Tag: Meat

Mizumi Las Vegas, NV

Mizumi Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas…. what a crazy, interesting, evocative, and mischievous place to visit. It’s one of my favorite places to people watch and remember why I am where I am now and not where I used to be. Brandon’s grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin live in 

Nobu LA

Nobu LA

Brandon and I have been to Nobu Malibu, Matsuhisa and just recently Nobu LA. Needless to say, we are big fans of these amazing restaurants and since our first trip, back in 2007, Brandon’s mom, Lyz, has wanted to go to one of Nobu’s restaurants. 

Oshogatsu and Osechi–Ryori 2013

Oshogatsu and Osechi–Ryori 2013

I’ve been writing now for three years 2011 and 2012 about Oshogatsu, which is traditional Japanese New Year celebrations. Of course my family is American so we do things probably very different than in Japan, but I love these customs and I hope to keep them for a very long time. Osechi–Ryori are traditional Japanese foods cooked in soy sauce and sugar or vinegars to be prepared for future consumption. It’s taboo to cook for the 1st three days of the New Year, so the food is placed in beautiful Japanese boxes called Jūbako to preserve its freshness for the days to come. This year we had a large New Year’s celebration filled with lots of love and tons of food. I hope you started the New Year just the way you wanted.

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2013 Osechi-Ryori

Menu

Kagami Mochi

Manju (Japanese sticky rice confection)

Ozoni (Konbu, Carrot, Kamaboko, Shiitake Mushroom, Imo (taro root), Renkon (lotus root), and Mochi in Seasoned Homemade Dashi)

Jubako

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5-Sided Carrot, 5-Sided Daikon, Kombu (rolled seaweed), Shiitake Mushrooms, Satoimo(taro root), Renkon (lotus root), Takenoko (bamboo shoots)

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Kinpira (sato shoyu gobo and carrots)

Tazukri (candied, dried sardines)

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Kamaboko (pink and white Japanese pressed fish cake)

Dashi Steamed Shrimp

Tsukemono (salted cucumber)

Namasu (pickled carrots and daikon)

Umeboshi (Japanese picked plums)

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Blistered Sesame and Soy Shisito Peppers

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Sake and Mirin Grilled Shrimp

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Salmon Sashimi

Maguro (Tuna) Sashimi

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Spicy Crab and Japanese Vegetable Sushi

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California Roll

Vegetable Roll

Inari

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Japanese-Style Short Ribs

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Sweet Asian Fried Chicken Wings (mom’s contribution)

Pork Wontons (mom & dad’s contribution)

DSC03796Char Siu-Style Sliced Pork

There you have it!

Happy 2013! May it be filled with health, love, peace and happiness.

From the Fujitaki Family to you all! Thanks for sharing in our families tradition.

To see my sister in law Linh’s beautiful photos of our New Year please visit her blog here.

cheers

-Unrivaledkitch

Fogo De Chão

Fogo De Chão

Early this month, I had the pleasure of eating at Fogo de Chão with Brandon for his birthday. Fogo de Chão is a Brazilian steakhouse known as churrascaria in Portuguese.  Churrasco is roughly translated into barbeque in Portuguese and comes from the South American traditions 

Japanese-Style Short Ribs

Japanese-Style Short Ribs

While in Mammoth, I always like to cook dinner for my family at least a couple of nights. Though we’re used to the food up there, it’s not the most amazing cuisine, but it’s pleasant because some of the places we go to, including Giovanni’s, 

An Early Mother’s Day Celebration at Summer Canteen

An Early Mother’s Day Celebration at Summer Canteen

Wednesday afternoon, we decided to celebrate Mother’s Day a little early because of my brother’s work schedule. So all of us (me; my sister, Kristen; my niece, Maleeya; my brother, Kyle; my mom, Trudy; my dad, Mark; and my boyfriend, Brandon) decided to meet up and enjoy some delicious Thai food in Toluca Lake, where Kyle lives.

We chose a neighborhood favorite of Kyle’s, Summer Canteen; a lovely little Thai inspired modern eatery. Kyle and his wife, Viet-Linh, have been going here since it opened and we’ve frequented the place many times since then. For some reason or other, I guess it’s eluded my blog, but with such a large group and a variety of dishes, I thought this would be a nice sampling of what Summer Canteen has to offer–wonderfully fresh and well done Thai food at reasonable prices with a modern and chic atmosphere.

 

Kristen and Brandon ordered Curry Noodle: a delicious yellow curry broth with chicken and vegetables, along with both crunchy noodles and soft rice noodles, sitting in a large bowl. Curry Noodle is definitely a dish that is always on our table at Summer Canteen. It’s not like any other curry that just comes with rice; the combination of crunch and rice noodles with the spicy mouth-watering curry, makes for a delicious and filling meal.

My dad ordered Thai Sukiyaki. The noodles were small cellophane noodles with an array of vegetables in a spicy sirracha sauce. This dish is a very different interpretation of Japanese sukiyaki, but appetizing nonetheless.

My mom ordered Pad See U with tofu and shared a bit with Maleeya. This dish is made of delicious flat noodles sitting in soy sauce and egg with tofu and broccoli, a perfectly scrumptious dish for the less adventurous pallet to enjoy Thai food.

Kyle ordered Pad Thai, a classic dish that never seems to fail here. I love the peanut sauce and noodles that are always cooked to perfection.

I ordered the Panang Beef with extra sauce and brown rice. The brown rice that they use here is fantastic. It’s not your usual cardboard tasting brown rice and it’s a beautiful, almost purple shade of color. The deep spicy and sweet flavors of the Panang beef with fall-to-pieces tender large pieces of beef, topped with some steamed bok choy, was the perfect meal. It’s something that I’ll definitely order again. I was completely satisfied and had plenty left over, even as a lunch portion.

Our service was kind and attentive, without being overly intrusive, which gave us plenty of time to converse and talk about what’s been going on and what’s going to go on. I love my family very much and this was a wonderful experience to have with all of us together, which doesn’t happen as often as I would like, but when it does it is always a great time.

This is my sisters second Mother’s Day. It’s so different when your sibling becomes a parent, I’m truly amazed by the transformation and strength it takes to raise such a beautiful little life.  I love my mom so much, shes always been such a great support of myself and my dreams. I love you both and a special thanks to all the amazing moms out there doing one of the hardest jobs on the planet.

How are you spending your Mother’s Day?

Cheers

-Unrivaledkitch

Why Write Recipes When You Can Just Cook?

Why Write Recipes When You Can Just Cook?

I cook often. If I could blog as easily as it seems for me to whip something up to eat in the kitchen, I’m sure I could fill another four blogs with my recipes. But as most of you know, I cook with more intuition 

Mammoth Eats: Giovanni’s

Mammoth Eats: Giovanni’s

As we entered town after the long drive from Los Angeles, we decided we needed to kill a little bit of time before we were able to get into the condo and unload all of our things. So we made our way up to Twin 

Black Market Liquor Bar

Black Market Liquor Bar

In keeping with the theme of modern inspired eateries, I have a small sampling of a couple of dishes brought to you by Chef Antonia Lofaso and company of Black Market Liquor Bar. Located in the posh styling of trendy small plate establishments is Black Market Liquor Bar. The décor and signage is a bit vague, but embellishes the stylish and interesting ingredient-driven menu and cocktails.  As you walk into the restaurant, there is unmistakably some of the most interesting sorts of people looking for a cocktail and maybe a couple plates of food to eat.

The beauty of Black Market Liquor Bar is its elegance and sleek nature of atmosphere. There were many people enjoying themselves without the pouring over of over-dressed servers or meager management. The seat yourself bar and cocktail tables are at first a bit intimidating in occurrence, but with the high turnover rate, even a crowded night will still offer the capacity of receiving a table eventually. Black Market Liquor Bar is brown and light-brown in color scheme with a minimalistic underground feel. The booth seating lines the perimeter with medium to tiny spaces for people to congregate in the narrow restaurant. Otherwise centrally placed, high top tables under the brick laid roof seat many, with other patrons standing, enjoying the light display over bottles of high-class liquor in the gorgeous mirrored bar area. A gleam of mild lighting, shadowing the dark columns in the center of the restaurant, provide a nice balance of light with gas-lit flames housed in mason jars on each table. A modest window into the open kitchen shows a undersized space to feed a number of hungry people.

We found ourselves seated at the bar, which at many establishments is normally insufficient in service, but here, the service was amazing; just like eating at a table of 15 people, but with quiet conversation with the person next to you. Our bartender was quite nice and made simple small talk while taking care of our needs. We started with two cocktails. I ordered the Vodka Buck, which is vodka, house-made ginger syrup, lime and angostura bitters. The combination was well calculated; the flavor was perfectly balanced with spicy fresh ginger and tartness from lime and bitters. Stephanie had the Fields of Gold, which was bourbon, lemon, oj, orgeat and cinnamon. Orgeat is almond flavored sweet syrup that sometimes has rosewater or orange flower water added to it. It adds a different dimension to the cocktails: strong forward bourbon and citrus with an almost holiday appeal of creamy almond cinnamon.
I ordered two dishes after purusing the very seasonally Italian influenced dishes, which I felt quiet at home with. I loved the playful, different, interesting pairing of ingredients, which is something I tend to look for in any well thought out menu. With a menu I can look for inspiration from, I decided to order mussels with fennel, chili and garlic baguette as well as the burrata bruschetta, roasted red pepper, onion, artichoke, and mint pistou.  This is a style of food that hold a special place in my heart; it’s rustic and intentional with pallet pleasing variation. I love mussels. I’ve had a thousand bowls of them in my life, and these were particularly notable: subtly enlightening cooked perfectly .I found myself sopping up every last bit of sweet buttery sauce with a slight hint of red pepper flakes and strings of finely shaved fennel with the wonderfully crunchy and perfectly toasted spears of baguette.  The burrata brushchetta was a combination of flavors that simply put, was meant to be together. The freshness of the cheese just melting into a soft texture (that of whipped cream melting in your mouth) with the intense crunch of baguette, made withstand the moisture of such indulgent exceptional cheese. The well-cleaned and cleverly placed small baby artichokes were tender and gave a different dimension of texture with tang from zesty bell peppers and clean, refreshing mint pallet cleanser.  I am enthused to find this level of commitment in a bar-type atmosphere with really detail-oriented food. I look forward to seeking out other  inspirational seasonal ideas at Black Market Liquor Bar as the ambiance excites and entices the pallet. Well done.

 

What We Ate on Thanksgiving

What We Ate on Thanksgiving

Here we are, giving thanks for this extreme bounty of food and great times. I’m so lucky to have so much love in my heart. This is the menu I prepared for Thanksgiving day. I hope you enjoy the photos and had a magnificent feast