crazy white girl with a kitchen

A Good Bowl of Ramen is Hard to Find

Kelly — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 05:34:07 +0000

Although the Bow Valley has a large population of Japanese working and traveling through the area, the one place you can get a bowl of ramen at in Banff (Chaya) is just kind of ho-hum. It’ll do in a pinch, but it’s also a good 20 minute drive from Canmore.

Since coming home from my whirlwind trip to Japan in March (oh, I haven’t blogged about that, have I? Well, soon) I’ve been kind of obsessed with home cooking Japanese food. (And juicing, but more on that later.) I had to explain to a US customs officer on my trip home why I had 5 pounds of Japanese rice on me. “Can’t you just use Minute Rice?” he asked.

SHUDDER

I’ve been making taco rice, Japanese curry, yakiudon and okonomiyaki and all sorts of stuff, trying to fill the void. Experimenting with different condiments, flavours, techniques.

However, the thing I am most proud of is my from scratch ramen which I made this week. Everything except the noodles and kamaboko or fish cake was made by hand. 5 pounds of chicken, turkey and pig parts were boiled for 18 hours to reduce into a creamy tonkotsu soup base.

I broiled then braised pork belly for three hours to replicate Okinawan rafute, a super tender, kind of sweet pork. It’s marinaded and slow cooked in mirin, awamori and soy, along with kokuto or Okinawan sugar cane brown sugar. I soft boiled then bathed eggs in a marinade to get ajitsuke tamago, the runny delicious eggs that accompany steaming bowls of ramen – that is, if you are eating it at any respectable place.

If I’m being honest, I’ll say that the broth had an excellent jellylike thick texture, but I really underseasoned it. But I think the thing that turned out the best was the rafute. It’s something that’s hard to find outside of Okinawa – not just in other parts of the world, also in Japan. I guess it’s similar to char siu pork that often tops bowls of ramen, but yet it’s not.

You should come by and try it sometime. I promise you’ll like it.

The broth at the start, in our biggest of big pots.

Bowl of bones, fat and other assorted parts after I was done boiling.

The delicious finished product.

懐かし

Kelly — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 01:07:50 +0000

From a young age, traveling around all the time, I’ve grown used to not saying good bye, just saying ‘so long.’ I live with the hope that I will see most people again in some way, and it’s paid off in unusual ways.

I first met Ron via his blog before I moved to Japan. It’s hard to find a unique voice that writes well in the sea of expats blogging on Japanese matters, but he definitely was one. He was real, he blogged about interesting stuff (living conditions, food, fashion) and he was prolific. And to add to the greatness, he was blogging from Okinawa, not far from where I would be living. I stalked his blog for some time and finally emailed him (or maybe Twitter DMd?)

When I arrived in Tokyo, I met some of the other JET teachers at the airport who were helping with the new teachers orientation, and met his girlfriend at the time. I’m pretty sure I creeped her out by running up to her (a familiar face through the blog, but we had never communicated at the time) and saying “HI I READ RON’S BLOG AND YOU ARE AWESOME, NICE TO MEET YOU” while shaking her hand really hard on the sky bridge from the Narita airport to our bus.

Over the next year and more, I had a few great times out with Ron. He took Mike and I to a great gyoza place, and we shared many a beer with him, and had a great pancake party that first fall after I arrived. I was worried for him as he changed jobs and looked for a new one, constantly on the verge of having to return home. But, he stayed, he 我慢’d (endured). Very Japanese of him.

Long story short, he’s actually from the D.C. area, and after a problem with a trip this summer, he finally made the voyage home this fall, so we hung out. It was great to see him, share a few (ok, many) brews and eat a few Costco hot dogs while he stocked up for his trip back to Okinawa. Lord knows I know what that is like.

God speed, Ron-sensei. I’ll miss you – but it was great seeing you again. Albeit in a place I never expected I would. Who knows the next crazy ass place we’ll see eachother?

white house garden tour

Kelly — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 15:24:09 +0000

Twice a year, the White House opens their gardens to the public for tours, once in the spring and once in the fall. Tickets are free, you just have to wait in line to get a ticket, then come back at the predetermined time on it to gain access. As the Canadian Embassy no longer helps you get access to the White House interior, this was as close as I was going to get, so I was up early on a Saturday to get a ticket. The early hour was worth it!

There are a number of tickets, as they let about 150 people or more through every half hour, starting at 9am and ending at 4pm.

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I took a number of photos of things like the West Wing, Rose Garden and the presidential putting green, but I was most interested in the First Lady’s vegetable garden. Only three first ladies have maintained veggie gardens at the White House throughout its history – Eleanor Roosevelt, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama have all had gardens on the property, but Michelle’s is the biggest.

There is a bee hive that produces honey for the White House…

There are 50 varieties or so of produce, and the harvest this year totaled more than 1,000 pounds, all of which is used in the White House. There is a wide range of items, from bok choy to salad greens, artichokes, tomatoes and more.

These were a special heirloom variety of bean, cultivated from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello property. Hence the quote.

(Can you see the masses of people behind me? It’s a popular tour!)

This past weekend I visited Arlington Cemetery, too. I’ve been twice now, and I went specifically to catch some fall color before hurricane Sandy blows all the leaves away. It wasn’t as colorful as I had hoped, but there were still some shots to be made.

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I really like Arlington. It’s a powerful place, and huge. Over 400,000 people are buried there, over 12 acres I believe. I spent a lot of time at Section 60, which is the area where those who died serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are buried. It’s incredibly active, as families and loved ones visit those they have lost. I hope to return atleast one more time before I leave D.C.

lunch at the world bank

Kelly — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 01:50:24 +0000

Come with me on a tour of the World Bank’s cafeteria! If you aren’t familiar with the World Bank, it’s an international institution that loans money to developing countries to assist them with projects to fight poverty, improve health and wealth and stability.

If you mention The World Bank to most people in Washington, it’s likely that they will immediately mention the cafeteria. It’s legendary in D.C. circles. The main problem is that the World Bank, like many major buildings here, has heavy security. Because of this, you have to know someone who can “get you in.” As interns with the United Nations, we occasionally have to attend meetings in the building, so we were granted building passes a few weeks ago, which puts us in a special group of people who can access the fabulous cafeteria. What’s even better, our office is just a short jaunt from the place.

The day after finding that out, I was literally running down H Street towards the World Bank, so excited to see what waited. I had heard rumors of international food, fresh salads and wine. Could it be true?

After going through a screening and getting our photos taken for our security passes, we were finally inside!

I am in love with the typeface the World Bank uses.

The building houses some 6,000 employees at any time, plus those visiting on business…or just for lunch. From the outset it seems like a hospital cafeteria, but a little more futuristic. Also, the guy serving up lobster rolls at the entrance indicates there is something special inside.

You pick up a tray and real cutlery and head in. There are little booths selling all sorts of items, from a meatball bar (only on Fridays) to fresh salads, vegetarian African stews, an Asian noodle bar, a sushi bar, soups, wood fired pizza – and more. A protein grill has fresh cuts of salmon, chicken and steak ready to go when you decide what seasoning you want.

Fresh fruit, cheese and a variety of salads wait. (There was indeed wine at the tills if you wanted something to accompany your cheese platter.)

Another intern and I made a rookie mistake and beelined for the sushi. I mean, I was craving it, but it’s not the most value conscious item there. Especially when you can get a full three item Indian curry plate for $7, or a steaming bowl of pho for $6. But these sushi chefs were Japanese and the rolls were made to order. They also did chirashi bowls, nigiri sushi and sashimi.

This is the Indian bar, with fresh chutneys and naan. In addition to using real plates and cutlery as well as compostable take away containers, I read on another blog that they work their foods into leftovers, so these might have been made from yesterday’s salad bar.

Instead of packets of ketchup, there are dressing and seasoning bars featuring large communal bottles of Sriracha, soy, dressings and more. There are several recycle and compost bins near the tray drop off area. This IS the World Bank after all. Sustainability is one of their deals.

As you order, you will hear people order in other languages all around you – I heard French, Spanish, Mandarin and Japanese while I was there the other day. The servers switch back and forth as need be.

On top of it all, everything is fresh. These aqua frescas are made daily. Fresh grapefruit, orange and pomegranate are in coolers. The freshly squeezed juices go for $1.20-$1.85.

Dessert was varied, and although a little pricey, it was delicious. There’s even a serve-yourself frozen yogurt bar. The desserts and pastries change daily. There are theme days for the cafeteria as a whole – coming up on Halloween is Hawaiian days, and later in November a Mexican fiesta. The lobster rolls I mentioned at the top were just for that week because it’s the season here, apparently.

The dining area is huge – you can eat in the communal hall, near ancient doors from around the world mounted as art, standing at a bar, or on a bridge in the soaring atrium. Or back at your desk – every stand does food to go.

I got the eel roll (for some reason called the Vegas roll) with coconut agua fresca and carrot cake. It was really bang on.

A coworker got the African street food, and apple strudel. It was not as good as the carrot cake.

We took a stroll around after lunch, checking out the world flag wall and other interesting art and displays they have.

Lunching at the World Bank is going to be one of the many things I will miss about D.C. when I leave.