OH! SUSHI

Last weekend, I attended the 7th Annual Vancouver Women in Film Festival at Vancity Theatre.  One of the featured films called ‘Oh! Sushi’ explores the origin of the BC roll.  The director, Toshimi Ono leads audience into the Vancouver sushi culture to how it all began and what it has evolved into today.  Two prominent sushi chefs, Hidekazu Kobotake of the popular downtown ‘fast food’ restaurant, Sushi Zero One and Tsutomu Hoshi of The Sandbar in Granville Island are interviewed in the film.
If you love sushi and is curious about Vancouver’s sushi culture, I highly recommend watching this heart warming film.  If you missed the screening, OH! SUSHI will broadcast in Ontario (OMNI 2), Alberta and BC on OMNI TV Sunday, March 18th at 9pm ET, MT and PT (English version). Check your local listings for details!

To learn more about the film, please click here.

A Dish That Tells our Story: Chicken Nanban

Lightly coated and fried chicken breast dipped in nanban vinegar, house made tartar sauce, organic cabbage salad, basil dressing.

Every dish on our menu tells a story but there is one in particular that is the most significant in our hearts.  Chicken Nanban is a dish that has been on our menu since our doors first opened to the public in 2008.  The recipe and presentation has remained untouched through out the years.  As well as being one of the most ordered items on our menu, it is also our general manager, Tony Albertson’s all time favorite dish.

What’s so special about this dish, is the connection it has to Miku’s roots and history.  Our sister company, Tora Corporation (which currently operates 8 restaurants) is located in Miyazaki Japan, the second largest poultry raising prefecture in the nation.  Chicken Nanban is a dish that originated in Miyazaki prefecture in the southern island of Kyushu back in the 1950s.  It loosely translates to “Southern Barbarian” referring to the history of this dish, which was adapted from the Portuguese escabeche, where fried fish were pickled in vinegar for long sea voyages.  Early Portuguese sailors brought this to Japan and nanban-zuke, a  method of preserving horse mackerel become popular.  Eventually, the technique was modified by using chicken and the dish was born.  Chicken Nanban is Miyazaki’s culinary claim to fame and if you ever visit the city, you MUST try this dish.  It is the soul food of Miyazaki and a taste of comfort for a lot of Miku team members, especially owner, Seigo Nakamura.  Bringing this dish from his hometown and introducing it on the Miku menu was a dream come true.  It symbolizes his first expansion from Japan and his passion for food and his own culture.  Not only does this dish hold a lot of meaning, it is a culinary creation that is truly delicious.

**Special thanks to Sherman of  http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com for the picture of Chicken Nanban.

Marble Babka: A Polish Holiday Treat

One of the most interesting aspects of working at Miku is the diversity of our team.  Many of us, not of Japanese decent have embraced the Japanese culture and traditions while working here.  The Japanese people have done the same with the North American way of life.  Essentially, working here gives everyone an opportunity to share and learn from each of our cultures.  That’s why I asked our Polish executive pastry chef, Chris Janik to share one of his favorite holiday recipes with us.  What I thought to be a simple request turned out to be much more complex, Chris states “it is not as easy as it seems, our traditions are totally different from here and there is nothing simple about it —  everything is over the top and even the simplest recipe is complicated.”

Before this recipe is shared with you, it is important to understand the traditions and festivities that go on during this time.  Chris says, “people go crraazzzzzzy during the month of December.” How crazy?  Well, the presentation of their houses is first and foremost the most important task on their list.  “I can guarantee you, you will never see a cleaner house than a Polish household during Christmas,” expressed Chris, “the rugs are vacuumed, hardwood floors are polished, windows are windex-ed inside out and dust is no where to be found.”  Along with the cleanliness, the house is decorated with ornaments and embellished from top to bottom.  While the women of the house are cooking and cleaning, the men are on the hunt for the best fish or carp, which is stored in the bathtub awaiting it’s fate. The classic Polish Christmas dinner consists of 12 dishes to represent the 12 Apostles and a line up of home made liquors and wines crowned with cakes and desserts are followed. “Viennese cheesecake, apple charlotte, plum gingerbread, poppy seed cakes, rolls and all varieties of babkas which are the staple of traditional Polish baking adorn the tables,” says Chris.

The vigil or wigilia in Polish is held on Christmas Eve and before the family even sits down at the table, they have to make sure the animals in the household are fed first.  Everyone watches the sky anxiously, waiting for the first star to appear and once it is spotted the dinner can begin.  An extra plate and setting is always left on the table for any unexpected guests. Before the wigilia commences everybody stands up and formally greets and wishes good fortune while breaking the holy bread.  Christmas carols fill the air and the evening slowly unfolds as everyone begins the 12 course dinner.  After the wigilia, gifts are presented and unwrapped and finally the sweets are brought out.  Chris reminiscences, “baking was always something special for me and I knew that something special was about to happen when the fragrance filled the air — it brings people together and offers people the warmth of home.”

Marble Babka

100g all purpose flour

5g baking powder

mix together and divide into 2 parts

Part 1 lemon: 55g flour mixture

Add lemon juice and zest of 1/2 lemon

Part 2 chocolate: 50 g flour mixture

Add 2 tbsp cocoa powder and zest and juice of 1/2 orange

125g room temperature butter

2 large egg yolks

125g icing sugar

2 egg whites

1. Cream the butter until light and fluffy, adding yolks one by one until it is well incorporated.
2. Divide the mixture into 2 parts and mix separately until well mixed – do not overwork – mix just until combined.
3. Whip to a meringue and distribute evenly into 2 mixtures. Fold in the meringue gently to assure the proper texture.
4. Prepare Babka or large Brioche mold (buttered and sugared) and start layering the with alternating the colors. Lemon cake should be on top (last) because it has more moisture.
5. Bake at 350 F for about 45 -60 minutes. Brioche mold should be placed on a baking tray while baking as a protective layer assuring that the cake will not over bake.

Growing Chefs! & Miku Restaurant Partnership

We are proud to announce our partnership with Growing Chefs!, a local non-profit organization that sends chef volunteers into elementary schools—where they grow vegetables, cook with kids, and get kids excited about eating healthy food. Beginning December 1st, some of the proceeds from our Vivreau still or sparkling water sales will go towards this organization that strives to create a forum for chefs to share their knowledge with the greater community and aims to inspire children with the idea they can grow food anywhere, even in the city.

Miku Restaurant loves what Growing Chef! does for the kids in our community, and most importantly, we wanted to support an initiative that is making an impact both environmentally and socially. To celebrate this partnership, we have decorated our Christmas tree to represent this collaboration. So next time you come and dine at Miku, please consider ordering Vivreau , because every bottle goes towards educating children about making healthier and more sustainable lifestyle choices.

Foodie PechaKucha Night in Vancouver

On November 24th, Erica and Lisa attended volume 19 of the PechaKucha series at Vogue Theatre. Hosted by Scout Magazine’s Andrew Morrison, the food-themed PechaKucha featured 12 speakers, including Terry David Mulligan from Tasting Room Radio, executive chef Quang Dang of West restaurant, John Neate of JJ Bean, Coffee Roaster, Heidi Noble of JoieFarm Winery and Alexandra Gill, restaurant reviewer for The Globe and Mail.

Just in case, you don’t know what Pecha Kucha is. . .

PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, and thoughts. The event is based on a simple presentation format where speakers show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images forward automatically and speakers talk along to the images. The presentation format was created by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Klein Dytham architecture, and the first one was held in Tokyo in their gallery/lounge, SuperDeluxe, in February 2003.  Today, Pecha Kucha nights are happening in over 230 cities around the globe.

Here are Erica’s thoughts:

“I couldn’t help but smile throughout the entire presentation.  It made me so happy being in the room full of Vancouverites who came together for one common interest: food.  Everybody’s presentation was different — some made me laugh, some made me cry, some made me do both.  Either way, I was completely touched by the way each speaker spoke so passionately about their story.  One of my favourite talks of the night was by Quang Dang, the executive chef at West restaurant.  He shared his process of creating a dish, from his first scribbles on paper to the final execution of the dish.  As a painter, it made me realize how similar our process is.  Essentially, we are all artists in this world,  working with different mediums, wanting to perfect our craft and create our art.  Heidi Noble of Joie wines creates bottles of wine with the most perfect grapes, John Neate brews cups of coffee with beans, just like how I paint pictures with acrylic paint.  It is rare to meet people now a days who say they love what they do, but that was no exception when listening to the presenters at PechaKucha.  If I learned one lesson from attending the talk, it was to find your passion, practice it and follow your dreams.”

Here are Lisa’s thoughts:

“I was tearing up the entire time,  because the passion of the chefs and business owners of this city is truly remarkable – we definitely live in a special foodie city. A theme that was particularly touching and prevalent amongst the speakers was the concept of family. Adam Chandler (owner of Beta5 Chocolates) spoke of mother being a major influence in his life, as she was adamant about not eating junk food and making sure food was made from real ingredients in the kitchen. Food blogger, Jeanette Ordas, spoke of nostalgic moments she has of her mother when she bakes her chocolate chip bundt cake recipe. Sophie Dikeakos (Sophie’s Cosmic Cafe) shared the importance of letting her sons take on the business in their own way and vision, not hers, for the next generation of the iconic Kitsilano diner. I think it all comes to making sure you have a food culture at a home. From making time to eat at the table together, maintaining family traditions, collaborating in the kitchen, to children being the inspiration to making a healthier and more sustainable tomorrow, food is all about love.”

Kabocha Nimono

There is nothing more perfect than welcoming a new season with your favourite childhood dish.  I asked executive chef, Takuya Motohashi to share one of his – Kabocha Nimono.  ”My mom made this dish when the leaves started to change color,” states Takuya, “it represented the beginning of fall and winter.”  Kabocha nimono is one of the most popular stand by dishes and most Japanese mothers can make it with their eyes closed.  Although, Takuya admits it not his favourite dish to eat, it is a dish that remains close to his heart.  A dish that signifies the colder seasons and his love for his mother’s cooking.  It is a dish he will cook for his children and hopefully will pass down for many more generations in the Motohashi family.  The recipe is simple with just a few ingredients, the only trick is to get the perfect balance of sweet and salty against the creamy texture of the kabocha.

1. Buy a kabocha — make sure it is firm in texture, heavy in weight and free of blemishes or spots.  Cut the kabocha in half and spoon out the seeds.  If it is your first time cutting a kabocha, please brace yourself, it is REALLY hard.  To make it easier, make insertion lines all around before you make the cut.
2. Cut the kabocha into 2 inch chunks — try to keep all the pieces equal in size and not too small.  Kabocha absorbs a lot of water during cooking and if the pieces are small, it will quickly turn into mush.
3. Place the kabocha skin side down into a large sauce pan.  Add a pinch of salt and just enough water to cover the kabocha.  *NOTE: To preserve the bright colour, Takuya cooks it in rice water first, but to save time at home you can skip this step, it will not effect the taste.
4. Turn the stove to medium heat, letting it gently simmer, not boil.  After about 5-10 minutes, use a toothpick to test — if you can easily poke through it is ready.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of Mirin, 2 tablespoons of sake, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 2 tablespoons of Japanese soy sauce.  Again, let it simmer for another 5-10 minutes.  The flavours will quickly absorb into the kabocha, so be careful not to over cook it as it will fall apart.
6. Serve it hot or cold, as a side dish to any meal.  Itadakimasu!

Growing Chefs! From Farms to Forks 2

On Sunday October 24th, our pastry team, Chris Janik and Makiko Kanda participated in Growing Chefs! From Farms to Forks Gala at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Granville Island.  Among the list of other participating restaurants included: Maenam, Vij’s, Refuel, Tableau, La Brasserie and more.  Each restaurant were paired with a local B.C. grower and producer to create a dish that celebrates the best of the season.  Our pastry team partnered with Apple Lane Orchard and prepared the classic dish, Tarte Tatin — passion fruit poached gala apples on a cookie crust, apple cider glaze, ginger cinnamon cream and marzipan leaf.   The gala was hosted by CBC’s Margaret Gallagher and Fred Lee who guided guests through the classroom kitchens where restaurants served their creations.  It was a wonderful event full of delicious food and happy people committed to supporting local food and sustainability.  The highlight of the night?  A quote from a 10 year old volunteer who said “food is better to eat than to play with.”

For more pictures of the event click here

Proceeds from the night went towards Growing Chefs! a local non profit with two main goals: to support and encourage the development and growth of urban agriculture and to provide an avenue for chefs and growers to engage in the community and to support food sustainability.  They also run a classroom gardening program where they bring local chefs to elementary school classrooms to get kids excited about growing, cooking and eating healthy food.  That is truly the best gift you can ever give to a child.  To learn more about Growing Chefs! please visit: http://growingchefs.ca/

Remembering Steve Jobs

Written by Erica Pang

I first heard news of Steve Jobs’ passing while attending an event. The somber news reached us through a device of his own creation, the iPhone. Within minutes, my phone and those surrounding me were lighting up with incoming messages reporting more of the same. I then texted several friends with the shocking news.  Soon after, while walking home through downtown Vancouver, the mumblings of  ”Steve Jobs” could be heard through the streets. It seemed as if everyone was at a standstill, clicking away on their phones, spreading the news, sharing their feelings, mourning the loss.  I realized I was witnessing one of the many gifts Steve Jobs gave to the world — the gift of a sharing society.

As a media and community relations representative, a large part of my work is dedicated to the realm of social media. With the invention of the iPhone, Jobs made it easier for people to connect. The instantaneous ability to share and interact; with anyone, from anywhere, at anytime has changed the way we communicate on a fundamental level. We are no longer a slave to the desk. The iPhone has encouraged us to share with the world, what we are thinking or doing at any moment. This has spawned a whole new way of looking at social media as a business and marketing tool. In laying this foundation, Jobs has in some way helped create a role for me at Miku.  For that, I am truly thankful.

May you always be remembered Steve, and know the world is much smaller today because of you.