Coq au Blue Nun

I bought this bottle of Blue Nun as part of a prank for a few wine-loving friends who were around long enough to remember the brand being the de facto standard bearer of German wines in the late 70s and early 80s – no, I still wasn’t legally allowed to drink then but I did remember having a sip or two when I was a kid. We ended up not opening that bottle to drink that evening – rightfully so – and it’s been sitting around at home since. Guess the joke was on me. 

Summertime Chicken Hotpot in Kyoto

With our flight schedule to touch down only in early morning at Osaka airport, we didn't make any specific plan for lunch in Kyoto on our first day, for fear of the possibility of a flight delay. Nonetheless, I did have a specific restaurant in mind - I just figure we would just try my luck walking in if all things went well.

Toriyasa (鳥彌三) is a 227-year-old Kyoto restaurant specialized in Tori no Mizudaki, or essentially chicken hotpot, now already in its 8th generation owner at the beautiful street of Kiyamachi by the Kamo river. We arrived at Kyoto right on schedule so after quickly settling in at our hotel near Sanjo, we made a leisurely stroll towards the riverside area where the restaurant is located.

Home-style Hash - a hearty, one-pot meal

There are times I would challenge myself to cook an elaborate, multi-course meal at home, and there are times I just want to do something simple. Last weekend definitely belonged to the latter category. I was late coming back from a furniture shopping trip at Horizons Plaza on Saturday (okay, I did pick up a few clothes along the way too) so I picked up just a few items from the grocery stores in the same building and did something quick and easy.

Home Recipe: Japanese Casserole Rice

While most of us would have no idea where the rice we eat every day came from or how long it's been sitting in the warehouses before consumed these days, new crop rice - or shinmai (新米) in Japanese - is much celebrated in Japan, just like other seasonal food delicacies found in different time of the year.