Found at Kyoto's Nishiki market

What do you think this is a picture of? Take a guess.












Give up? I could tell you now, but I know you probably read this before actually thinking about it. So I'm gonna make you work for the answer.

Click here.

Granted, this isn't what it's called in Japanese, but it's basically the same thing. Fun stuff, huh?

If you have a poor sandwich with very good friends, it's always good

How true.

http://www.coolhunting.com/archives/2007/11/herv_this.php

He had the opposite, too. So he should know. Plus, he's like, a genius. A food genius.

Food blogs

So, lately I've become a bit addicted to perusing several different food blogs. Yes, that's right, blogs about food. Awesomeness.

Most of them are recipe-based, and sometimes I even end up skipping over all the boring "writing" stuff, and going straight for the recipes. I've been cooking a lot more lately, because a) it's healthier b) it's cheaper and c) the previously-mentioned Berkeley Bowl (now that my class schedule is changing a bit, hopefully I'll have time over the next few months to start going to a local farmer's market, too). While I have a few cookbooks, some of which have some really good recipes, they are a bit limited at times, and it's always nice to find new ones (I think I finally understand a TINY bit of my mom's obsession with buying new cookbooks...)

Anyway, I thought I'd share a couple of the blogs I've been reading, if any of you are curious.

http://www.slashfood.com/ -- the grandaddy of all food blogs (in my mind). This kind of got me started in the whole food blog universe. Sometimes recipes, sometimes food news, sometimes pics, always entertaining. I probably check this 2 or 3 times a day (LOVE the food porn...)
http://www.101cookbooks.com/ -- great collection of healthy recipes (all vegetarian?). The author lives in SF, and is an amazing food photographer, to boot!
http://www.thefoodwhore.com/ -- just found this one today. About a caterer and the troubles she has. Not recipes, but pretty darn entertaining.
http://myhusbandcooks.wordpress.com/ -- pretty good looking recipes (the pecan & chocolate chip cookies turned out great) and an amusing theme/title.
http://www.tastespotting.com/ -- mmmmmmm..... food porn......

Mmmmmm..... Bacon!

My Dad doesn't eat pork. Not only that, when I was little, he stopped allowing pork in the house. So, with the rare exception of breakfast/brunch outside the house, I grew up on Turkey Bacon.

If you've never had turkey bacon, it's kind of like a mix between greasy meat and cardboard. Sounds appetizing, huh? Now, in what surely must be some kind of Freudian development, I'm a bacon fiend. I mean BACON, the real stuff. The stuff from pigs.

For the past several years, my policy has pretty much been "Anything tastes better with bacon." Hamburger? Check. Pasta? Check. Salad? Check. Ice cream? Well, maybe not, but I did have a bacon-flavored cookie at a restaurant in Tokyo last month (to go along with the mango and cream "egg", but that's another post).

Despite this fact, I don't really cook bacon THAT often. I guess it's a result of not eating breakfast very often, a habit which I'm trying to change, on the weekend, at least. A few weeks ago, I was up at Tahoe with one of my classmates, Jun, and Jason, the husband of another classmate. Being three guys, it only made sense to have a big breakfast on Sunday morning, before our second day of snowboarding, which, of course just HAD to include bacon.

Jason was in charge of breakfast, and he turned out bacon that was so crispy it crumbled. When I asked him the secret, he said he learned from his Dad to cook it really slowly, so that all the fat cooks out (I think that's why). I had always thought you cooked bacon at high heat (which, admittedly, might have also had something to do with my impatience and desire to EAT THE BACON NOW!!!)

This morning, I tried it the slow method. It probably took 20 minutes, which was just KILLING me. But my my my my, was that some good bacon! Definitely worth the wait! The amount of grease/fat that came out was borderline disgusting, though -- it practically filled the pan! Guess in the past that was all going straight through my system.

I still have one slice left, as well as a few slices in the freezer. Yesterday, I found a recipe online for kale and bacon. Guess what's for dinner tomorrow night?

Theory and Practice

It seems like there are a lot of things that work much better in theory than in practice. A lot of times when I see a really cool shirt in a store, it doesn't look nearly as good on me as it did on the rack.

Another example -- dinner last night. I had gotten a recipe for stuffed & baked artichokes from Andronicos, a local grocery store. Given that artichokes are readily available and fresh here, and they're something I've never really used in cooking (other than serving them boiled w/ butter for one meal when Panda chan was here), I thought I'd give it a try, remembering the delicious stuffed artichokes my mom used to make when I was a kid.

Well, not only was it a lot more work than I had anticipated (how DO you do it, mom?), but it didn't taste quite as good as I remembered. For some reason, the stuffing was really loose; more like sprinkles, than stuffing. Oh well.

Theory-gone-awry # 2: The other day, when shopping at my favorite culinary institution, the Berkeley Bowl, I came across a set for homemade salsa in the vegetable area. Not only did it seem like a really cool idea, but it seemed like the perfect excuse to use my new Cuisinart.


Once again, theory and practice collided. Violently. Instead of being beautiful, fresh salsa, I ended up with a kind of watery salsa-esque mush.

Now, admittedly, it's probably more my fault for not being really familiar with my cuisinart, yet. And it doesn't exactly taste bad. But it definitely didn't live up to my expectations.

On the upside, I'm cooking and experimenting, instead of just heating up boxed stuff (although, I'm doing my fair share of that, too).

Tonight's menu? The one leftover artichoke and TBD.

Radicalicious

I want some! I can't recall seeing any Lavazza's in the Bay Area, but I wonder if they're bringing this out here anytime soon... Or maybe the Lavazza's in Japan have it??

Good to the last drop

I've been using my new coffee maker pretty regularly lately. On weekedays, I'll usually make a pot in the morning, before I go to classes. Depending on long a day I have, I sometimes put what I don't drink in a thermos, and take it to school (helps keep me awake during the more boring lectures...).

Never having bought coffee beans before, I've been experimenting with a few different varieties. The Berkeley Bowl sells organic coffee at 8 bucks a pound, which is a great deal, considering the exact same stuff is 10 bucks at another grocery store, and Peet's coffee sells their stuff for 12 bucks a pound in their cafes (not sure what Starbucks goes for, but probably something similar). I tried a couple of different flavors/types, and they were all pretty good (alhtough, I can't really recall if one was better than the other).

Much to my surprise, the Bowl also sells French Market coffee, Chicory coffee from Louisiana. I've had it at my parents' place several times (I think), and since it was only 6 bucks for a pound, I thought I'd give it a try. Not only is it going to last me twice as long as what I had previously used (because you only have to use half as much), but it tastes really damn good! Add some soy milk (vanilla or plain), and it's even better! There goes any attempt at limiting my coffee intake....

Curry Rice

I made myself a big ole' pot of curry rice for dinner. Mmmmmm! Good stuff. Although I should have cooked it a little longer to make the beef a little more tender.

One of the great things about curry rice is leftovers! I used to make it a lot when I lived in LA, and it always lasted at least till dinner the next night (including lunch!). So guess what I'm bringing to school tomorrow? You got it, a tupperware container full of curry rice!

Chocoglllllrlrlrlrlrh.......

I just got back from a cooking class, sponsored by the Culinary Club at Haas (one of my favorite clubs!). It was held at a place called Kitchen of Fire. I was expecting a similar experience to my cooking classes in China and Thailand, meaning a small class size and individual cooking stations, so I was a little disappointed when 15 or 20 people showed up, and all of us collaborated on 4 different chocolate deserts, at 4 simultaneous stations.

Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun. Only now, I'm suffering from a combination of a chocolate-induced high and a general bluh-feeling caused by too much chocolate. In a good way, though.

I've come to a realization, though, that while I really like chocolate, I'm not that big a fan of chocolate cake deserts. Brownies, yes, cakes, not so much. Even the chocolate lave cake wasn't that awe-inspiring (although, maybe that was just because by the time I had some, I was already suffering from a minor-soon-to-be-major overdoes of chocolate...). The truffles, though, well, that's a whole 'nuther story altogether. Deeeelicious! Whether dark or milk, rolled in almonds, hazelnuts or cocoa powder, they were mmmmm good!

Definitely going to make those again. Maybe tomorrow??

(BTW, this post's title is the sound that comes out of my mouth when I try to say "chocolate" now. See above-referenced chocolate high/chocolate bluh.)

Disgustingly Ridiculous

And yet fascinating at the same time...

"He doesn't know it's a competition..." Of course not, you idiot!!!! He's a freakin' BEAR!!!!

Here Here!

See! It's not just for grad students in Berkeley!

BBQ

Went to a bbq today. It was the last activity of Orientation Week.

I went expecting your typical burgers and dogs. So imagine my surprise when I got there and found out it was catered. With 10 different kinds of skewers (everything from beef to portabello mushrooms to lime chicken), awesome mashed potatoes and cous-cous!

It was a gorgeous day, too. The bbq was held at Pinole Point park, about half an hour north of Berkeley. We kind of got lost on the way, but eventually found it.

Ah, what a nice way to spend the afternoon!

Gourmeh

Here's a pretty amusing article on the attempted "gourmetization" of food in the States.

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71561-0.html?tw=wn_culture_2

And the author lives in Berkeley! Cool!

(BTW, he's only half-kidding about the goat cheese thing. Mmmmmmm, cheese!)

I bought a coffee maker today

(Click on the link above to see what I got).

It's not your typical drip brewer, but instead uses a vacuum. The water boils up into the top of the maker, where the coffee grinds are, then when all the water is gone, it gets sucked back down into the bottom as coffee. Cool, huh?

I'd seen this type of maker in Japan before, often at "old-style" coffee shops. This was the first automatic/electric one I'd seen, though (usually they require a burner). Supposedly, they make a better-tasting cup of coffee. And I couldn't really bring myself to buy a 20-dollar black & decker coffee maker. Plus, it's just plain cool! And so what if it's a little more expensive (I paid $60, which was cheaper than the website I linked to, but obviously more than the $20 B&D at Walgreens). That's what I've got a high-paying job for, right? Oh. Wait.

Time to start brewin'!

Suh-Weeeeet!

I waited. And waited. And waited. I was afraid to leave my apartment for even a minute. I didn't even want to turn the music up too loud. Becuase I was worried I wouldn't hear the doorbell.

But at 6:30, the UPS lady finally showed up with my brand new computer. Rock 'n roll!

Japanese Grocery Stores

Until recently, most grocery stores in Japan were either small, local shops or medium-sized stores that were closer in size and spirit to the common American behemoths, but still considerably smaller than some of the crazy-big chains in the US. In the past few years, though, stores like Aeon/Jusco have changed the face of the supermarket in Japan, plopping huge warehouse-sized supermarkets in residential neighborhoods.

There's an Aeon next to Panda chan's apartment. It's open 24 hours. Talk about convenient!
http://www.aeon.jp/index.html (don't ask what "Singing Aeon" means, 'cause I got nuthin')

Aeon has done a really great job of bringing prices down to (relatively) low levels. They've even adopted the American idea of private label brands, and have their own version of a lot of different foods.

But one thing they DON'T have is "10 items or less" a checkout line. So I ended up waiting in line for 20 minutes the other night, just to check out a few things. Luckily I had my iPod with me, but still!

One thing they DO have, however, is a "self-checkout line". For someone who loves gadgets and technology like me, this is pretty much the coolest thing to hit grocery stores since in-house bakeries (even better than sliced bread). Just can't get enough of that fresh-baked bread!

It's pretty much like it sounds -- instead of having someone there checking your items for you, they have four kiosks with bar code readers and plastic bags, so you can do everything yourself. The machines take credit cards, and even cash, including coins! How cool is that? And it's always fun to play with bar code scanners! I've used it 3 times now, and am starting to get the hang of it. I can see it now, my first post-MBA job -- Grocery store checker!!

Oh No!

Well, it was bound to happen. Over the last week, I've missed a few meal photos. I know, I know, I've let you, my loyal reader, down. Some of it was the nature of my meals on the cruise (mostly buffet), and some of it was just plain forgetfulness.

But, here's a quick list, some with pics, some without, of past meals.

5/26
Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner -- Buffet

5/27

Breakfast and Lunch -- Buffet

Dinner -- Captain's Farewell Banquet (see menu)

5/28

Breakfast -- Buffet

Lunch -- Spicy Eggplant, Pork Dish (no pics)

There's a reason they call it HOTpot

Chongqing, where I stayed before my Yangtze River cruise, is it's own municipality, but it used to belong to Szechuan province. As you probably know from American Chinese food, Szechuan is famous for their spicy food. For lunch my first day in Chongqing, I had two of my favorite Szechuan dishes that I ate in Japan

Mabo Tofu (see previous post)
Tantan men (spicy noodles with ground meat and kind of a nutty sauce)

But what Chongqing is really famous for is their hotpot (which is where you cook different foods in boiling water at your table).

Which, of course, meant I HAD to try it.

As usual, the place I went to didn't have an English menu. But I knew the characters for Lamb (their specialty), as well as for tofu and for a few different vegetables, so I managed to order a few different things. I also (as usual) ended up ordering waaaay too much food...

Sliced Lamb (rolled)
Skewered Lamb
Tofu
Cabbage
Some green leafy vegetable

It was without a doubt the HOTTEST MEAL I'VE EVER EATEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!!!!!!!! I can't stress this enough -- it was really really really damn hot. And not just spicy, but temperature-wise, as well. By the end of the meal, my mouth was on fire, my tongue was raw, I had the sniffles big-time, and I was sweating like a mad-man. And all of this was DESPITE the fact that they had given me the "mild" version, in which half is spicy and half is not. Of course, I loved it!

The lamb was really tender and tasty. And the tofu came out frozen, which was strange, but obviously it melted REALLY quickly. They had flavored the tofu with something, and it was delicious. AND REALLY SPICY!!

The next day at lunch (after my visit to the zoo), I had

Home-style Tofu
Spicy dried beef

The Tofu was especially good (and spicy!), as was the beef, which was great over rice. And I ended up eating more rice in Chongqing than I had in other cities, to keep my mouth from bursting into flames!

I LOVE spicy food. Growing up in Louisiana, I feel I was practically weaned on Tabasco. But after only three meals in Chongqing, it was time to give my mouth (and the lining in my stomach) a rest.

Dinner and Tea

Our second night in Xi'an was an amazing experience. In our search for dinner, we wandered around some of the backstreets near the city wall and stumbled upon a pretty interesting looking place. It turned out to be a traditional tea house, but they also served food, so we decided to give it a try.

The English menu was limited to drinks, but there was one waitress who spoke quite a bit of English and who was extremely helpful, so with her assistance and my limited knowledge of chinese characters, we managed to order

Hot and Spicy Beef
Dried Tofu
Fried Rice

The beef was delicious (and spicy!). The fried rice had something that gave it a really unique flavor (in a good way) -- sweet peppers, maybe? And the tofu reminded me of a dish I had in Beijing 4 years ago, which I've tried to find ever since. Spectacular. We also ordered glasses of green tea, although I'm not sure which specific variety we got.

But the night didn't end there. The waitress offered to give us a tour of the place, at which point we found out how big it was (5 floors), how cool it was (very!) and the fact that it's pretty old and very famous (2nd most famous teahouse in China, after one in Beijing). Overall, she really spent a lot of time with us, as did one of her coworkers, who made us cup after cup of Puer tea (all free). They kept saying it's good for your health and your digestion, and we kept drinking, but both Ben and I had trouble sleeping later.... (oh well!).

In the picture, the woman on the right is "Cathy", who helped us out, while the woman on the left is the one that made us tea.

In the end, all of their attention paid off, because both Ben and I bought something from their shop. Ben got this really cool cake of tea that was pressed to look like an ancient Chinese coin, and I got an awesome teapot that's shaped like a bamboo chair. I'd put a picture up, but I sent it on to Bangkok with Ben...

Anway, it was definitely a highlight of my first week in China.

Lamb Delight

Seeing as how Xi'an has a large Muslim population, a lot of their food reflects this Islamic influence. Especially on this one street in the Muslim quarter, which leads up to the Drum Tower. Ben and I picked one of the more popular-looking restaurants, and had a go at the all-Chinese menu. We ended up with


Lamb Skewers (4 each, at only 12.5 cents per skewer!)
Mutton soup, with tiny bits of the local bread (I forgot the name of the dish and don't have that section of my guide book with me).

The skewers were amazing, and all of the meat was surprisingly tender. Plus it was just a fun place to eat, watching everybody else, and trying to interact with the really young waitstaff, who spoke NO English...