There are some food that can bring back memory of Japan yet even fewer places in Singapore that evoke the ”sense of place” we have visited.

And it is in Kki (keki is Japanese for “Cake”) that I found a sense of familiar comfort and solace.  For one, it is tucked among the [...]]]>

A cake that brings back memory of Japan

There are some food that can bring back memory of Japan yet even fewer places in Singapore that evoke the ”sense of place” we have visited.

And it is in Kki (keki is Japanese for “Cake”) that I found a sense of familiar comfort and solace.  For one, it is tucked among the secluded slopes of Ann Siang hill.  Away from the crowd. A quiet place to sip your afternoon away over a cuppa of joe with friends or even on your own.  Everything in the store reminds me of Japan, the name, the logo, the decor, the merchandize, even the location has a taint resemblence of the hilly Harajuku / Omote Sando district.  Now I know where I’ll be whenever I’m homesick.

Looking around it’s easy to see that the owners have paid a lot of attention to the many details.  Credit must go to the enterprising owners and aspiring chefs for creating this charming place.

Some say the cake I ordered defines a Japanese pastry chef but to me I ordered what reminds me most of the sweet memories of Tokyo; the mont blanc or marron (chestnut) cake.

I wish for more places like this.  Hopefully this is the beginning of the many good things we can look forward to.

Find Kki on 7 Ann Siang Hill.

Your doctor’s advise: Continue reading only with a full stomach. Some of the pictures may cause severe response of gastric juices 

My Warning: as always a strong stomach is highly recommended for responding to your divine calling

Woohoooo woohooo I am delighted to annouce that the official sanuki udon pilgrimage for 2010 has started!  Hahaha…every mention of udon brings back [...]]]>

Slurp and sip to divinity

Your doctor’s advise: Continue reading only with a full stomach. Some of the pictures may cause severe response of gastric juices 

My Warning: as always a strong stomach is highly recommended for responding to your divine calling

Woohoooo woohooo I am delighted to annouce that the official sanuki udon pilgrimage for 2010 has started!  Hahaha…every mention of udon brings back fond memories of our udon event with Cathay organization which took us on our own udon pilgrimage to Shikoku in 2007. Something we so wanted to do inspired by the Udon movie. So simple – we see we do and we ate. 

But the sad facts remain that I have not had a good bowl of udon for ages.  The problem here is I’m not even sure if I want to put myself in front of a bowl of cold stainless steel machine-made, heartlessly mass produced strains of udon anymore. At least the last time I checked, I’ve yet to find a hand-made udon shop here.  Sometimes this is what these trips do to you;  Drives you up the wall.  But yet it certainly brings back fond memories. 

To sample all 33 outlets featured in this year’s guide is nothing short of an major undertaking.  But I’ve provided a courtesy udon google map with pinpoint locations that you can save, edit or add your own comments and with the help of an GPS device you can be sure you will never miss any of the 33 outlets.  Just make sure you have room for it.  Some of the food photos on the map will cause some needed distraction from work. Take my warning to heart but have fun reading and slurping (LOUD). 

Of course all my misdemeanors and adventure with udon in this blog will forever serve as a stark reminder that work remains before soggy, uninteresting, limpy, soft and slimy noodles is irrevocably eliminated from the surface of this goregous green earth (because we deserve better) and yet also maybe a consolation (if any) that good food might just be around the corner – so don’t ever give up! My udon past on has been forever inscribed here.  And some samples of the fat silky, chewy noodles worth every slurp you will find on the pilgrimage are like this.

(latest: only 32 outlets this year, one owner has decided to take a year sabbatical)

Or read more in the Zaobao feature http://www.mediacenter.learnsushi.org/?p=105 

Udon pilgrimage map with links and photos 

View udon pilgrimage 2010 in a larger map 

The mention of a food trip to Tokyo is enough to get everyone in the room excited.  Dad, mom, kids and even grannies. So what is it about Japanese food that makes us all so happy and excited about eating in the streets of downtown Tokyo? For one we know Japanese [...]]]>

Say yum yum in Japanese

The mention of a food trip to Tokyo is enough to get everyone in the room excited.  Dad, mom, kids and even grannies. So what is it about Japanese food that makes us all so happy and excited about eating in the streets of downtown Tokyo? For one we know Japanese food is well-loved.  And like what many of those who traveled with us have told us - it is because they know they have someone they can trust traveling with them all the way from Singapore to Tokyo.  Every step of the way throughout the trip, to have someone there who knows where to eat, what to order, how to travel around within the city and offer all the help needed to have a great time in Tokyo.  And of course someone who actually knows and speaks your language. (I know what you like even before you can articulate it…hey just like any other Singaporean, I love good food too!)

Somehow I think we got manage to get our Japanese friend’s attention.  Much credit can now be given to the Tokyo metropolitan government for their efforts to help foodies like us navigate and survive the gourmet jungle in Japan – in the form of a website that offers several language translations of some of the most common and popular Japanese ingredients and food.

You can finally eat yourselves happy with help from Menu Japan

After my initial test-run, I am already very impressed by the website capabilities – the coverage of menu items is rather extensive.  I selected sashimi as a keyword and out comes 115 multilingual results of individual foods to choose from as if I was translating a full menu.  There’s definitely enough for anyone to eat for a long time.

Honestly once you go on this trip once, you quickly realize it not difficult travel on your own in Tokyo.  You just need to know where to eat and what to order. And now help is readily available in the form of a website. Check out Menu Tokyo website: http://menu-tokyo.jp/

These knowledge base and information have been around for ages albeit in Japanese still I’m so glad FINALLY someone realized all this data can be put into good use for the benefit of food-loving people like you and I.  Gratefully we seemed to be on the right track to ensure good Japanese food may never be lost in translation ever again.

It’s quite amazing how far sushi can take you - When T first asked that I visit L.A late last year when we met in Tokyo, my initial response was more of apprehension than excitement.  Don’t get me wrong I’m thrilled to have the chance to go back and get up to speed with things [...]]]>

Trainees preparing their own creative roll the day I arrive

It’s quite amazing how far sushi can take you - When T first asked that I visit L.A late last year when we met in Tokyo, my initial response was more of apprehension than excitement.  Don’t get me wrong I’m thrilled to have the chance to go back and get up to speed with things but in part as written in my earlier post I have grown a little weary of long flights and partly it has been ages since I have been back so I really did not know what to expect.  The memories of my time there are though still fresh but felt for the first time helplessly threatened by all the progress and changes that have taken place through the years.  I mean the last time I was here, like everyone else I was just a fresh trainee who left Vancouver to come and learn about making sushi. I was just one of them.  That’s quite a while ago. Since then many things have changed, me included.  With T’s blessings, many moons of lectures, seminars, workshops, assignments, projects,  TV shows, DVD, magazines, cities and even with a handful of plagues to show later, it’s rather amazing how far this little pinch of rice has got me.  As much as it’s been very kind to me, last time I check, sushi still can’t teleport me from one part of the world to another.  Funny how I dreaded long flights that I think I’m starting to hallucinate about flying sushi.  I was hoping I didn’t have to go if I have a choice so I kept delaying my trip.  T would call again to ask when I’m coming.  I told him I’ll arrange something, while holding on the miracle of sushi teleportation.  Then T would email me again weeks later reminding me to visit L.A.  A couple of email back and forth, weeks became months and I knew somehow I had to make this trip…and it will be on a plane.  When I finally sorted out things at work and put myself on a flight to L.A this summer, it actually took quite a bit of coaxing and convincing but put myself on a flight I sure did.

De-brief with their instructors and T

The air here is still the same as I remembered it. You know how we look for things, people and places we are familiar with whenever we are away from home.  Traces and memories that help to ease the unknown of a foreign place.  Even though I’ve been here before somehow everything looks foreign now and as I was about to find out, the school has changed.  The venue is new (we were right by the beach back then..what happened???). The instructors don’t look familiar.  Even the restaurant has moved to another part of town.  Everything just about feels new and different here.

My ride - the new Toyota Sienna

When T handed me the keys to the Sienna, driving on the streets brought back some memories.  Hey I’m getting back my feel!  But the old S is long gone.  I was told smashed by D’s baseball during one of his games.  There hung a picture on the restaurant wall of the smashed window panel as a stark reminder to everyone never to leave your vehicle near the park in case someone scores a home run at your expense. We used to travel and packed ourselves like sardines with all our gear in the old faithful wheels traveling from the school to various catering venues.  Understandably with age, S don’t really go fast and furious on Santa Monica Boulevard but visiting Hollywood mansions and offices was definitely loads of fun.  The new S is definitely a lot more roomier.

The sushi wall of fame still here after all these years

When I first stepped into the new training kitchen, there are a lot of things going through my mind.  A lot of emotions.  Photos that hung on the wall.  I still see me in one of those picture in the graduating class of Winter 2002. Someone from the current batch of trainees even commented that I looked fresh out of high school.  Hahaha…my sentiments exactly.  Albeit the embarrassment sometimes old photos are good reminders of where we started our journey.  But looking at the current batch of trainees, I soon found out just like back then (some things never change) they are quite a diverse group – a trained German chef, a former LA Times employee, a Filipino, a Korean and a whole bunch of aspiring sushi chefs.  Everyone was kinda surprise to see an alumni from Singapore the day I turned up in jeans and shirt for their afternoon class.  I watched them go through their classes, made fun of each other, get lectured, bringing vague remembrance of our classes here.  They too asked me lots of stuff about Singapore.  This is the second last week of their professional training course and everyone is excited with their new life ahead.  Most are heading back home while a handful will stay behind seeking further opportunities.  Some were professionals, some have their degrees and various pedigrees, some came straight from high school but I look at them all with much hope and pride.  I know many of their stories - people in a different profession now pursuing their interest in food, some are seeking a new chapter in their lives, some are simply seeking greener pasture but everyone is here chasing their dream.  Everybody is somebody.

CSA trainees during their saking tasting class

Maybe this is the American dream.  Their hope of a better life, a better opportunity. They have a reason to dream, a drive to go on when things get rough, a personal motivation to succeed.  And in the end that becomes their story.  They know where they are and where they will be depends on them.  The reality they are here in training is really a direct result of that – most pay for their courses out of their own pocket, everything’s self financed – food, school fees, accommodations, daily expenses. If they can get a bank loan, they have to make their payments back through work.  It’s quite a responsibility for most who are barely in their late teens.  They’ve learned to cope with life.  No parents (Thank God for them), no governement subsidy (just glad this is not another bailout for banks-rupt) or whatever safety net to fall back on, just them, their pair of hands and a little faith.  I respect that.  I respect that a lot.  Most will get to travel and eventually go on to work for restaurants, hotels and resorts in different parts of the world, many will someday be their own bosses, handful will do something else with their experience gained here but everyone will be a step closer to their own dream.  And I know for sure if they put their heart to it, sushi will treat them nice. Sushi will take them places.  I know because…I know.

So while I was away, while many changes took place (Haha..there’s even a book “Story of Sushi” on Amazon.com about life here at the school) some had remained very much the same.  And surely that includes how strangers become friends.  Once we got talking, it’s going to take more than a few sakes to stop us.  I wouldn’t want to interupt their classes and we kept our introductions brief so they could go back to class and I can move on to the more serious business of getting myself re-acqainted with the people and city again. 

Some of these sushi and their creator sare going to be famous someday

There might be more dreadful long flights to come but sometimes we need to put a lil faith in a pinch of rice because there are simple too many stories to tell not enough time to live.

Ok S and R wanted to take me to this place where diners eat out of their bags but excuse me, eating out of plastic bags is not something we savvy diners do that much in Singapore.  Perhaps I have mistaken, perhaps I’m still in my jetlagged state or perhaps [...]]]>

Don't let the quiet shopfront fool you. I was.

Ok S and R wanted to take me to this place where diners eat out of their bags but excuse me, eating out of plastic bags is not something we savvy diners do that much in Singapore.  Perhaps I have mistaken, perhaps I’m still in my jetlagged state or perhaps this is some cheeky joke S and R wants to prey on an innocent visitor like me.  Hmmm…I better be on guard. I’m a seasoned foodie, I’m a road warrior I know better how not to get fooled.

The whole time everyone in the car was just talking about this place and how everybody loved the food but when we got there, it looks everything like a regular family seafood restaurant, the streets are relatively quiet and AHHA…I don’t see a line! You start to doubt.  You think to yourself how good can the food be right?  I dismissed the notion immediately.  This is looking very much like a prank.  My defensive instinct kicks in…Ok but I can also see their well-meaning, this is probably a restaurant for tourists, one of those touristy places you know that visitors must dine, take a picture and post on their blog for all to see.  I’ve done this many times, I’ll just go along with everyone else.  I knew nobody eats out of PLASTIC BAGS really.

Group of hungry people gathering at the back of the restaurant

Now you see them. Reading, texting, chatting.

But hey just slow down smart arse for a sec, don’t get ahead of yourself, as R made a right into the restaurant parking lot.  A crowd of diners I have never seen for a lone time was waiting to be seated, the last time I see a crowd of this size is probably at a 4-D lottery club on weekends back at home..haha…it really looks like either these people are out of their mind or there’s an ultimate prize waiting to be claimed and I have made some poor judgement and could have missed out on something divine here.  There’s this group of about 20 people seated outside the restaurant waiting for their table!!  This don’t make sense!  From the front, this looks just like any other resturant.  But what are all these people doing here? Don’t they have better things to do?  Can’t they read their papers or chat at home? Is this a secret gathering place or is this restaurant even open? Why would so many people gather at the BACK of a restaurant? Yet they don’t look a bit like tourists or visitors.  Wow! All kind of thoughts are flashing through my mind now.  I simply have to find my answers.  I started pacing around to check these people out.  Most are too engrossed in their conversations to even notice me.  I’m just another person in the line and I’m way back there.

Now it's dark but they are still here!

Hey you know what I think I am ready for the food.  Bring it on.  R gave his name and was politely told we’ll get our table in about an hour.  What? An hour?  I almost wanted to give up!  Are you kidding me? Maybe this is a prank after all.  S and R seemed more resigned to our fate than C and I are willing. R came up with a brilliant idea of visiting costco to kill time while C can catch a quick bite.  I feel kind bad C had to wait but she seemed equally excited about eating here so I can only hope our patience and persistence will pay off.

We came back about 10 mins to an hour.  I simply cannot believe my eyes.  The faces are new but the line is still there.  When we got here, there was still daylight, now it’s dark but the line is still here.  Wassup with these people?  Well I am just about to find out.

No greasy hands on this sink - use your knees to push against the lever instead

God bless America.  The land of the brave and free.  The moment I walked in, you only see diners enjoying their food, foods in bags are everywhere on the table, all known human niceties and etiquette are thrown out, you have to be brave and you feel so free  – you just stick your fingers into these bags of juicy seafood, withdrew your hands and start working on them.  No cutleries, no nothing, just you and your food right off your sauce brenched fingers.  There’s nothing between you and your food.  No barriers for indulgence. But suddenly at this moment I feel so naked in a fully packed restaurant – it’s quite a scary thought, no spoons, no chopsticks, no nothing but eating and licking like a 5-year old with a bib around my neck.  But I’m only beginning to enjoy this stuff.  In fact I couldn’t have enough.

Leave your manners at home - Seafood eaten with bare hands only

We had a half pound of clams, a pound of crayfish, one pound of shrimps (we added another pound later) and 2 corns on the cob, C had to herself a half pound garlic shrimps.  There are a few sauces to choose from but S ordered the spicy garlic sauce and it was most definitely a heavenly sauce to say the least.  The sauce is surprisingly close to our belancha gravy but with a thang of southern tartness and flavor.  This is simply a magical moment.  I have been instantly transformed into a believer.  Oh ya, sign me up.  I think don’t we all seek such magical moments when we eat our food?  The moment our hearts tell us…yes yes yes, this food is good, the moment we derived true enjoyment.  And with food this good, who cares about cutleries?

Pardon the greasy finger but I don't think I look too bad in a bib

I know it is not often we get to eat out of a bag.  A plastic bag with our bare hands. But yes that’s what I did. I flew 18 hours here to eat my first meal out of a plastic bag and I am so pleased I did it because it was so DARN good and simply hands-down my best meal in L.A.  All thanks to R and S. 

How we do it - eating off table-tops

By the time we left I found all my answers and I know why so many people are crazy about the boiling crab.  Count me as a fan too.