Category Archives: Food

How do you eat ramen?

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Perhaps you remember the video where I show people how to eat ramen? I thought I’d revive it again, and plus take a poll on how you eat ramen or somen (cold soba noodles). I just wonder how many of you slurp when you eat your ramen. While so many people might consider this rude, because of cultural differences, it’s not entirely so rude in Japan. I do want to point out that you probably don’t need to be obnoxiously loud, or purposely loud when slurping. There’s a difference in eating the ramen and just plain being rude (i.e. mocking). We don’t need that! Of course, in your own home, you can do anything you want. I just want to point out this is in public. Here’s the video:

Finally, here’s a poll you can vote on whether or not you slurp when eating your ramen.

Do you slurp when you eat ramen or somen?

View Results

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Lunch today

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Today, I made a bento box lunch for Meesh. Some mini-hamburgers on a bed of green baby lettuce, with some takuan, rice with some seaweed flakes sprinkled on it, and japanese potato salad. Let’s hope it tastes as good as it looks and smells!

Ninja KS 1100 update and mini review

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Ok, I received my Ninja Kitchen System 1100 yesterday. It was a pleasant surprise, as I expected, and here are my first impressions without actually using it just yet.

Taking it out of the box was very easy and straightforward. It came with a quick start guide that shows you all the pieces which were all there and what they did. Very straightforward and very informative. Kudos to them. I read the full instructions, including the care and cleaning information. Yes, the Ninja accessories are machine washable. So that’s what I’m doing. I really don’t see how it wouldn’t be, unless the plastic parts melt in heated drying conditions. Luckily, I’m not a fan of the heated air dry and I don’t plan on testing it either. If someone has a Ninja KS system they’d wish to contribute to try it, I’ll do it then.

So there is the mini review. Right out of the box, it looks impressive and very big actually when you put the dough attachment on. I’m not really sure why you can’t have the dough attachment on all the time except to conserve space on your counter. (Like me) I’m looking forward to trying some of the recipes they sent in the very thick cookbook I got days earlier. Full review to follow soon!

[UPDATE] You can find my full review here.

It's really Christmas season now. It's on!

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So now that the retailers have full permission to get going on Christmas decorations, it’s really going crazy. I mean, they already do it before hand, and I’m talking it gets crazy. I think I remember going to Costco and seeing Christmas stuff up maybe even before October. That was just crazy since Halloween wasn’t even around yet. I think Christmas is purely a retail holiday, and honestly don’t think it has any of the “traditional” practices nowadays. I think people have forgotten the joys of the holidays. I know I seem to have.

On a different note, I haven’t blogged here in a while, I’ve been using the computer less for productive stuff (unless it’s for work) and thus haven’t been really looking for topics to discuss. Instead, I’ve really been looking at doing some cooking and baking. I know I want to bake cookies with Meesh for Christmas. It’ll be fun and will make some great gifts.

Then I’ve been looking at making bento. I try to make them once in a while and get discouraged because it never turns out quite the way I envisioned it. Oh, what is bento, you ask? It’s basically a boxed lunch from Japan. There’s different types of bento, however, the homemade kind is the best. I think so, because you know someone made that lunch just for you. As a matter of a fact, I remember some of my friends bragging that their girlfriend made them bento. It used to be a status thing way back when. (Meaning you had a girlfriend that really loved you enough to make you bento and I didn’t.)

To brush up on my bento making abilities, I’ve been stalking bento sites, and discovered some really cool ones. A couple I have to recommend are Just Bento, whose also the author of The Just Bento Cookbook (Which I’ve ordered) and AnnaTheRed’s Bento Factory. Both sites are awesome for getting advice, techniques, and ideas on various bento. As of this writing, AnnaTheRed has just gotten back from Japan and is showcasing her trip there. Very exciting stuff. It makes me miss Japan even more. I’m envious, not to mention hungry for “real” Japanese food (that’s not mine or my mom’s). Hopefully, reading up on these various sites will help me out. I can certainly hope so. I’m sure Meesh would like to try out a good bento once in a while. (Not to mention cute!)

So what have you been up to lately? Are you ready for the Christmas season? I’m getting ready to send out Christmas cards soon!

If you're hungry today, it's your fault

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Here’s my dinner plate today. Believe me, I had more to eat than just that. If you leave your thanksgiving feast hungry today, it’s your own fault. I was stuffed, my parents were stuffed and Meesh were stuffed. We were so stuffed we didn’t miss dessert at all. Yeah, yeah, I didn’t make my infamous Peanut Butter Pie. I think I would have exploded if I ate that.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

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Happy Thanksgiving from Yoshi and Meesh! I hope you guys have traveled to your destinations without being groped! At this time, I’m probably prepping for the thanksgiving feast. I plan on make turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberries (courtesy of Meesh), stuffing, and the rest of the classics. No green bean casserole, thanks. My mom is bringing the veggies, so I’m not entirely sure what the veggies are gonna be. I’m looking forward to it!

What are you having for thanksgiving?

What's a Yakisoba?

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Perhaps you’ve seen that Maruchan commercial about “What’s a Yakisoba?” (video after the bump) While its true, it is a sort of yakisoba, it’s instant. It’s similar to instant Yakisoba you can get in Japan, UFO Yakisoba. I’ve talked about this before. It doesn’t really look good at all.

I like to make my own yakisoba. That’s really the best way to eat yakisoba. Just get some pork (you can substitute bacon if you don’t have any like me most of the time), cabbage, onions, and maybe some bean sprouts. Fry those up in a stir fry and cook them up with your noodles. Add some soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and voila, you’ve got some Yakisoba. If you’re into it, you can add some Kizama shoga (pickled ginger) and some Aonori (seaweed) and you’re ready to go.

You can also put yakisoba in a hot dog roll (as seen in the picture above) and make “Yakisoba-pan” or Yakisoba bread. Pretty awesome and tasty stuff.

So that stuff in the commercial? I don’t really consider it yakisoba. It’s not even as good as the instant UFO Yakisoba in my opinion. You decide! What do you think?

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Domino's Brooklyn Style Pizza

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Because I’m really slow to get on the wagon, I’ve only just recently got a Brooklyn style pizza from Domino’s. I have to say that I’m kinda a fan, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering again anytime soon. Domino has some really great prices. I’d have to say if you go with price, I’d stick with Domino’s over any of the other pizza chains except maybe Papa Murphy’s but they don’t really count in the same class since they don’t deliver and you have to bake it yourself.

My initial impression of their “live” status update was pretty entertaining, but I was a little turned off on how fast it all went. I understand the need for speed, but I’d rather have a better QC time.

The taste of the Brooklyn style was “ok”. I can’t say I like it. They also (in the commercials) tell you to take a picture of the pizza to show that it does look good. But honestly, look at this pizza as we ate it. Really greasy and well it doesn’t really look all that great now does it?

I think I have to admit, my photography skills aren’t all that, but honestly, it’s a non prepped photo. There are no special lights or anything and what you see is what you eat. I was almost a little disgusted I ate it, but I was hungry. I ate it all anyways.

As for the NY style pizza, and folding it in half, it does get a mediocre rating. It’s not quite some of the pizza I had when I lived in NJ but it comes relatively close. In the end, I think I’ll order a pizza from Pizza Hut or Papa Johns first from now on I think.