Nameko's Adventures in Shichinohe

After enjoying cherry blossom viewing in Hirosaki and Towada, Nameko decided to check out the Tennou Azalea Festival (天王つつじまつり) at the Tennou Jinja (Shrine) in Shichinohe on May 3rd.

Of course no trip to Shichinohe would be complete without a visit to Namiki Gelato, so Nameko started off his adventures in Shichinohe with a black sesame and houji-cha double cone!

Since it was a nice day, Nameko went outside to enjoy his gelato. After finishing his cone, he admired some of the many cow statues and tractors on display outside, as well as the lovely field of canola flowers. Some people were even taking (free) tractor rides through the fields.

 

 

 After Namiki, it was onto the main event, the Tennou Azalea Festival!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nameko thoroughly enjoyed his day out in Shichinohe!

Links:
Namiki Gelato (Japanese): http://www.namiki-gelato.com

NOT Cool Japan

This is an article that caught my eye when I happened to look over my husband's shoulder as he was reading the local newspaper, TooNippo (東奥日報) on May 5th, 2015.

It's about American Republican Party Presidential candidates, Dr. Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina.

What caught my eye, though, was not the content of the article, but the title, which basically starts with (reading from right to left): "WOMAN Ms. Fiorino, BLACK PERSON Mr. Carson"

Seriously?!

I am by no means a zealot for political correctness, but I feel like the presentation of the article essentially reduced Ms. Fiorino and Mr. Carson to just the most basic of their physical characteristics.

NOT cool, Japan, not cool.

Nameko's Gudetama x Dohtonbori Cooking Adventures

On Tuesday, April 28, 2015 Nameko went to Dohtonbori, an okonomiyaki* chain restaurant because he heard that it currently has a special Gudetama collaboration campaign going on that allows you to make a dish with a "real" Gudetama. (As mentioned in an earlier post, Gudetama is one of Sanrio's newer characters, a lazy egg!)

 

But before diving into Nameko's adventures, some information about the Gudetama x Dohtonbori Collaboration Campaign!

There are 4 different sets to choose from:

A) Gudetama Tororo Pack Okonomiyaki
    ぐでたまのとろろパックお好み焼き, Gudetama grated nagaimo pack okonomiyaki

B)Gudetama no Scramble Egg Ofuton-nose Monjayaki
     ぐでたまのスクランブルエッグお布団のせもんじゃ焼き, Gudetama scrambled egg monjayaki with a blanket (bacon!) on top

C) Gudetama no Shigarami ga Ooi Kamatama-fuu Yaki-Udon
    ぐでたまのしがらみが多い釜玉風焼きうどん, Gudetama All-Tangled Up Kamatama**-Style Grilled Udon

D) Gudetama no Gyuu-Suji Gohan
    ぐでたまの牛スジごはん, Gudetama Beef Tendon Rice

(Food Terminology
*okonomiyaki = a kind of Japanese pancake/pizza made with a special batter, cabbage, egg, and a variety of different toppings; you often grill it yourself on a hot plate, although some places may make it for you; the name literally means "grilled as you like"
 **kamatama = kamatama udon is a type of udon where a raw egg is added to the hot, cooked udon)
 
Each set is 1200yen (1296yen with tax) and comes with a free Gudetama mini towel (3 different designs; selection is blind and random) and choice of one of: soft drink drink bar; medium-sized stein of beer; or vanilla ice cream. Purchase 2 sets to get a free original Dohtonbori x Gudetama tote bag!

The campaign is on from April 14-June 14, 2015. More details can be found at the Dohtonbori campaign website (Japanese only) here: http://www.dohtonbori.co.jp/gudetama/

And now onto Nameko's adventures!

Since Nameko had to get the tote bag (he's a sucker for advertising and campaigns like this), he ordered two sets, Set A (okonomiyaki) and C (Udon).

He was a little disappointed that both towels turned out to have the same design, but he was consoled by the fact that he got two of his favourite of the three designs. (Always looking on the bright side, is Nameko!)

The okonomiyaki came soon after the towels and tote bag. 

First he greased up the cooking surface and started cooking the mochi.

With the mochi cooking on the grill, he mixed up all of the ingredients in the big white bowl well and then poured it on top of the mochi, making it into a roughly plate-sized circle.

 

He then let it cook for five minutes before flipping (the store conveniently even provides a timer).

After another five minutes, he flipped it again and let it cook for a final five minutes (15min total cooking time). Once it was done cooking, he transferred it to a plate and applied a generous amount of sauce to one side. (If left on the grill, the okonomiyaki would be too hot and the egg might cook, or the sticker used for Gudetama's face might melt.)

 

After the sauce, he poured the tororo (nagaimo yam paste) onto the okonomiyaki, leaving/making a space for the egg to be added on.

He sprinkled on some nori seaweed flakes.

Using the provided spoon, he scooped just the egg yolk from the bowl and gently placed it in the center of the tororo.

Finally, he placed the Gudetama face edible sticker onto the egg yolk to complete the dish!

(Word of caution! Make sure to keep the sticker well away from the grill as it is very delicate and weak against heat. There is a white tab that you are supposed to use to remove the sticker from the backing, but it tore off (probably because the sticker was left a bit too close to the grill) and it was quite difficult to peel the sticker off of the backing without it!)

While the okonomiyaki was cooking, the udon also came, so instead of eating the okonomiyaki right away, Nameko decided to wait and cook the udon first.

The udon was simpler and quicker to cook than the okonomiyaki. First he cooked the mentaiko (spicy cod roe) on the grill, using the spatulas to cut/break it up into small pieces.

 

Once the mentaiko was heated through, he dumped the remaining contents of the big black bowl on top, add the water (in the silver kettle) and mentsuyu noodle sauce (in the little black pitcher), mixed it all up and let cook, stirring occasionally. (Nameko decided to add the water little by little, and added the mentsuyu last.)

 

 

 

 

(Here Nameko was wondering how long it would be until he could eat...)

Once the udon was cooked, he transferred it all back into the big black bowl.

 

Before adding the egg, he had to wait for the noodles to cool (so the egg wouldn't get cooked by the hot noodles), so he decided to dig into the okonomiyaki--and it was farewell Gudetama!

 

 

It looked kind of messy, but was really delicious!

After eating the okonomiyaki, the noodles had cooled to add the yolk to the noodles. And of course Gudetama's face was added at the end.

 

 

 

Sadly this Gudetama, unlike the okonomiyaki, lived a very short life and was mixed into the noodles pretty much right after the above photo was taken.

Since it seemed like a waste to just throw the egg whites out, Nameko threw the egg whites onto the grill to make a fried egg white to add to the udon. Delicious!

And that was the end of Gudetama...

But not the end of Nameko's cooking adventures! Amazingly enough, he was still hungry after the okonomiyaki and udon, so he decided to order another seasonal okonomiyaki: Midori no Gyuu-Suji Kabuki Dama (緑の牛スジ歌舞伎玉, literally, green beef tendon kabuki egg?!). (Cost: 950yen, 1026yen with tax.)

It wasn't just the basil sauce that was green, either; the batter itself was green! The staff member who
brought the okonomiyaki kindly explained that the batter was green because it had matcha in it. Anyway, Nameko had it all mixed up and cooking on the grill in no time.

 

As with the Gudetama okonomiyaki, he let it cook for 5 minutes before flipping it.

 

Let it cook for 5 minutes and then flipped it again.

 Then let it cook for a final five minutes before he added the sauce.

 

 

It was a bit overly salty, but otherwise delicious--both with and without mayonnaise (as recommended by a staff member).

But that wasn't the end of Nameko's gluttony! Since Nameko's owner had celebrated her birthday less than a week before, upon showing proof of her birth date, she was able to receive a free birthday dessert!

All in all a great cooking adventure for Nameko!