I decided on my last day in Japan to retire from food blogging. I’ve been blogging intensively for over two years and have reached the point where I’m mentally very tired and would like to do something different. I have loved writing about food, sharing my eating experiences and most of all learning from readers, whether it’s a suggestion for preparing a dish or a restaurant recommendation. I’ve also immensely enjoyed meeting, both online and face to face, like-minded people who are passionate about food. If it weren’t for my fantastic readers, I would have stopped a long time ago.

Writing the final lines of the Tokyo post was difficult, and I felt a mixture of emotions – sadness that it was my last proper post and also relief that it was my last proper post. My blog has dominated my life for its entire existence and I suppose I always assumed that I would just continue with it. People have suggested writing fewer posts or only writing when I travel, but I’m an all or nothing person. I either have to blog as much as I have done or stop completely. There’s no middle road for me. However, I’ll keep World Foodie Guide live for as long as possible and try to answer as many comments as I can.

As for me, I’ll continue to learn about photography, travel (25 Food & Travel Destinations) and perhaps even write a historical novel. The husband will be able to eat food that doesn’t need to be photographed first and the cats will have more of my attention. And of course I’ll still be enjoying my food!

Thank you to each and every one of you for reading…

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

We spent six days in Tokyo between various trips to Kyoto (see Kyoto Tales), Numazu and visiting the Jigokudani snow monkeys in the Japan Alps (see Snow Monkeys & Soba Noodles). As this was my fifth time in Tokyo, I chose to concentrate on my favourite places, as well as visit a few areas new to me…

Trip 1: Tsukiji – breakfast – Hamarikyu Garden – Sumida River trip – Asakusa – lunch – Kappabashi-dori

This was my first visit to Tsukiji fish market, although I came very close to going on my last trip. Before the jetlag wore off, I decided on an early morning outing to this gigantic wholesale market, which has been in its current location since the 1923 earthquake. Even with jetlag, I knew it would be impossible for us to arrive for 5am, but 6.05 was a respectable enough start! Countless varieties of seafood were on sale at the hundreds and hundreds of stalls and the sheer volume was overwhelming. We also had to be alert at all times to avoid the numerous mini forklift vehicles scooting up and down the aisles at top speed. The people at Tsukiji can be brusque, but they are there to earn a living, rather than accommodate tourists. A friendly ‘ohaiyo gozaimasu‘ works wonders and one vendor even drew me a little map to direct us to the sushi bars. These are located near the other shops and stalls that sell all manner of food produce from pickles to cutlery (and divine matcha ice cream!) and which are just as interesting as the main fish market itself.

My sushi breakfast was a welcome respite from the manic hustle and bustle of the fish market. The husband went for a wander while I chose a place with no queue. I wasn’t prepared to queue for my food nor make him wait two hours for me. My opinion is that the fish is equally fresh no matter where you eat it at Tsukiji, so why follow the hordes of tourists? I sat with three Japanese people at the small counter facing my extremely friendly and entertaining sushi chef, who was most proud of his creations, and loved being photographed too. My breakfast cost ï¿¥2600 (£18) and was worth every yen. I left my sushi bar feeling very pleased with myself, especially as there were ridiculously long queues outside certain establishments by 7.45am.

Hamarikyu Detached Garden, situated on an island and surrounded by an ancient walled moat, is a 12 minute walk from Tsukiji (although it doesn’t open until 9am, so we had coffee to kill time). This was the first shogun’s hunting ground in the 17th century before it became a subsequent shogun’s residence. After a brief stroll around the tranquil grounds – there is also a pretty teahouse that serves tea and wagashi or Japanese sweets – it was finally time to take the 45 minute Sumida River boat trip up to Asakusa (the first boat leaves at 10.35am). The quicker route would be by subway, but traditionally, this is how the Japanese travelled to Asakusa and you’ll see a different view of Tokyo from the boat.

Every time I go back to Tokyo, I like to go to Asakusa, and we went twice this time. It is a little touristy, but I love walking up the busy stall-lined Nakamise-dori and looking at the traditional toys and food products (including snacks like the Kaminari Okoshi thunder rice crackers), before reaching the spectacular Senso-ji Temple. Not be missed are the little and much quieter streets and alleys off Nakamise-dori, where our lunch restaurants and other old shops selling knives, paper and other goods were located.

For our first lunch, we returned to Daikokuya or Big Black House (although this time we went to the larger branch with tatami seating) for their famous tendon or tempura donburi – tempura on rice with a strong soy-based sauce. The tempura is coloured dark brown from the sauce, which is ever so tasty! A Japanese friend took us there on our last trip and we were keen to eat there again. The second lunch was at Asadori, which specialises in kamameshi, a traditional dish of rice steamed in soup and various ingredients and served in an individual (and very hot) pot. The Take combination at ï¿¥1600 (£11) provided me with three rice bowls’ worth of delicious rice with seafood, mushrooms and other vegetables.

Kappabashi-dori, the wholesale restaurant supply district, is another place I’ve always wanted to visit and it’s close to Asakusa (about a 15 minute walk west of Senso-ji). The length of the street is about a kilometre, so it’s great for a stroll, especially for foodies. I particularly liked Soi, an interior design shop that wouldn’t look out of place in Meguro or Daikanyama. The ceramic pieces are simple but very desirable. I bought a couple of furoshiki (Japanese folding cloths), but could have easily left with half the shop’s contents.

Trip 2: Ameyoko – Ueno Park – Yanaka

Ameyoko Market (Confectioners’ Alley), running along the railway tracks by Ueno station, was apparently the traditional place to buy ame or candy during the Edo period. It became a black market after the Second World War and many American products were sold (‘Ame’ also stands for America). Now practically anything – clothes, hats, shoes, food products – can be found at the hundreds of shops, usually at a discount. Ameyoko is particularly crowded before the New Year as people stock up on traditional foods and gifts.

From Ameyoko we used this excellent National Geographic walking tour of Old Tokyo to walk through Ueno Park to reach the neighbourhood of Yanaka. Yanaka survived both the 1923 earthquake as well as the Second World War bombings, and is a rare example of a shitamachi (Tokyo’s old downtown) district, with old houses packed in narrow alleys, as well as traditional food stalls. It was a pleasant area to spend the afternoon.

Other places:

Kagurazaka is another well-preserved shitamachi area, with a mixture of traditional shops and trendy boutiques and cafés. Friends took us there for a delicious Italian lunch at Scugnizzo!, followed by afternoon tea and manju (steamed wheat buns with a sweet bean jam filling) at Mugimaru 2, a tiny, hip establishment. Manju options (￥140 each) included azuki jam in a black sugar bun, azuki cinnamon jam in a tea-flavoured bun, sweet potato jam in a white bun and sesame azuki jam & cheese in a wild grass bun. All are recommended!

I go to Tokyu Hands every time I’m in Tokyo. It’s a gigantic multi-storied shop selling all manner of household and hardware goods, stationery and other useful things you never knew you needed. I usually visit the Shibuya branch, but my friend recommended the one in Ikebukuro as it’s better organised. We still managed to spend over two and a half hours there, starting on the 8th floor and ending up in the basement. Amongst our purchases were little woollen socks for our dining chair legs to stop them from scratching the wooden floorboards (what a brilliant idea!). If it’s your first time at Tokyu Hands, allow half a day to explore. Seriously.

Something fun to do at the weekend is visit an antique or flea market, of which there are many in Tokyo. The trick is to find one that is open on the Sunday (this seems to be the most popular day) that you’re in Tokyo. Some will open from dawn to dusk and in light but not heavy rain. Luckily for us, Yasukuni Shrine antique market happened to be open every Sunday in November. There were weird and wonderful things for sale, from samurai swords and World War Two rifles to old ceramics, cameras and toys. It’s also great for taking photos of people…

The head office of the company where I used to work is based in trendy Omotesando, so I know this area well, particularly for shopping. Two restaurants we were taken to for lunch are expensive for dinner, but offer reasonably priced lunch menus. Gokaku served mostly vegetarian food (don’t let this put you off, as the dishes are very creative!), such as lotus root manju lightly fried in a special sauce, and figs with tofu paste. Apart from a few vegetarian side dishes, I had the spectacular iberico pork donburi.

The other restaurant was Ariso-Tei, which specialises in seafood from Fukui prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast. Next door is their shop selling all specialist food products from the area, as well as ceramics, chopsticks and other interior design goods. From the several lunch set menus, we ordered the anago (eel) teishoku, soba with tempura set (one with a clear soy sauce-based dipping sauce, the other with a spicy grated daikon or white radish version) and I had the grilled mackerel and gindara (black cod) in a special yuzu miso sauce. The gindara was one of my favourite dishes of the trip, along with the iberico pork donburi…

While shopping, I discovered homeware shop J-Period in Omotesando Hills shopping complex, selling beautifully designed ceramics, chopsticks, kitchen utensils and countless other items. I managed to walk away with (just) a mini round hinoki wood tray from Atami, a set of three condiments jars and a shichimi togarashi bamboo dispenser for around £80. Have a look at the products on their website and tell me that I did well for not spending more!

A pleasant area to go furniture and interiors shopping is Meguro (one long street full of shops), while nearby Daikanyama has many boutiques and restaurants. We were taken by friends to Shisenan Teuchi Soba, a small soba restaurant on a residential street in Meguro (teuchi soba means the soba noodles are handmade by the chef). This was one of our favourite meals of the entire trip and I found out afterwards that Shisenan is featured in the current Miele restaurant guide. The chef uses only 100% pure buckwheat and the noodles were phenomenal (he also runs soba classes every Tuesday for ï¿¥4000 (90 mins)). The menu is only in Japanese, and reservations are accepted for dinner but not lunch. We arrived before it opened at 11.45 to secure four of the 16 seats, in the tatami seating area. Highlights included the freshest yuba (the skin by-product of tofu) I’ve ever had, in the form of yuba sashimi, sobagaki, a large soba dumpling similar to polenta and served with wasabi, nori and soy sauce and the two types of satsuma age or fishcakes which were amazing. We each then had a different soba dish and mine seemed to be the favourite – hot duck dipping sauce with cold noodles. The meal was finished with soba-yu, the hot water in which the soba was boiled, to drink either straight or mixed with the remainder of the dipping sauces. It might sound strange, but it’s delicious and supposed to be good for you…

Nishi-Azabu is near Roppongi Hills and full of small hip restaurants and bars that are hard to find. We were taken by another set of friends to their favourite restaurant, Hale Kai’s (2-16-4 Nishi Azabu, Tel: 03 3400 8012), where we had one of the best evenings of the trip -  incredibly creative dishes, excellent company and relaxed surroundings. Highlights included fresh oysters with yuzu and wasabi sauce, seared katsuo (bonito) with ankimo (raw monkfish liver) and grated daikon, Hale Kai’s original lobster stock cheese risotto (out of this world!) and scallop and uni (sea urchin) cream spaghettini with salmon roe. There was also a very special secret drinking place we were taken to afterwards, but as to its location I am sworn to secrecy…

Last but not least, I have to mention the Shinyokohama Raumen Museum in Yokohama, which was actually our very first port of call after stepping off the plane! The recreation of a 1960s Tokyo shitamachi district (old downtown), in which the eight restaurants and other facades are located, is really well done. I had planned to try a small bowl of ramen or Chinese-style noodles (there are full size and ‘sample’ sizes) from each of the ramen restaurants located there, however, due to the onset of jetlag, one sample-sized bowl from Harukiya (representing Tokyo), was enough to fill me up. The system of buying a ticket from a vending machine outside each restaurant was also complicated as I don’t read Japanese, but a kind policeman in costume and a restaurant attendant helped me out. I even managed to explain in Japanese that the husband was vegetarian, which was no mean feat after having just landed. I shall return with a very empty stomach next time to try the other seven varieties…

And finally one more place – the Ninja restaurant in Akasaka-Mitsuke, where my Japanese stepmother-in-law took us for dinner. Although it’s a themed restaurant, Ninja was a lot of fun, and full of Japanese diners in suits rather than packed with tourists. Each set of guests is greeted by a masked ninja who leads them through narrow and dimly lit corridors for ‘training’, crossing over a trap bridge, before finally reaching the table (in our case in a private dining room). The husband enjoyed his vegetarian set menu, while I absolutely loved the magic tricks that a ninja performed in between courses. They were simple but impossible to work out!

There were far too many places that I couldn’t visit this time, but there is always the next trip! I had the quirky neighbourhood of Shimokitazawa on my list, along with Nishi-Ogikubo, an area famous for its antique and second-hand shops (about 23 minutes on the train from Shibuya). I should also have done more research into the shops at Jiyugaoka, Ebisu and Hiro-o, as I like home interiors and design shops and there are many of them there.

Practical Information:

A tip – you don’t need to speak or understand any Japanese to get by in Tokyo. However, life would be easier, and it would be polite, to use a few basic phrases such as thank you (domo arigato or even more polite domo arigato gozaimasu), please / excuse me / sorry (sumimasen), good morning (ohaiyo gozaimasu), good evening (konbanwa) and delicious (oishii). I speak very little Japanese (based on lessons from nearly 20 years ago), but it was fun to practise. I also had to explain the husband’s complicated dietary requirements in Japanese, buy train tickets, ask for directions and ask for people on the phone. And humour always works!

Japan Times – all in English and a great resource for planning where to eat or what to do from a more local perspective

TokyoTopia – helpful for Tokyo planning particularly if it’s your first trip

Bento.com – a reliable site for Tokyo restaurants research

Tokyofoodcast – a blog featuring food & sake in Tokyo, with useful photo tour guides of areas like Ameyoko and Yanaka

Japan Planning – my original post on researching the Japan trip has more details.

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This incidentally is my ‘last’ post on World Foodie Guide. I’ll write a short post very soon to explain why I’ve decided to stop blogging. All the restaurants we visited in Tokyo deserve their own special posts and far more detailed write-ups than I’ve given them, so I feel bad that I’ve packed them all into one long post! Thank you for reading…

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Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

After travelling to see the Jigokudani snow monkeys (see Snow Monkeys and Soba Noodles) in the Japan Alps, we returned to Yokohama to repack our bags before leaving early the next morning for Kyoto, Japan’s old imperial capital.

Planning the three days was harder than I thought. I had to drop many of the items on my wishlist, including day trips to nearby Osaka and Nara. It would also have been wonderful to spend the night at the Buddhist temple on Koyasan (a World Heritage site) and sample shojin-ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine). Most of all, I wanted to return to Kobe, where I had one of the most memorable meals of my entire life, a simple but spectacular dish of Kobe beef. In the end though, rather than rushing about trying to fit in multiple locations, I decided to plan a relaxing three day stay in Kyoto. It’s easy to forget how exhausting travelling can be.

Kyoto Day 1:

Arashiyama is a renowned area of natural beauty to the west of Kyoto and popular in the autumn for viewing the changing leaf colours. Best of all, it’s just a 15 minute train journey from Kyoto station. As the ryokan check-in time wasn’t until 2pm, I thought it would be a good idea to arrive at Kyoto station, leave our bags in coin lockers and head out to see the famous symbol of Arashiyama, Togetsu-kyo, the wooden (and concrete) ‘Moon Crossing Bridge’, and wander through the bamboo forest.

I had planned a shojin-ryori lunch at Tenryu-ji Temple (ï¿¥3000, ï¿¥5000 & ï¿¥7000 set lunch menus, plus a ï¿¥500 admission fee to the temple grounds), however they were fully booked when my friend called to make a booking a month in advance. I then briefly considered Nishiki and their kaiseki bento lunch box as well as Sagano for their yudofu (Kitcho, with its recently awarded three Michelin stars, offered unaffordable kaiseki at ï¿¥35-40000 /£232 – £265 (prices from a few years ago)). In the end, I decided to just turn up and see…

Arashiyama turned out to be very touristy, with teenage schoolchildren everywhere. The best part was the bamboo forest, which would have been even more magical without the rickshaws and the Japanese tour groups. I took one look at Togetsu-kyo and was most unimpressed. A simple lunch of kitsune udon, zaru soba and zaru udon saved the day. There are many restaurants lining the road where Tenryu-ji Temple is located, but somehow we managed to find one that didn’t have a single domestic or overseas tourist (Aratozuki, Tel: 075 882 9884, towards the Togetsu-kyo end). Incidentally, the addition of a creamy raw quail’s egg into the dipping sauce really made a difference!

Dinner had been booked weeks in advance at the 120 year old kaiseki restaurant Rokusei Nishimise, just a few minutes away from the hotel, so that was another reason not to splurge on lunch. Kaiseki ryori is the haute cuisine of Kyoto and if you’re visiting the city, it shouldn’t be missed. Kaiseki restaurants usually offer lunches which are a more affordable way of sampling kaiseki, perhaps in the form of a bento box or set lunch menu. Many of the luxury ryokan also offer kaiseki dinners. The formal meal follows a rigid structure, with multiple small dishes following each other in a traditional order. Fresh, seasonal ingredients are emphasised and much time is spent on each creation, hence the steep prices.

The Rokusei menu was analysed in depth and translated for me by three different sources before we settled on the Teoke Kaiseki set menu (ï¿¥7350 / £49) and the Hana set menu (ï¿¥8400 / £56). The ‘real’ kaiseki dinner menus were out of our price range (fromï¿¥12,600 /£83.50 to ï¿¥31,500 / £210), given that we had to stick to our two week budget. Strict instructions had also been conveyed to the restaurant regarding the husband’s dietary requirements.

So it turned out that he had the better meal and better dining experience, whereas I was felled by a dish early on in the meal, of chawanmushi (egg custard) with suppon (soft shell turtle). I have to say, it was one of the most bitter and foul-tasting dishes I’ve eaten in living memory. I felt like Mr Bean when he ordered steak tartare by mistake and was literally looking for places to dump it. In the end, I swallowed half of it before conceding defeat and abandoned the rest. That one dish overshadowed the rest of the meal and I left still reeling from the shock. The husband was beaming though! However, please don’t let my description of one small dish affect a visit to Rokusei that you may be planning. Everyone I mentioned it to had heard of it, whether in Kyoto or Tokyo, and I would still highly recommend it. My favourite part was the food served in the teoke (a pail made out of cedar), which I think is how Rokusei used to deliver their bento boxes in the old days. Just don’t nod when the server asks if you can eat chawanmushi with suppon!

Kyoto Day 2:

Higashiyama (the Eastern Mountains) is said to be one of Kyoto’s most charming & well preserved areas. Although there is no getting away from the tourists and schoolchildren (the above photo is most deceptive!), I must admit I rather liked Higashiyama. We certainly spent enough time in the area, eating both lunch and dinner there. The streets Ninen-zaka and Sannei-zaka on the way up to Kiyomizudera temple are packed with restaurants and small shops selling specialist food products (Kyoto is famous for pickles, snacks (rice crackers, cream puffs & a million and one types of wagashi (Japanese sweets served with tea) and arts & crafts. I stocked up on shichimi togarashi, my favourite Japanese seven spice pepper, and also yuzu with pepper at a specialist shop, established in 1655, that only sells shichimi togarashi, called Shichimiya or Shichimi Shop (2-221 Kiyomizu). The little packets make fantastic presents as well.

Lunch had been booked at Okutan, a famous yudofu ryori restaurant with a branch near Nanzenji temple and one near Kiyomizu. We chose to go to the latter branch (Tel: 075 525 2051, at the junction where Ninenzaka meets Sanensaka). We had no idea where the restaurant was, and by coincidence stopped in front of it to check the characters of its name in the guidebook, looked up and we were there!

Yudofu is tofu simply cooked in a pot in a kombu (kelp) broth, then eaten in small bowls with hot soy sauce and chopped spring onion. It has become a Kyoto specialty because good quality tofu requires good quality water, which Kyoto happens to have. We ordered the yudofu course (ï¿¥3150) and the special tofu course (ï¿¥4200). The only difference was that one consisted of a very silky-smooth tofu while the other had a slightly rougher, but still incredibly smooth, texture. Preceding the yudofu courses were yam soup (as light as foam), sesame tofu with wasabi, grilled tofu with sweet miso and vegetable tempura. Okutan is all tatami mat seating and is a veritable maze of dining rooms, some private, and we were fortunate enough to be seated by the tranquil Zen garden.

After that delicious and healthy lunch, we went to visit 400 year old Tenneiji temple. The temple belongs to a friend’s family, and so we were shown around not only the spectacular gardens, which are open to the public, but also the interior, which is only open to relatives of those who are buried in the temple grounds. We relaxed over a bowl of frothy matcha and marron wagashi (chestnut sweet) and the temple owners also gave us tickets for the night opening of Kiyomizudera temple. The temple is usually closed at night, but we had just arrived for a special few weeks of night openings at various temples, to enable visitors to admire the autumn leaves in beautiful temple settings.

After a quick dinner at Kamanza on Ninenzaka (Tel: 075 531 1719) – namafu dengaku (wheat gluten grilled with miso paste), yuba set course (yuba is the skin by-product of tofu and heavenly when served fresh) and unagi don (grilled eel on a bowl of rice) – we wandered back up the hill to Kiyomizudera temple. At around 8.30pm, it wasn’t particularly crowded, and anyway the temple complex and grounds are so enormous that it was quite easy to wander around and appreciate the views without feeling claustrophobic. Another good time to visit Kiyomizudera is at 6am when it opens, to avoid the tourists.

Kyoto Day 3:

Located in eastern Kyoto, the Philosopher’s Walk is a 1.8 km leisurely stroll down a cherry tree-lined canal from Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) in the north to Nanzen-ji in the south, with various temples along the route. As our ryokan was located closer to Ginkaku-ji, we started at that end, fueling up on a couple of custard and matcha cream puffs made with brown rice (and a warm rice cracker made with shichimi togarashi). And before we started the walk, an elderly Japanese man on his bicycle approached us and gave us a lengthy description of how to find Honenji, with peaceful temple gardens that are free to enter, before apologising for his (perfect) English! Naturally we followed his directions and it was most definitely worth a short visit (there are signs if you want to go too). The Philosopher’s Walk was easily one of my favourite parts of the Kyoto trip, as it was magically tranquil (I could just imagine how unpleasant it would have been with hordes of tourists). After all, the time should be spent philosophising while strolling down the canal and admiring the scenery…

Nishiki Market is Kyoto’s famous food market, located one block north of Shijo-dori, running from Teramachi-dori on the east to Takakura-dori on the west. There are over 140 stalls selling everything from fish, tofu products to pickled vegetables and Kyoto’s chefs all shop at Nishiki, as do locals. The well-known Aritsugu knife shop is at one end of the market (a friend said that when she gets married, she wants her father’s wedding present to be a set of Aritsugu knives!). The market is covered and there is just a narrow path down the middle. Again, when we visited (Saturday around noon), it was just some locals doing their food shopping. There are also restaurants and stalls selling snacks such as okara (soymilk) doughnuts.

We ended up having lunch at Katsukura, a famous tonkatsu chain (although I didn’t know that at the time when I found it by chance near one end of Nishiki market). I ordered 70g of the Yonesawa Sangen fillet cutlet (I prefer fillet to the other option, loin) (ï¿¥1280) and the husband had yuba and vegetarian croquettes. We had to make our own tonkatsu sauce (no Bulldog brand here!), by grinding roasted sesame seeds in a pestle and mortar and adding a variety of condiments – yuzu in a thinner sauce, the standard sauce and a rich, thick one. This was then poured onto the tonkatsu, which was unbelievably tender and succulent. Finely shredded cabbage could be topped up at any time, and there was a jar of pickles on the table to eat with rice. This was an excellent meal considering it was unplanned!

After lunch, we did a spot of shopping around Shijo Kawaramachi, the shopping area located along a stretch of Shijo Dori and Kawaramachi Dori. I was pleased to come across the main branch of the famous Yojiya, a cosmetics shop at the corner of Hanamikoji-dori and Shijo-dori. Founded in 1904, its best-selling product is aburatorigami or facial oil blotting paper dating from 1920, which actors and geisha traditionally used over their thick make-up. I stocked up on these as well as yuzu-flavoured lip balm.

I also developed an obsession for furoshiki or Japanese wrapping cloths and must have bought around 10 or 12 on the trip, mostly from a small chain called Raak (there is also Enveraak). Each shop sells different designs, so furoshiki fans, be warned! There are a myriad of ways in which furoshiki can be used, such as to make tissue box covers, water bottle holders and bags, and they can also be framed.

In terms of food shopping, we came across Eirakuya, an elegant shop dating back to the Edo period, selling wagashi and tsukudani or preserved vegetables and fish. The manager invited us to sit down for tea and to sample the products we were interested in, namely yuzu jam (which incidentally is sublime! Eirakuya is a perfect place to select food gifts and souvenirs. We also bought some apple-based wagashi for friends.

The day concluded with a stroll down Pontocho Alley, a traditional geisha entertainment area, and lined with tempting restaurants (for the next trip) before making our way back to Kyoto station and returning to Tokyo, tired but happy…

A few things I didn’t get to do but were on the list:

Owari-ya is one of the oldest soba-ya (soba restaurant) in Kyoto. Located near Kyoto Imperial palace, it’s recommended by Durston and also fellow foodie Simon P, who ate there recently. It is open from 11:00-18:30 and closed on Wednesdays

Toji Temple market is supposed to be the best for vintage Japanese crafts, and also offers street food. It takes place on the  21st of each month.

Fushimi Inari shrine (2 hour hiking trail) – located just outside JR Inari Station, the second station from Kyoto on the JR Nara Line. The train ride takes 5 minutes and costs ï¿¥140 from Kyoto Station.

Practical Information:

Travel -

It is expensive to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto if you buy standard tickets (ï¿¥13,200 (£88) one way), but we had bought Japan Rail Passes (£191 for a 7 day pass) from the UK to cover all the other train journeys on our trip, so the travel budget was effectively taken care of. I used Hyperdia to research train times and reserved the seats after activating our Rail Passes at Narita airport. The journey takes around 2 hours 40 minutes on the Hikari shinkansen (the Nozomi is the fastest train by about 20 minutes but isn’t covered by the Rail Pass). We travelled from Shin-Yokohama, so the journey was slightly shorter.

There are different ways to reach Arashiyama from Kyoto, but for us, the quickest route was from Kyoto Station to Saga-Arashiyama on the JR Sagano (or Sanin) line. The journey takes 15 minutes and costs ï¿¥230 one way. Central Arashiyama is just a short walk away.

Hotel -

As Kyoto was added to the schedule at the last minute (six weeks is last minute for me!), I had a minor panic trying to find a hotel as most were fully booked for the two nights that I wanted. The ryokan I had my eye on were also expensive, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to stay in a business hotel. It was a relief when The Three Sisters Inn Annex informed us that they could accommodate us. Run by three sisters, it’s a five minute walk from Heian Shrine, with no meals included, plus a private bathroom (essential for us). The annex caters for non-Japanese visitors only, while the main inn has been around for 14 generations, although I only discovered all this after making the booking (see Japan Times article). Two nights cost ï¿¥36340 (£245) total for 2 people.

The Three Sisters Annex
89 Irie-cho
Okazaki
Sakyo-ku
606-8322 Kyoto
Tel: 81-(0)75-761-6333
Fax:81-(0)75-761-6335

Guidebook -

I was last in Kyoto over 20 years ago, and with hardly any recollection of it, decided to buy Diana Durston’s Old Kyoto, a guide to all the traditional artisan shops, ryokan (traditional Japanese hotels) and restaurants that are unfortunately dwindling in a fast-changing city. Although it was written in 1986, it was reprinted a few years ago and many travellers to Kyoto swear by it. I found Rokusei and Okutan through the book.

Useful links -

• Kyoto Guide – a most informative guide to Kyoto, and where I found our ryokan & transport tips

• Kyoto Foodie – regarded by many as the definitive guide to all things gastronomical in Kyoto

• Chubby Hubby‘s Kyoto Guide 2009 – although all their restaurant recommendations were beyond our budget, it was still a useful guide to take with us

• Financial Times: Kyoto’s Haute Cuisine – an informative article on kaiseki cuisine

• Japan Planning – my original post on researching the Japan trip

• Snow Monkeys & Soba Noodles and Tokyo Stories – the other two posts from the Japan trip

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

This short trip from Tokyo to Yamanouchi town in Nagano prefecture, the Japan Alps was the first section of the two week trip to Japan that I planned. The husband had a yearning to see the Jigokudani snow monkeys (wild Japanese macaques) that keep warm in the freezing winter months by bathing in their own outdoor onsen or natural hot spring, and this is apparently the only place in the world where they do this. I initially thought that humans and monkeys bathed together, but more research revealed that this is not the case, although it has been known that a monkey or two will occasionally join humans in a nearby outdoor onsen for humans…

Jigokudani, known as Hell Valley because of its sulphurous and volcanic activity, is not the easiest destination to reach, and our one night at the 400 year old Kokuya ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) in Shibu Onsen was expensive. The trip was, however, worth every minute and every Yen and I would highly recommend it. If you ski or snowboard, then Shiga Kogen ski resort is nearby and Jigokudani could be added on as a side destination.

Shibu Onsen is a traditional and famous onsen spa town where people in their yukata (cotton robes) stroll down the old, narrow cobbled streets after bathing at the various public bath houses to relax at a izakaya (pub) or to return to their ryokan. Dotted around the area are tiny temples and it’s most atmospheric in the evening. Also not to be missed are the onsen tamago or boiled eggs, which taste different to normal boiled eggs because of the minerals present in the onsen water.

Kokuya ryokan is a three floor maze of rooms and baths. Although 400 years old, the building has been added to over the years to its present size, but guests are encouraged to wander and explore. Our room, Fuyo, was located on the third floor and there were fresh baked soba and sesame mini cookies, wagashi (Japanese sweets) and green tea to welcome us. We were told that we could wear our yukata or cotton robes around the ryokan as well as up and down the street (the yukata must always be worn left over right, as the other way is only worn at funerals).

Of course the star attraction of the room was the private bath on our balcony, screened off by bamboo to ensure privacy, but only partially covered so that guests can enjoy the contrast of being in the cold while soaking in the extreme heat of the water. Apparently the Japanese like the water at 50°C, but as it was our own private bath, we could add as much cold water as we wanted. My favourite spot was by the cold tap! In case you haven’t been to an onsen before, you have to shower, then rinse off the soap suds so that you are squeaky clean before entering the water. You have to be naked, although you can use the small towel provided to cover your bits. While you are soaking, this towel sits on your head (with men at any rate). We must have had four long soaks in total, before and after dinner and before and after breakfast, and it still wasn’t enough.

I have to mention that while we were admiring the view of the mountains from the bath, we noticed a snow monkey running across the rooftops! It was such a surprise because the snow monkey habitat is at least fifty minutes away on foot. It was a really special moment…

Dinner was in a private dining room (of which there are two) on tatami. There was a small sheet of paper in English and Japanese explaining the dishes (this changes regularly according to the fresh and seasonal ingredients that they can source) so that we would know what the fourteen dishes were, which just kept coming and coming. I won’t attempt to describe each one as it would require a separate post, but highlights were baked rainbow trout pie, simmered sea bream with grated daikon or Japanese radish, vinegared crab with radish, handmade soba noodles and the freshest rice we’d ever eaten – ‘first rice crop of the year’. It was also fun listening to an elderly Japanese couple enjoying their dinner in the next private room, like we were in a Naruse or Ozu film…

Breakfast was an unexpectedly huge affair, all laid out for us in the same private dining room, with various dishes of grilled salmon, pickles, rice, soup, tofu and onsen tamago (from just outside the ryokan). I can confirm that onsen tamago are the best soft-boiled eggs I have ever eaten – fresh, creamy, delicate and pure heaven. As the husband doesn’t like eggs, I had two!

After breakfast, it was finally time to to see the snow monkeys. From Kokuya, it’s a good fifty minute walk (2.5 km) and we had planned to walk, but as it was pouring with rain, we went by taxi with borrowed umbrellas and wellington boots from Kokuya (and a present of homemade umeboshi onigiri or riceballs for our journey!). En route, we discovered that the walk would have been extremely difficult as most of it is uphill along a steep narrow road through the forest, followed by another steep and slippery walk from the carpark to get to the monkey area (ï¿¥500 entrance fee per person). I can’t imagine what it must be like to do that walk in the winter with heavy snow!

There are an estimated two hundred snow monkeys in the area, and we saw about eighty or so. The advice that I read was not to feed them, and more importantly, not to stare at them because this is considered to be a sign of aggression. However, they were incredibly relaxed around humans (admittedly there were only four humans in total because of the weather, as opposed to coachloads) and at one point a baby and its mother were right next to me. Crouching down to take photos made me even smaller and less threatening too.

When we had taken enough photos of snow monkeys, it was time for a spot of lunch. Rather than turning up at a soba-ya to sample the region’s famous soba (buckwheat) noodles, we turned up for our soba class (ï¿¥2000 / £13.50 per person), pre-arranged by Kokuya. Mrs Sato is the sweetest and friendliest teacher ever and if you go to Shibu Onsen, then you must go and meet her. Although she didn’t speak a word of English and my Japanese is terrible, we or rather the husband, managed to make some delicious soba noodles, which we ate cold with her homemade dipping sauce, along with her own pickles, the freshest young corn on the cob and red apple, all grown by her.

Mrs Sato also gave us an apple and some buckwheat seeds to take with us and told us to grow buckwheat in our garden. I’ll have to do a separate photo essay post on the soba class in the near future so that you can see the technique. You can also stay with Mrs Sato and help out with harvesting and so on, so we plan to do this next time after a couple of nights at Kokuya.

We returned to Tokyo in the early evening tired but extremely well fed and happy…

Practical Information:

Travel - It costs ￥7,970 (£53) one way to reach Nagano station from Tokyo station on the JR Asama Shinkansen (222 km, approximately 90 minutes), but we had bought Japan Rail Passes (£191 for a 7 day pass) from the UK to cover all the other train journeys on our trip, so the travel budget was effectively taken care of. I used Hyperdia to research train times and reserved the seats after activating the Rail Passes at Narita airport.

From Nagano train station, we took the local train, the Nagano Dentetsu (Nagaden) to Yudanaka station (33 km, approximately 47 minutes). This part of the journey is not covered by the Rail Pass, and costs ￥1,230 (£8.20) one way express (or ￥1,130 (£7.50) on the slower train). Train times were also checked using Hyperdia. A helpful station employee helped us buy our tickets using the ticket machine. Tip: sit at the very front of the train to see the amazing view. We only found out after we arrived!

We were then picked up at Yudanaka station by the Kokuya ryokan shuttle bus (the arrival time was timed so that it would coincide with the check-in time, as pick ups can only be arranged around this time). Otherwise Kokuya is just a short taxi ride from Yudanaka.

Hotel – As soon as I read about Kokuya, I knew I wanted to stay there, regardless of the cost. I must have spent hours going through their website, thankfully in English as well as other languages, before finally settling on the Fuyo room, one of ten large rooms with a private open air bath on the balcony and can accommodate up to four or even more people. The cost is listed per person per night (for the Fuyo, it was ï¿¥25,000 (£167) per person during low season) and includes the multiple course kaiseki dinner and a traditional Japanese breakfast, one of the largest I’ve ever had.

There are also six other natural hot spring baths for guests, four outdoor and two indoor, with a further two that can be reserved for private use (which would be useful for guests not staying in the rooms with private open air baths). Finally, I would not have been able to organise this 36 hour trip without Kokuya’s help and I’ve lost count of the number of emails we must have exchanged over the months preceding the stay. If you do travel to Shibu Onsen, this is the ryokan to choose for some luxurious pampering! We’re definitely returning, but to stay for two nights so that we can relax more and of course eat more…

Kokuya
Shibu Onsen, Yamanouchi
Shimotakai-gun, Nagano
Japan 381-040
Tel: 0269-33-2511 Fax: 0269-33-4597
info@ichizaemon.com

Useful links -

• San Francisco Chronicle article – more details about the snow monkeys, and where I read about Kokuya ryokan

• Zeno’s Guide to the Yudanaka – Shibu Onsen area, which helped me immensely with the planning of this little trip (details of the soba making class can be found here)

• Japan National Tourism Organization – more on what to do in Nagano prefecture

• Japan Planning – my original post on researching the Japan trip. The entire Japan series will be archived here under Food & Travel.

• Kyoto Tales – the second of the Japan posts

• Toyko Stories – the third and last of the Japan posts

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

One of my current goals is to improve my food photography skills. I started blogging over two years ago with just a Sony Ericsson mobile phone camera, progressed to the Sony Cybershot W300 and now use the Leica D-Lux 4. Although many food bloggers take superb photos with their digital SLRs, I’ve so far resisted buying one because I prefer to stay mobile and discreet, particularly when travelling or reviewing restaurants. So as a point & shooter, I’ve been referring over the last year or so to these useful posts from various food bloggers who have kindly shared their ideas online:

• Compact Camera Food Photography – from the excellent blog Wrightfood, written by Seattle-based Englishman Matt. He has also written two other posts that I like to re-read – Food Photography Set-up and Food Photography Post Production

• White On Rice Couple have been publishing a superb series of informative posts, so far on exposure, shutter speed and aperture, with many others to look forward to!

• Food Bloggers Unite has fantastic posts on specific subjects relating to both shooting food as well as post-production, which I have found very useful (and need to keep re-reading)

• Kitchen Wench has written a whole series of photography posts on exposure, focus & depth of field, white balance, on-camera flash, choosing gear & set-up, and more on processing and editing software

• An inspiring post from VeganYumYum on Food Photography for Bloggers that I really enjoy reading again and again

• Smitten Kitchen wrote this comprehensive post, Our Approach to Food Photos, two years ago. I like to refer back to it once in a while because it’s not written in an overly technical way

• Another non-techy Photography post from Lucullian Delights that I like reading because she focuses on ‘feelings’ when taking photos, rather than technical stuff

• Food photographer Lara Ferroni of  Still Life With wrote this useful post, Photographing Food with simple tips that I’ve tried to follow

• Simply Recipes shared her tips on Photography three years ago, but they are just as relevant today

• This post on Food Photography Techniques and Tips on Digital Photography School was one of the first I came across while doing my research, along with Food Photography – An Introduction

What have I learned from reading all these posts?

Practise, practise, practise, whether at home, in a restaurant or while out and about. Over the last two years, I’ve noticed an improvement in my photos. I always shoot food in macro. I never use a flash and I shoot in natural daylight by a window, unless I’m in a restaurant. I try to keep my photos simple and uncluttered and I take a few shots of each dish, just in case. I also set the white balance manually if I can, otherwise it’s on automatic white balance. Finally, I do a tiny bit of touching up in Photoshop (for me, that means Brightness & Contrast as that’s all I know!).

I’d now like to learn to use my camera properly, particularly the manual functions, and focus more on styling my dishes. I also have to master Photoshop and Lightroom, and build a light tent so that I can shoot in the evenings too (although I have had Lowel Ego lights on my wishlist for ages!).

I hope the above links will come in handy if you’re interested in learning more about food photography.

What are your top tips for taking good food photos?

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Cloves © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

Before I even laid eyes on Jane Lawson’s Spice Market, I knew it was my type of book. And when I finally leafed through the 450 pages, my instincts were confirmed. Apart from offering 250 recipes, the book is a comprehensive guide on the history and culinary uses of over 40 spices from around the world. Like many people, I buy spices on an ad hoc basis, when I need something to make a particular dish. As a result, my collection of spices is somewhat eclectic, to say the least, and there are some that I have used just once. Spices also start to deteriorate if not stored properly (and even then, the volatile oils fade over time, taking with them the spices’ true flavours, colours and aromas). I hope that by using Spice Market on a regular basis, I’ll not only learn more about the background of each spice, but I’ll also be able to make the most of the spices sitting in my cupboard.

Saffron © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

I started by reading up on a few of the spices that I already own, as I thought that would be the best way to tackle this tome and start cooking with them.

Saffron – also known as azafran

My jar of saffron has been languishing in my spice drawer for a few years now, but I could never throw out such an expensive spice. The handpicked stamen from a flower of the crocus family, saffron is grown in Iran, Spain, India, Greece, Morocco and Italy. It is the most expensive spice in the world, but a tiny amount goes a very long way. The recommended recipes in the book include risotto milanese, arancini, seafood paella, poached pears in saffron syrup and saffron buns.

Cardamom © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

Cardamom - related to galangal, ginger, turmeric

I bought cardamom last year to make cardamom kulfi and karahi lamb chops, but since then, the pods have just been sitting in their storage jar looking pretty. Cardamom is regarded as the world’s third most expensive spice by weight after saffron and vanilla. There are two types, green and black or brown cardamom, both of which are native to India and Sri Lanka, but most recipes call for the green one. Apart from being commonly used in Indian, West Asian and Middle Eastern dishes, it’s also popular in Dutch and Scandinavian baking and of course in Turkish coffee. I particularly like the sound of cardamom pear shortcake and honey and cardamom biscuits!

Cloves – related to allspice (top photo)

Cloves are ‘the dried and unopened flower buds of an evergreen tree from the myrtle family’, and because they are so pungent, only a small amount is needed. They also form an intrinsic part of spice mixes, including Chinese five spice and Indian garam masala, and are used as a painkiller for toothache (‘biting into a whole clove releases an intense, almost antiseptic taste’). The recommended recipes include Kashmiri lamb cutlets and clove-studded honey-glazed ham.

Juniper berries © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

Juniper berries -

Juniper berries are the edible fruit of a shrub that grows in the Northern Hemisphere, and should be lightly crushed before use to release their flavour. I was pleased to read that juniper berries are commonly used in Scandinavian cooking, because I’m going to Sweden next month and hope to find more inspiration from the dishes that I try there. Out of the recipes featured, I very much liked the sound of vodka and juniper cured salmon, duck confit and venison with juniper berries.

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This is a book every home cook should have on his or her shelf, not just for the variety of recipes, but for the wealth of information on spices all in one place. I for one will be using this as a handy reference book before shopping for more spices, particularly when visiting spice markets around the world! Hopefully my spices will be used more regularly in the future…

Spice Market is published by Murdoch Books and costs £18.95. Thank you to Murdoch for sending me a copy.

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Buta no Shogayaki © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

Buta no shogayaki or Japanese pan-fried sliced pork with ginger sauce is a classic dish that I used to eat regularly when I was younger. While I would be busy making sixteen kilos of tonkatsu for the LSE Japan Society annual party every year, my Japanese friend would make the same amount of buta no shogayaki. So whenever I order it, I always think of her. It’s a very simple but satisfying dish and perfect for a one dish lunch or supper.

This recipe comes from one of my recent cookery book purchases, Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking, although I could just as well have asked my Japanese stepmother-in-law for her recipe. Harumi Kurihara is a Japanese food writer & TV presenter, well known for her ‘home cooking’ recipes and owns a cookware line as well as a chain of shops. It seems that some Japanese women, most of whom now work, find her ‘home-maker’ image a little old-fashioned, but I was glad to have found this recipe in her book, and it worked really well. You may be interested to read my recent review of her latest book Everyday Harumi, which incidentally is a far better book.

Ingredients: (serves 4, but I adjusted the quantities to serve 1)

• ½ tbsp freshly grated ginger

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp mirin

• 200g finely sliced pork

• sunflower or vegetable oil

Making buta no shogayaki © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

What to do next:

Mix the grated ginger, soy sauce and mirin together and briefly marinate the pork (Harumi doesn’t specify how long for, so I dipped each piece in the marinade for a few seconds using chopsticks, making sure it was properly coated).

Heat a little oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Remove the pork from the marinade and add to the pan, making sure it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick together or curl up.

Turn over after a couple of minutes and cook until both sides are browned. Don’t leave the pork for long, as it cooks surprisingly quickly, but make sure it’s cooked through.

Buta no shoga yaki is delicious served simply with steamed Japanese rice and a small salad.

Harumi notes that she uses pork shoulder or loin as the fat will make the meat more tender, and that the thickness of the pork slices depends on one’s preference. The meat should also be at room temperature when you are ready to cook.

Incidentally, she recommends buying a Japanese ginger grater, which almost pulps, rather than slices, ginger. As you read this, I’ll probably have found one already, on Kappabashi-dori in Asakusa, Tokyo, the restaurant supply area and every food lover’s dream destination…

You may like some of the other Japanese recipes on World Foodie Guide. And 8 Useful Japanese Ingredients would be a useful read for those who are not so familiar with Japanese ingredients.

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Isla Tortuga, Costa Rica © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

As World Foodie Guide focuses more on food & travel or ‘traveleating‘ posts, with the new project 25 Food & Travel Destinations: A 5 Year Plan, I thought I’d share some of the resources that I use when researching and planning trips. These are just a basic starting point and you may already be familiar with some of them. As I dig deeper into a city or country, I Google specific names of places and restaurants, and ask local friends, food bloggers & Twitterers for insider tips. I also use the travel sections of local newspapers, which often feature places not covered in international publications (see Japan Planning as an example).

• The New York Times extensive travel section is often the first port of call for me, with city and country guides, as well as informative articles like In São Paulo, Brazilian Cuisine Is Back On The Table and Continental Tastes in China’s Capital

• Concierge.com & Condé Nast Traveller -  both have basic guides to popular destinations, which are a good starting point. I particularly like the in-depth Condé Nast travel articles, which you can search for by country here on Concierge, such as That Mango Will Blow Your Damn Mind

• Australian Gourmet Traveller travel section, with articles including Talking Thai: David Thompson on Thai Street Food, Hong Kong on a Plate and Tuscan Treasure

Mercado dos Lavradores, Madeira © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

• The Wall Street Journal travel section, with articles including City Walk: Chiang Mai and In Hong Kong, Stirrings Of A Serious Wine Scene

• Time has a good section on travel, with lengthy special reports like 50 Authentic American Experiences 2009 and 50 Essential Travel Tips

• Financial Times Food & Drink & Financial Times Travel offer useful articles such as Kyoto’s Haute Cuisine, while the Dorling Kindersley short online city and country guides are also accessible via the FT travel section

Great Wall, Huairou © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

• The Guardian has a Food and Drink section within the Travel pages, focusing on food & travel articles like Vis Cuisine and Edinburgh’s 10 Best Budget Eateries

• The Times extensive travel section includes articles like Sète and seafood in Southern France and The Smart Guide to São Paulo

• Delicious., a British food magazine, has some useful food and travel articles such as Truffle Hunting in Tuscany. I did a search and found their Hungry Traveller section, with guides for cities including Copenhagen, Denmark and New York

I hope these links will come in useful for your travel research and planning. Please let me know if there are others that you can recommend! There will be a post on food & travel blogs in the near future.

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

Cauliflower Fritters © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

I’ve recently started to enjoy eating all kinds of fried things at home. They’re not the healthiest of foods, but once in a while, they’re so delicious and makes a change from all the ‘good’ food we eat, whether it’s soup, lentils or beans. After eating various fried goodies throughout the year, including Japanese tempura, Chinese pan-fried dumplings, Indian cumin & coriander potato cakes, Sri Lankan fish cutlets and Indonesian crabcakes, I found another tasty treat to make – fritelli di cavolfiore or cauliflower fritters.

The following recipe comes from cookery book My Cousin Rosa – Rosa Mitchell’s Sicilian Kitchen, in which the Australian-based Italian cookery writer and chef presents simple, rustic Sicilian recipes from her family life and childhood, utilising fresh ingredients. I own several Italian cookery books, including the classic The Silver Spoon, but I enjoyed Rosa’s style and easy-to-follow instructions and managed to mark many of the pages with little Post-it notes. My personal favourites have to be polpette (meatballs), ragù di coniglio (rabbit ragù), spaghetti al nero di seppia (spaghetti with squid in black ink sauce), pasta e piselli (pasta with peas), finocchio gratinato (baked fennel) and peparelli (honey & almond biscotti).

Vegetarians will also find more than the average number of meat and seafood-free recipes to follow, including schiaciatta (broccoli pie), zuppa di ceci, porri e patate (chickpea, leek & potato soup), orecchiette con broccoli e acciughe (orecchiette with broccoli and anchovies), pasta con le zucchine fritte (pasta with fresh tomato sauce and parmesan zucchini) and pesto siciliano (Sicilian pesto).

Cauliflower Fritters © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

Fritelli do Cavolfiore (Cauliflower Fritters) -

Ingredients: (makes about 20)

• ½ large cauliflower

• 300g (10oz / 2 cups) self-raising flour

• 100g (3½ oz / 1 cup) grated parmesan cheese

• 1 garlic clove, crushed

• 3 tbsp chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

• olive oil, for frying

What to do next:

Break up all the cauliflower into small pieces. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil, add cauliflower and cook until soft. Drain and cool in a bowl.

Add flour, cheese, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper to the cauliflower and mix lightly. Add beaten eggs and mix again. if the mixture is too dry, add a little water.

Heat enough oil to cover the base of a frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add tablespoons of the mixture, taking care not to overcrowd them. Cook until golden, turn over and flatten slightly with a fork. Cook on the other side until golden and cooked through to the centre.

Serve hot or at room temperature as a pre-dinner snack. I can proudly announce that my fritters turned out very nicely and will be replicated for the next set of dinner guests!

My Cousin Rosa © Helen Yuet Ling Pang

My Cousin Rosa – Rosa Mitchell’s Sicilian Kitchen is published by Murdoch Books and costs £25.00. Thank you to Murdoch Books for sending me a copy.

Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide

The second guest post on World Foodie Guide comes from Istanbul Eats, the definitive guide to eating in Istanbul, Turkey (another of my must-visit places listed in 25 Food & Travel Destinations). ‘Serious food for serious eaters’? Perfect! Over to Ansel and Yigal…

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Beyond the kebab – and what you will find listed in most guidebooks to Istanbul – lies a wide range of unique Turkish regional cuisines and restaurants with hints of Balkan, Caucasian and Middle Eastern cooking. Here’s an opinionated list of top ten restaurants and food shops in the city, from A(bracadabra) to Z(ubeyir), from Istanbul Eats, the Serious Eater’s Guide to the City.

Abracadabra — This funky informal restaurant, housed in an imposing Ottoman-era mansion located smack dab on the Bosporus, serves some of Istanbul’s most creative riffs on traditional Turkish cuisine, courtesy of its spunky owner-chef Dilara Erbay. A pioneer of Turkish fusion cuisine, Erbay’s dishes are visually stunning, delicious and ever changing.

When it’s time to order, we usually put ourselves at the tender mercy of Dilara, letting her guide us through the menu, which includes her latest inspired creations, prepared with what’s fresh in the markets. Like a jazzman interpreting on an old standard, Dilara hints at classic Turkish cuisine sometimes in little more than name, for example tweaking the classic börek into a bouquet of matchstick skinny, 6-inch batons served upright in a shot glass of sweet and spicy sauce, both beautiful and fun to eat.

Address: 50/1 Arnavutkoy Cad. Arnavutkoy, Istanbul
Phone: (212) 358-6087
www.abracadabra-ist.com

Altan Sekerleme — At the airport, Turkish Delight, or lokum, may be sold in neat vacuum-sealed boxes. But in the front window at Altan Åžekerleme, a sweets shop in a rarely explored warren of market streets and Ottoman-era caravanserais near Istanbul’s Golden Horn, it is stacked into psychedelic pyramids, laid out into long white rows that are impossibly pink or deep amber on the inside, and even built into little, Technicolor log cabins.

The shop itself – with its aged marble-topped counters and worn wooden cabinets – bears a nostalgic patina strangely absent in this ancient city. Unlike so many places that make sad attempts at recreating the “Old Istanbul,” Altan is an effortless standard-bearer of late Ottoman authenticity. That’s probably because the same family has been running this operation in the same shop for four generations.

The perfumed gül lokum, or rosewater Turkish Delight, is almost a sensual experience, right up there with a first kiss. The sakizli, or mastic gum flavored lokum is interesting as a novelty, but not our favorite. However, the fistikli lokum, filled with hazelnuts, is a showstopper. The sublime, almost gummy confection surrounding the crunchy nut core would convince even the most committed chocoholic to buy a box of the stuff.

Address: Kiblecesme Cad. No: 96, Kantarcilar (Kucuk Pazari)/Eminonu, Istanbul
Telephone: 212-522-5909

Antiochia — In Istanbul, we’ve noted an inverse relationship between a restaurant’s atmosphere and what’s coming out of the kitchen. But that’s not the case with Antiochia – a small restaurant in Beyoglu that serves the delicious food from Turkey’s Hatay region, an area wedged between the Syrian border and the Mediterranean Sea. The place exudes cool without sacrificing flavor.

Nar eksili cevizli kozbiber, a divine relish of red and green peppers in a pomegranate dressing, was topped with crushed walnuts, adding a crunchy texture to this sweet and sour cold starter. Tasting the homemade yogurt with mint proved just how little we knew about what yogurt can be — pleasantly sour and almost as thick as butter. Another revelation was the kekik salatasi, an intense meze of green olives, fresh thyme and olive oil.

Antiochia’s main courses are simple, recognizable dishes, yet set to a higher frequency. Şiş et is a plate of marinated cubes of beef skewered and grilled over a charcoal fire. On any given evening in Beyoglu, there have got to be thousands of skewers of şiş et coming off the grill, but none are quite as tender and succulent as the one at Antiochia. The minced meat wrap, an Istanbul street food favorite, with onions and tomatoes, was among the best we’ve had in the city.

Address: Minare Sokak, Asmalimescit, Istanbul
Phone: 212-292-1100
www.antiochiaconcept.com

Besiktas Kaymakci (AKA Kaymakci Pando) — In our imagination, kaymak – the delicious Turkish version of clotted cream – is the only food served in heaven, where angels in white robes dish out plate after plate of the cloudlike stuff to the dearly departed, who no longer have to worry about cholesterol counts and visits to the cardiologist. For our money, the classic Turkish combo of kaymak served with honey and crusty white bread is one of the finest breakfasts this side of paradise. And one of our favorite places to eat this breakfast is Besiktas Kaymakci.

This tiny shop/eatery has been in business since 1895, and it certainly shows its age. The marble counter is cracked and the paint on the walls peeling. But the kaymak, served up by the 84-year-old Pando, a Turk of Bulgarian origin and a living institution in Istanbul’s untouristed Besiktas bazaar, is out of this world. Prices here also seem unchanged since 1895: a plate of kaymak and honey, served with fresh bread and a glass of steaming hot milk, will set you back 4 lira.

Address: Koyici Meydanı Sokak, Besiktas, Istanbul
Telephone: 212-258-2616

Ciya — For us, one of the highlights of eating in Istanbul is a visit to Çiya Sofrası, the Asian-side spot that is very likely the best restaurant in Istanbul. It’s certainly not the fanciest or most cutting-edge place in town, but we rarely leave Çiya without having a profoundly new and memorable taste experience.

That restaurant’s success comes from the vision of owner and chef Musa Dagdeviren, who hails from the southeastern Turkish city of Gaziantep and who is something of a culinary anthropologist, collecting recipes from around Turkey and even publishing a journal devoted to Turkish food culture (“Yemek ve Kultur,” sadly, only in Turkish). The end result of Musa’s digging and collecting is a menu that features unusual regional dishes that you will very likely not find anywhere else.

The menu changes according to what’s in season, and, depending on the time of year, things can get downright funky at the restaurant. This past spring, we ate a delicious meat stew cooked with bracingly tart unripe green plums, as well as keme, a mushroom found in central and eastern Anatolia that we like to think of as a Mesopotamian truffle. Cut up in slices and grilled on a skewer, this hearty fungus tastes like an earthy cross between a Portobello mushroom and a very delicate potato.

Address: Guneslibahce Sokak 43, Kadiköy, Istanbul
Phone: 216-330-3190
www.ciya.com.tr

Ismet Baba — Most fish restaurants are mere caricatures of places like Ismet Baba, where traditions have been kept sacred for more than fifty years. This may not be the best restaurant in the city, but it’s got something most of the others have lost, keeping rhythm to an old school style of Istanbul charm and character.

At Ismet Baba, located in Kuzguncuk, a charming Bosphorus neighborhood on the Asian side, we like to lean back, hunker down into a long raki-laced lunch and really enjoy this special place and its classic mezes. Pilaki, beans in olive oil, and the cold octopus salad are unusually good. We also like the haydari, a thick, tangy spread of strained yogurt and dill and the fried eggplant with a garlicky yogurt drizzle. The catch of the day is posted on a small black board in the dining room, and we found the grilled bream, cupra, or a plate of blue fish, cinekop, perfectly prepared and just the right amount.

Address: Carsi Caddesi #1A, Kuzguncuk, Istanbul
Telephone: 216-553-1232

Mandabatmaz — It’s a dirty secret nobody wants to talk about, but let’s put it out there: finding a good cup of Turkish coffee in Turkey can sometimes be very difficult. Thin and watery, rather than thick and viscous, is frequently the order of the day.
Not so over at Mandabatmaz, a tiny café off Istiklal Caddesi that makes one of Istanbul’s finest cups of Turkish coffee. The stuff brewmaster Cemil Pilik serves lives up to what Turkish coffee should be – and it better – since the café’s name roughly translates into “so thick even a water buffalo wouldn’t sink in it.”

On a recent afternoon, Pilik was busy making cup after cup of his excellent brew, thick to the point of almost being chocolaty, each demitasse holding only a few sips worth of strong coffee before you hit a rich deposit of dark brown grounds. Outside, customers were sitting on small stools, some chatting happily with friends, others silently drinking Pilik’s coffee, as if it were a kind of elixir.

Address: Olivia Geçidi No: 1/A, Beyoglu (Near the St. Antoine Cathedral on Istiklal. Look for the Barcelona Patisserie on the corner), Istanbul
Telephone: No phone

Pera Sisore — At first glance, with its steam table covered with pots of ready-made food, Pera Sisore may look like any one of those quickie lunch spots found throughout Turkey. But there’s a difference – someone here is cooking up some serious Black Sea magic in the kitchen.

The Black Sea area is Turkey’s culinary misfit – not really about kebabs or meze. It’s simple, filling, down-home food and Sisore is a great spot to get acquainted with it. This time of year, the restaurant – found on a side street in the fun Asmalimescit neighborhood – serves a very tasty version of hamsi (fresh anchovy) pilaf, the holy grail of Black Sea cooking. A kind of savory fish cake, the pilaf has small hamsi filets wrapped around a thick bed of rice infused with herbs, currants and pine nuts.

Sisore also serves up a fine version of another Black Sea staple – creamy white beans (kuru fasulye) cooked up in a rich, buttery red sauce. On any given day, Sisore has more than a dozen items bubbling away on the steam table, some typical Black Sea dishes, some not. It’s worth trying a few – it’s the easiest way to visit the Black Sea without leaving Istanbul.

Address: Oteller Sokak 6, BeyoÄŸlu, Istanbul
Telephone: 212-245-4902

Van Kahvalti — In the city of Van, not far from Turkey’s border with Iran, breakfast has been turned into serious business: the town is filled with dozens of Kahvaltı Salonus – breakfast salons – that serve a dizzying assortment of farm fresh breakfast items day and night.

In recent years this superb breakfast has been working its way westward, with several Van-style spots now open in Istanbul. Van Kahvaltı Evi (Van Breakfast House) in the Cihangir neighborhood is one of our favorites, run by a friendly crew that serve a mean breakfast, bringing in most of their ingredients, some of them organic, from back east.

The Van breakfast takes the traditional Turkish breakfast of cheese, tomato, cucumber and some bread and turns it up several notches. At Van Kahvalti Evi, along with the standards, your breakfast plate comes with an assortment of local Van cheeses (including a very tasty one that contains brined wild herbs), kaymak (clotted cream), tangy cacik (thick yogurt spread) and murtuğa, a heavy wheat flour porridge that looks almost like scrambled eggs. Butter, jams, olives and some of Van’s famous honey round all this out – along with endless glasses of strong tea.

Address: Defterdar YokuÅŸu No: 52.A, Cihangir, Istanbul
Telephone: 212-293-6437

Zubeyir — Finding a kebab restaurant in Istanbul is not hard. There must be thousands of them. But finding the right kind of place, especially if you want to make it a bit more of a meal, can be surprisingly difficult. Most kebab joints tend to be no-frills, in-and-out places. Some are very good, but they don’t make for a night out. On the other hand, some of nicer places – where you can find a more extensive menu and, more importantly, drink booze with your dinner – take things too far. Tuxedoed waiters serving kebab? At the end of the day, we’re still talking about meat on a stick cooked over a fire.

Which is what makes Zubeyir – a fantastic grill house in Beyoglu that always seems to be packed with large groups having a very good time – such a refreshing find. They serve seriously good food, without taking themselves too seriously. Their Adana kebab – spicy minced lamb – has just the right combination of meat, fat and red pepper. Chicken wings (kanat) and lamb chops (pirzola) are also superbly grilled. Zubeyir also serves up some cuts of meat not found at most kebab joints, such as the tasty tarak (lamb spare ribs).

Their meze (appetizers) are also outstanding, with a sublime warm salad made from freshly grilled eggplant, tomato and onion and the gavur dagı salad – a mix of greens, herbs and tomatoes in a piquant pomegranate molasses dressing – particularly worth ordering. It’s not easy to standout in a city filled with kebab restaurants. Zubeyir does it effortlessly.

Address: Bekar Sokak 28, Beyoglu
Telephone: 212-293-3951
www.zubeyirocakbasi.com