My students and I say good-bye!

Here's a great group of folks saying "See you around!" as I end up my stay at Griffin And Sabine English school. It's been a fast and fun 8 1/2 years, but time to move on and try something else!

Thanks kids!

This blog is in serious danger of becoming another Japanese food blog and that was not the original intention. It's supposed to be curmudgeonly! You can see there are links to my other photographic excesses elsewhere on this page. I want to step away form my "ode to gluttony" and discuss something very dear to my heart.

I came to Japan in 1987 to "pick up Japanese and study Aikido", naively thinking that 2 yrs would suffice. In those days if I didn't like a place I moved on. In other words I was single. The economic bubble was about to burst and all were happy in a fool's paradise. Even then there were grumblings about shinjinrui or "new human beings" referring to the younger generation-that group of people who made up the second post war generation. I dismissed a lot of that in those days as simply generational grumblings that have existed since the beginning of the industrial age and perhaps before that.The "bubble" is now a distant memory and the current generation of "crumb grabbers" are spoiled grandchildren of the aforementioned shinjinrui.

I have no problem with the fact that currently Japanese are not having enough children to replenish the current population level. I think it's a good thing and would encourage the rest of the world to follow this example. Less people require less workers in agriculture and food production. As Martha Stewart used to say, "It's a good thing." Besides, what pampered little darling trundling off to first grade next month with a $300 leather backpack will want to harvest rice or stand on the deck of a whaler and go toe to toe with future eco-nuts?

The problem with the current crop of kiddies -here it comes the old gray beard dumping on the younger generation- is that their parents and grandparents have never experienced privation and fear of sudden death at all. They have no one to tell them stories of how tough life can be. Of course every year in August there are TV specials about the war, but my guess is that these kiddies won't be seeing them as they will be too enthralled with other media.

This is a society that values cuteness and gluttony. If you can stand it, try watching Japanese TV for a day. How many shows do you see where the key words are "cute" and "delicious"! I have no problem with that, but how is the younger generation going to get any idea of the real problems of the world.

So next month, when you see the fresh crop of first graders in their little yellow hats and ridiculously expensive rucksacks, be sure to exclaim in a loud voice, "kawaii" or "cute"!

A Trip To Shiki in the Dead of Winter

January and February are bad months in the restaurant business; bad for the owners; good for customers who battle cold weather and depleted bank accounts after New Year's madness. Shops have very few customers and rely on a few New Years parties to staunch the flow of red ink. My wife and I stopped by "Shiki" one day after she got off work to see the chef, take a few pictures with my new camera and enjoy some sashimi. The photos you see on the right are of the interior and a wonder platter of lightly grilled scallops paired with raw spotted prawns known as "Ama Ebi" or sweet shrimp in Japanese.

We were lucky enough to be able to chat at length with the chef who has the very colorful hobby of raising Japanese ornamental carp. It seems that no two fish are exactly alike as he showed us a magazine with many pictures of these expensive beauties,

Soon spring will be upon us and I'm sure his business will pick up.

So if you plan to travel to the tip of the Chiba peninsula and would like

try the fare at Shiki, let me know and we can make all the arrangements!

I'm posting this for the first time via Picasa and will apologize in advance for any strangeness that results.

Bon Apetit!

Akihabara's Linux Cafe and Star Keba

Everyone has their routines and preferences and my son and I are no different when we visit Tokyo. As many of you already know, we are dedicated techno dweebs of the first order and it should be of no surprise that we like to stay close to “otaku” heaven in Akihabara. Actually we stay in Ochanomizu at a small hotel adjacent to Kanda Myojin which overlooks “Akiba”. Checkout time at the hotel is 10:00 and most shops in that area don’t really get going until 11:00 so we generally hang out at “Cafe Solaria” aka “Linux Cafe” located one block off the main drag in the shadow of the new black office building on the main corner in Akiba. The coffee is good there and they have patio tables facing the street which make for good “maid” watching as they bounce to work.(Not recommended this time of year as it’s too cold to sit outside). My son, famed carbohydrate killer, also enjoys their pastries.
If we arrive in Akiba directly from Tokyo station and it’s near lunchtime we generally head for “Star Kebab” which is located an Ichiro Suzuki baseball throw from the aforementioned Linux Cafe on the same street.
“Star Kebab” started out as street vendor a few years back selling what the Turks call “Donner Kebab”, the Greek “Gyros” and the Levantine Arabs “shwarma”. Did I leave anyone out? Basically it’s finely sliced meat stacked on a vertical rotisserie and slowly cooked as it rotates. I fell in love with these in Jordan and Syria back in the day as they were, cheap, filling and delicious-although of suspect sanitary standards. At “Star Kebab” 1 sandwich is equal to about 3 in volume if compared to street vendors in Damascus. I enjoyed the selection in the Middle East as you can get beef, chicken and my favorite lamb.

My son’s favorite is the “donburi” rice bowl with the kebab meat topping and yogurt sauce and we prefer to eat in the shop so I can enjoy a nice cold draft beer with my sandwich. The service is friendly and multilingual-Japanese, English and Turkish.
“Star Kebab’s” success has spawned several other take away joints in Akiba, but I prefer making the walk to their shop.
So, if you ever get to Akihabara before the rush begins, I recommend “Solaria”, aka Linux Cafe for a light breakfast and “Star Kebab” for hearty fare at lunchtime.

Happy Year of the Tiger!

In a short time it will be 2010, a year of the tiger. I thought it appropriate to post a woodblock print of a bald guy with a tiger.(ukiyo-e, by Utagawa Kuniyoshi).
I would characterize 2009 as the cow it was. Other than the US electing it's first afro-american president, I can think of nothing really outstanding.
In sports for us in Japan the top stories were about baseball. Starting in the spring with Team Japan's second victory in a row of the World Baseball Classic, followed by Ichiro Suzuki breaking an ancient record by hitting safely more than 200 times for 9 years running, and finally Hideki Matsui became yet another Japanese MVP in the World Series of American baseball.
Personally, in 2009, I developed cyber friendships with people all over the world via Twitter. I can't thank everyone who improved my life this year via links, personal messages and witticisms!
My greatest fear is that I would omit someone. So you guys know who you are! Thank you, ありがとう, Gracias, Merci, شكرا, 谢谢.
As for 2010, MMX, I hope that all will have good health and enough fortune that you will feel compelled to aid those in need. I wish you peace on one hand, but on the other hand the words of Billy Joel at the end of a concert in Gainesville, Florida, decades ago also ring true, "Don't take any shit from anyone, Gainesville!"

Sincerely,
Your hardheaded uncle(Gankojiji)

Simon O

Lunch and Dinner of Champions!

Wheaties may be billed as the “Breakfast of Champions” and that maybe true or not, but in the world of sumo and in our house Chanko nabe is the meal of champions.

First I must say that nabe mono is one of the few endearing benefits of winter. In my heart, good hearty comfort food is the ONLY good thing about winter. But for the uninitiated nabe simply means pot.(I’ll not tell you what it means in street Japanese). In the case of nabe mono it means an earthenware pot. Often translated as “hot pot”, the translation fails to express the richness and warming qualities of nabe mono.

There are many blogs, photos, and recipes of hot pot cooking on the web so I’ll let your fingers do the browsing. We enjoy chanko nabe as it is the famed food eaten twice daily by sumo wrestlers. I have seen them belly up for breakfast at the McDonalds in Ryokoku since they generally don’t get breakfast at their stable.(If they win their bout of the day they can get free burgers after the match at this shop) Suffice it to say there are as many different varieties of nabe mono as there are cooks in Japan. I am sure that there will be more pictures of vegetables and meat bubbling in broth on my food blog and Flickr before the winter is over.

Going out for a nabe mono dinner can be quite expensive and the best shops are often run by former sumo athletes thus driving up the prices. For a family night out a trip to a chanko shop is hard to beat.

Japanese Country Cooking; beyond sushi!

A friend, a sushi chef, once said to me that if I returned to my country, I’d starve. I laughed and told him that Japanese food was pretty much available in the “civilized” parts of my country. But thinking about this I realized that I was wrong. Sure, there are sushi shops in the wilds of West Virginia and “Japanese” restaurants in many landlocked areas. But as for quality “country cooking”, fresh ingredients just aren’t available-not to mention qualified and experienced kitchen help.

When I first arrived in Japan I was often served small plates of unfamiliar, shall we say, “goodies”. Training and upbringing taught me to eat whatever others around me ate and afterwards inquire to what it was. Of course there were times when I regretted that first bite. Culinary adventures they were, but nothing like appendages of sheep or simian sauté(another story)!

I’d like to introduce you to some of the items that I have grown to enjoy including more informative links that will give you greater detail.

I first experienced “fougere de mers” or “undaria pinnatifidia” in grad school before coming to Japan. In an attempt to make “ichiban dashi” http://www.bob-an.com/recipe/dailyjc/hints/dashi/dashi.html for Japanese soup I succeeded in smelling up my basement apartment with the aroma of low tide.

“Wakame” http://www.physorg.com/news77201733.html is cursed by it’s English name “seaweed” but is an integral ingredient in Japanese cooking. It’s off shoot “mekabu” http://www.nilab.info/cheapjap/000920.html and more at http://epicureandebauchery.blogspot.com/2009/03/terms-mekabu.html was introduced to me by my wife as a healthy way to lower cholesterol. It looks pretty dreadful, but it is quite tasty.

Now that cold weather is here I enjoy “arctium lappa” or burdock root http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_burdock in my soba and “oden”. This relative of the Deadly Nightshade plant is quite delicious and has been used extensively in Chinese medicine and is supposedly this source of origin of “velcro”. Harvest this plant at your own risk!

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other slimy yet tasteful addition to buckwheat noodle(soba) soup. “Yamaimo” or “Dioscorea opposita” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dioscorea_opposita is a yam and is grated and added to the noodle soup at presentation.

Time and your patience with this blog are running out so I will leave other highlights of Japanese “country cooking” for another date.

I have given the Latin names primarily for my readers who live in Japan and often are asked by bleary eyed bar patrons how to say these dishes. Unless they are serious students and taking notes at the time, I like to give them the Latin(if I’m in condition to remember). I enjoy the look of dismay as I say “Discorea opposita”. I feel like Harry Potter invoking a curse!