Pocky has got to be my favorite junk food. Who doesn’t like biscuit sticks dipped in chocolate? It’s a very simple concept that is delicious and addictive. Pocky is a Japanese snack food that I could find in Malaysia. Funny thing is because Pocky sounds like a swear word in Malay, they changed the named to Rocky. The word Pocky sounds like “cunt” in Malay. Hahaha…

Anyway, I have eaten both Rocky and Pocky and for some reason, Rocky tastes like cheap chocolates tainted with too much butter fat while Pocky is chocolate-er…hmm. There are many Pocky flavors but the most common ones I’ve had are chocolate and strawberry. Not a big fan of strawberry flavored snacks because they always tastes like liquid antibiotics. I am not a fan of any berry flavored products, actually. I prefer the fresh flavors of real strawberries and berries to the processed food.

So what if you favorite Japanese snacks of all time?

Check out this pocky ad.

All that melodrama for chocolate sticks. ROFL

After watching the movie Tampopo, I was inspired to make my very own ramen. I didn’t want any instant stuff, I wanted REAL ramen with rich, real broth made from slow simmering chicken bones (or pork bones if you like). The result was an excellent ramen that is both healthy, low in MSG and fulfilling.

You can use ANY toppings on you ramen but I julienne some meat and vegetables to make a medley that rounds off an otherwise plain bowl of noodles.

For my noodles, I used 1 cup of all purpose flour,1 teaspoon salt, 1 egg and 2 tbsp of water. Knead until the dough becomes tough and satiny smooth. This is perhap the most labourious of all throughout the recipe but you will be rewarded with bouncy noodles at the end if you do this. I kneaded my dough for 10-15 mins nonstop. Important: Let the dough rest for 30 minutes before rolling it out thinly. I just ran it through my pasta machine and then cut them with my finest pasta roller on the same machine. Douse a lot of flour on the freshly cut pasta so they don’t clump up together.

For my broth, I laboriously boiled four chicken carcasses with a head of garlic, 1 cup of bonito flakes and a knob of ginger for close to 3 hours. But first, parboil your chicken carcass for 5 minutes first – this is key to getting a very clear broth with no grayish froth while you are boiling your broth. After 3 hours, sieve the carcass garlic and bonito flakes out. This will be your broth base.

To cook and assemble, I heat up a large pot of water, salted, and wait until it boils. While waiting for the water to boil, I took 2 tbsp of miso paste and added it into the broth pot – I stir to dissolve the miso and then season with some soy sauce. The broth is now ready to be used.

To cook and assemble, I heat up a large pot of water, salted, and wait until it boils. While waiting for the water to boil, I took 2 tbsp of miso paste and added it into the broth pot – I stir to dissolve the miso and then season with some soy sauce. The broth is now ready to be used.

Now that the water is boiling I tossed in my fresh noodles. It takes only 2 minutes to cook, once they start floating on the surface you can take them out into a serving bowl. Ladle the hot broth onto your soup and garnish with your favorite ingredients. I made some julienne red peppers, green beans, green onions/scallions and vegetarian mock meat as my topping but feel free to use beef, pork, chicken or seafood.

But anyway, I had to ask – What’s your favorite instant ramen?

Mine’s this:

Japanese food is one of my favorites for a reason. Just check out the video and you’ll know why. If i were to list my favorite food, it would be like this:

1. Japanese
2. Italian
3. Indian

Keep in mind that I am Chinese and while I love Chinese food, I only like the ones that comes from my family :)

The sticky and gooey by nutritious food that is rich in protein and is originally Japanese. You can never find anything like natto anywhere else in the world. A big reason why is the way natto looks, very sticky and very gooey, not at all appetizing and a very pungent smell. But who are we to judge if we eat moldy cheese like Roquefort?

You can make your own natto in your own home. You just need a few simple ingredients and a very clean vessel for the process of fermentation of the soybeans.

Here’s a simple natto recipe you can try at home. You will need to purchase some dried rice straws, which you can find in any asian grocery stores.

For those of you who have seen Tampopo, do yourself a favor and watch it this week.

It is an old Japanese cult movie about food, specifically ramen and how to appreciate good ramen. The movie has a steady foodie cult following over the past years. Watching this movie makes me want to make my own ramen from scratch :)

Watch a clip here:

A great noodle recipe for hot summery days :)

Regardless of where you live, Japan or otherwise, this is a video that everyone should see.

Check out these links for references:

G8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G8

34th G8 Summit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_G8_summit

Hokkaido, Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokkaid%C5%8D

The Cost of Food: Facts and Figures
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7284196.stm

Food Prices on the Rise
http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2007/08/13/17/85-20070813-FOODPRICES.large.prod_affiliate.91.jpg

World Commodity Prices from 2000-2008
http://images.quickblogcast.com/43162-39414/foodprices2.jpg

Percent change in food prices from 2007 to 2008
http://www.deseretnews.com/photos/5395442a.jpg

The Rising Demand for Commodities
http://www.researchrecap.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/rising-demand.gif

Does Ethanol Deserve the Blame for Rising Food Prices?
http://seekingalpha.com/article/73420-does-ethanol-deserve-the-blame-for-rising-food-prices

Surface Air Temperature Increase 1960 to 2060
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NasaNews/ReleaseImages/20050111/01_class-pic.jpg

Income Spent on Food 2006
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/images/commentarynews/incomefood.jpg

The World’s Growing Food-Price Crisis
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1717572,00.html

Rich country leaders wrestle with shaky world economy
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g…

Bento boxes are the cutest and prettiest things to have around. It makes lunch time colorful and it definitely whets your appetite when you know you have a little ornamental box waiting for you with a bunch of goodies inside. I bought myself a nice bento box for work and every evening, I would fill it up and refrigerate my food for the next day.

The best thing about bento boxes is that it gives you portion control, which is definitely a health plus for those who are watching their weight or is just sick of the MSG and salt laden food out there.

And I found an awesome site where you can buy bento boxes and its accessories called Cooking Cute!

The site even gives you tips on how to pack your food into these lunch boxes as well as what food you should avoid :)

Check out this Bento Basics video by a girl I found on Youtube:

Have you ever eaten hamo? May it be cooked into a rich broth or barbequed, it is not food for the squeamish.

Hamo is essentially pike eel to the Western world. In Japan, hamo is a delicacy that is popular around the Kansai region, particularly Kyoto. To prepare hamo, you need a chef that is skilled at eels for the this slippery sea creature. Do not mistaken hamo for the common unagi, as hamo is smaller and slender and is prepared either broiled, deep-fried or in soups.

Do you have an eel recipe you would like to share?

I am sure you’ve had some very delicious Japanese food with Octopus? You can buy octupus pre-prepared and cooked in any Japanese store. However, preparing it yourself maybe a little daunting. Where do I make the incision is the most frequently asked question. This video has the answer to your Tako preparations :)

Please ignore that George Micheal background music, it’s ….inappropriate but god knows why they put it there. Otherwise the video is a helpful one :)