Et tu, WANN?

Despite those negative reviews (well at least among the Japanese customers) in town, WANN has been one of my favorite IZAKAYA (Japanese tapas bars) for years, especially because of certain tapas dishes they have that you can't find anywhere else, and of course generous Happy Hour deals.

Happy Hour is still available. But it's time for me to say Adieu to my little felow WANN, sad but people have to move on sometimes.

I immediately noticed the changes when I opened the menu. It used to have Japanese translation to each item; now only in English. It wouldn't be that big of a big deal IF the selection had not changed that drastically. No baby squid sashimi, broiled hokke, fried yamaimo (Japanese yam), or pork belly stew....they are all gone from the menu. That hurt.
Trying to hang on to a small piece of hope, I ordered some "remaining" Izakaya items only to face more of the disaster.

Sukui tofu - should be a homemade soft tofu but it tasted just like a store-bought tofu with loads of okaka (bonito flakes)
Chamame - it's supposed to have the "Chamame" flavor but it was just regular edamame.
Gyoza - Thoughtlessly deep fried. It's a Korean style, not Japanese, unless the menu says "deep fried gyoza".

And I was speechless when I saw the Kurobuta sausage (it's a weiner style Japanese sausage with super crispy casing skin. The sausage is so juicy that when you have a bite you should feel a splash of melted grease). Look at the photo. Is it a testicle or something? Please...

The last but not the least, the sushi rice on spicy tuna rolls was squished so hard that rice looked almost like paste.That was the last straw.


It's depressing to see another good authentic Japanese bar turn into a fake, abused Japanese food source. This post might offend some WANN fans, but as a true fan of this once-very-attractive place to enjoy the Japanese tapas experience and proud Japanese foodie, I couldn't help sharing my thoughts with a desperate hope that this tough economy will not deteriorate the joy of the Japanese food pop culure in Seattle any more.

Issian, please do not change. I love you.

East meets West in BLT Rolls

"Bacon" is a universal language. In Japan, among all those non-traditional cooking ingredients, bacon has taken its place as one of the most common items in modern Japanese cooking for decades, although not as yet dominating as butter and heavy cream. People love bacon(no need to mention how much we love pork belly). I suspect that there are even a lot of adapted vegetarians that secretly admire bacon (have you not seen products like soy bacon strips??)

Anyway, I'll save to experss my passion for bacon for another time. Last year, I received a very tempting catering order for someone's birthday party; the theme for the party was BACON. I was requested to serve some creative bacon dishes. I can't rememeber any other time of period in my life that I was constantly thinking of bacon, bacon, bacon....after much deliberate planning and practices, I came up with the lineup: bacon greased popcorn, bacon gyoza, bacon & shrimp toast, and BLT rolls and bacon nigiri.

BTL Rolls:
1. Cook sushi rice (let me know if anyone wants to know how to make sushi rice)

2. What to roll: crispy bacon strips, avocados, lettuce, and mayo.

Tips: make sure to pat dry all the filling ingredients, specifically tomatoes. You should seed them.

Nigiri is rather simple. Just fry bacon strips with teriyaki sauce (any bottled sauce should be fine).

If California rolls are so broadly accepted as genuine American sushi rolls, I don't see why not BTL rolls as well!

Believe me - this is good stuff.

Yummy Green Soy Bean Snack

Where you can get dried green soybeans is another question (well, I bought them in Tsukiji in Japan), but if you are lucky to find some here in Seattle (my best bet is Uwajimaya or Maruta), then this is the perfect snack. If you like edamame, you'd LOVE this snack.

Ingredients:
2 cups dried green soybeans
Water
Salt
*Dashi (Japanese broth made of kombu and bonito flake)
1 - 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (preferably light colored)
1 - 2 tablespoons of  mirin
1 teaspoon of salt


*How to make dashi: in a deep pot, put in 2 cups of water, and 2 strips of dried kelp (kombu). Turn on heat over medium heat. Once the water starts boiling add a handful of dried bonito flakes (katsuo bushi) in the pot. After 30 seconds, turn of the heat. Remove the kombu and katsuo bushi. The dashi broth can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month. You can use it in almost EVERY Japanese dish, including miso soup.


1. Soak dried soybeans in clean water overnight and discard the water.
2. In a deep sauce pan add enough water to cover the soaked soybeans and a pinch of salt. Cook the soybeans for 10 - 15 minutes until the texture of the soybeans becomes similar to edamame (al dente).
3. Strain the soybeans and transfer to a glass bowl. Add in dashi, soy sauce, mirin and salt to your taste. Personally I would skip mirin as I do not like sweetness in the beans.
4. Soak the soybeans in the liquid for half a day. That's it!


You can store the soybeans in a glass jar and I assume it should last for a few weeks or even longer in the fridge. Enjoy this savory & healthy snack as is or with ice cold beer, which might not be as healthy but oh well, I can't help it.

Ultimate Rib Eye Steak Fried Rice

Have you ever finished a whole rib eye steak at a steakhouse? I haven't, and I love taking the leftover with me because the highlight of eating rib eye steak to me is to enjoy steak fried rice at home afterwards!

Here are my special recipes of the ultimate rib eye steak fried rice.

1. Cook one cup of short grain white rice
2. Slice 3 cloves of garlic. Mice 1/2 onion, chop 1 tablespoon of parsley.
3. Cut the leftover steak meat into half an inch cubes. Lightly coat the cubes with salt and pepper.
6. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil over low heat. Add garlic and cook it until the aroma of garlic becomes distintive.
7. Put the garlic slices a side and add minced onion into the skillet, over medium - high heat. Cook until the onion gets translucent.
8. Turn up the heat to high, add steak in. Cook it to well-done.Add 1 teaspoon of soysauce over the meat and toss.
8. add rice and garlic. Add 2 tablespoons (or more if you like) of butter in. Sautee the rice well. Season with salt and pepper as desired.
8. Turn off the heat and mix in the parsley.

It's dangerously addictive. Caution: Check your cholesterol level first.