Cooking Mana's Elegant Gothic『The Excitement of Spices and "Splendid" Magic』

Because of the pandemic, cooking at home has become extremely popular. Someone who has been known for their skills in cooking, guitarist Mana, decided to make good use of the time and began filming cooking videos. Despite difficulties at times trying to get ingredients, I decided to try to make each of Mana's dishes. So, I'm going to document how that went with the last dish, Mana's 『The Excitement of Spices and "Splendid" Magic』

While I had many of the needed ingredients already, I still had to find a pineapple, curry powder, pink peppercorns and ground pork. Above are the spices I used. Because it is really difficult for me to digest bell pepper, aka paprika in Japan, I substituted ground paprika for it. I do like the smoked varieties of this.

After getting everything in place and chopping onion, (and bell pepper and hawk claw peppers if you are going to use them), it's time to heat olive oil at a low temperature. Crush garlic cloves and cardamom pods before putting in the oil. I happen to use the garlic cubes from Trader Joe's, which are really good quality. Since I was only cooking 1/2 pound of pork, the amounts I used were less than in Mana's video. This amount of pork, plus the rice, was enough to fill the pineapple bowl. Two crushed cardamom pods and three garlic cubes. One cube equals one clove. Sine I did not have hawk claw peppers (I've been searching for them) I used a bit of crushed red pepper. It's very similar. Since there are a number of types of pepper in this dish, I kept the amount of red pepper low. 

I used about 1/2 of an onion, which went into the pan next. At this point the bell pepper would be added. I sprinkled on a bit of paprika instead. No measurements, all by eye and experience. I'd say maybe about a teaspoon?

Onions and all were sautéed till slightly brown, to bring out a bit of caramelization flavor. I raised the heat under my pan to medium by this point.

And in goes the ground or minced pork. I had not bought meat in months, due to the poor situation at meat processing plants in the US. There is a butcher near me that sells products from farmers and ranchers here in Oregon. Oregon has been working with businesses here to make sure employees are safe, including giving them free face masks and more. A visit to Ponderosa Meats and I had pork, chicken and turkey. 

Season the pork with ground pepper, ground pink Himalayan salt, curry powder, chili powder and ground cayenne pepper. Of course sea salt could be substituted, but grinding peppercorns brings out a lot more flavor and scent so if possible, that is best to use. As for the curry powder, some places call it Indian curry powder. The distinction is it is not Oriental curry powder or garam masala. All of the spices in the recipe can be added in amounts according to your taste. If you like food hotter, add more.

Now comes the secret part of Mana's dry ground pork curry. Ketchup and Worchester sauce.

The basics for okonomiyaki sauce and many sweet and sour sauces. I mixed 1/4 of a cup of each together, then added that to the pork. Seriously, do not leave this out. I would like to say, that this dish could also be made with beef, chicken or ground turkey for people who do not eat pork. Personally, I think ground turkey would be a good substitute. Although pork does give it a South Pacific vibe.

Right now is a good time to taste and add more of the different peppers if you think it needs it.

There is one more thing that I needed to cook. It's not in the video, but I will explain it here. It's simple yet delicious. Turmeric Butter Rice. Now, you can cook it with onions and stock, but since this is part of the whole dish, here is a simple way to make it.

If you can find Basmati rice, it makes this dish even better. You can use a pot or rice cooker. Just follow the directions for cooking your rice, but add in butter and turmeric. I think I went with one cup of rice, a teaspoon of turmeric and maybe two teaspoons of butter. It helps to mix the rice a couple times while it is cooking. Seriously this color and the fragrance, so amazing.

It really is gorgeous. You don't need a lot of turmeric, although it's a great spice both in taste and in health benefits.

So now comes the hard part. That pineapple in the first picture? I cut in half and scooped out the inner part. It helps to cut up the inside of the pineapple, remove the core and then scoop out the rest. I saved that for something else. A pineapple bowl isn't necessary for the dish, but it's fun to see and the flavor of pineapple adds to the curry. Since not everyone can find whole fresh pineapple, it might be enjoyable to add some pieces after plating, to eat with the curry.

In goes that wonderful rice. It would be a fun surprise for anyone to eat who didn't see this being cooked. 

Next is the dry curry and then pink peppercorns and chopped parsley for a festive appearance.

Since I did not use red bell pepper, the pink peppercorns add color to this.

So what did I do with that pineapple? I made more of Chef Mana's Elegant Gothic Fruit Paradise Sangria. This was more of a pineapple version and very refreshing. As to how I made Mana's sangria, perhaps that will be my next post.

And here is the result! As to how this curry tastes, it's very good. The addition of ketchup and Worchester sauce turns a regular spicy pork curry into something that reminded me of Hawaiian and Okinawan pork dishes. The flavor of the pineapple bowl seeped in the rice and pork, adding to the delicious flavor. I think these ingredients move the flavor up into something unique and fun. I did have a feeling of visiting South Pacific Islands. 

Here is Chef Mana's video from the Moi-même-Moitié YouTube channel. You can use the YouTube video settings to automatically translate the subtitles into your preferred language. I hope my post helps if anyone is wanting to cook this dish. If you have questions, please ask! And thank you for visiting my blog.

Since the video may not show up if you view this on your phone, here is the link to elegant gothic chef Mana's video https://youtu.be/rh3uHyws3TQ

So Haneda Once Again

The day had arrived where I was suppose to fly back to Oregon. I tried to relax and enjoy these cute mini donuts from TAU Hiroshima. But the hotel forgot to tell the maid I was staying a little after regular check out. Given that I was the only guest on that floor, it seem a bit much that she kept pounding on my door. Finally the front desk apologized. It wasn't helpful, I was stressed because of the almost daily cancellations of flights by JAL, and the fact that I could not find any information as to what terminal my flight was leaving from. 

So I left early because of that, and because I had to change trains to get to Haneda International Airport. I reached the monorail station as planned, but when I asked a worker there which track I should be at, they told me the wrong one. More than once. I knew what direction the monorail would be coming from, since I had been at this station once before. So I picked that side, and I was right.

I wasn't right in guessing the terminal. And there were no information anywhere as to what gate the flight was leaving from. Thankfully the information person must have been prepared because she was able to tell me and explain what bus to take to get to the right terminal. Also it probably helped that there were very few flights that day. So eventually I made it back to the terminal where I had spent the night of March 11th, 2011. I didn't visit the shops where I slept that night, just saw them from below. Kind of fitting because it felt like another disaster trip.

Checking in and getting through security was pretty fast. No temperature checks, just asked me if I had been to China and one other place. The airport was almost empty. They did have cute displays in places though.

The play area was closed because of the virus. Since there weren't any children, I don't know if it would have mattered. Lots of social distancing this day.

There were some shops that were open. Just no customers.

I found my gate and I found a restaurant that was open. Curacion Cafe.

It was time for lunch and time for something good. Chicken curry, tsukemono pickles and a draft beer.

It was all good. 

I still had some time to wait. That was my gate and no one was there. But at least I made it to the airport without too many difficulties. So being a little early was okay.

I don't normally take photos in the bathroom, but I thought it was interesting to see what Japan was doing in regard to the virus. The air hand dryers are popular in public restrooms, but they had sealed them off from use.

And had installed an air cleaner system. Public health is serious in Japan.

Meanwhile, still waiting. So a few photos of the almost empty Haneda Airport. This was March 31st in the middle of the day.

I didn't forget to take a carpet photo.

The plane was waiting. The only flight by Japan Airlines to San Francisco that day. Only the second flight that week. With none going out of Narita Airport. That was a major reduction.

It was about tea time now, so I ate a little Hiroshima lemon cake. I also was carrying my Moi-même-Moitié bag with me. I didn't want to lose it.

Finally boarded the plane. Lots of space. Having a whole row of seats to myself, with no one in front or behind me. Everyone was wearing a face mask also. No delays with take-off, since there weren't many planes flying. Strange feeling, like it was another world. 

Since we were flying out of Haneda, the route was slightly different. And I got to see something special. The top of Mount Fuji above the clouds. That was nice because I had thought about going to a few places at Mount Fuji this trip, but because of the virus and the uncertainty of my flight, I did not. So seeing the mountain as I left was a bit sad, but also beautiful.

Back on the plane, service was excellent. I think because of the situation, we were given a little first class treatment. At least business class. I started with white wine and rice crackers.

Eventually lunch was served. This was a bento styled lunch created by a famous Japanese chef. It was very delicious. That's miso soup in the cup.

Several hours later, breakfast was served. I had trouble sleeping, in part because the disinfectant bothered my sinuses. I wore gloves for most of the flight, so it didn't bother my hands this time. The airline sprayed the interior of the planes with disinfectant in hopes of reducing viral spread. I ended up watching the new "Little Women" movie, which was nice.

I was tired, but I still enjoyed breakfast from Soup Stock with green tea to drink. It's funny, because I would pass by Soup Stock in Ikebukuro Station all the time, and it always smelled good. But I never ate there. My flight from Japan had small reminders of my times of being in Japan.

My last post will be about the second part of my trip back to Oregon.

Return to Kamalpur

Because once wasn't enough, I went back to Kamalpur for lunch.

This time it was the medium curry, which was chicken that day. This was definitely hotter than the lentil curry. It was good and I did finish it. Not easy but I did. I'm still liking that dal lentil curry though. I do want to try the dry curry, if I get a chance to return.

 Spices! That is a nice way to store them, and use it as a display for customers also. If those are cardamon pods, they are really big.

The weather was nice so I took a few photos of the outside of the restaurant, in case anyone is reading this and wants to find it. Italian restaurant Kiba Kitchen Earl is also there. There isn't a sign like this with Kamalpur on it so you have to look for these ones.

The restaurant is right there at this corner. 

I think they were surprised a westerner showed up for lunch. They did remember me the second time. It is a little difficult to find. Even the writing outside is all in Japanese, with the name of the place written in katakana above the door.

Walking back to Kiba Station, I paused to admire the autumnal sakura trees. I hope I can see them again.

When I was passing through Ikebukuro Station, there were people giving away drinks. I think they were selling products from 越生町, Ogose, which is out in Saitama. This yuzu juice beverage was really delicious!