A Food Tour in Japan

I have been offline, for a month or so, on a Japanese adventure.

When an old friend suggested I attend a food tour whilst visiting one of Japan’s largest cities, I didn’t need to accept. Thanks to a family member, who has been to Japan no less than five times, I was treated to a culinary tour of authentic Japanese meals.

Most people are familiar with Udon or Ramen – the main stay foods in Japanese cuisine, with regional variations.

Stir Fry Dishes in Japan

A regular favourite was a stir-fry with Chicken, Lotus Root and Vegetables in Black Vinegar Sauce featuring high in Hiroshima and Tokyo restaurants. I was delighted to enjoy the Lotus Root, for the first time. I liked its satisfying texture and its taste that promised an aubergine-like flavour, minus the alkalinity. Adding to the appeal, I discovered that Black Vinegar Sauce has a variety of benefits – including weight loss!

“the warming nature of black vinegar can help improve overall blood flow and circulation as well as counteract high blood pressure. ….for disinfecting cuts, insect bites or as a skin dressing. Black vinegar has few calories and if you want to lose weight, consume one to three teaspoons of vinegar daily. This vinegar maintains the health of the immune system, is anti-inflammatory, and helps to improve the body’s metabolism. It contains considerably higher amounts of amino acids, polyphenols, trace minerals, and organic acids than other vinegars including balsamic and ACV.” [ww.livestrong.com/article/280498-what-are-the-benefits-of-black-vinegar/]

And lose weight I did – although I am confident that walking over 15 km each day certainly played a key role. One that was potentially more significant than Black Vinegar sauce.

Robot Wait Staff in Japan

Bettybot needed to do perform some hijinks around the lineup at the payment counter at the front of the store, to avoid clashing with the queue of customers. Amusing to watch… arigato gozaimashita, her only response.

The real adventure in Japanese cuisine is not always found in a restaurant, where your meal may be served to you by a robot, but on the street with a plethora of food choices, small family businesses with just a handful of chairs, and also, surprisingly, in the convenience stores [gasp].

Japanese Convenience Store Food

The food in the convenience stores – i.e. Lawson, Family Mart, Seven-11 and Seicomart, is ridiculously above average. The range, quality, freshness and price stand-out from the crowd. From sandwiches to Sashimi, from Ramen eggs to ice cream or pancakes, the convenience stores have it all, even alcoholic drinks.

The stores also offer foreigner-friendly ATMs, public toilets, free charging points, and somewhere to sit and eat – (which is not so easy to find with a massive population and extremely limited street seating/green spaces). Plus, culturally it is considered rude to eat while you are walking around the streets. In this case seek out one of the convenience stores, (such as Hot Chef in Hokkaido), that stock free wet wipes and hot water plus a range of tasty, very fresh affordable food.

I will talk more about Convenience food in another post. [There is lots to discuss].

But first, the iconic Japanese food – Ramen

Ramen

It is the soup broth that the Ramen soaks in that makes the Japanese ramen so tasty. Each restaurant and region has this individual way of making it and is essentially the store’s brand. Its a long process over several days to create the unique combination of pork, vegetables and seasonings that go into the soup.

It is truly delicious and you can watch the chefs prepare your meals. This is Ippudo, the Ramen from there is reputed to be the best. This Ramen restaurant is in Susukino Ramen Alley. We had to arrive early to secure a chair.

Ramen Eggs

These come complimentary with certain meals. The eggs are marinated in soy sauce. A tip – ordering a soft poached egg as a side dish in a restaurant does not mean it will be hot. More likely it will be served COLD. I found that challenging to eat.

Ramen Eggs (Ajitsuke Tamago)

Besides Ramen, there are other marvellously unique foods I tried that I will talk about in coming posts. They include:

1. Takoyaki – Fried Octopus Balls
2. King, Snow and Hairy Crab – from Siberian waters
3. Red bean Pancakes
4. Algae
5. Pumpkin ice cream and Sakura (cherry blossom) soft serve
6. Unagi – (Freshwater eel)
7. Katsuobushi / Bonito flakes
8. Gyudon
9. Katsugen and Hokkaido dairy
10. Mushroom biscuits (cookies)

And for those who are partial to vanilla or Napoleon slices, check this custard pastry variant out:

For a Laugh

For a Laugh

Potatoes and Desperately Danish

Do you think of the Irish famine or Germany when it comes to potatoes?

Continuing on discussing vernacular language and strange idioms, Google threw this up at me today:

I am Danish and might sometimes be a surt løg (a sour onion) read: a grumpy, critical person, although never as self-confessed as my blogger friend M-R, who is known to gå agurk, (go cucumbers) read: go bananas), more often than not, of late, at unsympathetic, collaboratively compromised Realtors or Landlords/Ladies who might træde i spinaten (step in the spinach) read: to say or do something stupid.

See how often kartoffel (potato) features in their slang idioms!

• Follow one’s own potato
• a lucky potato
• a hot potato

and who would have imagined carrots could be akin to snobs! (To play the King Carrot!)

Danes and Potatoes

Potatoes make me think of Denmark. Danes have this thing for potatoes but the likeness of characteristics or emotions to vegetables is something unique perhaps?

For a cold potato salad with some artichoke hearts added, try this Recipe for Danish Potato Salad or KartoffelSalat

Although I don’t always have Coppa on hand, River Cottage’s Paul West’s Potato Gratin recipe is currently my preferred way to cook a warm potato accompaniment. Reproduced below.

It is simply delicious, and I am sure the Irish and the Germans would approve.

Photo by Ray Piedra on Pexels.com

Desiree Potatoes, Coppa and Rosemary Gratin

Paul West

Ingredients:

• 150ml milk
• 350ml cream
• 4 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ onion, studded with 3 cloves
• 600g ruby lou potatoes
• 1 brown onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 200g Coppa, thinly sliced
• 20g parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 bunch oregano leaves, roughly chopped

Method:

Use two 800ml casserole dishes or one 1500ml casserole dish.·    

Preheat oven to 180C.

In a small saucepan, gently simmer the milk, cream, rosemary, garlic, bay leaves and onion with cloves for 15 minutes.

Grease the bottom of the casserole dishes with butter.

Slice the potatoes thinly with their skins on and arrange a single layer of potatoes over the bottom of the dish.  Alternate with a layer of onions. Continue with each layer in both of the casserole dishes until you have used up all of the potato and onion, or until you have 1 cm left at the top of the dish.

Strain the milk mixture and season.  Pour over the potatoes and cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour, covered.

When the potatoes have cooked through, remove the gratin from the oven and take off the foil.

Lay the coppa slices on top of the gratin. Sprinkle the grated parmesan and oregano leaves over the top and place back into the oven, uncovered for 10 minutes or until the coppa is crisp.

Remove from the oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

REKO – Covid safe drive through food

By the time the humble spud or apple reaches your supermarket shelf from its trek from the farm, it could be up to three weeks old, due to storage times: days waiting for freighting in trucks, sitting in the open air at wholesale markets, transportation to distribution centres and then to individual supermarkets. Then, there is the shelf time waiting until the customer selects it, for purchase.

It doesn’t help the consumer or the farmer.

We have come to expect produce to be available year-round, but this comes at a cost in terms of nutritional content and quality. Some fruits that grow naturally in warmer/colder climates have been genetically modified to lengthen their growing season. In the 1970-‘s, a range of foods were genetically modified to ensure they had a longer shelf life or to make fresh crops more resistant to pesticide attack in the non-optimal growing months. Food quality has changed.

As we all know fresh is best, how can the fresh food supply chain be compressed, so that produce reaches us sooner and in better condition?

Alternatives to the Supermarket

A farmer-led online co-operative company called Food Connect was one way I sourced fresh produce sooner than the tired offerings at my supermarket. This company guaranteed to get fruit and veg to your point of collection from the farm within three days.

The range is limited to seasonal produce, (which is the way it should be), so the boxes had a set selection of products. Customized boxes cost the customer a lot more and were supply dependent.

But now there is another alternative.

What is REKO?

Reko is an online farmers market where the supply chain involves the farmer or producers selling directly to the customer with zero wastage and minimal delays in the transportation of goods.

This concept originated in Scandinavia, by a Finnish gentleman and has now grown to more than 500 local groups in Scandinavia, Canada and North America.

The reach and success of online farmers markets, such as the Reko model, have been made possible by technology. A positive is that Covid has helped this model flourish. Plus it supports your local growers!

The Reko model means more time available to farmers tend and develop farm animals/produce – a job that is always 7 days a week.

How Reko Online Farmers Markets work

Customers read the Reko Facebook group posts for their area, each week on social media to see what each farmer or supplier is offering.

If there is something that appeals, the customer orders by posting a comment, indicating the quantities they’d like, send through the payment via direct bank deposit, (ie no credit card fees), and collects the produce at the nominated time and pick up point. Voila!

Straight from the farm to your fridge all within 24 hours.

Reko offers more than just fruit and vegetables.

A home gardener who has excess produce may sell via the REKO group and if you are selling cakes or prepared meals, you must have a commercial-style kitchen. When we grew zucchinis in our home garden, we planted so many plants we could have fed an army, so REKO would have been a way to share our products and make a little money to be able to buy more seeds! If only it had been possible back then.

Advantages of Online Vegetable and Produce Ordering

• A way to stay Covid safe in a variant outbreak!
• Pick up from your car appeals too!
• Local growers supporting local community
• Hand made or home grown sold by person growing it
• A supply chain model that makes food or products available as fresh as is humanly possible
• Farmers get cash directly and there is no excess wastage of product

Less wastage = lower prices + a better environmental outcome.

Costs are reduced as farmers don’t need to spend time away from their farm, spending hours in the hot sun/cold rain setting up and sitting at an outdoor market, or selling to wholesale distributors, or fiddling with cash and change. There’s less wastage as they don’t take more product to sell than is required, as the grower in the youtube video explains.

Why is it different from a farmers market?

• No sitting out in the rain
• Farmers only harvest as much as has been ordered
• Less transport time and fossil fuel emissions
• No signage, change, Point of sale machine, tent or tables needed as pick up is direct from the farmers car boot or truck
• Farmer received the money directly – keeping costs down and cash flow is instant
• Supports local growers
• Minimal effort to source

Lots of Recipes to Love Lemons

What makes a great-tasting Lemon Cake?

Ju-Lyn might consider me a Queen of Lemon Cakes, but I am no reigning monarch of cooking, merely slightly obsessed with lemons. The family loves lemon cake, which means I am keen to try out any new lemon-themed recipe I find.

This month, in setting up a tasting contest between my most popular Lemon Cake recipes at home, I discovered how versatile lemons could be not only in improving heath, but also in replacing certain chemical cleaners and insecticides around the home with natural alternatives.

Lemons are comprised of:

• 31 g vitamin C
• 1.1g protein
• 9.3g carbohydrates
• 2.5 g sugar: 2.5g
• 2.8 g fibre: 2.8g
• 0.3 g fat
• 20 calories
• 89% water

More lemon facts

Photo by Julia Zolotova on Pexels.com

Packed with Vitamin C

Lemons are a plant native to Assam, in Northern India and South Asia. Lemon juice in its natural state is acidic, but once metabolised it actually becomes alkaline.

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The acidity of lemons makes them a great adjunct to cleaning around the home and lemon peel can even repel insects when peel is placed outside your door.

• Rub your chopping board with a cut lemon to eliminate garlic or stubborn odours
• Clean windows and chrome fittings with a half a lemon dipped in salt
• Remove red wine spills (mix to a paste with salt and baking soda)
• Add a cut lemon to your dishwasher in place of rinse aid for a streak-free wash.

With the Changing Seasons, lemons are a natural way to bolster our immune systems.

Lemon Cake Tasting Challenge

Renowned for reliable recipes it may be no surprise that a recipe from The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine took first place in the Lemon Cake Challenge. As voted #1 by colleagues and family. This is how it turned out:

Australian Woman’s Weekly Lemon Cake

Are you keen to make the winning cake for yourself?

Instructions and the link to the Women’s Weekly Lemon Cake recipe

Another Lemon Cake Recipe

Linking thanks to Janis’ suggestion to What’s on Your Plate over at Retirement Reflections

Saving the Planet One Sip of Green Tea at a Time

Eco-friendly Biodegradable Tea Bags

It’s no secret the world has a problem with plastic pollution, particularly the presence of micro-plastics in our oceans and drinking water. Did you know that some tea manufacturers incorporate small amounts of plastic into the teabags, so they hold their shape when immersed in hot liquid? That plastic ends up in our cups and ultimately in landfill.

Earl Grey Blue Flower and Japanese Lime Teabags

Other manufacturers use staples or glue to attach the string to the teabag or chlorine to bleach the bag white, for aesthetic purposes. These are all things we don’t want melting away in our morning cuppa.

If you’re anything like me, you like to support Companies that are taking the initiative to swap out plastic packaging for more environmentally friendly alternatives.

I was thrilled to find Biodegradable, 100% plant-based, plastic-free teabags in recyclable packaging from The Tea Centre. That’s good news for avid tea drinkers such as myself, who can now sip away without concern for ingesting nasty chemicals.

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The Tea Centre has taken care to ensure their pyramid teabags are:

• Biodegradable
• GMO free
• Made from plant-based materials, such as sugarcane
• Heat sealed without glue
• Sold in Eco-friendly Biodegradable packaging – No Plastic

But that’s not the only way the Tea Centre is contributing to reducing waste. While the products from the Tea Centre range use inner wrapping that looks for all the world like plastic, it’s actually a cellulose product, called NatureFlex, made from 100% natural wood pulp, compostable and biodegradable.

Bio-degradable Teabags and cartons that are 100% Recyclable.

Customers now have the option to purchase their teabags packaged inside a fully recyclable carton. These cartons are consciously crafted from food-grade cardboard. Moreover, the printing on the package is gold foil stamping that is also 100% recyclable.

That’s more good news, right?

JAPANESE LIME TEA

Just like Japan itself, this tea was ambrosial and aesthetic. With a subtle lime flavour, it has just the right balance to to be zesty and fragrant without overpowering the senses. Served as a cool drink, the lime flavour is delightfully refreshing and that comes from someone who doesn’t generally drink Iced tea.

Japanese Lime Tea

Ingredients:

Green tea, citrus peel, lemongrass

Biodegradable Teabags and Packaging

Brewing Guide

Photo Credit: Tea Centre

This zingy variety of Green Tea can be sipped as both a hot brew or iced tea.

Add one tablespoon tea to one litre of cold water and refrigerate for 4–7 hours.

Strain and serve.

BLENDED IN GERMANY | GLUTEN FREE | VEGAN

Why is a Green Tea Fusion Good for You?

You may already be familiar with the healing properties of green tea. The antioxidants are a boost for our hair and skin and also offer anti-inflammatory benefits. With ingredients such as lemongrass stalk to help relieve anxiety, lift one’s mood and help to ease digestive ailments, a green tea fusion is especially good to drink first thing in the morning.

Biodegradable Teabags

Plastic, GMO and chemical free. Pyramid tea bags are 100% biodegradable.

brewing guide

Green Tea Fusion

This fusion is a zesty combination of green tea, citrus peel, and refreshing lemongrass pieces.

BLENDED IN GERMANY | GLUTEN FREE | VEGAN

The Tea Centre online

Since 1993, The Tea Centre has been offering a different tea experience and I’ve been fortunate to be gifted a sample of the teas to experience. If you love the aroma and flavour of fine tea, the tea will delight you.

Related Post:

I recently wrote about Glogg Black Tea. Some other warming winter tea flavours I plan to try include:

• Gingerbread loose leaf
• Christmas tea
• Autumn spice.

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A post shared by The Tea Centre (@theteacentre)

Linking to Natalie’s Linky

Christmas in July

What happens when you want to eat Christmas food, you live in a tropical country, and it is 35 degrees (nearly 100 F), in the shade. What do you do?

Christmas Decorations

You organize a Christmas feast, in July, when it is actually wintertime.

I know all the citizens of the northern hemisphere might have a hard time comprehending things being so upside down here. It really is too hot to eat rich Christmas food in the summer months in Australia – which can be up to five months long!

You see come the month of December, I’m more focused on keeping cool and retreating to the ‘Pool room’ – (don’t worry Aussies will understand the reference); lying in air conditioned comfort and watching old home movies or reading a good book, or maybe writing a blog post or two.

The only appetite I have during that time is for salad greens, which is acceptable for me on December 25, but not the rest of the family. Surprisingly, they expect a bit more than rabbit food at Christmas time.

A growing tradition in Australia is to have Christmas in July gatherings, with friends and family and enjoy a mock Christmas meal of Roast meat, Yorkshire pudding, Christmas mince pies and plum puddings with custard.

Scandinavian Glogg

Since the sixteenth century, Glogg is a warm drink brewed at Christmas time in Nordic households to welcome and warm guests travelling in the cold December weather. The name can be translated to mean “glow,” and may be served fortified with alcohol, or non alcoholic. Either way Glogg incorporates a number of spices that resemble the aroma and flavour of a Christmas cake.

Traditionally, the ingredients in mulled wine include: cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, orange, and almonds all of which infuse hot fortified wine. However, other recipes have called for cherries and raisins, as well as brown sugar, honey, or maple syrup, and in place of red wine, local distilled spirits such as aquavit or vodka, whisky, bourbon, and even white wine. In the non alcoholic version, ginger provides an added warming element.

The Tea Centre

My Christmas in July celebration happily extends throughout July but not with the traditional Glogg but with a variety of Glogg Black tea from The Tea Centre.

Glogg Black Tea

The supplier offers this tea in both black and green tea blends, and it contains many of the ingredients found in mulled wine: cinnamon for a welcome immunity boost for the Aussie winter and Cardamon, which is known to be beneficial in reducing pain, headaches, nausea and inflammation.

Reminiscent of Nordic Christmas traditions and mulled wines — cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger recreate this special drink … also a touch of almond and orange peel bits.

The Tea Centre

thespruceeats.com/traditional-glogg

For me, drinking this tea brought back those sumptious feelings of Scandinavian hygge. Danish Hygge is that cosy feeling you have when you are curled up in front of the fire, snuggling under a fleecy throw, candlelight dancing across the walls, with your closest loved ones. It is a feeling of being at ease, comfortable and relaxed.

Photo by Ylanite Koppens on Pexels.com

Aromas of cinnamon and cloves permeated the air as the pot was brewing. If you’re thinking it is not so dissimilar to a cinnamon herbal tea, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the additional flavours of orange peel, ginger and almond.

This tea would work really well with the Danish Spice cake recipe, I posted recently.

Delicious and healthy.

Embracing Edamame Beans

As one on the periphery of the ‘Boomer’ generation, I am slightly hesitant to use nouveau cuisine ingredients in my meals. However, as my adult children grow and in-laws arrive at family dinners, I need to cater to vegan, coeliac and pescatarian palettes, so I’m aiming to be versatile, making some low-calorie alternatives such as Edamame-fritters. Add to that, organic and Vegan menu options are appearing in lunch venues across the country, so the heat is on to keep up!

Yesterday, I dined on a wonderful dish of Edamame and Avo Smash comprising Mixed Beets, Beetroot Hommus, roasted hazlenut dukkah and plant based marinated feta, on toasted sourdough. It was delicous and the combination of colour made me remember my kindergarten days! It looked fantastic.

Edamame beans are immature soybeans and mostly found in Asian style dishes so using an unfamiliar ingredient such as this usually has me reaching for a recipe. Today, that wasn’t necessary.

Two cans of Edamame beans were looking a little lost and unwanted in my pantry and avocados are currently in plentiful supply and contain the good fats, so I seized the opportunity to recreate my own version of the Edamame and Avo Smash for lunch – sans mixed beets and hazlenut dukkah. I could hardly wait to eat it, as indicated by the missing bite in the photograph!

Do you use embrace new and unfamiliar ingredients in your cooking?

Edamame Beans Nutritional Content

They contain protein, but they also contain carbohydrates, that all important fibre, a number of essential amino acids and of course they’re low in fat and sugar and contain no cholesterol at all. They’re also a great source of minerals, including iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, phosphorus, copper and manganese, plus they pack a punch with the vitamins too, such as Vitamin C, riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, Vitamin B6 and Vitamin E. Shelled, they weigh in at 110 calories for a 100 gram portion.

http://www.kobejones.com.au/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-humble-edamame-bean/

The Little Tree Bake and Brewhouse nestled in the Samford Valley, to capital city Brisbane’s west, sources and incorporates local and sustainable produce into their seasonal menus. Everything on their menu is bespoke, made from scratch in our kitchen and very own bakery.

Photo Credit: http://www.littletreebakeandbrewhouse.com.au/