Short post before VACATION!



One more day of work before our trip to Mexico City and Zihuatanejo...I can hardly wait to see the pyramids, Frida Kahlo's old stomping grounds, lay on the beach and eat some serious seafood. I have a long list of restaurants I want to try in Mexico City but I doubt we'll have time to visit them all! I am excited about going to Contramar which I heard about from Potatomato- it's a must eat destination, apparently! On our first night, we will have dinner at the house of an acquaintance which I'm also looking forward to- it's always great to see how people cook in their own homes when you're away from your own.



The other night I made up a donburi (bowl) of sorts- brown rice topped with edamame, stewed kabocha, canned Japanese seasoned tuna, steamed spinach and green onions. I could live on the kobocha alone, but the combination of sweet, salty and savory was great. A side of tofu topped with enoki mushrooms and macha powder plus a small salad completed the meal.



I promise lots of Mexico photos, food and stories upon our return!

Have a great week!!

Sushi Ike, Hollywood



I love sushi. In fact, I think sushi is my favorite food on the planet. The older I get, the more I grow to love it, crave it, need it on a weekly basis. Luckily it's healthy and there is a lot of variety so it never gets old. Unluckily, it isn't cheap so it's quite an expensive habit to have. Fortunately there are a few reasonably priced yet high-quality sushi places in town so I don't always have to fork over a kidney to get my nigiri fix.

Amuse bouche

One of those places is Sushi Ike in Hollywood, about a mile or so from my office. I'd always heard about how fresh and reasonable it was but never got around to trying it until a couple of weeks ago. We had one of our cars in the shop so J picked me up from work and we wanted to wait the traffic out so I thought it was the perfect change to try Sushi Ike. By the way, it's pronounced "Ee-ke," not "Ike" like in "Mike & Ikes."

Aji

We pulled into the unassuming strip mall on the corner of Gower and Sunset and were lucky enough to be the 3rd couple there (after another 20 minutes, the place was PACKED!). We sat down at the small sushi counter, were given wet towels and ordered two iced green teas while the sushi chef gave us a small amuse bouche of fried salmon marinated in rice vinegar- YUM. My mom makes a similar dish with iwashi so it reminded me of her.

Hirame

Our sushi chef (not Ike-san, who was working the middle of the counter and all smiles) was nice but very serious, not really chatting with us and focusing on making each nigiri perfect with the smallest amount of rice possible (which is a good thing- too much rice just fills you up). We started with a well-marbled piece of salmon, which was delicious. We then had halibut brushed with yuzu and lemon, scallop with shiso leaf and very fresh aji with ponzu and ginger.

Hotate with shiso

We saw that most people had been ordering the sliced octopus, so we got one as well. The chef took out a pre-boiled tentacle and tossed it on a grill for about 5 minutes. After slicing into nice thin strips, he drizzled it with lemon and salt and presented to us. One bite of this and I knew we were hooked. It was as tender as a baby's butt. Ok, well I've never eaten a baby's butt but you know what I mean- if you blindfolded any octopus-hater and had them take a bite of this, they'd be converted. It was as soft and tender as dark meat chicken but still had the subtle taste of both sea and grill. I asked Ike-san how on earth they got it to such a texture, and he revealed that they boil the raw octopus in green tea and adzuki beans. Apparently something in the beans is the key to tenderness. Maybe I should give a bag to a particularly tough and chewy coworker who could try a little tenderness as well.

The magical fire...

Grilled tako

We ordered a "una-kyu" which is Japanese slang for a unagi cucumber roll. Once again, the chef tossed the unagi on the same grill- no toaster oven here- and it made for a slightly charred and utterly delicious eel which matched so well with the cool, crunchy cucumber. We finished off with the anago, which was also made on the grill and unlike any anago I'd had before. It was slightly crisp yet melting on the inside and brushed with the slightest coating of sweet sauce.

Una-kyu

I'm glad we discovered such a fresh and simple sushi place close to work. You won't get any fancy rolls at this place- just good, fresh fish and the best grilled octopus I've ever had.

Anago

Sushi Ike
6051 Hollywood Blvd
Hollywood, CA
323-856-9972

Farewell Potluck....



A couple of weeks ago, my coworkers and I had to say goodbye to one of our dear friends as she left us all for the man of her dreams. Of course we all wondered what on earth this guy had that WE don't have in spades (being the wonderful group of people we are, ya know;). Well, our questions were answered when we finally met the famous guy who swept our dear KB off her feet and saw that he was everything she had talked about and more.



As sad as everyone was, we knew we had to throw KB a proper farewell before she left us for the mountains of Boulder. We planned a potluck at the house and enjoyed various dishes that people brought. A great time was had by all as we sat in the backyard, laughed about the good times and ate everything in sight. There was enough cheese to put us all in a dairy coma, a fantastic fig and marcona almond "cake" to go with the cheeses (tip: Whole Foods sells this but if you live in Los Angeles, buy it at Nicole's in South Pas- it's half the price!!), a gnocchi salad, mushroom tart, fruit plate (marking my first time cutting a whole pineapple!), chips, dips and plenty more. Not only was KP (The Boyfriend) a really nice guy but quite the chef as well! His Blue Cheese Coleslaw was delicious, the potato salad w/ capers and olives was a hit and the pasta salad w/ tomatoes and basil was devoured. A man that rock climbs AND knows how to cook? No wonder KB couldn't wait another minute to be with her guy!

KP's yummy dishes.....

Gnocchi "salad" once again.....

I suppose part of what makes KB such a sweetie is that she loves sugar, so we had to have something sweet to cap off the night. I made the Red Velvet Cake from Bon Apetite that I'd made many times before- it's always a winner and I love the fruit with the cream cheese frosting. It's a great show-stopper, and very easy to make. Just make sure you buy gel food coloring and use the entire container of it to get the cake a nice, deep shade of red. Anyway, we polished that off too as we tried to make the evening last as long as possible before saying our goodbyes.

Cream cheese frosting mixed with fruit......

Finished cake.....

Lovely nighttime photo of cut cake....

Best of luck in Boulder KB and KP! We miss you already;).

The happy couple!!!

Farmer's Market: Apricot Galette



This is a great time of year to hit a Farmer's Market as we creep into summer and all of the fruits of the season start showing their glorious colors. This past Sunday we decided to go to the Montrose market for the first time, and were pleasantly surprised at all of the produce and food offerings it presented. Racks of bbq rotisserie chicken sat alongside piles of bing cherries (SO SWEET!) and thick masses of kale while kids took turns taking rides on the miniature ponies.



Almost immediately, I spotted the large mound of fresh apricots on one table and started grabbing. Although I'm not nuts about eating the fruit on its own, I love making desserts with them. Apricot jam is another favorite. Anyway, since they have such a short season, I had to get some before the window closed for another year.

Sugar mixture on tart........

When I got home, I checked around and found this simple recipe which was perfect since I had a sheet of puff pastry in the freezer and bags of almonds in the pantry. I veered from the recipe slightly and used both pistachios and almonds in the sugar/nut mixture, and used regular granulated sugar instead of confectioner's since I didn't have any. I loved that the recipe made the fruit the star and didn't have a lot of filler.

Ready for the oven.......

The galette was a cinch to put together- blitz some nuts and sugar in the Cuisinart and sprinkle on the puff pastry, place sliced fruit on top of sugar mixture, brush some egg wash around the rim, sprinkle the top with additional sugar and bake. Seriously- you could use any stone fruit in this and it'd be fantastic. In fact, I have over a hundred plums on my tree that will be making an appearance in another version of this when they're ripe. I brushed the cooled tart with some melted apricot jam to give it a nice shine, and it was done. I think a scoop of some good, vanilla gelato would make it even better!



If you haven't made it out to a Farmer's Market lately, check out all of the mouth-watering choices that are available this time of year. To find a market near you, just check out this site.

Sweeps Week Soba Dinner




So May Sweeps on the television is almost over, and what a week its been. Not only do I love television, but I have to watch a lot of it for my job (whether I like the show or not) but who can complain. As my boss always says "What other job requires you to watch television?!?!" He's right- it's not like I have to risk life and limb catching crab in the Bering Sea or nothin' (Deadliest Catch is possibly the best show on television and explains why crab costs so dang much!).

In addition to the American Idol finale (eh, it would have been more interesting had Blake won...it was a so-so season but that performance with Doug E. Fresh was awesome), Heroes ended with a bang (literally) and Dancing With The Stars closed out with Apolo Anton Ono (shout out to the Hapas everywhere!) crowned the winner. But really- who cares about any of this when LOST just blew it all out of the water with last night's season finale?!?!?! I had to remind myself to breathe during the entire two hours. One of the editors I worked with put it best when he said "The last five minutes of LOST last night was as significant as when Darth Vader tells Luke, "I'm Your Father" in terms of major twists in pop culture history." Now before you Star Wars maniacs start writing me hate email, remember that I'm simply quoting my co-worker. Not really being a Start Wars maniac myself, I can't really compare but I can tell you- it was awesome!

Anyway, back to LOST later. Here's a soba dinner we had recently.

Zaru soba- cold, buckwheat noodles dipped in a bonito broth mixture, wasabi and green onions. A summer-time favorite!



Sugar snap pea and tomato salad with sweet sesame dressing:



Soramame (fava beans) boiled, peeled and tossed with some yuzu pepper. They sell bags of frozen fava beans at Mitsuwa, and although they aren't as good as fresh, you don't have to take them out of the pods so it's great for a quick snack or sidedish.



Speaking of LOST- we were lucky enough to have Michael (who's been gone FOREVER!) aka Harold Perrineau visit us on set the other day. He brought along Daniel Dae Kim (Jin) so we were extra thrilled!!!

Me and "Michael" with me cut out.

Me with "Jin," who I congratulated (remember, he and Sun are having a baby!)

We also did a food segment, and Bob Blumer, aka The Surreal Gourmet, was kind enough to come and show us how to whip up the most charming dishes for any party. As a food blogger, I was thrilled to have him and the food was delicious.

Me and the Surreal Gourmet

So I guess this isn't much of a food post..more like a blubbering fan post. Sometimes variety is the spice of life, no?

Forgotten dishes



I had meant to blog about the rest of the dishes I made for a family dinner the day after I posted about the main course, but I just plain forgot. I don't have much time for a proper post today, so I'll share what we ate in addition to the lasagna that evening.



As Ina Garten often recommends, I went to the Italian deli and bought my appetizers instead of trying to make five things by myself. I picked up some prosciutto di Parma, sopressata, bocconcini , sun dried tomatoes, bread sticks and a tub of seasoned, roasted bell peppers and simply arranged them to create an antipasto platter. I did spear the bocconcini with the sun dried tomatoes and a basil leaf but short of that, I didn't do much and it was fantastic.



To serve alongside the lasagna, I just roasted some asparagus with lemon zest, olive oil and sea salt. The beef carpaccio was made by freezing some filets, rubbing the outside of the steaks with salt & pepper, then searing them all over before sticking them back in the freezer. After about an hour, I just took them out and sliced them on my mandoline- it was so easy. Fanned around a pile of arugula crowned with parmesan and drizzled with some basil olive oil and capers, it was done.



For dessert I made Mario Batali's Meyer Lemon Semiffredo with a bluberry sauce the night before. It was light, lemony and delicious.



More cooking adventures later this week!

You've GOT to be kidding me................

Last night, I was watching a Japanese movie, Shimotsuma Monogatari (Kamakaze Girls is the English title and I highly recommend you rent it now!), on AZNTV (The Network for Asian America- yes, it exists and yes, I watch it) and I saw one of those dumb infomercials that literally stopped me in my tracks. I mean, we've all seen that ridiculous plastic cylindrical container that you toss pasta and hot water in, then presto! You have perfectly cooked pasta every time! Um, yeah......more like stuck-together-slimy-on-the-outside-but-teeth-shatteringly-hard-on-the-inside glob. I mean, you know how hard it is to boil water and then have to put the pasta in a pot. I mean, who has the time to for that??? Most of the products featured in these ads are ridiculous, but the one I saw topped them all, at least in my world. Even J thought it was so funny- we sat on the sofa and couldn't stop laughing.


For you Japanese or fans of Japanese-food out there you know exactly what this contraption is:





It's a takoyaki pan- used to make the little savory, puffy balls filled with octopus, ginger and topped with sauce and mayo otherwise known as takoyaki. It's a fixture on the Osaka street food scene (yeah, there's a scene) and a not-uncommon-kitchen-item in the home of many Japanese.


Here's how we saw it advertised on TV last night:




Pancake puffs??? You've GOT to be kidding me! And on the Asian Network? Oi- the whole thing was so ludicrous. It says "Now you can make pancake puffs just like your grandma used to! Just use your favorite pancake or cake mix and pour it in to make easy-to-eat pancake puffs!" Er.....excuse me? The "pancake puffs" that MY grandma made would have likely been filled with chopped up OCTOPUS! The silliness continued with talk about how you could make a dozen different things with the Pancake Puff Pan. "Not only can you make the perfect sweets, but you can create pizza puffs, taco puffs, pepper puffs or cheese puffs - perfect for your next party!!!"


"But wait, there's more! If you call within the next FIVE minutes, we'll upgrade your order to the Chef's Choice set which includes a filling injector and a dozen flipping sticks!" Flipping sticks? They look exactly like the bamboo skewers that come in a pack of one hundred for $0.38.


I wonder what moron (or genius?) was in Japan, saw the takoyaki pan and thought "I'll call this Pancake Puffs and Flipping Sticks!"



TGIF!

Where Have You Been All My Life? Musha, Santa Monica

I miss many things about Japan, but the thing I long for most is the IZAKAYA. An izakaya is a Japanese pub that also serves food, but it is not the same as a drinking establishment here that does the same. Most izakayas in Japan are open late (some until 4:00 AM!), have a variety of small dishes which cover the spectrum from sashimi to kari kari cheezu (crispy fried wontons filled with cheese). When you walk in, you hear the familiar call of "irashaimase," take your shoes off, toss them in a locker and hunker down with your friends for a few hours to talk, drink and nosh. There are small, hole-in-the-wall izakayas and there are huge, chain-type places with photos of every single thing (drinks too!) on the colorful menus. I miss them all, and have longed to find an izakaya here that lives up to even the mediocre ones that I'd frequent in Japan. Unfortunately, I have found nothing close and my first (and probably last!) visit to Haru Ulala in Little Tokyo last week just discouraged me even further on my fruitless search.

I must admit, my search has not taken me very far. I'm sure there are places in Torrance that may grant one the true izakaya experience, but who wants to have a bunch of drinks and then face the daunting task of driving all the way home? (No one should, drinking and driving is bad bad bad!). Well, maybe I should designate a driver and search a bit out of my 15 mile radius zone, because when J and I found ourselves in Santa Monica last week for an evening appointment, we found what is definitely the closest thing to a true izakaya that I've found so far in Los Angeles. We had actually planned to go to the Newsroom (now called Interim Cafe) but when our eyes fell upon Musha, we couldn't resist walking in.

I knew of Musha- we'd been to the Torrance branch a long time ago and although we did enjoy it, it hadn't blown our socks off- but we just never make it out to Santa Monica for dinner so we had never been. When I heard the calls of "irashaimase!" I started to get a good feeling. The vibe inside reminded of the izakayas I used to go to back in Japan, and upon a visit to the ladies room I discovered a zashiki - a room where you sit on the floor instead of chairs and usually made with tatami floors, although this one had wood ones- which would be perfect for a private party of six or so. Inside the bathroom hung Japanese kanji characters brushed-stroked by one of the staff, along with a sign that said "Don't take these- if you want one, I will write one for you!" Are people really that tacky as to steal art off bathroom walls?

Example of a zashiki, not Musha's zashiki.....

Anyway, on to the food. My friends that frequent the Torrance Musha are always raving about their Musha Fried Chicken (MFC) so we ordered one of those, along with some scallop shumai, salmon sashimi, tofu salad and the aburi saba. J had iced green tea while I sipped on my sauvignon blanc (I know- I should have gotten sake but I wasn't in the mood for it) and we waited for the parade of food to begin.

The tofu salad came first- nice, beautifully soft scoops of fresh tofu atop mixed greens and capped with a dollop of good sesame dressing. Yum.



The "shumai" were delicious but totally different than any shumai I'd had before. Instead of being wrapped in wonton skins, each billowy shumai seemed to be made of some sort of steamed egg white/fish cake mix and contained a scallop in the middle. They were all coated with thin slices of cooked egg yolk and topped with a bit of caviar. They were delicious!



The famous MFC didn't disappoint- the tender chicken is first marinated for one day before being coated and lightly fried, which is what I LOVE about Japanese fried chicken- it is flavorful to the core. My mom's is better but their version was fantastic and came with a nice soy-based dipping sauce that also had grated daikon in it.



Get a little closer........

What came next is definitely our new favorite dish- aburi saba. We both love shimesaba, but had never had it like this before. The waitress brought out a sliced fillet of seasoned mackeral, lit up a blowtorch then proceeded to torch the top of the mackeral until its oils dripped down the sides of the fish and the top was nicely charred. O M G. Yes- the fatty fish just melted in our mouths and begged to be washed down with a bit of ice cold sake, which I was now regretting not ordering! Not only does this dish create an opportunity for a nice show, it really benefits from the torching and I will have to try this one at home. (oh- J loved it so much that I came home from work two days later to find a blowtorch on my dining table- a gift - and not-so-subtle hint!- from J!

Fire starter.......

Crispy on the outside.....

Lastly we had the salmon sashimi which, as you can see by the glistening fat in this photo, was fresh and beautiful. Without a trace of fishiness (which can be a problem with oilier fish) the salmon sashimi was perfect and oozing with oil. Who needs dessert when you have salmon this good to cap off a spectacular meal?!

Shiny and new........

We'll definitely be back to Musha again and again. I feel that our first Torrance Musha experience wasn't as good as the Santa Monica visit because we simply ordered the wrong things. I hope that a Little Tokyo Musha is in the works......Musha- please open in J Town!!! Little Tokyo NEEDS a Musha!!! It's too bad the two locations are so far from our house but we'll make the trek to have some more MFC and saba any day.

Musha Santa Monica
310) 576-6330 -
424 Wilshire Blvd,
Santa Monica, CA

Musha Torrance
(310) 787-7344
1725 W Carson St
Torrance, CA