My Love of Japan

The gracious people and their impeccable politeness, the crazy teenagers and their whacked fashion on Takeshita-Dori in Harajuku, the insanely large palaces of European luxury on Omotesando and in Ginza, miniature gadgets we’ll never have at home in Akihabara, the gargantuan train stations where you always seem to be going against the herd, the endearing giggles one elicits when they mis-speak their Japanese - but most of all the amazingly complex and wonderful cuisine - keeps bringing me back to Japan. While the trip this week was all business, I did get to have a bit of fun and meet some wonderful new people in the process. I treasure every trip I get to make to Japan and those that know me know of my love for the country. But, back to the food...

I have several recommendations if you ever find yourself in Tokyo and, specifically, around the very hip neighborhood of Shibuya, here are some not to miss places:

• Gonpachi - great and diverse selection of yakitori in a jovial atmosphere; the beef short rib and duck marinated in wasabi yakitori are not to miss!
• Horaitei - on the top floor of the Tokyu Center department store you will find some of the best katsu ever; go for the katsu donburi at lunch - excellent!
• Paradise Macau - a tropically themed establishment that serves excellent Laotian and Indonesian dishes; they have a very good and inexpensive selection of Aussie wines by the glass
• Asahi Sushi - take-out sushi on the restaurant avenue level of the Shibuya Mark City office complex; great for a quick lunch with an impressively diverse selection of fresh fish, many of which you won’t recognize, so be adventurous
• Legato - swanky establishment on the floor above Gonpachi; floor to ceiling windows and a jazz pianist make this a great spot for dessert or an after dinner drink
• Keivi - a tiny little traditional gay bar just around the corner from Shibuya JR station; much better than average snacks included with your cover charge; tell Mama-san Toshi I said hello!

If you have not yet been to Tokyo, go - our dollar may be in the crapper, but their yen is persistently in the crapper so it is so much more affordable than going to Europe or even New York. There’s no other city in the world quite like it!

Recipe: Miso Poached Halibut

As I am sitting on United 837 somewhere over the Pacific on my way to Tokyo for the week, I thought I would share a Japanese-themed recipe that I made up a few weeks ago. It’s very simple, light, and tasty. I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted - school has worn me down over these last several weeks, unfortunately. In any case, if you do make this, let me know! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs. of halibut filets
1/2 cup of dark miso paste (if you can’t find dark, any miso paste you can find will do)
2 cups of low-sodium soy sauce
4 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of fresh green onions, finely chopped (green and white parts)
1 cup of fresh cilantro, finely chopped
2 tbsp. of rice vinegar
1/2 cup of sake
3 star anise bulbs
2 tbsp. of minced garlic
2 tbsp. of minced ginger

Directions:

In a large chef’s pan or dutch oven, combine all ingredients except for the halibut into the pan making sure to distribute the miso paste well among the liquid. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low, cover the pan, and simmer for 45 minutes to one hour to let the flavors fully combine. Then, submerge the halibut filets into the liquid and re-cover the pan. Poach the filets for about 10 - 15 minutes. Remove and serve in a bowl with a bit of the broth from the pan poured over.

Makes 4 - 6 servings.

Recipe: Stout-Braised Short Ribs

OK... so I had one bottle of Guinness and some boneless short ribs left in my refrigerator, and that was the inspiration for this recipe. Yeah, I know... kinda corny, but it turned out REALLY good. Oh, how I love short ribs :).

Ingredients:

2 1/2 - 3 lbs. of short ribs (bone-in preferred)
1 16 oz. bottle/can of Guinness or other stout beer
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1 1/2 cup of your favorite spicy/tangy BBQ sauce (choose one that is low to nil on sugar content, or lower the maple syrup amount used)
3 tbsp. of chopped garlic
2 cups of beef broth
2 - 3 tbsp. of olive oil

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees, placing racks on their lowest rungs in the oven. In a medium-sized Dutch oven (I use a cast iron Dutch oven which seems to work the best... although a regular aluminum/steel one works fine, too), heat the olive oil on the stove over medium-high heat. Place the short ribs in the Dutch oven with the olive oil, brown on the non-bone sides (about 2 mins. each side). Add all other ingredients to the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer.

Once the liquid has started simmering well, cover Dutch oven with lid and transfer to the oven (the rack you place it on should be no more than two rungs from the very bottom of the oven). Bake for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. The sauce will caramelize around and infuse the meat, so it's not necessary to pour any of the sauce over the meat when serving.

Short ribs are generally quite lean, but keep in mind that almost all of the fat in them cooks out during this braising process, so while 2 1/2 - 3 lbs. sounds like a lot, it'll actually only feed 3 - 4 people (2 if they’re really hungry ;)).

Makes 3 - 4 servings.

Recipe: Garlic Pepper Pork

This dish was inspired by one of my favorite Thai dishes. While not exactly the same as you’d get in a Thai restaurant, this version is still quite tasty. I add asparagus because I think this dish deserves a vegetable and asparagus absorbs the flavors very nicely and gives it a nice balance. If you have green or pink peppercorns around, reduce amounts of black and white pepper to 1/3 tsp. and add 1/3 tsp. of whole green or pink peppercorns to diversify the flavors further.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lbs. of boneless pork chops, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp. of minced garlic
1 tbsp. of minced ginger
1 tbsp. of low-salt soy sauce
2/3 tsp. of ground black pepper
2/3 tsp. of ground white pepper
1/2 tsp. of dried basil
1/2 tsp. of ground cumin
8 small dried chile peppers (I use dried ancho chiles)
10 oz. of fresh chopped asparagus (see NOTE if you use frozen)
2 tbsp. of hazelnut or almond oil

Directions:

In a large wok, heat the hazelnut oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the pork to the wok and sautee until the pork is nearly done, about 4 - 6 minutes. Add all of the other ingredients to the wok and continue sauteeing stirring constantly for another 4 - 5 minutes until asparagus is cooked. (NOTE: if using frozen asparagus, you will need to cook another 2 - 3 minutes and add 1/2 tsp. of cornstarch in the last minute to thicken the mixture). Remove from heat and place immediately into a serving dish.

Serves 4.

Recipe: Salmon Caribbeane

OK... I totally made this recipe up last week, but it was so good. I used Coho Salmon because it’s what I had in the freezer, but other types of salmon filets should work just fine.

Ingredients:

2 large salmon filets
1 can (15 oz.) of diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (15 oz.) of black-eyed peas, drained or equivalent portion of frozen (if you wanna take the time to cook up fresh ones or dried ones, be my guest :))
3 tbsp. of minced garlic
1 small can (7 oz.) of black olive pieces, drained OR 2 1/2 tbsp. of black olive tapenade (I prefer to use the tapenade... or you can use half tapenade, half olive pieces)
4 strips of maple-cured bacon, diced
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. onion powder
Ground black pepper
Olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat the bottom of a large porcelain baking dish with olive oil. Place salmon filets skin side down into the baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the filets and sprinkle them liberally with pepper.

In a mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients except for the bacon. Mix well and then pour over the top of the salmon smoothing out the mixture. Sprinkle the bacon pieces evenly over the top. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Place in the oven and cook for 30 - 35 minutes until fish is cooked through (will be less time for thin filets). Cut the filets in half and serve over the vegetable mixture from the dish.

Makes 4 servings.

Recipe: Drunken Beef

I’ve been to many Chinese restaurants who have “drunken chicken” or “drunken fish” on their menu, and you likely have, too, but this recipe is nothing like that (except for the fact that the recipe does use booze ;)). I derived this from a dish I had when I was in Japan - I know this is not exact, but it’s pretty darn close and really darn good.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. thinly sliced flank steak
1 cup low-salt soy sauce
1 1/2 cup good sake
3 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tbsp. sugar
1 bunch of chopped scallions (green and white parts)
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
2 tbsp. hazelnut oil (or almond oil)

Directions:

Combine soy sauce, sake, 2 tbsp. of the garlic, ginger, sugar, scallions, and cumin into a large bowl. Mix well. Add steak to bowl and marinate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Heat the hazelnut oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the steak from the marinade, the remaining 1 tbsp. of garlic, and the white and black pepper. Stir the steak constantly in the wok to prevent sticking. Once the steak has browned on all sides, add 1/2 cup of the marinade mixture to the wok, lower heat to medium, and continue to cook until most of the liquid has cooked out, stirring constantly. Remove from heat immediately and transfer to serving plate. Serve over sticky white rice.

Serves 4.

Wine Tasting: Mill Creek 2005 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel

Appellation: Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County, California

The wine is made from my favorite varietal, Zinfandel, by a mid-sized winery up on the Westside Road near Healdsburg in Sonoma called Mill Creek Winery. The wine is their “2005 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel.” For those of you that don’t know the appellations of Northern California, Dry Creek Valley is known primarily for Zinfandel (and lately its close relative, Syrah). It is known for producing very earthy and bold Zinfandels that are still fruity, but with not quite as much berry taste as the neighboring appellations of Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley. This wine is very indicative of the Dry Creek style - very bold, nice fruit, but not over-the-top on the berry flavor with slight hints of smokiness on the nose (that’s the “earthiness” more typical of Dry Creek.). It’s a little bit young for a big California Zin, but it’s still a great drinking wine. Also, I had a glass again today after it had been open overnight and the flavors are even more pronounced and rounded. If you’re a fan of California Zin, then this is a very good one. If you always prefer to pair your wine with food, then you’re going to need some big red meat dishes or earthier poultry dishes like duck or squab to hold up to this one. Mill Creek’s staff also recommends baked/rotisserie chicken or pork chops, which could work, but I think may be a bit too light for the body of this wine.

I do highly recommend almost all of Mill Creek’s wines. I’ve had many wines from them and never been disappointed. So, if your state allows you to accept direct wine shipments, then get your hands on this one before it sells out!

Recommendation: 4 out of 5.