Finally back to “normal life” after this short but great trip to the other extremity of Japan, namely Kume Island/久米島/ off Okinawa. A few postings and a lot of pictures will soon be featured on this blog!

The Missus used that favourite woven bento box, which was actually containing a bento when we bought it! It proved a bargain in the end!LOL

The “sushi maki” were made with ton toro/豚トロ or very soft pork slices that the Missus deep-fried in tonkatsu style before wrapping them in plain rice steamed with a piece of konbu/seaweed and eolling them into lettuce for great presentation and nutritious balance.

She added soft-boiled egg marinated in a concoction of hers and sprinkled with black sesame seeds. She completed the box with some stir-fried renkon/lotus root slices seasoned with chopped scallions, dry bonito shavings/katsuo bushi and chili pepper mix.

The salad contributed more balance, vitamins, fibers and so forth with beans, celery, tomato, cucumber, lettuce, trevise, walnuts and cheese.

For dessert and more vitamin C, benihoppe/red cheeks strwawberries from Shizuoka. We are almost at the end of their season!

Back to a healthy diet!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Bento Boutique, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento

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Vegansarus and vegan freinds should know by now that Japanese gastronomy is a whole fireld to study for their culinary priorities. Not only it provides ideas for nutritious food but alo elegance!

Cauliflower and Lime!

INGREDIENTS: For 2 people

-Cauliflower: a little less that 3 cups/550 cc, broken into small “branches/flowers”
-Sweet white miso: 1 tablespoon
-Rice vinegar: 1 large tablespoon and a little more
-Mirin/sweet sake: 1/4 teaspoon
-Lime zest: 1 lime
-Sugar: if wished for, as deemed as appropriate
-Water for boiling (with a little sakt)

RECIPE:

-Break the cauliflower into small “branches/flowers” and boil in salted water to the softness/hardness of your choice.

-In a bowl drop the sweet white miso, rice vinegar and mirin/sweet sake and mix. Check taste and rectify with sugar if deemed appropriate. Add thinly cut lime zest and mix.

-Choose a nice vessel and place the boiled cauliflower in it (look at the picture above). Pour the seasoning ver it, taking care of placing the lime zests on top in an artisitic manner (use chopsticks!).
A couple of very thin chives would do well for decoration!

Great with Japanese sake or beer!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, Vegansarus

Please check the new postings at:
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This is the third (and not fianl, I hope!) of a series of vegan recipes for such friends as Vegansarus prepared with lotus root or renkon/蓮根 in Japanese. These should be easier and easier to get these days. They do provide a great bite on top of their nutritional value!

By cutting lotus roots into thick slices you can eat them like steaks!

Lotus Root Steaks!

INGREDIENTS: For 2~ paople

-Lotus roots: 2~ large ones
-Olive oil (EV): as appropriate
-Salt: a reasonable quantity
-Freshly ground black pepper: as much as you want!

RECIPE:

-Peel and cut lotues roots into 1 cm-thick slices. make sure of getting rid of any blemish. Wash them in clear cold water and drain thoroughly.

-Pour enough olive oil in frypan. More than less oil is better as it will be sucked in by the lotus root. Place lotus roots on oil. Cover with lid. Cook over a medium fire. Fry both sides of the slices until they have reached a nice brown colour.

-halfway through cooking, when lotus root slices are starting changing colour sprinkle salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides.

When ready serve as they are, or with some reen leaf vegetables.
A little chili pepper or a final seasoning for people who like their food spicy!
Simple, isn’t it?

Great with Japanese sake or beer!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, Vegansarus

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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This is the second of a series of vegan recipes for such friends as Vegansarus prepared with lotus root or renkon/蓮根 in Japanese. These should be easier and easier to get these days. They do provide a great bite on top of their nutritional value!

Potatoes are great as chips, aren’t they? Now, lotus roots are too! Moereover, they can be used for striking decoration in salads!

Lotus roots Chips!

INGREDIENTS: For 1 person

-Lotus root: 1~2 medium size
-Oil
-Salt

RECIPE:

-Cut the lotus root root into 2 mm thick slices and wash them lightly in water.

-Drain them thoroughly. Take out all excess water by pacing them between two sheets of kitchen paper.

-Fry them slowly in oil at about 150 degrees Celsius. keep in mind that overfried lotus roots (dark brown to balckish9 become sour and tasteless!

-Scopp them out when they attained the right colour and let them rest on a sheet of kitchen paper to take out excess oil.

-After letting them cool a bit, drop them in a (clean!) vinyl pouch with a little salt and shake them around for an even taste!

Great with Japanese sake or beer!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, Vegansarus

Please check the new postings at:
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Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
entirely non-smoking!

Another reason for visiting Pissenlit on a regular basis is that Chef Tooru Arima is capable of using the most extravagant ingredients and still offer them at a very reasonable price.

This Duck foie gras (how about that, Arnie?LOL) from the Landes area, South Western France) was fried/flambe to perfection. It sounds easy, but the timing is extremely difficult. I should know as I cannot count the times I have failed.
Now the Madeira sauce was in perfect balance with the foie gras, whereas the truffles risotto offered the salted counterpoint to the sweetness of the foie gras and sauce!

Alright, how much? Less than 30 US $!

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
Homepage (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
entirely non-smoking!

Tooru Arima is a lucky chef:
He has access to some of the best organic vegetables and fruit all year long in this country.
No wonder he can prepare this succulent salad with duckling from the Landes area in France and cook it to perfection before letting it cool down and cut it thin slices to be served with oranges from Shizuoka. As for the green leaf vegetables inclkuding trefoil, luccolla and others are all organic and from our prefecture.
Customers are lucky, too, aren’t they? LOL

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
Homepage (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
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Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
entirely non-smoking!

Tooru Arima has a special love for anything vegetables and is constantly on a quest to serve them in an original manner!

Above is a beautiful example of his imagination.
Served with a red sweet pimento mousse, it makes for the best appetizer in town with a great white wine!

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
Homepage (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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This is the first of a series of vegan recipes for such friends as Vegansarus prepared with lotus root or renkon/蓮根 in Japanese. These should be easier and easier to get these days. They do provide a great bite on top of their nutritional value!

Sweet & Spicy Lotus Roots!

INGREDIENTS: for 2 people

-Lotus root: a 20cm long piece
-Fresh ginger juice: 1 teaspoon
-Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon
-Mirin/Sweet sake: 1 tablespoon
-Rice vinegar: 1 tablespoon
-Cornstarch: as appropriate
-White sesame seeds: as much as you want
-Salad oil (of your choice): 1 tablespoon

RECIPE:

-Slice the lotus roots to the thickness of your preference. A lttle thick will provide a satisfying bite.

-Coat the lotus root slices with cornstarch.

-Fry the lotus root slice in oil until both faces have attained a nice brown colour. let them rest on a sheet of kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.

-In a bowl, prepare the sauce by mixing the fresh ginger juice, soy sauce, mirin/sweet sake, rice vinegar.

-In a clean frypan drop the fried lotus root slices. Heat them again. Pour the sauce on them and fry until they become “sticky”.

-Serve them immediately with some white sesame seeds!

Great with Japanese sake or beer!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, Vegansarus

Please check the new postings at:
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I have already introduced many ways to make “Tsukune”, or chicken patties in yakitori fashion.

Nankotsu/軟骨/ means cartilage or cartilageous parts of the chicken (and other animals) bones. The Japanese eat them as such in yakitori, but they also add great taste to patties. Moreover they are very nutritious, so do make a good use of them if you can get your hands on fresh ones!

INGREDIENTS: For 3~4 people

-Chicken: 200 g (minced)
-Nankotsu/cartilage: 90 g
-Onion: 1/3 of a medium-sized one
-Fresh ginger: a piece of 5×5 cm
-Salt: a pinch
-Black pepper: a pinch
-Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon
-Japanese sake: a little (for boiling wate)
-Water: for boiling
-Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
-Sugar: 2 tablespoons
-Japanese sake: 1 tablespoon (for seasoning/cooking)
-White sesame seeds: for seasoning before serving
-Leeks: cut to length appropriate for skewers

RECIPE:

-In a food processor drop the minced chicken, onion, ginger, salt and pepper cornstarch. Let turn for a little while. Stop and drop in the cartilages/nankotsu. Turn until the cartilages have been broken into small pieces.

-Make chicken balls either by hand or with two spoons. Boil them in water added with alittle Japanese sake. Scoop balls out once they have started foating on the surface.

-In a small frypan pour the soy sauce, sugar and sake. Fry the chicken balls with pieces of leeks (broccoli is fine, too) in the sauce till they are well coated.

-Skewer the chicken balls and leek as shown on top picture. Grill them in toatser or oven until they attain the right colour and crispiness. Baste them with the remaining sauce half way!

Makes for a great snack withh beer, or a good addition to bento!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full

Please check the new postings at:
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As we are leaving on our (very short) Spring holiday tomorrow to Kume Island near Okinawa Island, the Missus had to concoct today’s bento with whatever she could find in the fridge and the “pantry”.
My bento friend at Hapabento will note that my (?) half is using traditional (and small) bento boxes until she finds one of her liking make of cedar tree wood. I agree that the woven box ought to be fine, but I’m going to contradict the resident dragon!

This time she actually used two boxes as the rice and meat garnish took all the space in the bottom tier.

The rice was plain steamed rice, but the chicken that she fried with mushrooms (shimeji maibly) and cut leeks provided for plenty of “sauce” and seasoning, agremented with black sesame seeds..

The pickels were all home-made: red daikon, mini lemons and wasabi stems and leaves.

The second granish box made for plenty of colours!
marinated carrot salad and celery leaf, tamagoyaki containing konbu seaweed, boiled peas in the pod and radishes.
Plenty of vitamins and fibers!

For a better view of the tamagoyaki.
Frankly speaking I love these “leftovers” bentoes! LOL

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook

Please check the new postings at:
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