Grilled Miso-Marinated Pork

It’s been beautiful days in Perth.  I only remember Perth’s summer as hot and dry, but this year is very different (last year too, maybe) – humid, rain, and sometime very cool.

Today  I visited my friend’s new house and enjoyed swimming in their yard.  It’s a sunny day with nice breaze – so perfect to just sit on the poolside and chat.

When I got home I felt like something grilled meat.  In Australia we happen to have bbq quite often, and I’m used to this type of food.  I love it.  Australia Day is approaching and I definitely think we are gonna have some bbq with family on the long weekend.

Today I made grilled pork.  The pork is marinated in miso-mixture so it’s got some Asian flavour.

This miso-marinated pork is great to have with steamed rice, and is best to make with pork belly.  The fat makes the meat juicy, soft and tasty.

But this time I had this with somen noodle.  Somen noodle is like a king of summer food in Japan.  Simply boil the noodle, cool down in cold water, then eat with soy sauce-based dipping sauce with some condiments.  Love it.

<Grilled Miso-Marinated Pork>

• Pork Belly 2 fillets (around 500g)
• Miso paste 3 tbs
• sake (cooking wine) 1 tbs
• Mirin 1 tbs
• Honey 1 tbs
• Soy Sauce 1 tsp
• Sesame Oil 1 tsp
• garlic 1 clove – minced
• ginger 1 small knob – minced

1. Mix everything except pork belly in a shallow plate or in a plastic bag.  Marinate pork belly in the mixture overnight.
2. Take out the pork, and slice in 1cm width.
3. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a skillet pan over high heat, and grill the pork.  The meat is easy to get burnt because of the miso marinade, so be careful.  Turn around the meat with tong often so it won’t go black.
4. When the meat is fully cooked, golden and crispy, take out from the pan.  Serve immediately with salad and rice/noodle.

Very Hot & Humid New Year

Time passes so fast….  I was talking about Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and now it’s already January 14!
How did everyone spend New Year’s Day and the holiday season?  We did pretty much nothing – just relaxing in the pool in the yard and visiting friend’s house.

Hiro made New Year’s mochi (kagami-mochi) using Play-Doh.  A little mandarine on top

And he ate mochi we made.  It was first time he had mochi – I was little worried that he might get choked on mochi (that’s a major reason for people being admitted to the hospital in Japan during New Year’s holiday season :p)

And we were treated with Spanish chicken dish by our friends  It was delish!

I brought some sushi and dessert.

I wasn’t in Perth this time last year so I’m not sure if it’s only this year or it’s been like this since last year, but Perth’s summer is getting humid….!!!  Since I came to Perth in 2003 Perth’s summer has been always HOT and DRY.  Now I don’t know if I’m in Japan or Bali or Australia :p  I hate hot and humid climate….  it makes me go crazy (*_*)

Australia Day has been always sunny and hot (and dry), so hopefully it’ll be like that next week…

Cooking for New Year’s Day

It’s been sooo hot (+ humid) here and I don’t feel that tomorrow is next year already!!  I really miss white Christmas and snowy New Year’s Day.

I decided to make some sushi and zenzai (mochi in red bean porridge) just to make myself feel like it’s a special day.  We eat zenzai on New Year’s Day in Japan

In Japan, New Year’s Days (usually 1st ~ 3rd of January) is supposed to be doing nothing but relaxing with families, so people make lots of food before New Year’s Eve that can be kept for at least few days – idea is that no cooking in the first few days of January.  But here in Perth it goes up to 40℃ and I can’t cook food and keep them for a long time.
I just made inari-sushi, zenzai, kinako-mochi (mochi dusted with sweet soy powder), and soup for Hiro.

I couldn’t find Japanese kinako (soy powder) so I used Korean one instead.  No sugar, just plain kinako.  For dusting mochi, I added sugar to the powder to make it sweet.

I haven’t used this mochi-pounding machine for a long time! I got it from Japan – it’s actually a kid’s toy, but it works in a small amount of mochi rice.

We are gonna eat zenzai in the morning on New Year’s Day. Hopefully we can eat noodle  (toshikoshi-soba) at midnight of  New Year’s Eve!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Simple Rolled-Cake

Soft and fluffy, simple cake − rolled up with whipped cream and strawberry jam, topped with cocoa cream and chocolate.

As the sponge is baked in thin, flat square, it cooks & cools down quickly.    It only takes 1 hour to make!

You can add fresh fruits inside the roll, but today I just made it simple.

I didn’t add too much sugar to whipped cream as I added strawberry jam.  The sweetness is just right to my taste

<Simple Roll-Cake>

Sponge  30cm x 30cm

• Egg (L) 4  - at room temperature
• Granulated Sugar 60g
• Plain Flour 40g

Cream

• Whipping Cream 100ml
• Sugar 1 tbs

Others

• Strawberry Jam
• Whipped Cream with Cocoa Powder
• Chocolate to dust

1. Make sure the eggs are at room temperature.
2. Line 30cm x 30cm shallow oven tray with baking paper.   Set oven at 180 ℃
3. Separate egg yolks and whites.  Add 1/2 of sugar to the yolks, and whisk until creamy and pale colour.
4. Shift in flour, and mix until just combined.
5. Add a pinch of sugar to egg whites, and whisk until fluffy.  Add remaining sugar gradually to form a stiff peak meringue.
6. Add 1/3 meringue to the yolk mixture.  Mix well.  Repeat with remaining.
7. Spread the mixture onto lined tray.  Tap lightly to release any air bubble inside the mixture.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Leave to cool.
8. Whip cream with sugar.
9. Peel off the baking sheet, and place the sponge on a piece of clean baking paper.  Spread 1 tbs of strawberry jam & whipped cream, then roll up using the baking paper.  Chill in the refrigerator before slicing.
10. For topping; mix whipped cream with cocoa powder.  Spread on top of rolled-cake.

Sugar Donut Balls

(Christmas) tree made of sugar donuts

This super-easy-to-make donuts needs just a plastic bag from mixing the dough till dropping into hot oil.

<Sugar Donut Balls> makes about 10

• Plain flour 100g
• Baking soda 1/4 tsp
• Egg 1
• Raw sugar 1 tbs *
• Unsalted butter 1 tbs
• Milk 1 tbs
• oil to deep-fry / sugar to dust

1. Place all dry ingredients in a plastic bag.  Close the bag with hands and shake to mix the ingredients.
2. Melt butter.  Once it’s cool enough (but not cold) add milk and egg.  Mix well.
3. Pour the butter mixture into the plastic bag.  Mix the dough well inside the bag.
4. Heat oil in a pan to 160℃.
5. Cut one end of plastic bag to make a small hole.  Squeeze out the dough into oil. Deep-fry until golden.
6. While the donuts are hot dust with sugar. **

* You can use white sugar or dark sugar – different sugar gives different flavour to the donuts
** You can use cocoa powder, cinnamon, green tea powder or kinako (soybean powder)