Fishing Bangkok

Made the trip to the Land of Smiles, viz., the Kingdom of Thailand, more specifically to Bungsamran fishing park in Bangkok, for two days of fishing for the famous Mekong Giant Catfish.  It was a fantastic trip, click through for the full story.

Happy New Year 謹賀新年

Wishing you big catches & safe journeys at sea for 2012!

Well this New Year’s Day I travelled to the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine.  It is a while since I came here, and time to renew my magical fishing amulet.  My current one attached to trusty tackle-bag, has rusted over with the salt of four seas and is rather worn.

The first thing to do is take the old one back to the shrine, hand it over and, if it has ‘worked,’ give a prayer of thanks.  Since I have been fortunate enough to not have been lost at sea or had some terrible accident in the mountains, and have had some great days out fishing on both sea and stream, I consider it to have done its job.  The next step is to buy a new one from the shrine maidens, offer a prayer over it and all is done.  Today I bought two, one for my sea-tackle bag and one for my ayu/fly fishing vest (one must cover all eventualities of course) both of which, according to the label, protect the bearer from misfortune whilst fishing and also provide him/her with good catches.

After all the holiness and sanctity of the shrine, I found myself with something of a thirst, and in all the roads and lanes in the neighbourhood is a great variety of food stalls and eateries selling almost all kinds of street food like yakitori, takoyaki, oden, yakisoba and suchlike.  I settled for a jar of cheap, hot sake and a bowl of hot motsu-nikomi (trippa/chitlins stewed with vegetables). 

Nikomi is often scorned as poor-john suitable only for working men and the lower variety of izakaya, but it is perfect for keeping out the biting cold of Japanese New Year, and as the food stall also has a hot stove between each table, having a quick drink and a bite there has become something of a ritual for me every time I am in the area.  I also stopped by to make my seasonal greetings to my rod making teacher who lives nearby, then went home.  After shipping the amulets on the relevant fishing tackle, I spent the rest of today at home with my feet up.

Haze: tenpura

Whilst I pride myself in cooking and consuming those fish I keep in the bag, there is an occasional pleasure to be had in having a professional cook up something for you when you have been in luck.  In this case, tenpura made from the haze I caught on Sunday (the stick on the side is littleneck clams speared on a bamboo skewer, a frivolous diversion):

In particular, tenpura and other deep-fried foods come out so much better when done in a restaurant as they want a big pot of hot oil, much larger than is practical at home. 

Whilst this did not comprise any part of my catch the sushi was excellent too!  This chutoro was the crowning piece in a feast of epic proportions.  Many thanks as always to Mr N. of Okame-sushi, one of my favourite sushi restaurants of all time (found in Shiba, Tokyo).

Out and about

in north London; walking, the past-time of the great man himself.  Click the image for full size and see if you can identify the Dickens characters depicted.

I think I recognise all but one.  From bottom up:  David Copperfield & Wilkins Micawber; Mrs. Gamp; Dombey & Son; Martin Chuzzlewit & Mary; Barnaby Rudge.  Not sure about the one top left.  Please correct me if you know otherwise.

No visit to England would be complete without a meal of fish and chips, soused with malt vinegar; whilst toppled from its throne as national dish (by chicken tikka masala) one tends to grow nostalgic living so long as an expat.  This fine example came from the chippie of my childhood, the Sea Shell of Lisson Grove.

Eating Florence, Italy

Christmas comes early

in Teganuma.  Lots of presents after angling on Sunday, from left to right: specially ground tanago hooks – ground under a microscope, mind – line and lacquered float, hand-made, and a special Teganuma tanago bamboo rod in its infancy.  I look forward to lacquering and building the rod to completion.

And lunch was a very pleasant super-size unajuh:

I am always amazed when travelling and fishing in Japan by the open-handedness and hospitality of Japanese anglers, and this weekend was no exception.  Thank you for everything, Mr I.!

Eating Taipei

For the glutton, Taipei proved remarkably satisfying; although I did not manage to try every dish I hoped to, being constrained by time.  Also many of the foods I ate were at the so-called night markets, where my hands were full and I could not take photos of them, but here is a selection.

Back from Taiwan

Little India – Jackson Heights, NY

If I lived in NY, I would eat here every single day, at least until I expired from heart disease.

Being in the restaurant was essentially like a euphoric waking dream for me, as the menu included almost every variety of Muslim-style kebab and bread; this time I settled for chicken tikka and a keema naan; hardly adventurous, but a good measure of a restaurant is of course how they do the simple stuff.  Both were excellent and came hot-and-hot, the ovens being only a hand-full away from the counter and creating a quite authentic micro-atmosphere inside the shop.  Being in America, I of course had to have a Cola drink with them.

There was simply too much on offer in the restaurant to eat in one sitting; next time I swear the first dish to try will be the tava kuta-kut – made with offal and brain – and their menu, photographed for posterity, included nihari, haleem, paya, khulcha, gola kebab, a variety of biryanis and chicken/goat karhai.  With a paan-walla (more on this later)  in easy walking distance, there is little more I could wish for, except perhaps for a place nearby that would serve me some pre-meal chota pegs, and I suspect when I next visit New York my most likely first port of call will be Kababish, Jackson Heights. 

With a number of Indian stores nearby, I managed to stock up on some of the more esoteric items that I can’t get here in Tokyo: kewra extract, neem, Triphala (for the innards, post-eating), Naga chillies, kala jeera and South Indian tamarind.  Ratanjot (alkanet) unfortunately eluded me despite much searching, although it is quite unusual and I only ever use for one dish (liver-kidney kebabs).  There is always next time.

Ayo Gorkhali

One of the brews on offer at my local Indian restaurant.

After a whole day of fairly demanding rod making today, it was very pleasant to quaff a brace of these before squaring my elbows to some chicken tikka, egg curry and garlic naan.