New York Mutual Trading
Metropolitan Pavilion
123W 18th Street, NY

On Sept 25th, The 17th Annual New York Mutual Trading (NYMT) Japanese Food & Restaurant Show was held at Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea, New York. Mutual Trading Gorup is a Japanese food distributor founded in 1926, carrying over 4,000 products including authentic Japanese ingredients, premium Japanese sakes and restaurant supplies. NYMT showcases those high quality Japanese products to chefs and restaurants in NYC.

It was a all day event, presenting not only new products, recipes and menus for restaurants, but also kitchen demonstrations conducted by top chefs (Eiji Ichimura, Sam Gelman, Yukari Nonaga, Tomo Kobayashi), knife seminars by a popular knife master in Japan Tsukiji Masamoto, and sake & beer seminars with tasting. It was a fun day to see so many people in restaurant business came over to taste and learn various kinds of Japanese products.

９月２５日、第１７回ニューヨーク共同貿易日本食レストランショーがチェルシーにある Metropolitan Pavilion にて開催されました。共同貿易社は、１９２６年創業以来、４０００以上もの日本食品、製品、お酒やビールなどの日本の商品を全米のレストランやお店に紹介している貿易会社です。

今回のレストランショーでは、和食器等の商品の展示、ラーメンやうどん等の試食会、ビールやお酒、焼酎の試飲会の他に、NY を代表するレストランのシェフたち（市村英治氏、Sam Gelman氏、野永喜三夫氏、小林智幸氏）によるキッチンデモ、正本築地氏による和包丁の使い方のセミナー、日本酒のサーブ、売り方のセミナーなど、盛 りだくさんの催しでNYまたはNY近郊のレストラン業界に携わる大勢の来場者たちに日本食の魅力を伝えていました。これからもNYをはじめ、海外での日本 食人気、続きそうです。

A Japanese dining event “Tasting Kaiseki Cuisine with Echizen Lacquer Ware” was held at Japanese Culinary Center in Midtown on June 28th.

Take a look Chamagraphy!

To see more photos of this event. visit…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chamagraphy/sets/72157624276061583/

Daiginjo IPPIN brewed by Yoshikubo Shuzo, Ibaraki, Japan

The first sip, tastes like a regular Daiginjo; fragrant, light, clean, and smooth. But the second sip, WOW… was richer , creamier, robust, juicier and a very long finish.

interesting!

TAD DAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! OKASHIRA TSUKI TAI SASHIMI

Snapper Sashimi with a head! We have whole Tai(Snapper) dishes for celebrations like a new year, wedding or…whatever happy occasion! (Japanese people love to make excuses to eat this anyway :p)

I love squid sashimi with mentaiko…. great ATE for sake..hehhe

Good food, good sake, and good people make the world for sure. Don’t you think?

Also, he sent this link AKITA Daisuki! as well. “AKITA Daisuki” means “I Love Akita very much!” in Japanese. Look! My sweet hometown Akita is loved in Korea very much….

Mmmmm….. I’m getting hungry now….

Let’s have Korean BBQ with my favorite junmai Amanoto JUNKARA!! It’s going to be a great pairing for sure.

ATE are small dishes that go great with sake.

However, I had never really contemplated the subtle differences between so many different soy sauces. For instance, there’s “Koikuchi soy sauce” and “Tamari soy sauce”, or “Japanese soy sauce” and ” non-Japanese soy sauce”….

I was invited the other day to a very interesting event .

“The Joy of Soy : Creative Cooking with Soy Sauce” at the International Culinary Theater at The French Culinary Institute

Cooking demonstrations and tastings with Chef Ben Pollinger of Oceana and a Soy sauce lecture by the expert from Yamasa Corporation, it was organized by the  Gohan Society.

Brewing soy sauce process is very similar with brewing sake. The expert explained about Koji, Moromi, Umami, Bitter, and Sour for soy sauce….sounds almost same with sake class! It was very familiar for me!

* Umami–Amino Acid (Glutamic Acid, etc) from soy bean protein and wheat protein

I should learn more about soy sauce as a Japanese woman….

The History of Japanese Soy Sauce

Japanese soy sauce finds its roots in “hishio”, a similar seasoning used
in seventh and eighth century Japan. Soy sauce evolved roughly into its
form about 700 years ago. Full-scale production started early in Edo period
in the 17th century, coinciding with the beginnings of Japan’s
modernization. In the late Edo period of the middle 1800′s, soy sauce’s
use as a table seasoning spread. Japanese cuisine that relies on soy sauce
flavoring, such as sushi, soba and broiled ell, took final shape during this
time. Also during the Edo period, Dutch and Chinese trading ships (the only
ships permitted at that time to carry out trade) took soy sauce to all parts
of Europe and Asia. Today, Japan exports soy sauce to dozens of countries
in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Soy sauce has become a staple
in the homes of peoples worldwide.

Ben Pollinger
Executive Chef, Oceana

Ben Pollinger, Executive Chef at Oceana Restaurant, has a unique cooking
style that artfully blends the freshest seafood with the finest ingredients
from a global pantry. Sensitive to the seasons, and with a preference for
buying local, he has received critical acclaim first in July 2008 when
Oceana was awarded three stars in the New York Times, and again in October
that year when Oceana was awarded a Michelin star for the second year.
Pollinger’s recipes are a reflection of time well spent abroad, working in,
and dining at, some of the world’s most prestigious restaurants. Each dish
he creates embodies a passion for, and love of, all things from the land and
the sea, and his fervent desire to share them at the table. Ben Pollinger
believes in being a good steward of our planet, and he lives this philosophy
at work and at his New Jersey home where he tends to a 500 square foot
organic garden, and provides many of the vegetables and herbs that flavor
Oceana’s global seafood cuisine.

I had a great time with great food and sake at my friend’s beautiful loft in Soho last night.

The curry tasted so Japanese mom’s taste! I really miss it!!