JiPan

Kojiro and I have found a new favorite Japanese restaurant that's accessible, easy on the pocket and serves great-tasting dishes. We've seen it so many times before, passed by it without giving much thought and now we're wondering why we only tried it recently when it was just under our noses.

Jipan is situated at the second floor of Glorietta 4, beside a textile shop and across the G-Shock store. An odd location you might think but on the contrary, it draws the crowd especially during the peak hours. This is probably because of the "open air" seating at the mall corridors. People passing by get to see what the customers are eating. If it looks good, maybe it does taste good.

And yes it does. The owner/manager is a middle-aged Japanese woman and I guess she is the reason for the quality of the dishes as well as the noteworthy service of the limited staff. Kojiro and I have been to the place three times already in just a month!

We sampled other dishes on separate occassions but these were the only ones I got to photograph:

Mabo Tofu Don - 240 Php

The Mabo Tofu Don is made of ground pork, tofu, minced vegetables and spicy sauce on top of Japanese rice. The serving was huge! Good for 2-3 people depending how hungry you are. It had the right balance of flavors, salty-sweet-spicy which goes well with the steamed rice.

Chashu Ramen - 250 Php

After watching non-stop Naruto Shippuuden episodes, Kojiro had the craving for ramen. He ordered the Chashu Ramen and from what I can remember, he counted 12 slices of pork in it! Well the menu did describe it as having "lots of pork slices", such generous serving! The ramen had the right texture -- springy and slightly chewy, the broth was subtly flavored, and the pork slices were also tender. He liked it so much, he orders this every time.

Miso Ramen - 220 Php

The Miso Ramen was also good, with the same springy ramen and marinated chashu slices but with a miso based broth and added ingredients of Chinese cabbage, corn kernels and half of a boiled egg.

Jipan Coffeeshop and Bakery
2/F Glorietta 4
Ayala Center
Makati City

Kani Maki

Craving for Japanese food during the wee hours of the morning, when all decent restos I know are already/still closed, made me do the unexpected.

I made my own maki.

I've heard from a TV chef before that it's best to always have a pack of kani at home. You'll be prepared when the need for a quick snack arises, and there are so many possibilities with what you can make -- salads, sandwiches, tempura or simply eat it by itself. That was one of the best advices I've picked from the tube.

You might be asking yourself "what is maki?" and "what is kani?". You've probably seen these words in Japanese restaurant menus but have never bothered to find out what these translate to. If you still haven't Googled it by now, let me add to your knowledge of basic Japanese dining vocabulary:

maki - roll
kani - crab meat (sticks)
kani + maki = crab meat roll
nori - dried thin seaweed sheets
sushi - vinegared rice

It is interesting to note that outside of Japan, some people refer to or understand sushi as the raw fish or seafood. Truth is, the sliced raw fish or seafood is called sashimi.

I took out the makisu (bamboo rolling mat) from its hiding place and cracked my knuckles. With the kani out of the chiller, I was ready to roll.

Procedure:
1. Lay the makisu on a flat surface.
2. Lay a sheet of nori on the makisu.
3. Mix cooked rice with a solution of vinegar, sugar and salt to make the sushi.
4. Spread the sushi on the nori sheet.
5. Place the kani (and other desired filling) on top.
6. Roll tightly.
7. Slice roll into 6-8 pieces.

Click here for a detailed, step-by-step instruction on how to make your own maki.

Itadakimasu!