Anyway, here it is along with a random picture of something yummy from Tanto... It looks like takoyaki, but I am fairly certain it is not. This picture was taken so long ago, I don't remember what it was. If anyone can remind me what it is, I'll send you a postcard of your favorite food picture from my blog...
What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?
I used to make brownies on my own all the time as a child. I started making them to take to school for a boy I had a crush on in third grade or so. Brownies were special in Japan at the time, since they hadn't made it to the mainstream yet. Because I could read English recipes, my repertoire was more extensive than a regular Japanese baker at the time...
Who had the most influence on your cooking?
My sister and Yamaoka-san of Oishinbo. My sister is a true gourmet with a seriously discerning tongue. I am afraid to cook for her. Yamaoka-san is the (fictional) newspaper reporter who is building the Ultimate Menu of all things delicious in Japan. His father, Kaibara Sensei, is known as the 'Gourmet of the Century', who also sternly raised Yamaoka-san to be very discerning and knowledgeable about epicurean delights. Yamaoka-san resents his extreme training and doesn't get along so well with his father. Coincidentally, his father is building the Supreme Menu of all things delicious in Japan, and they have gourmet competitions to see who can create the better tasting dish with a certain theme. This comic series is thought to have given the producers at Fuji TV the idea behind Iron Chef...
Do you have an old photo as 'evidence' of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?
Unfortunately, in the only picture I have of myself when I was a child, I am feeding fish, not feeding on fish.
Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?
Cooking for my sister. I feel like Yamaoka-san infront of his father...
What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?
So many gadgets I love in my kitchen! I'm Japanese, I can't help it. I love my 3-cup max rice cooker, which my friend once called the Cadillac of Rice Cookers. It's the perfect size for me, since I usually cook only 1-2 cups. If you cook 1-2 cups in a ten cup rice cooker, it won't be as good as mine, I guarantee! My electric cordless kettle is pure pleasure, and my recent addition, a milk warmer/frother, makes wonderful frothy hot milk to mix with honey, caramel, or chocolate syrup. I also love my pink Kitchen-aid stand-up mixer for when I need to makmeringuege. And life wouldn't be the same without my shabu shabu electric hot pot or my DeLongi grill I use for roasting fish outside. Let downs? I don't have a whole lot, since I only buy what I will use. I had a taiyaki pan I didn't know what to do with, but it found a very happy home recently...
Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else!
Hmmmmmmm. I can't think of any! I'm creative with ingredients, but whatever I make, most people like it - like nuoc mam with cherries, Indian pickled mangoes in tomato sauce, and deep-fried strawberry ricotta cheese.
What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?
Three? That's so hard. Sake (I don't have to drink it, I just need it to cook with), mushrooms, and hormone and antibiotic free beef.
Any question you missed in this meme, that you would have loved to answer? Well then, feel free to add one!
The quickies section:
Your favorite ice-cream...
I'm not too crazy about ice cream most of the time... I used to LOVE orange sherbert at Baskin Robins in Nagoya, Japan - the one on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house. This is not ice cream, but I am addicted to chocolate covered frozen bananas right now...
You will probably never eat...
Inago. Grandpa Ji-chan loved these guys. They are not for me. I'll eat puffer fish epididymus any day over inago.
Your own signature dish...
Hmmm. Quick East-Meets-West dishes whipped up within 30 min from any collection of ingredients... Does that count? Or sushi.
A common ingredient you just can't bring yourself to stomach...
Ginko seeds. They are common in Asian cooking, but boy, the texture and the smell of them make me cringe.
And now, I am supposed to choose three people who will hopefully participate. Hmmmm. I'm really tempted to send it to my sister, but her blog is not about food... I've been so busy with work, I don't know who's been tagged already and who hasn't... How about Carpel Fish from A Banana in Australia, Fatemeh of Gastronomie, and - this is a chance one - my favorite Japanese Bay Area blogger? He'll probably say no, but heck, it doesn't hurt to ask, right????
I'll keep you posted who says yes...
5 comments:
How about if I answer them here?
[b]What is your first memory of baking/cooking on your own?[/b]
I think the first memory I have is making stewed fish with my grandmother. I think it was flounder, in fact. My grandma used to cook all the time, and what particularly interested me was a big bottle of sake she kept in the cupboards, which she used for this fish this. She would just pour it on, straight from the bottle, into the pan. No measurements, nothing. But the dish always tasted the same. She also had a special wooden lid for for the pan.
[b]Who had the most influence on your cooking?[/b]
Like my sister, Oishibo...and grandma. In the States, it is Tom Colichhio.
[b]Do you have an old photo as 'evidence' of an early exposure to the culinary world and would you like to share it?[/b]
We weren't very much a picture taking bunch. Amazing Bubi now takes pictures...
[b]Mageiricophobia - do you suffer from any cooking phobia, a dish that makes your palms sweat?[/b]
Cooking with electric stove. I can't hear the fire...
[b]What would be your most valued or used kitchen gadgets and/or what was the biggest let down?[/b]
Most valued is my All Clads. Biggest let down is any kind of electric juicer...that was real dumb idea. Wait, All Clads aren't gadgets! I don't use much gadgetry...
[b]Name some funny or weird food combinations/dishes you really like - and probably no one else![/b]
Cactus Tacos.
[b]What are the three eatables or dishes you simply don't want to live without?[/b]
1) Anything Green
2) Anything Red
3) Anything White
The quickies section:
[i]Your favorite ice-cream...[/i]
Greentea Icecream ONLY if it comes with red bean sauce (anko).
[i]You will probably never eat...[/i]
Pan fried moth caterpillars.
[i]Your own signature dish...[/i]
30 Minute Roast Duck with Port Wine Sauce
[i]A common ingredient you just can't bring yourself to stomach...[/i]
MSG - that's common ingredient. muhahahaha
Alice - sweetheart - i will update you on my blog asap
blogger just wasnt working for me this monring
as sson as i get a work break i promise xx
and thank you for taking part
ok - i have updated it now so you get plenty of mention.
sorry for the oversight
you can always hassle molly with it again
Hmm...okie dokie. Will post it on my blog in a few days and forward the permalink to the meme-originator. I will also pass it onto two Singaporean food blogs to see if they would like to participate - hopefully that should add to the 'flava' a bit.
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