Duvel

The amount of detail given to the food presentation, starting by selecting the right dishes to present, followed by the right (complementary or augmenting) color, texture, taste of the different items and the coorect order in which they are served was something that has drawn me to Japanese food from the very beginning.

On a completely different note: I found this Uji Matcha tea capsules at the little supermarket at the Chiba Minato station. As I do own a Nescafe Dolce Gusto, I am very curious how that tea does compare to the real thing. Will report back in due time …

“… and so it begins!” Welcome to “Tales from the Fragrant Harbour”! In the next couple of days I am hoping to take you to a little excursion to Hong Kong to explore the local food and food culture as well as maybe a little bit more about my personal culinary background. I hope I can give you a good impression of what life is like on this side of the globe and am looking very forward to answering questions, engaging in spirited discussions and just can share a bit of my everyday life with you. Before starting with the regular revealing shots of my fridge’s content and some more information on myself, I’d like to start this blog and a slightly different place. For today's night, I ‘d like to report back from Chiba city, close to Tokyo, Japan. It’s my last day of a three day business trip and it’s a special day here in Japan: “Doyou no ushi no hi”. The “midsummer day of the ox”, which is actually one of the earlier (successful) attempts of a clever marketing stunt. As sales of the traditional winter dish “Unagi” (grilled eel with sweet soy sauce) plummeted in summer, a clever merchant took advantage of the folk tale that food items starting with the letter “U” (like ume = sour plum and uri = gourd) dispel the summer heat, so he introduced “Unagi” as a new dish best enjoyed on this day. It was successful, and even in the supermarkets the sell Unagi-Don and related foods. Of course, I could not resist to take advantage and requested tonight dinner featuring eel. Thnaks to our kind production plant colleagues, I had what I was craving … (of course the rest of the food was not half as bad) Todays suggestion: Unagi (grilled eel) and the fitting Sake ! For starters: Seeweed (upper left), raw baby mackerel with ginger (upper right) and sea snails. I did not care for the algae, but the little fishes were very tasty. Sahimi: Sea bream, Tuna and clam ... Tempura: Shrimp, Okra, Cod and Mioga (young pickled ginger sprouts). Shioyaki Ayu: salt-grilled river fish. I like this one a lot. I particularly enjoy the fixed shape mimicking the swimming motion. The best was the tail fin Wagyu: "nuff said ... Gourd. With a kind of jellied Oden stock. Nice ! Unagi with Sansho (mountain pepper) So, so good. Rich and fat and sweet and smoky. I could eat a looooot of that ... Chawan Mushi:steamed egg custard. A bit overcooked. My Japanese hosts very surprised when I told them that I find it to be cooked at to high temperatures (causing the custard to loose it's silkiness), but they agreed. Part of the experience was of course the Sake. I enjoyed it a lot but whether this is the one to augment the taste of the Unagi I could not tell ... More Unagi (hey it's only twice per year) ... Miso soup with clams ... Tiramisu. Outside view of the restaurant. Very casual! On the way home I enjoyed a local IPA. Craft beer is a big thing in Japan at the moment (as probably anywhere else in the world), so at 29 oC in front of the train station I had this. Very fruity … When I came back to the hotel, the turn down service had made my bed and placed a little Origami crane on my pillow. You just have to love this attention to detail.

Yeah, that's how they are. Exotic appearance, but tastewise I'll always go for the humble shrimp. Or lobster

I'll see if I can include Lamma ... Have been there for the Lamma 500 dragon boat race (at least 16th place this year ). They do have good seafood, so maybe that's a good idea ...

I had a hard time resisting those Matcha treats at the local Starbuck's, but I did and was rewarded: Sushi in a small place next to our office in Roppongi Hills, Tokyo. Made in front of you and priced just below 20 USD. I just love that ...

Good morning everyone from ... Tokyo. First of all, congratulations to @Kerry Beal for putting adding another win to your track record! Also congratulations to @Smithy: You were right, the pictures were to easy I'd like to take you all for a week with me and explain some "Tales from the Fragrant Harbour", but we'll start tomorrow night here in Tokyo before heading back - hopefully without typhoon - to Hong Kong ... Until then, enjoy the teaser pictures (from the Tiger Head on Lantau Island #1, Shrimps from Temple Street Night Market #2, Incense from any of the myriads of little temples scattered around #3 and the evening view of "my" little beach at Discovery Bay #4, where I live). More to come ...

Quick and satisfying - Yakisoba with pork belly & fried egg ...

"Business lunch" in Xinjiang province, China. The (very friendly) secretary assumes that every lunch has to have a western element, at least when I come around. That is why - next to the excellent Kabaozi (or Samsa), e.g. Lamb-meat filled and baked dough pockets - I was offered the ever so popular Pizza Hut "Spicy Mayo Crayfish" pizza. Took one slice and ate four Kabaozi. And made sure she saw my preference

China Southern business class from Chengdu to Urumqi: Actually very nice assortment of Sichuan style dishes. Braised beef shin in chili oil, hot & numbing chicken, dumpling in chili oil, steamed pumpkin, chicken and sweet corn soup. I liked it ...

I liked them. A lot of very diverse characters portrayed... And a lot of personal background info you wouldn't just get otherwise. They are really little bio pics.

I think you want to refer to hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which paralyzes the olfactory nerves at low concentrations.

You have asked for food grade SO2. Maybe you explain what you have in mind / your target application.. ?

It's a (toxic) gas; you should be able to get it in pressurized cylinders ("lecture bottles") at one of the major suppliers (e.g. Sigma Aldrich), provided you have the required legal qualification (depending on the county where you live).

Chervil with a hint of mustard ?

Semi off-topic: I worked in an R&D lab handling very toxic (or even uncategorized) chemicals on a day to day basis. We used all the appropriate gloves (4 different kinds). One of the technicians however decided that in order to better protect him he wanted to wear an extra set of nitrile gloves on top of his protection gloves all the time - and always the same set. He went so far as to touch non-lab installations (door handles) with it, because with gloves everything was "safe" (for him, of course). He got three warnings by the end of the week and I had him transferred to a different lab by the next month. Gloves may provide protection for the individual, but not to the environment that individual is working in. Same for the gloves in the kitchen.

Same here. Given the high prices for imported meat, chuck eye "steaks" (her usually termed "roll") are one of the more affordable options (lower row, next to the oxtail). Of course, most of the local population will try to to cook it like a steak and then bit a bit disappointed with the shoe sole-type texture.

Do the 78 oC refer to the bath or the milk temperature in your SV set-up ? Depending on the size of your SV bath and the starting temperature of your milk, with probably no agitation other than convection inside your milk, it might not have reached an even 70 oC ...

Weekend trip to Hangzhou, China. Just arrived and headed out to explore the vicinity of our note. Found a place specializing in crawfish. Had lots of it with lots of garlic in a spicy and super rich sauce ... Life is good

Where are you heading ? Da Nang, Hue, Hoi An ? Enjoy your trip and looking forward to some great food !

"Betsy" - allegedly the first beer specifically brewed for being consumed during air travel. I had this some weeks ago in the Cathay lounge in Hong Kong and found it a bit flat. This time I ordered it as my pre-lunch drink on the flight from FRA back to HKG. At the reduced pressure in the cabin the carbonation was just right. It was kind of fruity, with a pronounced bitterness. Reminded me of a cross-over between a pale ale and a lambic. Overall a quite nice beer ...

When it comes to left-overs, nothing beats the humble "Breznknödel". Here together with cured pork neck and some Riesling. I do love left-overs (even when they were produced on purpose ) ...

"Kassler Kamm": Pork neck, dry-cured for two days, rubbed with a little gin & liquid smoke, then SV for 20h @ 60 oC. Will make terrific sandwiches, but most of it was char-grilled today. Yummy

"Laugenbrötchen", essentially little pretzl rolls. To be consumed during this years first BBQ (yes, I know I am late ...).

This was meant to be a small afternoon snack. In a bout of home sickness my wife requested Churros with heavy dipping chocolate - technically Catalan breakfast. I whipped up a (pretty large) batch and there were no leftovers... And no dinner