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ST: Japanese curry favours

Article from Sunday Times. For those who prefer to cook Japanese Curry without using those curry cubes available in Supermarket.

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Lifestyle

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Apr 17, 2011

Japanese curry favours

By Chris Tan, Ask The Foodie

Getting an authentic-tasting Japanese curry right takes a lot of patience and stirring. -- PHOTO: CHRIS TAN

 

Q My family likes Japanese curry. I have tried cooking this several times at home but am just not able to get the same taste as that served in restaurants. I hope to be able to prepare this from scratch and cook it frequently for my kids as they love this dish very much. Ready mixes use palm oil, MSG and artificial flavours and I am reluctant to use them for frequent consumption.

Elaine Sio

This question wins a Silit econtrol Pressure Cooker Duo Set consisting of 4.5L Pressure Cooker and 3L Pressure Pan, worth $699, sponsored by Silit.

A Glowing with mellow warmth and yoshoku (foreign food) glamour, Japanese curry is a fascinating beast.

Its reliance on a roux (cooked flour paste) and fruit for body and flavour are characteristic of its Anglo-Indian roots.

British merchant and navy ships, whose cooks were well versed in colonial cuisine, made contact with Japan's ports and its imperial navy in the 1800s and passed on their Anglo-Indian curry recipes. The dish quickly became popular in the military followed by school kitchens and eventually evolved into the staple it is today.

My recipe is a simplified version of those used by old-school Japanese curry restaurants and serves four to five people. You might want to make a double quantity all at once since this takes only a little more effort than a single quantity.

Finely chop 250g of onions. Heat 2 tablespoons of lard or oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and stir frequently until caramelised to a reddish-brown. Take care not to burn the mix.

Add 4 tablespoons of pounded ginger and garlic. Fry for another 4 to 5 minutes until you smell a sweet fragrance. Scrape mixture into a bowl and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon oil to the same pan and raise the heat to medium-high. Add four chicken thighs and drumsticks each (or about 1.2kg of whatever meat you desire) and lightly brown them.

Next, pour 1 litre of chicken, beef or vegetable stock into the pan and bring to a simmer. Throw in 1 cinnamon stick, half a star anise, 4 cloves and 4 cardamom pods, cover and let the stock bubble gently for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked but not yet tender. Take the pan off the fire and set it aside, still covered.

Now, the roux. In a non-stick, large, heavy-based pot, heat 100ml of oil over medium-low heat. Add 35g of plain flour and stir constantly. Scrape the bottom and corners of the pan to avoid scorching. Do this for 15 to 20 minutes until the mixture darkens to the colour of tea with condensed milk.

Be patient, as a good roux is crucial to a curry's success. If it starts to scorch and throws up black specks of burnt flour, ditch it and start again because it will make the curry taste nasty. Add 25g of Japanese curry powder (try sauce mix brand S&B) to the roux and turn heat to low to cook. Be sure to stir for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a blender, combine the cooled fried onion mixture with half of a carrot, grated, 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped, 1 small peeled banana, 200g of cherry tomatoes, 100ml of Japanese soy sauce and 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (Lea & Perrins). Blend to a fine paste. Scrape paste into the curry roux and stir well to combine. It will be very thick. Turn heat down to very low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly to avoid scorching.

Commercial Japanese curry roux that has been solidified and moulded into blocks is the mixture that has been cooked up to this point. If you like, you can cool and portion it into freezer containers to freeze for up to three weeks. Without thawing, take the frozen roux and proceed with the recipe.

Ladle all the liquid from the chicken pan into the curry roux pot and stir to mix. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then add the chicken. Cut two or three cleaned carrots and potatoes each into large chunks and add them into the pot. Cover and simmer gently for 45 minutes until meat and vegetables are tender. Stir in 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder (some Japanese recipes add cocoa powder instead, or as well). Adjust the seasoning to taste with more salt, black pepper, brown sugar, honey, soy or Worcestershire sauce. At this stage, it should be slightly spicier and a bit more intense than you like it to be.

Now comes the most difficult part. Let the curry cool completely, transfer it to an airtight container and cover tightly. Refrigerate and wait one or two days for it to mature. The overall taste should become fuller, less spicy and more rounded and the meat and vegetables will absorb lots of flavour. Japanese curry restaurants may mature their base sauce for several days before serving it.

Finally, bring the curry to a full boil. Cook for a minute or so to make sure it is fully heated up.

Dish and serve with hot rice and fukujin-zuke (mixed vegetable pickles, sold in every Japanese supermarket). Pat yourself on the back. Make sure your curry-eaters treat you to a shoulder massage or foot reflexology session.

NY Times: Where Steaming Fried Noodles Spell Relief

 

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March 19, 2011

Where Steaming Fried Noodles Spell Relief

By KIM SEVERSON

Ramen is usually just steps away from hungry diners in most parts of Japan. Often, it’s in the form of flash-fried, pre-seasoned noodles packed into cellophane bags and foam cups. Now instant ramen is being sent by the truckload to the survivors of the Japanese earthquake.

Of course, instant ramen was born of hardship. In the aftermath of World War II, a Taiwanese businessman named Momofuku Ando was inspired by two things: long lines of starving people waiting for fresh ramen in Osaka and a government edict encouraging people to eat bread made with wheat flour donated by the United States. They pushed bread because noodle companies were too small to handle the demand.

But the entrepreneur had a better idea: mass-produced noodles. In 1958, after several years of experimenting, he began selling chicken-flavored instant ramen to appeal to export markets averse to pork or beef. It was the precursor to Top Ramen. His company, Nissin Foods, would later strike gold in America with Cup Noodles and its varieties of flavors.

From its beginnings in Japan, and despite misgivings about its nutritional merits, instant ramen has found devotees worldwide among the poor and those too tired or ill-equipped to cook. It is the belly-filling standby of travelers and cabdrivers and office workers too busy to leave their desks. In American dorm rooms, ramen sustains the starving student.

I once wrote an article about women in prison who so longed to cook that they figured out ways to approximate the creativity of the kitchen while incarcerated. A favorite recipe was instant ramen noodles dressed up with items from the prison commissary: sliced Slim Jims and crushed Cheetos.

Instant ramen is now entrenched in popular culture. An emo-pop record label, started on a shoestring, is named Fueled by Ramen. There are books like “Chicken-Flavored Ramen for the Soul” and thousands of recipes dedicated to dressing it up. One company sells a little silicone figurine that holds down the lid of a ramen cup, changing color when the ramen is done.

But instant ramen’s essential appeal, beyond cost, convenience and kitsch, is that noodle soup is soulful and soothing.

“At the very basic level, however it was produced, you are getting hot soup and noodles, and that is one of the most basic comfort foods the world has ever known,” said the chef David Chang, who led a ramen revolution of sorts in Manhattan with his steaming bowls of fresh ramen at ’Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village. (And who, for the record, says his restaurant is not named after the founder of instant noodles, but rather because momo in Japanese means peach and fuku means lucky.)

Nutritionists and the diet-conscious have made instant ramen a noodle non grata. One packet contains about half the maximum amount of sodium anyone should eat in a day. And most versions are fried, sometimes with particularly unhealthy trans fat.

But attacking instant ramen donated to feed Japanese earthquake victims would be just wrong, said Mr. Chang. It’s still very cold in the north, and there was a recent snow. Although potable water is at a premium, those who can find a source of fuel might melt snow or ice to turn dried noodles into sustenance.

“You are not going to tell a starving person they can’t eat that,” he said. “Now is not the time. For the dire situation they’re in, I can’t imagine a better food.”

 

WSJ: No Cute Frills, Just Taste - Just Bento

January 13, 2011, 9:45 PM JST

No Cute Frills, Just Taste — Just Bento

A new book called “Just Bento” is just that – a guide to how to make Japanese lunchbox meals where the rice doesn’t smile back.

Kodansha International

Makiko Itoh’s “Just Bento” went on sale in the U.S. in December.

Japanese bentos, known as lunchboxes, have gained a global cult following, sometimes fostered by a syrupy cuteness in the dishes. Rice balls smile back, a hot dog is pan-fried into the shape of an octopus and a car is parked on a bed of lettuce. So “kawai,” or cute, have some of these bentos become that they have become more a shrine to Sanrio characters like Hello Kitty than to food itself.

But Makiko Itoh’s book “Just Bento” brings the focus back to the lunchbox basics: Creating a healthy, homemade meal (cartoon characters not included).

“So far I think the focus on bento boxes outside of Japan has been on the cute decorative bento,” said Ms. Itoh, a former web designer turned prolific bento blogger, in an interview with JRT. “I just wanted to tell people that carrying a bento box is a great way of carrying a homemade meal.”

Ms. Itoh’s book, which was released in the U.S. in December and published by Kodansha International, is an unintimidating introductory guide to the art of bento making. The approach is easy to digest and easy to follow, keeping to the tone that helped Ms. Itoh’s blog of the same name gain a big and loyal following. The first recipe, chicken and three-color pepper stir-fry bento, includes a how-to on fixing rice for the lunchbox, a different set of guidelines from if you were to cook a fresh bowl for dinner.

Flickr/Gamene Too cute to eat?

The recipe selection ranges from staple items like “tamagoyaki,” a type of sweet omelet, and the crowd-pleasing chicken “kara-age,” Japan’s version of the fried chicken. But for the days a rice-based bento doesn’t sing to you, the second half of the book is dedicated to Western influenced recipes, like deconstructed salade nicoise bento and the Mediterranean mezze-style bento.

Convenience is another focus in the book. Tips on how to cut down morning preparation time are sprinkled throughout, an approximate timeline on how long it will take to fix the menu accompanies each lunchbox concoction, and most ingredients can be found at the local grocery store.

But Ms. Itoh doesn’t starve the book of the cute factor entirely. Drops of flower-shaped carrots surround the mini-hamburger, and ham and cheese sandwiches come with bunny ears. After all, artistry and presentation is an essential part of the bento.

Follow Yoree Koh on Twitter @yoreekoh

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

WSJ: Mochi - New Year's Silent Killer

January 4, 2011, 3:04 PM JST

Mochi: New Year’s Silent Killer

On Saturday, a 66-year-old woman on the outskirts of Tokyo fell victim to a deadly seasonal hazard that lands dozens in the emergency room every year on January 1: sticky rice cakes.

Sticky rice cakes, or mochi, as the Japanese call them, are made by pounding the life out of glutinous rice and are a staple during the Japanese new year feast. The average Japanese consumes about 1 kg of mochi annually, most of which is eaten during the first week of new year, according to the mochi trade association website.

Rhosoi/Flickr Mochi served in a dish known as zoni makes it stickier and more deathly.

While harmless to most, mochi claims a handful of lives every year by getting lodged in the throats and blocking the airways of elderly eaters whose mastication abilities and saliva secretion may be weakened by age. According to the Tokyo Fire Department, this traditional food sends over 100 patients to the hospital every year in Tokyo alone—mostly aged 60 and over— half of which end up in serious condition or worse. Between 2006 and 2009, 18 people died from mochi suffocation in Tokyo, making it the leading food item to cause suffocation.

During the new year, consumption shoots up, as does mochi’s deadly viscosity—mochi is served submerged in hot broth as a dish known as zoni, making it stickier than it would be if prepared otherwise. Almost half of mochi-inflicted injuries in Tokyo occur in January. The Japanese media has reported eight mochi-related deaths in Tokyo in the first three days of the new year.

While these tragic yet preventable deaths are largely accepted as part of the New Year’s landscape, some are beginning to question the preferential treatment given to mochi. In 2008, fruit jelly with konjac yam powder was vilified after 22 people were reported to have suffocated from it over the span of 13 years. After much investigation involving doctors, dentists and engineers, the Japanese government decided last month that the shape and size of the fruit jelly should be altered. That the Food Safety Commission found mochi to be about 50 times more dangerous than konjac jelly seemed to have gone ignored.

With the reports of this year’s mochi death toll mounting, Japanese have bloggers are wondering out loud about the unfairness of mochi’s untouchable status. “The only reason why mochi isn’t regulated is because it’s a traditional food item,” says one blogger. “Is it just easier to pick on a limited number of konjac jelly makers, compared to countless mochi producers?” If bloggers get their way, Prime Minister Naoto Kan  may have one more sticky issue on his new year’s plate.

Read this post in Japanese/日本語訳はこちら≫

Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

ST: Soba so satisfying

Lifestyle

Home > Lifestyle > Taste > Story

Nov 14, 2010

Soba so satisfying

This noodle dish topped with mushrooms and flying fish roe makes light work of packing lunch to the office

By Tan Hsueh Yun, Hunger Management

Use at least three types of mushrooms to add texture and different flavours to your soba. -- ST PHOTO: LENNE CHAI

Although we have a fairly good canteen at work and a number of eating places around our office in Toa Payoh North, quite a lot of us bag lunch or dinner to work.

I suppose eating out all the time gets tiresome, and it is dead boring choosing from the same old things in the canteen.

When I take lunch or dinner to work, it's usually something simple - a sandwich or a simple stir-fry. Sometimes, I might assemble a salad or pack up some leftovers.

If I have been testing recipes for work, then I eat multiple versions of what I cook. This happens until I perfect the recipe or I get thoroughly sick of it, whichever comes first.

But one of my colleagues really takes things to the extreme. K's office meals are more like banquets that come in multiple, reusable boxes.

When she has mee siam for lunch, it is made from scratch. The noodles are in a separate box from the gravy and the limes have their own little container too.

She warms up bak kwa in the office toaster oven before eating.

The celery and carrot sticks she snacks on are cut precisely into slim batons and the sesame sauce she dips them in is from her favourite Japanese restaurant.

She looked at me disapprovingly last week when I ate a cold sandwich right out of the fridge. She would have toasted it perfectly so that even the middle bit would be warm.

I just shrugged. It was a mad Friday.

But really, I am in awe of her because I cannot summon all that enthusiasm when cooking just for one.

Sure, I have been through phases where I cooked elaborate meals for myself but truth be told, I get excited only at the prospect of cooking for others.

So when K asked recently if I wanted to try some soba she had made, I thought, oh, a simple meal?

I was pretty sure we were just going to dunk some cold Japanese buckwheat noodles into a dipping sauce spiked with some wasabi.

But of course, I was wrong.

Out came the boxes: One of cooked soba, one of sauteed mushrooms, one of toasted sesame seeds, one of tobiko or flying fish roe. Then there were two little bottles, one with soba dipping sauce in it, and the other filled with sesame seed salad dressing. There was also a packet of seaweed.

Using the boiling water dispenser and the microwave oven in the pantry, she whipped up a light, delicious noodle dish in just minutes.

The succulent mushrooms had been sauteed with gomamiso or miso paste with sesame seeds. And the flying fish roe, with their distinctive bright orange hue, were so fun to eat, bursting when I bit into them.

It is easy enough to reproduce at home and to make enough for company. Instead of seaweed, I use spring onions, and am planning to try shredded shiso leaves next time. Slim spears of asparagus, blanched, would be good too.

With so many kinds of mushrooms available in supermarkets now, try and use at least three different types, for texture and different flavours. I love white shimeji, firm Swiss browns and earthy shiitakes. Pearl grey oyster mushrooms are good too, as are slender willow mushrooms.

The recipe does call for many Japanese ingredients and all of them are available at the Isetan supermarket in Shaw Centre.

This is an unconventional way to eat soba, to be sure. Some Japanese people might be horrified. But the different textures and flavours make for a lip-smacking meal, whether for one or for many.

I guess I'll give those cold sandwiches a rest for now, and take something more interesting to work.

hsueh@sph.com.sg

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Mushroom mix in a basket: (clockwise from bottom) shimeji, shiitake and Swiss Brown

MAKE IT YOURSELF: MUSHROOM SOBA

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbs sesame seeds

500g mushrooms - mix of Swiss brown, button, shiitake, shimeji or oyster

1 Tbs vegetable oil

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 Tbs gomamiso

400g green tea soba

2 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

4 Tbs soba sauce

4 Tbs sesame salad dressing

4 Tbs tobiko

METHOD

1. Toast the sesame seeds in a small, non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Shake the pan a few times and watch that the sesame seeds don't burn. When they are a light golden brown, turn off heat, pour seeds onto a plate and set aside to cool.

2. Bring a large pot of water to boil.

3. Wipe the mushrooms with damp paper towels. If using shiitake or button mushrooms, remove the stems and cut each one into quarters. Quarter the Swiss browns. Cut off the root end of the shimeji, separate the mushrooms into small clumps. Chop oyster mushrooms into large chunks.

4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When the surface of the oil starts to shimmer, add the garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the gomamiso, mix well with the mushrooms, stir-fry for 3 minutes or until the mushrooms have softened. Turn off heat, pour mushrooms and pan juices into a large glass mixing bowl.

5. Add soba to boiling water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how chewy you like your noodles. Start checking after 4 minutes. Reserve about 250ml of the cooking water, drain noodles and add to mixing bowl.

6. Add spring onions, soba sauce and sesame salad dressing. Mix well with a fork and spoon.

If the noodles are too dry, add some of the reserved soba cooking water, 1 Tbs at a time to prevent the noodles from clumping up.

7. Divide the soba into four bowls, top each one with sesame seeds and 1 Tbs of tobiko. Serve immediately.

Serves four.

ST: So bad it's good

Lifestyle

Home > Lifestyle > Taste > Story

Oct 3, 2010

So bad it's good

When a craving strikes, even unhealthy fare like luncheon meat never fails to satisfy

By Tan Hsueh Yun, Hunger Management

Pair the humble luncheon meat with the stirfried egg and bittergourd, put in between burger buns and you get the delicious Chanpuru Burger. -- ST PHOTOS: BENJAMIN NG

 

Call me perverse but sometimes, in the middle of a healthy, refined and elegant meal, I start to think bad thoughts.

I could be eating sushi or maybe grilled fish and salad and visions of fried chicken or thick cut fries or roast pork would suddenly pop into my head.

Recently, in the middle of a very lovely kaiseki meal, I said to the friend I was dining with: 'Sometimes, when I eat this sort of food...'

'You want something unhealthy?'

See? I am not the only one. We went for Korean fried chicken afterwards.

Oh dear. And there's more.

One night while relaxing over drinks after work, my friends and I became very enchanted by the Spam Fries that Wild Oats, a bar at Mount Emily, serves. The batons of luncheon meat are fried till crisp. We dunked them into kaffir-lime flavoured mayonnaise, unable to stop ourselves.

And to think, we were planning to have just one drink each - no food, no nibbles - before heading home.

Since then, visions of luncheon meat have been popping into my head at all times of the day and night. I should shoot myself. What self-respecting food writer thinks about processed meat? Shouldn't I be yearning instead for grass-fed beef or pork from pigs that are fed an organic diet? But the belly wants what it wants.

I don't eat luncheon meat often but when I was growing up, my mother would sometimes fry slices of it for lunch, or make an omelette with it. Our family favours the Ma Ling brand and I like the firm, slightly chunky texture of it.

My favourite way to eat it is panfried and in a sandwich with slices of cucumber. Yes cucumber. Who am I kidding, right? But the crisp, green rounds, greasy meat and soft white bread (the kind I will never own up to eating) come together so deliciously.

Since it is useless to fight food cravings, I decided to give in to mine and make something that is both healthy and unhealthy: a Chanpuru Burger.

The idea comes from Okinawa, Japan. People there are said to live long because of a healthy diet that includes lots of vegetables, tofu, seaweed and fish. Chanpuru is a popular dish, a stirfry made with goya or bittergourd, and egg. Other ingredients might include pork, chicken and tofu.

Paradoxically, the Spam brand of luncheon meat is also popular in the cluster of islands in Southern Japan. It was introduced by the American troops stationed there. The Japanese add it to chanpuru and make onigiri or rice balls with it.

A fast food chain, Jef, came up with the brilliant idea of combining chanpuru and Spam in a burger, and I set out to copy it.

The important thing is to get the luncheon meat good and crispy. A round 400g tin will yield four good-sized patties, but if you want to be really, really bad, just slice it into three. Simply let the meat brown in a non-stick pan over medium heat.

Knobbly Japanese bittergourd is what the Okinawans use in chanpuru but sometimes, even Japanese supermarkets here don't stock it. I just use the local variety available in wet markets and most supermarkets.

If you wanted to, you could get an artisanal burger bun, but the soft squishy kind works best here. Slather it with what TV cook Paula Deen would call a 'gracious dollop' of mayonnaise spiked with ichimi togarashi, Japanese red pepper flakes.

The resulting burger is simply delicious - virtue and vice in every bite.

For those who cannot contemplate eating something like that, I've included a recipe for a straight-up chanpuru.

There is a catch of course. It has sliced pork belly in it.

hsueh@sph.com.sg

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MAKE IT YOURSELF: CHANPURU BURGER

INGREDIENTS

1 400g tin luncheon meat

1 small bittergourd, about 250g

2 Tbs sesame oil

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs sake

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 Tbs Japanese rice vinegar (optional)

4 Tbs Japanese mayonnaise

1/2 tsp ichimi togarashi (above) or to taste

4 hamburger buns

METHOD

1. Remove luncheon meat from the tin, slice into four equally thick rounds. Place in a large non-stick fry pan over medium heat. Cook until well browned, flip over and brown the other side. Place on a plate lined with paper towels, set aside.

2. Wash the bittergourd under running water, dry with paper towels. Trim both ends, cut the gourd in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and spongy core. Slice each piece in half lengthwise, then cut into thin slices crosswise.

3. Warm the sesame oil in a wok or medium fry pan over medium heat. Add the bittergourd, stir fry 2 minutes. Add salt and sake, stir fry another 2 minutes.

4. Add the beaten eggs, mix well with the bittergourd. Just as the eggs are about to set, add the rice vinegar (if using), give the mixture one last stir and turn off the heat.

5. In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise with ichimi togarashi. Slice the hamburger buns in half and spread each half with the mayonnaise mixture. Place one slice of luncheon meat on each bottom half of the bun. Divide the bittergourd mixture into four equal portions and spoon onto the patties. Cap each burger with the top half of the bun. Eat immediately.

Serves four.

VARIATION: CHANPURU

INGREDIENTS

1 medium bittergourd, about 400g

100g thinly sliced pork belly

1 square firm tofu (tau kwa)

3 Tbs sesame oil

1 tsp salt or to taste

3 Tbs sake

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 Tbs rice vinegar

METHOD

1. Wash the bittergourd under running water, dry with paper towels. Trim off both ends, cut the gourd in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and spongy core. Slice each piece in half lengthwise, then cut into thin slices crosswise.

2. Cut the slices of pork belly crosswise into 2cm pieces.

3. Halve the square of tofu and slice crosswise into 0.5cm pieces.

4. Heat the sesame oil over a large fry pan over medium heat. Add the pork, separate the pieces with a spatula or a pair of chopsticks. Stirfry about 1 minute, add the bittergourd and stirfry 2 minutes. Add the tofu, stirfry 2 minutes. Add salt and sake, stirfry another 2 minutes.

5. Add the egg and mix it in well. Just as the egg is about to set, add the rice vinegar, give the mixture one last stir and turn off the heat. Check for seasonings and add more salt if needed. Serve with rice.

Serves four.

Boing Boing: Sailor Moon bento box

Sailor Moon bento box

Cory Doctorow at 10:20 PM Sunday, Sep 26, 2010

 

This elaborate, kick-ass Sailor Moon bento box was created as an entry in a bento competition (<-- many other wonderful entries to be seen!).

The Most Amazing Sailor Moon Bento Box You'll Ever See (via Neatorama)

Boing Boing: Watermelons in the shape of cubes, hearts and pyramids

The Japanese never fails to amaze me with their quirkiness!

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Source: http://www.boingboing.net/2010/07/23/watermelons-in-the-s.html

Watermelons in the shape of cubes, hearts, and pyramids

Mark Frauenfelder at 3:07 PM Friday, Jul 23, 2010

There's nothing like the food emporiums in the basements of Japanese department stores. They are huge, free samples are offered, and the products are beautifully packaged and displayed. Many of the items are expensive (like $200 cantaloupes) but not everything is unaffordable.

On our recent vacation to Japan, we visited a few food emporiums for lunch and for snacks. I was eager to see first-hand a heart shaped watermelon (as posted on Boing Boing last year), and sure enough, I found one. What a beauty! And the price has gone down -- last year they cost $150, but this year you can steal one for about $100.

See my photos of watermelons shaped like cubes and pyramids after the jump.

WSJ: Tempting U.S. Palates with Fermented Soy

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

MAY 19, 2010

Tempting U.S. Palates With Fermented Soy

By YUKARI IWATANI KANE

SEBASTOPOL—Many Japanese shy away from natto, the slimy fermented soybean found in Japanese cuisine. Yet Minami Satoh is on a mission to get Americans to embrace the smelly food.

Last month, Mr. Satoh's company, Japan Traditional Foods Inc., officially launched its organic, fermented soybeans under the brand name Megumi Natto. (Megumi, which means "blessings," is a reference to natto's nutrients.) Operating out of a tiny factory here, Mr. Satoh now makes about 700 packages of fresh natto a day, which he sells for $2.95 to $2.99 for about three ounces.

Nuts for Natto

View Slideshow

Ariel Zambelich for The Wall Street Journal

Raw soybeans are stored before being prepared into natto.

• More photos and interactive graphics

"I want people to appreciate how deep Japanese cuisine is," says Mr. Satoh, 53 years old, who adds that if Americans like other forms of soybeans such as boiled edamame and tofu, then there must be a market for natto.

Natto is the latest Japanese food to try to find its way to the U.S. Many Americans already eat sushi, drink sake, and incorporate ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms and soba buckwheat noodles into their cooking. There were 14,000 Japanese restaurants in the U.S. in 2009, according to the Japan External Trade Organization, which has an office in San Francisco that helps increase awareness of Japanese foods.

But natto, identifiable by its brown color, gooey stringiness and musky, nutty scent similar to ripe cheese, could be a challenge for Americans to accept. Mr. Satoh is hoping that by coming up with new recipes incorporating natto—such as tomato-natto bruschetta—he can ride on the popularity of pan-Asian cuisine and entice people to try it.

So far, he is seeing mixed success. The Community Market in Santa Rosa says it started carrying natto three months ago and has sold three dozen packs so far. "They're selling really well," says Tess Herman, the buyer for the perishables department, considering that the natto packs are hard to find on a top shelf. Ms. Herman admits she herself doesn't care for natto.

Mr. Satoh acknowledges that his monthly revenue is tiny, at about $5,000. He invested about $400,000 to set up the U.S. operation and says he hopes to break even by the end of 2011.

One potential incentive for customers is the fermented legume's health benefits. Natto is packed with vitamins including the antioxidant Vitamin E, Vitamin B2 to improve metabolism, and a special enzyme called nattokinese to help dissolve blood clots. It's a popular diet food in Japan because it contains the same amount of protein as a similar serving of beef without the cholesterol or the calories: A three-ounce portion has 15 grams of protein and 178 calories. Frozen natto, mostly imported from Japan, has been available in Asian groceries in the U.S. for years. But Mr. Satoh's product is fresh, and he says it will keep in the refrigerator for more than a month.

Born and raised near Tokyo, Mr. Satoh used to run his father's steel-pipe company. In 2004, he invested in Yaguchi Natto, a small gourmet natto company in a neighboring prefecture. The company does about $2.6 million in annual sales, he says. Two years ago, Mr. Satoh decided to expand operations to the U.S. with the aid of a friend in Sebastopol, who helped popularize shiitake mushrooms in the country.

The Japanese-style factory in Sebastopol is small but pristine. Visitors are asked to take off their shoes and slip on light blue Crocs before entering the manufacturing and packaging rooms.

The natto is made by first soaking the soybeans overnight, then steaming them for about an hour. The steamed beans are sprinkled with powdered natto bacteria and placed in a special fermenting compartment. They are heated to about 100 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 hours, then rapidly cooled. The secret to good natto, Mr. Satoh says, is in choosing good beans and steaming them so they're not too soft or too hard.

In the factory, Mr. Satoh also makes another brand of natto that he sells at Japanese markets. In Japan, natto is commonly mixed with a little mustard and soy sauce and eaten over rice. But Mr. Satoh says he is trying recipes that might make it more appetizing for Americans. He has mixed it with olive oil and mayonnaise and tried it on bread, bagels and tortillas. He also recommends mixing it in Caesar salad dressing or with diced apples or avocados.

Mr. Satoh's long odds are evident at Ame. The Michelin-starred Japanese-inspired restaurant in San Francisco has offered Mr. Satoh's natto for the past year as a $2 option to add to a dish with cuttlefish, sea urchin and salmon roe.

"I've asked our wait staff to encourage customers to try it out because even if they don't like it, it's only $2 extra," says chef Hiro Sone. But even after the encouragement, only about 60% of the customers request it and most of them are people who were previously familiar with natto, he says.

Write to Yukari Iwatani Kane at yukari.iwatani@wsj.com

Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved

ST: Fried to a perfect crisp - Vodka Tempura

Lifestyle

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May 16, 2010

Fried to a perfect crisp

To get that satisfying mix of lightness and crunch, booze up the batter with vodka

By Tan Hsueh Yun, Hunger Management

Fry up a crispy slice of heaven by adding alcohol to the batter. -- ST PHOTO: BENJAMIN NG

Anyone who has ever watched British chef Heston Blumenthal torture a chicken on television while In Search Of Perfection, or read books by American cooking science experts Harold McGee and Shirley Corriher, or eaten foam, will know that cooking is as much a science as it is an art.

Most of the time, it is the artistry that captures my imagination. The science, not so much. There is a reason why I was an arts student all through school.

But sometimes that part of cooking can be interesting, especially when a scientific trick or two can result in crispier deep-fried foods.

From the avalanche of questions on the topic that this paper gets for the fortnightly Ask The Foodie column, it would seem that Singaporeans are obsessed with making and consuming extremely crispy fried foods.

Cooks have used all sorts of tricks to get fish and chips or tempura to turn out light and crispy. Nothing is as unappetising as soggy, oil-laden deep-fried foods.

So into the batter go ice cubes, fizzy water or beer, all of which are supposed to prevent the batter from sogging out.

But nothing works as well as hardcore booze, as I found out recently when testing recipes from Home Cooking With Japan's First Lady, a book by Miyuki Hatoyama, wife of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

She had an intriguing tempura recipe with a whiskey batter that worked very well. There was no added water in it, just booze. The only problem was that the flavour of the whiskey lingered and overpowered the prawns and scallops.

I decided to tweak the recipe using vodka, since the unflavoured kind tastes pretty neutral.

Making a batter with just alcohol sounds crazy and expensive, until you taste the crispy results.

In a 2007 article in The New York Times, McGee says that the alcohol dissolves some of the gluten proteins in the flour, preventing the crust from getting tough.

And since it also boils off faster than water, the batter 'dries out, crisps and browns quickly'.

So finally, a batter worth the mess, heat and horror of deep-frying.

This batter can be used for fish and chips and for calamari rings. The taste of vodka remains but it is not as strong as the whiskey.

In this week's tempura recipe, I have opted for shishito peppers, lotus root, red capsicum and shiitake mushrooms because I like these vegetables.

But thinly sliced carrots or sweet potatoes, asparagus spears, shiso leaves, lady's fingers and baby eggplant work just as well.

As for the prawns, you can prepare them yourself but I just buy tempura-ready ones from Japanese supermarkets such as Meidi-Ya. They are already deveined and straightened, and emerge straight as arrows from the deep-fryer.

There's just one caveat.

Science is not going to keep tempura crispy forever. The humidity in Singapore shortens the crunchy lifespan of fried foods.

So while the booze will prolong the crispiness of the tempura a little, the best thing is still to eat it almost as soon as it comes out of the fryer.

That is when the tempura is at its lightest, crispiest and most delicious.

Sogginess await those who, well, wait.

hsueh@sph.com.sg

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MAKE IT YOURSELF: VODKA TEMPURA

INGREDIENTS

For the dipping sauce:

500ml water

1 piece kombu measuring about 10cm by 10cm

8g bonito flakes

50ml Japanese soya sauce

75ml mirin

200g daikon

For the tempura:

12 prawns

4 shiitake mushrooms

8 shishito peppers (above)

1 small red capsicum

1 6cm-long piece of lotus root

For the batter:

200g plain flour

2 eggs

250ml vodka

Oil for deep-frying

METHOD

1. Make the dipping sauce: Pour water into a small saucepan. Place kombu in it. Leave to soak for 15 minutes. Heat the water until small bubbles appear at the edge. Remove pot from heat.

2. Add the bonito flakes, scattering them over the surface of the water. Let it sit for five minutes. Strain into a medium-sized bowl. You should have about 450ml of dashi. Discard kombu and fish flakes. Pour dashi into a clean saucepan, add shoyu and mirin, bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and set aside.

3. Peel and grate the daikon. Squeeze out the juice with your fingers, and discard the juice. Set daikon aside.

4. Prepare the tempura ingredients: Shell and devein the prawns. Make a series of shallow cuts on the underside of the prawn, straighten them, rinse and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Or buy tempura-ready prawns from Japanese supermarkets such as Meidi-Ya (above).

5. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and wipe the caps clean with a paper towel. Rinse the peppers, capsicum and lotus root under running water and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Cut the capsicum into quarters, remove the core and seeds, then cut each piece in half. Peel the lotus root and slice cross-wise into eight pieces.

6. Make the batter: Place the flour in a medium mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and crack in the two eggs. Mix with a spoon, adding the vodka gradually until you get a very thick batter.

7. Pour enough oil to fill about one-third of a deep, medium saucepan. Place saucepan on stove over medium heat. To find out if the oil is hot enough, stick a pair of chopsticks in. If small bubbles form immediately on the sides, it is time to fry.

8. Coat the prawns and vegetables with the batter (above) and slip into the hot oil in batches. Do not crowd the pan. Fry four or five pieces at a time. The tempura is ready when the batter turns a golden brown.

9. Drain tempura on paper towels as they come out of the pan. Ladle the dipping sauce into four bowls. Divide the tempura among four serving plates. Add a mound of grated daikon to each one.

10. Serve immediately, adding daikon to the sauce before dipping the tempura in it.

Serves four