December Food Ranking



Here is what I want to eat on a cold December evening. Let me know if you have anything better to offer.

1) Tendon: On top of the steaming rice, I get the tempura of my choice... Maybe some pumpkin?
2) Mochi: You beat the living daylights out of the poor rice grains, pound away all you like, and all you get it a very stiff and mushy - and square - kind of cake. Then you heat that in the oven: enjoy with nori and soy sauce: wow. Nothing tastes better.
3) Irori: I'm all yours. This is the way to cook, Edo style, and I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Do invite me!
4) Miso soup: At the local kaiten sushi, if I order a steaming hot miso soup, the staff treats me different. It is like they know, that I know, how cold it can get in late December.
5) Mushrooms: Use them for pasta, on your pizza, or just fry them. In Sweden, and here in Japan, people do go out and harvest all kinds of mushrooms in the forest, and they tend to know the names of even the most obsqure varieties. Make sure you avoid the poisonous ones ;)

Comments

K and S said…
Thanks for linking us for this post :) I especially loved the video, it brought back memories of "mochitsuki" in Hawaii :)
8:19 am, December 18, 2008
Martin J Frid said…
Thanks for the comment - your site is fantastic, and I recommend the search function for anyone looking for ideas about food.
11:33 am, December 18, 2008
K and S said…
thank you Martin, you are so kind! Happy Holidays to you.
3:47 pm, December 18, 2008
Pandabonium said…
The video brought back memories from Hawaii for me too - pounding mochi every year with a big family. Huge batches were made, and the "guys" rotated pounding using mallets made of guava wood. It usually rained and was chilly, but Mrs. U always served o-zoni soup to warm us up after.

Happily I was never the guy who turned the mochi between hits!
5:47 pm, December 19, 2008
Martin J Frid said…
Hi P, thanks for the comment! We did this at the temple and the turning was scary. But! I just had to trust the guys pounding the rice, didn't I. And the mochi never tasted better.

The way we did it was having everyone shouting and chanting a rythm together. That way there was a kind of collective consciousness taking care of us. Plus we did it from 5AM in the morning ;)
6:08 pm, December 19, 2008
Tom O said…
Check out this fantastic God-send here in Brighton, their excellent website is now up and running and, believe me, the prices are excellent. Fab katsu-don JUST £4.20, or 30p extra for that 'omori' touch. Anyway, enjoy - the tokoro is right opposite Brighton Dome - where ABBA once played, shall we say!

http://www.pompoko.co.uk
6:40 am, December 23, 2008
Martin J Frid said…
Thanks for the tip, Tom, the Donburi selections looks fantastic. The place here in Hanno is not so bad either (near the station).
11:11 pm, December 23, 2008
Tom O said…
The soba place? The thing is, good Japanese food anywhere in this country let alone Brighton that doesn't cost a fortune - the rare exception - there are a couple of other places in Brighton where katsu-don is £8+. How expensive can rice, breaded pork cutlet and egg etc be?? Out of the blue Pompoko opens and I can't believe it - heaven!! Katsu-don - excellent too - for £4.20 with, as said, omori for an extra 30p. You'll see they do a nice little starter - the ebi fry for £2.40. Anyway, I just love having this option - where I can be natsukashii but also eat great stuff! Btw, not five minutes away from Pompoko is this :

http://www.okinami.com

Have a look at the gallery - maaa... The original okinami was located right opposite where I am in Hove right now and FatBoy Slim got involved with the new one (he used to like the old one and I think has put some money into the new, have his cake and eat it etc). Anyway, even if in a date situation (a tad unlikely right now but one must be positive!) it would always be Pompoko. Its real Japan - omochiron! 2 final point - 1. The great thing is that the place is really popular, especially with students - they can be 'trendy' and not spend much. Have had a couple of conversations with people who have visited Japan too there. 2. Plan to have a chat with the chef, see if we can come to a mutual ebi tempura soba agreement. Symbiosis.
6:02 am, December 24, 2008
Jun Okumura said…
Let’s see; pot-au-feu, houtou,oden, hot udon and of course soba, any one of many hot (and I mean hot) Korean soups… the list goes on.
10:05 pm, December 24, 2008
Unknown said…
I really liked your article; this is very useful for mothers of teens. I was just thinking about the food rankingsof all these food items that we eat on daily basis.
7:46 pm, November 28, 2014
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