Asako Toki -- Fried Noodles

Hope everyone is having a good weekend out there. My province of Ontario is gradually re-opening for business as it appears that our Premier is aiming for a regionalized approach. For instance, it's possible that the eastern part will go into Stage II earlier since the infection rates are nowhere near as high as they are in Toronto. Overall, although the rate of daily new cases is still pretty high in the 300s, we're being reassured that we are past the peak for at least the first wave.

Anyways, getting past my COVID-19 report, one of my friends has been making good use of his Stay Home time. Before the pandemic walloped us, he was working as a librarian but he and his family have obviously been taking advantage of their love for cooking by posting up some of their creations on Facebook. I neither have my friend's level of enthusiasm nor his obvious talent but I'm still taking care of the roast chicken and steak within my family's schedule of dinner.

However, recently I've subscribed to food researcher Koh Kentetsu's YouTube channel. Koh is a fellow who I've seen on NHK with his own show about traveling around Asia in search of the region's local specialties. When I went to his channel, I discovered the above video for making crispy chicken steak with Japanese-style onion sauce and saw it as scrumptious enough that I decided to make it for the family last night.

It didn't come out too badly but I have two observations: ① Chicken over here is usually sold bone-in while in Japan, it's boneless and ② Gas heats hotter than electricity at any particular setting. The sauce isn't bad but I think it's frankly a tad too sweet for my taste especially when onions can generate their own sweetness when fried. I do enjoy the crispy skin on chicken so when I make this next time, I'll go for something more savory in the sauce or simply pour shoyu on the finished dish.

All of the above preamble for my culinary prowess (or lack of it) is due to the foodie article that I wrote under Author's Picks the other day, and the fact that commenter Matthew Cole was kind enough to inform me of another food-based J-Pop song by Asako Toki（土岐麻子）.

"Fried Noodles" is a dish...a quirky song created by Toki and DJ/singer-songwriter G. Rina for the former's 2017 album "Pink", and it's an 80s-ish technopop tune with some funky bass thrown in for good measure. Not sure at all, but it seems as if Toki may have been providing her own foodie report through music about a recent trip to a nation in Southeast Asia. Shrimp and mushrooms are apparently her toppings of choice; that's good for me, too, but I would also include water chestnuts and cha siu pork.

Recently, I've been curious about life in Singapore, and of course, that includes the cuisine there. One day, I will have to visit and visit the hawker centres.