All posts tagged: Japanese

Tasty questions with Takehiro Ito, Tanuki’s Cave

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Tanuki’s Cave has legendary status in Auckland. Located down under Queen Street it has a bunker-like quality making it a cosy haven for tasty bites and your choice of Asahi, Sapporo or sake. Their yakitori (skewers, cooked over charcoal) comes 2 sticks per order making it perfect for intimate dinners. They have vegetarian and safe options like chicken, steak and pork belly as well as hearts, liver, giblets and tongue for the more adventurous. If you get a chance, try the chicken hearts! The Koala and I celebrated one of our wedding anniversaries at Tanuki’s Cave…meat on sticks and flowing booze for two. It was perfect. A tanuki is a Japanese racoon dog and has significant meaning in Japanese folklore. A great dinner and movie paring for Tanuki’s Cave would be Pom Poko, an animation about Tanuki’s and their magical testicles. Yes, you read that correctly, I said testicles. Did I mention it’s a kid’s movie? Takehiro Ito is the is the Head Chef at Tanuki’s Cave and below are his  answers to the tasty questions I cooked up for your enjoyment. Describe your restaurant’s food: …

Yakitori-Style Scallops and Bacon

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    Warning: Food in this post may cause incoherant babbling and sighs/moans of agreement. Scallops wrapped in bacon make me weak in the knees. I always order them if I see them in a Japanese restaurant and The Koala is a big fan of them too. The ingredients are a bit expensive, but making them at home is far cheaper than eating them at a restaurant and you’ll probably get much more. Fresh vs. Frozen It’s no longer scallops season here, but not long ago my seafood guy was peddling some fat scallops from Nelson. Although they were frozen, I thought I’d give them a spin. While fresh scallops are always better, frozen scallops are better than none at all. If using frozen scallops, defrost overnight in the fridge and make sure you drain them very well because a lot of liquid will appear on thawing. Never thaw scallops in water as this affects the texture and flavour. I think I was supposed to receive a dozen scallops, but I actually got 14 scallops. I took …

24. Masu

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In celebration of Auckland Restaurant Month, I will be posting 31 quick-fire reviews on 31 restaurants and cafes in the Auckland CBD and city fringe. The atmosphere is… A warm, honey interior with interesting architecture, several open kitchen areas and bar. Gets busy fast. There has been a lot of hype about Masu so understandably the place is humming. Come here for… 2014 Metro Magazine Restaurant of the Year Supreme Winner 2014 Metro Magazine Best New Restaurant 2014 Metro Magazine Best Smart Dining 2014 Metro Magazine Best Drinks List Finalist 2014 Metro Magazine Best Chef Finalist The most interesting thing on the menu… o-toro (fatty tuna) ise ebi no taco (crayfish, spicy miso taco) 100% japanese black wagyu beef sirloin – $100 per 150 grams Unexpectedly wonderful… Master stock baby back pork ribs, cashew nut, sancho salt. Tiger Tanaka – ginger-infused shochu, salted lychee and fresh ruby grapefruit, softened with sparkling sake. I would come back to try… More cocktails. Catering to… Japanese food lovers. Find diners. There is a dedicated gluten-free menu. Not many …

15. Fukuko

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In celebration of Auckland Restaurant Month, I will be posting 31 quick-fire reviews on 31 restaurants and cafes in the Auckland CBD and city fringe. The atmosphere is… A surprisingly cozy space with clean lines, mood lighting, 6 tables and plenty of standing room. The jars and bottles of sochu may be decoration and/or ingredients for cocktails. We visited on a quiet weeknight but I can see this place filling up easily. Come here for… Very good Japanese fusion bar snacks. Their pork buns and tacos are divine. The softest, loveliest buns I’ve eaten in a long time. Their cocktail is extensive and very experimental. The most interesting thing on the menu… Spiced roast duck taco Unexpectedly wonderful… Steamed pork buns Sole tempura taco The temperature inside on a cold winter’s night I would come back to try… Braised miso short rib taco Japanese gimlet Catering to… Afterwork and lunch time drinkers and snackers. Not many vegetarian options. Gluten free options not marked on menu. Expect to spend… $20-$40 per person The service is… Great. Just …

12. Kushi

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In celebration of Auckland Restaurant Month, I will be posting 31 quick-fire reviews on 31 restaurants and cafes in the Auckland CBD and city fringe. The atmosphere is… A beautifully built wooden dining area with private booths and intimate tables. Come here for… Decent Japanese food right in the heart of the city. Izakaya style food, a little bit of fusion. They have a very well thought out drinks and snack combo menu worth trying. The most interesting thing on the menu… Takowasabi (raw marinated octopus in wasabi) Unagi (grilled eel) Unexpectedly wonderful… The chef’s choice of starters. A nice surprise and fun to discover and eat. I would come back to try… The drinks/snack menu such as 2 pints of Orion beer and a plate of karaage fried chicken. A $30.95 value for $19.30. Drumming performance at 7.30pm on Fridays. Catering to… Japanese food lovers, adventurous food lovers. Some vegetarian options, but most bento sets come with sashimi so check with your waiter. Special dietary requirements are not marked on menu. Expect to spend… $15 to …

Eggplant Misocheese recipe by Bunny Eats Design

Do Something With Eggplant Part 2: Eggplant Misocheese

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A couple of years ago I tried to conquer my most loathed vegetable: the eggplant. The slimy fruit of nobody, I never thought I could like it. I grilled it and paired it with orzo salad and we ate it for dinner one night. The Koala left most of his eggplant on his plate. He wasn’t a fan either. I thought I had cooked it correctly but the evidence was clear. Eggplant 1, Genie 0. Your comments told me that I should give eggplant another chance (at some stage). Let’s call that experiment Part 1. Two years later, I have a different view on eggplant. Let’s call this Part 2. A few weeks ago, a group of us dined at Nishiki in Freeman’s Bay. I was delagated the pleasure of ordering for all (one of my favourite pastimes). One of Nishiki’s best dishes is the Bei-naso Misocheese (eggplant miso cheese) and I ordered 3 for the table. $9NZ for half an eggplant may seem steep but if you’ve ever tasted it, you’ll agree that it is …

Make Onigiri

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This post is part of Our Growing Edge, a monthly blogging event to encourage us to try new food related things. Louise from Crumbs and Corkscrews is the host for this month’s event. If you have a blog and you are eating or cooking something new this month, click below to join. Yesterday, I re-watched the movie Spirited Away at Silo Cinema. Silo Cinema is a free, weekly open-air-cinema in downtown Auckland at Silo Park. Right on the water’s edge looking across the harbour bridge, with the moon in view, movies are projected onto a big unused silo. Aucklanders bring blankets, snacks, tipple, friends or family for a cheap night out. Magic. I’m a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli (pronounced jee-blee or ji-bu-ri). His animations are rich in imagination, characters, colour and often sumptuous food scenes. Watching Spirited Away  reminded me once again why I put onigiri on my foodie bucket list. Onigiri or rice balls are portable, cheap, filling and can be thought of as Japanese soul food. Unlike sushi, which are made by highly trained sushi chefs, rice …

Roll Sushi

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In the very early ’90s, sushi became popular in New Zealand and I found out the sushi that I already loved, wasn’t cherished among my peers. Not then anyway. Before this discovery, my sister and I had been happily enjoying raw fish sushi in uncool bliss. At school, instead of bags of chips, we snacked on small packs of dried seaweed. When The Koala and I visited Osaka, Japan in 2008, we were surprised to find sushi we are familiar with here in NZ, is quite different to Japanese sushi. Like so many imports, sushi has morphed away from tradition. Tried and true is great, but weird reproductions can be great too. NZ was not ready for raw fish in early ’90s. There had to be another way. Chicken sushi, which is novelty in Japan, converted hoards of New Zealanders to sushi and it’s unlikely you’ll find a sushi joint in NZ that doesn’t offer it. Where would we be without wacky combinations to humour our palates? Some less than authentic sushi I’ve enjoyed over …

Takoyaki and other street food delights

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Like many others I went to the Lantern Festival at Albert Park over the weekend and gorged myself on an array of street food, witnessed the horrid karaoke and adored the display of lanterns. Armed with my camera and a 50mm prime lens, it was a learning experience for me and the first time I’ve ever taken my manual focus only lens out. Having to manually focus every shot gets tiring, but thankfully, my friend Miss C was very patient with me. I make no secret that I love street food. It’s one of the highlights of my travels. Even if my body doesn’t always agree. I’ve had meat on sticks in many countries and I love when stalls specialise in a single or few items rather than try and do many dishes poorly. When presented with so many potential delights to choose from, my criteria was simple: pick a dish you don’t make at home. Takoyaki Japan These takoyaki hit the spot. For those that are unfamiliar with these piping hot Japanese snacks, a …

Japanese Art Festival starts today

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The Koala and I have been busy this last month with the lead up to the Japanese Art Festival. We’ve done all the graphic design for the festival, a 30+ page prospectus for one of the event sponsors and have been working on brand new paintings to exhibit. It has been a real work work work month. Well, the work has all paid off because the festival starts today. It’s free and it’s on from today until Sunday so if you’re in Auckland this weekend, come down to Aotea Centre and check it out. Saturday lunch-ish is the best time to go as there will be Taiko drumming and live art. There will be collection for Japanese earthquake relief and many artists will be donating full or percentage of sales. The Koala and I will be donating 50% of our sales to the Japanese earthquake relief. So please come! I leave you with a teaser from my pieces…

A nice bit of beef

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Nosh sells some lovely beef and this piece was perfect for marinading to make a teriyaki beef with. The meat had a good beefy flavour which is often missing from supermarket beef. I usually buy cheap cuts of beef to stew or braise. But every now and then it’s nice to treat yourself to some more expensive beef to cook medium rare (or rarer). I like my beef to be pink and juicy and this was no exception. Marinade: Sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, rice wine, sugar and grated ginger. Topped with a sesame seed blend and served with white rice, snow peas and mushrooms.  

Osaka Food Review

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Osaka, Japan is considered to be the city of gourmets. Bunny, eats and design can all be found all over this city. We also did a day trip to Kyoto. Eating out Eating out can be a confusing experience for the uninitiated. Some restaurants have machines by the door. You are supposed to put money in the machine and push some buttons to receive a ticket of your order. You sit down at a table and hand the ticket to the person serving who takes it to the kitchen and later brings out your food. We didn’t know this so when we sat down at a table without visiting the machine first, it became a very confusing situation for all involved. The server needed our ticket and we had no idea what she wanted, we just wanted menus so we could order or at least point to something randomly. After a bit of gesturing and watching other diners, we figured it out. Although the machines don’t have any English, they have photos of the dishes …

Unagi at home

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Unagi: freshwater eel. Often served as unadon or unagidon (on rice). From what I’ve read, in this country at least, restaurants buy their unagi pre-cooked and pre-sauced. I love unagi, but why pay someone else to microwave pre-cooked, pre-sauced unagi when you can do it yourself? You can find unagi packs with sauce in the frozen section of your local Asian market at about $9NZ each. I’ve bought these before from a Japan shop and also a Chinese grocer. All you have to do is remove the eel from the packaging, zap for a few minutes then pour on the sauce. Serve with rice, maybe a salad or greens and some edamame and presto! 2 bags of unagi can feed 2 or 3 people for dinner.