October 2,
2014 Lunch Azuma for Uni Dinner
Greenhouse Bistro and Bakery’s New Fall Menu
What a
fabulous food day. I met Robert Mueller
for lunch at Azuma at 12:30. We both
ordered Chirachi Donburi as usual and hot green tea. Robert’s favorite sashimi is sea urchin or
Uni. We talked to Ana Su, the owner, for
a few minutes and she showed us pictures of the new Azuma she was getting ready
to open at Paseo Del Norte and Wyoming.
Its interior was beautiful with Japanese fabric curtains and a tatami
room constructed in Japan built into the restaurant with Japanese seats. Very traditional and elegant.
We discussed
with Ana about how Azuma orders their fish.
She said they usually receive fresh fish on Thursday and it is best on
Friday, which is when most of her “regular customers” come for fish.
We talked about Robert's favorite uni (sea urchin) and she said it usually is delivered on Thursday and is gone by Friday.
Here is the scoop on uni:
Uni (oo-nee) is the Japanese name for the edible part of the Sea Urchin. While colloquially referred to as the roe (eggs), uni is actually the animal’s gonads (which produce the milt or roe). Uni ranges in color from rich gold to light yellow, and has a creamy consistency that some love and is off-putting to others. It is nevertheless one sushi item that is in incredible demand around the world, which is reflected in its price. Sea Urchins are a rare treat for those who acquire a taste. Uni sushi has a light, sweet, and somewhat briny flavor and is is usually enjoyed as nigiri sushi or sashimi. Uni is also sometimes served with a raw quail egg. Uni is also considered an aphrodisiac by some. It is harvested throughout the world, however the west coast of the U.S. has in recent years become one of the largest sources, and much of the harvest finds its way overseas to eager Asian customers. Each sea urchin contains five ‘lobes’ and the harvesting of the uni is a very delicate process as the meat easily falls apart. Uni is a somewhat seasonal item and is at its best when served from late fall through the winter, with December considered the best month by Japanese standards. - See more at: http://www.sushifaq.com/sushi-sashimi-info/sushi-item-profiles/sushi-items-uni-sea-urchin/#sthash.7FuOXsL0.dpuf
After we
said goodbye to Ana, our waiter said that the truck that usually delivers the
uni was delayed, so we nibbled fish and rice and sipped tea and talked for a while.
Finally around 2:00 a waiter walked in with a
flourish with two small wooden boxes in his hands and said, “The uni has
arrived.”
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| 2 Chirashi Donburis, 2 cups of green tea and two ewers of soy sauce |
We ordered
Robert an order of uni, which was served as sushi/nigiri on a ball of rice
wrapped with nori seaweed. Robert performs
a religious ceremony when he eats uni.
Robert closes his eyes and transports himself back to his childhood
seaport home on the Atlantic in southern New Jersey and visualizes himself there, smelling the salty sea smells and the
ocean and town (his family had a marine electronics business in the port at
Cape May, I think.)
I asked
Robert if this was the freshest uni he had ever had and answered, “Hell no,
when we were in Thailand, we went out on a boat and ate fresh uni as they
harvested it directly from the ocean.”
All the
other fish slices in the Chirashi box were also fabulously fresh this Thursday. I guess Thursday is the jackpot day at Azuma if the
trucks are running on time and Friday is the more reliable day, in case the
trucks are not running on time.
Suzette drove to Santa Rosa today and I had talked to our house guest, Bea T., who is visiting from Ashville, about visiting Suzette’s
restaurant for dinner to try the new menu and show Bea the facility.
Bea was interested, so I
called Suzette and she agreed to go to the Greenhouse Bistro for dinner since
this was the first night of the Bistro’s new Fall menu.
After
Suzette arrived, we settled in for a few minutes and at 6:00ish, we drove to
the Center for Ageless Living in Los Lunas, where we first showed Bea the Spa,
the pond and gardens, the secret garden and the orchard.
We then walked to the Greenhouse Bistro, where
a table of eight were enjoying the Oktoberfest monthly special. Every month the Bistro offers a monthly
special and for October it is celebrating Germany’s Oktoberfest with a three
course dinner for $19.95, featuring an appetizer of German Spaten Beer and Bacon
Cheddar Soup, a main course of Weiner Schnitzel, served with Roasted Asparagus garnished
with a Sauerkraut Hollandaise Sauce and Toasted Pumpernickel bread crumbs with
braised Red Cabbage, and a dessert of Apfel Kuchen (a German style apple crumble
tart).
Suzette
ordered the Oktoberfest special meal so I was able to taste the soup which was
not too thick and quite delicious although a bit too peppery with black pepper
for my taste. I also tasted the veal with the Sauerkraut
Hollandaise. The Veal was deliciously tender and the Hollandaise was silky smooth with a delightful
flavor of both lemon and pickling herbs.
 |
| Weiner Schnitzel with roasted Asparagus and red cabbage |
Bea ordered a green chili cheese burger that looked and tasted delicious.
The new Fall
menu includes three new interesting main entrees: Brazilian Braised Beef Shin, Roasted Pork
Knuckle and a Tuscan Braised Lamb Shank.
I have eaten lamb shanks so I wanted to try something different. When Chef Devvan came over to great us, so I asked
him which of the other two dishes he preferred and he said, I like pork
better, so I recommend the pork knuckle."
Although it sounded a bit creepy I ordered the pork knuckle and when the pork knuckle was served I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked
like a lamb shank and its flavor was wonderful.
The pork was BBQed in the oriental manner, oven roasted with lots of sauce. Chef Devvan slow roasts the pork with an Asian
Master Stock of his own creation. He told
us his Asian Master Stock includes star anise, Schezuan peppercorns, Chinese
Rice Wine, Dark (double fermented) Soy, light soy, and casia bark, boiled for a
long period of time in a large pot with water and a whole chicken or duck until all the flavors blend into a light sauce.
The Pork
Knuckle was served with amazingly delicious baby bok choys. The Chef shared his secret for cooking the baby
bok choy so it does not collapse as it usually does when I stir fry them in a
wok. The first difference is that I cut
my bok choy into pieces, but these bok choy were whole, but split in half lengthwise. Second, the bok choy were incredibly tender, yet
not collapsed. Chef Devvan said the way
he cooks the bok choy is to coat a pan with oil and heat it and stir fry the split
bok choy for 1 to 1 ½ minutes in the oil and then turn off the heat and pour a
few drops of oyster sauce into the pan and cover the pan and let it steam
without heat. This produces
a tender, flavorful bok choy that retains its structural integrity and does not collapse. I loved the bok choy.
 |
| Pork Knuckle with Baby Bok Choy |
Talking about structural integrity, Chef Devvan,
who was born in Australia, was recently sent a box of high tech cooking
gear by his parents that he has been experimenting with. After dinner Chef Devvan shared one of his new
high tech cooking experiments with us, espresso popper rock candy. We tasted the small white crystals of espresso coffee flavored rock candy and they did taste like espresso and did pop in our
mouths. They were lots of fun to taste
and Chef Devvan said he is going to add a dish to the menu with foam or air, soon. So the Bistro is quickly moving to
the front of the wave of scientific cooking by adding dishes utilizing avant
garde cooking techniques.
New wines also are being added to the wine list for Fall, such as one or two riesling wines for the German Oktoberfest menu. There are still lots of beers and apple
ciders.
I can hardly
wait to return to the Bistro to try the Beef Shins and some of the other new
interesting dishes on the Greenhouse Bistro’s Fall menu.
Bon Appétit
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