Oh Food – Page 3 – Kaori Square Feet

The Ichiran Ramen in Harajuku

With all the gorgeous sakura blossoms

Tokyo looks like spring.

But it doesn’t feel like spring at all.

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

It’s okay though because

there’s nothing like ramen on a cold night!

We stopped by Ichiran in Harajuku.

Ichiran is famous for their unique booth seating system.

(if you don’t know, you can read about it here.)

But they also had a teeny tiny room

to seat four people together.

Which is where we were seated.

And where we devoured our delicious ramen.

Fukuoka ramen is typically made of pork broth

(which we call tonkotsu in Japanese)

and uses very thin noodles.

This store allows you to choose

how you want your noodles and soup made.

I ordered noodles on the hard side

and very thick soup.

Oh.So.Good.

I’m not a ramen expert (I love ALL ramen) but

you know when a bowl is really good when conversation stops! ;D

ICHIRAN Harajuku

2nd Floor

6-5-6 Jingumae

Sibuya-ku, Tokyo

03-3407-5911

Open: 11am-11pm

The Banana and Raisin Oatmeal

Starting off the morning with yummy oatmeal.

It’s still chilly enough in the mornings for oatmeal, right?

(actually I just need to use up my massive stock of oats.)

Banana and Raisin Oatmeal

(two servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup oats

1/2 cup raisins

1 chopped banana

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 cups water

Directions:

Boil water in a pan.

Add oats, raisins, and bananas.

Stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg.

Lower the heat and

stir occasionally for 2-3 minutes.

Ready to eat!

*I love raisins so I always add a lot more.

(also because I need to finish my 1kg bag of raisins)

*Add 1/2 tsp of brown sugar for a sweeter oatmeal

*I like to top it off with yogurt…yum!

The Sadaharu Aoki Chocorons

I know, I’ve been posting about chocolate way too often.

But our White Day was just last week

and I found myself with this amazing box of chocoron.

I had to share the pictures!

In case you didn’t know (like me)

Chocoron is a macaron covered in chocolate…YUM!!!

Also, they are apparently famous.

(I am so bad at remembering brand names)

These cute polk-a-dotted pieces of deliciousness

were created by the ever popular pâtissier Sadaharu Aoki.

Do you know him?

He is a pâtissier from Tokyo

currently based in Paris.

In 2007 he became a member of Relais Desserts.

He even won the Pudlo Paris award in 2011.

(which I believe means that he was the Pâtissier of the Year)

He has stores in Paris, Tokyo, and Taipei.

And he was one of the most popular pâtissier

for this year’s White Day in Japan.

I am ashamed to say that I did not know about him

until I googled him after devouring his delicious chocorons.

So good. So so good.

But I’m pretty sure if you eat more than two at once

you will pass out from too much of this chocolate goodness.

(yes, I could not stop at one and ate two…I am not superwoman!)

This box of chocorons had six flavors:

Green Tea, Chocolate, Citrus, Framboise, Cassis, and Coffee.

My favorites were Citrus and Coffee.

And Framboise, too.

Don’t they look delicious?

A big thank you to my coworkers

who waited in line for an hour and a half to

get us girls in our department this gift for White Day!

The White Day Gifts

Oh my goodness, you guys.

I got so many White Day gifts again this year.

Yummy chocolate.

Yummy candy.

It’s like they want me to gain weight.

But I’m too happy with these delicious gifts to care!

White Day is a holiday that started in Japan.

It’s a day to return the favor for the gifts

you received on Valentine’s Day.

And as women give to the men on Valentine’s Day in Japan

White Day is usually when the women receive gifts from the men.

This tradition is said to have come from the Japanese way

of always returning the favor when you receive a gift.

This actually used to drive me crazy.

Like when I sent my friend a gift when she had her baby

she sent me back a small hand towel gift.

Or when we gift money at the wedding reception

and we receive a bag of thank-you-for-coming gifts in return.

It never made sense to me.

Why do we give you a gift to celebrate

if you’re going to give something back to us?

Why not just a thank you note?

Now I feel like I have to give you something else

in return for the gift you gifted me for my gift to you.

(see? all these gifts get super confusing!)

But I’ve learned that we Japanese do this

because we have a strong sense of community.

(thus giving leads to receiving)

Also heard that we Japanese dislike being in debt to others.

(thus receiving leads to giving)

And through all these cultural characteristics of Japan

White Day came to be a holiday to return Valentine’s Day gifts in 1978.

And that is why I get boxes of delicious gifts

in return for my Valentine’s Day cookies on White Day!

Quite the holiday, huh?

The Field of Chocolate

If I ever find a a field of chocolate somewhere

I hope it looks exactly like this!

In addition to this

Satoko Kobiyama (Yama Foods) prepared

these pieces of pretty chocolate to display and to eat.

They are covered in dried fruits, nuts, and candied edible flowers.

Nobody combines food with art like she does.

There were so many pieces with different toppings

it was really hard to just choose one.

I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing so much

they gave me two pieces!

Yum!!!

It was a beautiful collaboration of delicious food

and really gorgeous clothes made from handmade Khadi.

(I especially liked this! So pretty!)

The Anniversary Event at Kapital

My friend invited me to an event last weekend.

It was an anniversary event for KORA KAPDA

featuring food coordinator Yama Foods and

the store Duffle with KAPITAL.

Satoko Kobiyama had a fabulous display of drinks and food

for everyone to enjoy through sight and taste.

Flower drinks: Marigold+Orange Flower, Blue Mallow+Lemon, and Rose+Hibiscus

Four different types of paste: Basil, Hummus, Beets, and Pumpkin

Everyone was eating crackers and veggies with the paste…yum!

It was kind of like picking veggies from a sesame garden.

I had a lot of fun just taking everything in at this event.

Pretty clothes and accessories on display.

Eating and learning about the food.

And of course, best of all…catching up with friends!

No better way to spend the afternoon!

The Homemade Granola Bars

It came to my attentiont that my 10 lb bag of oats

has not gotten that much use lately.

I mean, a girl can only eat so much oatmeal.

So I decided to make granola bars.

Because everyone loves granola bars.

And I could definitely use a quick snack to eat for breakfast.

Homemade Granola Bars

(adapted from Sprinkle With Flour)

Ingredients:

3/4 + 1/4 cups oats

1/2 + 1/4 cup cereal

1/2 cup nuts

1/2 cup raisins

1 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup flour

2 tbs oil

5 tbs honey

1/4 cup maple syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Place a cooking sheet on a pan (23×19).

Mix the 3/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup of cereal,

nuts and raisin in a food processor.

Or, in my case, chop chop away

old school with a knife.

Put in bowl.

Add baking soda,

salt, vanilla, flour, oil, honey,

and maple syrup to the mix above.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup of oats

and 1/4 cup of cereal.

Mix well.

Press mixture into pan.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or

until it’s lightly browned on top.

Remove from pan and let it cool.

Cut into bars and enjoy!

*I think next time I’m going to try it with

chocolate chips and marshmallows.

*I think I need to buy a food processor.

But chopping old school wasn’t too bad.

The Taiwan Craving

One of my coworkers went to Taiwan over the weekend

and her stories have me dreaming of going, too.

Actually it’s more like her souvenir snack

and teas have me drooling for Taiwan.

It’s so close to Japan.

Only about 3 hours by plane.

That means that just a long weekend is enough to enjoy it.

Also they have this big lantern festival.

It looks super dangerous

but also amazing.

Apparently they write their prayers on the paper lanterns

and send them up into the sky towards the heavens.

I could use a paper lantern prayer or two

to get through this hectic week.

I guess the trip to Taiwan will have to wait.

But you can’t blame a girl for dreaming 😉

(photos by olvwu via flickr)

The Ramen at Furaikyo

Sometimes I get ramen cravings.

So I decided I’d have ramen for lunch today.

But sometimes meetings and sudden meetings

and then even more meetings get in the way of lunch.

And I ended up having to wait until 4pm.

But oh the ramen was GOOD!

I love their shio (salt-based soup) ramen.

There’s so much goodness in that yummy soup.

Also love that their noodles

are on the firm side.

It was worth the wait and I left happy as a clam 😀

Furaikyo

7-19-18 Nishi Shinjuku

Shinjuku-ku Tokyo

03-3368-3223

Open Everyday

Hours: 11am-11pm

(closes when their soup runs out)

The Valentine’s Day Cookies

This four day week was so so busy at work

I was worried I wouldn’t be able to make anything.

But I did!

Did I have to kind of threaten my coworker

to let me go home if he wanted something the next day?

(Yes, I did.)

Was I planning on making something more elaborate

but thought…ugh cookies are so much easier?

(Yes, yes I did.)

Did I stay up until 2am baking cookies and

writing Valentine’s Day messages and fall asleep on the floor?

(Yes, oh yes I did.)

But I’m so glad I did!

Seeing the happy smiles on my coworkers faces

and the fun I ended up having was worth every minute 😀

Valentine’s Day Cookies

(adapted from Two Tarts)

Ingredients:

3 2/3 cups flour

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp coarse salt

200g butter

1 1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup strawberry chocolate chips

1/4 cup chocolate chunks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180℃.

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.

Mix butter and sugar in another bowl.

Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat together.

Add dry mix to butter mix

and combine well.

Add the chocolate chips/chunks.

Make a golf ball sized ball of dough

and flatten it slightly on the baking sheet.

Bake for 8-10 minutes.

*You can use whatever chocolate you want.

Or even use raisins or nuts.

*Even if the middle of the cookies is still gooy

take out of oven when the edges get brown.

Once it cools it’ll be the perfect amount of chewy!

I made so much I took some extra for my girlfriends at work.
And yes, I ate a few hundred myself, too!

Happy Valentine’s Day!