leftover mochi

I usually buy these teeny mochi for New Years because I don't want to have any leftover.

Well, the other night after dinner, we wanted a little something extra, and I had 4 of these teeny mochi, so I pan fried them in some butter then topped with some saku saku shoyu almond (crunchy almonds soaked in shoyu and other seasonings)

The butter and nuts got a little burnt, but it was still so good!

thank you

Just before Thanksgiving, friend Val, sent us these mixes by Hawaii's Best Hawaiian Haupia. (Thank you!)

Whenever I bake I try to adjust recipes so that it will only use 50 grams of butter and 1 egg.

Well, to use this butter mochi brownie mix, I needed to relax this rule...

I was too lazy to grease an 8 x 8 pan and put the batter into 10 muffin papers instead. 

It wasn’t until someone mentioned on Instagram that I realized I also needed to adjust the baking time...oops!

(At least clean up was super easy !)

Still, this came out great! butter mochi meets brownie.

The bag directs you to refrigerate the leftovers but since it is only the 2 of us, I wrapped each in plastic wrap and put them into the freezer.

I hope the texture won't change too much.

Look forward to trying the other mixes in the coming months.

the past couple of days

Satoshi went back to work today, so I have some time to post.

On New Years Eve day, we had toshikoshi soba for lunch.

Although we had more soba than soup...

Then for New Years Eve dinner we had all sorts of nibbles.

New Years Day morning.. we had ozoni with mochi in it, some sekihan (reddish rice with azuki beans), and o-toso (which is just a little sip of sake to ward off illnesses and to start the new year).

We went to several of the shrines that we normally do for Hatsumode (first prayers of the New Year).

While standing in line to get to the prayer area of a shrine, we saw this huge tai (sea bream), just hanging in front of an izakaya (Japanese pub).

Huge, yeah?!

I was surprised no cats had attacked it...

Dinner was o-sechi, the foods that are normally eaten during this holiday...I've written about this previously,here.

I'm super thankful for pre-made stuff and not having to do these foods from scratch.

On the 2nd, we braved the crowds of the department store to pick up some bento.

Luckily, we knew what we wanted to get, so we were in and out of there rather quickly...it was super nuts!

We brought the bento and went to visit MIL.

This year is the Year of the Dog.

I noticed this origami dog on MIL's calendar, so we cut it out and folded it into the dog.

We saw the Super Moon as we walked home from the train station.

And then last night, we were craving some meat, so we had some steak with mango chutney and other nibbles.

With all the eating I did, I definitely need to get some walking in...

Hopefully you all had a great holiday season.

re-vamped

I recently re-vamped cabbage mochi by adding some dried sakura ebi (sergia lucens) and green onions.

Got a thumbs up from Satoshi...I guess I'll make this version again.

If I'm not mistaken, Golden Week starts today...

cabbage mochi

We recently received a lot of plain mochi (no filling).

I froze most of them. And with 3 of them I made this...cabbage mochi.

This is a pupu (appetizer) eaten in Fukushima prefecture. I learned about this one from that same show, Kenmin Show, that showcases different foods from the various prefectures in Japan.

Makes about 3 or 4 servings

1 small head of cabbage, cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon of oil
3 mochi (rice cakes), cut into bite sized pieces
some water
1/4 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
2 tablespoons shoyu
1 tablespoon sake (rice wine)

Cut your cabbage & mochi into bite sized pieces
Add the oil to a heated pan and put the cabbage in
When the cabbage is almost wilted, add the mochi and a little water to steam
Just before the mochi starts to melt, add the mirin, shoyu & sake
Cook for about 3 minutes and serve

NOTES: this recipe actually asks you to add freshly made mochi, but we didn't have any, so I added the ones we received and steamed them along with the cabbage to soften. There weren't any measurements for the condiments, so what I have here is what I used. If you do use freshly made mochi, cook the cabbage to your liking with the condiments and add the mochi at the end.

Super easy and a different type of beer chaser.

ba-le

These have probably been around for awhile, but we just noticed them at our local Ba-Le...puffed mochi rice.

The lady that owns the shop says that a Thai grandma makes them for her.

You know anything made by someone's grandma has to be good.

I found this recipe online and think this is how it is made.

They aren't too sweet and really addicting.

last colors of fall

The fall foliage was a bit late this year what with all the temps going up and down.

On top of that there were many days on the weekends where it rained.

Luckily we were able to catch the last glimpses of fall this past Sunday.

We started off at Tofukuji. We visited this temple last year, which I wrote about here.

Somehow there seemed to be a ton more people out and about this time around.

Between tiny spurts of sunshine we made our way around the grounds.

With all the tons of people there was a lot of waiting in lines, the ladies restroom, to get into the garden, just about everywhere there was a line for something.

I guess that is the downside when you get out and about during a popular season.

It was amazing how many leaves had already fallen.

Satoshi was concerned about who had to rake up all the leaves.

After visiting Tofukuji, we decided to visit the family grave at Sennyuji.

But before doing that, we figured lunch would be late so we decided to re-fuel with a couple of snacks...

Yakimochi...yomogi mochi (mugwort rice cake) filled with sweet bean paste...150 yen.

Love how the outside gets a little crisp from the grilling.

And a stick of kushidango (rice cake on a stick)...100 yen.

Both are grilled to order and served piping hot.

The stick from the kushidango was removed before served, which made it easy to eat.

The shoyu glaze makes a nice sweet-salty combination.

Lunch turned out to be very late (2-ish), because we had a late start out and because the line for the place we wanted to eat at was LONG.

The place was a tsukemono buffet, Akoyachaya, which I had heard about.

Tsukemono are pickled veggies. You should know that Satoshi loves tsukemono, even if he is supposed to watch his salt intake.

This buffet serves 25 different types of tsukemono, a piece of tofu, miso soup, rice and tea....1280 yen.

There are three types of rice to choose from...white rice, 16-grain rice and o-kayu (rice porridge).

You can eat as much rice and tsukemono as you want, no time limit. (Usually buffet places in Japan limit your eating time to 90 minutes or 120 minutes depending on the place.)

Satoshi tried all the different types of rice and all the tsukemono.

I liked all the different tsukemono too, especially the ones that used yuzu (citron).

Even though we liked this place, we agreed that this place is in a very touristy area and we probably wouldn't come back, unless maybe to bring out-of-town guests to try.

Akoyachaya
3-343 Kiyomizu (top of Ninenzaka)
Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.531.0056
Open: 11:00-16:30

lup cheong rice

Earlier this year I made a rice dish using xiang chang (the fresh version of lup cheong, a chinese sausage), which I wrote about here.

Well, on my last trip back to Hawaii, I brought back a can of chicken stock (which is really hard to get in Japan) and some lup cheong (dried Chinese sausage).

I washed 1/2 a cup of mochi rice and 1/2 a cup of white rice.

For the liquid, I used a half cup of stock and half cup of water.

Then I threw in the last piece of xiang chang (fresh chinese sausage) I had and some pieces of lup cheong into the rice cooker.

And when it was done, I added a handful of green onions.

This tasted just as I remembered it, thanks for the recipe Mom!

cocoa berry mochi (part 2)

The weather was nice on Saturday.

I had ingredients to make another batch of Cocoa Berry Mochi, which is actually 1/2 of the recipe that is linked.

The first time around I made it in a 8 inch x 8 inch pan, so this time around I tried making this in muffin papers.

It turned out that there was enough batter for 8. My muffin pan makes only 6 so I made the remaining 2 in ramekins.

Because I was too lazy to grease the ramekin, I placed the muffin paper in the ramekin and baked them on my turntable.

I think this way came out better than the first time. The mochi really rose. I didn't add chocolate chips this time and was happy with the chocolatiness of this version.

kamuro

season around here, though this year, the strawberries are apparently very expensive because of the bad weather.

I tried Kamuro's ichigo daifuku recently.

The mochi (rice cake) outside is like a fluffy marshmallow and besides the whole strawberry in the middle, what usually is a sweet bean paste, is instead made from egg yolk and milk and the texture is like a whipped custard.

Super light and delicious. I'm glad I only bought one otherwise I would have eaten more.

the past couple of days

Happy New Year! It is already the 3rd day of the year here. Satoshi had to go to work today but I wanted to tell you about the past couple of days.
December 31st...we went to our favorite soba shop to eat toshikoshi soba, but they were closed, so we ended up eating a nice bowl of kim chee ramen at Hanamichi. That night, I made some appetizers for dinner. One was this German potato dish. Thinly sliced potato, onions, weiners sauteed in a teaspoon of mayo. When the potatoes were cooked, everything was then sauteed in a teaspoon of whole seed mustard.

Dessert were these ichigo mochi from Senjyuan (the fillings were different for each, pink = koshian (smooth bean paste), yellow = kuri (chestnut), green = tsubushian (chunky bean paste). Just as the sun set, we were able to see the planets line up.

January 1st...we went over to my MIL's and had lunch of o-sechi. Can you believe that the white orchids that bloomed on my FIL's birthday are still alive? We were amazed at how long they are lasting.

After a nap, we headed to Kitano Tenmangu to pray for the new year. While at Kitano Tenmangu, we picked up some chogoromochi for dessert. After our prayers, we visited with a team mate of Satoshi's from his little league days.

January 2nd...my BIL came over and took us to visit Satoshi's grandma at the home she is in. She has her good days and bad days, luckily we caught her on a good day. Though she didn't remember any of our names, it was nice to see her. We all couldn't believe that she will be 101 this year. We were thankful that she isn't on medication and despite her legs, is in pretty good health.

For lunch, my MIL took us to a restaurant in her neighborhood, Sara. They were having a prix fixe menu.

This restaurant looks rather new and they use a lot of fresh and local ingredients, mainly Kyoto veggies. Kyo-yasai, as it is called are mostly organic. It is sort of a brand name for Kyoto, but the quality of the vegetables are quite high and you can find them in most department stores.
For 6000 yen (about U$60) per person, there was a long dish filled with different appetizers. A spicy soup made with miso and karashi (Japanese mustard) and ebi imo (Kyoto dasheen). A plate of sashimi (tai (sea bream), toro (fatty tuna), ika (squid)).

Sekihan steamed with unagi, takenoko (bamboo shoot) and Kyoto tsukemono. Tempura--renkon sandwiching crab, eggplant and green pepper. A chawan mushi (savory custard) filled with yuri-ne (lily bulb) and hamaguri (clam) topped with nanohana (canola blossoms) and grated ginger. Buri (yellowtail) grilled with a teriyaki sauce and some kuromame (sweet black beans)


Kamo dango (duck dumpling) with Kyo-yasai (Kyoto veggies). There was also some o-sumashi (clear broth), rice and tsukemono (pickles). Dessert was a coconut pudding, a slice of melon and pear.

It was a great couple of days, lots of food, lots of family, lots of chatting. Hope you have a great week.

Sara
9 Hatsune-cho, Koyama
Kita-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.496.1155
Closed on Mondays
Lunch from 12:00-14:00 (last order at 13:30)
Dinner from 17:30-21:00 (last order at 20:00)

rainy foodie sunday

Sunday was forecasted for rain but that didn't stop Satoshi and I from checking out Toji--a temple near the JR Kyoto Station which has a open market on the 21st of each month. As soon as we arrived in Kyoto, the rain was coming down really hard. By the time we walked to Toji (it is about 10 minutes), we were soaked (even with umbrellas)! Still, there were tons of people at the market. There were so many stalls filled with fresh fruits, vegetables and many vendors cooking up yummy "fast foods" like takoyaki, taiyaki and yakisoba.

On the property there is a 5 story pagoda and many halls filled with artifacts and large statues of buddhas. Very nice.

One of the places we got to visit was Kanchiin, this had a spectacular garden. Luckily we were inside when another heavy shower decided to pass over.

A few doors down from Toji, is a small mochi (rice cake) shop, called Toji mochi. This place has been in business since 1910. From September to April they grill the mochi out in front of the store.

We got a yomogi mochi (210 yen about US$2.10) and the Toji mochi (a soft daifuku filled with smooth sweet bean paste 130 yen about US$1.30) The yomogi mochi was delicious hot off the grill and the Toji Mochi was nice and soft...both were great.

Toji mochi
Tojimonmae-machi 88
Minami-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.671.7639
Open 7:00-20:00
Closed every month on the 6th, 16th & 26th

It was lunchtime so we headed to JR Isetan in the JR Kyoto station. They were having a Hokkaido fair so we went to have lunch at the sushi shop. Satoshi had the seafood chirashi (2415 yen about US$24.15) and I had the matsu nigiri (1680 yen about US$16.80). Satoshi enjoyed all the different seafood and my nigiri was just right.

As we wandered around the fair we also bought a potato curry pan (201 yen about US$2)...spicy and a half of a potato inside...delicious. Oh and those inari sushi in the upper left corner were part of my dinner.

It was a great foodie adventure despite the random downpours.

I wanted to show this HUGE pile of an (sweet bean paste) that I saw at a taiyaki stand...yum!

Hope you have a great week.

zenzai or shiruko

In Japan, many of the same things have different names in different parts of the country, especially food.

For example, in Kansai (Western Japan), zenzai is tsubushian (chunky sweet bean paste) mixed with water to make a soup-like treat and mochi (rice cake) is then added to it. In Kanto (Eastern Japan), this is called inaka shiruko (country sweet red bean soup).

In Kansai, shiruko is koshian (smooth sweet bean paste) mixed with water to make a soup-like treat and shiratama (rice flour dumplings) are added to it. In Kanto, this is called gozen shiruko (a high-class sweet red bean soup).

In Kansai, kameyama is mochi topped with tsubushian and there is no "soup" and is supposed to resemble a mountain in Kyoto. In Kanto, this is called zenzai.

What is all this leading up to? Well, today was REALLY cold, I think the weatherguy said that the highest it would be was 7C(44F). I was hoping for flurries, but no luck. So, anyway, for dinner, I wanted to make a dessert that would be warm...

At the market, I found these cute little mochi, so I also bought some tsubushian and some strawberries.

I followed the directions on the package of mochi and heated 3 of them up. After heating them, I cut each one in half.

Then I heated 100g of tsubushian with 50cc (about a 1/4 cup) of water until it was soupy.

I cut 3 strawberries into fourths.

Put 3 mochi into a bowl, add the "soup" and top with 6 pieces of strawberry...Kat's Kansai-style zenzai or a deconstructed ichigo daifuku...whatever you decide to call it...it is delicious!

NOTES: this makes 2 "cute" bowls or 1 serving.

mochi

The New Year was actually quiet, Satoshi had to go on a business trip, so it was just me. It was nice though, I didn't make the traditional dishes and stretched one recipe of bulgogi for dinners.

One thing I bought on New Year's Eve was mochi. They had a little kiosk selling all sorts of different mochi at the supermarket. The mochi was made by a Japanese confectionary called Senjyuan from Tokushima in Shikoku.

The black one was called kanoko and was koshian (smooth bean paste) covered with whole sweet adzuki beans. I've had one called kanoko where the smooth bean paste was covered in bits of kuri(chestnut).

The other one I got was a sanshoku dango (tri-colored skewered rice cakes) except these were filled with different types of an (sweet bean paste). The green one was filled with tsubushian (chunky sweet bean paste), the white one was filled with koshian (smooth bean paste) and the pink one was filled with uguisu mame (sweetened green peas). The mochi was so soft and easy to eat.

Did you know that every year in Japan there are deaths relating to elderly people choking on mochi? Well, the start of this new year was unfortunately no exception.

I hope the New Year will be a good one for all of you and if you are eating mochi, please chew it well.

nu daifuku

If you've been reading this blog, you'll know that I've been kind of crazed with making mochi (rice cakes). Last week, I made ichigodaifuku, and yomogi mochi.

Well, the western style mochi that I wanted to try is nutella daifuku or nu (new) daifuku (get it?).

Anyway, it was my first time to open a bottle of nutella (what?!) and to try it. Talk about heavenly stuff! (Why haven't I bought this before?) It is so creamy!

Only problem was trying to stuff mochi with it. It is a bit too runny. In the past, I've put peanut butter into these mochi (you HAVE to try this version also!) and also a peanut butter chocolate spread (remember Jif's chocolate silk?) both are, as Rachel Ray would say, "yum-o"!

So, the oozy nutella wouldn't stay in the mochi...it still tasted great!

One question I have though, the bottle says "do not refrigerate", the weather here is getting warm, will it be alright for it to stay out?

yomogi mochi

I've been on some kind of "wa" (japanese) kick these days. For some reason I want to eat mochi or a Japanese type of sweet. Maybe it was my success making these, but today I wanted to try something a little different. Yomogi mochi. Yomogi is mugwort, the Japanese word sounds much nicer than the English translation. Yomogi is actually a weed (no, I don't think you can smoke it), and you can often find it amongst other weeds outside. Sometimes yomogi mochi is also called kusamochi (literally weed rice cake).

I bought the yomogi dried. You have to reconstitute it in hot water to get it to the consistency to use for mochi making.

I followed the daifuku recipe which I posted previously and added the reconstituted yomogi after cooking the mochi for 4 minutes in the micro. I then put a dollop of koshian in the middle and sealed them up.

The mochi was so soft and the sweetness from the koshian was just enough. I think next week I'll make a western version mochi. Stay tuned!