Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Pictures from downtown

When I have a chance to visit downtown L.A., I bring my camera. There are always opportunities to find interesting people, architecture, and occasionally animals deep in the heart of Los Angeles. Using a digital camera makes it easy to point and shoot pictures, but I wanted to try out my new/old camera. The Canon FTb is an old SLR that I bought from ebay and have been using to learn exposure, timing and all the manual photography that you tend not to pick up with digital.

Hello! Kitty

A wall of gifts from Mexico in Olvera st.

This is Tetsu-san, the operator of Anime Jungle

A statue of a traveling scholar, the nameplate is missing.

The best kept secret in Little Tokyo, the James Irvine Garden

City Hall, built in the thirties and for decades the tallest (by law) building in LA.

Looking down Broadway, near the corner with the Bradbury building

View towards Bunker Hill, once a run down but vibrant residential neighborhood.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Sushi Class, Higashi Honganji, Little Tokyo, L.A.



Lunch at the Farmers Market part II




Lunch at Farmers Market pt. I


Chicken satay from the Southeast Asian restaurant at the market, very good but the sauce was a little strong

The famous clocktower-a lasting symbol of the Market



Fresh produce is returning to the Farmers Market, with small growers being encouraged by the management after several years without farmer run produce stands

Sushi class in Whittier January 23rd

We were very fortunate to have a good sized group for our class this week, we like having more people because we have found that people interact and participate more when there are a lot of different personalities to play off of. It's also a lot of fun when parents and their grown children take the class too, or when people go as a birthday or anniversary present to one another.

A very big class in Whittier for this one!


Hai Karate Sushi Technique




Tamagoyaki pictures


Tamago yaki is a delicious Japanese dish

I think I may have used a half recipe for this one-this is a 30 year old recipe that my dad picked up in a cooking class at East Los Angeles college and it has served us well over many decades of sushi making.

Ingredients:
4 large eggs
2 TBS sugar
2 TBS water (we use water that dried shiitake mushrooms have been soaked in)
1 tsp sake
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp katakuriko (Japanese potato starch)

Use a square pan, with high sides if possible-these can be found in Japanese/Asian markets and is greatly recommended.

Place the pan over a medium heat stove

Pour a little canola/salad oil in a bowl and fold up a paper towel. Pick up the paper towel roll with a big pair of chopsticks, dip in oil and wipe the oil onto the pan's surface. You can also use a nonstick spray like Pam.

Mix the ingredients together until well blended and pour a thin layer of the egg mixture onto the heated pan surface. When the egg begins to solidify and is slightly browned on the bottom, use chopsticks or a spatula to fold it carefully in thirds so you have a 2 inch or so wide roll.

Push the roll to the back of the pan then lift up the edge of the folded roll and pour in another layer of egg mixture. When the next layer is done, roll it up and move it to the back again. Repeat until you have a big roll of egg and all of the mixture is used.

You can slice this roll and place on top of prepared sushi rice, or pack it in with a lunch box bento.