Otaku no Podcast » food

The TJX Crew Invade J-Town

Donald Burr — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:49:32 +0000

If you live in or near a city of reasonable size, odds are that it has a fairly sizable Japanese-American population, and that it would have some form of Japantown. Perhaps it’s nothing more than a collection of several Japanese or Asian markets or restaurants along a particular city block, or perhaps it’s a huge section of town completely devoted to Japanese-American businesses. Some of the more famous are San Francisco’s and San Jose’s Japantowns (San Francisco’s being one of my favorites), and Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo (which I still haven’t made it to, despite the frequent protestation of one of my co-hosts). Whatever your town has, though, it should be your sworn duty as otaku to visit such a place. Because you will find all manner of things that will interest you there — anime and related goods (Japan Video and Media remains one of my favorite stores to find this kind of thing, and I make it a point to stop in whenever I’m in the area); Jpop, Jrock, and other Japanese music; Japanese household goods; cultural items (decoration, bonsai, etc.); clothing (get your cosplay on!); and, most importantly, FOOD!!! It’s the next best thing to visiting Japan, and is a hell of a lot cheaper (maybe…)

The TJX crew recently visited Markham, Ontario’s J-Town (map) and shot this nifty little video in which they sample such delicacies as yakitori (one of my favorites), Mitsuya Cider “ALL ZERO,” onigiri (I have fond memories of these – during our Japan trip in 2004, most nights we’d pick up a pair of these at a konbini and they’d serve as our breakfast the next morning); and “korokke,” or croquettes.

Be warned tho – watching this is gonna make you hungry! (A trip to your local Japantown should take care of that though!)

Video #0004 – The Sushi Experiment 3.0: Nigiri, Temaki, Chirashi, and Facing the Fish

Donald Burr — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 06:45:34 +0000

Greetings, and welcome to the third and final installment in this series of sushi making videos. It’s finally time to run with the big dogs and face your fears – raw fish. But don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as it sounds, and assuming you have access to a reasonably good Asian foods market (or are willing to order frozen products shipped to you in dry ice over the internet) you’ll be just fine. (Look at it this way, not only do you get good quality raw fish, but also dry ice to play with. Fun!) Today we learn how to make Temaki, or hand rolls; and Nigiri, or pressed sushi. We also take a brief detour and learn the Way of the Blade – handling sushi knives.

This is the final video in the Sushi series. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it. I’ll be returning to audio podcasting after this. But stay tuned until the end of the video, because I’ll be talking about the future of Otaku no Podcast and these video podcasts.

Links to some of the products mentioned in this video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

Snow River 7V03389 Wood Oil

Snow River, Kitchen, $3.05

Edozen – Seaweed Sushi Nori – (10 Full Sheets) – 0.88 Oz – for Sushi or Hand Roll

Edozen, Misc., $2.98

Global 1804/270 10-1/2-Inch Yanagi Sashimi Knife

Yoshikin, Kitchen, $99.95

A good seller of frozen sushi/sashimi-grade seafood
Reasonably priced carbon steel yanagi (sushi knives) on eBay – if this one is sold out, use the “see other items” link to find more)
The more high-end sushi knife I own – again use the “see other items” link to find more, if you’re interested
A source of good Japanese water stones
A really lengthy article about proper knife care, sharpening, etc.
Another article on the proper care of carbon steel knives
How to make proper Nigiri Sushi (this is pretty intense)
Another method of making Nigiri Sushi (somewhat less intense than the previous one, but not by much!)

Video #0003 – The Sushi Experiment 2.0: Rolled Sushi

Donald Burr — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 08:38:09 +0000

Well, I didn’t get any angry e-mails or death threats, so I’m assuming that you folks liked our first videocast (or were at the very least willing to tolerate it). So we’re back with another. In this, our second installment in the Sushi series, we’ll be talking about how to make maki sushi, or rolled sushi. We’ll be making two of the most popular examples of this – kappa maki, or cucumber roll; and the infamous California Roll.

(To those of you wondering when Anime on the Cheap Part 2 is coming, the answer is – “sometime, hopefully soon.” I’m taking a break from audio podcasting mostly because I’m procrastinating, and also because I have fun new toys [video camera, mic, sushi making equipment, knives, etc.] to play with )

Links to some of the products mentioned in this video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

Video #0002 – The Sushi Experiment 1.0: Inari Sushi

Donald Burr — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:34:58 +0000

Welcome to our first ever videocast. Okay, technically this is our second videocast, but since the first one was an Anime LA highlights video I put together over 9000 years ago, it doesn’t really count. In this first videocast, we take a brief journey away from anime, and into the kitchen, and I teach you how to make Inari Sushi, a tasty treat perfect for munching on during anime watching parties. (I mentioned this in Anime on the Cheap part 1) And no raw fish is involved!

This is really an experiment for me. I won’t do these videocasts very often – maybe one every few months at best – so don’t worry, your bandwidth won’t be choked up with huge downloads every week.

Products mentioned in the video:

Sushi Making Set VI

Japanese Import, Kitchen, $50.50

Laquer Sushi Bowl and Sushi mat set D482

Ekitron, Kitchen, $25.99

Sushi Rice Japanese style – 5 lb (Kokuho Rose)

Kokuho, Misc., $9.99

RiceSelect Sushi Rice, 36-Ounce Jars (Pack of 4)

RiceSelect 2006, Grocery, $24.33

Hime Seasoned Fried Bean Curd (Inarizushi-No-Moto)

Hime, Misc., $6.49

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5-1/2-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker and Warmer, Premium White

Zojirushi 2005, Kitchen, $159.99

Sushi for Dummies

Judi Strada. For Dummies 2004, Paperback, 288 pages, $9.47

How to make Okonomiyaki, TJX style!

Donald Burr — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:23:27 +0000

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food best described as a sort of Japanese pancake (or perhaps omelette), with various other ingredients (meats, seafood, vegetables, cheese, etc.) mixed in. It may be difficult to type, but it’s pretty darn tasty. Like many other Japanese dishes, it is enjoyed throughout the country, and each region has its own variation on the dish. It’s sometimes cooked in front of you Benihana-style, and sometimes the restaurant leaves the cooking to you – each table has a grill on it, and you basically get a bowl full of mixed ingredients that you can grill to your liking. The most well known ones comes from Osaka (where it is said that okonomiyaki was invented) and Hiroshima. In our 2004 Tokyo trip, we had the pleasure of enjoying some Hiroshima okonomiyaki during a break in our tour schedule. It was indeed mighty tasty.

In their latest episode (and their first video episode), the TJX crew demonstrate how to make this delicious food. Be warned tho, you might want to at least have some snacks nearby, you’ll get hungry watching it! Watch it here.

EDIT: If you want to “kick it up a notch,” (ha!) and you have some decent cooking skills and have access to a decent Asian foods market or specialty store, I found this recipe for completely made-from-scratch okonomiyaki. And if you’re a wimp and/or rather use the pre-made stuff, but can’t find it anywhere locally… well, you can order anything on the Internets these days… Amazon has both the mix and the sauce!

Okonomiyaki kit / Japanese pizza – 4.3 oz x 3

ImportFood, Misc., $14.50

Japanese Okonomi Sauce – 12 oz x 2 bottles

Otafuku Foods, Inc., Misc., $11.50

EDIT 01/05/2010: Locally-mirrored copy of the video removed at the request of TJX, because it was causing confusion. This video is theirs, and I ask that you please direct any inquiries, comments, etc. to them directly. You should be able to play the video directly from their website, but if you can’t get the video to play in their embedded player (like I did), there IS a link to directly download it (look for “Podcast: play in new window / download” below the black video box). Or you can subscribe to their podcast – I’m sure they wouldn’t mind having a few more subscribers Sorry for the confusion guys. Gomen nasai.

The TJX crew talk about one of my favorite subjects – FOOD!

Donald Burr — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:49:34 +0000

The good news is that my two work projects went very well, and I’ve been having a great time at BlogWorld and New Media Expo, learning a lot of good blog/podcasting stuff and meeting and networking with a lot of cool people. I even took the opportunity to upgrade my podcasting setup – I got a new, much less crappy microphone, so the next podcast should sound pretty good.

Speaking of the next show, I’m actually working on it. We’re still in Vegas for another few days, and unfortunately the Internet access is pretty lousy, so I doubt I’ll be able to post the show before I return this weekend. But you should definitely have a new show by next week.

In the meantime, I’ve got something to tide you over. Your friends and mine, DJ City and DJ Gladiator of TJX – The Japan Xperience – have released a new episode in which they talk about one of my favorite subjects in the world – FOOD! More specifically, they take a gastronomical tour through Japan, and focus in on the most well-known/famous foods for various regions/cities of Japan. Give it a listen, you’ll like it. But beware – better have some snacks handy, as listening to these guys talk is gonna make you hungry!

Want to find good places to eat in Tokyo? There’s an app for that!

Donald Burr — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:55:48 +0000

One of the latest buzzwords in mobile technology these days is augmented reality. It’s the combination of a live (real-time) view of the world that is overlaid – or augmented – with computer-generated imagery that somehow builds on what you are seeing and enhances it. Probably the most well-known example of this is a heads-up display, where the computers in an aircraft display projections on the windshield that assist pilots in navigating or firing on enemy planes or whatever. This technology is beginning to see widespread adoption, at least in an experimental stage, in both the commercial and military sectors.

This technology is now starting to see its way onto the so-called smartphones many people are now carrying in their pockets. Phones based on the Google Android OS have had this capability for a while, and now with the recent releases of the iPhone 3Gs and iPhone OS 3.1, that device is starting to see applications of augmented reality technology as well.

Tokyo Underground (iTunes App Store link, $0.99) is one such app that recently came on the scene. It’s a pretty useful travel companion, featuring all sorts of maps, guides to the various rail and subway lines in Tokyo, and a trip planner. But if you hold the phone up (so that the camera is facing where you’re looking) and activate the “Your New Eye” feature – new in version 3.0 of this app – you will see a view of whatever you’re looking at, overlaid with icons to various user-selectable Points of Interest (POI’s). Looking for a nice place to eat? Choose the type of restaurant you want (Japanese? Western-style? etc.), activate “Your New Eye,” and wherever you point your phone, if a restaurant that fits your criteria is within 1 km from where you are (determined by the iPhone’s built-in GPS and compass), you’ll see an icon on your screen representing where you should go. You can get more detailed directions if you need them, and the display updates in real-time — so as you walk toward it, you can see how far you have to go, or if you manage to drift off-course.

This is pretty cool stuff. Granted, it’s not quite on the level of something like a VISOR or Borg implants, but it’s still pretty neat, and will definitely come in handy especially if you’ve never been to Japan before.

The app is available now for purchase in the iTunes App Store for $0.99. While the rest of the features (mapping, route planning, etc.) will work on any iPhone (or even an iPod touch), the fancy Augmented Reality features are only available if you have the latest model iPhone, the iPhone 3GS.

More information on this app can be found at the iTunes App Store as well as the developer’s website.