My Favorite Tote

Have been wanting this since I first saw it.  The cutest tote I’ve yet seen.  What’s keeping me?  The price… especially when I have been getting free reusable totes left and right, I wonder why I should be paying over $20 for one.  Because the cartoon is brilliant, of course.   I always like Angry Little Girls, since it was just Angry Little Asian Girl.  And one day when I get a big fat paycheck I may just decide to spurge on that…

My Thanksgiving Turkey

Meet my turkey, Rhonda:

Rhonda, My Happy Turkey

Yup, my turkey has a name.  I “adopted” her at Farm Sanctuary, a beautiful haven for abused farm animals that have the luck to be rescued.  I’ve visited their farm at New York and it’s truly paradise like.  It has been my Thanksgiving  tradition (about the only tradition I have) for a few years. 

Taiwanese Oyster Noodle – Vegan Style

I would have titled the post Vegetarian Oyster, except that I won’t want any confusion that scientists have discovered a new breed of oyster.

A few years back when I attended a Tzu Chi study group, the host sister often makes a vegetarian noodle dish.  The Taiwanese noodle is dark brown in color and very thin, like vermicilli.  The study group ended,  and recently I started having cravings for that noodle.  When I spotted the noodle at the supermarket I brought a pack.  The first time around wasn’t quite successful, so I went online in search of a proper recipe, and came across one for making vegan oyster.

I know Chinese eats most anything and has a vegan mock version of most anything, but it was the first time I heard of vegan oyster.   Naturally I couldn’t resist making it.

The recipe is actually very simple.  You chop up the mushroom, tear into tiny pieces a nori sheet, and mix the two together with some flour, then fry it. One recipe calls for straw mushroom, one for white button mushroom.  I had neither, so I used shiitake.  I was amazed at the result.  It tastes good, and it tastes quite like the real thing: the seaweed giving it the brine-like flavor reminiscent of sea, and the mushroom a meaty, juicy texture. 

As for the noodle, my mistake first time was cooking it like most noodles: it’s done when it’s soft.  Not for this noodle.  I let it stew for a few more minutes, together with shredded mushroom, wood ear and carrot.  Feel free to add bamboo shoots and bean sprouts if you have them.   When ready, add soy sauce and sugar to the broth, generous amount of rice vinegar (black preferred).  Thicken broth with corn starch.  After moving to the bowl, sprinkle on cilantro and white pepper, and top with the “oyster”.   Enjoy!!

Vegetarian Spider

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a possible affront to its fierce meat-eating relatives, one jumping spider prefers to dine vegetarian, munching on specialized leaf-tips of acacia shrubs, finds a new study.

The eight-legged vegetarian, called Bagheera kiplingi (named after Kipling of The Jungle Book fame), lives in Central America, and is now considered a rarity among the world’s 40,000 or so spider species, most of which are strictly predators, feeding on insects and other animals. B. kiplingi is about the size of a person’s pinky nail.

Instead it has developed a laidback lifestyle based on nutritious wild acacia plants — and has no need to spin a web to catch its prey.

The females have even dispensed with the time-honoured spider custom of eating their sexual partners immediately after mating.  The vegetarian diet of B kiplingi appears to have prompted other changes. Since it no longer needs to go through the energy-sapping business of catching prey, it has diverted its web-spinning abilities to building family homes. Mothers use the nests to rear their young.  

A vegetarian diet may also encourage the typically territorial spiders to cooperate, says Christopher Meehan at the University of Arizona in Tucson, who has seen hundreds gathering on one plant, entire families sharing nests, and males defending nests from ant attacks.

“These spiders may be the ‘Gandhis’ of the spider world: life-long vegetarians, they tolerate one another’s company and may even cooperate peacefully in the true sense.  The abundance of food available to it may be allowing it to let down its defences.” says Meehan.

“This may be a fascinating snapshot into the evolution of a social creature as it transitions from hunter to gatherer.”

Going veggie makes you gentler and look cuter!

Say Cheez, Squirrel!

Just a too cute photo from National Geography:

The couple set the camera on timer to capture their time at Banff, but this little guy decided to be the center of attention.

Finally, Naoe

After so many people raved about this new Japanese restaurant in Sunny Isles, we were eager to visit Naoe.   However, as the place is really small, and certainly the recent review in the newspaper didn’t help, we were not able to reserve a table till now.   Or, more specifically, we weren’t able to reserve a table at the first seating of 7:30, which we preferred (and apparently everybody else).

The restaurant is bigger than I imaged, very spacious with dark wood tables and chairs.  There were only three tables, each seating two, four and six people with plenty of elbow room.  The room is dimly illuminatied, most of the light coming from the open kitchen where Chef Cory is at work.   There are additional seats at the counter, popular among those who enjoy watching their food being prepared.  It looks like since the first reviews, the chef has hired help as there is a guy working in the back.

Our waitress brought us the drink menu.   The sake are from Cory’s family, Nakamura Brewery in Japan, and the price starts at $17 for a 250ml bottle of Yukizake to over $100 for the 750ml Nichiei Junmai.   The Sapporo draft beer is a good value , a cold, tall glass for $5.   We ordered the Yukizake (Snow Sake) which came frozen and was scooped out like shorbet.  The freezing intensified the sweetness and aroma of the alcohol. Gotta try this at home.

Kaga no Yukizake

Now for the food menu?  Sorry, but there is no such thing at Naoe.  The only thing available is a bento box, omakase style (meaning, you are totally at the mercy of the chef). 

We have been well warned by various sources to expect a long wait for the food, so we were prepared.   (This is likely not a place for a first date unless you know that you two have endless things to talk about and she will not never get tired of you.)  Our boxes finally arrived.  The lid was removed to reveal four compartments.   Apparently the regular waitress was not available and our waitress was there to help out, and while she was flawlessly friendly and pleasant, she was not very familiar with the food and the description was therefore somewhat sketchy.  According to what we were told, and what I tasted, our dinner consisted of (from upper left clockwise): salmon in sake soy sauce with konbu topping; organic tofu with uni paste, aji with green bean, and a fish called sandpiper(?? – I wonder if she meant red snapper but it didn’t look like it); napa cabbage roll with sea beam topped with okra, aoyagi (short-necked clam) sashimi; rice with organic portabello topped with pickle.  We were also served with a bowl of miso with carrot and corn in it.

Naoe dinner

The flavor of the miso soup is really nice, though the carrot was a little too firm/crunchy.  The dishes are kaiseki style, and Naoe is the only place in Miami serving them.  I had expected the presentation to be more elegant from earlier reviews, and wonder if some impatient guests may had been told the chef to skip the decorations.  Comparing it to Frodnesor’s review, our box certainly was missing a few petals and garnishes.  It would be lovely too if the dishes are more representative of the season.  Nonetheless, this is quite a feast for the eyes and for the mouth, and I enjoyed munching a pinch of food here and there.   The majority of our group agreed on the clam and cabbage roll being our favorite.  

Part of Cory’s family in Japan also brews soy sauce.  I am not sure if that’s where our soy sauce is from, but our waitress told us that he brought it from Japan and cooked it with something (konbu?)

The bento likely will not fill you up, unless you subscribe to the healthful advice of Hana Hachi Bun.  This gives you the opportunity to sample some of the fresh sushi. 

We ordered the salmon, which is Scottish salmon that melts in your mouth and a different league from the standard salmon sushi available everywhere.   At $3 a piece, it’s a good value.  We liked the aoyagi clam so much in the box that we ordered it as sushi too. (The check noted it as aori ika but I am pretty sure what we had was clam and not squid.)  There was also Madai, Japanese Red Snapper, which we didn’t order.   All the sushi were excellent in quality and among the best in Miami. 

Aoyagi, Uni and Shiroebi Sushi

 The kohada is flown in fresh from Japan, and a rare find in South Florida, so we decided to try some.  Like saba mackerel, it’s pickled in vinegar, and while the kohada is much milder in taste and more delicate in texture, and artistically presented, it’s just not my type of fish.   But if you like saba, you’d love this.

Kohada Sushi

I looked up kohada on the Net and this is some interesting tidbit I found on Wikipedia: The fish is called Gizzard shad in English.  In Japan, when the baby fish is around two inches long, it’s called Shinko 新子 (literally, new baby), when it grows to 3-4 inches long, it’s called Kohada 小鰭 (or 小肌, meaning Baby Skin, referring to the soft and shiny skin like a baby!?).  Another inch longer and passes its first birthday, it graduates to a Nakazumi ナカズミ, and upon reaching adulthood, at a length of six inches or more, the fish is called a Konoshiro.  The adult fish has a lot of fine bones and the bigger the fish is, the less valuable it gets. 

The name Konoshiro comes with an interesting, if incredible, legend.  There was once a very beautiful maiden, who had a lover.  When a government official wanted to marry her, the girl’s mother told the official that the girl had died from illness.  To fool the official, the mother burned a coffin at the funeral.  Inside the coffin she put some fish which, when spoilt, smelled like corpse and when burnt, smelled like one too.  The official left with disappointment. From that time on the fish was called Konoshiro（子の代）(in place of the child).    Intriguingly, Konoshiro also means This Castle in Japanese.  As a result, this fish is mostly eaten pickled, as the shoguns and samurais understandably got nervous breakdowns when the peasants kept talking about castle burning.   Or so the legend had it.  Not to mention that the fish stinks when burnt… or so we were told.

What to Say to Your Friend on a Staycation

I have been an Angry Little Girls fan for a while. The series start out with Kim, and the title was Angry Little Asian Girl, but I suppose it soon becomes apparent that there are a lot of angry girls in every color and shape.

They have some cute merchandise too. One day I will dole out money for their cute recycle tote.

Miami Best Pizza Part II

Okay, can I blame it on a pizza-induced stupor? So, this is like a whole week late, but having blogged Part I, life will not be complete without a detailed report of Part II as well.

For the second round of the Best of Miami Pizza Showdown, the chowhounds roamed to the North Miami Beach area. The pack had expanded, not to mention the gluttony was documented by a reporter from NBC.

Our first stop was Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, a local South Florida chain.

Anthony's Pizza

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we couldn’t all fit in the big table, five of us sat at the bar, and orderd specialty pies:

Fresh Mozzarella w Sliced Tomatoes and Basil (no sauce)

 

Fresh Mozz w Tomato & Basil

Broccoli Rabe (subsituted with Aragula) and Sausage

 

Aragula and Sausage Pizza

A few minutes later the waitress came back to let us know that they are out of broccoli rabe. We asked to subsitute with aragula, and was told that woud be charged as an additional topping. Now, if we requested to subsitute one topping for another, I may understand having to pay for being a nuisance, but –  Hello? You run out of some ingredient, and you are telling me that I can either forget it and pay the same price, or I have to choke up extra to get something else?

While many at the big table complained about the pies being soggy, ours were fine. I supposed once the kitchen were done with the big order, they could relax and spend a little bit more attention to our two small pizzas?

We were worried that the sauceless pizza would be too dry, but it turned out quite succulent without being soggy. The tomatoes were flavorful enough and the slightly burnt crust delectable, though the mozzarella was just average . The aragula and sausage pie was sprinkled with parmesan, and the crunchy, burnt cheese really added a lot to the taste. I didn’t like the restaurant being noisy as a bar and any conversation difficult; but overall, the pizza satisfies. Best of Miami? Not quite.

Next stop, about a mile down the street, was Pizza Fusion. I have heard a lot about this local pizza shop since it first opened, mainly for its environmentally friendly approach, “Saving the Earth, One Pizza at A Time.”  They build their stores to LEED standard, recycle a lot, deliver pizzas in a hybrid car, use organic ingredients, offer gluten-free and vegan options, use biodegrable disposable utensils, plus a lot more. Noble mission indeed. However, their first store was rather far from my house, and to drive that far for a pizza is, er, not quite eco-friendly, shall we say? So I was glad to learn that not only has Pizza Fusion expanded to Miami, it is now in 10 states already.

Pizza Fusion. Yes, I know, that's a Smart Car, not a hybrid...

Once we walked in, I liked the clean and comfortable place with its soft yet bright lighting and simplistic, modern decor.

Pizza Fusion Interior

They have quite an extensive selection of pizzas and it took some discussion to settle on six:

Organic Pepperoni: Organic pepperoni, tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan.
Bruschetta: Freshly chopped tomatoes, red onions, basil, balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic with mozzarella, provolone and parmesan.
Four Cheese & Sundried Tomato: Sundried tomatoes, basil, roasted garlic, tomato sauce, goat cheese, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan.

Four Cheese & Sundried Tomato (?)

 

Organic Eggplant & Fresh Mozzarella: Roasted Italian eggplant, roasted red onion, tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella and parsley.
Farmers Market: roasted artichoke hearts, red onion, roasted zucchini and roasted Portobello with tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone and parmesan.
Founders’ Pie: Free range chicken, kalamata olives, roasted red onion, tomato sauce, parmesan, mozzarella, provolone and gorgonzola

How do I like the pies? Well, as we are judging the best as in the tastiest, and not as best for the earth, I have to be frank: I truly wish I like them as much as their mission, but unfortunately, I don’t. While Anthony’s brought their pizza to your table piping hot, here some are barely warm, even those that started their round at our end of the table. The eggplant I had was especially soggy. Another big problem is that all the pies taste pretty similar, and better on the menu. Usually organic ingredients translate to a more robust flavor, but somehow not on these pies.

I wouldn’t call the pizzas bad, but if I visit Pizza Fusion, it’s same reason I sometimes buy soy ice cream. Not because it tastes better but because it makes me feel better.

Wiping the tomato sauce off our lips, we headed north again to our last stop, Racks Italian Bistro and Market.

I had high hopes for Racks, when I noticed the prosciutto slicing machine featured in one of the pictures on its website. My reasoning being that, if they are willing to invest some money in a slicing machine, they are willing to spend on some good prosciutto and oher ingredients. (Near the entrance, their cold case displayed a Prosciutto di San Daniele. There were also some Mozzarita burrata, for appertizers.)

My high hopes continued as the waiter brought our bread – crusty on the outside, big airy hole inside. I reasoned, if they can make some good bread, they probably know how to make some good pizza.

Bread at Racks

Time for some good beer. Our waiter recommended an Italian brand Amarcord, a brand only available, in Miami, at Racks. We ordered the “Pale Ale”, though it’s dubious that was what I got, judging from the beer’s color and the whooping 10% alcohol. It does have a very sweet, caramel like taste which I like.

Amarcord

Racks only have eight pizza options, four white, four red, with relatively interesting toppings.  There was also a special truffle pizza for $34, which we decided against. We tried:

Secchi: Sopressata, Provolone, Fiore di Latte & Goat Cheese

Secchi Pizza

 

Spinach – prosciutto, smoked mozzarella & reggiano
Portobello – truffle oil, gorgonzola dolce & speck

Portobello Pizza

 

Sweet sausage – meatballs, onion, ricotta & grana padana

Racks is the easy winner of the night. My favorite was the Portobello, with the aroma of the truffle oil drifting in from four seats away. By using gorgonzola dolce, the blue did not overpower: it’s barely a hint there, a sweet creaminess. However, unless I have a big group, this pizza may be too rich if eaten more than one slice or two. Several people raved about the Secchi. Unfortunately my sample was only got a corner piece with a dab of tomato sauce (the problem with too many attendees, even though by our third stop, the number had drindled from 28 to 17).

Now comes the question: Racks or Volante? Hmm… that’s a tough one.  I would say Volante has better cheese. And I would give another point for the other ingredients, for trying to go local and go organic (with better results than Pizza Fusion). On the other hand, Racks have more choices, and slightly more interesting combinations, though neither as innovative as Joey’s. Push comes to shove, I will likely give my vote to Volante, for it does seem to have more “heart”. It does’t pretend to be a swanky place, no girl in black corset posing to shove pizzas into the oven and slice the ham. Just honest, budget-friendly, good food. It support local food producers and in turn deserves our support.

The next question is: Can Volante keep the vote? I can’t say. Looks like Part III on South Beach has some serious contenders. All I can say is, look forward to it!!

Read other bloggers’ review:
Miami Dish
Frodnesor
Mango and Lime

Kasou Taishou

Stumbled upon one of the videos on Youtube and ended up totally hooked. These are short skits performed by amateurs (sometimes the reactions of the performers are better than the performance itself), from students to housewives to people of different professions, in the art of imitating something using props and their body. Many of them employ the use of stagehands, clothed in (invisible) black as used in kabuki performance.  (Though when I first saw them in a kabuki, I found myself watching those supposedly sleathy men in black  more than the performers themselves.)

This one is amazing…

Atsui (Hot)

Massage Chair

A lovely one
Reflection

The reason my girlfriend got mad at me
(midway through the performance, the guy asked, why was she so mad? and the scene rewinds itself to show the reason. Very original!)

This is a medley of 30 years worth of award winners. Kind of wish to see the full version.

This is another collection. A bit sorry for the kid in superman. The girl with the head is amazing, and the Laundry in the Wind is my favorite, with both skill and humor.

This is one that makes one thinks: Crazy Japanese: Skiing

If you’ve watched Shaolin Soccer you’d love this. If you haven’t, this is the trailer, and you pretty much and find the rest of the movie following the related links.

And if you’ve ever played Super Mario, you’d love this too.

Okonomiyaki (Azuki’s Cooking Series #1)

Today I made some Japanese pancake, Okonomiyaki お好み焼き. It’s one of my favorite Japanese dishes but unfortunately hard to find in Japanese restaurants over here.  In Japan, they have places with a hotplate for you to grill your own. Kind of similar to a make-your-own-pancake place I went to once. Over here in the U.S., I have asked around but have yet found such an establishment. Anyway, I do what I usually do under such circumstances: I tried making my own.

First I make the batter by adding eggs to the Okonomiyaki flour.  I got the flour mix at an oriental grocery store, but if you can’t get it, an (untested) recipe I have calls for 2 cups flour + 1 tsp baking powder + 1 egg + a pinch of salt.  The flour mix I bought has additives such as yam powder, seasoning, fish powder and MSG (so you haven’t heard of the Japanese paradox?  They down more MSG than anybody else and live a good long life.)  (And oh in case you bought the flour mix and can’t read Japanese: it’s a pack of flour + 2 eggs + slightly less than a cup of water.)

Okonomiyaki flour

Next I chop up some cabbage and carrot. Traditionally pork, shrimp and squid are used too, but I prefer to skip the meat. Other optional ingredients include cheese, scallion and kimchi. As the name implied, okonomi means “whatever you like” and yaki means grill. So, be adventurous! I also add some corn and julienned ginger.  If you get the pickled one use that if not just plain fresh ginger – do try to use some as it does add to the taste.
 

Okonomiyaki veggies

Mix everything into the batter.

Okonomiyaki Batter

 

Heat up the pan with oil, then scope in the batter for a pancake.

Okonomiyaki in Pan

For the okonomiyaki sauce, the easiest way is to use eel sauce instead. You can also make a complicated from-scratch version using Worchestershire sauce, ketchup, sake, mirin, honey, ketchup and more. Here I didn’t use ketchup. I tried using honey instead of sugar but the taste is weird… different than what I am used to, so I stay with sugar.

Okonomiyaki Sauce

Next I prepare the seaweed by cutting up the nori sheet. They do sell it in shreds already but I don’t use the shreds often enough, and they get stale faster. I also have katsuobushi, dried shaved bonito fish. That’s the one that looks like live wood shavings on your age tofu, and a major ingredient in Japanese soup stock.

Bonito and Nori

When the pancake is cooked on both sides, I squirt on some mayonnaise (I use the Japanese Kewpie brand in th squirt bottle though of course you can just use a regular mayo), add the sauce glaze, then sprinkle on the seaweed and bonito shavings. It’s ready and looks very nice too!

Okonomiyaki Done