Posted September 2nd, 2010 in Food | No Comments »
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
- Slice onion and carrot thinly. Chop chili.
- Heat 1 tsp of oil in a frying pan, and fry onion and carrot. Add chili.
- Add the sauces to the pan, and bring to boil. Pour corn flour + water mixture into the pan, while stirring. Simmer for 1 minutes, and remove from the heat.
- Heat oil in a deep pan.
- Slice salmon into 1 cm thick pieces. Dust with corn flour + plain flour, shake off any excess. Deep-fry until golden and crispy.
- Drain any excess oil, and immerse into the sauce (at stage 3)
- To serve: Arrange the salmon in a serving plate, and pour over the onion, carrot and sauce. Best to be served with steamed rice.
＊ Check out Chicken Nanban recipe →
hereaa
Posted August 31st, 2010 in Food | 4 Comments »
It’s been raining! I really should put “no junk mail” sign on the mail box at home… We receive many kinds of fliers everyday, and I don’t read all of them anymore. I now just check it online if I want to know some info.
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When it rains, I can’t check the mail box because of the snails. I don’t know why but they are always hiding inside the mail box, and sometimes between letters. (>口<)
Yesterday we got a new IKEA catalogue, but it was left on the top of the mail box and was soaked with water.
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I don’t feel like eating rice these days, so I’ve been munching on noodles or bread. I tried making shoyu udon the other night - which is just a cooked udon noodle with simple condiments eaten with just soy sauce.
The soy sauce is not a normal soy sauce, it’s actually mixed with dashi. We normally buy the dashi soy sauce from the shop, but it’s very expensive in Perth so I tried to make it myself.
I first soaked thickly sliced bonito flakes (1 handful) in soy sauce (1 cup) along with konbu seaweed sheet (about 3 cm) overnight. It would be nicer if I had niboshi, but I didn’t use it this time. Next night, I cooked udon noodle, drained well, and ate with condiments and dash of the dashi soy sauce.
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… It tasted actually ok. I added some lemon juice and ichimi togarashi (chili powder) too.
This may sound gross to some people, but I cooked chicken liver too. Liver is high in iron.
With 2 tbs soy sauce + 2 tbs mirin + 1 tsp ginger. This tastes good. My mum used to make this at home. If you buy chicken liver in Japan, it comes with another offal (stuck together) and I especially like the another one. It has texture and yummy (to me)!
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Posted August 30th, 2010 in Food | No Comments »
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.
Makes 8~10
- 100g unagi (roasted eel)
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of sugar
- about 3 small bowl-full of steamed rice (short or medium grain)
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- If you are using a frozen unagi, defrost and warm up in a boiling water. Cut into pieces.
- Beat egg with 1 pinch of sugar. Heat a frying pan and lightly grease the pan. Pour the egg and cook as if you are making very fine scrambled egg. Try not to color the egg. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cut plastic wrap about 15cm x 15cm. Place a piece of the plastic wrap in a small bowl. (this makes easy to shape) Arrange a piece of unagi in the centre, and spoon scrambled egg around it. Drop 1.5 tbs of rice on top and close the plastic wrap. Shape into a round ball. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
aa
Posted August 28th, 2010 in Food | 2 Comments »
Cheese scrambled egg, bacon, sauteed spinach and toast - a typical breakfast, but I love this 
It seems that there are more than 200 people died from the heat in Japan this year. My family and friends says it’s been very hot and humid. There’s one 20-year-old man who passed away because his air-con was broken on that night. It’s around 36°, but the humidity is high. Besides, all the area is stuffy (many buildings)…
I’ve been reading this blog (in Japanese) since last week - she is Korean, and lives near my house in Japan! She’s been in Japan for 18 years now with her husband (Japanese). I always get surprised that many Korean people are fluent in Japanese.
I love Korean food 
But, same as Japanese food here, I can’t find the “real” Korean food in Perth. I really miss the proper way of eating Korean BBQ! And, other Korean food such as komutan soup (oxtail soup), sundubu (spicy stew), kejan (marinated raw crab in spicy soysauce-based sauce) etc… There are many Korean restaurants in Japan, but I believe there’re many in Eastern states too.
Korean cuisine is quite similar to Japanese cuisine, I believe. They use many kinds of vegetables - even the ones Japanese people are not familiar with, such as leaves of sesame and dodoku (carrot-looking roots). I love Korean side dishes - namuru dishes, muchimu (mixed - like salad) dishes, chimu (stewed) dishes…. The roasted and stewed beans ( I remember Hana BBQ had this dish) is my favorite! They goes very well with steamed rice
In Japan, I always order Korean chilled noodle at yakiniku restaurants during summer. I love the texture of the noodle (made from potato starch). I had a funny experience in a Korean restaurant in Perth few years ago. I ordered this chilled Korean noodle, but the waitress kept saying “oh, you shouldn’t order this. I don’t think you’ll like it”. I knew what I was ordering and told her that I used to eat this in Japan all the time. She said “Oh, ok then. You should be fine”. She thought I had never eaten the dish before, and non-Korean people wouldn’t like this dish. I wondered why they’d put this item on the menu… (did I tell this story before already?)
Posted August 27th, 2010 in Food | 5 Comments »
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
sauce
- 50ml soy sauce
- 60ml white vinegar
- 70ml water
- 20g sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- roasted white sesame seeds to sprinkle
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- Mix the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan, and heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and chill in the fridge.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and cook somen noodle. It takes just few minutes, and try not to overcook. Drain, and cool under running water. Drain, and chill.
- Cut chicken for faster cooking. Poach the chicken in the boiling water until cooked, or sprinkle 1 tbs of sake and cook in the microwave (covered). Drain, and let it cool. Shred the chicken.
- Peel the cucumber (partially) and deseed. Shred thin. Slice celery thin. Chop tomato.
- Divide the somen noodle into two serving bowl. Top with cucumber, celery, tomato and chicken. Pour the sauce over and serve immediately.
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