Japadog

The last time I visited a Japadog was when I travelled to downtown Vancouver with my sisters during the Olympics. During this visit, we bought our dogs from the stand on Burrard & Smithe and thoroughly enjoyed them... they were delicious and unique and to be honest, my sisters and I simply adore anything Japanese (cuisine, manga, anime, music etc.). Here are some pictures of our culinary experience at the Japadog stand...

Their cute menu board

Their array of condiments... including: sweet chili sauce, mustard, wasabi mayo, Japanese mayo, honey mustard, dijon mustard, sriracha, ketchup and bacon bits

I decided on the Oroshi Dog (bratwurst topped with grated radish, green onions and soy sauce... the sweet chili-sauce and mayo were my additions), while my sister ordered the Okinomi dog (Kurubuta weiner topped with Japanese mayo, okinomiyaki sauce, bonito flakes and fried cabbage). My other sister remained on the less adventurous side and ordered a regular Kobe beef hot dog.

Flash-forward to yesterday, and it marks the day my sisters and I travelled downtown for another Vancouver outing. We were hankering for something to eat that was quick and affordable and as we walked down Robson Street we noticed that the Japadog sit-down restaurant was now open. So, without hesitation we headed towards the wonderful aroma of cooked meat and ordered us some tasty Japadog creations.

Signage outside of the restaurant

Look at all those hot dog buns!! Crazy!

Their Terimayo dog (teriyaki sauce, seaweed and Japanese mayo) $4.75

The Tonkatsu dog (breaded pork patty topped with red cabbage and Japanese mayo) $4.95

Once I saw this on the menu board, I knew I'd have to try it. Their Yakiniku Rice dog (pork dog with grilled teriyaki beef, lettuce and radish sprouts all in a rice-patty "bun") a bit pricey at $6.25, but totally worth it.

My sister's and I have always found that the quality at the Japadog stalls is always top-notch, and although on the expensive side (especially for a hot dog) we're always willing to pay for it. The only thing I'd have to say about the Yakiniku Rice dog is that you must eat this sitting down. Chomping at this baby is kind of a messy ordeal; and if you're like me and enjoy topping your hot-dogs off with "the works" in terms of condiments, then the drippy-soppy-messiness will be tripled. The rice "bun" of the Yakiniku dog is fairly sturdy and soaks up the meat juices and condiments well, but once it reaches its saturation point it will slowly begin to break apart. I went through my fair share of napkins while eating this bad-boy; yet, while it may have been a challenge to eat, it was really good! I highly recommend that if you're in the Downtown Vancouver area, you try Japadog at least once.

What's for Dinner??

While sitting back and catching up on past Gintama episodes, I was suddenly reminded that our family hot-pot machine had not been put to use lately. So, with this in mind I decided that it was time to rummage through the basement, wipe the dust of the hot-pot box and come up with a delicious meal-idea for dinner that night.

In the anime, the characters were eating sukiyaki... being that I'm living off of a student's salary I decided to forgo the expensive meat and opted for something cheaper (although still tasty and still traditionally Japanese). Can you guess what it is??? Here are pictures of the ingredients I used... I'll end the post by showing you the final product, and including a recipe.

Clockwise from top-left corner: chikuwa, firm tofu, beef tendon balls, bonito flakes and sukombu.

Suey Choy, Konjak Board, more tofu and enoki mushrooms

Konjak Board cut into triangles, sukombu (soaked and knotted)

Assorted fish-cakes, fish-balls, beef-balls, tofu and imitation crab.

Kamaboko (Japanese fish-cake)

And to be somewhat healthy, some veggies: carrots, green onions, bok choy and satoimo

Kabocha Squash... mmmm

Daikon

Enoki bundles

I also included some other ingredients, but didn't take photos of them because I'm sure you know what cubed potatoes, hard-boiled eggs and skewered chicken look like. So, have you kind of guessed what the meal was supposed to be from the various ingredients I listed?? Hmm... what other hints can I give? Well, it's a Japanese winter-dish that consists of the above ingredients, all simmered in a kelp-bonito flake broth for hours and sometimes even days. When served at vendor stalls or in oden restaurants, the fishcakes, veggies etc. are often served on skewers. The dish can be served with Karashi (Japanese hot-mustard) to dip.

It's ODEN!

The dish was fairly simple to make. Once the broth was prepared, all I had to do was add in the flavoring ingredients, allow the soup to simmer and then add in the "absorptive" ingredients and serve. Anyways, here's the recipe I used for my Oden Broth.

Oden Broth

- 10 cups dashi stock (see recipe below)
- 2 tbsp sake
- 3 tbsp mirin (or substitute 1.5 tbsp sugar)
- 1.5 tsp light soy sauce
- 1.5 tbsp dark soy sauce

Method:
1. In a wide and shallow pot, combine the broth ingredients and bring to a boil over high-heat. Then, adjust to maintain a low simmer.
2. Add in the flavoring ingredients (fish cakes, kelp knots, meat skewers) and the ingredients that take a fairly long time to cook (satoimo, daikon, potatoes and carrots etc.). Simmer for 20minutes or more.
3. Add in the "absorptive" ingredients (par-boiled kabocha, tofu, konjak, hard-boiled eggs etc.) Simmer for 10 minutes or more. Add more broth as necessary, and adjust to taste by adding more soy sauce or more sugar as needed.
4. Transfer the hot soup and some of the pot-ingredients to the communal hot-pot at the dinner table. Keep hot-pot machine on to maintain a constant low simmer.
5. Provide fresh vegetables on a serving plate at the table. Ensure that everyone at the table has their own serving utensils, bowls, plates and dishes of condiments (i.e. karashi mustard). Have communal cooking utensils (i.e. serving chopsticks and soup ladle) at the table.
6. Everyone helps themselves to the skewers of fish-cakes, tofu, vegetables and meat. As the pot clears, more ingredients from the cooking pot can be added to the hot-pot dish, or the fresh vegetables can be cooked in the hot-pot broth.
7. Serve the oden by itself, with steamed rice, salad, soba, onigiri... basically whatever you would like to complete your meal :)

Dashi Stock

Ingredients:
- 10 cups water
- 12 square inches of kombu (preserved kelp)
- 1 1/2 cups (12g) bonito flakes (dried, shaved, fish flakes)

Method:
1. Soak the kombu in the water in the large-shallow pot that you will use for cooking the oden over stove-top. Soak for 10minutes, or longer depending on personal taste.
2. Bring the kombu and water to a boil, lowering heat once bubbles begin to break the surface. Use tongs to remove the kombu, and turn off the heat.
3. Add in the bonito flakes and allow to sit for 3 minutes.
4. Strain stock through a cloth-lines sieve and place the stock back into the large pot, over medium-high heat. Use this to make your oden broth.

I served the meal with onigiri. Some were plain and some were mixed with furikake... I find this an easy, tasty and no-fuss way to serve rice.

Soba Time

I decided on a minimalist meal for lunch today. Its not that I was feeling lazy and not wanting to cook up anything spectacular, it's just that for some reason (probably from watching too much Gintama) I was craving the simple Japanese dish of Kake Soba (hot soba noodles, in soup with scallions). After cooking the soba noodles to an aldente state, I made my soba soup using a pre-made soba dipping sauce. I did not really use a standardized recipe, but simply eye-balled all the ingredients (I'm slowly becoming more like Rachel Ray) and seasoned it to my personal taste. I added some water and soy sauce to the pre-made dipping sauce, mixed in some granulated sugar and minced ginger, and brought the whole mixture to a boil. Once the soup boiled, I added in the chopped scallions and turned off the heat (I didn't want the scallions to start wilting on me). I placed servings of soba noodles in each of the bowls, and topped the noodles with some sliced nori, julienned green onions (julienned carrots would have been a nice addition) and sesame seeds. I slowly poured the hot soup over the cooked noodles, and lunch was ready to be served.

To get more information on soba noodles, and a few great recipes check out Just Hungry. This site has a ton of great information specifically relating to Japanese cuisine.

Eating Natto!

Some of you may be asking, "What is Natto?! Does such a word even exist?" The answer is, "It's fermented soybean, and yes it does!" :P

I was wondering around downtown Vancouver with a friend of mine when we stumbled upon a lovely little Japanese Grocery Store on Robson Street. It's kind of hard to miss, since it has two giant boxes of Pocky plastered to the entrance way (seriously... want to see the picture? click here). So I wandered inside, because I am a true foodie... and all foodies know that you can't just walk by a grocery store and not go inside! And so, it was in this Japanese store that I stumbled upon the triple-pack styrofoam boxes that encase the wonderous food known as natto...

I took the package home and wasn't quite sure how to eat it. I had heard about this interesting Japanese food from a couple Japanese friends (some saying it was good, other's saying that it was the devil's puke) but it was only after reading Gintama, and seeing one of the characters (Sa-chan) always holding a bowl of natto, that I dared to try the smelly beans.

If you want to see how natto is traditionally eaten, I recommend you do what I did... watch it on youtube... or for more reliable sources check out wikipedia :P

Inside the styrofoam package is the fermented soy beans, along with a packet of mustard and a packet of soy sauce.

Start by unveiling the beans. The slime coating is sticky... be careful not to get it all over your placemat, shirt and/or friends.

Add in the mustard and soy sauce packets. Then stir the mixture vigorously with your chopsticks about 15 times.

Note the gooey-ness... be glad you cannot smell the stinky-ness.

Eaten by itself, natto is a force to be reckoned with. It has a very pungent smell; but if you can get past that, you will probably enjoy the bean's taste. Adding the natto to rice helps to mellow out the flavor, while also increasing the ability to pick up the slimey buggers with your chopsticks.

I'm not sure what it is with me and food that has a slightly "off" aroma. I do like durian, and stinky tofu... and I actually really liked the natto. The only thing I didn't like about the natto was that it got all over my face; I'm not even joking. The little strings of sticky stuff were hanging off my chin by the end of the meal; so, after eating, I had to go to the washroom and wash my face... and while I was there, brush my teeth (lest someone be unfortunate enough to get a whiff of my "natto breath").

So my verdict for natto: I like it! But I'll have to remember to only snack on it when I have access to a clean washroom and toothpaste :P

Ninkazu

Rating: *** 1/2 out of *****

After reading the great review about this place in Chowtimes, I was ready to fill my stomach with some much needed AYCE Japanese food. At Ninkazu, one can choose from AYCE Hot-pot or AYCE sushi... since my sisters aren't really Hot-pot people, we went for the sushi. We went for the Late Night AYCE (see hours in the picture below), and with reservations made in the morning we only had to wait 15mins for a table. The host was very pleasant, seating us very promtly at a large table next to the window. I enjoyed the window seat, as it allowed us to watch the hustle and bustle of Richmond's night life.

Of course, we start off with the sushi selection... (clockwise from left) Yam Roll, California Roll and Spicy Ninkazu Roll. All fresh and all delicious!

Masago Sushi (Smelt Roe), Salmon Sushi and Hokkigai Sushi (Surf Clam)... again delicious, fresh and fast.

The good thing about this place is that they include Sashimi in their AYCE! Although each person is limited to 12pcs, that's more than enough for my family (especially since both my sisters don't like Sashimi... so we get their share :P)

Ika Karaage (Fried Squid), and Fried Smelt. I use to hate eating smelt, because of all the little eggs inside, but the way Ninkazu cooks it made me rethink things... soooo tasty
Just like Metrotown's Taisho, Ninkazu is smart and economical, using tin-foil shells versus real oyster shells for their Motoyaki
Sanma Shioyaki (Makerel), Salmon Belly and Salmon Cheek BBQ
My sisters always love fried dough, here are the deep-fried wontons. I thought that they'd be filled with something... sadly, it was simply the wonton skin in a deep-fried form :(

Mmm... I love edamame

Unlike some AYCE Sushi places that give you only yam/sweet potato, when you order "Mixed" tempura, Ninkazu gave us zucchini!! These pieces are a favorite amongst my family... we always fight over them :P

Their Salmon Teriyaki was just so-so

Nothing spectacular about the chicken-wings either, but my sisters gobbled these down very quickly

And of course, we had to try the gyoza. Nothing amazing in my opinion, not bad either... you just can't mess up gyoza :P

Overall, the experience at Ninkazu was wonderful. We really enjoyed the service, and the restaurant was not too crowded. I saw many people enjoying their hot-pot and almost envied them, but the sushi AYCE was worth the $12.95! Maybe next time the family goes to Ninkazu (which I hope is soon) we will try their hot-pot. The selection at this restaurant is great, the establishment is very clean + tidy and the service is friendly and speedy. If you're ever in Richmond, try Ninkazu!

SHF #42: Matcha Tortellini

March 29th:

Ooooo... this is my kind of event. I'm so excited to be doing another SHF, it makes me feel so creative. With the theme being 'Asian Sweet Invasion', I think I'll know my way around using some interesting Asian ingredients. The thing I have to decide on is what ingredient I want to use, and what traditional recipe do I want to play around with to make my new creation?

April 17th:

Yes! I've finally completed (well, semi-completed) my SHF recipe. It took me soooo long to decide on what I would make. I knew it would have to be something different, but not so different that no one in my family would touch it :P What would I make for the Asian Sweet Invasion? (see link: http://www.lapetiteboulangette.com/2008/03/shf-asian-sweet-invasion.html) I wanted to fuse two different types of cuisine, and I determined that Italian and Japanese were my best options. Although they are quite different in terms of style and ingredients, I knew that these two would work together beautifully. So... voila! I came up with Matcha Tortellini with Adzuki-Coconut Filling.

Matcha Tortellini

(Yields approximately 16 pieces of tortellini + some tasty scraps)

Ingredients:

- 1 egg, beaten

- 2 tbsp water

- 3 tbsp matcha powder

- 3 tbsp confectioner's sugar

- 1 cup flour

- 1 recipe of Adzuki-Coconut filling (recipe follows)

Method:

1. On a clean surface, mix together the flour, matcha and sugar until combined.

2. Make a well in the center and add in the egg and water.

3. Use your hands to combine the egg and flour until it forms a ball.

4. Form into a square, wrap in cling-wrap and let rest in the fridge for 30mins.

5. Place dough on a well-floured surface and roll-out until very thin (1/6th inch).

6. Use a 2 1/2 inch round, pastry-cutter to cut out pasta circles.

7. Fill each circle with 1 tsp of adzuki filling, moisten edge of circle with water and fold over into a semi-circle.

8. Press the pointed edges together and voila! You have tortellini that is ready to be boiled (or fried, and had with ice cream!)

Adzuki-Coconut Filling

Ingredients:

- 1 egg yolk

- 1/4 cup adzuki bean paste

- 1 heaping tbsp coconut cream

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method:

1. Mix filling ingredients together until they are well combined. Use with matcha tortellini recipe!

I'm planning on frying these babies tonight. I'll post the photos when I'm done indulging in my Asian Creation! Until then...

AHHH STRESS!!! Oh, and Melon Pan :P

What to do, what to do... I have two RELS papers due and one Nursing paper to work on, a ton of journals and a handful of clinicals to complete, not to mention a bunch of forums!!!?!? Rather than stress myself out over my workload, I decided to de-stress through the baking process. And what better way to do it, than by working with my nemesis... YEAST! If I could work with this guy, I would feel invincible and prepared for anything that lies ahead.

Japanese Melon Pan

Yields 12 buns

Dough Ingredients:
2/3 cup milk
4 tbsp butter
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk
1 pkg (8g) dry yeast
1/2 tsp granulated sugar
4 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp salt

Method:

1. Combine 2/3 cup milk and butter in a saucepan. Heat just until butter melts, then allow the mixture to cool to room temperature. Now add in the eggs.

2. Heat the 1/3 cup milk until at room temperature, stir in yeast and 1/2 tsp sugar. Allow mixture to sit until bubbles form on surface (10 minutes). Stir it into the milk and egg mixture.
3. Meanwhile, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, cinnamon and salt.

4. Stir yeast, milk and egg mixture into dry ingredients to make a medium dough (not too damp or too dry - add flour or water as needed).

5. Knead dough for 5 to 10 minutes. Lightly grease the dough, place it in a dish, cover it with a damp towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size (1 to 2 hours)

6. While the dough is rising cream together the topping ingredients (recipe follows); cover and set aside in the fridge.
7. After dough has risen, divide it into 12 balls (about 3 inches in diameter) and place them on baking sheets.

8. Drape damp towel over the rolls and allow for second rise (10 to 15 minutes)

9. Roll out the topping and cover each roll with a thin layer. Leave topping as is, or cut designs (like my oddly shaped stars).

10. Bake for 10-12mins at 350 degrees F.

Topping Ingredients:

- 1/4 cup butter

- 1/4 cup granulated sugar

- 1 egg

- 1 cup flour

- 1 tsp baking soda

- a dash of vanilla essense

I must say that I have impeccable timing, as these buns were fresh out of the oven the second my sisters got home from school. My sister, who are addicted to all things anime and Japanese were so excited to eat these buns. My mom didn't mind taking a nibble either. The dough was a bit more dense then I would have liked, usually when we buy Polo Pau from T&T the bun dough is very light and fluffy. My dad did comment on how the melon-pan skin was quite pale, perhaps next time I'll try a recipe that uses only egg yolks for the topping. All in all, the bread made a delicious tea-time treat and my whole familiy enjoyed the yeasty goodness. YEAH! I can't believe that this is the third time in my life that I've had the yeast rise properly. I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship :)

Onsen Tamago

Hmm... I decided that today I would do a little cooking. And by little, I mean really little. I had a Nursing midterm to study for, and didn't really feel ready to cook up a storm. Well, that's not exactly true... I wanted to cook, but my conscience wouldn't let me cook without major guilt overshadowing my everymove. So, for this culinary excursion I decided to make the simple Japanese dish Onsen Tamago, or literally "Hotspring Egg".

Sadly, there are few hotsprings where I live... actually there's a lot of snow at the moment :P So, I used the next best device on hand to simulate the constant warm temperature of a hotspring... MY RICE COOKER! Yup, just follow this easy recipe and you've got yourself an onsen tamago without having to hike to your nearest hotspring.

Rice Cooker Tamago

Ingredients

- As many eggs as you wish to eat

- Rice to cook

Method:

1. Cook your rice, as per usual, in the rice cooker

2. Wait for the rice cooker to reach the "warming" stage

3. Stick your eggs in the rice and continue warming for 40minutes.

4. Dish out the rice, and gently crack the egg over the rice... or eat by itself

This was really good... and if you want more flavor than just egg, add in some soy sauce, sesame oil, fried onion/garlic etc. This egg was delicious, albeit not the prettiest thing ever, but it was certainly tastey.

Top Gun

Rating: **** out of *****

Oh, seems like not too long ago I had been eating Japanese food. Wait, it wasn't that long ago :P Well, my parents have this fascination with dining out... and that's lucky for me, a food-aholic foodie. Hehehe... my parents also love the all you can eat sushi restaurants and believe me, we can surely eat it all.

This time, we decided to take a trip out to New Westminister and eat at one of our favorite Japanese Restaurants, Top Gun! They have a wide variety of foods to choose from, that is if you order from the menu... as for the all-you-can-eat, it's basically the same old stuff. Next time I must convince my parents to order from the menu, but then they'd probably insist that I pay :P
My camera was dying, so I couldn't use the flash :( But I managed to squeeze in quite a few photos... in between my camera shouting "low battery" and subsequently shutting down.

Here's the first order's spread. Yes, you heard me... our first round. We ordered vegetable tempura (they were small portions, so we ordered two), smelt (one of my favorites), teriyaki beef, salmon and saba nigiri, inari sushi and california rolls. And in the middle of the table, you can see that we Chinese love to eat our sushi (and everything else) with sambal chili :P

Here are a couple pieces of salmon and saba sushi. The pictures actually turned out quite nice!

Some gingered pork, we decided to try this dish during our second order... something different.

A single order of teriyaki chicken. We were quite disappointed with the size of the serving. They have become smaller since the last time we came to Top Gun. But, it's all-you-can-eat... so we'll just order another

The salmon cheek was really well prepared. Full of meat, and not an overpowering sauce... this was one of my favorites that day.

Oyster Motoyaki, we always order these. But again, the servings were quite small. We re-ordered them on our second round.

We helped ourselves to the mango pudding, not the best in the world (my mom makes better) but it wasn't half bad.

The dining experience was actually quite nice. The service was quick and the waitresses were very helpful. We were asked if we were "ready to order" four times before we were actually ready to choose our dishes... that's service (although it was kind of spooky). If you're one of the lucky people who get a table next to the window, you'll be looking at a beautiful view of the Fraser River. Top Gun's ambiance makes this one of our favorite places to go and spend pleasant afternoon.