The Hunger Struck - Confessions of a Food Fanatic.

We are finally back in our apartment after a month in boxes and I couldn’t be more happy. There’s still a lot of unpacking to do but we should be back to normal this weekend, which means that I will be posting more regularly again in the very near future.

Anyway, I made zucchini sticks! The healthy kind. And they rocked!

These little babies are a quick fix when there’s nothing much left in the kitchen. It’s also a recipe I find myself making quite often. For some reason it’s invariably the zucchini’s that are left in my fridge at the end of the week. I suppose  this is because historically I’ve never really been a huge zucchini fan. There’s something about cooked zucchini that’s never appealed to me and I can identify a few traumatic situations involving ratatouille as a child, or should I say extremely overcooked zucchini mush.

(Don’t worry Mom, I’m not referring to any meal you prepared. I promise.)

I guess that’s what turned me off, this is not a vegetable that lends itself well to long cooking times. I know people, there are a few exceptions to this and I assure you I’m just as much a fan of zucchini bread and other cake like zucchini applications. Obviously. I just find that for the most part, I prefer zucchini raw or just slightly cooked.

There’s a Chinese restaurant about an hour outside Vancouver in Richmond called Northern Delicacies that makes my absolute favorite Dan Dan noodles. They have a rich peanut broth flavored with chili oil, sesame seeds and soy and they are absolute magic. There is nothing I would rather eat during the winter months and I think everyone needs to try these ASAP. I have been thinking about attempting to reproduce this dish at home for quite some time because I’m not always so enthusiastic about the drive involved to get to Richmond and with the amount I crave this amazing bowl of Chinese magic it really just makes sense.

Last night I finally decided to give it go. With giant rain drops falling outside in normal Vancouver fashion, it was all I could think about eating and I knew I didn’t have the courage for the 45 minute drive to Richmond. I wasn’t feeling that confident at first, as I was sure there were some fairly complex flavor combinations behind my favorite soup that weren’t going to be easy to reproduce.

It feels like a long time has passed since I last posted. It’s been a challenge to be away from my kitchen for almost 3 weeks now, I feel a little anxious to get back there, there’s just something about the evenings that doesn’t feel quite right without it. But I have to admit, it’s been a nice change to have someone cook for me every night of the week. There’s something so nice about walking in the door after a long work day and not having to do anything, I know I’ll be missing this.

In an effort not to leave the pages of this website outdated for too long, I managed after some persuasion, to push my way into the kitchen over the weekend and whip up my favorite kale soup. I even managed to pick up some of that fabulous Poilane bread you can buy in Vancouver that’s shipped all the way from the Poilane Bakery in Paris, something I must confess I have done several times since it’s become available. Fancy, I know, and maybe slightly ostentatious.

I was really looking forward to making a Galette Des Rois this year. But as things go, I was so over fed with sweets and other rich holiday foods that when it actually came around to making one I no longer had it in me.  For those of you not familiar with the Galette des Rois, it’s a French three kings day cake made during the first week of January. It’s extremely simple to make: puff pastry, almond cream and a little creativity from the tip of your knife. There is a small plastic trinket or as the French call it “feve” that is often placed in the center of this cake for the kids and whoever receives it is king for a day.

The Galette Des Rois was a wonderful and extremely unanticipated adolescent food experiences for me. It came at a time when food couldn’t have been further from my mind. I was 15 and had just arrived in Paris, where I would be going to school for the following semester. I was extremely overwhelmed and in retrospect perhaps a bit too young to be so far away from home by myself for the first time. I was staying with this extremely off center family in a suburb of Paris. To just scratch the surface, the father lived in the garage and I’m pretty sure the mother was still breast feeding her 10 year old son. It was unlike any family dynamic I had ever encountered and I would be lying if I denied being totally dishearten by it.

I’m a little surprised that it’s taken me this long to write up a list of my favorite Vancouver Izakayas. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I would say I overindulge myself with these amazing Japanese tapas or small plates about once a week. They are my favorite for after work drinks, as well as the number one choice for any celebration that involves dinning out with friends. The best part is you can completely overindulge, and by this I mean eat like a pig and it wont break the bank.

While a in Japan were originally drinking establishments that served small plates of food (not sushi), usually deep fried and intended as accompaniments to to a few glasses of beer, in Vancouver Izakayas have become a popular dinner and even lunch destination. Here are the 5 Izakayas that I think represent the best Vancouver has to offer, I eat regularly at all of these establishments and these are the places I recommend to out of town guests.

1. Kitanoya Guu with Otoko Mae – This is at the top of my list because it is by far my most frequented and for me it is also my favorite. I’ve been overeating here consistently for years and somehow, I never seem to get sick of it.There’s also something about the atmosphere in this place that pleases me, it’s loud, the service is always friendly and there’s deep fried brie cheese on the menu. It’s a bit tricky to get reservations here and they only accept them before 5pm and generally don’t answer their phones before 5pm either so if you have to make a reservation give yourself several days to get a hold of them. Also, they have a 2 hour time limit which can get annoying at times.

Kitanoya Guu Otoko Mae
105-375 Water Street
Vancouver, (604) 685-8682
www.guu-izakaya.com