Yamagata and Yamadera November 16, 2009

Buildings on the cliff at Ryushakuji overlook the town of Yamadera below.

On the 4th of July weekend, we took Friday off and took a trip to Yamagata. I was inspired by my previous trip to Japan, when we spent 3 weeks studying haiku poet Matsuo Basho’s Oku no Hosomichi by following the same route through Tohoku. When we arrived in Yamagata on that trip, I caught a cold so I couldn’t complete the Gas-san to Yudono-san hike (I was deterred by the flying snow-rain at the cable car base) so I’ve been wanting to complete my unfinished trip since then. Plus, I remembered the area, particularly Yamadera, was so beautiful. We certainly weren’t disappointed this time around.

To get there we took the shinkansen to Sendai and then the local line to Yamadera. On my previous trip we were in Yamadera on the 4th of July too, and I remembered that the streets had seemed to be lined with cherry vendors. I was really looking forward to bunches and bunches of delicious Yamagata cherries. Unfortunately, this year’s weather led to a bad stone fruit crop, including cherries, so there were just a few sellers this time.

This carving is at the temple at the base of Yamadera. You can rub the statue where you’re having trouble to feel better. As you can see years and years of rubbing have made him so smooth and shiny. We saw lots of older ladies come and rub his feet before starting up the 1000 stone steps to the mountaintop temple of Ryushakuji.

A stone statue

The big main gate is about halfway up.

You can tie your omikuji here.

Looking up, you can see where water has worn rounded caves into the stone.

A small building on the cliff

The view of the town below (also called Yamadera) from the viewing platform.

Intricately carved dragons

At the top there is not just one temple, but many buildings, including this one, which appears to be the priest’s house, and a vegetable garden.

A string of omikuji.

A huge lantern.

me, Alex, and Alex

After spending the day in Yamadera we had a quick soba lunch before catching the train to Yamagata city. We met up with my friend Alex from Boulder, who is working as an ALT in Yamagata.

First we went to a nearby yatai center where we enjoyed some beers and local specialties. Just find a stall with open seats, pull up a chair, and order away. One interesting dish we tried was dashi tofu. Yamagata dashi isn’t dashi as in the kombu and bonito broth that’s used in Japanese cooking, it’s a finely chopped mix of okra, eggplant, shiso, and other vegetables and seasonings that you can plop onto your tofu. It’s neba-neba (sticky-slimy), but was surprisingly good; definitely better than that other neba-neba food, natto, in my opinion.

After that we headed to a tachinomiya (standing bar) called Maneki Buta. You might guess from the name that their specialty is pork. Alex recommended the grilled pork with daikon, raw on the inside and seared on the outside pork liver, and the gyu-suji nikomi. It was all tasty.

My culinary revelation with organ meats continues. Not only is chicken liver good, this raw on the inside and seared on the outside pork liver is pretty good too. It’s tender and creamy textured and cooked just enough.

See more from our trip at Alex’s photoblog.

Nira harumaki: Garlic chive spring rolls March 11, 2009

Here is another tasty dish from the February Kyou no Ryouri’s nabemono vegetable ideas article: Nira harumaki. These yummy rolls combine pork, harusame noodles, enoki mushrooms, and nira. Nira are garlic chives (not garlic and chives), a flat green leaf with a flavor similar to chives and garlic. The flavor is pretty strong when they’re raw but it becomes milder as they cook.

These are my first harumaki (spring rolls). Although I was worried that rolling them would be a lot of work, they were surprisingly simple to make, but next time I’ll have to make sure to fry them in cooler oil because they got a little bit overcooked (they should be golden, but not brown).

Nira harumaki: Garlic chive spring rolls
from Kyou no Ryouri, February 2009

200 grams thinly sliced pork loin
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon shoyu
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
100 grams nira (garlic chives)
1 bunch enoki mushrooms
30 grams harusame noodles
10 sheets harumaki wrappers
katakuriko or cornstarch
water mixed with a bit of flour (to seal the harumaki wrappers)
vegetable oil for frying
garnish: shoyu, vinegar, chili threads

Chop the pork. Add salt, pepper, sake, sesame oil, shoyu, and oyster sauce to pork and mix.

Cut nira into 3 cm lengths. Trim the bottom from the bunch of enoki. Cut tops into 3 cm lengths. Soak harusame noodles in warm water for 4 to 5 minutes. Drain well and cut into 3 cm lengths.

Mix together pork, vegetables, and harusame. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon katakuriko and mix.

Place one harumaki wrapper on your work surface. Place one tenth of the meat and vegetable mixture diagonally about 1/3 of the way across the wrapper. Dip your finger in some water mixed with flour and paint a line around the edges of the wrapper (this is to help the wrapper seal shut). Now roll up the harumaki like a burrito. Make sure the filling is not poking out from the corners of the wrappers.

Fry the harumaki in 165 – 170 degree C vegetable oil until golden. Drain harumaki on paper towels or oil-absorbing kitchen paper.

Make a dipping sauce by mixing vinegar and shoyu to taste. Garnish with chili threads.

Stamina hakusai su-mushi: Vinegar-steamed cabbage and pork March 2, 2009

Stamina hakusai su-mushi: vinegar-steamed napa cabbage and stir-fried pork

I bought the February issue of Kyou no Ryouri (Today’s Cooking) recently because there was an interesting looking feature, “Nabemono Yasai Idea Dishes.” This article had a lot of recipes for using the vegetables that you usually put into nabe (Japanese hotpots). Maybe Japanese housewives have the same issue that I do: I love daikon, nira, hakusai (napa cabbage), and shungiku in my nabe, but then I’m not sure what to do with the leftover vegetables except to make more nabe with them. Now I have a bunch of ideas for other dishes that use these leftover vegetables. Most of the recipes focus on the vegetable, with just a bit of meat added as an accent, so they’re good for the environment and low calorie too (compared to more meat-centric meals). Trying to save money? It doesn’t get much more economical than cabbage and daikon! Another great point is that all of the recipes that I’ve tried from the article look quick and simple; great for a weeknight meal!

Here’s the first recipe I tried from this feature.

Stamina hakusai su-mushi: Vinegar-steamed pork and napa cabbage
adapted from Kyou no Ryouri, February 2009

1/4 hakusai (napa cabbage)
300 grams thinly sliced pork (buta koma gire niku)
2 cloves garlic
small piece fresh ginger
rice vinegar
salt
oil
shoyu
sake

Chop the cabbage into bite-sized pieces. Mince the garlic and ginger. Cut the pork into bite-sized pieces.

Put the cabbage into a pot large enough to hold all of it. Add 100 milliliters vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cover and steam for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the cabbage and continue cooking until the cabbage is as cooked as you like it.

In a frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (reduced from 2 tablespoons in the original recipe) and cook the garlic and ginger. When the garlic and ginger is fragrant, add the pork and stir fry. Add 1 tablespoon shoyu and 1 tablespoon sake. Reduce the liquid a bit.

To serve, pile the cabbage on a large platter (drain off most of the liquid as it is very strong). Pile the pork on top of the cabbage. Eat with rice.

Ton Ton Matsuri December 19, 2008

I suppose one obvious sign that I live in the inaka (countryside) is that my town has a festival called Ton Ton Matsuri, which basically means Piggy Piggy Festival, or maybe Porky Party. It was a celebration of pigs and pork in honor of Gunma pork, a famous local product around here. One of the highlights of the day was the baby pig race. I don’t think there’s anything cuter than piglets in tank tops running down a corral. Actually, they didn’t quite race, they kind of meandered from one end to the other, with one or two of the contestants getting lost along the way. The little guy in the shirt above turned out to be the winner, while the one below never made it to the finish line. But they’re both cute as the dickens, aren’t they?

Ichiran Ramen September 28, 2008

After our trip to Yokohama Chinatown, we returned to Tokyo. We did some shopping in the sporting goods district in the Jimbocho area. We returned to Ueno station and had time to grab a bowl of ramen for dinner before we had to catch our train home. We went to Ichiran, a well known ramen shop that specializes in tonkotsu, Kyushu’s rich pork broth for ramen. The chain is based in Hakata, the home of tonkotsu.

At the door, you tell the hostess how many seats you’ll need at the counter while you buy your tickets for your ramen and toppings. The seating area is actually a long counter with individual “stalls” to provide customers with some privacy from the patrons to their right and left while they eat. After you’re seated, you fill out a sheet with options to personalize your ramen: how rich do you like your broth, how spicy, a lot of onion or a little, how well done do you like your noodles, and so on. You place your sheet and meal tickets on the bar in front of you, and a server comes to the other side of the counter and takes your tickets. A few minutes later, you recieve a steaming bowl of ramen prepared to your specifications. Since you’ve already payed, just eat and leave when you’re finished. Someone will probably be waiting to take your seat as soon as you stand up.

The menu is fairly bare bones: it’s pretty much just the bowl of ramen and some optional add-ins such as a soft boiled egg, kikurage (wood ear mushrooms), extra pork, extra noodles, and some drinks. What they lack in variety they make up for in quality. I really recommend the soft-boiled egg (han-yude tamago), which is cooked just right here. Alex got the kikurage with his ramen, which is pictured above. The broth is rich, creamy, and flavorful and the noodles are tasty too. If you have an average apetite, this bowl of ramen will surely fill you up, and if you eat more than the average Joe, you can order extra noodles. If you’re sensitive to spice like me, look out for the chili sauce that you can add to the broth: it’s hot!

The restaurant is located in the Ueno Station building, so it was really convenient for us to grab a quick dinner here before heading home. If you find yourself in Ueno with some time to spare, I recommend you check out Ichiran for a bowl of delicious tonkotsu ramen. It’s even open 24 hours a day, how convenient!