鮮陳腎煲西洋菜湯 Watercress & duck gizzard soup

The day after I wrote about my dad's unique way of eating instant noodles, I had a sudden crave for watercress & duck gizzard soup!!! (That's very normal of me.... my spontaneous food "crave" always stemmed from the food memory that I blogged!)

The very next day, I went to gather all the necessary ingredients being, watercress (西洋菜), pork fillet (痩肉）, carrots (紅蘿蔔), duck gizzard (鮮鴨腎） from the supermarket. I then dug out the "stock" from my fridge being, preserved duck gizzard (陳腎）, sugar coated dates (密棗), dried mandarin peel (陳皮）, and Chinese almonds (南杏).

Dumped everything into the humongous claypot, simmered it for 2 hours on low fire.

Gosh! That soup definitely soothed not only my body, it soothed my soul as well. I felt so comfy sipping the warm soup. The taste of my dad, my family, my roots!!!

Yet, I didn't endeavor to add waxy instant noodles inside!!! ha ha ha.... One thing I found out was that I love "clear" soup rather than the murky green, gooey, thick kind of soup that my dad adored.

Totally satisfied. Even A & C loved it! Daily training from mum.... my kids love Chinese soup, too!

醃子薑 Home made ginger pickles

I have to say, I am WAY behind in IT technology. My sister asked me to install WhatsApp on my i-phone and I thought to myself, "What App is she asking me to install???" Not knowing "WhatsApp" itself is an App!

Next, after installing WhatsApp, I didn't even know how to get the "password"!!!! With much help of my friends, I finally managed to obtain it.

GOSH..... this lacking in technology knowledge is a serious fallback of me. Got to "upgrade" myself to a more powerful engine, a full upgrade of my "brain!!!" is essential in order to catch up with the rest of the world.

Later, I learned that WhatsApp is a free SMS application where it enables you to SMS overseas at no cost. Ah ha.... IC!

Sometimes, I felt my sister was talking to a Taishan grandma (台山阿姆 being ME!), especially on new technology. I really had no CLUES as to what-so-ever she was trying to tell me.

So, after installing WhatsApp, the whole family happily SMS each others.... until I found out I couldn't get any "buzzes" from i-Phone without turning on the app itself.

So I missed a message from No. 3 asking, "How to make "子薑炒牛肉" (beef stir fried with ginger pickles).

No. 3 SMS the "gang" at 11.46 a.m. hoping to find our majesty highness, but failed, and me (the recipe provider backup), didn't read her message until 20.40p.m. , the time where I opened up the app.

By the time I replied, she had already finished her dinner and of course, the "子薑炒牛肉"(beef stir fried) was not done so properly. Then, I thought, without the phone buzzing me for messages alert, it defied the whole purpose of "real time" chat.

Was there something "wrong" with my phone again? I went to ask my "gig" sister, and she asked me had I turned on the "notification" in i-Phone.

Ha!???? What's that?

Thanks to her detailed explanation, I finally turned it on. Now, I get very timely SMS.

What an IT lesson I had.

No. 3, sorry about the delay, here is your recipe for 醃子薑 (ginger pickles), again, Tokyo C9 流.

This is how I make it and I am sure you can find other variations on the internet. However, I never fail with this recipe and it always turn out good!!! I hope you will enjoy them.

2 chunks of young ginger, about 350g (IT MUST BE YOUNG GINGER!!! Please do not replace it with ordinary ginger.)

Thinly sliced them. Anything thicker than 2mm should be discarded. Use it for soups.

Add a tea spoon of salt, give it a gentle massage.

Place it in a plastic bag until the ginger turns soft.

Pat dry them on kitchen towel. Make sure you squeeze out any excess water until it is rather dry and DO NOT RINSE the ginger. If you rinse out the salt, you will ruin everything.

Melt 2 tablespoons of sugar into 3 tablespoons of vinegar. Put the ginger into the marinate liquid. The ginger will turn "pink". Also , avoid using any metal containers for chemical reactions. Use glass bowl or ceramic.

Sterilize a few bottles, place the ginger and the marinate liquid in the bottle. If there is a "airway" between the cap and the ginger, place a layer of cling-wrap to seal off the air passage. To do so, the bottle can last longer.

Why young ginger will turn pink when mixed with vinegar? That's because in younger ginger, there is still abundant of anthocyanin where when reacting with vinegar will turn pink. 100% natural! So, please don't worry.

Now, you can make your "子薑菠蘿炒牛肉", "子薑菠蘿炒雞丁， 鴨丁", etc.....

L’Osier （ロオジエ） @ Ginza (銀座）

My friend came visited me today and that reminded me of our "grand" visit to Shiseido's Losier last year in November.

It all began with ME (who else....), I wanted to try some genuine French and my French veteran friend who is also an excellent French patisserie herself, strongly recommended L’Osier.

Another reason why I wanted to go so desperately was that L’Osier closed this March for a grand renovation and it won't re-open again until Autumn 2013! So, I must tried it before it closed.

All the organization and booking was done by ME (who else!!! ha ha ha...) where I managed to have a "private room" for no additional cost!

It was a very wise decision that Losier "locked up" this bunch of gossipers, so our excessive chatting, overly gasping and endless questionings will not disturb other customers who wish to have a peace of mind to enjoy their food.


Our "printed" menu..... where did I dump that! I clearly brought back as a souvenir and now it is gone with the wind~~~


Fig bread. I wasn't sure if they house-baked their breads or not but it was lovely.


Nori-pan. Seaweed baugette. Fusion with a Japanese twist.


Amuse Bouche.




Entree

Truite Du Mont-Fuji Cuit - Chaud-Froid de Persil Creme de Raifort et Legumes Crus
(The above alphabets has NO meaning to me, because I don't understand FRENCH! ha ha ha...)
In English: Shizuoka rainbow trout cooked just right topped with parsley aspic glaze covering and accompanied by horseradish cream.

My first impression was, "Why do I have a piece of Christmas wreath looking trout in front of me!" (LOL....!!!).

The trout was cooked just "right", very tender, full of "river" taste but surely no muddy river stink. The parsley jello covering helped to alleviate the fishy smell and at the same time, enhanced its look greatly.

The horseradish cream was uber delicious. Everything was very well matched, each ingredient inter-assist each item, canceling out the bad flavor of one another.



Plat

Variation Autour de L'agrean, Chou Roule Aux Epices a Couxous, Puree de Patate Douce.
(In English: Roast lamb with Chinese cabbage roll and sweet potato puree)
If you don't know me, I love sweet and savory all in one plate. This is exactly the kind of combination I really love. That's why I love Peking duck so dearly because you need the sweet bean paste to go with the crepe and the crispy duck!

Pre-Dessert

Bottomed with mango jelly, layered with cream and raspberry sorbet. I thought this WAS the dessert but it was only the beginning of the MAIN COURSE.

Macaron and creme brulee


Caramel rice bubbles crisp and Meringue with raspberry on top.

Fresh strawberries with 3 different sugars.

Pitaschio mousse. I LOVE pitaschio!

So, after a series of "pre-dessert", finally, the REAL dessert came out.

Tarte a la Vanilee de Madagascal et Chocolat Blanc Sorbet Orgeat
In English: White chocolate vanilla tart with almond syrup sorbet
To be frank with you, I was too stuffed to fully "enjoy" this. I got knocked out by the pre-dessert already.

MORE SWEETS~~~~!!!!! (I couldn't possibly eat anymore, so I took them home. They gave me a very nice box for take away!)

All the petite desserts were served from a wagon.

Totally stuffed and I only paid 6800 yen! Not bad for a Grande Maison price, honestly. Now, I need to wait until 2013 autumn or even longer (expecting to have a long long booking queue) until I can try again.

葱油叉燒撈丁 BBQ Pork with Spring Onion "Oil" on instant noodles

No one in HK doesn't know what "出前一丁"(instant noodles) is. My family used to stock them in the kitchen drawer, but with one very special phenomenon. On the side of all the neatly placed packets of noodles, many tiny packets of "味精" (taste enhancer soup powder) were also arrayed in such neat manner.



Probably, it was our "house rule" of eating instant noodles. We never use its inclusive soup powder.

Dad loved to eat the waxy noodles with the leftover double boiled Chinese soup. In one occasion, I saw him eating the noodles with "西洋菜湯" (watercress double boiled soup) where "strings" of watercress got intertwined with the noodles and dad just slurped everything into his mouth.

My instant thought was, "YUCK!". Murky green soup + slimy, slippery, waxy noodles...... just the thought of it wasn't very appetite stimulating.

Yet, same as my dad, Hong Kong people has the tendency to "drop off" this MSG packet and transform this instant noodle to become Hong Kong snack-style daipaidong soul food.

One good example would be, "葱油叉燒撈丁" BBQ Pork with Spring Onion "Oil" on instant noodles.



This C9 loves an extra fried egg on top plus a hefty load of spring onion oil. Mind you, you don't fry the spring onion to bring out the flavors. You simply pour hot oil over the ginger and spring onions, add a pinch of salt, some oyster sauce, sugar and soya sauce then coat this "sauce" with the waxy instant noodles.


Where can you find this noodle? Go to a local Hong Kong style cafe "茶餐廳" or daipaidong, that's the starting point.

Ivan Ramen (アイバン ラーメン） ＠ 経堂 （Kyoudou)

Playing with "30 Mins" on my i-Phone became a deleterious habit and I couldn't stop GOING OUT!!!

My first target was Macina Mecina　マッシーナ・メッシーナ, and I found my next target pretty much the very next second!

Ivan Ramen (アイバン　ラーメン）, opened up by Ivan Okin, a New Yorker with a Manhattan's Lutèce history, a Ramen lover, a Japanese food lover.

The Kyoudou (経堂）shop was his 2nd shop where Rokakouen （芦花公園） was his first.

The Rokakouen （芦花公園） shop used to be another ramen shop but the owner wanted to close it, that triggered his interest in opening his own ramen shop at the same location.

Like all ramen, the soup was its soul! His soup was a slow cooked chicken （丸鶏）and sun dried sardine （煮干） combination, which was JUST the kind of soup I love!

I loved the depth of the soup as it remained in my mouth for a long time. Definitely not SALTY, but the soup had a full body with rich flavors.

I chose their soya sauce ramen (醤油ラーメン） and my friend chose their seasonal ramen (エビ香おるピリ辛マヨベジまぜ麺), which was sun dried Sakura shrimps (桜海老) mixed with various veggies's mayo non-soup type ramen.

The decor was very jazzy. Instead of entering into a ramen shop, I felt like entering into a jazz bar.

I believe, with this quality of ramen, the decor and the good service, it can be a potential hit overseas. Obviously Melbourians would love to have this kind of ramen shop!

I am so tempted to go for my 2nd visit soon................ perhaps tomorrow?????

I passed by his shop recently and saw him in PERSON!!! He was chatting with the tattoo guy (the American chef with full tattoo on his right arm!).

I almost wanted to ask for his autograph but thought that may ruin "my decent" image .... ha ha ha..... let's save the autograph for my next visit.


Meanwhile, he even wrote a book about his shop.... only if you are interested....

C was totally satisfied with the fresh strawberry and banana homemade ice-cream. Too sweet for mummy but C had her 100% satisfaction smile on her face.

Dry aged beef steaks from Nakasei 中勢以 ＠ Home

About a week ago, I read a comment by a Hong Kong foodie asking about, "a chunk of Japanese beef is vacuum packed, with a 賞味期限 printed on the label. Does it mean that the beef needs to be consumed prior to the printed date, or can you actually age the beef past that date provided you have the proper facilities?"


My chuck eye.... Kato-san gave me 50g more for free!

The rump eye that Kato-san cut for me. He gave me 50g more for free on this, too!!! ha ha ha....
たくさんおまけがもらちゃって幸せ！

His comment arose my curiosity. I never doubt the high "standards" Hong Kong good food, yet, I have doubts over a restaurant's capability to age a chunk of Wagyu （和牛). Or is it simply another dodgy trick to hoax a hungry customer?

So, being a "thick faced" C9 (八卦厚臉皮 C9), I replied to his thread of comments. During this thread of comments exchange, I found some interesting facts that I would like to share.

Back to those days when I studied for my "Food Adviser" certificate (talking about it, where did I dump my certificate???!!!), I learned that according to Japanese's Ministry of Agricultural, Forestry and Fishery (農林水産省),"賞味期限" (Shoumikigen), "best before", 美味しく食べることができる期限　（food that can be consumed deliciously, Gosh bad translation! Sorry...), meaning the product can still be consumed post the printed due date but no guarantee on taste.

There is another term called, 消費期限 (Shouhikigen) "use-by date", meaning consumption post the printed due date is not recommended.

So the restaurant was proposing that, "賞味期限 (Shoumikigen)", meant the date the meat should be aged, not the date to be consumed by.

HA??? 「BS じゃないの？」

I found that almost impossible to believe so I went to 中勢以 (Nakasei), which is a butcher specializing in aged beef located in 田園調布 (Denenchofu) seeking his professional opinion on this matter. (Gosh, this C9 really got her nose itched on this!). I only want to know the "truth"!

Master Kato-san (加藤さん） remembered me!!!!!

I don't blame him, this C9's last visit was filled with endless questions and she constantly asked for おまけ（Omake = discounts), even in buying a piece of meat!　　

Got to be frank, Kato-san is the most friendly butcher that I have ever met. In spite of this troublesome C9 kept on bombarding him with questions, further discounts and what's worse, I didn't bring enough cash and had to pay on "CREDIT" (not credit card but I needed to transfer the money into the shop's bank account 振込み), his did not show a sign of annoyance!!! (On a separate note, I immediately transferred the money to his shop the very next day!)

Always smiling, always answering my questions with full sincerity, what a nice young bloke! All he wanted was customers' 100% satisfaction. Regarding of local housewives like me, or restaurant owners or real foodies..... he simply wants you to "appreciate" his piece of meat.

Kato-san is a master graduate from Colorado University's meat science, and his father is the owner of Kyoto (京都)'s 中勢以 (Nakasei), the original shop (本店).

I asked if a vacuumed packed chunk of meat just before 賞味期限 is worth aging or not. 　First, he mentioned meat just before 賞味期限 is edible but better consume it within a week's time or not.

He then told me vacuumed packed meat is not worth aging at all. His shop doesn't age any vacuum packed meat for various reasons. First, the meat juice (肉汁）of the meat will leak out once vacuumed because the meat is compressed, therefore, the quality of the beef will never be the same.

Second, normally all vacuum packed meat will have its bones and fats removed, leaving just the "core meat" alone in the package. During the aging process, the bones and the fats become the "natural" bacteria protective shield for the meat, so the meat is more resistant to bacteria, hence, the "core" of the meat can achieve its best aging result.

On the contrary, if the meat is aged from having no protective shield around, the meat becomes very vulnerable to bacteria, the best desired aging result cannot be achieved.

Further, in order to age a piece of meat, the environment, the know how, the technique is rather difficult. In Japan, most restaurants don't age their meat themselves, they rely on a reliable butcher who has the proper knowledge to do it.

I just found out Ristorante Mondo Cucina (the Italian restaurant) in Jiyugaoka (自由が丘） has a special long version Nakasei Aged Meat course. 中勢以熟成肉コース　ロングバージョン at a price of yen 13,000!!! (No way, this C9 can't afford to pay for such premium dinner!!!!!)

After I came home, I did more research on beef aging. Nowadays, there are 2 ways to age beef. One is the traditional orthodox "Dry Aging" and the other method is "Wet Aging" (a.k.a. Vacuum Aging).

Nakasei (中勢以) specializes in "Dry Aging". Dry aging means hanging the carcasses in a refrigerated cooler at above freezing temperature, with a predetermined humidity and a controlled air velocity. It sounds very "food science" to me!

To do so, the beef muscles are transforming into "meat" where the natural enzymes found in muscles starts to break down certain proteins in muscle fibers that can improve the palatability attributes of meat. Put it in an easier term, the meat will be softer, tender and tastier.

Another benefit of dry aging is that moisture evaporates from the muscle creating a greater concentration of beefy flavor and taste. (Similar to dried mushrooms tastes much stronger and better than fresh mushrooms). Also, dry aged beef has its unique "nutty" flavors that "wet aging" cannot achieve.

The demerits of dry aging is that during the process, a crust forms on the outside of the meat due to microbial growth where it got to be trimmed away. The dry aging process takes special care, and requires a relatively large inventory. It is very time consuming, expensive, requiring extra efforts in storage for high-quality beef.

At least 20% of the meat will be wasted during the trimming process, hence, reducing the profit margin greatly.

Kato-san trimming off the outer layer.

The meat that we buy in supermarkets are by far 99% wet aging. Wet aging (or vacuum aging) ages the meat in vacuum bags stores in refrigerators. Obviously, humidity, and air velocity are not an issue. The aging process continues when a cut meat sealed in a vacuum package and be continuously kept in a refrigerated environment. Inside the vacuum bag, the meat ages and becomes tender, BUT, there is no flavor enhancement as there is no concentration of flavor occurring with the loss of moisture.

There can be distinct flavor differences between dried aging and wet aging. Meat from vacuum aged cuts has a more bloody, serumy and metallic flavor. Meat from dry aging has a more nutty, brown-roasted beefy flavor. Though, both aging methods can tenderize the meat.

Up until 1960s, dry aging meat was the prominent aging method until vacuum bags developed. Wet aging became more popular because it is cheaper, no loss in shrinkage and trimming for better profit margin, low in inventory carry cost, lesser refrigerator space, and special labor skills is not required.

Dry aging process is dying because of "cost". Post-1960s people would probably have never tasted dry aged beef, they don't know what they have missed! Just imagine, what was the "norm" in the past became a rich foodie's playmate was the point that I wanted to bring out.

No wonder my father told me steak in the old days tasted better. When mum first got her salary from her first job, she treated herself a big fat slice of beefy steak. Her memory over that juicy, tasty steak still lingers around her mouth.

chuck eye (肩ロース）

rump

So, how can I leave the shop emptied handed!!! I ordered 2 pieces of meat. One was a piece from the chuck eye (肩ロース）　and the other piece was rump eye （ランプ芯）.

Chuck eye steak.

Rump eye steak (Note the watercress was from my C9 organic garden!)

When I looked at the meat neatly stored in the show case fridge, it brought back memories of the old days. My father was a beef lover, on the way home after shopped at Prahran market, he would always wanted to stop by Oceania.

Oceania is still in Melbourne, its Japanese owner specializes in sashimi and Aussie Wagyu. Dad would eyed at the piece of well marbled sirloin steak with great interest, almost drooling then turned to me, "肥妹，今晚加料好冇？" (Hey chubby, want something extra for tonight's dinner?).

Yes, I was a real chubby in the past and over the years, my 2 monsters drained out most of my fat and blood, leaving me half of what I used to be..... sad.........

Only if dad is still around, I am sure he is no coward about coming over to Japan to savor this very reasonably priced dry aged steak with me.

My heart went very sour when I started writing about dad, tears filling my eyes. It was dad who taught me the enjoyment of eating good quality food at a reasonable price. He always said, the most expensive may not be the best, the best food is defined by yourself and be judged by yourself. Even a bowl of steamed rice can be the best food for the day. Learn how to eat wisely.....................

When I unwrapped the package that Kato-san (加藤さん）carefully prepared for me, I took a sniff, the acorn nutty fragrance was something that you couldn't find in the supermarket.

Cutting the meat into my desired thickness, returning them to the room temperature, pan fried them gently on low heat, take them out, let them rest for a while, then re-heat the fry pan again in high, toss a dice of Koiwai cultured butter　（小岩井発酵バター）, gave them a final shot for its golden brown coating. Sprinkled with rock salt and black pepper.......

いやいやいや！　参りました！　

The chuck eye did not just melt in your mouth, the intense beefy favor, the tenderness, the juiciness the nuttiness!!!!! The rump eye was a bit more chewy than the chuck eye, but the intensive beefy favor lingers longer in your mouth. It was a great pleasure to chew on you! Even Mr. Yim said, "This piece of steak is of restaurant quality and you can open up your own shop."


GOSH! Did I hear something WRONG????? He actually praised my cooking?????????????? Is he OK????? He must have got knocked over by a 2 tons truck.

When I was so mellowed by his comment, his next sentence came, "This has nothing to do with your what-so-ever cooking skill, the steak is just too good that even your older sister can't make it wrong!" (Note, my older sister is absolutely hopeless in cooking, I really mean it!).

こいつめ！！！

I will get you for this, Mr. YIM!!!

Tokyo Sundub (東京純豆腐) @ Jiyugaoka (自由が丘）

It was a cold winter day where I sent A to Jiyugaoka for her English classes. It was a very rare occasion where C was napping and Mr. Yim agreed to "look after" her while I took A to her classes.

Well, for those who know me, I will never miss any opportunity to eat "ALONE" where I can freely use my BOTH HANDS to hold on to the bowl and the chopsticks!

Further, I must find something hot and spicy because the girls are absent!

I wondered around and found this new building in Jiyugaoka. "Luz Jiyugaoka (Luz 自由が丘)", in the same building, you can find Shutters, Celeb de Tomato, etc....

I chose Tokyo Sundub (東京純豆腐) for the obvious reason! I love Korean hot and spicy food!!!

I already knew there would only be one item in the menu, Sundub (a.k.a. Soontobu). Soontobu is a hot and spicy tofu soup cooked in a clay pot originated in Korea but got evolved over a period of time by the American Koreans. It is a hype in LA and NY where you can choose your own "toppings" to be added into the hot tofu pot.

I chose 潤健美スンドゥブ (Junkenbi　Sundub）, because it has a cube of collagen added in it! Beauty, beauty, beauty.... we eat to maintain our beauty!!!


On the whole, it wasn't bad. The soup was full of flavors, tofu was silky enough and with the extra dab of collagen, I was hoping my skin would shine after coming out of the restaurant. Sadly it didn't!

However, I heard there is a REAL authentic Soontobu shop in 奥沢 (Okuzawa). It is called Kochoo Soontobu (コチュ　スンドゥブ）. I am hungry now! I need to WAIT for another opportunity to eat alone.