The family descends in town!!!

Well, not the whole family, thank goodness. My sweet cousin and aunt visited me for a weekend recently. We had a ball just doing girly stuff around town and went to a few restaurants that I normally don't go to, whether it's due to price or distance/convenience issues.

We went to NoMi, a Japanese fusion-ish place at the Park Hyatt in the heart of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. I've been here a few times previously, always with visiting family. Not only is their food delicious, the view is simply to die for. We went during Saturday's lunch hour and got a seat by the window easily. The ambience of the dining room and bar was very sophisticated and clean. Service was impeccable and the wine list and cellar looked very impressive. They even had a few different kinds of salts and peppers to choose from, to season your own food! How pretty!


We started off with a very generous assortment of warm breads and butter. Even though the breads were warm, the butter was rock hard. I must say that warm bread always earns brownie points from me, but rock hard butter doesn't. I know that it'll violate some health code if restaurants were to keep butters warm, but it will definitely help if customers didn't have to struggle to spread it on their breads.


We proceeded to a very clean, delicious citrus beet salad that was topped with the most refreshing citrus vinaigrette. Isn't the plating simply elegant?


I was fascinated by the Saffron Bouillabaisse and opted for that despite a hot, summery day out. Not only was it absolutely scrumptious, the scallops and calamari were cooked to perfection: just enough for a bite and flavor. The plating was clean, yet warm. A half of the sourdough crouton was soft from the bouillabaisse, and the other half retains its crunch, which made for a fun mix of textures and flavors.


My aunt also chose something light: the Ikebana sushi platter consisting of a tuna roll, some fresh salmon sashimi and an assortment of cooked and raw sushi. The dish was very fresh, but I don't know if it was worth the hefty $25 price tag!


My cousin, ever the sweet tooth she is, ordered the French Raisin Toast with fresh cream and fig coulis. It was surprisingly light for a French toast: a tad dry and a bit too crunchy. I think French toasts should be rich, creamy and heavy. It might be due to the fact that NoMi kind of places itself as a "spa" restaurant, which is why their light dishes are way superior than their "enlightened" heavy dishes. I could be wrong, but that's my impression of it. The fig coulis, though, was pretty intensely fig-gy (if there's such a word). It would've been perfect with an assortment of cheeses.


The meal was satiating in terms of the range flavors we enjoyed, but the portions weren't uber generous. Fortunately, we had a complimentary dessert platter. The waitress came out with a silvery cylinder with 3 layers. After placing it on the table, she unfurled each layer to reveal the mini treats in them. The presentation was beautiful, very much like a surprise gift. As you can see, each layer has about 3 mini, bite-sized sweet treats. The most memorable items I tried were the fruit tart (I'm such a sucker for fruit tarts!) and a super intense chocolatey truffle.


Overall, it was a beautiful, light meal. I definitely won't recommend this place if you're famished, but it's perfect for a special occasion or if you want something light at a breathtaking locale.

Another place I wouldn't normally patronize is this Korean restaurant on Lawrence Avenue that I stumbled upon by accident when I was really looking for good ol' San Soo Gap San. The restaurant name is San Chae Dolsot. Everything (well, most of it) was written in Korean at the restaurant; I was half expecting them to not have English menus :)

Located in a mini strip mall along Chicago's Korean town on Lawrence Avenue, it looked like the kind of neighbourhood restaurant that Korean families come to for Sunday dinner. But anyway, my aunt, my cousin and I just stuck to good Korean classics such as kal bee, chap jae and a kim chee tofu soup. The traditional banchan (otherwise known as those delicious starters served on small mini plates) served was deliciously tongue-tingling as usual. We thought the kal bee was not that great, probably due to the quality of the meat. However, the marinade was yummy.


The kim chee tofu soup was simply to die for. I'm sure the chill of the evening helped make it taste even better, but the spice was just right and there's so much silky tofu in it! Just add some bean rice and you get a filling, warm stew.


We all really enjoyed their chap jae, which was cooked very nicely. The glass noddle still had a bite to it and the sweet and salty interplayed perfectly. I love that they added so much sesame seeds on top!


Overall, it was a pretty decent restaurant. All of the other patrons were Korean families. Of course, in true Indonesian form, my aunt didn't find the Korean food spicy enough. My family has this practice bringing around a special bottle of Indonesian chili sauce when we go out to eat. I know, I know, it's really weird. But I must say that it really does help bring out the flavor of most Asian foods. Now, my aunt has officially graduted to bringing around fresh chili in a Ziploc bag! And you can bet on her bringing it out for our Korean food adventure!


It was an awesome weekend, catching up with them and trying out some new restaurants. I can't wait to see them again soon!

NoMi
800 N. Michigan Ave., #7
(312)239-4030

San Chae Dolsot
3737 W. Lawrence Ave.
(773)588-5223

Staying cool...

It has been a whirlwind summer thus far. Actually, make that a whirlwind year! I've been travelling like crazy (counting at least 20 different flights, 6 of them international) and trying to work like crazy so I can graduate soon. Sadly, even though I have so much to blog about, all this activity has left me little time to do so. Nevertheless, I try to cook whenever I can and in this searing summer heat, I like to make easy dishes that will minimize oven time. As they say, if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. And I'm one weird tropical girl who really detests heat!

Thanks to all the debauchery and busy schedule I had this year, I seriously need to go on a diet! With the heat and diet, salads have been my saving grace this summer. I know salads don't exactly conjure up the most fantastic, delicious images in most people's minds, but I think that with a little creativity and some sense of adventure, it could be scrumptious, healthy and oh so easy at the same time. My ultimate secret weapon for salads? Great dressing.

Specifically, I'm really into Japanese-style sesame dressing. It's commonly used not only as salad dressing, but also as a dipping sauce for grilled meats in Japanese restaurants. This dressing goes with almost every green and protein, but it is best with softer baby greens, such as spinach. I first got hooked by this dressing when I was eating at a bbq restaurant in Tokyo, where the thinly-sliced beef was served with a fragrant, nutty sesame dip.


There are many different brands of sesame dressing at the ethnic grocery store, which led me to experiment a little bit. I noticed that the consistency of the dressings vary widely. You can check them out by turning the bottles upside down and observing how quickly (or slowly) the dressing "moves". Thus far, the slower they are, the better. The "slow" sesame dressings tend to be more flavorful and nuttier. I also find that you can use way less of the "slow" dressings for the same degree of flavor. As you can see above, the color of the dressings are also different, I'm guessing due to the different degree of roasting that was done in the production process.

So, for dinner last night, I decided to make one of my favorite salads: a bed of soft baby spinach topped with lightly sauteed garlic shrimp. And of course, it will be served with a drizzling of the sesame dressing.

Recipe for Favorite Garlic Shrimp Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive or canola or vegetable oil
Minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
Shrimp
Baby spinach (or any other greens of your choice)
Japanese-style sesame dressing

Heat oil on non-stick pan.

Add shrimp and garlic to hot pan.

Season the shrimp to taste with salt and pepper.

Once the shrimp has been cooking on one side for at most 3 minutes, flip them over one by one.

Cook another two minutes.

Remove from heat. Pile shrimp on top of the baby spinach. Drizzle with sesame dressing and enjoy!

Gawd, I'm so Asian!

It's been a rough week. Not only has my experiments tanked (as usual), it is frigid here in Chicago. I walked home from the lab earlier this evening and by the time I got home, my cheeks and thighs were frozen solid! But there's nothing a bowl of homemade soup can't warm up immediately, so I made miso soup.

Miso soup equates comfort to me. I grew up eating Japanese food pretty regularly because my parents love Japanese food. So, what is miso anyway? Miso is basically fermented soy bean paste. There are a few types of miso; namely, white, red and black miso. Miso soup is a Japanese culinary staple but miso itself is increasingly used in many other contexts, such as glaze on fish and in sauces. A few factors that determine the flavor of miso include the length of fermentation and the other raw materials added to it. Other grains that have been used include barley, quinoa and adzuki. Unfortunately, the miso I happen to have in my possesion isn't that exciting. It's just plain reduced sodium misoshiru, but it'll have to do! Don't you just love that the Japanese always uses cute cartoon characters on everything? Even miso! :)


I started off by boiling a quart of water in a saucepan before putting a dashi bag in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Dashi is another uniquely Japanese ingredient that is analogous to bouillon but is flavored with kombu (edible kelp). The dashi bags I have happen to also have bonito flavor. The term "bonito" refers to a species of predatory fish that belongs in the mackerel family. Again, it gives dishes a distinctly Japanese flavor.


While boiling the dashi bag, I diced some tofu and some green onion. Miso is an incredibly versatile ingredient. Besides tofu and seaweed, which are the most popular "fillings" of miso soup, you can many other things such as shellfish, mushrooms and noodles. I love love love tofu so I added a whole block of tofu to my soup. I'm so Asian sometimes, haha!


After boiling the tofu for about another 5 minutes, I turned off the heat and removed the pan from the stove. After letting it cool for a few minutes, I stirred in two tablespoons of the delicious miso. It can take a few minutes for the miso to dissolve, especially if it is cold. It's crucial to never EVER boil miso and to add the miso paste only after you removed the soup from the heat. Boiling miso will create a bitter flavor and destroy the beneficial cultures.


I topped my miso soup with sliced green onions and I had to have two whole servings! Other toppings include fried scallions (which is such an Indonesian thing to do) and seaweed. Homemade miso soup is the perfect remedy to a frigid Chicago winter day.


Recipe for Miso Soup

Ingredients:
1 quart water
1 dashi stock bag
1/2 of a 16-oz block of your favorite tofu (you can use the whole block if you love tofu, like me), diced
2 Tbsp. miso paste
Sliced green onion

Bring the water to a roiling boil in a saucepan. Put the dashi bag in the boiling water and let it continue to boil for 5 minutes.

Take the dashi bag out and add the diced tofu. Boil another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Add dashi and stir until it dissolves.

Ladle into bowl, top with sliced green onions and itadakimasu!

I Love Mitsuwa!

Mitsuwa is a Japanese grocery chain in the US that I've been patronizing over the last few years. Besides groceries, the Mitsuwa in the Chicago suburb, Arlington Heights, has a food court comprising of numerous Japanese, Chinese and Korean vendors selling cheap and fresh hot food. They have recently added a tea house-style vendor who also sells ice cream. My last excursion there was particualrly eventful because they had a tuna carving performance that afternoon, which I knew of in advance. Mitsuwa flew in a fresh, never-frozen, 500-lb tuna from the coast of Spain to be carved in front of their patrons. Being a sushi-phile, I planned for weeks in advance to journey 30 miles (and back) in order to procure fresh tuna. Specifically, I wanted o-toro, the desired super fatty stomach of the tuna!

Despite the promise of horrid weather, I was able to convince a dear friend to come along with me. And boy, was I glad that we went! The tuna was absolutely beautiful, with its dark-colored flesh and yummy-looking marbling. The fish may not look impressive in these pictures, but keep in mind that it was already gutted and beheaded. Remember that this is all pure meat!



Even though I already had lunch (unagi from the food court), the sight of fresh o-toro made me hungry all over again.


I was able to purchase about $15 worth of pure o-toro, which is considerably cheaper than what I would'be probably paid at a sushi restaurant. The "chef" was kind enough to slice them into sashimi for me and I had it with a sprinkling of soy sauce for dinenr at home. I was simply amazed at the richness and the purity of the flavor. I had never seen such extensive marbling of o-toro and this was definitely the richest o-toro I've had by far. At $15, this kind of deal is definitely not to be missed if it ever came to town again :)

My friend got a piece of the "chuck" tuna, which was also delicious. We coated it with roasted white sesame seeds and seared it on a pan. It was served with lettuce, tomato, some mayo on toasted shokupan. The sandwich was simply heaven on a plate!

As if all this fishy decandence wasn't enough, I also had dessert from the new stand in the Mitsuwa food court, Re Leaf. I had their special, which was the Matcha parfait, a layered concoction served in a clear, tall plastic cuo. It starts with matcha jelly at the bottom, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, red bean paste, some pie crust-like cookie chunks, mochi balls, more red bean, matcha soft-serve ice cream and a thin slice of buttery cookie.


The pastries that they added were total misses. The parfait would've been way better without the pie crust-like cookies and the slice of cookie that they topped it with. Other than that, I absolutely loved it! The presentation was very pretty and the combination of jelly, mochi, red bean and matcha soft serve made me think of similar dessert creations that I had while travelling in Japan. The flavors were very strong and authentic. In combination, they marry very well together. If you're in the Arlingto Heights area, don't miss Mitsuwa. That place is an absolute treat and I always leave happy!

Tofu snack bites

Living by myself is both enjoyable and somewhat precarious at the same time. I love that I answer to no one at all and that I can play any kind of music or watch any kind of TV program that I want without anyone piping in. Now, in theory, this also translates to my ability to cook/make/eat whatever I want. This is true, but it hasn't really happened to me. As a matter of fact, I used to cook/bake/eat a lot better when I had roommates! I feel that when I actually had other people to feed, I applied myself to actually planning a wholesome menu and making a nice meal. Now that I'm living solo, I feel like I don't have to make a special effort to make something nice to eat when it's just for me alone (especially after a hard day's work). The other contributing factor is the reality that food just doesn't taste or smell or look that good when it's enjoyed alone as opposed to when it's enjoyed with loved ones.

So anyway, a girl still has to eat, right? Thesedays, I've resorted to eating more conveniently. And no! I haven't been living off frozen TV dinners or disgusting canned veggies, thank the Lord! Instead, I have been eating convenient fresh things, like baby carrots and celery dipped in store-bought hummus (which seems to always be on sale when I'm shopping, yay!). Other indulgences include crunchy peanut butter and nutella, both of which I just eat by themselves, on a spoon. Indulgent, I know. Eating mostly veggies and chocolate spread is fine for the most part but my body needs more than that, especially since I started running on a regular basis.

I find meat to be a chore, what with living alone and stuff, so I've started eating a lot of tofu! Yep, yep, that good ol' delicious soybean curd. Prior to recent times, I haven't prepared tofu too much because it is rather unfamiliar grounds for me and I've never particularly found Asian-style tofu dishes too healthy. My recent trip to Japan changed that misperception. In Tokyo, there are many many types of tofu available, ranging from silky smooth to chunky and chewy. They also come in many flavors, my favorite being a sesame-infused chewy tofu served in a shallow pool of scrumptious soy sauce that we had at a shabu-shabu restaurant.


I also bought a little basket of fresh, plain, silky tofu from a merchant at Matsuzakaya in Ginza. Enjoyed only with soy sauce, it was a simple, clean and healthy treat. The packaging might have been a little elaborate, what with the leaf wrapping and basket nest, but the flavor is simple and unadorned, the way good tofu should be eaten.



The types of tofu one can get in the US is rather subpar compared to the delicacies in Japan (which is to be expected, as after all, Japan is like, the tofu capital of the world, in my opinion). I don't think the tofus found here can be enjoyed plain by itself. So anyway, I've been hunting for easy, delicious tofu recipes and to my surprise, even a generic recipe website such as Allrecipes has a few wonderful-looking options. So this past week, I tried the recipe for Baked Tofu Bites. I was immediately sold when I saw that one of the ingredients is sesame seeds *haha* Some components of the recipe sounds a bit weird, such as the addition of liquid smoke. Ew! In accordance with some of the other reviewers suggestions, I left that part out. I also did a lot of improvisation because I didn't have some of the main ingredients, such as ketchup, maple syrup and vinegar. Instead, I used the same amount of jarred pasta sauce, sugar and left out the tangy/sour component of the vinegar.


Despite the multiple, rather un-kosher substitutions, the tofu bites turned out great! I expected them to be a bit crunchy but that might be because I piled the tofu cubes onto the baking sheet instead of spreading them out in a single, neat layer. I will definitely try to do this next time. They were delicious and flavorful and great as leftovers! Some future changes I might make to this recipe include using black sesame seeds in addition (or maybe, instead of) the white ones, adding a dash of sesame oil. Yeah, yeah, I'm a total sesame nut! Anyhoo, if you're delving into the adventurous world of tofu, this recipe is a perfect start: simple and delicious!

The Tokyo Disney Sea experience

During our week-long sojourn in Tokyo, we made our way to Tokyo Disney Sea (TDS) at Maihama for one afternoon. My family and I have been to Tokyo Disneyland before in the past, when my sis and I were still mere impressionable kids. We had wonderful memories of Disneyland as this joyful, wintry place (we went over Christmas break) that not only had fun rides and entertainment but also great food (such as the delicious Jap curry rice, scrumptious Mexican churros and ginormous roasted turkey legs). So I was really looking forward to this new Disney-themed park with the heady anticipation of a ten-year-old.

First off, let me just say that TDS is NOT a water park (thank God for that). I thought it would be some water park that requires patrons to wear swimsuits and all. But as my sister reasoned, which vain, neatly-dressed Japanese would want to get that wet, right? So, in that respect, TDS was already different from what I expected. Also, besides adopting a "sea" theme for the most part, TDS is also an Epcot-wannabe in that the park is divided into different countries, such as America, Morroco and Mexico.

Upon arriving at the Maihama JR station, we still had to take a special Disney monorail to TDS. The monorail not only had Mickey-shaped windows, the handles for standing customers also had a Mickey design as well. Kawaii!


We started off by exploring the exotic Middle East area of the park because we were raring for lunch after our train ride. The main eatery in this section of the park is the Casbah Food Court (cheesy name, I know) which specialize in curries and roasted chicken dishes. The food court was very clean and I thought it exuded a Morrocan feel, with a seemingly open ceiling loosely-lined with wood and draped with pretty carpets. And check out the details of the intricate exterior of the Mid-Eastern theatre!


My mum, the health nut that she is, decided to forgo the curry and opted for the chicken duet with "nasi goreng". What they call "nasi goreng" (or Indonesian-style fried rice) was not nasi goreng at all! It was pretty bland and its texture shares more similarity to baby food than rice! However, I have to give them credit for roasting the chicken very nicely. One of them is a teriyaki style chicken topped with sesame seeds and the second type is more a jerk style. Both were tender and was literally falling off the bones (in a good way).


My father, sister and I picked the beef and chicken curries that came with naan and rice. Unfortunately, the portion of meat was very meagre (4 friggin' cubes of beef?!?) but the soft pilowy naan and delicious rice more than made up for it. The naan was perfect for dipping into the rich curry and the rice formed a nice little nest for a slathering of curry. Oishii! Unfortunately, the coconut pudding with caramel sauce wasn't as tasty as it looks. Although the texture of the pudding was very luscious (quite like a good flan), it lacked flavor.


We next explored the Little Mermaid's lore, where we watched a music show centered around the mermaid and encountered a store that's shaped like a whale! Isn't it adorable?


We then took a walk to "America", where the Tower of Terror is located. The ToT is basically a ride that places you in an elevator that takes you to the top floor of the tower before letting gravity do its thing. Hahaha! Scary, I know, which is why I didn't ride it. Actually, we didn't really go on scary, twisty rides but I blame it all on my scaredy-cat family! If one of them would've accompanied me, I would've gone on some *winks*


The scariest ride that I went on was the Indiana Jones adventure. My parents, especially my mum, scare pretty easily and thus skipped it. In the ride, we were Indiana's fellow adventurers who try to help him out by rising in a truck. It was pretty scary, what with skulls and Another show/ride we went to was something called "Stormrider" where we supposedly were part of a mission to stop a hurricane by riding a special plane called the stormrider into the eye of the storm. Weird, ya? Only the Japs can come up with this. That was pretty fun, albeit bumpy and slightly wet! We also watched a Jazz Age-themed dancing show with Disney characters frolicking around on stage and tap-dancing (or at least, they tried to).

After the legendary long lines of Disney and overly-amplified sound system, it was time for dinner! We weren't too impressed with the offering of the Japanese restaurant and decided on the Italian place in "Venice" instead and am I glad we did! The price was higher than the others in the park, but the food was definitely worth it. We started with a very fresh baby green salad topped with peppers, yellow cherry tomatoes and sliced almonds. The dressing was very delicate and the added crunch from the almonds made it really nice.


My sis and I shared the thin crust sausage pizza that also had onions, peppers and basil leaves. The crust was a teeny tad thin for my taste but I still liked it immensely. It was very light but not at all "crackery" like some uber thin crust pizzas. To my surprise, the crust was charred beautifully too, which makes me wonder if they had used a real brick oven...


My father, the carnivore that he is, had the lamb chops and lamented at the pathetic 2-chop portion. Despite the supposed meagre serving, the chops were cooked beautifully: succulent and tender with a hint of rosemary.


My mother had the sirloin and ordered it to be well done. Despite it being well done, the steak was very tender and juicy! The roasted vegetables that accompanied the meat were also divinely yummy!


Being blessed (or cursed, I don't know) with a relatively fast metabolism and big stomach, my father wasn't satisfied with the chops and just had to have the American hot dog that we saw earlier. Chomp!


After a full day of TDS, we just had to get some of the famed Disney snacks in their pretty tins and adorable little knick-knacks. Overall, TDS was a lot of fun to visit. I'm not sure that it's the kind of place that warrants a return trip. Being a bit of a purist myself, I still prefer Disneyland to TDS, just because it's more ... what's the word, dreamy? And "fantastical"? Maybe that's just the Pisces in me talking. Okie dokes, till my next Jap-centric post, enjoy the pics!

"Good" jet lag

It's incredible what "good" jet lag does to you! I tried staying up till 10 last night but I passed out at 8 p.m. So I ended up waking up at 3:30 a.m. this morning and couldn't get back to sleep! Due to this extra time in the morning, I managed to catch up with some work e-mails, chat with Singapore friends (with a 12-hour time difference between us) and go to work way earlier than normal. Unfortunately, I just know that this extra time in the morning won't remain for much longer because my body will return to its normal clock again soon.

But anyway, as alluded in the previous post, this homecoming was somehow very different from the others in the past. There were major changes (in my philosophy and external appearance) and for the most part, I had a lot of fun. My parents were less nag-gy, I got to see many family and friends (both old and new), and my loot from Asia is considerable! Not only did I bring back a lot of snacks/food items, I also acquired some new clothes which I love love love!

I did most of my clothes shopping in the eclectically fashionable Tokyo. Despite the fact that the Japanese absolutely worship Western brand names, there are still plenty of creative Japanese designers. Unlike the women in some other places I've been to, I find that all Japanese women exude a certain unique style and that they put considerable thought into their outfit every day. Most of them adopt a simple, elegant working-woman flair, but there are the occasional stand-outs who tend to be younger and more adventurous. I saw a few girls dressed in Little Bo Peep-style costumes and plenty of Goth and punky youngsters in the uber trendy areas of Harajuku, Roppongi and Shibuya. I also noticed that there's a sharp decline in the number of Japanese with super blonde hair. I guess either they've adopted a more sedate or "natural" hair color or they have finally realized that Asian bleach blondes' hair gets extremely dry and damaged. So anyway, with plenty of innovative Japanese designs to choose from, I pretty much got everything on my fashion with list (except for a cute cropped leather jacket). Check them out:

1. An adorable pair of leopard print peep toe stilettos


2. A figure-flattering "bubble" dress + cami


3. An awesome pair of running shoes

4. A beautiful yukata (obi, geta slippers and fan of course!)


5. A few cute black tops (from Zara and Esprit)


The Japanese-made shoes, dress and yukata were surprisingly affordable. I was ruminating over the many leopard print shoes that we saw in Japan. Most were either uncomfortably high-heeled or comfortable and exorbitant! The most comfortable ones I tried were made by the prolific Italians, Dolce & Gabbana, but I almost choked when I saw the price. Thankfully, I held off on the D&G's because I just couldn't justify spending what's approximately my monthly rent on a mere pair of shoes. Then I fell in love with the sexy, red-lined, cushioned (can you believe they are cushioned?!? I can literally live in these!) leopard print peep toes in a basement boutique in Shinjuku (that cost only 1/8 of the D&G's!) and the rest, as they say, is history.

Besides awesome clothes, Tokyo has a frenetic and marvelous culinary scene. Like many other Asian countries, the streets of Japan is literally littered with places that sell or serve food. The more amazing thing is that during my week in Tokyo, I only ate at one mediocre eatery, the food at the other places were all delectable. Taking into account that it's almost impossible to get a bad meal in Tokyo, the food prices were surprisingly reasonable. Even the airport food was delicious! Most media outlets agree that Singapore's Changi airport is the best in the world but I beg to differ. Personally, Tokyo's Narita is pretty frickin' awesome! It may have a less luxurious and sophisticated ambience than many other airports, but, not only is Narita's food selection crazy good, they have some pretty damn good shopping mall. I guess the only drawback I can think of is that most of the "good stuff" are located outside the boarding area, so travelers who just have a brief layover can't enjoy the amazing mall.

Most of the airport food offering at Narita's Terminal 1 South Hall is Japanese, but I remember seeing a Starbucks, a bagel shop, a Western-style soup restaurant, an obligatory Mickey D's and a French-style boulangerie. Being Japanese food enthusiasts, my family and I concentrated on the more traditional Japanese selection at the airport. We arrived in Tokyo at about 6 in the morning and had a few hours to kill before we had to board a shuttle for our hotel. Not all the eateries were open at that time, so we settled on a decent-looking udon house with a standard noods selection.

Upon inspection of the restaurant area, it's hard to forget you're in Japan. After all, nothing says "Welcome to Japan" like the barrage of looks-good-enough-to-eat plastic food!


We weren't expecting much because of our generally mediocre experience with airport food. My parents had grilled salmon teriyaki set meals that consisted of the grilled salmon, plain fresh tofu, rice, miso soup and some Japanese pickled vegetables. The tofu was surprisingly exquisite; the salmon was perfectly grilled and seasoned; and the rice (gohan), boy, you can never seem to go wrong with Japanese gohan.


My sister and I had the kitsune udon, which is basically hot udon topped with sweet sliced tofu skin. It is a very simple dish that speaks volumes about the quality of the udon eatery. Our kitsune tofu was chewy and delicate at the same time, and the udon was very tasty and perfect for polite slurping!


We also ate another time at Narita Airport before our departure. This time, we discovered the second-level mall that was also full of restaurants and little shops selling souvenirs and Japanese snacks. Again, we chose a noodle house that serves both hot and cold udon. My sis chose the Katsudon set, not knowing that it also comes with udon. The katsu was moist and had a wonderfully crunchy skin; the gohan, as usual, was just delicious and the homemade udon couldn't be beat!


My parents had similar versions of tempura udon. My dad had plain udon with a jumbo shrimp tempura on the side while my mum had a tempura+kitsune+fishcake+mushrooms udon. Both were delicious and my father's jumbo shrimp tempura was succulent and had a bite to it.


I opted for the simple kitsune udon without knowing that it's served cold. Nevertheless, simple kitsune udon in cold soy broth was deeply satisfying and yummy!


We then shared a Japanese-style summer dessert consisting of azuki (red beans), mochi balls and green tea soft-serve ice cream. The azuki+mochi combo is a pretty common one but adding green tea ice cream to that seemed a bit odd to me at first. However, upon tasting, it works out very well! The sweetness of azuki, the slight bitterness of green tea and the chewiness of the mochi was very oishii!


After a little walk around the mall for last-minute gifts shopping, we chanced upon a snack stand selling gelato and Hokkaido soft serve. Yes, yes, we did indeed just have lunch a mere hour ago, but we decided to get some frozen treats anyway. The four of us shared a green tea gelato, a kurogoma (black sesame) gelato and a vanilla/chocolate swirl soft-serve ice cream. As usual, we weren't disappointed at all: the gelatos had such a rich texture and the soft serve was also very decadent in its own way. The Hokkaido soft serve was like no other that I've tasted and I'm sure it's made from full cream milk!