A Fish Out of Water

11/29 Dinner: Roast potatoes

• Roast potatoes
• Cucumber tomato salad with onions, olives and feta cheese
• Some kind of old sausage I found in my freezer

As you might have guessed, I'm trying to clean out the fridge and freezer, thus this odd meal. The potatoes were fantastic though-- they didn't brown as nicely as I hoped, but despite their pale appearance they were super-crispy. And moist and fluffy on the inside.

There are a few tricks to getting the potatoes this way. The first is to start with good starchy potatoes, and to peel them. I like potato skin and try to leave it on for other recipes, but peeled potatoes crisp better. The other trick is to parboil them before roasting.

I add the peeled, chopped potatoes to a pot of water (I don't think salting the water is necessary, as the potatoes won't be in there long enough to absorb much salt) and boil them for a few minutes, until the outer edges are a bit softened. After draining, return them to the pot and shake the hell out of them. Beating them up like that creates a rough surface that will suck up the oil for maximum crispyness. Meanwhile, I'll have a pan pre-heating in the oven with a generous splash of olive oil, and while the roughed-up potatoes are still hot I toss them into a pan, along with salt and pepper, and shake them around to coat with the oil. Then I roast them until crispy, turning them over a few times.

I'm still experimenting with these potatoes, working on a proper recipe. But the above steps have so far given me good results. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

11/28 Dinner: Spaghettini alla carbonara

Broccoli sauteed with garlic and parsley, tofu salad (not shown), and spaghettini carbonara (thin spaghetti with bacon, onions, egg and Parmigiano cheese).

This is a creamless version I learnt when I worked in an Italian cafe/restaurant in Vancouver. I was taught to return the drained pasta to the still-hot pan of pancetta (Italian bacon) and onions, pour the egg and cheese mixture in and mix it all up until the eggs were fully cooked. I suppose this was due to salmonella fears, but I really like the way it's done in Japan, with the eggs still runny (the eggs are safer here).

So that's what I tried to do tonight. I mixed everything up in a big bowl, and while the eggs stayed nice and runny it was luke-warm by the time it was on the plate. I want it hot! I'm going to have to experiment a bit to find a way to keep it hot without fully cooking the eggs. Anyone have any tips? Hopefully that don't involve adding cream?

11/27 Dinner: Chigenabe

Chige-nabe, also called kimchi-nabe, is a popular Japanese hotpot with Korean flavours. The broth is rich and spicy, made with garlic, chili peppers, ginger, kochujang (a sweet and spicy bean paste), miso, soy sauce, and chicken stock. And, of course, kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage). The nabe ingredients are shiitake, hakusai (Chinese cabbage), tara (cod), negi (fat green onions), maroni (clear noodles), thinly sliced pork, shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), shimeji mushrooms, and yakidofu (lightly grilled firm tofu).

It was great and went down very nicely with beer-- Ebisu for me, non-alcoholic for Hideaki. And it was so spicy and warming that we were removing our clothes layer by layer (not as sexy as it sounds, as cold Japanese apartments require a lot of layers), and even after we turned off the heat we were sweating. There's definitely a reason why we save chige-nabe for winter.

11/26 Dinner: Okinawan

I met my friend Emi for dinner yesterday, hoping to eat some good Thai food. But after we found the place we had planned to eat at closed, we chose an Okinawan restaurant instead. It was pricier than we thought and I wasn't really impressed by my somin champuru (fried noodles), but the salad we ordered was tasty. It was made with shimadofu (Okinawan-style tofu), lettuce, mizuna greens, tomatoes and umibudo (sea grapes) and is topped with an ume (salted plum) dressing with jako (baby whitefish) and katsuobushi (bonito flakes). I love umibudo and have never thought of using the little delicacies as a salad topping, but the salad was great.

Tokyo walking

Today Atsuko, Marya and I joined the 8th annual Kokyo Jingu Gaien Guruto Walk, which is a 10km walk around the Jingu Gaien and Imperial Palace area of Tokyo. It started at Hibiya Park and went through the Nagatacho area, where the National Diet and other government buildings are located, before heading to Akasaka. There we stopped at Toyokawa Inari Shrine, where we washed our hands and prayed for a good walk. We also took a break there and had a cup of amazake, a hot and sweet fermented rice drink that is much better than it sounds. This was a child-safe version (it is usually mildly alcoholic) and Marya loved it, drinking almost half of Atsuko's cup.

From there we went to Aoyama and walked along Icho Namiki, an avenue lined with beautiful ginkgo trees that were in various shades of green and yellow. There was a festival there and we stopped for more refreshments: dango (sticky rice balls in a sweet sauce) and hot wine. I had hoped they meant hot mulled wine, but it really was just hot wine, with no spices other than the garnishes shown. Oh well, at least the dango were yummy. From there we passed by the Shotoku Kinen Kaigakan (Shotoku Memorial Art Gallery) and then headed back through Akasaka to the Imperial Palace, where the moats were full of ducks and the occasional swan.

When we returned to Hibiya park and got our finishing prizes (an energy drink and a portable fork and spoon set), Atsuko remarked that 10 kilometres was much easier than she thought. I was thinking just the opposite. Because of my stupid toenails falling off this summer, my feet have been in too much pain to walk and I've been either riding my bike or taking the bus everywhere. Luckily the nails are almost growing in, and my feet no longer hurt (as long as I wear comfy shoes). But it seems that there are a bunch of muscles in my body that have been lying dormant for months, and boy did they get sore.

It was such a relief to pop into an udon noodle restaurant and sit down to a nice hot lunch. Marya was happy too- she loves udon and ate half of her mom's. Poor Atsuko- I wonder if she ever gets a full meal to herself!

Thanksgiving

I already celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving last month, but today was Kinro Kansha no Hi (Labour Thanksgiving Day) here in Japan. It is nothing more than a civic holiday, with no particular celebrations or food, but it happens to fall on the same day as American Thanksgiving. So the Tokyo Hilton had a Thanksgiving lunch complete with turkey and American-style fixings, and Hideaki and I met his sister Atsuko and her daughter Marya there for a feast.

Unfortunately none of the pictures of the food, or of Marya watching a clown make her an animal balloon (she got Miffy the rabbit), turned out well. But we had a great time, and when we were done we went to Takashimaya Department store where Marya checked out the shoes. The girl is obsessed with shoes. She also really dug this baby mannequin.

The Christmas lights are up outside Takashimaya and the Southern Terrace area of Shinjuku, and a quick stroll around had us feeling really Christmasy. Hard to believe it's just one month away! I really have to get busy-- lots of stuff to do before Christmas, and even more before New Years. I always swear I'm going to start early, but it never happens...

11/20 Dinner: Buri saikyoyaki

• Ni-kokumai-gohan: white rice with kibi (millet) and mugi (barley); topped with umeboshi (salted plum)
• Buri saikyoyaki: yellowtail marinated in saikyo miso (a mixture of white miso, sake lees, and mirin) and grilled
• Yamaimo (mountain yam) topped with ikura (salmon roe), garnished with kaiwarena (daikon sprouts)
• Miso soup with wakame seaweed and shimeji mushrooms

11/19 Dinner: Anago nanban soba

That friend of my husband's who was in the hospital a few weeks back is out and all better, so to celebrate we had dinner at Yabusoba, a wonderful old soba restaurant in Kanda Awajicho. We first went last year and have been looking forward to another visit.

I had the unusual anago nanban soba (soba noodles in hot broth with grilled conger eel), a house specialty. Nanban soba is usually made with duck, but the anago was a nice change- as rich as duck but far less greasy. In the background is ebi kake-age, a deep-fried delight of small shrimp held together in a ball of light, crispy batter.

The picture isn't very appetizing, because we arrived just before closing and by the time our food arrived we were the last customers. With the waitresses standing around watching us eat, I didn't feel like dawdling with my camera. But it was a delicious meal and I can't wait to go back (nice and early, hopefully).

Kanda Yabu Soba
11:30 am to 7:30 pm
03-3251-0287
2-10 Kanda Awajicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo

11/18 Dinner: Stuffed green peppers

• White rice with mugi (barley) and kibi (millet)
• Cold tofu dressed with katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and soy sauce
• Yasai no satsuma-age (deep-fried fish cakes with vegetables)
• Piman no butaniku-zume (green peppers stuffed with pork)
• Mentaiko (spicy cod roe) and umeboshi (salted plums), to eat with rice
• Miso soup with onions, potatoes and kabocha squash
• Soy sauce for dipping the satsuma-age and stuffed peppers

Bell peppers are called piman in Japanese, presumably from the Spanish pimiento. The Japanese version is a bit smaller and longer than its western counterpart, with a thinner skin. Green peppers are very popular here, while red, yellow or orange peppers are relatively rare and quite expensive. That's one more thing about this country that I'll never understand.

Just like back home, green peppers are one of the most hated vegetables amoung Japanese children. Stuffing them with meat is one way clever mothers try to get their kids to eat peppers, and apparently it works. But there's no reason why grown-ups can't eat them as well, so when I saw a giant bag of green peppers on sale at the supermarket today, I knew what I'd be making.

The stuffing can be ground pork, beef, or a mix of the two, and it is made pretty much the same way hamburgers are made, with milk-softened breadcrumbs, onions, and egg, and seasonings (I used salt, pepper and nutmeg). The stuffed peppers are roasted in the oven until browned on top, and eaten with soy sauce.

11/17 Dinner: Penne alla Vodka

• Salad of mizuna greens and kaiwarena (daikon sprouts) with tomatoes and calimari in a creamy tofu dressing
• Penne alla vodka: penne (pasta tubes) in a tomato cream sauce kicked up with vodka

It's always a dilemma when there's more sauce than pasta-- do I keep the leftover sauce in the fridge even though it's only enough for one serving? If so, who gets to eat it (both my husband and I work at home and thus eat all of our meals together)? Or do I take the easy way out and serve the pasta swimming in sauce?

I think you can tell which route I went tonight...