Lost in Translation
In Sofia Coppola’s 2013 film, a lonely, aging movie star, Bob Harris, and a conflicted newlywed, Charlotte, meet in Tokyo. Bob is there to film a Japanese whiskey commercial; Charlotte is accompanying her celebrity-photographer husband. Strangers in a foreign land, the two find escape, distraction and understanding amidst the bright Tokyo lights after a chance meeting in the quiet lull of the hotel bar. They form a bond that is as unlikely as it is heartfelt and meaningful.
The main recurring theme of Lost in Translation is about "things being disconnected and looking for moments of connection" per Sofia Copolla. Universally, dining together creates a moment of connection and there are several poignant food scenes integrated into the movie to illustrate this.
“I can’t tell the difference”
“We’ll have two of these, okay?”
The Scene: While enjoying lunch together at Shabuzen, (yes, a real restaurant), Bob and Charlotte have an awkward and cold conversation about his most recent love interest, showing Charlotte’s jealous side and need for attention as pointed out by Bob.
Fun Fact: In Bill Murray’s Travel Guide to Japan, he points out the scene takes place in a real restaurant—In the basement of the Creston Hotel lies the intimate little eatery that is Shabuzen Restaurant.
Pick your choice of a regular table, tatami mat, or leg wells, before enjoying an all-you-can-eat meal of shabu-shabu.
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Today we are making:
Shabu-shabu
Otherwise known as hot pot for the uninitiated, shabu-shabu consists of a stove-fired pot filled with simmering broth: allowing a whole range of meats, vegetables, and even noodles to be added throughout the course of the meal.
Ingredients
1-2 liters beef broth ½ gallon, fresh or homemade
Fresh Beef (Rib eye, Top sirloin, Sirloin tip, Chuck, and Bottom round)
Bok choy
Shiitake mushroom cut in half
Enoki or seafood mushroom
King oyster mushrooms
Tofu sliced from cube
White onion cubed into ⅛ size
Green onion stems
Napa cabbage
Udon noodles bundle or package
Chinese radish
Soy sauce to taste, added directly to broth
Garlic clove, crushed, added directly to broth
Directions
Shave the beef:
Freeze the meat: Pat the meat dry with paper towels and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Then, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it for 15–30 minutes, or until it's firm but still slightly soft on the outside. Freezing helps the meat keep its shape and makes it easier for the knife to glide through.
Slice against the grain: Look for parallel muscle fibers in the meat and slice perpendicular to them. Cutting against the grain shortens the muscle fibers, resulting in more tender meat.
Use a sharp knife: A sharp knife ensures even cuts and makes slicing safer.
For the broth:
Cook the udon noodles per package directions in a separate pot
Cut the shitake mushrooms in half lengthwise
Cut off the growing medium from the enoki or seafood mushrooms and the hard stems from the wild mushrooms. Cut the shitake mushrooms in half lengthwise
Chop the white onion into 1/8 inch pieces
Rinse the bok choy and trim off 1/4 inch off of the bottom. Cut the greens into 2 inch pieces and add them to the platter
Chop the green onion stems into 1/8 inch pieces
Thinly slice the Chinese radish
Open the package of tofu and drain the water. Cut the tofu in thirds lengthwise and then crosswise to yield 18 small blocks
Cut out the core of the napa cabbage using your knife to make an inverted “v” at the bottom of the cabbage. Cut the napa cabbage in half lengthwise and then into 2 inch pieces crosswise
Bring beef broth to a light boil over medium-high heat on the stove. Add garlic and soy sauce to create a base flavour.
In order to flavor the broth to eventually build a nice soup base. Start with higher flavor items (onion, garlic), focusing on richer ingredients like mushrooms earlier on in order to add to that base
Add ingredients in "rounds", ensuring the water is on a gentle boil throughout. You'll easily be able to see when the beef is cooked.
Once you add the veggies, crank up the heat to high, since the temperature will drop with all of the raw ingredients. Then cover the pot with a lid and let it cook for a couple of minutes
Once vegetables are done (or you've had enough), Add noodles and serve in small bowls
Swish the shaved beef through the broth—they will easily cook in under a minute. A couple of seconds and your medium rare beef is perfect
To serve, top noodles with the meat and vegetables, including sliced Chinese radish as a garnish
Why This Recipe Works
It’s not as intimidating as it seems—It isn’t nearly as hard as you think. Yeah, it’s a bit of work to do the prep, but for about 3 hours of solid eating time, my total prep took about 15 minutes
A very basic, incredibly delicious, relatively healthy meal for anything from festive family celebration to a simple meal for one
Pro Tips
Shrimp paste, sliced pork, other meat delicious are other options also
Continue adding rounds of food until you are full or just run out
[The Whisper]
The Scene: Bob and Charlotte are out in Tokyo. It’s the first time they’ve properly spent time together outside the hotel, and already they’ve been chased out of one bar by a guy with an automatic pellet rifle, taken refuge in a pachinko bar, got slightly blazed in someone’s flat and started loosening up a little. Everything’s starting to feel slightly less alien.
Fun Fact: In Lost in Translation, Bill Murray's character Bob whispers something to Scarlett Johansson's character Charlotte at the end of the movie. Some theories about what he whispers include:
"I have to be leaving, but I won't let that come between us. Okay?"
"I love you is the best thing I can come up with. At some point, he has to tell it to her"
"Something about her binning her absent husband"
"Tell the truth" or "Tell him the truth"
However, director Sofia Coppola says that the whisper was never intended to be anything, and that she was going to figure out what to say and add it in later but never did. Some say that the actual answer is probably more dull than what people imagine, and that the fun is in trying to figure it out.
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Today we will be making:
Pink Ladies
A rich chocolate filling on a chocolate base topped with pink icing and chocolate stripes.
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup butter
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips
1 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons maraschino cherry juice
1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate, chopped
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8 inch square baking pan
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, white sugar, and cocoa powder. Cut in butter until the texture is mealy
Pat into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven
In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips. Cook, stirring frequently until chips are melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour over the baked crust
Return to the oven, and bake for 15 minutes
Remove, and cool in the pan over a wire rack
In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, butter, and cherry juice. Spread over the cooled filling in the pan
Melt semisweet chocolate in a small glass dish in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth. Place in a plastic bag or piping bag, cut the tip to 1/8 inch, and drizzle the chocolate over the bars in a back and forth motion to make stripes
Cool completely before cutting into squares.
Why This Recipe Works
Pink for ScarJo’s pink wig
It makes for an excellent addition to the serving tray. Looks very appealing on the holiday platter and great for special occasions
Pro Tips
Use room temperature butter
Cool completely before cutting into squares.
“For a relaxing time, make it Suntory time.”
The Scene: While filming a commercial for Suntory whiskey in Japan, this highly comedic scene has Bob Harris struggling to say the line "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time" per the director’s guidance. The full dialogue is:
DIRECTOR (in Japanese to the interpreter): The translation is very important, O.K.? The translation.
INTERPRETER: Yes, of course. I understand.
DIRECTOR: Mr. Bob-san. You are sitting quietly in your study. And then there is a bottle of Suntory whiskey on top of the table. You understand, right? With wholehearted feeling, slowly, look at the camera, tenderly, and as if you are meeting old friends, say the words. As if you are Bogie in “Casablanca,” saying, “Cheers to you guys,” Suntory time!
INTERPRETER: He wants you to turn, look in camera. O.K.?
BOB: That’s all he said?
Fun Fact: The scene where Bob films the commercial was partially inspired by Sofia Coppola's father, Francis Ford Coppola, also making a Suntory commercial.
Image and Recipe Source
Today we are making
The Japanese
Whiskey Highball
In Japan, a drink that everyone knows and is commonly served in izakayas (Japanese drinking restaurants) is the Highball.
The Highball (ハイボール) is a strong alcoholic beverage usually made by adding a non-alcoholic, usually carbonated, drink to whisky with the whole cocktail being served in a large glass of ice.
Ingredients
1 ounce Japanese whisky
4 ounces club soda
Directions
Add ice to a highball glass and stir for about 30 seconds to chill the glass and smooth the corners of the ice
Pour off any water that melted from the ice
Add the whiskey and stir for about 3-5 seconds or 13.5 turns clockwise
Using a bar spoon pour the club soda down the spoon so that it gets to the bottom of the glass, while gently lifting the bottom ice cube, or tilt the glass and pour the club soda gently down the side of the glass
Do one brief gentle stir or stir 3.5 times clockwise
Why This Recipe Works
With only 2 ingredients, this Japanese Highball is so easy to make and so refreshing to sip! Crisp and light with the perfect balance of whiskey to club soda, it's the perfect cocktail!
Take a classic highball and give it a twist by using Japanese Whiskey!
Since you can vary the ratio, you can easily make it to suit your tastes. With less whisky and more soda, you can have always have more than one and it's a low calorie cocktail!
Pro Tips
Impress your guests with the origin of the highball. A highball is a classic cocktail which is usually whisky and club soda.
It is also a category of cocktails, which are cocktails that include a liquor and a sparkling mixer. A gin and tonic, for example, is a type of highball cocktail
