Let's Eat

Pork and cabbage boiled dumplings

My niece took me to a very popular dumpling joint in the Baotao Hutong area called Mr. Shi’s. You’d never find it on your own, given that it’s down a narrow street in a hutong—unless of course you’d done your research, since apparently Mr. Shi’s is quite popular.

Drawing of Mr. Shi on the wall of his dumpling house

Any order includes 15 dumplings, so unless you go with a crowd, you’re guaranteed to have too much to eat. But the prices are reasonable, so you can’t help but order too much—who wants to try only one thing?

Veronica ordering our dumplings

We tried both the boiled and the fried. While they were both good, I preferred the boiled (surprise!). We also had green beans sauteed with ground pork—reminiscent of food from childhood.

Yummy green beans

Fried beef and mushroom dumplings

Very fun and delicious! Would be here all the time if I lived here.

There’s an article in the NYT about a study that was done which indicated that peas plants that were subjected to stress conditions were actually able to communicate this with adjacent plants and that those receiving the “warning” were actually better prepared to withstand the adversity when it finally did occur. The communication was somehow done through the roots.

I’m no scientist (even though my Bausch and Lomb science award, bestowed on me my senior year of high school, told me I had promise—at least someone thought I did). In reading through the research article, I can’t help wondering if it wasn’t just as simple as the stressed plant (exposed to simulated drought) just started sucking up its neighbors’ share of moisture, thus causing the other plants also to think there was a drought.

That’s not nearly as interesting as peas communicating though. Now we’ll have to think twice when we call someone a pea-brain (it might be an insult to the pea). And vegans may have to stop eating vegetables, if they’re worried about eating things that exhibit ‘higher’ functions.

A friend forwarded an article to me which touted the benefits of cooking with a pressure cooker. I’ve owned one since receiving it as a gift in the late 80s. I’d never seen one before, but I experimented with it and enjoyed making stews and other goodies in it. But I have to admit it’s sat in the drawer more than most of my other equipment lately. I guess it’s time to bring it back out.

An old friend of mine has a website all about pressure cooking.  Here, she writes about cooking eggs to perfection. Eggs don’t usually take so long, but it is interesting to think about getting them to the perfect doneness. My guess is that it takes some practice. I just might try it.

I especially like her suggestion about this special equipment: stands for cooking the eggs.

© hippressurecooking.com

Foie Gras with pancakes at Parcel 104

For years, I have heard rumors that eventually it would be illegal to sell foie gras in many places. Apparently, the day draws near for us: on July 1 of this year, you will no longer be able to produce, sell or purchase foie gras in the state of California.

While I have enjoyed foie gras served many ways, I can’t say that it’s something that I cannot live without. Yes, it can be delicious and indulgent. One of my favorite versions was at a restaurant in Oslo, where they served a small portion atop a crème brûlée. I don’t recall but I imagine there was also some sort of berry or puree with it. Unfortunately, it was before the days of foodspotting, but fortunately not before the days of my enjoying fine food. It was a tasty combination of salt, fat and sweetness. I’m sure it was low in calories, too.

According to this “short” history of foie gras, Norway banned the production of foie gras in 1974. Apparently it didn’t stop them from importing it, since I had my Oslo treat some time after 2005. Also interesting, if you can believe the article, Chicago banned it in 2006, and then overturned the ban in 2008.

It’s a dangerous topic. Some people are militantly against foie gras. I know of a man who claims he had to stop dating someone once he found out she ate foie gras. I would guess there were other reasons but that was the one he chose to highlight. I’m pretty sure I could give it up if a man I loved asked me. But I’m not sure I could be repentent about having eaten it.

There was an interesting episode of This American Life about trying to raise foie gras in a humane fashion. It’s a fun story: check out Act 3.

I’ll be curious to see where we land with this one. At least I had my fill recently, enjoying the foie gras with pancakes at Parcel 104.

When I was at Cave de Re-lax, I asked about good wine bars. One of the guys was super-enthusiastic about two: Shonzui in Roppongi and Grape Gumbo in Ginza. They’re sister restaurants. Shonzui gets mentioned a lot, but I hadn’t heard of Grape Gumbo. The person recommending them said he liked Grape Gumbo much better although he wasn’t really able to explain the reasons in English. All he could say was that Grape Gumbo was more sophisticated.

(BTW, sorry for the links. I was not able to find websites for either winebar so instead I’ve included links to reviews or other.)

I decided it would be fun to try, and he was nice enough to make a reservation for me. And draw a map on how to get there. And write the name of the place in Kanji in case I got lost. He warned me that no one on shift that night spoke any English, nor was there an English menu. But it was in French and Japanese, so I thought I would be fine (at least I can Babelfish French).

It’s an easy walk from the Ginza station, on a small side street. The atmosphere was homey. I asked for a Japanese red by the glass, and he brought me a 2009 Obusé ‘Sogga père et fils’ Merlot/Cab blend which I was delighted to see because I had read that Sogga was a very well-respected winemaker in Nagano. I enjoyed it a lot—smooth, not too tannic, with a slight hint of chocolate.

Ordering was easy. The table across the way was served a plate of grilled quail with roasted potatoes sitting under a watercress salad. The ‘Cailles Grillées’ was the best meal I had the entire week.

Cailles Grillées: Probably meant to be shared by two, but I was forced to eat it by myself as I was eating alone.

When I’d finished my meal, the waiter came by with two bottles of Obusé whites (a chardonnay and a sauvignon blanc) and gave me two half glasses to taste. How nice of him! He spoke no English but the gesture was kind and no words were needed, other than ‘arigato.’

The evening—my visit to Cave de Re-lax and Grape Gumbo—was so satisfying. It made me realize how wine opens up my world. Thank God for wine and the people who love it.

I was hoping to find some Japanese wines to try, and my colleague Toru recommended Cave de Re-lax, a wine store not far from the office. It’s a nice store with a very friendly staff, and appears to have a decent selection of wine from all over the world. I was there to look at the Japanese wines, however, and they had about 80+ bottles from various labels.

In the back, there’s a small tasting bar. They only had two Japanese wines open—one albarino and one red blend. I wasn’t in the mood for white, so I tried the red, which was the Noumin red from Coco Farms. It’s a blend of cab and merlot with some other grapes thrown in. Not big and nothing that knocked my socks off, but while sitting there, I asked the woman what she would recommend if I wanted to take a couple bottles home.

She couldn’t have been more helpful. She came back with two Bailey-As. The Muscat Bailey-A (which is not an easy name for Japanese to pronounce) was developed in Japan to be suited to the Japanese climate. The two she chose were a 2009 Suntory “Japan Premium” Muscat Bailey-A and 2009 Chanter Y”Y2 Carré.” The former is supposedly a very basic Bailey A that should give me a good idea of the flavor of the grape. The latter was aged in a barrel for 26 months (Google is not helping me find out more about this wine so my fact-checking is weak on this). A well-respected wine connoisseur apparently praised the Chanter Y for having done a good job of not letting the impact of the barrel aging overpower the flavor of the grape.

I asked about Koshus and she brought back 2010 Grace Konshu. She said that Koshu is not typically very aromatic, and that this one’s bouquet was stronger than most.  Someone had told me about Grace Gris de Konshu, and I asked how the two might compare. She mentioned first pressing vs. second pressing. I’m not exactly clear, but the gist is that the Gris would have spent more time with the skins of the grape, and therefore should have more intense flavors (not always good ones, but we’ll see). Both bottles purchased.

I’m looking forward to having a little tasting session.

Yukking it up at the Train Bar.

After having udon at Tsurutontan, we wandered across the street to the Train Bar. Looking at their site, I guess it’s actually called Mistral Bleu but since the neon says “TRAIN BAR” I think that’s how they’re destined to be known (think ‘Saturate Before Using’).

When we arrived, all the drinks were 500¥but at some point the price must have changed (of course we were not notified, or if we were, we don’t recall ☺) because by the time we left we owed 15,000¥ for the three of us. OUCH! I think that was 4x as much as our dinner. Pretty sure I did not have 10 drinks, although I did have plenty, including a tequila shot that I had to do as loser of a round of Jenga.

It’s a teeny little space. There’s a bell, and if someone rings it, they’re buying drinks for everyone in the bar. I don’t think that happened while I was there, but there were a few very drunk (or at least, they were acting drunk) Japanese women who kept telling my colleague to ring the bell.

I think it really is the shell of a train car. If it isn’t, it is darn good imitation (what do I know, it was really dark inside). There is a bathroom at the end of the bar, and the funny thing is, it’s about 1/3 the size of the entire bar. If you’re feeling like you need more space, take a trip to the loo.

The Train Bar was playing some great rock music which I actually enjoyed—surprisingly!

Good music, fun crowd, great vibe. Walking distance from the ANA.

Udon with beef and seaweed

Some colleagues and I went out for udon to Tsurutontan in Roppongi, which was recommended by the concierge at the ANA. We were lucky to have a reservation: it was packed when we arrived, and we felt like celebrities as we were led past a bunch of hungry people to our reserved table. Was easy to see why the restaurant is popular: delicious udon, generous portions and reasonable pricing.

Great people-watching this night. I wish it were easier to take pictures of folks but it’s hard to do unless you’ve got a great zoom, and most of the time, that’s just not practical. This particular evening we witnessed a woman with a big red and white bow atop her head, wearing a pink-cotton jumper style dress and high-heeled red red shoes. As my friend put it, she looked like a Strawberry Shortcake wannabe. Another great sight: a man wearing a black jacket with sequined sleeves. And pulling it off somehow.

Anyway, I digress. The udon was good, but the service was a bit lacking (it was crowded, I’ll give them a break) and the cold sake was actually lukewarm, which was not so appetizing. Still, worth going back, but maybe not worth a long crazy wait.