You lost me at the “I don’t drink when I travel” part…lol.
3 Likes
Not last night, and not exactly cooking, but we went to the municipal fish market in Kanazawa and got both a small rock fish (mebaru, not pictured), and a gorgeous kanpachi, as well as a lovely piece of akami/chu toro, and a wasabi root from Shizuoka. Breakfast at the rental was divine! And people wonder why we travel with a chef’s roll…
Also onigiri take home from last night’s 2* dinner, wirh kani miso, nodogoro skin and nori.
As you will note, we do drink when we travel.
16 Likes
Ha! Most of my trips have been coastal Mexico, South/Central America, where the slightest misunderstanding can put you in a difficult situation, and I generally skip the nightlife scene altogether. Everyone has been so friendly here so I couldn’t imagine that happening. I’ll also say it was nearly impossible to step halfway into a “yokocho yatai” without a local immediately buying me a drink.
Gorgeous looking fish!
2 Likes
You don’t have to worry anywhere in Japan. While it’s easy to gaffe on points of etiquette, being gaijin will give you a pass most of the time, as long as you are trying to be courteous. This is especially true when drinking - the drinking culture gives everyone a bit of a pass, it’s kind of what it’s for in a culture so bound by hierarchy and norms of behavior.
2 Likes
I can’t compete with Sarah’s fish. And second the travel with a knife roll.
But we have some taco seasoned grilled salmon, black beans and some sautéed zucchini and tomatoes.
5 Likes
It’s the only way to…roll.
And speaking of tacos, I needed to use up some random veggies and made roasted beets and zucchini tacos. Also cooked up a little ground beef on the side for the non vegetarians to mix in along with some refried beans. A great combo.
1 Like
Localish place here makes Tofu Tacos which are very good. I’ll usually get one of their Tuna tacos and a Tofu Taco. It’s a “college” kind of place that started in Birmingham and has spread to about a dozen locations.
1 Like
10 Likes
Noel, glad to see you posting-it looked like you guys got battered by that last storm.
Hope all’s well.
1 Like
Chicken breast stuffed with spinach and fontina cheese, wrapped in prosciutto, oven roasted with butter and fresh sage.
13 Likes
Made some BLT pasta, is spinach considered lettuce?
Thanks @Pietro_B, the sangiovese was great with the pasta!
11 Likes
Food looks great Tom. Plates are lovely-very tasteful
Thanks, considering the size and strength of that most recent typhoon, our general area was barely touched - not that much rain, with gusts at only 70 mph; so we were fine. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for my countrymen in the provinces on the typhoon’s direct path.
2 Likes
Glad that you made out well, Noel. Sorry for your countrymen.
1 Like
this years pre thanksgiving dinner dinner
we travel every year so I always make a smaller bird for
us and mostly for leftovers!
8 Likes
Thank you, Michael. Unfortunately, it happens at least once every year. The rampant corruption that plagues my country certainly doesn’t help - very recently exposed has been a nationwide scheme of government officials stealing billions from flood-control projects, leaving only around 30% of allocated funds for actual construction.
1 Like
That’s one of my favorite ways to do chicken, including the stock. I’ve only done turkey once and it was one of those heritage birds. That looks great.
I rented a bike today and rode several miles, lots of hills, and stopped at a roadside oyster joint. You pay $3k yen and can eat as many oysters as you want including your own food, all day long as long as they’re open, basically renting a table with a hot pan or hot coals. Families were packing in coolers full of food, side dishes, drinks etc. I picked up some dried aosa, small, cheap sake and a bottle of shichimi togarashi, and chose the hot coals. Barely dented the roughly 60-100 or so oysters they gave me in a hoop net. Putting 2-3 half cooked oysters in a single shell, then finishing with some seawead, sake, and spices.
Since I generally don’t drink when I travel solo, I specifically sought out a local sake at a rail station stop where I had an hour to spare. I don’t know if sake gets “corked” but this seemed off and had a slightly musty taste and smell to it. It probably sat on a shelf for a long time in an unstable environment at the store. The brewery will be conveniently located enough to visit and taste again to see if there’s a difference.
10 Likes
Seared Salmon, Sweet Potato, Yu Choy, Chili Crisp
A vaguely Chinese twist on a type of meal I make probably 85% of the time (protein, vegetable puree, green vegetable, sauce/condiment) and this was a very good version on a Monday
Bonus pic of the salmon portioning this morning featuring my cat Tootsie
7 Likes