Sunday, May 16, 2010

Thinking food. And: the food heaven that is Japan

Me drinking hot corn soup out of a vending machine

This week, we will be home most nights so I have been flicking through some new recipes to try. Cookbooks, newspaper cuttings and handwritten gems from friends are all getting a glance, as are photocopies from magazines, vaguely scribbled notes from relatives houses, and websites. This week, we will be trying:
Cream tacos with rice and beans a Mexican staple involving long peppers, corn, and cream filled corn tortillas, with tomato rice and refried beans. Jon's nanna taught him the recipe.

Tuna steak with fresh salsa and lemon potatoes this much recommended recipe was lovingly typed by our friends in London, and was stuck to our fridge there for the whole 2 years we lived there - and we never tried it. I found the paper in my folder of random recipes and felt ashamed. So this week it will be attempted!

Chicken with roasted cherry tomato and basil sauce is photocopied from a little free cookbook that came with a magazine. My mum had it sitting on her kitchen bench at home. I will serve it with mash.
That will be the extent of my adventures into cooking this week. What inspired me was looking through the photos of all the amazing food we ate in Japan. So fresh, the flavours so delicate and everything presented with stunning attention to detail.


A bento lunch box for a train journey. Onigiri (rice balls), pickles, katsu (breaded items - pork, prawn, chicken), hardboiled egg, potato salad, orange, and spinach.

An outrageous amount of cabbage, bacon and eggs at a festival stall.

Kaiseki - a very posh traditional Japanese meal, like a degustation. This was dish 1 of 9.

The picnic we ate about 10 minutes before Jon proposed to me under the cherry trees. Note bottle of spumante.

First course of a typical evening meal at a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). Vegetables, beans, fresh baby squid.

Tempura soba. The broth was the highlight of these dishes - rich and flavoursome.

Ramen, one of the best things about Japan. This was our first time ordering and we overdid it with the added extras (leeks, greens, bamboo shoots)!

The freshest sushi in the world, at Tsukiji fish market at 6am.
The cakes are a whole different story. Perfection.


7 comments:

helena / little mo said...

having benton lunches in the train is so fun right?? did you eat the red bean pancakes too? doriyaki?

Malcolm said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys) said...

Oops, sorry Emma, didn't realise my hubs was still logged in to blogger so I am now commenting under my login.

I am totally drooling over your post! The bento boxes look like such a fun way to have lunch and I seriously want one of each of those cakes for my birthday, LOL.

NeverEverEmma said...

Yes Helena! The red bean pancakes were delicious! I don't have a picture of them though. :)

Jo (ruby-jo) said...

Yum yum yum! The food you ate in Japan looks amazing and is making me hungry :)

Tia said...

bento lunches are such fun, aren't they :)

lyptis said...

Wow, the food looks just fantastic.

Love the cakes!