Tag Archives: 簡単なレシピ

Fuji-Takasago Brewery, Fujinomiya City, Japanese Gastronomy, sake, Sake Brewery, Shizuoka, 富士高砂酒造

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Fuji-Takasago Brewery-Tokubetsu Junmai Diamond Fuji

March 7, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Although the Fuji-Takasago Brewery in Fujinomiya City is part of a larger conglomerate, all the staff is from Shizuoka Prefecture and the sake there are made exclusively according to methods prevalent in the Prefecture.

Moreover, they are active in promoting sake rice grown in Shizuoka Prefecture.
In this particular case half of the rice used for this brew is Homare Fuji, a Yamada Nishii hybrid developed in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Rice: Yamada Nishiki and Shizuoka-grownHomare Fuji
Rice milled down to 60%
Dyness: +6
Alcohol: 15~16 degrees
Bottlled in November 2010

Clarity: Very clear
Color: Transparent
Aroma: Fruity: pineapple, custard. almonds
Body: Fluid
Taste: Very dry attack backed up by Junmai petillant.
Fruity: dry almonds, custard.
Quickly disappears with a soft custard note.
Very soft and easy to drink in spite of its softness.
Turns dry with food.
Goes very well with fish and sashimi.
As nurukan/lukewarm: Turns sweeter with a short strong junmai pang with a quick comeback on the drier side.
Oranges and custard.
very pleasant as a warm sake.

Overall: Very pleasant and easy to drink sake.
Goes well with any food, raw or cooked.
A sake to please everyone!
A great sake for a great party!

Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
——————————–
Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Japanese Gastronomy, sake, Sake Brewery, Shidaizumi Brewery, 志田泉酒造

Shizuoka Sake Tasting: Shidaizumi Brewery/Organic Sake-Junmai Ginjo

March 7, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Shidaizumi Brewery in Fujieda City has been conducting some very interesting experiments with organic ake rice for some time.
With Aoshima Brewery in the same city, a new movement has been started for a new and growing trend: Organic sake.

Shidaizumi Brewery hence received the Ecofarmer License from the Shizuoka Prefectureas a member of the JA Oigawa Yaizu Sake Rice Research Committee.

The Brewery used organic rice of the Yamada Nishiki strain cultivated by 11 farmers in Yaizu City:
Kohji Ohata, Toshiyuki Umehara, Masamitsu Masuda, Tatsuo Muramatsu, Teruo Matsumura, Toshiyuki Sone, Hirao Noda, Masashi Suzuki, Naomi Yamamoto, Riji Yagi and Kazuyuki Ishikawa.

Rice: Organic Yamada Nishiki all grown in Shizuoka Prefecture
Rice milled to: 55%
Yeast: NEW-5 (Shizuoka)
Dryness: +5.0
Acidity: 1.2
Alcohol: 15~16 degrees
Bottled in December 2010

Clarity: Very clear
Color: Transparent
Aroma: Bananas
Body: Fluid
Taste: Dry attack with junmai petillant.
Soft but complex.
Warms up back of the palate and ends on a dry note.
Banana, almond, apricot, memories of coffee beans and dark chocolate.
Dry melon appears with food with more nuts and dark chocolate.
Elegant, easy to drink.

Overall: Ever talked of a “feminine drink”?
A sake not easy to discern.
Ladies would be screaming for it?

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Chinese Cuisine, Chinese Restaurants, 野菜, 農業, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, Shizuoka Cuisine, vegetables

Chinese Gastronomy: Shizuoka Products at Cham

March 6, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great cleanliness overall
Prices: very reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Great use of local Shizuoka Vegetables and products. Great Chinese Teas!
non-smoking at lunch time/Fully non-smoking from April!

Chinese is a very popular cuisine, but when you discover it is exclusively made with local vegetables, meat and seafood, you have no reason left to ignore it!

Mr. Atsushi Tomura, a very talented young chef, opened Cham in Sptember 2008 with his wife and an apprentice.
He will actually move to another address nearer to the JR Station in April, while his apprentice will go back to his family’s business in Fujieda City.
Check both addresses and homepage at the end of this article!

Since it was my firs (belated) visit I opted for the lunch set.
It is superb combination of vegetables I stopped counted and some meat and seafood.
All vegetables exclusively come from the farm of Mr. Furuya in Asabata, Shizuoka City!
Since they obviously use only seasonal vegetables, you can expect this particular offering to change rapidly!

I’ll try to explain what I had the pleasure to savor, but I’m sure to miss a lot as they were simply too busy to explain in detail. That will have to wait until my next visit(s)!
The above is a dish concocted with5 different daikon, meat and miso paste with eggs in soboro style served with ice plants and red lettuce for warpping.

Pork belly wrapped in Chinese Cabbage and served with katsuona Leaf vegetable.

Kiku imo.

Violet and white Cauliflower and Romanesco Cauliflower and Daikon/turnips.

Ajiwai Dori Chicken roll.

Broccoli and shrimps.
Most dishes had their sauce or dressings under the vegetables for better viewing!

Wakame seaweed and egg soup.

Home-made almond toufu for dessert.

They also offer a great choice of rare Chinese teas of extremely high quality!

The one I chose was called 西湖龍井茶. a real beauty!

Naturally they other Chinese favorites suc as Shoyu raamen, Shyo Raamen, Kuro Kosy\ho Tantanmen, Kuro Kosho Chahan and Yaki Gyoza.
But that is for my next visit!

Incidentally, given one day in advance, they can devise a completely vegetarian menu on order!

Cham
420-0072 Shizuoka Shi, Aoi Ku, 2 Ban-Cho, 4-1
Tel/Fax: 054-253-1300
Business hours: 11:00~14:00; 17:00^22:00
Closed either on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Call beforehand!
(Until end of March)

Shizuoka Shi, Suruga Ku, Minami Cho, 6-7, inside Irifune Yokocho
Tel.: 054-285-71115
Business hours: 17:00~24:00; lunches on order only (1 day advance)
HOMEPAGE
(from April 17th)

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

野菜, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka, Shizuoka agricultural products, vegetables

French Gastronomy: Shizuoka Products at Pissenlit (Spring)

March 6, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Service: excellent and very friendly
Facilities: great washroom, great cleanliness overall
Prices: reasonable, good value.
Strong points: Interesting wine list. Great use of local products.
entirely non-smoking!

I was really starving at lunch yesterday and since Pissenlit is just across the street from my work, I just couldn’t resist the temptation again!
At least it is a clever way to combine work am pleasure as this report will also go to Agrigraph!

Ordering was easy enough, but keep in mind we are talking about slow food. Therefore, I was served the above appetizer made with potatoes and octopus (cooked) to help me wait!

The vegetables dish consisted all of vegetables grwon organically by Mr. Hirokawa in Mishima City!
From bottom to top and right to left:
Stick Senior Broccoli, Beni Kururi Daikon, Black Daikon, Green daikon.
Milano Daikon, Carrot.
Romanesco Cauliflower (called Coral Cauliflower in Japanese), Kooshin Daikon and Ayame Turnip.

For another view.
The dressings were milk mousse and olive oil.

Now that I had satisfied my vegetarian steak, I turned carnivorous with wild boapoele with wine sauce.
A real boar of 35 kg which was hunted in Noda, Shimada City.

For a better view of the vegetables:
Leaf Garlic from Fujieda.
Rape plants, Chrysanthemum leaves, Petit Vert.
May Queen potato Dauphinois. All four vegetables organic and grown by Mr. Hirooka.

And now the dessert.
It deserves some explanations:

The strawberries are (right) Toukun, only grown in Shizuoka (for the moment) and Ookimi (left), only grown in Saga and Shizuoka Prefectures!
They are linked with raspberry sauce
Now, what is that cake?

It is a “biscuit chaud/hot cake) made with Hon Yama Green Tea from Abe River in Shizuoka City!

When you open it you will discover a tender cake inside the crispy outside and tea cream flowing out!
Superb!

And to finish, a great coffee with orange and ginger chocolates!

No, I don’t know yet when I’ll be back! LOL

PISSENLIT
420-0839 Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Takajo, 2-3-4
Tel.: 054-270-8768
Fax: 054-627-3868
Business hours: 11:30~14:30; 17:00~22:00
Closed on Tuesdays and Sunday evening
Homepage (Japanese)
Credit Cards OK

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

野菜, 農業, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka agricultural products, vegetables

French Gastronomy: Shizuoka Products at Tetsuya Sugimoto (spring 2011)

March 5, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Ranking：
Service: Highly professional and friendly
Equipment: Great overall cleanliness. Beautiful washroom
Prices:~
Strong points:Freshest produce and ingredients only, mainly from Shizuoka Prfecture. Organic vegetables. Seasonal food only
Map (Japanese)
Entirely non-smoking!

As it was my turn to look after Fabian, our new German intern at Agrigraph. I just took the opportunity of waht a talented French chef could create with Shizuoka products, me good friend Testuya Sugimoto at Tetsuya SUGIMOTO Restaurant in Shizuoka City!

Tetsuya was kind enough to take out all his treasures of the fridge for our young guest to discover before he chose the ingredients of the day!

Tetsuya prepared two hors d’oeuvres, the first one being yellow carrot mousse and an organic radish (the leaves were delicious) wrapped into burdock roots flakes (a non-vegan mayonnaise was used as the linking agent).

As for the second hors d’oeuvres he used 3 different types of rape flowers to be combined with

mackerel caught in the Suruga Bay off Yui!
The sauces were a dressing made with raspberry vinegar, while the other was an orange olive oil. The powder is crushed senbei/Japanese rice cracker.

He used the above organic vegetables for our main dish!

The same vegetables cooked and before their sauces were added.
One sauce was a mixture of grain mustard, miso paste and honey, while the other was pistachio oil.

The finished dish:
from bottom, right to left:
Black Daikon, Koushin Daikon, Faabe broad beans, Yacon.
Ayame Yuuki Turnip, Violet carrot, Yellow Turnip, Yellow carrot.
Petit Vert, Red Turnip, Kyoto Carrot, Hinona Turnip.
All cooked to perfection for crispiness and natural taste!

The dessert consisted of a mousse made with brown sugar and rum made from sugar cane grown in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, as for the mousse. The caramel sauce was made from the same sugar!

Tetsuya SUGIMOTO
４２０－００３８ Shizuoka City, Aoi Ku, Umeya,, ２－１３，１Ｆ
Tel./Fax: 054-251-3051
Opening hours：１１：３０～１４：３０，１７：３０～２１：３０
Holidays: undecided
Cedit cards OK
ＨＯＭＥＰＡＧＥ

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Bento, 弁当

Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’11/15): Healthy Sushi Rolls Bento

March 2, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

The Missus is back into her sushi mode!
And as her sushi rolls are always of the healthy kind, I’m always ready for them!

After having steamed the rice and prepared it as sushi rice, she prepared 3 types of rolls/maki all rolled in lettuce:

-1 plain with pepper ham

-1 where she mixed the rice with curry furikake to obtain the yellow color and rolled around fresh cress/cresson.
-1 where she mixed the rice with finely chopped Japanese cucumber pickles to obtain a greenish color and rolled around finely cut carrot salad.

The “salad” box comprised finely chopped carrot salad, boiled black nbeans, finely cut pimentos, chopped celery, baby leaves and walnuts.

Had it not been for the ham this bento would have been vegan/vegetarian!
Healthy and tasty!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES

Clumsyfingers by Xethia
Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, 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, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK); Ohayo Bento

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Japanese Gastronomy, Recipes

Shizuoka Food Fair 3

March 1, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

Chef Tooru Okuda/奥田透 (right), the celebrated 3-Star Chef from Shizuoka, who kindly attended the fair.

As I said in my first installments, Shizuoka Prefecture has put some efforts into advertizing their own goods, as for agriculture and crafts, for some time, and a fairly big Food Fair (しずおか食の彩典) was organized on the 19th and 20th of February at Twin Messe in Shizuoka City.

This is the third part of my report, so please follow me!

The Shizuoka prefecture had taken a full wing to advertise and offer samples of its green tea!

Totoya Shinheie.

They offer high-quality processed and semi-processed fish you can enjoy as it is or re-cooked. A typical product of Shizuoka Prefecture!

Kakusa, a venerable company from Yui, selling sakura shrimp products at Yui Sakura Ebi Kan/Yui Sakura Shrimps Hall!

Steamed Sakura Shrimp rice!

Suzuyo Group, a big company which owns the FDA Airlines!

They specialize in processed sauces and soups!

Yakunen No Ki, a confectionery company.

Their specialty: Rolled Kuchen with Shizuoka Matcha Tea!

Shizuoka Tea & Sweets Marche. Look at that pyramid!

The sign says: “Please don’t touch!”. Very tempting, though…

47 CLUB. Now, what do hey have on offer?

A gifts company, they offer quite a lot, from rusks to gyoza!

Central Shizuoka Yakult Sales.

Famous company, but this is less than minimum service (no staff!)!

Shizuoka Daily Newspaper Books Stand.

Specialised in Shizuoka gastronomy and tourism!

Teraoka Kayoshi Shoten from Yaizu City. They specialise in Tsukudani!

Tsukudani is simmered tuna, another Shizuoka specialty!

Fujita marine Products.

Very appetizing dried and semi-processed seafood from Shizuoka, famous all over Japan!

Uragiku Honten, a traditional food company.

Tasty-looking miso paste and ra-yu hot sauce!

Fumiya from Hamamatsu City!

Gyoza, a product of Hamamatsu celebrated on TV!

To be continued soon (hopefully still in the proper sequence! LOL)

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Bento, Japanese Gastronomy, Recipes, Salmon, 弁当

Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’11/14): Teriyaki Salmon Bento

March 1, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

The weather has been pretty grim the last two days with the coming spring rains, but it is difficult to complain when you consider the water is needed. But it does not help with my work at Agrigraph and I have to find venues for reports away from the farms.
At least the Missus keeps me well-fed! LOL

The Missus actually complained that her bento today reflected the stae of the weather…
I know better than contradict her and told her not to wory.
Anyway she steamed plain rice and sprinkled some umeboshi/Jpanese pickled plum furikakke and sesame seeds over it.

The Missus likes shiosake/円鮭/salted salmon, but I prefer it with extra seasoning, so she fried the salted salmon in teriyaki sauce. She left the skin for decoration, but I discarded the latter.
She had plenty of various vegetable salads ready in the refrigerator, so she added her own gobo kinpira/stir-fried burdock roots salad and boiled broccoli.

Plenty more vegetables in the “side box”!

From the extreme right, simple spinach salad with katsuobushi/dried bonito shavings, carrot and pimento salad, boiled cauliflower and lettuce.

And tamagoyaki for dessert!

The weather will be fine tomorrow but I’m looking forward to the same!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Vegan, vegetables, Vegetarian cuisine

Vegan Imo Burger

February 28, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

The basic problem for most vegans (and vegetarians) is to find or create food with a sufficien/satisfying “bite”.
Imo or sato imo/taro in this case do provide that satisfactory sensation and can be presented in an appetizing manner for big appetites!

One such simple recipe is Imo Burgers!

INGREDIENTS: for 2~ people

-Sato imo/taro: 7~10 medium-sized
-Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon
-Soy sauce: 1 tablespoon
-Salt: about 1 teaspoon
-Black pepper: as appropriate

-Sweet and sour sauce:
-Water used for boiling the imo: 1 cup/200 cc
-Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
-Cornstarch: 1 tablespoon
-Sugar: 1 tablespoon
-Fresh ginger juice: ~1 tablespoon

Fresh and tender mushrooms

RECIPE:

Peel and boil taro until you can pass a stick through easily.

Mash the boiled taro in a food processor.

This is how it should look. Don’t worry if somelittle pieces are left.

Transfer into a large bowl and add cornstarch, soy sauc, salt and black pepper.

Mix well with a spatula.

Moisten your hands and form burgers in your preferred shape.

Fry the burgers (on teflon so you don’t need any oil) until they reach a nice color.

Slice some mushrooms (any tender mushrooms are fine).

Add another kind of mushroom shred into strips or ribblens.

Mix the sweet and sour ingredients into a bowl.

Fry the mushrooms in a little oil until they get soft and add sweet and sour sauce and cook until the mushrooms are nice and soft.

Place the burger on a hot serving dish and pour sauce on op.
Enjoy!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Uncategorized

Sashimi: Konbujime Hirame/Sole Marinated in Seaweed

February 26, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

The Missus prepared this tasty sashimi dish as an appetizer for my first cup of Japanese sake last night.
The concept is pretty easy and can be reproduced anywhere!

First get enoug konbu/昆布/dry seaweed and brush them with rice vinegar. Wait until they have softened. Drain them if necessary but don’t wipe them.

Rub rice vinegar over both sides of the fish. Cut the fish into one-bite-sized slices (or marinate it whole, but the fish will be ready faster this way) and “sandwich” them between the seaweed pieces.
Leave in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Serve them on the seaweed if you are in a hurry, or more artistically with a little wasabi dressing (or any dressing of your liking, or as it is) and chopped thin leeks.

The seaweed can be used in soup or finely chopped and mixed in steamed rice later!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Japanese Gastronomy, vegetables

Shizuoka Food Fair 2

February 25, 2011 dragonlife 2 Comments

Shizuoka Wasabi! (80% of the national production!)

As I said in my first installment, Shizuoka Prefecture has put some efforts into advertizing their own goods, as for agriculture and crafts, for some time, and a fairly big Food Fair (しずおか食の彩典) was organized on the 19th and 20th of February at Twin Messe in Shizuoka City.

This is the second part of my report, so please follow me!

M C Food Service Co. Ltd. Now, what is that lonely gentleman serving?

Croquettes and Spicy fried potatoes! Can you guess which one is called Mount Fuji Croquette?

Fujieda Asa Ramen/Fujieda City Morning Ramen. Yes, they eat ramen in the morning there!

They are also called “Chuuka Soba/中華そば”. Unfortunately they didn’t serve any but in their packs!

Marumatsu Co. Ltd. in Hamamatsu City. They make gyooza/餃子!

The free samples were already gone!

Some stands offered specialties from other prefectures: Yonezawa Beef Charcoal-Grilled Beef/米沢牛炭火焼肉!

They also had croquettes!

Rooster Foods. Now, where did they come from? Among others they served yakisoba!

And Okonomiyaki! They are from Fujinomiya!

Masaki Shoten, specializing in beef from Sasebo (Kyushu Island), 100% beef and American style…

Sasebo Beef Brochettes!

Marikomine Giant Tai Yaki!

Never saw such big Tai Yaki before!

Izumi Foods serving Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki/広島焼 and yakisoba wrapped in omelette/オムそば!

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, unless it is another variety just called Hiroshima Yaki!

Shioya Foods also serving Sasebo Beef, but as hamburgers!

Beef Tongue Sausages/牛タンソーセージ! Now, that’s a first!

Field Co. from Miyazaki Prefecture (Kyushu Island) serving their own beef!

These doughnuts are not a Miyazaki Prefecture’ specialty, but Okinawan Saataa-andagi/サーターアンダギー!

El Corazon Co. were serving Japanese favorites.

Deep-fried seafood cakes made from octopus, shrimps, scallops and so on.

Yokote yakisoba from Akita Prefecture!

The fried eggs will be served on top of the yakisoba!

Back to Shizuoka with the famous oden restaurant, Umi Boozu/海ぼうず!

Shizuoka Oden!

To be continued soon (hopefully still in the proper sequence! LOL)

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Uncategorized

Japanese Vegetables 4: Sweet Potatoes/Satsuma Imo/薩摩芋

February 24, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

satsuma-1

Yams or “Satsuma Imo” were first introduced to Japan in the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa) in 1604 by the Chinese. They were then introduced in Kyushu in 1609, an area that grows 80% of the total Japanese production.
Ssweet potatoes should not be confused with yams or yama imo/山芋 in Japanese.

They have been recognized in this country for a long time for both their nutritional and pharmaceutical values.

satsumabeni_haruka

FACTS:

-Season: September~November

-Analytic data (as per 100g):
Energy: 132 kcal
Water: 66.1 g
Proteins: 1.2 g
Carbohydrates: 31.5 g

Inorganic qualities:
Natrium: 4 mg
Potassium: 470 mg
Magnesium: 40 mg
Iron: 0.7 mg
Copper: 0.18 mg
Manganese: 0.44 g

Vitamins:
B1: 0.11mg
C: 29 mg
E: 1.6 mg

Dietary fibers: 2.3 g

HEALTH FACTS:

-Combined with burdock root, or shiitake, or carrot, or spinach, helps combat colds, helps enhance skin health, helps combat lung and intestine cancer.
-Combined with devil’s tongue tuber-elephant foot tuber/konnyku, or hijiki sweet seaweeed, or beansprouts, or apple, helps combat cancer, constipation, obesity, and artery hardening.
-Combined with Judas Ear mushroom, or shiitake, or seaweed, or hijiki sweet seaweed, helps lower blood cholesterol, helps combat obesity and diabetes.
-Combined with strawberries, or lemon, or pimentos, helps combat stress, helps skin rejuvenation and intensifies appetite.

VARIETIES

There are over a hundred species in Japan, but the most popular edible ones (not the ones exclusively used for making shochu) have red skins and light yellow flesh.

Beni Azuma/ベニアズマ, mostly eaten in Eastern Japan. Turns very sweet upon cooking.

Naruto Kintoki/鳴門金時, popular in Western Japan. Considered elegant and sweet.

Tosabeni/土佐紅, also attributed “No 14 value (top)”, is very sweet and is a “brand name” sweet potato.

Cheese cake combination with Tosabeni Sweet Potato!

Manamusume,/愛娘 another “No 14 value” brand sweeet potato.

Gorou Shima Kintoki/五郎島金時, particularly popular as baked sweet potato.

Kougane Sengan/黄金千貫, considered as the top shochu sweet potato.

Tanegashima Mukashi Mitsu Imo/種子島昔蜜芋, a sweet potao with a beautiful orange colour and elegant taste.

Tanegashima Murasaki Imo/種子島紫芋, as above, but with a beautiful purple colour.

Annou Imo/安納いも, rich in carotens, with a beautiful orange colour and very sweet.

Annou Imo cuisine!

Purple Sweet Road/パープルスイートロード, an interesting name for a sweet tasty hybrid.

The same as above as hyokan Japanese jelly!

satsumatanegashima

A favorite “Tanegashima Gold Imo” grown in Taneko Island south of Kyushu. It has the particularity of being red when raw before changing to a rich golden color when cooked. Among other varieties, the violet sweet potatoes are getting increasingly popular.

yummy
Tanekoshima sweet potato (deep yellow), “common sweet potato” (light yellow) and Murasaki/Violet potato.

A great combination of the three above as a cold salad with mayonnaise or cream-based dressing.

TIPS:

-Choose specimens with nice color and a “fat/roundish” aspect!
-Plunge yam in cold water as soon as you have cut them. They will not lose their color!
-Boil, bake or steam long enough before taking skin off. Discard skin!
-Leaves can be eaten!

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

野菜, 農業, Japanese Gastronomy, Shizuoka Cuisine, vegetables

Shizuoka Food Fair 1

February 24, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Shizuoka Prefecture has put some efforts into advertizing their own goods, as for agriculture and crafts, for some time, and a fairly big Food Fair (しずおか食の彩典) was organized on the 19th and 20th of February at Twin Messe in Shizuoka City.

The event was a good start, but I wished it would have been a bit better organized and more lively, but Shizuoka is probably the most conservative prefecture in Japan for all its incredible products and producers and it will take some time before it really becomes a full-fledged event. At least let’s give them a chance!

Still, there was a lot to see (and taste), and I will try to show everything in a series of easy-to read articles!

Next time I meet some of the organizers I will tell them (it is my “job”, actually!) to better indicate the way!
Only one board (in the wrong place) and no sign at the entrance of the actual hall!

Although I came at the very time of the opening, I can’t say that the information desk was very useful…

I tried to follow the “official sequence” and started with the JA/Japan Agriculture (government-sponsored) booths.
This is the JA Suruga (Suruga Bay) booth with plenty of oranges.

JA Shimizu (Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku) does represent a very large area and products.
They chose to concentrate on “Red Ole” tomatoes and “Harumi” oranges!

The JA Shizuoka City, covering an even larger area!

Beautiful green tea for all to enjoy!

JA Oigawa, from Central Shizuoka Prefecture.

“Aoshima” Oranges. So cheap!

JA Hainan, a vegetable-growing area.

Beautiful lettuces and shiny daikon!

JA Shizuoka Prefecture. Now, that is covering an area with the population of New Zealand….

Celery! Fair enough, Shizuoka Prefecture produces half of the total national crop!

Shizuoka Prefecture Strawberry Growers Association.
Now, we are talking about big business!

I must say that the “Strawberry Lady” had a great way with customers and reporters!

“Benihoppe/Red Cheeks” Strawberries! Considered as the best in Japan!

The next series of booths dealt with ready-to-serve-food in general.
Pizza Nao from Hamamatsu City.

Oven-Baked pizzas inside a trailer!
Looking forward to my next trip to Hamamatsu City! LOL

Soft Ice creams at the Cornette trailer!

Judging form the looks of the lady, these soft ice creams ought to be delicious!

Shirokiya Cakes!
After proceeding from A7 directly to H1, I found myself searching in the program for E20…. (Organization, please!)

But the Japanese cakes/wagashi certainly looked beautiful and yummy!

To be continued soon (hopefully in the proper sequence! LOL)

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Uncategorized

Shizuoka Agricultural Products from the Producer to the Gastronomic Table: Suruga Shamo Chicken at Sunmario

February 23, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

Suruga Shamo Chicken has not only become a famous agricultural product from Shizuoka but it is also celebrated beyond the borders of our Prefecture.
It is considered a high class delicacy with the consequent price.
Only 5 farmers produce it in Shzuoka Prefecture, in the cities of Fujinomiya, Shizuoka and Kikugawa, most of the time in high altitude in a very natural environment.
It is a hybrid from Black Shamo and other upscale breeds.
As a comparison, Shizuoka Prefecture produced 5,570,000 “broiler chickens”, but only 8,550 Suruga Shamo chikens!

Sunmario Restaurant

In spite of the small numbers, no less than 41 restaurants in Shizuoka Prefecture feature it on their menus!
It is also sold and processed by 8 companies in Shizuoka Prefecture and Tokyo.
There is also an Association of Suruga Shamo Chicken Lovers and no less than 55 guests crowded into Sunmario to enjoy a full Suruga Shamo menu on February 22nd!

The guests were coming from all parts of the Shizuoka Prefecture and represented all kinds of businesses including restauration, large industries, government bureaus and the mass media. No less than 2 representatives from Agrigraph Japan were present!

The Menu!
Now, what did we enjoy?

Poached egg in Onsen/ot Spring fashion with Suruga Shamo Chicken confit salad.

The tidbits including Suruga Shamo liver paste to help you wait!

Suruga Shamo Chicken Consomme with Shizuoka Vegetables.

Sole poele/sauteed from Yui, Shimizu Ku, Shizuoka City and Shizuoka mushrooms and Chinese cabbage Cream.

Suruga Shamo Chicken in Coq au Vin fashion.

Shizuoka Matcha Tea Creme Brulee with Shizuoka Bioran Eggs (Endo, Aoi Ku) and Sakura tuiles.
Sorry for the fuzzy picture. I had toe eat, report and talk to dozens of people all at the same time! LOL

Shizuoka Prefecture Suruga Shamo Lovers Association
Shizuoka City, Shimizu Ku, Tenosei, 2-19
Tel./fax: 054-365-6114
HOMEPAGE

Sunmario
Shizuoka City, Suruga Ku, Toro, 2-14-26
Tel.: 054-654-3060
Fax: 054-654-3067
HOMEPAGE

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

Bento, 弁当

Today’s Lunch Box/Bento (’11/13): Smoked Chicken Bento

February 23, 2011 dragonlife Leave a comment

One the Missus’ favorite ways of preparing chicken is to smoke it.
She has many recipes, but I couldn’t check this one as she did it overnight!

So after she had steamed the rice and fill a box with it, she fried slices of smoked chicken together with pieces of red pimentos and celery (stick and leaves) with a little wasabi dressing and plentyof black sesame seeds to cover and season the rice with the juices.
Simple in concept but very tasty!

More vegetables came into the second box in the shape of salad: carrots with black beans, lettuce and sesame dressing and crushed peanuts, pickles: home-pickled mini melons and daikon, and dessert: boiled violet sweet potato.
A soft-boiled egg completed the lunch for more proteins and balance.

Very satisfying!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES