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5 Meals to Try in Asia — Half+Half Travel

For the past 4 weeks, I spent time traveling throughout Southeast Asia and Japan looking for 5 meals to try in Asia. I ate all the food I could, took pictures, and explored to my heart’s content. I’ve spent many hours since contemplating this post — assuming a normal pace of 3 meals a day, I would have had roughly 84 meals during my travels.

I had been planning this trip for few months before I left my job and set off to the following places:

Tokyo, Japan
Puerta Princessa, Philippines
Singapore
Bangkok, Thailand
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Without further ado, these top 5 meals of 2018 in Southeast Asia.

1. Yakiniku (焼き肉)

Everyone can join in on Yakiniku night!

Here’s a big meat assortment that was eaten quickly by our group.

Throughout Japanese cuisine there is a common thread that good ingredients make food better. This rings true, especially with yakiniku. The simple meal got its start following the Meiji Restoration when eating beef was legalized in 1871. After beef was legal and abundant, yakiniku became a blue-collar staple and was thought to have been invented on Hokkaido island. In modern times, you can really see how Korean food has influenced yakiniku around the country and is becoming much more familiar to the Korean BBQ that is found in America.

Yakiniku Kochikaru, located in Higashi Murayama, had mostly Korean BBQ staples featuring specially marinated meats like bulgogi and galbi. At its core, yakiniku is barbecue — thinly sliced pieces of meat, grilled at your table and eaten with sauce (usually fermented beans, soy, or sesame oil with salt). Leafy greens are also served to wrap around the meat with any other banchan included. It’s simple but requires high-quality meats to take this dish to another level.

Our hosts ordered for us and we dined on beef tenderloin, beef tongue, and wagyu beef. Soondubu, kimchi, and banchan were also ordered, giving us different tastes to cut through the richness of the fatty beef. We rounded out the meal with a few hi-balls (whiskey and soda) and we waddled out of the restaurant.

As you can see, we loved the food! The meat was well marbled creating bites of beef that were melt-in-your-mouth good (A5-grade wagyu beef!). The simplicity, quality, and the atmosphere of the meal combined to make this meal my favorite of the trip.

—

Yakiniku Kochikaru (焼肉コチカル)
Sakaecho Higashimurayama Tokyo, 東京都東村山市栄町 2-25-14

2. Black Pepper Crab (黑胡椒螃蟹)

Julie and I, loving on some crab!

Singapore is a wonderful country that has the benefit of being in the center of some amazing culinary hotspots. China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and a large number of expats from around the world help to create a wonderful food culture unlike any place in the world. One of the most popular pastimes of Singaporeans is to eat food, so you know it’s a serious business.

A friend took me to Por Kee Eating House after talking about their black pepper crab non-stop. So we brought our own bottle of wine and ordered a massive serving of the crab. The entire crab was broken down and each inch of the crustacean was coated with a dark black pepper sauce. After a few bites, my lips started on a constant burn that was right on the edge of too much spice. The crab meat was sweet and worth running the risk of getting fiery sauce on your favorite shirt. The restaurant provided wet napkins and a small dish of water to clean your hands after the dirty work was done.

Along with the crab, we ate bean curd with mushrooms in a brown gravy and broccoli in brown sauce. The meal was rounded out by an extremely Singaporean dish, Cereal Shrimp. The shrimp was coated in a sweet and crunchy cereal, deep-fried to perfection. The combo of a sweet coating with the briny shrimp made for a knockout combination. The pepper crab was the highlight of the meal but the supporting cast made this meal jump to my top 5.

—

Por Kee Eating House
69 Seng Poh Lane, #01-02, Singapore, Singapore 160069

3. Yakitori (焼鳥)

Tsukune from Torihiko

Chicken thigh wrapped in skin.

Another meal that stays true to the Japanese food philosophy that quality ingredients makes for unforgettable food has made it’s way on the list. Yakitori is grilled chicken parts that are cooked meticulously over special Japanese charcoal (binchotan). Yakitori deserves its own dedicated restaurant, and unfortunately, there are no places like this in Seattle. (Please tell me I’m wrong, but to my knowledge, there are no places in Seattle proper or north of the city.)

This was our first meal for our vacation, and we opted for the omakase (chef’s selection). We were greeted by a chicken sashimi, and reluctantly took our first bite in Japan and started our 7-course meal (more on the chicken sashimi in a future post!). The sashimi was much better than I expected and things got more delicious from there. Our first skewer was a chicken meatball the size of a corndog, and one of the juiciest meatballs I’ve ever eaten. This was followed up by chicken thighs wrapped in crispy skin, then liver, gizzards, wings that were carefully cut open, breast, heart, with a mix of salads and sides. The meal was delicious but I had to skip out on the liver, I know that purists will say that the chicken liver is the most valuable but I just can’t do liver! It was a nice trade though, Miko ate my liver and I ate her gizzards.

It was all cooked right in front of our impatient faces, by a master chef and his two assistants. The smoke in the room, a few pints of lager, and the casual Japanese spoken around us added to the feelings of joy of being in Japan. Yakitori is the ultimate drinking food, and should be available everywhere that people love bar-b-cue and a libation.

—

Torihiko (とり彦)
2 Chome-15-2 Kamiosaki, Shinagawa, Tokyo 141-0021, Japan

4. Kuy teav (គុយទាវ)

Kuy Teav, the cure for anything

One of my best friends (I’m talking about since 6 years old) showed me around Phnom Penh during the last leg of my trip. Her mom, an immigrant from Cambodia that fled during the war, was always cooking delicious food when I would visit. So on my first day in Phnom Penh and after my 3rd week of dealing with stomach issues (I’ll spare you the details), we headed to Malis for a comforting bowl of kuy teav .

I had never had kuy teav at my friends place, so this was an experience to learn more about Cambodian cuisine. The dish is a clear pork broth, with rice noodles, usually pork (loaf, minced or otherwise), fried garlic, cilantro, and green onions. The broth is slightly sweet and salty, but has light amounts of fat, making it a perfect meal for someone trying to get over a few weeks of stomach issues. My bowl, which had chicken instead of the pork, disappeared quickly and I understood why this breakfast dish is frequently sold out by midday. If you find yourself in Cambodia, wake up early and get yourself a bowl kuy teav.

—

Malis
136 Preah Norodom Blvd (41), Phnom Penh 12301, Cambodia

5. Boodle Fight

Me and the Boodle Fight

Chicken Inasal, Mussels, Sea Beans, Bicol Express and more!

While many Filipino-Americans recognize and call this style of eating kamayan, most Filipinos will not recognize what meal you are talking about without more information. Kamayan directly translates to shake hands, but really speaks to the act of eating with your hands. Most Filipinos will recognize the term Boodle fight, and it might be the gateway meal that can introduce Filipino cuisine to hundreds of new fans.

Boodle fight has its origins in the military of the Philippines. When meals were served to soldiers, food was on banana leaves, on a large table. This was the great equalizer of the military, high ranking officials would join the low ranking soldiers at the table and all would eat with their hands. The fight came from the fact that you had to eat the same food served to dozens of hungry men, so in order to fill up, you had to fight for it!

This was my first boodle fight and while I had plenty of experience fighting off my hungry brothers growing up, I thankfully didn’t have to fight anyone for food. We met up with Miko’s family (12 or so people) and we feasted! I approached my pile of rice placed on the leaves and began to “fight” my way down the line of food. (Editor’s Note: we had to teach him the fine technique of eating with your hands first) Steamed mussels, Bicol express (spicy pork in coconut milk), grilled chicken, and shrimp were some of the food that was spread out on the length of the 3-foot long table. A cold San Miguel to wash down the delicious handfuls of food and I was happy. Somehow, eating with your hands makes the meal more enjoyable and much more casual to talk with your neighbors. It was a great way to meet family and I can’t wait for the next one!

—

Haim Chicken Inato
294 Manalo Extension, Puerto Princesa, 5300 Palawan, Philippines

My trip through Japan and Southeast Asia reinforced every travel and food show I’ve ever seen, claiming that the best food could be found in there. Between the huge variety in barbecue and new ingredients that were completely foreign to me, I realized that this trip was not enough to scratch the surface!

What foods/places did I miss on my top 5? Let me know via

@halfandhalffood

@justinTaylorImages

@JeetJeetRibbyRibby

May 11, 2018 0 comment

Japanese Food Recipes

Somen (そうめん)

written by Justin Inahara

Summer is almost over. Okay, it’s over (it’s November…) but I’m having a hard time saying goodbye to the warm weather and long days. So to get over it I need to talk about one of my favorite noodle dishes to cool down, Somen. We mentioned Somen in our Cold Noodle post a few months back, but wanted to give it a bit more attention!

According to Japan Info, “The history of somen dates back to as early as the 8th century. According to historical records, it was believed that the Chinese brought these noodles to Japan during the Nara Period (710-794).” The original noodles were made from rice and eventually was replaced with wheat flour. The noodles are the thinnest of all Japanese noodles and are usually pulled using a Chinese style technique. The noodles can also be aged and are considered more sought after if they have been allowed to rest. This makes for a wonderful gift and is an even more delicious meal.”

I love the simplicity of Japanese food and Somen another great example of using only a few ingredients to create a great meal. This is a great weekday night meal, and simple to make if you don’t consider yourself much of a cook! The preparation is simple, so the getting the right ingredients are extremely important. You can find the somen noodles and the tsuyu at most Asian supermarkets.

Tsuyu, the broth, is a mixture of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin. You can make your own but if you want to be lazy (like us) you can buy it at the store. We usually buy the “straight” broth, which means you don’t have to dilute it with water in order to use it.

I’ve included the most frequent way to prepare Somen, as well as a few picked up from scouring the web! Links after the recipe.

Somen (そうめん )

Print This

Serves: 1 Prep Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

1 bunch somen noodles
1/4 cup tsuyu (broth, either bought or cooked)
1 green onion, chopped
Togarashi to season

Instructions

Boil noodles for 3-4 minutes
Drain and run under cool water until chilled
Place in bowl, pour in tsuyu (つゆ), top with green onions and shichi-mi tōgarashi (七味唐辛子)

Recipes from Around the Web

Hot Somen Noodles with Sea Bream (NHK Food)
Gomoku Somen Recipe (Japanese Cooking 101)
Chilled Tomato Somen (Humble Bean Blog)

November 1, 2017 0 comment

Restaurant Recap Seattle

5 Seattle Cold Noodle Spots

written by Miko Russell

To survive Seattle’s recent heatwave (and smoke infestation), I assume that most people would want to eat ice cream. Seattle has a ton of great ice cream shops (I’ve heard) but I’m lactose intolerant and have blocked such things from my knowledge. Instead, what could I eat that I love in hot weather? Cold noodles!! We went on a quest to find 5 Seattle cold noddle spots that could help beat the heat!

Cold Noodles 凉皮 @ Xi’an Noodles

The cold noodles at Xi’an Noodles

The first stop on our cold noodle adventure was to get, well, the cold noodles at Xi’an Noodle. I had been to Xi’an Noodles a few times before, but always would order the Spicy Cumin Lamb Hand-Ripped Noodles or the Won-Ton in Chili Sauce (both of which are very delicious).

The style of this restaurant is that of the Shaanxi Province, a land-locked area roughly 800 miles west of Shanghai. What they are known for is a type of noodle called liangpi (凉皮), or “cold skin” due to its texture. These are flatter and a bit rougher texture than the other hand-ripped or hand-pulled noodles on the menu. They’re served mixed with bean sprouts, cilantro, straight-up chunks of gluten, green onions, and a thin, vinegar sauce. It’s a taste that unlike what most non-Chinese-Americans know as “Chinese” due to it’s more of a tangy, sour flavor rather than sweet. There were four of us eating and we had to order two large servings of this, that’s how good it was!

Xi’an Noodles, University District
5259 University Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115 (map)

Cold Rice Noodles 涼米皮 @ Country Dough

The cold noodles at Country Dough

For our next bowl we headed to Country Dough in the Pike Place Market—you have to walk past the line of tourists at the original Starbucks and into the old Stewart Building to find this one! Country Dough focuses on food from the Szechuan province, with several options of street food favorites like flatbreads and Chinese crepes.

For the summer they serve a Cold Rice Noodle special, which is slightly similar to the one served at Xi’an Noodles (Shaanxi and Szechuan provinces do border each other) but with more spice and a slightly thicker sauce. You really get a vinegar kick when you take a bite and there’s sesame and ginger added in too. Don’t bother getting a small because you will want more, order the large!

Country Dough, Pike Place Market
1916 Pike Pl Ste 14, Seattle, WA 98101 (map)

Somen 素麺 @ Bon Odori Festival

The cold noodles at Bon Odori

The Bon Odori Festival is a Japanese summer festival that honors your family who have passed away. It is known for its dancing, which is to welcome spirits back to their graves and to celebrate their lives. Every year Seattle celebrates this in July during Seafair at the Seattle Buddhist Temple, and there’s food, music, dancing, families, organizations, and (hopefully) sunshine!

One of the many food-stand favorites at Bon Odori is the Somen, or a cold, wheat noodle soup. It’s a straightforward dish, the broth is a concentrated dashi with sake and/or mirin, and you add chilled noodles. You can also add green onions and togarashi (as pictured above), or even shiso or ume on top. Not to be confused with Soba, which is similar but uses buckwheat noodles and can be served hot or cold.

Another type of Japanese cold noodle is Hiyashi Chuka, which is noodles in a cold, sesame sauce, and topped with sliced veggies and meats (I’ve never found a restaurant in Seattle with this dish, but you can buy the sauce mixes at Uwajimaya if you’re interested. It’s a favorite of mine to cook at home!).

Bon Odori, annual event in July
Seattle Buddhist Church, 1427 S. Main, Seattle, WA 98144 (map)

Mul Naengmyun 물 냉면 @ Seoul Garden

The cold noodles at Seoul Garden

A common theme amongst many cold noodles is their tendency to be tangy, and Mul Naengmyun is no exception. We went to Seoul Garden, a Korean restaurant in the heart of downtown Bellevue, for our next dish. I’d eaten here many times with friends, but never ordered this particular dish. Mul Naengmyun is a sour, cold soup with slippery buckwheat noodles and an assortment of toppings: an egg, pickled daikon, cucumber, and sliced beef. The noodles are chewy and smooth, and require scissors (provided by the hostess) to really cut through them to an easily-edible length.

Once you get your soup you can adjust the broth by adding more hot mustard or vinegar. I also had a great mul naengmyun at Hometown Restaurant, at the Lynnwood H-Mart food court if you’re ever up north.

Seoul Garden, Downtown Bellevue
304 105th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 (map)

Pancit Malamig @ the Lahi Pop-Up

The cold noodles at Lahi

My personal biggest surprise of this list was from the Philippines. I was racking my brain trying to think of what cold noodles were served from the country, not that I’m an expert, and where would I even find in the city with all of the notable Filipino restaurants in Seattle having closed in the last several months (RIP Inay’s, Kusina Filipina, and Isla Manila!). Luckily, I heard about the Lahi Pop-Up at Cafe Red’s Grand Opening event and we made sure to stop by!

The chef behind it all is Irbille Donia, who restarted his Lahi pop-up restaurant after a two-year hiatus. The idea behind the food is to start with recipes from the heart, that his lola would make, and add modern American/Spanish/Northwest technique. This particular dish was a fusion of old and new, the pancit made with spinach and the shrimp confited. It looked nothing like anything I’d eaten but when I took the first bite I instantly knew it was Filipino, and that it was home!

Lahi, pop-up restaurant
Next event on August 28th at the Stone House Cafe in Rainier Beach (more info)

I hope that these options help you start your own cold noodle experience around Seattle, or at home! We’ll be posting a quick somen recipe soon to help you on your way in the kitchen.

If we’ve missed your favorite, please let us know which places we should check out in the comments! Cold noodles.

August 21, 2017 0 comment

Travel

A Day on O’ahu’s North Shore

written by Miko Russell

During our trip to Hawai’i, we wanted to spend a day outside of Honolulu. We’d been staying in Waikiki, AKA TouristWorld™, so we cruised up to the North Shore looking for great beaches and food.

Starting our Day

We headed up to Hale’iwa after stopping at Don Quijote for some quick bento breakfasts and coffee. Spam for the road: it’s a must. About an hour later, after passing the Dole pineapple plantation and heading through the middle of the island, we stopped in Hale’iwa. Hale’iwa is the main hub of the North Shore. We stopped here and did a bit of shopping and walking around, then headed towards Matsumoto’s Shave Ice to meet up with my friend (but sadly we didn’t get any shave ice!).

Kawai is a local on the North Shore and, as evidenced by him waving to everyone we saw and knowing each truck that drove by, he knows everyone here. He was able to throw us in his truck and take us to some of the best spots and local places I’d never visited before.

Howzit, Kawai!

Everyone who is a mutual friend of ours and knew we were hanging out said the same thing: When you go to North Shore, Kawai’s going to take you to this one sushi place. He always does. And sure enough—he did! Banzai Sushi. Banzai Sushi is a cute-looking spot in the back of a parking lot, and we ate outside on the floor. No joke, this was some of the best food we ate all trip. The coconut shrimp actually had coconut taste, unlike the kind you get in Seattle, the avocado tempura was great, but the best thing was the Lemon Drop Roll. It’s a spicy tuna roll, topped with hamachi, lemon slices, and ponzu sauce. It was a delight. The spicy tuna and the citrus kick went so well together! Justin was a big fan of their goma-e as well. We also got the Red Dragon Roll, Gnarly Marley Roll, and the Banzai Roll. We ate a ton.

The whole shebang at Banzai Sushi

Left: Coconut Shrimp Right: The three specialty rolls

Big Wave Beaches

After lunch, Kawai took us towards Waimea Bay, turned at the Foodland in Pupukea, up the hill to the Pu’u O Mahuku Heiau. A heiau is a Hawai’ian temple, used for community gatherings, presenting offerings, worship, and other things. This one is the biggest left on O’ahu! We headed over to the ledge which overlooked all of Waimea Bay and Waimea Valley. From here, you can watch the big waves on the north end of the bay. Today they were “only” 10 feet.

Overlooking Waimea Bay from the heiau

Waimea Valley

We met a hula dog!

Being at a sacred Hawai’ian spot as a haole and non-Hawai’ian was an interesting experience. I wasn’t very familiar with what heiaus were and how they were used while I was there, so I generally tried to be respectful and to not do anything too stupid. It was a beautiful spot and there were offerings that people had left there. Some people had left garbage, too, which was a total dick move on their parts.

The outline from the Pu’u o Mahuku Heiau above Waimea Bay

Some of the offerings at the heiau. Mostly leis, some food. Some jerks left garbage. Ugh.

From there, we headed over to Three Tables Beach, learned about Mary’s Garden at Shark’s Cove, aaaand decided we needed to eat more. Of course. So we made a pitstop at Crispy Grindz, a Brazilian food truck right up the road. We grabbed a coxinha and a few pastels and headed to Ehukai Beach to watch people try and surf the Banzai Pipeline.

Buddies!

Three Tables Beach

Mary’s Garden by Sharks Cove. A large selection of carefully pruned plants and trees right along the edge of the water. Named after the woman who takes care of them.

Left: A surfer heading out towards to beach. Right: Crispy Grindz truck

We hung out here for a long time, just hanging out in the sand and eating. Watching people surf. It was nice. Hawai’i is nice. Everything is nice.

Watching the surfers on Ehukai Beach

Surfers on the Banzai Pipeline at Ehukai Beach

Left: Controversial wind turbines. Right: Justin at Shark’s Cove.

Kawai wanted to take us around the area a bit more, so we headed up into the hills. Along the drive, he was pointing out where Pete Carroll had a house, Kelly Slater, Billabong, and others did, too. He told us all about how native Hawai’ian groups and local residents have been resisting development to “keep the country country.” Land preservation is a big deal in the whole state, and there was a huge fight against adding in wind turbines, and expanding the Turtle Bay Resort, and other big development deals that would’ve brought in unsustainably large numbers of people, changing the character and history of the island.

Left: Bamboo house. Right: Mailboxes and palm trees

Chickens chillin’ in the shade.

Cruised on up to Sunset Beach after that, where they were holding the APP World Tour Sunset Beach 2017 stand-up paddleboarding championship. Justin tried to dip a toe in the water and instantly got yelled at. For good reason. (He’d die.) It was finally time to leave, which meant…time to meet Justin’s family in Hale’iwa to eat more!

Sunset Beach, O’ahu

The Half+Half team at Sunset Beach

But first! Kawai asked, “You guys like pie?” and, uhh, heck yeah we do, and so he drove us the opposite way over to Ted’s Bakery. He ordered a chocolate haupia pie, and we cut it up right there and ate a few slices. The pie has a layer of chocolate pudding, then a layer of haupia, and is topped with whipped cream. Justin just about lost his damn mind. He quickly proclaimed it to be the best pie he’s ever eaten, and said that it reminded him of Almond Joy—although the pie had nothing to do with almonds, it had everything to do with joy.

Hella dope chocolate haupia pie

Left: You know it’s gonna be good when it’s right there in the sign. Right: We met a man with a parrot at Ted’s Bakery too.

We finally got back to Hale’iwa and went to Honos Shrimp Truck with the whole crew. Honos is a Korean-owned shrimp truck that stands for “Hawai’i Ono Shrimp,” or Honos. We got a ton of food: the original butter garlic shrimp, a sweet and sour shrimp, the spicy shrimp, and a plate of kalbi. The North Shore is known for these trucks because there were a lot of big aquaculture farms, and their purveyors started selling freshly cooked shrimp from the sides of the passing roads.

Honos Shrimp Truck in Haleiwa. “어서오세요” means “welcome!”

Hella shrimp.

Evan destroying all of the kalbi

Time to Head to Honolulu
The next time we’re in O’ahu, I’d love to spend a few days in North Shore, just hanging around the beach and relaxing away from the city for a bit. Hopefully it’ll be sooner rather than later!

The road to Haleiwa at dusk

Have you ever been to the North Shore? Where were your favorite spots?

March 21, 2017 0 comment

Travel

Weekend Trip to Vancouver, BC

written by Miko Russell

We have quite a few travels plans coming up, but we wanted a quick weekend trip nearby to celebrate Justin’s birthday. We’d done Portland a ton since he’s from there, but Justin hadn’t been to Vancouver since high school–it’s actually closer than Portland is from Seattle… So off we went!

The dim sum spread at Sun Sui Wah

What We Ate

Since we had gone up during Chinese New Year I wanted to eat some celebratory foods. Based on my (very limited) knowledge I think that the Philippines are one of the few countries in Asia that doesn’t celebrate a Lunar New Year, so our family has always relied on the help of others to guide us through the holiday. Our friend, and local Vancouverite, Marion recommended Sun Sui Wah for our dim sum feast–it was delicious!

Spicy daikon cakes

Eggplant with shrimp paste

We pretty much ordered the whole dang menu for the four of us: Hagao shiumai, jellyfish, spicy daikon cakes, rice noodles with dried shrimp, chow mein, pea tips with garlic, eggplant with shrimp paste, stewed pig ears, supreme dumpling, sticky rice, chicken wings with garlic, bean curd rolls, and fresh mango pancakes.

Mango pancakes & supreme dumpling @ Sun Sui Wah

Chicken wings with garlic @ Sun Sui Wah

Jellyfish & rice noodles with dried shrimp @ Sun Sui Wah

For dinner we all went to my absolute favorite restaurant in the city, Guu!! I always try to stop in here during my trips to Vancouver, as it’s consistently delicious, has a varied menu, and the small plates makes it super easy to share. It’s so good. It was also nice meeting up with an old friend of mine from London, Subash, who now lives in Vancouver–quite a bit easier to visit than traveling across the Atlantic.

Black cod & karaage @ Guu

We ordered a ton… garlic Brussels sprouts, grilled garlic herb saikyo lamb chops, karaage, tuna tataki with ponzu and garlic chips, ginger-soy marinated black cod cheeks, gyu-tongue chazuke, roasted “cha-shu” duck breast with miso mayo, and ginger-soy eggplant with green onion. We did a pretty great job eating as much as we did in the limited amount of time allotted, as our reservation was only for an hour!

Tuna tataki @ Guu

On our way out of town we headed to a place by where we were staying, the Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe, for a quick breakfast. The main staple of the place is a Dutch pancake called a pannekoek, which is kinda like a fat crepe. What was most interesting to me was that they served Indonesian dishes alongside these pancakes as result of the Dutch colonizers in Indonesia, having arrived in the 1500s and finally leaving after World War II after the Indonesian National Revolution.

I ordered the “Bali Bali” Pannekoek, a “traditional Dutch pannekoek topped with chicken nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice), pineapples, and cinnamon bananas with peanut sauce and sambal on the side.” It was okay. It would’ve been better if it was just nasi goreng without the pannekoek, but honestly I’d rather just go to an Indonesian restaurant. (They also had some pretty good poffertjes, which are mini pancakes that I haven’t eaten since I was in Amsterdam)

Bali Bali Pannekoek @ Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe

Another stop was Nando’s, my favorite chicken from London, that I am a bit obsessed with and they don’t have in the States. I had to come here because Justin had never experienced the magic of the peri-peri spice, and now he has seen the light. Yeah it’s fast food but it’s DOPE!

The best… Chicken in a pita, medium, with peri-peri fries @ Nando’s

Stanley Park

During the day we headed to Stanley Park, the huge park right next to downtown Vancouver, to spend a little time in nature. We checked out the Totem Poles, the Lighthouse, and the Lion’s Gate Bridge. Definitely the best spot for views of downtown, West Vancouver, and the Straight of Georgia.

Cheesin’

Hip hop squat with Marion & David

Serious photography squat with Marion & David

If you have extra time, rent a bike, or do some nature walks through the park. There’s 17 miles of forest trails and all sorts of other activities. Beaches (…that are cold), aquariums, horse rides, cricket fields, and more.

The 9 o’clock Cannon

Steps leading down to the water // Justin overlooking West Vancouver

Found this fun little critter swimming around the bay.

All in all, a great weekend away.

February 7, 2017 1 comment

Japanese Food Personal Story Words

Japanese New Year’s Meal

written by Justin Inahara

The migration over to Southeast Portland on the first day of the year is something that I will always remember. There were the times when the grass was crunchy with ice, where all we brought was a pillow to nap after the meal, and other times where some people (…I won’t out them here) that were too hungover to take part in the best meal of the year. Regardless, New Year’s lunch at my grandparents place has been a constant in the years since I have been in this world.

Our homemade ozoni for New Year’s 2017

New Year’s in Japan is the most important traditional holiday. According to Shinto beliefs, a kami (god, 神) enters the house on the first day of the new year, therefore the home must be cleaned top to bottom in order to properly welcome the guest. The kami of New Years is not to be disturbed with noise from the kitchen for the first three days of the new year, so all of the cooking needed to be done before the holiday. Most businesses would be closed the first three days of the new year and people would take time off of work. This all combined for an extremely busy Juu-Nichi Gatsu (December, 十二月), with lots of preparation for the start of the year.

The osechi-ryori (おせち料理) is the traditional meal served on New Years, and is made up of symbolic and delicious food. Most of the foods are preserved with salts, vinegars and sugars to keep for the three days when cooking is frowned upon. Examples of these dishes include kuromame (sweetened black beans, 黒豆), kamaboko (boiled fish cake, かまぼこ), kurikinton (sweet potatoes and sweet chestnuts, 栗金とん), and ebi (prawns, えび). Each dish has its own meaning and purpose; Ebi is representative of an old person with a bent back and long hair signaling a long life. The characters for ‘kinton’ (金とん) in ‘kurikinton’ literally mean “group of gold” for a wish for lots of wealth and financial gains. Food holds a dear spot in the Japanese culture, especially on the most important holiday.

The Inahara Tradition

When it came to the Inahara Japanese New Year’s lunch, it was not as traditional as above. Myself being a yonsei (4th generation Japanese-American, 四世), a lot of the strict Shinto traditions gave way to more relaxed Japanese-American ideals. The most traditional part of our gathering was the food itself. It also happened that my grandmother and her family were excellent tsukemono (漬物) picklers and we got to enjoy gobo, fukujinzuke and sunomono (ごぼう, 福神漬, 酢の物). The meals featured salmon (usually), ebi, lots of rice, fresh fruits, noodles (chow mein), fried chicken, and ozoni (a traditional New Year’s soup, お雑煮).

Mochi before being prepared to eat

Ozoni is a clear dashi (seaweed & bonito broth, だし) soup that features mochi as the main star. Mochi has always held a very special spot in the Inahara family. My grandpa’s father was one of the larger producers of Japanese confections in the Portland area and was especially known for mochi. Mochi (餅) is a pounded rice cake, that has a chewy texture and is usually filled with sweetened bean paste.

The Inahara side of my family owned a Japanese confectionery store in the 1970s in Portland. Mikado was located on 20th and SE Powell and was run by Tetsunosuke ‘Tets’ Inahara and his wife Tei. Tets was trained in Japan as a professional confectioner and moved back from Ontario, Oregon after Public Proclimation No. 21 was announced. During the weeks building up to the new year, the family would converge and help turn 200 pounds of cooked rice into the delicious New Year’s treat. The mochi would make its way into 20-30 pound banana boxes and then to the local Buddhist churches that would prepare and feed it to their members.

Tetsunosuke and Tei with the mochi machine

After the Mikado closed, the family used to gather a few weeks before the New Years and spend the day making mochi. The process was more industrialized than the traditional manual hammer method thanks to a large machine that provided the manpower. About 20–25 of us would get together and watch as the older men would work in the machine, flipping the rice and wetting the mallet between each downfall of the large wooden block. Once a giant mochi ball had been formed we would split the 25 pound rice ball into smaller, individual-sized balls and start shaping them. The end result was an obscene amount of mochi, clothes covered in cornstarch, and a belly full of the delicious treat.

[Left] The Inahara kids watching uncle Toshio using the mochi machine [Right] Grandpa Yosh making mochi

As it happens, I have moved away from my hometown and the trip to Southeast Portland is much more difficult for me to make. I figured if I can’t be there then I might as well run my own New Year’s meal in Seattle. The New Year’s meal has always connected me with my Japanese family, but the invitation was extended to friends who have never experienced Japanese New Year’s meal. Like any great meal, it brings people together from every background and cooking this meal helps to keep an important tradition alive. Just like my grandparents who grew up in a country that forcibly removed a whole population of their people based on fear, the drive to keep traditions alive was more powerful than their circumstances. I am truly humbled by their sacrifices and courage to be themselves. To put family and friends at the center of their life, to use food as a way to love and building community around tradition.

Justin with the Inahara Grandparents (2016)

This is what Half+Half is about; navigating culture and diversity through the lens of food. I strongly believe that food has become the strongest way to identify someone. Most of the racial epithets used come from food that is commonly associated with their cultures. Within the cultures of food there is a huge amount of misunderstanding, appropriation and distrust—and we hope to offset that here at Half+Half. In my humble opinion the most important and powerful way to love someone is to feed them. So get in the kitchen, and let’s get to work—we have a lot of love to spread.

January 5, 2017 3 comments