It's roast beef dinner jelly time

Every semester at the dorm of the skinny mushroom there were at least 2 parties which involved these special dinners. The chef would prepare a few special dishes and order boxes of sushi, both of which made me very happy. A popular creation was this roast beef platter with roasted potatoes, carrots and green beans. What amused me most about this dish were the little amber cubes of jelly that were piled up on the slices of beef. No they were not sweet, I'm guessing they were consomme in a more solid form. They were very cute and jiggly and I liked how they were solid soup pieces that melted in your mouth. The plate tended to be a bit on the dry side but drown it all in gravy for a little while and you are good to go. There always seemed to be a tendency, with all of the chefs that cooked for us, to really try hard with creating foreign dishes, mostly western with the exception of the chuukaryourisenmon no cooksan (specialised in Japanese-Chinese cooking) who made Ebi Chilli (I was so happy and scraping up the leftovers that night, so not much different from any night!). I think this was at one of the Christmas Parties. Lots of food and drinks is a recipe for a good time.

I want to eat a spam musubi

...so I made some! ah spam, the poor man's meat. But considered a gourmet delicacy in Japan! 'Tis where I learnt of the fantastic wonders of teriyaki glaze from my tabedachi, who has taught me so many things and shared in many cooking adventures. It was there, in the dorms of the skinny mushroom that I first encountered the Spam Musubi. Imagine giant nigiri sushi. Although if you know what nigiri sushi is there's a good chance you already know what musubi is...oh well! Teriyaki sauce is so simple! Sugar, water and a good Japanese soy sauce (I used thai soy sauce once and it didn't taste quite right, not bad though) in equal portions. The amount of sugar looks a bit scary when you first put it in but it really is the catalyst for the teriyaki flavour. Plate licking finger sucking goodness. Pour it over your fried slices of spam and cook it into the meat until the liquid has slightly reduced and starts to coat the spam with a nice glaze. Mould some rice into a block using a mould or your hands, lay the spam on top then wrap the whole thing in seaweed and presto! The magical mystical musubi of spam is born! Great for a snack or a really satisfying meal if you have a few. Excellent picnic food as they are pretty sturdy and compact and can last for a while in you bag as long as you don't sit on them.

Pasta can pan cakes

More memories of beloved Tokyo and great friends. Okonomiyaki is the student saver when it comes to food. Buy a bag of flour and a head of cabbage and you can feed yourself for a week. Of course it helps to have some mayonaise and brown sauce available and idealy an egg and any other toppings you want or can afford. I think this was a kimchi okonomiyaki with cheese and various other sauces dribbled generously on top. My family came to visit so my friends came to meet them at Sunshine City (whee there it is again!) in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. We decided to have dinner in the basement area where there are a bunch of restaurants. The place was called Pasutakan Okonomiyaki , I'm not entirely sure what the name means o_o I don't think they are referring to the elusive pasta can. Oh well. Good service, good food, friendly environment and alll the toppings you can pile on (if you wanted a sauce, nori and mayonaise tabehoudai). Its always fun to cook your own food. Generous portions for a decent price, my kinda place. Also, if you're not comfortable flipping piping hot food with steel spatulas on a sizzling oil covered hot plate, the waiters/waitresses offer to do it for you. Little sand hour glass timers are on every table to help you time your cooking if you go solo. It's fun and a lot wasier than you think ;) Okonomiyaki power!

Poke in the park

Eating raw tuna and shoyu is an incredible experience so who would have thought taking it one step further was possible. Thank you Hawaiian Japanese cooks for creating this utterly fantabulous dish that has made my taste buds seize up in tantric orgasms on many an occasion. The poke pictured here was homemade in London, thus the recipe (as most are) was somewhat improvised. I've made it before with just tuna, garlic and the dressing, which still tastes excellent but lacks the oceanic depth of flavour created by the additional ingredients. The simple combination of succulent cubes of raw tuna, wakame and spring onions tossed in minced garlic, shoyu, sesame oil and a dash of hot curry powder creates a wonderfully refreshing salad like dish that is so much more than the sum of its parts.

So many fond memories of this dish whilst in Japan. Watching as my tabedachi (tabemono tomodachi) demonstrated culinary alchemy. Picnics in Kiba park, sitting under the shade of a low tree, scooping helpings of fresh poke into paper cups and observing our fellow park goers. Model plane jiichans losing planes in trees and asking baseball playing guys to climb trees and throw balls at the little crafts wedged high up in the branches. Young couples taking time out in thier weekend to relax in the great outdoors beneath a great blue cloud speckled sky, laying side by side on the grass playing their respective NDSs. Hard working salary men spending time with their families by sleeping in a near comatose state on a bench only to wake and find only the right side of thier face roasted pink from the overhead sun. Good times.

Drinkable cheesecakes

Namja Town in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro (Tokyo, Japan) is one place that will pop up many times in my memories of dessert in Japan. I'll refrain from repeating myself so I shall avoid leaking any spoilers about some of the "special surprises" that can be found through the magical gates of Namja. There are seasonal specials in the main store of the Choux Cream Forrest. My colleague and I went during one of the cheesecake seasons. Very wide selection of cheese-related desserts. Example: "drinkable cheesecake" (nomuchiizukeeki) pictured in the lower right corner (if you still can't find it here;s another hint: the one in the bottle with the straws stuck to it :D) This caused many eyebrows to raise, but we were pleasantly surprised. Very smooth light fluffy texture with a creamy weight to it that was not too rich, a characteristic that was greatly appreaciated by yours truly who confesses to not liking cheesecake (alas, both cheesecakes were purchased by my tabemono tomodachi). The slice of cheesecake was apparently made by a famous bakery somewhere in Japan (somewhere in Hokkaido ...kana?) and it cost 600yen! But it was very rich and velvety and I can see why (if I really really stretch it) it cost as much as it did. I had the strawberry chiffon and the creme brulee, both of which are highly recommended. The chiffon was incredibly delicate, in the best way possible. The fresh flavour of real strawberries and lightness of the cake fused together perfectly. The creme brulee is only finished when you order it so the caramelised sugar crust is still warm and crunchy when you break though to the milky, creamy goodness within. Perfection in a ramekin? I dare say so. I think I had that creme brulee everytime I went to Namja Town. Yes, that good.