Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant

107 Pier Street Perth

Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant first opened their doors to Perth diners in 1987, since that time thousands of people have darkened the doorstep of the little premises at 107 Pier Street, the majority of them, like me, being return customers.

 

I first dined here on the occasion of my younger brothers 30^th birthday, he celebrated his 50^th birthday last year and I have since lost count of the number of times I have dined at this wonderful restaurant, nor can I remember that number of times I wished to myself that I had been there, rather than somewhere somewhat inferior, it is that kind of place.

When owner operators Francis and Sherry Lim first opened their restaurant it was known as the Hayashi Japanese Restaurant, the business was very good to them and in 1995 they opened a second restaurant by the same name in Applecross.  I was privileged to have been present for the opening night and the memories are still vivid of beautiful food and meeting some great people.  Sometime after however, the couple sold off the Applecross store and when they did the new owners kept the name of Hayashi, hence the name change at Pier Street.

As they say “Call a rose by any other name and it will still smell like a rose” and never a truer word could be said of Yoshiya Japanese Restaurant, the food I enjoyed there on Saturday night with my wife was just as exciting and just as delicious as that first meal I enjoyed here in 1991.

Niku Tataki - Tender marinated beef fillet so succulent and tender it melts in your mouth.

It has become a standard order for our entrée to include a serve of Niku-Tataki ($15.00), the thin slices of very rare beef are so succulent and tender, once marinated at the table in a soy vinegar sauce which you have added minced ginger, garlic, spring onion and daikon radish is unbelievable.  In more cases than not this is accompanied by a large Mixed Sashimi ($35.00), David the Sashimi Chef, is a master at his craft and the food he prepares always looks fantastic, tastes even better! 

Mixed Sashimi, my favourite.

I love the Mixed Sashimi, slices of Tuna, Kingfish, Salmon and Snapper with a little wasabi for spice and daikon for texture, and I believe my wife when she says she could live on nothing else but this food!  As Yoshiya is a BYO restaurant, I was able to enjoy a Windy Creek Chardonnay with my meal, it went so well with the sashimi, I was wishing we had taken a taxi so I could have opened a second bottle.

Main course, so much food!

There are so many choices on the Yoshiya menu, but when it comes to the main course my wife, always orders the same thing, it has become her all time favourite of any meal she has had and I cannot now get her to go without her Yaki-Niku ($27.00).  

Yaki Niku, Jo's fave meal of all time!

Yaki-Niku is another beef dish, this time marinated beef tenderloin fillet which is char grilled to perfection and comes with a spicy flavoured dipping sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds, the first time she experienced this meal, I experienced what Billy Crystal did sitting opposite Meg Ryan in “When Harry met Sally”, it was one of those blissful moments for her, as when you feel you have died and gone to heaven!

The Char Grilled Salmon was divine.

I ordered Sakana Shioyaki ($27.00), char grilled snapper, only to be told they were out of snapper, so Sherry offered to do the dish with Salmon instead, I was not disappointed, it was wonderful and cooked to perfection.  Both main meals are served with steamed rice and fresh salad.

Entrees at Yoshiya range from $6.00 a single serve to $35.00 for large share plates, with main meals ranging from $18.00 to $35.00, there are a couple of desserts on offer @ $7.00, you also have a choice of 2 set menus which can be ordered for a table or for a single person the first menu includes BBQ Prawns, BBQ Salmon, BBQ Scallop, Teriyaki chicken, and a marinated cubed beef dish, this comes with Miso Soup, Rice, Salad, Dessert and Japanese Tea or coffee, great value at $60.00 per person.  The second menu includes Sashimi, Tempura Seafood and Vegetables, Teriyaki Chicken and Yaki Niku and this also comes with Miso Soup, Rice, Salad, Dessert and Japanese Tea or coffee for $50.00 per person also great value and the food is awesome. 

I introduced a few friends to this restaurant last year, they enjoyed their entrees and mains so much, when asked what they would like for dessert they ordered what they had just had over again, knowing how good the food is at Yoshiya, I can understand why!

I really shouldn't because it is hard enough to get a table already, but I do highly recommend Yoshiya Japenese Restaurant, the food is the most exciting and delicious you will get anywhere and Francis and Sherry Lim, are the most wonderful hosts, they can never do enough for you to ensure you have a wonderful meal and evening.

Green Curry Fish and Prawn with Coconut Rice

During the last half hour I spent in the office today it looked very bleak outside, it was rainy and I really was not looking forward to running out to the car and getting wet, it must have dampened my spirits as I rang Jo and asked her to stop by on her way home so I could take her out for dinner.

Stopping somewhere in Northbridge on our way home for dinner has become a fairly regular event, often it will be my favourite Vietnamese Vinh Hong, not only because I love the food, but also because of Jo’s love for the wine bar next door, it is a nice way to end the day, especially  after being busy at work.

Well that was the plan anyway, however by the time I left the office it had stopped raining, and Jo was still stuck on the freeway, so I told her to continue on home and I’d cook for her after all, I had started driving myself by this time and was formulating an idea in my head to cook a green curry chicken.  That was until I turned the next corner and the traffic was at a stands still, so after a quick U turn, I was heading back from whence I began and looking for a quicker route home, that route took me through North Perth, straight past our local fish monger, an ordinary chicken curry had now been elevated to a fish and prawn curry.

After a quick stroll through Coles, I was headed home with my snapper and king prawns, a yellow capsicum, a handful of green beans, a bunch of chives and a red chilli, with this and a few items from the pantry dinner was on its way!

I make my own green curry paste from green chillies, lots of coriander, shrimp paste, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, shallots, galangal, ginger, garlic, Kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass, it is absolutely the best, when I make it I make enough so as to make a couple of curries and then to fill an ice cube tray for later use, I used 3 cubes tonight from my last batch. 

I cooked the rice in coconut milk using the absorption method that takes 30 minutes to cook, having prepared the curry ingredients in the first 10 minutes of that time, left me 20 minutes to cook the curry, such an easy dinner to make and oh so YUM YUM to eat, really did leave me wanting more, but that would leave Jo without lunch tomorrow and we cannot have that now can we!

Bouillabaisse - Happy Easter

Bouillabaisse [bujabes] - a traditional Provencal fish stew originating from the port city of Marseille

It is Good Friday morning and I am in the kitchen preparing to celebrate this important Christian event with my sons, daughter in law and grand children, I have Bouillabaisse and Pavlova on the menu, which we will sit down together and enjoy this evening.

Bouillabaisse is my favourite all time dish to make, it does not feature very often on our menu for a number of reasons, it is an expensive dish to make, you need time to make it properly and you need a crowd to sit down and enjoy it together.  Being that it is Good Friday, it fits the “no meat” brief perfectly and it is such a special dish, the day is deserving of it, being the very special day it is. 

There is another fantastic thing about this dish, you can do all the hard work early having everything ready so that when your guests arrive all you need do is reheat the beautiful seafood stock/soup, add the seafood piece by piece and it is ready to eat in around fifteen minutes, spoon it into bowls, dish out large servings of toasted bread and your good to go, love it.

I am 3 hours into my cooking, and just as I was about to strain the stock off, a damsel in distress put out a call for help, her car had a flat battery and as luck would have it, she had not found out until after she had packed the car to the hilt for a trip down south for a family holiday.  I simply turned the stove off and took off to assist her, job done I returned home and picked up where I left off, now how many dishes can you do that with? Again the fact it is a holiday and I have plenty of time made a big difference.

You begin making the stock by sautéing a sliced up leek with an onion, fennel bulb and half a bunch of garlic, cooking for about 6-7 minutes, then adding a can of chopped tomato, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, a few sprigs of thyme, a couple of bay leaves, some peppercorns, a couple of teaspoons of  cumin seeds, a few star anise and the grated rind of an orange, this is stirred while it cooks until the volume reduces by half, the aromas whilst cooking this are amazing.

Now you add in two crabs that have been cleaned of the dead man’s fingers and broken into 3 or 4 pieces, put the whole crab including the mustard in its head, the mustard has lots of flavour, cook for 5-6 minutes then add in some fish bones, I brought two whole fish for this dish, which I filleted, the carcasses when into the stock.

The flavours in Bouillabaisse are magnificent every mouthful as you eat meal makes you yearn for more, there is so much depth in the finished broth, it truly is a wonderful experience to sit with a bowl of this gorgeous seafood stew and a chunk of toasted crunchy bread, heaven.

After cooking the vegetables and seafood down you add a full bottle of white wine to the pot, Jo could not believe it as she watched me pour the contents of the whole bottle into the brew, the wine is mixed in well with the vegetables and then cooked on a simmer until reduced by half, then you add 2 litres of water, bring the pot to the boil, then reduce to simmer for an hour.

Whilst the stock is simmering away you have time to skin the fish fillets, trim the legs of the prawns and de-beard the mussels that will be included just before serving, there are also potatoes to steam, steaming the potatoes before adding them to the broth makes them more receptive of soaking up the YUM YUM, steam them with the skin on, peel them when cooked and straight into the pot.

After the stock has simmered for that hour, strain the solids off, pound the crabs to a paste, I used my pestle and it worked well, you could bung it into the food processor but why create extra work when a bit of elbow grease will do the job!  Once they’re crushed down add the stock back mix in well and then strain the solids off again, this is done to extract as much flavour as possible from the crabs, fish and vegetables, the solids are then discarded.

Now add a heaped teaspoon of saffron, some salt (be generous with the salt) and some cayenne pepper to taste, bring back to a simmer and the stock is now ready, you can leave it here and reheat later or continue on and begin adding in the fish, potatoes and other seafood.

I added the potatoes and then turned the pot off, coming back to check the taste about every fifteen minutes thereafter, not that I needed to, it tasted great, hence the several consequential checks!

Garlic and capsicum mayonnaise served with the Bouillabaisse which is spread on the crusty toasted bread, the mayo is made from a little baked potato, red capsicum, garlic, egg yolks, lemon juice, saffron threads a pinch of cayenne pepper and olive oil, all the ingredients are blended together to make this rich creamy mayonnaise, it is beautiful.

Having everything prepared including the Pavlova and its topping by three o’clock, gave me time to lay down for an hour for a poppy nap, very relaxing way to spend the afternoon after a busy morning.

The fish I choose to use included a Red Throat Emperor, a Red Coral Rock Cod, Exmouth King Prawns, Shark Bay Prawns, Blue Swimmer Crabs, Mussels, and a little Squid.

You add the seafood to the simmering stock starting with the fish that will take the longer cooking time adding the other pieces within the cooking time of the first, get it right and everything will be beautifully cooked, I added the squid and smaller prawns a little early, so they had shrunk by the time they hit the bowl, but overall I was happy with the final result.

While we waited for my son Ryan to arrive, Jo readied the bread grilling one side then buttering the other side and then grilling that, by the time he arrived there was a huge plate full resting in the oven, when it came to the table I thought there is no way we’ll get through that, but I had forgotten just how good it is soaking up the broth with the crunchy bread and before we were done I was cutting more bread for the table.

I learnt on the night the only seafood my daughter in-law likes is fish, I knew she did not eat prawns but mussels and crabs came as a surprise, given the broth was based on a crab bisque had her plate looking very grim with only fish and potatoes to eat, however as it turned out even she loved the flavours and when offered more fish, she requested that it come with some of the broth and a slice of bread, I wasn’t at all surprised when her bowl was emptied and she was complaining of having eating too much, that’s just the way it is with Bouillabaisse!

Jukut Gedand Mekuah - Spicy Chicken Zucchini Soup

Jo and I have just returned from a twelve night holiday in Bali, staying 5 nights in Ubud and the final 7 nights in Seminyak, an area we both love to spend time relaxing, eating and drinking, it is hard to be back!

We arrived in Ubud after a one and a half hour drive from the airport, picking up a few things on the way to stock the bar fridge, Bintangs, soda water, orange juice and bottled water, just the essentials to go with the duty free items we brought with us.
Walking into the beautiful foyer of the Kamandalu Resort we must have looked a sight loaded down with our supplies, we were greeted by a beautiful Balinese woman who after placing a lei of frangipani around our necks, sat us down for an ice cold drink of freshly squeezed fruit juice, we were happy we had arrived, we were back in Paradise!

The woman then proceeded to tell us about the resort and informed us that we had been upgraded to a garden villa, as I had marked the guest register when booking as being on our Honeymoon, to say we were excited is an understatement, I had forgotten all about ticking the "special holiday box" and Jo having no prior knowledge was a little embarrassed, but we delightedly accepted the upgrade.

Once the business of paying was taken care of the young lady invited us to follow her to our villa, I hoped up grabbing the bigger bags we had walked in with and took off following her across the foyer, Jo following, as we walked all the other staff members came forward to greet us and to wish us a wonderful honeymoon etc, when the bag I was carrying with four 1.25 litre bottles of water decided to break open sending the contents rolling in all directions and me stood there with and empty bag trying to decide which way to run first, the laughs had begun!

We managed to gather the water bottles up and with our hostess sharing the load we made our way to the villa, the gate of which was decorated with streamers made from Pandan leaves and adorned with bright red flowers, the girl explained that this was traditional Balinese decoration to mark a Honeymooners residence, the decorations remained there for our entire stay, which meant the old grey haired bugger got a few wry smiles and knowing looks from the gardeners etc. as we walked around the resort.  But I was not complaining the villa was absolutely beautiful, as was the special Honeymooners cake we were presented with and the large fruit bowl adorned with yet more flowers, special.  On the bed there where two beautiful white swans kissing, above a red heart shaped from rose petals with  letters inside spelling out Mr & Mrs J, even though this was in fact our fifth honeymoon, it made it feel to us, as special as our first.

We had been through Ubud a few times on previous trips, but never stayed long enough to see what the place was all about and once I had made the booking for five nights a year ago, I began to wonder what we would do, so at that time I started to investigate and whilst doing so found some information about a cooking class which included a tour through a local market before going to the peoples home for the cooking class, I was taken by the idea and booked us in immediately.  I was very surprised to learn on the day that they had only just started the business venture a few weeks prior to my booking, had I known this I may not have booked, so I am so glad I did not as I would have missed out on the best day out, both Jo and I rated it as one of the best two things we have done during our travels, the other being the two nights on board a junk on Halong Bay we had in Vietnam 2010.  I intend to do a blog just on this very special cooking class so I will not go on about it any more now, other than to say the recipe for Jukut Gedang Mekuah came for this day, and it was the first thing I cooked on arriving home, I could not wait to do so.

The Jukut Gedand Mekuah, is in fact a Papya, mince chicken soup served with crispy shallots, however I was unable to souce a fresh green Papya so I substituted this with a zuchinni, as suggested by the chef  from the cooking class and quite frankly I could not tell the difference, the dish tasted just as it had back in Ubud.   However it did look quite different, mine was a lot richer in colour, I have put this down to the fresh turmeric being pumpkin orange, whereas the home grown variety we enjoyed at Lobong Villa was a lot paler in colour.

One of the things I really liked about this soup, was its simplicity, counting the spice paste as a ingredient, there where only 9 ingredients in all to make this wonderfully flavoured soup.
1 tbl spn coconut oil
1/2 cup gede paste
1 stalk of lemon grass, bruised
2-3 salem leaves, I used fresh curry leaves
200 gram chicken breast or tenderloins, diced to small mince
100 gram zuchinni, diced into 1cm cube
1 litre chicken stock, home-made is best
2-3 shallots, finely diced and fried until golden (Garnish)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a heavy based pot and add the spice paste, lemon grass and curry leaves, cook stirring for about five minutes, the aromas will fill your kitchen and your mouth should start to water at this point.

Add the minced chicken, stir into the paste and cook for about 5 minutes or until completely browned.

De-glaze the pot with a ladle of chicken stock, being sure to scrap up all the flavour from the bottom of the pan.

Add in the zuchinni or papaya if you are lucky enough to have some, stirring in well, continue stirring until the stock starts to boil, then add in remaining stock, bring to the boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes.

 Served garnished with the crispy shallots, I also added some finely sliced spring onion, some red chilli and a few curry leaves, looked great, tasted unbelievably good.

For the base spice paste you will need
100 grams red chillies
125 grams shallots
30 grams garlic cloves
50 grams ginger
30 grams galangal
50 grams fresh turmeric
25 grams candle-nuts, you can use macadamia
1 tsp coriander seeds, lightly roasted and crushed in a mortar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
75 ml water
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and grind coarsely, this will make a lot more than is required for the soup recipe above, if you are not making another dish straight away, simply spoon into and ice cube tray and freeze until required.

As I said earlier I will blog our experience with the Lobong Cooking Class in Ubud, in fact I think it will have to be split into three episodes, such was the day and the wonderful experiences we shared, can't wait to shared the stories it was so good!

I used more of the base spice paste today, to make my own version of a Rendang curry, it was bloody awesome too, but that is a story for another day!

Son In-Law Eggs and the best Salmon EVER!

Well it was nice to get back in the kitchen today and do some cooking, though I am suffering a little now with a sharp pain in my back!  But you get that so I won't sook too much.  I have most of the afternoon preparing food for during the week, a beautiful lamb curry I cooked from scratch, as I could not be bothered looking for a recipe and it has tuned out just as I had hoped, we'll enjoy that come Monday night.  I've also made a zucchini slice, which will be for lunches and maybe the odd breakfast too, I left it in the oven a few minutes too long and the onions seem to have started to caramelise, it smells awesome and can't wait to try that out too.

It is funny how when you start to tire, little errors start creeping into the kitchen, the slice was the first of it, I had decided earlier in the day to prepared a three course dinner for Jo tonight, it was a sort of a challenge as we are in a healthy eating mode attempting to shed a few pounds.

Jo is trying to keep her calorie intake below 1200 a day and I knew she was sitting at about 440 after her lunch, so the three courses needed to be less than 760, though I was told it had best be a little less than that.  I am happy to say I managed to pull it off, and whilst I am feeling like a stuffed pig right now, at least I met the target.

And the three courses where awesome, we started the meal with Son In Law eggs, a Thai dish, one we tried in Melbourne a few months back at Ginger Boy, a very trendy alleyway bar style restaurant that serves the best food.  I had a small disappointment in that I cooked the eggs a wee bit too long, I wanted soft gooey yolks, not soft boiled, just gooey, I didn't get them, but they tasted fantastic anyway, Jo insisted she was only having one and i think she regretted it in the end as they were good, instructions have been left to do them again.   I have entered the recipe for these into a site called SparkRecipes click the link and have a crack at them, well worth the effort.

For main course I prepared some Tasmanian Salmon from a recipe from the same site, and the comments the dish had received had me wanting to try it instantly, having made it and enjoyed it, all the while listening to Jo almost reach boiling point with Ohh's and Ahh's, I have to agree it was so YUM YUM YUM, so much so i wished I had brought more salmon so we could do it a gain tomorrow, really is that good.  I made up a fried rice to go with this, and whilst I thought I might try plain steam rice next time, Jo was of the opinion that the rice I prepared was the perfect accompaniment.

We finished the meal with some low cal Yoplait yoghurt and Raspberries, very refreshing and yummy too!

Just made it!

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Well we are still on our little old health kick and I think it is actually starting to us both some good, I know my double chin does not appear to be as big as it was and I now remember what it feels like to be hungry at dinner time, heck and breakfast and lunch too!

The saddest part of all this for me is cooking what I thought would be bland food, but I must admit we have found some absolutely delicious recipes and tonight’s is no exception, in fact I commented to Jo that this recipe could get a run at our next dinner party, very easy to prepare and cook and every mouthful was gobsmackingly good, absolutely delicious!

I found the recipe on an American health site called Sparkpeople, this site has some fantastic tools if you are watching what you eat, type in your ingredients and it gives you a full run down on what you are eating, the only sad part tonight I did not calculate the serving size of the chicken so we ended up eating a little more than we intended, but once we started eating this YUM YUM meal, there was no turning back.  Anyway, the entire meal racked up 568 calories, so it was still well within a healthy diet range.

Goats cheese is what drew me to this recipe, it was only a few days ago that we enjoyed another meal which contained this ingredient, neither of us had tried it before that and we have both come to love it, it is like a very mild feta but is not so salty, has a beaut creaminess about it, I love crumbling it up and then I get to lick my fingers mmmmmm mmmmmmm!

I baked a couple of small pieces of sweet potato, a few cherry tomatoes and a handful of olives, then steamed a few Brussels sprouts to go with the stuffed chicken and the flavours and textures of these went amazingly well together, the only place I varied from the recipe was by adding a teaspoon of Italian Herbs to the stuffing and leaving it and the shallots out of the sauce.

I really was so pleased with this meal, who said healthy eating was dull and boring?

Nutritional Info when prepared as per recipe

Per Serving

Calories:           192.7

Total Fat:              7.0 g

Cholesterol:        49.5 mg

Sodium:             954.8 mg

Total Carbs:          8.9 g

Dietary Fiber:       0.7 g

Protein:               23.1 g