Dragon Beard Candy

Just by looking at the picture, you might think they are noodles or some sort, but they are actually a very famous traditional Hong Kong snack. Just imagine, mixture of ground peanuts and sugar wrapped in blankets of silk-like strings of sugar...the presentation, the taste and the texture in your mouth...you just can't help but wonder how did Chinese people invent something like this???
Hong Kong is a food heaven, traditional snacks like this one is on the verge of becoming obsolete. I barely even see them in HK anymore. Surprisingly enough, I found them in the Bay Area. That's not all, I actually found a live demonstration of the making! I just hated myself so much that I didn't have a camcorder that day. Why am I so amazed by this? Because the ingredients are very simple, the craftsmanship behind this is what makes it so tasty. Yes, craftsmanship, not showmanship as in Benihana (one of my blacklisted "Japanese" restaurant).

Feeling intrigued? Why not try making it? It's really straight forward, actually. I think the trick is really the pulling part, and of course practice makes perfect! Here's the recipe, you can now get the first hand experience.

SERVINGS: 6

INGREDIENTS:
75 grams fine white sugar
75 grams peanuts
150 grams corn syrup
A pot of glutinous rice flour for coating the corn syrup from sticking to each other when pulling.

INSTRUCTIONS:
1) Using medium heat, bring the corn syrup to boil for about 5 minutes, let it sit and thickens.
2) Refrigerate for 4 hours.
3) Shake the thickened corn syrup out from the pot and dig a quarter size hole in the middle. If it's too hard, you can warm it up a little bit
4) Coat it with rice flour and start stretching along the hole. Keep stretching until it becomes a big ring (remember to keep coating the rice flour as your go along), you then twist the ring to create an "8" shape, bring the two rings side by side and continue stretching.
5) Keep repeating this process until it becomes like strings of silk.
6) You can then cut or pull them apart into size of your palm. Sit aside for fillings.
7) Finely ground the peanuts and mix with sugar.
8) Finally, you can wrap the peanuts filling inside the prepared "corn syrup silk blanket"
9) Voila! Served!

Tokyo Taiyaki

After all my visits to Tokyo, I just realized I've been missed out on this traditional Japanese snack all along! I am not much of a sweet tooth. As much as I like traditional Japanese desserts, I have a limited tolerance for them, so snacks like taiyaki never made it in my to-eat list in Japan. I've been to Roppongi Hills many times already, but I've never taken serious consideration for the restaurants here. It's a tourist spot and definitely not the best place for traditional food, however, I forgot the most important characteristic of Japanese--they are extremely proficient at fusing other cuisine with Japanese cuisine and they are super good at perfecting practically everything.

It was a stormy night when I stumbled upon Tokyo Taiyaki. I was drawn by the warm red bean aroma and the cuter than normal taiyaki shape. I thought I'd just go in to stay out of the storm for a while. When I take a closer look at these cute looking taiyaki, I found out that they actually come in six different types: Papa Taiyaki, Mama Taiyaki and four Baby Taiyakis. Each made with different type of red bean and selected ingredients. And, of course, they also placed buckets of the different types of red beans next to them for reference.

They are currently running a Valentine's Day campaign where they are offering discount for the love of Papa Taiyaki and Mama Taiyaki. They look so cute that I decided to buy myself a Mama Taiyaki. I purchased my ticket from the vending machine and patiently wait for the freshly made Taiyaki.

As I am holding my fresh out of press Mama Taiyaki, I took a closer look at its slightly larger outer shell. Then once again, I was amazed by how thoughtful Japanese people are. They designed a brand new mold for this to allow bigger surface to be baked. The larger fish scales give a more crispy texture to the shell. Brilliant!

So, I took my first bite with much expectations. And, god knows how thankful I am to the founder of Tokyo Taiyaki. Finally, someone thought of a revolutionary idea to balance the sweetness of this traditional dessert! They layered the Mama Taiyaki with a piece of rice cake during baking. It is now melted into the red bean paste. The sweetness is just right. I must also give a big plus for including Mochi's favorite food--Mochi! Crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, this Mama Taiyaki is just super mochilicious. Even though sweet is not my favorite, but this dessert has made the No. 1 spot in this year's trip. I must go back again and uncover the secret behind the Papa and Baby Taiyakis. See you next year!

Hatcho Authentic Japanese Cuisine

Hatcho is probably one of the few Japaneses restaurants that I will write about here. Foremost, I will not judge the authenticity of their dishes because I really haven never had some of these these dishes in Japan, but something else caught my eyes. Some might think that fresh and seasonal ingredient is all there is to Japanese food, but to me, what makes Japanese food so tasty is the Chef's heart and soul behind each dish. In Japan, I can find these restaurants all over the street, but in the Bay Area, there are really only two or three.
I remember the first time I went to my now favorite ramen place in Ebisu. It was a hot summer day, so the business was pretty slow. All the staff in the ramen restaurant were gather together in front of a ramen magazine with critiques and rankings in the Tokyo area. This ramen restaurant was ranked No. 7 then. They were in a hot discussion comparing themselves with their competitors. From that moment on, I know I can always come back and expect the consistent if not better taste of ramen. Hatcho, gave me the very same feeling.
Before I set foot in this restaurant, I've already heard some good things about them and of course, I also sought for reassurance by Yelping. Apparently, this Salmon Ochazuke is a must try, and I did. Just by looking at the ingredients and the plate settings for this dish, I knew I came to the right place. To ensure that all ingredients taste at their best state, they were all served separately, so the salmon don't get overcooked, the seaweed remains crispy, broth don't get cold and the rice won't get too soggy. With drops of sauce, perfection! I can say, this is little too fancy to be authentic, but I can definitely taste the effort and consideration behind this most simple everyday Japanese dish.

I was also surprised to find this Egg over Hamburger dish here. God knows how sick I am to find Teriyaki Chicken in every single Japanese restaurants in the Bay. The hamburger is cooked just right, very juicy and didn't compromise the texture of the meat at all. My only complaint is that the sauce might be a tad too tangy for some people. For me, I do find it pleasing to compensate the fat in the beef.

Hatcho's Tonkatsu is not the best by my standard as I am deeply poisoned by real Tonkatsu in Japan. Although with the shortcoming of limited supplies of good pork here, I think Hatcho's Tonkatsu still qualifies for the top 5% in the Bay Area. The pork cutlet was not overcooked like every other restaurant's, but without the true thickness of a real Tonkatsu, keeping it juicy isn't too hard to achieve. Hopefully they could put more thoughts into this dish in the future so I don't have to drive 6 hours to Tonku in LA.

Overall, it was a great visit for me. Also a plus for their Tatami seating for a more convincing Japanese experience. Keep up the good work!