Jinpachi @ West Hollywood

so the boy was crowned employee of the month several months back and the company gave him a $200 meal budget. so we decided to splurge it on a japanese restaurant in west hollywood after much agonizing research on the delicious life's website (it's tough to decide what to eat!).

we started off with the fried shishito peppers. fried till it blistered and topped off with some lemon juice and bonito flakes, this dish definitely helped to whet our appetite for more yummy food to come.

next up was the spicy tuna with crispy rice. definitely a 1st for both of us, the tuna wasn't exactly spicy but was juicy when you bite into it. it paired well with the sweet sauce and jalapeno pepper on top and the highlight was the crunch from the rice.

our favorite dish for the night has to be the grilled miso black cod. it is ooohhh soooo good! the fish melts in your mouth and you can taste the slight smokiness from the grill and the sweet miso sauce complemented the delicate fish. we were contemplating getting another order of this dish and hating ourselves till this day that we did not.

we ordered several pieces of nigiri and though they were not spectacular, we were satisfied nonetheless. wanting to fully utilize the $200, we ordered other specials such as the sashimi salad which came with 8 pieces of thick cut sashimi, the hamachi with fried garlic and lemony sauce. we rounded up the meal with the blue crab handroll and monkfish liver nigiri. the blue crab handroll was fresh and did not contain any mayo so you can taste the crabmeat itself. avocado gave the same creaminess as mayo and is way healthier for you.

a fantastic meal which was still shy of $200 including tax and tips and so we decided to give them a bigger tip!

Jinpachi
8711 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 358 9134

Pumpkin Kueh (Cake)

I'm sure many of you have had the pan fried radish cake as a dim sum dish. This pumpkin kueh is a variation of that, using pumpkin instead of radish. Pumpkin is considered a superfood given that it is high in antioxidants and especially good for women.

Soak about 6 Chinese mushrooms and 3 tablespoons of dried shrimps.
Dice 4 shallots
When the mushrooms are soft, chop off the stem and thinly slice them
Heat some sesame oil in a wok, add the shallots and stir fry. Add mushrooms and dried shrimps and fry till fragrant and set aside
Add about 2 cups rice flour to 1.5 cups water and mix over the stove till the mixture gets sticky. Add in mashed pumpkin and the shallots, mushrooms and dried shrimp
Transfer the entire mixture into a deep dish and steam for 45 minutes.
After steaming, allow it to cool before serving. What I usually do is to slice them up and pan fry them till it gets crisp on the outside
Serve plain or with your face chilli sauce and/or sweet soy sauce.