Fairy Birthday Cake

A birthday cake I made last week – a white chocolate cake with a image of fairy.

When I was asked to make this birthday cake for a 4-year-old girl, I wasn’t 100% sure if I could do this. Things a mother required me to do are:

• white chocolate-based

• image or doll of fairy on top of the cake

• 100&1000 on the side

• square. not round

• 5~6 strawberries on top

• a message plate on top “happy 4th birthday”

• pink or light purple themed

• decorated with whipped cream

…… I’d never made a decoration cake with white chocolate. I could just make white chocolate mud cake, but I knew she wanted it to be somehow Japanese-style. Probably sponge cake with white chocolate ganache? Will it do?

When she said “a cake with fairy image on top” “100&1000” “pink or purple themed”, I had an image of the cake in my head already. I used to be a little girl and I knew what the birthday girl is after.

I decided to layer vanilla sponge cake, cocoa sponge cake, white chocolate ganache and whipped cream, then decorate the top and side with white chocolate and whipped cream.

The most important thing I had to do first, however, was to look for an image of fairy. I found fairy-shaped cake toppers at some online shops, but I didn’t like them. I didn’t think they’re cute. So I ordered a sheet of Tinker Bell edible image.

It was actually my first time to handle edible image!  I’d never even seen or touched one before. (You can tell from the non-smooth surface of the image on the photo ^^;)  So I was quite nurvous until I opened it from its packaging sheet in the morning of her birthday party.

Edible image is made of icing, and it can’t be placed on wet surface. Butter cream or fondant will be the best cake to top with edible image, but my cake was made of whipped cream and chocolate ganache. Whipped cream is too wet and it’ll ruin the image. So, I only used white chocolate ganache on the bottom and around the edible image. Whipped cream is used around the cake only.

The morning was kind of disaster… Not only that I had to make this special cake for a little girl, but I also had a little baby to look after at home. Hiro doesn’t take long nap during the day, so I knew i’d need D’s help while finishing up the cake.

1 hour before the delivery, I opened the Tinker Bell edible image from it’s packaging and tried to place on top of the cake I prepared.
It doesn’t peel off!!!!! ((((；ﾟДﾟ))))))). I tried putting it in the freezer for few seconds, but it didn’t work. The time passed, and I was in panic. Hiro was crying next to me. I repeated putting it in the freezer and tried to peel off many times, and after several tries I could finally get a sheet of Tinker Bell removed from the backing sheet.   Thank you, thank you!!!

I quickly placed it on top of the cake and finished decorating the cake. It took longer than I expected and I had to leave home already in order to deliver it before little girl’s birthday party. Hiro was still crying, and continued crying in the car. Very hard. It was more like screaming. His face was red and he didn’t even listen to my voice. I was holding a big box of cake, navigating D to the little girl’s house, and trying to sooth Hiro at the same.

We were few minutes late, but I was reliefed I could deliver the cake safe.  They seemed to like the cake, and I was happy.  Now I’m 100% back to Hiro.

When I returned to the car, he was sleeping….  Crying must have tired him out.  Maybe he felt the pressure and stress I was feeling and that’s why he was crying?  Anyway we all went home in a quiet car. 🙂

Father’s Day and 6 Months and 2 Year

Today is not only D’s first Father’s Day, but also Hiro’s 6 months birthday…!  Plus, tomorrow is our 2nd wedding anniversary as well.  Hmmmm, 3 things came at once.

We didn’t really plan what to do though….  Both of us have been pretty busy and everyday passes very quickly.  I can’t believe it’s September already!

I baked cupcakes for D.  He loves sweets, and I haven’t made this for him for a long time, so I thought it’s about time to treat him with this sweet cake 🙂

He loves green colour, so I made icing green (with pink on top).  He likes eating cupcake slightly warm (warm up in microwave) then spread icing by himself, so I put icing on only 2 cakes.  They are almost gone…!  I should have made more?

Hiro has been eating carrot (2nd solid after rice cereal), and he loves it!  He opens his mouth very wide when I move a spoon to his mouth.  Very messy though….  rice cereal is white so it’s ok, but carrot….  lots and lots of washing!

Hmmm he is growing very fast.  He wears size zero now.  I bought some winter cloths for Japan and hope it will fit him when we are there!

Oroshi Steak

When I go grocery shopping in winter and find a good daikon radish, this is one of the dishes it comes to my head – steak with daikon oroshi (grated daikon radish).  I love daikon – normally I cook it in soup or stew, but also love when it’s grated and accompanied with something such as karaage, tempura or steak.  The freshness, coldness and a bit of hotness milds the oily dishes.

When I cook steak with daikon oroshi I normally eat it with steamed rice, so I cut the steak into cubes because it’s easy to pick with chopsticks.

This is best when eaten freshly made – fresh grilled steak with cold daikon oroshi and crispy garlic chips – you can go lots of rice with it.

<Recipe>  serves 2

• 2 fillets beef (steak cut)
• 10cm daikon radish
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbs sake (cooking wine)
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 1/2 lemon
• olive oil to cook a

1. Cut steak into cubes.  Slice garlic.  Grate daikon radish, and chill in the fridge.
2. Place 1 tbs of olive oil in a frying pan.  Turn on the heat, and cook garlic chips until golden and crispy.  Take them out from the pan and set aside.
3. Sear the steaks in the pan.  Pour soy sauce and sake over the steak and sizzle.  Squeeze lemon juice into the sauce, and turn off the heat.
4. Arrange steak cubes on a serving plate.  Take out daikon oroshi from the fridge, and drain the liquid.  Scatter over the steak.  Top with garlic chips then drizzle sauce over the dish.

Serve immediately!

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Addicted to Coffee

I’ve been drinking lots of coffee… again. I love coffee, and always had at least one cup a day – since I was a teenager. It may be because of my dad. He loves coffee too, and drinks few cups a day. He goes to a cafe very often, and if he can’t got o a cafe, he gets a can of black coffee from a vending machine which is in front of my house. Vending machines can be found everywhere in Japan, so he is always in the environment where he can get coffee easily.
Oh, he makes instant coffee by himself at home too, sometimes. But I don’t remember seeing him drinking instant coffee as much as seeing him drinking a can if black coffee

I love black coffee (I mentioned about this long time ago on this blog). No sugar nor milk. I love drinking black coffee in the morning, after each meal, with some sweet, and before bed time.

Strangely my passion for coffee stopped while I was pregnant with Hiro. I could drink decaf if I wanted, but I didn’t even want to smell coffee. I was surprised about it because I remember how much I loved the smell of coffee every time I walked pass a cafe.

Now, however, I’m addicted to coffee again.  Just want to say it’s decaf coffee I drink now… because I’m still breastfeeding.  It’s strange, isn’t it? Usually, people can’t stop drinking coffee because they need caffeine fix, or are addicted to it. Decaf coffee doesn’t contain caffeine, but I can’t stop drinking it. Caffeine is not the thing my body is after? Maybe I just like black colored water? :p

Ummm, It will be hard in Japan because they don’t have “decaf” coffee at normal cafes or available from vending machines. They sell only standard coffee with caffeine. I guess I can drink a cup a day, or get non-caffeine coffee or tea from special shops.  I want to try “tampopo (dandelion) coffee” – this is non caffeine drink made from roots of dandelion.  It’s called “coffee”, but it’s not made from coffee beans.  Pregnant women, breastfeeding mums, and people who are into healthy stuff drink this, and I’m curious how it tastes like.  I’m looking at photos on google, but it really looks like coffee.

Talking about coffee – it’s only 6am but I already had a cup of black… with pancakes.

Eating sweets like this makes me long for hot black coffee.  To me, black coffee is the best accompaniment to sweets!

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Winter Warmer

When I wake up in early morning and can’t go back to sleep, I sometimes spend time in the kitchen – cooking.  It’s just because I can’t do cooking during daytime while Hiro is awake, and also I like the quiet environment.  I do some daydreaming while peeling carrots and stirring the stew.

The other day I made quite a large amount of oden.  The kitchen smelled like Japanese convenience stores in winter. :p  I cooked it for a long time – so all the flavour was in each food and it was very delicious.  I kept eating it day and night for few days.  Some people can’t stand the smell of oden, I heard, but the smell actually tempt me to eat them!

I simmered daikon radish and potatoes first, because they take longer to go tender and absorb the broth than soft food like tofu.  I like all the flavour from the broth to be absorbed in each food.  Next, konnyaku and boiled eggs are added, then nerimono (Japanese fishcakes).  It’s best to have gyu-suji (beef shank/ beef gristle / fibrous beef), but I couldn’t bother going to buy them.

Another night I made warm somen noodle soup with teriyaki squid. (recipe is here)  Warm somen noodle soup is easy to digest, and is one of my favourite midnight snack in winter.  Sweet and salty teriyaki squid matches with this.

Umm I think I eat quite a lot these days.  Especially at night.  It’s not good….  but I look for food when I’m awake, and try to eat something before Hiro wakes up.  I’m sometimes not hungry, but eat full portion of meal.  The weather is getting better, so I think I will do some exercise outside.  Walking with Hiro, probably.

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Rice

Rice is something I need to eat at least 6 times a week.  It’s just because I’m Japanese and rice is the source of everyday power… My grand parents and parents used to tell me “if you don’t eat rice, you have no energy to do anything.”  Because I was raised with rice (2~3 times a day for 365 days), my body really became like that – I get no energy if I don’t eat rice for 2 days.

The typical breakfast at my house was rice and miso soup.  When I woke up, rice was always in a rice cooker – freshly cooked each morning.  Although my dad enjoys eating toast and coffee in the morning at cafe these days, he used to only eat rice while I was a teenager and that’s why my mum cooked this “Japanese style breakfast” everyday.  Leftover from last night’s dinner was usual side dishes, plus some pickles and seasoned nori (seaweed) or furikake (rice seasoning).

I was surprised to know how expensive rice was in Perth since I came here.  I mean, short grain rice.  I’d never paid money for rice as my family own rice fields and grow rice by ourselves – so rice was always in our kitchen.  Lots of them.  Here, I need to “buy” rice from stores and I felt it’s bit strange at first.

I had never eaten long grain rice while I was in Japan, but I like it pretty much now.  I like the little dryness of long grain rice when eating with something soupy such as curry.  They are cheaper than short grain rice (or Sushi rice) too.  But, when making sushi, onigiri or zosui, I need short grain (or medium grain) rice.  The stickiness is very important when making those Japanese food.

Some of the short grain or medium grain rice sold here are from USA, Taiwan, Korean and elsewhere.  As long as the rice was grown in water like Japanese rice, they taste pretty alike.  In some countries, rice is grown in soil and it tastes different.

Rice imported from Japan is always expensive, but the price of rice (short/medium) from USA and other countries had suddenly increased few years ago because of drought.  Now, the price had dropped little bit, but I still feel they are expensive…  I found Korean rice is cheaper and is very good quality.  Japanese rice, such as Akitakomachi, Akitaotome, and Koshihikari, are very expensive – even in Japan.  They are like brand. Omi-mai is the rice my family grows, and they are very good too.  Oooo I just miss eating it.  I think my dad should consider exporting his rice to Australia.

When buying rice here, you should be careful that some rice is more than few years old….  Rice should be eaten within one year after harvest.  At my house, we replace old rice with new rice after harvest season each year.  New rice (shin-mai) tastes so juicy and fresh.  You need less water to cook as they are so soft and fresh.  When preparing some rice sold here, if you think they are pretty old, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes before cooking (or add more water when cooking) so they become softer.

Ummmm  I feel like having wafu breakfast for a change.  I need to be away from peanut butter toast!

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Donuts!

Donuts are definitely one of my tea-time favourite.  I was just browsing some Japanese donuts websites and they all look so yummy…. !

I love going to MisterDonut because they have many shops across Japan, even near my house, but there are other donut shops in Japan includes franchised and private-owned.  Here are some of them.

DoughnutPlant is one of popular franchise shops originally from New York.  They don’t only sell bakery donuts and sweet donuts but also bagels and donut cookies.

Their products don’t contain eggs.  Their sweet donuts (cake donuts) contain kanten (agar), and it tastes like fluffy sponge cake.

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Canezees Doughnut are hand-made and fried in rice oil.  Their donuts don’t contain eggs, and use dark sugar instead of white.

They have unique flavours such as Black Sesame Kinako (soy powder) and Yuzu Lemon.  They re-use the oil which has been used to fry donuts as fuel on their van!

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Zen Donut are baked, not fried. Zen donut uses Japanese products in their donuts, and the flavours are very unique.  Soy Milk Sesame, Ho-ji-cha Tea, Bamboo Charcoal, and Warabi-mochi are some examples.

They also sell karinto, one of my favourite Japanese snacks!

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Floresta sells donuts made from only natural ingredients, called ‘nature doughnuts’.  The owner started selling donuts from a stall inside shopping malls in Nara prefecture, but now they have 30 shops across Japan, from Hokkaido to Kyushu.

They sell seasonal donut desserts as well.  Now, during summer, they are selling donut and ice cream sundae.  Sounds yummmm…

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Hara Donuts use soy milk and tofu extract (okara) in their donuts.  Their hand-made fresh donuts are naturally delicious and so healthy!

Again, their flavours are unique – spinach, carrot, sweet potato, kiwi, passionfruit, lemon tea, sakura , etc.  They use fresh fruits and vegetables in their products.  By that, you can know what they are trying to tell you – the simple, natural ingredients are the best.

They also sell donut ice cream.  Bitter chocolate, purple sweet potato, and pumpkin etc etc…  You won’t  get bored with these unique flavours.

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Miel Donut is another shop selling baked donuts, not fried.  Although they only have 8 flavours, all of them look delicious~! Baked Sweet Potato and Rum Raisin sound good. 🙂

As their donuts are baked, the texture is soft – just like butter cake.  The best way to enjoy a baked donut is to lightly warm it up in an oven toaster.  This way, you can create the contrast of fluffy interior and crispy outside.

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Chocolate Cake no Fruits

Yesterday was another stormy day…  Very windy with strong rain during the day and night.  I couldn’t sleep with one blanket because it was too cold.  Still now, it’s freezing inside my house and I just grabbed my thick cardigan from my room.  I saw a black hairy worm in the garage the other day and I thought it’s already spring, but now I feel like we are back to winter again.

I made a chocolate cake without fruits this time.  I hate delivering a decoration cake… so scary.  I keep thinking I may drop it and ruin the whole cake on the way.  Especially in a windy day like yesterday, I just had to drive super slow.

This cake doesn’t have any fruits or nuts, just Italian ganache, cocoa sponge, and cocoa cream – all chocolate!  I feel like eating like this chocolatey sweet once in awhile too.  Especially when I’m tired!

Today seems to be stormy too.  Everyone, drive safe – ☆

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Cinnamon Sticks

In a cold afternoon, drinking hot milk tea and feeling something to snack on….. Could it be only me?  Or, you just don’t want to throw away the bread crust – the left over from making sandwiches the other day?  Now here is the way to make delicious snack out of it.

This golden crisp cinnamon stick is a great accompaniment to your morning or afternoon tea (of coffee!).  And, is very simple to make too.

<Cinnamon Sticks>

• 8 pieces bread crust (from 2 slices of bread)
• cinnamon sugar
• oil to deep-fry

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1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Deep-fry the bread crust until golden.
3. Drain the oil well, then coat with cinnamon sugar.

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You can also make it without deep-frying.  Toast in the oven, or in a frying pan (without oil) until golden crispy.  Keep them  in an air-tight container after cooled down.a

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PBC Expo and Pizza with The Lot

PBC Expo (Perth Pregnancy Babies & Children’s Expo) started yesterday, and D, Hiro and I headed to Claremont Showgrounds Exhibition Centre in the morning.  We assumed there’ll be more people on weekends.

It was around 12am when we arrived there, and the parking was full!  So many people with prams, as expected…  We wanted walk around fast, so we carried Hiro.  It was my first time going there, and I didn’t really search what’s there and how big the expo was.  I think I should have done it at least to check what exhibitors would be there.

Many exhibitors were offering free samples and discounts on their products.  At the entrance of the expo you can get a pamphlet of vouchers you can use at the stalls within the expo.  I didn’t even know these things and was wondering why people were handing those piece of paper to the exhibitors.  Soon I found out I had to tear the coupon out of the pamphlet and pass to the exhibitors in order to get the free samples.  I see I see…

I got so many free stuff and pamper bags.  I also bought some Curash bath-time moisturiser ($4.00), Heinz’s disposable bibs (5 for $1.00), and Sistema’s  set of baby feeding utensils and containers ($10.00).

We didn’t stay there for long (I think it was less than 1 hour) but many people seemed to enjoy the free stuff, talk to some experts (breastfeeding, postnatal depression, children’s health insurance etc), and the foods.  It could be fun going with mom friends.

At home, I wanted to clean up the fridge and decided to make pizza for dinner.  D likes eating salad rolls and keeps few containers of vegetables (say; tomato, red onion, lettuce, cucumber, etc) in the fridge, but once he runs out buns he doesn’t touch these containers and all the vegetables go bad 🙁  I hate wasting food, so I cut these left-over up and used as toppings for pizza.  I picked few leaves of basil from the garden and used it too.

Ummmm I think I put too much food on the pizza :p  Yes, I am a piggy…  But I like it with lots and lots of ingredients.  I added chopped bacon for D too (as he loves meaty one).  It was great – tasty, and the fridge is now clean!

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Cauliflower Karaage

There are many winter vegetables available in the supermarkets – and cauliflower is one of them!  Foods in season are very cheap to buy, and also are flavourful and nutritious.  (Seasonal Food Guide)

When you have cauliflower in the fridge, what do you want to cook with it?  Cauliflower cheese? Cauliflower soup?  Or add to usual stir-fry dish?  Ummmm  all of them sound so yummy….  but how about making karaage with it?  It sounds very different – because karaage usually use chicken thigh.  But, this dish is really flavoursome and rally easy to make.

The batter is seasoned so you may not need any sauce to eat with it, but you can also enjoy it with ponzu or Japanese mayonnaise.

Eat while hot and crunchy!

<Cauliflower Karaage>

• 1/4 cauliflower
• 1 egg
• 1 tbs  soy sauce
• 2 tsp oyster sause
• 3 tbs corn flour

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1. Cut cauliflower into small florets.
2. Beat the egg in a mixing bowl.  Add sauces and flour, then mix together.
3. Heat oil in a deep pan.
4. Coat cauliflower florets in the batter, then deep-fry until golden.

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Chocolate Bagel with Cocoa Cheese Cream

If you feel like something sweet, this chocolaty snack could be an option. 🙂

Toasted chocolate bagel with cocoa cream cheese topping….  The combination of a bagel and cream cheese is still the best for me.

Adding whipped cream to the cream cheese adds milder texture and taste.  If you are not a big fun of cream cheese, more cream can be added –

I don’t add sugar to the mixture because I wanted to enjoy the taste of cream cheese and bitterness of cocoa.  You can add sugar if you are after sweet stuff.  Few drops of choc bits give a crunchy sweet contrast.

<Chocolate bagel with cocoa cheese cream>

• 1 chocolate bagel
• 2 tbs cream cheese (room temperature)
• 1 tbs whipped cream
• 1/4 tsp cocoa
• few drops of choc bits

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1. Halve the bagel and toast.
2. Place the soft cream cheese and cocoa in a mixing bowl.  Add whipped cream, and mix together.
3. Spread the cream mixture on top of each slice of bagel, and sprinkle choco bits.

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Chocolate Cake with Fresh Fruits

I usually make decoration-cake with vanilla flavour – vanilla sponge cake, whipped cream and fresh fruits.  But, this time, I was asked to make it chocolate flavour.

I know chocolate and strawberries go very well, so strawberries were the first thing I put on the shopping list.  Some fruits wont’ go with chocolate, so I sticked with just few fruits to decorate this cake.

It’s a layered cake with chocolate sponge, strawberries, cocoa cream, and thin layer of rich Italian style chocolate cake and ganache.  Not much sugar it used, so this cake is not too sweet.

The side of the cake is covered with dark chocolate.  It will keep the cake moist, and has a good eye-appeal.

I was asked to make this cake for around 15 people, but I think I made it too big :p

Finished with piped cream, strawberries, peaches, apples and mints from our garden. 🙂

The smell of chocolate and strawberries was so irresistible…..  I nearly poked my finger into the cake!

Mc VALUE Lunch Deals

Writing about fast food made me want to eat some burger!

Since McDonald’s is doing the Mc Value Lunch Deals, I run to the nearest McDonald’s to get the deal.  As I thought, there’re so many people …. at the drive-thru and inside the store.

There’re 6 menu to chose from.  I got myself Grand Angus Deal 🙂

I hadn’t had burger for awhile…. It made me so full!

Gochiso-sama-deshita 🙂

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Soy Bagels

I guess it’s not only me who gets craving for a hot bagel on a cold day.

The crusty, hard bagel is something I need to have once in awhile.  This morning I baked few bagels – made with soy milk.

The bagel contains kina-ko (Japanese soy powder) paste inside.  It turned out to be not too sweet, just right for me. 🙂

The hard crust was something I was just looking for. All my in-laws don’t like hard bread (they love soft & fluffy bread), so I guess I’m the only one who needs to finish them up.  … Well, I don’t think it’ll be a hard job! 😀

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Black Sticky Rice Porridge

This Asian style sweet porridge is one of my favourite winter sweets.

I normally eat it warm, but it can be eaten at room temperature or chilled.  It is usually eaten with dash of coconut cream.

You can cook this in a slow cooker or in a deep pan, just like making congee.  Adjust the amount of water to achieve right consistency.

It should be thick in consistency.  The chewy black sticky rice is so juicy and delicious 🙂

I added fresh persimmon to it, and the combination was lovely.  With seasonal fruit and eating it warm or chilled, this sweet pudding can be served all year round!

<Black Sticky Rice Porridge>

• 500g black sticky rice (can be found at Asian grocery shops)
• water to soak the rice
• 2L ~ water
• 3 tbs ~ palm sugar
• a pinch of salt

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1. Wash the rice thoroughly and soak in water for about 2 hours to overnight.
2. Put the rice, salt, sugar and 2 L water in a deep pot on high heat until water boils, then lower it to the lowest heat your stove can do. Stir constantly.  Simmer.
3. When the liquid is almost gone, check the rice – if it’s still too hard, add more water to it.  Keep during this until it achieve the right consistency.
4. Serve with coconut cream.

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Lemon Season!

My friend visited Hiro the other day, with lots and lots of lemons from her yard.  It’s such a nice gift…  I love lemons – they are great for cooking, and also look lovely by just leaving them on a plate in the kitchen.  Especially, in winter, lemons are great source of vitamins!

I’ve got lots of mint leaves in the garden too.

Hot lemon mint tea made with fresh lemons and mint leaves. 🙂  Perfect refreshing hot drink in winter, isn’t it?

Served with hot sweet potato dumplings.

This chewy dumpling is one of my favorite sweets.  I love chewy food 🙂

Mash cooked sweet potato, and mix with tapioca flour, then blanch in boiling water until it floats.  drizzled with palm sugar syrup.  It can be served with coconut cream too.

I love the food which I can enjoy the natural taste of its own 😀

Chocolate Cake Ball Pops

This bite-sized chocolate cake looks so cute, and is a great finger dessert for a party or a lunch box.

I got this recipe idea from Coles magazine years ago.  The recipe used Coles mud cake, but I baked my own and used it for the recipe.  I didn’t coat the cake with chocolate entirely as the cake is already rich and sweet.  Sprinkled with hundreds and thousands, they turned into fun pops for kids.

What attaches the sticks to the cake is the melted white chocolate.  I got these sticks from Spotlight (sold as “craft sticks”).

The inside is rich, moist chocolate cake.  This is one of the cake I’m asked to bake when friends coming over to my house. 🙂

You should serve this chilled.

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<Chocolate Cake>  makes around 40 pops

21cm Φ cake tin

• 5 eggs (room temperature)
• 150g granulated sugar
• 45g cocoa powder
• 45g corn flour
• 200g dark cooking chocolate
• 200ml cream
• cooking white chocolate
• hundreds and thousands
• 40 craft sticks

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1. Separate egg whites and yolks.
2. Add sugar to egg whites, and whip until thick and fluffy.  Shift cocoa powder and corn flour into the bowl, and fold in.
3. Pour the mixture into lined cake tin, and bake in the oven at 180℃ until just cooked (around 20 minutes).  Let it cool.
4. Heat cream in a sauce pan to just before boiling.  Turn off the heat, and add chocolate.  Stir until all chocolate is melted, and let it cool until spreadable consistency.
5. Slice the chocolate sponge, and spread the ganache.

<into pops>

1. Chop up the chocolate cake, and shape into balls using hands.
2. Melt white chocolate in warm water bath.
3. Insert a stick to a chocolate cake ball, and spoon melted chocolate around the stick’s root area.  Repeat with remaining.
4. Sprinkle with hundreds and thousands.

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HCT French Toast

I had some stale bread in the fridge. I was first thinking to make just standard French toast, then I looked inside the fridge again and found that there’re some ingredients for sandwiches too. Like the Croque Monsieur I made with spam, this time I decided to make one with ham, cheese, and tomatoes.

It’s a savory French toast. With cheese and tomato, it became a nutritious snack for kids too.

<HCT French Toast> makes 1

• 2 slices bread
• 2~3 slices ham
• 1/2 tomato, sliced
• 1 slice cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs milk
• 1 tbs butter

1. Arrange ham, sliced tomato and cheese on a slice of bread, and top with another slice of bread. This is one portion. If you are making for 3 people, make 3 batches.
2. Beat egg in a bowl and mix with milk. Place the egg mixture into a wide, flat plate, and immerse the sandwich in this mixture. Make sure you flip the sandwich around so the another side also absorb egg mixture.
3. Melt butter in a frying pan. Over low heat, grill the sandwich until golden colored on both sides. Flip around several time to achieve the delicious colour.

Chicken Karaage

Japanese fried-chicken, karaage 🙂 The best choice of meat for karaage is chicken thigh with skin and bones attached. Skin and bones do the important part to give flavour and juiciness to the meat. Other foods which are good for karaage are octopus, white fish (e.g. whiting, snapper, cod) and blue fish (e.g. sardine, mackerel). At my house in Japan, we used to eat karaage with a dipping sauce consisting 50% mayonnaise and 50% worcestershire sauce. Some people prefers eating karaage with soy sauce, salt, chili powder or ponzu. D loves eating karaage with mayonnaise and chili sauce. He loved the chili sauce at Mr Samurai on Barrack street, but we don’t know where we can get the same chili sauce from… Does anyone know?? Currently he uses Srirachang chili sauce.

Fruity Cinnamon Rolls

D and I have been having a craving for sweet rolls these days…   It’s great to wake up in the morning with freshly baked bread with a cup of coffee, isn’t it?? 🙂

I made some with lots of dried fruits and a hint of cinnamon.

It’s was a pretty cold day, but it took only 2 hours to make these.

The texture is like between bread and … ummm scone?  muffin?  It turned out to be more like cake-type bread.

<Fruity Cinnamon Rolls>

a:

• 4 cups plain flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 10g dry yeast
• 300ml milk, warm
• 100g unsalted butter, melted
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt

b:

• 2 cups mixed dried fruits
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2.5 tsp cinnamona

c:

• apricot jam

a

1. Place all the ingredients from “a” in a bowl.  Using a dough hook, turn on the machine to mix the dough for 5 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic.  You can knead by hands, too.
2. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and set aside in a warm place for 30 mins to prove, or until doubled in size.
3. Punch down dough, remove from bowl and knead lightly.  Roll dough to rectangle .
4. Sprinkle “b” all over dough.
5. Roll up dough to enclose filling.  Cut into 2cm slices.  Place in a deep baking pan lined with baking sheet.  Prove another 30 mins.
6. Preheat oven to 180℃. Bake for 20~30 mins, or until cooked.
7. Place apricot jam in a heat proof cup and microwave until smooth.  While the rolls are hot, brush jam over top to glaze.

Serve warm or at room temperature. 🙂

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Grilled Salmon Balls

Looking for an easy, healthy snack?  Make these salmon balls with no hassle!

This is another recipe that makes a healthy snack in a flash.  It is grilled, not deep-fried, and all the ingredients are cooked prior to being shaped into balls so it won’t take too long to grill.  You just need to grill both sides to give delicious color and crunchy texture.

If you have left-over mashed potato, this is the snack you can make on next day 🙂

<Salmon Balls>

• 1 tin (around 450g) salmon
• 1 cup mashed potatoes
• 1 tbs chopped herb (I used basil, but coriander will be a great one too)
• 1 egg
• 2~3 tbs bread crumbles

1. Drain the salmon.
2. Mix everything in a mixing bowl.  Season.
3. Shape into balls.  Flatten the centre.
4. Heat a non-stick fry pan, and lightly spray with oil.  Grill the salmon balls until coloured and crispy.

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Winter Breakfast

Today’s breakfast – chicken porridge and spring rolls 🙂
Eating hot breakfast gives you energy and power to kick start a day!

Porridge is very easy to prepare in a slow cooker, and needs just two ingredients: rice and chicken mince.  1.5 cups of rice makes about 6 serves.  (my old post → recipe)  I usually eat it with toppings of fried shallots & lemongrass, spring onions and cut chili.  Sometimes with char kwee, parsley leaves, char siu pork, or omelette, too.

I made the spring rolls with leftover vegetables from coleslaw. The weather is bit too cold for salad now, so I used the shredded cabbage and red onion to the spring roll stuffing.  Add some chicken mince and other vegetables (if you have), and season with oyster sauce, shrimp paste, sweet chili, soy sauce and ginger.  Don’t forget to thicken the liquid with cornflour + water.  Then, wrap the mixture in spring roll sheets, and deep-fry.  Here you are – a delicious crispy low-budget snack. 🙂

Now, off to mothers’ group!

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Miso Yakitori

Yakitori, grilled skewered-chicken dish, is usually seasoned with either salt (shio) or soy sauce-based sauce (tare), but here is another option.  Brush the chicken with sweet miso paste while grilling –  it gives the shine and great sweet miso taste to the chicken 🙂

<Miso Yakitori> serves 4

• 4 fillets chicken thigh
• spring onion stalks / cucumber
• 3 tbs red miso paste
• 1.5 tbs sake (cooking wine)
• 1.5 tbs mirin (sweet cooking wine)
• 1.5 tbs sugar

a

1. Soak the skewers in water for 30 minutes.
2. Cut the chicken into cubes.  Chop onion and cucumber into 2cm.
3. Skewer the chicken and spring onion/cucumber alternatively.
4. Mix the miso, sake, mirin and sugar.
5. Heat a grill pan and spray oil.  Place the chicken skewers and grill one side, then flip it around.
6. Start brushing the miso mixture to the chicken.  (miso gets burned easily)  Brush one side, then flip it around, brush another side, … continue until the chicken is cooked.
7. Serve with steamed rice ♪ or a glass or beer.

Ozoni – mochi soup –

Ozoni, or mochi soup, is a Japanese holiday meal traditionally prepared on New Year’s Day.  The type of ozoni is different in different area in Japan – some area use round mochi while other use square mochi, some people bake mochi before adding to the soup while other people simply soften the mochi in hot water, and the soup is just seasoned with soy sauce and salt in some area while some people in different area add miso to the soup.

In my house, we normally add miso to the soup.  The mochi is sometimes baked before adding to the soup, but not always.  I’m not sure adding miso to the ozoni is Shiga thing, but I remember eating ozoni in miso soup at my brother’s karate party when we were kids. The party was at Biwa Lake bank in winter, after kangeiko (mid-winter training).  All kids in karate uniform went inside the lake and do some work-out in the freezing water.  Watching it made me wonder how they could survive in the water in such a cold day.  Karate uniform is not water proof!  After a hour of training, we all ate ozoni near the fire.  It was so delicious!

I  used mochi I bought from an Asian grocery shop.  This mochi is cut into portions and individually wrapped.

You can add any ingredients to the soup – more you add it develops more flavour.  This time I only used simple ingredients : burdock roots, carrots and spring onions.  I didn’t bother baking mochi, but it will give delicious nutty flavour if you do.

<ozoni> serves 4

• 4 mochi cakes
• 1 cup frozen burdock roots, shredded
• 1/2 carrot, jullienne
• 2 tbs chopped spring onions
• 4 cups water
• 1 tsp dashi stock powder
• 2.5 ~ 3 tbs miso paste
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 tsp roasted white sesame seeds

a

1. Place water into a pot, and bring to the boil.  Add dashi stock to dissolve.
2. Add burdock roots and carrot to the pot.  Simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat, and add miso paste.  Mix well.  Add spring onions.
4. Turn on the heat to low, and gently simmer for another few minutes.  Add mirin, and then turn off the heat.
5. Add  mochi to the soup to warm up, or bake in an oven toaster.
6. Place one mochi in a serving bowl, and pour the soup.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

a

Taiyaki

Taiyaki, fish-shaped baked Japanese sweet, is one of my favourite snack.  This is a kind of stall-food you buy at festivals or shrine on New Year’s Day, but now you can also buy from the food courts in shopping centres or some convenience stores across Japan.  The original filling is azuki an – red bean paste, but there are more varieties such as custard cream and chocolate.

At the shop they use this type of big grill to make taiyaki, but there’s a small version of this to use at home.

The weather like today makes me miss taiyaki. It should be eaten warm, and is kind of a winter sweet.  I don’t have a taiyaki maker at home, so I bought a pack of frozen taiyaki from an Asian grocery shop.

I warmed it up in the microwave, then toasted in a toaster oven to make it crunchy outside.  Eating it with vanilla ice cream gives you the contrast of hot and cold, and the texture of crunchiness of the skin and melty ice cream.

Yuuummmm!

a

Creamy Curry Pilaf

I made this creamy curry risotto to accompany the spicy roasted chicken which I picked up from a poultry shop.  It’s very easy to make, and delicious ♪  I think you should try this!

a

<Creamy Curry Pilaf> serves 2

• 2 cups cooked rice
• 4 green beans, chopped
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 10cm spring onion stalks, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1.5 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 50ml cream

a

1. Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in a large frying pan.  Saute onion, garlic, and curry powder until fragrant.
2. Add green beans, tomato, and rice.  Stir, and pour chicken stock.  Bring to gentle boil, and turn down the heat to simmer for few minutes, until the liquid is almost gone.
3. Stir in cream, and season well.  Remove from the heat, and serve on a plate.

a

Teriyaki Squid

This grilled squid in sweet soy sauce-based sauce is great item to accompany beer or a bowl of steamed rice.  You can also chop it up and add to fried rice/noodles, or simply as a topping for salads.

It’s best to grill the squid in open flame to give delicious flavour, but cooking in a frying pan will just do the job.

<Teriyaki Squid>

• 6 baby squid
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 2 tbs mirin
• 2 tbs sugar

a

1. Turn on a pan over high heat, and lightly spray oil.  Grill squid until coloured.
2. Add the remaining ingredients to the pan, and cook until the liquid is reduced and caramelized.

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.

aa

Salty Caramel Popcorn

D has been craving for this sweet and salty popcorn.  Personally, I don’t really like too-sugary food, but I remember the popcorn sister-in-law brought us long time ago (post) and I decided to make some at home.

I have many machines and tools for the kitchen, but this popcorn machine has been one of the best-buy.  (post) It makes popcorns using hot air (no oil), and they are my favourite healthy snack.  I don’t add salt or butter to it.  D, however, doesn’t seem to enjoy the plain non-flavour popcorn :p   I’m the only one who uses this machine in this house now.  It’s a shame, this machine looks so cute and works very well.

The caramel is sweet and sticky. I would probably get sick of it if it’s just sweet caramel popcorn, but because of the slight saltiness it became addictive delicious snack.  It’s a great way to use up old popcorns (plain) too.

I tried the recipe from Best Recipes , and added salt once the caramel is cool.

Here is the recipe:

• 1/2 cups corn kernel –  air popped
• 60g unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 tsp honey
• salt

1. Place the butter, sugar and honey in a small sauce pan, and bring to the boil.  Cook until it turns to caramel colour without stirring.
2. Pour the caramel into a bowl of popcorns, and mix through quickly using a spatula.
3. Transfer the popcorns into baking sheet to cool down.
4. Break up the popcorn, and sprinkle salt.  Mix through.

When handling caramel, be careful not to burn yourself as the caramel is very very hot.  To wash the sauce pan, simply fill with water and bring it to boil.  Caramel is very difficult to wash when it’s cold.

a