Posted June 19th, 2009 in Eat Out in Perth - Japanese Food - | 2 Comments »
A fusion of Japanese and French cuisine has been a big trend since I was a teenager, and now you can find it anywhere in Japan. Even in traditional Japanese restaurant they create a menu using French techniques.
I am one of people who loves this French x Japanese food, and I often went to restaurants to enjoy the delicious food in Japan. The food is so well presented that it makes me feel guilty to eat.
It was actually a sensational experience to me when I had this unique sushi at one of modern Kaiten sushi bar in Kyoto 10 years ago. Sushi rice was cooked in red wine, and thickly sliced roast beef was arranged on the rice with a dash of mustard and shredded white spring onions. It looked wonderful and unique as red wine beautifully colored the rice into vivid red/pink.
In Perth there are few Japanese restaurants who serve some fusion food. One of them is Absolutely Chez Unicho, which used to be in Mosman Park. The Japanese chef creates very nice French x Japanese food. Unfortunately they have closed their restaurant in Perth and moved to Melbourne few months ago.
And, K’s restaurant in North Bridge. I’ve been wanting to go there but haven’t got a chance yet. One of my friend has been there few times and she said the food is nice. They have course meal, and you can choose the course depending on your budget.
Has anyone tried those restaurants? I think I will go to K’s sometime next month.
Posted June 17th, 2009 in Food | No Comments »
In Japan there are two main noodles people eat : soba, and udon. Soba is mainly eaten around Eastern side of Japan = Kantou (eg: Tokyo, Chiba, Kanazawa etc) and udon is mainly eaten around Western side = Kansai (eg: Kyoto, Osaka, Nara etc). I don’t know why these two regions separate things, but this is true. Yes, people in Kansai also eat soba, of course, but they eat udon more than soba. You can find lots of udon restaurants in Kansai area, but I’ve never seen any restaurants which specialize in soba noodle.
I’m from Kansai (Western Japan), so I eat udon a lot. Actually udon is one of my favorite food. My friend who is from Eastern Japan says “udon is too heavy” “no taste” “bold” “too chunky” , but I like this food. In my opinion, soba is just thin buckwheat noodle, and nothing special. Well I don’t mind eating them but if there’s a choice between udon and soba, I’d go for udon always.
… Anyway, I like udon and usually eat in soup, such as Kitsune udon, Tamago-toji udon, An-kake udon, Zaru udon, Curry udon etc. Even though I prefer soup udon, I sometimes feel like Yaki udon (stir-fried udon) for a change. Yaki udon is just stir-fried udon noodle with some vegetables and meat/seafood. I like the texture; it’s kind of chewy.
I had squid in my freezer, so I cooked Ika (squid) yaki udon.
<Ika Yaki Udon>
- 1 portion udon noodle
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp mirin
- 1/2 tsp dashi powder
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 tbs spring onion – chopped
- 1/8 onion – sliced
- 1/8 carrot – jullienne
- few pieces squid – defrosted
- If you are using dry udon noodle, you need to cook the noodle in boiling water first. If you are using frozen udon, briefly defrost in hot water. If you are using fresh udon, simply pour boiling water over and loosen it up. Drain.
- Heat 1 tbs of oil in a frying pan, and stir-fry sliced onion, carrot and spring onion. Add squid and ginger together, fry over high heat until well-cooked.
- Add udon. Udon noodle really stick to the pan, so I recommend to add little amount of water into the pan once after adding udon noodle. Briefly stir-fry (don’t stir too much otherwise udon noodle break and become mushy)
- Add sauces and mix through.
- Garnish with chopped spring onion, bonito flakes and red ginger.
Posted June 15th, 2009 in Japan, Ume's Interests | 3 Comments »
I was told lots of Japanese old tales from my grand parents when I was little. Some of them are famous stories like “Momo Taro” “Saru Kani Gassen” “Kachi Kachi Yama” etc, but also they told me about “hell” quite often.
In Japan we say that liars will go to hell after death and get their tongues taken away by
Enma as punishment. We also say that people who go to hell will have to take bath in a pool filled with blood, have to walk on burning stones, and will be slaves of devils for ever.
I don’t remember all the stories that my grand parents told me, but here is one of them …
In hell, hungry people are sit in front of a big table. There are lots of food on the table and everything looks so delicious. Now, they can eat all the food as much as they want, but the rule is that they have to use the chopsticks that is 5 metres long.
People try to eat some food using the chopsticks, but they can’t pick up anything because the chopsticks are too long. They are so hungry, they want to eat! Everyone looks so furious and crazy; with anger, sadness, grudge and vexation…
One of them cries “There are delicious food in front of me, but I can’t eat. ’m so starving… it is hell, indeed.”
At the same time, there is a same situation going on in heaven. People are sit before lots of delicious food. The rule is same: they can eat as much food as they want, but have to use 5 metres long chopsticks.
In haven, however, people start enjoying the food immediately without any troubles. Their face is so peaceful and happy. They are actually using the long chopsticks to feed each other!
One of them says, “There are delicious food in front of me, and people help each other to feed. The food is so delicious, I’m so happy. It is heaven, indeed.”
The circumstance for both is exactly same. The difference is the way people think.
Summary: If you change a way of thinking , it can be heaven and hell.
Life is tough and we experience lots of bitter things, but we can at least try finding the way to change what we think of it, and enjoy everyday. Life is short! :)
By the way if you want to tell some of famous Japanese tales, you can find them from
here.
Posted June 13th, 2009 in Eat out in Perth, Food | No Comments »
Time passed really quick today! This morning I went to a church to meet this lady who does flower arrangement. I’m still looking for someone who can prepare my bouquet and flowers for my wedding :p
I want to cut down the cost on the wedding as much as I can, and I actually don’t really care about flower… any flower will do, I just don’t wanna spend big money on it.
Anyway, I had a chat with the lady, and then went home to pick up my partner for his hair cut. I always wondered how come his face is covered with lots of tiny hairs after hair cut… don’t they wash hair and wipe off his face? In barbers all the customers have to go home and take shower afterwards, or is it only him? :p
So, we went home first so that he could take shower. Then we headed to Northbridge to have lunch at Big Bowl. I had seafood ho fun and he had beef brisket noodle soup.
You can choose what type of noodle you want, and they cook right after you order. Of course they make noodle by themselves. Despite that, food came out pretty quick.
The taste was ok, I think I should try their “cheese noodle” next time. Gratinated cheese on soup noodle… I’m curious to know how it tastes. And, pork trotter noodle sounded tempting to me too!
Ummm… Autumn.
We headed to IKEA for shopping after lunch. I need to buy some storage unit for my clothes etc…
Tea time.
By the time we left IKEA it was already getting dark outside.
Now I’m just sitting down in the living room to set up the storage unit I bought. Ummm is there any nice movie on tv tonight?
Posted June 12th, 2009 in Japan | 4 Comments »
As I mentioned on this blog before, cost of living in Perth is pretty expensive… Everything, the price has been increased a lot in the last couple of years. Even the price of stamp has changed more than 3 times in few months. Not only stamps, but also food, house, everything… I lived in Japan for 20 years, but I didn’t experience such dramatic change on the prices there. Even now most of things are almost same price as ones in 6 years ago.
I’m not intending to be offensive, but quality of products in Japan are much better than those in Perth. Considering the quality, they are actually cheaper. My friend who gave birth to a boy few months ago, she asked her parents to send diapers from Japan to here. Even though there is a postage fee, the total price was almost same: plus better quality of diapers :p
I also buy lots of things in Japan and bring them back here. It’s really shame that Australia has very strict regulation on importing products. By the way my friend told me that her friend who had a wedding in Perth actually got her bouquet sent from Japan! I wonder how she did it… or maybe the person was in other country? I don’t think you can get fresh flower imported to Australia.
I don’t usually go shopping in Perth, so I become a shopaholic while in Japan. Everything I see make me want to buy it. I really need to tighten the purse string in September…
Because my in-laws are coming to Japan with me, I’m going to lots of places around Kansai area. I’m going to take them to Kyoto (Gion, Arashiyama, Kawara-machi) and Osaka (Nanba, Shinsaibashi, Umeda, Nankou etc) so there will be lots of chances of me buying things. I don’t really crave to go to Tokyo area, but people who want to visit Japan; espacially Tokyo, will need to prepare lots of money for shopping!
… by the way this is my current favorite song ↓↓↓
Aishiteru
Monkey Majik is a Japanese band composed of two Canadians and two Japanese. Apparently the vocals are Canadians, but their Japanese sounds perfect! I didn’t know this group until my hubby showed me their MV. They apparently have released few albams in the past. This song is a theme song of drama series called “Aishiteru ~Kaiyo~”(アイシテル~海容~)
Email: me@umeboss.com
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