eG Foodblog: Torakris - New Year's Festivities in Japan

[helenjp]

Takoyaki translates as "octopus grill"...what they ARE are little balls of very sloppy batter, flavored with savory stuff like powdered katsuobushi (the dried tuna shavings used for soup and garnishes), and with curmudgeonly amounts of chopped boiled octopus in them. They are cooked in a heavy iron pan with small round depressions in them. Once the batter starts to set around the edge, you flip them over with a bamboo skewer, until you have a soft round ball - the batter should have lost the raw floury taste, but still be liquid in the centre. These are brushed with a sweet shoyu tonkatsu sauce, sprinkled with green onion, katsuobushi, and sometimes a squirt of Kewpie mayonnaise, and eaten as a snack. An Osaka tradition, sold from carts outside stations on cold winter nights, but popular all over Japan.

Sons have a friend coming over later in the day, they'll probably make some then so I'll post photos later.

[Pan]

Cool!

[torakris]

For an ignorant westerner the noodle dih looks wonderful and delicious, but isn't it a bit low on protein? Or does the tofu provide enough?

I think for dish the tofu provides enough protein for the meal and in my husband's case the natto.

A lot of Japanese noodle dishes (which are most commonly eaten for lunch) seem to be very low on the protein factor and even lower on the vegetables.

I think they just figure they make up for it during the other two meals.....

[torakris]

I'm very lucky to have very respectable shumai available to me here. It's probably sacrilege, but I like to use hot chile oil or hot chile vinegar for a dip sometimes,as an alternative to soy or chinese mustard. What's everyone else use?

Although I usually go back to the mustard and soy sometimes my husband and I like to dip our shumai in a Thai style sweet chile sauce.

[torakris]

Monday morning breakfast

I drank one alrge tumbler of iced coffee and went to get some more and discovered my husband finished it off!

I am not used to him being here during the day......

So went he went to the bathroom, I stole his tumbler of iced coffee and am drinking it now.

The kids and my husband ate the leftover curry rice that my husband prepared last night while I was out, but I just can't handle that kind of stuff in the morning. I might have something a bit later, it is only 9:00am.

The dancing never happened last night, the club we wanted to go to called Xanadu which is a 70's style discc was closed on Sundays and none of us felt like making the trip over to Roppongi (we were in Shibuya). Seeing we started shopping at 1:00 we were quite tired and my feet were killing me because I wore stupid shoes!

I did by 3 new shirts and a pair of yoga pants! and we were just drunk enough to wander of the street into a sex toy shop......

Us 5 foreign women scared all of those men out of there pretty fast.

I am going to upload the pictures from yesterday, give me a couple minutes.

[torakris]

I also forgot I wanted to Thank Helen for being here!!

keep posting!

We are going to have to get together again soon and get some good eating done, all in the sake of egullet of course!

[helenjp]

I'll try to be a bit more discreet in my posting...hope you had a great time last night Kristin!

Now off to that other great institution...cram school...would you believe it's more fun than regular school?!

[torakris]

We wanted to go check out 3 of the "theme" restaurants put out by UG Growing Up Corporation, theses are places not known as much for their food but for the atmosphere they provide. the is actually pretty good and very reasonably priced.

Here is a description of their restaurants in English (they are mostly in Tokyo with some in the Kansai region)

http://www.ug-gu.co.jp/english/e-resutaura...estaurants.html

We went to Criston Cafe which is set up like a "Gothic-y" Cathedral, I can't even describe the interior it was just incredible, no two tables were the same, the 5 of were sitting at a table that consisted of a huge plush leather couch and two equally plush leather arm chairs. Altars with candles figures of Christ and others were all around the room , there were lots of shrine like enclaves.

Unfortunately I didn't start taking pictures until I had had two drink and most of them didn't come out very well!

A blurry picture of the altar directly behind me

what I saw when I looked up, this was directly above our table

then some of our food

tuna carpaccio with a ring of baked parmasean cheese (this was really good )

shrimp wrapped and deep fried served with herb mayo

I forgot to turn on the flash

but this was a roll it yourself fresh spring roll served with a sambal sauce, we all erally enjoyed this one and next to it is a deep fried mochi (pounded rice) cake which was sprinkled with kinako (a soy flour made from roasted soy beans and sweetened with sugar, it is used a lot in desserts) and served with a cream cheese dip--I did not care for teh flavor combination on this one.

this is a seafood paella (right) and Fideua (a paella of pasta) (left) these were both served with a garlic aioli and were really good if not tiny.....

All of the dishes were in the $4 to $8 range.

Other food not pictured included

a cheese and okara (tofu lees) croquette (I didn't really care for this)

tuna and avocado salad with a horseradish flavored tartar suce served on crostini

Turkish style salad of minced vegetables in a yogurt dressing (this was a big favorite)

I also had two drinks (I am not a drinker and one is normally my limit! )

Grand Cross-- consisting lychee liqueur and tropical fruit champagne

Santa Maria-- peach liqueur, cranberry juice and vodka served with a little sppon of peach jelly

I also smoked 1 bidi (spelling? it is an Indian herby "cigarette")

My third time in my life to smoke anything and I think I am done now......

We then moved onto Buttu Trick Bar (same company) which didn't have nearly the atmosphere as Criston Cross, it was a HUGE open room with a giant Buddha in the middle of the room, it was really hot, really smokey and really crowded. We had a couple drinks and then left.

I had a coke and some water.

We tried going to Daibutsukorokoro (another one by the same company) but there was a 30 minute to one hour wait and we decided to try in next time.

The dance club was closed so we just came home, I got in about midnight.

[Pan]

Thanks for the interesting report, Kris.

Sounds like fusion from a Japanese starting point.

[torakris]

For my 10:00am breakfast I had a small bowl of leftover kishimen and seasoned tofu pockets from yesterdays lunch and a couple of sips of warm, flat Coke.

I don't drink colas and I hate Coke (Pepsi Rules!) my husband must have bought it yesterday and I hate wasting things.....

of to do the tradional oosouji or year end house cleaning.

At the end of the year the Japanese people all clean their house inside out, and I mean they clean absolutely everything. I do major cleanings throughout the year so don't go too out at the end of the year. But my place could use some work especially in the garden. I need to go hang out my carpets so my daughters' can wash the floors!

[Mayhaw Man]

I don't mean to pry. Just be rude and treat me poorly if you think I am being too nosy, but would you mind taking a photo or two of your kitchen?

I am always interested to see where other people prepare meals and I suppose I am wondering if your kitchen/house is a typical Japanese kitchen (whatever that is, I am not pretending I know) or is it more Western in nature?

I am enjoying your blog so far.

Thanks, Brooks

[torakris]

My kitchen, hhmmm.........

Western? or Japanese? Good question.

By Western standards in is on the small side, though in Japan it is considered to be fairly large.

It is a separate room with an open counter looking onto our living room, a lot of Japanese kitchens (even in large houses) tend to be just one wall of a room. It can be just a sink and stove connected by a small counter all on one strip of wall with tthe rest of the room either being just a small dining room or a living room/dining room combo.

I have some things you don't normally see in a Japanese home like a toaster, an expresso machine, a salad spinner, a food processor, blender, bread machine etc. I do have the typical "Japanese things like a rice cooker, a Japanese gas range with no oven attatched, a microwave/oven combo, a drying rack in the sink because there in no place for a dishwasher.

I just came home from shopping so my kitchen is not as clean as it should be but hear are two pictures.

Questions?

and for those interested here is my bookshelf

the cookbooks are all 5 shelves on the right , the 2 top shelves in the middle and the top shelf on the left.

[torakris]

Monday's lunch

the kids had the leftover curry (yes that was three meals in a row!), some Japanese people can keep their pot of curry going for 3 days.

my husband and I had tantanmen, it is like ramen and Chinese in origin it consists of noodles in a spicy soup topped with seasoned ground beef and negi (Japanese leeks), I usually like to add some greens to it to make it more substantial, but had nothing in the house.

After lunch (we spent most of the morning doing some major cleaning) we ran out to the store to buy some food and I wanted to look for a new hand beater as mine broke last week. We went to a "Super" supermarket, the "Super" meaning beside having a supermarket, it has a second floor that sells everything form electronics, to underwear, to pets, to toys, it also has a bookstore, a clothing shop, a shoe store, an amusement center for kids (or adults ), a photo studio, a hair salon and a food court.

I got myself a new hand mixer and my husband found some boots to wear when riding his motorcycle. We also picked up some ingredients to make osechi,the traditional foods eaten on New Years day.

I have never made osechi before my in-laws who live around the corner from us insist on buying it every year pre-made (this is actually quite common in Japan) and she feels it is too inconveniencing to make it from scratch.

I have offered on numerous occasions to make some of it and she has always turned me down, she can't understand that soem people actually enjoy cooking!

Well this year has been a very bad year for them financially and they told my husband they would not be buying too much this year, just a couple of the main pieces, so I decided I am going to make some.......

We'll see how it goes.

[herbacidal]

Cool!

available at otafuku, @ 236 E 10th. I get them almost every time I go to New York.

It's just a little takeout stand that sells takoyaki and okonomiyaki.

[torakris]

Well I was off wandering the streets of Tokyo yesterday this is what my husband made with my kids.

He made all of it with materials he picked up from his work site (he is in construction) and he put it all together. I was quite impressed.

I also forgot to add that when we finished shopping we stopped into the food court and bought some milk shakes from McDonald's. I had half of Hide's chocolate, I actually prefer vanilla.

I have also had a couple of tumblers of water throughout the day.

[ggglimpopo]

Hi Kristin

Thanks for all this, it's great. I live in Bordeaux, we've just done this huge French family Christmas thing - you should see the laundry I'm ploughing through - and it is 9.00 am here Monday morning. Japan seems sooooooooooo exotic Can't wait to read the rest. Sure makes a great change from Oysters and Foie Gras.......

Foodwise, I love Japanese food but south west France is hardly geared up on the noodle front. We can get sushi here, there are a couple of so so Japanese restaurants ........... but hey, now there is your blog! Looking forward to the rest.

Nola

[Pan]

Herb, I know the place you're talking about - obviously authentic, very popular with Japanese people - and I now know what those names mean. I haven't tried their food yet, and I appreciate the reminder.

[torakris]

It has been a busy day trying to finish up the cleaning, which currently seems worse than when I actually started and I have been trying to pull some materials together for an English class I am teaching tomorrow.

So anyway, didn't feel like spending time on dinner and am trying to use up the stuff in the house as we are going to be mostly eating out for the next two to three days.

I made a daikon and pork belly dish that was simmered with soy sauce, sake and sugar, a kaisou (seaweed) and onion salad with a shiso dressing, and green beans with a sesame dressing. All served with Japanese rice.

I would consider this kind of meal fairly typical in Japan but it would also include a soup (most likely miso) and pickles.

We also ate Japanese style sitting on the floor in the living room at a low table, the only reason for this was that the dining room table was covered with all the things that had been pulled out of the closet during my cleaning........

I was actually quite nice as the hot carpet warmed me up, I could have done with out watching the Power Puff Girls (in Japanese) while eating though, but it was a nice change from listening to my son sing his rendition of Jingle Bells at the top of his lungs all day long. "Jungle Boy, Jungle Boy, jungle ooh-waaay".

We don't normally watch tv during our meals (though a lot of Japanese do) it is that is has just sort of become the thing we do when we eat at the little table in the living room. This normally happens about once a month and usually on the days when my husband is not home.

[Pan]

Thanks for the beautiful pictures, Kris! That food looks good!

What is shiso dressing made out of?

[Louisa Chu]

Kristin, could you please take some pix on your next trips to the market? And is your fridge big by Japanese standards? And do those tantanmen packs contain the beef too? It's huge by Parisian standards - like mine - I shipped mine over from the States and my French friends marvel over it. Thanks so much again for sharing this all - including your thoughtful husband and sweet children too!

[Anna N]

This is just so fascinating. Thanks, Kristin, for sharing.

[torakris]

What is shiso dressing made out of?

whatever they added to the bottle!

I should have added this was a purchased product......

The shiso dressing is what they call non-oil and it has no oil added, it is probably seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar and a bunch of you that are better off not in your body.

I buy this dressing maybe twice a year and use it only on seaweed salads.......

[torakris]

Kristin, could you please take some pix on your next trips to the market? And is your fridge big by Japanese standards? And do those tantanmen packs contain the beef too? It's huge by Parisian standards - like mine - I shipped mine over from the States and my French friends marvel over it. Thanks so much again for sharing this all - including your thoughtful husband and sweet children too!

I wi;; try to get some pictures but I rarely shop at "markets" only grocery stores. and you are not allowed to take pictures inside.

As to my refrigerator, I would say is is an average size for a family of 5. They don't get that much bigger here though, nothing even close to most of the ones I have seen in American houses.

The tantanmen packs do not contain the beef.

[torakris]

I am currently drinking my pre-breakfast coffee, hot rather than cold since I just made it.

[Mayhaw Man]

That's great. Thanks.

No oven? Or is there just no need for one given most Japanese food seems to come from stove top?

Brooks