Spicy Cucumbers

I am turkey-d out.  Too much turkey; too much mashed potatoes; too much stuffing.  Too much of a lot of things.

Except football.

I spent many hours in front of the tv this past weekend.  All but one of my teams won.  I was anticipating a bad Apple Cup, so I drank before the game and bought tons of yarn to console myself in what was supposedly a sure loss for the Huskies.  As it turned out, UW prevailed, AND I have an embarrassing amount of high-quality yarn on the way (I got the shipping notice from Eat Sleep Knit!).

On Saturday, I found myself glued to the television again, watching the Territorial Cup match between the school which takes my $ and the school which gave $ to my aunt (she was a nursing supervisor at the university medical center).  It was almost as exciting as the Apple Cup.  Almost.  And I learned, thanks to TheHelp, that Coach Edwards is indeed a real coach.  Good thing I didn't just believe all those FB comments about how he got the job.  Whew.

Now that the turkey is gone, or at least it is to me, I am not looking to eat anything heavy (unless it's a tomahawk steak).  I'm planning to make these cucumbers as a light side dish.  Be careful because there are no chili pepper flakes to warn diners about the spicy factor.  I usually use the full amount of chili oil, but some people may prefer it to be less spicy.

click on recipe title for printable recipe

Spicy Cucumbers

     3 Japanese (seedless) cucumbers

     2 tbsp shoyu

     1 tbsp rice vinegar

     1/2 tsp salt + more for sprinkling

     1 tsp sugar

     2 tsp chili oil (La-Yu)

Score skin of cucumber with a fork or a zester.  Cut cucumbers in half and remove seeds.  Sprinkle salt (not the 1/2 tsp) over cucumbers and rub all over.   Slice cucumbers into 3/8" pieces.  Toss with remaining ingredients.  Chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Onuma Koen

DHS wanted to do things which involved walking/hiking/running.  The running was out of the question for me, but walking/hiking sounded benign enough.  TheKeeper checked the weather reports and decided that the nearly 3-hour train ride to Onuma Koen and the walking would best be done on a day with good weather.  

The Onuma train station was very quaint.

It was a short walk from the train station to the park, and there were a bunch of little shops along the way.  DHS bought some fruit, and I had my first lavender soft cream cone.

The park has multiple trails which were mostly paved (nice).

We were treated to scenic views of Hokkaido Komagatake.  I'm glad I did not know then that the volcano is still considered active.

Wagyu Ishizaki chopstick wrapper; placemat shows different cuts of beef

By the time we got back to Sapporo, it was dark and we were actually hungry.  Come to think of it, we had just a small lunch in a snack shop in the park.

TheKeeper had asked me prior to the trip if I liked beef.  I said yes (remember what I said earlier about the tomahawk steak).  He suggested we go to a restaurant specializing in wagyu. Who am I to argue???

We ended up on the 7th floor of a nondescript building on a side street in Susukino.  I remember having to walk past a building with two or three of the seven dwarfs (Snow White's friends) hanging from the facade.  The restaurant was in a building across the street and around the corner from the dwarfs, and I would never have been able to find it on my own (I can't read Japanese).

The restaurant was able to accommodate us, in spite of not having reservations, but the lady said we needed to be out in an hour.  I was pleasantly surprised that we were seated in a "faux" tatami room where the floor was actually recessed.  Not having to sit on my legs was a big plus, especially after all the walking we did at Onuma Koen.  

Having no clue (at least on my part), we had TheKeeper order for us.  We started with assorted kim chee.  TheKeeper ordered kim chee fried rice for himself while Nakaz, DHS and I had the grilled rice ball.  TheKeeper also spent half of a fortune on a decanter of sake, which he said was worth every dollar.  DHS had a beer while Nakaz and I stuck to cider soda.

But nothing could have prepared me for the steak.  I've eaten many good steaks, but nothing, not even the steak at The Signature could compare to the chateaubriant in the picture.  The steak was served with 2 sauces (a ponzu-ish one and a teriyaki-ish one) and a mound of salt flakes.  The sauces were delicious, but I preferred a sprinkle of the salt flakes.  Each steak was sliced into 3 precious pieces, and we cooked the steaks to our liking on the table grill.

I'm guessing the restaurant was Wagyu Ishizaki. . .I can match picture symbols.  I linked to the page I found on the internet because I.MUST.GO.BACK.

Once again, TheKeeper did not disappoint.

Me Me Shrimp

Sometimes life can be really cruel.  For most of her life (up to this point), D1 has taken full advantage of indulging in one of her favorite crustaceans, shrimp. She has stuffed her face with shrimp at the Sky Garden buffet (Imiloa Astronomy Center).  She has even eaten tempura udon all along the west coast (USA), Hawaii, and Japan.  She was so looking forward to her Japan trip this year for the opportunity to sample more tempura udon.  Unfortunately, all dreams of finding the best tempura udon in Japan came to a screeching halt a few months ago.  A spring visit to the allergist in Honolulu confirmed what we had suspected for a few months. . .D1 has a seafood allergy.

Dr. Kuo performed the "thousand needle" skin test, which revealed crab to be the most allergenic.  There was a slight/mild reaction to shrimp, and no reaction to lobster.  However, Dr. Kuo said that since crab, shrimp and lobster are closely related, he advised avoiding all 3 to prevent cross-reaction.

D1 was devastated.  I know she has contemplated having shrimp several times since that diagnosis.  And Mr. Dependable sold her out and told me she eats shrimp almost every weekend when she is with him!  Unlike Mr. Dependable, I tend to walk on the side of caution.  While benadryl has worked well in the past to combat the itching, I always tell her not to push her luck.  In spite of her allergy, D1 has a lot to be thankful for. . .she can still eat a whole bunch of other tasty seafood.  Clams, oysters, scallops are all safe (per Dr. Kuo).  I remind D1 that there other people who are not able to eat any seafood, including oyster sauce (neither of the Ds would be able to handle an allergy to this).

At this moment, D1 is somewhere in Tokyo. . .I hope she's not at Aoi Marushin or buying crab from Tsukiji!  I hope she remembers to ask what they use to make dashi.  And I most certainly hope she will not be tempted to indulge, even with epipen handy.  With an air of self-indulgence, D2 told me before she left that she plans to stuff herself with crab and shrimp tempura while there.  She said she'd even eat some sweet potato tempura (I didn't know she eats this)!

When D1 was part of the shrimp-eating population, her favorite shrimp dish was a toss-up between carry-along shrimp, salt & pepper shrimp and this shrimp dish.  The original recipe title is Mimi's Shrimp, and it was in a local cookbook.  I looked online for a similar recipe, and I came across the original recipe here.  The recipe link does not have any pictures of the finished dish, so I hope they will link to this blog (or ask me for permission to use the pics).

I have posted several kick-ass shrimp recipes, but I prefer this recipe to carry-along shrimp and salt & pepper shrimp.  This is more versatile.  It can be eaten with rice or with a crisp, green salad.  It also doesn't require much marinating time.  Because it's cooked on a grill, there is no oil to clean up (yay).  As a play on the original name of this recipe, we referred to this (when we were cooking shrimp) as "me me" (an homage to "Mimi") shrimp.  D1 is the ultimate "me me". . .the queen of the selfie!