Feeding Umi » Japanese Food

Shinobi Ramen

umi — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:01:11 +0000

Shinobi Ramen
53 Morgan St. (Grattan)
Brooklyn, NY 11206

I’ve been waiting for this place to open for the last couple of months. I first found out about it when they put up their “Shinobi Ramen” sign up while I was getting out of Pinebox, which is across the street. I LOVE ramen, but I’m a little picky. Being from Kyushuu, I prefer Tonkotsu style ramen (and yes, adore Ippudo and Hide-Chan) to Soy, Miso, or Shio. I’m also not a fan of Momofuku Noodles, Rai Rai Ken, or Minka. All of their broths suffer from being too salty, since the flavor of their broth isn’t strong enough. Meh. I do like Setagaya (the old) and Menkuitei.

I will say this, with this new addition to the neighborhood, this area probably now has almost everything you would want. I am ecstatic about this shop and I REALLY wanted to like this place. I was a little skeptical, once I saw their menu with Soy and Miso ramen (although I do enjoy those flavors, as well).

First thing first, I ordered the Mabo Ramen (instead of their Shinobi Ramen staple), which uses their ramen broth and combines it with a spicy Mabo Tofu. It was pretty amazing. The broth is REALLY satisfying, the toppings are good, and consistency of their noodles has everything I need. The broth is a combination of chicken and pork, while their Shinobi Ramen has the addition of Soy Sauce, and the toppings range from Chasiu (pork belly) to ground pork for the Mabo Ramen. The portions are good, the prices range (depending on topping) from $9-12.50. They also have a Miso Ramen, and a Soy-based Vegetarian ramen. The broth and toppings get high marks from me. Their noodles get the job done, although I’m not sure whether they make them in-house. The firmness is perfect, though.

On Friday night, we wandered in there right before 10 o’clock, and finished around 10:30. Although they can stay open until 11pm, they are open until they run out of their soup, which has happened many times in the last week alone. It happened when we got there, and we heard Shinya (the owner) tell someone that he made more that day in order to keep going later. Needless to say, they just opened, and I think they are trying to see what the demand is. This is to say that they are still experimenting with their quantities, so I would not go in at 10pm, expecting them to still have soup. Later on, I’m sure they will hit that magic number (as they can only seat so many people – roughly 25). I also wouldn’t be surprised if a line developed outside.

Robataya

umi — Thu, 05 May 2011 04:49:44 +0000

Let me preface this by saying that I adore Bon Yagi’s restaurants, Otafuku, Sobaya, Sakagura, and even his bar Decibal. In fact, Sakagura is my place of choice for any special occasion. You can imagine that I was really excited to go to Robataya right next door to Sobaya in Bon Yagi’s little Japan Town freakin’ empire.

The whole shtick behind Robataya is simply grilled food with great ingredients. It’s Japanese, of course, and has a pretty extensive menu of seafood, vegetables, etc.

You can see where this is going right?

Unfortunately, I was very skeptical about the reviews on Yelp that this place was bland. BUT IT IS! Ridiculously bland. I don’t even want to hear about, “it’s about grilling great ingredients,” line, because cooking is a careful alchemy of texture, taste, and careful curation. I’m even more surprised at this reaction since… I don’t think this of any of his other restaurants. Even Soba… which I was skeptical that I would want to eat outisde of my own kitchen (or my mom’s), was great. When I went to Sobaya, all the food was delicious, balanced, and SOLID. Japanese food isn’t an explosion of flavor like… most Southeast Asian foods, but it’s definitely NOT BLAND or uninspired.

And you know what? It’s not as if I was like, “did I order the right thing?” I mean, I had the 8 course ($50) tasting menu. If the “right thing” isn’t in the tasting menu, then I don’t know where it would be hiding. It filled me up and it tried to be interesting… but most of the time, I was just like, “?!”

The first course was 3 slices of fluke, some spring brocolli with fish sauce (not thai, but a creamy house glaze), and some uni floating in some gelatin. The fluke was fine, but the moistness of the combu it was on… it was hard to eat… came apart (it was sashimi) and stuck to the thing. It was pretty badly executed. The uni was good, but the gelatin was completely bland. I had some with soy sauce. There was no indication of what to use for what. There was a side of delicious salt. I guess.

The second course was tuna, hamachi and white tuna… one piece each. It was fresh and good, although the tuna wasn’t an amazing fatty cut or anything.

The third course was shredded/pulled beef in a daikon beef broth with a piece of daikon. I really liked this. The broth was really good. NOT BLAND. And the beef was good, if a little tough. The daikon was cooked well with great flavor. Not bitter at all.

The fourth course was the vegetable plate with eringi (king trumpet), eggplant, and shishito peppers. The veggies were grilled to perfection. The mushroom was yummy, but just seasoned and cooked w/ butter. In fact, it’s kind of exactly what my mother and I do. But I LOVE eringi mushrooms, so I am not complaining. The shishito was hot and delicious. I tried a small piece of the eggplant, which was soft and tender… since I am technically allergic.

The fifth dish was a rather large piece of tsukune (ground chicken meatballs) and grilled beef. The “kobe beef” wasn’t the tenderest of kobe beefs I’ve had. It was kind of hard, but it was pink on the inside and the flavor was good. The tsukune was tasty enough. My SO thought the tsukune/chicken was gamey. It was full of onion. (It doesn’t beat Yakitori Totto, though.)

The sixth course was the fish and rice, which was a lot of food. The mackeral was dry enough that I doubted it was a mackerel at first. Haha. The rice was quality with salmon roe and steamed salmon. My issue with the rice, though, is that I LOVE getting the salmon and salmon roe rice at Sakagura and this dish is NO WAY NEAR as good or transcendent as that dish. Why? I don’t get it. I wouldn’t even mind if they did the same exact thing, honestly. I just want something good. The rice was good, but it didn’t nearly have enough ikuras in it. THE MISO SOUP WAS BLAND. I expect that at other Japanese restaurants, but again… Sakagura’s red miso soup is DELICIOUS. This time here, they use white miso and the thing is bland bland bland. And the fish was BLAND. I put some salt on it… and it was ok, but mackarel needs to be oilier than this fish was…

Our companions didn’t get the tasting menu, since they didn’t like fish. They did order a couple of a la carte dishes (similar to what came with ours – such as the Kamameshi w/ mushrooms, chicken tsukune, steak, etc…). One such dish was the fried yuba gyoza, which was one of the more tasty and interesting of all the other dishes.

The final course was the desert. I got the Shiratama with green tea ice… although that’s not what it is called in the menu… my memory is failing me now. The thing is, this dish only came with two shiratama pieces in a full bowl of sweet cold soup. I wasn’t impressed, but this was my SO’s favorite thing about the meal, I think. I think anything at Cha-An would have kicked this desert’s ass, though.

Sigh, and I guess the point is I was disappointed. I was surprised and disappointed. The food was bland. I understand the salt here is PREMIUM, but no. My mind is really confused, reconciling this place with Bon Yagi’s other places. This simply isn’t the same standard I’ve come to expect. The food is filling, but nothing I would ever really come back for again.

Lovely “Mexican Bomb”

umi — Mon, 02 May 2011 03:36:33 +0000

We went to Momo Sushi Shack and tried to Mexican Bomb and the Ikura Bomb. A-MAZING! Other notable mentions are there pressed nigiri with seared salmon. Honestly, I haven’t had anything here that I didn’t love. Even the Salmon Saikyo, which is sweet ginger salmon seared, was A LOT of food but really great. I still stand by the fact that the best thing in this restaurant is the ceviche. I always want a bowl of my own whenever I come here.

This place is hands down one of my favorite sushi places. I also tried a soba in clam broth with clams with berkshire pork (kuro-buta) pieces. That was SO tasty. Everything here is just so inspired. I am blown away by “simple” dishes here that sort of reinvent the whole dish. Really great!

Dinner – Round Up 1

umi — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 22:32:33 +0000

Omuraisu (Omelet Rice)

Omuraisu, which is short for Omelet Rice, is a Japanese comfort food. You can find it on any “Family Restaurant” or FamiResu or Diner menu and it comes out with a tiny little flag toothpick. Really. That’s just how it is, man. This dish consists of 2 components, rice fried with ketchup (no joke – I guess culinary geniuses can do something with crushed tomatoes) with an omelet on top.

I like the stir-fry the rice with Ketchup, Sriracha, Japanese mayonaise, mustard, onions, garlic, and bacon/ham. This gives it a creamy, but spicy, consistency. My mom likes to put some onion, scallions, and chicken. It’s really any type of fried rice you want. My mom makes a flat out omelet, while I like the fluffify my egg and beat the whites, mix some milk, and mix some dash, salt, and mirin. I cover it on the cast iron, which make sit puff up. Serve up before the egg fully cooks and hardens so it’s nice and soft.

Top with ketchup & mayonaise… and even tonkotsu sauce if you like. Insert flag toothpick in the egg if you have.

This is the tastiest comforting food ever. I used to eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It’s sort of the chicken nuggets/mac n’ cheese equivalent of a Japanese child’s diet. This is the fall back recipe for any child that doesn’t want to eat whatever is put in front of them.

I never ordered this as a child… (I remember specifically loving the order ramens and corn cream soup – which is another story/addiction all together) at the restaurant, but I would love it and beg my mom to make it. It’s everything you would like, carbs, eggs, ketchup.

New Addition – Momo Sushi Shack

umi — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 20:53:58 +0000

What’s really exciting these days are the new places popping up all over Bushwick Brooklyn! We recently went to this great small bar on Flushing Ave, called Narrows Bar. There’s a wine store right around the corner from Roberta’s, and next to that this new Sushi place.

Momo Sushi Shack
43 Bogart Street
(between Moore St & Grattan St)
Brooklyn, NY

Ryan found this new place on Yelp and the front was slightly worn down with no distinguishable signs, similar to Narrows. The place is owned by the same people that did Bozu in Williamsburge, which I have never been to, but Ryan has. However, I think this place is cheaper, with a communical bare eating space, and no alcohol. I think they let you bring your own bottle, and otherwise, they have soft drinks.

I wouldn’t say this place is Japanese… just like I wouldn’t say neo-rolls with cream cheese and lox isn’t exactly traditional sushi. However, I like them. (And for the record, when my grandmother came over from Japan and she tried them, she liked them.) I’m not really purist like my father was (he was a Sushi Chef), but this place is like postmodern. They do “nigiri” (which is just another word for holding together – which connotes pressing the rice together with the fish) in “bomb” form with minced raw fish, rather than whole pieces. And everything is fresh, delicious, AND the kicker is they use pretty good rice. It’s a good sushi place. I like how they are doing something completely different. Off the bat, they have all ready mixed soy sauce and wasabi for you. One pot is pure soy sauce, the other is 50/50, and the last pot is like 90% wasabi.

Now, let’s get to the food. They have several fish, non fish meats, and vegetarian things here. It’s great. Also, most appetizers on the menu are around $5-7 and extremely affordable. Most of the other places are under $10. First off, we ordered the ceviche with scallops (you can also get it with yellow tail). It’s not your usual ceviche… and this must be my FAVORITE thing on the menu. I ordered this the first time and continued to order this (and the party platter) for all the other two times I’ve been here. The cevich comes with your choice of scallops or yellow tail, with salmon and avocado. It rests on a thin pool of grated yams (which I LOVE – grated thicker pieces than traditional Tororo) and topped with grated daikon. They have a dashi base favor where you don’t need to add anything. They bring you small bowls if you have a guest and suggest that you mix and mash it up before eating.

We ordered some risotto rice croquettes. I LOVE Japanese cream croquettes (usually it’s creamed corm or white sauce inside). I love anything fried, but these rice croquettes are yummy, savory and totally comforting. I would either order these or the stuffed mushrooms, which are super flavorful, hearty, and savory. I like a little savory variety.

The gyoza is pretty solid. We saw a couple of plates of these babies go out, so we had to grab one. They have a vegetarian variety, if that’s the way you roll. This is a very tasty solid appetizer, along with the Japanese fried chicken. Japanese chicken is usually in wing form, tebasaki, or little boneless chunks of white and dark meat with a dark thick fried coating, which is slightly sweet. They do the latter very well here. (And their chicken is usually one of the specials).

Last but not least… Bombs – this is what is so distinguishing here. They make them similarly, I am guessing, to a nigiri (although I am sure they use a mold). the rice is good, not squished, and the toppings are ELEGANTLY molded and placed. We usually get the party platter with the spicy una bomb. From left to right, they gave us a salmon bomb, tuna bomb with avocado, unagi bomb, and a spicy tuna topped with daikon.

A meal for 2 here is typically anywhere from $30-40 with a variety of things. Get the bombs and ceviche, and experiment with other small dishes.

Hide-chan Ramen

umi — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 13:10:21 +0000

Hide-Chan Ramen
248 East 52nd St
New York, NY 10022

So, this girl loves her seafood, but at heart, I’m a porker. Seriously. Two weeks ago when Grub Street reported on a Hakata ramen place opening up where Torys used to be, I made a bee-line. We got in around 7-8pm and waited 5 minutes for a table to clear up. The service was fast and nice and we waited to get our bowls of ramen with drafts of Sapporo. (They also have bottles of Kirin) 5 minutes after our ramen order, we saw two plates of gyoza go by and it smelled amazing. We flagged a waitress down and ordered a plate when she told us there is a 10 minute or so lag for these gyozas (where I knew I made the right decision) and that they might come after our noodles. Uh, dude… does this face look like a face that cares?

Listen. Get the gyoza. It was pretty incredible. I think it beats gyoza you can find anywhere else. The meat is flavored, the dumpling layers are thin and silky and charred on one side, and the sauce they give you doesn’t overpower the dumpling, it isn’t too tart. They even give you some yuzu koshou (pepper) to give it a little bite. For only $5, it’s a winner. Order 2 plates, even.

Other things I saw on the menu were pork buns and mentaiko (salted roe) on rice, both of which we didn’t try. Next time. The ramen menu, of course, is fully rounded with their tonkotsu hakata men, and then variations of extra pork, spicy, and roasted garlic. They also had different “men” or noodles, which are thicker. Finally, they also have tsuke-men hot or cold like in the fashion of Setagaya. The choices aren’t nearly as extensive as Menkuitei (who is all over the map – with no specialty, really) but large enough for all but they all retain a certain Hakata character. Really well done. I forgot to mention, they also have a miso and shoyu (soy sauce) option.

I ordered the Tonkotsu ramen with roasted black garlic called, Kuro Ramen (Black Ramen) and Ryan got the Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen with their special rayu sauced called, Kara Ramen (Spicy Ramen). I will say that the Kuro Ramen comes with a huge lump of roasted garlic on the side and the broth of the regular Tonkotsu ramen before mixing was amazing. The roasted garlic added a real smoky burnt flavor that was amazing on the noodles. However, fell short of the “I want to drink every last drop,” measure of broths. By the end the garlic broth tasted too burnt and not enough garlicky. Ryan claimed that he recognized the paste as something Ippudo puts in their broth in small amounts. However, I was sneaking spoonfuls of Ryan’s Spicy Ramen broth, which was pretty damn spicy in the first spoonful, but managed to not get overwhelming as time went on. Finally, the pork belly that comes with the ramen doesn’t quite beat Ippudo, but is fatty, soft and tender. I think the kind that came with our bowl is different then the soy sauce marinated with brown sugar pork that is featured in some of the other concoctions in their menu… which I would be interested in trying.

Having tried the hot ramens, Ryan is a tsukemen kinda guy, so he’s going to have that. I might stick to the regular tonkotsu ramen or spicy ramen. Although what was REALLY killer was couple of spoonfuls of my garlic broth in the spicy ramen. Amazing. Over all, the ramen’s satisfied both of us and was more than enough in terms of portions. It was generous, but not too much and the price point of $10 is much better than Ippudo. Ippudo still has a special place in my heart, but this place definitely usurped Setagaya (where I would still go in a pinch). The feel is similar to Totto (yakitori – still haven’t tried Ramen Totto – not really a chicken broth kinda gal), which is understandable because they are sibling restaurants. I guess Ramen Totto’s porkier half.

On our way in, we bumped into an acquaintance of ours from the concert scene and he apparently comes here all the time. He loves the tonkotsu ramen. Also, right when we were leaving there were couple of Japanese people that came in (most of the other customers were Japanese of the young punk fashion type of crowd) exclaimed, “UMAI!” in his first slurp of noodles. So, definitely check this place out.

Mother’s Birthday – Dinner at Toto

umi — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:03:12 +0000

I wanted to do a low key dinner for my mother this year. Coincidently, I started a new job on the same day and had to work late that day. Thankfully, near my mother there is a great restaurant called “Toto.” There is also a Soba Toto near east 42nd st, however, this Toto focuses on Japanese skewers done amazingly well.

Toto
251 West 55th St
New York, NY 10019

Sophear, Danny, and Ryan joined my mother to celebrate her birthday. We love the tsukune, here, which is the chicken meat balls. I’m not a big chicken meat ball fan, but this is so juicy, soft, and seasoned (I get it with just salt, no tare (sauce)) that this is the primary thing I get whenever I come here. I also ordered my mother some smelt, hearts, chicken livers, etc… Sophear and Danny ordered some potato salad and the gyoza dumplings are delicious and went over really well.

It’s the cheapest, but if you are not famished, it’s a great place to get a la carte meal tappas style. Also, Ryan loves their donburis (with chicken and green onions). It’s definitely worth checking out. We got lucky and didn’t have to wait at all to seat 5 people. However, in the past, we’ve waited close to 30 minutes. I always walk away when there is an over 1 hour wait. I think it’s getting better.

(Pictures from top to bottom, left to right:
Smelt, liver, mostly eaten potato salad, eringi mushrooms with bonito flakes, three different types of onigiri (cheese flavored, soy sauce flavored, and miso flavored), and green tea cheesecake with red bean sauce),

Menkui Tei

umi — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:47:52 +0000

Menkui Tei
63 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003

Although my fire for Ippudo burns bright like the sun, I can’t always indulge or look at it directly, for it will burn my retina and balloon my weight back to 200lbs. No joke.

Sometimes, when I am feeling a bit more frugal, I opt for Setagaya, which is delicious and right within that 5 block radius on St. Marks. However, more often than not, I go to Menkui Tei, because it gives me warm fuzzy feelings about being back in Japan. It looks like the casual college ramen shop meant to stuff post-adolescent growing college boys. It has a HUGE collection of ramen. I recommend their spicy Tan Tan Men (shown above) or their hot Yuzu Men (with spicy Yuzu sauce). They also have awesome spicy hot wings special with a pitcher of Kirin (always get Kirin) for $16, which is a DEAL. They have awesome Japanese curry, curry ramen, and all sorts of other sides tapas style.

The food is solid, fills you up, and comforts. It’s not a religious experience like Ippudo.

If you feel like the $13 ramen at Ippudo is a little steep… and more often than less, you can’t wait on line for an hour to taste delicious ramen, then GO TO MENKUI TEI.

Just so we are clear: Menkui Tei, Setagaya, and Ippudo = YES. Minka = No.

Umi Nom

umi — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:56:30 +0000

What is that you see? Yes, that restaurant’s name is Umi Nom. As in, Umi Nom (nom nom nom nom mmmm munch…). Genevieve tipped me off to the place by emailing me the NY Times $25 and under article featuring none other than my namesake. Of course, we had to try it. So off we went on the mythical (and often none-existent) “G” train. You know we mean business if we brave the G train. It’s the short little train that even the times when it comes, you end up running towards the front, because you forget that it isn’t a “full” train.

Umi Nom
433 Dekalb Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11205

For most of you, this means that you need to get on the “G” train (most probably from Metropolitan/Lorimer) and get off at Classon Avenue. For us, this meant taking the L, going to prospect park, hanging out at Gen’s, then heading back out to Atlantic Ave, getting out of the subway, and going to the G train. (Otherwise, we would have go back into Manhattan to go back into Brooklyn, which is the craziest annoying aspect of traveling in Brooklyn in NYC. All trains head towards Manhattan.)

Ridiculous. I mean, you know I had to preface this entry with the “G” train rants. However, everyone take heart! THIS PLACE IS WORTH IT! I present to you, a delicious thai fusion place that is BYOB (we got a six-pack of hoegardens)

We started with a complimentary amuse bouche of fried cream crab dumplings. It was warm, light, and crispy, and gave us hope for rest of the meal. I should write about the last time I tried a NY Times $25 and under, where I was severely offended and disappointed.

We were rewarded for our trek, since this place was amazing. I liked everything we got, although some dishes more than others. We started with a cured beef dish, which resembled beef jerky. It was tough and smokey, but when you chewed it exuded flavor. Yes, I would recommend it. Next up, we shared a grilled sardine, that was done really lovely! One of my favorites from the night. It was topped with julienned daikon in a papaya salad-esque Thai/Vietnamese dressing. Surprisingly, this restaurant didn’t glaze their food with too many flavors, they let the ingredients stand for themselves. The fish was grilled with salt and subtle flavors with a side of pickled salad.

The real surprise was the rice I ordered. The boys went for a traditional “sticky rice.” I wanted garlic rice, since anything with garlic in it is a WIN for me. AND IT WAS AMAZING. They must have roasted the garlic, creamed it, and mixed it with the cooked rice. It was delicious and INFUSED with garlic. THIS wasn’t a subtle flavored and I LOVED it! For 2-3 dollars, the portion was SO generous. It was amazing. Get it. Order the garlic rice, NOT the sticky rice. (Which was executed fine. You know, fluffy and comforting… but rather normal and plain. I eat sticky rice at home regularly, so it’s not a treat for me. Oftentimes I prefer unsticky rice… coconut rice… jasmine rice, which is exotic for me, and pilafs.)

We also ordered prawns, which was large and cooked excellently. The plate came with 3 and there was 4 of us. I feel like dishes like that are objectionable and I would like to see the restaurant go the extra mile and tell us that this is the case, or in our case where it wouldnt make sense to order an extra plate… throw an extra shrimp in. The texture was great and the head is always flavorful. However, it doesn’t beat the prawns from Pok Pok, which is flavorful (and perfect), and these babies were cooked well but rather bland. They were cooked in a hearty broth, but I think prawns do well with something a little stronger.

Next, we got chinese sausage, which presentation wise left more to be desired. However, it worked for the dish and surprisingly this was spicy, sweet, and delicious. This was Chris and Ryan’s favorite dish. The dip offered in this dish was great with the prawns, too.

We were dying to try their fried chicken, which came topped with jalapenos, curiously. Ryan has a high standard for wings and/or chicken, but this was a different animal all together from other chicken I have tried. The chicken was DRY. Or rather, it was a dry fried chicken, the breading being something similar to what my mother uses, which is not oily, but gives you a nice crunch. Inside, the chicken was incredibly juicy. But, for fried chicken, which is wet with glaze, the dryness was different. It also had a good amount of heat and although it wasn’t my favorite thing I had that night, it was damn good. I can’t even say that “it doesn’t bear Pok Pok’s wings,” because it was just different. It’s not trying to be a glazed wing like every other Asian fusion. The execution is really well done that I wonder how they did it. Dry fried chicken itself isn’t quite my thing, but this was delicious. Anticipating us not wanting to share too much, we got two separate plates for four of us, which we polished off.

Genevieve and I ordered this molten chocolate cake. Decadent and amazing with thick cream and warmed cherries on the side. You know, there is no need to go on about it. Just go. Definitely get the sausage, garlic rice, fish, and everything else that follows should taste delicious. GET THE CHOCOLATE CHERRY CAKE.

At the end of the day, ALL this (we got like 2 side orders of sticky rice) cost around $80 and filled us up. (This doesn’t include alcohol. This place is a BTOB and we picked up a six pack of Hoegaardens to drink. Always a plus in my book.) There were 4 of us, so that’s around $20 a person. Not bad, huh? TRULY $25 a person. Good call NY TIMES!

At the end, we were being silly and I paid with my credit card, wondering if they would notice that my name is “Umi.” I don’t think they did before Ryan couldn’t hold it in any longer and shouted, “HER NAME IS UMI!!!!!!!!!” He was very giddy. The server, who was a sweetheart all evening looked unimpressed. He just sort of nodded. Then we showed him my credit card and he went on his way … charging it. It was anticlimactic, I will admit. I think they should give me a Umi Nom t shirt. They are lucky that this blog isn’t called Umi Nom Nom nom nom! CAUSE THEN I WOULD TOTALLY HAVE STOLEN THEIR URL!

Mom’s

umi — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:21:20 +0000

So, we went to go visit my mother. We try to make the trip once a week and of course, we get fed. She puts out SO much food. It’s almost unbelievable. For example, this one particular time, she put out, from left to right: Oden with variety of fish cakes, konyaku (root noodles), bamboo shoots, and potatoes; Sashimi with uni, salmon, and hirame; Ozoni, which is a light broth with grilled mochi in it, accompanied by naruto fish cakes, hakusai (Japanese cabbage), shitake mushrooms, and chicken; and the main course of wagyu beef negi-maki. Oh yeah, and a desert of custard pound cake and milk tea. Always expect some milk tea, if you’re coming over to my Mom’s place. This doesn’t include salad, pickles, miso shiru (soup) and rice, my friend.

Yes, my mother really has no idea how much a normal person eats. This was probably due to my father’s influence. Apparently at some restaurant, he took the prize for eating the most bowls of curry rice, something in the double digits. I also have a HUGE appetite that can accommodate eating contests… and I obviously got that from him. Living with us, my mother has such a skewed idea on what a normal portion is. I think we finished the sashimi, and negi-make, and had some oden. I finished the ozoni, of course, because I didn’t have rice and I can’t say no to ozoni.

My mother, she can cook. And she appreciates variety. Now, if only she will learn what a proper portion is… and maybe scale it down a bit.