Tag: Japanese Food

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Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 4 – Local Furano Cuisine at Kumagera

Continued from post – here and the start of the journey started here.

After a full day of the zoo as well as being on the road, we all took our time relaxing at our condo.  For dinner, I had plans for us to go to Kumagera, as it focuses on Furano’s local style cuisine.  The name of the restaurant means black woodpecker, which is Furano’s town bird.  While they serve great seafood, they are known for their Sanzoku Nabe hot-pot (a miso broth with venison, chicken, and duck) and focuses on local meat dishes (including bear and deer) as Furano is more inland. Continue reading “Tabemono Summer Vacation- Hokkaido/Tohoku 2016 Day 4 – Local Furano Cuisine at Kumagera”

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Tabemono in SF – Osechi Ryori at Kappou Gomi

Update 10/21/2017 –  Unfortunately after 8 years, Kappou Gomi closes its doors as the Chef and Owner, Gomi-san is retiring.  Will miss this place for both the food and the hospitality provided by the Gomi-san and his wife Harumi.  If you like to continue reading on what is Osechi, continue reading, but  otherwise know that this style of cooking cannot be found elsewhere that I know of in the SF Bay Area. Continue reading “Tabemono in SF – Osechi Ryori at Kappou Gomi”

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Tabemono at Home: Matsutake Takikomi with a Pressure Cooker

Matsutake Mushroom are in season during autumn. It has what some say a spicy cinnamon taste, but I find it more like a pleasant cedar or pine like in aroma.  This year my local Japanese grocery store had them constantly stocked from September through late December.

While shopping at my local Japanese grocery store during the autumn months, I spotted matsutake mushrooms on several occasions and have been enjoying this delicacy.  It is my favorite mushroom as it has a distinctive yet pleasant aroma of pine trees and cedar.   It is usually available from September to January, and are harvested by hand, hence its high price ranging from $15/lb to $50/lb, depending on its grade.  Since I was making dinner that night, I really wanted to showcase this amazing ingredient and decided to make matsutake gohan(rice) in the takikomi style with a stove top pressure cooker as it’s faster than a regular rice cooker. Takikomi is a rice dish that is cooked with vegetables, seafood, meats, or in this case mushrooms and is usually cooked with dashi and a soy sauce mix instead of plain water. Continue reading “Tabemono at Home: Matsutake Takikomi with a Pressure Cooker”

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Tabemono in SF – Hashiri SF

mekaru
Chef Tokunori Mekaru grating fresh wasabi on a shark skin grater.

May 13, 2016

Sushi Hashiri SF’s pedigree is a less renown restaurant in the Daikanyama, Tokyo location that opened in 2012.  In looking at Japan’s #1 restaurant rating site, ww.tabelog.com, you can only see seven reviews that averages to a 3 out of 5, which is mediocre by Japan’s standards.  Granted it is a small sample size.  However, the Hashiri SF opening appears to be a much more ambitious endeavor that focuses on a very upscale blend of both kaiseki and sushi experience. Continue reading “Tabemono in SF – Hashiri SF”

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Tabemono in Tokyo – Sukiyabashi Jiro – 90 year old Sushi Master in Ginza

August 2014, Ono Jiro with my oldest daughter who’s 12 at the time and helped contribute to this write up.

August 1, 2014

My first post review will be to post on Sukiyabashi Jiro which I took notes on as I have dragged my feet in creating this blog. In August 2014, Jiro Ono was 90 years old, yet he was vibrant and alert as he expertly served us some of the best sushi in the world.

Scoring reservations was difficult as Jiro Ono continues to be exceeding popular and famous after appearing in Anthony Bourdain’s “No Reservation”, his documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi”, and even a visit by President Obama in April 2014. Yet, my concierge from the Peninsula in Ginza was able to score two seats for lunch for August 1st, 2014. My wife lucked out as she was scheduled to fly back two days before, so my lucky twelve year old daughter got to enjoy a fantastic lunch with me.  That’s her in the picture above. The hotel warned us that Jiro may not be present as he had heart complications earlier in the year, but we were lucky as he was back as a healthy 90-year old this year. Continue reading “Tabemono in Tokyo – Sukiyabashi Jiro – 90 year old Sushi Master in Ginza”

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