Jo Jo's, NAC, Hirafu

Jo Jo's is located within the Niseko Adventure Centre. You walk up a spiralling staircase into the big open room. There's a reasonable sized climbing wall occupying the back half of the room which works it way up from the lower floor .....



We sit down and order drinks. I go for the melon soda. My first impression is "Yike's, it's really green!" but it doesn't have that sickly syrup sweet that I though it would judging by the colour. It's actually a really mellow melon flavour, mixed with soda. mmm



Kim try's the Heartland Beer. This is made by Kirin. It's a well-rounded larger and very easy drinking beer.



On this occasion that we're here, it's rather quiet. This makes the very large open room almost a little lonely .....



But we place our order and within moments we here rustling, but it's not coming from the kitchen! Someone is getting kitted up downstairs to start climbing. Cool! So we just sit back and watch them, which is a rather unusual, all be it rather cool, way to pass the time while waiting for dinner.

Then the food arrives. Kim's gone for the cheeseburger. It's nice and generous, a plump meat patty topped with melting cheese, a bit of lettuce and the additon of a fried egg. There's a few hand cut fries on the side.



I get the BBQ chicken wrap. There are tender pieces of marinated grilled chicken, with loads of lettuce and tomato. But the real surprise was the delicious wholemeal flatbread in which it was wrapped ... this is made on site, and it was really really good! It had great flavour, and a wonderful texture. It was thick enough, but still thin enough to encase the chicken just nicely.



All this was enjoyed with another side order of hand cut Hokkaido potato wedges.



Have I said the potatoes are good here in Hokkaido?

Jo Jo's
NAC - Niseko Adventure Centre
179-53 Yamada, Kutchan
Abuta Gun
Hokkaido, Japan
T: 0136 232 093



Opening Times
April - October 9am - 9pm
November - Mid December 11am - 9pm
Mid December - March 11am - 11pm

Eff Eff, Annupuri

On our first visit to Annupuri we tryed to go to Eff Eff with Sh. We got there a bit late, though... Ever since then we'd been meaning to get back there. Here's a little old cottage tucked away at the base of Niseko Annupuri. The little sign on the front boasts "Ham & Sausages", awesome!



Walking in it feels like Grandma's house .. The fire was going, there's little vase's of flowers and plenty of knick-knack's lining the walls.



But then there's a small little showcase at the front filled with packets of house cured meats, hand-made sausages and ham. I believe it's all produced down below. We want to get a few things to go to take back and have a look out, but there's also a small little menu that you can sit down and enjoy.

Firstly comes a plate of sliced speck. It's nice and salty, with a good firm texture. It smells amazing! The 7 slices are draped over a little salad of crisp lettuce and tomatoes with a nice vinegary dressing. Yum!



As we're enjoying this, we see our selection of sausages being grilled over a little charcoal grill.



Then they arrive, hot from the grill. There's a weisswurst - a German style white sausage, a spicy pork sausage and a few little weiners. They are served with a good whack of mustard, ketchup, potato salad, sliced gherkin pickles and 2 lonely little beans .....

It was all delicious! Everyday we are amazed at what this little part of the world has to offer ......

Eff Eff
Annupuri Village
Hokkaido, Japan

Getting ready for winter ....

Since arriving in Hokkaido in October, we have wanted to take advantage wherever possible of the amazing local produce. We have been busily bottling and preserving whatever we could get our hands on to get us through the long, cold winter.

Wandering to work one day, out the front of the Reading Room was a table covered in amazing baby Roma tomatoes and white eggplants. After arriving at work and expressing our excitement to M1 we were back with a handful of ¥ ..... there's a great little sign advertising "Locally grown Organic Niseko produce" and an honesty box, asking you to pay what you think the vegetables are worth to you... How cool! But as we arrive back, a little truck pulls in unloading more veg. Conveniently it's the farmer himself, so here the relationship begins with Dennis.

We buy the entire contents of the table, and have arrangements for delivery of whatever else he can spare for us.... There's white eggplants,



& Mini red & yellow Roma's.




We made a delicious eggplant, chili & fig chutney. (Which we're now using on the charccuterie plate) and did some tres cute little jars of pickled eggplants. This recipe was found in Stephanie Alexanders the Cook's Companion and is so delicious. It says they will keep for a few months, but ours are disappearing at an alarming rate on antipasto, panini's, pizza's and everything else!



Pickled Eggplant
adapted from Stephanie Alexanders the Cook's Companion

1kg eggplant (we were lucky enough to have organic white Hokkaido eggplants)
¼ cup kitchen salt
100ml red wine vinegar
about 200ml extra virgin olive oil
For layering1 hot chili, sliced finely or chili flakes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
mint leaves or thyme sprigs
fennel seeds (optional)

Slice eggplants into 5mm thick rounds. Spread out on a tray, sprinkling each layer with salt. Place another tray on top and something quite heavy, like a large jar of olive oil, and leave in the fridge overnight. This is to remove excess moisture from the eggplants.
Rinse slices very briefly in cold water, and the dry really well.
The slices can then be grilled with a little olive oil. We don't yet have a grill so we fried them in a pan until they were nicely golden on both sides. Remove from the pan and allow to cool a little.
Transfer the eggplant to a stainless bowl or tray and drizzle over the red wine vinegar. Leave the eggplants for 1 hour, to absorb all the vinegar.
Layer the eggplants with tongs or a fork into hot, sterilized jars adding the chili, garlic & herbs alternately. Press down very well and cover with olive oil. Release the slices from the side of the jar with a fork to remove any trapped air. Press down once more and fill to the top with oil.
Seal the jar and leave for at least a week (if possible :)) before eating.
If air has been correctly excluded and the jars are perfectly clean this pickle will last for months. Keep in a cool dark cupboard to prevent deterioration of the olive oil.
Makes 1 x 500g jar.

Then with the tomatoes, 80kg in total, we were constantly drying and semi-drying. Our combi oven certainly had a workout .....



We would love to be using these super sweet dried tomatoes for so many more things, but they only have about a 10% yield after dried, so they've been saved exclusively for our salad on at Sekka. Next year we just need to get in much earlier and have Dennis grow us about 500kg :)

Pomme-no-ki Omu Rice, Sapporo

Okay we've had omu rice before, it's stir-fried rice wrapped inside an omelet, no biggie, good for some home cooked style when you need it... Kinda. What we found is it's another example of how different the Japan exported to the world is from the Japan in Japan. Standing outside Pomme-no-ki in the JR Tower above Sapporo station we're transfixed by the dozens of variations of omu rice. There's so many we still haven't decided as we drift along in the small queue and pop out at the head. Seated and faced with an expectant waitress we make our choices, Kat - Kim chi and onsen egg with butter and bacon rice (you even have a choice on the type of fried rice....amazing), M1 - butter bacon rice with Japanese curry sauce, and I go for tomato rice gratinated in a cream sauce. You even get to choose SS - 2 eggs, S - 3 eggs, M - 4 eggs or the mammoth L - 6 eggs. We all settle for the M.

When the omelette's arrive I once again give props to the plastic food people whose models could have been sitting in front of us or maybe it should be to the kitchen for presenting exactly what they have promised not minus one detail.

My rice sitting in a small bowl is swimming in a lava hot cheese/cream sauce, once the molten bubbling has subsided it's actually really Moorish and a good breakfast in my book.



M1's is with the Japanese curry sauce. The rice and omelet are good but the Japanese curry is perhaps an acquired taste.

Kat's come out with the winner on the day, the plate is picture (in fact several) pretty, laced with kewpie piled with kim chi and topped with the onsen egg. We marveled at the soft white and hard yolk (done by cooking at low temperature), the kim chee had just the right bite and went well with the bacon rice.



We seem to be a source of constant amusement to M1 as we walk through japan with our I guess, child like wonder and amazement at every thing, dragging him in to look and eat things that must seem so normal. But isn't that one of the joys of travel?



Pomme-no-ki
Top floor
JR Tower
Sapporo

Tag! You're it!

Wow, it was only a week or so ago when we were flicking through Grab Your Fork's blog and I'd seen she'd been Tagged .... I wasn't too sure what this was but read along anyway. Then I was thinking, "Aw, I wish we would get tagged someday ..." and here we are! A big thanks to Billy at A Table for Two for our tag and adding a blast of excitement into this weeks snow bound doldrums ....

Well, here goes, firsty 6 random facts about Kat ......

1. My full name is Katherine. I like being called Kat, it's short and sweet ... Just don't call me Kath! (Apart from it being a bit Aunty like, the whole Kath and Kim thing just doesn't do it for me!)
2. I have a mammoth collection of Business Cards. I like to pick them up whenever we go to a cafe / bar / restaurant / shop etc. I usually pick up 3 or 4 from each place, with the full intention of being able to give them to someone when we reccomend somewhere cool.
3. I don't like the cold! I seem to over sensitive to the cold weather, and find myself super rugged up if it even drops to 15C. Quite interesting now that we are living in Niseko Hirafu and it's dumping snow nearly every day .........
4. ..... and being here in Hirafu, I have experienced snow for the first time, ever! Seen it falling, seen everything turn white, even thrown a few snowballs and built a snowman. Just a couple of days ago it dumped 40cm over the course of 24 hours. Truly amazing!
5. My most memorable meal to date would have to be the amazing Masa in New York. Incredible!
6. I love Thailand! The food, the people, the food, the diversity - city, mountains, pristine beaches and jungle. Oh, and did I mention I love the food??

And here's for 6 random facts about Kim:

1. I got my Padi dive ticket in the amazing waters off the Gili islands in Indonesia. No cars, no dogs, electricity sporradic, food amazing .......heaven.
2. Desperately wants to live and work in New York. It's just got the whole world in one place 24/7.
3. Once ate three meals in three Mario Batali restaurants on the same night Bar Jamon, Casa Mono and Babbo. I swear I was halucinating afterwards, it was part of a nineteen restaurants in five days New York binge.
4. Used to be a chef at Sailor's Thai. It was thanks to that I got a taste for genuine Thai flavor.
5. Has a thing for Japanese kids cartoons like Crayon Shin Chan and Anpanman.
6. Will be drawn to any type of offal on the menu. I love offal and the skill it takes to cook it well.

And here's to the 6 blogger's we'd like to shout out to:

• Austin Bush from Austin Bush Photography who has given us so many great meals in Thailand ....
• George Zhao at Food.Out who does a great little grid grading system
• EssG at Straight Up & Down who started out with the Sydney Food Diary and moved on to the big apple... little bit jealous guys!
• Su-Lin from Tamarind and Thyme based in London. We love her Fake-Aways!
• Deb and Alex from smitten kitchen. Great recipes and beautiful photos!
• ieatishootipost who transports us back to Singapore on a regular basis ...

And now for the rules,

- Link to the person who tagged you
- Post the rules on the blog
- Write six random things about yourself
- Tag six people at the end of your post
- Let them know they’ve been tagged by commenting on their blog
- Let the tagger know when your entry is posted

Happy Tagging! Eat More!

Fei, Sapporo

Sometimes, when you've done enough good deeds and your karma meter is sitting on full, life pays you back with an introduction to a place such as Fei. It's the sort of place you could walk past everyday for a year and still not know it's there, un-signposted and down a back ally off a back street, it even took M1 two times to find it and he's been there before.......several times.



The interior is a blend of of New York speakeasy, rustic country house and art space, with exposed beams, chandeliers made from full campari soda bottles and walls fixed with egg trays full of half egg shells and dandelion flowers, all bits of a little weird mixing to make just right.



Quickly sat (bookings essential) we give the menu the once over, broken down Italian style into cold antipasti, warm antipasti, first plates (pasta) and second plates (meat). There's such a great selection that we decide to go plate by plate with a few from each section.

The first plate to set the tone for the evening was the Hokkaido venison prosciutto, slices of soft venison slightly cured and just melt in the mouth, with baby dressed greens to cut it which disappeared in a flash.



The next dish lasted only slightly longer but this was probably only because as it was placed on the table we were transfixed with it's beauty, I mean really this artists palette of tiny baby vegetables surrounding a small bowl of bagna cauda, no one wanted to break the spell, but as soon as it snapped we were all in. The bagna cauda was fantastic! A rich heady blend of garlic and anchovy and the mix of perfectly blanched veg was crazy, baby beans, yellow and purple carrot, baby horseradish, snap peas, tiny Roma tomato's and what looked like a small cape gooseberry. For me this was the dish of the night. Absolutely outstanding!



Next came out our warm antipasto a fritto misto of little fish and maitake mushroom, covered with a quick squeeze of lemon they were snapped up.



Then shaako which we ordered without any one being able to explain what they were, "ahhhhh mantis shrimp, oishii", we'd tried these bad boys before in Thailand. Teamed up with a roast tomato sauce and a smoky eggplant halves, these tasty morsels immediately jumped into second place for the evening.



We then flicked onto a rabbit terrine, we had to have a go as rabbit is a bit of an oddity here in japan, well on menus anyway (we saw a girl walking her rabbit on a lead the other day).

The terrine in a nice fat slab wrapped in bacon it's well seasoned and a great match to the wedge of fruit bread we have with it.



Getting into our rhythm now with make short work of a perfectly cooked marron (chestnut) risotto.



We then move on to roasted Hokkaido venison with caramelised pears and a wild mountain grape sauce. Mountain grapes are tiny and it would have taken not a small amount to even make the sauce on our plate, it is an excellent match for the venison with is cooked just medium rare and again just melt in the mouth.



For dessert we each decide to go our own way and maybe share a bite......maybe. Kat has the creme caramel, delectable is the word used and it's a tough job to get past her spoon defence to confirm, but it is just that.



M1 has a pistachio gelato. Bright pistachio green in colour the flavor is intense and rich, you really couldn't eat more than the scoop given.



I go for a martini glass of truffles, five (well three by the time I'm forced to share), covered in bitter cocoa and definitely moreish.



With great food like this and warm friendly staff it's no wonder bookings are recommended.



As we leave I'm trying so hard not to fall in to contented relaxation and remember a few landmarks, it doesn't happen. They'll just have to excuse us if we're a few hours late next time.

Fei
Tel: 011 219 8244
Again, no chance of an address or even directions ... Sorry!
Open 17:00 Close 26:00 (That's what it say's on the card)

Hofe, Sapporo

We're in Sapporo on a mission to find some kitchen supplies and scope out some of the local Hokkaido produce on offer. It's an 8am departure from Hirafu and we're only on the road for about 20 minutes before we start passing these amazing little street-side fruit and vegetable vendors. We stop and browse their goods, with everything from Japanese mushrooms to wild Hokkaido walnuts. We get maybe half way there when we stop at a little roadside (it's actually on both sides of the road) fried potato place. The car park is packed with buses and weekend drivers, all stopping in for a hit of fried potato early on a Saturday morning .....



This carries us through the morning and we manage to look at a few places after arriving in Sapporo. But then, it's lunch time! We are with M1 & M2 today who are doing the deed of showing us around a bit... We pull up somewhere on the outskirts of the city and park the car. There's not too much around, I'm almost wondering what's planned. But then we arrive at a little shop front, writing on the windows with the recognizable words "Lunch" and "Drink" on the door, and what appears to be a list of wines on the window. Nice!



We walk in, there's a table of four downstairs and a minuscule open kitchen. We're lead up a small flight of stairs to a cosy little room with another 14 seats.



The table is set with a lunch set menu and the knife and fork resting on a very cool little 'hashi' rest.



We get some much needed help from M1 & M2 deciphering the Japanese menu as there's not a word of English. There is the option of 2 starters, pate or marinated saba (a Japanese mackerel). Kim, myself and M1 choose the pate. It arrives a very generous slice, wrapped in thin bacon with chunks meat, liver and nuts. We are all intrigued by the accompanying puree, it's a rich, intense but slightly sweet banana puree. I really like it! It has such an concentrated banana flavour, and seems to cut through the richness of the pork quite well. There's a couple of little cornichons, as well. Yum!



The M2 goes for the saba. It's so beautiful, 3 slices of the marinated saba nestled between pieces of roasted apple and a blush pink apple puree. We all manage a tiny taste, and it is just divine!



Then arrives the soup course. Hokkaido bean soup with chorizo. The soup is rich and nutty, with a touch of creaminess. There are a few pieces of sauteed chorizo floating in the bowl, a little virgin olive oil and some toasted cumin on top. A tremendous soup and a perfect size portion.



We're chatting away, sipping away at our glasses of wine for only a few moments when our cutlery is reset, with some very cool Laguiole cutlery, and our main courses arrive.



There were four options, so we chose one of each, with the idea of sharing and sampling each one. They are all so good, that whatever we ended up with in-front of us, aside from allowing the others a little taste, was polished up in no time. Kim had the Mulloway, arriving with crispy scored skin on a little bed of cabbage, what we think was salsify and a few mussels.



M2 has the chicken hot-pot, arriving in a pretty little Staub La cocotte. It is filled with bits of roast chicken, Hokkaido potatoes, cabbage and some clams. It smells divine! and taste fantastic! The juices in the bottom require some more bread, as four hands devour the lot...



M1 has the roast lamb rump. It's roasted MR with a very pink centre, served with a few mild but floral roasted green chilli's and a chunk of caramelised pear.



I definitely end up with the pick of the bunch. Roasted pork (Wow, have I mentioned how amazing the flavour of Hokkaido pork is?) that has a nice layer of crispy fat and a deliciously moist rosy flesh. There's a few pieces of roasted Hokkaido sweet potato, deep purple skin with a velvet yellow interior. Then there's a roasted pumpkin puree, with a nice little hint of sweetness and a piece of caramelised fruit, maybe apple? maybe pear? maybe apricot? A winning combination none-the-less, with Autumn written all over it.



This amazing ¥2200 lunch set, which also includes a glass of wine and coffee or tea, also includes dessert. It's another hard choice to make ... There are 6 options! Kim takes the salted hazelnut semi-freddo. Two little squares come piled high with a splash of Frangelico sauce underneath.



I go for pure simplicity, poached rhubarb with fromage frais. Delightful!



M has the chocolate. It's just that, a slice of a rich set chocolate, with a hint of chilli and a star anise ice-cream to accompany....



Then there's the tea brulee. It's a roasted green tea, so the brulee is a nice caramel colour. It's in a beautiful wide dish, so the crisp sugar topping is there for each mouthful. There's a scoop of vanilla ice cream slowly melting on the hot sugar....



As we're leaving, and offering our best thanks in Japanese, we get a chance to survey the tiny little kitchen from which this is all produced. There is 1 chef, a 4 burner and barley enough room to swing a tea-towel. And all of this spectacular food is being produced by this guy in this tiny little space, and he's cooking main courses as he sends desserts and plates pate's. Very impressive! Very delicious! Very much looking forward to visiting here again soon ......



Hofe
Tel: 011 272 1118
Lunch 11am - 3pm, last order 2pm
Dinner 6pm - 11pm, last order 10pm
(Sorry no address, it's written on the back of the card in Kanji :))