27.5.11


kauf dich glucklich | berlin





Part of a string of mellow sidewalk cafés filled with vibrant crowds, this place would blend right in if it weren’t for the aroma of fresh homemade waffles. Yet I was led in confidence by my brother, who had been brought here before, by his good friend who had been studying in Berlin.  Lucky for me, the guy knows his way.  I’m always excited to find local hangouts, and more so when I can have waffles and ice cream to start off my day.  This is our first stop for food, before hitting the nearby flea market.  The outdoor seats are filled with fellow flea-market goers, a relaxed and cheerful weekend crowd.  Despite all signs pointing toward a good brunch, this place only serves waffles and ice cream with simple drinks.  But a specialized menu usually tells me how confident a place is at what’s left on the menu.  





Standing in the long line that snaked out of the entrance, I feel pressured to decide in time before I get to the counter.  But I attempted in vain, the entire menu was in German. 





A friendly staff behind the counter recommended homemade cherry sauce over the waffles, and I chose a scoop of cookies ‘n cream, a strange combination in hind thought, but the flavors worked beautifully.





The waffles here are square and falling off the plate, but they are delicious!  There is a large selection of homemade ice cream flavors, but the drink menu is a bit limited.  Apparently iced coffee here means hot coffee with a scoop of ice cream, so I went with a regular cup of brewed coffee instead.  You’ll be able to find European staples such as Ovaltine, a hot-chocolate-like drink made by adding hot water to its original powder form.  It is also a childhood favorite of mine, and of many who had grown up in Southeast Asia.  My grandpa would make it for me when I behaved, and he’d make a cup for himself to drink with me. 

























































This place took the down home spirit to extreme, with kitsch decor and tableware.  Eating here is like sitting at a friend’s living room or patio.


















23.5.11



the Cadbury Milk Chocolate commercial

i can't resist posting this.


9.4.11



baustelle bar/café 
at the michelberger hotel | berlin







The Michelberger had started with the dream of a little boy, Tom, who wanted to live with all of his friends in a big apartment.  With the help of his closest friends who shared the same passion to create and some love from the sponsors, his dreams eventually took shape, in the form of the Michelberger hotel.
The Baustelle bar/café serves as the hotel’s hangout and feeding area.  Tucked amidst crates and cages of books and magazines, you can sip from a cup of espresso while your friend enjoys a bottle of Rothaus or a bowl of Gulash soup.  




































The airy space is filled with self-designed elements, repurposed chairs, and classic lamps. Garden-picked flowers dotting the tables add a feel of ease.  Although the fully-equipped liquor bar seem like a mismatch, the delicately-foamed cappuccino confirms that I'm in a serious coffeehouse.




















































I adore the illustrations on these menus, the printing-on-wood idea, and the whole nonchalant, spontaneous creativity that surrounds the space.  Utilizing both sides of the board, the menu is whimsically designed with coffeehouse items on one side, and bar drinks on the reverse.
































I can hang out here all day.  


Just as you think this place is as versatile as it gets, it transforms again by nightfall, turning into a venue for live concerts, dinner parties, and at times, disco galore.








If you’re lucky to be in town on Fridays, be sure to attend the “disco dinner.” The restaurant serves a 3-course dinner for just 25 euros, including drinks like wine and beer.  After dinner you can move to the bar where the DJs are playing their favorite records.  I guess this is not just Tom’s dream after all!

2.4.11

nikujaga with minced chicken & konnyaku

肉じゃが 鶏肉そぼろと蒟蒻かけ




This was the first thing I had when I arrived Kyoto, well, besides the iced green tea I bought at a vending machine at the airport.  In the summer of my sophomore year in college, ages ago, I took a trip to visit my close friend who was attending an university in Kyoto.  It was late afternoon when I met up with Kumiko, at the bus stop near her home.  Pushing her bike, she led me past alleys of wa-style homes filled with the aroma of dashi stock and miso, a sign that dinner was being prepared. Accompanied by the sound of her bike wheels clicking and children playing, we chatted and laughed before reaching her small flat, where my normal-size suitcase would take up half of her living room, literally.  When I came out of the shower, Kumiko was already adding thin strips of beef in a simmering pot, a finishing step in making nikujaga, a typical mom’s dish in Japanese homes.  
Niku stands for meat, and jaga is short for “jaga imo,” or potato.  It can be roughly translated as meat and potato stew, which gains its rich flavor from the combination of onions, bonito stock, soy sauce, Japanese rice wine, and mirin.  While many recipes call for the soy sauce:sake:mirin ratio of 3:2:1, each home has its own way of making this dish, which is passed down for generations.  The result is a comforting, homey, yet nostalgic flavor that the Japanese called ofukuro no aji, or mother’s flavor; perhaps it is similiar to what we call comfort food here in the States, a concept universal to different cultures. The meat used in this dish is typically paper-thin cuts of beef or pork, but minced meat or meat balls can be used in its variations.  In an attempt to control our diet recently, I’m using minced lean chicken, and reducing the amount of potatoes used by adding konnyaku* and carrots.
My host served the stew in two low-rimmed bowls, each with a bowl of rice, miso soup, and a small plate of pickled root veggies, and gave me the first taste of what it’s like to be in a Japanese home.  It brought about a fuzzy feeling, not sure if it was for reuniting with a close friend, for being “home” after traveling alone for several days, or for the heart-warming taste of the food itself.  But it was a damn good memory, one that returns every time I make this dish.  



At a time like this in Japan, when it’s impossible for those affected by the tsunami and earthquake to make even a humble dish as such, this is made with them in mind.


to make








ingredients:
makes 4 servings


      2 medium potatoes, each cut to 4 
         wedges 
      2 medium onions, each cut to 8 wedges
      8 ounces ground lean chicken
      1 block brown konnyaku
      8 ounces baby carrots, or carrots   
          sliced to 1/4"-thick rounds 
      1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
      2 cups dashi stock*
      4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
      2 tablespoons sake (Japanese rice 
          wine)
      1 tablespoon mirin (Japanese sweet  
          rice wine)
      2 tablespoon sugar   
        shichimi* spices to taste

     



directions:                                       
  1. After peeling and cutting the potatoes, rinse away the superficial starch, and soak them in a cold water bath to avoid discoloration.
  2. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot.
  3. Add onions and potatoes, strained, sauté until the onions are softened and turned light golden brown, about 10 minutes.
  4. Add dashi, soy sauce, sake, and mirin, and bring to a boil.  Toss in carrots and cover the pan with a lid.  (In authentic Japanese cooking, a wooden lid with a diameter smaller than that of the pan is chosen, to allow extra moisture to evaporate and retain the shapes of the vegetables.  The lid will sit directly on the food.  To serve the purpose, any lid you may have in suitable size can be used.)
  5. When about half of the liquid had been evaporated, about 20 minutes, remove the lid and make a void of just liquid in the center of the pot.  Add minced chicken and season it with white pepper.  Keep stirring to prevent the chicken from sticking together, about 5 minutes. 
  6. Stir in sugar, bring everything to a boil, and remove from heat.  Serve with Shichimi spices on the side.

*konnyaku - 蒟蒻 - a gummy jelly made of the root vegetable konjac, a health food that has high fiber content but very low in calories.  It can be found in block, noodle, or other shapes in Asian markets.

*dashi - だし - a traditional stock of konbu (kelp) and katsuo bushi (smoked bonito flakes), commonly used in Japanese cooking, see recipe below.  It can be substituted with dashi powder dissolved in 2 cups of water.

*shichimi spices - 七味唐辛子 - a common Japanese chili mixture consisting seven ingredients, including red chili pepper, dried ginger, roasted orange zest and sesame seeds.  It can be found in small, red-capped glass bottles in Asian markets.


































Traditional dashi stock
to make

ingredients:
makes 2 quarts
      1 3x6” piece of konbu* (dried kelp)
      8 cups water
      2 handfuls katsuo bushi* (dried, smoked, shaved bonito flakes)
        *available in the dry goods section in Japanese markets.
directions:
  1. Rinse konbu under running water, then add to the water in a medium saucepan, over medium heat.  Bring the mixture to a simmer, and remove from heat.  Let steep for 10 minutes.
  2. Add the katsuo bushi.  Cover and let steep for 7 minutes.
  3. Strain the dashi, now ready to use; discard the solids.

30.3.11

baguette with tomato, basil + fresh mozzarella






















The best tasting food can be made in the simplest way with fresh ingredients.  I had heard this so many times from renowed chefs that I couldn’t remember whom I first heard it from, but I wasn’t exactly a believer until I tried this sandwich.  I like to make it when I’m working from home and crunching for a deadline.  It takes almost no time to assemble, and makes use of what most of us have at home: freshly-picked basil (from my dining table centerpiece) and heirloom tomatoes (from the fridge or my mom’s garden).  It seems redundant to write a recipe for this, since all of the ingredients and steps are evident.







to stack                    

ingredients:
makes 1 serving
    3 cuts fresh mozzarella, from buffalo or 
         cow’s milk, about 1/4” thick
    1 heirloom tomato, sliced
    3 leaves fresh basil
      baguette, about 7"
      salt and freshly ground black pepper


directions:






  1. Slice the baguette lengthwise in half.  Toast the bottom half.
  2. Layer the sandwich with mozzarella, basil, and tomato.  Toast the top half of baguette.
  3. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
  4. Optional: drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.