food | kimberly ah

Oct 10 2013

adventures, Japan 2013, Japan Does It Better, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Japan Does It Better 1: Narita Express

Japan Month is rolling to the end of the tracks. I’ve been home for a month…you’d never be able to tell based on the fact that my stationery purchases are still lingering in the dining room and my sleep schedule is as dreadful as ever and my cravings for Misdo are coming back with a strong, sad vengeance…but it’s been a month of Japan posts and it’s time to talk about other things (like October and fall and Honor Flight and cocktails). I still have many things that I would love to share about Japan–both observations and products that are unique to the country. So, I’ve decided to introduce another occasional series: Japan Does It Better. JDIB (I’m not completely sold on the acronym) will highlight the products, conveniences and quirky cultural details that I love about Japan. This way, I can sprinkle some Japan love throughout my back-to-normal posts.

So, let’s get started with the Narita Express!

The Narita Express (NEX) is the train that takes you from the Narita Airport (the airport that you fly into when you say you’re flying into Tokyo) into urban area of Tokyo. It takes about ninety minutes and the train makes very few stops along the way. We took it from Narita Airport to Shibuya and then transferred to a local train (similar to the L in Chicago) to get to our hotel. NEX is a lovely little commute. The seats are assigned and there is plenty of space up above and at the end of the car for an international traveler’s luggage. There is a (clean) bathroom on board and the ride is smooth and quiet. In Japan, people do not talk on their cell phones on the trains. If they do, it’s always a quick call and even the sharpest of ears couldn’t hear the conversation because everything is courteously quiet. (When I come home and hop on the L, I am reminded how much I miss Japan and how Japan totally does commuting better!) To me, the peace and quiet of the train is enough for the Narita Express to qualify for JDIB, but, there’s more…

There’s a snack cart!

Once the train gets moving, a kind NEX worker comes around pushing a cart of sandwiches, sweets, chips, coffee, teas, cocktails, beer…tiny treats to make your commute to the airport a pleasant one. And the prices? Not bad at all! Under $3 for a beer or some chocolate covered almonds. You can even purchase some dried scallops or a NEX-branded notebook or pen.

(We did not.)We chose potato sticks, a waffle and an autumn-themed beer. Naoto drank the beer. I ate most of the potato sticks and the tiny waffle. (Surprise, surprise.) The potato sticks are similar to American “shoe-string” potato snacks, but crunchier and the waffle is…a waffle with a little bit of sweetness baked into it (because you don’t have syrup to pour over it). Waffles seem very popular in Japan. We saw several little bakeries serving them in food courts and in shops around Tokyo. The snacks were just enough to tide us over before our pre-flight lunch at the airport.

So, snacks on a train…reason number one that Japan Does It Better.

Tagged adventures, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan, Japan Does It Better

Sep 26 2013

10 Comments

adventures, coffee talk, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Sweet Tooth

My Love, Mister Donut

If there is one thing in Japan that I miss most, it’s Mister Donut. More than amazing office supplies, more than fancy stationery, more than MT tape…I miss Misdo (affectionate for Mister Donut).

In normal, everyday life, I think donuts are fine. Naoto and I go to Dunkin Donuts almost every day for the coffee. Sometimes I might get a donut, but it’s really just to quash a morning sugar craving (or make the sugar craving last all day, as the case may be). Dunkin Donuts donuts are not really delicious to me. (No offense Dunk…but you guys truck them in…how can you even think that’s a good idea?) But at Mister Donut, donuts are a must. They taste different than American ones. First of all, they are made fresh on the premises. Naoto and I went to the Mister Donut right at opening on our first day in Japan (hello, jet lag!) and they were filling the shelves for the whole first hour with fresh-from-the-oven delights. Aside from the freshness, the donuts are just…different. They are lighter, less sweet and have a better consistency than American donuts (bakery & Dunkin). I seriously have never had a better donut. They also have different flavors than typical American donuts. Misdo’s glazed donut is glazed with honey (not corn syrup), there is a green tea old fashioned, there are savory donuts made with puff pastry filled with a hot dog or au gratin potatoes… And, Mister Donut has new flavors that they roll out with the changing seasons. When we there there in 2011, I gorged myself on a variety of sakura (cherry blossom) donuts. This time the new flavor for fall was chestnut. Those were all amazing. Would you like to see every single donut I ate on my vacation?

Day 1: hot dog donut, glazed pon de ring, brown sugar pon de ring

Day 2: chestnut filled chocolate pon de ring, brown sugar pon de ring, chocolate glazed pon de ring

Day 3: hot dog donut, old fashioned, strawberry frosted pon de ring, chocolate frosted pon de ring

Day 4: old fashioned, chestnut chocolate frosted pon de ring

Day 5: chestnut filled with chestnut cream, brown sugar pon de ring, chocolate glazed pon de ring, strawberry dipped cruller

Day 6: hot dog donut, chestnut filled chocolate pon de ring

Day 7: old fashioned, honey glazed old fashioned

Keep in mind, I shared those donuts with Naoto…I didn’t eat all of them on my own. We had fun each morning choosing the next one to try, or going back for old favorites like the hot dog. I cannot tell you which is my favorite. It changed by the day. You just really can’t go wrong with Misdo. In “our” Mister Donut (the one by the hotel…hey, we were “regulars”!), you walk in and pick up a little tray and tongs and choose your own donuts. At the cash register, the staff transfers your donuts to a plate (and warms up your hot dog donut if you wish) and places the plate on another tray with your coffee. Then you can take your tray to your seat at a table or a counter by the window. When you sit in the restaurant, your little red Misdo cup is a bottomless cup of coffee. The Misdo staff comes around and pours refills periodically, carrying a little basket with creamers and sugars. Naoto and I drank a lot of refills, especially because we were up so early and had a lot of time to kill before places opened at eleven.

On our last full day in Japan, Naoto had to pick up his suit–He bought a suit in Japan!–so I stayed at Mister Donut alone and wrote my postcards and people watched. He was a little bit worried about the language barrier, but really, I didn’t think “more coffee please” would be that difficult to communicate. (It wasn’t.) I’m already dreaming of my next Misdo visit…

Tagged adventures, coffee, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 25 2013

Conveyor Belt Sushi

Naoto wanted to take me to conveyor belt sushi during our stay in Japan. Conveniently, Sushi Daidokoya was just a block away from our hotel. (Seriously…it was the best hotel location.)

Conveyor belt sushi restaurants are kind of “fast-food” sushi, without the mystery meats and paper wrappings. They are just quick and cheap places for sushi. The restaurants have rotating conveyor belts of different offerings. The sushi chef is usually in the center of the belt slicing up different cuts of fish and making the sushi. He puts each serving on a little plate (about the size of a saucer) and then the customer chooses which kind of sushi she wants from the belt.

When we walked in, we were greeted by all of the restaurant staff (much like the izakaya experience, and really all dining establishments in Japan). We took our seats at the communal table surrounding the conveyor belt and Naoto filled up our tea mugs. There were hot water spigots at each seat, making it easy to help ourselves. A woman handed us a hot towel and then we were on our own to pick out what we wanted from the conveyor belt as delicious sushi offerings glided by.

We chose several things directly off of the belt. It was lunchtime so everything was freshly made and snagged up quickly. We didn’t see my favorite roll–the tekka roll (tuna and wasabi wrapped in rice and seaweed)–so Naoto special ordered it and the sushi chef passed it over the belt to me.

Here’s a little video of the view from our seat. Things move around pretty quickly so you have to be on your toes and know what you want!

At the end of the meal, the woman who gave us our towels came over and counted our plates. We ate twelve plates of sushi and our bill was less than $20. It was awesome.

Tagged adventures, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 24 2013

5 Comments

adventures, cocktails, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, what's for dinner

Scenes from the Izakaya

Naoto & I spent several evenings in Japan with family and friends drinking and dining in izakayas. An izakaya is a Japanese pub. The style is similar to tapas where you order several small dishes and share. I am not a huge food sharer (once I ate Ethiopian food with a guy with a head cold…it scarred me for life!) but I am a huge fan of the izakaya. I love the casual atmosphere. I love when you walk in and every. single. server greets you, no matter where they are in the restaurant. (I always feel like Norm walking into Cheers!) I love the hot towel (oshibori). I love that Naoto can order some “safe” dishes for me, and some wild and “crazy” dishes for himself and the family. (See whole fish below…Naoto had the honor of eating the head.)Most izakaya menus are entirely in Japanese. The first time we went to Japan, Naoto tried to read the entire menu to me. That got annoying, (I’m sure for both of us) so on this trip, I just told him to order what he wanted, and to make sure there were a few things that I would enjoy. I mean, there was really no point in him telling me about the six-headed squid on the menu when I would never eat it.

So while Naoto was devouring his fish head, I could eat sushi and sashimi, chicken skewers, goma-ae (pictured below, spinach with miso sesame sauce…I love this!), and other vegetable dishes.When we had dinner with Naoto’s family, we sat at a long table in the main room of the izakaya. The other times, with Hisae and then with Naoto’s friends, we sat in a smaller, private rooms. In Japan, the servers are not constantly checking on you like they are (for the most part) here in America. If you need something, you just ring a bell (as we did in one of the establishments) or yell out, “Sumimasen!” (excuse me) and the server comes to take your order or clear your plates or bring your bill. (It’s a beautiful concept…American restaurants, let’s talk about adopting this.)Because I’m not a huge beer drinker, and because I wanted to avoid a Tokyo hangover at all cost, I mostly drank cocktails. Usually they consisted of some kind of house-made liqueur (yuzu or lychee or peach or plum) and soda water, or some secret concoction. We also drank sake (of course!) and shochu (not my favorite). When we met up with Naoto’s college friends (Jessica and Keiichi, along with their son Ethan) we ended our meal with zosui, a rice soup made with chicken stock and other vegetables. Ours was cooked at the table, which was awesome because we were all cold and wet from the downpour we walked through to get to the izakaya. (None of us had umbrellas, which is unheard of in Japan.) The zosui had chicken, scallions, mushrooms, tofu and cabbage…Jessica literally stuffed the pot with the vegetables and they cooked down into the delicious broth. It was so comforting! Many thanks to our friends and family who made our izakaya visits so much fun!

Tagged adventures, cocktails, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Aug 30 2013

5 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Garden Update: Surprises

Well look at that…we have a tiny watermelon! Just like that time I found the cucumber in the wild west mess of unkempt vines in our garden, I was shocked to find the watermelon.

Downright bowled over.

Now I don’t want to leave it. I want to stay home and keep it safe from bugs and other nibbling beasts. (Our second cucumber was a midnight snack for something.) Our red pepper is ready to be picked! We are going to get to enjoy one before our vacation, and our neighbors (who are watering and harvesting while we are gone) will be able to enjoy another one. There are two, smaller green ones still left on the plant. Hopefully those will hold off until we get home. I’m going to miss the garden while we are gone. I’m sad that I’m missing a week of new discoveries and tomato picking. Even though I know our plot is in good hands (thanks, Brett & Karen!), it’s tough to leave it. A few of our tomato plants are almost done, but most of them have newer green tomatoes on them and even some blossoms still. I hope that we can still have a few fresh tomatoes when we get back. In the meantime…hang on tiny watermelon! I want to enjoy you when I get back!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

Aug 26 2013

3 Comments

gardening, homemaking, Simple Summer Suppers, summer manifesto

Simple Summer Suppers: Roasted Tomato Caprese

The challenge is on! We need to eat up all of our tomatoes around here before they go bad and before we hop on a plane for Japan. We’ve been giving away tons of red beauties, but still have so many to use! Last weekend, we had a mini-garden fest with our friend, Karen. We dined on our favorite panzanella, lightly grilled zucchini, Karen’s citrus rice salad and this delicious roasted tomato caprese salad. We were so lucky that the weather was perfect for dining outside on the balcony.

Honestly, it seems like a shame to roast perfectly delicious, garden-grown tomatoes…but it’s more of a shame to let them go to waste. I really think this salad will be a good one to try this winter with sad, peaked grocery store tomatoes. I’ll let you know. But for garden tomatoes…holy cow, the salad is crazy-good!Ina Garten’s Roasted Caprese Salad

12 plum tomatoes (or the equivalent in lovely tomato varieties from your garden), halved with seeds removed

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

16 oz fresh mozzarella

handful of fresh basil, julienned

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees while you prep the tomatoes.Place your tomatoes on a sheet pan (I covered mine with parchment paper to reduce sticky messes.) cut side up and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add garlic, sugar, salt and pepper.

Roast for two hours.

Cool tomatoes to room temperature and dump contents of pan (tomatoes and liquid) into serving bowl. Add fresh mozzarella (sliced) and basil. Mix and serve.Ina recommends arranging everything beautifully and adding a bit of extra olive oil, salt and pepper. But we found that the dish is fine without the extra oil. And while it’s lovely to serve alternating slices of tomato and mozzarella, serving it in a bowl is easy and rustic (and in no way lazy at all).

Tagged food, garden, gardening, homemaking, summer

Aug 21 2013

5 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Garden Update: CUCUMBER!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a cucumber!

This was great cause for celebration on Saturday afternoon at the garden. Because we didn’t care for our vine plants properly (hence the Wild West title for that part of the garden), they’ve only managed to become a tangled mess of cucumber and watermelon vines intertwined with fallen peas and lima beans and a wayward Juliet tomato plant. We kind of gave up on that section, chalking it up to our rookie year (and a little bit of laziness for not building a little vining contraption sooner).

So, when we were digging around looking for red Juliets, I came across the little guy above and shouted, “LOOK! A CUCUMBER!!!” Thankfully, we were the only ones at the garden, because I’m pretty sure I sounded like a crazy woman…but if you can’t get excited about growing a vegetable, what can you get excited about?In other good gardening news, our red pepper is getting bigger and starting to turn red. It’s often overshadowed in the garden by the crazy tomatoes, so I’m glad it’s plodding right along to redness. While Naoto weeded, I harvested another large bag of tomatoes (along with a yellow squash from Haig). I gave a few pounds to the book club ladies on Saturday morning, and by Saturday afternoon, our kitchen counter was full again.

Tomato takeover!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

Aug 14 2013

1 Comment

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, what's for dinner

Tomatoes Are Red, Limas Are Green…

Are those not the most gorgeous tomatoes, You’ve ever seen? (Sorry…I cannot resist a cheery rhyme about vegetables.)

On Saturday, while I was baking a cake, Naoto was harvesting tomatoes. There were a LOT of bright red ones! And, while he was at the garden, he ran into Haig, a fellow gardener, who added to our tomato bounty.Needless to say, our neighbors got tomato deliveries and we made caprese salads and panzanella this week. (And, if you live close and would like a tomato or two…please don’t hesitate to ask!) On Saturday afternoon, we finally cooked up my lima bean harvest…what you see above is the tiny ramekin that held my lima snack… Yes, we steamed a giant pot of water for less than two dozen tiny beans! I would love to try to grow limas again next year because they are soooo good when they are fresh! Even Naoto (a self-described lima hater) enjoyed one!

That’s about all of the harvest for now…still waiting to see if we will have a cucumber or a watermelon…in the meantime, it’s all tomatoes all the time! No complaints here!

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening

Aug 13 2013

2 Comments

snail mail, Sweet Tooth, Those Were the Days

Sweet Tooth Part 2

I’ve been on a little bit of a vintage candy kick again lately. It all started with a Twitter conversation with Danielle about ZotZ. About a week later, I had a package full of ZotZ delivered to my mailbox! (Thank you, Danielle!) On the outside, ZotZ look like a regular hard candy. But when you bite into one, there’s a powdery inside made of acids and sodium bicarbonate that react with your saliva and create fizziness. It’s a little bit of a shock at first, but then you grow to anticipate the fizzy fun. ZotZ have been around since 1968, which seems like a long time considering how technologically advanced they are. They are pretty sour and a lot of fun! I’ve been enjoying/hoarding them, choosing a new bubbly flavor to try each day or so.

Recently, Naoto and I were perusing World Market and I bought a couple of candies that I enjoyed as a child. The first, Chick-o-Stick–a long orange stick of candy made from hardened sugar with peanut butter and coconut. I loved these as a kid and I was happy to eat this one up again without the help of Naoto. (He hates coconut.) For those who have never had one, it is kind of like a butter finger, but sweeter and without the chocolate. Chick-o-Sticks have been around since the Great Depression…I love thinking about eating a candy that my great-grandmother may have eaten!

And of course I had to pick up some Fruit Stripe Gum. Fruit Stripe is just as I remembered…super fruity and tasty for about ten seconds, then flat, no flavor. Womp. Womp… But it’s still delicious, and well worth the $1.25 I paid. Fruit Stripe has been around since the 1960s (when apparently no one cared how long the flavor in their gum would last). It really does evoke the best childhood memories…no matter how fleeting.

We are thinking about bringing some vintage American candies to Japan for our omiyage (souvenirs associated with location, as customary in Japan). I only have a few more weeks to collect some good ones for Naoto’s mom and sisters and their families. Can you think of any “must have” American candies we should take?

Tagged food, snail mail

Aug 12 2013

6 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures, homemaking

Shark Week Cake…& Party

As I mentioned Saturday, we went to a Shark Week Party this weekend. So much fun! Shark-fan Stacy decked out the apartment with hundreds of paper fish, shark decorations, shark-themed food and drinks, Sharknado! on the ceiling (if you haven’t watched it…you should!) and a shark-themed Brett, who sported these fabulous shark footie pajamas. Pictured above is a blurry Naoto at the Bloody Mary bar…he was studying the shark poster for the quiz later that evening.

Ever since the Shark Week party of 2011, I’ve been filling up a Pinterest board of all my favorite Shark Week ideas in preparation for another party. I fell in love with the idea of this cake*. So I spent Saturday baking a cake and making frosting. I never bake, so it always makes me nervous that the cake won’t rise or it will taste terrible…and cakes are especially stressful because you don’t really know how bad or how good things are until you cut it open at the party…

Thankfully everything worked out and the cake was quite tasty. I made this cake. I’ve made the cake a few times (but never the Cloudburst Frosting). I always use Hershey’s Extra Dark Cocoa Powder. It makes a nice, deep, dark chocolate cake that works well with all sorts of frostings. I decided to be daring and try to make the Cloudburst Frosting for the first time. It was surprisingly easy, though it did take all day because of waiting for the milk/flour mixture to cool down. But most of that time was waiting, not hands-on. The frosting was good–not too sweet or too buttery–like a slightly elevated buttercream. And it really was easy enough to become my new go-to recipe. (You know, for when I bake again next year…)For the toppings, I used Teddy Grahams, gummy sharks, vanilla wafer cookies, peach gummy rings, cocktail umbrellas and a toothpick with a typed BEWARE OF SHARKS sign. I giggled the whole time I was creating the little shark scene…Sigh…every week really should be Shark Week…

*Sadly, I cannot find the source for the original cake…both inspiration pins (here and here) only go to a picture. If you know the source, please contact me and I will include it!

Tagged adventures, celebrations, diy, food, homemaking, Shark Week