The old adage “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” definitely applies to any hot-blooded male.

Buta no kakuni or Japanese Braised Belly Pork literally keeps his heart pumping hard, his cholesterol levels high and testosterone levels low. But I believe Naoki can afford it every once in a while so long as he works it off at the gym. 8 hours of sprinting per serve, maybe?

Buta no kakuni is very similar in taste to the Chinese version of the same dish, except this one is simpler to cook and requires less ingredients. Usually I’d buy female pork belly ribs from Victoria Market, but I chanced on some really good selection at Coles over the weekend which happen to be boneless too. (Boneless is a plus for Naoki as he is too lazy to chew. I even have to pin-bone the ocean trout that we have for breakfast.)

At Coles, these pork belly strips were sold as “pork rashers”, gender unknown. Some Asian cooks believe female pork reek less than its male counterpart. I’m not sure about this theory but this method of braising kills off whatever gamey taste there is anyway so I don’t really care. I like the pork belly ribs at Victoria market because cooking meat on the bone always produces a better taste anyway.

Here’s a recipe good for 4 – 6 serves.

Ingredients

• 6 strips of belly pork (I believe I bought between 800 grams to 1kg)
• Sliced ginger, a small handful
• 2 cups of dashi stock*
• 5 tbps of white sugar
• 3 tbps of soy sauce
• 3 tbps of Japanese rice cooking wine
• 1 tbps of cooking oil, anything but olive
• Sprinkle of salt

Dashi stock can be prepared the hard way or the pain-free way. With the latter, all you need is Ajinomoto brand Hon Dashi, and some hot water. 2 cups of dashi stock means you add 2 teaspoon heaps of Hon Dashi to 2 cups of hot water.

Method

Pork from Coles are usually immaculately de-haired. Victoria market pork not so, I sometimes have to scrap off the fur with a multi-purpose knife. Cut the strips to around 15 to 20 cm pieces.

Clean and pat dry the meat and sprinkle a small amount of salt and rub in. Leave for 5 minutes.

I do not believe in Maldon simply because it is wasted on this recipe. If you have cash to burn, invest on a good cut of pork or a quality soy sauce.

Heat up some oil in a non-stick frying pan, ensure the pan is hot before throwing in the pork. Don’t let the oil smoke or that will burn the meat.

Sear the pork on all sides.

Searing is all you need to do, not cooking it thoroughly.

This is about the right done-ness.

While you are searing the pork, prepare the stock for braising. In another thick-based saucepan, boil half the portion of dashi stock, sugar, soy sauce, rice wine and ginger. When the pork is all seared, throw it in the already bubbling braising stock.

Pour in the remaining dashi stock such that it barely covers the meat.

Now, turn up the heat and reduce the fire to low when the stew starts to boil vigourously.

Now I am going to introduce a clever little kitchen gadget: a buta otoshibuta (or literally a pig lid). An otoshibuta is a Japanese drop-lid, used usually in Japanese cooking for simmering food to promote even heat distribution.

If your otoshi buta doesn't have a pig's face on it, it's too boring

My pig-faced drop-lid is made out of soft silicone and allows the steam to escape through the nostrils. You’d never risk burning your fingers because all you need is to stick a pair of chopsticks into the holes to lift the drop-lid. Ingenious!

You can get your hands on one at Rinkya Stores over the Internet, at MoMA store if you are in Manhatten, or at Tokyu Hands or Loft in Japan.

Having a cover of some sort really helps the simmering. You can also fashion a substitute drop-lid out of aluminium foil or baking paper. Cut a circle to fit your saucepan, then pierce around 3 to 5 small holes in the circle to allow the steam to escape.

Your little piggy will start to spew in a few moments. Do not panic as this is perfectly normal.

Let it simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes or braise till the the sauce is reduced by about half. A hint that the stew is ready when a thick layer of oil collects at the top of the gravy. Never let the sauce dry up completely. Pour in a little hot water if needed. After 30 minutes, do a quick check.

Remember: always lift your pig-faced lid with a pair of chopsticks if you want to appear classy.

It is unbecoming to handle the drop-lip with your bare fingers, let alone mention the risk of scalding.

This looks almost done but continue braising if you like the fat a little more gooey.

Buta no kakuni is heart attack on a plate, what with the high saturated animal fat and high sugar content. If it makes you feel any better, you can refrigerate the stew overnight, then scrap the solidified layer of fat off just before you are ready to reheat and serve. Keeping the stew overnight also benefits the taste. With the high fat and sugar content, this dish keeps well in the fridge for up to 5 days. Remove the ginger before serving. Cut the 15 to 20cm strips in 3 or 4 bite-sized chunks to serve.

Td-dah!

Buta no kakuni is best served piping hot with some of the gravy. You can choose to garnish the pork with lightly blanched green asparagus, or a sprinkle of sliced scallions. If it is of any consolation, green asparagus is low in calories, and contains no fat or cholesterol. That means it will cancel out the calories and heart-stopping saturated fats in the pork belly. Voila!

Some other variations can include braising the pork together with some hard-boiled eggs or fried tofu.

Don’t let your dish sit on the table un-eatened for too long or the fats in the gravy will start to solidify. It is not a pretty sight.

Japanese Braised Pork Belly goes well with steamed short grain rice or Chinese-style steamed buns.

Soon those abs will be gone.

Naoki is seen here picking at a new dish that I prepared tonight — green asparagus with miso sauce, topped with a poached egg. I will share that recipe with you soon.

Stussy gets a striking new look for summer, just in time before the mercury hits 30°C. What do you think?

Stussy's new 'do

She looked a little naked when she came home from the salon today. Although it’s not the typical ‘look’ for an English Cocker Spaniel, I like it when her hair is clipped short like this too. Also, it means I don’t have to work my Dyson so hard every weekend!

Stussy's old 'do

A curious little beer snack: This sliver of processed cheese is sandwiched between strips of desiccated cuttlefish — a very unlikely combination but surprisingly tasty.

Gotemba was one of the best things we discovered this trip. Like Brandsmart, only way, way cooler.

For Naoki, Gotemba was also a first for him. We didn’t know what to expect. Would it be tragic like Brandsmart with European rejects from 8 seasons ago?

The journey to Gotemba from Osaka was also one of the worst trip ever. First, a train from Shinsaibashi to Osaka, then the Shinkansen to another state. From there, 2 train changes to Gotemba station, and then a shuttle bus to the shops. That’s nearly 4 hours of travel including transit.

What would one do with 4 hours of time to kill on the train? We would have blogged if we got a carriage with a power outlet, but no. We ate and drank so much along the way.

This would also be the first time I discovered the wonderful world of bento boxes and cheap beer.

Naoki's lunch bento

Each of these prettily packaged lunch boxes cost no more than 1,000¥ and taste better than a stupid Subway anytime. The last Sub I had would have been 3 years ago and I doubt it has changed much. It’s difficult to fathom how takeaway food can be this good and cheap and healthier too.

Justin's lunch bento

What would normally be selling only at “premium” restaurants from AUD8.50, this Yebisu in a can cost me just 320¥.

After the statisfying bento lunch and fishy cheese snack, we both dozed off. Only moments later, we were woken by the hostess on the train pushing the food trolley down the aisle. It was going to be a long journey. Eating and drinking is the only way to kill time so we bought sweets and iced tea from the hostess.

Another train station later with 20 minutes to kill, we ordered a 300¥ bowl of ramen each. So tasty and cheap it puts our ubiquitous kiosk ‘meat’ pie to shame. Each bowl made to order.

Ramen in a soy-based broth, topped with chikuwa, vegetable tempura and sliced scallions

Finally, we arrived at Gotemba station. Just one more shuttle bus to the shops. With 15 minutes to spare and no food stalls in sight, I just toyed around a little with my camera.

This coffee and curry shop is now an exhibition space.

I found a series of quirky ‘smoking etiquette’ ads at the station, that I have previously chanced upon on the net just a month ago here and here.

5 hours later, with hands full of shopping and a lighter wallet, we were glad decent food isn’t going to cost us an arm. More train station bento boxes. This would be a pre-dinner snack to keep us going while we made a 3 hour trip to Naoki’s parents’ home in Saitama.

Naoki's dinner bento

Justin's dinner bento

Each bento, I learned, (usually) came with a history on the box. Mine claimed to be a menu designed more then a 100 years ago, by some monk. This monk had exquisite tastes.

Here I am 2kg later, at Tokyo Station, waiting to take this bullet train to Saitama to meet Naoki's parents.

In this new segment, we impose our musical tastes on you regardless of your opinions.

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone: “White Corolla”

Look out for the panda who tears its own arm off!
Animation by Julia Pott (Her blog here)

Cazwell feat. Jonny Makeup: “I Seen Beyoncé at Burger King”

Beyoncé: “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)”

Youtube doesn’t allow embedding so you’d have to watch it here. I’m guessing this is a directive from Sasha Fierce. Yawn…

Figurines: “Let’s Head Out”

Malou: “Wordplay”

Listen to the entire album by Malou, or try to track down the brilliant Justus Köhnche Remix of “Wordplay”.

Wild Beasts: “Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants”

I came across this track on Dabitch’s Adland post on the Wild Beasts and the mind-bending visual technique employed in this music promo, called the ‘Droste Effect‘. This video is directed by OneInThree, see more of their amazing work on their site. ”Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants” available in high res here. Googling for ‘Droste Effect’ later led me further down to this interesting post on the effect applied to product packaging.

Wild Beasts: “The Devil’s Crayon”

The vocals remind me so much of Andy Bell.

Utada Hikaru: “Travelling”

This last one is an old track that’s been playing in our heads. Naoki’s been humming to “Travelling” since the trip to Japan.

Torafugu

We ate fugu and lived to bring you this post!

On my last day in Osaka, I still haven’t had the chance to sample takoyaki, okonomiyaki or oden, some of the dishes unique to Osaka. Determined to try out at least one of these unique dishes, Naoki and I headed out to Dōtonbori.

With so many choices, we reasoned that we would forgo takoyaki, okonomiyaki and oden given these foods are also available in Melbourne, though probably nowhere close to the real thing. Through information gathered at a food guide booth on the street, we decided it was a toss up between crab stick or pufferfish. The choice was clear. We couldn’t care less about crabs, real or manufactured.

Even deciding on a fugu restaurant wasn’t easy given there were so many, which can be identified by huge fugu lanterns or models hanging outside of each of the restaurants. See more pictures of Dōtonbori here, I was advised to stop taking pictures at one point because we spotted some yakuza. Later after dinner, we would leave the restaurant to find a small crowd gathered around a yakuza lying side-down on the street, bleeding from his head. His companions were slapping his thighs in an attempt to keep him awake, presumably while others in the group sought for help. I looked around and saw some tourist types taking pictures of the commotion.

Customers tuck into the steaming bowls of noodles standing by the store counter.

Kinruyu Ramen store was featured in one of the Osaka landmark shots for Jetstar.

This 10-storey high Glico mascot is an icon of Osaka.

We settled on this banquet for 5,000¥ per person, which features torafugu sashimi, and cooking the pufferfish in a nabe.

Fugu ingredients for the nabe

Nestled amongst the Asian vegetables, enoki, shiitake, zucchini, tofu and shiratake are various body parts of the fugu. Lying on the topmost is the skin — which according to my, ahem, Wikipedia research — contains lethal amounts of tetrodotoxin. Below, the less toxic parts like ara, a bony section, and various fleshy parts.

The toxins play an important part in imparting a unique sensation upon tasting. Some chefs prepare the fish so there is a minute amount of poison in the meat, giving a prickling feeling and numbness on the tongue.

Condiments and dipping sauce

Every part of the fish will be dipped in a mixture of soy sauce, this orange purée and diced scallions, which we will soon discover why.

Fugu Sashimi

First on the menu is fugu sashimi, consisting of flesh and skin. I’m unsure of how to embrace the taste, but raw fugu flesh is pretty tasteless — almost like raw squid, though less fishy. Its skin is almost leathery like konnyaku, and tasteless too. I’m guessing that’s where the orange purée and scallions come into play.

I recall a slight tingling and numbing sensation, however I wasn’t sure if that was caused by the toxin, the acidic dipping sauce or the sheer delight from tasting fugu for the first time.

Fugu-chiri

Next up, we dropped the various ingredients into the dashi stock to cook through. First up is the ara, a bony part of the pufferfish. The waitress advised a cooking time of 3 minutes of each of the fugu parts.

Fugu ara

As the title of this blog post suggests, the texture of the cooked flesh of a fugu feels a lot like chicken, maybe more tender and succulent like a poussin or frog’s legs but tasteless.

Random fugu body part

Here is another body part, boneless, and more fish-like in texture. Of all the fish I’ve tasted, this body part reminds me of Orange Roughy.

Fugu so good we had to take a ciggie break.

For the first time in 2, maybe 3, years I’ve lit up another ciggie but this one stank so much I put it out halfway through. Now I remember I only used to smoke menthols.

The pièce de résistance of tonight’s banquet — shirako, or gonads of the pufferfish.

These glistening and quivering mounds of delights, even in its raw state, look unlike the other fleshy parts we had earlier consumed. I was hoping the taste would be otherworldly, and a little less chickeny for a change.

Again, my Wikipedia research tells me, the gonads contain lethal amounts of the toxins. Yummy!

According to our waitress, torafugu are asexual but that still didn’t answer my question of which sex organs are these little white parcels. I am no marine biologist but Wikipedia tells me ovaries.

Waitress advised 3 minutes of cooking for the gonads, rendering the gonads into a muddled mess in the simmering stock, which I could only scoop up with a spoon. Again into the soy sauce mix the gonads go.

On the first taste, fond childhood memories of boiled pig’s brains instantly flooded into my mind. I let the gunk swirl around my tongue a little to savour the taste before I swallowed. The texture was indeed like boiled brains, meaty but also distinctively fishy. The ovaries, those pinkish orange bits hanging off the rounds of scallops, could possibly be a close comparison in terms of taste.

Boiled pufferfish gonads definitely beat its flesh hands down in both the taste and texture departments, in my opinion. This would taste so good, whether on its own, or in the silly orange purée soy sauce mix, or even in caramelised soy sauce and sliced chilli padi.

I miss boiled pig’s brains so much, or perhaps it is my grandmother that I miss and haven’t seen for 2 years. She had prepared all of my meals when I lived at home. Brains are one of the dishes she’d prepare whenever she finds the time to fuss with tweezing the blood capillaries out of the brains.

Zōsui made from fugu-chiri

The final part of the meal is zōsui, or congee, made from the leftover fugu and dashi stock. We had not anticipated this part of the meal and had already finished most of the vegetables. Feeling quite full already, we went ahead eating the congee anyway.

This one tasted so, so good and so familiar — eggy, meaty, fishy, starchy and full of carbs, like a comfort food I would have when feeling ill or on afternoons of special festivals back home.

If left to your own devices, fugu zōsui is one of those dishes you would consume the entire pot of and then end up hating yourself for it. And that we did.

Zōsui

The banquet was definitely worth the 5,000¥. I’ll definitely do this again, but will make it a point to leave some room for the boiled gonads and zōsui.

The order of which the various parts of the pufferfish were served up is clearly well-planned. The sashimi naturally as the entrée for its taste is the most delicate; then comes the main course of the various fleshy parts simmered in stock; the climax of the banquet the boiled gonads; and finally, with the rich and complex-tasting zōsui as the perfect dénouement.

Merchandise at the fugu restaurant

Shinsaibashi-suji

Shinsaibashi is easy to navigate, a little like Melbourne, where the main department stores are in the intersection of the CBD, with smaller shops in the laneways.

Hotel Nikko sits next to the major intersection, facing Sogo and Daimaru. I love the architectural details on the ceilings and pillars of the Daimaru building, but couldn’t take any photographs in the building.

Daimaru, Shinsaibashi

Below, other shops on the main street of Shinsaibashi.

Younger brands, local stores and some twee boutiques sit in the laneways. I wandered off to Minami Horie and found some cool Danish and retro furniture stores, and A.P.C. Unfortunately A.P.C. was out of size 28.

Cyclists in Shinsaibashi ride all over the pedestrian malls, lanes and roads with seemingly disregard for traffic rules.

I wasn’t sure if I had to look out for cyclists when walking on the pedestrian lanes or was it the other way round. Like cyclists in Melbourne, perhaps worse, cyclists ride along the roads with the other vehicles, but at the stop light, they cross the street with the pedestrians too. Some even ride on, cutting through the pedestrians, defying the stop lights. Like this cyclist in the picture demonstrates, there are probably no formal rules for cyclists in Osaka – no helmets required; TXTing and talking on the mobile is OK too.

I wasn’t sure if I had to look out for cyclists when walking on the pedestrian lanes or was it the other way round. Like cyclists in Melbourne, perhaps worse, cyclists ride along the roads with the other vehicles, but at the stop light, they cross the street with the pedestrians too. Some even ride on, cutting through the pedestrians, defying the stop lights. Like this cyclist in the picture demonstrates, there are probably no formal rules for cyclists in Osaka – no helmets required; TXTing and talking on the mobile is OK too.

Away from the main streets are smaller, local stores and restaurants. Suji means laneway.

In the laneways are smaller local shops and and restaurants.

I am in love with the drugstores. I stocked up on lip balms, moisturisers and Chocola® BB.

Tokyu Hands is a haven for DIY enthusiasts and home-makers. I love this totally un-PC curry tiffin, which comes in 5 different skin tones. The 'face' is for curry, the 'middle turban' for rice, and the top container salad and other condiments.

Fun with Engrish

I'm KIVing the orange enamelled kettle from Tokyu Hands. This will be mine if I have enough space in my luggage by the time I reach Nagoya.

Osaka was not spared from the fuglyfying jaws of these Crocs. Tyler Brûlé will have a hissy fit when he sees that Tokyu Hands have Crocs displayed just next to the Monocle-approved Porter luggage.

OMG, see what I found - The Greatest Hits of Boys Town Gang!

Cute car in Shinsaibashi-suji

After wandering around the laneways deciding what to have for lunch, I settled on this restaurant that specialises in unagi. I ordered a 1,000¥ unagi set, that comes with miso soup and pickles, and a pint for 320¥!

Naoki

Before we set off separately for the afternoon, we had tea and cakes at the lobby lounge of Hotel Nikko

Naoki

Food presentation and decoration in Japan’s always fascinating.

Cake selection at the Hotel Nikko lobby

Coffee, tea or Naoki

Petit fours

I had tea and petit fours which consist of a berry tart, butter cake slice, soft meringue filled with creme and berry jam, dark chocolate truffle and a citrus sorbet.

Gateau aux figue

Naoki had siphon coffee, and a fig sponge cake slice.

Dude, I can see your junk.

We had so much to eat in a span of an hour – Japanese breakfast and now, tea and cakes.

A groggy Naoki

With only one full day in Osaka, we didn’t waste time sleeping in.

Naoki has to meet up with a client before noon, then a dental appointment after so I will have a few hours on my own.

Shinsaibashi

The concierge recommended Shinsaibashi Shokudo (Shinsaibashi Eatery) for breakfast. This restaurant specialises in home cooked-style dishes, and has been around for decades.

Shinsaibashi Shokudo

The range of dishes vary throughout the day. Naturally, these selection are typical Japanese dishes for breakfast. The rice, cooked in a special cast iron pot called taki, is known as kama-meshi.

Chicken Hamburg in teriyaki sauce with poached eggs

Grilled fish in teriyaki sauce

Stewed hijiki, abura-age, konnyaku, carrots and peas

The pictures start to get a little blurry because I was starving.

Battered fish in teriyaki sauce

Fresh tofu, topped with grated ginger, scallions and dashi-tsuyu

Battered octopus in a sweet chilli and soy-based sauce

Salmon sashimi

Acerola drink

This is the first time I’ve come across acerola. Its taste is somewhat like a cross between an apple and sour plum.

Hotel Nikko Osaka

We’ll definitely return to Hotel Nikko Osaka if we’re ever back here in Osaka. Service is impeccable, and the hotel sits right in the middle of the shopping strip in Shinsaibashi.

View of Shinsaibashi from Hotel Nikko

The staff offered an upgrade to the “L Floor”, one of the better rooms in this hotel, after they discovered the Internet in the first room we checked in wasn’t working. Sweet. Here are some things we love about Hotel Nikko:

• Right in the middle of the shopping strip, and sits above the Shinsaibashi station. Our elevator heads straight down to the subway.
• Nikko Hotels Group is part of JAL, so excellent service is a given.
• Friendly staff, and they always try their best to assist us. Even if they don’t speak English much, I got what I needed.
• Jawdropping views from the room.
• Salvatore Ferragamo toiletries.
• Colour-coded toothbrushes.
• Toto toilet (warmed seats, bidet for my vajeene and booty shower with variable pressure)
• Free cable internet

Starving and cranky

After our shower, we headed to one of the late night ramen restaurants in the laneways at the recommendation of the concierge.

Chashu Ramen

Kara-age

Gyoza

Yummy

15 hours of delay and transit from Sydney to Osaka

Here we are again, continuing the journey from Australia to Osaka on flight JQ19.

We had bought direct flight tickets from Qantas very early during the year, before the oxygen tanks explosions, before the plunging flight incident. Then sometime in September, Qantas announced that they wouldn’t be flying into Japan anymore. Qantas then emailed to inform us that we’ll have to do a stopover in Sydney, then continue the journey with Jetstar from Sydney to Gold Coast and finally Osaka. At Sydney, the Jetstar flight was 2½ hours late, delaying the flight by around the same time. Jetstar, being Jetstar, didn’t bother flying faster to make up for the delay.

Nonetheless, we thought the service on Jetstar wasn’t too bad for a budget airline mainly because we boarded the plane with no expectations, and there’s actually no service unless you requested for it. The attendants were pleasant and genuine unlike Singapore Airlines – where a male flight attendant rolled his eyes when we told him we’d like some more tea.

We’re miffed having to endure the multiple stopovers, and the delay – which meant by the time we arrived in Osaka, most kitchens will be closed and our choices for dinner will be so limited.

However, the overall Jetstar experience was fine, and we arrived in Osaka safe.

Left to right, top to bottom

• Sydney airport, a female tradie takes a mannequin from behind
• Departing Sydney
• Taking off from Sydney
• Departing Gold Coast
• Aerial view of Gold Coast
• Gold Coast to Osaka
• Naoki, 6 hours into the flight
• Giant ferris wheel close to Kansai airport in Osaka