I was lucky enough to make another trip to Japan with TheKeeper. And what made it even sweeter was that we went back to Hokkaido. I love Hokkaido. Of course, I need to make it clear that I have only been to Hokkaido in autumn, so perhaps I would not love Hokkaido during January or February.
TheKeeper enjoys staying at branches of a moderate hotel chain, Toyoko Inn. The hotel
website promises clean and comfortable rooms at reasonable rates. This time we stayed at a different branch from last year, and again, the service was great. This place was even closer to the Sapporo main station, and it was surrounded by multiple 7-11s, Lawsons, and SeicoMarts!
One thing I really enjoy about this particular chain is the free breakfast. Of course anything free is great, but more than the $, I really enjoy the food. This year, the food was a little different that what was offered at the hotel last year. We spent 5 nights at the hotel (read=5 breakfasts), and not one time did I see any kind of sausage as a breakfast meat. The featured breakfast meat was meatballs. The meatballs looked like they were swimming in a reddish-brown sauce which I assume was some kine of bbq sauce. Not being much of a fan of the combination, I chose to bypass that selection.
On several days, the breakfast buffet line featured a green bean dish. DHS and I loved it and swore to try recreating the dish when we got home. I have yet to actually try a recipe for it, but it's on my short list of things I must cook soon.
My favorite part of the buffet is the assortment of starches. Every morning, there were at least 4 different starches, actually more if you include the different breads. I am not usually a big rice eater, but I really enjoyed all the mixed rice selections. Some days the rice was made into
musubi (triangular
onigiri?) and other days, it was just mounded in a large dish.
A few weeks before I went to Japan, I actually made a delicious mixed rice dish. I served it from a large dish, but I think it would be equally scrumptious pressed into shapes. . .or even used for the rice portion in a
Spam musubi.
click on recipe title for printable recipe
1 can (6 oz) kogai ajitsuke (seasoned clams), drained, juice reserved
1/2 c bamboo shoots, slivered
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water and slivered
1/2 c slivered carrots
1/2 c soybeans, thawed if frozen
2 tbsp shoyu
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp salt
1 packet (about 1 tbsp) dashi-no-moto
3 c (rice cooker cups) rice, prepared as usual
Add reserved clam juice, salt, and dashi-no-moto to rice and water. Let stand for 20 minutes then cook as usual. Cook shiitake mushrooms with shoyu, sugar, and mirin. Add carrots and bamboo shoots. Cook until carrots are soft. Add soybeans and clams. Remove from heat. When rice is done, toss clam mixture with rice.
We arrived in Japan on Sunday, October 7, although it was around noon on Saturday, October, 6, when we left Hawaii. For some reason, it felt like we arrived earlier than we did last year, as restaurants were still open for dinner. We were lucky enough to go to our favorite tonkatsu restaurant, Tonkatsu Wako.
I was lucky enough to make another trip to Japan with TheKeeper. And what made it even sweeter was that we went back to Hokkaido. I love Hokkaido. Of course, I need to make it clear that I have only been to Hokkaido in autumn, so perhaps I would not love Hokkaido during January or February.
TheKeeper enjoys staying at branches of a moderate hotel chain, Toyoko Inn. The hotel
website promises clean and comfortable rooms at reasonable rates. This time we stayed at a different branch from last year, and again, the service was great. This place was even closer to the Sapporo main station, and it was surrounded by multiple 7-11s, Lawsons, and SeicoMarts!
One thing I really enjoy about this particular chain is the free breakfast. Of course anything free is great, but more than the $, I really enjoy the food. This year, the food was a little different that what was offered at the hotel last year. We spent 5 nights at the hotel (read=5 breakfasts), and not one time did I see any kind of sausage as a breakfast meat. The featured breakfast meat was meatballs. The meatballs looked like they were swimming in a reddish-brown sauce which I assume was some kine of bbq sauce. Not being much of a fan of the combination, I chose to bypass that selection.
On several days, the breakfast buffet line featured a green bean dish. DHS and I loved it and swore to try recreating the dish when we got home. I have yet to actually try a recipe for it, but it's on my short list of things I must cook soon.
My favorite part of the buffet is the assortment of starches. Every morning, there were at least 4 different starches, actually more if you include the different breads. I am not usually a big rice eater, but I really enjoyed all the mixed rice selections. Some days the rice was made into
musubi (triangular
onigiri?) and other days, it was just mounded in a large dish.
A few weeks before I went to Japan, I actually made a delicious mixed rice dish. I served it from a large dish, but I think it would be equally scrumptious pressed into shapes. . .or even used for the rice portion in a
Spam musubi.
click on recipe title for printable recipe
1 can (6 oz) kogai ajitsuke (seasoned clams), drained, juice reserved
1/2 c bamboo shoots, slivered
4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water and slivered
1/2 c slivered carrots
1/2 c soybeans, thawed if frozen
2 tbsp shoyu
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp salt
1 packet (about 1 tbsp) dashi-no-moto
3 c (rice cooker cups) rice, prepared as usual
Add reserved clam juice, salt, and dashi-no-moto to rice and water. Let stand for 20 minutes then cook as usual. Cook shiitake mushrooms with shoyu, sugar, and mirin. Add carrots and bamboo shoots. Cook until carrots are soft. Add soybeans and clams. Remove from heat. When rice is done, toss clam mixture with rice.
We arrived in Japan on Sunday, October 7, although it was around noon on Saturday, October, 6, when we left Hawaii. For some reason, it felt like we arrived earlier than we did last year, as restaurants were still open for dinner. We were lucky enough to go to our favorite tonkatsu restaurant, Tonkatsu Wako.
I was lucky enough to make another trip to Japan with TheKeeper. And what made it even sweeter was that we went back to Hokkaido. I love Hokkaido. Of course, I need to make it clear that I have only been to Hokkaido in autumn, so perhaps I would not love Hokkaido during January or February. 
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