Tomato, Lettuce and Silver Fish Scramble

Since I’ve been eating lots of fried food at the office and home, my face started to show some problems (>0<).  When I woke up few days ago there was a red mark on my cheek : I don’t know if it’s related to the pregnancy, my diet, or maybe it’s just an insect bite, but my lips became very dry and I really felt I shouldn’t eat too much fried food anymore.

It’s not my choice eating the fried food so often.  Someone else decides the lunch menu everyday at work, and when I’m hungry I just eat whatever is in front of me.  And at home in-low cooks some Indonesian food and they are mostly deep-fried. 

So, I decided to bring some vegetable-based side dish for lunch from today!  Rice is cooked every day at work and it really helps me for saving money 🙂

Today I brought stir-fried vegetables and egg.  It’s just a dish I made with whatever I had in the fridge, but it was pretty tasty.  I added silver fish to it, and the saltiness of the fish gave a good seasoning.

<Tomato, Lettuce and Silver Fish Scramble>

• 1 tomato
• 1 lettuce leaf
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs silver fish

Tomato doesn’t lose its vitamin even if it’s cooked in the heat. And, cold tomatoes make your body cool down, but cooked tomatoes actually help burning the fat on the body.  (Lycopene)  Eating nutrient, right kinds of calories is very important to keep bub fed and growing! 😀

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Green Beans in Sesame Dressing (Ingen Goma Ae)

One of my favorite side dish.  The aroma of roasted sesame seeds are so tempting.  

If you have a suribachi (a Japanese grinding-bowl) it’s best to grind the sesame seeds.  I used normal mortar and pestle.  Or, you can simply use a blender to do the job 🙂

Mix with other sauce together.  The oil from the sesame seeds has the distinctive nutty smell.

When you blanch the beans, make sure you don’t overcook them.  Leave the crunchy texture to the beans and you can enjoy the juicy crisp beans in sesame dressing.

<Ingen Goma Ae> serves 4 as an entree

• 200g green beans
• 30g white sesame seeds
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 1/2 tsp sake (cooking wine)

You can also use other vegetables such as spinach, asparagus and broccoli.

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Broccoli Aemono (Dressed Side Dish)

When you want something to add to your main meal when you are having Japanese food, this broccoli aemono is an option. Aemono simply means “mixed with seasoning”, and it is usually served as a side dish.

This is simply dressed with bonito flakes and soy sauce.  You can of course use other vegetables, such as spinach, green beans, bean shoots, and okura.

<Broccoli Aemono> serves 4 as a side

• 8~10 florets broccoli
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 5g katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
• 1 tbs roasted white sesame seeds

Canapes with Miso Jam (Torimiso)

Grilled vegetables, boiled eggs, and fresh silken tofu topped with miso jam with chicken mince.

It is a great party item or as a accompaniment to any alcohol!  It also goes with hot steamed rice. 😀

Today I used zucchini, boiled eggs and tofu, but you can basically use any vegetables, such as broccoli, daikon radish, or even Chinese cabbage leaves.  Anything goes with this tori-miso jam.

<Torimiso with Vegetables and Tofu> serves 2~4

• 100g chicken mince
• 50g red miso paste
• 30g sugar
• 1.5 tbs sake (cooking wine)
• zucchini
• 2 eggs
• 1 pack silken tofu (around 300~500g)
• sesame seeds and spring onion to garnish

Miso Hamburg Steak

One day I was thinking about hamburg family restaurants in Japan – Big Boy, Bikkuri Donkey, etc…  Although I’m not really a meat person, I sometime got a craving for a juicy delicious hamburg steak.  Besides, family restaurant was like my nest when I was a teen. 😀

If you want to try Japanese hamburg steak restaurant, try Bikkuri Donkey!  I love the food, and also the atmosphere there.

The other day, I wanted to eat like the hamburg steak plate that you can get from family restaurants.  Hamburg steak, rice, salad, all in one plate.

I mixed miso paste to the mince mixture to add extra flavor.  The patty was soft and fluffy, and it smelled delicious.

With fried egg and special sauce.  Add a cup of soup to make it a perfect “hamburg steak lunch plate”!

<Miso Hamburg Steak> serves 2

• 300g mince (I used 50% beef and 50% pork)
• 1 onion, medium
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch nutmeg
• 2tbs breadcrumb
• 1 tbs miso
• 1 tbs milk

• 100cc white wine

• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 1tbs tomato sauce
• 1 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

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1. Chop onion finely.  In a mixing bowl, mix the mince, onion, egg, nutmeg, breadcrumb, miso and milk together until well combined.
2. Divide the meat mixture into an uniformed-size balls, and flatten the centre to make them into patties.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan.  Place the patties and cook over medium-high heat until the bottom side is nicely colored.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the meat, and pour the white wine around.  Flip the patties, and place a lid.  Cook until the patties are cooked.
4. Mix the ingredients from “sauce”.
5. Serve the hamburg on a plate along with the sauce.

Daikon and Carrot Pickles (Namasu)

This dish is one of the Japanese new year food, but it is so easy to make and can be eaten as side dish and a bento item as well.  A great hashiyasume (“chopstick rester”).

With very simple ingredients, you can make this marinade in less than 5 minutes.  Namasu can be made with any ingredients –  uncooked (“nama”) vegetables and/or seafood.  I also like cucumber namasu, but this daikon and carrot namasu is the very standard namasu eaten in Japan.

<Daikon and Carrot Namasu>  makes a bowlful

• 1/3 daikon radish (around 300g)
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 tsp lemon rind, very thinly sliced
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbs vinegar
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp roasted white sesame seeds

Tempura Soba

I sometimes get a craving for tempura soba.  The combination of crispy tempura and freshly boiled soba noodle in warm, sweet, soysauce-based dark soup.

In the area around my house (Shiga), we don’t eat soba much.  We eat udon more often.  In Japan, the type of food people eat is different depends on where you live.  For example, Western people (eg Kyoto) use white miso for miso soup, but Eastern people (eg Nagoya) use red miso.  Western people eat udon, but Eastern people eat soba.  It’s not always black and white, some Western people eat red miso and soba noodle too, of course, but it’s what we say in Japan.  In fact, my mum never cooked soba at home.  It was always udon.

But, in the New Year’s Eve, I sometimes felt like eating soba.  As we eat toshikoshi-soba (people in Japan eat soba noodle at midnight between New Years Eve and New Years Day), I sometimes asked my mum to prepare instant soba noodle.

I love this cup noodle soup…   It’s so shame that Australia doesn’t allow these noodle to be imported.  I just have to eat it in Japan.

Anyway, I made tempura soba the other day and it was really nice.

You can follow the recipe for crispy tempura here.

I made kakiage – tempura of mixed shredded vegetables.  It’s so easy to make!

Thinly slice onion and carrot (and chopped spring onion or shredded burdock roots if you want).  Coat with tempura batter, and drop into hot oil using two spoon to make a round shape.  Make it flat, so that the tempura get cooked through and crispy.

To see how to cook soba noodle, refer here.

<Soup>

• 1.5cup water
• 1 handful bonito flakes (about 10g)
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 tbs soy sauce

Korean Style Nori Maki

I wanted to use up the brown rice that I had in the pantry, so I made Korean style rice rolls with nori sheet.  Korean cuisine is very similar to Japanese cuisine, but Korean nori maki doesn’t use vinegared rice – just normal steamed rice.  You can of course use white rice instead of brown rice.

What makes it Korean is also the ingredients – beef mince is a typical ingredient for Korean nori maki.  So are takuwan (yellow radish pickles), egg omelet, and burdock roots (gobo).  Normally, Korean seaweed (seasoned with salt) is used to roll the rice, but I used just normal Japanese nori sheet this time.

I seasoned the brown rice with sesame oil and salt, but you don’t need to do it if you prefer.

<Korean Nori Maki> makes 2 rolls

• 2 nori sheet
• 2 cups steamed rice
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 50g beef mince
• 1/2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• white pepper to taste
• 1/4 takuwan (yellow radish pickles (cut in lengthwise)
• 1/4 cucumber (cut in lengthwise)
• 2 tbs shredded carrot

Bibimbap with Broccoli and Daikon

My Korean friend gave me some  hund-made kimuche!  It tastes so fresh and delicious☆  I asked her for the recipe, and it sounds very simple.  Just need more ingredients than Japanese pickles.  I may try making different kinds of kimche at home sometime. 🙂

I made bibimbap with her kimche.

“Bibim” means “mix” in Korean, and as this name indicates this dish is eaten by mixing up all the ingredients.

There are basic ingredients to make bibimbap, but you can actually use any food.  I had broccoli and daikon in my fridge, so I added them to the bibimbap.  If you have some vegetables that have been sitting in the fridge and you want to use up, you can make bibimbap!

Adding bean shoots (as a standard ingredient) to bibimbap is my favorite, but I didn’t have bean shoot in the fridge.  If you are using bean shoot, refer my bean shoot, carrot and spring onion Namul recipe.

I used the leftover of hamburg , and made it chunky for the texture.  You can jut use minced beef for the recipe.  You can also use bulkogi for the topping of bibimbap.

<Bibimbap with broccoli and daikon> serves 2

beef:

• around 200g beef mince
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce

• around 4 florets broccoli
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 pinch salt

• around 10cm daikon radish
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce

• around 6 tbs kimche
• 2 eggs
• 400g steamed rice
• gochujang (around 2 ~ 5 tbs)

Japanese Rice Soup with Salmon (Salmon Zosui)

It’s stormy lately in Perth.  Very strong wind and cold rain.  Warm up your body with this Japanese rice soup with grilled salty salmon 🙂

Zosui is a Japanese rice soup made from pre-cooked rice and water.  There is a similar dish called okayu, but okayu is cooked from uncooked rice and to more watery consistency.

Grill the salmon first with seasonings.  The salmon looks so delicious at this point, but it will be added to the simmering rice soup.  Pre-cooked rice is simmered in dashi water with mushroom, then dried wakame, blanched spinach and chopped spring onion will be added.  Mushroom and wakame gives the flavor to the soup too.

<Salmon Zosui> serves 2

salmon:

• 200g salmon fillet (skinned and boned)
• 1 tbs mirin and 1 pinch salt for seasoning salmon

• 500ml (2 cups) water
• 5 cm konbu (dried seaweed sheet)
• 2 dried shiitake mushroom

• 200g cooked rice, cold (I used brown rice)
• 100g oyster mushroom
• 2 bunches spinach
• 1 tbs dried cut wakame
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs sake
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 ~ 1 tsp salt
• chopped spring onion to garnish

1. Sprinkle salmon with salt.  Line aluminium foil in a frying pan, and spray oil.  Heat the pan, and sear the salmon.  Brush with mirin both side while turning the salmon.
2. Meanwhile, place water, konbu and shiitake in a heat-proof bowl, and microwave for 2 minutes.  Leave it for 1 minute.
3. Remove the konbu and shiitake from dashi water.  Discard konbu.  Slice up shiitake mushroom.
4. Place the dashi water in a cooking pot along with shiitake mushroom, oyster mushroom (stemmed, and roughly separated), sake and soy sauce.  Place on the stove and bring to the gentle boil.
5. Add rice, and simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Wash spinach and cut into 3 cm width.  Beat eggs in a bowl.  Roughly break the salmon meat.
7. Add spinach, cut wakame, and salmon to the rice.  Season with salt.  Pour the egg mixture into the simmering rice soup.  Stir, and turn off the heat.
8. Sprinkle chopped spring onion and serve with chilli powder (optional).

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Fried Udon with Bacon, Broccoli and Mushroom (Yaki Udon)

Yaki Udon (fried udon noodle) is normally cooked with thinly sliced pork, onion, carrot and bonito flake (similar to yakisoba), but I wanted to try something different.  The ingredient doesn’t have to be always same, right?

Crispy bacon and the garlicky sauce add unique flavor to the udon noodle.  Why not try making it tonight?

<Yaki Udon> serves 2

• 200g udon noodle
• 2 rashes of bacon
• 1/2 onion, small
• 4 florets broccoli
• 100g oyster mushroom
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tbs water
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
• bonito flake (optional)

Fried Salmon in Dark Vinegar Glaze (Salmon Nanban)

I used to buy white fish Nanban (deep-fried white fish in Nanban sauce) from deli in supermarkets.  It’s vinegary sauce whips the appetite, and the sweetness of the sauce and the onion are best match with steamed rice.

I made this dish with salmon instead of white fish.  The white fish we eat in Japan are different from those in supermarkets here.  You can make this recipe with any white fish, but I thought I’d try it with salmon.  I’m sure you can get the fish (that we eat in Japan) from some shops here too, but I believe almost everyone loves salmon and it’s easy to get from anywhere.

<Salmon Nanban>  serves 2

• 125g x 2 Salmon Fillet
• 1 onion, small
• 1/2 carrot
• 1 red chili, small (optional)
• 4 tbs soy sauce
• 5 tbs vinegar
• 6 tbs sugar

• 1/2 tbs corn flour + 1/2 tbs plain flour to dust
• oil for deep-frying
• 1 tsp corn flour + 1 tsp water

Rice Balls with Roasted Eels (Unagi Balls)

I made this to eat at home, but it’s also a great item for picnic.  It’s such easy to make and looks cute, like temari-sushi (small and ball-shaped sushi). You can add more colors such as red (red ginger), green (green veggie or green pickles), orange (tobikko) …

The good thing is, you don’t even need to make your hands dirty – shape it by using pieces of plastic wrap.

I used normal steamed rice (not vinegared rice) so this is not sushi.  You can use vinegared rice if you like.

Somen Noodle Salad with Tangy Dressing (Hiyashi Chuka)

When I was talking to my family on skype the other day, my mum said she was making hiyashi chuka at home.  Since then I had a craving for it….  so I bought some ingredients from a supermarket and cooked it last night.

Hiyashi chuka is a Japanese summer dish consisting of chilled ramen noodles with various toppings.  Normal toppings are shredded ham, shredded cucumber, shredded omelet and chopped tomato.  It has many colours.  The noodle is thin egg noodle, and the sauce (dressing) is tangy (vinegary)  Some people add more vegetables such as corn and bean shoots, and drizzle mayonnaise on top.

I used somen noodle this time – the key is to cook the somen noodle al dente, so that it has some texture.

Somen noodle also goes well with the tangy sauce.

I used shredded chicken breast instead of ham, as I’m not really supposed to eat ham at the moment.

Pour the sauce (dressing) over the noodle, or dip the noodle into the sauce and eat ♪

<Hiyashi Chuka Somen> Serves 2

• 200g somen noodle (dry)
• 100g chicken breast
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 tomato
• 10cm celery

• 50ml soy sauce
• 60ml white vinegar
• 70ml water
• 20g sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• roasted white sesame seeds to sprinkle

Simple Udon Noodle Soup (Su-Udon)

I got up very early today.  4 am!  I didn’t have any work to do this morning, but couldn’t go back to sleep after waking up for the toilet :p  I normally have no problem going back to sleep even if I wake up during the night, but this morning I felt so hungry and couldn’t sleep!

What did I eat last night…?  Roasted veggies and chicken.  I thought I ate a lot, but I guess my digestion system works too good.  I got up the bed and started preparing early breakfast.

I had some left over in the fridge, but I decided to cook udon noodle soup.  My favorite is to add egg to the soup (tamago-toji udon), but this time I just made a simple one.

With wakame seaweed, sprig onion (and naruto – fish cake).  There are many kinds of udon soup in Japan, and I guess I can call this “su-udon 素うどん” = which means “simple udon”.  Su-udon normally indicates udon noodle with nothing but soup and spring onion (or sometimes just soup).

Su-Udon (image from wiki)

Making the soup by yourself is very easy!  Besides, you won’t need to prepare many things when making su-udon.

<Udon Soup> serves 1

• 1.5cup water
• 1 handful bonito flakes (about 10g)
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 tbs soy sauce

Tofu Croquette

Coated with breadcrumbs, deep-fried until golden brown….  Croquette can be a snack item as well as a main menu.  You can arrange it with the ingredients and sauces for a variety.  Adding tofu to the croquette and making the potato % into half potato and half tofu can reduce the calorie, carb, and add extra nutrition.

Enjoy while they are hot!  You can freeze the batch before deep-frying : place in a gip-lock bag and close the bag tightly. If freezing, you’d better shape the croquette flat so that they will be cooked thoroughly when deep-frying the frozen ones.

Japanese Style Egg Omelet (Dashi-Maki)

Tamago-yaki, Dashi-maki….  They all mean “grilled egg” in Japanese, but Dashi-maki means it contains dashi (Japanese cooking stock) in the egg mixture before cooking.  Normally they are cooked in a rectangle frying pan called “tamago-yaki pan”, shaped and rolled up, and cut into bite-size pieces.

Dashi-maki is a great item for bento, accompaniment to sake or beer, or simply with steamed rice.  It is best to eat with grated daikon radish and a dash of soy sauce.  Juicy, soft, mild Dashi-maki can be made with:

• 5 Egg
• 100ml water
• 5g bonito flake
• 2tsp soy sauce
• 1tbs sugar

With stir-fried chicken and vegetables…

Japanese Curry with Winter Vegetables

Just to keep up this winter, I’ve been trying to focus on the balanced diet.  Eat fruits, vegetables, and drink lots of water.  Otherwise I will be eating same thing over and over again!  I would just sit down on the sofa after work and boil a pot of water to cook instant noodle or something.

I know that using a ready-made seasoning may not be a healthy option, but last night I felt like Japanese curry and made it with packet roux.  I added lots of vegetables including lotus roots and cauliflower.  I always add crushed tomato (tin) to Japanese curry to give a fruity taste, extra nutrition and to dilute the roux (animal fat).

Japanese curry can be made with any vegetables/meat/seafood, but I love pork meat (thinly sliced pork belly, or pork cushion) the best.

<Japanese Curry with Pork and Winter Vegetables>

• 200g pork meat
• 1 potato
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 5~6 slices lotus root
• 2~3 bunch spinach
• 50g cauliflower florets
• 200g tomato in tin
• 100g Japanese curry roux

Seasoned Bamboo Shoots (Takenoko Katsuo)

Bamboo is one of my favorite root vegetable.  … Well, I like all the vegetables, but bamboo is the one I used to eat often in winter in Japan.  We make flavored rice, soup, pasta, etc etc with bamboo and they are all delicious.  I love the texture.

I don’t know if you have seen the real bamboo roots.  When I was little, my classmates and I used to go to mountains as a school event, and dig out bamboo roots from the ground.  It is very hard to dig, but we could take home the fresh bamboo roots to eat afterwards 🙂

Bamboo roots are covered with dark, thick skin.  Remove the skin, and the inside is pale yellow/white bamboo meat!  If the roots doesn’t get harvested, it will grow to bamboo trees.

Simply cooked with bonito flakes, and enjoy with steamed rice and a bowl of soup.  It is simple and delicious. 😀

<Takenoko Katsuo>  serves 4

• 400g~450g Bamboo Shoot in Brine, boiled
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs mirin
• 10g bonito flakes

Colourful Rice Balls (onigiri)

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

Tomato Curry with Somen Noodle

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 button 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

Japanese steamboat (Nabe)

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

Pork Soboro with Root Vegetables

I love root vegetables!!  The crunchy texture is a great accent on the dish.  They are winter vegetables, so you can find fresh root vegetables at grocery shops now.  (I saw fresh lotus roots at VHT in Northbridge, and Local Fresh in Carousel shopping centre)  Otherwise you can always get frozen root vegetables at Asian grocery shops.

The seasoning is simple, but this dish is very tasty; all the flavours from pork and root vegetables come together and is agreat accompaniment for steamed rice.

Garnish with crispy lotus root slices 😉

<Pork Soboro with Root Vegetables> served 4

• 200g pork mince
• 100g lotus roots
• 100g bamboo shoots (in can in brine)
• 1/2 carrot, small
• 1/2 onion, medium
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 1tsp minced garlic
• 1tbs sesame oil
• 1/4cup oyster sauce
• 1tbs soy sauce
• steamed rice to serve

1. Chop up onion and carrot.  Dice lotus roots and bamboo shoots. (if you are using fresh lotus roots, leave in a bowl of cold water with dash of vinegar for 20~30 minutes.)
2. Heat oil in a frying pan and saute onion, carrot, garlic and ginger.  Add pork, drop soy sauce onto the meat, and cook until the colour starts to turn. Stir well.
3. Add lotus roots and bamboo shoots, stir.  Add oyster sauce, and cook over medium-high heat until the liquid is almost gone.

To make lotus root chips:

1. Slice lotus roots very thin.  Deep-fry in hot oil until crispy.

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You can also enjoy as a condiment for porridge.

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Chocolate Cupcakes

The contrast of dark cocoa colour and pure white cream… looks cute, aren’t they?  No artificial colouring and all natural.  These little bite-size cupcakes are great sweet item for afternoon tea, or as a dessert after the meal.  You can add dried fruits to the batter, such as strawberries, cherries and orange peel.  Enjoy your special flavour 🙂

<Chocolate Cupcakes> makes about 10 mini

• 50g unsalted butter (softened)
• 50g sugar
• 1 egg (room temperature)
• 50ml milk
• 85g plain flour
• 15g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• fresh cream, icing sugar, chocolate to decorate

Camem-burg Pasta

Meatball pasta!!  Everyone’s favorite 🙂  Add Mozzarella cheese to the big size meatballs and enjoy the mild, melty texture on delicious juicy hamburg.

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<Camem-burg Pasta> serves 4

• 300g beef mince
• 200g pork mince
• 10g breadcrumb
• 50g onion, chopped

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1. Mix the mince, onion, breadcrumb and a pinch of salt in a bowl until well combined.  Divide into 8 and shape them into balls.  Stand-by in the fridge.
2. Chop onion, celery and carrot.  Slice mushrooms.
3. Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in a medium sauce pan, and saute onion, celery, carrot and garlic until fragrant.  Add tomato paste and saute, then add tomato tin. Bring to the gentle boil, then reduce the heat to simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Place margarin in a frying pan, and heat over medium-high heat.  As the butter start to sizzle, add mushrooms and saute.  Sprinkle a pinch of salt, and remove from the heat.  Add the mushroom into the tomato sauce.
5. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and cook pasta.
6. Meanwhile, heat the same pan with 1 tbs of oil.  Flatten the centre of the meatballs, and sear one side.  Flip the meatball around, reduce the heat, and place a lid.  Grill until cooked through.
7. Slice Camembert cheese into 8.  Remove the lid, and place the Camembert slices on each meatball.  Place back the lid, and turn off the heat.  leave it for 1~2 minutes.
8. Arrange pasta in each serving plate.  Pour tomato sauce, and top with 2 pieces of hamburgs.

Grapefruit Semifreddo

My neighbor left grapefruits outside their house with a memo saying “free grapefruits from the garden!”

I love grapefruits!  I thought it was a spring fruit :p  It’s refreshing, and great item to eat in the morning – healthy, and rich in vitamin.

I took 3 home, and ate 2 of them as they are.  The rest, I made semifreddo with it 🙂

Semifreddo is an Italian, meaning “half cold” “half frozen”.  As the name indicates, it is eaten as semi-frozen.

<Grapefruit Semifreddo>

for 1 x pound-cake tin

• 1 grapefruit
• 100ml cream
• 2 eggs
• 60g sugar

Crispy Chicken in Sweet and Tangy Sauce (Chicken Nanban)

The dish Chicken Nanban was originally created in Kyushu island in Japan about 50 years ago.  Since then, this item has became very popular across Japan, and now you can find the dish in family restaurants, convenience stores, fast food chains and even pizza shops.

The original Chicken Nanban was a deep-fried chicken immersed in sweet/sour sauce.  Nowadays Chichen Nanban is served with tartar sauce poured over the chicken, and it is still one of the popular menu for any age group.

This is again another easy dish to cook, and it goes with both rice and noodle.

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<Chicken Nanban with Somen Noodle> serves 4

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• 2 chicken breast fillets (about 400g)
• 1 egg
• plain flour to coat
• 4 tbs soy sauce
• 6 tbs sugar
• 5 tbs vinegar (preferably rice vinegar)
• 1 tsp minced ginger
• 200g somen noodle
• 1 tbs sesame oil
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 1 capsicum
• roasted white sesame seeds

Marinated Deep-fried Chicken (Tazta Age)

Tazta-age (tatsuta-age) is a kind of Kara-age.  Kara-age is a deep-fried chicken (usually chicken thigh) coated with katakuriko (a starch originally processed from the corm of katakuri) and plain flour after being marinated with garlic and some spices.  On the other hand, tazta-age is a deep-fried chicken (usually chicken thigh) coated with only katakuriko after being marinated with soy sauce and sweet mirin.  You can use corn starch (corn flour) instead of katakuriko.

The key to make juicy kara-age with crispy texture is the twice-deep-frying.  You deep-fry the meat in low-temperatured oil first, then deep-fry again in very hot oil to shake off any excess fat and to make it crispy.

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<Tazta Age> serves 4

• 400g chicken thigh
• 20g soy sauce
• 20g raw sugar
• 15g sake (white wine)
• 5g ginger (grated or sliced)
• katakuriko (corn flour) to dust

1. Cut chicken into pieces.  Trim chicken thigh into even thickness.
2. Marinade in the sauce for 30 minutes.
3. Drain the chicken.  Heat the oil in a pan to 160°.
4. Coat the chicken with katakuriko, shake off any excess flour, and deep-fry both side until coloured.  Set aside.
5. Heat up the oil to 180°.  Deep-fry the chicken pieces again both side until crispy.

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The best way to eat tazta-age is with Japanese mayonnaise!  You can’t stop eating steamed rice with it.

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or you can make Tazta Burger!  I remember MacDonalds’ Tazta Burger…  one of my favorite 😀

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