Thai Time!

                               FREE coconut ice cream with dishes on our new Thai menu!

Have you tried our Thai? Spring is in the air and it's inspired our Chefs to conduct delicious experiments with the flavours of South East Asia.....

 Thai food can seem spicy to the uninitiated. We've kept the heat on medium for our dishes. We've always got extra chili available on request; it's easier to add spice to your dish than it is to take it away!

                                            Pad Thai enjoys global popularity

Pad Thai involves rice noodles stirfried with seafood, meat, egg and bean sprouts or other veggies. Fish sauce, chilis and fresh herbs are used for seasoning. Cilantro (coriander) is particularly popular in Thai cusine. Peanuts or cashews can be added for crunch. Lime, tamarind and sugar "balance" each other out and give pad thai a complexity that is appreciated by Thai people.

"Gaeng" is Thai for curry. Garlic, ginger, fish sauce and coconut milk are usually found in all Thai currys. They may be served with steamed long grain rice; sticky rice in northern Thailand or roti style flat breads in the south.

                            Colourful curry pastes and powders on sale at a Thai market 
 Sanbiki's beef curry is the green kind. Other popular varieties are red curry (with shrimp and pineapple or even duck) and yellow curry. Chicken is commonly used but vegetarian and even vegan curries can be made with tofu, veggies and soy sauce instead of fish sauce. Coconut milk makes Thai curries rich and creamy.

                             Sanbiki's new Green Curry with beef and bamboo shoots

"Woon sen" are a clear noodle made from mung beans. We use it to make our version of "yam woon sen" a refreshing noodle salad with fresh herbs, baby shrimp, chili and garlic. It's perfect summer fare; and like most Thai dishes can be easily shared.

                                                  Summer salad, Thai-style!

Lemon grass is another central ingredient in Thai cuisine. We've made sure to include a healthy dose in our "kai yang" (grilled chicken)

                               "Kai Yang" is a specialty of Isaan in northern Thailand

We are always eager to get your feedback and favourite recipe ideas! Please try the dishes on our new spring menu and let us know what you think....

                      

SOBA Noodles

Soba are a thin Japanese noodle made with buckwheat. They usually contain a small amount of wheat flour as well. They can be served hot, usually in soup....

                "Tsukimi soba" is served with a raw egg which semi-cooks in the soup

And soba is perhaps even more popular served chilled....

                           "Zaru" refers to the bamboo tray traditionally used for serving

"Zaru soba" are chilled soba noodles served with "tsuyu"; a dipping sauce made with soy sauce, mirin and dashi stock. The noodles are swirled in the sauce before being slurped up by the diner. Green onion, wasabi, nori or other garnishes may be added to the tsuyu if desired. And yes, slurping is strongly encouraged! It's said to improve the flavour and to show the Chef that you are enjoying the fruits of his labour....

               Slurp it up! Forget everything your Mother told you about noise and your soup

Soba noodles are usually bought dry, but fresh handcut noodles are found in Japan.

                                             Soba in dry and fresh forms

Is your soba looking a little green? It's probably been flavoured with green tea.

                                       Soba made with green tea is "cha soba"

Sushi rolls can be made using soba instead of rice. Soba sprouts also find their way into salads and even as a topping for vegetarian nigiri sushi. Buckwheat is high in fibre, antioxidants, magnesium and other nutrients.

                                              Soba maki with vegetable filling

Most buckwheat is grown in Hokkaido in the north of Japan. It grows fairly quickly and can be harvested a few times a year. Bees like the flowers and a strong dark honey can also be produced.

                                              A field of buckwheat in flower
 Shochu is a spirit sometimes refered to as Japanese "vodka". It can be made from barley, rice, sweet potato or buckwheat.

                                            Soba shochu is usually served over ice

Soba can be found in restaurants, train station cafes and at food stalls all across Japan. Owariya soba restaurant in Kyoto has been serving soba and other buckwheat treats for over 500 years! The Japanese Royal Family have been regular customers for several generations.

                                   The entrance to Owariya Restaurant in Kyoto
More on all your Japanese favourite foods soon!

Sushi Basics

A highly simplified guide to DIY sushi....

The Rice...

Learn to get it right! The highest quality seafood will be wasted if served with improperly cooked or seasoned sushi rice. Simple ingredients will taste terrific when paired with well made sushi rice.

1) Use a Japanese type short grain white rice.

2) Wash the rice until the water runs clear

3) Cook the rice with the correct amount of water for the specified time. Using a rice cooker with it's own measuring cup/instructions virtually guarantees perfect rice every time.

4) After cooking, take the warm rice and season it with sushi rice seasoning (do NOT cook the rice in the seasoning!!) Premixed sushi seasoning is easy as it contains vinegar, salt and sugar in the proper proportions.

Fold the seasoning in gently, and do not "mash" the rice. You can cool the rice by fanning it but this is not neccesary.

5) Ready to Roll!!

The Rolling....

 Full sheet of nori with rice on the inside

 

Place the nori (seaweed) sheet on top of the sushi rolling mat. Add a thin layer of sushi rice and whatever ingredients you want inside your roll. If you prefer rolls with rice on the outside flip the nori and rice over and then add the filling to the nori side.

Half sheet of nori with rice on the outside

 If you like "hosomaki" (thin/smaller rolls) use a half sheet of nori.

     Full size "futomaki" rolls (top) or make hosomaki (thin rools) with 1/2 nori sheet

Use a sharp, non-serrated knife to cut the rolls. You should end up with 8 even pieces/roll. Keep the cuts clean by wiping the knife blade after each cut.

              Practice will make perfect when it comes to cleanly cut, even sushi pieces!

                                           Looking good and ready to serve.....

Nigiri Sushi....

Nigiri sushi is "piece sushi", with various toppings placed on top of a small "finger" of rice.

                         "Sake" is salmon nigiri sushi (sake is also an alcoholic beverage)
Form a small ball of rice on the palm of your hand. Keep your hands moist so the rice does not stick and do not use too much pressure.

 Top the rice with your favourite topping. This could be raw or cooked seafood, tamago (savoury omelette) or even veggies.

Traditionally, a Japanese sushi Chef would add as much wasabi as he thought was needed between the rice and the topping. Most non-Japanese prefer to add wasabi to soy sauce and dip their sushi to their own taste. Pickled ginger is used to cleanse the palate between different kinds of sushi.

Mori Mori has everything to make sushi! Wild salmon and sustainable BC Albacore tuna are available along with octopus, squid and other items. Pre sliced seafood is easy to use; just thaw, slice and serve. Open 7 days a week, enter off Lansdowne Street!

YAKITORI

                                "Yaki" means to grill and "tori" is chicken
It's pretty hard to go wrong with yakitori. Grilled chicken is an international favourite, most cultures having a slightly different take on this popular dish. In Japan, "yakitori" is bits of chicken cooked on a skewer. "Bits" can be white meat, dark meat or pretty much any other part of the bird.

                                  Sometimes leeks or other veggies are used

Nothing goes to waste. Crispy bits of skin, the gizzards and even the cartilage will find its way onto your stick. Usually diners have the choice of ordering yakitori simply seasoned with "shio" (salt) or "tare" (sauce)

                                      Yakitori using white meat and salt seasoning
Tare sauce is a sweet and savoury mix of sake, soy sauce, mirin and sugar. The chicken is basted with the tare sauce as it cooks.

                                          Dipping yakitori in "Tare" sauce
"Specialty" yakitori items include the skin....

                                         "Torikawa"; pieces of crunchy chicken skin

And the cartilage....

Nankotsu

Still not adventurous enough for you? How about chicken eggs...still in the chicken! Tamahimo uses eggs still inside the hen. Could you?  Would you?

                         "Tamahimo", chicken eggs that never got to the "being laid" part...

Unlike in western countries, Japanese high end yakitori restaurants will often serve chicken meat medium or medium rare. The meat in these establishments comes from ultra healthy free-range birds and is as fresh as possible. The likelihood of salmonella or other contamination is virtually nill.

                                  A Jidori rooster on a free range farm in Japan

Free range chicken may not produce the quantities of meat that factory farms do, but the quality is far higher and the birds are humanely raised. Chicken sashimi is in fact a specialty in Kagoshima in southern Japan. "Jidori" are a Japanese breed of chicken that are humanely raised and fed a natural diet without drugs and antibiotics. Raw or lightly seared Jidori chicken is an expensive delicacy....

                                               Looks like tuna sashimi, but its not!

Yakitori is also commonly found at festivals and street stalls throughout Japan. It can be an affordable and easy to enjoy finger food.

                                  A yakitori stand offers fresh, fast food to passersby

Condiments that may be seen alongside yakitori include "shichimi" a mix of Japanese chili, herbs and spices; wasabi and sometimes "yuzukosho" a paste  made from yuzu (citrus) and chili.

We've got yakitori on Sanbiki's menu! And you can watch it being prepared in our open kitchen...new winter menu items coming soon. Have a great week!

Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu

                             Thinly sliced beef and other ingredients in a Sukiyaki pot

Hot pots are a classic cold weather comfort food in many cuisines. The Japanese are no different, enjoying a host of delicious "nabemono" (hot pot) dishes. Sukiyaki and shabu shabu are two popular meat-based hot pots. Both involve DIY cooking tableside, and both have a faithful foodie following in the non-Japanese world.

                        Getting ready for Sukiyaki; veggies, eggs, meat and shirataki noodles

Beef and pork are relatively new additions to Japanese cuisine as the consumption of meat was taboo until the 19th century. Thinly sliced beef is usually used in shabu shabu and sukiyaki, although pork and seafood versions exist. Variations are common, depending on where in Japan you order and eat your hot pot. As always, every town has a distinct version that's a little bit different from the one in the neighbouring village.....

                     Kitamura Sukiyaki restaurant was founded in 1881 in Osaka. 
                      Sukiyaki is believed to have started here in the Kansai area

Sukiyaki has a sweeter, richer taste than shabu shabu. Sukiyaki is cooked in a sauce of mirin (sweet cooking wine), soy, sake and sugar. Lots of flavour is present in the sauce which is absorbed by the ingredients as they cook.

                         Sukiyaki at home with a portable gas range and skillet

In Tokyo and the east, the sauce is prepared first and then the beef, veggies tofu etc. added after. In Osaka and Kansai (western) Japan, the beef is usually seared first and then the sauce ingredients added. Solid morsels coming out of the sukiyaki pot in both areas are often dipped into a small dish of lightly beaten raw egg before being eaten.

                      Simmered sukiyaki beef gets a raw egg dip before eating

Shabu shabu is different. It starts with dashi, a light stock made from seaweed and dried bonito (tuna). The ingredients are cooked quickly in the shabu shabu pot and their original flavour is preserved. Little or no sugar or salt is traditionally used while cooking.

             Shabu shabu beef is cooked quickly in the stock, a quick "swish swish" and it's ready to enjoy...

 Immediately after cooking, the meat and other items are usually dipped into a flavourful sauce before being eaten. Ponzu( a citrus soy mix) is popular; others prefer a creamy sesame dip. The well seasoned sauces compliment the delicate flavours of the simply cooked ingredients.

            An elaborate copper shabu shabu pot with ponzu and sesame dipping sauce

Thais have developed their own variation of sukiyaki. The broth is usually a chicken stock with fish sauce and an egg added. The dipping sauce for the solid ingredients in the hot pot is predictable spicy and packed with fresh Thai herbs like cilantro and lemongrass. Kaffir lime and sesame oil are popular additions as well.

                             Northern "Thai suki" is sometimes cooked in a clay pot

While premium cuts of meat are used in Japan, "Thai suki" incorporates fish balls, chicken and seafood. "Thai suki" restaurants are very popular with young Thais and families.

                                      Fish balls, crab stick, anything goes into Thai suki!

You may not be able to pronounce it, but "jjigae" is the Korean's tasty riff on the hot pot theme. "Jjigae" may incorporate meat, seafood, veggies, and some feature tofu as a key ingredient.

                Soondobu Jjigae is a spicy Korean hot pot with soft tofu and seafood

"Budue Jjigae" is also known as "army base stew". During the Korean war, food was always in short supply and nothing went to waste. Surpluses and leftovers from the U.S. army bases were combined with kim chi and whatever could be grown or scrounged locally to make stews. Hot dogs, bacon and Spam bubbled away in a spicy soup. It's still a great way to use up leftovers...

             "Banchan"(side dishes) accompany most Korean meals, and "Budue Jjigae" is no different! A package of instant ramen soaks up the spicy, savoury soup...

Hot pots can be prepared at home and Mori Mori Grocery has everything you need. Pre-sliced beef and pork, stocks, fishcakes and more can be found on our shelves and in our freezers. Have a great week, keep warm and enjoy your hot pot!

OISHII is delicious!

OISHII!

                                  Sanbiki's Masa Roll looks delicious and it is!

If it's "OISHII" it's got to be good! Oishii translates as "delicious". Hopefully you won't hear "MAZUI" often. The opposite of yum, "mazui" means yuck/horrible!

Japanese also may use gestures to show their appreciation of a good meal. While uncommon outside Asia, slurping ones noodles is a signal to the Chef that they are being enjoyed. When they are served in hot soup, this also helps cools the noodles as they make their way down your throat.

                This ain't your white Momma's table...slurp up and enjoy!

Many Japanese believe in completely cleaning their bowl, reluctant to waste even a single grain of rice. Excessive or wasteful use of soy sauce is similarily frowned upon. Drowning your sushi in soy sauce in front of a Japanese sushi chef (ITAMAE) is a good way to offend him...

                            Just a little soy sauce on the edge of the fish is enough

A few more'sushi ettiquette" pointers...

The more time we spend in and around Japanese people and restaurants, the more phrases and expressions begin to sound familiar. Naturally we are curious to know who's saying what..  You'll probably be greeted with IRASSHAIMASU! Welcome!
Other phrases you'll hear include...

                                                        KANPAI!

                       Beer, sake or wine; the battle cry is the same....KANPAI!

"Cheers" is sometimes heard as well. The Italian "Cin Cin" may elicit a giggle or a gasp depending on your Japanese table guests. Cin cin in Japanese slang refers to a male body part...one that generally hangs below waist level, if you get my drift....

"ITADAKIMASU!" is said before the start of a meal. It means "I gratefully receive".

                                Even cartoon characters give thanks before a meal!

And after eating......"GO CHISO SAMA" ("It was a feast") You can say this in thanks to your Chef or hosts when you leave as well.

Next time we'll cover "sushi terms 101". Is "sake" something you eat or drink? Both! Stay tuned...