Tempura - A Dinner Break from Chicken

Dan and I were tired of chicken so we took a break from it on Tuesday night. That's when I decided that we needed to share Tempura Night with our friends.

Let me just say that it's a lot of work and is better attempted on a weekend night. Don't get me wrong. It was delicious and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. But of course, you know me, I had to make everything from scratch. So it was a lot of work.

--Miso soup made with fresh dashi (Japanese seaweed/fish-based stock),
--My 50/50 rice mix (sweet rice and brown rice) on the stovetop that even my anti-brown rice friend will have seconds of,
--Fresh tempura dipping sauce with dashi, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar (I also grated fresh daikon and ginger to boot),
--Green salad with homemade miso dressing,
--5 different tempura items (sweet potato, carrot, asparagus, mushroom, shrimp)
--and deep fried tofu...hey, I had hot oil and extra tofu left after making the miso soup.

Y'know I think I would have battered and fried an Oreo if I'd had one on hand.

So, if I were to do it again, I'd do it the same, just on a Saturday night! But to make it easier, one can easily buy miso soup mix in the Asian aisle of any grocery store, use a rice cooker, get a bag o' salad and bottled dressing, and only do three fried items. I would still recommend NOT buying the tempura mix though. I think it's a waste. Here's my recipe:

1 egg, beaten
1 c. very cold seltzer water or club soda
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. corn starch
(That's it. What you buy in the box for $2.50 is 25 cents worth of flour and starch that's probably 2 years old. No thank you.)

1) Add cold setzer/soda to beaten egg and mix.
2) Pour in flour and starch all at once.
3) Stir sparingly. The batter should be runny and lumpy.

The keys to good tempura:
--Use cold water and keep the batter cold (that difference in temperature helps batter to be lighter and less oily)
--Stir batter sparingly
--Make sure oil temp returns to 340-350*F before adding new items.

The only thing I was disappointed in was the carrots. The oil must not have been hot enough cuz it was oily and the batter didn't stick well. My favorite is, of course, the shrimp. There's a trick to that, too. Y'know, in order for it to not curl. Email me if you want to know.

Hey, I can't give away all the culinary secrets in one sitting!

#3 - Japanese Chicken Salad

Oh, the radishes are popping up in our garden already. It is truly wonderful to experience the bounty of one's garden. I had no idea. So I made a salad for our lunches. Yum.

Miso Salad Dressing
1 fl. oz. rice vinegar
2 tsp. yellow miso
1 med clove garlic, minced
1 tsp. sugar
1/3-1/2 tsp. ginger, grated (depending on how spicy you like it)
1.5 fl. oz. canola or olive oil

1) Mix together the vinegar and miso. The miso tends to stick together and clump. Whisking helps to smooth the mixture.
2) Add garlic, sugar, and ginger. Incorporate.
3) Slowly drizzle in oil while whisking to emulsify (or you can put everything in a jar and shake it...that's often fun for the kids).

Toss with salad greens and chicken (I used meat from the other leg and thigh for our two salads). I packaged Dan's for travel.

Remember, save the bones. We have one chicken breast left for Cinco de Mayo. Ole!

Sushi Ya?

The other day I was craving sushi. Yeah, what a surprise. So I went out to get some at Sushi Ya at the corner of Foothill Blvd and Altadena Dr in Pasadena. This place is usually my go-to place because they're fast when you're at the bar and it's pretty inexpensive. Jason is the owner and head chef. He's always very nice. The only server (every time I go...) is Suni, which is ironic because sometimes when she's overwhelmed, she's not so sunny. But she grows on you. This place is pretty small. There are four square tables and the bar seats about 10. You usually have to wait if you get there after 7:30p.

I was a little disappointed this time. I was served just as quickly and friendly as always but the fish wasn't so good. I ordered miso soup (pictured, left) that was a too sweet but did have plenty of seaweed, spicy tuna roll which I feel is their most consistent roll (and was yummy), and sashimi salad (pictured, below). Now, I'm not sure why I keep ordering it because the amount of dressing is so inconsistent. This one is swimming in it. Most of the time it's like that. Twice I asked for "light on the dressing," and once it was perfect and the other time I asked for more dressing on the side. I suppose I could be a little less high-maintenance and just order dressing on the side but I like salads tossed. It comes with plenty of sashimi too.

But this time, it was weird. I've never gotten a fishy piece of fish from this place before but I got two in that sashimi salad. I don't know what's going on there. Maybe the hike in food prices is hitting them harder than they are letting on. I still like the guys...or maybe it's because I'm chewing more so I'm really tasting things, uh, for a long time. (High priority macrobiotic principle is "chew well"--150x's per bite if you can! I get to about 30. I sure am tasting the food though.)

Sushi Ya (which literally means "sushi restaurant") also has an all-you-can-eat menu, too, with some killer rolls like the Grand Roll and the Bacardi Roll (which they light on fire!). If you're a big eater, it might be worth your while. It's just under $20 for lunch; dinner is 20-something, either $25 or $28. I never get it so I don't remember.

Anyway, if your budget is tight, you want to eat some sushi, and you're in the Pasadena area, you might want to check it out. They are usually very consistent.

From Beer Fest to Orochon Ramen

How long has it been since I meandered through Little Tokyo in Los Angeles? Obviously a long time because the New Otani is now the Kyoto Grand Hotel & Gardens. My buddies from work and I wanted to hibachi in the Garden while chug...I mean, sipping civilly on beer. But the cool garden bar changed (like its parent hotel) to the hipster hangout "Beer Fest" (apparently only until September 1st). It's no Lucky Baldwin's but it did have a decent beer-on-tap selection (get a pitcher). We were a little disappointed when the menu ended up serving sliders, fresh pizza, and grilled bratwurst.

After a couple pitchers, we decided to walk down one level in the Japan Village Plaza Mall to search for more authentic Japanese food...and we found it. Orochon Ramen is slow-cooked in 13 different spices and comes in 9 different spiciness levels, from no spice (non-spicy Orochon 7) to Wall of Bravery spicy (Special 2--not to be confused with regular 2). I got the Orochon 4 (normal spice, or maybe it was one notch above...) which was almost too much for me...almost, so I'm really scared of the Special 2--five levels hotter!


Alexandra, Kate, Ashley, Holly, Jared, and I slurp up our din-din. Alex and I had salt broth. Kate, Holly, and Jared chose miso broth. Ashley wanted meat and got teriyaki chicken.

We were starving so we got edamame (a standard but nuked in the microwave with care, i'm sure) and dumplings that were tasty and hot...two very important conditions for dumplings.

Y'know, if I wasn't moving out of town I would probably routinely return to Orochon to build my stamina to not only withstand but wholeheartedly consume a bowl of "Special 2." C'mon, like I wouldn't want to be up on any sort of food wall-of-fame. So if you're ever in the neighborhood and you like noodles. Check this place out. If you like spicy foods, I dare you to try the Special 1 or 2. And if you get on the Wall of Bravery, I will give you five bucks!