Blue Lotus

Shopping in Iruma

On Friday I made my third visit to the new outlet mall in Iruma, so I thought I'd take a few pictures and post about it. It's part of the Mitsui Outlet Park chain (which has six more outlets in the Kansai and Kanto areas), and is apparently the biggest outlet mall in Japan with some 204 shops. Located in Saitama near the border of Tokyo, it's a quick drive or train ride from the city. 

I've never been to a Mitsui mall before, but they seem to get a lot of things right that their competitors get wrong. Like plenty of on-site parking (as opposed to the outlet mall in Gotemba that has you park blocks away and take a shuttle bus to the mall), enough places to eat, and a family zone where kids can play.

It looks like any other outlet mall though, and if it weren't for the miniature cars and the kanji on the pavement you'd never know you were in Japan.

The layout is new to me, as in Canada our malls are either completely indoors or completely outdoors (the "big-box mall" which is a cluster of giant, free-standing stores). This semi-encloused style is pleasant this time of year but I imagine it won't be much fun in mid-summer or winter. I imagine the design comes straight from southern California.

I don't actually find the prices to be all that cheap, partly because the original prices were already so high and partly because the discounts can be pretty paltry (and even non-existent, with plenty of items going for regular prices). And there are only a few shops that even have clothes in my size. But there are a few bargains to be found, and enough non-clothing stores to make shopping kind of fun.

The reason I'm going so often? It's relatively close, and until June 30th there is a free shuttle bus from the nearest station. It's a big comfy tourist bus and I'll be taking advantage of it a few more times before it ends. For those coming from Tokyo, it's a 33 to 43 minute ride from Ikebukuro on the Seibu Ikebukuro express train to Musashi-fujisawa Station, then 15 minutes on the shuttle bus, which comes from two to six times on the hour (schedule here in Japanese, at the bottom of the page). From July you'll need to take the 40 minute express from Ikebukuro to Iruma-shi Station and take a regular city bus (schedule here in Japanese, at the top of the page) to the mall.

I was there around lunch so I popped into the food court and settled on pasta when I saw it being made fresh with a hand-cranked pasta maker. It was a fast-food style outlet of the To the Herbs chain, which I've found to be decent. I ordered Hakata mentaiko (spicy cod roe) cream pasta, 740 yen, and only after that did I notice that the pasta coming out of the machine, apparently fettuccine, was drier and yellower than regular fresh pasta--perhaps a quick cooking type? I waited no more than five minutes and when I was called back to the counter this is what I saw. My mentaiko (spicy cod roe) cream pasta already looking old and dried out. I don't know how they managed to do that in such a short time, but I won't be back to find out.

I felt a bit better when I broke the onsen tamago (an egg slow-poached in its shell). There is absolutely nothing that an onsen tamago can't improve. Still, my usual meal (260 yen for a hot dog and bottomless pop) next door is a far better deal.

And what's next door?

The only reason I come: Costco! I joined when Costco first came to Japan several years ago, but there were no branches close enough to make frequent visits possible so I let my memberships expire. This time it's close enough for me to go weekly if I want (if only I had the fridge space), and the stuff I've bought on my three visits has been so cheap that my 4000 yen membership fee has probably already paid off. Like all Costcos in Japan you can have your stuff shipped home if you came by train or can't fit it all in your car. It's just 600 yen for a huge box to Tokyo, sent chakubarai (COD), and they'll even pack it for you (you'll have to carry your perishables home with you).

One final word about Iruma. Not far away from the outlet is a hip little neighborhood (Japanese link) set in a former American military base. The cafes, shops and restaurants look like they'd be worth a visit, especially Rock 24, a brand-new 24-hour climbing gym owned by my friend Jeff. Unfortunately indoor climbing--or outdoor for that matter--scares my pants off, but for the less wimpy of you, do check it out.

Mitsui Outlet Park, Iruma branch (Japanese link)
04-2935-1616
1-3169 Miyadera Iruma-shi Saitama
Open daily 10 to 10

Costco, Iruma branch
04-2935-2200
3169-2 Miyadera Iruma-shi Saitama
Open daily 10 to 8

Rock 24
1-6-10 Azumacho, Iruma-shi Saitama
Open 24 hours for members, weekends 11 to 7 for non-members

Wakashi two ways

This is wakashi sashimi, which I bought for a recent dinner, as it came from the supermarket. Wakashi is one of the dozens of names given to yellowtail (you may already be familiar with hamachi and buri) depending on location and size of the fish. In the Kanto area the fish is called wakashi at its youngest stage.

I'd never tried wakashi before but it looked a lot like buri, which I love, and was also very cheap so I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately neither my husband or I were impressed, and although it was obviously very fresh it had an overly fishy flavour and a yucky soft texture. I didn't hate it but I definitely didn't love it, so I put it in the fridge for the next day's dinner.

And this is what it turned into the next day: tatsuta-age. I gave it a quick soy sauce and ginger marinade and deep-fried it. Now that's more like it: the marinade and cooking (and a squeeze of lemon before eating) took care of the fishiness, and the softness was lovely when contrasted with the crisp coating.

Normally tatsuta-age calls for bigger pieces, but for with my lack of frying skills the small slices were perfect: they cooked up so fast there was no time to screw them up. Next time I see wakashi on sale I may just buy it again, and I know exactly what I'll do with it. If you want to do the same, here's the recipe:

Tatsuta-age

Tatsuta-age is most often made with chicken (thigh, skin-on is preferred) but is also popular with pork and oily white fish like yellowtail, mackeral and saury. For fish a simpler marinade is preferred, but with chicken I like to add lemon juice and sesame oil and for pork try adding garlic and sriracha.

• 450 grams meat (fish fillets such as yellowtail and mackeral, bonless chicken breast or thigh, or pork shoulder)
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sake
• 1 Tbsp mirin
• 1 knob ginger
• optional marinade ingredients: crushed garlic, freshly squeezed lemon juice, sriracha or other hot sauce, sesame oil
• kakakuriko or cornstarch for dredging
• oil for deep-frying
• lettuce or cabbage and lemon slices for garnish

Prepare the meat for frying: for fish, remove bones from fish, for chicken, remove excess fat (leave the skin on or remove it as you like). Cut into slightly larger than bite-sized pieces.

Pour the soy sauce, sake and mirin into a ziplock bag. Peel and grate ginger, squeeze the juice from the grated ginger into the bag, discard ginger. Add the meat to the bag, squeeze and shake to distribute the marinade evenly. Seal the bag, removing as much air as possible (this creams a vacuum that helps the meat absorb the marinade faster, some people even use a straw to suck all the air out). Let fish marinate in fridge for 20 to 30 minutes, chicken and pork for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Add about oil about 3 cm (just over 1 inch) to a deep pan or round-bottomed pot--a wok works great--and heat to 170 to 180 C (340 to 360 F). Meanwhile, dump contents of bag into colander, drain well. Add several tablespoons of katakuriko to a bowl, dip the pieces of meat a few at a time, tossing to coat well.

Add to the hot oil and fry, a few at a time, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve on lettuce leaves or slice cabbage with slices of lemon.

Salmon, chicken, meatballs,

Salmon with yogurt-curry sauce (recipe here); orzo with green peas, shiitake and parmesan; tofu salad. The salmon was fast, simple and tasty, and one more reason why Mark Bittman's blog Bitten has become a favourite.

Chicken stuffed with spinach and pine nuts; rice; miso soup with daikon, asparagus and green onion; quick-pickled spring cabbage.

The chicken was based on another Bittman recipe (chicken thighs stiffed with chard), but with a few changes: (spinach instead of chard (never seen it here), no raisins (Hideaki isn't into the fruit-and-meat combo) and soy sauce instead of salt to make it work better with a Japanese meal. Very nice, but the uneven thickness and shape of the thighs (the chicken's, I mean) made it hard to secure after rolling, so I'll be using cooking twine rather than toothpicks next time.

Nachos with refried beans; salsa; albondigas soup (recipe here).

Long ago I got a recipe called Mexican Meatball Soup from my sister and I've always assumed it was Tex-Mex or completely made up, perhaps because the booklet the recipe came from was full of just those sorts of recipes. Not that it actually matters though--it was a really good soup. I've been craving it recently, and when I couldn't find my recipe I went online to see if I could find something similar, and to my surprise it does seem to be an actual Mexican dish. Called Sopa de Albondigas, it's a simple but hearty soup with meatballs made with rice and mint, which give it a unique flavour and wonderful soft texture.

I settled on a recipe from Simply Recipes, another favourite food blog, and also followed her recipe for refried beans (using a mix of kidney and soy beans as pintos aren't easy to come by here). She also has  recipes for salsa--both the fresh and the cooked kind--and nachos, just in case you don't already have those.

つな八

On the weekend my husband had to be at Takashimaya to get measured for a shirt (his father game him a gift certificate for some tailer-made dress shirts), and since I had a few gift certificates of my own I came along and we had lunch afterwards. Called hyakkaten shouhin ken, these can be used at top-class department stores for almost any purchase, including food and meals, and are extremely popular gifts for any occasion. We are lucky to receive them from time to time but so rarely go to hyakkaten (fancy department stores like Takashimaya, Isetan and Mitsukoshi) that we have trouble using them. In fact, we couldn't even remember where we got these particular ones.

We had 10,000 yen worth, which is certainly a lot but rather hard to spend on clothes, since almost nothing is that cheap (at least not the clothes that I can fit into), and it seems silly to spend it on accessories or housewares that would be far cheaper elsewhere. So the logical thing to do was spend them on a meal, since hyakkaten often have very nice, but expensive, restaurants.

We decided on Tsunahachi, a tempura restaurant. We'd had a great meal years ago at the original shop in Shinjuku, which is over 80 years old--and shows it. The food was good and the atmosphere was cozy, but the interior was a bit dingy. It is so popular, though, that it now has branches all over, including a sleek modern one in Takashimaya. The prices seem a bit higher there than at the old place, but since it wasn't my actual money I didn't mind paying a little more for the location.

We chose the Edo-mae zencourse, one of the more expensive options. Sitting at the counter, we got to watch the chef cook our tempura and serve it to us straight from the pot, but unfortunately the lighting was a wee bit on the dark side and the pictures didn't turn out very well. So just try to imagine everything brighter, prettier and more delicious-looking.

The course started with kuruma ebi shrimp, the head (rendered light, crisp and fully edible) served first. The contrast of the plump, tender flesh and the crunchy exterior was wonderful. Not just with the shrimp, but every seafood item served for the rest of the meal; please tack the previous sentence onto all of the following descriptions.

Next was renkon (lotus root), then ika (squid). Some of the softest, most succulent squid I've ever had. The renkon was the only item of the meal that wasn't soft, but the root's own special kind of heavy crunchiness (think of a firmer, less watery water chestnut and you're close) did go nicely with the lighter crispness of the batter.

Myouga(ginger bud) was refreshingly myouga-ey (and if that doesn't make sense imagine the very freshest ginger you've had, refined and sweetened).

The cleverest dish was a large asari clam (the biggest I've seen) fried on the half shell. It was easier to eat than I thought it would be, as the clam had been cut up first. I'm not sure if being in the shell was the reason, but the flesh was incredibly plump and juicy, worlds apart from the rubbery fried clams we get back home.

Next, a refreshing orange jelly. I think. It wasn't on the menu and neither of us caught the description. Behind it are four different kinds of salt: regular sea salt, matcha (powdered green tea) salt, sanshou (prickly ash pepper) salt and yuzu citrus salt. It was fun trying all the different salts but, except for the squid and the scallop, the tempura tasted best in the traditional dipping sauce of soy-based broth (housed in the pitcher above) mixed with daikon oroshi (grated daikon radish).

I think this was my favourite of all: hotate (scallop). Cooked perfectly rare (this picture doesn't show the lovely pink centre), this was heavenly. It definitely went well with a squeeze of lemon and a tiny dip in plain salt.

Anago (sea eel), first its spine (very crunchy, I could eat these like potato chips) and then the flesh, cut in half. Very mild and tender.

The last tempura dish was ko-ebi kaki-age, a disc of small shrimp held loosely together by batter. This one had a mild taste and lots of crunch.

The course finished with rice, pickles and shijimi jiru(miso soup with tiny clams), or at least it did for me.

My husband got lucky: the chef overheard him saying he wished he could have his final piece of tempura as kaki-age don(a popular dish consisting of kaki-age over rice, with a slightly sweet soy-based sauce), so that's what got. Normally I don't like kaki-age don or tendon (the same but with regular tempura) as the sauce is usually too sweet and rich and tends to be poured on so heavily that the batter loses its crispness. But I regret not asking for this for myself as well, because the sauce was light and added with restraint.

The meal came to about 9000 yen (including two drinks), which is more than I'd want to pay for tempura, as good as this was. But we'll definitely be here again for one of the cheaper options.

Shinjuku Tsunahachi (English webpage here)
Takashimaya Branch
(03) 5361-1860
13th floor, Takashimaya Times Square
5-24-2 Sendagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Open daily 11 to 11

Chicken legs and oxtails

A nice springtime dinner: green pea soup, roasted asparagus, baked chicken leg (the only kind of bone-in chicken regularly available) with lemon and garlic, and rice. Everything turned out great and for once I have recipes, or at least links to recipes. 

Pea soup with creme fraiche(I used home-made yogurt instead of creme fraiche, which doesn't exist here) is from Epicurious, and the lemon chicken  is from the excellent blog Simply Recipes (which also has a recipe for roasted asparagus, a dish that really only needs a recipe the first time you make it).

A less successful recipe was David Chang's (of Momofuku fame) oxtail soup. It was tasty but overly greasy with a hint of an organy/bloody flavour--very slight and probably not a bad thing for a true beef lover, but it was a bit unpleasent for me. I had been wary of the recipe's lack of usual stock-making instructions, with no pre-soak or barboil for the tail bones and no removal of scum or fat from the stock: the tails are simply roasted and then simmered. So although I did skim the foam and try to remove some of the fat, it was obviously a mistake not to give the tails a quick boil first, and next time I'll be sure to follow my instincts.

Daikon peel sauteed with kombu (kelp) leftover from flavouring rice; kimchi; hiyayakko (cold tofu); mizuna greens and red pepper salad; oxtail soup with daikon; rice (not shown).

The next day, with more fat removed and poured over rice, the soup was even better. In fact it was so good that all my complaints from the day before were forgiven. I'd like to try this again--but maybe with a more traditional Korean recipe (anyone have a good one), and next time I won't bother serving the rice and soup separately: they really belong together

Spring flower round-up

Spring didn't end when the cherry blossoms dropped, and I have a few month's worth of flower pictures to show you. Names can be confusing, since they vary from place to place, so I'll try to include the Japanese, scientific and common English names for each flower. But there are a few whose names I don't know, so if anyone can help identify them please speak up.

椿 (tsubaki)
Camellia japonica
Camellia (variety unkown)

The tsubaki is actually considered a winter flower but keeps blooming through to April. The flower above, of unknown variety, was actually one of the last blooms in my area, and had faded considerably from its original red colour.

乙女椿 (otome tsubaki)
Camellia japonica var. rusticana (Honda) T.L. Ming
Camellia (common name unknown)

This one really was pink, and I wish I knew the variety name in English as it's one of the most elegent flowers in the world.

大犬の陰嚢 (oh-inu no fuguri)
Veronica persica
Persian speedwell

These tiny flowers abound in March and April, but can be easily overlooked due to their size and low stature. A shame, because they are very cute.

The Japanese name is rather mysterious, and I urge caution to anyone thinking of searching for the meaning online. I just googled the kanji for "fuguri" and Wikipedia Japan let me know, in a most graphic way, that it means "testicles". So this flower seems to be called "big dog's testicles"--does anyone know why? Because I've seen quite a few dog testicles in my day, belonging to all sizes of dogs, and none of them looked like this.

I'm guessing this little April flower is some kind of sweet pea. Anyone know the proper name?

Another tiny mystery flower, out from March to May.

蒲公英 (tampopo)
Taraxacum officinale
Common dandelion

I made a wish after I took this picture, but I'm not telling you what for.

大紫躑躅 (oh-murasaki tsutsuji)
Rhododendron pulchrum
Lovely azalea

Lovely indeed, these azaleas are ubiquitous in April, with virtually every street in Tokyo (and a good number of train stations) being lined with them. The Japanese name literally means "large purple azalea" which must mean that the language has no word for "fuchsia", because these flowers definitely aren't purple.

Another wee little easy-to-overlook wildflower, this one blooms from mid-May to... well I don't know really because they're so easy to miss that this is the first year I've noticed them.  

山吹 (yamabuki)
Kerria japonica
Kerria rose, Japanese rose

These shade-loving flowers bloom prolifically in April and are so bright and cheerful looking that they make me happy each time I pass them by. The world needs more of these flowers.

カルミア (karumia)
Kalmia latifolia
Mountain laurel

This amazing flower is one that I had never seen until I moved a few years ago; now they're all over my neighborhood and I'm glad for it. The unique blooms pop open in May and come in varying shades from white to deep pink.

These May blossoms are chestnut flowers, but I'm not sure what type. The chestnuts back home in Ontario had white flowers of a similar size and shape while edible chestnuts in Japan have completely different flowers. 

いろは紅葉 (iroha momiji)
Acer palmatum
Japanese maple

Properly called "iroha momiji", these maples are commonly called simply "mojiji", but yet again I run into Japanese name confusion: the kanji for "momiji" literally means "red leaves". It has two pronunciations: "momiji", or Japanese maple, and "kouyo", or autumn leaves. Japan's nature is certainly beautiful, but the language drives me bonkers.

The seeds are as beautiful as the leaves. There must be a special name for this type of seed--when I was a kid we used to call them "helicopters" because of the way they spun as they descended to the ground.

I used to split open the seed part, which is full of a glue-like sap, and stick it to the bridge of my nose to transform myself into a rhinoceros. It's not quite as impressive with the Japanese seeds, which I attribute to the smaller size of the seeds here and a lack of imagination on the part of my audience (although the audience in question--namely my husband--thinks it may be because my nose has grown quite a bit since my rhino days).

紫陽花 (ajisai)
Hydrangea macrophylla
Bigleaf hydrangea

My favourite flower of all is just coming into bloom now. Most buds in my neighborhood are still tight and green but a few are starting to open and turn white, with these particular blooms showing blue tips. In another month this bush will be covered in showy blue flowers--expect another gratuitous flower post in June.

 

梅香家常菜

During our Golden Week visit to the in-laws in Osaka one of our many lavish meals was at Meishan Kajousai, a Chinese tofu restaurant in Senri Chuo run by the Ume no Hana chain. I've never been very impressed by the popular Ume no Hana, but this was our second time at Meishan Kajousai and both meals were fantastic.

Hideaki's parents treated us so I'm not exactly sure, but I think we had the Ah Lee course for 3500 yen. There are more expensive courses but this was such a huge amount of good food that I can't imagine wanting more. Unfortunately almost two weeks have passed since then so I may have misremembered some of the details, and the names of dishes and ingredients are an odd mix of Japanese, Chinese and English (how do you properly describe Chinese food eaten in Japan, in English?), but this is what we had:

The course began with an appetizer of tomato, kikurage (jellyfish) and yama-kikurage ("mountain jellyfish", a wild vegetable), and cold tofu topped with pitan (century egg).

Next came spring rolls with shrimp and green beans and a clever take on Thai shrimp toast: fried triangles of bread topped with tofu.

Then, har gow (shrimp dumplings) and tofu shiu mai dumplings.

Next up was a do-it-yourself wrap with savory ground pork and lettuce; it was fun to eat but also the weakest dish.

And then the best dish of all: a savory egg custard with shiro-kikurage (white cloud ear mushroom), very simple but perfectly flavoured.

We really enjoyed the ebi chili (shrimp in chili sauce) on our last visit, and this time it came with beans, nama-fu (chewy wheat gluten), and ginnan (ginkgo nuts) stuffed in little cups of fried bread.

One of the house specialties is mabou doufu (tofu with spicy pork sauce), and they offer three kinds: red, black and white. We chose black and white, with the black being a typical Japanese style mabou doufu, and the white a mild version with soy milk and more ginger than spice. By this time we were stuffed and sadly couldn't finish these.

Normally red rice and soup come at the end, but when we had ordered we were given a choice paying a bit more for fried rice or ramen. Had I known how stuffed I'd be I would have stuck with the regular rice, but I foolishly chose fried rice with takana (pickled greens). From the one bite I tried it was very good, but I just couldn't finish it. Likewise for the very nice egg drop corn soup.

The course was supposed to end with annin doufu (almond jelly) but we begged for mercy and were given a little scoop of ice cream. I wish I could remember what flavour it was and what it was topped with, but I do remember that I managed to finish it (there's always room for ice cream).

Meishan Kajousai
06-6873-8488
Senri Chuo Life Science Centre, 2nd floor
Shin Senri Higashi-machi, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka
Open daily for lunch from 11:00 to 4:00 (last order 3:00) and for dinner from 5:00 to 10:00 (last order 9:00)

Kobe Kachoen

While I was visiting the in-laws in Osaka we took another trip to Kachoen, the bird and flower park in Kobe that we went to last summer. We stayed for a shorter time than before and although I didn't get a chance to see the owls or play with the toucans and parrots, it was even better because my niece Marya was with us. Watching her delighted reactions to the birds was just as fun as watching the birds themselves.

She had been really excited about seeing the penguins, and while she did like them it turns out that was she liked best feeding the ducks. "Come for the penguins, stay for the ducks", that's Kachoen's motto.

But for me the highlight of the day was the hot swan action:

But Kachoen is not all hungry ducks and randy swans. There's plenty else to see and do, so I'll leave you with a bunch of pictures from the rest of our visit. There are lots more in my Golden Week album, so if you just can't get enough of exotic birds, pretty flowers and cute nieces, have a peek.

Golden Week

I went spent the (roughly) week-long spring holiday called "Golden Week" with my parents-in-law in Osaka, and seeing as I've been back in Tokyo for a week I thought I should get around to posting about it.

My time was equally divided between playing with my niece Marya, eating enormous meals (including three buffet lunches, and if that doesn't sound exciting then you've never had a good Japanese buffet), and convalescing from yet another cold. Or whatever this thing is. Hours before I was to ride the night bus to Osaka I came down with the exact same sore throat and fatigue as I got last month (and New Years, and now), and knowing I was likely in for a bit of unpleasantness I considered canceling the whole thing and staying in Tokyo. But I figured I'd be better off being miserable around family than being miserable alone, so off I went.

I laid low for a few days, canceling my plans for a day trip to Kyoto and even going to a clinic for some meds. My first visit to a doctor in Osaka, and if that one experience is enough to go on it seems the waiting-time-to-consultation-length ratio is even worse there than in Tokyo. About a two hour wait (including the wait for meds and payment), and 90 seconds with the doctor. True, longer waits are typical during holidays, but I've never been brushed off so quickly by a doctor before.

Luckily the meds worked, which is a good thing because Marya is tireless. She had to go a park every day, and not just a dinky local park but great big special far away ones, full of playgrounds and vast spaces to run around in. She has very specific ideas about what each adult accompanying her should do, such as as who has to race her, who pushes her bike when she's not using it, and who carries the bags. Luckily she's still into the game called "you guys sit still and watch me while I do stuff", so we did get some rest occasionally.

Marya and her mom headed back to Tokyo before we did, and we were sad to see them go. Marya, on the other hand, couldn't wait to say good-bye, so excited she was about riding the "kinkanten" (shinkansen, or bullet train). To help cheer us up, Hideaki drove his parents and I to Kyoto. It wasn't the full day of sightseeing I had originally planned, but I was glad I got to go after all. After a very nice lunch (buffet #2) at the Miyako Hotel we headed to Toji Temple, home of Kyoto's iconic five-story pagoda.

It is 55 metres tall, making it not only the tallest pagoda in Japan but the tallest wooden building in Japan. But not the oldest: although the pagoda was originally built in 826, it has burned down several times over the centuries, and the current structure is a mere 364 years old.

There were some special exhibits that day, with access allowed to a few areas that are normally closed to the public. So (for a steep fee), we got to enter the normally off-limits pagoda and see the statues and paintings inside. Other buildings (the temple actually consists of several buildings) housed treasures associated with Kobo Daishi, founder of esoteric Buddhism and builder of the pagoda.

The gardens were nice too, and full of spring flowers in bloom. But most impressive was this egret, who made a splashy landing in one of the ponds and chugged down a few fish.

And finally, no trip to Osaka is complete without takoyaki (octopus dumplings) or okonomiyaki (savory pancake), so we made sure to have both for lunch. We followed with some yakisoba (fried noodles), but even with that and a big mug of beer this was probably the smallest meal we had all week. Now that we're back home we're trying to eat a bit less to try to balance things out. Not a huge problem though, at least in the takoyaki and okonomiyaki department: they just don't make it right here.

Lots more pictures in my Golden Week album.

Sashimi

I'm not sure how a one-week holiday turned into a two-week absence from this blog. Maybe going on vacation disrupted the rhythm of my life and it's taking some time to get back into the swing of things. Maybe I'm suffering from a severe case of the blahs. Maybe my very mild but long-running cold is sapping all my extra energy. My best guess is a mixture of all three. But what I do know is that it's time to post something. So here we go: a recent late night snack:

Some sashimi I bought on my way home from an evening class last week (half-price due to the late hour). Clockwise from bottom left: kibinago (a small type of herring called banded blue-sprat); katsuo (skipjack tuna); aji tataki (chopped horse mackerel); and buri (yellowtail). The tsuma (garnishes) were all included with the sashimi: shredded daikon; shiso (perilla leaves); hojiso (stem of shiso buds); and grated ginger.

Sashimi is commonly sold in supermarkets here already cut up, with a few different kinds of fish packaged together complete with garnishes. I don't often buy sashimi that way, partly because my husband doesn't like it much, and partly because I can never find a selection that appeals to me (tuna and/or squid tend to be included in most assortments, and with supermarket-quality sashimi tuna and squid are really just filler). And maybe also because I do a lot of shopping at night and hours-old sashimi just seems like something to avoid.

But slap a half-price sticker on a lovely selection like that above and I'm sold! This was good stuff, with the quality of the garnishes a little better than the average selection. The kibinago was a bit on the bland side and could have been fresher: it really is best eaten perfectly fresh in early summer. But the buri was fantastic, still rich with fat despite its season being over.

Best of all, Hideaki wasn't in the mood for sashimi so I had it all to myself. It was a lot of fish but I could easily have eaten more: I can never tire of good sashimi. Years ago I failed at the South Beach Diet, but if ever I can afford to eat fish like this every day I think I'll have to give it another go.