PopBetty

A Love Letter to Pop Culture

Snack Monster: Glico Harumachi Ichigo

by

harumachi-ichigo-box
For $2.69, I added a box of Glico’s Harumachi Ichigo (Strawberry Chocolate) to my latest Asian Food Grocer order. What I got was a tasty blend of white chocolate, crispy wheat bits, and dried strawberries.

harumachi-ichigo-packaging-side
There’s not much online about Harumachi Ichigo, so I don’t have a lot to offer aside from my own opinion & photos.  J-List says each treat is 25% real strawberry, and the box does list “dried strawberry” high on the ingredient list, though. The strawberry flavor is pleasant, too, and not overly artificial.

harumachi-ichigo-open-package
Isn’t it pretty? Each box has about 15 candies, each individually wrapped.

harumachi-ichigo
And, here are the candies themselves. They consist of dense white chocolate flecked with dried strawberry on top, followed a layer of crispy wheat cereal (think Rice Krispies), and then a pink layer of (I believe) tinted white chocolate, possibly with some artificial strawberry flavor.

harumachi-ichigo-cross-section
Here’s a tighter close-up of the different textures. For me, that layer of crisp cereal makes Harumachi Ichigo work. While the white chocolate is firm & not overly sweet, and the strawberry flavor convincing, the cereal changes the candy’s mouthfeel, adding welcome heft & crunch, as well as a respite from the top layer’s creamy sweetness. Highly recommended.

Review: Pacific Mercantile Company

by

I love buying imported food online. It’s so easy: no driving, no rush, no pants, even, if that’s what I feel like. Of course, the shipping fees add up, but the lack of sales tax helps, and shipping gets more reasonable the larger the order.

Despite a great experience with Asian Food Grocer (review), I placed my latest order with the Pacific Mercantile Company, a family business based in Denver, Colorado. Like AFG, Pacific Mercantile Company specializes in Japanese food, except they have a much larger selection: they sell 4 kinds of chirimen, for example.

pacific mercantile company

I placed my order Saturday afternoon (April 18th) and received the package Friday, April 24th (they process orders Monday through Friday). The store offers Fed Ex shipping; I chose Fed Ex ground and my shipping cost $23.75 (the order included a 15 lb bag of rice). The shipping fee also ended up being $5.50 less than originally quoted, which was nice.

pacific mercantile unboxing

I prefer Asian Food Grocer’s packaging: this order came with messy styrofoam peanuts and items crammed together (above; everything arrived in good condition, though). AFG also used new, logo-stamped boxes, while PMC’s boxes had clearly been recycled. So AFG wins on aesthetics, while PMC scores environmental points (intentional or not).

Finally, as to pricing: Asian Food Grocer tends to be cheaper, and Pacific Mercantile Company tends to have better selection, but not always. Two examples of the selection/price trade-off:

tamanishiki rice
Tamanishiki ricesalux wash cloth
Salux cloths		 Asian Food Grocer5 lb bags only;
$10.99 each, or
$32.97 for 15 lbs$2.98 each;
available in blue, yellow, & pink; store chooses color		 Pacific Mercantile Company15 lb bags only;
$20.99 each$4.98 each, $3.29 on sale;
available in white, blue, yellow, & pink; shopper chooses color

Summary: The Pacific Mercantile Company offers fast shipping, good-looking products, and superior selection (at least for Japanese imports). On the downside, they’re not always the cheapest, and their packaging & website can be rough around the edges. I will definitely buy again from them, though. Highly recommended.

What I bought:

tamanishiki rice bag

Tamanishiki short grain rice (15 lbs), $20.99.

Tamanishiki rice was the reason for the order: I’d run out of it after making chicken teriyaki, and PMC had the best price (see above). Tamanishiki is a premium blend of koshihikari & yume gokochi rice; I didn’t realize how much flavor rice could have until I tasted it. It is worth every penny.

crackers and shrimp chips

Garden strawberry wafers, $1.09; Mochiko sweet rice flour (16 oz), $1.99; Umeya assorted rice crackers, $4.69; Lotte ume gum, $1.35; Lotte Black Black gum, $1.45; black & white sesame seeds, $1.79 each; Calbee shrimp flavored chips, $1.39; 3 Salux wash clothes (white), $3.29 ea. (sale).

Rice flour & sesame seeds are cooking staples, and I always order shrimp chips. The black sesame seeds arrived in a plastic bag instead of a box, which was odd. However, the black sesame seeds are now sold out online, so I’m guessing PMC ran out of boxes, and tried to honor my order with the next best thing.

I bought strawberry wafers on a whim; they also come in flavors like lemon & chocolate. I wasn’t enamored with them, though, and so started handing them out to anyone who dropped by. Funny thing, everyone else LOVES them. My Salvadoran dad says they remind him of home; several other people said they taste like ice cream cones. My picky little brother also tried to buy them off me for 3 times the asking price. Hmm…

After a few bad experiences, I also decided to give rice crackers one more go. Happily, Umeya assorted rice crackers are delicious. Maybe because they’re made in America, they suit American tastes better? Finally, Salux washcloths are one of those “sweet mystery of life, at last I found thee” items. One day, I’ll dedicate a post to their glory.

pacific mercantile mochi honey puffs

Left to right, clockwise: Kyoshin green tea & mugwort mochi (8pc.), $4.29; Kyoshin red & white mochi (8pc.), $4.29; Chicchana daifuku manju, $4.89; Kibun daifuku mochi (Kusa flavor), $1.39; Marukin 5-Pack honey puffs, $1.69.

Above, reason #1007 not to buy food when hungry: I bought four types of mochi/manju (as well as rice flour & red bean paste to make my own), and I’m not even sure I like the stuff. I also got suckered by the honey puffs packaging (those pleading bunny eyes!). They taste like crap.

cclemon bean paste

Canned sweet red bean paste, $3.59; Suntory C.C. Lemon (16 oz), $2.39; Suntory Gokuri “Miracle of Grapefruit,” $2.39.

Last but not least: I finally found canned sweet red bean paste, and bought Gokuri “Miracle of Grapefruit” for the cool name. I had to try C.C. Lemon too (it’s the #3 soft drink in Japan), even though the “70 Lemons Vitamin C” is a dirty lie.

Teriyaki Chicken & Perfect Sticky Rice

by

PopBetty - Chicken Teriyaki

The following is a blend of two recipes, one from Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking (review) & the other from Let’s Cook Japanese Food!, a solid, bubbly intro to Japanese cooking. So you know, these are not verbatim write-ups: I modified the chicken teriyaki recipe, and condensed the rice instructions.

Chicken Teriyaki (serves 4)

boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pounds, or two large breasts)
salt & black pepper
1 1/2 tbsps sesame or vegetable oil
teriyaki sauce (recipe below)
2 or 3 cups cooked sticky rice (recipe below)

[Read more…]

Potatoes 2 Ways: Tortilla Española & Leek Potato Soup

by

tortilla española

Ages ago, I studied in Madrid. Our house mom was not a good cook, but she did introduce me to two classic dishes: fabada asturiana and tortilla española, a rib-sticking mixture of eggs, onion, and yellow potatoes. Smitten Kitchen posted a great version of it here; it’s easy, cheap, and satisfying (and keeps well in the fridge).

The second must-try is leek potato soup (below). I used this Emeril Lagasse recipe, but omitted the creme fraiche, added 2 more strips of bacon, used black pepper instead of white, and olive oil instead of butter. It doesn’t look that appetizing (“try the grey stuff, it’s delicious!“), but the soup’s flavor is as complex & savory as its exterior is drab.

Potato Leek Soup

Review: Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking

by

harumi japanese home cooking For Christmas, I received a copy of Harumi Kurihara’s Japanese Home Cooking. Kurihara has been dubbed the Japanese Martha Stewart (no doubt by her publishers), and this book, with its bright images & chic layout, definitely has Stewart’s flair.

Kurihara is more immediately endearing, however. Chatting with her over a beer doesn’t seem impossible, as it does with Stewart. You can also see why Kurihara’s fans look up to her while simultaneously identifying with her: she’s a 60-something woman who looks two decades younger, and in her own words, is “not too beautiful.” She learned cooking as a housewife, but has a perfectionist streak. While her recipes are practical and built for speed, she still suggests making your own sauces & noodles. Convenience isn’t king, domesticity isn’t a burden. If anything, Kurihara makes it look easy & fun.

harumi vegetables

As for the food, how do I put it…

Some of it is great. I’ve made the teriyaki chicken twice now, and both times everyone loved it. The sweet egg roll was tasty. Her recipes are elegantly simple & straightforward, and I like that she reuses many of the same ingredients without losing variety. On those strengths alone, I recommend the book.

Half of what I’ve made, though, fell short. The miso soup worked once, then flopped. The sesame dressing felt heavy. The ginger pork was delicious, but the accompanying salad dressing only so-so. The rice with peas (below) was terrible. Half of it was gooey, the other half crunchy, and I still don’t know what happened.

harumi rice disaster

Part of the problem is Kurihara uses a gas stove, and I have hot plates, plus we have different pans. That’s a hurdle with any cookbook, but it means I can’t trust her cooking times, essentially providing me with more room to err. That is, when Kurihara provides cooking times; too many recipes feature vague instructions like “fry the garlic until you can smell its aroma” or “place salmon under a hot grill until just cooked.”

Another issue may be personal: no cookbook can match a user’s tastebuds exactly, and I may have started off with the wrong recipes. For example, the miso soup uses a bonito flake dashi, and I think I prefer kombu or another kind of vegetarian dashi. I’ll try more recipes and post an update to this point later.

harumi pork

Finally, a more general difficulty may be the ingredients. You’ll need a specialty grocer, mainly for non-perishables like mirin, chili oil, & shichimi togarashi. Even then, you’ll have to improvise (e.g., several recipes call for Chinese soup paste, which I can’t find). Plus, the ingredients you do find may not be the right ones; while Kurihara provides notes for foreign ingredients, they aren’t extensive and she leaves out basics like mirin & soy sauce. I understand why she would; that said, many Americans have never used mirin, and some don’t know the difference between Kikkoman & La Choy soy sauces. If users don’t already have some grasp of Japanese cooking (and some knowledge of what things are supposed to taste like), they’ll find themselves veering further and further away from the intended product without even realizing it. With cookbooks like this one, where pared down dishes emphasize the combination of a few key flavors, that’s extra problematic.

Verdict: Presentation & personality distinguish Harumi’s Japanese Home Cooking, and while the recipes aren’t fool-proof, they’re still worth trying. Just adhere to the instructions & avoid substituting ingredients when possible (and have a backup plan if that fails). Read more about Kurihara at The New York Times, East West, SantaFeNewMexican.com, & BNET.