White Chicken Soup 2

It sure has been great Autumn days Lately. Some people don’t like cold weather and have winter-blue, but I love the quiet atmosphere and cold air outside.

On days like this, a plate of hearty soup shows up on my dining table at least once a week. I made white chicken soup again, but this time I made the soup little thick. Adding rice flour to the soup is a quick and healthy way to thicken the soup, compared with making butter roux. Today I had 2 bowls for lunch, and my body is warm and nourished

• 2 fillets chicken thigh
• 3 celery stalks
• 2 baby carrots
• 2 spring onion stalks
• 1 potato
• 1/2 broccoli (florets)
• 2 cups chicken stocks
• 2 cups milk
• 3 tbs rice flour

1. Cut vegetables and chicken thigh into cubes. For broccoli florets, cut into small pieces.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a deep sauce pan, and add cerely, carrots and onions. Sauté for a minutes, then add chicken. Sprinkle salt & pepper to the chicken, and cook for 3~4 minutes over low/medium heat.
3. Add chicken stock, potatoes and broccoli. Bring to the boil, and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Mix rice flour into milk, and blend well. Add to the soup, and cook until the soup is thickened. Season to taste.

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Oden Sunday

On Sunday my friend came over for Oden and Chirashi-zushi party!  I started simmering the tofu, konnyaku, daikon radish and boiled eggs on Thursday night so that they would absorb the soup and flavor very good.  On Saturday I added some nerimono (all sorts of fish-cakes) to finish-up.  It looked so yummy!

I can’t believe I forgot to take pictures! I must had been so busy eating and chatting…   (>0<)  So here is the image photo from Google…

(Mine was not this beautiful!)

One of the friend couldn’t join the oden party as she has been suffering from unfortunate food poisoning since last week. 

I remember my first and last food poisoning was in Jakarta…  It was terrible!  I was on holiday, but couldn’t even get up from the bed.  The whole body was cold/sweating/shaking/fever/vomiting/etc.  I just wanted to lie down on the bed, I couldn’t even stand the gentle air wave from the air conditioner.

I hope she gets better!

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

Nikuman (Japanese Char Siu Pow)

Another winter food I miss is nikuman!

“Niku” means “meat”, and “man” is short word for “manju”.  It’s like a Japanese version of char siu pow, but it tastes different from those you see at yam char restaurants.

Nikuman is a popular winter fast food in Japan and you can buy them at many places during winter including convenience stores: Lawson, Seven Eleven, Family Mart, Cercle K, etc etc….  I love nikuman!  We just call nikuman, but there are several types in different flavors, including “pizza-man”, “an-man” and “curry-man”.  (sounds like character names in cartoon :p )  Different shops sell different flavors.

The good thing about buying nikuman from convenience stores is that you can buy it ANYTIME during winter, as convenience stores open 24 hours.  Whenever you feel like it, you can just grab the hot juicy nikuman and eat straight away.  And, the price is also the good part.  One nikuman costs around 100 yen ~ 150 yen.  Very cheap yet delicious snack.

I just miss the juicy nikuman…. (><)  My favorite is the standard nikuman (different shop = different taste, and some shop use different pork meat such as black pork and try to stand out from others) …

Oh, when I went to China town in Yokohama, I had the most delicious nikuman from a stall.  It was huge, and the meat was very very tender.  ”551 Horai” is also famous for its nikuman.  This shop is originally from Osaka.  (website)

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.