Sep. 28th, 2014 07:14 pm
KodoGuru S4 Ep.9: Drama Notes
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earth_colorsEp. 9: "Mota Kuto (Mao Zedong) Spareribs and Black Fried Rice of Jingumae, Shibuya Ward"
Episode Synopsis.
Drama Notes:
Jingumae, Shibuya. It is primarily a commercial area with private residential areas. It is known for the famous locations, Harajuku and Omotesando. When visiting, you can also check out the surrounding areas: Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, NHK, Omotsando Hills, and Watari Museum of Contemporary Arts.
(info/pic: ja.wiki)
Takiyama. The mysterious Takiyama finally reveals himself in this Ep. 9 (portrayed by Murata Takehiro). In the manga, he only appeared in Chapter 6: "Shiumai of Tokyo Shinkansen Hikari No. 55". In this story, Goro is headed for a business trip to Osaka. Before riding the Shinkansen, he chats with Takiyama in a restaurant. Takiyama informs him of a tasty shiumai bento being sold in that station. So Goro follows his friend's advice and goes to buy Kiyoken's Jet Box Shiumai (self-heating, vacuum packed bento box).
(info: ja.wiki)
The Baseball Scene. This was based on the manga's Chapter 13: "Wiener Curry of Jingu Stadium, Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo". As faithfully told in this episode, Goro is watching a baseball game of his nephew, Futoshi, the son of his divorced elder sister (aside from his grandparents, this is the only personal info we get on Goro's relatives or family). It was hot so he took off his shirt and tie, following the example of the old man next to him. Above lower pic is Taniguchi Jiro's illustration of the wiener curry that Goro ate in the ball park.
(info: ja.wiki)
Baseball stadiums in the episode (with pix above from left to right):
Meiji Jingu Stadium. This is the stadium that Goro passed by and made him remember his nephew's game. This is also the stadium that was featured in the manga's Chapter 13. This stadium dates back to 1926, and even had Babe Ruth play here during the American baseball players tour of Japan in 1934.
Kawaguchi Municipal Stadium. This is the stadium where the baseball scene was shot, located in Kawaguchi City, Saitama. It hosts tournaments of Saitama-based high school baseball teams.
(info/pix: wiki, ja.wiki, igechan22)
Sichuan (Szechuan) Hotpot. If you're wondering what the "boiled person" that Goro read in the menu, it's the Sichuan-style hotpot called [一鍋紅艷 煮沸人間] which roughly translates to "colorful red pot, boiling world/person". The [人間] is read as "world" or "human", hence Goro's confusion (one JP blogger says it could mean "person" because once you eat the soup, you'll feel boiling hot lol). I've searched through Chinese websites for the origin of the name but there's not much (only advertisements for hotpot lol). But if you're curious, Shanway's Shichuan hotpot is pictured right above (taken by a blogger). Traditionally, there are two kinds of soup here: the non-spicy broth and the red spicy broth. To eat it is like shabu-shabu, you dip and cook ingredients like meats, fish, and vegetables in the soups, and then dip in condiments and eat, while sipping the broth (for more pix, look here). If the spicy red broth is too hot for you, you can mix it with the non-spicy broth in your bowl. If you want to try a simpler style at home, you can combine the two broth in one pot and adjust the spiciness, like this recipe here: chowhound.
(Info/pix: cookingschoolinchina, warabi0620cy)
Mitsuba [三つ葉]. The crunchy greens that Goro had while eating Steamed Chicken is an herb known as Cryptotaenia. The Japanese variety is called mitsuba, Japanese honeywort or wild parsley. In Japanese cooking, it's prepared boiled and served as a salad, and also added in soups, stews, and donburi as an ingredient and/or as a garnishing.
(info: wiki, ja.wiki) (pix: jjfma, kikkoman)
Longjing tea [龍井茶 ]. "Sometimes called by its literal translated name Dragon Well tea, is a variety of pan-roasted green tea from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China where it is produced mostly by hand and has been renowned for its high quality, earning the China Famous Tea title."
(info: wiki) (pic: yulongjing)
Hunan cuisine. The spare ribs in the episode was prepared Hunan-style. Hunan-style is one of the 8 cuisines of China (you can read the rest here). Acc. to travelchinaguide, "Hunan cuisine lays a stress on the use of oil, dense color, and techniques that produce crispness, softness and tenderness as well as the savory flavors and spices." Why is the spare ribs named after Chairman Mao? Mao Zedong (Muta Koto in Japanese) hails from Hunan and of course loves Hunan food and chilies and "even had peppers cooked into in his bread."
(info/pic: travelchinaguide, wiki, nytimes)
The so-called "Chinese tamari soy sauce". "Tamari" is a type of sauce made from the byproduct from fermenting miso, and marketed as "soy sauce" (though technically, it's different). A true tamari is richer, thicker, darker and wheat-free compared to the usual types of soy sauce.
Anyway, the Chinese soy sauce mentioned in this episode is NOT really a tamari (only called that way because it is dark and thick). This dark, rich, concentrated soy sauce has wheat. In Chinese, it's called "lǎo chōu" [老抽]. One example is this Chinese brand of "Superior Dark Soy Sauce" (pic above) which is thick, rich, and sweet, and has sugar and wheat flour.
(info: eatlifewhole, jp.wiki, misomaster, zh.wiki) (pic: sunwahfood)
Other foods and beverage mentioned in the episode (with pix above from left to right):
Teppan nabe [鉄板鍋]. Hotpot cooked in a very shallow iron pan or wok. (pic: cuisinivity)
Fuka hire sugatani [ふかひれ姿煮]. Shark fin sugitani. "Sugitani" is seafood is prepared/cooked in a way that preserves its original shape (remember the pic of the boiled whole octopus in Drama Notes Ep. 5?). (pic: r.gnavi)
Ichibo [いちぼ]. According to matsususaka-projects, ichibo beef is meat "found at the upper part of the round and has a moderate amount of fat in it because it is developed via a great amount of exercises. This lean meat is among the finest and very popular due to its rare nature."
(info: matsusaka-projects, beef168) (pic: happyisland.jp)
Kame-dashi shoukou-shu [かめ出し紹興酒]. Shiaoxing wine was already mentioned in Drama Notes Season 3 Ep2. For additional info, Shiaoxingju (rice wine, "shoukou-shu" in Japanese) is "produced, using techniques that are centuries old, in the area around the city of Shaoxing, inland from Ningbo." Traditional way is to dispense the wine directly in traditional ceramic vats called "kame-dashi" in Japanese.
(info: japantimes) (pic: hito-sara)
Kuro Chahan [黒炒飯]. Black fried rice using dark, thick Chinese soy sauce (Shanway pic from buzzplus above).
[I actually tried something like this today. Since I don't have the brand of Chinese soy sauce mentioned above, I settled for the Indonesian kecap manis (which I was planning to use for an Indonesian-style cuisine that never transpired lol, and ended up using as a condiment for whatever). Kecap manis has the same basic ingredients as the Chinese lǎo chōu: soy beans, sugar, wheat (but has added seasonings), and has a dark, sweet, thick texture as well. I only used a few amount, and the fried rice already turned real dark. It tasted great, too. And since it's sweet, it goes well with a dish that's salty or spicy or both. ^^ ~ec]
For the recipe of the fried rice in this episode (it's relatively easy), here's a modified translation of the recipe from cookpad's ファベルジェの卵 (Faberge Egg):
Steps:
1) Heat the wok, and once smoke comes out, pour oil on the heated wok, and let it coat evenly all over the surface of the wok. Remove excess oil, and add the lard and let it dissolve.
2) Make a scrambled egg next. To make one scrambled egg look larger in volume, divide the egg in 3 parts, and add one at a time in the wok as you fry it [spreading it all over the wok will help, too ~ec]. Once mixed, add the cooked rice and fry it (Again, make use most of your wok's hot surface, spread the rice, and press with a flat spatula, and toss [like this ^^ ~ec].
3) Next, add onions, the ingredients of your choice, salt, pepper, and dark soy sauce (plus your choice of seasonings and peppers). Continue frying. (The amount of soy sauce is adjusted according to the taste).
4) Keeping tossing until done. Serve hot.
Notes from ファベルジェの卵:
"You can try different Chinese soy sauces for experimentation. If using the sweet dark soy sauce, adjust and add little by little; be careful putting large amounts, it may become too sweet!"
Episode Index: (link)
Episode Synopsis.
Goro goes to Shinjuku to meet with Takiyama (Murata Takehiro), his friend and business associate. Arriving late at their meeting place, a cafe near Gaienmae, the enigmatic Takiyama apparently has a sweet-tooth. He orders fruit-topped pancakes and cola before giving Goro some prospective job requests. After that, while walking around Jingu Stadium, Goro suddenly remembers one hot day when he went to a baseball stadium to cheer for his nephew Futoshi who is a pitcher for his high school baseball team. The memory as well as what he ate at that time prompt Goro to look for a place to eat. Wanting to try something hot, he chooses a restaurant called "Shanway". It offers Chinese home cooking and Teppan dishes. Curious to see what Chinese teppan is all about, he gets inside, to be met with mild-mannered shop owner (Moro Morooka)...
Drama Notes:
 Featured Eatery: SHANWAY [シャンウェイ] Address: Tokyo, Shinjuku Ward, Jingumae 3-7-5 Daitetsu Bldg. 2F Tel. No. 03-3475-3425 How to get there: 5 min walk from Gaienmae Station via Ginza Line More pix: tabelog, official site, mono-log, buzzplus, (map) | ......... |  Featured Cafe: KAUKAU CAFE [カウカウカフェ] Address: Tokyo, Shinjuku Ward, Kasumigaoka-cho 7-1 Nippon Seinenkan 1F Tel. No. 03-6804-3715 How to get there: 1) 9 min walk from JR Sendagaya Station & Shinanomachi Station 2) 7 min walk from Gaienmae Station via Ginza Line 3) 7 min walk from the National Stadium Station via Toei Oedo Line More pix: tabelog, official site, tcspanckae (map) |
Jingumae, Shibuya. It is primarily a commercial area with private residential areas. It is known for the famous locations, Harajuku and Omotesando. When visiting, you can also check out the surrounding areas: Meiji Shrine, Yoyogi Park, NHK, Omotsando Hills, and Watari Museum of Contemporary Arts.
(info/pic: ja.wiki)
Takiyama. The mysterious Takiyama finally reveals himself in this Ep. 9 (portrayed by Murata Takehiro). In the manga, he only appeared in Chapter 6: "Shiumai of Tokyo Shinkansen Hikari No. 55". In this story, Goro is headed for a business trip to Osaka. Before riding the Shinkansen, he chats with Takiyama in a restaurant. Takiyama informs him of a tasty shiumai bento being sold in that station. So Goro follows his friend's advice and goes to buy Kiyoken's Jet Box Shiumai (self-heating, vacuum packed bento box).
(info: ja.wiki)
The Baseball Scene. This was based on the manga's Chapter 13: "Wiener Curry of Jingu Stadium, Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo". As faithfully told in this episode, Goro is watching a baseball game of his nephew, Futoshi, the son of his divorced elder sister (aside from his grandparents, this is the only personal info we get on Goro's relatives or family). It was hot so he took off his shirt and tie, following the example of the old man next to him. Above lower pic is Taniguchi Jiro's illustration of the wiener curry that Goro ate in the ball park.
(info: ja.wiki)
Baseball stadiums in the episode (with pix above from left to right):
Meiji Jingu Stadium. This is the stadium that Goro passed by and made him remember his nephew's game. This is also the stadium that was featured in the manga's Chapter 13. This stadium dates back to 1926, and even had Babe Ruth play here during the American baseball players tour of Japan in 1934.
Kawaguchi Municipal Stadium. This is the stadium where the baseball scene was shot, located in Kawaguchi City, Saitama. It hosts tournaments of Saitama-based high school baseball teams.
(info/pix: wiki, ja.wiki, igechan22)
Sichuan (Szechuan) Hotpot. If you're wondering what the "boiled person" that Goro read in the menu, it's the Sichuan-style hotpot called [一鍋紅艷 煮沸人間] which roughly translates to "colorful red pot, boiling world/person". The [人間] is read as "world" or "human", hence Goro's confusion (one JP blogger says it could mean "person" because once you eat the soup, you'll feel boiling hot lol). I've searched through Chinese websites for the origin of the name but there's not much (only advertisements for hotpot lol). But if you're curious, Shanway's Shichuan hotpot is pictured right above (taken by a blogger). Traditionally, there are two kinds of soup here: the non-spicy broth and the red spicy broth. To eat it is like shabu-shabu, you dip and cook ingredients like meats, fish, and vegetables in the soups, and then dip in condiments and eat, while sipping the broth (for more pix, look here). If the spicy red broth is too hot for you, you can mix it with the non-spicy broth in your bowl. If you want to try a simpler style at home, you can combine the two broth in one pot and adjust the spiciness, like this recipe here: chowhound.
(Info/pix: cookingschoolinchina, warabi0620cy)
Mitsuba [三つ葉]. The crunchy greens that Goro had while eating Steamed Chicken is an herb known as Cryptotaenia. The Japanese variety is called mitsuba, Japanese honeywort or wild parsley. In Japanese cooking, it's prepared boiled and served as a salad, and also added in soups, stews, and donburi as an ingredient and/or as a garnishing.
(info: wiki, ja.wiki) (pix: jjfma, kikkoman)
Longjing tea [龍井茶 ]. "Sometimes called by its literal translated name Dragon Well tea, is a variety of pan-roasted green tea from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China where it is produced mostly by hand and has been renowned for its high quality, earning the China Famous Tea title."
(info: wiki) (pic: yulongjing)
Hunan cuisine. The spare ribs in the episode was prepared Hunan-style. Hunan-style is one of the 8 cuisines of China (you can read the rest here). Acc. to travelchinaguide, "Hunan cuisine lays a stress on the use of oil, dense color, and techniques that produce crispness, softness and tenderness as well as the savory flavors and spices." Why is the spare ribs named after Chairman Mao? Mao Zedong (Muta Koto in Japanese) hails from Hunan and of course loves Hunan food and chilies and "even had peppers cooked into in his bread."
(info/pic: travelchinaguide, wiki, nytimes)
The so-called "Chinese tamari soy sauce". "Tamari" is a type of sauce made from the byproduct from fermenting miso, and marketed as "soy sauce" (though technically, it's different). A true tamari is richer, thicker, darker and wheat-free compared to the usual types of soy sauce.
Anyway, the Chinese soy sauce mentioned in this episode is NOT really a tamari (only called that way because it is dark and thick). This dark, rich, concentrated soy sauce has wheat. In Chinese, it's called "lǎo chōu" [老抽]. One example is this Chinese brand of "Superior Dark Soy Sauce" (pic above) which is thick, rich, and sweet, and has sugar and wheat flour.
(info: eatlifewhole, jp.wiki, misomaster, zh.wiki) (pic: sunwahfood)
Other foods and beverage mentioned in the episode (with pix above from left to right):
Teppan nabe [鉄板鍋]. Hotpot cooked in a very shallow iron pan or wok. (pic: cuisinivity)
Fuka hire sugatani [ふかひれ姿煮]. Shark fin sugitani. "Sugitani" is seafood is prepared/cooked in a way that preserves its original shape (remember the pic of the boiled whole octopus in Drama Notes Ep. 5?). (pic: r.gnavi)
Ichibo [いちぼ]. According to matsususaka-projects, ichibo beef is meat "found at the upper part of the round and has a moderate amount of fat in it because it is developed via a great amount of exercises. This lean meat is among the finest and very popular due to its rare nature."
(info: matsusaka-projects, beef168) (pic: happyisland.jp)
Kame-dashi shoukou-shu [かめ出し紹興酒]. Shiaoxing wine was already mentioned in Drama Notes Season 3 Ep2. For additional info, Shiaoxingju (rice wine, "shoukou-shu" in Japanese) is "produced, using techniques that are centuries old, in the area around the city of Shaoxing, inland from Ningbo." Traditional way is to dispense the wine directly in traditional ceramic vats called "kame-dashi" in Japanese.
(info: japantimes) (pic: hito-sara)
Kuro Chahan [黒炒飯]. Black fried rice using dark, thick Chinese soy sauce (Shanway pic from buzzplus above).
[I actually tried something like this today. Since I don't have the brand of Chinese soy sauce mentioned above, I settled for the Indonesian kecap manis (which I was planning to use for an Indonesian-style cuisine that never transpired lol, and ended up using as a condiment for whatever). Kecap manis has the same basic ingredients as the Chinese lǎo chōu: soy beans, sugar, wheat (but has added seasonings), and has a dark, sweet, thick texture as well. I only used a few amount, and the fried rice already turned real dark. It tasted great, too. And since it's sweet, it goes well with a dish that's salty or spicy or both. ^^ ~ec]
For the recipe of the fried rice in this episode (it's relatively easy), here's a modified translation of the recipe from cookpad's ファベルジェの卵 (Faberge Egg):
"Black fried rice appeared in Kodoku No Gurume.
Because it's fried rice that's sweet, many may become addicted."
Ingredients:
Ingredients:
Cooked rice - 250g
Egg - 1
Green onion (sliced) - appropriate amount
Ingredients of your choice (Roast pork, boiled fish paste, and vegetables) - moderate amount
Lard (Optional: sesame oil, salad oil) - 2 Tbs. (approximately)
Salad oil (for coating your wok) - moderate amount
Dash of salt and white pepper
Lǎo chōu (Chinese dark soy sauce) - 1 Tbsp (or according to your liking)
☆ Please add your preferred umami seasonings, and chopped
peppers (bell peppers or chili peppers) - according to your liking.
peppers (bell peppers or chili peppers) - according to your liking.
Steps:
1) Heat the wok, and once smoke comes out, pour oil on the heated wok, and let it coat evenly all over the surface of the wok. Remove excess oil, and add the lard and let it dissolve.
2) Make a scrambled egg next. To make one scrambled egg look larger in volume, divide the egg in 3 parts, and add one at a time in the wok as you fry it [spreading it all over the wok will help, too ~ec]. Once mixed, add the cooked rice and fry it (Again, make use most of your wok's hot surface, spread the rice, and press with a flat spatula, and toss [like this ^^ ~ec].
3) Next, add onions, the ingredients of your choice, salt, pepper, and dark soy sauce (plus your choice of seasonings and peppers). Continue frying. (The amount of soy sauce is adjusted according to the taste).
4) Keeping tossing until done. Serve hot.
Notes from ファベルジェの卵:
"You can try different Chinese soy sauces for experimentation. If using the sweet dark soy sauce, adjust and add little by little; be careful putting large amounts, it may become too sweet!"
Episode Index: (link)
