Street Meat!

They've got mini menus, no fixed address and are compact quick-serve kitchens on wheels. More than 15 new food trucks rolled out on to Vancouver streets after getting the green light from City Council on January 20th.

They are part of a plan to encourage healthier, more diverse offerings from mobile food operators in one of Canada's biggest cities. Food carts have traditionally sold hot dogs, snacks or prepackaged food. Not anymore...

Japadog was one of the first food carts to give an ethnic spin on an old favorite. Hot dogs with teriyaki sauce? On a bed of grated daikon (white radish) and topped with strands of toasted seaweed? Yup. And Vancouverites have been lining up at the corner of Burrard and Smithe for these and other delightfully different dogs.



There are now several Japadog carts now and even a sit down restaurant. They have been featured on Food Network and the CBC. Anthony Bourdain and Steven Seagal have sampled their unique brand of "street meat".

Foodies are flocking to street corners and parking lots to take advantage of the expanding food truck phenomena. As the name suggests, Roaming Dragon serves up fast fresh food with an Asian flair. Look for Korean inspired dishes like short rib or beef bulgogi tacos. Banh mi (a Vietnamese style submarine sandwich) is stuffed with meat, pickled veggies and fresh herbs. I haven't tried it myself but the lychee and basil lemonade is rumoured to be refreshing and unique.

Bada Bing (below) can be seen cruising Robson street dishing up Philly Cheesesteaks and (un!?)healthy portions of cheesy poutine.


A few high-end restaurants also run food carts. This is a clever marketing trick, particularly with fine dining restaurants in BC facing very challenging times. Customers can sample a pricy restaurant's food without spending an arm and a leg and an evening out. If they like what they've tried off the cart, chances are they'll consider the restaurant that operates it for their next special night out.


La Brasserie (the restaurant) is located on Davie St in the West End. La Brasserie (The food cart) offers just one signature item, a beer-brined chicken sandwich on homemade buttermilk buns with fried onions. When it's gone, it's gone and the operators let their customers know when they've sold out on twitter. Twitter is a powerful and popular tool for food trucks/carts. Instantly they can inform their customers as to where they are and will be, and what's available and what's not.

Harry Kambolosis owns some of Vancouver's best known restaurants, including "C ", Raincity Grill and the relatively recent Greek spot "NU". "Souvlaki by NU" is a new street cart also operated by Kambolosis offering easy to eat souvlaki (on a stick) or wrapped in a pita with your choice of condiments.


Does the guy working the cart look familiar? Yup, that's Executive Chef Robert Clark of "C" grilling, wrapping and rolling. He's been featured on the Food network and CBC and was a founding member of the vancouver Aquarium's Oceanwise Program. Oceanwise encourages guests, restaurants and suppliers to support sustainable fisheries.

Sustainable, local seafood is always on the menu at "Feastro" Fresh fish tacos, Seared BC Tuna Carpaccio and crab cakes are sold (quite literally) off the back of a truck. They're usually parked in the neighbourood of Cordova and Thurlow, near the Convention Centre.

Kamloops is probably a ways from having a regular street food scene anything like Vancouvers! But fresh and tasty snacks can be found at The Kamloops Farmers Market Wednesday and Saturdays downtown. Vendors can also be found Friday afternoon on the North Shore and Sundays at Sun Peaks. That's all for now...eat and enjoy!

Noodles!

Times are tough for many Vancouver restaurants. But outside Kintaro Ramen at Denman and Robson, be prepared to line up for your noodles in soup!

10 years ago I felt sophisticated being able to tell my spagetti from my linguine and a Marinara sauce from a Putanesca. Times change. I can file all of that precious knowledge next to my Rolling Stones records in the box with my Sony Walkman. It's being guarded by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I'll always adore Italian, but it don't look much like them there ramen....

Nowadays if I want to appear at all noodly-worldly, I have to know my ramen from my udon and my soba from my somen. Ramen are a Japanese take on Chinese style noodles served in a rich, fatty broth (often pork based) and garnished with sliced meats, boiled eggs, fish cake etc. Popular ramen shops in Japan attract big crowds as elsewhere. Another ramen restaurant (this one in Tokyo)...another line up...

Vietnamese "Pho" is another super-hot noodle dish out there. I have learned to pronounce it like "feu" and not like "dough" to avoid being laughed out of my favourite Richmond Food Courts. )

Yaohan Mall on #3 Road has many stalls offering Vietnamese pho, as well as Chinese, Korean and Japanese noodles dishes. With tea and a side dish you can easily eat fresh, fast noodle food for less than $10(photo c/o chowtimes.com

Masato tried a spicy chicken and coconut version of pho at "Pho Tan" restaurant on Main Street in Vancouver (see below). Rumour has it that the Vietnamese borrowed cooking techniques from the French (think "pot-au-feu") during Colonial times. The preparation methods and pronounciation for "pho" stuck. Rice noodles are served in soup usually made from bones, charred onion and spices, and topped with thinly sliced meats.

As with other Vietnamese dishes, a plate of fresh lime, chili, cilantro and other herbs are available for the diners to add as they like. We also tried "banh xeo", a rice flour crepe coloured with tumeric. Ours was stuffed with veggies and seafood. It was bright yellow in colour, but lightly seasoned. Our server told us to put pieces of the crepe into the lettuce leaves provided and garnish it how we liked. I added a few sprigs of Thai basil, cilantro, a chili pepper and then gave it a quick dunk in a sweet&spicy dipping broth. Yum!

A "dry noodle" dish pictured below skipped the soup, but had some spice and lots of tender seafood...

Contrary to popular belief, rice noodles are not commonly used in Japan. Flour noodles are much more popular. Udon are a thick white noodle, and somen are thin white noodles (usually served chilled). Udon in soup with tempura is cold weather comfort food and a customer favourite at Sanbiki. "Shichimi" is a Japanese chili powder served on the side. It's acually a mix of seven (7="shichi") different spices.

Warm weather brings refreshing chilled noodle dishes. Soba (buckwheat) noodles are served with small cups of dipping sauce. The noodles are dunked in the sauce and slurpped up. Green onion, wasabi and ginger are available on the side to kick up the flavour.

Udon can also be enjoyed cold. At Sanbiki, our kitchen team has a new recipe served with a miso-mayo sauce. We garnish it with cucumber, shredded crab stick and tamago ( a sweetened omelette). At only $7, it's gaining popularity with our lunch guests. ..it even looks summery!

The presentation and flavours of noodle dishes differ between East and West. So too, does "noodle etiquette". On our too rare trips back to Japan, I've learned silent noodle sipping is too be avoided. Stop talking; moan softly, and slurp up the slippery threads in the molten broth. Try not to choke on anything solid that is too big (or tasty) to swallow whole. Ignore the searing pain as your tastebuds are vapourized, they'll grow back. If you're female, blink back the tears, and hope that "waterproof"mascara you're wearing really is.

"The Slurp" is said to improve their taste, and also signals the Chef that the noodles are properly seasoned and you are enjoying your meal. It also cools hot noodles. Being served very hot is believed to bring out their full flavour. My Grandma still would have slapped me silly had I dared make so much noise dining at her table!

Got a noodle dish you'd like to see at Sanbiki? Let us know. Now we are rethinking our menu and planning to expand our Grab and Go take out offerings next door at Mori Mori. Look for even more reasonably priced sushi packs, rice bowls, gyoza, spring rolls and much more! Hope to see you soon!

HM: The Fish Head is Good

Her eyes gaze heavenward. The fish lips hang slightly open. Is she trying to tell us a secret? To be honest, the Fish Head looks a little worried. Being a fish that's understandable. Given the state of the world's fisheries, and humanity's continuing love affair with seafood; if I had gills, I'd be worried too. One thing that's no secret is that the source of our seafood is in serious trouble.

Southern Blue Fin Tuna are now listed as "critically endangered" by the IUCN

According to recent studies by International Union for the Conservation of Nature, 90% of the oceans predators have been wiped out. That's all those big, long lived species like sharks, Blue Fin tuna and swordfish . A longer life span often means a species has a slower reproductive rate. So it takes longer for these populations to recover their numbers. In the meantime, prey species' populations can explode with no hunters left to weed out the sick and the weak. The balance in our oceans took millions of years to perfect and we seem to have knocked it out of wack.




Is the situation hopeless? Hardly. Consumers are responding positively to programs that help them make informed, sustainable seafood choices. MSC (The Marine Stewardship Council) is probably the world's leading certification and ecolabelling program. Superstore (and all of the Loblaws companies) along with Walmart have joined with MSC to phase out all unsustainably sourced seafood products. Walmart thinks they can do it by 2015. Loblaws says 2013. Overly optomistic? It depends on us. As consumers we create the demand. Say no to unsustainable seafood and the incentive for companies to supply it will dry up.




Sanbiki is proud to have been the first Japanese restaurant in Canada to partner with the Vancouver Aquarium's Oceawise program back in 2007. Nowadays hundreds of restaurants across Canada have jumped on board. A recent visit to YVR demonstrated just how much momentum the sustainable seafood movement has picked up. Chains like Panago Pizza and Cactus Club are displaying the Fish Head symbol next to seafood items on their menu that are deemed good choices for the environment. Even old school seafood joints are getting onboard.





Joe Fortes has been a Vancouver landmark since 1977. All polished wood, walls of fine wine and super-polite servers in super-starched shirts. As a kid I remember it was reserved exclusively for very special dress-up occasions. A recent visit proved that old dogs can learn new tricks. The Fish Head featured prominently on Joe's menu. Check out the gorgeous seafood platter below. It's (almost) all locally sourced and sustainable. Seafood tastes so much better when you know it'll be around for the next generation to enjoy!

Chefs are challenging their guests minds as well as their palates. C Restaurant's Robert Clark was a founding member of Oceanwise and is recognized as one of Canada's top chefs. He has been experimenting with "non-traditional" ingredients like jellyfish, sardines, and sea urchin roe made into mousse. Definitely more interesting than your average farmed Tiger Prawn cocktail! Shrimps are still delicious and they can be sustainably sourced. Chef Clark shows off some beautiful B.C. Spot Prawns. They are coming into season now and are great raw or cooked!



You will always find lots of good stuff on Sanbiki's menus, both from an environmental and taste perspective! BC Albacore Tuna, wild Sockeye Salmon and crispy panko-breaded oysters are always available. We never buy Blue Fin Tuna, but usually can get Big Eye Tuna. It's similar in taste and texture but is hook and line caught in the Pacific where the fish are plentiful. Next door at Mori Mori Asian Grocery we sell the same sushi quality, sustainably sourced BC Tuna and Sockeye Salmon. We also carry local smoked and fresh frozen trout, octopus and lots of other specialty items!



More blogging to come.... "Street Meat" (food trucks) and noodle restaurants are two more trends that are gaining ground down in Vancouver and elsewhere. More on that next time!



Sanbiki looks forward to seeing you soon!

HM:FUNdraising!

We hemmed, we hawed, we finally got off our collective Sanbiki butt and started fundraising for Japan! I read somewhere that the human mind can sort of shut down when faced with overwhelming numbers or information. The scale of destruction in Japan is perhaps a situation like this. How can one imagine entire towns being washed away? More than 10,000 dead, many more still missing? The cost of rebuilding more than 25 trillion yen (more than 300 billion dollars) Where to begin...



With bento boxes and very strange, very sweet sushi made from rice crispies and candy...At least that's where Sanbiki decided to start! $2 a piece will get you the strangest sushi ever with $1 going directly to the Red Cross. Our first ever fundraising dinner was organized for Tuesday April 5 at 5:30. Our super-cool, super-creative kitchen team came up with special dinner bentos for only $15.


$5 would be donated to the Red Cross from the sale of each meal. Guests could choose from sushi, chicken or veggie bentos. We didn't know what to expect. But Kamloops blew us away. We had calls from customers offering to forward info to their friends so they could sell "blocks" of tickets. The students and staff from TRU were some of the first to buy tickets. The 5:30 seating sold out. We scheduled a 7:00 seating to accomodate additional guests. Lots of regulars came down....It was Sayaka and her friends second visit in one week!

It was a very busy Tuesday night! And we greatly appreciated everyone's patience as we struggled to incorpoate the newest member of the Sanbiki team...


A brand new high-tech POS System. It means"Point Of Sale"...don't pronounce it "posse"; your installation tech will laugh at you...trust me, I know.... The night was crazy but a success. We have a saying at Sanbiki after nights like this..."Nobody cried, nobody died, and nobody quit" Enough said!! We are looking to the Forest God to smile on our next fundraising adventure...

If you haven't seen Miyazaki's classic Japan-amation "My Neighbour Totoro", you must! It's a wonderful escape from so much recent bad news, and the inspiration for our latest fundraising cookie creation.....


He needs work, I know. but hopefully he will contribute to our Japan/Red Cross fund raising efforts! Stop by Sanbiki and Mori Mori to find out what else is going on. We'll keep doing emails to let everyone know when our next fundraising events will be held. Thanks so much to everyone who has helped support the relief efforts in Japan...we've raised almost $300 and we've only just started!

Another initiative has been started by Chase-based Daizen Joinery. Yup, the same Daizen responsible for creating Sanbiki's beautiful new space! Dai has mobilized local designers and suppliers and will be constructing a series of stunning wooden gates to be sold.


100% of the purchase price from the first 30 gates will be donated to the Red Cross. Check out the website japantsunamirelief.ca for more info . Enjoy the warmer weather and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Locavore?

Locavore gone wild...what else is Mendel growing besides lettuce??

The term "locavore" took just 3 years to find it's way into the Oxford American Dictionary. But not just as another new word, as...yup..."Word of the Year".

As with so many things, it started in California. First coined by a group of San Francisco area women, "locavore" has become a favourite term for foodies and farmers alike. A 2010 survey of Canadian Chefs revealed that the top three "menu trends" are:

1) Locally sourced food

2)Sustainably produced ingredients

3)Organic produce

Trends to be sure, but will they last? Everyone wants to talk about eating locally produced, sustainably-sourced meals, but are people buying in? In a volatile economy, are they willing to pay for it? Organic, sustainable and local almost always carries a higher price tag than mass produced McFood.

At Sanbiki and Mori Mori, many customers are interested in local and sustainably sourced ingredients. They like seeing the Oceanwise symbol on our menu (and wall) and know that our tuna and salmon are from well-managed West Coast fisheries. Come spring, customers and downtown Chefs alike can be spotted shopping the Farmers Market. What else is going on in and around Kamloops?

Masato recently joined the TSCFC. It stands for "Thompson Shuswap Chef Farmer Collaborative. Aimed at bringing Kamloops and area Chefs together with local producers, the collaborative is still new but gaining momentum. In the photo above, TRU Culinary Arts Instructer Ed Walker outlines some of TSCFC's objectives. Cards, emails and ideas were exchanged by producers, Chefs and restaurateurs.

"Ted's Trout" are based in Little Fort and raise rainbow trout. They are proof that aquaculture can provide an environmentally sound, local and delicious alternative to fish taken by factory trawlers, or farmed in open sea pens. Maureen and Ted visited Sanbiki last week after meeting Masato at the TSCFC meeting. They dropped off some smoked and fresh frozen trout samples. These are products we want to start selling to our grocery customers next door at Mori Mori.

While local food is good; local booze...well, that's even better! We have seen an excellent response to Crannog Ales and the now famous (infamous!) Party Pig. There are no bottles or cans to recycle and their handcrafted organic Ales are brewed just down the road in Sorrento.

Premium, chilled sakes from Granville Island's Masa Shiroki are catching on too. Last year Shiroki-san experimented with growing sake rice in the Kamloops area. Apparently the birds got most of it but he hasn't given up yet...

That's all for now. We at Sanbiki are seriously ready for spring! Patio planning has begun already...trying to remember what flowers survived my care last season...there weren't many!!

HM:TRU Love!

Masato...What was he up to? Surreptitiously packing boxes after hours at Sanbiki. Checking his Chef's apron carefully for stains. I'd caught him studying unversity maps on the computer late at night and heard the end of a strange phone conversation..."I'll see you Tuesday night". Something was up...a picnic with a nubile, young TRU student? Even worse then another woman, was it another restaurant? Was he leaving me and our Sanbiki monster-child for a real, paying job?

Tuesday night he told me the truth..."I'm going to see Ed tonight"....ED! Another man! I never saw it coming...Who was this Ed?

I had the university connection right but that was about it. "Ed" = Ed Walker, Culinary Arts Instructor at Thompson Rivers University. Like Sanbiki, Ed is committed to sourcing quality, local sustainable products for Accolades, TRU's fine dining restaurant. Staffed and run by the students and faculty of the Culinary Arts Program, 80% of the ingredients are local. Ed is well-known for supporting local producers and finding ways for them to hook up with Kamloops restaurants.

Arrangements had been made for Masato to attend TRU's Culinary Arts School as a "guest Chef". Masato wanted to demonstrate how to make "dashi" to the students at TRU. The basic stock in Japanese cooking, dashi is made from dried, shaved tuna (Katsuboshi), kelp (konbu) and dried sardines/anchovies (niboshi)

It is perhaps different from many classic French stocks as it does not require a long and complicated roasting, cooking and /or reduction process. At Sanbiki we make fresh dashi almost every day. It's used in miso soup, udon noodles in soup, sunomono dressing and other sauces.

We Canadians are learning to appreciate a wide variety of seafood, prepared in different ways. We've got our favourites though. Salmon, tuna, shrimp and scallops are some bestsellers. "Oily" fish like mackerel, sardines, anchovies and saury are still associated with a strong, "fishy" taste for many North Americans. This is especially true when it comes to sushi. Raw or marinated "silver fish" (or "hikarimono" in Japanese), have been a very tough sell at Sanbiki!

It's a shame because with care and the proper preparation, these fish are delicious raw or cooked. Even better, smaller fish tend to have rapid reproductive rates and are often a sustainable seafood option. Big, long living fish like Blue Fin Tuna, Chilean Seabass and sharks have had their numbers decimated by overfishing and it will take years for those species to recover (if it is even possible). Masato wanted to show the students

that small is not only beautiful, but delicious when it comes to fish.

"Sanma" are Pacific Saury. Served salted and grilled whole in Japan, they are a fall favourite! But marinated in a little vinegar and sprinkled witha pinch of salt, they make delicious sushi too.

Sometimes a chef will top the sushi with a hint of fresh ginger or citrus to balance the oiliness of the fish. Masato wanted to introduce the TRU crowd to a "non-traditional" fish in North American Cuisine but one which is a tasty (and sustainable!) Japanese staple. He demonstrated how to cut, clean and prepare marinated sanma.

It was a great experience for Masato and the students and his first opportunity to check out all the facilities at the Culinary Arts Centre. We were invited to dinner at Accolades, the fine dining restaurant they run at TRU. The following week, we enjoyed a wonderful meal prepared by Ed, Ron and the students. Regional ingredients were featured front and center. Local meat and dairy products featured prominently and sustainably-sourced BC Spot Prawns, trout and scallops were nicely prepared. It was all washed down with a few pints of excellent Irish Ale courtesy of

Sorrento based Crannog Ales

.

Sanbiki is TRUly international! Not only do we have an amazing team of ladies and gentlemen from Kamloops, Japan and Korea, we took part in International Days at TRU last week! We were invited to set up a take out table in the Int'l Food Fair set up in the Gym. Megumi served up sushi packs and our homemade "Gyudon", Canadian beef over rice in our homemade sauce. "Oden" is a dish made with simmered vegetables, meats and other foods. It's cold weather comfort food and the smell brought many customers to our table...Megumi's pretty smile helped too!


Sanbiki is proud to be able to take part in events like the ones at TRU. We have many amazing cutomers, young and old; from Kamloops and the world. It is our job to make all of our guests feel welcome and give them the lunch, dinner or take out snack they deserve!

If you haven't seen our completed mural, drop by and check it out! Kamloops artist Alex Moir-Porteous put in many months of hard work and it shows. The piece showcases Kamloops and BC and incorporates many of our local suppliers. See Paula, Mendel and Saul from the Farmers Market, Masa Shiroki (Granville Island Sake) and our favourite...the draft Party pig from Crannog Ales....beer good...hick!

Have a great Valentines Day! Sanbiki loves you!