Fried Noodle Wrapped in Omelet (Omu-soba)

Similar to omu-rice, omu-soba is a dish which yakisoba (stir-fried noodle) is wrapped in thinly cooked omelet.  This is not really yo-shoku (Japanese Style Western Food) nor Japanese food.  Someone made up this dish like “hey, if you can wrap up rice with omelet, why don’t we do that for yakisoba too?”

Yaki-soba is Japanese style stir-fried egg noodle (thin).  It’s usually cooked with thinly sliced pork, onion, carrot and cabbage, and topped with ao-nori and bonito flake, then served with red pickled ginger.  We use yakisoba sauce which you can easily buy from supermarket in Japan.  The sauce is quite exensive in Asian grocery shops in Perth, so I normally season the noodle by myself.

< Yaki-soba > for one

• 1 portion of yakisoba noodle (or any thin egg noodle)
• onion, carrot, cabbage, beanshoots, some meat or seafood (up to you)
• 2 tsp Worcester sauce
• 1 tsp tomato sauce
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• salt & pepper
• tomato sauce + Japanese mayonnaise + ao-nori to garnish

1. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a frying pan.  If you are using thinly sliced pork, cook the meat first.  If you are using some other meat/seafood, saute sliced onion and carrot, then add meat/seafood.  Season with salt&pepper.
2. Add roughly chopped cabbage.  Stir-fry for about 1 min, and add yakisoba noodle.  Try to loosen up the noodle with chopsticks, and drop 1~2 tsp water.  Stir, turn down the heat and cover with lid.
3. Once the water is absorbed into noodle, take off the lid and turn the heat to medium.  Pour the sauce and stir-fry.  Season if required, and set aside.
4. In another frying pan, cook thin omelet.  Turn off the heat.
5. Place yakisoba noodle onto the omelet.  Place a plate on the top of frying pan (the serving side down), and flip it around.
6. Curl the edge of omelet in and completely wrap up yakisoba.  Drizzle mayo, tomato sauce and sprinkle ao-nori.

Fox Wedding

It’s been raining last couple of days…  Rainy season has came :p

In winter in Perth it rains almost everyday…  We don’t get any snow, but cold weather + rain.  I don’t mind raining days, but I really hate huge snails moving around my house! (><)  Not only my house but everywhere…  I can’t go outside for walking because I know I will definitely step on huge snails on the road…

This morning was raining, but the sun was out.  In Japan we call this weather (sunny and raining at the same time) “Fox Wedding”.  The origin for this, I think, is because of a Japanese old tale.  In Japan, foxes and raccoons are depicted as the epitome of deception, able to transform into any shape or form it strategically desires.  There are many tales about foxes/raccoons tricking people in Japan.  So, if it rain while sun is out, it’s obviously strange and people thought “ah, foxes are trying to trick us again!”.

By the way, the weather “snowing and raining at the same time” is called “raccoon’s wedding”.

Fox Wedding Tale (by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford)

Another fox related tales…

The Grateful Foxes

How a Man Was Bewitched and Had His Head Shaved by the foxes

(by Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford)

The Fox and the Tanuki

(by Lafcadio Hearn)

Read more Japanese stories →

Bamboo

Although I said that dinner wan’t so nice at Banboo restaurant in Willetton, I still liked their salt & chili pepper squid.  It was nicely crispy, and I enjoyed it with pickled chili and vegetables.  In some restaurants (not only Chinese restaurants) texture of squid is like rubber.  I really hate when someone serve such dish at restaurants.  I think they are using frozen cheap squid, and they don’t cook properly.  I know one Chinese restaurant on South Street that sells rubbery seafood clay-pot dish.  I don’t only hate the fact that seafood is like rubber, but also the taste!  I can tell they use MSG…  I really didn’t wanna pay for the dish

Talking about seafood, I really loved Honey Prawn at Yu (Burswood Entertainment complex).  The prawn was reasonably big, and juicy.

Mask!

In Japan you get to see lots of people wearing masks everywhere, such as in a train, supermarkets and on the street.  My friend who visited Japan last spring told me that he was kind of scared when he saw many people crossing the road with white masks…  To imagine the scene, yes it’s scary actually :p  

The big reason for that is because many people in Japan have hay fever and try to avoid the pollen as much as they can by wearing masks.  For other, they just have cold or want to avoid inhaling some dust…

Now, swine flu is getting serious around Osaka area, and some of the schools around Kansai are closed.  I’m from Shiga, and I was telling my family “don’t go to Osaka, Kyoto area!” but seems that there’s one person who is suffering from swine flu in Shiga (Otsu) already!  

Now, because of the flu, masks are selling like hot cakes.  Lots of shops are out of stock…  even amazon.jp sold out masks!  Mask has the biggest demand in Japan right now!

I don’t usually wear mask even in Japan (because I don’t have hay fever), but if I go back to Japan right now I’ll be wearing mask everyday everywhere!

Cheesy Toast with Condensed Milk

The combination of condensed milk and cheese was actually little shocking to me at first.  To me, toasted bread with cheese is supposed to be savory, not sweet.  I was told this recipe from my hubby.  He said this dish is very common in Indonesia…  I tried it anyway, and it tasted actually good!  Nice snack when you feel like some sweet stuff.

To make this is very easy…

<peanut butter version>

1. Toast 2 slices of bread
2. Spread peanut butter on one slice, and sandwich.
3. Top with grated tasty cheese, and drizzle condensed milk over.  Melt the cheese in oven toaster or microwave.