On Vacation
Hi everyone. I am currently in Japan so I will not be posting much. I arrived yesterday and I will be here for a couple weeks. I will make sure that I take alot of pictures of food and post them asap here or when I get back home. Cheers and GOOD EATS!
Ok so I finally got around to making the oh so delicious yet simple recipe for Oven-fried Potato Chips that I seen @
Simply Recipes. I made mines a bit different from how she makes hers. I soaked the sliced potatoes in a sugar and water solution a good hour or two before patting them dry. I have heard somewhere that McDonalds does the same to their fries. I'll have to make some without the soaking step to see if it enhanced the flavor any. I also substituted the butter with E.V.O.O. (Garlic and Black Peppercorn Infused Olive Oil). I seasoned the chips with crushed Hawaiian Rock Salt. On one of the batches I tossed in some finely chopped garlic. The garlic one is definitely the winner combo.
I made this for some friends and it was an instant hit. I will be making these many more times in the future for sure.
Sushi Koh (鮨好)
Recently my good friend was visiting from The Bay area. He hadn't had good sushi in a while and we decided to visit one of our old favorite sushi restaurants, Sushi Koh. It's been a long time since I have gone there and I was pretty excited to go.
Nameko Oroshi, Engawa,
Aburi Sake, Aburi Hamachi,
Maguro, Shio-Lemon Hirame,
Hirame, Sushi Koh Bakudan Koh Donburi
Yoshi also hooked us up like he usually does with an assortment of other appetizers and also dessert, but I didn’t take any pictures of those. Most of the nigiri's have Yoshi’s own blend of shoyu brushed on top already so you eat it as is. The Engawa here is to die for. It is always consistently good. The Aburi Sake is what blew me away the first time I ate here. The Sake just melts in your mouth and as you can see in the picture it is trying to melt just sitting there. It is soo fatty. Awsome! The Koh Don is awesome. It has many ingredients, but I don’t know if Yoshi would like me to divulge what those are, although if you had it, it is fairly easy to figure out.
This is one of my top 5 sushi restaurants in Hawaii. I can’t wait to go back.
Tenkaippin
I revisited
Tenkaippin on 12/19 and as you can see it is crossed out as one of my places to revisit. This time around I tried the Assari Ramen along with retrying the Kotteri Ramen. Personally I ordered the Tenkaippin Special (Gyoza, Chahan, and Ramen) which was $12.20 with Kotteri being the ramen choice. The special is cheaper ($11.95) if you choose the Assari or Shoyu as the ramen choice. My friend ordered the Assari. I have come to this conclusion. The two broths are very good. The Kotteri is a rich and thick chicken based broth, while the Assari is a light yet flavorful chicken based broth. But the noodles leave something to be desired. The gyoza is uninspiring and so is the chahan (granted I am not a big chahan fan). And if you compare the atmosphere and prices to my favorite ramen place,
Taishoken, it really isn’t worth it, imho. I probably won’t be going back. The noodles and the gyoza broke this place.
Assari Ramen (left), Kotteri Ramen (right)
Company Dinner @ Sarento's
Ok here is another "catch up" post. Last year our company dinner was at
Diamond Head Grill. This year it was held at
Sarento's. I really appreciate working for a company that doesn’t mind spending the extra money on it's employee's for a good Christmas dinner. Our night started off with a cocktail hour while waiting for the stragglers to trickle in (I was one of them). I had a couple
Wet tonics during this time. I was turned on to Wet by my friend
chaddychan. It is very good. It isn’t as dry as typical gins and it is infused with pear. Our dinner started off with a choice of one of two appetizers.
I had the House Smoked Salmon “Sandwich” which was garnished with Red Onion, Crème Fraîche and Avruga Caviar.
The other offering was Bruschetta Rustica (Grilled Eggplant, Diced Roma Tomatoes with Garlic Basil & E.V.O.O. Served on Tuscan Bread with Feta Cheese.)
Next up was salad. It was Caesar Alla Sarento's (Baby Romaine, Roasted Garlic Dressing and Ciabatta Croutons.)
We had a choice of 4 Entrées.
Penne Calabrese (Roasted Eggplant, Housemade Sausage, Roma Tomatoes, Broccolini, Garlic, White Wine and Goat Cheese.) Sorry I didn't get a picture of this dish.
Swordfish Portofino (Smoked Lobster Crust, Linguine Aglio Olio, Yuzu Beurre Blanc, and Roasted Beet Vinaigrette.)
Pollo Ripieno (12 oz. Chicken Breast Stuffed with Prosciutto & Fontina. Served with Plack's Lemon Rice and Panzanella Salad.)
Cotolette Capricciosa Durini (Milanese Style Veal Cutlet. Served with Fresh Mozzarella, Roma Tomatoes, Arugula & Truffle Vinaigrette.) This is the one I had.
For dessert we had Tiramisu which I didn’t take a picture of.
It was a very good dinner considering it was a “company dinner”. I can’t wait to see where we have dinner at next year.
