About food in Japan

Gohan (ご飯) - Torafuku (寅福), Omotesando (表参道)

Gohan (ご飯) represents "cooked rice" or "meal" in Japanese. As you may know gohan (cooked rice) has been principale food for long time in Japan, although in modern days, when we have a plenty of choices in food from first food, Italian to upscale Frenche course, we have less chances to have rice in our daily meal. Many Japanese have a rice cooker in their home but a rice cooker might not be the best way to prepare cooked rice.

A restaurant, Torafuku (寅福), offers the best "gohan" as the result of their every effort from selecting high quality rice, using large iron cooker and choosing the best way of preparation(duration of each cooking process, level of heating). Gohan is the simplest dish at a restaurant but the difference in quality could occure depending on how much a restaurant pays attention on it, from ingredient rice and water to how to cook.

Not only gohan, Torafuku carefully considers garnish, main and side dishes that are the best match with thier speciality, "gohan"; sashimi, pork ginger, fried chicken etc. As for rice, it offers 3 chocices from white rice, brown rice and seasonal cooked rice (for example, with mushroom). You can order another bowl of rice at free.

 

For lunch time, Torafuku also provides three kinds of complimentary side dishes which diners are able to take as much as they want. They are mainly Japanese traditional home-made recepi of cooked vegetable. Along with gohan, enjoy the Japanese meal as much as you want.

 The mum's plates atrracts single cosmopolitans in Omotesando (表参道), one of the most fasionable town in Japan. 

 

One small surprise has been in the rice bowl.

It is what you will find when you finish your bowl of gohan.

    
 

 

For dinner, not only rice and dishes, it offer wide selection of sake!

 

Restaurant name: Torafuku 

Address: 3-12-9 Kita-Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Website: 

http://www.four-seeds.co.jp/torafuku/

http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g150119/lang/en/

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Cup Noodle rice

Many of you maybe know "CUP NOODLE", the first product of instant noodle in cup. In 2011, year of the  40th anniversary of the most known noodle in the world, Nisshin launched its offspring 

 

CUP NOODLE GOHAN (RICE)

It is not noodle but rice in "cup noodle" flavour.

 

Let's open the box.

There are 3 packet.

From the bigger one, dried rice, dried ingredients and seasoning.

Let's cook CUP NOODLE GOHAN, following the instruction.

 

1. Pour glass of water (160ml) to the lined level into the box.

Then add ingredients.

Surely it looks like "CUP NOODLE" soup.

2. Then add rice too.

It's dried and looks more like rice cracker.

3. Mix them well.

Looking forward to make it done...

 

4. Close the top cover and bring it to your micowave.

(Yes, Cup noodle rice requires a microwave but not hot water.)

Heat it for about 5 minutes. (500-600W)

Stay there!

 

5. After it have been heated, WAIT for 1-2 more minutes,

while keeping the cover closed to steam it well.

 

6. Finally remove the cover , add seasoning and mix it well.

Now it is READY CUP NOODLE RICE.

 

 Uh~, the taste is surely similar to the original cup noodle. Or it is like a kind of "pilaf" cooked rice in other country. 

To be honest, if I have a choice, I would rather take original cup noodle than the rice version. That is my comment finally. 

Another news is Nisshin is going to launch the second product of CUP NOODLE GOHAN soon. It is ""seafood" noodle flavour version in 10days. I am sure it becomes better version than the first attempt. I am looking forward to try it.

 

Another progress of the first instant noodle(rice) is its container.

It is made with paper not plastic. By unfolding into flat, the waste volume is minimized.

That is a food product of new generation in that point...

 

CUP NOODLE GOHAN  http://www.cupnoodle.jp/gohan/

CUP NOODLE http://www.cupnoodle.jp

 

Arossa, New Zealand cuisine, Ginza

Some of them have fresh impression for the country from the Rugby World Cup 2011 . How about cooking and food? I could not imagine what "New Zealand cuisine" is like, apart from lamb meat and kiwi fruit. Many other people do as well maybe. 

One day, a friend from New Zealand invited us to the restaurant called "Arossa" which is specialized in New Zealand cuisine. The restaurant is on the 8th floor of Ginza Velvia building behind Printemps department. The sic and modern space was far from our image of the southern country "sheeps on farm". Maybe it was too stereotyped, like Japan and samurai or kimono.

There, we discovered that New Zealand has not only lamb and kiwi but also other nice food ingredients and interesting way of cooking.

Here I can show you what we had, as the examples... 

 

Arossa recipe Salad -  eggs, bacon, walnuts etc, as starter

 

pasta with "scampi from NZ"

No doubt it has fresh seafood from the sea around the islands.

Oyster is also its specialty, though we did not try it.

 

 

Pork sparerib caramelized by "Manuka" honey

Honey is also one of the most known product of New Zealand.

"Manuka" honey is the one taken from a specific species of tree, "tea-tree". 

 

 

"Hangi"!! is traditional cusine of Maori tribe.

On their original version, meat, seafood and vegetables are put in a hole made on the ground to cook. The hole is to be covered by wet cloth and leaves for steaming.

After leaving it for several hours, it is ready to eat. 

At the restaurant Arossa, which is located in the center of luxury shopping district Ginza, Tokyo, French traditional pot "Le Creuset" is used, instead of a hole on the ground. 

Lamb meat, mussels, potato and vegetables are in the pot.

The meal is associated, for us, with the traditional dish of French Alsace region, "Baeckoff".

It is quite interesting to find similar types of local food but originated in different places that are far from each other 

 

We cannot miss the dessert plates that are also New Zealand's specialty. 

Pavlova - merengue cake made from egg white, with berry sauce and ice cream

 

  
Other dessert in NZ style

"Hokey Pokey" ice cream and Pannacotta with NZ honey sauce

Its specialty honey is, as we can imagine, the best for sweets ingredients. 

 

The restaurant proudly offers the wide selections of New Zealand wine.

Probably it is the best NZ wine collection in Japan. 

We tasted some nice white wine with the help of local's knowledge. 

 

Many plates we enjoyed at the dinner 

 

Restaurant name: Arossa 

Address: Ginza Velvia building 8F, 2-4-6, Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

Website: http://www.pjgroup.jp/arossa/index.html

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