Continued from
Part I - Stay at Kyoto


Fushimi Inari Taisha (??????) is a must-visit place for me this trip. Previously we had always went to Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji, but missed out on Fushimi Inari, or rather I didn't know about it until the recent years.

I learnt that Fushimi Inari is an important Shinto Shrine in southern Kyoto, famous for its thousands of torii gates, leading into the forest of Mount Inari.



The shrine is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice and as foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, there are many fox statues around the grounds of the shrine.

The day we went to Fushimi Inari was 3 Feb, which happened to be Setsubun (??) meaning "Seasonal Division", signifying the beginning of spring. At Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, there will be a special ritual called mamemaki (???) by the Priests and invited guests where they would scatter roasted soybeans called "fortune beans" (?? fuku mame). This is said to cleanse all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the coming year.

So we witnessed the ceremony and people were all trying to catch one of these little bags of fortune beans :)

These lovely ladies in Kimonos were the invited guests to help scatter the fortune beans.

The Priests who were administering the ritual.

Map of Fushimi Inari. It would probably take an hour or two to climb all the way to the summit.


The torii gates are located behind the main grounds of the shrine. It was really crowded with narrow paths and impossible to take any photos without the large crowd photobombing.

But we walked further and further, the paths became more spacious and the crowd dispersed considerably.

The right side of the torii gates indicate the year and month the gate was constructed.


Here's the donation chart if any company or individuals wish to erect a torii gate for blessings.

It felt serene to walk through rows and rows of the vermilion torii gates, where there was no crowd and the air was cold and crisp.

Names of the company or individuals who made the donations were imprinted on the left side of the gate.



Ema ?? (??)
It's common to see this in Shinto Shrines, where temple goers could write wishes on a piece of wood and hang it up for blessings and pray that the wishes would come true.


As we walked further uphill, could see that the torii gates looked older and more spaced out.


Finally we arrived at an area where we could enjoy some udon and inari sushi, but the eateries were all closed :( Not sure if it was because of the Setsubun or they only open during weekends?

The kiddo was complaining of hunger and we were pushing him to keep climbing for the udon. Oh well.





Decided to turn back downhill via another route and to our delight, we found an eatery on the way down :)


Yay, and we enjoyed our well-deserved inari udon and oden udon after one and a half hours of uphill hiking.


The best was yet to come because upon exiting the shrine, we saw an open-air food street to the right of the shrine, along with some shops. Yay, time for more food and shopping! Not sure if the food vendors were permanent or only during festive seasons?


Cold weather called for meat! This yakitori with a sticky sweet teriyaki sauce was sooooo yummy!


Takoyaki, also perfect for the cold weather!

Tempted to try the Okonomiyaki but the portion was too big.


Grilled beef! Unfortunately the cut was of lower quality and the meat too tough.


OMG! This grilled bacon with mayonnaise was da bomb! The pork was salty and greasy, smelled and tasted so good!

This grilled sweet potato coated with sugar was super yummy as well, and we just had to get seconds.

Overall, the Fushimi Inari Taisha was a lovely shrine to spend the morning, be sure to walk further uphill to get away from the crowd and truly enjoy the peacefulness of the mountain. Thereafter, it's befitting to enjoy a nice hot bowl of inari udon or some street food to complete the experience.

Stay tuned for Part III - Plum Blossom viewing at Tenmangu Shrine.

Oh couldn't believe that it has been one year since my last trip to Japan!

Last year during this time, my family (MIL, Mom, HB, Kiddo and I) escaped "??" to Kansai for the Lunar New Year; and I have procrastinated in writing my travel journal for one whole year -_-

All of us (except for the kiddo) have been to Kansai a few times, but somehow apart from my detailed journal back in Dec 2007, I realised I didn't blog about my subsequent trips (cannot remember one or two) to Kansai at all.

Anyways, although I'm one year late, better than never :p Decided to just highlight a few memorable places and places I've not been to previously with mostly photos :p

Part I - Stay at Kyoto
Part II - Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kyoto
Part III - Kitano Tenmangu, Kyoto
Part IV - Nishiki Ichiba Kyoto, Kuromon Ichiba Osaka
Part V - Universal Studios Japan Osaka, Expocity Osaka
Part VI - Food

Since we have elderly and a young kiddo and had been to many must-see attractions already, the itinerary planned was very relaxed, basically to enjoy the cold weather and food!

Day 1 - Arrival KIX, transfer via limited express train to Kyoto
Day 2 - Fushimi Inari Taisha (??????), JR Kyoto Station
Day 3 - Kitano Tenmangu (?????), Nishiki Ichiba (???)
Day 4 - Transfer from Kyoto to Osaka (Namba), Dontonbori (???), Sennichimae Doguyasuji (??????????)
Day 5 - Meet my host family (homestay programme back in 2003), Suita Expocity, Shinsaibashi
Day 6 - Universal Studios Japan
Day 7,8 - Shopping at Shinsaibashi, Tokyuhands, Tomizawa Baking Supply (Takashimaya, Namba City), JHC Baking Supply (near Namba City), Kuromon Ichiba, Donki




As we took a daytime flight, by the time we reached Kansai International Airport and transferred to Kyoto via train, it was close to midnight. Hence after an extensive research and consideration about timing and all, decided to stay at Kyoto Hot Spring Hatoya Zuihokaku Hotel which is a 8-10 min walk from Kyoto JR station.

Initially I wanted to stay at a traditional ryokan with hot spring but most ryokans are located some distance away from Kyoto station. Had to forgo the idea as it was going to be cold and everyone would be tired by the long travelling already, and it would be difficult to get cab for 5 of us.

Kyoto Hot Spring Hatoya Zuihokaku Hotel sort of met with all my expectations. It was within walking distance from Kyoto station, it has traditional tatami rooms and it even has a natural hot spring where water for the baths is drawn up from the underground of the hotel. In fact, it is supposedly the only hotel near Kyoto station with natural hot spring water.

So I guess this was the best option I had. Didn't want to change hotel (to a ryokan) either because we were only staying for 3 nights and it would be inconvenient logistically for all of us.


Staff at the hotel were gracious and friendly and spoke a little English, so basic communication wasn't an issue.

Lounge area at the hotel lobby.


Booked 2 tatami rooms for us. Preferred tatami rooms because it's more spacious after beddings are put away. And I wanted the kiddo to experience a tatami room :)


The room was well-maintained and speckless, true to Japanese standards.

Bathroom was spacious spotless as well.

Was surprised by the size of the bathtub because usually the baths in Japanese hotels are small and squarish in size.

The highlight of this hotel is the hot spring, and I must say the hot spring was indeed popular during the period we stayed. There were always people in the onsen that I couldn't take any photos at all. (unlike the ryokans I stayed at the outskirt areas where usually I was the only person or only a couple of people who would leave shortly).

Anyways, I waited till the morning before checking out and when the staff were starting to wash the baths to quickly snap some photos.

The male and female baths are switched every day after the washing.

Female bath.
Locker area.
Bath area.
Indoor onsen.
Outdoor onsen.
Male bath.
Washing area.
Indoor onsen.

Outdoor onsen.

Lounge area outside the baths where guests could enjoy natural spring water free of charge.


Overall the stay at this hotel was enjoyable and highly recommended for anyone who wish to stay near Kyoto Station and yet enjoy tatami rooms with natural onsen.

Next up, part II - Fushimi Inari Taisha

I didn't bake any CNY goodies last year as our whole family "escaped" for a holiday (??) :p

This year I was contemplating not to bake again, since we are unlikely to have visitors and being lazy and all, but I kept seeing home bakers sharing their baked goodies in FB groups, Instagram etc, and it's so infectious my hands became itchy!

Decided to challenge pineapple tarts again since the hb likes it. In the past years that I baked pineapple tarts, I always made the closed type and this time when I checked with the hb what style he likes, he told me open faced type?! Wow, after knowing him for almost 20 years, now then I know huh!

Ok, open faced pineapple tarts it shall be.


Since it's my first time making open faced pineapple tarts, once again, lots of reading and research to find a recipe that suits me. As usual I refer to my fellow trusty blogger friends like Annielicious Food, Table For 2 or more, TravellingFoodies and a few other popular bloggers like Anncoo Journal, Bake for Happy Kids.


In the end, I referred to TravellingFoodie's recipes for both pineapple jam and Kueh Tair.

First thing first, the pineapple jam. I never buy pineapple jam because I'm not sure if I like the taste (whether too sweet) and texture. I know it's hard work cooking the jam but I just want every component homemade if I could do it.

In the past, I usually blend the pineapple flesh and the jam turned out to be fine and smooth texture. The picky hb said he prefers jam with more bite and texture, which essentially means more work for me lah, coz I have to chopped/hand-grate the pineapple flash.


I intended to make a very small quantity for home consumption, so bought only 2 pineapples, 1 normal and 1 thai honey. Yes, they were already skinned with "eye" removed. Well, slightly more expensive but I was already going to chop and hand grate the pineapples, didn't want to stress myself up more over a few cents.

In the end, I got only 338g of pineapple jam, after 15 mins of chopping and grating and 1 hr of cooking. I guess because of the small quantity, cooking took much shorter time *phew*. Cooked the jam on Saturday and chill it in the fridge.

As advised by Alan (TravellingFoodies) the jam looked a little wet here, so I cooked it for 5-8 mins more before shaping the pastry.


For the pastry, initially I tested a small portion of ingredients using another recipe where the proportion of butter is 80% to flour. Nearly wanna cry when trying to stamp and shape the tart dough because it was too buttery and soft to handle! Alan's recipe used about 60% (some other recipes used 50% or 70%) so it was much more manageable. Managed to prepare the dough on Sunday night and decided to chill it in fridge to make on Monday instead as I was too tired.


At first, I didn't get the workflow properly, and everything was a mess! Luckily managed to make it work in the end. Even though the dough was more manageable, it still turned soft quite quickly. So my personal take is (1) let the dough thaw about 6-8 mins from the fridge, it's easiest to stamp and unmould when still cold and firm (2) dust the moulds with corn starch so that it's easier to unmould the dough. (I have a cake tester on hand to pick out bits of dough that got stuck in the ridges when I didn't dust the moulds thoroughly enough.)

Based on advice from Alan, the dough scraps should only be gathered (don't knead) and re-use once. If keep on re-using the scraps, the tarts will turn out too hard. Yes, there's a lot of wastage involved. I haven't throw the scraps yet, they are still taking up space in my fridge as I felt it's a pity to throw them away. I think I may use them for egg tarts or cheese tarts or something.

This time, I used the full quantity from his recipe even though I know my jam was not enough. So I only re-used (once) about half the dough. Next time I make, I would probably adjust the pastry recipe to about 60-70% or increase the amount of jam.


Left - glazed and before baking. Right - baked.
And so this was my one and only tray of pineapple tarts, 28 small and 25 petite. Yes, all that work for just one tray?!

I think I have slightly over-baked the tarts, by probably 2-3 mins. Don't ask. But still looked ok right?


So is all the work worth it? Yes, I would say, it's rewarding and satisfying to see the labour of love came to fruition =D

Open Faced Pineapple Tarts
(makes 28 small-size tarts 3.5cm mould, 25 petite-size tarts 2.5cm mould)
(reference from TravellingFoodies)

Ingredients
Pineapple Jam (yields 338g)

• 900g pineapple flesh (1 normal 1 thai honey, nett weight after removing skin, eye, core)
• 100g sugar
• 2 small cinnamon sticks

Pastry (more than enough dough, recipe to be adjusted for this amount of jam)

• 320g plain flour
• 30g icing sugar
• 200g salted butter
• 2 egg yolks
• Corn starch, for dusting
• 1 egg yolk + 1 tsp water, for glazing

Steps
Pineapple Jam

1. Finely chopped or hand grate the pineapple flesh. 
2. Add the chopped pineapple flesh (with its juices), cinnamon and 2 tbsp of sugar into a large frying pan with big surface area.
3. Bring the ingredients to a boil, then lower flame to medium. Stir the pineapple occasionally to cook evenly.
4. When the pineapple liquids have been reduced considerably (it takes about 30 mins for this quantity of pineapple), add the remaining sugar. Continue stirring the pineapple till it dries up (it takes another 30 mins to reach this stage). 
5. Let the cooked pineapple jam cool down completely before storing in an airtight container until ready to use (chill in fridge if not using the same day).
6. The final pineapple jam should feel moist and sticky and not wet. If jam is too wet, cook it for a few mins before making the tarts.
7. When ready to use, roll the jam into small balls of desired size. I use 3-4g balls for the petite tarts and 6-7g for the small tarts.

Tart pastry

1.  Sift flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix well.
2. Add cold butter cubes and rub the butter into the mixture with pastry butter until it resembles coarse cookie crumb.
3. Add the egg yolks and use a spatula to fold through the mixture and bring the dough together. Do not overwork the dough.
4. Divide the dough into three or four portions. Place each portion in between 2 plastic sheets and roll the dough into a 5mm layer. Repeat for all the portions.
5. Chill the dough layers for 1hr or overnight.
6. When ready to use, work on 1 dough layer each time. If using overnight dough, let it thaw for 6-8 mins before using.
7. Dust the pineapple tart mould with corn starch, stamp the dough, carefully remove the tart dough and place it on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Repeat till quantity is sufficient for the pineapple jam.
8. Brush each tart dough with egg yolk glaze, then place a ball of pineapple jam onto the tart dough, pressing down gently.
9. Bake the tarts in preheated oven (top and bottom heat) at 170 degree celsius for 10 mins, rotate baking tray, and bake for another 10 mins. *if the colour of the tart is too pale, turn to fan mode and bake for another 2-3 mins (watch closely).
10. Let the pineapple tarts cool down completely before storing into air-tight containers.

I love how they turned out. The tart pastry is crumbly and buttery and not too hard nor soft. The pineapple jam was not too sweet and the tartness just right for my tastebud, best of all there's still some fibrous bits.

The kiddo gave it 5/5! The hb whom I made the tarts for has yet to try it. He said it looks good. Hopefully it will pass his taste test!

I'm certainly keeping this recipe and likely to be adjusting the proportions for both jam and pastry accordingly. Till then!

My kiddo loves salmon and I'm constantly looking for new ideas of serving his favourite food since salmon is nutritious and boosts of several health benefits.

This dish was inspired by a member of the Singapore Home Cooks FB Group; she used salmon to cook a creamy chicken soup and I had this light bulb moment, hey why didn't I think of creating a chowder with salmon? I mean I have cooked clam chowder before and even a cabbage and seafood chowder! Silly me :p

Once again I decided to use CP chicken broth concentrate as the chowder base, because after using this broth to cook Mille-Feuille Nabe last week, I found it very convenient and the taste was rich, yet not overwhelming and enhanced the overall flavour of the dish. 

Creamy Salmon Chowder

(serves 2-3 pax)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 slices streaky bacon, cut into small pieces (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• 8 pcs swiss brown mushroom, cut into quarters
• 1/2 pc carrot, cut into cubes
• 1 stalk celery, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 2 stalks fresh thyme
• 100ml (1/3 cup) chicken broth concentrate
• 50ml (1/4 cup) whipping cream
• 200ml (3/4 cup) fresh milk
• 1 pc Russet potato, cut into cubes
• 200g salmon, cut into chunks
• 50g sweet corn kernels (frozen ones, soak in hot water for 10 mins)
• spring onion, black pepper, paprika, fresh thyme (optional, to taste)

Steps

1. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pot and fry bacon till browned and crispy. Scoop and set aside.
2. With the oil remaining in the pot, add garlic and onion and saute till fragrant and translucent.
3. Add mushroom, carrot and celery and saute for 3 mins.
4. Add 1 tbsp of flour and fresh thyme and saute for another min.
5. Add chicken broth, cream, milk and potato, cover and cook for 6-8 mins (until potato has softened), stirring occasionally.
6. Once the potato has softened, add the salmon chunks and sweet corn (leave a handful as garnish if desired) and cook for 3-5 mins.
7. Dish up chowder, garnish with bacon, sweet corn, spring onion, black pepper, paprika, fresh thyme and serve hot with bread rolls or rice. 

Totally love this dish! It's rich, creamy and savoury and I didn't even have to add any salt as the chicken broth is salty enough. Initially I thought that the chowder would be overwhelming and I wouldn't eat much as it's too creamy. But surprisingly, I found myself taking spoonful after spoonful! The salmon also didn't have any strong fishy smell which I disliked.


The kiddo ate the chowder with rice and bread, whereas I'm happy to eat it on its own. This recipe is definitely a keeper for my family, and I would count it as one of my comfort soups from now on :)