A little Japanese inspired

Tonight, with memories of some fine meals in Nihon (Japan) I tried some variations.

Started with "save stalks" idea : soup
Cream Of Broccoli Soup Recipe at Epicurious.com

In general, stuck to the recipe, but, I always improvise, or just plain "drift" from the specifics.
In the future, I'd do touch of truffle oil, maybe a bit of balsamic on presentation
Good basic soup, open to experiments.

Biggest change was decision to go "cold"
When done, I loaded up a couple of modest ramekins, then set them in pots with ice to chill while I proceeded with the rest :
Steamed broccoli tops, some basic sauteed 'shrooms (generic "baby bella") with splash of Cabernet (Markham)

Went with an even smaller NY Strip than usual:


Packaged, it was only 4.95 lbs, just under 8oz ... Shirley and I split so we each had about 4oz

Cooked only 2 min a side, just (sea) salt & pepper with small slice of unsalted butter on a hot skillet.
Each slice is only about 1.5 inches long
Spreading out the slices, covers the plate but not overpowering quantity.

After resting only a few min, sliced fine (I would like to keep going finer, keep the taste, texture, but also keep portion small)
Note that a good blade (currently using Wusthof Classic Hollow Edge Santoku) helps a bunch for getting the thin slices...

Demitasse spoon to put a spot of creamed horseradish and dot of wasabi creme on each piece.



Soup in the middle, 3 small garlic croutons, some broccoli tops for expression
Side of little slices of Leelanau Cheese Raclette (votes best cheese in America a couple of year ago) ... a delicious following to a piece of the steak with toppings.
Savor slow.

Served up with Markham '05 Napa Cab ...

A more "Japanese" presentation would have been multiple small plates/bowls

Andy's flicker on cheese here:
Leelanau Cheese ... best in North America on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Brade

Didn't do too much shopping while in Japan
My old saying that "women shop, men buy"
But in Kyoto, on Teramachi St (a covered street, sorta converted to a "mall") which had many many food stalls, I found a cutlery shop : Aritsugu - the place in Nashiki-Koji market to look for your kitchenwares. The business has been in existence for 400 years and specialized in cutlery ...

Haven't brought myself to use it yet.

Great meal

So I've posted up about some "rather expensive meals" but one of our favorites was really quite simple and modest:



Cold noodles, with warm "dipping soup" topped with a bit of pork, bamboo shoots for about $7, side of chicken dumplings.

Little noodle shop near Asakusa in Tokyo.

Last Dinner in Japan

After some back and forth on where to try, and at the end of a longish day we decided on

Keyaki Teppan Grill : Hotel New Otani Osaka 

No photos this time

While Shirley went for the Taikou dinner, I took the Spring Dinner

Taikou:
Beef Tataki
soup
1/2 lobster (lengthwise) Kabosu butter sauce
Filet of Kobe Beef
Seasonal veggies
Green salad
Garlic rice
Miso soup and pickles

Spring Dinner:
Fresh Fish Tataki with Spring Veggies
Prawn & Scallops soup
Seasonal Salad
Filet of Kobe Beef
Seasonal Veggies
Steamed Uonuma Rice
Miso Soup and Pickles
Ice Cream (vanilla)

Chef prepared all on hot skillet in front of us (think very high scale Beni-Hana) and spoke a bit of English

"Japanese Garlic ... very good, Chinese garlic - cheap"

Wonderful meal, great view

Okonomiyaki

On our own for lunch in Osaka we tried

Okonomiyaki Restaurant Chibo : OSAKA-INFO - Osaka Visitor's Guide:

Wikipedia:
"Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked"

We each ordered one; not knowing that one likely would have been enough to share.
Reminds me of how I use to make omelets.




Video : YouTube - Chibo Okonomiyaki here

To cook is to be human

A Conversation With Richard Wrangham - From Studying Chimps, a Theory on Cooking - Interview - NYTimes.com:

"Our ancestors were able to evolve because cooked foods were richer, healthier and required less eating time."

Kyoto shopping

Teramachi St. Kyoto
Food stalls, only a small sampling of the offerings

11 Course meal

Last week, on tour through Japan, evening in Kyoto, which ended up as our favorite city.
We're already talking about a return, more leisurely visit.
The city is host to dozens of temples and shrines

Located in the same building as Minamiza Theater, Kyoto

We were treated to an 11 course meal
Traditionally this should have taken over 2 to 3 hours, but as we were on a tour, it was shortened to about hour and a half as we had a theater performance schedule


First: umaina sesame blend - the relish, white miso sour and takenoki (sprout) rice


Next was "okinawa" pumpkin jelly with prawn in broccoli soup, steamed duck, soba nori roll and fried bean curd stuffed with sushi-rice


Third was abalone dumpling, turuna and kinome in a "special soup"


Fourth was sashimi of flatfish (halibut?), manguro (tuna) and cuttlefish ... yum


Fifth was grilled roast beef, and fresh veggies


Sixth was our "fry dish" (tempura) of prawn, "mangangi" green pepper, small onion, young corn and orkura


Seventh was "takenoki" (sprouts) with boiled dried bonito, "ainame" and "oranda"



Next was a piping hot "Boil Bowl" which was literally bubbling hot
Beef in miso stew, with fresh "koimo" and "konnyaku" (sorts of potatoes) and leek


Number Nine was grilled eel on rice with yuto and "roasted rice"


Tenth was Japanese radish, cucumber, sibazuke and siokonbu


Wrapping up was strawberry mousse/bean paste topped with sliced strawberry and melon