Farmer's Market Finds

clockwise (from not so prettily cut plum): primetime plum, shiro plums, luisa plum, golden plums... I know it is kinda weird I'd blog about plums, but I don't think I have ever seen this many different types of them. The red ones, the primetime and the luisa were the tastiest, maybe the luisa slightly tastier than the other - it is also the most common plum you will see in grocery stores. The yellow ones had a very subtle taste with a sour skin - I am not sure I could tell the difference between the two.

My First Steak

Here, at medium rare - I am really impressed. Having no confidence, and add to it, no thermometer or not ever having really watched someone make a steak, I stayed away from the top sirloin and bought the cab sirloin. With boiled and sautéed new potatoes fried with garlic scapes and apples sautéed with balsamic vinegar and honey in the after-steak-pan...

At ~250g, 1inch-ish thick, marinated with just sea-salt and cracked pepper for about 10hrs, 4 minutes per side, starting with smoking hot pan reduced to medium high, 5 minutes of rest... too much for myself, but if you eat as slow as I usually do, you will manage it. Except that today, I had a pretty bad low-blood-sugar attack - just feeling extremely dizzy, so when I started eating I was eating like just about most of you - like you haven't seen food for 3days... That plus I was actually quite impressed with how the steak turned out...

Siphon coffee

Here's the Syphon coffee from 49th parallel, vancouver's famed coffee shop. At $5/cup, it is actually to be shared. This method of coffee brewing diesn't yield a stronger brew than your average drip machine, certainly is not as strong as the traditional Italian moka pot, but the novelty of the method must intrigue even the non-physicists... And for me it brought back pleasant memories of the tiny coffee shop in Mito, Japan, that I first saw this aparatus - this particular one at 49th wad also from Japan, but the water was heated with a much sophisticated halogen lamp...

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Sundae - Korean blood sausage

Sundae (pronounced Soondae) in North Vancouver's South Castle Korean Restaurant... This according to my Korean friend is the authentic one - with home made sausages (from pig intestine, not from the plastic sausage casing they use on the grocery store sausages). We got it in soup and it came with other parts of the poor li'l pig - his ears, heart, kidney etc... poor poor li'l pig... But it was quite yummy actually, spicy like I have come to know Korean food...

Mushroom Kale Quiche

in pie-crust (I like my quiches to have a crust sometimes) - Kale and mushrooms sautéed with onions and garlic and chipotle sauce with raisins and goat cheese... yum yummmm....

Nouvelle Cuisine

Farmer's market day. Quick sautéing to preserve original taste, with only salt, sparingly - in a nouvelle cuisine sort of way. Russian kale, yum yum yellow oyster mushrooms, the most flavorful tomatoes I've ever had - heirloom tomatoes - so sweet - this is definitely going to be made in to a pasta sauce this summer and a new food for me garlic scapes.

Japa Dog

Vancouver's famous Japadog... Just a regular hotdog with some fun toppings... I had the okonomi-dog... I went in thinking of the yum yum Hiroshima okonomiyaki we had... so it was a big let down...

kanimiso

So I was at this super touristy fishing village near Tokai, called Oarai. I thought it was a cute little fishing village, but as I drove in, the number of ferrari's and jaguars coming out of town on this Sunday, sort of disappointed me actually. Anyway, I went to scout out this torii that I want to go to one early morning and make sunrise pictures of. I found the torii and then also went to the tourist information center that I stumbled upon which happened to have an English map. The map said fish market so off I went hoping to find a good sushi belt, kinda like the one we have near Tokai. I found both the market and the sushi belt restaurant, which was sort of at the pricey end. Otoro (fatty tuna belly, in the background of the scallop picture) and uni(sea-urchin) were both served at 840Yen ($10) per two piece, which I thought was expensive - but then I remembered this was actually the first time I am paying for otoro or uni that I am eating - yeah I know, it is nice to be a girl, most of the time. I also had this huge scallop, that was actually only 320Yen, surprisingly. But anyway, as I usually do, I was chatting with the sushi chef, despite not speaking a common language. He had fed me way too much - but as he hovered over my menu despite me saying I am way too full, he wrapped up another roll - I had to try it, and it's on him, he said. It was this kanimiso, that I had no idea what it was, so thinking it was yet another roll, I didn't take a picture of it. It was sitting on my plate for a while because I was so very full, and he smiled and said something to the effect of 'oh I think you are disgusted?' - this is all guess-work, but I think you would have guessed the same too - remember that Annie Griffiths Belt quote on how language is not that important in communication... Anyway, my pleasing personality gave in and I plopped it in my mouth - it was very sea-like or fishy - both tastes, I like, but also the tastes that makes people dislike fish. Both chefs watched me as my face didn't twist in disgust, and I said 'hmmm... oyeshu (good)' - at which they both jumped and said 'really?' in perfect English. I said really - my Japanese wasn't good enough to tell them that I am infact an island girl. 'What is it?', I asked. 'Crab' he said and pointed to his head. So it is crab-head and crab meat I figured; the head is also where crustaceans store their poop - but to island people this is no big deal. So thinking this must me something super disgusting, I took a picture of the menu so I can ask my Japanese friends. It was indeed crab head/guts and crab meat... big deal!!!

soba

Made soba, thinking of that very first soba soup I had that was sooooo tasty - I have been to the same restaurant again, but it is not quite as tasty - I was getting a cold that first time and it must have added to the heavenly-ness of that bowl of soba soup.

This turned out quite well, complete with this Japanese chilli-pepper seasoning which is apparently a mix of 8 different things and is super spicy (in Japanese standards). The first time I made soba, a few months ago it was disgusting - I had no idea you had to treat it like a baby. Cook and then wash them under cold running water until all starch is washed away and the water runs clear... It was well worth the effort though, for once in a while...

ol' acquaintances

It is nice to be here in Japan, I feel less suffocated than I am in Vancouver. Maybe it is the general composition of people, maybe, and I hate to get on the bash American band wagon, but all the Americans in Vancouver bother me in one way or the other, so maybe it is larger non-American presence, or maybe, it is because I have some familiar friends from my previous experiment.

Yes, I know, I am all kicking and screaming about being dragged out of Vancouver and having to live out of a suitcase, but now that I am here and loving it, I am wishing I could stay here longer.

But back to my old friends - it is always fun to see people I haven't seen for a while. And this is the first time that we are meeting outside of the scope of a collaboration meeting where we don't have to hang out with people from our own institutions. To celebrate, we went out and had shabu-shabu. The three of us are all about six to eight years older than when we first met, and four since we last met. We (well not really me, but…) are a good deal heavier than we were back then - a heaviness reflected in the soft pant that is almost unnoticeable, unless you are actually standing close to each other. We are all less shy and more at peace with each other and are able to have adult like conversations and tease each other without freaking out of the opposite sex.

We had such a great time, talking about physics, talking about our countries, talking about our old experiment and of course about the US, where we met (none of us are American), throwing rock-paper-scissors for shitake's, trying chopstick tricks. Finished the night off at an izakaya that left us running for the last train. Friendship, is indeed a good feeling to have…

Kangaroo steak

This kangaroo steak, complete with a pastry-cut, just in case you forgot what the cuteness of a kangaroo looked like, in Drunken Duck in Katsuta...

shishamo

yum yum shishamo - small fish with eggs. Apparently they catch whichever fish, male or female, and inject eggs into them - so when you buy shishamo they always have eggs - talk about equality in sexes!!! So here I just fried them - but the proper way to do them is to cook them under one of those awesome fish grills that every stove in Japan has and cook them like babies (not that you would cook babies, but...) so they don't burst out their eggs... But this was a quick fix I wanted, so... and it also reminded me of a dish we make in the coastal areas of Sri Lanka - devilled fish eggs... yumm yummmm....

gobō, burdock

It is very traditional Japanese to julienne gobō and stir fry it as an appetizer. But it kills to julienne gobō as it is hard and you have to work quickly as it stains fast when it is exposed to the air and oxidizes. So I just scrubbed it with a kitchen knife, sliced it and put them in cold water to prevent oxidation. And then I stir fried it with a bunch of other vegetables in the refrigerator and some chillie paste, garlic, ginger and onions. Gobō is this crisp (I guess it is easy not to overcook it when it sliced big like this) earthy tasting root with hints of sweet. Apparently it goes well with pork - should try it next time. I almost liked it better cooked this way than the julienned appetizer that can sometimes get a bit soggy-ish.

Kabocha Nimono - simmered squash

So, one of my Montréal friends sent me this link for Japanese recipes, a blog maintained by a Japanese expat in Montréal . It seems quite nice (but she said to use dashi powder... no no no... it has MSG and all that crap... making dashi stock is super simple, and, your kitchen will smell like a warm sunny beach in Sri Lanka - not like the cheap Febreze ocean mist or whatever it is they call it... so...). It came out quite well. But of course it was a bit affected by my inherent distaste to follow recipes to the letter. Usually, I just read up the ingredients and I know which order things go etc. But since I am new to Japanese cooking I decided to also read up on the method and follow it. This I did, but I didn't pay too much attention to the quantities... Now I think I should have used a bit less dashi stock, so the soy+mirin+sake tastes are more accentuated. It was still pretty good though.

The other is Japanses rice - you r regular sticky white sushi rice. But in Japan it is common (not all always), to add azuki beans and some grains to your rice. You can find little packets of these grain mixtures, right next to the rice in the grocery store. You just toss these with the washed rice and boil them all together. The azukian beans then impart this purplish color to the rice then.

Japanese groceries

So I am sharing the house, with a South Korean girl, also from BC, who incidentally is going to also sublet my Vancouver apartment for one month, while I am here in Japan. So, she can read Kanji, Chinese characters, - since they use some of those as well, in South Korean. And she is quite familiar with a lot of Japanese ingredients, I imagine, like I would be, if I went to India. So, I am taking the opportunity to learn what some Japanese ingredients are, so I can start cooking Japanese food, and perhaps some S. Korean as well.

Here is sesame paste

Mirin, a sweet sake used in cooking. This is all mirin

Tsu-u, soy sauce based sauce

Kombu - a thick seaweed like kelp, that gives the umami taste, which is actually identified as a new taste, in addition to sweet, sour, salty and bitter, since the 1980's. This is used to make dashi stock and when you bring the soaked kombu to near boiling point, in the process of making dashi, you get this amazing aroma of the ocean, like what you get when you are in a warm beach... Yep, you guessed it, I am going to be making a lot of this... just for the aroma...

Katsuobushi (bonito flakes) - these large flakes, 1cm*2cm, is what needs to be used for the dashi. The tiny ones that you spread over okonomiyaki won't work for the dashi - eventhough it is the same thing. I didn't realize making dashi stock was so easy, so now I don't have to worry about buying dashi powser laden with MSG.

These are sauces that you can use to marinate meat.

Okonomiyaki sauce - the stuff you slather over your okonomiyaki as you grill it.

And of course soy sauce, straight.

South Asian bread weekend

all from scratch... the naan wasn't that great, but the gothambara roti was greeeat!!!!

Mongolian BBQ

yum yum... on Denman at Robson... it was all you can eat for like $10, but really good... and you get to chose your ingredients, so you can actually make it healthy too...

first sushi

yeah, I know, it's a bit late to have sushi in Vancouver for the 3rd week anniversary, but hey, better late than never...

so fresh eel, yum yum... also had BBQ'd eel nigiri... at Aoki sushi on Broadway at Cypress

Raspberries

Raspberry season again... yep and gonna make that amazing Framboise Soufle I did last year... This time I didn't go crazy, well at least not as crazy as last time, as I did go crazy with the strawberries this year. These perfect raspberries, not too sour, from Ville de Saint-Eustache, a little north of Montreal.

LGBT Parade

It's that time of the year again... And faithfully I made it again this year... Not only because I get to see really cute, very kind-looking guys (every girl's dream, of course, only to be shattered in the knowledge that they are gay), but also because in general this parade alone makes me that much more open minded than the last year. It is not just seeing Stéphane Dion and Gilles Duceppe, but it's also about seeing the Jewish float, the Palestinian float, the bisexual parents and mostly seeing the spectators - a lot of straight couples do come to see this parade - I think I mentioned the East Asian couple among the 2008 parade spectators. I think it is really nice to see all those open minded people around me. Actually it stimulates my mind so I don't just go home and "se tourner les pouces" while watching mont Saint-Hilaire!!!

And then we went to Chipotle @ Jalapeno, where the food was nice and super cheap as long as you don't order the Mexican wine, La Cetto (Sirah 2007 from Valle De Guadalupe) which was really good, but a lot expensive. We had chicken tamales and chicken empanadas both which were really good. We also had a tortilla soup which I wasn't too hot on - I did like the broth and the crunchy tortillas, but the pork bits, I could have done without.

Speaking of really cute very kind guys being every girls' dream, I couldn't help but think 'isn't that every human being's dream, really?' and then I proceeded to think that gay men are actually the luckiest, as they get to pick from a pool of such people (trust me, such people are far and few between in the straight world, and that applies to straight boys and well girls, well I don't think they are very nice - don't forget I went to an all girls' school). This all reminded me of one of my all time favourite authors David Sedaris; he talks about his boyfriend Hugh, in his 'Dress your family in corduroy and denim':

On a summer evening in Paris, Hugh and I went to see 'The End of the Affair', a Neil Jordan adaptation of the Graham Greene novel. I had trouble keeping my eyes open because I was tired and not completely engaged, Hugh had trouble keeping his eyes open because they were essentially swollen shut: he sobbed from beginning to end, and by the time we left the theater, he was completely dehydrated, I asked if he always cried during comedies, and he accused me of being grossly insensitive, a charge I'm trying to plea-bargain down to simply obnoxious.

The picture ended at about ten and afterward we went for coffee at a little place across the street from the Luxembourg Gardens, I was ready to wipe the movie out of my mind but Hugh was still under its spell. He looked as though his life had not only passed him by but paused along the way to spit in his face. Our coffee arrived, and as he blew his nose into a napkin, I encouraged him to look on the bright side. "Listen", I said, we maybe don't live in wartime London but in terms of the occasional bomb scare, Paris is a pretty close second. We both love bacon and country music, what more could you possibly want?"

What more could he want? It was an incredibly stupid question and when he failed to answer, I was reminded of just how lucky I truly am. Movie characters might chase each other through the fog or race down the stairs of burning buildings, but that's for beginners. Real love amounts to withholding the truth even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings. I wanted to say something to this effect, but my hand puppets were back home in their drawers. Instead, I pulled my chair a few inches close, and we sat silently at our little table on the square, looking for all the world like two people in love.

- David Sedaris, in Dress your family in corduroy and denim.

See I told you - even when they are insensitive they are still so poignant!