We've just got back from our holiday in Tokyo - my home town. Two weeks of gluttony ;) Of course there is good food everywhere in the world, but the food in Japan is seriously good and healthy. I'm probably biased as I am Japanese, but if you look at how Japanese food joints have spread all over the world in the last ten years you could guess how good it would be in its birthplace.
My favourite haunts are the food halls in the basement of department stores (de-pa-chi-ka) and 7-Eleven convenience stores (con-bi-ni). I think we can eat different kinds of prepared Japanese food everyday throughout the year just by shopping in those places. The great thing about them is that the food is prepared fresh everyday and stay on the shelf for only 24 hours. Another thing is they are either in single potions or you can ask them to pack in however small potions you need. Mizuna salad with seaweed and sesame, a piece of 'Ton-katsu' (breadcrumbed pork), bento box of rice and pickled veg or veg tempura with some grilled mackerel, etc. You can even buy one boiled egg.
Among other things I like that are made in Japan, there is pottery. The famous ones are from Imari, Seto, Arita, Hagi, Bizen, and Mino, but the one I love most is from Mashiko. Take a look at the picture above. They are individually handmade and have wonderful natural tone and texture to them. I bought them last week in Tokyo. I wanted to buy loads more because Mashiko is one of the areas badly hit by the earthquake earlier this year and a lot of their old brick kilns were destroyed, but unfortunately Yen is so expensive at the moment and my budget was very limited...
These biscuits are not Japanese, though. They are more Frenchy than Japanesey, and they are really good with morning coffee or afternoon tea :)
Ingredients:
(for the biscuits)
250g soft butter
150g almond powder
150g plain flour
1 egg yolk
2tsp vanilla (or almond, if available) extract
1 egg (for the egg wash)
a handful of almond flakes
(for the filling)
200ml double cream
100g raisins or sultanas
50ml rum
Put the raisins in a small pan with rum. Bring to boil and turn off the heat. Leave to soak while you get on with the biscuits.
Preheat oven to 180C.
Simply mix all the ingredients for the biscuits in a large bowl and leave the dough in the fridge for half an hour. Take it out and roll it into a 40cm x 20cm rectangle. Trim off the edges and cut it into 7cmx4cm rectangles. Whisk the egg in a small bowl and brush it on the dough. Sprinkle a few flaked almonds over the top. Transfer them onto a baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes until nice and golden.
Whip the double cream in a bowl. Drain the raisins if there's any liquid left.
Take out the biscuits and leave them to cool. When they are completely cool, sandwich some whipped cream and rum raisins.