yes folks.
i am back from osaka. went there for a business trip. learning hw to cook. (really)
Day 1
my 1st meal in japan. took the midnight flight n reached osaka at abt 1pm. v tired n hungry. went for ramen at this food lane. look at the humonguos size. to think that i've ordered a half portion one.
the noodles r thick n hard!!!! me like. n soak that into the flavourful broth......yum yum!
yes yes. muz eat MCD everywhere we went.ebi burger, spicy chix n caramel mcflurry. v ex.
went to a okonomiyaki shop for dinner after walk around the electronic mart. duno hw to read jap at all. i oni noe hw to say beer in jap (bee-loo) so thats my drink. we ordered our food by pointing to the pix. no pix, no eat.
heng the food i pointed to tasted really good!
veg w seafood (squid, prawn) and pork.....noodles oso. the crispy egg batter that coated the ingredients is damn yummy.
bought this at the store for my dessert. nt bad yo.
Day 2
went to the cooking sch for lessons in the morning.
this is the best/top cooking school in japan. i am so honoured to b taught/mentored by the great man, the head of western cuisine of the school.
this is the kitchen we will b working in for the lessons.
chef brought us around the sch to take a look at the facilities. look at the LT. super big.
take pix 1st b4 start class. cant really shw much cos it was a company training thingy, so i cant shw the pix i took for class. sorry.
this fat chix will b our lunch.
look at the yummy sauce.....
sweet n crispy casaer salad.
yes, this is the chix u saw juz now....the chix i tender n juicy. the sauce is AWESOME. super flavourful from the "essence" of chix.....(u got it????)
our dessert, panna cotta w mango sorbert. i muz highlight that they make everything from scratch here. yes, including the biscult n the sorbert. yum max.
i kao beh to senseh abt my failed attempts for my souffle previously. he took a look at my pix n knew what was my mistakes immediately. holy molly. he is so expert!!!! so he taught me personally how to make a good souffle. i am so honoured.
by looking at them in the oven, ,y heart swelled w the souffles.
yes folks. i made this. i've succeeded!!!!!
soft, fluffy, hot souffle!!!! frangrant w vanilla......thank you senseh.
exterior of the sch.
another building of the sch. this place is like a maze. super big.
look at the interior/hall of the sch. look more like a hotel to me.
cpu outside the classrooms for students to use.
one of the numerous kitchens in the sch.
they even had a library w tons of books/recipes
it was late afternoon when our class ended. houses in osaka looked beautiful to me.
fancy finding 梁山伯in japan. where's juliet?
we went to the osaka castle b4 dinner. ok lor....museum w lots of samurai stuff (in jap, dun understand). cant take pix inside, so ya.
this is definitely one of the unforgettable meal experince i had in my life. chef brought us to this restaurant (hidden in a dark lane). they sit maximum of 8 guests per day. yes, 8. no menu. the chef prepare your food infront of u behind the small bar. he will tok to u, tell u hw he cook the dish, hw u shd eat the dish, what inspired him to cook the dish......i am truely blown away by the experience. i felt so blessed.
my boss passed this to me b4 meal. yes, in japan, dinner = drink ALOT. of cos muz eat supplement to "block" the alcohol 1st.
1st course, beer. what else.
k la, 1st dish. 1st layer on top is a sweet crispy botan prawn, 2nd layer sweet sweet scallop, 3rd layer is crab. the sauce is abit bit tangy (yuzu). v v v fresh n light. i LOVE it.
hw dare u say this is lor mai kai?????
its fragrant japanese rice (w the lotus leaf fragrance) w the freshest n sweetest sea urchin in the world n ginko nuts (yes, the green thing is nt peas hor). woo la la! i kept raving after i ate this. marve-lii-cious!
freshly grated wasabi. sweet.
mysterious soup.
super light fish broth with eel, japanese asparaghus n egg dunpling w green peppers. ppl who noe me shd noe that i HATE green peppers. but i finished every drop of this dish. simply good.
look at the technique he used. he is using the hot red charcoal to "cook/smoke" the top of the fish.
2nd alcoholic drink. sake.
super BIG, fresh abalone!!!!!! wah lau. soft n sweet, full of flavours from the sea. i like.
the abalone is served w smoked tuna (yes, the one one the right), deep fried prawn head (yum) n corn tempura. again, i dun eat corn one. but this corn is super sweet n juicy. hw ome everything taste good when we r overseas???
this is my fav dish for the meal. yes. best of best. to me, it is even better than abalone, crab, etc....this is a simple sushi made from a kind of hokkaido fish (they hav difficulty tell me the name). i tell u, the fish juz melts in ur mouth when u placed on ur tongue. n the flavour of the fresh sweet fish coat ur palate n tongue immediately. there will still b a bit of meat to chew on, which reminds me of good aged beef. a little meat taste, a little fat, a little seafood sweetness, a little blood taste (good way). v complex. v v v v NICE. i've even asked for a 2nd serving for this. shamelessly. this is so so good. *hyperventilate*.
a big chunk of bonito.
the bonito was being "burnt" by the chef. he lit up the grass with fire, n begin to burn the fish, fanning. the smell of the fish n the grass filled up the restaurant.
burnt exterior.
citrus sauce for the fish.
look at the interior of the fish. looks like tataki, but taste like rare beef. eat it w salt. best. n the onion that came with this, is SWEET one. no kidding.
deep fried red snapper (w the scales on it). the mouthfeel is interesting in a strange way. the scales made it v crispy. n the meat is v firm n chewy. aquired taste.
crab meat w crab roe sauce. light light again. v japanese taste.
yes, sake again. if u realised, this is a new bottle (my cup is different)
another sweet sweet fish broth w another mysterious jap fish. do note that the fish had bones intact w the meat. we can swallow the meat w the bones. in fact, the bones made the fish crispy n tastier. strange but nice.
jap pickled veg. again, i dun like to eat pickled stuff. but wait.
they serve it w a fish rice.
look at the color of the rice. the goodness of the fish went into the rice when cooking. the rice is so so so so so flavourful!!!! n w the sweet pickles, i muz say, this is the 2nd fav of mine for this meal. the rice is unbeatable. i was damn stuffed at this stage, but i still ate 2 bowls. v v v v good.
super thick oolong tea to help digest.
dessert. super rich matcha ice cream w sweet read bean paste n rice balls. best matcha ice cream i've eaten.
look at the place. it is this small. the chef invited us to the kitchen to have a look. n we were stunned. it is even smaller than our HDB toilet. really. with this, we concluded that it is really the skill of the chef to whip up such a good n tasty meal. i felt v v lucky to hav tasted such good food.
we went to this super weird place, whereby all the prostitutes r. u think this is geylang????no way. it was hell of an experience for me. an eye opener, n i cant believe wat i saw. the quality of pros definitely gave me a shock of my life. SUPER BEAUTIFUL. let me tell u personally (if u wan to noe, ask me.)
Day 3
2nd day starts w chef teaching us hw to make consomme
the condition of the "liquid" at diff stages of cooking.
yes yes, this is the kobe wagyu beef we will b having for our lunch. WAHAHAHAHA
super clear soup after straining.
super moist chix used juz for the soup lor....u wun gt to eat the meat one....the soup is really the liquid gold.
the salad came w a beautiful plate of sweet plum tomatoes w sea salt. lovely.
this is the liquid gold we've made juz nw. super rich n flavourful (note: no salt added). i will make this nxt time.
lunch. beef straganoff. the meat juz melts in ur mouth. no need to chew. juz use ur tongue n press the meat against ur palate. n walaaaaaa. v rich n heavy dish.
look at the lovely pink meat.
we re-used the veal we used for the soup for this rich creamy stew. wah lau eh, v full liao.
vanila, mango n blackcurrent ice cream made by the chef.
i begged senseh to teach me smth new, n he happily obliged. so touched. they wanted me to try n do the heart shaped macarons, n my heart became like.......
THIS. si beh ugly.
v v difficult to make!!!! from the whole tray of like 30 macarons, only these r ok. the rest cant b used!!!! chef said even pastry chef with 18 yrs experience cant do it properly......omg. now i noe y the macarons r so freaking ex.
i think i make this fail-proof choc lava cake better.its easier.
senseh brought us to this french bistro for dinner. as usual, 1st course is always alcohol. champange at my request.
pork rillettes. tasted good w bread.
this is a good dish to me. pan fried fish w apples n (uh huh)......minced fish liver!!!! surprisingly, the bitterness of the liver goes really well w the apples, making the fish taste fresh n sweet! good!
this is an orchestra of tomato. crab (again) w sweet tomato, tomato sherbet, tomato extract. this is a cold dish. v v nice. umami taste of tomato, fresh seafood sweetness. yums.
this roll smelt fantastic when it was served to us. the paste at the side (u giessed it) is the squid ink paste w garlic. the roll? when i cut into it, the sound made by the cutting of the crispy roll is so loud that all of them from the table stared at the roll. super crispy!!!. u ask me what is in it?
chopped pig's ears, squid, pork meat, parsely, long beans, asparaghus, black fungus.....seem like alot of weird stuff, but it certainly blends well! delicious!
this is a medicore dish to me. fish is too firm for my liking. pass.
this is another good dish. roast pork (w ribs), clams n veg.
just look at the slab of pork on my plate. juicy, tender, sweet (yes, meaty sweet). weird combi but blended so well too!!!
3 types of mustard to go w the pork. english mustard, mustard w cappers n chilli mustard. i like the chilli mustard best (do u need to even guess???).
vanila ice cream (i think i had ENUFF ice cream) w strawberry foam together w fig that is stewed in red wine. again, good balance of sourness n sweet. v well presented dish.
the oni thing abt japan is they serve lousy coffee. blend n flat n no taste. what a shame.
who the hell said dat french food muz b oily n heavy? this is one of the best french food i've eaten. well, except for the coffee that is.
Day 4
went to suntory to have meetings w big bosses. he suggested us to visit the whiskey distillery.
this pix looks freaking scary yo.
tsk. juz wats wrong w the japanese?
no trip at the distillery is completed wout a tasting (ahem, taste hor) session. wah lau. taste ur head lor. drink like mad.
we r forced to take this short cut below the railway. it is like an underground-drain-tunnel-thing-when-u-duno-what-will-jump-out-n-attack-u-track. v interesting.
i bought this at the supermarket b4 i went for dinner w big bosses. v fresh n cheap sashimi. i tell u, luckily i ate this b4 the meal (or so called meal). it helped to protect my stomach for the endless drinking session i had afterwards.
this is a suntory owned restaurant, so all suntory beers r FREE FLOW. 1st course, beer.
vodka tomato shot, procuitto w potatoes n hamachi.
some senseless salad b4 my marathon of whiskey drinking.
i dun even noe WTF is this. bleh max.
i managed to "steal" a pc of pork after my 3rd glass of whiskey.
cold somen b4 another glass of beer.
another senseless salad. by this time, one of my colleague is blabbering nonsense n making fun of the waitress who served our table.
ice cream again. by this time, i hav a unbalanced head. i started to tip toe already. i hv nv drank so much whiskey in my life. bleh.
Day 5
woke up at 4 am w a splitting headache. my bfast. which is good.this is the BEST coffee i've had in japan. awesome leh. smooth n silky. nice coffee aroma. good!
early lunch at the airport. v good ramen!!! w black garlic extract. noodles hard n thick, pork broth. yumz. fried chix juicy n tender. i muz learn hw to fry chix like the japs. they do it v well!
this is my surprise for baby. best macarons in the world. i lost my way in the streets of osaka, n accidnetly found this shop! they oni hav franchise in tokyo, n i was damn surprise to c it in osaka!
this cutie little boy ran around bare footed, came to my sit n fell onto my lap. then he smiled sheepishly at me. hahha. suddenly my headache was gone.
SQ got give sweet b4 we board the plane wor.....
ladies n gentlemen, the best macarons in the world!!!! super yummy la. n this box cost me a whopping 100 bucks (yes, sing dollar hor). but u noe, its well worth the money. my baby is v happy! :)
hahaha. due to the fact that it is damn ex, i've decided to post a pretty pix on it again! BEST MACARONS!!!!
a random pix of the vongole i've made during the weekend. hahaha.
this japan trip is definitely a real treat for me. i've learnt so so much from the chef.
my passion for cooking had certainly reached another level!
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