Japanese Dinner + The Blowtorch!

About two years ago, J bought me a blowtorch for my birthday.  No, I'm not going all Flashdance on you with dreams of becoming a food-blogging welder- he figured I'd need it in case I ever wanted to brulée something.  I think the main motivation for him to buy me the torch was because he wanted me aburi something.  Aburi means "flamed" in Japanese, and if you go out to sushi often you've probably seen the chef whip out his blowtorch and lightly sear the top of a piece of salmon, toro or mackerel.  The heat of the flame melts the fat in the fish and creates a beautiful, soft, fatty flavor and texture.  If you haven't had the chance to try any aburi sashimi or sushi, make sure to request it next time because it is, in a word, heavenly.  

明けましておめでとうございます, or, Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!  It's a rainy day here in Los Angeles on the 2nd day of 2011, so I thought I'd take the time to post some pics from our annual Japanese New Year meal that my parents have at their house and J looks forward to for about 12 months.  We all do, because it's tradition, and happily for a family of food lovers, it's awesome to sit and eat many different kinds of Japanese goodies that make up the  osechi meal.  Although my mom's version isn't 100% osechi, the meal contains many of the dishes that make up the spread of traditional Japanese New Years foods.

Are you ready for a photo fiesta of Japanese delights?!

あけおめ!!!

Sweet black beans (kuromame) and chestnuts

So here we are, dear reader(s)...the dawn of a new decade! The Japanese above is what my friend Sugar said to usher in the new year- it means "Ake-ome" which is short for "Akemashite Omedeotou" which is the way to say "Happy New Year" in Japanese. So あけおめ everyone!

Kamaboko- fish cake

I went back and forth on whether to open up 2010 on Tuna Toast with these fuzzy images taken on my LG cell phone camera. After all, doesn't everyone want to hit the ground running as best they can, whip out their A-game, vow to be better this year than the last? Although I'd love to do all those things (and still plan to!) I couldn't skip an entry which shows off all of the wonderful food my mom made for our yearly "osechi ryori" dinner at my parents house. Everything was delicious as usual, and my husband J looks forward to this meal ALL year long so you can imagine how good it is!

Lots of sake to wash the meal down with!

So please excuse the poor photo quality, but I figure the quality of the food will shine through my lame camera phone images and I'll make sure to bring the camera next time.

Nimono- simmered lotus root, mountain potato, burdock root, veggies


A rainbow of salmon, tuna and squid sashimi

My mom's famous shime-saba (marinated mackeral)

Sticky little sweet fish to nibble on with sake

Yaki-zakana- salt-grilled snapper (tai)

The table, all set and ready to go!

Happy 2010 to everyone!!!

Where Am I?

List of menu items line the wall........and one item that, er, should NOT be on any menu. Can you find the dirty word?

People pack the smoke-filled izakaya..........

Yakitori on the grill.....smells gooood....

The man behind the grills............

Tsukune and quail eggs.....YUM.

Gyutan, aspara-bacon and tebasaki..........

Vintage poster on the wall...............

Poster of yakitori varieties......

The classic yakitori w tare..............

The sign says "delicious! cheap! fast!"

So am I at a yakitori house in Kichijoji? An izakaya in Koenji, perhaps? From my seat on a tiny little tree-stump of a stool, it certainly seemed like I was. The sounds, the smells.....even the ubiquitous salaryman smoking cigarettes in a plexi-glass "smoking room" made me feel like I was transported back to the cramped, underground pubs that I'd eaten countless cheap (and delicious) meals in during my seven year stint in Tokyo. While it's difficult to find quailty food served with large quantities of good, strong beer for under $10 per person here, these izakayas are everywhere in Tokyo and other major metropolitan areas throughout Japan. Thanks to the izakaya, I filled my belly daily with everything from sashimi to yakitori; crunchy deep-fried wontons filled with cheese and mentaiko to fresh salads topped with a popular mix of canned tuna and canned corn; grilled onigiri painted with thin layer of sweet soy sauce to yakisoba noodles served on a sizzling cast iron plate......oh how I dearly miss the izakayas of my Tokyo days. You have NO idea how much!

So imagine my utter joy when J and I stumbled upon an entire ROW of yakitori-yas and izakayas on St. Mark's Place in the East Village in New York City! We were dragging our butts back to our hotel after consuming embarassingly large quanities of wine and an array of rich tapas but when I saw plumes of chicken-fat-burning smoke, my fullness went away and we ducked in to not one but two places. In Japanese there is something called a "betsu-bara" which means a separate stomach and that is the one I filled with all kinds of grilled meats and little nibbles from both places. It Was Awesome. I was literally transported and it felt amazing as J and I held our glasses of sake and chu-hi up to make a toast.

Although Los Angeles certainly has it's share of Japanese neighborhoods (Torrance, Sawtell, Gardena) it does not have the bustling city-vibe that Tokyo has. It makes complete sense that New York can recreate the same vibe as Tokyo, and although I'd never thought of living in New York before, St Mark's Place may have put the idea in my head....at least a little!

Hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving filled with lots of amazing food!

Japan- The Last Snapshots

Here are the last of the photos from my Japan trip back in June. Since then I've been back in the kitchen, excited about cooking with summer's best ingredients, so I'll get back to the cooking blogging soon. Is it just me or are corn, tomatoes and basil all one needs to eat during the summer? The farmers markets are just loaded with the best and sweetest produce right now.

Anyway, back to Nippon!


Dark purple asparagus at the market in Sapporo

Taking the shinkansen (bullet train) to Tokyo from Nagoya

Would you like some beecon, or bacon?

Hairy crab with lots of "kani-miso," at an izakaya near our hotel in Sapporo.

People gather at a matsuri in Sapporo- this area where all of the food stands are is definitely the most popular of the festival!

An array of plastic sushi displayed in the window of a sushi restaurant, Otaru.

Hmmmmm....more delicious looking plastic food in the shotengai (shopping street) in Sapporo.

Punk rocker in front of one of Japan's most popular convinience stores, SUNKUS, which is pronounced and means "thanks." It took me a year to realize that while I lived there since I kept pronouncing the "kus" like "bus."

Salmon sashimi, fresh and fatty, at an izakaya in Sapporo.

Tiny little eateries like this sushi shop are one of my favorite things about Japan. No matter what city you're in, you'll find little places- bars, yakitoriyas, sushiyas, etc.

Last but not least, my 99 year old "obaachan" or grandmother. Isn't she the cutest? She still loves to eat and chat and is just perfect.

Urasawa, Beverly Hills

Last Saturday, my family and I made our much-anticipated maiden voyage to Urasawa. My sister was generous enough to take us all there to celebrate our birthdays, anniversary and other milestones, and we had a wonderful time. I can’t really put into words the kind of service and food we experienced; it was all delicate, profound and will be put into the “once in a lifetime” category.

I’ll try my best to remember everything we ate; some of the sushi is lost on me now that a few days have passed but here is my photo essay of our wonderful Urasawa meal! Enjoy:

Beautfiul display behind counter



First course- hairy crab salad with crysthansamum petals

Lightly seared toro with ponzu
and edible gold leaf

Assortment of lightly stewed vegetables & seafood

Assorted sashimi on ice block...check out that toro...wow!

Baked dish made of yamaimo (mountain potato) with various treasures hidden inside..like uni, ginko nuts, shrimp. Most surprising dish of the night- had the exact texture of rice but was made of this very healthy potato.

See the uni inside?

Tempura of cod sperm sack served with dashi dipping sauce

Chef Hiro Urasawa starts to work on a huge slab of Kobe beef.....

...perfectly marbled with fat

Toro seared on a hot stone

The leftover meat from the hairy crab used in the first course, cooked in it's own shell with a nice slice of uni. This was sublime...

Beef slowly braised in sweet soy....this was one of my favorites. So tender....!

The raw ingredients for shabu shabu, including a large slice of foie gras.

See huge slab of foie gras....

Cooked for about a minute in the hot broth, the foie gras was rich, tender yet extremely refreshing. My father and J, neither of whom are big foie fans, loved this dish.

Sushi course:

Toro

Hirame

Kohada- much less "pickeled" than versions I've had before, you could really taste the fish instead of the vinegar.

Lighly grilled shiitake mushroom. This was absolutely meaty and delicious.

Sayori (half beak)

Aji- Spanish mackeral

Awabi (abalone)- I've never been a fan of abalone but this was very good.

Uni (sea urchin). The best I've ever had, hands down. No bitterness, just sweet and creamy. Wow.

Maguro (tuna)

Ama ebi (sweet shrimp)- we watched Urasawa-san cut open big, fat Santa Barbara spot prawns to create this. Again, the best I've ever had.

Giant clam- slightly crunchy and sweet

The housemade "gari" or pickled ginger was sweet and spicy with a softer texture than most.

Real, fresh wasabi root

Unfortunately, this one escapes me!

Saba- mackeral

This one is lost on me now as well...

Unagi, sweet and tender

Astuyaki tamago- his version was almost cake-like..I could have eaten a few more of these!!

Desserts

Box containing assorted fruit- the stewed apple was my favorite

Sesame pudding topped with a sweet bean paste and matcha (green tea)

The sesame pudding was super smooth, slightly nutty and just sweet enough.

Toasted rice tea finishes out the amazing meal





The thing that surprised me the most, I have to admit, was the cheerful disposition of the chef, Hiro Urasawa. I guess I assumed that he would be a very serious and disciplined type, and although he certainly is when it comes to his food, he was good natured and joked a lot. He made everyone feel so comfortable and made sure to call each person by name.

Everything about the experience was perfect, and I highly recommend one visit if you ever get the chance. It is, as most people know, very expensive, so it certainly isn't a place to go often but everyone should experience this at least once in their lives. The food, service and watching Urasawa-san at work is absolutely worth every penny.

Urasawa

218 Rodeo Drive Los Angeles CA 90210