Mariko Konno’s Blog

I do not fancy sweets much.
I am a woman though, there is always exceptions to rule right?
However, how can I resist to awe and wow when you see this!

A window full of colours!

I get sick from raising my sugar level but I do appreciate art of colour and design.
And no, I did not take this at an atria,  but I tool this at Kyoto station!

What a work of art! This is pure professionalism. So neat.

Thank God we had an excuse to try out few of these because it was Christmas!!!

I may sound dangerously patriotic but I believe that Japan offers one of the best food.

But where did that come from? We sure did not have a lot of food back then (like, B.C. back then). We were such a skinny country that grew nothing much.
Today, Japanese beef is undeniably the best beef you can find but we did not always have it.
Even rice, oh the Japanese rice.
Unless you hate the starchy rice you must love the Japanese rice. We did not have rice till the Chinese generously taught us the know-how of cultivation.
Thank you guys!!

I think with us it is all about kaizen, or improvement.

Because we did not have much, we improved on what little we had.
And that spirit persisted after we has the luxury of availability of raw material.
I think that’s a beautiful thing.

One more thing we are known for is the “strange” things we eat.
AND NO. WE DO NOT EAT WHALES AND DOLPHINS. So please stop saying that, it makes you sound silly.

In one of the first dates, Robert proudly said that he once tasted jelly fish but I just didn’t know which part I was supposed to be impressed by. Then I find out it was the “jelly fish” part.
I then kind of realised our differences.
We eat jelly fish all the time! I don’t know who ate it first, but people must not have had much food and just decided to eat jelly fish that someone accidentally caught one day.

Anyway, I hope this convinces you to stay with me when I introduce some of the lovely food we eat which you might find…. unusual.

We eat these guys…

What do you think?
I know some people think we are cruel and vicious to eat these cute creatures but I try to compensate it by not eating meats other than organic chicken.
I heard that cattle (apparently these guys are on the farty side) exhaust more CO2 than all types of automobile put together.
I have no source of this though.
But provided this is true, we will decrease the CO2 emission but eating less beef.

Robert was stubborn and did not believe that we eat all of the above creatures till he went to Japan.
He loved most of what he was served so I am happy that he is less skeptic to try new “creatures”.
But one dish that I had to push just a little knot is this.

Chicken Sashimi.
Yes, we eat almost everything raw!
But please, believe me, it is so delicious and its texture is just inexplicable. And do not think it is going to kill you.
I bet you, that this chicken is much cleaner than the ones you eat.
Otherwise they would not dare serve it, would they?
You can also tell it is very clean because there is no “animally” smell.
Plus, we eat this dish with wasabi, which is so stringent that it will kill any possible *germs*.

One rule of thumb is, never, never, ever eat at Japanese restaurant that looks kind of dodgy…
Well, you can, but it is best to stay away from raw food.

Enjoy!

If you talk about the most Japanese Japan, Kyoto would have to rank in.

Kyoto, once a capital of Japan during Edo era, is a province where many temples and shrines are reserved. Kyoto is known for its beautiful architectures and food.
Robert has never been to Japan. One would have to show him Kyoto first.

So here we are, in Kyoto, we are at very prestige hotel called Yachiyo.  They served us traditional Kyoto cooking…

To every single person on this planet. Have a very merry Christmas xxx

I am not much of a meat eater, but I love chicken.
Maybe because I was born in the year of Rooster (well, Chinese people like to call it a Phoenix, but I’m good with just the ordinary chuck).

Every since I was taught how to make roasts I have been making it like a mad person. I make it because it is so fun and so easy.
No wonder English people like to have roasts on Sundays, they really don’t have to do much!

We love food but all these lavish eating frenzy have started to (for a while now) show in our waists (but sadly for me and thankfully for Robert, never around the chest).
After a discussion, we have decided to go on a diet, yet again. But this time on a serious one because the scale showed the sign of horror number 5! I try my utmost best not to go anywhere beyond 50kg but this morning I was 100g away from that. If I had a pint of beer now that would be it!!! We must go on a diet! Christmas is coming! New Year is coming!! It’s the only time of the year you should skip the calorie counting!

Robert has lost nearly 20kg from Herbalife shakes so we decided to try that from today on. We have shakes instead of breakfast and lunch and have one meal for dinner. Sounds terrible, doesn’t it? I am not really into this because for one, I do not eat breakfast and for two, I believe the biggest meal of the day should be lunch, not dinner. My problem is, I do not have time to complain about any of these. We will be leaving for Japan in 4 days, and eating must start again! I need to lose 2, ideally 3kg in 4 days!!!

I thought I would toss about in hunger and anger but at 4:35 in the afternoon, I am quite alright!
This might work.

Since we can eat as usual for dinner, I am making a roast tonight. I learnt this recipe on some Japanese TV. It is bizarre, but you must believe me, it is GREAT.

You will need;

Whole chicken (neck must be chopped off)
A can of beer (bitter one is better but Robert is Dutch so I had to use Heineken :] )
Brussels sprouts
Half a lemon
Olive oil
5 cloves of garlic
Handful of Basil
1 Tablespoon of rosemary
Oregano orano herb of your choice
Black pepper and salt

I first boil some water and heat the can of beer. while that is being done I wash vegetables and clean the chicken. If your butcher is kind enough to leave the neck and guts, put it aside, do not throw it away. I place the sprouts and citrus on the heat resistant plate and start mushing the garlic, basil, rosemary, salt and olive oil together. I am quite generous with the amount of oil here because the beautiful oil that contains herb extract will be poured into the beer that will be roasted with the chicken. If you do any cooking at all, it is worthwhile having your own garden, even if you do not have a garden or balcony. I do not have neither but the herbs grow happily in the apartment. All they need is adequate sunlight and water.

I need you to be very careful here. Take the can of beer and open it in the clean sink. The beer will overflow and it is hot so be careful, ideally let your man do it. throw a quarter away, pour the beautiful oil I was talking about and place it in the centre of the plate. In the past I have massaged the chicken with the oil, but it does not work here. You are about to know why now.

Now, very, very carefully insert the bottom of the chicken onto the can. Do not laugh because it is good. Toss the remaining garlic and herbs onto sprouts, oregano and black pepper, put the neck or guts in if you have them, and in the shameful position, the chicken is roasted for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I am sure her mother expected her to be cooked in a more dignified way, but you must be sure to really stick her butt into the can well so it will not tip over in the oven.

What happens is that the hot beer in the oven bubbles away (this is why you heat it first) and through the neck basks or coats the chicken (this is why you cut off the neck). The beer makes the skin crunchy while alcohol tenderises the meat. How smart. The reason why you should not massage the chicken with oil is because it defeats the whole purpose as the oil does not allow beer to get into the chicken.

While chicken is rocking, our sweet Scruffy offers himself…

We use a microwave oven so I try to stay as far as possible from it, because I have a great phobia for electromagnetic, but for this roast I like to watch the chicken sweat with beer.

And this is what you get!

Skin is crispy and the meat is unbelievably soft. And make sure you keep the left-over in the fridge (ideally breast) because it makes awesome sandwich the next day! Yum!

Catching up with friends is great. Catching up with busy friends is Great!!

For the first time in months I was able to have a sit down dinner with a couple friend and Robert met them for the first time.
My girlfriend is Japanese and her husband is American. Robert is Dutch so it was quite an international night.

We gathered at our favourite Japanese restaurant in Desa Sri hartamas called Rakuzen where my friend works as a head chef.
He is such a sweet man and so he decided to put the boys on test.

Hardcore Japanese night indeed.

We ordered omakase, which is a chef’s recommendation. We leave it totally up to him and he serves whatever is freshest and in season.

What we had was:
Mizuna and Salmon roe salad
Sashimi platter
Ankimo (Monkfish Liver pate)
Shirako (fish testis) Gratin
Grilled Hatahata (Sailfin sandsifh)
Loads of sushi and LOADS of SAKE

Yes, it is full of fish. And most of them very rare that even in Japan they are hard to come by.
I guess it is not hard to imagine that we had to do a bit of persuation to get the boys to eat, especially the fish testis.
But how, they loved it! I think the gratin did the job. It is difficult to ignore the allure of creamy sauce and crunchy cheese melted on top.
Since Robert loved it so much, I thought I could get him to eat something that he is not so fond of: Oysters.
This recipe is so simple as well that one could cook after work or house chores.

So I had;

200g of Penne (for 2 people)
Tin of smoked Oysters
Large Onion, halved and sliced, separated
Aubergine, sliced
Milk
Flour
Parsley
Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese, or any kind
Coriander, black pepper and salt to taste

I put half of onion and aubergine into the oven after drizzling some oil from the oyster tin and let them grill for about 30 minutes, while cooking the pasta and making the white sauce. When the pasta is cooked, I place the other half of onion on the bottom of the strainer so onion could be steamed by the pasta water. I made the white sauce without butter because Christmas is coming do I have to watch my weight. Simple heat the milk, off the heat and mix the flour into it. at the end, throw some parsley and coriander, black pepper and salt in. When that was done, I combined the sauce and the pasta and tumbled them on the grilled vegetables. Then place the smoked oysters on top, grate generous amount of cheeses and Grill it for 20-30 minutes.

This was exceptionally good and as a result, we had to fight for oysters. I learnt something today. Sometimes it is good to like something the partner dislikes to maintain harmony. I hope he still thinks fresh oysters are yucky.

Our kitty Scruffy goes to the vet for the second booster and leukemia booster.

He is growing in front of our eyes, and these days I often cannot trace the kitten face in him.
But when he is scared or uncomfortable, he sinks his face in between our arms, holding on to us. This is when we can see the baby face in him.

Since he came to our home, we have been with him all the time and rarely kept him alone. We have postponed holidays and been eating in a lot more. This week, we will leave for Japan for almost 3 weeks for Christmas and new year, and I am a little worried how he will take that. On top of that, it beats me that he will spend Christmas on his own.

I hope we will be able to travel everywhere in the near future.

Pinnacle of fine dining I think is fusion French and fusion Japanese. But often these are quite similar.
I am not so good at enjoying rich, cream-full dishes but I do not have to worry about that with fusion French.

Today, Robert decided to surprise me with the restaurant we have never been. It is The Third Room at Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur.
I have been here for business dinner but needless to say, that is different from having a romantic dinner with your partner.

Since we are in a place new, we decided to try a new wine. Chateau Labecorce Marcoux.

What I thought was interesting this night was that many things were new to us. I have never had creamy scallop. It was fluffy and creamy and gorgeous, but certainly recreatable at home. I suspect it’s a simple blended scallops with beaten yoke and well mixed fresh creme. Wonderful castle of tongue melting dreams.

Yes, the season has come, the truffle.
On this petite risotto is the generously sprinkled truffle, making a quick but tight friendship with our liquid counterpart.
Some may say it’s strange but I am crazy about black pepper. Only the fresh, strong one will do the job, and I like to always overdo with it a bit.
Black pepper here was excellent. I would like to come back to this restaurant just because of this.

I told you in the beginning that fusion French and Japanese have some similarities. Well, after all, that is why they are fusion.
On top of this huge slice of Salmon is the popular and old school thing called Yukari, which is a dried Perilla frutescens or Shiso. As a kid I used to sprinkle this on rice. I wonder how the French found this really old school thing that even most of us Japanese forgot, but this sweet-sour basil-like herb on fatty salmon is a smart combination, I got to say.

The main course of the day was Cod, but it was so good that we swallowed it before I could reach to the camera, so I took a shot of these gorgeous chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream. How rich. I really prefer to look at them than eat it.

I know that I should stay up for at least 3 hours or even 4 hours for heavy meal like this, but after having almost all of the wine to myself, Robert had to carry me home…

Robert and I both love crustacean and thank God, we always somehow crave for it at the same time.

You should never eat crabs just with your partner, not because you want to deviate attention and hide your unsightly greasy fingers, but simply because you want to order many dishes!

We have a perfect friend for this so we grabbed him and off we go to the infamous crab joint Fatty Crab.

I would normally run away from fried chicken but the waiter said that they are exceptionally good so we decided to skip the calorie count and ordered it as an appetizer.

Appearance aside, they are actually really good. Underneath crunchy skin is the tender tender meat. Quite addictive.

Then we have the crabs with chili and Satay. Crabs were tiny but wonderfully succulent. Its kicking flavours encourages you to have another sip of beer. They are the golden complementary products of all. Satay is chicken or beef skewers, very Malaysian and much loved locally and globally (except by me, they are horrendously greasy for my liking). You have to try the peanut sauce (left on pic) and rice cake (next to Satay) that come with it though.  extraordinary flavour, extraordinary texture.

Then there is the prawns. Actually I did not really enjoy the vibe at this restaurant as they have very limited selection (with no vegetables at all) and snobbish attitude, but these prawns absolutely blew my mind. I believe they are simply deep-fried prawns but  there is something about the oil… possibly something addictive. We had to order another one.

I have to say this restaurant is very unique (especially with the attitude). No vegetable, no fruits and no alcoholic beverage apart from beer. But most striking thing to me was that they serve toasts with the crabs! I didn’t buy the idea at first but one should try before she speaks; it was awesome.

When I asked the boys to decorate the table for a photo, they thought it would be a nice idea to brighten it up with bread.

……. You be the judge…

Scruffy is a white cat. They are difficult to be kept white. Especially if he is a kitten!!!
Plus he has a complicated skin condition due to the poor environment he was in so today, Scruffy went for grooming!!!

In the bag…

Although our groomer is a great cat lover, Scruffy prefers to be home…

He was clean and fluffy but surely angry….

I want to be with Scruffy, but I have to start preparing weekend’s finger foods.

For Saturday night, we were invited to a NABE party; a dish cooked in a pot at the table. It’s very in thing to do in winter in Japan because it warms you up.
I decided to contribute and make samosas. It turned out to be GREAT!!!! I have to share with you. It’s quite simple.

I have;

1Kg of organic Potatoes
A cup of peas and diced onions (organic)
Quarter cup of cilantro
A cup of ghee
teaspoon of cumin seeds
3 teaspoons of Himalayan salt
Coriander leaves and coarse black pepper
Knob of ginger
1 egg
Wrapping sheets

Makes about 30-35 samosas, well, that’s not enough, trust me!!!

So basically what I did was boil the potatoes until they are nicely cooked, mash them and put it aside.
Melt the ghee and sweat the onions the add the peas.
When they are nicely shiny add cumin, salt and ginger. It is very greasy at this point but not to worry.
When everything comes together, add cilantro, mix for no longer than 20 seconds and add the potatoes.

When I tasted it I thought I wanted some kick so I added about 2 tablespoons of curry powder. This really did the job.

I waited till the mash is completely cool, and wrapped it with the sheets. I Googled on how to wrap samosas and to my surprise, most people have not figured out.
Us smarties figured it out ourselves. It’s quite simple really. Just place the filling on top left side of the paper but leave about 2cm, fold the paper in haf, hold the 2cm that you have left onto the filling and fold it so that it makes a triangle, until the paper completely covers the whole thing.
This is when the egg come in handy, you want to seal the deal so the flavour stays in. Simply brush them and seal.

In they go to the oil, about 180 degrees Celsius. To know this it’s simple. Take a chop stick (heat resistant please) and insert it into the bottom of the pan.
If little bubbles emerge, then it’s about 180. It’s a nice mellow bubblies like Champagne. If it bubbles away like beer you are too hot!

I fried them in grape-seed oil because they are heat resistant. Never use olive oil because they will not get hot enough to deep fry anything!

For Sunday we were going to go water rafting, and I wanted to make everyone lunch so I did some preparation while the potato mash was cooling.
The menu for lunch in the jungle was 4 kinds sandwich, samosa left overs, steamed veggies and fried chicken. I marinaded the chicken in 3 different sauces.
They all came from these simple ingredients…

On the left we have spicy soy sauce with loads of garlic and ginger, Chilli padi and lemon juice.
Middle we have yogurt, makes chicken heavenly soft.
Sweet chili sauce is on our right! I added some thyme so it’s exciting.

All I did was slice some onions to further help chickens to soften and chuck them into sandwich bags like so.

They can sleep in the fridge over night till I am ready to fry them! If you cannot sleep at night, it’s the chickens calling you! Go to the fridge and turn it around so everything is marinated nicely.

I made a critical mistake here; I forgot to get flour. I do not normally make fried food or anything that requires flour so flour does not live in my cupboard. There are no supermarkets open at 4 a.m. (this is when I miss Japan) so I fried them just like that.

There is nothing wrong with it but it just doesn’t look as good. It is also easier for them to puncture, so beware…

So here we are! let’s hit the river!!!

Water rafting is hardcore. I didn’t know what to expect but I did not expect THAT! Well, it was heaps of fun though…

When we arrive home, our tiny (not for long) Scruffy missed us so much. We were away from you for so long… We missed you too…

Hold me and never let me go…

Scruffy needed us to be home so we ate in.

We tried Bincho-tan Soba. Bincho-tan is a kind of high end charcoal. Charcoal is great in purifying and deodorising air. Similarly, it is great for our body in that it detoxifies the digestive system. It may look nasty but it is very nice. Normally Soba is eaten with noodle sauce and spring onions, but I replaced it with celery for extra crunchy bites.

Now it’s the way it should be; We are happy and full, and Scruffy is safe and sleepy…