izakaya gamushara - japan meals part 3

i have been obsessed with izakaya for about a year ever since i purchased "izakaya: the japanese pub cookbook" by mark robinson for a couple of key recipes i used for a friend's dad's 60th bday bash last summer. robinson not only provides photos and recipes for countless japanese small plate dishes, he reveals the unique history and customs of izakaya culture through beautifully written passages.

izakaya is essentially a japanese pub, an intimate and typically "locals" or "divey" establishment that serves both alcohol and food, but unlike american or irish pubs, the focus is very much both the alcohol AND the food. all dishes are small plates meant to be shared over beer or sake (or both) and ranges from tasty little salads to impeccably fresh sashimi to perfectly charred skewers of meat and fiery hot stone pots of rice and seasonings.

i was simply hooked on the concept (i like food and i like alcohol) and obsessed with participating in an authentic izakaya experience. so when christien and i decided to head to tokyo for a week, i made damn sure we would go to an izakaya or three. for dinner on the second nite of our trip in japan, we trekked through the crowded streets of shinjuku district to sanchome, its 3rd ward. wandering down the dark paved streets, we came to a narrow and dark wooden corridor that led downwards. the black cloth banner above read gamushara in ghostly white. my first izakaya!

photos are great, but videos really tell the story. push play and watch as i descend down into my first izakaya...


the establishment was small, maybe about 500 square feet of dining space with low wooden tables and benches. behind us was an open kitchen and bar with bottles and bottles of sake lining the walls. it was pretty dark and tables were dimly lit by pin lights above.

upon seating, a waiter distributes the customary hot hand towel to refresh your hands and places small bowls of marinated burdock root and hijiki seaweed as a teaser, or amuse bouche if you will.

christien's friend, , a japanese native and food guide for the evening rattled off a flurry of dishes to the waiter. and the dishes start coming. first up, a fresh and tender salad of red and green lettuce, thinly sliced red onions, green beans and fresh corn lightly dressed in a citrus vinaigrette.

then comes a wonderful stew of beef innards and quail eggs nestled in intense broth. so delicious.
then gyozas, perfectly panfried on the flat side, moist and tender meat stuffed inside.

chicken kaarage was wonderfully moist and seasoned with a light, crunchy batter. great with fresh squeezed lemon.

chashu, roasted pork loin, was amazing.

then this came out. konnyaku. robinson describes konnyaku as a jelly made from the flour of the "devil's tongue" plant. it was weird and spicy on the tongue with kind of an unflavored gelatin texture. the sauce helped, but not enough to win me over. oh well.

fried wedge potatoes. omg. who knew japanese could make fries so well?! perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

takowasa. fresh, raw octopus, diced with fresh wasabi root, bathed in its own octopusy slime. this was absolutely stunning. the octopus was crunchy and tender at the same time, and the slime wasn't slimy. the wasabi root provided a nice firey bite. we ordered three of these it was so good. and i'm still searching for a place in sf that does this. found one in la. so addicting.

this was a stone pot that was placed on our table scroching hot, filled with white rice, pork, mushrooms, pickled vegetables, scallions and an egg yolk.

as the nite wore on and we had passed our fourth or fifth round of beers (i lost count), our food guide orders this controversy: raw chicken salad! what what? you can't eat chicken raw!! apparently the chickens used for this delicacy are raised on special farms so that samonella is very low risk. so after hesitating and much doubting, we popped our first raw chicken bits into our mouths.

oh, let me tell you: it was sublime. aside from the weird headspin you get when you try something you know you shouldn't be trying, this was very tasty. the chicken had a sashimi-like texture, similar to snapper (tai) and was dressed in a mayo/avocado mixture that really let the chicken shine through. surprisingly very good. i think i felt a pyschological pang in my stomach a few moments later as the "samonella" hit, but i never had any problems later. besides, there was just too much good food to focus on such trival things. that and all the alcohol in our systems probably killed every germ in its tracks.

now what's an asian meal without eggrolls? these were hot and crisp on the outside, creamy-laden with seafood on the inside.

ah, one of the last and most intriguing dishes of the nite. pregnant anchovies, deep fried. riveting choice of words eh? these were deep fried whole with some sort of vinegary garnish.

and yes, chockful of little anchovy babies... or in culinary terms, roe. crunchy on the outside, crunchy little bursts of roe on the inside. definite fan of this.

and so, after countless rounds of asahi, (or was it kirin? probably both, i can't remember) and over a dozen delicacies later (many of which we ordered 2nd rounds) we fork out that funny money and move onto a nite of more intoxicated merrymaking. i had so much fun here. great food, thirst-quenching, mischief-making beer, and the company of amazing friends, their stories, their smiles and laughter. this, i realized, is what izakaya is all about. thank you.

kirin ichinban, pocari sweat, gokuri and more drinks - japan meals part 2

when traveling abroad, it's important to stay hydrated. all that sightseeing, adventuring, and foreign land frolicking can really dehydrate a joyous visitor who just wants to cram as much tokyo tourism and underground escapades as he can in seven days. so to combat the nasty effects dehydration can have upon a happy camper, we found plenty of opportunities to get liquids while roaming the streets of japan.

japanese drinks are awesome. these people not only know how to make drinks of all flavors and textures, they know how to package and market them. ok so yes, you'll see a lot of beer in the pictures on this post. but hey, we were on vacation and beer is GOOD. take a looksee.

what better way to start a trip to a distant, foreign land (and wash down mushy acidic airplane pasta) than a can of kirin ichiban beer. light, bubbly and burpy, four of these on the 11 hour plane ride did very nicely, thank you very much.

once at our hotel a couple blocks from shinjuku station, we picked up a huge bottle of pocari sweat from the 7 eleven across the street. i liken pocari sweat to a lemonade flavored sports drink. it has about the same consistency and flavor.

small drink bottles kept us hydrated on the go. here, christien has a suntori brand drink. i think it was peach or something.

this bottle of gokuri was my favorite. grapefruit juice with real grapefruit bits in it. not too sour, not too sweet. super refreshing in an awesomely designed aluminum bottle with wide mouth twist cap.

as you walk around tokyo, there are tons of vending machines dispensing drinks. japanese vending machines seem to have a much wider selection per machine and each drink is nicely displayed. it's also just a lot of fun trying to figure out what the hell was in each bottle or can. sometimes we were right, sometimes totally wrong. as we were walking around shinjuku district, we passed by this sloping alley chock full of vending machines. made for a great photo. notice all the ads.

and what do you know! as we were walking past the machines, christien spotted his favorite j-pop star, namie amuro! she was quenching her thirst just like us foreigners!

while visiting the ginormous residential-business-cultural complex that is roppongi hills, we stopped in a modern, western cafe for some rich and delicious iced lattes. to sweeten the coffee, there were little pods of simple syrup (much like half & half creamers).

and as the evening set in, we settled into some innovative (and expensive) cocktails in the bar atop roppongi hills tower to watch the sun set and experience the tokyo lightscape come alive 100 floors below.

dinner at our first izakaya meant beer, beer and more beer. i can't remember how many pints of asahi we or i had that nite.

i know it was A LOT.

more mugs of asahi at a casual diner chain known for its gyoza (which were excellent by the way).

ah yes, another izakaya, another drunken nite. this time courtesy of two bottles of suntory whiskey for the five of us. yes, two. we finished all of it. curiously, the whiskey was served with ice spheres. they looked like crystal eyeballs. a little disturbing.

another beer. yebisu, which is a rich, malty premium japanese beer.

and more beer at another izakaya. i think there's a theme here.

on our super fast train to hakkone to experience onsen, japanese bath houses, we decided to cleanse our systems with some herbal and green iced teas, in preparation for our "spa" treatment.

but of course, asahi had to creep in and steal the show again.

and on our final nite in tokyo, at aria blu, a luxury 7-course, all-you-can-drink, all-you-can-karaoke in 3 hours establishment, we drank and sang our sorrows away with endless pitchers of beer, vodka tonics, and gawd knows what else.

so you see, we did a great job of making sure we stayed hydrated during our japan excursion. one thing to note though. japanese people do not walk and drink at the same time. people actually go into little cafes and quench their thirst while politely seated at a table or bar. they don't walk around with drink in hand like them heathen westerners. same thing goes for food. no walking and eating. in fact, we had the most difficult time finding public trash cans to dispose of our bottles and street food. yet the streets of tokyo are amazingly and clean and spotless.

oh you japanese. how do you do it?

kamakura ramen in tokyo - japan meals part 1

in march this year christien and i met vicky and edmund for a one week trip to tokyo, japan. i... love... japan. everything about it. from the architecture and technology to the people and culture and oh, the food... japanese cuisine, for those who haven't truly experienced it, is so much more than sushi and chicken teriyaki. while these japanese-american standards are definitely tasty and of course popular, they speak nothing of the mouth watering, delicious foods found in the most glamorous restaurants and dingy-est street stalls that litter the crowded streets and buildings in the tokyo metropolis.

in this series, i'm going to share our food experiences during our awesome trip to japan. here's the first.

kamakura ramen was our first lunch spot in tokyo, located in shibuya district. roaming the streets of this trendy neighborhood, we couldn't settle on a place to enjoy our first meal, so we decided to ask the cops hanging out at a small police box where they usually get lunch. you figure they know where to go right? one of the cops recommended kamakura ramen a couple blocks away.

we walked to the entrance and discovered that we had to order our meals from an outside vending machine first before entering the restaurant to sit down. the menu was huge, and all in japanese. fortunately menu pictures and christien's excellent japanese skills came to the aid.


we made our selections, deposited our coins, and took our meal tickets inside.


after handing our meal tickets to the host, we sat down at the end of a large counter that wraps around a huge steel open kitchen. at each station there were chopsticks, napkins and an assortment of condiments ranging from scallions to garlic, soy sauce and more.


while waiting for our food to arrive, we entertained ourselves by watching the efficiency of the kitchen operations.


and then, our food arrives. huge bowls of perfectly cooked ramen noodles, topped with thin, juicy slices of chashu which is slow roasted pork with intense smoky pork flavor and melt in your mouth ribbons of fat. all this was nestled in an intense and perfectly seasoned pork broth with a soy sauce base and liquid fat that was almost emulsified in the soup. my order came with a heaping bowl of thinly sliced scallions to top the ramen with. a fresh green and oniony compliement to the meat and noodles.


and then there was the egg. soft-boiled. so fresh. so creamy. so sinfully delicious. i have never had an egg like this ever before. the eggs in the u.s. don't come anywhere close in flavor, texture and freshness, except organic, farm fresh eggs.


while kamakura ramen wasn't a famous ramen street tent, this was an amazing example of how good and refined a bowl of ramen can be, even in a vending machine style fast food restaurant. oh tokyo. how i love thy food.

sushi ota in san diego

for lunch on the first day of our san diego trip last month, christien did his search engine magic and found a fantastic sushi bar that had super high marks for being the sushi bar for local japanese nationals. in other words, the real stuff.

sushi oto is owned and operated by japanese people, typically another sign of quality, but surprisingly, we learned that our sushi chef, while japanese, didn't know a lick of the language even though his name tag was in japanese and was muttering all the japanese greetings that sushi chefs yell out when customers first enter the bar.

we had a great time chatting in english, sharing stories from the bay area, where he was also from, and learning about the very choice cuts of fish he was treating us to. here's what we had...

sashimi - aji, sake, hamachi, maguro (spanish mackerel, salmon, yellowtail, tuna)

starting with a sashimi special plate, this was surprisingly high quality and quantity for under $30. and, it actually included the entire aji skeleton as seen above. you know you're getting fresh stuff when you get the whole fish (which wasn't recycled from another plate in the back kitchen).
big cuts, extremely fresh fish. a great start.

mirugai (geoduck or giant clam)

after the sashimi, we started diving into the refridgerated case in front of us. mirugai is one of my favorites so we had to have that. geoduck clam is pretty ugly in its native state. but once you cut away the tough exterior skin, the meat is sweet and briny with a firm, not quite a crunch, bite.

kinmedai (golden eye snapper)

kinmedai is one of our favorites, having eating over a hundred dollars worth at our favorite sf sushi bar, ryoko's, over the past year. slightly seared with a blow torch, ota's version is rare with seared skin and a dusting of fresh grind rock salt. amazingly sweet and tender.

age aji (fried spanish mackerel bone)

in between sushi courses, our aji bones from the sashimi plate returned to us completely deep fried with fresh lemon and ponzu sauce. you can basically eat everything minus the head so we happily munched away on the crunchy bones and washed them down with ice cold sapporo draft.

amaebi (sweet raw shrimp)

i love amaebi so we each had one. delicate, sweet and moist. oh so good.

another species of clam (can't remember what kind)

our sushi chef seemed to have an affinity for clams so he introduced us to a couple more. this one was similar to mirugai but with a slightly softer texture. very good. just can't remember what kind it was though.

nama tako (raw octopus)

having recently discovered takowasa (raw salted octopus with wasabi), we were excited to try this recommendation by our chef. it's not like tako at all, which is boiled first then sliced. this was absolutely raw and slimy with a bit of a chewy texture. not for everyone, but the meat is sweet and just a bit briny. never really had this before so it was a treat.

akagai (red clam)

another type of clam that was again similar to mirugai but more tender. very good.

uni (sea urchin roe)

now this, was amazing. our chef told us their uni is sourced locally in san diego, which has very limited availability and is one of the most desirable in the US. fresh and clean tasting, firm textured but creamy on the mouth, and briny, nutty and sweet all at once, this uni was probably the best i've ever tasted. wow. just wow.

age ebi atama (deep fried shrimp heads)

by the time that orgasm had settled in our mouths, our chef brought out the fried shrimp heads from our amaebi sushi. crunchy and full of explosive shrimp flavor, this was a perfect and satisfying end to our culinary journey at sushi ota.

on the way out, the sushi chefs were busy preparing for dinner service and on chef was patiently focused on fileting what i believe were sardines. he had beautifully plated the filets on a plate under perfect lighting so i had to snap this gorgeous photo.


overall, sushi ota is definitely everything everyone says it is. extremely fresh fish, a wide selection of special fish, generous cuts and expert chefs, this is no place for sauce-laden sushi roll lovers, but a haven for foodies and chowhounds who know how to savor raw seafood in its purest, freshest form.

gourmet veggie meal #3

each time my friend jenny is in town, she requests a gourmet vegetarian meal from me. jenny is a friend i met at ucla over a decade ago and is now living in beijing doing good things for the environment in red china. being vegetarian, her entree selections can be a bit more limited when patronizing a fine establishment. so over the years, i've tried to do my part and treat her to a gourmet veggie meal prepared especially for her. the last two gourmet veggie meals were big hits so i wanted to make sure i didn't disappoint.

but as a carnivore, it takes some creativity to come up with a delicious meatless menu but still be hearty enough for the 4 other meat eaters at the table. i decided the best compromise was to stick with a themed cuisine and combine fresh vegetables with heavier starches and dairy. i pulled out one of my favorite cookbooks, jamie oliver's "jamie's italy," and penned this menu.

1st course: ricotta fritta con piccola insalata di pomodori
(fried ricotta with a little tomato salad)


the ricotta is a mixture of fresh ricotta, parmesan, flour, egg to bind, and salt and pepper, pan fried with a little olive oil. the pan-frying part was a little stressful as the delicate cakes fell apart as i tried to flip them after browning one side. half of mine looked more like scrambled messes. so the tomato salad did a great job of hiding the flaws. farmer's market fresh and organic heirloom tomatoes are tossed with chopped basil stems, a red chili, and evoo and red wine vinegar. the result was a perfect blend of creaminess, char, green and acidity.

2nd course: insalata di radicchio e rughetta
(radicchio and arugula salad)


i wanted a way to contrast the creaminess of the 1st course with the richness of the main course with something acidic and fresh, so this salad was a great choice. the bitterness of radicchio and peppery bite of the arugula worked surprisingly well against the licorice-y shaved fennel, salty parmesan, sweet balsamic vinegar and grassy extra virgin olive oil. the key to this salad is the ingredient ratio, especially the radicchio and the arugula. too much radicchio lends an overpowering bitter note so be careful.

3rd course: tagliatelle alla trapanese
(fresh tagliatelle pasta trapani style)


for the main course, i picked up some super fresh tagliatelle pasta from a.g. ferrari foods, an italian delicatessen, and tossed it with a made from scratch pesto sauce. apparently this is the Trapanese way of making pesto sauce and instead of pine nuts, it uses almonds and adds ripe, crushed tomatoes to the mixture. i first chopped raw almonds in the food processor and then add a couple cloves of garlic, fresh grated pecorino and handfuls of fresh basil. that was then processed with a lot of extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper to taste. i then crushed some grape tomatoes by hand into the pesto and tossed the pasta and sauce in a large bowl. the result was a very unique green flavor, especially with the almonds. many pestos can be overpowering and while this was definitely rich, the tomatoes provided a nice acidic contrast. oh and fresh pasta is the only way to go. yum.

judging by the clean plates, it looked like jenny and company thoroughly enjoyed their gourmet veggie meal #3. amazing how vegetables can actually make one full. maybe i could actually try vegetarianism... well, maybe not. until the next one!