review: haagen-dazs "nagomi azuki"

because i haven't done enough reviews or blogging lately:

haagen-dazs' newest flavor, nagomi azuki!
 
nagomi azuki? the heck's that mean?

azuki is "red bean" and nagomi is like...ugh..."relaxing" or something but i'mma just call this ice cream "red bean ice cream" because they're just trying to make it sound cooler than it is.

which isn't to say that this ice cream isn't AMAZINGLY good because IT IS.

let's have a look. 

pretty packaging, check.

azuki ice cream base with swirls of sweetened red bean paste and actual whole red beans? check.

oh haagen-dazs, you GET me. lightly sweet with that slightly thick, grainy taste of azuki -- i could eat this all year long. even people who are all "ewww red beans~" (not to name names or anything, but you know who you are) will find themselves wondering why they ever doubted the ways of azuki. it's THAT good. 

A＋＋＋ MOAR

review: unagi ice cream

it was just another day.

my husband was out running errands and comes back with a small tell-tale konbini plastic bag in his hand.

"i got you something for your blog!" he exclaims placing the small bag down on the counter.

"oh really?" i replied, examining the contents.

unagi ice cream.

"...serious?" oh god, i think.

"yeah!" he's serious.

so here goes.

eel ice cream, ladies and gentlemen.

now okay, some of you may be aware of japan's...odd ice cream flavours. most of them are like locally produced omiyage type things (like wasabi or beef tongue or...whatever) and not really the type of thing you see at konbini. but maybe circle K is an odd kind of konbini, because there it was.

maybe it's like unagi pie, i mean, that's delicious, right?

maybe it's just got like a hint of unagi sauce, which is just like soy sauce and mirin...so like sweet and salty? 

this could work.

i'm optimistic as i pry the lid off and take a big scoop off the top.

AND IMMEDIATELY REGRET IT BECAUSE OMG THIS IS SO NOT GOOD.

it's nothing like unagi pie because unagi pie is actually edible, enjoyable, downright delicious in fact. this is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE. 

it's sauce overkill. the ice cream is already flavoured with unagi sauce already, but for whatever reason they decided that wasn't enough and put in these broad ribbons of straight up sauce in there too for maximum saltiness impact. it's just bad. it's doubleplus bad. it might be the first time i've ever thrown ice cream out. ugh.

review: japanese chestnut häagen-dazs

häagen-dazs is holding out on you guys back home.

seems like every month there's some new limited edition flavour that i'd never seen in the US.

cafe au lait.

white peach and raspberry.

lemon ginger float.

pumpkin (which i need to review!)

and today, i'll be reviewing the latest fall addition: wa-guri (japanese chestnut).

it's essentially chestnut flavoured ice cream with swirls of chestnut paste -- not like in the marron sense, but in the "i boiled some chestnuts in sugar and made 'em into a paste" sense. it's got a great natural chestnut taste to it -- not too syrupy sweet, just buttery and rich chestnut. i only wish that there was more of the chestnut paste in there. come on, it's like...the width of human hair, give me MOAR!

these guys generally show up at konbini first and then move on to grocery stores, but you can bet i'll be buying it again. seriously, häagen-dazs needs to get their game together and give the US some of these flavours too. 

unless i'm wrong and you do get them? i dunno, someone fill me in.

review: ajiwai marron pino

okay to be fair, i warned you that tons of limited edition snacks come out in the fall, so... i hope none of you are surprised by how many reviews i'm doing.

and besides, i wrote a quirky japan blog last night too, so it's not like i'm...shirking my blog responsibilities or...whatever.

anyway!

first things first, pino (made by morinaga) is another one of those standard japanese snacks. it's little bits of ice cream covered in chocolate, and they bring out LOTS of limited edition flavors throughout the year, so you'll definitely be seeing these guys again.

because it's fall, we have the ajiwai marron which i'll loosely translate into just marron, since it's pretty much saying like "tasty marron"...

look at the fall colours~ 

look at the giant chestnut~

the box boasts using "fragrant italian marron" in the ice cream, which sounds really promising.

until you take a bite.

... *closes eyes and waits for the "fragrant italian marron" to kick in*

... ... ... *still waiting*

... ... ... ... yeah okay, i got nothing.

i wouldn't even know it was marron-flavoured if i hadn't have bought the damn things myself -- there's hardly any marron flavour at all. it's not like it tastes gross or anything, it just tastes like vanilla.

and pino usually does a mildly good job at these limited edition things too...

i guess you can't have a winner every time.

but don't worry, in about 1 or 2 months, another flavour is bound to crop up. so until then!

review: fall wagashi (or momiji-an never fails)

it's becoming more fall-ish everyday. 

the humidity is less oppressive, the cicadas have finally stopped their incessant chirping, and the stores are filled chestnut and sweet potato flavoured snacks galore.

it's 食欲の秋 (shokuyoku no aki) -- loosely put, "fall is for food!" and you can bet i'm making the most of it by going to my very favorite local wagashi-ya, momiji-an!

let's have a look at their fall line-up: kuri daifuku, tsukimi ohagi, aonori ohagi.

kuri daifuku 【栗大福】 chestnut daifuku

a small, rounded daifuku made of soft mochi with a chestnut (boiled) and koshi-an inside. usually you see these with a sickeningly yellow chestnut inside (kanro-ni -- basically they boil chestnuts in sugar and likely add yellow food colouring) but not so with momiji-an. they give you the chestnut almost as is -- boiled until fluffy and slightly sweet. these guys only come out once a year, and you can bet i'll be back for more.

tsukimi ohagi 【月見おはぎ】moon-viewing ohagi

tomorrow is actually the traditional day for moon-viewing -- it's always held in september when the full moon is its brightest. it's more an excuse nowadays to eat tsukimi dango (moon-viewing dango, little rounded balls of rice flour or mochi) and drink, but i digress. this ohagi is mochi rice wrapped in sweet potato paste (see? it kinda looks like a glowing full moon!) the sweet potato is so smooth and creamy with a great natural sweetness to it. to contrast, the mochi rice inside is slightly salty to balance it all out.

aonori ohagi 【青海苔おはぎ】 green seaweed ohagi

okay, i was skeptical. i mean, look at it! it's frickkin' green! but being a HUGE fan of aonori, i couldn't pass it up. tsubu-an wrapped in mochi rice, rolled in fluffly aonori -- the aroma of the aonori hits you first -- it's...hard to describe how it smells. but it's kinda of like the green grass smell that green tea has, but with a salty tang. that salty tang works so well with the thick sweetness of the tsubu-an inside and i'm in love with this ohagi at first bite. aonori is usually used on more savory things (okonomiyaki, yakisoba, takoyaki...basically if it has sauce on it, it's usually got aonori), so i was surprised at how well it worked with sweet things too. 

review: fall snacks

time for another review!

this time i'll be looking at three fall limited edition snacks:

meiji's takenoko no sato "maroyaka marron" (mellow marron)

meiji's kinoko no yama "creamy pumpkin"

bourbon's mochi chocolat "chocolate marron" 

let's start with meiji. first, these guys are a major staple of the meiji snack line -- takenoko no sato, or "bamboo shoot village", is a crunchy cookie covered in chocolate that looks like a...bamboo shoot. similarly, kinoko no yama ("mushroom mountain") is a crunchy cookie topped with mushroom-shaped chocolate. i've actually heard that the cookie bits for takenoko no sato are made from broken and crushed up "stems" of kinoko no yama...someone confirm that for me.

ah, and for those who don't know, marron is french for chestnut, and typically has connotations of marron glacee (chestnuts that are basically stewed in sugar with rum) when used in japanese (so basically a more western yougashi kinda marron, not like buttery japanese chestnut). fall is associated with a lot of foods -- sweet potato, pumpkin, and chestnut. you can find all kinds of limited edition something or other in the fall with these flavors.

though it IS still august...

but i digress!

mellow marron

mellow marron is a nice typical marron colour and i expected that sweet marron glacee taste, but actually found it to be more of a buttery japanese chestnut flavor, which was kind of a refreshing surprise. they're not too sweet, so you could feasibly eat the entire box without feeling too sick afterwards! they did a good job capturing that freshly roasted chestnut taste. good job, meiji!

creamy pumpkin

creamy pumpkin is a lovely kabocha pumpkin colour -- oh, by "pumpkin" japan means kabocha pumpkin, which is a small, oblong squash with vivid green skin and orange flesh. buttery and rich, it's used from everything from soups to breads to sweets. i'm surprised at how pumpkin-like this smells and taking a bite only confirms it -- this guy is like kabocha to the max and i love it. you don't often see a lot of heavy flavors come in with snacks like these (unless it's like the upscale version) but these guys pack a great punch. again, not too sweet so...yeah, you could eat every last one without feeling like you're going into a sugar coma. bravo meiji, you nailed fall!

last, but not least, the mochi chocolat series by bourbon is another staple that brings out flavors seasonally. it's basically a soft choclate center wrapped gyuuhi (sweetened mochi) -- this time being marron-flavored chocolate with a condensed milk center (i see no evidence for this).

here's how they look:

the gyuuhi is soft and chewy and the chocolate is that predictable rum spiked marron glacee flavor -- not that that's a bad thing at all. it works really well with the gyuuhi, making the typically strong marron flavor a little easier to deal with by giving it a mochi cushion. this one's a little on the sweet and heavy side, so i'd say two is about my limit for one go.

and there you have it! i'm looking forward to more fall limited edition stuff (since i'm a sucker for it) and i'll hopefully get more reviews up as they come out!

unagi pie

unagi pie.

shizuoka's greatest gift to the japanese omiyage business.

that's two japanese words now i've used without explaining, so i guess 

unagi 【うなぎ】 eel.

omiyage 【お土産】 souvenir (it can take on a variety of meanings, but for now, souvenir)

the omiyage business is booming, and while new omiyage are born everyday, only a few remain legends, standards of the industry.

unagi pie is one of them.

...so, what exactly IS unagi pie? 

do they bake eel into a pie? is the eel wrapped in pie dough?

is it savoury? is it sweet?

the answer is sweet.

unagi is one of the most interesting concepts for foodstuff.

someone in shizuoka prefecture thought hey! why not combine eel and sugar and butter together to make a delicious, crispy mille-feuille snack? and let's add garlic too! and thus, unagi pie was born. though it doesn't taste like eel (in fact, you'd never know unless someone told you), it is addictive-ly delicious and a standard omiyage to bring back to friends, family, and coworkers.

i generally get a box once or twice a year from a regular shizuokan customer. this time he brought me unagi pie VSOP, which is their premium line made with macadamia nuts and VSOP brandy -- yum! and take a look at this fancy GOLDEN package. 

CLASSY.

here's what's inside.

and what's inside again!

layers of crispy, buttery, sugary, brandy-y pie...sprinkled with unagi and macadamia nuts!

the brandy definitely stands out, giving your tongue a buzz before the butter and sugar hit. and you can easily eat like...6 or 7 before realizing OMG I JUST ATE 6 OR 7.

so if you're ever planning on living in japan, you can be sure that at some point you'll be given these tasty little suckers by someone you know. and if you're planning on visiting shizuoka, definitely pick yourself up a case or two to bring back, because sharing is caring.

...or because hoarding them all for yourself is fun too!

review: more fall snacks!

welcome to another edition of fall snacks: the review!

today's line-up: 

bourbon's blanchul mini DX noukou marron (rich marron)

bourbon's mochi chocolat ganache chocolate

it's a bourbon matsuri! huzzah! 

alright, so, blanchul mini DX (short for "deluxe") is bourbon's upscale series for blanchul mini, which is essentially chocolate sanwiched between two thin langue de chat cookies. here we have two marron flavored cookies sandwiching a piece of rich marron chocolate. 

it tastes the way that marron syrup tastes -- sweet and rummy -- but they're so little and light that you don't mind the intense hit. i'd recommend having a glass of milk or cup of coffee ready for these guys.

next is a new flavor in the mochi chocolat series (see previous review) -- a dark chocolate center wrapped in a semi-sweet chocolate ganache. 

okay, this is really, really good. semi-sweet was a great choice of chocolate -- it gives you a punch of flavor without being too sweet or too milky and actually HAS a discernible center this time! plus OMG MOCHI ＋CHOCOLATE OMNOMNOMNOM

A＋＋ would buy again!

review: le triskel

yesterday was my birthday and also 5 year wedding anniversary. yay!

as such, husband made reservations at le triskel, a french restaurant listed in the hiroshima michelin guide (listed, not rated). i'd seen the place before and had had my eye on it, but completely forgot until we actually arrived.

it's on the second floor of an old building in nobori-machi. the interior is well-lit with about 5~6 tables. lunch is course only (i think there were 3 courses to choose from, varying in price) -- he reserved the gourmand course, ranging from amuse bouche to dessert. here's the run-down.

amuse bouche

foie gras crème brûlée 

beneath a crunchy layer of bittersweet burnt sugar lies a thick, yet light foie gras mousse. the combination of sugar and salt was great -- it was unlike anything i've tasted to date, that's for sure. there was also a hint of rum in the mousse, which just added to the overall taste experience.

second course (salad)

kadaif-wrapped hamo (daggertooth pike conger... what?) with zucchini fondant and red pepper sauce

hamo is a popular...fish? conger? ingredient. to use in the summer in japan. it's very much like a light white fish in texture, melting in your mouth. by wrapping it in crunchy kadaif, it gives a kick to the hamo in the texture department. the vegetables in this salad are local and very flavourful -- they're also kept as raw as possible, even the kabocha squash is raw (which i haven't had before -- crunchy!). really goes to show you how much faith they have in their vegetables. the zucchini fondant was also a first for me -- it was light, like a mousse, and captured the flavor of zucchini along with vegetable stock to give it a slightly salty punch. the sweet red pepper sauce and extra-virgin olive oil drizzled alongside brought a refreshing sweetness to the whole salad.

third course (fish) 

koshoudai (crescent sweetlips, which, btw, is a GREAT name for a fish) and scallop sauté (the scallop is underneath -- i really should have gotten a better picture of it. why? you'll see) in a white wine sauce. 

first, the koshoudai. the skin was perfectly crisp and the flesh was tender -- not overcooked, not undercooked, just the right amount of ...hagotae.

damn it, hagotae is one of those words that i really can't put into one english word. it means like when you bite into something, it has just the right ...density? consistency? so that you feel like you're biting into something (as opposed to having it like...mush in your mouth) but it's not like you're biting in rubber or something unbelievably hard. 

it's really easy to ruin white fish when you sauté it, but they nailed it.

but the star of this show is NOT the koshoudai, it's the scallop.

had i had known how life-changing this scallop was going to be, i would have taken more pictures because OMG BEST SCALLOP EVER.

it was actually "compliments of the chef" because it was my birthday, but sweet holy moses, might be one of the best gifts i've ever gotten. the scallop was sautéed in butter, the top slightly crisp and browned. i cut it in half -- the center is still slightly raw so that the scallop has just the right amount of hagotae when you bite into it: soft, yet firm. it's incredibly flavourful --- i would guess that these aren't frozen scallops, but raw ones (i didn't ask -- i should have). you can taste the ocean when you close your eyes, and then the butter hits, the wine sauce hits, and it's like this beautiful explosion of seafood.

life. changing. scallop.

that's all there is to it. 

fourth course (meat)

beef cheek red wine ragu with komatsuna sauce 

komatsuna or "japanese mustard spinach" is a leafy green vegetable that i kinda associated with having a bitter taste. so i was a little wary of the rich green sauce -- but of course, i was wrong. but first, beef cheeks!

beef cheeks, or hoho-niku, are one of my favorite cuts of beef. admittedly, it's a pain in the ass to prepare since you have to stew it for a long time to make it tender and delicious, but when it's done right (and it was), it's just gorgeous. thick cut and tender, you could cut it in half using your fork -- no need for knives with this little beauty -- the meat was so tender it was practically falling off by itself. the sweetness of the red wine paired with a salty tones of the komatsuna sauce brought out the best in each other and i've hardly chewed the meat before it practically dissolves in my mouth. 

the vegetables paired with the meat (broccoli, golden potato, red onion, toumyou or green pea sprouts) are all local grown and packed with flavor. toumyou has that earthy bean taste without being astringent, the broccoli was brilliantly and decidedly green in flavour, and the red onion was roasted perfectly, bringing its own sweetness to the plate. and that potato -- fried until slightly crisp with its own mild sweetness -- it went exceptionally with the sauce.

it was a meat lover's dream and a vegetable lover's dream at the same time.

fifth course (dessert)

terrine chocolat with mango sorbet and fresh fruits 

because it was my birthday, they made a special dessert plate for me. brought out on a chilled stone plate, the first thing that catches your eye is that vibrant golden mango sorbet. underneath is terrine chocolat, which is like a rich and dense chocolate mousse. the intense sweetness of the mango sorbet (it was like eating mango puree, in a good way) accented the rich milky chocolate, and the raspberry sauce underneath it all provided just the right amount of sanmi ("acidic sourness" -- sourness?) to complement the sweetness.

they also wrote "bon anniversaire" on the plate in chocolate <3

an excellent and carefully prepared course using local ingredients well-deserving of its price.

i don't know what more you can ask for.

--------------------------------------------------------

le triskel
nobori-machi 5-7
naka-ku, hiroshima-shi

082-511-5031

review: momiji-an summer wagashi line-up

review: momiji-an summer wagashi line-up

momiji-an is a delightful little wagashi-ya in sakai-machi (naka-ku, hiroshima city). after undergoing a major renovation in may, the small, but well-known japanese confectionary has launched quite a few new wagashi standards, as well as new limited edition summer wagashi.

i tried two new ohagi (tomato, roasted corn, respectively), as well as the annual pione daifuku.

first, ohagi. 

for those unfamiliar with these little guys, ohagi is chewy mochi rice ("glutinous rice" -- what?), wrapped in anko, a lightly sweetened red bean paste (smooth or chunky, depending on preference). it can also be the opposite --- anko wrapped in mochi rice. either way, these rounded treats are have just the right amount of sweet and salty and, of course, go great with tea.

which brings me to the first summer ohagi -- tomato ohagi.

i know, tomato?! what? how does that -- no, no --- 

trust me, i know. i was skeptical too. the light red colouring, the little shiso leaf for a stem. 

okay, it's adorable, i'm not gonna lie. 

but how does it taste? 

surprisingly good. it's like they mixed tomato juice into the shiro-an (white anko made of white beans) that surrounds the mochi rice. it's got just the right amount of tomato flavor and salt to make it more a snack than a dessert. tomato lovers will definitely dig the fresh tomato flavour too.

next we move on to (brace yourself) roasted corn ohagi.

this one is an example of mochi rice surrounding anko variety --- kernels of roased corn, lightly buttered and seasoned with soy sauce dot the surface of the mochi rice with a chunky anko (tsubu-an) center. i'll be honest, i was really, really skeptical anout this one until i finally took a bite.

it's crazy how well these ingediants go together. the saltiness of the corn brings out the sweetness of the anko and the chewy mochi rice goes great with texture of roast corn. who'da thought, right?

last we have the annual summer favorite, pione daifuku. 

pione, pronounced pee-oh-nay, is a brand of grapes grown in miyoshi city (nothern part of hiroshima prefecture). these dark purple (and very expensive) grapes are often given as gifts and are very, very sweet. 

daifuku, for those unaware, are little rounds of anko wrapped in pounded mochi rice (a.k.a mochi). 

put the two together and you get one large pione grape wrapped in lightly sweeted smooth anko (koshi-an) wrapped again in mochi. the soft and chewy mochi goes great with the juicy pione center, and the koshi-an does a great job bringing them both together.

if you're in the mood for some non-traditional wagashi, then i would definitely recommend these summer confections!