Archive for the 'Food' Category

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Botan Ebi

Published on January 29, 2011 in Food by taro. Closed

Mmmm, amaebi.

So today was meat day at Ninjaya (Nijiya), no really. 2 = ni, 9 = ku (kyu); 29 = niku = meat! Their cuts of meat are 20% off and it happened on a good day as I was out food shopping. I’d already went by Marukai and picked up a tray of sashimi for tonight, the plan was chirashi style sushi. My other plan was shabu shabu tomorrow if the meat was good, and indeed I picked up a couple trays of good looking ribeye shabu shabu cuts. I also checked out the fish section, Ninjaya might not be cheap, but they do on occasion have some interesting offerings, and I saw today they had trays of Hawaii botan ebi, yay! I’d seen it before, but it didn’t go with my food plans at that time, but this time its perfect! This is something I haven’t ever seen at any other supermarket, you’d probably have to go to the seafood specialty shops like Tamashiros. So I grabbed a nice small tray, checked out, and headed home.

Good stuff. Kinda gelatanous and sweet meat, yum! I hear most sushi places will deep fry the head and present it with the ebi. I didn’t want to try that, I instead tossed the heads into a quick dashi broth for a soup of shrimpy goodness with a couple bits of chutoro for good measure. Mmm, kinda a zeitaku meal meal when I thought about it, not so long ago something like this would have been for royalty! I hope I don’t get ill though, I dropped one ebi into the sink peeling it, I rinsed it off, but…. I couldn’t bring mayself to discard it, these guys (& at least one gal) weren’t cheap!

Anyway, sorry I neglected pics, but it was yummy!

Kokorotei

Published on January 24, 2011 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

P1020733Fairly new bento place, the Moilili location itself a new building. Finally got around to trying Kokorotei. They’re tag for uniqueness is that they make the bento fresh at time of ordering. Picked up a tonkatsu bento and a aji fry bento (not on regular menu). The size is a reasonable size, not humongous USA size (I’ll rant about this later in a SLC entry) and reasonably priced. The quicker its eaten, the better, esp for fried items. I hit heavy traffic heading home so it wasn’t piping hot fresh, but I can happily report that the bento were excellent. A step above what you’ll find at what passes as “depato”s here. The rice warm and fluffy, not cold, hard and clumped together. The entrees still crisp and not dried out. The katsu had some nice “marbling” going on, it wasn’t a totally lean cut. Doesn’t bother me as I’m not eating it every day, and the portion size was reasonable. The kiriboshi daikon and kinpira were nicely flavored and cooked. The shoga side was nice, a touch different from what you usually get with your sushi. The little piece of ornamental lettuce not wilted. The bed of cabbage the entree was on was soggy, but that was because it seemed to have been dressed with some kind of light vinager mustard dressing. If anything, the bonus little squiggle of spaghetti was the one unremarkable item. I believe the sides vary. Continue reading ‘Kokorotei’

Ninjaya Nigou

Published on December 30, 2010 in Culture and Food by taro. Closed

After hearing mention of this, happened to be going past the second location of the Japanese Market Nijiya (a California francise, I believe) and saw that it was open, and I needed stuff for NewYears. It’s in that small collection of stores at the corner of Piikoi and Kona, where Blockbuster used to be. It’s a fair amount more condensed than the University location, and a large portion I thought was wasted on a eating/lounge area. Anyway, it a pretty convenient location and parking is free and easy, although their dedicated lot is not huge and can get congested when there is some lady in a Mercedes waiting to pick up friend blocking three people trying to get out of stalls and leave. You can always park in Ala Moana in the Sears corner and its a short walk over. I didn’t think they were so successful to warrant a second location, but we shall see! Oh, and a good amount of interesting JDM goodness to see.

CHANG!!!

Published on December 23, 2010 in Culture, Food and SUAR by risu-mobile. Closed

Man, I just saw some old dude on a moped with a Chang Beer T-shirt! Where’d he get that? I want one!

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PowerBar Pure & Simple Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bar

Published on December 12, 2010 in bike, Food and Review by risu. Closed

PB_pure_and_simple_packagingPB_pure_and_simple_productThe hunger…

The Ba-Le sandwich I had for lunch wasn’t enough to carry me through to tonight’s late dinner, so I grabbed a snack when I got into McBike. I didn’t want to eat something big and spoil my appetite, so this smaller bar looked like the ticket. At about half the physical size and caloric count as most standard energy bars, this snack-sized bar had the added benefit of being made from recognizable whole grains and fruits – more like a Clif Bar rather than the weird extruded robot food I’ve come to expect inside a PowerBar wrapper. The flavor was mild and easy to take, sort-of like a lower-sugar version of the more common mass-marketed cereal/whole grain bars. The packaging was easy to open, and the bar was gone in about four bites. These would probably be pretty good as ride food, since I have the tendency to eat only half of a standard bar per break. On the negative side though, you’d be generating more trash to keep track of, and the dollar value is a bit lack – it’s about half of a standard bar in content, but not at half the price! That’s the price of convenience and healthy content. Continue reading ‘PowerBar Pure & Simple Cranberry Oatmeal Cookie Energy Bar’

It’s Not Going to Taste Like Grape…

Published on December 10, 2010 in Food, rant and Review by taro. Closed

P1020586Dammit, they tricked me! Last time I was at Ninja Market (Nijiya Market) I was happy to see they brought in the grape flavor Qoo drink, it was one of my favorites when i was in Japan. The flavor brought back memories of when I was a small kid living in Japan and popping these tiny little purple grapes during summer. So I bought a bottle and was savoring having it and just busted it out this Friday evening. Took a sip. WTH? This doesn’t taste right?! I look at the translated nutrition label, ack, sucralose! Now I notice the katakana 1/2 calorie thing on the label, curses!

Beer is Good – Iwanai Ji-biiru Lager

Published on November 28, 2010 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

Iwanai_jibiiru_frontIwanai_jibiiru_colorOne of the fun things about travelling around Japan is trying out regional food and beer. While in Iwanai on the Southwest coast of Hokkaido on the Sea of Japan, I had a chance to try this local offering. Considering that the farming belt above the coastal town of Iwanai was where hops were first cultivated in Japan, and this is where Sapporo Breweries sources the hops for their “all Hokkaido” Hokkaido Meibutsu “gold can” lager, I was expecting at some kind of mind-altering hops experience from this beer, particularly since it was labelled a “pilsner”. I was disappointed. Perhaps I should have been expecting something more from the “deep ocean seawater” also called out on the bottle labelling of this rather watery beer. This is another case like the Otaru Bakushu beers where you can start out with premium ingredients and still produce an unremarkable beer. The initial pour and good head excited me, but the first sip fell flat. There was a good carbonation dry bite, but as that faded out, it was replaced with neither a malty richness nor a hoppy bitterness. There was a faint flowery hop aroma if I tried really hard to detect it, but it was otherwise a rather bland beer. I guess I should be glad that it was mild and easily drinkable, as opposed to being strongly flavored in a negative way.  I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either. Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Iwanai Ji-biiru Lager’

Beer is Good – Sapporo Classic lager

Published on November 28, 2010 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

Sapporo_classic_blue_frontSapporo_classic_blue_colorAs a follow-up to the review of the “green letter” Sapporo Classic, I dutifully tested a “blue letter” Classic. Between the two, I can say the 2010 Vintage “green letter” has a stronger malt flavor with a more Pilsener-style bitter. The “blue letter” is more of a traditional Japanese dry pale lager. I am now curious to see if the difference between the “blue letter” Classic and regular Sapporo Black Label is primarily the point of origin. Whereas the two Classic varieties and the “gold can” are brewed at a facility in Hokkaido and are set for retailling only in Hokkaido, the standard Black Label sold nationwide could have been made in any number of regional breweries. Both Classics have a similar color and level of carbonation, but remember, this wasn’t a side-by-side test. Although I said the “green letter” Classic had a more pronounced maltiness, the “blue letter” was not without a solid malt flavor. The Classic will be available beyond the production cutoff of the 2010 Vintage Classic, so it will be available into the forseeable future. Give one a try when you’re on Hokkaido! Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Sapporo Classic lager’

Beer is Good – Suntory Malts Kuro lager

Published on November 28, 2010 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

Suntory_malts_kuro_frontSuntory_malts_kuro_colorThe dark version of Suntory’s premium Malts lager, this dunkel arrives with the same high quality ingredients and solid taste foundation.  If given the choice between all the standard offerings from the major Japanese mega-breweries, I’ll usually reach for a Suntory Malts above all others.  The moderate hoppyness and full malt flavor makes it my favorite.  This dark version has a slightly different flavor than the regular Malts.  The obvious difference is the smoky flavor imparted by the darkly roasted malt, but there is a hint of a sweet note, perhaps from a stronger decoction resulting in a less complete attenuation: I’m not convinced that the sweetness is from something different in the hopping, and the mouthfeel does feel a little thicker than regular Malts.  This dark is an interesting change from the regular Malts, so if you see one, give it a try! Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Suntory Malts Kuro lager’

Beer Is Good-Okanagan Pale Ale

Published on November 27, 2010 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Next up in the variety pack is the Pale Ale. approached with some trepidation as I don’t like IPAs, but it seems that is a different beast. Pours medium amber with a medium head if poured aggressively that dissipates fairly quickly but carbonation stays. Pretty bright and dry, with a bitter that stays for a bit. But no strong flowery or weed taste. Not my fave of the bunch, but drinkable. 2.5 pale monkeys.