So I'm in Japan at the momnet
- Thread starter hopeful_monster
- Start date
teonzo said:
I'm afraid I had very little time this trip and ended up spending most of it in the exact opposite of top class places. However, in the interest of showing off how even the most humble/ridiculous of establishments make delicious food (and because I am hungry!) I'll share some food-related photographs I took.
R
chaos
The Boss
Wow, a man with expensive tastes! I'd love to go to Jiro Ono, but unfortunately I'm severely allergic to shell fish and I suspect that if I actually went there, it would be my last meal. (Also, he charges >£300 for dinner there and you don't know what you're going to eat until you get there, as they usually serve only freshly caught stuff....)teonzo said:
I did try a Hidemi Sugino cake though and yes, it's amazing. He has a book (or two) out there and amazingly enough, if you're patient you can replicate to a fairly good standard (although, not exactly the same thing). Tea and cake at his cafe was £30
That looks amazing. I've learned how to make okonomiyaki from scratch with my niece and I'm proud to say that I can make a mean one. Udon is fairly easy to make if you managed to get good quality udon noodles. To make noodle and pasta on my own is something that I haven't tried since I moved to London. Kitchens here seen to be too small for a pasta machine. =(Rui said:
Rui said:
Thanks for the photos!
I'm interested in "standard" places as well, it's always nice to see how Japanese people put lots of efforts on every dish, be it expensive top class or cheap street food. The dango at the Capcom, the zunda dango and the bento look really nice.
Teo
chaos said:
Eh, that's the main problem, I can't afford to go to as many places as I'd like.
chaos said:
As far as I know they ask to each customer if he/she has allergies. But considering they work with bare hands and no gloves, you would be pretty sure to risk your life even without eating shellfish.
I would gladly pay those £300 to eat there. It's not obscenely expensive, considering it's in Japan and they are serving all that fresh fish. Prices in France or some places in Italy are more outrageous (at least from my point of view).
chaos said:
Sooner or later I need to buy his books. I thought he was cheaper, I read somewhere that his cakes costed about £5 each...
chaos said:
Use your hands, young Jedi!
Teo
chaos
The Boss
I know the feeling. I'm trying to organise a visit to Fat Duck for years! And it all comes down to when I have the money, I don't have anyone to come along with me OR I don't have the money, even though I'd have people to come along with me.teonzo said:
Cross contamination put me in hospital twice.teonzo said:
It's was between 500 to 2000 yen, if I remember correctly, but be my guest at having only one of the 500 ones. They are bite size.teonzo said:
Use my hand to make spaghetti? Also, I do have a roller pin and tried to make lasagna once, but in my small-ish kitchen, it was a major mess. That and the fact that it takes an awful lot of time to make it. If I had a pasta machine, I'd possibly do it once a fortnight.teonzo said:
chaos said:
Besides money and the company, there is also the booking problem: it's quite difficult to get a table there!
I'd like to visit that restaurant, as I'd like to visit Sat Bains and various others in the UK. Maybe in the future I'll be able to organize a trip to the UK and we can meet and go eating at a fancy restaurant.
Talking about Blumenthal, maybe you can appreciate this link:
http://morecookbooksthansense.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/hestons-secret-cookbook.html
chaos said:
Urgh, sorry for that!
chaos said:
500 copies? So it's out of print now and I'm screwed?
chaos said:
A pasta machine would be much quicker and helpful, of course.
About spaghetti, besides the Chinese hand pulled method (which was part of my Jedi joke, it takes tons of skill and practice), there are the "spaghetti alla chitarra". You can realize them with this tool:
It's composed by a series of wires, you lay the pasta on it, then press, so you cut the spaghetti (the section is square or rectangular, not circular). But to do so you need to roll the pasta, it's not that messy or time consuming when you get a bit of experience.
Otherwise there are the hand extruded kinds of pasta, like passatelli (they are a kind of thicker spaghetti, in case you never ate them). You just need a potato masher with circular holes and a bit of strength.
Maybe we should have to open a food thread.
Teo
chaos
The Boss
I know! 3 months waiting list is absurd! I think that by now people who go there hate it, but can't find the heart to admit it.teonzo said:
Thank you for the link.teonzo said:
I did his fish and chips recipe, took me the whole morning to make the chips, but those were the bet chips I ever had. The fish was great as well, but I had better before at Ramsay's pub. But then again, it was cooked by me.
It's annoying as hell, but that's life. After months trying, I finally managed to get an appoitment for allergy tests next week. Let's see what they say.teonzo said:
I was talking about the cakes..... They cost between 500 ~ 2000 yen. Roughly speaking between 4 to 16 quid a slice. The four quid ones are bite sized, amazing, but too small to count as a meal. having three or four of them is not difficult and portion-wise, I'd say it's like having a large piece of cake. I'm not sure you can get his book in English though.teonzo said:
Well, that's what I call a pasta machine anyway.... too big for my kitchen if I'm only going to use it once a month or so.....teonzo said:chaos said:
A pasta machine would be much quicker and helpful, of course.
About spaghetti, besides the Chinese hand pulled method (which was part of my Jedi joke, it takes tons of skill and practice), there are the "spaghetti alla chitarra". You can realize them with this tool:
It's composed by a series of wires, you lay the pasta on it, then press, so you cut the spaghetti (the section is square or rectangular, not circular). But to do so you need to roll the pasta, it's not that messy or time consuming when you get a bit of experience.
Otherwise there are the hand extruded kinds of pasta, like passatelli (they are a kind of thicker spaghetti, in case you never ate them). You just need a potato masher with circular holes and a bit of strength.