TASTED: CRAB MARITESS at the RED CRAB

One of the downsides of living in the city is having to pay a lot for good, fresh seafood.

And if you like crabs, you know how much that's going to cost you.

A. Lot.

Whenever i find a special occasion, I usually use it as an excuse to spend on crabs and what I usually treat myself to is the Crab Maritess from Red Crab.

 

The eponymous recipe was supposedly shared by former actress Maritess Revilla-Araneta (who is a friend of the mother of the restaurant chain  owner) when the restaurant was being conceptualized. God bless her then!

I love it because of its simplicity.  The crab is cooked  in olive oil, white wine and heaps of garlic. It is served with shell on and you may ask the waiter what type of crab you want. I usually ask for female crabs because of the extra aligue or crab fat.  King crabs are best when you're a group but make sure to get to the claws first. (And yes, female King Crabs are not called queen crabs. They are simply female King Crabs. Tsk...tsk... tsk  even in the crustacean world, sexism exists).  The best way to eat it is with rice and a vinegar dip with freshly minced garlic.

MIX a little of the crispy browned vinegar and olive oil on your rice.  

CRACK the claws open, get a sizable chunk of the flesh.

DIP it in vinegar.

ENJOY.

Address: 104 Tomas Morato Ave., Quezon City
Telephone: (02) 374 8406

IT'S A HOOT! OWL FAMILY CAFE IN OSAKA- MEMORIES OF JAPAN (Part 2)

In the busy streets of Osaka, you can have coffee and commune with one of nature's wisest creatures at the Owl Family Cafe.

This cafe is proof that the Japanese love to embrace the quirky and bizarre. It could be hard to find as it is located in one of the side streets at the end of one of the longest shopping districts of Osaka,  Tenjinbashi.

The place is a low structured building with simple signs on the door and windows. For about ¥1,000,   guests are ushered in batches at hourly intervals by young, friendly Japanese women. Apparently, the owls mingle in rotation, to allow the creatures some rest in between petting and picture taking with curious tourists. 

Don't expect fine-dining food, though. After all you're not there to just eat, you're there to get to know the birds of prey better. You can order coffee, tea or hot cocoa and some snack like cookies and bread. And no, you can't share these with the owls. They have their own scheduled feeding sessions. Servings are small, too. But it's okay since you'll spend the first fifteen minutes listening to an introduction to handling owls  (mainly in Japanese) and the next 45 minutes trying to have your photos taken with your new found feathered friends.

The young ladies will introduce you to the owls one at a time, assisting you and making sure that no on gets hurt (those talons and beaks can rip your eyes out if you behaved badly).  We didn't have time to take down the owl names because we found ourselves snapping pics like crazy.

This cute one was perched on my shoulder when it suddenly pooped on  me!

This one was a bit of a snob.

This big momma is fierce!

And this one's just plain creepy!

The whole experience is more akin to visiting a pet shop than a petting zoo, especially after finding out that the owls were for sale (the cheapest at ¥1,000,000.00).  

I probably won't go back to an Owl Cafe next time I'm in Japan. I wonder if I should try the Goat Cafe next?


Address: 1-10-13 Tenjinbashi, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
Telephone: +81 6-6360-6205

 

 

FUGU, EXTREME CUISINE- MEMORIES OF JAPAN (Part 1)

Danger. One of the reasons why I wanted to go to Japan.

Aside from riding this roller coaster...

I set a date with the fish of death.

Photo courtesy of animalzoo.ro

Fugu or pufferfish is the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world after the golden poison frog. Its skin and liver contain tetrodotoxin, a biological neurotoxin that's 100 times more poisonous than cyanide and causes the paralysis of voluntary muscles, a loss of sensation and a fatal heart rate increase.  A miniscule half milligram drop will make you stop breathing as your heart races to 100 beats per minute while you lose all your sensation. You will be zombified to a state of near-death, remaining conscious but paralysed until you say, "sayonara world!"

On the upside, it has high collagen and low calorie content, the perfect beauty food. And it has only killed 23 people  from 2000 to 2009.  That's a good number compared to the 24,000 who die from lightning strikes every year. 

Since I was going to risk my life for food, I did some online research and learned that only licensed artisan cooks can prepare the fish for public consumption. I found a restaurant based on blogs. After all, I'd like to eat at a restaurant where people actually survived from eating the deadly fish.

A. marched with me through the streets of the famous Dotonbori dining district of Osaka to find Gempin Fugu even if he disliked the possibility of losing me to a fish. It took us quite sometime (and a few "Lost in Translation" moments) to find the restaurant that was located at the basement of Comfort Hotel.

The place had several low tables over a recessed floor and paired with zabuton cushions. The food attendants would even help you remove your shoes. Like most restaurants we had been to, it was dimly lit and had smoking areas.

Luckily, the menu had English translation  and listed other ala carte items, mostly seafood, including the kani salad that A. ordered. It was the only thing he was familiar with. While he will only eat what he's tried before, I have sworn to eat the unfamiliar.

I ordered grilled snowcrabs. Which turned out to be disappointing. Three crab legs did not make a (possibly final) supper.

To calm my nerves, I ordered some liquid courage in the form of warm sake. A., who wanted to stay calm, just in case, had Sapporo beer.

Fugu is served diffent ways. It can be grilled, smoked or parboiled. The most famous way to serve it is as sashimi  also known as Tessa or Fugu sashi. The thinly sliced raw fish is served with a side of grated daikon (white radish) and gari (pickled ginger) then dipped in ponzu shōyu, a tart citrus-based soy sauce with a hint of freshly grated wasabi (a pungent green spicy root crop).

The time had come to face the fish of death. Served like a work of art, its pale white meat, fanned out and at its base was a colorful mix of grated vegetables and a slice of lime sitting on top of an  ooba, a big perilla leaf.

I took my first bite. No dipping sauce. It was bland. Nothing compared to tuna or salmon sashimi, more like raw squid or octopus. I wondered if I had ingested some poison and just lost my sense of taste. Not one to panic, I took a gulp of sake. I could taste the bone-dry alcohol. I had not yet lost my sense of taste. So I took another bite. It was still bland. A., who had been quietly watching me, could sense my disappointment. He urged me to dip the sliver of fish meat in the ponzu shōyu. The fugu just took on the taste of the sauce. Since I was still still alive, I coaxed A. to try some. He did.

After a few slices, I felt a bit of numbness on my lips, like getting some anesthetic cream at the dentist. I had read that this is something one should expect when one eats fugu because there will always be a small, non-lethal amount of the poison on the fish. But maybe it was just the sake.

This picture is proof that I finished the fish of death. 

 Post script: After reading this article. A. admitted the reason why he ate the Fugu Sashi- if I were to show signs of poisoning later on in the night, he would also be poisoned. We would die together in Japan. Isn't that sweet?

Address: Gempin Fugu (other articles may refer to it as Genpin Fugu)
Comfort Inn, Osakashinsaibashi B1F, 1-15-15, Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, OsakaTelephone:  06-6245-5429
 

SPOTTED: SPAGHETTI FLAVORED POPSICLES

Yes, You read the title right. That above is Neapolitan spaghetti flavored popsicle from Japanese ice cream maker Gari Gari Kun. The company makes special (read: weird) ice cream flavors seasonally. Last spring it was this tomato sauce-flavored popsicle coating with bits of tomato gelatin.
 

Eating this was a challenging task even for an ice cream lover like me. It tasted of canned tomato paste- processed with a hint of tin. The first bite disconcerts your taste buds and the impulse is to spit it out. If it does get past your tongue,  there is the gag reflex to contend with. I could only take 2 bites before I said  "Sayonara!"

I found these in Tokyo last year. The staff at the grocery store asked if I really wanted to buy this item ast "It taste bad," he sad. I should have listened.

I hope the next time I get a chance to go to Japan, I'll have the chance to taste the Cream Puff popsicle which I've heard is "exquisite."  Did they finally make something we can actually eat? =)

Photo courtesy of Rocketnews

KOMM, ESSEN WIR BROTZEIT!

Food is a universal language.

If it speaks to your palate, it is easier to understand and appreciate its culture of origin. My language professor back in college believed in this. For our final exams, he took the class to a Schwarzwalder, a German restaurant where the Filipino waiters spoke fluent German. Truth be told, I only took up German as my elective language course because I heard about the professor's peculiar examination method. During the finals,  however, it proved difficult to concentrate on my tenses and  vocabulary when all I had in my mind was the platter of fat sausages waiting for me.  

Though I have not been back to the restaurant since then, I have come to love the spiced  ground meat encased in animal intestine lining that we have all come to know as the sausage. 

Recently, I came across a relatively new German concept casual dining restaurant in Shangri-La Mall, Brotzeit. 

The name literally means "bread time" in German and  loosely translates to "merienda" in Filipino (I think). I was intrigued because these days, with the proliferation of hotdogs dressed as authentic regional sausage, it's hard to find an honest to goodness German sausage, cooked the right way and served with the right condiments.

The restaurant has both indoor and outdoor seating, which is a boon to smokers like myself. Which is why I was surprised to learn that the restaurant is a franchise from Singapore, the land where smoking (and bubble-gum chewing) is deeply abhorred.

The menu offers soups, starters, entrees and a variety of beer.  I sampled two of my favorite sausages: the homey Knoblauchwurst (Garlic Pork Sausage) and the traditional Weisswurst (Pork and Veal Sausage).  

Knoblauchwurst (Garlic Pork Sausage)

Fat, pink and juicy, the Garlic Pork Sausages  are served on top of sauerkraut (fermented chopped cabbage,  similar to our atchara) and Bratkartoffeln (roasted potatoes). The first time I tried the sauerkraut, it wasn't well fermented yet, so the acidity hadn't reached that sourness one comes to expect from this side dish. But the roasted potatoes were crisply done and well-spiced. It was the better accompaniment to the  sausage. 

Weisswurst (Pork and Veal Sausages)

I know that Pinoys are usually wary of any light-colored  meat but one has got to try the pork and veal sausage, which is poached in simmering water with spices and served with pretzel and sweet mustard. This cooking process brings out the buttery tenderness of the lightly spiced veal, which goes well with the sweet mustard. Though it may look wooden, the pretzel has a soft, chewy dough inside. 

And even if the sun was still up, I had lager with the sausages. Brotzeit boasts that all their beers are made with pure spring water and brewed according to the German Purity Law of 1516. Even if I am not a beer drinker, I enjoyed this glass of light and subtle brew.

Vegetarian Pizza

If you're  not into meat,  you can try the  Vegetarian Pizza which is topped with mozzarella, zucchini, olives, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms. 

But if you're really into meat, then you should try the Schweinshaxn, roasted Pork Knuckle similar to our Crispy Pata. It actually reminds me of Judy Ann's Crispy Pata from Malabon except this is served with stone-ground mustard, horseradish and sauerkraut.

When you do go there, make sure to go with friends or family as it's not the type of place to dine alone in. Prost!

Address: Shangri-La Plaza, Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: + 632 631 1489

Danke schön to Fraulein Lanie Sumalinog for the title translation.

FOOD QUOTE OF THE DAY

EGG MYSTERY, UNSCRAMBLED

Can you unscramble an egg? Not yet. But recently, scientists have figured out how to unboil an egg. At least the white parts.

After the publication of their study, Chemistry major Stephan Kudlacek  and Gregory Weiss, a professor of chemistry and molecular biology & biochemistry at the University of California at Irvine, confirms, "Yes, we have invented a way to unboil a hen egg.”

Photo courtesy of UCI News

 How?

They boiled egg whites for 20 minutes and returned lysozyme, a key protein in the egg,  to pull apart tangled proteins that would allow the egg whites to refold or go back to a structurally correct shape.  I'm not so sure if it is edible as they used urea (which you could also get from your pee) to liquefy the solid, cooked egg whites.

Why?

Yes, why would anyone want to uncook an egg? They're not really into the raw food craze but the researchers believe that this "could transform industrial and research production of proteins" which would be helpful for cheese production and cancer research.