My husband and I were having lunch at Delica, the Japanese deli in San Francisco’s Ferry Building, when we reached for something to quench our thirst. The Ito En Blueberry Green Tea immediately jumped off the shelf and into my hands. Wow, I’ve never seen iced blueberry green tea anywhere else before!

On the first sip, it was like heaven! The sweet, refreshing blueberry taste gently caresses your tongue, with a mild hint of green tea. And it’s made with all natural ingredients, a plus in my book. This is definitely my new favorite drink.

Afterward, we were on the hunt to find another place to buy this delectable drink. After all, we weren’t going to pay $2.50 to buy it from Delica all the time.

The next week, we found Ito En Blueberry Green Tea at 2 Japanese dollar stores – Daiso in Serramonte Mall (Daly City) and Ichibankan in Tanforan Mall (San Bruno). It’s only $1.29 at Ichibankan, which is the best deal.

There are also other flavors like apple, peach, and mango. I’ve only tried apple, which is good, but the blueberry flavor is still the best.

You can also find the Ito En Blueberry Green Tea at Amazon.com. They sell the 16.9 oz. teas in cases of 12 and it includes Free Super Saver Shipping on orders of $25 or more. The blueberry green tea is also eligible for Amazon.com’s Subscribe and Save program. It’s where you can sign up to have this item automatically delivered to you at regular intervals at a discounted price. So worth it and no tax either.

Japanese Tonsu Box & Ryokucha $17

To tell you the truth, when I saw the Japanese Tonsu Box, I was envious and immediately wished I had ordered that instead. Thankfully, my husband let me have his Japanese Tonsu Box. It’s healthy and yummy at the same time. The Japanese Tonsu Box comes with Ryokucha Tea.

English Service & Breakfast Blend $19
3-Tiered Platters of: Shitake Mushroom or Wild Smoked Salmon Quiche,
Scones, Devonshire Cream & Jam, Fresh Fruit.

Breakfast Blend Tea

The traditional English Tea Service is not like the one at Ritz Carlton of course. But at $19, it’s a deal if you want to try traditional English tea. The Salmon Quiche is freshly baked. The scone was quite dry though, but that’s what the Devonshire Cream and Jam are for. Definitely, the Japanese Tea Service is much better and more filling as a meal. Next time, I want to try the Indian Tea Service which features one of my favorite teas – Chai!

Samovar Tea Lounge is open from brunch to dinner with the same menu all day. Enjoy a snack of waffles or try a full tea service which can be a meal. The tea service is more affordable than other afternoon tea services that I have had.

Samovar Tea Lounge
730 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 227-9400

Miso soup is one of my favorite soups and it’s even healthier when you make it yourself. Okinawans, the people who are known for living long, healthy lives, even past 100 years old, drink miso soup every morning. Miso, which is made of fermented soybean paste, contains living enzymes that help you digest. So it makes perfect sense to start the day with a bowl of miso soup to get your body ready for digesting food throughout the day. Miso is also rich in beta carotene, protein, protects against radiation damage, and inhibits cancer. Seaweed has protein, iodine, calcium, vitamin A, iron, and antioxidants. Tofu balances hormones and has anti-cancer properties.

The brand of miso paste you use matters! Each brand has its own unique taste. Also, there are many different kinds of miso paste. Brown rice miso will taste different than white miso or red miso. If this is your first time making miso soup, stick with white miso paste.

My favorite brand of miso paste is Westbrae Natural because it is lower in sodium. You can find it at Whole Foods. If you can’t find miso paste where you live, you can buy it at the YummySF store or check out your local Asian grocery store.

This miso soup recipe is so easy to make, you can make it in 10 minutes! I make miso soup every week and always prepare a big batch so that I can reheat the miso soup for the next 2 days. The measurements below are just a guide. You can put as much or as little tofu, green onions, and seaweed as you want.

All you need to remember is that the ratio for miso and water is 1 tablespoon of miso paste per 1 cup of water. And 1 cup of water is enough for 1 serving or person. When you make miso soup, don’t boil the miso because boiling it will kill the enzymes.

For 4 servings of Miso Soup :

4 cups of water
2 stalks of green onions, thinly sliced
1 package of medium or regular tofu, cubed
4 teaspoons of dried wakame (pronounced “wa ka may”) flakes, a type of seaweed
(sometimes packaged as “healthy sea vegetable”)
4 tablespoons of white miso paste

1. Start boiling 3 cups of water in a pot.

2. Soak wakame flakes in a bowl of cold water until they expand, about a few minutes.

3. Add thinly sliced green onions and cubed tofu into the pot of water. I usually add this into the water, even if it has not begun boiling yet.

4. Drain the wakame flakes and add to the boiling water.

5. In a separate bowl, add miso paste to a cup of water. Whisk miso paste until it dissolves.

6. Turn off the boiling water and add the whisked miso paste. Mix well and enjoy!

*When reheating, heat the miso soup while stirring until it begins to boil, then turn off the heat. The miso soup will be heated thoroughly.

Buy hard-to-find miso soup ingredients at the YummySF Store.

Mr. Bento is designed so that you can microwave all of your food in the morning, then keep it hot in the housing container. By lunchtime, your food will still be hot. There would be no need to refridgerate or microwave your food at work. But I like to bring the small containers in the drawstring bag that is included, instead of the housing thermos container, because it is too heavy!

Hungry yet? I am! This is my lunch for tomorrow. Clockwise from left:

1. Carrots, Taro, and Rice
2. Chinese Turnip Soup with Dried Tofu Sheets
3. Chinese Turnip with Dried Shrimp
4. Roasted Duck

For potlucks and get togethers, I always make Sushi Bake. It is the no-fail, crowd pleaser. This Sushi Bake recipe came from a friend but I modified some of the directions. You can use imitation crab or real crab meat. The advantage with using real crab meat is that it is easier to cook with. You can skip the unwrapping, thawing, and chopping process that you’ll have to do with imitation crab.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw Japanese rice (Calrose)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 lb. frozen imitation crab sticks (chopped) or real crab meat
1/2 lb. frozen, raw baby shrimp (chopped)
Tobiko aka Masago (orange fish eggs)
1 container of Furikake seasoning
1 – 2 pkgs of Japanese Nori seaweed
one 9X13″ pan or glass baking dish

Directions:

1. Cook rice.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil raw baby shrimp for a few minutes, until the shrimp color turns pink.
3. Turn off the heat and remove cooked shrimp from water with a slotted spoon, leaving the hot water in the pot.
4. Defrost frozen crab sticks, leaving wrapper on, in this hot water.
5. Chop baby shrimp into small pieces.
6. Remove crabs sticks from hot water and unwrap plastic wrap, then chop crab sticks into small pieces.
7. Combine crab sticks, baby shrimp, mayonnaise, and sour cream together in a bowl and mix well.
8. Spread cooked rice onto 9X13″ pan.
9. Spread crab stick, baby shrimp, mayonnaise, and sour cream mixture over the cooked rice.
10. Spread Tobiko over mixture, then sprinkle Furikake over the dish.
11. Bake at 375 degrees (about 15 to 20 minutes).

Serve with Korean style nori or Japanese nori (sushi seaweed). Cut seaweed sheets in four. Add a spoonful of baked sushi on each seaweed, fold it into a roll and enjoy.

Note: All the ingredients can be found in most large Asian supermarkets (Chinese, Korean, or Japanese).

Where to Buy Ingredients: YummySF store.