Chicken soup porridge

for Japanese people, porridge is the thing to have when you get a cold.  

Not necessarily so in the States though, there's the age old trick called "chicken noodle soup"...

In my opinion - not the same!

But, I do like chicken soup and slow cooked food in general, so I made a soup by boiling chicken back bone, ginger and any vegetable I can find in the fridge (onion, carrots, string beans in this case) and cooked it for a good 2 hours....

The result is a beautiful golden soup!

It's creamy, with an almost silky feel to it.

So I decided to go the middle ground of my usual katsuo-dashi porridge and chicken noodle soup...

tah dah~~! chicken based porridge!

I have a cold with throat irritation so the ginger is just heavenly :)

I think I'm going to have this till I get better.......

I think spring is here.....

after work yesterday, I went outside the freezing office building, and guess what, it was warm!

FINALLY!!!!

The obvious thing to do on a day like this (especially early before happy hour ends!) is to go to Enid's in Williamsburg and grab the outdoor seating, so good job to me for managing to do that!

I was waiting for my friend to come, when the girl waiting at the other table for her friend asked me to watch her jacket while she stepped inside to the bar to get a beer.

I agreed to do so and thought to myself "how Japanese of her to trust me with this..." and took a picture (she was a hipster american girl). 

Enid's has Taco Tuesday!

It's 2 huge fish tacos plus a shot of tequila or a can of Tecate for $10.

If you are one always looking for ways to immerse your self in cilantro coma, try it!

Even if you are just looking for good fish taco with actual fried fish in it, you will not be dissapointed.

Everything tastes better if you have it in beautiful weather outdoors!

I wish spring lasts forever!

Thank you for the Natto reports!!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE NATTO REPORTS!!!!

My Natto recipe, has received reports from 100 cookpad users.  Getting to the 100 mark has always been a goal for me.  I am truely honored and humbled by the fact that so many people took the time and effort to make this Natto dish.

I want to thank everyone, EVERYONE on my list but theres a hundred lol

Let me give a big hug to my friend chakomako though since she was the 100th reporter.  We are going out for a drink my dear!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

有難う御座います！！！大感謝です！！！

theee cold (cough cough)

I have a cold.

A very minor detail considering what's going on in my home country of Japan, true.

Timing wise, this is the worst that could be for me, for my personal life and work wise, and with the catastrophe that is this continuous triple punch of unheard levels of disasters taking place, even now, in Japan. 

I can't sit around with a cold, I'm busy enough with fund raisers...

So I made Tamago-sake.

It's Sake, sugar and egg yolk warmed...heavenly!!!

Very good.  Much impressed.

  Next up I made this thing where I basically pickled a Daikon radish in honey and ginger...

Wow! so good!!

When I get a cold, it usually starts with a runny nose, then a painful throat that leads to a fever, by which time I am done done, knocked, out.

This morning, I had a sore throat...which spells DANGER!!

I tried everything, ate Umeboshi, Ginger, Honey, Lemon, all separate, all combined, hot and cold, liquid or porridge style, evverything!

It didnt work too well....so I got on the train for 30min to get a daikon from a Japanese store and made the above.

Satisfied! (insert sounds of angels and stuff here...)

I also got this lovely set of tsukudani from my ex-boss who traveled from Japan!

Yummmm

great with porridge!

Now, I just have to finish this up with a traditional double dose of NyQuil and knock myself out!

I'm so tired of waking up to horrible news...

My grandmother lives in Shinurayasu which is next to Toyko Disney Land, they are built upon filled grounds.

That, caused liquefaction which destroyed the water pipes.  

Let me put it this way, she hasn't had a shower since the earth quake.

She is lucky enough that a water supply truck comes around once in a while so she can wet her towel to wipe herself, but becus she's a WWII survivor, none of this phases her.

"The people in the north dont even get the water trucks".

Tough cookie that one! My grandma's hard core! She would laugh at me if she heard I had a cold and am eating and drinking all the stuff I can put my hands on....

Naruto Ramen

There has been a new addition to my neighborhood eating place; a Ramen place called Naruto Ramen!

Not necessarily too crazy about how it tastes, but I had Maboramen, and my friend had Tantan Ramen, both safe bets in my opinion.....

It's reasonable price wise, and having the location set so close is always an extra plus.

Will go again sometime!

Roberta's

I went to Roberta's today on the way back from a cute little design studio/gallery place in West Williamsburg.

When we walked around the neighborhood, Roberta's was right there and although that was not where my friend intended to go, I requested we just go in for a slice of pizza.....

This is becoming rather predictable of me..... but it was SO GOOD!!!!

Crust thin and chewy, fresh tomato sauce & fragrant basil, topped with never ending mozzarella cheeese~~~

The busy oven was visible to all in the dining hall.

Despite the intense heat, the oven is an adorable red.

They have rustic brunch, just the way the hipsters would like it.

Oh yea, its good too!

I would never notice this entrance leads to such an amazing place, but it does!

They have an outdoor eating space, which looked perfect for a day like today, which was (at least in my mind) the first day of spring in NY.

Outdoor brunch, here I come!!

Sundays are for endless Bloody Marys!

fist off, Sotto Voce is awesome.

They have endless Mimosa/Bloody Mary brunches for $15 (used to be $13 but hey, we all suffer for expensive eggs and what nots). 

The food is plain, just what you expect for a brunch, but it's just nice to be able to go to a neighborhood eating joint during the day and drink and chat forever with a good friend.

I am lucky that I have this restaurant & a friend who is funny/smart/can hold her liquor in such proximity to where I live♥