Rocking in Hakata

Theme: FOREIGN FOOD
Deadline: Sunday, 22 February 2009, 11:59 PM JST
***

Well, folks, it’s February – time for another Japan Blog Matsuri. If you missed it, go check out January’s edition of the Matsuri, hosted by Bill Belew at the Rising Sun of Nihon, where 11 bloggers chimed in to answer the prompt “How will you resolve to make the most of your stay in Japan?” Hats off to Bill for doing a great job.

This month I am hosting the Japan Blog Matsuri. I announced the topic yesterday at the first online J-Bloggers Conference. (If you’re interested in joining the next conference, watch this space for details.) So, let it be known, the topic for the February Matsuri is: FOREIGN FOOD!

Anything related to FOREIGN FOOD is acceptable. We obviously prefer fresh entries over stale entries, but even old entries are ok. The theme is open to a bit of interpretation – and remember that you don’t have to be in Japan to participate! Anyone can participate. In fact, I want us to expand this time. I am hoping to have collected 20 or more entries for this edition. To encourage this, I am making an offer. Encourage your friends to participate, or submit entries from their blogs yourself, and I will leave a hat tip link to your own blog alongside that entry. If you submit your own entry and one other person’s entry (or persuade them to participate), you’ll have (up to) 2 links on the matsuri. It’s not much, but it’s something!

If you write a post and submit it to me by midnight of Sunday, February 22nd, I will include your entry in the compilation that will go up on the 24th. You can either email me directly (deas-at-rocking-in-hakata-dot-com) or submit your entry using the widget after the break.

Ok, go get writing! Go get your friends involved! Let’s build this thing!

The Japan Blog Matsuri was originated by Ken Y-N at What Japan Thinks, and has been revived by Nick Ramsay at the JapanSoc Blog. Read more…

Deas Announcements, Culinary, Customary Drivel, JBMatsuri

Well, it’s about time I got to posting about my mid-October trip to Hong Kong, huh? (Granted, I’ve still failed to post about summer camp. But at this point, I might as well do that as a run up to the next one, you know?) I’m splitting the post into 3 parts. Hong Kong, Ocean Park, and Macau. Hopefully I’ll have all three of them up before my next trip starts – this weekend. Ha ha.

These pictures come from the time our crew spent in Hong Kong itself. You can see shots taken from The Peak, the Avenue of Stars on the harbor, a couple of restaurants, and more. I wish I’d taken more pictures! On the other hand, I guess I was too busy experiencing the trip. That’s probably a good thing. I have nice memories that don’t too often include a viewfinder this time around. Ha ha. Let me know what you think or feel free to ask questions in the comments! Oh – and I’ve gotta say that the food was delicious. Yes, I sold out and got a western style meal once or twice. But I also had an amazing Hong Kong hot pot dinner thanks to Ray’s friend Katie, some dim sum, and even some deep fried sea eel – which was great! (And lots of bubble tea.)

Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Media, Photos, Trips, Video

Remember that banana flavored soymilk I fell so deeply in love with? Well, the same company has released what appears to be a limited time seasonal treat; yaki-imo flavored soymilk. It’s pretty good. If you try it, let me know what you think!

Here’s a clip of the yaki-imo truck and its song that I uploaded to my travelogue when I was a junior at university. Man, the years sure go by. This was 2005. Hard to believe it. (Though, the video is crappier quality, and lower in resolution…that part is easy to believe.) I dug it up here.

Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Media, Video

Eddie Izzard’s take on mikan (which he calls satsuma) differs slightly from the general opinion of Ehime folks – and yes, I count myself as an honorary Ehime-an. Let’s take a look. Fair warning – this entry contains both profanity and speedmetal in the videos. If you want to avoid it, simply don’t watch them! (But you’ll be missing out on the giggles.)

What do you think? Are mikan the awkward, social, cute, non-Das Boot version of the orange? Ha ha. I live next to mikan farmers, and as a result I love and hate them. I love eating them (the product, not the farmers). But man, when the leftovers begin to rot in the hot months, and the stench is unavoidable…different story. But perhaps my view is skewed. Most people in my area see the mikan as indispensable – and a must have for any kotatsu or spare table top.

To contrast, here’s a little ditty by the group Sex Machineguns (official site here). It’s in Japanese. And it’s fun. Don’t let the name throw you off – give the video a shot. I’ve embedded the animated flash version of the song as a self-hosted movie. You can see the guys perform it here, but I prefer the flash version.

Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Humor, Media, Video

So, you’re looking for something new to try in the grocery store. Wow! A little tiny can of corned beef catches your eye. This is a rarity in rural Japan. You think of maybe attempting a breakfast hash or something with cabbage. But then you look at the tin just next to it…the tin ominously marked “New Corn(ed) Meat.” The small parenthetical explanation underneath the product name suddenly leaps out. It reads “Contains horse meat and beef.” Mmmmm…HORSE SPAM. Yikes!

Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Humor, Media, Photos

Japanese breadcrumbs are pretty fascinating to me. I first encountered them in the home cuisine cooked for me by my host mother. I fell in love with her tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlets). She still makes them for me whenever I visit. (Sweet!) Anyway, when I returned to the U.S. to finish up my degree, I tried to recreate her wonderful dish. When I tried it with traditional bread crumbs, it failed spectacularly. It was heavy and greasy. Then I hit the Japanese grocery store about 45 minutes away and picked up some Japanese breadcrumbs. (This was before they were widely available at places like Whole Foods in my area.) They made the biggest difference. I pledged then and there to never again fry anything using traditional breadcrumbs. I would reserve them for stuffings, where they belong.

近年、北米では日本のパン粉が料理番組などで「panko」として紹介され、グルメ食材として普及しつつある。北米の「breadcrumb」は日本のパン粉よりも固くて細かく、中には味がついているものもある。

“In recent years, Japanese breadcrumbs have been introduced to North America via food TV programming as panko, the diffusion of which has continued as a gourmet foodstuff. North American breadcrumb(s) are harder and more fine than their Japanese counterparts, and some are even flavored.”

- Wikipedia Japan, my rough translation

Interestingly enough, after I did my little experiment, I found that Alton Brown, long documented Food TV hero of mine, was in love with panko breadcrumbs. When I saw the clip that I provided above, oddly from an episode called Bean Stalker (Episode 10 of Season 11), it made me curious. What IS the difference between Japanese breadcrumbs and the kind I’d always used? I found this small hint on the English version of Wikipedia.

Panko is made from bread without crusts, thus it has a crisper, airier texture than most types of breading found in Western cuisine.
- Wikipedia

Not very satisfactory, is it? What do you reckon is the processing difference that makes panko so superior?

Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Media, Unsolicited Commentary, Video