I love learning to use new ingredients!

Does your favorite Hibachi chef use "DOCTA PEPAAAAAH" or "COCA COLAAAAAA" when he's cooking your fried rice???

Sad to say its probably neither... (I'm betting on root beer =P)  

I've always enjoyed going to Japanese and Sushi themed restaurants, especially the ones where the customers are seated around the chefs who are standing over that griddle like a rockstar juggling eggs with spatulas, making cheesy off color jokes, throwing shrimp and veggies at their customers, and producing delicious food right before your very eyes.  

Also found at these magical establishments are mysterious delicious morsels known as sushi! YES!!!  Little bits of fish (sometimes raw), fake crab, and veggies wrapped in vinegar soaked rice and seaweed!!!  Sounds awesome right??? WELL IT IS! If you've never tried it you should think outside the box one time and get yourself a California roll. It just might change your life... it did mine.

As I've said in my previous post, I live in a rural town, and the nearest one of these establishments is 90 miles away.  I tell you folks this really put me in an awkward position.  Japanese/Sushi has become my favorite eat out food, and because I rarely am near one I want to hit one up every time I am fortunate enough to see one.  This is a problem in a couple of ways.  Number one, I don't get to try out other places I would otherwise like to try because I'm blinded by the rice.  Number B, not everyone likes Sushi in my social circle.  The fear they will be putting an uncooked piece of fish in their mouth (even though most rolls in American sushi restaurants use cooked fish, shrimp, and crab) makes them avoid such places, so me being good guy Kitchen Nerd Boy will accompany them with a fake plastic smile to the Olive Garden (GAG) (*side note question... What's the deal with the Olive Garden anyway???  Mediocre over priced frozen pseudo American-Italian chain stores sure do drive consumers crazy it seems... I just don't get it... I'd be just as well eating at Taco bell... same quality food for a heck of a lot cheaper) But I digress (sorry for the OG rant) You can see the problem my infatuation with Japanese food that I can't get has caused me right?  So what's a young acolyte kitchen warrior trainee to do???  Glad you asked...

I've started learning to make my own sushi and other Japanese style dishes.  It takes some specialty ingredients and hardware but it's fun and totally worth it, especially when you have no other options.  

All that said... I don't get out of my small town much, but I had an appointment out of town a few days ago and was able to visit an Asian market while there.  

Ingredients bought:

Hondashi (it's like the bullion cube of Japan)
Red Miso paste
White Miso paste
Panko bread crumbs (probably not too exciting for you, but we can't get them around here)
Tempura batter
Fish Sauce
Kombu (edible Kelp[seaweed])
Crumbled seaweed
Hoison sauce
Sesame seeds (white and black)
White peppercorns
Mirin
Rice vinegar
Nori Sheets
Bamboo rolling mats
Wasabi
Sriracha 
A 20 lbs. sack of Calrose Botan premium rice

There may be something I missed in this list... I'm just remembering what I bought off the top of my head, but I think this pretty much covers it.  

Things I want to cook with this stuff includes:

Sushi
Japanese Fried Rice
Miso Soup
Stir Fry Meats and veggies (Beef, Chicken, Seafood, Pork, Onions, Mushrooms, Asparagus, etc.)

If you have any suggestions let me know in the comments.  I'll be making some posts in the future about how these attempts turn out.

 -Kitchen Nerd Boy

Entry No. One: Where am I going...and how am I going to get there???

I feel kind of awkward sitting here typing on this "blog" page... 

I've always judged bloggers... called them nerds or other unsavory names. (It was always with a grin on my face in good fun! XD), but I've come to realize that a web log can be a great tool to grow in my experience/skills and get feedback and advice from people who comment on the posts.  

As the name suggests, I'm a nerd boy who likes to hang out in the kitchen.  I'm a foodie.  I love to eat way too much and the things I love to eat are for the most part delicious and unhealthy.  

As a foodie I plan trips, vacations, even just going to the next town around eating foods that are not available at home.  I stay away from fast food as much as I can and look for Mom n Pop food joints especially places that are regionally/culturally themed that I don't have access to here in my home town. (Asian, European, Indian, etc...)  I'm not picky and I'll try just about anything at least once.  

All that being said... Times is hard, and I don't get to travel as much as I'd like.  I live in a rural town in a rural state (Hey! We've got three stop lights in town!!! Pretty good for North Central Mississippi!)  and our local restaurant selection is slim.  Let me tell you... as much as I love them, one can only eat the same Chinese buffet, chip n dip Mexican, and hand packed burger joint over and over so much till it becomes too redundant for one's taste buds to handle. (one of the few downfalls of living in a small remote Southern town with no infrastructure =/...) 

Living in this situation has driven me to begin a personal journey through the pots, pans, pantries, stove top, and ovens in the land known as, "the kitchen".  I have begun a quest to train to be the best home chef in the world... I will battle blenders and food processors... Wield mighty weapons such as spatulas, and chef's knives.  Make magical potions and powdered concoctions of spices, seasonings, sauces.  Take journeys through the culinary techniques of the the Far east of Asia all the way to the American West.  I hope to meet wise men and women along the way who can offer advice and expertise and I hope to one day be amongst their ranks.

All joking aside... One thing I have discovered when it comes to word of mouth cooking techniques and recipes is that there is as much ignorance and misinformation as an opening for an episode of Mythbusters.  Whether its poking holes in a ribeye makes it more tender and flavorful allowing the seasonings to get inside the meat (which it doesn't... its provides the internal juices a way to escape the meat during cooking which makes the meat dryer and gives it a tougher mouth feel) or that basting a turkey introduces flavor (which it doesn't... the basting solution just rolls down the skin doing nothing for flavor and in fact making it soggier and less crispy AND the constant opening of the oven allows heat to escape making the cooking time take longer and making you waste energy and electricity that it takes to keep the oven heated)... you get my point?  There's as many of these culinary untruths as there is sand on the sea shore.  It is part of my quest to find the REAL TRUTH in the kitchen and to educate myself as well as others about the correct way to prepare the food to make the best food, and to get the most flavor out of every ingredient.  

SO COME WITH ME ON THIS JOURNEY!!!  Together we can tame the beasts of the kitchen and learn to prepare food fit for me!!! (or a slightly less important person like a king XD)  

Farewell until next time.

-The Kitchen Nerd Boy