Nobumasa Takahashi Wasanbon Sugar Skulls

Still looking for unique Halloween items for your upcoming gathering? These wasanbon sugar skulls would make a great conversational piece.

Designed by Nobumasa Takahashi, the sugar skulls are made of wasanbon, a very fine and expensive Japanese sugar with a texture resembling icing sugar. Wasanbon has a buttery creamy taste and can only be made in the Winter months, when it is dry. The sugarcane used to make wasanbon is harvested in December and the sugar is processed no later than February. The production of this sugar is complex, and the entire process takes approximately 20 days and is all done by hand.

Wasanbon means “Japanese three trays”, where at one point in the 8-step process, the sugar is laid out on a tray to be polished. This is done by adding water to the sugar and then kneading it until the sugar crystals are polished into a fine granular texture. Traditionally, this 'polishing technique' was done 3 times, hence the name wasanbon (bon meaning tray and san meaning three).When the sugar is polished, it has to be dried that same day to prevent molding.

The Nobumasa Takahashi wasanbon skulls are offered in a package of 18 pieces - 9 white and 9 black. They are all natural and bamboo charcoal gives the black ones their dark color.

The skulls can be purchased at Spoon & Tamago’s online store.

 

Read More

Recipe: Garlic Edamame

A great healthy snack and tad more exciting than the traditional edamame sprinkled with sea salt, this garlic edamame will get you licking every pod you place in your mouth. It's quick to make and a really flavorful way to get your protein and fiber.

Garlic Edamame
- 2 cups of frozen edamame
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- salt and pepper
- extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. On high heat, in an oiled pan, sautee the garlic for 1 minute. Add the frozen edamame red pepper flakes and a few dashes of salt and pepper. Cook on medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes, until the garlic is golden brown. Use a wooden spatula to stir the edamame around frequently.

2. Add the oyster sauce and toss until evenly coated, no more than 1 minute. Serve hot. Eat the beans only and discard the shell.

Read More

Suminoya All You Can Eat Japanese BBQ, Sydney

It's not everyday that an all you can eat restaurant is worth mentioning, but Suminoya Japanese BBQ is. Situated in the heart of the business district in Martin Place, Suminoya specializes in authentic Japanese charcoal BBQ with superb quality food.

Although they do have dinner a la carte, the all you can eat buffet dinner is what is popular here. The buffet service is 90 minutes long and starts as soon as you place your first order. Everyone at the table must have the same buffet meal to keep it simple. Becareful of ordering too much because you can get charged for leftover food. There are 2 types of buffet: the gourmet is $45 and the premium is $55. The premium meal is the gourmet option + premium options like sashimi plates, Wagyu beef loin, Shabu Shabu style pork loin, garlic prawns, beef fillets, and unlimited beef tongue.

Salmon and Tuna Sashimi

Shabu Shabu Style Pork Loin

Beef Tongue

Eel

Raw Octopus and Scallops

Suminoya Charcoal BBQ Grill

Salad

Dipping Sauces

Suminoya
1 Hosking Place
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Telephone: 02 9231 2177

 

Read More

Umu, London

While in London, I got a chance to meet up with my friend, J, who I can always count on to find a great restaurant to eat at.

This time, he picked Umu, an uppity Japanese restaurant serving Kyoto influenced dishes. They are known for their traditional Kaiseki tasting menus, but at 100£ a person, we decided to order off the a la carte menu instead.

Our meal started with an aji (Japanese jack mackerel) and mushroom amuse bouche. This set the mood for the night, and right away, we knew that we were in for an evening of delicate textures and complex yet subtle tastes.

Aji and Mushroom Amuse Bouche

After the amuse bouche came our first dish, lightly seared scallop with grated apple and cucumber. The scallop was wonderfully cooked and the apple and cucumber were nice compliments that did not overpower the dish.

Lightly Seared Scallop with Grated Apple and Cucumber

Our ice-smoked salmon arrived in this beautiful clear dish with a lid on it. As soon as you opened the lid, the dish started smoking causing us to oooh and ahhhh at the sight. The salmon was lightly smoked and very delicate tasting. It was served with grated radish, and fun little salmon roe that we ate one by one to feel the roe juice pop inside our mouths.

Ice-smoked salmon

Next was the langoustine with amber tomato jelly, egg yolk vinegar, caviar and fresh figs. This was a really nice dish. I loved how all the elements in this dish came together with not one ingredient being the dominant one.

Langoustine with Amber Tomato Jelly and Caviar

I'm a tofu lover so I had to order the homemade tofu with ginger and spring onion. J didn't want to order this at all but to his surprise, he loved it. The tofu was extremely delicate and eating it with some light soy sauce, ginger, and spring onion was a great combination.

Homemade Tofu with Ginger and Spring Onion

We also ordered the Omakase Chef's special selection of classic sashimi. This was a platter full of perfectly cut sashimi that included aged halibut, mackerel and salmon.

Omakase Chef's Special Selection of Classic Sashimi

Our last dish was a small selection from their sushi menu. We chose the saba (mackerel), eel with garlic and parsley twist, Toro (tuna) shishito, and prawn mango served in a harumaki cup. Out of the ones we chose, my favorite was the toro shishito. I loved how delicate the tuna was and the shishito pepper went great with the tuna.

Assorted Sushi

So now for the big reflection...was the food at Umu spectacular and was it worth the price? I would say that it was one of the best sushi meals I have ever had and that these guys really know what they are doing. BUT, in saying that, J and I almost had a heart attack when we saw our final bill. With food and drinks, our bill came to 300£!! I couldn't believe it when I first saw it and I still can't believe we paid that much. I'm not so sure the food was worth that price but I keep telling myself I need to move on :)

I laughed when I saw a review saying that it would have been cheaper to fly to Kyoto for a meal. That's exactly how I felt.

Umu
14-16 Bruton Place
Mayfair, London, UK
Telephone: 020 7499 8881

Read More

Sushi Kanata, Ottawa

Look at all the snow! I was such a wuss about the cold when I first moved back to Ottawa but now it's like second nature again. I was in serious denial that I was back in the cold, and for the longest time, I refused to wear a proper winter jacket. That didn't last long!

Sushi Kanata is my default sushi place in the west end. Now that I'm back in Ottawa, I get to come here all the time again. Yay! I swear I come here at least once a week.

Sushi Kanata doesn't serve the finest sushi in town, but it is consistent and fresh. This is where I meet up with my good friend Aky to talk about football, the bright side of life, and more football!
Our meals always start with a bowl of miso soup with chives, tofu bits, and kelp.

Miso Soup

My standard lunch is two sushi rolls, and without a doubt, I will always order a spicy tuna roll. My second roll will vary between salmon, sun kissed roll, rainbow, or unagi. On this particular day, I decided on the rainbow roll.

Their spicy tuna is da bomb! Full pieces of tuna with a spicy mayo sauce.

Spicy Tuna Roll and Rainbow Roll

I love mixing loads of wasabi with my low sodium soy sauce. Clears the sinuses with every bite!

Low Sodium Soy Sauce Mixed with Wasabi

A sexy close up of the rainbow roll. The rainbow roll is a California roll topped with thin slices of salmon, tuna, mackerel, avocado and sprinkled with dried seaweed.

Rainbow Roll

Aky orders one thing and one thing only. All the waitresses even know his order by heart! The chirashi bento set is a box set of 12 pieces of sashimi with white rice, a mini salmon roll, a California roll, spring rolls, seaweed salad, and a fresh orange slice.

Chirashi Bento

A close up of the sashimi before it was completely devoured.

Sashimi

The owners of Sushi Kanata also own the Sushi Kan buffets on Baseline and Innes Road. I'm not a huge sushi buffet person, so can't say I've been.

Sushi Kanata
655 Kanata Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 513-599-0009

Read More

Jizo Japanese Cafe & Bar, Dunedin

After Moeraki, CK and decided to check out Dunedin. I wasn't sure what to expect because we had heard that Dunedin is a big college town. For me, all I wanted to see was scenery.

Well, we were pleasantly surprised. We did the usual: Otago Peninsula, Lanarch Castle, Albatross Centre....But, our stay turned from nice to awesomely memorable when we accidentally stumbled upon Sandfly Bay. It is approximately 15km east of central Dunedin, and is a bay with large sand dunes and lots of wildlife. We spent a good part of our day here trekking through the sand dunes, and hanging out with the sea lions and penguins. We couldn't believe how close we got to the wildlife and were just absolutely astonished by the whole experience. I'll share more photos at the end of this post.

Bird's Eye View of Sandfly Bay

Sea Lions at Sandfly Bay

After an eventful day in Dunedin, we stopped in at Jizo for a meal. This is a bustling 2-level restaurant that serves no fuss Japanese food. You grab your own menus, pour your own tea from the communal kettle, and order everything at the main counter. Once your food is ready, it is brought to your table by their very efficient wait staff.

To start, CK and I ordered the kushiage tofu: grilled, marinated firm tofu on a stick. This was delicious and the sauce had a nice hint of sweetness to it.

Kushiage Tofu

Next was the tori and vegetable udon. The was a chicken broth. The noodles were a good texture: slightly chewy, and this dish, overall, was mild.

Tori and Vegetable Udon

We thought the Teriyaki tofu sushi looked different, so we ordered it. We were right. It was lightly breaded and fried tofu that sat on top of a ball of rice with a wonderful spicy mayo wedged in between. We really liked this dish.

Teriyaki Tofu Sushi

We also wanted a traditional raw salmon sushi roll, and although there was a lot of rice, it hit the spot.

Raw Salmon Sushi Roll

CK ordered a temaki salmon not realizing what it actually was. This hand roll was giant, and it filled him up quite well.

Temaki Salmon

The spicy raw tuna roll is my default sushi dish. As I've mentioned before, I can't have sushi with ordering a spicy tuna roll. There was a little too much rice for my likings but the sauce and seasoning made up for it.

Spicy Raw Tuna Roll

Overall, we really liked this place and would totally go back (if it wasn't half way across the world). It was casual, cheap, and their sauces were delicious and flavorful. The only thing we didn't love was the fact that there was too much rice in some of the rolls.

Here are some more photos from Sandfly Bay.

Some close ups of the sand dunes:

Sand Dune at Sandfly Bay

CK Climbing a Steep Hill at Sandfly Bay

More Hooker's Sea Lions. I was amazed at how large they were. They could have easily crushed me.

Sea Lion at Sandfly Bay

Sea Lions Sleeping at Sandfly Bay

We actually saw penguins in the wild! We couldn't believe it. CK was excited because penguins are his favorite animal. They are quite shy so we couldn't get too close.

Yellow-eyed Penguins at Sandfly Bay

Jizo Japanese Cafe & Bar
56 Princes Street
Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand
Telephone: 03 479 2692

Read More

Nobu, San Diego

One thing I have noticed about San Diego dining is that a lot of the high-end chain restaurants are gaining popularity. I could be totally off the mark on this observation, and please chime in if I am.

For example:
*all claims below are from San Diego Magazine 2009 (Readers' Picks)
Best of the Best: The Oceanaire Seafood Room. CHAIN.
Best Steakhouse: Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. CHAIN.
Best Asian Fusion: Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. CHAIN.
Best Sushi Bar/Japanese: Nobu. Also a CHAIN.
Now people. That to me, seems like a lot of chains dominating the dining scene. You know what they say, "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".

For my first night in San Diego, a few friends and I decided to check out Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's San Diego Nobu chain. We were pleasantly surprised and had a nice meal there.

Chef Nobu opened his first restaurant in Peru at the age of 24. It wasn't until 1994, after forming a close relationship with actor Robert DeNiro, that the first Nobu restaurant opened in New York City. It was a huge success, and he now owns 24 restaurants around the globe.

Chef Nobu has certainly gained popularity and success over the years: Nobu Las Vegas was awarded one Michelin star in 2007, and the chef has appeared in movies such as Austin Powers Goldmember and Memoirs of a Geisha.

To start, we had a platter of sauteed shishito peppers and edamame. Both were sprinkled with a generous portion of sea salt.

This was the first time I had tried shishito peppers, and I was surprised at how mild they were. Japanese cuisine is normally mild, and these peppers fit the glove.

Shishito Peppers and Edamame

For my salad, I ordered the heart of palm salad with jalapeno dressing. The hearts of palm were fresh and crunchy (not like the canned stuff I was used to), and they were shaved very thinly. The jalapeno dresssing was mild, and it was mixed with a lime juice. Pink peppercorns were used as a garnish for the dish. I shared this dish with everyone at the table to spread the joy.

Heart of Palm Salad with Jalapeno Dressing

My generosity was reciprocated by J sharing his Nobu style shashimi tacos with me. We each had a yellowfin tuna taco, and a crab taco. Both were topped with a creamy avocado sauce. The tacos were delicious and the tuna was melt in your mouth, gotta have more tuna. Need I say more?

Nobu Style Sashimi Tacos

Other starters included the carrot tempura, and

Carrot Tempura

King crab tempura with butter ponzu sauce.

King Crab Tempura

For my main, I ordered two things:
The first was obvious, spicy yellowfin tuna roll. For those who don't know, I CANNOT have sushi and not order a spicy tuna roll. I have an obsessive personality, so when I'm hooked, I'm really hooked.

Spicy Yellowfin Tuna Roll

My second dish was the baby abalone sashimi. Actually, I chickened out, and had a combination of the sashimi and cooked abalone. As it turned out, the raw abalone was MUCH better than the cooked version.

Both the cooked and raw abalone were combined with a light garlic sauce, and the cooked version was sauteed with shiitake mushrooms and asparagus. The dish was garnished with green and purple kelp.

Baby Abalone

R is a small eater and ordered the new style yellowtail sashimi. The difference between regular sashimi and their new style sashimi is that the new style is sliced very thinly and is combined with soy sauce and garlic. R really enjoyed this dish. He was still hungry afterwards and ordered a veggie tobanyaki.

New style Yellowtail Sashimi

M ordered the beef tobanyaki: beef, asparagus, enokitake mushroom, and shiitake mushroom all cooked on a ceramic dish.

Beef Tobanyaki

N ordered the shrimp tempura roll. The wasabi at Nobu is hand chopped and is not the creamy goo one would normally see.

Shrimp Tempura Roll

J ordered a combination of sushi and sashimi: uni, mackerel, unagi, and yellowfin tuna sashimi.

Sushi and Sashimi

For dessert, I ordered the passionfruit malasadas, bite sized passionfruit filled donuts. Served with the donuts were fresh strawberries and strawberry sorbet. A simple yet satisfying dessert.

Passionfruit Malasadas

J ordered the cajetas and blueberries: cajeta cream, blueberry preserves, crispy cocoa filo, and Japanese beer sorbet. Cajeta is a thickened syrup made of caramelized milk, and is similar to dulce de leche. The only difference is that cajeta is normally made of a combination of goat's and cow's milk.
If you were wondering about the beer sorbet, it was different but wonderful.

Cajetas and Blueberries

R ordered the lemongrass and honey dessert. This was layers of lemongrass mousse, honey gel, and hazelnut cake. On the side were fresh kiwis, and kiwi gel.

Lemongrass and Honey

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, we were pleasantly surprised by the food. Everything was wonderful and we all left the restaurant satisfied.

Nobu
207 Fifth Avenue
San Diego, California, USA
Telephone: 619-814-4124

Read More