ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
I've already posted remarkable collision photographs taken by Jim Brandt, who happens to be the husband of my wife's cousin. Last month, he and his wife visited Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks. Any camera hound knows that these places offer infinite photographic possibilities. Among Jim's photographs, I selected one that for me captures the... Continue Reading →
For authentic Szechuanese food in the Seattle area, I've yet to find a place that is more so than Spiced (a previous review here) in the Crossroads area of Bellevue. The menu seems to have gotten more extensive if that's possible; there were plenty of items on the older one. New to the menu are helpful... Continue Reading →
It has been several years now that I converted to low-sodium soy sauce. Not for health reasons but for the simple fact that regular soy sauce seemed much too salty. The brand that I've settled on is Kikkoman's Milder Soy Sauce, made in Japan. Kikkoman's Less Sodium Soy Sauce, made in Wisconsin, is not nearly... Continue Reading →
I saw it first at Kobo, an exceptional Japanese crafts store in Seattle's International District. It was a beautifully bound book with stunning images of simple Japanese farm food, a subject that has lately caught my interest. Flipping through the thick, almost squarish matte-finished pages was like an invitation to eat at the table of... Continue Reading →
Millions of people love it. Taystee, a character in Netflix's made-for-TV drama, "Orange Is the New Black," wanted it for the prison. It's everywhere. From the looks of it, this condiment is almost as ubiquitous as ketchup, even appearing in non-Asian restaurants and doubtless millions of homes. Huy Fong Foods' sriracha sauce, more familiarly known... Continue Reading →
"Want ground beef and cheese with your ramen?" This question you don't ever expect to hear at a ramen restaurant. At least, for now anyway. But can it be that far behind when the latest craze of Japanifying popular American food is the ramen burger? Yep, that's right, a ground beef patty sandwiched between two... Continue Reading →
I was seriously bummed when Omar al Khyam in Renton closed its doors. I had been going there since my early working days in the Seattle area. It was my first introduction to Lebanese food and I loved it. Here is where I had my first hummus, baba ghanouj, shish tawouk, tabbouleh. I would have these... Continue Reading →
While my daughter has gone out-of-town to celebrate her grandfather's birthday, I volunteered to do the dog-sitting at her (and the dog's) home. Though I like to cook, I don't always do it for myself, less so when I'm away from home. As I've written before, my daughter lives in Ballard (a neighborhood of Seattle),... Continue Reading →
I'm dog-sitting my daughter's dog while she and my wife are in California for my wife's father's birthday. One of the benefits of doing this is that I have the vast domain of Ballard's restaurants to choose from for five days, all within walking distance. I won't do this for all three squares; I'll likely... Continue Reading →
One of the tastiest preparations in Japanese cooking is grilled seafood that has been marinated in sakékasu, or saké lees, the yeasty rice solids and precipitates that get left behind after the saké gets pressed out. The kasu is combined with other ingredients to make a paste, which is applied as a marinade on seafood, meat... Continue Reading →
zoomeboshi 