I’m still not much of a drinker but unlike before I won’t go out of my way to not drink. For one, I don’t drive in Japan so there is no need to worry about that. For another, if you are asked to go out with your co-workers they will basically expect you to drink and unlike the USA it’s not quite socially exceptable to say you don’t drink. Of course you can say it but it will be considered like not participating where as in the states I never got that vibe for not drinking.

Anyway, since I’ve been here I’ve started drinking a little more. I still have not gotten a taste for anything non-sweet. Beer (yuck!), Wine (blech!), Whiskey, Vodka, Tequila, Gin, Scotch, (plech). I can put up with a glass of beer if I have to. Wine is harder. The rest are pretty much impossible so far. I don’t know if I just don’t like them period or if this is one of those things you have to get used to and as I don’t have years of drinking exprience behind me so I just haven’t gotten there yet.

Basically I still go for the sweet stuff. I like the break from tea and soda sometimes although I don’t like *getting a buzz*. What I find most interesting is how different the drinks are.

For example, a couple of years before I came Japan and related my experience with liquor to date with a friend and he recommended I try an Amaretto Sour or a Midori Sour. Both I actually enjoyed. Well, … Midori is a melon based liquor MADE IN JAPAN and yet you’d be hard pressed to find it at most drinking places in Japan. It’s not common here at all.

The most common sweet liquor in Japan is Cassis or as it says on the bottle, “Creme de Cassis de Dijon” which is made from Black Currant (a small berry like a blueberry). It’s similar to Grenadine (pompgranet liquor). The most common drink made with it is Cassis Orange or as it’s pronounced in Japanese “Caw She Sue Or en jee” (mix it with orange juice). Other common mixes are Cassis Soda and Cassis Oolong (mix it with Oolong tea) in which case it takes pretty much like a fruit punch.

Cassis appears to be from France. It’s strange to me that it’s the #1 cocktail drink here in Japan and yet I’ve never heard of it in the USA. I know it exists there it’s just not been made popular. It would be interesting to know the histories of why certain drinks are popular in different areas. It seems like it would be very popular anywhere because it’s pretty tasty, very easy to drink.

Japan itself has Umeshu or plum liquor. It’s generally clear and it tastes awesome. Maybe it just needs a little more time to spread but it seems like it would do great anywhere in the world. In fact if you have a bar or restaurant in the west maybe you should get some and promote it to set your restaurant apart :-p. If you drink Umeshu straight it would be a little strong but mixed with like soda it basically tastes like plum soda. You can’t tell there’s an alcohol except after a couple when you fall over. I know you can get it in LA at many Korean markets in Koreantown.

Anzushu or Apricot liquor is also pretty common and another one I’ve never seen evidence of in the USA. As far as I can tell this is a Chinese liquor. I’m basing that only on the fact the the most common brand is Chinese. They sell it everywhere including many convenience stores. (Umeshu as well)

It’s in the same category as cassis and umeshu in that it’s a tangy fruit flavored liquor. It’s great stuff and I’m sure it would also be great as an additive to lots of desserts.

Since I started drinking sometimes I like to try something new. This usually happens when I’m needed to waste some time in Shibuya and I’ll remember the a certain liquor store and decide to go see what thye have. In the last few years I haven’t had a whole lot of amazing finds but there have been a couple.

One is called Dooley’s. I was in some store and saw it on the shelf. It’s toffee liquor. Similar to Baileys. It’s great with milk or on ice cream. My impression is it’s not gotten great distribution yet. In fact since I found it 3~4 years ago it’s no longer available in Japan. I’ve asked both the places I found it before and they both said it was no longer distrubuted here. I guess that’s good for my waist line because it’s really delicious.

Another I had seen on the shelf for a while but it looked pretty strange and I couldn’t talk myself into buying it. I mean, come on, the bottle looks like a fried egg and the contents is cream yellow, not a color I usually associate with liquor. I don’t even know what to call it. There is no name on the bottle and no name even on the company’s website.

It’s listed as Egg Liquor in Japan and it can best be described in one of two ways. #1. Take some vanilla ice cream, poor some scotch in it, stir it up, let it melt, put it back in the bottle and sell it. #2 take the custard cream from a cream donut or pastry, mix in some scotch, put it back in the bottle, sell it. It’s actually a little scary because you can basically drink it straight out of the bottle even though it’s 26% alcohol.

As for Sake and Shochu, they basically fit the same category as Whiskey, Vodka etc for me in that I still don’t have a taste for them.

Deep fried red peppers and peanuts. Yum!

I’m not sure if Togarashi (唐辛子) is cayenne pepper or not. The look similar and one of my dictionaries says that but the others are not clear. Still, I believe this is the pepper used to make pretty much all the spicy red stuff in Korean food as well as many Taiwanese dishes.

I’m part Hawaiian which you can’t tell from my pictures. I look more like my Mom but my sister looks very Hawaiian. Anyway, because I’m Hawaiian as I was growing up I got introduced by my family to lots of Hawaiian culture and especially Hawaiian food.

I think most people that go to Hawaii don’t get to try Hawaiian food. Hawaiian food is NOT a hamburger with pineapple on it nor is it pizza with ham and pineapple nor is it a piece of chicken with sweet pineapple sauce on it. In fact, though I know that Hawaii has a pineapple image if you go to the Del Monte pineapple patch you’ll find out that pineapples are originally from Brazil. They are not native to Hawaii at all.

Anyway, for the benefit of adventurous eaters I thought I’d put up a description of Hawaiian food along with some tips on how to eat it, what to expect and some places to get it.

Somebody can correct me if I’m wrong because all my information comes from my family not from some history book.

The main dish that I’m used to eating is called a Lau-Lau (like Cow-Cow except with an L instead of a C). As an aside, Cow-Cow (spelt Kau-Kau) means food in Hawaiian.

A Lau-Lau is made from Butterfish wrapped in Luau Leaf (pronounced Lou, rhymes with Poo and Ou like in Ouch. Lou-Ou. It’s like spinach) which is then wrapped in a Ti leaf (pronounced Tea) and then it’s steamed. Of course people put other things inside like pork or chicken but the original is butterfish. When you get one you have to take the Ti leaves off as they are not edible and you are left with the rest.

I was surprised when I was a kid because for some reason in lots of cartoons and comics it was made clear to me that kids supposedly don’t like spinach but I always loved lau-laus and often people substitute spinach for the luau leaf and it still tastes great. It must be because of the flavor it inherits from the Ti leaves.

Anyway, you cut it open it will look like you see it here. Generally you need to add salt and if you can you should use Hawaiian salt.

Hawaiian salt is not as salty as table salt and it’s got much larger grains and it’s also red. The red come from Hawaiian dust.

The next most common Hawaiian food I know of is called Kalua pig or Kalua pork) It’s pronounced the same as the drink, Kahlua but there’s no Kahlua in Kalua pig. Kalua pig was originally made by taking a whole pig, cutting it open along the belly, taking out the guts and rubbing some salt along the inside. Then, taking some very hot stones from a fire, putting them inside the pig, closing it up and burying it in the ground for 4 hours. Now-a-days I think mostly they just add spices to the pork to make it taste similar. If you’ve ever had Mexican carnitas, Kalua pig tastes similar though they are both distinct from each other that’s the next closest pork I’ve tasted.

After Kalua pig comes Poke. Most people on the islands pronounce it Pokey (like Gumby’s red pal) but I think it’s pronounced Poke (rhymes with Okay). Otherwise it would be spelled Poki in Hawaiian. Anyway, it’s basically raw fish salad. Now, before you go "Yuck!" lots of cultures eat raw fish. The Japanese are famous for it with sushi and sashimi and of course there are bagels and lox which come from northern Europe I believe. I’m almost sure the Irish, Scottish and the English must eat some kind of fish as they live on islands.

Anyway, saying poke is almost like saying salad. There’s a zillion different kinds but they are all generally about some kind of seafood mixed with other stuff. I saw on the Food Channel that at a super market on the big island of Hawaii they have 140 kinds of poke in their deli section.

Here you see Ahi poke. Ahi is a kind of tuna found in the waters near Hawaii. You don’t need to add anything to poke as it’s already got spices in the mix. But, unlike Japanese sashimi which you eat one piece at a time and rather slowly you generally chow down on poke.

Lomi Salmon (pronounced Low Me) is the next item on the list. It’s very similar to Mexican Ceviche. It’s basically tomatoes, onions and salmon. It’s a little on the salty side which brings up everybody’s favorite Hawaiian food discussion topic….

Poi. Poi is made from mashing up Taro root. I supposed you could say it’s kind of like mashed potatoes. It serves the same purpose as potatoes or rice in other cultures. It’s the filler, the starch, the blander thing you eat with other more spicy things.

Poi can be described as gray pudding. Think of rice porridge like malt-o-meal or cream of wheat. It’s served cold or at room temp. Real Hawaiians eat it with their fingers but you can eat it with a spoon. Although many Hawaiians like it plain the best way to eat it for the un-initiated is to eat a spoonful of lomi-samlon (which is salty) and then a spoonful of poi before you’ve swallowed the salmon.

It was funny to us Hawaiians because we went to a fancy restaurant in Hawaii, Roy’s, and they happen to have poke and poi on their menu. We ordered the poi and we asked for a large bowl. They brought out a bowl about the size of a pudding cup (like maybe half of a coffee mug). That’s not a bowl of poi to a Hawaiian it’s a joke. We asked them to please bring us a real bowl of poi and they brought a reasonable sized bowl though they joked that they might have to go to the store and get some. I turns out that lots of people see it on the menu and want to try it but as they generally do not like it the restaurant usually gives them about one spoonful in a paper sampler cup (about big enough for 3 to 5 jellybeans)

To give you an idea
about poi and Hawaiians we went to 3 stores searching for poi to eat with our meal and every store was sold out and every store had a rack for poi. In other words it wasn’t like they only stocked a couple of bags. They generally carry quite a bit.

The last picture I have of Hawaiian food is dried fish (or fish jerky). It takes like you’d expect jerky to taste. Salty. There are lots of kind of this too. Different fish, different spices etc…

Unfortunately I forgot to take a few more pictures. Next time I go to Hawaii I’ll try to get those but for now you’ll just have to use your imagination. Here’s what’s missing.

Chicken Long Rice: Chicken long rice is made with Chinese long rice noodles which are long noodles, longer than spaghetti, made from rice and when they are cooked then turn completely clear. Chicken long rice is chicken and those noodles and some spices like soy sauce. It’s almost like a soup except that the noodles are so plentiful. Hawaiians often say "shoyu" instead of soy sauce. Shoyu (pronounced Show You) is the Japanese word word for soy sauce.

Squid Luau: I have no idea how to describe this. I’ve only had it a couple of times. It seemed like a soup.

Haupia: (How-Pee-Ah) This is one of my favorite things. It’s basically coconut pudding but it’s stiff enough that you can hold it in your hand. I think it’s made from coconut, corn starch and sugar. I always buy 2 "bricks" of it. One to eat during my Hawaiian food pig out and the other to eat during the rest of my stay a few slices a day

Kulolo: (Coo as in Cool. Coo-Low-Low) I’m not sure what this is but I think it’s made from coconut and it looks like of like a very dense piece of brown bread, like banana bread but more dense, more brown and more wet. Very good. Last time I went to Hawaii though the place I went was out of it and they said the person that makes it for them was on vacation for 2 weeks.

Rice: I’m pretty sure rice was not a part of Hawaiian culture originally but it is now.

Loco-Moco: I’d really like to know the origin of this dish. I’d guess it comes from some surfer that didn’t know how to cook or he was in a hurry. It’s basically white steamed rice, an fried egg, a hamburger patty and beef gravy. You can get it all over the islands.

Saimin: (Sai rhymes with eye. Min as in minute) Basically the same as Top Ramen or Cup of Noodles. I’m not sure of the exact different between saimin and ramen. If I was to guess I’d say saimin noodles are thinner than ramen noodles but I really have no idea but you can get it everywhere including McDonalds.

Spam Musubi: Moo (like a cow sound) Sue Bee. This is another one I don’t quite get the origin of but you can find it everywhere. It looks like a piece of sushi with spam on top. Hawaiians love spam. Spam and eggs is great. Spam sandwiches on King’s Hawaiian Bread and Spam Musubi. By the way, King’s Hawaiian Bread is really not Hawaiian bread it’s Portuguese bread. You can read right on the package in small print. I knew this though because before King’s Hawaiian Bread became popular my family used to eat Portuguese Sweet Bread as it’s been a part of Hawaiian culture since the Portuguese came to Hawaii.

Okay, so now that I’ve got you all salivating to try Hawaiian food…

I’m not an authority on where the best places are but I can tell you where I’ve had it and where I like it. If it was up to me, the best place to get Hawaiian food is at Rugers Market on Oahu near Diamondhead. From the last hotel on Waikiki, the Park Shore, which is across from the zoo, it’s probably a 20
minute walk or a 5 minute car ride. When you get there you won’t know it as it’s just a small store with no windows, just doors. Inside is a counter and a few small rows of groceries. If the weather is nice you can get your food and then eat it in the park that you passed on the way. Otherwise you’ll have to take it back to your room. Assuming 3 or 4 people here’s what you should order

• 2 to 4 lau-laus. You can have them take the Ti leaves off but I prefer to have them leave them on so you can see them
• 1 pint of kalua pig
• 1 pint of ahi poke. If they ask what kind or what you want in it just ask them to make their favorite
• 1 half pint of lomi-salmon
• 1 half pint of poi (unless you think you’ll like it then get a pint)
• 1 pint of chicken long rice
• 1 brick of haupia
• 1 kololo
• one cup of rice for each person
• one extra bowl for each person (so you can eat it)
• anything else you want to try

They will have some utensils so make sure to get what you need. You can get some drinks there too. Then take it all somewhere and PIG OUT!! The word to use is "Ono" as in Oh No. In Hawaiian it means Delicious!

Here’s map to Rugers Market. If you are trying to look it up it might be listed as Fort Rugers Market instead of just Rugers Market

If you are not up for all that there are other places you can go but in my opinion none of them are as good.

There’s "The Willows". The Willows is an old restaurant that’s recently been refurbished. They have a Hawaiian buffet so you can try lots of the stuff there. It’s a very pretty restaurant but I didn’t think the food was as good as Rugers Market.

The Ala Moana Food Court. There’s a Hawaiian fast food place at the food court at the Ala Moana mall. Not great but not bad for a quick fix.

In Los Angeles you can go to Kings Hawaiian Bread Restaurant in Torrance and they have a Hawaiian Sampler plate. It’s just okay but also good for a fix.

Marukai: This is a supermarket that sells some Hawaiian foods.

Personally I’d recommend not going to the last 4 places until you’ve tried Rugers. They aren’t bad at all but it’s kind of like going to Taco Bell as your first Mexican food experience

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I lived in the San Francisco Bay area from 1993 to 1995.  They claim that San Francisco has the most restaurants per capita than any other U.S. city.  (Could somebody please explain the difference between per capita and per person?)

I’m not sure why I don’t know more places in San Francisco for good food as there’s got to be quite a few.  It’s probably because I didn’t have a girlfriend while in San Francisco and so I didn’t have a reason to try alot of places.

Alta Mira Hotel

This is an old hotel in Saulsalito.  What makes it so cool is it’s up in the hills above Saulsalito and from their patio they have a spectacular view of the bay looking back and San Francisco and Oakland.  Their specialty is their Eggs Benedict which they serve during Sunday Brunch.  Check it out.

House of Nanking

This is a very popular very small Chinese restaurant on the edge of Chinesetown near Columbia street.  The food is excellent and when I went there there was a line waiting to get in.  The place is small and they pack the people in.  I’d say they put 30 people in the space for 20.  They recently doubled in size so now they put 60 people in the space of 40.  One thing they are supposed to be famous for is ordering for you.  When we went there were about 8 people in our party and they did order for us.  I personally thought that was really cool but then I’m not a picky eater and I like to try new stuff.

La Costena

This is probably the best place I’ve ever been for Burritos.  They’re cheap, they’re big and they’re delicious and they have all kinds of choices.  The original is in the back of a Mexican convinence store.  You through the store, through a doorway in the back and you come into a room with a Panda Kitchen like display.   Behind the display they have about 8 types of meats like Carne Asada, Carnitas, Chicken Mole, Chicken Bistek, Pork Colorado etc.  You order a regular Burrito and they grab a big tortilla and then you tell them what to put on it was they walk you down the counter.  They’ve got 4 kinds of cheese including fresh cheese they make there.   They’ve got all the standard extras and then they’ve got 5 kinds of salsas.   You’d sware they wouldn’t be able to close the tortilla but somehow they manage.

We call these Burritos the Obilisks of Sublime Terror named after these gun turrets from the game Total Eclipse.  Jay Minn of Blam came up with that name and it fit both the turrets in the game and the burritos. One is easily enough for two meals.  The really scare thing is that that’s only a regular.  They have a large using two of those same tortillas.  Now that’s Terror!  Mmm Mmm!

Armadillo Willy’s

This is the place for slow cooked pork and beef.   Most everything is pretty good.  They also claim to be the place that invented the deep friend stuffed jalapeno peppers.  They are really good.  They use cream cheese which I think makes them better than most places I’ve had them that use cheddar and jack or mozarella.

The Sticking Rose

This is a garlic restaurant.  I like garlic so I tried it out.  There is one in LA too but the one in LA is not nearly as cool looking as the one in San Francisco.   The thing is though, I went with my friend Rose and we ordered an appitizer which was garlic cloves in butter with bread.  You’d spoon the cloves on the bread and then eat it.  Well we chowed it all down because it was yummy and then after dinner, for the next 2 hours or so we felt like we were going to pyuk at any moment.  Fortunately after about 2 hours we felt all better but that was a close call.

I’m not sure if any of these places still exist.  Maybe one of my Maryland friends can tell me.  I lived in the Baltimore area from 1984 through 1987.  I ended up there after I met my first girlfriend in college at BYU in Utah.  Being my first love I was kind of overwhelmed and so supporting myself, it was clear I was going to have to move home for about 9 months if I wanted to stay at BYU or at least that’s what I thought at the time.

So, instead of being away from my girlfriend we decided to run away together to Philadelphia Pennsylvania where she was from.  We took a bus from Utah to Philadelphia where we stayed with a friend of her’s downtown just 3 blocks from the Liberty Bell.  We were there for 2 weeks and then a friend of her’s whom she met at BYU called.  She said she was living with her Mom in Balitmore and her Mom would rent us a small row house apartment really cheap so we decided to move to Baltimore.  I was there almost 3 years.  She was there for 2.

I have some really fond memories of Balitmore many of them involving food that I have yet to find a substitute for anywhere else.  Here are some of them

Smokey’s

Smokey’s was this little shack near Microprose.  It really was a shack. You’d walk in the side, get in line, and come out the front.  There was no seating inside or out. The only things they served were Pit Beef Sandwiches and Bread Pudding.  The Pit Beef as the reason to go.  I’m not sure of the exact definition of "Pit Beef" but I think it’s beef cooked over a pit (Imagine that).  They would cut it really thin and then pile it about 1 inch think on a a hamburger bun and smoother it in BBQ sauce.  Yum!  My mouth is watering as I write this.

Of course other places serve "Pit Beef" (like Arby’s) but I haven’t had any 1/10th as good as Smokey’s

Cockeysville Deli

Cockeysville, what a bad name, is where I lived for about 1/2 of my time in Maryland.   The nearest food place to my house was the Cockeysville Deli.  They made the absolute best Chicken Salad Sandwiches.  In fact I don’t think I liked Chicken Salad until I started eating it there.  It’s been so long that I can’t remember what it tasted like anymore but I know I looked for a long time and I haven’t had anything that reminds me of those wonderful sandwiches.

When M.U.S.E. went out of business they had an auction for all their equipment.   Somehow Microprose ended up buying their large screen TV.  Me and a few of my friends would often rent movies on the weekend and watch them in the conference room at work.  We’d usually get a bunch of food beforehand which was often at the Cockeysville Deli.

Bamboo House

The Bamboo House is/was a Chinese restaurant in downtown Baltimore at Harborplace which is the super touristy mall on the waterfront in Baltimore Harbor.  They had the best Orange Flavored Beef.  When I moved to Cockeysville there was another Bamboo House out there but it wasn’t as good so when I had the cravings I’d have to drive about 1/2 hour to the harbor area.  I think I’ve since found places that serve Orange Flavored Beef that’s as good (Sam Woo comes to mind) but I still remember the Bamboo House.

Ms. Desserts

Ms Dessserts I believe is a small chain in Baltimore.  I know they have at least one store at Harborplace in the food market area.  They used to make the very very very very very vERY VERY Best Cranberry Muffins.  The Blueberry muffins were also good but I liked the extra tanginess of the cranberries.

Some people didn’t believe me that they could be so much better than any other muffins I’d ever had.  Well one time my friend Dan went back to Baltimore for a visit and knowing my craving brought some back.  He and my X wife Izzy both tried them I think they’ll both verify that they were the best they’ve ever had.  They kind of make most muffins bland and dull by comparision.

My friend Rose tried to get some for me in 1997 but Ms. Desserts said they no longer make them and they were not willing to give her the recipe.  Damn!  Oh well, I’ll keep looking for some new muffins.

Piccadeli’s

Piccadeli’s is/was a little deli at about 321 St Charles Blvd. (ie, 3 blocks from the center of Balitmore.)  It was across from M.U.S.E. so you could walk outside for lunch and that was the closest place.  Their sandwiches were pretty darn good.   One of the things they did was if you got a meatball sandwich they would take about half a french role and then hallow it out and then basically stuff it with meatballs and cheese and sauce.  I suppose it tastes the same as most decent meatball sandwiches but it was kind of unique.