthful. The ground pork fragmented nicely into the soup, meaning that instead of saving the meat for one delightful bite, as is normally the case, I got a taste of it in almost every spoonful. The vegetables were also a welcome addition, adding a lighter touch to what is often a bowl full of grease and carbohydrates. The chef's vision, that each bowlful be "...an a la carte dish that appeals to the five senses..." was realized, and I found myself finishing my bowl and Peter's as well. Two "mini" bowls spelled the end of me, but Peter felt he could push on for one more bowl - at Fukuchan. This shop featured Hakata-style ramen based on a tonkotsu broth, an innovation dating from the 1980s, according to the museum's brochure. It differs from the broth style usually found in Tokyo, which is - can anyone comment here? A salt or shoyu based broth? and is quite popular. In fact, I realized that of all the bowls of ramen I had eaten since coming to Japan, I had only once tried Tokyo-style ramen - all other bowls had been in the Hakata style. Peter felt the broth was "...insanely good, only just this side of being a liquid, and it didn't have a lot of junk in it, like that [sapporo] stuff." According to the brochure, Fukuchan blends "new" and "mature" broths - "...New soup has sharpness but without richness. Mature soup adds necessary richness...". It's served with fresh garlic to be crushed into the bowl (and claims to be the restaurant that started this craze) and slivers of pickled ginger; a counterpoint to the unabashed gravy-like nature of the soup. Peter barely made it to the end of the bowl. That pretty much finished us off. I realized that we gave short-shrift to more traditional styles of ramen, and that we missed the shop offering ramen with "...a layer of grilled lard", but the human stomach only has so much capacity, and I had already reached the dread state of pho belly; a state where too much delicious broth sloshes dangerously about your stomach, threatening to capsize anyone silly enough to attempt walking after soup. There would have to be a next time. I preferred the Sapporo style, but Peter was firmly behind the Kumamoto, as he's generally mad for garlic.

Everything is so pretty, it makes me sigh. Especially imagining that hot chocolate.....and beer...and cheese.... If you ever feel like going into the Korean market for snacks, I recommend the chocolate chip cookies in the yellow box. They're very fudgy, like little brownies. Yum.

He looks grumpy. Also: naaaaaaaaaakkkkkkkkjjjjjjjiiiiiiii! I love it when they make cameo appearances. My favourite way to eat the little ones was marinated in chili sauce and grilled until their little tentacles corkscrewed up. Even though I live here, it's fun to see Tokyo through the eyes of someone who can experience it with adequate funding. I need to start a "cheap eats" Tokyo thread, or something.

So do I. I think there's actually a little Japanese song about how the rice should sound when it's cooked, but I can't remember how it goes. But I know when I hear the bubbles around the edges stop popping, it's just right.

I went to three different supermarkets at Yokohama station today looking for butter, and could only find Lurpak butter for 1400 yen. I thought it was bad two weeks ago when I was buying Japanese butter for 600 yen. I used to buy the Hokkaido brand butter, but I can't even find that now, and I've looked at every major station from Odawara to Yokohama. I consider rice a luxury ingredient, it's so expensive (compared to what I'm used to in Canada) so now I don't know what to cook anymore.

I have a recipe in one of my Japanese cookbooks for Japanese hanbaaga that calls for the meat to be worked just as Richard was doing in this episode (does that sound too - nevermind ). The author states that it helps hold the patty together. When I made it, it didn't seem too dry, but then I used a mixture of pork and beef which was fairly fatty to begin with. The recipe also calls for panko, which might have helped.

I enjoy the mint flavoured ones, which I can only ever seem to find in Hong Kong. Classic Vanilla is always nice, too. I can't imagine what I'd weigh if I actually lived in a country that sold them.

Hi, nakji. Yes, we have this at home in the fridge. I forget what it's called in Czech. It's very salty and crisps up nicely under the broiler if you top lasagne or quesadillas with it. (Probably not what the czeesemakers intended, but it works.) Never seen it at a pub, though...but I'll have to try the mustard trick, which sounds very good!Now I'm starving. ← Cool beans! Another great reason to get on a plane to Prague. Yeah, there's nothing better than cheese dipped in mayotard. My husband misses it a lot, and it's on his "must-eat" list for when we go back to Vietnam this summer. You know, some people visit Vietnam for the pho, my husband, he goes for the cheese.....this is why I'm never letting him in to Europe. We'd never leave. I'll tell him about the quesadilla trick - that's what we're having for dinner tonight. I won't hear the end of it, I'm sure - could I impose on you to post a picture so I can torture him? How do the Czechs eat it?

They sound like the sort of noodles you usually see in Bun Bo Hue. I guess it's probably too late for me to answer this now, but I would briefly dip them into boiling water to loosen them up a bit before stir-frying. Whenever I saw anyone make fried pho (with the flat noodles) they were dipped, then fried - I don't know why. Please post pics if you're successful.

In Hanoi, Czech beer halls are really popular. One of the drinking snacks you could get at these places was something called "Russian Cheese". It was long strings of mild cheese that had been braided and smoked. It was usually served with a bit of mayonnaise and strong mustard on the side for dipping. I've never seen anything like it anywhere else. Have you seen anything like it there?

Praha! How exciting. I see you're going to a Vietnamese market. When I lived in Vietnam, many of my students had visited Prague (and universally loved it). Are there many Vietnamese people living in Prague? And can you get a decent bowl of pho?

Well, I ate my way around Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia last year, and I saw plenty of differences and plenty of similarities. I ate "feu" in a bus stop in Northern Laos that was very practically identical to a bowl of pho I'd eaten across the border in Vietnam for breakfast that day, except that the rice noodles were dried and not fresh like they'd been in Vietnam. I ate a lot of Chicken with holy basil in Laos that seemed a lot like a dish I'd had in Thailand. And comparing my notes for a Thai red curry paste and Cambodian Amok, things seem quite similar, except for the types of chili used. I ate Luk Lak beef in Cambodia and Luc Lac beef in Vietnam, and they were both incredibly delicious (and usually served with french fries) in both places. So yeah, there's a lot the same, but since most people usually cook with what's close at hand, and all of these countries are dealing with similar geography, so of course recipes will travel. As to who invented them, well, that issue causes controversy all over the world. Ask the Italians who invented French cuisine! What's needed here, Ce'nedra, is someone willing to continue eating around South East Asia, say for about 10 years or so, collecting recipes and oral histories from people in each country, preferably interspersed with long breaks at conveniently located beach resorts, to definitively resolve this issue. I, for one, bravely volunteer. Who will come forward to sponsor me?

Actually, it's the Mark Bittman recipe from "How to Cook Everything" - I use Maille Dijon and grainy mustards- the Seijo Ishi at my station usually has the large jars for around 300 yen. I try to stay far, far away from Costco and its wallet-destroying tendencies. On a related note, my husband caved and bought a jar of mesquite and stout mustard from Dean and Deluca on the weekend that will need using - care to share your bento mustard related recipes?

I make her nikkujyaga recipe two or three times a month, and there's always lots leftover for my bento the next day. I agree, it's fabulous cold as well. Better late than never - I've been working like a dog lately - here are some pics of my hanami bento - the box I picked up at Daiso for 500 yen, which I thought was a steal. I filled it with double-mustard potato salad, some cured meats from Kamakura, cheese, beef-spring onion rolls inspired by smallworld's blog, assorted veg, and some chicken skewers. It was a feast.

They're called bung-eo-pan in Korea - carp bread, I think. Peter's right, you have to insist they give you a hot one, or it's just not worth it.

My husband and I were similarly baffled by the all the bowls, sauces, dressings, and the suribachi the first time we went out for tonkatsu. We resorted to the old ex-pat trick of not doing anything, looking surreptitiously around the room for someone else who had just sat down, and copying their movements. My back was to the room, so my husband narrated the actions for the seniors at the table behind us - Husband: "They just sat down. They're reaching for the suribachi......okay, they're grinding their seeds...okay, they're picking up the sauce bowl....oh! They're pouring the sauce into the suribachi!? Is that normal - wait - I'm looking around - no, that woman has sauce in her suribachi was well - okay, put your sauce in your suribachi with the seeds" Me:"What about ponzu - did people put ponzu on their cabbage, or are they eating it plain?" Husband: "I can't see - just put it on." Me:"But the waitress will find it at the bottom of the bowl! She'll think I'm strange!" Husband:"She already thinks you're strange, eat your damn cabbage with ponzu." This is what most of our dinner conversations sound like in Japan, sadly.

I re-watched the end of the episode this morning, with the final judgement of the losing teams, and I was struck by what Colicchio had to say about the Vietnamese dish, that the dish was something you could have gotten at any Vietnamese restaurant "...for 8 bucks". While it was clear that the dish wasn't as successful as some of the others, having been judged the least favourite by all the diners, I wonder if there isn't some subtle bias there against non-European dishes that aren't centred around a big hunk of protein? Maybe the presentation was too average? It didn't really look like your average Vietnamese summer roll to me, but maybe the tastes didn't hang together well? Fish spring rolls are very common in Viet Nam, so I was surprised when Chef Colicchio said that the rolls were too fishy. Perhaps it was the sea bass? I've only ever had the rolls done with catfish, so perhaps that fish was too jarring. It's frustrating being able to watch at home, but not taste the dishes! As for the movie - "Good Morning Vietnam" for goodness sakes? How about "Indochine"? or "The Lover"? If you ever feel the need for a really spectacular fish summer roll, however, I urge you to fly directly to Hanoi, and go straight to restaurant Highway 7. They serve a killer spring roll that's made from catfish that's been lightly dusted with flour and pan fried, and rolled up with wasabi mayonnaise and Hanoi pho herbs in the long, thin square rice papers that are served dry, and that melt on your tongue when you bite into them. As for Zoi - yikes. I'd respect her more if she could get through the judging without crying. There's no crying in baseball! As soon as Richard mentioned Willy Wonka, I knew he'd win the challenge. It was inspired. I think it's clear that he and a few other chefs are operating at a much higher level than the rest. I think we'll see the top five from this episode as the last remaining chefs as time goes on. I also thought Manuel was a real class act when he left. Next week looks good!

Thank you for your detailed reply! I did, in fact, find that my cilantro did not root, despite pleasant surroundings and frequent water changes. When it wilted, I threw it in the bin. One of my coworker, however, is a keen gardener, and brought me in some plants split from her garden. I now have sturdy pots of lemongrass, dill, thyme, and oregano, and I would welcome any thoughts on keeping these plants happy. (I live in the greater Tokyo area) I'm still without cilantro, but my coworker assured me I'd be able to find seeds in major shops - if I could only find time to go shopping. I'll keep looking, and probably end up sowing some seeds if I'm lucky enough to find them. I can eat a lot of cilantro - I put it into some dishes I learned to make in Viet Nam, and into homemade salsas, but my favourite way to eat it is loosely chopped in an omelette with tomato and red onion. I don't usually make curry pastes from scratch, so I don't have a strong need for the roots. As I understand it, cilantro is not a popular herb in Japan, so it's hard to find a regular supply of it at the supermarket, and I haven't seen seedlings at all.

I have tried both of these items, in Korea, and all I can say about that, is: Honey, that ain't right. Mostly because they were made with processed cheese, though, which I loathe wholeheartedly. They might be nice with feta or cheddar, who knows? Butter and soy sauce, on the other hand, I find delicious. I have a capricious palate, I guess.

I really enjoy Hitachino Nest when I can get my hands on it! In my area, there are a couple of nice local brews from in and around Kamakura. I usually just drink the Asahi silver can, but I think I've drunk some of the Happoushu by accident, thinking it was really beer. Anyone care to post the kanji for it?

Maid Cafe! scandal. Was the food any good?

Oh, my, that looks splenderifous. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I prefer my dubu kimchi with firm-ish tofu, anyway - it's easier for me to pick up with those metal chopsticks.

Bleach must be huge, because even I've heard of it. Right now I'm working my way through the "Kanji through Manga" series my husband bought (along with the accompanying workbook). So I can't read real manga yet. Topic? Uh.....it's around here somewhere......

Oh, well then. If Steingarten says so. Is "fine dining" defined by how complex the dishes served are? Actually - what elements make something "fine dining" by definition? At any rate, I think David Ross is correct: their assignment was to translate a taco to fine dining - the very nature of the challenge admits that a taco is not, by definition, fine dining. They weren't supposed to sit around and say, "Well, Mexican food is street food, and can't possibly ever be fine dining, so I'm just going to sit around and roll my eyes about how this guy knows nothing about Mexican food." They were supposed to think about it, and offer a dish that was inspired by the form and ingredients of a taco, but with elements of fine dining (nice plating? luxury ingredients?) I mean, it wasn't a trick question. Rick Bayliss (Bayless?) wasn't going to pop up at the end and say "Fooled you! Mexican food is street! Only those with authentic tacos win!" Which is how it seemed half of the contestants expected it to play out, based on the dishes they presented, which looked a lot like....regular tacos. It seemed to me that Richard was the only one who really thought about it, and responded to the challenge at hand without thinking about any of his own biases. It also looked like the only one I wanted to try. And it kills me to say that, because I hate that guy's hair.