Tag: food

Yakitori Dinner at Home

Sunday, May 19th, 2019Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019food, Japanese food, postaday, yakitori, 焼き鳥Food, Slice of Life3 Comments

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
“Yakitori” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening we made yakitori on the grill. Was yummy! Mariko said the meat was a little overcooked because we kept it on too long to get a nice char, so next time we’ll up the flame a bit so the grill marks arrive earlier.

Besides the chicken, we added onion, and since we didn’t have any green onion in the fridge, we added jalapeño peppers for a bit of color. I guess these were Texas-style yakitori skewers. 😆

Oh, and another thing… we didn’t soak the skewers in water beforehand, so they burned pretty badly. Oh well, next time!

Hope you had a nice day.

またね～

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO800
“Yakitori on the Grill” Cedar Park, 2019

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO250
“Yakitori Basting” Cedar Park, 2019

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/100 sec, ISO640
“Yakitori on the Grill” Cedar Park, 2019

CharmBBQ Korean Fried Chicken

Saturday, May 18th, 2019Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019food, Korean food, postaday, restaurant review, reviewFood, Reviews, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/75 sec, ISO3200
“Korean Fried Chicken” Austin, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

A new fried chicken restaurant opened up recently so we decided to give it a try. CharmBBQ Korean Fried Chicken is the real-deal and is the sister store to Charm Korean BBQ, which we enjoyed.

Upon entering the restaurant, you can tell this is authentic due to the large shochu ad with lifesize Korean model. LoL. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I saw that. Also, the restaurant has multiple TVs set up on all walls, showing sports, news, and K-Pop. Something for everybody! 😆 I actually switched seats with Koa so I could face the TV that was showing a mega-concert with Twice. Woohoo!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
“K-Pop” Austin, 2019

Anyway, onto the food. They serve bone-in chicken, boneless tenders, and many other Korean appetizers and dinners including hotpot. If you order the chicken, you can choose from a variety of sauces. We chose half habañero and half traditional Korean sauce. They were both tasty! I was surprised at the number of items on the menu – we’ll definitely be back again to try some more dishes.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO320
“Charm Chicken” Austin, 2019

Charm BBQ Chicken also has a large variety of drinks (there’s a huge bar) including pitchers of beer. I had the beer/shochu combo drink which was pretty good! Next time, though, a regular beer will be my order. Seems like a good place to enjoy a pitcher of beer with friends, have some spicy chicken, and watch a ballgame. I love the restaurant’s slogan: Beer+Chicken=Truth. haha ☺

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/100 sec, ISO640
“Beer+Chicken=Truth” Austin, 2019

Although we like Korean fried chicken, we all agreed that Japanese karaage is superior, but for a change of pace, Korean fried chicken at Charm BBQ Korean Fried Chicken is yummy.

I hope you had a good day!

またね～

Instant Pot Carnitas Tacos

Friday, May 17th, 2019Wednesday, May 22nd, 2019carnitas, food, Instant Pot, postaday, tacosFood, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/60 sec, ISO3200
“Two Tacos” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

A few days ago I bought a 3.75 lb. pork butt at the supermarket, and that means it’s time for carnitas tacos! Ever since we got our Instant Pot, making carnitas has become super-easy. It’s actually not difficult to make carnitas even without the pressure cooker, but with it, it’s really simple.

I’ve experimented with a few different recipes, but this time I wanted to go basic. The recipe is basically salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, and half a cup of beer. Cut the pork into 2-inch cubes, more or less, put everything into the Instant Pot, and cook on high pressure for 60 minutes.

After it’s done, transfer the meat into a large bowl and use two forks to shred the pork. Give it a taste to make sure it’s salted to your liking, and the meat is ready to be eaten! But, if you like it a little crispy, you can put the meat into a hot skillet and brown it up. That’s my preferred way.

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/100 sec, ISO400
“Taco Ingredients” Cedar Park, 2019

For toppings, we had onion, cilantro, avocado, lime, lettuce, jalapeño, and salsa. Add to that some rice and beans, and you have the classic taco meal. It was yummy!

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/75 sec, ISO400
“Taco Plate” Cedar Park, 2019

I hope you had a nice day!

またね〜

Vietnamese Pork on the Grill

Wednesday, May 15th, 2019Wednesday, May 15th, 2019banh mi, food, postadayFood, Slice of LifeLeave a Comment

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2, 1/150 sec, ISO400
“Sizzling Pork” Cedar Park, 2019

So burgers and steaks are staples of the backyard grill, but tonight Mariko grilled up some sliced pork, which had been soaking in a Vietnamese-style marinade. It smelled absolutely amazing as it cooked on the barbecue!

But the pork was just one ingredient for the banh mi that we had for dinner. Cilantro, pickled radish and carrot, and jalapeño rounded out the filling for the homemade baguette. It was so delicious, and of course, there were no leftovers. 😆

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
“Banh Mi” Cedar Park, 2019

Photo info: FUJIFILM X-T10, 35mm, f/2.2, 1/150 sec, ISO400
“Grilling” Cedar Park, 2019

I hope you had a nice day!

またね～

Better Gyoza Technique

Tuesday, May 14th, 2019Thursday, May 16th, 2019food, gyoza, postadayFood, Slice of Life1 Comment

Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.6, 1/80 sec, ISO3200
“Small Gyoza” Cedar Park, 2019

こんばんは。How’s it going?

This evening I cooked up some frozen gyoza for Bay and me to eat for dinner. Over the years, I’ve gotten better at cooking gyoza, which I’ll admit doesn’t take much skill, but it’s a fun way to cook them nonetheless.

Basically, I put a little oil in the pan, then arrange the gyoza flat side down, in a nice pattern. Spiral is always a nice-looking design. Next, I get the pan hot and sizzling, then add a centimeter or two of water and cover the pan so that the gyoza steam through. After a few minutes, take the cover off and continue cooking until the water has disappeared. If you like, you can add a little sesame oil to the pan for flavor.

Cook until the bottom of the gyoza are golden brown and a little crispy, then use a spatula to loosen them a bit from the pan. To serve them up, put a large plate upside down over the pan, then with the palm of one hand on the top of the plate and the other grabbing the handle of the pan, turn the entire production upside down so that the plate is on the bottom and the gyoza fall off the pan and onto the plate. The sizzling, golden-brown side will be facing up.

If all goes well, you should have something that looks like this: