JOB

I've been kinda busy lately but I'm in a good mood..

I'm proud to announce that I got a job!

My new work place is a brasserie located in the Roppongi district (well-known as a high-end area where "clubbing ppl go" and, in my opinion, where "you see the most international couples(female-Japanese, male-foreigner) of any other areas in Japan"...you know what I mean) . This is a French bistro & cafe type of eatery. So yeah, for now I'm gonna have to commit to French cuisine, though I really wanted to learn Japanese...
I did have a big, big dilenma. At first I was planning on working at as many places as possible, shifting places like every 6 months or working at 2 places at the same time, so that I can learn as many types of cuisine and technics, foods, management... as humanly possible. But whenever I talked to random chefs  about my plans, I was always told at face "you just can't learn anything within 1 year!!! You gotta stick to one place and work over 1 year, if you wonna learn something". So I decided  it's better to listen to their advise, well at least I'm pretending to listen... (yup I said whatever to get a job in my job interview :p)

I happened to come across their ad on this site.
One of the qualifications needed for this job was an availability of 4 days or more per week (and then you'll find out later that they actually want you to work 6 DAYS per week...it's always like that... full of traps...).  And the wage was "1000yen or more" so it wasn't the worst.
I really sucked in the job intreview but somehow got thru...:p

Check it out

other site

So far it's been great; I think this place is ideal for me cuz now I can learn a wide range of things, basical and a little bit complecated, like how to "eplucher"=wash, peel, core, cut, etc. many types of foods, how to use pro kitchen tools(from a BIG slicer to something like Robo Coupe machine), as well as baking & decorating cakes.
Plus, the staff meals are reeeally yummmmy...
And above all,  people are nice, especially chefs:-)

With that said, some people are REALLY tough to get along with :p I know it's always like that if you work in a big team...
And the sex ratio is like 9.5 to 0.5 (men are dominant) so still feeling awkward...

But anyways, I'm really excited to be working here...
And it's a big relieaf that I'm no more a jobless person :-D

French Restaurant "Montmorency"

Nearby french restaurant
5,000yen~10,000yen

If you have the same course in the center Tokyo, you'd be paying twice...
GOOD TO LIVE IN A PROVINCE TOKYO.

birthday cake-it's a present from the restaurant!

Montmorency

What's it like if a culinary school student throws a home party

I was invited to this lovely home party held by my classmate.
Being a student, she works in publishing and lives a very good life. Her sweet home is just few steps from "Shirogane Takanawa"station, which is known as a district where only elegant people can live;-)

Though my expectations were high, she really went way beyond them. She really can cook:-)
She told me that she loved alcohol so much that she's now making her own liquer. There were over 20 bottles of hand-made umeshu :-)

 I didn't know till she told me that it's prohibited by law to "serve" hand-made alcohol "for profit", or even "move" outside home! I guess this is the most ridiculous law ever but under Japanese law, if you make a liquer at home and bring it to a picnic, you're done ( Until 1962, it was illegal just to "make" own liquer at home ). It's all about tax.

Also I really liked her idea of mixing "chinese cabbage" in curry. You don't feel cabbageness at all but it absolutely enhances sweetness and makes a nice and smooth texture.  So many things to learn.

Cuisine Francaise 2

It was about potatoes again... This dish's called " HACHIS PARMENTIER " with sauted minced beef sandwitched with mashed potatoes and then "gratine" with gruieeere(dunno how to spell it!:-0) cheese on top. Ooooff! how could it be not tasty with such lovely ingredients(though I don't like beef...I'd replace with simmered Sauerkraut for a vegetarian version) ...with this kind of dish, no matter who makes this, the result will be pretty much the same. This is so simple to make.

This is tearcher's sample.

pretty classical presentation..

And this is our group's

looks good eh:^)

Cooking lesson- Cuisine Francaise :-)

It was all about cutting, cutting, and cutting. We learned the basical cutting technique in cuisine francaise, called "chateau". (though I'm not sure if this is really used or a kind of out-of-date technique in France...) After, we learned how to make simple and tasty dishes out of cut and chopped potatoes. Yummy .

Teacher's sample.

Potage Parmentier   Potato soup:-)

this is our group's.

please dont laugh



I practiced till 2am:^0 practice makes perfect?



How to make dried fish in a Japanese style

It's sandfish. One of the most delicious fish, which I belive used to be very pricy but lately is getting cheaper. Maybe it has been a good season:-) And I found a dish of sandfish (like 20 pcs)  just for 200yen(!) in a fish market...why wouldn't I get it:-)


We Japanese like eating fish in a lot of ways;we eat them cooked, raw, grilled, simmered, fried... and DRIED(then we cook).
Dried fish is called"HIMONO" and can be a very good snack for your drink(:-)), as well as a regular meal. Sometimes it's marinated in a soy sauce-based liquid (ex:soy sauce, sake, water, sugar, Mirin)then dried. you can also sprinkle a little bit of sesam or something like that.

When you buy so much fish that it's impossible to consume in a day or 2 while your fridge is overloaded, drying is a good alternative.

After removing gut, marinate for 1-2(or more)hours in salted water.

Wipe well and dry in a cool and preferably airy place. I made up this set out of gabbage:-)

let it hang like this overnight ~ 1&half day. It doesn't stink than it seems.

Marinate version

 

Grill.



SO TASTY :-)

Fish!

And today I tried doing by myself what we learned at our class!
And in order to get the best food for dinner, my family and I spent half the day doing groceries and the other half eating:-)) A good way to spend Sunday.

rice w/peas & boiled shrimp-dumpling-like something japanese

rock fish!!

amber jack-the king of sashimi

crispy-fried mackrel & sandfish

leftover fish... RIP in a pool of marinade

********************
あじ　鯵　mackrel
はたはた　鰰　sandfish
メバル　rock fish
ブリ　鰤　amber jack
*****************

I like fish. But I like scones just as much....:-)

There are plenty of scone shops in Tokyo (and of course you can buy them at any regular bakeries).
Cheese cake, Donut, and Scone--they're Tokyo's big 3 in the sweet snack industry.