As a relatively recent convert to all things porcine, I'm positively in awe of this pork shot. Without even having any background info on the dish, one can immediately perceive the succulence of the pork, salivate at its melt-in-your-mouth talents and perhaps -- with a photo this enticing -- even hope for a seasoning that does justice to the tenderness of its vessel.
And norecipe.com's Japanese Chashu -- which indicates merely its component of barbecued or roasted pork -- is worthy of the perfection of its meat. Braised in a combination of soy sauce and miso, it undergoes a rather "unorthodox" approach, as Marc brings his version "full circle back to its Chinese roots, [adding] garlic, ginger, and white pepper, which give the meat some character without overwhelming its porky goodness." Prepared en masse, the pork is equally delicious atop a steamy bowl of ramen, pasta, salads and more.
In the small town of Wada, about 60 miles southeast of Tokyo, Japan, a restaurant has come up with a new dish to woo younger customers - whaleburgers.
The restaurant serves fried whale meat on a bun with salad greens and a sauce made of of mayonnaise and ketchup (isnt't that some other fast food burger joint's "secret sauce?"). The restaurant also serves a whale cutlet sandwich. Both the burger and the sandwich are made from Baird's Beaked whales and sell for 300 yen. Another "youth"-friendly dish is the whale hot dog, made from minke whales.
Japan stopped commercial whaling in 1986 in keeping with an international moratorium on whaling. However, certain species such as the minke, are numerous enough for hunting. In fact, the number of whales may have increased to the point that they are damaging the ecosystem by eating too much fish.
Sushi Sasabune is famous in Los Angeles for omakase. The restaurant used to be located in a tiny shack (quite literally, a shack) on Sawtelle Boulevard in West LA, with fluorescent lighting, flimsy tables and chairs, and no atmopshere whatsoever. But night after night, Sasabune was bursting at the seams with devoted fan of the fresh fish.
Sasabune has finally moved to a much larger, cleaner, airier space on Wilshire Boulevard (the space used to be a Todai - thank God it's not there anymore). We went recently to check out Sasabune's new digs, and to see if the sushi in a larger, higher volume operation would be the same.
With a new little niece around, I am becoming more and more aware of what little babies
and toddlers eat. Cheerios and goldfish crackers always seem to the be the snack of choice, and dinner-time foods are
always finger-foods like chicken nuggets and peas. However, kiddies
around the world don't eat the same way. Heck, growing up in a Korean household, I'm quite sure I was wrapping up
little balls of rice in nori and spilling soy sauce all over myself. If you've ever wondered what a two-year-old in
South Africa is eating, check out this list:
Japanese toddlers may not be eating sushi, but they do lunch on egg-flavored rice with broiled fish or
seafood and miso soup with tofu. It's no wonder that Japan has the longest average lifespan, with the types of foods
that are introduced into the diets as such a young age.
In South Africa, kiddies eat toast thats been spread with a touch of Marmite, a concentrated yeast spread that is a by-product of the beer brewing
process.
Danish and Swedish kids eat meatballs and lots of other meat and potatoes. Sweden has the world's highest
consumption of ketchup, which kids put on to disguise anything that looks healthy.
In India, children eat khidchi, a spicy rice and lentils porridge.
They even list kids in Korea! Korean kids eat lots of kimchi, which is probably how they build up such a
tasty tolerance for spicy foods. They also eat gim-bahp and bibimbahp.
I'm not shy about my opinions on sushi rolls. I don't hate rolls. I just happen to have a personal preference for sashimi and some nigiri sushi, that's all. The fact that most rolls are overly-pumped with ridiculous ingredients, some of which have no place at all in sushi (steak and cream cheese?!?), are accessorized with strangely sweet, creamy, unidentifiable sauces, and are accordingly named WWF things like "Godzilla" and "Monster Crunch" has nothing to do with it at all. Really.
However, there are a few rolls that I really do like. While I do understand that many people simply adore the California roll, especially ones that are made with real kani, I am not a huge fan. However, I love the spicy tuna roll. The thing about spicy tuna is that it isn't even "spiced" with something like wasabi or togarashi. Most sushi bars I've seen use the little green tipped bottle of chili sauce - sriracha. When I see that, I ask the chef to add a little more to the tuna bits to make it extra spicy.
Once, I had a spicy tuna roll that had a little bit ofmayo mixed in with the tuna and spice. I didn't like that one too much.
We've been making our tour around the sushi bar these days, covering different kinds of fish. Though most of us adore the silky smooth raw fish, let's not forget that the word "sushi" actually refers to the sweet, vinegared rice. It's not about the fish (that's technically, but I too, would cry a Pacific Ocean if I had to eat sushi without the fish).
Since it's not just about the fish, that means there are some vegetarian-ish options available at the sushi bar. I learned all about these, as well as the "cooked" fish in sushi during my sister's pregnancy. One of the most common non-fish options is tamago, which is a sweetened egg omelet. The omelet is cut into the same shape and size as sushi fish, and placed on the rice.
We've already talked about cucumber rolls, kappa maki, in a previous post. However, the use of vegetables in rolls doesn't stop there. A sushi chef can basically make a roll with any one or combination of vegetables, though it seems the big three are asparagus, cucumber, avocado. However, I have also seen more interesting vegetables. Kanpyo is dried gourd, shiso are the leaves that look like large mint leaves (often used for garnish as well), and ume, a Japanese plum that is sometimes pickled or salted.
Say "Japanese food" and right away, most people will think of sushi, perhaps immediately followed by tempura, teriyaki, and ramen. Increasingly, people
are also becoming familiar with kushiyaki, the assortment of grilled, skewered foods that are traditionally served as
"bar-snacks." However, there's another Japanese cuisine, shabu shabu.
The words "shabu shabu" roughly translates to "swish swish," as that is the way food
is cooked: diners briefly swish paper-thin slices of raw meat and chopped fresh vegetables in a pot of
boiling water to cook them. It's similar to fondue in that diners are "dipping" foods in a liquid in
front of them, and similar also to Korean barbecue, where diners are essentially grilling the meat themselves at the
table. Sometimes each individual diner has their own pot of boiling water, and other times, an entire table of diners
share a community pot in the center of the table.
Once the meat or vegetable is cooked, it is dipped in a light, thin ponzu sauce, or a thick, sweet sesame
sauce. An entire meal usually includes a plate of vegetables, tofu, noodles, and some sort of meat: thinly-sliced
ribeye, chicken, or seafood like lobster, crab or other shellfish.
There are quite a few Japanese shabu shabu places:
Central:
Shabu Shabu House, 127 Japanese Village Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 680-3890
Kushi Shabu, 123 Onizuka St Ste 305, Los Angeles, CA 90012, (213) 621-0210
Westside:
Mizu
212, 2000 Sawtelle Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025, (310)478-8979
Shabu Hachi, 11680 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90064, (310) 479-7537
East
Lee's Shabu, 18438 Colima Rd Ste 318, Rowland Heights, CA
Dai Kei Sushi and Shabu, 708 E Las Tunas Dr, San Gabriel, CA 91776, (626) 285-5701
Let's just say that you already have steamed white rice leftover from the big pot you made Sunday,
on purpose, to help you throughout the hectic week. Then all you have to do is fry the tofu "cutlets" and make
the curry. Since I have never ever made Asian style curry from anything but the golden S
& B box, this is fast and easy.
Follow the directions on the box of curry. There, you made the curry. I always like spinach,
mushrooms, and onions. You add whatever vegetables you would like. (This may sound like a vegan recipe, but be warned -
many of the boxed Japanese curry mixes are made with animal fats).
Slice firm tofu into "cutlets." There is no need to dip in egg since they are already
full of water. Dredge them in Japanese panko bread crumbs, then fry in about a half-inch of
oil on each side until the breadcrumbs are lightly golden brown. No need to worry about
"fully-cooking" the tofu. One block of tofu can serve one if you're a tofu-glutton, and four if you learned
ho to share.
We certainly love bento boxes here at Slashfood. I think I
am utterly fascinated by this utter fascination with such incredible artistry in a lunchbox. It is something that
is so foreign to me as an American. When I was in elementary school, I think the most creative thing I took to
school for lunch was gim-bahp, and
when that happened I was totally embarrassed that I didn't have something normal like a sandwich.
If you're as amazed as I am by these miniature masterpieces, take a peek at yet another site dedicated to bento boxes. The site is in Japanese,
but the creativity and detail in the photos need no translation.
We're done with fish and nigiri sushi (at least, until I come across some incredible lesser known fish at a sushi bar), so we move on to maki sushi - the rolls. Today is not the day that I will rant about the super-human creative behemoths that Japanese restaurants pass off as sushi.
Today it's just two very simple rolls that are the distant ancestors of the mutants. They are rolled tightly, and are small enough that each piece requires one bite. Tekka maki is a tuna roll. It's just nori, rice, tuna, and sometimes a faint smear of wasabi inside. Kappa maki is a cucumber roll, pure and simply refreshing.
Please, don't ask me about the California roll. The California roll is the true godfather to all those rolls I hate. But I won't talk about that now. I might start throwing things.
If you're on a budget, one of the best ways to get a good deal for anything is to get the product or service from a
"school" that needs to train its students. Haircuts by student stylists at the Vidal Sasoon Academy, massages
from therapists-in-training at the School of Massage, dinner at the CIA, and sushi from the California Sushi Academy in Venice, CA.
The California Sushi Academy is offering sushi for $2.00 for two pieces at their student
sushi bar. The chefs-in-training are simply learning how to make and serve sushi to real live customers. The only catch
is that it is lunch, available Monday through Friday from 12-3 PM.
California Sushi Academy 4509 Centinela Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90066 (310)
301-1866
So I was mistaken. I called uni the best, and thought it would be the ultimate, but alas, it was the penultimate. It is everyone else in my family who order uni last because perhaps to them, the luscious, creamy flavor of sea urchin gonads truly is the best way to end a meal of sushi. For me, I make it unagi - freshwater eel that has been broiled or barbecued, then glazed with a sweet sauce. It really is sweet, and that is what makes it the best for last. If you're squeamish about raw fish, unagi might work since it is cooked, but then again, it is eel.
I love it when the unagi is charred to almost black on the edges, and inevitably end up burning the roof of my mouth with its soft, fatty flesh because I can't wait patiently for it to cool slightly from the oven. There is also saltwater eel, called anago, which is not barbecued like unagi. I have had it several times before, and it just fish filler. I'd much rather have the unagi.
Previous lessons at the School of Fish: Saba - holy mackerel! Hirame - white fish, sometimes halibut Tai and Suzuki - snapper and sea bass Maguro - tuna Toro - fatty belly of tuna Shiro Maguro - "white" tuna, aka albacore Ahi tuna Hamachi - amberjack, aka yellowtail Sake - salmon Gai - the bivalves, i.e.clams, scallops, and oysters Ebi - shrimp Ika and Tako - squid and octopus Kani - crab Masago and tobiko - roe, roe, roe your boat Ikura - salmon roe Uni - sea urchin (but not roe!)
I said I was saving the best for last, and yes, it is finally here. The end. El fin. Dessert. It's uni.
Uni is typically grouped with the "roe" family, which is an understandable mistake, since it certainly comes from the inside of the spiny sea urchin. However, the actual thing we eat, the soft, dark yellow ochre colored stuff that sits atop an ovalette of rice, enveloped with a collar of nori is not sea urchin roe. It is the sea urchin's internal organs that produce the roe. What does that mean? It means that uni is a gonad. It can be male (darker) or female (lighter).
I used to shy away from uni because of its appearance - it looks like it would feel somewhat like what I imagine a cat's tongue, and taste like the cat's tongue after it ate a can of Starkist. However, when uni is fresh and of high quality, it is sweet, luscious, and just ever so slightly firm. It should look like whole pieces, not broken and mushy.
Previous lessons at the School of Fish: Saba - holy mackerel! Hirame - white fish, sometimes halibut Tai and Suzuki - snapper and sea bass Maguro - tuna Toro - fatty belly of tuna Shiro Maguro - "white" tuna, aka albacore Ahi tuna Hamachi - amberjack, aka yellowtail Sake - salmon Gai - the bivalves, i.e.clams, scallops, and oysters Ebi - shrimp Ika and Tako - squid and octopus Kani - crab Masago and tobiko - Roe, roe, roe your boat Ikura - salmon roe
Technically, it's not risotto, since it's made from the Asian short grain rice, but it has a similar texture. I
used already-steamed white rice (which means they could be leftovers), and cooked it on the stove top with green tea,
similar to the way one makes jook or
congee,
but with less liquid.
All the rest is very fast and easy. Saute whatever mushrooms are available with butter (or you can leave the butter
out and make it vegan!) and soy sauce. I used brown mushrooms, plain white mushrooms, and Japanese enokis. I
sliced the tofu into fairly thick "steaks," then simply seared them in the same pan as the mushrooms. No need
for any heavy sauce, since you want to be able to taste the faintly delicate green tea in the rice. If you have
black sesame seeds, they make a pretty garnish.
In the small town of Wada, about 60 miles southeast of Tokyo, Japan, a restaurant has come up with a new dish to woo younger customers - 
Sushi is a hot topic
With a new little niece around, I am becoming more and more aware of what little babies
and toddlers eat. Cheerios and goldfish crackers always seem to the be the snack of choice, and dinner-time foods are
always finger-foods like chicken nuggets and peas. However, 
I said I was saving the best for last, and yes, it is finally here. The end. El fin. Dessert. It's uni.
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