30 | March | 2012 | SHIZUOKA GOURMET

Service: Very friendly, smiling and attentive
Facilities: Great overall cleanliness. Superb separate washrooms.
Prices: Reasonable to slightly expensive.
Strong points: Authentic Vietnamese Cuisine prepared and served by Vietnamese staff. Great use of local products. Vietnamese shochu!

Last night the Missus finally convinced me to pay a long overdue visit to Annam Restaurant in Shizuoka City!
Well, the Missus’ nickname is “Dragon” and dragons have always been welcome in Vietnam…
That said, Annam is not only the sole true Vietnamese Restaurant in the Prefecture, it is also a top-class establishment!
So what did we have for dinner?

Bain Seo, the Vietnamese equivalent, but a lot lighter, of a Japanese okonomiyaki!
Crispy and light, you break or cut it as you like and you wrap it in lettuce!

Soft shell crab sauteed with vegetables and herbs.

The edible shell is so soft and add so much to the bite and savors!

Fried pork fried in yakiniku style, deep-fried minced pork spring rolls and hot bifun rice vermicelli and chopped vegetables greens salad.

Lovely and crispy spring rolls!

And the vermicelli were as good as any pasta, and so much lighter!

A new item on the menu: Vietnamese style deep-fried chicken wings with pickled vegetables!

The chicken wings are first cooked tender before being battered (I mean dip in batter!) and deep-fried for a happy marriage between crispiness and tenderness!

We decided to skip dessert in favor of a mini pho soup.
Beef pho soup for me!

Chicken pho soup for the Dragon!

Looking forward to sampling their next summer menu!

Owner: Ms. Le Thi Hong Vinh
Chef: Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Mai

ANNAM
420-0852 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Kooyamachi, 6-6, Mitduhisa Building, 2F
Tel.: 054-250-2266
Fax: 054-250-2323
Business hours: 11:30~14:00, 17:30~22:30
Closed on Mondays
Parties welcome
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)
Entirely non-smoking!

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The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India
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Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, 47 Japanese Farms Through The Eyes of Its Rural Communities, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento,Adventures in Bento Making, American Bent, Beanbento, Bento No, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box,
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UBAGAI-1

“Ubagai/姥貝” (Pseudocardium sachalinense) or more commonly called “Hokkigai/北寄貝” when served as sashimi or sushi have many names in English.
Member of the Trough Shells Groups, they are called Surf Clams, or more precisely, as pertains to the varieties eaten in Japan, either Japanese Surf Clams or Sakhalin Surf Clams as they are collected both along Japan and Sakhalin Islands shores. in Ainu, the original language of Hokkaido, it is called “poksey” or tutturep”.

8,000 tonnes are caught in Japan every year. 94% of fresh/live Surf Clams are collected in Hokkaido, Aomori, Fukushima and Miyagi Prefectures.
About 4,000 tonnes are imported frozen from Canada.
They are popular dried, in soups or cooked with vegetables and rice.

Their “tongues” can be appreciated as sashimi, but are most popular lightly poached and cooled down.
The color is black when raw.

The tongue turns red when it is heated as bakes, steamed or boiled.

That is the way they are usually processed before being served as sushi nigiri, either straight, or with a few small incisions for better effect! Very satisfying and beautiful!

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