Check the Hotel Homepage for more information (Japanese)!

Now, how much did we pay for one night at Suikoen Hotel, thebest one in Sumatakyo, lost in the southern Japan Alps with full dinner, breakfast and onsen bath/hotsprings bath?
130 US $ each, not bad!

Meals are taken early in Japanese hotsprings hotels.
Ours was launched at 6:00 p.m.!
A plate of zensai/appetizers was waiting for us. I can’t remember all the descriptions as I had no time to jot down anything, waht with being busy the pics (with a mobile phone, which is not the perfect way! Sorry) and the Missus waiting impatiently!

Bamboo Shoot

Vegetarian sushi with rice steamed in green tea.

Stewed mushrooms and pickled ginger.

Kogomi/fern, moutain vegetable.

Tea leaves tempura.

Fuki, mountain vegetable

And the procession of appetizers continued with stewed cold chicken and boiled vegetables,

yam, pickled wasabi and myoga ginger,

grilled yamame, you can eat the whole!

Japanese-style bbq with pork and vegetables and miso paste,

20 minutes later!

Shika tataki/Seared venison sashimi (the venison comes from wild deer in the nearvy mountains!),

an interesting “sashimi plate”: gomadofu/sesame tofu, salmon and konnyaku/devil’s tongue tuber jelly mixed with local green tea!

I don’t know too much baout this one. All I know is that it was made with azuki beans, yam and tofu. Very hearty!

Chinese-style fried salmon with sweet and sour sauce,

tsukemono, Japanese pickles,

Yamasemi (Mountain Kingfisher) white wine from Nagano Precture (extra fee!),

Freshly steamed rice is brought inside a double-lid pot,

so simple and delicious!

Miso soup, naturally,

Kawane Green Tea (did I tell you that Shizuoka Prefecture produces more than 45% of all green tea in Japan?)!

And Kawane green tea jelly for dessert!

before taking our first bath of the day, we took time to admire the carps in the garden pond!

The entrance of the hot baths…

The noren/curtain barring the view of the hot baths for men.
”男” means “men”. Don’t make a mistake!

The noren/curtain barring the view of the hot baths for women/ladies.
”女” means “women”. Don’t make a mistake again!

The “venues are switched every 12 hours. Do be careful and check! LOL

A view of the “make-up” room.

The indoor bath.

Scrub yourself before entering any bath!

Rotenburo/露天風呂/outdoors bath. A bit small, I must admit!

The relaxation room by the outdoors bath.
Do not trust the scales!

We did dip in the baths the next day before and after breakfast.
The breakfast was the all you can eat self-service style, both European and Japanese style. Above was my first helping (European).

I was really hungry after allthe walking the day before (and more coming on taht day!), I couldn’t help wolfing down another, Japanese-style, breakfast!

All considered, a good enough hotel, good steady food and very reasonable. Definitely recommended!

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, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English), Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Ideal Party

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The Japanese are quite proficient at making all kinds of dango/団子/balls, be they made with meat or not.
This particular recipe does not call for meat and is very healthy.
Mitarashi sauce is a light Jpanese sweet and sour sauce.

Mitarashi Sauce Tofu Balls/みたらし豆腐団子

INGREDIENTS: For 8 balls

-All-purpose flour: 150~200g
-Onion + Carrot: 1/2 each finely chopped
-Egg: 1 (beaten)
-Water: 50 ml/cc

A: Dashi or bouillon powder: 1 small tablespoon
A: Soy sauce: 1 tablepoon
A: Sugar: 1 teaspoon
A: Pepper: as appropriate
A: Freshly grated ginger: 1 teaspoon
Salad oi: a apprpriate.

Mitarashi sauce:
B: Water: 200 ml/cc
B: Soy sauce: 2 small tablespoons
B: Dashi or bouillon powder: 1 teaspoon
B: Sugar: 2 tablespoons
B: Mirin/Sweet sake: 2 tablespoons
B: Rice vinegar: 1 tablespoon
Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon mixed in some lukewarm water

RECIPE:

-Mix xhopped carrot and onion, flour, beaten eagg and water. Add A ingredients and mix well.

-Wet your hands ands and make 8 balls.
Deep-fry slowly in oil at 160~170 degrees.

-Drop all B ingredients into a pan and heat till just before boiling point. Drop the balls in the sauce and cook over medium fire until balls are well coated. Add cornsatrch dissolved in lukewarm water and stir until the sauce is smooth.

Serve altogether in a serving dish topped with some chooped greens.
Easy, isn’t it?

Great with beer or Japanese sake or shochu!

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, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento, Happy Little Bento; 5 Star Foodie; Jefferson’s Table; Oyster Culture; Gourmet Fury; Island Vittles; Good Beer & Country Boys; Rubber Slippers In Italy; Color Food daidokoro/Osaka;/a; The Witchy Kitchen; Citron Et Vanille, Lunsj Med Buffet/Estonian Gastronomy (English)

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As I said before, Koyadofu is one kind of tofu that can beasily arranged into all kinds of interesting appetizers in Japanese Homes’ Gastronomy!
Here is a simple suggestsion for a yummy lunch to be eaten by all, vegans, vegetarians or omnivores:

Koyadofu Agedashi Appetizer!

Before reading the ingredients, check:
Koyadofu Recipe

Vegan Japanese dashi soupstock recipe

INGREDIENTS: For 2 people

-Koyadofu: 1 sheet (multiply everything accordingly for mor!)
-Cornstarch: as appropriate
-Deep-frying oil: a appropriate

-Dashi soup stock: 1 cup (vegans, check recipe!)
Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon
-Mirin/sweet sake: 1 tablespon
-Fresh grated ginger juice: 1/2 teaspoon
-Green shiso/perilla leaves: 2~3 (if unavailable, use stron flavour leaf vegetable)

RECIPE:

-If dry, let the koyadofu saok in plenty lukewarm water for 10 minutes.
In a pan drop the dashi, soy sauce and sweet sake/ mirin. Cook on medium fire for a little while without boiling too much. Switch off fire and add ginger jice. Mix.
Chop/finely cut green shiso and leave in cold water.

-Take kyadofu out of the water. Press water out hard. Cut into 8 pieces.Roll in cornstarch. Deep-fry at 150~160 degrees Celsius until they have attained a nice brownish colour (if the oil is too hot, it will “smoke”). Let rest on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.

-Let the deep-fried koyadofu soak in the dashi soup until completely cooled down.
Chill the whole for a while in the refrigerator.

-Serve in a dish with the soupstock.
Drain and press water out the chopped green shiso and place on top.

-You can also serve it hot.
In this case after you have deep-fried the koyadofu and let it rest on a pice of paper kitchen to take excess oil, heat the soupstock. Add cornstarch dissolved in some lukewarm water and make a sweet and sour sauce (“ankake”) and serve it as shown in pic above.

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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Aubergines/egg plants or “nasu/茄子” in Japanese are a universla favourite. I’m sure that Debra at Hapabento will jump on that one!LOL

Aubergines/Egg-plants in Sweet and Sour Sauce/Nasu no Agedashi Ankake

INGREDIENTS: For 4 people

Aubergines: 4 (Choose them fat and almost round!)
-Mirin/Japanese sweet sake: 50 cc/ml
-Soy sauce: 50 cc/ml
-Water: 300 cc/ml
-Dashi konbu/seaweed powder: 8 g
-Bonito shavings/Katsuobushi: 8 g
-Cornstarch dissolved in lukewarm water: as appropriate
-Ginger: freshly grated, as appropriate

RECIPE:

-Prepare the oil for deep-frying.
Peel the aubergines/egg plants and cut into 8~12 pieces each

-Deep-fry the aubergines/egg-plants until they reach a light brown/”fox” colour. Let them loose as much as oil as possible by leaving them on a mesh or a piece of kitchen paper. You will then tranfer them into serving dishes as in picture above.

-Drop mirin/Japanese sweet sake, soy sauce, water, dashi konbu/seaweed powder, bonito shavings/Katsuobushi in a pan and heat until boiling point. Add cornstarch dissolve in lukewarm water and stir until you have attained the appropriate thickness. Switch off fire.

-Pour sauce in equal amounts over the aubergines/egg-plants in each dish.

-Top with grated fresh ginger and serve.

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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The Missus is “feeling the pressure”! Well, that’s she keeps on saying these days if I have the temerity to come to the kitchen to have a look at her at work!
I’ve also noticed quite a few bento magazines laying around in our home too and heard “I can do better than that!” comments.
Well, I’m certainly going to pile on the pressure!LOL

Today’s bento was very much according to traditions:

Three musubi/rice balls. Two of them contained fried salted salmon, chopped fresh shiso/perilla leaves and sesame seeds, the other sesame seeds, both yellow and black (they are actually the same, but roasted differently) and umeboshi/Japanese pickled plum. All musubi were wrapped in shiso leaves.

The tamagoyaki/Japanese omelette was plain tamagoyaki with melting cheese. Tasted more like dessert!

The “Garnish” consisted of:
Top left corner: Pickled mini-melons and pickled wasabi stems.
Bottom left corner: Salad of boiled beans and violet sweet potato.
Right half: Stir-fried prawns in sweet and sour sauce and boiled broccoli!

The Missus must have read my recent posting on Food Supplements!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

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The Missus was into her “colourful” mode in spite of all the grumbling today!

The rice was plain steamed rice sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds with enough peeping out for the looks (and photograph!).
Chicken was “karaage”/Japanese-style deep-fried chicken agremented with pimento pieces in sweet and sour sauce.. and a another sprinkle of roasted seame seeds.

As for the garnish it was a bit of an embarrassment of choices as where to start eating!
Tamagoyaki/Japanese omelette 8 ab it on the sweet note this time), lettuce, mini-tomatoes, Boiled carrots, romanesco broccoli and Brussels sprouts, with some dippping sauce under the the broccoli.

And for dessert?
A big orange from Shizuoka!

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

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Nikudango, Japanese for meatball, is a popular recipe for bento boxes (lunch boxes), and it is even very popular at many Chinese restaurants in Japan.

Yield: 2 servings
Time: 15 minutes

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 15g ginger (grated)
• 1 clove garlic (grated)
• 1/4 cup flour

Spices (for beef)

• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sake
• 1 tsp katakuriko
• dash salt and pepper

Spices (for sauce)

• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp vinegar
• 3 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp katakuriko

Preparation

1. Mix beef with egg, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sake, katakuriko, salt, pepper and knead well by hand
2. Make meatballs roughly the size of golf balls
3. Heat oil to 375°F (190°C) and fry meatballs for about 7 minutes (until cooked through), remove them from the pan and wipe oil with a paper towel
4. Mix sauce spices in a small bowl (soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, ketchup) and heat it in a frying pan
5. Add katakuriko (with water), mix then add meatballs
6. Serve and enjoy!

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