30 Apr 2013
by scolgin
in Cooking Tips, Food, Humor
Tags: cooking, dining, food, lunch, Sapporo, sushi, toro, uni, wine
It was a Sunday morning. My wife had taken the kids to church, and I was alone in the house. I spent some time chasing a guinea fowl in the yard, but failing to catch it, returned inside to do the responsible thing: pick up toys and clutter. I hadn’t gotten far into my chores, however, before the kitchen called.
Lunch with myself
Shifting things around in the fridge for inspiration, I remembered some toro and sea urchin I’d purchased at the Japanese market a few days before and hadn’t used yet. With dinner plans for the evening and time running out on the freshness clock, it was now or never. So I got out the short grain rice and began rinsing it. More
13 Jan 2013
by scolgin
in Food, Humor, Recipes, Starlets, Yoga Students & Quinoa (stories), Video
Tags: citrus, fish, hamachi, Hass avocado, Japanese cuisine, Ponzu, sashimi, sushi, yuzu
About seven or eight years ago, I was making Japanese food at our previous home in West Los Angeles. I had a rare delicacy — a yuzu fruit, a small Japanese citrus that, on the odd occasion you can find it, sells for about $3-$4 a fruit. Yellow and wrinkly, about the size of a lime, it is filled with seeds, and you’re lucky if you get a few drops of the pungent, floral juice from within. More useful is the aromatic zest, which the Japanese will shave over tempura, use to brighten sauces and fold into dishes both savory and sweet.
Koi pond, bamboo, afternoon sun & yuzu tree
I have no recollection what I did with the yuzu that evening. But what I do remember is planting several of the seeds in a pot outside in the garden the next morning. A couple weeks later, I had a few bright green seedlings which somehow over time became reduced to one gawky, spindly little yuzu tree. More
23 Oct 2012
by scolgin
in Food, Humor, Observations, Recipes
Tags: drinks, japan, Japanese cuisine, Mansion of Dreams, Miyazaki, recipe, sake, spirits, sushi
When I was a lad, saké was something warm and exotic we drank at the local sushi bar that served underage kids. Not ones for moderation, we used to do something called a “saké bomb,” where we would drop the small ceramic cup of hot saké into our glass of beer, and then down the whole thing.
Saké Still Life (with Sushi Knife)
I remember once, several bombs in, I chucked a California roll at my friend Pat, sitting a few seats away. It hit him on the forehead and fell into his saké-and-beer. He lifted the glass, drank the bomb and ate the roll at the bottom in one epic gulp, and we all applauded. More
10 Jul 2012
by scolgin
in Eating Out
Tags: food, Hannosuke, Japanese cuisine, Kaneko, Mar Vista, Mitsuwa, sushi, tempura, tendon, tokyo
“They may have tasted good sushi in the United States of America, but chances are they have never encountered authentic superb tempura.” — A sign promoting the opening of the first Hannosuke America
When I was in Tokyo, one of the things that impressed me was the profusion of restaurants, counters and stands devoted to a single particular type of food. There were of course sushi bars. But there were also tempura bars. And there were joints serving only chicken on skewers, and others serving only chicken hearts, gizzards and tendons on skewers. There were shabu shabu places, sukiyaki places, places that served horse, places that, sadly, served whale.
The legendary Mr. Hannosuke-san
One of my favorite meals in Tokyo was the dinner I had for my birthday with friend Joe at the tempura bar in the New Otani Hotel. I didn’t know tempura could be served at a bar, nor that it could be so good. More
15 May 2012
by scolgin
in Observations
Tags: America, atkins, Claim Jumper, dieting, Diets, food, Nathaniel Parker, pritikin, sushi
My wife has a revolutionary diet philosophy. She calls it, “Eat less, move more.”
Such a simple idea. But I think most Americans do not want to eat less. Or move more. After all, there is a lot of food to be eaten. And a lot of TV to be Tivoed.
Dinner at Claim Jumper, Reno, NV
I can never understand why eating until you’re stuffed is considered an American virtue. Perhaps it has its origins in surviving the Great Depression. Like, you better eat all you can while it’s in front of you, because one day it might not be. But when I eat until I’m stuffed, I don’t feel very good. I can feel my heart struggling in my chest to keep up with the digestive tract’s demands. After a meal, you should feel like taking a pleasant walk, not lying down. More
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