Shin sen gumi This!

Shinsengumi Shabu Shabu

Location:
1695 W Artesia Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247

Entertainment Value: Cooking your own meal and Sochu

Food Cost: $$ According to Yelp

To my surprise, not many non-Asians know of shabu shabu. The Japanese term, "Shabu Shabu" literally translates to "Swish Swish", because it is the act of using your chopsticks to swish the thin cut beef, pork, or chicken slices in a boiling pot of broth that makes it so fun.  To the average American, you'd probably wonder, "Why would I pay for a dining experience where I have to cook the meat and vegetables myself?" Well, I guess it's a matter of perspective. For one, you get to select what type of raw foods you'd like to throw in the pot, and as the steam rises from the boiling medley you've concocted, moments later you can immediately eat it, freshly hot and as firm or soft as you'd like it--since you cooked it. And while you're waiting for it to cool slightly, you can still see the evaporating heat trailing above your chopsticks, and when it is dipped into citrus salty ponzu sauce and peanut based Goma sauce, slabbed on a bowl of hot rice, it not only gives you fresh hot food but it also gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Shabu Shabu places are a place to socialize with friends over shochu (the Korean version is called Soju), which has its many variations from distilled barley, soba, or rice to "imo-jochu", which is distilled from sweet potatoes. Usually around 25-40% alcohol content, Shochu is normally enjoyed over ice, lemon, and water, although it can be combined with Calpico, fruit drinks, and soda water. You can use various Japanese soda drinks from your local Mitsuwa or Nijiya to make your own version of chu-hi, an alcoholic fruity soft drink for those that like their cocktails to be carbonated. So while you are waiting for your veggies and meat to cook, you can Gan Bai with your buddies, lover (s?), or business associates.

Want more than just boiled meat and vegetables? You can also grill your own meat, over natural stone coals. They have a wide assortment of meat, from pork belly, beef intestine, Short rib, duck, squid, the works. I personally recommend the beef tongue and for the appetizers, the chicken Nankara, or deep fried chicken cartilage.

The next best thing to a fun and delicious meal is that you'll come out of the place feeling full and HEALTHY. Yes, how often can you leave a restaurant with a pot belly and a seductive aftertaste and not have to feel guilty about putting on the pounds afterwards? If we did the McDonald's test and ate Shabu Shabut for one month straight, we'd come out of it not only alive but we'd manage to trim down the fat. Don't believe me? Well, maybe I'll start another blog called "30 days of Shabu Shabu" and find out! I'd probably end up being the poster child for Shabu Shabu like Jared Fogle was for Subway. Hmm... not a bad idea...anybody else interested in going in on it with me? Post your comments below!

Another great thing about this particular Shabu Shabu place above all the other ones is their customer service. It is top notch. As soon as you enter, the entire staff bows and says, "Irashaimase", which in Japanese means "Welcome, thank you for your patronage"... just kidding.. they don't say that last part after welcome. But in Japanese, it sounds so long and they are so friendly that it sounds that way. When you leave, they all firmly shout in unison, "Arigatou gozaimashita", or "Thank you very much", as if you went out of your way to lend a hand for a friend.

 FYI: Just to clarify for those of you not familiar with these two terms, Shabu Shabu is part of Japanese cuisine and has an array of certain types of vegetables (nappa cabbage, tofu, green onions, shiitake mushrooms, and vermicelli), and the meat selection is limited to beef, unless it is sukiyaki, which doesn't have set limits on types of meat or vegetables. With that said, the Japanese Sukiyaki is like the Chinese version of Hot Pot, in that both types of cuisine have no limits to what vegetables or meat you can put into the boiling broth. The only exception is that Chinese Hot Pot tend to be spicier and if we decide to get even more technical on this subject, there are also regional versions of Chinese hot pot, such as Mongolian and Szechuan, but I'll leave that discussion for another blog.

Mummy Mia!

California Science Center

Location: 700 State Dr, Los Angeles California Science Center (next to USC and LA Sports Coliseum)

Entertainment: IMAX 3D Ramsy and other Ancient Mummies + Exhibit Ticket + Access to all other exhibits (Fade, Air and Space Gallery, and Ecosystems)
Entertainment Cost: $25 (Includes Movie ticket + Exhibit)
Food: Little Tokyo's Shihue Cafe = Gyoza, Katsudon, Nabeyaki Udon, Koika, and Miso Soup + Asahi
Food Cost: $41 thanks to an awesome hubby named T-Bone

It seemed like a scene straight out of Aliens 3, where Ellen Ripley discovers the genetic lab that has bred failed clones and where she finds a degenerate version of herself laying half lucid on the lab table, begging her to end her suffering. It was morbid, macabre, and yet you can't help but stare (while subconsciously holding your breath in between reading the information on the plaque and staring at what  looks like a severely burnt victim). And when you are looking at a fetus mummy frozen in the passage of time, the mind plays tricks on the present moment--for you are telling yourself that this alien looking specimen only 4 feet away separated by glass is another Hollywood prop, but that other, more insane part of your brain, is making you realize that this specimen is all organic, who had a soul once upon a millennium(s) ago.

But for some of you who don't like your mummies well done, there are other types of mummies that are relatively of a more tender age and fashion--Some were naturally preserved from ice freezes, bogs, closed spaces that lacked oxygen, and the result was a shriveled beef jerky version of a dog, weasel, cat, jackal, and other critters that were preserved by nature's divine calculation.

Witnessing the many mummies on display is like taking a glimpse into a time portal, just a peak into the specimen's life story. We can only surmise what kind of adventure, what quality of life, what dreams or ambitions, this once human ancestor eons ago experienced. Yet it's this very necessity for the human brain to make up, imagine, and wonder the unknown, for the schema to fit, that we become fascinated with the story behind the relic--with the many hands exchanged, places it went, many feats to overcome: extreme weather, ancient methods of transportion, tomb raiders, plane rides, trains, science labs, and many other infinite decisions upon decisions until it is here before us now, encapsulated by an argon secured plexus glass for curious modern man to witness. 

This entity that was once alive thousands of years ago is now a spectacle. The idea that one day our flesh can be immortalized in the hands of future science is even more macabre. A contemporary version of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado--an ending befitting to any one or more of these once human bodies, the exhibition masks the sheer horror of it all through the guise of scientific exploration. Right when we walked in, as if to prep us through this dark journey, the exhibit's introduction outlined the purpose of restoring and poking into these ancient flesh and bones by entertaining the possibility of finding cures to modern diseases, for if we compare the mummies genetic code with that of modern humans, we just might crack the code to curing cancer, reversed aging, vaccine to malaria, and that today's scientific breakthroughs can procure for human kind.

True terror is witnessing to what depths mankind, through time and across space, will go through to preserve the soul. The ancient Egyptians believed that through the embalming of the flesh, the soul is able to keep its original shape in the next lifetime, and that your immortalization equals that of how many people on this earth will remember you. There was even a piece of papyrus paper with hieroglyphic directions on how to deal with the many monsters in passage we today identify as purgatory. Called the Book of the Dead, this road map to the afterlife was believed to be essential for all souls trying to cross through. The ancient priests who performed the ritualization of mummification would probably turn over their tombs if they knew where their Gods are now. But then again, the exhibitionists justify this as what the Ramsay and other Pharaohs would have wanted--to be remembered in the flesh.

You will walk out of the exhibition either feeling numb from the shock of such alien relics or a lingering sense of fallibility for being so delicately human. Either way, you'd probably come to a conclusion of being cremated instead of buried. Whether you find it fun or morbidly fascinating, it was definitely an eye opening experience.




Afterwards, we went to Little Tokyo about 15 minutes drive away to eat Lunner (Lunch + Dinner = Lunner). We wanted to go to the best Shabu Shabu place in Downtown, but it was unfortunately closed this whole week (Guess the owners deserve to take a few vacations after its long term success). The good news is that there is no such thing as a bad restaurant in Little Tokyo. Littered with many possibilities, we decided to tryout a new restaurant, Suehiro Cafe , sandwiched between two locally famous Ramen shops, Daikokuya and Mr. Ramen.

The flavor of the miso is probably one of the best in town, the concoction between salt, miso paste, sesame, in amiable harmony. Gyoza crispy and not too oily, complimented by a garlic, chili oil, and ponzu sauce that satiates the watering mouth of a hungry beast. The best dish was the koika (Japanese style calimari), it was breaded with a fluffy batter, since the lightness of the skin fully accentuated the chewiness of the baby squid. It was perfectly salted with the tang of lemon spritz, best served alongside a cool refreshing prefrosted glass of Asahi. 

 

The Katsudon was plentiful and fulfilling, but nothing out of the extraordinary. The Nabeyaki was a little disappointing, for it lacked the flavor that a vegetable filled bowl of hot udon should give. The tempura was already sogging up by the time it was served and the portions of vegetable assortments was not worth the 2 dollar price difference if you were just to order a regular vegetable udon.

T-Bone also bought me a beautiful Yukata, getting ready for the upcoming summer festival, going on in August! TBA!!