Mar
30

Mister Donut

Today's topic is doughnuts. It seems Dunkin's Donut is popular in the U.S. but Mister Donut is the dominant doughnut shop here.

According to Wikipedia, Dunkin's and Mr. Donut are originally sisters. But most of the Mr. Donut shops were altered to Dunkin's after Dunkin's took over Mr. Donut in 1990, so there are only a few Mr. Donut shops in the U.S. now.

On the contrary, Wiki says that the Japanese headquarters of Mr. Donut is in Osaka and there are over 1400 shops in Japan. So the word "doughnut" reminds us the name Mr. Donut first.

Well, there emerge a series of pink doughnuts in the shops this spring. Those are called "Sakura French", which seems to be named after the colour of cherry blossoms. The pink round one in the picture is that. Others are also my favorite doughnuts and pie.

There are 4 types of "Sakura French". Those are the same shape but the tastes are different. One is with pink soy bean paste, the others are with cream or honey. I especially like the one with soy bean paste. Anyway the colour is cute and just for spring, isn't it?

And the following pictures are Christmas special doughnuts in the past, though the shapes are cakes. The cupcake type is "Mont Blanc Tree" of 2010. The snowman type is "Yukinko Daruma (nearly means a small snowman)" of 2011. For me, the Mont Blanc Tree was a hit but it didn't come back in 2011. It was a pity.

    "Mont Blanc Tree" in 2010

    "Yukinko Daruma" in 2011

Doughnuts are small and cheap but I think they can make us happy. A daily small happiness may be one of the important things in life. Don't you think so?

Categories: foods

Mar
2

scallops

Good taste of sushi is now world-widely known, so you don't think eating raw fishes is a strange custom.

You know sushi is with rice, but I don't know whether sashimi is as popular as sushi or not. Sashimi is almost like sushi but without rice, only raw fishes. It's especially excellent as a relish. Sliced raw fishes or shellfishes are used as sashimi. Tunas, abalones, or sea urchins are very popular.

Scallops are rather cheap here, so high qualified sushi restaurants usually do not use it because sushi is believed a high class dish. They have to choose materials severely.

But if you're an epicure, you know expensive stuffs are not always the best. The most important part of it is the taste itself. You need to have an eye for each material if you want to eat the real good things.

I found the scallops in the picture at a usual supermarket but it's a hit this time. As they usually do not sell whole scallops like those in the picture, boiled scallops are common. When they sell them this way, the quality tends to be far better than usual.

Boiled scallops are only the ivory part but the whole scallops contain other parts. I like the orange and the black part. Especially the orange part tastes almost like salted sea urchin ovaries. If you're well informed in Japanese foods or a sushi connoisseur, you know what I mean. Oysters are great but whole scallops are also not bad if it's very fresh. I recommend eating them salted or with little lemon juice.

When it comes to eating something as sushi or sashimi, I like salmon roe, sea urchin ovaries, abalones, or high qualified tuna called toro. Those are always very expensive because they're rare. Scallops are common and cheap but sometimes better than those expensive ones.

By the way, scallops are called hotate [hotate] in Japanese, salmon roe is ikura [ikula], salted sea urchin ovaries are uni [uni], and abalones are awabi [awabi]. If you have a chance to come to Japan and have sushi as your dinner, say uni or awabi, make it sashimi, and a chef or cooks realize that you're a very well-informed sushi connoisseur. But caution! You should prepare for an exorbitant bill in the end. (laugh)

Categories: foods

Jan
15

The Grand Cafe

The picture is JR Osaka station which had been under construction for renewal and was reopened last summer. Hilton Hotel Osaka stands in front of the station and there are many prestigious buildings like the Ritz Carlton, some department stores, or many big office buildings in this area, which is my favorite spot.

Recently I found a spacious tearoom called "Hilton Plaza Hall - The Grand Cafe". As the name suggests it's in the Hilton Plaza West and the concert hall like space is very luxurious. But not so formal that it's a good place to lunch. Through the high and wide windows, you can enjoy the view of the renewed station front which is very beautiful under the blue sky. And more, the prices on the menu are very reasonable.

Recent my favorite is a plate of pastrami beef sandwiches with salad and potato chips. And tea, of course. But there are many kinds of cakes, parfaits, sandwiches, salads and even a set of afternoon tea on the menu. Everything looks so delicious!

If you have a chance to visit Osaka and need a place to lunch or supper, try The Grand Cafe. I think you'll have a good time.

Categories: favorites , foods

Jan
04

A Happy New Year!

Now we're in 2012. Some of you may know, the Japanese biggest annual event is New Year's Day. We celebrate the beginning of the year with special dishes and new year parties, like westerners celebrate Christmas Day.

The photo is an "osechi" plate which contains traditional items for new year celebration. I made these. Traditionally we use "jyuu-bako", literally means "piled boxes", but this kind of hors d'oeuvre style plate is also popular recently. In addition to those dishes, we prepare many luxurious foods and drinks, visit shrines, watch special TV programs during New Year holiday, while many people enjoy traveling, skiing or some other things outside.

The following photo is "nerikiri" which is made of soybean paste called "an" or "anko" and those are shaped like flowers or birds. Aren't they beautiful? "Nerikiri" is not only for New Year's day, but as those are a little bit expensive for daily life, those are rather for special events.

I'm now enjoying lazy New Year holiday with eating, sleeping, watching videos after demanding "oosouji", means "cleaning house totally". (We customarily do it at the end of a year to celebrate New Year's Day and it's not an easy work.) Spending New Year holiday this way is called "ne-shougatsu" means "sleeping away lazily". (laugh)

Categories: diary , events , foods