What Did We Eat?

Dumpling Making Party

 Last weekend, Joe and I went to a dumpling making party at a friend's house and we had tremendous fun.  It's a well known fact that Joe and I don't cook.  So, it was really a rare occasion for the two of us to be wearing an apron and working in a kitchen.  I started with the square-shaped wonton skin and made dumplings "Shanghainese-style".  For those of you who don't know, I am Shanghainese.  My parents were originally from Shanghai.  They came to Hong Kong with their parents.  I was born and raised in Hong Kong but I am actually a "Shanghainese" at heart.  I can understand the Shanghainese dialect and I love Shanghainese wontons. (Note: On the Shanghainese dialect page, the top one in blue is Mandarin; the bottom one in red is Shanghainese.  Just click on them to hear the difference.  Make sure your computer sound is turned on.)

 Before the group started wrapping dumplings, everyone helped out in the prep work - washing veggies, cutting veggies, cooking the shrimps, mixing the ingredients into the ground pork, etc.  Joe spent quite a bit of time at the kitchen sink washing things. 

 Check out Joe taking a dumpling making lesson from a friend!  Also see Lily taking a picture with our party hosts, Don and Linda. BTW, isn't their dog cute?  Last picture is all the dumplings Joe and I made (total four plates).  The round ones on the far right and far left were the "Shanghainese-style" wontons.  We also used round-shaped dumpling skin to make dumplings and little eggrolls (lumpia).  We were supposed to have a "best looking" and "best tasting" dumpling competition.  We ended up not doing it because we were already so busy. 

Then it was eating time!  The group has fried some of the dumplings and put the fried dumplings in the broth (the way it's served is called "yee fu" wonton).  Our Malaysia friend also made Malaysian chow fun and "bo bo cha cha" dessert.  Yum!

 

Our host Linda teaches line dancing (hip hop style!).  So a couple of us were following her to learn a few quick steps to burn off the calories from lunch.  We totally had fun!

Japan - Day 4 - Japanese Kaiseki Dinner

Last night in Japan, Joe and I wandered around the shopping complex next to our hotel.  We found this restaurant advertising a dinner special at the front door. This dinner special was sort of like a tasting menu.  You get to taste many different kinds of food, in small quantities.  We were completely sold by the colorful display of the dinner sample.  So we went in and gave it a try.

 
First up was a variety of cold appetizers, including sashimi.  I thought the cold green tea tofu tasted quite interesting.  Then we got shrimp and vegetable tempura, beef on a sizzling plate, and soup and rice.   Nice!

Japan - Day 4 - Trip to Kyoto

 
Day 4 morning, we had breakfast at the hotel again.  Then we were on our way to the JR station to take a train to Kyoto for our afternoon tour.  At the subway/JR station, we walked pass the Hansin department store/supermarket again.  Joe wanted to try the sesame soft ice cream.  So we got one to share.

   
We took a train to Kyoto to meet up with our tour guide.  One of the tour destinations was the Kiyomizu Temple where the famous "Pure Water" fountain is located. It has been said that "drinking from the right waterfall makes one intelligent, the middle beautiful, and the left will bring longevity".   Ok, Joe and I cheated.  We didn't really drink the water but we did take a picture pretending that we drank the water.

   
After visiting the Kiyomizu Temple, Joe and I decided to stay behind (i.e. ditching our tour guide and fellow tour members) to walk on the shopping street.  We walked pass a vendor selling senbei (Japanese rick crackers).  We've had lots of rice crackers before but they were all bought from supermarkets.  The crackers at this store looked pretty fresh, so we got two initially - one was the "seven-spice" and the other was the spicy one.  The crackers were served warm.  Both of them were very good. Then we decided to buy one more - this one had seaweed sprinkled on top.  We loved all of them.  I mean, who doesn't like senbei? : )

Japan - Day 3 - Takoyaki from the Red Ghost Vendor

  
I really like takoyaki.  So we decided to buy some more, but from a different vendor.  This vendor attracted our attention because of the store decoration and the store name, which could be translated as "Red Ghost". The takokayi from this vendor is spicy.  However, the texture was a bit too soft.  If you ask me, I would say I like the takoyaki from the other vendor better (see Japan - Day 2). 

 This vendor offers a takoyaki combo (i.e. takoyaki plus a soft drink).  What intrigued me was the clever packaging they use to put the takoyaki plastic container on top of the soda cup.  And check this out, the straw goes pass the plastic container and goes into the cup.  So, you don't need one hand to hold the takoyaki container and another hand to hold the soda cup (wishing you had a third hand to put the takoyaki in your mouth).  I thought that was pretty cool!

Japan - Day 3 - English House for Frothy Japanese Green Tea

For afternoon tea, we wanted to try the green tea at the English House next to the Namba subway station.  In front of the English House entrance, we saw a poster for three different kinds of cold green tea.  We picked the first two - one plain and one with milk.  The green tea was extremely smooth and frothy, but also bitter.  That's why the waiter also gave us some sugar syrup to mix in with the tea.  I have tried both types, I like the plain one better.  The one with the milk sort of diluted the green tea taste.  I wish there was this kind of green tea available in the U.S.!  BTW, look at Joe in his green shirt, holding two glasses of green tea!

Japan - Day 3 - Club Harie Cake to go

 
After lunch at the food court, we walked around the department store.  We saw this very attractive display of round, layered cakes. So we bought some to take back to the hotel.  Most Asian cakes are very light (without those heavy, "way-too-sweet" frosting).  This layered cake did not disappoint us.  

Japan - Day 3 - Crazy Lunch-a-thon at the Food Court

 
On day 3, we decided to have lunch at the food court in the department store inside the Nishi-Umeda subway station.  The first vendor that caught our eyes was the "Chiyoboyaki".  Joe and I had no clue what that meant, but we saw lots of people waiting in line to purchase it, so we gave it a try.  We order one pork and one cheese, they almost tasted like a thinner version of okonomiyaki.  Not bad for starters.

Next, we saw this noodle vendor.  We ordered two bowls of ramen noodles, each in a different soup base.  Then I saw this udon vendor right across, so I went and bought a bowl of udon as well. 

Then, a couple of vendors down, we saw this one selling curry rice.  So, we got a plate of curry rice as well.  Japanese curry is usually very mild.  Joe and I love spicy food but once in a while, it's nice to eat some mild curry.  This curry rice tasted pretty good.  Well, all these food for one lunch for two people only?  Hum... yeah...

 When we were about to leave the food court, Joe said he wanted to have soft ice cream.  So despite the fact that our stomachs were about to explode, we got ourselves an ice cream to share. 

Japan - Day 2 - Crab Crackers to go

When you are on the Shinsabashi shopping street, there is no way you would miss this huge crab sign.  This sign is almost like a landmark.  Turned out, there is a restaurant there that is specialized in crabs.  Outside the restaurant, there are grilled crabs and crab crackers.  We brought some crab crackers to bring back to the hotel (no, we could not eat anymore...).

Japan - Day 2 - Takoyaki with big pieces of Octopus

 After dinner, we walked up to the main shopping street again and saw this vendor selling takoyaki.  Takoyaki is a very popular Japanese dumpling made of batter and stuffed with pieces of octopus.  There was a long line of people at this vendor site waiting to purchase the takoyaki, so we thought it probably meant that the takoyaki here is very good.  So, even though we just finished dinner at Ichiran, we have decided to get in line and get some takoyaki for snacks!  And good thing we did!  The takoyaki were really good, each one of them had a big piece of octopus in it.  Oh yum!

Japan - Day 2 - Dinner at Ichiran Noodle Shop

 Joe's brother told us about this noodle shop in the Shinsaibashi area, called "Ichiran".  To get to Ichiran, you have to walk down to the river band.  When we got there, there were already a couple of people waiting outside the restaurant to get in.  We waited for about 15 minutes.  Once we got in, the first thing we saw was a vending machine.  You have to purchase a ticket first before you get seated.  This place only sell noodles but you can order some side items (such as eggs) to go with it.

 After we purchased the tickets, we were seated at the individual counters.  Then we saw a form for us to fill out.  The form is to let us customize our noodles, such as, how firm the noodles should be, how rich we want the soup to be, how spicy we want the sauce, whether we want green onions or not, etc, etc.  I was really amazed that for a simple bowl of noodles, the restaurant let the customers customize it so much.  Needless to say, the noodles came out exactly how we liked it.  We would definitely recommend this place!