Partner had indicated a desire to taste fugu, so some sashimi in our apartment a day before we had to leave. Lovely crunchy texture & flavor in these thin slices (with ponzu & a bit of momiji oroshi - grated daikon+chili). The other thick cut skin & cooked pieces were a bit tough more texture than flavor (imo).
Dinner of oven grilled miso pickled gindara (misnomer = black cod) - just so terrific! Sweet and charred (from the sugar) and fatty umami delight. #Food#Cooking#AptCooking#DasInKobe
Got my small #sousvide unit with me (#Japan 110v is fine) - but finally after 3months using it now for tonight's #Dinner prep. #Steak (no not #Kobe ) Australian #beef this looked ok - salted + touch soy overnight, touch of peated whisky and blk pepper + hint of cumin then at my preferred 54.5 ⁰C [will let this go 1+ h]
No big pot here, so just using the rice cooker pot.
Should turn out ok... for one of many courses #AptCooking#DasInKobe #Food#Cooking
Ok might as well thread here on this multi course #dinner around a #whiskey tasting we put together for a Japanese friend I only met recently but who has shown us great kindness. We didn't do any elaborate thanksgiving (nor will we Christmas) dinner so this may be the meal we put some effort in (even if it fell together in the past couple of days)
🧵1/n #AptCooking. #DasInKobe
Started off with Samosa Chaat - store freezer samosas - not bad, thawed, baked then made into #Chaat#Food#Cooking
Long thread 4/n
Course 3 (or 4 if whiskies were one): Cut vegetables and berries (ok tomatoes - these were so sweet!), radishes got a squeeze drizzle of sudachi; sliced warmed (store bought) apple smoked sausages, with a bit of mustard #Food#Cooking#Dinner#AptCooking#DasInKobe
Long Thread/ contd 5/n
Next up the #steak (Australian beef) - from the #sousvide prep in prologue*
Patted dry and 5 s sear with press down (I didn't dare risk more sear - these were thin). Turned out terrific, great tasting #beef - had made a bit of chicken bouillon + soy reduction with a dash of White horse whiskey as sauce.
We don't have knives and forks so cut to enable eating with chopsticks.
Served w Romanesco broccoli & sauteed mushrooms #AptCooking#DasInKobe
Long thread 6/n #AptCooking#Dinner for a friend contd
Next round of whisky - in this case #bourbon#tasting. Our friend had told us he liked iw Harper bourbon (which I find is readily available here in Japan).
Had him try Beam, 4 roses (a high rye bourbon), and makers mark.
Long thread 7/n #DasInKobe#AptCooking
With tastings done - more #Food
Decided to follow up the bourbons with a quickly seared gently salted well marbled (an understatement for the kind you get here) #Japan#beef (A4 wagyu but not #Kobe )
(Hey if I bought it here in Kobe then it should be right?).
Served with cooked sprouted soybeans (store bought) mixed with terrific Genovese pesto (also store bought). This was a great side - will miss getting these crunchy nutty soybeans #Cooking
Long thread/ 11/11 and ending here with final #dessert - also store bought (Kobe spices)v #GulabJamun
I'm generally wary of store Indian desserts and sweets so tasted this earlier in the day and this Bikani brand (same as Samosa) was really good. Served gently warmed up to close out our #AptCooking#Dinner
Couldn't resist serving it #wagashi style to go with the last of the oldfashioned #DasInKobe
Hurrying home now, extra fast I hope the train takes me. Partner had mentioned in a message she couldn't help get a bit of #crab - already all cleaned and everything at the grocery store, just had to cook. Now kid2 sends me this pic, message - looks like it's cooked! #Food#Cooking#Indian#Curry #DasInKobe
Late #lunch with family after I got some work done this morning and on my way back picked up some parathas (#Kobe Spice, #Sannomiya ) - not our preferred kind (those are at Gyomu), but still made for a fabulous meal - with last night's ☝🏽 chicken #curry + sauteed cabbage #DasInKobe#AptCooking
Pic CW #Food
Home/apt now - and the last 2 things I picked up shikuwasa citrus (at airport) and umi budo (sea grapes). My host at OIST mentioned the umi budo at dinner and said I'd get it at the airport but I found a shop selling #Okinawa sea stuff on my walk. Not to be refrigerated (they shrink)
These are very interesting - crunchy, pop & dissolve in mouth and taste like seawater and oysters
Had a takoyaki snack at 5 on return to #Kobe from our chusen factory tour* so some picked up some fried fish (Aji) at the store for quick #AptCooking#Dinner with rice (+ furikake languishing in fridge) & sauteed okra
Trying to not fill up too much so we can do a late night run for idk okonomiya or fried rice or something nearabouts, in #Sannomiya
Pic cw #Food #DasInKobe
Can't get grocery store cooked food all the time, but hey this Aji is terrific and already prepped & cleaned - partner just had to score, season with the #curry powder (no other just plain turmeric around), chili powder, black pepper and salt and then fried - 'blackened' Indian style
Great #AptCooking#lunch with rice and okra #DasInKobe#food#cooking#fish
Late Friday night random prep of grocery store bounty. Never knew this thing could be bought in a store! - so what if I've only just tasted a totally different form once long ago (2012 iirc).
Blanch, devein, simmer - tomorrow we dine!
2
So saw more at the store this morning and much better looking so got greedy and picked up more - even though I had just prepped the first batch (salted, blanched, deveined, simmered in sake sugar mirin touch of soy).
So a quick fry in butter to taste the shirako (this is salmon, I'd only had the cod before at a sushi place). Similar to sweetbreads but milder and more egg white like soft.
(I did say I
Pic CW #Food#Fish#Offal#Cooking #DasInKobe#AptCooking
Home or #AptCooking if you will and most fine #Dinner too that partner cooked up. I came back just in time to see the #eggs going into the #tomato base for the #EggCurry . Bengali style sauteed begoon, aloo, kumro (= 🍆,🥔,🎃 but with kabocha) and store (Gyomu) bought paratha heated/fried up to eat them up with
Tonight's fine #DasInKobe#AptCooking 1/3 maybe thread
Not that much #cooking as assembly really when you can get terrific ingredients easy at the store.
Kid2 helped grate the nagaimo (we've always had it sliced or if grated in Okonomiyaki.- never near direct). The oroshiki was among the first kitchen tools we got, but first non daikon use. Anyways, appetiser of store tofu with nagaimo, home dashi, soy, scallions, shisho
2/3
We were all at the grocery store and it started with seeing this great looking shrimp - next thing you know each kid picked out a block of the fish they wanted and we decided we'd have #sushi for #dinner I just had to make the rice and slice the fish (just a bit for others - the block claimant wanted most as a big block direct as sashimi (not shown)), everyone got a bit of tako and saba
Will miss how easy (& cheap) this sort of #AptCooking is! #Food
3/3
I made the sushi rice ☝🏽this evening, so partner who didn't want much of sushi, made short work of the bit of leftover rice from yesterday for a quick #FriedRice - chopped ginger, bit of the Costco #bacon a couple of eggs, cabbage, chopped negi, sesame oil, soy and the aonori in rice first trick. I only tasted a bit but wow - will not miss as we'll definitely keep making this once we're back! #AptCooking#DasInKobe
Back home/apartment and partner's frying up some bhajjis (kabocha, eggplant & peppers - not sure exactly what kind of peppers - will find out shortly). Just flour hint of salt and bit o chili powder batter
Quick someone, what kind of sake goes with this? (Or should I default beer)
Lazy late #Sunday#DasInKobe#Breakfast#AptCooking decadence!
I can't get over these yolks in #Japan (I really want to know what they put in the feed!).
Partner goes for 2 eggs on toast, I finish up some leftover smoked tuna takaki (via Costco) that I chopped & doctored with #kewpie & chili oil (lao gan ma), topped w aonori & sesame seeds.
😮 soda, sweet averse partner has fanta, as I decide to go with sake (I heard whispers that it goes well with seafood; it does!) - ok this is #brunch !
Ok so that ☝🏽 #FriedRice from the ramen store that got my partner all excited? Well, she made rice today and decided we had everything to give it a whirl, a couple of Internet lookups later didn't even wait a day for the rice - cabbage, sprouts, chopped negi/scallions, chopped thick long bacon and eggs and the trick is to put a bunch of aonori in the rice before mixing it in. Wow this stuff is gold! #AptCooking#DasInKobe
In my not going to miss list: the onslaught of #restaurants and specialty #food stalls in the subway as I get out of the train and head to our apt #DasInKobe
Made some sushi rice last night though we just ate it on the side of not sushi. A quick gentle warm up this morning and got to the part that I will miss - being able to pick up all kinds of seafood and fish sliced (or not) - totally modestly priced (and some discounted even in the evening, for #Sushi for #Breakfast for me & kiddos
Semi #AptCooking
A leftover egg yolk from a couple of days ago and partner + kids are putting on a masterclass in #AptCooking
This #Japan all purpose flour (via Gyomu; no idea of protein content; ingredients just wheat flour) behaves quite different from AP flour in the US. With a touch of salt & bit of chili powder, thin the batter down by feel till it just coats. The slices of kabocha squash (skin on!) then get fried - our camp pots/pans have not seen this much action!
2/2
Kabocha squash sweet and delightful texture, soft through the thin crunchy batter - not much salt in the batter, so it's great with a touch of soy (yes, yes, I still need to buy soy sauce ware) and (Japanese) mustard, or some good #LaoGanMa chili crisp (more on that soon).
(Other condiment on plate is negi-shio, good condiment, awful with the kabocha squash)