Boys Festivity

May 5 in Japan is a national holiday, "Children Day," celebrating healthy growth for kids. While we celebrate for children in general, we also have a special celebration for boys. (Alternative celebration for girls are on March 3.) Families with boys often display warrior dolls and miniature armor in their homes. As our house is too small to keep these decoration set out, they took a photo and only kept the mini armor for a few days.

My 5-month old nephew is so big that he doesn't even fit in clothes for 1-year baby.

Peter Luger Burger

It's almost a sin not to try Peter Luger's burger when it's 2 minutes from our building. We can't afford $80 steak but we can happily get their burger for $8. Their burger was chosen for "Ten of the Burgers" by NYTimes.

We both ordered rare—let's do it right when you are in the best chef's hand. And it was grilled perfectly. Cheese melting to cover the meat all around, bun is firm enough to suck up the meat juice. Minimal yet very structured decoration and topping of fresh onion. At Peter Luger, the fries sit on the plate modestly, not overflowing, overwhelming like at most burger joints. The meat is so juicy with generous amount of fat that two slices of cheese don't even feel heavy at all. And the bacon! It's a piece of beautiful meat. It got my respect.

30-min wait for this would be nothing, especially if you'd appreciate the characteristic German bartenders.

Peter Luger
178 Broadway
Brooklyn, N.Y.  11211

Indoor Hanami Party

April is the time for hanami (cherry blossom viewing). Unfortunately, the weather didn't hold for the hanami festival in Brooklyn Botanical Garden we were planning to visit for a picnic. So we gathered at our friend's apartment—a large room with skylights through which we enjoyed the rain making abstract patterns. Everyone brought the dish already prepared for the day.

I made Onigiri (rice balls), Kara-age (Japanese fried chicken), Watercress Ohitashi. It wasn't like we planned but sake and delish food on Sunday afternoon was so much fun.

Dashimaki-tamago (Japanese egg omelet)

Ground chicken stuffed Shiitake mushroom

Shira-ae (Sweet tofu paste with vegetable)

Watercress Ohitashi

In response to my friends' request, here's the recipe for Ohitashi with watercress and shiitake mushroom. This is a really easy dish you can make in 10 minutes or a day in advance.

You can use spinach or any other green for this recipe. Just make sure to adjust the blanching time accordingly. Also, this is the vegetarian version, using seaweed broth only instead of fish broth that is more popular.

Watercress Ohitashi Recipe

Japanese Lingo Tip:
Ohitashi comes from the verb "hitasu (soak, marinate)." It's often made with spinach. Basically, blanched veggetable marinated in broth (usually bonito and seaweed broth). A very light appetizer served chilled.

Ingredients (for 3 - 4 appetizer servings)

• Watercress - 1 bunch
  
• Shiitake mushroom - about 5 caps sliced
  (You can do without mushroom or with other kind of mushroom: no problem)
  
• Seaweed broth - 1.5 cup (use 1 pack of broth powder)
  
• Soy Sauce - 2 tbsp (or to taste)
  
• Salt - to taste
  
• Mirin - 1 tbsp (if available)
  
• Toasted sesame seeds - (for topping if available)
  
• Sesame oil - 1 drop (if available)

1. Blanch watercress for about 2 minutes; chill it in cold water; squeeze water; roughly cut the watercress in half so it is easier to eat.

2. Boil 1.5 cup of water; add broth powder (see package pic); add soy sauce, salt, mirin and sesame oil. It could taste a bit too salty as you won't drink the entire broth and it tastes less salty when it's chilled. Throw in the sliced mushroom while the broth is still hot.

3. Put broth with mushroom, watercress in a bowl or container. Let it marinate for at least an hour or longer. Sprinkle sesame seeds for decoration and crunch.

Pizza at Home

We got a left-over pizza dough from our friends' pizza party. The fresh dough was a bit hard to stretch out after sleeping in our freezer for a while. Another drawback this time was the tomato sauce. We used the regular canned tomato sauce, which is a bit too watery for thin-crust pizza. At the party, my friend made the tomato sauce from the scratch, and that was very successful.

Anyhow, we gave a twist on the topping: Arugula and mozzarella with a bit of anchovy topped off with eggs; caramelized onion with mushroom and gorgonzola; and of course the classic basil and oregano (Thanks Dagmar for your comment!). The anchovy was too strong that it almost killed it completely. Caramelized onion and mushroom is such a gorgeous match. Highly recommended.

Little Miko's Ceramics

I started selling my pieces at Etsy. The first customer was my dearest mother-in-law. And someone else bought my pieces today. Yeah!

Miko's Etsy Shop
http://tiny.cc/mikoshop

Happy Smile

Breakfast is smiling at me!

Real Men's Breakfast

Eggs, flank steak, breakfast sausage and watch WIRE. A way to start Saturday morning...

St. Patrick's Dinner

Mr. M was under the weather. For the first time this year, we spent St. P Day at home. Get some cans over Fish & Chips with Guinness. Fried fish got soggy next day. But a few minutes in the toaster brought it back as crispy as out of the oil.

Pizza Pizza!~

I had no idea homemade pizza is such low-maintenance and entertaining feast. All you have to do is make the dough and tomato sauce. Once the party is on, put whatever toppings people like and bake them for a few minutes. The winner tonight was prosciutto and egg. Soooo goood.

Midnight Ramen

It's hard to postpone dinner till 11pm on Friday. But we had to for a mission: Dokebi's special ramen. They usually serve Korean BBQ for Billyburgers. But on Friday after 11pm, they transform into a ramen joint.

Verdict: Not a total disappointment but not worth staying hungry till that late either. The noodle was pretty fresh and the Kakuni (stewed pork belly) is simmered so long that it folded in your mouth. The only drawback to me was the soup. The super rich Tonkotsu (pork bone) broth filled only half the bowl—not enough to sip up with the noodle like you do when having a ramen. And it's not even hot. Perhaps they made it easier for drunk hipsters to eat. Another Korean restaurant serving ramen Momofuku didn't impress me either for their non-traditional ramen, which isn't really a ramen to me. I guess I have a hard head when it comes to ramen.

Dokebi
199 Grand St (between 1st St & Bedford Ave)
Brooklyn, NY 11211

For a luxurious toothbrushing

My friend and the owner of miomia, a beauty and grooming products store in W'burg, was telling me about this fancy toothpaste line with different flavors. After a week, I saw the packages in her store window. Having heard her review and now looking at the cute packaging, I couldn't help trying one. The aromatic Jasmine flavor stays even after brushing—a therapeutic experience that leads to a nice, calm bed time. Being unemployed, I felt bad to buy a $10 toothpaste, but I'm absolutely addicted. Also available; Ginger Mint, Aquatic Mint, Classic Mint, Whitening Mint.

Buttermilk Channel

On a nippy Sunday, we hopped on G train to Smith Street to have a brunch with our friends at Buttermilk Channel. After one hour wait, we got our table (They call you when the table is ready). Surrounded by large glass windows where the sun comes in, it is a perfect scene for a brunch. As our W'burg hood is populated by restaurants favoring decorative, antique-looking interiors, I felt really fresh to eat in such a clean, bright place. My eyes were fixed on one item on the menu: Endive and Kale Salad in Anchovy Dressing and Poached Eggs. The kale was super crispy, and closer to tough, but I wanted lots of veggie fiber, so it worked great for me. Their poached eggs were cooked just right. With a bloody mary and a brunch menu, it came as $15 each, including tax and tip. Nice portion of excellent food with good service in a lovely environment for a great deal. Glad we waited!

Buttermilk Channel
524 Court Street, Brooklyn

Lots of Lox

Why not smoked salmon bagels for dinner? We got nice slices of Irish organic smoked salmon from Russ & Daughters, an appetizing store famous that has been serving herrings and smoked fish for almost a century in LES. As soon as you walk in, you smell the smoky and fish smell. On the other side in this narrow store are chocolates and candies in classic jars. Even with people waiting in the tiny store, the staff in white takes time preparing bagels for each customer. We only wanted to pick up slices of smoked salmon, but had to wait patiently. With nice bagels from our neighborhood and topped with caper and red onion, it became a lovely dinner plate.

Russ & Daughters
179 East Houston Street, NYC

Taco Santana

A new favorite Mexican joint in W'burg, Taco Santana. It's a very small, family-owned place with only 3 tables. My fav is tacos. Their carne enchilada is quite spicy, in a good way. While you wait for the food (they could be a bit slow as only 2 people in the tiny kitchen), you can go ahead and open up some drinks, like Jarritos or Coke made with real cane sugar.

I also like Tostada, crispy tortilla with fried black beens and lots of lettuce with meat.

You get incredibly full for such reasonable price. If you are in the hood, check out this joint on Keap by Marcy St.

Not from the Can

I impulsively bought a fresh bamboo shoot at a Chinese super market. I remember bamboo shoots soaked with skins on in water at my home in Japan. But I never learned how to cook them. With Internet, you can find not only new recipes but also mom and grandma's wisdom.

Remove a few layers of skin, chop the head of it in angle, and parboil bamboo shoots with rice bran (or in water you rinse the rice with). Boil till a stick goes easily through the thick part of bamboo shoots. Leave them in the boiling water for over night. Next day, beautiful, smooth bamboo shoots come out of the skin.

I lightly boiled in seaweed broth with broccoli. Subtle - bland for some people - flavor of Japanese spring.

Shrimpy Pasta

Mr. M got lots of jumbo shrimp. I voted for stir fry or shrimp in chili sauce. But he might have tired of relentless Asian dinners and we decided on pasta, his specialite.

Little cream, saffron, a little chili worked really nicely with linguini. My suggestion was crispy asparagus. Visually looking good. It tasted very very good. I love pasta with quick-to-prep, which serves hungry Miko before she gets angry...

Go Green

Soup. I decided on soup. What soup? Something easy and something economical. Fresh mushrooms could end up pricey. Tomato soup sounded too boring. I wanted something hearty and filling. With my shallow repertoire, all I found as a potential was broccoli. I also wanted some vegetable. Broccoli would melt down and loose texture. I wanted a side dish. Salad sounds good. I remembered we had some blue cheese, which went well with endive. Picking up endive, frisse and green pear, I realized my shopping basket is in green pallet.

Quickly boil sauteed onion and broccoli in chicken broth, puree and finish with some cream. Toss frisse, endive and pear in balsamic vinegar blue cheese dressing. Voila. Refreshing yet comforting dinner for a healthy evening.

Pork Belly Noodle Soup

With chunks of pork belly and fresh chinese noodles, I cooked Chinese style pork belly noodle soup. Stew the pork belly in rich, soy sauce with a hint of clove and star anise. It's time consuming but you can serve the leftover and have it later too. Once you have some rich meat stew, all you do is make broth with the sauce from pork stew and add egg noodle. Fresh egg noodles are easy to find at Chinese grocery stores and cooks in a few minutes. Yum yum.

Taste of Japan

Stewed fish is one of the authentic Japanese dishes. You can use flounder, fluke, snapper, and pretty much any white fish would work. I was craving for such simple Japanese comfort food.

Boil a piece dried konbu (seaweed) water, soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar (for sweeter taste) with some water. Add the fish and fresh ginger slices. Put a lit and simer for 10 min or so until the fish is cooked. The fish absorb the soup and tastes better next day. It's not easy to eat this dish with fork and does require some skill to eat with chopsticks since the fish is really soft and has bones. So happy to be Japanese!!