chilled peach and basil pasta

It's that time of the year again, where the thermometer just decides to not move from its place of 35˚ every single day. Where my usual motivation to cook and try new things evaporates in the heavy summer air. I know I should cook more, prepare more lunches, and try new recipes, but in this heat, I really can't gather the strength to get off the couch and meddlw with a hot stove. 

But finding this recipe on Just Hungry for a peach and basil pasta managed to peel me off the couch. Little time to prepare? Check. Also delicious cold or chilled? Check. Weird enough combination to satisfy my monthly weird-food quota? Check. 

Peaches and pasta don't really seem like they'd go well with pasta and olive oil, but I was pleasantly surprised. The fruitiness of the extra virgin olive oil  really complements the peaches, and the basil helps freshen it up to cut through the oiliness of the dish. It's not going to replace a good ice cream sandwich to beat the heat, but it's a nice refreshing change of pace.  When you can get off the couch.

what's in the box: thai basil pork bento

A newer apartment, bigger kitchen and (slightly) more expensive rent has meant I've become a bit more inspired than last year to take my own lunch to work here in Japan. As much as I enjoy the convenience of just ordering a bento like most other people at work, there's only so much grilled salted fish, miso soup, and cold vegetables I can tolerate every Wednesday.

So, with that in mind, I decided to suck it up and invest in my own bento box for lunches. And while I do enjoy cooking probably a bit more than the adequate amount, I don't think I'm quite ready to plunge of waking up early to prepare an array of side dishes every morning, let alone doing something like this.    As a compromise though, I figured I'd start with one-dish lunches, or just about anything that'll find in my fancy new double-tired bento box.

Not wanting to stray too far from the rice-lunch staple I've gotten used too here in Japan, I figured I'd start with tonight's leftovers to make a Thai-inspired Basil pork bento. 

is it possible to get sick of yum cha?

Hypothesis: It is physically impossible to get sick of Yum Cha (or Dim Sum, depending on the country you're from) in Hong Kong.

Method: Visit as many Yum Cha places as physically possible within a one week period, preferably daily. Include trips to Hong Kong's famed cheapest Michelin-starred restaurants, Tim Ho Wan, One Dim Sum, and Din Tai Fung (Notes for further research: a three syllable name is necessary in order to gain Hong Kong Michelin approval). In order to avoid extended waiting times for such popular restaurants, some of which are reported to be up to three hours long, participants visited the most popular restaurants soon after opening time on weekdays.

Upon visiting restaurants, participants were then instructed to fill in their checkbox forms to order their attain their required daily quota of shu mai, har gow and other such staples. Although trying to show restraint, participants ordered about 8-9 dishes between two people, and were subject to the judgemental gazes of patrons and restaurant staff.

excuse me for my absence. but could you wait a little while longer?

Okay, no excuses. I haven't blogged for a while, and it really shows. My ability to join words together to form eloquent and complete sentences has really.... um... gotten badder. Yeah, I know. That bad.

I could blame it on the change of job, and lack of money for a while. I could also blame my lack of blogging on the tiny excuse for a kitchen in my apartment here in Japan. Or, maybe I've just been lazy spending this last year (yikes... that was longer than I thought) thinking of excuses for why I haven't blogged.

Well this changes, NOW. Well, not 'now' exactly, since this post still doesn't make any mention of food. But with my recent move back above the poverty line, my purchase of my own bento box for lunches, and also with my upcoming culinary adventure to Hong Kong, I'm hoping to change all that.

I hope. Hopefully I'll find m food muse in Hong Kong to make me write about food again. Plus, feel more inspired to blog about attempting to make lunches from leftovers and cooking food in a tiny kitchen, and limited ingredients. Just give me another week. Promise. That's not too long, right?

on my plate: ikura sushi @ kaiten sushi, Osaka

Go on. I dare you not to look at this sushi and drool. While most people think tuna is the only way to go, I can't go past ikura each and every time. Little orange balls of bliss pop in your mouth and slowly ooze out salty creamy goodness that spreads throughout your mouth.

on my plate: akamaru tonkotsu ramen @ Ippudo, Osaka

While waiting in line at Ippudo in Osaka, my friend confronted me with a Sophie's choice dilemma last night: If I had to get rid of one food from my life, would I choose ramen or souvlaki?

Assuming that no more souvlaki in my life also meant none of its cousins, the schwarma or the kebab, I foolishly chose ramen. My justification at the time: There were way more noodle dishes that could maybe try and fill the void of ramen, whereas meats wrapped in flat bread with garlic sauce is a much more difficult thing to substitute for.

Hmmm, yeah, about that decision. I might have to reconsider that after waiting in line  for 20 minutes for Ippudo's akamaru ramen. I didn't think you could top tonkotsu ramen: the deliciously garlicky and creamy broth made from pork bones is unsurpassable, but then again, I had never tried it with the addition of miso paste and black garlic oil. I could even dedicate another post solely to the thick tender cuts of charsiu pork and - perfectly runny egg, but that may just have to wait another day.

on my plate: ama-ebi sushi @ Nipponichi, Osaka

It's a sign of being spoiled in Japan by cheap ¥100 a plate sushi when ¥130 a plate seems a little excessive. But unlike the cheap, sushi trains I've been visiting lately, this one was manned by actual sushi chefs, not just part timers.

And damn, was it worth the extra ¥30 yen. Freshly prepared fish that just melts in your mouth. While the chu-toro had me back for seconds, it was the creaminess of the ama-ebi, or sweet prawns, that made me glad I wasn't as tight with my purse strings as I've been lately.