Mother’s Day Celebration: Kushiyu May 11, 2008

Every year, a Mother’s Day celebration is a toss up between Kushiyu and a few other Japanese restaurants but the yakitori house in Tarzana won out this year.  And I’m glad it did.

I like the playfulness of yakitori, the Japanese skewers. It’s like eating fondue, expect contents of vegetable and protein are a little more nutritionally dense than a melted cheese and a piece of bread. These yakitoris are more of a casual eat in Japan – perhaps something you munch on while enjoying ice cold Sapporo at izakaya (Here’s the 411 on yakitori) – but Kushiyu, a popular Ventura Blvd. joint, somehow turned the Japanese pub food it into a chic, trendy staple of an upscale Valley community. It’s not uncommon to run into some celebrities here dining at a sushi counter.

But unlike those celebrities, I like to go straight to yakitoris and a few appetizers when I’m at Kushiyu (we don’t mess with sushi here), and I’m glad my family was up for it as well.

Oyster in curry sauce (front) and fried crab and shiitake mushroom (back)

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Crispy tuna (crispy rice topped with spicy tuna)

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Chicken and Vegetable Yakitori Combination
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Vegetable and Seafood Yakitori Combination

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Renkon (our favorite!)

Happy Mother’s Day, mom!  Thanks for everything and we love you! 

Kushiyu
18713 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, CA 91356
★★★★★

Simply Sophisticated: Seafood Risotto May 4, 2008

Risotto is like a great little black dress. It’s very simple to make yet it gives that feeling of sophistication and class, and is appropriate for any occasions – for a dinner party with friends, or on a lazy night like tonight.

I realized that I hadn’t cooked anything in a long time so I thought tonight would a great time to put on an apron (okay, I don’t do that), roll up my sleeves and slave over the stove for a fantastic supper. But the problem is, I didn’t really want to get down and dirty and also wasn’t crazing anything particularly extravagant (I think the recent heat wave in the Valley has gotten to me a bit. It’s been pretty hot lately, especially in the armpit of hell where I live) so I needed something simple and quick but still satisfies like a real, meaningful dinner. 

Remembering that I still had Arborio rice left from my last risotto attempt and some chicken broth in a pantry (yes, I don’t eat the flesh of the meat but I still freely consume animal products when it comes in a liquid form … haha), I decided to give this Italian comfort food another try.  Only this time, instead of mushrooms and pancetta, I made it with shrimps and scallops I had in a refrigerator.

If Risotto is a little black dress, La Cruset pot is like a wonderful pair of Jimmy Choo heels that completes the outfit. This lime green cast iron pot is magical, and there’s no other way to describe it. The way it makes chopped onion and carrots caramelize is nothing short of perfection, and it has a way of making the cooking process incredibly enjoyable.
With a glass of iced Riesling in her arm, my Risotto was definitely the talk of the party tonight.

 

Dude, Where’s My Food? Nobu Los Angeles March 27, 2008

 

(Excuse me, may we eat these peanuts? We’re still hungry.)

My mother always told me that Japanese food is meant to be savored with the eyes first, then the stomach. She certainly practices what she preaches because everything she prepares (even a little bento box she packs for father daily) is vibrant, playful and charming — a total visual and gastronomic treat.

My pals and I — craving something new and interesting – made a trip over the hill to check out the buzz surrounding Nobu in Los Angeles.  Located only a few blocks from the original restaurant that started the sushi revolution in Los Angeles, Nobu is the newest member of the Matstuhisa empire — and a perfect epicurean getaway for us foodies looking for a little fun in the city … or so we had hoped. 

We ordered several dishes to share as suggested by our server, and when plates arrived to our table one by one, I remembered the wise words of my mother.  Dishes at Nobu were definitely a feast to the eyes.  Just a quick glance at the beautiful Toro Tartar that resembled an abstract artwork proves the pride chefs put into presentation. 
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Toro Tartar with Caviar
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However, what Nobu forgot was the second part of the philosophy, that it should also be enjoyed with the stomach. I understand that the majority of the clienteles in a trendy restaurant like Nobu are size 2 models and actresses, but are you kidding me?  These dishes were way too tiny!  Especially for the price we’re dishing out for these plates, we would have loved to see something with a little more substance, than just a sprinkle of chopped fish for a full order of ceviche. We ended up ordering a couple bowls of steamed rice just so that we didn’t have to make a beeline to a nearby fast food drive thru after dinner.  I was even tempted to eat those peanut-looking lights hanging from the ceiling!

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Ceviche Nobu Style
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King Crab Tempura with Amazu Ponzu Sauce (the best dish of the night!)

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Yellowtail Sashimi with Jalapeno
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Black Cod with Miso
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Mixed Vegetable with Truffle Butter (the only dish with real substance, I thought.)
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Make no mistake about it – everything served at Nobu is fresh, tasty and fabulous, and the service is absolutely out of this world (I think there were more servers than customers there!).  And Nobu Matsuhisa is pretty much a culinary God.  His ability to use traditional Japanese ingredients like yuzu and mixing it up with South American (Peruvian) touches like jalapeno is nothing less than magical.  However, the magic was lost a bit by an unsatisfactory portion. Maybe it’s just me, that I don’t have much of an appreciation for trendy, pretentious, anorexic-portion-serving dining spots, but I think I would choose the generous portion of my mom’s bento box over this fancy meals any day, thank you very much.

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Nobu Los Angeles
903 North La Cienega Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
★★★☆☆

But the food alone gets ★★★★★

Vegetarian Feast for My Sister’s Birthday! March 18, 2008

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I’ve been meat-free for more than a month now and I’m happy to report that I haven’t cheated yet. I thought I wouldn’t last a week on this new diet but it seems like semi-vegetarian lifestyle actually suites well with me (I call it “semi” because I still eat fish. Come on, I can’t be that good!).
I hosted a birthday party for my sister the other day and presented a meat-free dinner to a skeptical crowd. Although we had a couple of meat-and-potato guys, dishes were a hit. Even the manly men enjoyed a fresh Nicoise Salad …
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Insalata Caprese …
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Crimini Mushroom with Gorgonzola Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes …
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baked pasta with cream sauce and Greek Salad.
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Happy birthday, Saori!

French Cafe for the Young at Heart: French 75 Bistro January 30, 2008

As a kid, I always hated getting stuck in the “kid’s table” at parties. You remember those tables, don’t you?  They were the ones in the dark corner where your parents stick you in with other smelly kids while they and other grown-ups indulged in good conversation and way better food than what we kids got.  While sitting on a cheap plastic chair and enduring annoying brats pulling my pigtails from each direction, I promised myself that I too will sit at the grown-ups’ table someday and enjoy a party with dignity.

Twenty-some years later, equipped with maturity (although questionable at times) and a bank account (if you can call it that), I now had the luxury to seat myself at a grown-up’s table with my grown-up friends.

The table we grown-ups selected tonight was in French 75 Bistro, a little French restaurant tucked away in the lobby of an office building in Burbank. We sat ourselves at the (fake) candle-lit bar and ordered fancy champagnes and cocktails, along with fancy appetizers. As I took a sip of Pomegranate Kir (a bubbly with pomegranate juice … yum), I realized that I had finally made it. I was not a kid anymore! I was da shit, ya’ll!  I was all GROWN UP! Hooray!

Then, on the way to the ladies room located in the back of the restaurant, all my beliefs came to a shatter. On the other side of the bar was a REAL French restaurant – an elegant, sophisticated, upper-class dining room where they served dishes like Filet au Roquefort and “Luxe,” (filet mignon and lobster beignet with béarnaise sauce) to people dressed up in fancy dresses – a far cry from the order of happy hour French Fries we were sharing at the bar. Here, in a pair of beat up jeans and raggedy sweater, I was once again back in the dark corner of the room.  I never felt more like a kid. 

But when I returned to the table and looked at my friends, I realized that this was where I belonged — at the kids’ table — and there was nowhere else I’d rather be. We were crazy, loud, playful, happy, carefree and completely childlike, and I loved everything about it. Maybe I’ll never become one those elegant, sophisticated, mature women that I always wanted to be, but that’s okay because the kid’s table is where the real fun is.

Check out what the kids ordered: 

Lobster Bisque with Sweet Paprika Cream

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Dungeness Crab Cake with Corn-Pepper Sauté, Spicy Provencale Aioli

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Spicy Tuna Tartare with Avocado, Crispy Sesame Wafers, Chile Sauce

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‘Bistro Burger’ — 8 oz. Ground Angus Sirloin on Toasted Brioche Bun with French Secret Sauce and Roquefort, Cheddar or Gruyere Applewood Smoked Bacon upon request

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Crepe

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Bread Pudding

 

French 75 Bistro
3400 W. Olive Avenue, Burbank, CA 91505
★★★★☆

A Guilt-Free Cookbook: The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger January 29, 2008

 

As much as I love to cook and bake, you’ll be surprised to see how little cookbooks I own. Cookbooks, for me, are serious business and I don’t take them lightly. Before a book can secure a coveted spot on my lovely Ikea bookshelf, it must undergo an extensive selection process. And although the criteria I set are fairly simple and straightforward, it’s surprising to learn how many books actually make the cut.

I know that we’re not suppose to judge a book by its cover but screw it, I do. The book must, above all, capture my attention immediately, or I won’t even open it. If the cover is not attractive, how good can the recipes inside be? Cookbooks are about food, and I savor food and books with my eyes first.

I’m not too critical about the amount of photographs inside though. Believe it or not, some of my all-time favorite cookbooks have absolutely no pictures in them. For me, the written words are as delicious, or even more decadent, than pretty glossies. Well-chosen words tell a beautiful story, recreate a special experience, and paint a colorful flavor in my mind. And that is a real treat.

Last but not least, I need to feel the love. The book must have passion, pride, inspiration, a defined point of view, and yes, love. It must also be something that has a tremendous meaning to the author. I don’t look at cookbooks solely as a source of good recipes but also as a dialogue between two people who love and respect food very much.

 

 

My latest cookbook acquisition is Ellie Krieger’s The Food You Crave, which focuses on recreating food we love and crave, only healthier. My ritual when I first bring home the baby is to sit down with a cup of tea, go through the book from cover to cover and mark all the recipes that I would like to try with little stickies. By the time I finished skimming through the book, I had marked more than 30 recipes! Everything in this book is fabulous, using fresh and healthy ingredients. I cannot wait to try Grilled Zucchini Roll-Ups with Herbs adn Cheese (pictured above), Crab Salad in Crisp Wonton Cups, and Portobello Panini with Gorgonzola and Sun-Dried Tomatoes!  How delicious, healthy and satisfying do these sound?  I really appreciate the fact that Krieger, a registered dietitian, included nutrition information on each dish too.

 

 

Well, speaking of healthy and satisfying, I prepared this huge bowl of salad for dinner tonight (serves 2 as dinner, 4 as appetizers). This did not come from Krieger’s book, but it was inspired by a couple of recipes she created that used some of the same ingredients. This is a combination of savory smoked salmon, tangy goat cheese, meaty sautéed Portobello and Shitake mushrooms, creamy cannelloni beans, red onion slices, capers and a vinaigrette dressing on a bed of baby spinach. I bought each ingredient with an intention of creating couple dishes, but I got lazy so I decided to throw everything in a bowl and call it a salad. Despite the sloppy exterior, the salad was absolutely divine, healthy and complete guilt free.

The Food You Crave

By Ellie Krieger

★★★★★

Her Food Network show, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger, is pretty darn amazing too! 

Best Sushi during Hibernation: Kobe Sushi January 28, 2008

I blame everything on the rain –  the traffic (which takes an hour to travel mere three miles); decrease in productivity (cold weather makes me absolutely lazy), unexplainable hunger (well, maybe that’s everyday for me)… everything. Thanks to the weeklong rain-fest in Los Angeles, I consumed extra 50 cups of hot chocolate (just to stay warm and cozy), spent extra few bucks on takeouts for dinner (who wants to go grocery shopping in pouring rain?), and spent the entire weekend in my pajamas (I can’t remember when was the last time I took shower … sorry, too much info there). It was a total unproductive, completely useless weekend for me.
What kept me alive was this lovely and friendly (and virtually unknown) Kobe sushi restaurant that I can dash to and bring food to go. Without this place, I would have just stayed in bed and starved to death. I had absolutely no desire to stand in the kitchen to cook, or put on clothes to go out to eat, so the takeout was the only option to keep myself adequately nourished as I hibernated like a bear in winter snow. 
Here’s what I brought home and enjoyed at a comfort of my own home as I listened to the rain drop from the window: saba (mackerel), salmon, yellowtail and ika (squid) sushi, and a spicy yellowtail hand roll (The usual. I’m a creature of habit). I’m not a huge fan of their rolls (say no to mayonnaise!) but the nigiris are simply amazing. Although noone seems to embrace this tiny, cozy place hidden in a corner shopping center as much as I do (maybe people just can’t find the place?), trust me when I say that it offers one of the best sushis around.

Okay, time to go back to bed now.

Kobe Sushi
22984 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills, CA 91367
★★★★☆

New Year, New Challenge: Bibimbap January 11, 2008

Look! I spent all day in the kitchen preparing this beautiful Bibimbap for dinner! Okay, I’m lying. These vegetables and marinated pork belly came in plastic containers, courtesy of a neighborhood Korean mega store. God bless them.
Although Korean cuisine tops as one of my all-time favorites (I would say my favorites are ① Japanese, ② Korean, and ③ Italian, in that order), I know nothing about how to prepare any of the dishes. The pungent spices used in Korean dishes are so mysterious to my taste buds that I can never decipher what is what. The fermented soybean pastes aisle at a store alone has rows and rows of selections (which makes my head spin) so I can imagine the complexity, depth and uniqueness of each of ingredient.
Learning a thing or two about how to cook Korean food definitely sits on top of my culinary “to do” list for 2008. I grew up eating Kimchi and Gulgogi but our family never made them at home so I’ve decided that I’m going to be the first one in the family to make my own kimchi! I found a kimchi recipe in a Japanese lifestyle magazine called Esse (I would say it’s a Japanse equivalent of Real Simple), and although it’s not Korean, I trust this recipe will deliver an authentic result. I’ll keep you posted : - )

Delicious Present: Pan-Fried Gyozas January 9, 2008

I still can’t believe Christmas is over. I mean, we spend many months preparing for the big day – shopping for gifts, writing cards, and arranging travel – and bam! it’s over. Just like that. And why is it that even though Christmas falls on the exact same day, every single year, and we still manage to get blindsided by how quickly the day arrives, especially when you’re not prepared? It makes me feel like the end result, although festive and heart warming, doesn’t match up to all the headaches and hard work you had to endure to get there.
There are some things, however, that are worth all the effort because the end result is so wonderful. To me, gyoza-making is one of those special exceptions where every ounce of effort is rewarded in every bite you take afterward.
These Japanese gyozas are so delicious that I willingly mix the cold ground beef with chopped napa cabbage and scallions with my own hands in the freezing kitchen and patiently wrap gazillions of these little dumplings (and make pretty creases). I even welcome the mindless, repetitious work (I actually find it enjoyable, which explains my knitting addiction) so making gyozas serve as somewhat of a therapy for me.

Traditional gyozas call for nira (chives) for filling but I usually substitute it by adding napa cabbage and scallions because they’re readily available. I personally like nira so much better and the cabbage and the scallions could not adequately replace the deep flavor of nira, but they still provide great texture to the gyoza.
Unlike the recipe that calls for dashi (fish stock), seaweed bits, flour or cornstarch, and any other special ingredients, our family recipe is quite simple. We just add finely chopped vegetables (water squeezed out) and ground beef together, and flavor the mixture with salt and pepper (preferably white), sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger and garlic. I sometime omit garlic because I like packing leftovers for lunch the following day and I don’t want to be socially unacceptable with the garlic breath.  I just add it to my dipping sauce made by combining soy sauce, rice vinegar and chili oil.

When all the gyozas are filled and wrapped, move them to a hot skillet and pan fry them with oil first. When the meat mixture is cooked (about 7 minutes on medium heat), crank up the heat to high and pour 1/2 cup of water and close the lid until the water completely vaporizes. This allows dumplings to steam, giving them the perfectly crunchy and moist texture. Just be careful not to put too much water, or you’ll end up with soggy gyozas.

What you get at the end of your patience and hard work are lovely presents wrapped beautifully in gyoza wrapper. These, for me, are so much better than gifts I find under the Christmas tree.

Flavor of Home: Spicy Albacore Hand Rolls January 8, 2008

I had been away from home for the last few days and although I’d been fed pretty well during that time, my body was craving for something home-y, particularly something with soy sauce in it (I’m so Japanese). I remembered that I still had a piece of albacore that my boyfriend caught in a freezer so I decided to make spicy albacore hand rolls for dinner. It was perfect because the preparation was quick and simple, and it certainly satisfied my soy sauce and steamed rice cravings!
I absolutely adore mayonnaise and I put a dollop of the smooth, tangy mayo on pretty much anything but there’s one place even the heavenly spread is off limit and that is in a spicy fish mix. Many sushi restaurants prepare spicy tuna and other rolls by adding mayo to the fish mixture, and while it provides the rich creaminess to the overall texture, I find that the distinct flavor of the fish that makes the rolls so delicious gets lost in it. I even think it’s the restaurants’ ploy to disguise the flavor of the fish that are past the expiration date or close to going bad (I’m just saying). I think there are so many other ways to heighten the flavor of the mixture without jeopardizing its integrity.
I made mine by mixing finely chopped scallions, grated garlic and ginger, sesame oil, chili oil (ra yu), a dash of soy sauce and a bit of miso paste with chopped albacore. I smashed the albacore and incorporated all the ingredients by using the face of a knife. The chili oil should give enough heat but if you can handle more, a several squirts of Sriracha should do the job. My boyfriend is the one who recently introduced me to the idea of putting miso in it and it certainly stuck with me.
I made sushi rice by adding sweet rice vinegar to steamed rice and I wrapped the rice and the albacore with seaweed for a homemade sushi roll.

It sure is nice to be home : - )