easy pupu

I saw this photo in one of my news feeds and had to try making this.

(photo from the internet)
 

for 1 or 2 servings:

180-200 grams maguro (tuna) kiriotoshi (bits)

1.5 tablespoons shio konbu (or more if you wish) (sometimes called shiofuki konbu)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

Mix everything in a bowl and serve

NOTES: this was delicious

I like that this recipe uses sashimi bits, the “bits” are the parts leftover after they slice the fish for “real” sashimi the quality is still there, just that the pieces are not so big

In Japan, meats are also sold this way, and is usually cheaper

I didn't have shio konbu, so I just used the hijiki furikake that I had

And didn't use the full amount of furikake/konbu that the recipe called for just 1 teaspoon

Instead of mixing it with the other ingredients, I just layered everything onto the plate

I think this would be good with a sashimi assortment, so I want to try this again.

yakishisomaki

Been wanting to recreate this ever since coming across this at the market

I see them in the markets frequently so I've never tried the recipe I had bookmarked 

Yakishisomaki is a dish found in Tohoku, they eat it as pupu (appetizer), have it with Japanese tea, add it to their bento.

Each family has their own recipe so there are different ones all around the internet.

I made up this based on different recipes for the ingredients I had and for the amount I wanted to make.

Please adjust the recipe to your dietary needs and if you want to make more than the amount I made.

If you do use white miso, you might need to adjust the sugar since I feel white miso tends to be a little sweeter than other types.

Kat’s yakishisomaki : makes 2 skewers

6 shiso leaves, washed, dried, stems cut off

5 grams nuts, weighed then chopped medium fine

10 grams miso

7 grams sugar, I used brown

shichimi (seven spice mixture)

2 toothpicks

1 tablespoon of oil

Mix the miso with the sugar then add the nuts and shichimi

It will come to a thick paste

Portion the mixture into 6

Face the dull side of the leaf upward and put the point of the leaf pointing towards you

Put the miso mixture near the point then roll the point tightly upwards 

Skewer the roll with the toothpick

Repeat until you have 3 rolls on 1 toothpick

Heat the oil in a pan on medium and fry for about 30 seconds on each side

Drain on a paper towel

Enjoy!

NOTES: this was delicious and easy to make

Tohoku produces walnuts, so that is the nut that I used, but you can use whatever nuts you have on hand.

If you are allergic to nuts, you may want to use ground sesame seeds instead.

Also, if you want to freeze them, fry them first then put them into the freezer.

I’m not sure if there is a symbolic reason why 3 rolls are on a 1 skewer other than it just might be easier to fry many rolls at once.

I'll make this again.

trying more recipes

I saw this online and wanted to try.

The online version used hoshigaki (dried persimmon), but I only had ichidagaki which is a harder type of dried persimmon.

What you do is split it down the center, take out the seeds then put in a schmear of cream cheese.

The version I saw online, cuts the kaki with the cream cheese into rounds.

This was good as pupu, but I'll look for softer dried persimmons so that I can try this again. 

On the recipe sheet from Shuetsu there was also a recipe for tartar sauce.

Which reminded me of this recipe.

Again, I ad-libbed because the portions seemed a lot.

Tartar sauce : translated from Shuetsu

1 boiled egg, mashed

30 grams fukujinzuke, minced

8 grams fukujinzuke "sauce"

35 grams mayo

8 grams vinegar

parsley

salt to taste

Mix well and add salt to taste

NOTES: I used a 7 minute boiled egg, 15 grams of fukujinzuke, 1 gram fukujinzuke "sauce", 1/2 teaspoon vinegar 

I didn't measure how much mayo I used but didn't use too much 

I didn't have parsley but think this will add some color and more texture to the tartar sauce

I omitted the salt and added some pepper instead

We had this with beef rolls, which is what the Japanese tartar sauce I noted above is eaten with and it was delicious.

I'm glad I tried this recipe and look forward to trying a couple more on the sheet.

hishidaya's shumai

Shumai, what we call "pork hash" in Hawaii can be found all over Japan.

I was able to borrow Hishidaya's cookbook from the library and scribbled down the recipe for their shumai.

Unlike the "cute" shumai you find at most Chinese restaurants around Japan, their shumai is HUGE.

I didn't make them huge like their recipe, instead I used the ingredient portions they noted in their recipe and made them into "normal" sized shumai.

I am sharing my adapted version.

Hishidaya's shumai : makes 24

400 grams ground pork

2 tablespoons oyster sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons cornstarch

pepper

24 shumai wrappers

Mix everything together and them spoon into the shumai wrappers

Steam on medium heat for 8-10 minutes.

NOTES: I didn't read the recipe correctly and ended up omitting the onion that they put into the meat mixture.

If you want to add onion, add about 50 grams (1/4 onion) minced to the mixture with 2.5 teaspoons of cornstarch.

After watching many youtube videos on how to form shumai, I still couldn't get the hang of it and my shumai were uneven and pretty ugly looking.

I steamed this in a frying pan with parchment paper and water, but would steam on shredded cabbage and parchment next time.

I omitted the 2 teaspoons of ginger juice that the original recipe notes because I was lazy and didn’t want to defrost some ginger, but would try adding some the next time I make these.

When steaming, I also want to try covering it with a wet cloth to see if the “tops” will stay moist, it looked a bit dry.

Still, this was super tasty and was "inhaled" by "someone".

Since the shumai had so much seasoning in it, we ate this with black vinegar only, though a little karashi (mustard) would've been nice too.

I would definitely make this again.

cream cheese soaked in tamari

Cream cheese worked better than mozzarella.

If you want to try, I would suggest soaking it in this mixture at least overnight.

Translated from the internet

2 tablespoons tamari shoyu

2 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoons sake

36 grams cream cheese (2 pieces 18 grams each)

Heat mirin and sake and bring to a boil to burn off alcohol...about 3 minutes.

Take off the heat and add the shoyu

When everything is cooled, add your cheese.

NOTES: easy and tasty. 

The cream cheese I buy is in individually wrapped "cubes"/ squares that are 18 grams each.

When I made the sauce I thought it wouldn’t be enough and doubled it, so I had quite a bit leftover after soaking the cheese in it…(the recipe above is the original amounts.)

So, with part of the remaining sauce, I squeezed in some lemon to make ponzu and have been using the rest of the sauce as I would shoyu.

Something different but delicious.

I would definitely make this again.

mozzarella soaked in tamari

The other day, I was watching the news and the announcer was talking about pizza and how they had used mozzarella soaked in tamari to top the pizza.

It sounded delicious, so I searched online and found a recipe.

I bought some mini mozzarella and soaked it in the tamari mixture for about 6 hours as suggested.

We didn’t have it melted on pizza, just ate it as is.

I thought it would have more flavor but it didn’t, I guess mozzarella can be a bit bland?!

After a day of soaking, it had way more flavor.

I want to try soaking cream cheese in this next.

If it turns out, will post the recipe here.

Stay tuned.

tako pesto salad

I was able to gather most of the ingredients for this copycat salad that I tried from 7-eleven.

If I am not mistaken 7-eleven sells this as a pupu (appetizer) rather than as a salad.

I don’t have exact measurements so just ad-lib if you do try it.

1 tako leg, boiled, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 small head broccoli, steamed, cut into bite sized pieces

2 small potatoes, peeled and boiled, cut into eighths

handful of edamame, cooked then shelled

2 or 3 tablespoons pesto (basil, mac nuts, oil, parmesan cheese)

After everything is cooled

Gently mix everything together with pesto

NOTES: so easy and tasty! makes about 2 servings

The original dish has celery in it but I couldn’t find any at the market, so I left it out.

Most markets sell tako legs already boiled in the seafood section, so this was easy for me to put together.

When I made my pesto, I made a small batch (2 or 3 tablespoons) using a handful of basil leaves, small handful of toasted mac nuts and a small clove of garlic.

I put everything into a food processor and drizzled in some oil.

Then before mixing it with the tako and other ingredients I added 1 teaspoon of grated parmesan cheese.

Try to make this ahead so everything can meld while it is chilling in the fridge.

I served this on butter lettuce 

If I have all the ingredients together I would definitely make this again.

shiofuki piman

Super easy recipe that I saw on a television commercial.

It uses piman (bell pepper) and shiokonbu (seaweed that is seasoned then dried).

The bell peppers in Japan are very small like 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.

Shiofuki piman : adapted from Fujikko website : serves 2

3 piman (bell peppers), cleaned then sliced thin lengthwise

1 tablespoon shiofuki konbu

1 tablespoon sesame oil

sesame seeds

Heat the oil in a pan then add the bell peppers

When everything is coated with the oil, cook the bell pepper to your liking

Add the konbu and cook until the konbu's seasoning turn from white to black.

Sprinkle some sesame seed and serve.

NOTES: super easy, great for a side dish, for bento, for pupu (appetizer)/beer chaser.

The recipe actually uses a combination of red and green bell peppers, but I only had green on hand so that is what I used.

Since the bell pepper in the US are bigger you could probably use just 1 for the amount of shiofuki konbu I have written above.

You can alter the amount of konbu and bell peppers to your tastes.

I'll definitely make this again.

pi-chee

Recently learned of this combo called pi-chee (peachy).

In Japanese, bell pepper is called piman (pee-mahn)...chee comes from cheese.

The bell peppers here are teeny.

Cut the bell pepper in half lengthwise and clean.

Fill with cheese then wrap with a thin slice of pork belly.

The way pork belly is sold, actually meat in general, is that everything is put into styrofoam trays so a lot of times you can't tell how long the piece of meat is, or how many pieces there are..which is why the pork belly I bought for this was too short...boo!

Salt and pepper to taste.

Cook for 4 minutes on low in a non-stick pan and flip over and cook for another 4 minutes.

Not really a recipe, yeah?!

NOTES: If possible, try to make sure there are no holes when wrapping the pork or your pi-cheese's cheese will leak out into the pan like mine did.

Also, when eating, be careful as everything inside the bell pepper is super hot!

I'm glad I tried this, it was easy and delicious.

I'll make this again.
 

copy cat trader joes

The other day my Instagram friend, @cre808 posted a picture of some snacks she received from her friend.

One that popped out at me was Trader Joes (TJs) Everything but the Bagel Nut Duo.

Of course we don't have TJs here in Japan, so I looked online to see if they had a list of the ingredients.

They did, so I adapted Ellie Krieger's Spiced Nut recipe and made a small batch for our pupus (appetizers).

If you want to try making your own, here is what I used....

1 cup mixed nuts & pumpkin seeds 

1/2 tablespoon maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon everything but the bagel spice

Mix everything well.

Put on parchment and bake in 170F (325 C) for 15 to 20 minutes (I baked mine for 15).

Cool and keep in airtight container.

NOTES: this was delicious.

A little sweet, salty, garlicky...am definitely making this again!

p.s. have a good week, heard that there is a hurricane approaching Hawaii, please be safe and take care everyone!

beet hummus

I made beet hummus for the first time with a roasted beet I had in the freezer.

The deep pink/magenta color was perfect for the overcast weather.

1 roasted beet (about the size of a fist), peeled & sliced
1 can of garbanzo beans (380 grams), rinsed
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor, whiz everything together to the consistency of your choice.

NOTES: I didn't have sesame paste (tahini) so I used sesame oil instead. My hummus didn't get creamy or a light pink, which I think was due to not using tahini.

Still, I'm glad I tried this.

I froze half and we enjoyed the rest for several dinners over the weekend.

Yesterday, we had snow! for most of the morning.

I think this helped everyone stay at home.

Japan does not have any laws that allow the government to mandate everyone to stay at home.

Because of this, they can only "ask" us to do so.

Many of the surrounding prefectures also "asked" their citizens to stay at home.

Most parks for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) are off limits so no one gathers, benches blocked off as well as park entrances.

Hoping we can cut our numbers this week, though we need the cooperation of everyone.

Have a good week.

ajillo

There is a popular tapas that is served in bars and restaurants called ajillo (ah-hee-yo).

It usually comes to your table in a tiny iron skillet, with either shrimp or mushrooms or both, bubbling away in olive oil and garlic.

Since I've been experimenting with the fish grill drawer, I wanted to try making my own ajillo.

I opened a can of sardines packed in olive oil...then added some diced onion and garlic.

I put the can under the broiler for about 10 minutes...

This was delicious!

While eating dinner on Saturday, Satoshi immediately asked if we had some bread in the house...luckily I did.

Then last night, I made an ajillo from scratch...

I washed the can from the sardines and added some cleaned shrimp cut into bite sized pieces.

I also sprinkled some seasoned salt and added some diced onion and garlic.

Then filled the can up to the lip with olive oil.

I cooked it under the broiler for 10 minutes.

This got the thumbs up from you know who.

NOTES: not really a recipe...this was super easy and delicious with lots of bread.

I'm pretty sure we'll have this again soon.

"saba" goma

Saturday, while Satoshi went to German class, I stayed at home and watched a semi-marathon of "Kodoku no Gurume" and learned of a new dish...saba goma.

Fresh pieces of saba (mackerel) are covered with ground sesame seeds, mirin, sake and shoyu.

The way this dish was eaten on the episode was that the fish was covered with the first three ingredients and dipped in the shoyu just before eaten.

The recipe I found online combines all the ingredients then eaten.

You can use any type of sashimi (raw fish).

I used kanpachi (amberjack) and madai (sea bream) because we rarely see saba sold as sashimi where we live.

Hakata-style saba goma : adapted from Nissui website : serves two

1 piece saba (1/2 a fish)
1 green onion
1/4 piece nori (laver sheet)
1 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)
1/2 tablespoon sake (rice wine)
1/2 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1.5 tablespoons ground sesame seeds

Cut fish into large bite sized pieces
Slice green onion & nori thinly, set aside
Put sauce ingredients together
Put fish into the sauce, coat well
Garnish with green onion and nori
Serve

NOTES: so fast easy and delicious. I only bought two packs of sashimi (each having 5 slices of fish), but would increase the amount of fish to use up the amount of sauce.

I garnished our sashimi with shiso (perilla) because I didn't have nori sheets at home.

This recipe reminded us of something Rakyo, an izakaya in our neighborhood serves.

Will definitely make this again.

With all the uncertainty in the air...our cyclamen plant is still going strong and getting ready to do its thing.

Have a good week everyone.

sabajaga

Recently came upon a site for everything beer (in Japanese only).

Not only do they talk about beer but they have recipes that pair with beer.

I recently tried one of their recipes because I wanted to use up some cilantro and potatoes that I had.

The recipe was super easy and tasty.

Sabajaga from Beergirl.net
1 can saba (mackerel), water packed about 180-200 grams
2 potatoes about 180-200 grams total
cilantro or watercress
shoyu (soy sauce)

Wash and cut potato into cubes.
Cook your potatoes until soft.
Peel the potatoes then mash them.
In a skillet (pan) add the mashed potato and canned fish with the canning water and break up the fish with a wooden spoon
On medium heat, cook until the water evaporates
Add some shoyu
Serve with cilantro or watercress

Beer that they recommended to pair with : IPA

NOTES: Instead of peeling the potatoes after they were cooked, I just washed them well, so I could leave the skins on.

Also instead of mashing them, I just smooshed them a little.

Instead of using shoyu, I put a little of this saku saku shoyu by Kikkoman's Cocoro Dining (photo from internet).

This condiment is super flavorful and I like the crunch from the almonds.

We've used it on salad instead of dressing already.

For this recipe, instead of shoyu or this saku saku type, I think the next time I make this I will use some fish sauce.

And will mash the potato so that when I put it into the pan, it will brown up and form a little crust on the bottom.

I'm glad I tried this and will make it again.

It's another 3-day weekend here (the New Emperor's birthday), hope you have a nice weekend.

saba tartare-style

I was recently watching a program and just knew their recipe would be tasty.

They call it saba (mackerel) tartare-style...If I am not mistaken, tartare is usually raw but this version is cooked.

Saba Tartare Style : about 4 servings : Recipe from NHK Gogonama

1 can water packed mackerel, drained
1 eggplant, diced
10 cherry tomatoes, diced
1 clove garlic, grated
1/2 onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons capers, crushed
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
parsley
salt, pepper to taste

In a pan, heat the oil to medium and add the garlic and onions
When the onions get transparent, add the eggplant, cooking it until it starts to gets soft and has some color
Add the tomatoes, capers and then the mackerel, breaking the fish up with a wooden spoon
Add the vinegar and cook until most of the liquid evaporates
Salt and pepper to taste
If serving warm or cold, add the parsley before serving

NOTES: During the program they mentioned that this time of year we can get the end of summer veggies along with the start of autumn veggies, so this was a nice way to cook with both.

This appetizer was good warm and chilled.

I had this with crackers but think it would be even better with toasted baguette.

Super simple and this would be nice with a dry white wine.

I'm making this again.

tataki kyuuri (smashed cucumber)

Jenny of Maybe It's Jenny, was recently talking about tataki kyuuri (smashed cucumber).

I had bought a cucumber for poke but couldn't find good maguro, so I decided to try making smashed cucumber instead.

The recipe I used was from Shirogohan...If you can read some Japanese or your computer can translate, there are lots of recipes on this site that are great with rice.

I didn't add the grated ginger as the recipe directs, but will definitely try this again with some grated ginger.

2 cucumbers
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 teaspoons vinegar
1.5 teaspoons shoyu
1/4 teaspoon salt (if needed)

Smash your cucumbers...video to show you how here
Break the smashed cucumber with your hands into smaller pieces
Grate the ginger
Add the sauce ingredients
Mix well

NOTES: This is great way to relieve stress!

And it is so easy to put together, no cooking involved.

I would make this a couple hours before eating (even maybe a day before), so the cucumber has some time to soak in the sauce.

Definitely making this again...thanks Jenny for the inspiration!

david lebovitz's venetian style sardines

Last night I made an adapted batch of David Lebovitz's venetian style sardines, which can be found in "The Sweet Life in Paris".

His version directs you to fry the fresh sardines, but of course, I took the easy way out using canned and sauteed them in the marinade.

The portions I used are below: makes about 2 servings

2 tins canned sardines packed in oil (about 70 grams each can)
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon olive oil

marinade
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sake (rice wine)
chili pepper flakes

handful of dried cherries
handful of pine nuts, toasted

In a frying pan, heat the olive oil and saute the onions until soft
Add the sardines with the packing oil
When the fish is heated through, add the marinade and cherries
Top with pine nuts before serving
Serve with crusty bread

NOTES: I didn't want to fry or go through having to clean the fresh sardines, so I used canned.

Our tinned sardines are quite teeny, so I used 2 cans.

His recipe called for golden raisins but I didn't have any and didn't want to buy, so I just used some dried cherries that I had in the freezer.

Next time I will use the packing oil of only 1 tin.

We enjoyed this...sweet and sour.

Crusty baguette was also nice to mop up all the juices.

I'm definitely thinking about making this again!

smoked saba toasts

Was watching a Nigel Slater show and he talked about smoked mackerel toasts.

Smoked mackerel, cream, cheese and chives...mixed together and then baked onto bread slices.

I adapted this and served them on toast and then on crackers.

1 can smoked mackerel
1/4 red onion, diced
mayo
pepper
cheese

When putting this on toast, I put the cheese on just before toasting.

When we ate this on crackers, I didn't put the cheese.

NOTES: I think mixing the smoked mackerel with cream cheese and onions then nixing the mayo would be delicious too.

Kind of similar to smoked salmon dips.

The can of smoked mackerel is a brand from Shizuoka, I love the packaging.

The fish is caught in the area and packed in olive oil.

Will make this again soon!

spiced mixed nuts

Back in 2014, I tried David Lebovitz's recipe for Spiced Mixed Nuts.

I had used coconut oil then, but didn't like the end result...

Recently, I re-tried it and this time used butter and added pretzels like his recipe instructs...so delicious!

I am thinking to make a small batch again soon...

inari gyoza

There is a new recipe that is getting quite a bit of attention here...Inari Gyoza.

Instead of using gyoza wrappers, you stuff the gyoza filling into an aburage pocket.

The recipe was super easy, so I had to try.

Inari Gyoza by Yanagisawa Hideko : 2 servings

150 grams minced pork
2 handfuls of minced chives
salt
pepper
4 thin aburage (fried tofu)

Cut each aburage in half so that you have a total of 8 pockets.

Carefully open each pocket.

Mix the pork with salt, pepper & chives.

Divide your pork mixture into 8 and stuff each pocket.

In an unoiled pan, fry until the outsides turn a light brown.

NOTES: This recipe was so easy!

The hardest part was opening up the pockets to fill.

Since my packets were quite bulgy, I added some water to the pan, to steam the insides.

It took me about 10 minutes (with flipping every 3 minutes) for it to cook.

I would recommend flattening your packets when frying so that it cooks quickly and evenly.

I would serve this with shoyu or your choice of sauce.

This is a great recipe to cut carbs because you aren't using wrappers.

I'm making these again.

p.s. Today it snowed in Tokyo, it was 54 years ago that it snowed in Tokyo in November! Krazy weather...

p.p.s. Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful for family, friends and you, the readers of our blog...have a delicious one!