Inokashira park

The news on TV have been featuring about sakuras blooming at most parks in Tokyo this week due to the rising temperature. I headed for the Kichijoji Inokashira park today though i very much want to wait for J to join me on a weekend.

Upon arrival at the station, i was so thankful i didn't decide to wait for saturday.

It was soooooooooooooooooo crowded with families and tourists all heading towards the same direction (as i was!).

Stay cool, let's walk slowly though i can't wait to get to the yakitori stall.

This stall is a really traditional yakitori place (think uncles beer and cigarettes), and is just situated outside the park. So with the park getting popular with the young crowd these days too, you see quite a number of young couples in the queue too wanting to grab a few sticks to enjoy at the park.

This is my first time at this place and i have been wanting to try this before i deliver, so i just had to join the queue.

Also smokey and busy at the takeout area

with more chefs behind catching up with orders

and after grabbing my treat, headed to the park

which was super packed

cos everyone wanted to catch this

if you just stop and look at the flowers for a moment, your whole body & mind just goes ahhhhhh...... and you reach a super relaxed state, until, someone bumps into you with his/her camera in hands too.

managed to catch a shot of some pretty flowers leaning towards the lake too

Dinner tonight was a big bowl of tonjiru (pork miso soup) & rice for me

while J had his share of yakitori & a not so huge serving of miso soup

chicken fillet, soft bones and liver sticks

plus grilled corn

they all had this yummy smokey taste which was simply addictive!

sakura prawns & leeks tamagoyaki

homemade mango pudding

The pink and white in the park was really soothing after the long brown autumn & winter.

Harumi gyoza

Next on our to eat list,

also from Harumi Kurihara and is the third time i am making.

prawn & leeks gyoza

the reason why both of us think this is simply good is because no flour is needed at all since we we make use of mashed prawn tails to combine and gel the filling together, and also prawn and chunks and pork chunks can still be felt since the main filling is made of also of roughly chopped prawns and pork slices.

ALSO, the gyozas are not sealed at its ends. the filling holds well enough for you to fill the skins right to the brim and just fold it over like a tortilla wrap.

PLUS, we have super thin gyoza skins at the supermart near our place, so you don't get too filled up munching on these huge gyozas.

simply, we love this dish. so one item checked off the list with satisfaction.

tofu noodles salad with sakura fish cakes

the spring onions in my garden decided to be strong and sprout a few nice stalks for us while we were in Singapore so imagine how pleasantly surprised and glad i was to see the green though we were away for 3 weeks!

so anytime i need spring onions, i look for negi kun.

miso soup with giant nameko mushrooms

everytime i see mushrooms huger than their usual size at the mart, i can't resist buying them. some days i shock J with the mushroom stock up in the fridge.

homemade custard pudding with caramel sauce

i make puddings in my muffin tin which makes it easy to store in the fridge. so making puddings in many flavours is easy.

we had a nice nice NICE sunny day today! wheeheeeee! makes me happy =)

Yucky food ranking on tv today

There was a very interesting program on tv this afternoon featuring the world's most undelicious stuff. Ranked by the Japanese staff on the show.

After watching the rank list, it was not interesting at all.

In fact, it made me feel i am a weirdo in Japan.

rank3 Vegemite

comment by the reporter: tastes of muddy river

rank2 Thai durian (dodo) cake

tastes of onions went bad

rank1 This canned sardine like fish from Sweden i can't remember what is it called but the pronounication sounded like shoestring.

Ammonia smell was so strong, he almost fainted while opening the can

then came the rest of the list which is not as bad and was brought into the studio during the tv show for the hosts and guests to try

rank4 Guilingao

the grils love it. the guys found this weird tasting.

rank 5 Some korean dried fish called honohfe

stinks so bad no one dared to try.

rank 6 a liquorice candy called samiakki

everyone found the taste so overwhelming and bitter.

Wow, out of the 6, i happen to like half the list!

firstly, vegemite is one of my favourite yeast paste! on toast or in soup, it is simply fragrant!

then, dodo cake is another one of my childhood favs! as i grew older and discovered the alarming sugar content, i didn't crave them anymore.

Guilingao! is a MUST have whenver i visit hongkong.

ok anyway,

we have made a list of dinner items we want to have while i have the energy to zip around the kitchen.

There are plenty of stuff on the list which are from Harumi Kurihara's cooking show.

First off tonight,

besides cabbage and potato soup, we had

japanese style mabo tofu

This was done on her show and since we both like mabo tofu, we had to give this a try.

The chinese spicy tobanjan and sesame oil were totally left out, which made this really easy on the stomach.

Shoyu & sweet mirin based sauce with non spicy chilli flakes made this dish kind of sukiyaki tasting, but with the chopped spring onions, ginger and garlic in the sauce too, this tasted like the usual mabo too.

anyhow, 2 thumbs up!

flower greens and fish cake salad

homemade coffee pudding with strawberries

Winter sort of returned today with temperatures dipping to 9degC.

my hands are feeling the weird temperature transition and are all dry and painful from too much use of warm water.

for the first time last night, i slept with gloves on.

but you know where they landed up in the morning. >.<

We went to the supermart today and the wharfs of curry filled our noses cos they were having a curry fair featuring different types of curry from the different parts of Japan.

Both of us looked at each other and agreed we felt like having curry udon for lunch.

Since it was chilly and my back was aching, this was extra warming.

curry udon filled with vegetables

Dinner was Italian

with baked garlic & herb fries

salmon and spinach risotto

with another bunch of that sweet & tender spinach. mamamia~!

This time i left the dark pieces of flesh near the skin of the salmon on.

Usually when i have fish, those dark parts are left on my plate cos i always think they do not taste good. But after this nutritionist explained on tv last week that the skin & dark portions have nutritional value that of red meat with all the vitamin Bs, i decided to try consuming them. Apparently, they are good for the metabolism!

hicolour salad

various vegetables found in mr.fridge tossed with just olive oil and bonito flakes

lazy lazy sunday we had since we just rolled around the warmed carpet after supermarket shopping. we wanted to drop by the park, but it was so cloudy and cold today that we took the excuse to snug up at home.

koganei park stroll

We went for a walk at the big central park at Koganei today.

It was really nice to see so many people taking their families and dogs to bask in the sun in this super huge park filled with sakura trees and children play area.

Over the next few days, i think the flowers will gradually unfold their buds and peak end of this week. There were so many species of sakura flowers at the park today. but only a few types stood out with some flowering buds. most were still asleep.

We caught a few though.

this is one of my favourite cos the white petals and pink insides are very soothing

a blue breasted bird busy at work with another sakura tree which has very pink flowers

this one is another typical type of light pink that brightens up your day anytime

I can't wait to take another long stroll next week. =)

Dinner tonight was

tofu with mentaiko sticky sauce on multi grain rice

dashimaki tamago with nori

We both love tamagoyaki but this is the softer & fluffier version since soup is added to the egg mixture. haven't made this for quite awhile so this was extra welcomed tonight.

stir fried spinach in garlic

this was a rare get at the farmers mart.

spinach here usually has thick stems and leaves, but this had thin leaves, and super long and skinny stalks so i reckoned it would taste good if i stir fried it the korean shigumchi style.

No mistake. sweet & delicious.

crossing my fingers for a sunny sunday!

adventure friday

i got bluffed by the weather report for the first time.

in japan, the forecast is detailed right to the hour, so you know when it rains and when the sun will let in after that.

which is why when we went back to sg in february, i felt something was missing. the weather report, lets me plan what i do at what time, and what i wear too.

well, i was in warm attire today. good.

then i did a whole pile of laundry. not good.

cos when i was just about to enter the mart, it started raining! >.<>

then in came all the clothes to dry under my room heater. which made me very busy cos they dry at different rates.

PLUS my good ol' windows on the laptop decide to give up on me. POOP went the screen. yeah, with sound effect too. double madness.

now i have no choice but to use the MAC J is not using anymore at work.

MAC is like another world altogether so i have a new adventure to go through with.

i needed comfort food for dinner tonight.

i can't have wine, though this really made me feel like having a sip of red, so J had his one man beer.

lotus root filled burger in brown stew filled with japanese spring vegetables

soft beancurd skin salad, korean style

i think i should be able to sleep lots tonight after all that brain exercise.

new cammie

Dinner pics today were taken with our new cam!

very idiot proof, so much easier with indoor shots, which explains why our dining room looks much better tonight~! =)

oyako don (chicken & egg) with burdock strips

flower greens with bamboo shoots salad

multi mushroom soup

i cant wait for the weekend to use the camera here n there!

chilly rainy wednesday

The rain today made it seem winter has returned, so it was chilly again and i get to wear my wooly stuff again. just when i thought hey, lets pack all our winter attire away to free up some space in our wardrobe, we made the right choice by hanging on. =)

Dinner was

besides a cucumber & tofu salad and vegetable soup made with the stock harvested from yesterdays steamed hotpot

oyster sauce beef & greens on rice

grilled baby bamboo shoot

(which was super sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet on its own)

seaweed konnyaku with sweet miso sauce

i am craving red bean soup.

simple steamed food

I grew a garden in my claypot today

filled it up with LOTS of cabbage, enoki mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, flower greens and tofu pieces

then added 200ml of water & some sake, topped with whey fed pork shoulder slices

steamed for 15 min

seasoned only with SALT & PEPPER.

i was so nervous about how it would turn out cos i dont think i can take the smell of steamed pork, worse with just salt & pepper.

but that was what okaasan suggested i try with the whey pork we bought from wakkanai.

it was............. WONDERFUL!!!

simple hotpot but packed with flavour!!!

voila~!

just one pot full plus oden rice made up our luxurious dinner tonight.

lined the table with so many sauces for us to dip in.

we both ended up using nothing at all!

that was how tasty it was on its on.

whew~! indeed there is a difference with quality pork!

we have sooooooooooooooooooo much nuts at home now after our stock up in SG!

and since we had plenty of time to prepare lunch today, i got down to roasting a batch of walnuts,

steaming some chicken for fast salads on weekdays

and thin slicing a whole lot of lettuce for lunch today.

soba & chicken salad with walnuts

you just cant beat the crunch & light taste of freshly baked nuts with store bought ones

Dinner was oden round 3!

not in the hotpot, but cooked with rice

vegetable & clams consomme soup

hehe i know western soup & oden rice is a weird combination.

but i was getting a lil tired of shoyu based soups after all that oden.

this was refreshing light & full of vegetables =)

it is back to work tmr, but how i like the feeling it will be a 4 day work week!

easy pasta lunch

We had a nice sunny sunday today and ended up walking so much i was quite exhausted by lunch time. so lunch was made super simple by buying pasta sauce. but this pasta sauce was extraodinarily yummy that i was so impressed i decided to stock up on this!

fettucine with flower greens, soft yuba skins, shimeji mushrooms

tossed in mentaiko pasta sauce

everything goes into the hot pot of boiling water, and when done, tossed with the pasta sauce.

and then open the pack of nori that came with it to top the pasta with.

voila~! and since this reminded me of the waraku pasta that we used to have when we dating, i am so in love with this sauce now.

it is going to come in handy when i dont feel like cooking too!

dinner tonight was oden round 2

made the broth a little thinner so that i dont have to gulp so much water later on

and added some fresh pieces of tofu & fishcake

yummy~! the daikon pieces were doubly tasty after days of simmering.

i feel an intense craving for some alcoholic cocktail!

we have another day off tomorrow! ahhh...