Goodbye lunch at Sushi Yasuda

*The master, Chef Yasuda, hard at work at the end of the sushi bar*

A very memorable goodbye!

My last day at the company is next Wednesday, so my people manager Tatjana took me out to goodbye lunch. Since I was allowed to choose I had not doubt in my mind that I wanted to eat at Sushi Yasuda. I was so happy to go to Yasuda with Tatjana, she is the best manager anyone could ever ask for, I wouldn't have been able to do half of the things I have done at Towers without her advice and support (and since I am leaving the company I do not have to kiss anyone's @$$, so I am being completely truthful when I say she is the best).

Sushi Yasuda is one of the best sushi restaurants here in NY. Its one of those places where the fish is so fresh and cut so masterfully that, as it melts in your mouth, you have a life-changing experience and your soul feels uplifted from its mundane existence for a little while.

Another amazing fact is that at lunch time they have a great prix fixe for around $25!!!! Of course, I needed to order some additional things here and there, since it was my goodbye lunch after all. The menu changes every day, and Chef Yasuda's recommendation for the day are circled in red. It took me a good, intense 15 minutes to make my selections.

*Sake from Hokkaido, it was very sooth and now to sweet (I don't like sweet sake)*

As part of my pre-fix menu, I ordered the sushi and sashimi special. The sashimi was picked by the chef, I got makarel, tuna and yellowtail. All three were incredibly fresh and melted in my mouth.

*Assorted sashimi*

*Starting from the bottom right: mackerel, orato, sea trout, scallop and uni (uni not pictured)*

For the sushi, I could acually pick my selections, so I did a mix of some favorites and some new fish. For some tried and true selections, I picked mackerel, uni and scallop. The uni was unreal, it had that fantastic, briny taste that develops in your mouth, and it melted like butter. I also tried some fish that that I had never eaten raw before. I picked orato and sea trout, the sea trout was a great new discovery for me.

And for dessert, I had some red bean mochi ice cream. It was a perfect way to say goodbye to Towers Perrin and to Midtown.

Dinner at Momofuku Ssam Bar

* Watching the rain from the window of Momofuku Ssam Bar*

Rainy day, delicious food

One of my really good friends from Georgetown is in town, and since he loves food as much as I do I suggested dinner at Momofuku Ssam Bar. Ssam Bar is one of David Chang's three restaurants in the East Village , he is only 30 years old and he is getting nominated for his third James Beard award! I am a big fan of his cooking and I have been wanting to go eat at Ssam bar for a while. I am so glad we went, his food is terrific!

I forgot my camera (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) so I used my iPod to take pictures of our great dinner. The pictures do not make justice to the delicious flavors of the dinner. Here are some pictures of the things we ate:

* Cured hamachi with horseradish sauce, edamame and wakame*

* Steam buns with pork belly, hoisin, cucumbers and scallions (these are seriously delicious)*

* Pork shoulder steak*

* Beet and lime ganache with goat's milk frozen yogurt in a pistachio/granita bed*

Dinner was absolutely delicious, but the most wonderful part of the meal was the dessert. I typically do not like sweets and seldomly order dessert, but this dessert was phenomenal. It was the perfect combination of sweet from the ganache, cream from the frozen yogurt and savory crunch from the pistachios. My mouth starts watering again now that I am writing about it!

After dinner I decided to walk home and stopped by St. Mark's bookshop on the way. I have a summer reading list and decided to buy the first book on that list.

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Fresh Berries

Simply wonderful

So the summer has officially started and one of my favorite things about the summer is that berries are now affordable! During the year I usually make a mix of dried blueberries and cranberries to make sure I get my antioxidants every day (also, because they are delicious), but during the summer I can have fresh berries for breakfast almost every day!

*Today's Breakfast: Cottage cheese drizzled with honey on whole-wheat toast with blueberries and raspberries (~210 calories)*

I usually drink coffee with breakfast, but today I didn't want the taste of coffee overpowering the delicate taste of the berries, so I had some of my favorite Fortnum and Mason tea instead.

Detox Week: Monday and Tuesday

I really need it
So after the partying and eating in West Palm Beach and in preparation to the 10k race I am running this weekend, I feel the need for some serious detox. Not the "I will only drink liquids" type of detox (I don't think I could ever put myselft throught that), I mean cooking my meals with good, healthy and nutritious ingredients, minimizing the amount of fat used in my cooking and staying off the alcohol for a week. Anyway, here is the food I prepared on Monday and Tuesday. I have been eating the leftovers at lunchtime and have been snaking on heatly fruits like kiwi and tangerines.

Monday: Pasta putanesca made with whole-wheat spaggetti, my own marinara sause, olives, capers and tuna.

Tuesday: I am still missing the delicious latin flavors from West Palm so I decided to cook latin food. Baked tilapia in citrus marinade, arroz amarilo (latin saffron rice) and a mango, onion and cherry tomato salad.

Is this a really good start? I hope so. I am starting to feel light again and have plenty of energy. Going back to the gym has helped tons too! I only wish there was better lighting in my apartment at night so the pics would come out better. I absolutely refuse to use flash!

Comfort Food: Canned Tuna with Rice

Brings me home every time

Last night I made my favorite comfort food: canned tuna with tomatoes and onions, dressed with lemon juice, olive oil and salt. We use a lot of lemons and limes in Ecuadorian coastal cooking, so this is how I grew up eating tuna (which people here in the U.S. find interesting). I love this dish but due to the high mercury levels in tuna I make aconcious effort of only eating it once a week. I ate it with brown rice and a carrot and broccoli salad.

Onigiri in Manhattan: Oms b Rice Ball Cafe

So pretty I feel sad about eating them

Another great lunch place I go to often here in Midtown East is Oms b Rice Ball Cafe (the name is supposed to replicate the phonetic pronunciation of "omusubi" in english). This cafe's main staple are the onigiri, although they do have some noodle dishes.

What I love about this place is the variety and creativity of the onigiri. Each onigiri is carfully put together and made with fresh ingredients (which might explain why the prices at Oms b are not particularly "recession friendly"). There is so much variety that standing in line is always torture as I agonize about which onigiri I will pick for lunch.

* shrimp popcorn onigiri*

* yukari-plum and wasabi onigiri*

So what did I eat today? These were my three picks. The "gorgeous football" was the tastiest one!

*counterclockwise from the upper left: eel, salmon and "gorgeous football" onigiri*

Breakfast: The perfectly cooked egg

Rainy day, sunny breakfast

Sometimes the simplest foods are the most delicious and rewarding. A perfectly cooked egg, with completely cooked egg white and perfectly runny yolk, is one of them. Here is the recipe I used to make my breakfast today:

1. Put eggs in a pot with enough water to cover them
2. Bring the water to a boil
3. Once the water starts boiling, set the timer to 3 minutes and 30 seconds*
4. After the three and a half minutes, scoop the eggs out of the boiling water and run them through cold faucet water (this will stop the cooking process and cool the eggs enough so you can peel them)
   
5. Peel open, and enjoy

*If you live at a higher altitude (New York is close to sea level: at 768 feet/234 meters) you might need to adjust the timing, as water takes longer to reach boiling point in higher altitude. Test by increasing/decreasing the cooking time once water has reached boiling point)

Sweet Cucumber Pickles

It's pickle time!

In the list of favorite foods that resides in my head, pickles certainly take one of the top five spots (there are probably about 10 different foods fighting for the top 5 spots, which I guess could be a little troublesome). This weekend I realized that I am running low on pickles, so its time re-stock the pickle jar.

I like this recipe for sweet cucumber pickles, they are refreshing, lightly sweet and have a small kick of heat at the end.

Sweet Cucumber Pickles

Ingredients

5 Japanese cucumbers
1 2/3 Tbsp of salt
1 1/2 cups of rice vinegar
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup of sugar
2 pods of dried chilli pepper
1 bay leaf
1 small cinnamon stick
6-7 peppercorns
1 pickling press
1 glass jar

Method

First, wash the cucumbers and trim off the edges (otherwise they will taste bitter). Once they are clean, cut them lengthwise in half. Mine will look a little smaller because my pickling jar is small, so I cut them into smaller pieces.


Lay the cucumbers in the pickling press and add salt, rub the cucumbers to make sure that the salt is evenly distributed. Then, pour over 1/3 of salted water to make sure the salt is soaked into the cucumbers evenly

Put on the lid of the pickle press and screw down to place weight on the cucumbers. this will allow the water to drain out of the cucumbers and the pickling process to begin. Store them away from the sun from 12-24 hours.


Take the pickles out of the press and rinse them to remove excess water. Put the pickles in the shade and let their surface dry.


In the meantime, heat up the marinade for the pickles using the remaining ingredients. Make sure the marinade never touches any metallic objects (that includes measuring cups, spoons or the pot). Rice vinegar reacts to metallic objects and develops an unpleasant, metallic taste. Some people have enamel covered pots that work quite well. I don't have one, so I use a Latin technique called "Bano de Maria", I heat up a ceramic bowl within a pot of boiling water and place the marinade inside the bowl. Bring the marinade to a boil , then turn off the heat and let it cool.


Finally, pack cucumbers in a pickling jar, and pour over the marinade. Let them soak in the flavors of the marinade for one day. These pickles will be good for a couple of months!

Dinner: Miso Black Cod

The best part of this dinner is that I have leftovers

Tonight I had a little extra time, so dinner included miso black cod, rice with veggies, soy eggs and pickles.

Miso-marinated black cod is famous in NY thanks to Nobu Matsushita. It is an expensive dish at restaurants, so for years I considered it to be an indulgence. That is, until I got a hold of the modified recipe from Rasa Malaysia and realized that it is very easy to do. Enjoy!

Recipe: Black Cod with Miso (Miso-marinated Black Cod)
Adapted from Nobu: The Cookbook

Ingredients:

2-3 black cod fillets (about 1 lb)

For the marinade:

1/4 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin
4 tablespoons of white miso paste
3 tablespoons of sugar

Method:

1. Mix the marinate ingredients thoroughly in a plastic container (with lid) and set aside. Save some for plating purposes.
2. Pat the fish fillets dry with paper towels and put them into the plastic container with the marinate. Cover the lid and leave to steep in the refrigerator overnight or for 24 hours.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
4. Preheat an indoor grill at the same time.
5. Lightly wipe off (with fingers) any excess miso marinate clinging to the fish fillets but don’t rinse it off. Place the fish on the grill and lightly grill on both sides until the surface turns brown.
6. Transfer the fish fillets to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.
7. Add a few extra drops of the marinate on the plate and serve hot.

Onigiri in Manhattan: Café Zaiya

The devil is in the details

Many Japanese subsidiaries have set their headquarters in Midtown East (for example, my company is in the same building as the giant Itochu Corporation). Consequently, several Japanese restaurants have established businesses around the area, catering to the many Japanese working around here. When it comes to picking quick, fresh and inexpensive lunch around work, Café Zaiya is my favorite place in midtown Manhattan


Café Zaiya deserves a post on its own. But lets focus on onigiri for now. Zaiya's onigiri are particularly delicious for a couple of reasons:

1. The onigiri is freshly made every day, so if you go there at lunch time, the onigiri has just come out of the kitchen and its warm! I have been completely spoiled by Zaiya's warm onigiri. In fact, the first time I tried onigiri from the combini store in Japan and bit into cold rice, it made me a little sad
   
2. The onigiri comes with plastic packaging that separates the nori from the rice, so the nori retains its crunchy texture until its ready to be eaten
   
3. The onigiri costs approximately $2 dollars each, so they are both budget and palate friendly
   

* Plastic wrap = crunchy seaweed*

Wajima Onsen

On serene, quiet days, Wajima often comes to my mind

Our trip to Japan could not be complete without experiencing the hospitality and hotsprings of a ryokan, so Brendan and I decided to go to one near Wajima, a sea-facing city in the northern part of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture. Wajima is pretty far from the typical western tourist route. Even though there is a train station in Wajima, the train does not run there anymore, so our Japan rail pass took us as far as Wakuraonsen station, and then we hopped on a local bus to Wajima.

In a way I am happy that the train does not run to Wajima anymore, because the bus ride was absolutely gorgeous! With views of tranquil, rural Japan on one side of the road, and the dark Eastern Sea on the other.

I don't think anything I have seen before prepared us for our stay at the Notonosho ryokan*. We could see the sea through our window while we enjoyed the constant sound of water from our private pine bath.

After the bath, we put on our comfortable yukatas (cotton kimono) and went to have dinner at the restaurant in the ryokan. In retrospect, I remember the yukata was very comfortable for me, since I am 5' 1". However, it was probably not that comfortable for Brendan, who is 6’ feet tall and not really the standard size for a male in Japan. Still, he was a total trooper.

Dinner at our ryokan has been one of the most memorable Japanese culinary experiences I have had. All produce was locally sourced, and presented in the most delicate lacquer ware (Wajima is known throughout Japan for producing beautiful lacquer ware). I will describe some of the dishes we ate as best as my limited Japanese allowed me to understand that night.

* Grilled baby squid with locally sourced seaweed *

* Notogyu (beef from the Noto Peninsula) grilled with shiitake mushrooms*

* Grilled, ponzu-marinated squid*

After dinner, we went to some of the onsen pools in the ryokan. By the time we got back to our room, our comfortable futons had been laid out for us. After such a beautiful, relaxing day, we got to rest, enjoy our beautiful room and be a little silly with each other.

* Note: If you are are planning a trip to Japan and want to stay at a Ryokan or Minshuku, I recommend making reservations through JapaneseGuestHouses, a free reservation website service. Not only do they have information on hundreds of Ryokan all over Japan, but also help you make reservations, as many Ryokans do not have english-speaking staff.

Lazy, delicious dinner

Rice with gim = nom nom nom

Many nights when I come to home from the gym I am too lazy to cook, so I try to get away with fast, easy dinners. Tonight I am eating leftover brown rice, myeongran jeot with gim and cucumbers I pickled a couple of days ago.

Gim is korean seaweed salted and roasted in sesame oil. Myeongran jeot is korean pickled pollock roe. It's similar to mentaiko, the japanese version of marinated pollock roe. Every time I go eat at Koreatown I make a point to go to the grocery store afterwards and purchase some myeongran jeot.

There are several ways to eat myeongran jeot, its can be used in stews or mixed with noodles. Tonight I am eating in its simplest form, adding it to rice wrapped in gim.

Pretty Octopi

These octopi are so beautiful, they look like flowers.

Last May, my fiancée and I went on our first trip to Japan together. Since the jetlag had us both up and running by 4 A.M., we followed the suggestions of many tour-guides and ventured into central Tokyo to visit the famous Tsukiji fish market, the greatest seafood market in the world.

The amount of seafood we saw was mesmerizing. It was also saddening, because everything looked amazing and we could not purchase any of it. This is my favorite picture from that day.