Iwashi no Nitsuke

While I was in Japan, my dad bought iwashi (sardine) from a local seafood shop.  Iwashi is miracle fish – it can be eaten in many ways.  Grilled, deep-fried, poached, simmered in sauce, and even raw as sashimi.  I love young sardine (shirasu/jako) too.  I often ate young sardine in Japan by just sprinkling on steamed rice.  I just love it!

You may find it not easy to eat iwashi due to its small bones.  But actually you can eat the bones too if you cook the fish very well.  The iwashi my dad bought had been trimmed already (gutted and head had been chopped off), so I didn’t need to do anything but placing into simmering sauce to make nitsuke. (a dish used simmering technique)

Almost any fish can be cooked as nitsuke.  I think the common fish used for nitsuke are saba (Mackerel), sardine and salmon.  Sauce for nitsuke is usually soy sauce-based, but miso-based one is also often used.  For both sauces, ginger and sake (cooking wine) are used to kill the smell of fish.

The iwashi I used for this iwashi-no-nitsuke was pretty small and got lots of bones, but I could just eat them.  Serve with steamed rice, miso soup and pickles, and now you have a set of beautiful Japanese food.

<Iwashi-no-Nitsuke>  serves 3~4

• 10 iwashi (sardine), gutted and head removed
• 1 cup sake (cooking wine)
• 1 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs mirin
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 clove ginger (about 3cm)

- recipe -

1. Wash iwashi in cold water, and pat to dry with kitchen paper.  Set aside.
2. Slice ginger.
3. In a wide sauce pan, place sake.  Bring to the gentle simmer to burn off the alcohol.
4. Add sugar, soy sauce, and mirin.  Arrange iwashi into the pan, level (flat), and scatter sliced ginger around.  Turn the heat to low.
5. Cut baking paper or aluminium foil into about same size as the pan. Crumple the paper, and place on top of iwashi to cover.  Place a lid, and simmer until the liquid is almost gone and becomes sticky.
6. Turn off the heat, and let the iwashi cool down slightly.  The flavour will be absorbed during the cooling process.
7. Serve with steamed rice.

a

Cafe for Tea Lovers

Since I wrote about this place Chapels on Whatley, they have transformed their tea shop into a nice, attractive tea-featured cafe .

This shops is located right in front of Maylands train station.  They were originally selling just ornaments, tea leaves, and tea-related products, but now they added cafe corner with great drinks and foods.

When I arrived there I could see from outside that many customers enjoying their food and drinks. Outside tables were all taken. When entered inside I was surprised to see how crowded the cafe is with customers and cafe staff moving around busily. They made the cafe counter in the centre of the shop, and there’re tables inside, outside, and at the back yard.

The shop still sells houseware, kitchenware and tea items inside and also at the detached room. We bought 3 teacups made of bamboo. It was $2.80 each.

I wanted to try the food and drinks as they were beautifully dished and looked so yummy, but I couldn’t find any seat available so I left the shop with just three bamboo cups. I definitely want to come back there for food and drinks near future – probably with my girlfriends

That’s Steak!

It was the first steak I had since I came back from snowy Japan, and it tasted GOOD!  As people may know, Japanese beef is purposely oily – fat is marbled in red meat (called “shimofuri”) and more it’s evenly marbled more it gets expensive.

Although it’s nice to have shabu-shabu and sukiyaki with thinly sliced shimofuri beef, I prefer red meat when grilling.  I love Australian beef because it’s healthy and fresh.  In Japan amount of fat makes the meat soft and juicy, but here they control the tenderness by how long you cook the meat. More you cook the red meat tougher it goes, so if you like it tender then you ask for medium or medium rare.

While I was in Japan I didn’t eat much beef because the price is quite expensive compared to chicken and pork. And I prefer chicken anyway. Here in Perth chicken is more expensive to some parts of beef.  I feel that quality of beef is better in Australia – Aussie Beef is popular in Japan too, bit pricy though.

D had burger, and our friend had banana milkshake.  He said they didn’t use ice-cream for the milkshake – just cream?  Really?  Or his taste is bit weird…?

I receive a free voucher for steak from Hog’s Breath every year for my birthday month, and I love it. Although you can only chose from selected menu, it’s free! We went there for lunch and I thought I couldn’t eat that big steak in a midday, but I did, hehe.

It’s been a year…

1 year ago today, the big earthquake and tsunami hit to-hoku Japan.  It’s been a year….  I still can’t believe it somehow.  I remember watching the news on tv in Perth while holding a newborn Hiro in my arms.

There are still many people who are missing.  Many people have lost everything and still live in temporary houses.  It’s still cold and some area are snowing right now.  (yes, it’s already March but it’s still snowing!  This winter is very different)

As one year passed, people are trying to move forward from the nightmare.  The bus left on top of the building had been removed recently.  Some people said the bus should be kept there to remind us how huge the tsunami was, but some people couldn’t just bare looking at it as it reminded them of their missing families and friends.

Since the earthquake and tsunami, there have been many people who have been suffering from many things.  The radiation is the biggest issue.  Many of Japanese foods, buildings, water… everything was contaminated around that area.  It’s sad that now you cannot enjoy Japanese food 100%.  People doubt if the food is ok.  It’s sad because I was very proud of Japanese food before.  I thought Japanese food is the most delicious, safest food – now not anymore.

Even Japanese people who live in Perth don’t want to buy products from Japan.  One of my friend here is thinking to start up the service where she supply Made-in Australia/New Zealand baby foods to Japan, because many of mums in Japan are worried to give Japanese products to their babies.

One positive news about Japan is that since the earthquake people started to be more supportive to each other and have stronger fellow-feeling.   I’ve seen this word “kizuna” (bond) everywhere while I was in Japan.  ”Ganbare Nippon”  ”Makeruna Nippon”.

….

I’m with Twitter and hear many scary things related to the radiation, everyday. That makes me not want to go to near To-hoku for at least next few years. (I still want to go back to my house though…).  That is sad that I hesitate to go back to my home country which I love so much.

I greatly feel sorry for the people – especially the ones with children who were exposed to the radiation.  It’s nightmare….  I can’t imagine how sad, confused, and heartbroken they must feel when hearing that their children may develop thyroid cancer in future.

Happy 1st Birthday, HIRO!

Happy 1st Birthday HIRO!!!

You are now 1 year old – not “0″ anymore.

Time flies…. this time of last year you were sleeping in a little basinet in a hospital room.

It amazes me when realizing ow much you’ve grown.  Be good, families and friends love you so much

Now let’s see what you are going to be in this coming year….