Monday, April 28, 2008

seriously

I went by Osaka Ya friday after work cuz I've been craving mochi and I noticed that there is a crazy flower patch on 10th and V that is currently off the chain. One of the best around town.
Man, the mochi from Osaka Ya cannot be beat as far as soft texture. Imported mochi is a joke compared to that. Here's an entertaining tip for you: mochi is not really a big hit at a party. I ended up eating three of the ten pieces. Too much.
At Osaka Ya, they had a bucket of pulpy stuff that said free: Okara. The young man working the counter said that Okara is a side product of making tofu (my Japanese cookbook referred to it as tofu lees). He said that his dad fries it with a squeeze of lemon, and maybe some mushrooms or something. He gave me a big bag and I fried it with ginger and scallion, and put it over rice. It is quite dry and powdery and soaked up all the oil immediately and began to stick to my skillet. The texture is the best part, which is what the kid said also. It's fibrous. In fact, it is quite healthy because it's high in fiber and protein. Give it a try sometime, I think they might sell it at Oto's, too.
Saturday night was the Mantles show at the Witch Dome, and I was surprised to find that the Proles were playing. I never saw them in they heyday and didn't know they were still around. They were good! Who knew? Very britpop supergrass.
Here's Mike, a serious rocker, rocking seriously.
Matt-stop smoking! Here's a cameo from Alex of the Ganglians. They played for his birthday party, but he didn't really watch them play.
Virginia, a serious drummer, drumming seriously.
Look how happy Heckamax is? You know why? Cuz the Mantles were great!
Here's a rare picture of the Mantles letting their guard down and just having fun. This is one serious group.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's been my favorite flower corner for years here in Southside. The lady that cares for it is also very sweet and willing to take a compliment!

Liv Moe said...

Man, am I bummed I missed that show! Stupid conflict:(

Anonymous said...

Who wants to dance with me?

-drunk Proles loving guy

Anonymous said...

By the way, that line worked and the dude was cutting a rug with a lady in no time. Its rad when people dance to indie-rock! Just like Athens in the eighties! I was there!

-heckamax

wburg said...

"Okara" sounds like soy pulp. You make soymilk by grinding cooked soybeans and pouring hot water through the ground-up beans, and the remaining ground beans are soy pulp--still pretty high in protein. Back when I used to make my own tofu and soymilk, I used the soy pulp for a few things like homemade granola or a sausage-like thing called "soysage" from the Farm cookbook. Incidentally, the Farm cookbook has a few other recipes for the stuff, although most of their recipes are woefully under-spiced.

It's great for granola, it has a very coconut-like texture and taste when you add a bit of organic honey and some cinnamon.

beckler said...

yeah, the texture is similar to coconut.

Anonymous said...

wburg is right: Okara is soy pulp, all the fiber and shit from soy beans that's left over when you strain off soy milk. When I lived in Tacoma, we got some for free from the Tacoma tofu factory (rad place). I believe we made the New Farm soysage recipe. Spice the bejeezus out of the stuff.

Anonymous said...

Have a doobie

http://flickr.com/photos/cambelina/2409173549/in/photostream/

Fogelberg

Anonymous said...

Does Osaka Ya sell the plain mochi now? Last time I checked they only had the kind with bean paste or some jelly inside. I like mine plain.


-Alisha