A practical call

[Call to conserve electricity - March 11 Japan]

For the Japanese, practicality overrides all things. First things first: BE ENERGY EFFICIENT - conserve electricity.

A hideaway enveloped by forests

[Arcana Izu, Japan]

Was considering this onsen resort in Japan for my honeymoon, I guess not anymore... Would love to spend a weekend there at some point though. Monocle Magazine raves about it, looks like a fabulous place to escape from Shanghai for the food and fresh air.

Arcana Izu, Yugashima
〒410-3206　静岡県伊豆市湯ヶ島1662
T 0558.85.2700 F 0558.85.2701
E-mail: reservation@arcanaresorts.com

Japanese Black Seseame Butter

[Breakfast]

Just the right tint of sweetness - goes with anything, especially good with Ritz Crackers.

Unique food gifts from Tokyo

[Higashiya Ginza's sweet potato chips]

Uniquely sliced and packaged sweet potato chips - no additives, so it actually taste like nothing :)

Get it at Higashiya Ginza

Meal Muji

[Eating at Muji]

I must say as a big Muji fan myself, the highlight of my recent trip to Tokyo was a pilgrimage to the Japanese design retailer's flagship store at Yurakucho. Despite being housed in a warehouse-style building, the minimalist designs of Muji permeates each space, making all the 5000 well-designed and simple products stand out in its own "less is more" way.

[Healthy set at Y650]

The huge non-smoking deli-style cafeteria is a great spot to have a bite break from all the shopping one would have done. The food is a fusion of Western and Japanese, with entrees such as pumpkin quiche, broccoli with scallops and tofu, fried chicken, lotus root salad, and five grain rice. A set meal starts at Y650, which is a bargain, and the menu changes depending on the time of the day.

[Muji Yurakucho's flagship store in Tokyo]

For those not in the know, the name Muji is short for Mujirushi Ryohin, which means "no brand, good product". This alludes to their design philosophy of not having the company logo or name to appear on or inside their products. Even their advertising campaigns are so streamlined, it uses impressive images to convey its message with only a tiny "Muji" imprinted on it. If you are are tempted to make your own way to this huge Muji shrine, be reminded that it is just walking distance from the Ginza shopping district.

In the know:
Muji Yurakucho
3-8-3 Marunouchi
03-5208-8241
http://www.mujiyurakucho.com

Food as an art form in Japan

[Artful Japanese kaiseki service on board ANA]

Most visitors to Japan will take notice of a uniformed monoculture society with a high level of politeness and civil awareness. On the contrast, there is also the high level of creativity and attention to aesthetic details that I marvel every time I'm there. Apart from the gift packaging tradition that promises a beautifully wrapped item that the assistant will bring to the store exit and handing to you with a full bow, a visit to the restaurants will ensure that all your senses are stimulated with the intricately presented culinary offerings.

A kaiseki restaurant offering haute Japanese cuisine is a case in point. Visitors are promised an odyssey of flavors, textures and colors. Originating from the Zen monks, the characters for kaiseki means "stone in the bosom", referring to the monks' practice of warding off hunger by tucking hot stones in their kimono sashes. My friend Michiko in Kyoto was telling us over lunch that this zen tradition where the cuisine evolved from explains why most kaiseki meals are so light and consists of largely vegetarian ingredients, such as different types of tofu, tiny cut vegetables in different colors and forms.

Today, a traditional kaiseki meal is often a multiple-course meal with a focus on harmony between food and nature. Emphasis are placed on seasonal ingredients, different preparation techniques and the presentation. From the tiny ceramic bowls and the few slivered sashimi floating on dry ice, everything shouts of the artful forms that the Japanese are so well known for.

[Mini Kaiseki in Kyoto]

Depending on how much you want to spend, a proper kaiseki meal averages about 8000 yen per person. However, in many restaurants in Kyoto, where this form of cuisine originated, you can get a simple version like the picture shown above for about 2000 yen.

Green Beans with Sesame Miso Dressing

The following recipe is a sample course of a kaiseki meal. It is adapted from Kyo-ya Restaurant of San Francisco.

2 cups green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
Sesame Miso Dressing:
2 tablespoons shiro miso (white miso)
3 tablespoons white roasted sesame seeds + more for garnish
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Parboil green beans in a large pot of rapidly boiling water for 45 seconds. Drain and immediately plunge into a bowl of ice water.
Using a mortar and pestle, blend together shiro miso, sesame seeds, sugar and soy sauce. Smash and mix until the sesame seeds are not visible when stirred.
Drain green beans and blot dry. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the dressing until the beans are evenly coated.
Serve in small bowls and lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Osaka's Okonomiyaki

[okonomiyaki + yakisoba]

Delay no more... I'm starting to get emails from readers checking my whereabouts. My wanderlust has gotten me to Japan and back. This time besides shopping and more shopping in Tokyo, I got around taking the Shinkansen bullet train to Osaka and Kyoto for a bit of outside-of-Tokyo reality. Though I must say, I'd rather spend the entire 10 days in Tokyo alone. There's just too much to see and too little time to fit all in.

With a food-themed blog like this, a snapshot of the food I savored is a must. First off, let's check out this Japanese pizza-like delicacy from the Osaka area. Okonomiyaki restaurants are so much fun. They're more like street food than anything else fancy. You get a server turning the gooey dough into a irresistible crispy pancake filled with seafood or meat right in front of you on a grill. Top it up with bulldog sauce, mustard and Kewpie mayonnaise, you've got just the right flavors oozing through the thick yet light pancake. I'd say it's like a cross between savory pancake and pizza. To check out how this is done, here's a recipe to attempt.

[Japanese pancake/pizza]

In Osaka, we were fortunate to have an old college mate of mine to take us to the best restaurants around. Ryutaro and I went way back to our junior year when we both had part-time jobs at the same place. Those were the days when we had to show up at 7 in the morning, preparing salads, fruits, sandwiches and packing them into clear plastic cases for delivery across different cafes on campus. Now 10 years later, he's a successful businessman having been expatriated to Egypt where he met his wife and now having a new-born daughter named Marina. It's so much fun to relive the good old days with lotsa beer and good japanese bar food. Ryu is just how I remembered him to be, his ability to down pints of beer before the first course is served and his laughing reprise of what life brings. 

Rustic Yakitori

[Traditional Japanese Barbecue]

I've mentioned these magnanimous hosts of mine, the Watanuki family, who so graciously took upon the honor of showing me what Japanese life is all about outside glitzy Tokyo in a previous post.

One of the places we stopped to have lunch on the way to historic Uchiko outside Mastuyama was a very original outpost for yakitori (literally: grilled bird). This place is like no other. Housed in a traditional japanese house, the restaurant exudes an atmosphere, as if you've stepped into another era of bygone days. Traditional wooden floors, wooden pits with charcoals, cast irons rods dangling down from the ceilings, and the smokey essence of food cooked on grill.

[Fukase yakitori in Ehime Perfecture, Shikoku, Japan]

The menu is pretty basic, given the highlight being the bird itself. You grill the meat right in front of you, and they come marinated, and accompanied with these fragrant bunches of a type of vegetable that I can't put a name on it. (They could probably be coined as japanese cilantro.) Here's how you savor the perfectly and freshly grilled morsels: dip them into a sauce, pair them with a chopstick-pinch of rice, and add a tiny slice of pickled radish if you fancy.

There are yet so many places to show and pictures to post from my Japan trip, I'll try to buck up here and serve up my offerings for you!

Fishy business

[ Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Market, Tokyo ]

I haven't been very disciplined at blogging since I got back from my 10-day trip in Japan. Considering there is so much going on right now in this post-quarterlife of mine, especially in this in-between-jobs-cities-timezones transition period, I think you should be able to bear with me as I try to squeeze in one post before the April becomes May.

One of the "must-sees" on my list when I was in Tokyo was the Tsukiji Fish Market. I almost didn't make it since there was already so much to see in the city and the thought of climbing out of bed at 5 a.m. really deterred me. But then I thought it would be a real sin for a food blogger not to come back with some shots of this foodie shrine.

As you can judge from my photo stream, this waking up at 5 a.m. business has turned out to be quite worthwhile. It was a photographer's paradise having so much to take in and so many photo ops popping up everywhere. The most magnificent sight for me was this one passionate fishmonger strategizing the best way to cut up this entire whole tuna.

The closest I could get to for a fishy breakfast after all the oogling and clicking was ikura-don and green tea. (Sashimi at 7 in the morning? no way.) This bowl of rice bedded with translucent grains of glistening salmon roe the size of pearls was just heavenly. Man, I was a happy girl that day. Masa-san you can attest to that!

IN THE KNOW:
Official Site of Tsukiji Wholesale Fish Market.

To-die-for sushi in Tokyo

[Amazing sushi in Shibuya, Tokyo]

[Check out how they style and present the sashimi]

[The sushi you order gets placed on the leaf in front of you as soon as it's being crafted]

[It's a pity I couldn't capture how boisterous the place was with the chefs and servers exclaiming welcomes and goodbyes at the top of their lungs]

IN THE KNOW:Must try if you are in Shibuya. Right at the Shibuya crossing on the second level of Mark City. Very easy to locate. This place's called Midori. There's always a line, so be prepared to wait for 15-30 minutes before getting seated. Price is about 5500 yen for two with sake.

Midori-zushi
梅丘 寿司の美登利

5458-0002

Shibuya / Sushi Dogenzaka 1-12-3, Mark City East 4F.
Open 11am-10pm daily.

**More pictures of my trip on my Flickr photostream.

Here I come, land of the rising sun

[Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo]

You have no idea how surreal it felt standing here among all these people. I just felt like I was in a movie or something. This is a tween dream come true. I guess fulfilling this dream 17 years later is timely since I know several people who live here now and my pocket digs in a little bit further for some retail therapy.

Touched down Thursday p.m. in Tokyo and now spending the long weekend in Matsuyama 松山, the main city in Shikoku island. This is a small city backed by mountains and lined by the Setonai sea, so it's very beautiful. It reminded me of a smaller version of San Francisco. Open freeways, lotsa space, lotsa green, the mountains and the water. A very kawai girl I knew from my college days in Michigan, Reiko Watanuki, offered to take me to her hometown. We boarded the plane from Haneda-Tokyo airport this p.m.

The Japanese are very hospitable people. Extremely polite and considerate (no blabbing obnoxiously on cellphones in the metro). I was treated by the Watanukis to a feast fit for a king -- 8 exquisite courses and cold sake to smooth them down. Tomorrow Reiko's dad is gonna be our designated driver and tour guide. Despite the language barrier we had a good time. We were all laughing all the time. Otosan and okasan were able to communicate with me with the survival japanese I taught myself as a tween. It all worked out with the few phrases of english, french and spanish Mr Watanuki learned from pop songs from the 70s!!

More stories and pictures to follow but meanwhile, check out my friend Alan's photostream on flickr. You'll see he really has an eye for things. Well, considering him being stage manager for Cirque and having a gorgeous star artiste as a girlfriend ;)

Photo credit: ampontour