May 2010


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Real Convenience at a Convenience Store

Before our train ride from Tokyo to Osaka, 80 and I went to am pm (convenience store) to stock up on some snacks. I bought this, thinking it was a hard boiled egg, but also slightly hoping it was gushy in the middle, a la the picture.

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So after I ate my little rice triangle thing (also bought at am pm), which is sticky rice, formed into a triangle, topped with a cooked piece of salmon and tied together with seaweed, I pulled out my egg. It was rock hard and I was scared. I didn’t want raw egg to get everywhere so I placed it back into its package, waiting to explore it in a safer environment.

It made sense that it was a raw egg. Lots of places in Japan serve hot rice dishes with a raw egg on the side. The customer cracks it into the rice and the heat from the grains melts the egg, leaving a moist coating over the egg and its toppings (usually thinly sliced beef.)

I was pisted I didn’t buy the accompanying rice bowl to properly use the egg.

The egg stayed in our mini-fridge until our train ride back to Tokyo station, to connect to the train to the airport, to connect to the flight to Seoul. Right before we left I brought the egg to the bathroom sink.

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in Eggs / Food Travel 2 comments
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The Louder the Better

“Put down your plate,” my Aunt Lorrie whispers through laughter. She had taken me—and me alone, not my brother and my sister—to IHOP. I forget why I was singled out, but I felt special.

This was during the early years of my decade-long pancake obsession (from about age 6-16) and after the last of the pancake was in me, I slanted the plate toward my face and started to lick the remaining syrup.

This was clearly not appropriate in a Southern Jersey restaurant. Okay, no jokes. In any US restaurant. We just don’t show that sort of oneness with our food.

It’s probably from our stuffy British ancestors. But in America we have certain stoic standards of eating. Plates and bowls are kept on the table. No noises should utter from our mouths, except maybe a soft mmmm.

Being a dramatic type, I will show my appreciation through an extended closing of the eyes so that I may tune out the rest of the table to fully concentrate on the bite within me. I may utter a slightly-louder-than-normal mmmm. But that’s all. That’s all we do to communicate deliciousness. Well, and tip. But that’s another story.

Meanwhile, in Japan they’ve realized eating is a full-body sport. Chopsticks become an extension of the hand in a way that sharp metal objects cannot. It is fully expected that when eating one will bring a bowl of rice or noodles up to her face. Shoveling in rice. Slurping up noodle soup.

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in Eggs / Food Travel / Veggie 3 comments
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Feed Us Back: Comments of the Week

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– Thanks to everyone who has added to our list of 100 Things to Do with a Banana — keep those banana links coming — think we can get to 1,000?

PS – Now that we’ve got bacon, eggs and bananas, what other 100 Ways would you like to see on ES?

– Not quite 100, but some of you checked in with great ways to use up that spring bounty of asparagus. Maids:

I love asparagus in olive oil and salt with a dash of pepper flakes. Simple and delicious.

Jens:

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in Eggs / Veggie 2 comments
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ES Local: What’s Eating DC

Our weekly local roundup of the best eating and drinking events going down in Washington, DC

Event of the Week: Head over to the 930 Club for the Soundbites – Music*Food*Change event on Sunday night, an evening of song, food and a chance to feel good for donating to the D.C. Central Kitchen.
View ES Local: What’s Eating DC in a larger map

Remember, you can check out the constantly updated map any day of the week.

If you represent a restaurant or bar and wish to have your event listed on the ES Local: What’s Eating DC map, please write to me at britannia(at)endlesssimmer(dot)com

in Restaurants 2 comments
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Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Life is Tweet for Rick Bayless

rick bayless tweeting

The latest and greatest news about celebrity chefs, served up buffet style.

– Funny, but if I was Tweeting when I should be busy doing my job, I’d be fired, not profiled by the Associated Press.  But then again I’m not Rick Bayless, and I’m not cooking for world leaders.

– All of a sudden, Rocco DiSpirito doesn’t seem like such a giant asshole!  At least he hasn’t tried to hire a homeless guy to kill his wife.

After the jump…go to school without putting on your pants, meet someone who watches more food TV than me and find out why Paula Deen is going to kill your kids.

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in Celebs / TV 0 comments
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Strawberries + Wontons = Ceviche, Obviously

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Our friends over at Foodie Fights have launched their third season, a series of weekly virtual cook-offs in which a group of bloggers are assigned two ingredients and told to report back with something delicious. FF asked me to serve as a judge for the third challenge, in which blog-testants had to cook with strawberries and wonton wrappers. While the crowds loved transplant’s Wonton Tartlets with Mascarpone Cheese, Strawberries and Balsamic Reduction, I had to hand the win to Pickles and Kumquats for their Ceviche with Strawberry Salsa and Wonton Chips, because really, how the hell do you think to make ceviche from these ingredients? I know, I’m a sucker for craziness. If you think you could do better, today’s the day to sign up for Foodie Fights Battle 4: Shallots and Apricots. I’m thinking ice cream. You?

in Fish 2 comments
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