Cooking Stars

April 27, 2023

 

 

 

 

We ate breakfast in the Executive Lounge, on the 37th floor. It was a sparkling day and Fuji-san enthralled us. 

  

After breakfast we headed over to the opposite side of Shinjuku, where the Tokyo studio of Cooking Sun is located. Today's cooking class is Wagyu Kaiseki. There were 8 people in the class, plus our instructor, Kaori, and two "sous-chefs". 

These two are not the sous chefs.

 

We learned how to cut Accordion Cucumbers for a salad

Making Dashimaki Tamago (rolled omelet)

We each plated our first three recipes: Gomamiso-ae Potato, Dashimaki Tamago, and Accordion Cucumber Salad.

Shinodamaki (ground chicken and seasonal vegetables wrapped in deep-fried tofu)

 

 

Mushroom art

 

Voila! Foreground, left to right: Wagyu Sukiyaki about to be cooked in donabe or Japanese clay pot, Umeboshi and Mitsuba Leaf Mixed Rice, Shinodamaki, Dashi-Based Clear Soup

We were given small cans of Sterno to put underneath the donabe (clay pot) and we seared the negi (Japanese leek). We added the broth to the pot along with the rest of the vegetables. The wagyu (marbled beef) cooks very quickly, so that was added last. 

 

Each of the kaiseki (small plates) was just a few bites, but it somehow added up to a very hearty and filling meal. This was an excellent class and a delicious. Now we have recipes to make at home. I even bought some bamboo mats to bring home. I will use them to roll up the finished omelets to create a scalloped design on the outer edge.

Dessert: Mochi with Matcha Sauce

We are all Cooking Stars! Eight fabulous recipes! It tasted even better than it looked!

Weird Things Spotted on the Way Back to Our Hotel

We stopped and did a little shopping on the way back. We checked out Tokyu Hands - a large DIY chain that I like to visit whenI am in the neighborhood. It turns out The company has been acquired by another company and has been rebranded. Its new name is Hands.

And speaking of "hands," Ken is channeling George Costanza here, when George was a hand model. In this case, Ken is showing us the scale of these enormous beans we found in the grocery store in the basement of the Keio Department Store.

 Gigantic beans

 And then there was this place.

Ohhhkaaay . .  I guess this is a restaurant?

 Here is an astronomical clock located at Shinjuku i-LAND, a skyscraper and office complex located near our hotel. The last astronomical clock I saw was in Italy, and it was 500 years old. It turns out this clock was designed by Italian artist Giulio Paolini, and created by Seiko (of course). If you like interesting clocks, you must take a look at these Public Clocks of Tokyo.

The writing under the clock says, in English: SHINJUKU i-LAND ASTRONOMICAL CLOCK

And then there was this. This is a guided tour, on city streets, silly costumes and all. Here's more information on Go-Kart tours, to prove I am not making this up.

What's with the animal pajamas?

Today's color is yellow, for rolled omelets and eggsluts.

 

Good Robot, Bad Robot, Good Food, Good Drinks

 April 26, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast in Hiroshima was a standard Japanese hotel breakfast, except for the robot. The robot wandered around the dining room, collecting trays and dirty dishes from those who had finished eating, and carrying them back to the kitchen.

The rain looked like it would clear up soon. Fortunately, our hotel was connected to the train station, so we didn't have to worry about getting wet as we made our way to our train. We bought snacks on the way to our platform to sustain us on our longest travel day so far. We would be riding two shinkansen (bullet trains) and a subway to get to the Shinjuku section of Tokyo. All of the transfers were easy. We took the Marunouchi subway line to the Nishi-Shinjuku Station, one long block from our hotel.

Hooray for the Hilton Tokyo. It's a little bit Japanese and a little bit not. Sometimes you are ready for "a little bit not" after 10 days of total immersion. We were delighted to be upgraded to  one of the Executive Floors (35th floor). The luggage that we sent ahead was already waiting for us in one of our rooms. 

Thank you, Hilton. 💙💙💙💙💙💙

We have stayed at this hotel a number of times, so we know our way around, more or less. Libby and Eric quickly learned their way around.  

The afternoon view from our room

It's about a 10 minute walk from the hotel to bustling Shinjuku Station, the world's busiest transportation hub. In 2018 an average of 3.59 million passengers per day arrived at or departed from one of the 53 platforms at this station. It's a monster, but it's really quite doable if you can avoid rush hour.

We are going to meet our tour group for "The Best of Izakaya" with Ninja Food Tours near Shinjuku Station. On the way there, I point out a couple of landmarks so that Shinjuku newcomers Libby and Eric can get their bearings. It can be really busy here and it is full of skyscrapers. Most of the skyscrapers look alike. The one landmark you can always see and easily identify is the "Cocoon Tower."

The Cocoon Tower - photo from Wikipedia

Libby and Eric quickly added a nearby 7-Eleven to their catalog of local landmarks, guaranteeing that they will never get lost in this neighborhood.

An izakaya is a Japanese bar or pub that serves alcohol and snacks. Izakaya are often quite small. There were 11 of us in the tour, plus our guide, Sato. We walked past some of the tiniest izakaya, but Sato took us to places that could handle our group. It was a little bit early - things don't usually get busy until about 7:30 pm, when most office workers (called "salary men" here) leave work for the day.

A typical izakaya, in its entirety

If you have ever seen Midnight Diner, you might think we are going to go to the little izakaya where most of the episodes take place. We walked through "Omoide Yokocho" ("Memory Lane"), but Master was nowhere to be seen.

Omoide Yokocho

Sato then led us underneath the train tracks and through a pedestrian tunnel (also recognizable from Midnight Diner) to Kabuki-cho. It's a boisterous part of Shinjuku that Ken and I had never been to before. 

You know you're in Kabuki-cho when you see this gateway.

We arrived at our first stop, where we were served beer and cheese and olives. Oh wait, NOT cheese and olives.  Bamboo shoots and a rubber ball.

Instead of peanuts or pretzels, the drinks here come with bamboo shoot and konnyaku, a type of rubbery yam cake

The main feature of this place was yakitori - grilled, skewered chicken and various chicken organs, such as hearts and liver. It was all good, though I did not try the hearts.

Pretending that they CAN'T WAIT to try the chicken hearts

 

There is no kitchen in the back because there is no "back" here. This is it, right behind the bar, and it looks chaotic.

At our next stop, we sampled sake and seafood. Eel seems to be a very popular dish in Japan and we had some sort of cooked eel. It's not my favorite. It tends to have a lot of fine bones, which are hard for me to think about.

The seafood place

 

 

 

Sake and some incredibly delicious sashimi - a fatty tuna and a regular tuna

Crab and potato croquettes. Also incredibly delicious

A less memorable sashimi. Very fresh, fairly bland.

Fried octopus. ("Fried" was the best adjective I could come up with.)

Sea grapes

Unforgettable salmon sashimi

 

The Clean Plate Club has left the building

On our way to the next izakaya, we "happened" to pass the most famous resident of Shinjuku.

I suddenly found myself in a strange, alien world, and realized I was in the middle of a dream. As with most dreams, I really can't remember many of the details, except for the following dream sequence, in which I appeared on Jeopardy.  Or did I?

Me: Alex, I'll take "Japanese Pop Culture" for $1,000.

Trebek: He has appeared in 33 Japanese films, 5 American films, comic books, and video games, and he presently serves as an official tourism ambassador in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Me: Who is Godzilla?

Then Alex and I were suddenly eating something weird and rubbery, and then we went outside, and it was night, and there were people all around us. The next thing I knew, there was Godzilla, on top of a hotel. 

Godzilla looked right at me with his beady eye, and I had a bad feeling. He roared, and blue radioactive flames shot out of his mouth.

And then . . . as suddenly as it started, it was over. 

 

The cheesy music stopped. The lame roaring stopped. The malevolent red eyes dimmed. It couldn't have lasted more than 15 seconds . . .

    🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖  🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖  🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖  

. . . and then I must have woken up. The next thing I remember is eating tonkatsu outside a tiny tonkatsu shop. Tonkatsu are pork cutlets, coated in panko and deep-fried. Other meats can also be used for katsu.

Many Japanese restaurants display amazingly realistic models of food in a front window. They are full sized, and very detailed. These models are usually made of plastic, resin, or wax. Here is a close up of fake tonkatsu:

 

Let's continue to our final stop, where we treated to some sort of ground meat and flatbread, salad, gyoza, mixed drinks, and lemon sorbet. I tried a drink called a "lemon sour." It was quite nice, and I would have it again on a subsequent night. Ken tried the plum wine. Also quite nice.

All in all, despite my nightmare about Godzilla, it was a very fun evening.

 

Today's color is salmon.
 

Out of the Ashes

April 25, 2023

It's drizzly and gray today. Our delicious ryokan breakfast dispels the gloom of the weather and our sadness at leaving this enchanted island, this magical Miyajima. We have miso soup, fish, rice, vegetables, and pickles, and though it is not typical breakfast fare for us, it is very satisfying.

We pack up quickly. We sent most of our luggage to Tokyo yesterday, before we left Kyoto. We just kept out enough for two days. It has made it so much easier to navigate the various modes of transportation (including walking) this part of our trip involves. Shipping luggage in Japan is fast, easy, reliable, and inexpensive, thanks to Yamato and other  companies. You can see trucks with the the "black cat" logo everywhere. We see them on the quiet, narrow streets of Miyajima this morning. Boxes of fresh food from the mainland are being delivered to local restaurants, ryokan, and inns.

It is decided that we will go to the aquarium before leaving Miyajima - a chance to be indoors. It is about a 15-minute walk. When we arrive we learn that a sea lion show is about to start. Of course it is outdoors, in a large pool with stadium seating extending about halfway around it. At least 100 school children arrive at the last minute and fill up the venue. 

It's easy to tell this group is on a school field trip because the children are all dressed in identical school uniforms. I believe that uniforms are required in all Japanese schools. The boys usually wear pants or shorts, button-down shirts, ties and blazers. The girls might have skirts and blouses with blazers, or sailor-style outfits, depending on the school.

Close-up of students in sailor-style uniforms at the sea lion show

  Most school uniforms are navy blue, but occasionally you will see gray, black, or maroon. Girls often wear plaid skirts in muted colors. Many girls wear their uniform skirts quite short. The very youngest children often wear adorable hats, too.

Back to the sea lion show. It was your typical aquarium show, but in Japanese. I came away from it impressed by how intelligent the sea lions seem to be. The rest of the aquarium was nice, with exhibits of local aquatic life. I especially enjoyed the exhibit on oyster farming, and the penguins. I suspect the penguins were not local.

Then we picked up our very manageable small bags at the ryokan and walked over to the ferry dock. When the ferry reached the mainland, we had a 10-minute walk to the subway station, and a 25- or 30-minute subway ride to Hiroshima Station.

My knees and ankles were really tired from all the walking we have been doing, so I decided to stay in the hotel while the rest of the group went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, and related sites. (I have been to this site on a previous trip, so I was okay with not seeing it again.) They reported that it was very crowded. Here are a few photos taken by Ken.

The Atomic Bomb Dome - this building was almost directly under the bomb. It has been designated a UNESCO    World Heritage site.

   The Children's Peace Monument

                                                        

Thousands of paper cranes, symbolizing peace, have been sent to Hiroshima from all over the world

I am so impressed by the resilience of the people of Hiroshima. If not for the Atomic Bomb Dome, you would never know that this modern, prosperous-looking city was utterly devastated nearly 80 years ago. Seventy percent of the buildings were destroyed and another 7% were severely damaged.             Hiroshima, two months after the bombing. (Photo from Wikipedia entry on Hiroshima)

In 1945, before the bomb was dropped, the population was 345,000. Today, Hiroshima has been rebuilt, and the population is now 1.2 million. The city seems to be thriving. It is a place where people are busy living their lives -- going to work, strolling in parks, attending sports events, visiting art museums, dining out in restaurants.

We learned that the G7 Summit will take place here in less than a month. Here is a fun YouTube promoting the city to G7 visitors. Here is an explanation of the video, which you might enjoy, also. 

Of course, we had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki for dinner (i.e., layered). We went to a place called Okonomi-mura -- a large, multi-story building full of booths or tiny restaurants, all selling okonomiyaki. How do you choose where to eat? We tend to go with a place that looks crowded - such a place might be more popular with locals, who would actually know which places are good. 

Today's color is ash gray.