Arare Gift Box

Arare Gift Box

One of my Christmas presents this year was this great looking arare (rice cracker) gift box.

I have a high appreciation for the way the Japanese package things. Wander around a Japanese market sometime and the products really seem to pop off the shelves. Color schemes are thoughtfully considered, graphics are tastefully employed, and in the fresh seafood department, fish fillets seem to be caught in mid swim in their Styrofoam trays. They have a way of enhancing the inherent natural beauty of simple objects. Presentation and attention to detail transforms ordinary into extraordinary bringing to mind words like craftsmanship and artisan.

Calligraphy Detail

This arare box is a perfect example of the art of Japanese packaging. Even though I can't read Japanese, the calligraphy on the cover immediately caught my eye. I've studied Wagami Japanese paper making back in school and part of the course involved sumi-e calligraphy painting on paper we actually made ourselves out of mulberry bark. The graphics remind me of some of my attempts which only decades of practice would bring anywhere near this level. My instructor informed us that once we learn the history and process of making paper, we will never take for granted a single sheet of Charmin again. I have to say, I still take it for granted. At least I don't have to make all my own paper. Now that could pose a problem.

Individual Packages

You can see how thoughtful consideration was put into the individual wrappers. The labeling seems to be consciously coordinated somehow and complements the unique contents of each package. The packages themselves are all propped forward creating a nice presentation.


These rice crackers not only looked pretty, they were tasty, fresh and crunchy. Each package contained it's own desiccant pack to keep the contents fresh so you could take your time to admire the packaging before eating it; so you can eat with your eyes first before tasting it with your mouth.

Niigata Style Sukiyaki

Niigata Style Sukiyaki

Sometimes food is accompanied by a soundtrack. Whenever I think of this dish, I hear music in my head and vice versa. Back in 1963 a song by Japanese singer Kyu Sakamoto called Sukiyaki climbed up the American music charts . "Ue o muite arukō", was the original Japanese title of the song and oddly enough, the renamed song's title Sukiyaki has nothing to do with the lyrics and the lyrics have nothing to do with the dish, rather, the song was renamed for the western audience with the idea that the title would be easy to pronounce and remember for English speakers. The strategy worked and over 13 million copies were sold world-wide. Today, sukiyaki the dish and the song are both known internationally.

Sukiyaki literally translates to, suki-(plow) and yaki-(broil). Perhaps the word is derived from a method of cooking meat on a metal plow-like a make-shift skillet, first employed after the ban on eating four-legged animals was lifted in Japan in 1838. (Hold on a minute, Ban on eating four-legged animals? Are they crazy? Those are the best tasting ones.)

Bean Thread Noodles

My sukiyaki recipe doesn't call for a plow or even broiling. I start with a large hot pan (I suppose you could use a plow in a pinch) and brown some thinly sliced meat, either beef or pork, and some onions in a little oil. Then I add the vegetables. I used carrots, green onions, and regular white mushrooms, but you can also use napa cabbage, tofu, chrysanthemum leaves, Tokyo negi (a type of giant green onion), bamboo shoots, enoki mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms. Next comes the broth which is made of soy sauce, water, sugar (preferably raw and unbleached) and mirin (sweet cooking rice wine). The last thing I added to the pan is a package of bean thread noodles. Jelly like, crunchy shirataki noodles made from konnyaku "yams" are the authentic way to go, but bean thread or cellophane noodles work well too. Everything is brought to a boil, the flavor of the broth gets absorbed by the other ingredients and it's ready.

Here's the soundtrack looped in my head.

Tarako Spaghetti (The Great "Im-pasta")

Tarako Spaghetti (sort of)

I was introduced to Japanese style spaghetti a number of years ago at a place in Gardena called Spoon House Bakery and Restaurant. I never knew the Japanese liked, let alone had their own version of Italian cooking. The first time I ever heard of such a thing was when the original Iron Chef program aired on T.V. and Iron Chef Italian, Masahiko Kobe the Prince of Pasta demonstrated his flair for incorporating various, usually Japanese ingredients into his hybrid Nihon-Italian style of cooking. Since then I've had the pleasure of eating at a number of Japanese Italian restaurants, most notably, Angelo Pietro in Honolulu and the now defunct Itameshi-Ya in Santa Monica.

At Spoon House you start off with a chunk of hot freshly baked bread, a dollar salad, which as the name implies, costs - you guessed it - a dollar and a Japanese spaghetti dish. For the uninitiated, some of the combination's they feature on their menu may sound unusual but I wouldn't hesitate trying any one of them. My favorite, though, is the tarako-Japanese cod roe and butter sauce with squid. It's a great combination-hot spaghetti noodles, bathed in butter and cod roe with little chewy bits of squid, just slightly fishy flavored and rich. Check out the Spoon House menu.

If you can't get to a place like Spoon House, your nearest Japanese market should carry packets of tarako pasta sauce that you simply add to hot spaghetti and toss. Although not the same experience as getting it in a restaurant, these instant packets will suffice if a craving should arise.

Equipped with nothing more than leftover spaghetti from the night before, I set out to create my own Japanese Italian pasta using what I had in the cupboard- I think with passable results. To the spaghetti I added- get this- Kewpie brand mentaiko (spicy tarako) salad dressing, salmon flakes and green onions.

Kewpie is the maker of the popular Japanese mayonnaise as well as condiments and other food products. While writing this post, I discovered that Kewpie also makes a tarako pasta mix. In fact, they have quite a bizarre advertising campaign going on in Japan featuring a horrified girl about to eat her tarako pasta fixated on a formation of kewpie faced tarako egg sacks marching to a hauntingly repetitive anthem. The whole thing is as strange as the idea of cod roe spaghetti might initially seem.

Watch the video at your own risk. You'll be humming the tune in your head and craving tarako spaghetti. You've been warned!!! Here's a link to the lyrics if you're inclined to sing along.

Arabiki

Arabiki

What's Arabiki? One answer would be, an onomatopoeic word for the sound these little sausages make when you bite into them. They have a very distinct snap and crunch to them. The other answer is, a delicious, Japanese style, finger sized, smoky pork sausage.

Item #26980

The Reverse Side

Arabiki(s) are a relative newcomer to the Hawaii sausage scene but they seem to have quickly and easily secured their place in the sausage line-up as evidenced by these 20 oz. jumbo packs of Redondo's Brand Arabiki available at Costco in Hawaii. Supply and demand is a reflection of popularity so if Costco is carrying these, they must be popular!

Curriculum Vitae

Let's check out the label to see what makes these things so tasty. First, the list of ingredients: Pork-that's a good sign, water-okay, pork back fat-of course, salt, soy protein concentrate, sugar, flavoring-all good, onion powder, liquid smoke, natural sheep casing-all wholesome enough sounding.

And then there are the "other things". Mono sodium glutamate-msg (a little won't kill you), sodium phosphate-WTF? sodium erythorbate, and sodium nitrite-again, WTF?

Okay, most of those ingredients I'm familiar with, but those chemical thingies? Further research was called for. According to Wikipedia, monosodium glutamate is a flavor enhancer-most of us are familiar with, sodium phosphate acts as an emulsifier, sodium erythorbate is an antioxidant which preserves color, and sodium nitrite is a color fixative and flavor enhancer. Wikipedia also interestingly lists that sodium nitrite has also been used as an antidote for cyanide poisoning among other uses. Wow. Why didn't they just say so!

I know the FDA makes food producers list all the ingredients that go into their finished products and I can understand there are good reasons behind their policies but perhaps they could extend a little poetic license when it comes to describing some of these ingredients.

What if you read the side of a box and the list of ingredients read something like this;

Contains: calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, magnesium carbonate, soluble and insoluble proteins, B vitamins, as well as vitamins A, D, and E, lutein, zeaxanthin, trace amounts of β-carotene, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, and other metals, hydrocarbons, phenols, indans, indoles, pyrroles, pyrazines, and sulfides, including hydrogen sulfide, dimethyl sulfide and dimethyl trisulfide.

Would you readily put whatever that is in your mouth? Does that sound appealing at all? What if I told you the box you were reading was an egg carton and the list represents the chemical make-up of a chicken egg? Well, why didn't you just say egg in the first place? By comparison, our little sausages here could almost be described as "all natural". Almost, that is.

I think Redondo's could drop all the "sodium's" and still put out a great product and I don't think the taste would be affected much either. Of course they would have to be eaten sooner than later and they may not retain their color as well but they usually don't last long enough in this house to be adversely affected by the lack of artificial additives and preservatives anyway.

Coarse and Tasty

Okay, diatribe over, back to the sausages. The cooking instructions on the package says "boil 2 to 3 minutes". Although they are good prepared this way, I like to fry them or grill them. Direct heat brings out all the flavor in these things and as long as they don't burst while cooking, they retain all their succulent juiciness and crunch just like the label says in that screaming red bubble on the package. The texture of the coarse ground pork and the smokiness are reminiscent of a kielbasa style sausage but with a slight hot doggyness to it, perhaps due to the aforementioned "additives".

Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky....

Although diminutive in size, each sausage packs a wallop of flavor. They're so addicting, be sure to wear gloves while eating so you won't accidentally gnaw your fingers off. The package also states, serving size, 2 pieces..... Okay, on what planet?

Kitchen Forager Serving Size

Ohayo Gozaimasu - Bacon and Egg Yakisoba

Bacon and Egg Yakisoba

So what do you do with leftover yakisoba noodles? Add a cracked egg and bacon and call it breakfast.

Bacon and Egg with a little help from Celery,
Cabbage and Broccoli Carrot Slaw

Breakfast

Come to think of it, the addition of bacon and egg to anything automatically turns whatever it's added to into breakfast really. We often have bacon and egg pasta with leftover spaghetti noodles kind of like a creamless carbonara, and I make breakfast maki sushi once in a while with... you guessed it, bacon and egg and then there are breakfast burritos with bacon and egg (or chorizo or potatoes and salsa or jamon or sausage or frijoles or whatever you have in the fridge). There are bacon and egg sandwiches on toast or bacon and egg soft tacos, and bacon and egg fried rice (one of my favorites). Bacon and eggs. The applications are almost limitless. Bacon and egg ice cream? Hmmmmmm..... I'll have to give that one some thought.

Japanese Shrimp Curry - Ebi Kari Raisu

Japanese Shrimp Curry - Ebi Kari Raisu

Before you say, "Where's the shrimp!" well, I ate them all before this shot was taken. I swear there were more in there last night. By the time I fished through the pot, all I could find were the two little ones you see here, but you get the idea.

Okay, on with the post.

When most people I know think of Japanese food, curry might not be the first thing to come to mind, but curry (or kari raisu as the dish is known in Japan) is as Japanese as teriyaki or sushi. Generally speaking, the word "curry", is a broad term used by us non-Indians to refer to any type of Indian food. It's a little more complicated than that.

The practice of tea drinking and Buddhism (and I'm guessing many other things) migrated their way through China to Japan over the centuries from the Nepalese region, so one might assume curry followed a similar path. My guess was that curry traveled a direct path from Nepal, throughout India, into China and across the sea of Japan where it caught on and became a part of Japan's food culture.

After a little internet research, I found it was in fact the British who introduced curry into Japanese cuisine. After the signing of the 1902 Anglo-Japanese alliance, cooperation between the two military's led to the British navy sharing their curry recipe with the Japanese as a cure for the condition beriberi which is caused by the lack of vitamin B1 in the diet. I never imagined a cure for an ailment could taste so good. Of course the Japanese happily adopted the recipe and adapted it to their taste and the ingredients they had available. That's it in a nutshell. For more in depth reading on the subject, check out this informative article, Japanese Curry and the Navy by Fumihito Yamamoto.

Shrimp don't look so shrimpy with the Macro setting :)

There are many instant curry mixes available at Japanese markets. We usually pick up whatever brand happens to be on sale but our favorites are S&B, Java or House brand Vermont Curry. (Don't ask me what Vermont has to do with Japanese curry). They come in big chocolate-like bars with segment scores on the top to make it easy to break apart. All are easy to prepare. Brown onions and meat of choice, add vegetables and water to cover, bring to a boil and stir in cubes of curry until dissolved and simmer. Serve over rice with Japanese pickles on the side. Very little cooking skill required, tasty, filling and you won't get beriberi.

Soba Noodle Salad

Soba Noodle Salad

For a quick lunch, I put together this soba salad. It's just soba buckwheat noodles over lettuce, topped with all kinds of goodies (read whatever's in the fridge) cucumber slices, imitation crab sticks, egg omelette and Nam Fong char siu courtesy of Mom and Dad.

Man, that Nam Fong char siu is the best stuff not counting Dad's home made char siu. Unfortunately for me, Nam Fong is in Chinatown in Honolulu so for the time being I have to ration my frozen, vacuum sealed supply.

Close-up

I foraged around and came up with a dressing made from Japanese ponzu and Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce. It worked perfectly. Sweet, sour, with a chili kick to it. The inspiration came from a somen noodle salad my Mom makes with a soy sauce, sugar and vinegar dressing so that explains why I was kind of steering the taste in that direction.

A Fish Tale

Sesame Encrusted Turbot Filet with Ponzu Vinaigrette

Turbot (I've been told correctly pronounced "ter-bought") is our new favorite fish. Many years ago, I was lucky enough to do some fishing around Shelter Island off Juneau, Alaska and when we weren't trolling for king salmon, we would bottom fish. Bottom fishing involves maneuvering the boat up current of deep, underwater cliffs, cutting the motors and drifting. When in position, we cut leathery halibut skin into strips and fastened them securely to massive hooks, then with the aid of a ten pound cannon ball weight, the bait was thrown over the side to plummet down several hundred feet until hitting the bottom. Once there, we bounced the bait on the ocean floor in hopes of hitting a halibut on the head. Apparently, bottom feeding fish like halibut and turbot like to congregate at the base of these cliffs because this is where much of their food collects. When anything falls off the edge of the cliff and hits them on the head, they pounce on it and devour it. More often than not, we would pull up rock cod, or as we called them, "double uglies" because of the effect decompression had on them being brought to the surface so quickly. Once in a while, someone would celebrate the landing of a giant, hundred pound halibut. We pulled up way more turbot though. Turbot look like streamlined halibut; similar markings, same flat shape but not quite as proportionally wide. Flaky, rich and fatty turbot flesh is just as tasty as halibut and I think if someone told you it was indeed halibut, it would be hard to tell otherwise. The only difference between the two fish in my mind is the popularity and more importantly, the price. You can find wild caught turbot for about one half to two thirds the price of halibut. Notice you don't see it on menus much yet? With a little luck the turbot won't end up like the Patagonian tooth fish a.k.a. Chilean seabass; overpriced, over-fished and overrated.

For dinner last night, we had sesame encrusted turbot filet with a ponzu sauce, wild rice and wokked veggies. Give turbot a try.