Daddy Drinks Because You Cry

Christine has been in Florida with her Mom for just about a week now, so Milo and I have been enjoying our time together. Much Lego has been involved, as has some gardening- planting early things, mulching the ramps (they’re coming up) and putting a cherry tree next to the garage. It’s still pretty cold- tonight it will go down to a totally unreasonable 15˚- but the days are warming and I simply will not wait any longer to begin gardening in earnest, even if it means I have to run around covering everything with plastic every evening for the next couple of weeks. It also gives us lots of physical chores, which is good for us both (and also helps him sleep through the night, so I am way less cranky in the mornings.)

On Friday we went to NYC for a night to see my Brother and have some fun. While there, I went to an excellent wine dinner, but that will be in an upcoming post. On our way back, we stopped at Mitsuwa for some provisions, and we got home just in time for dinner. First up, some hamachi sashimi with ponzu; we didn’t have any jalapeño for the full Nobuzation but I did sprinkle a little shichimi on mine after the picture. Milo was very impressed with the creamy fish combined with the complex fruity-umami sauce, and was gleefully excited to be eating raw fish; he’s had it before on a number of occasions, but never this species so I guess it seemed new. He also declared that “yellowtail” is a silly name and “hamachi” is much better.

Next, more of the fabulous super-thick fresh udon in soy-enriched dashi with raw slices of Berkshire pork on top. They sell various cuts of beef and pork cut thin for shabu-shabu, but since I don’t have one of those hot pots (I threw ours away after the Great Sterno Bender of aught-deuce) I just get the broth wicked hot and drop the meat in right away. It quickly reaches medium as you plunge each slice into the broth. More shichimi on top gave it a little peppery zing with citrusy highlights, and I had a couple cups of the Demon-Slayer sake I bought last time I went down.

Man, these silky fat noodles really do it for me these days. And with good broth and toppings (we’re out of kimchi, but the new batch should be ready soon) they’re so infinitely variable. Kind of a perfect substrate around which to organize the season-spanning meals that this time of year requires. And very popular with the kids today.

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9 Comments

  1. todd
    March 23, 2009

    damn that looks yummy!

  2. The Spiteful Chef
    March 23, 2009

    What kids are you hanging out with? Oh yeah, the kind that talk about hamachi and eat all of their vegetables. You grow a different sort of child out in New York. Just the other day, at our grocery store, I saw a woman yelling at her child to finish his doughnut. How repulsive is that?

    Is your wife Japanese?

  3. Brittany
    March 23, 2009

    Oh, Milo is just like all kids. His hamachi was my mom’s tuna noodle cassarole (with crushed potato chips. Naturally.) It was creamy and complex too.

  4. We Are Never Full
    March 23, 2009

    holy shit… we were at mitsuwa on saturday! we got SO friggin lost b/c i decided to not take a map and just went on some scribble google map notes. river road can suck it. we ended up at a rest stop eating combos after 2 hours in the car and realized we were only 10 minutes away.

    my irritation subsided after we were in that mecca for only 2 seconds. that place is now goign to be in my fantasies. this looks like a delicious plate of food. i’ve said it before but milo is a lucky little one!

  5. Hunter Angler Gardener Cook
    March 26, 2009

    I love that your young crumbsnatcher loves raw hamachi…kid after my own heart. I once nearly had to have my stomach pumped when I was 5 years old after eating what my sisters say was eight dozen raw clams…

  6. peter
    March 27, 2009

    Todd: Damn it was…

    Kristie: No.

    Doña Torta: I don’t doubt it.

    Amy: Funny- funnier still if we’d bumped into each other. Next time we’ll have to plan ahead. Isn’t it great?

    Hank: With any luck we will avoid such an episode. Really? 8 dozen? Damn.

  7. Jana Martin
    March 28, 2009

    oh peter that is the bestest title not to mention you just made me so hungry I could cry.

  8. cook eat FRET
    March 29, 2009

    i lived in weehawken for 2 years and went to mitsuwa a few times. i had forgotten all about it. but that was about 1990.

  9. December 1, 2010

    Great story=D Will need a decent amount of time to toy with this article!

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