Colourful Rice Balls

As I mentioned before, steamed rice is an essential item for Japanese cuisine.  We sometimes eat just rice and tea as a meal.  A rice ball (onigiri) is a very common snack food which can be purchased at convenience stores, super markets and kiosks at train stations.  (Normally in triangle shape)

When we make bento, we sometimes shape the rice into balls or triangles to enjoy the looks.  This colorful rice balls look cute and I sure want to use it as a bento item if I’m making one   You can also arrange the ingredients and make your own color of onigiri.

When making onigiri, the rice has to be hot.  Normally we shape the rice with bare hands, with a bowl of salted water to dip the hands before handling hot rice.  You can also shape onigiri using a plastic wrap film if you don’t want to use your hands.

<Colourful Rice Balls>  makes 1 set

Ume (pickled plum):

• 50g steamed rice
• 1 ume

Maccha Banana Shake

As I bought lots of banana from a market and they started to turn black already, I decided to finish them up by making a banana drink!

I didn’t have much ingredients to use in the fridge, so I just added milk and honey to taste.  With a dash of maccha green tea powder, it turned out to be delicious

It was little thick, just how I like it.

<Maccha Banana Shake> makes 1 glass

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• 1 monkey banana (or 1/2 normal banana)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp Maccha powder

Somen Tomato Curry with Chicken and Mushroom

Somen Noodle + curry??  It sounds a little mismatch, but spicy tomato curry does go with simple somen noodle.  Enjoy with lots of mushroom ♪

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<Somen Tomato Curry with Chicken and Mushroom> serves 4

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• 1 chicken breast fillet
• 2 baby eggplants
• 1 pack shimeji mushroom
• 2~3 cup mushrooms
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 2 tbs curry powder
• 100ml sake (cooking wine)
• 400g tomato tin, peeled
• 100~150ml chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• salt, sugar and pepper to taste
• 200g somen noodle

Nabe Night

Another winter food in Japan is….  yes, Nabe!

Nabe, or Nabemono, is a term referring to all varieties of Japanese steamboat dishes.  The pots are traditionally made of clay or thick cast iron so that the food can be kept warm for a while after being taken off the fire.  In modern Japan, nabemono are kept hot at the dining table by portable stove. The dish is frequently cooked at the table, and the diners can pick the cooked ingredients they want from the pot. It is either eaten with the broth or with a dip. Further ingredients can also be successively added to the pot.  Eating together from a shared pot is considered as an important feature of nabemono.  (wiki)

Actually, nabe simply means “pot” in Japanese, but we call the steamboat that people eat together in winter “nabe” too.  To think about it, it sounds little funny..  ”let’s eat nabe!” can mean “let’s eat the pot!”

Unfortunately I don’t have clay or cast iron pot here, so I made it with normal pot.  I added as many ingredients as possible…..  same as oden, more ingredients you add more flavorsome it becomes.

The typical ingredients for nabe in my house are Chinese cabbage, spring onion, tofu, carrot, chicken (or pork or fish) meat balls, chicken meat with bones, mushrooms, and kuzukiri - starch noodle.  Kuzukiri is one of my favorite food in nabe: it’s chewy.  You can add any ingredients you like, such as spinach, fish meat, fishcakes, udon etc etc.

It’s fun to gather friends and share a nabe on the table while watching tv.  This time, I made nabe with chicken soup.

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<Nabe in chicken soup>

1. Cut ingredients into desired size.  Place the ingredient all together in a pot.  If you are using Chinese cabbage, place them on top as if it covers the entire food.
2. Add chicken stock (depends on the size of the pot, but I used 1 L for a very large pot)
3. Bring to the boil, then simmer.  You can do this process on the portable stove on the table.
4. Eat as it cooks.  Add ponzu directly into the pot, or use ponzu as a dipping sauce.

Apricot Tartlet

An apricot tartlet with sweet moist filling.  Great accompaniment for a tea time ♪

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<Tartlet Base> 20cm tartlet tin

• 150g plain flour
• 70g unsalted butter (softened)
• 60g icing sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 egg yolk