yamaya and neko shokupan

V gave us these cans of smoked salmon and scallops that are supposed to be eaten as pupu 

I heated them up in the fish grill

They were delicious! (Thank you!) 

Since we needed coffee, I also looked for different cans at Yamaya for us to try and purchased this pork with honey mustard and chicken that is prepared yakitori style

Changing the subject, back in May I had written that the price of coffee went up, well it went up again!

Now 1 kilo of Mocha Blend or Special Blend is 1980 yen (plus tax) and the Kilimanjaro Blend is 2000 yen (plus tax)...eep!

Across the street of Yamaya is Neko Shokupan, the Christmas versions of Neko (cat) bread are cute!

What are you enjoying?

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.

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.

oktoberfest

We had our own Oktoberfest at home...

According to Satoshi we were supposed to have a lot more beer...ahem!

Friday night we had currywurst (curried ketchup) for the sausages.

Saturday night we had sausages with potatoes sauteed with grainy mustard and a little mayo.

The typhoon that was supposed to hit us,  Talas, #15, over the weekend luckily got downgraded, but not before  dumping lots of rain in Shizuoka and other areas to flood them.

Hopefully everyone will have better weather in the coming days.

Have a good week.

noriten

Have you eaten noriten before?

Pieces of nori that have a fried crunchy batter on one side.

Most times there is a sweet salty sauce on it too.

I was surprised to see it in the pre-made food (sozai/okazu) area of the supermarket.

We had this as part of our pupu party during Golden Week.

pupu potato salad

Stumbled on this combo at the bento shop recently.

They not only sell bento but also pre-made foods and this was in that area…it was so delicious that I had to try recreating it…ajitama, yakibuta (roast pork) and potato salad

I was interested in looking for roast pork & ajitama made together so the flavors would be same and found some at the market the other day.

I cut off the fat from the roast pork and cut it into bite sized pieces.

The ajitama I cut in half then folded everything into the potato salad.

The original potato salad didn’t have veggies in it, but this version works.

If the roast pork or ajitama had a little “sauce” it would have melded better when I mixed it with the potato salad.

Still, this was delicious.

Not really a recipe, but I would definitely make this again.

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.

super easy pupus

Super easy pupus that we had last Friday....

Take some boiled tako (octopus) and cut into bite sized pieces.

Smash 1 Japanese cucumber and break it up into relatively bite sized pieces.

Add 1 tablespoon of kim chee base and mix.

This was the recipe on Momoya's website, but I would probably add a little sesame oil and sesame seeds for a little more flavor.

Torotaku...I read somewhere that you don't actually need to use toro (fatty tuna) for it to be called torotaku, so I used maguro because I couldn’t find toro at the market I was at.

Mince your maguro, takuan and shiso (I used 5 leaves)...add some sesame seeds, mix well.

Serve with nori and shoyu.

I actually wanted to serve this with Korean nori, but Satoshi wanted ajitsuke nori (Japanese seasoned nori).

Since I could not find ajitsuke nori at the store I was at, I served it with yakinori (roasted nori).

Instead I added a little sesame oil to my shoyu.

Not really recipes, but super easy to put together and tasty too.

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.

fishcake tempura

Remember the ikamenchi we had in Tohoku?

Well, when I tasted it, it reminded me of something my mom used to make for parties...

Luckily, the recipe for it was in one of the cookbooks I have...

Fishcake Tempura : "Recipes Please" makes 18-24 more or less depending on how you scoop the mixture

3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup water
1 egg
1/2 cup fishcake (kamaboko), minced
1/4 cup green onion, minced
oil for frying

Combine dry ingredients
Add egg to water and beat until foamy
Mix into dry ingredients, stirring only to moisten dry ingredients
Add kamaboko & green onions
Drop by teaspoonfuls into oil heated to 365F
Fry 1 minute or until delicately brown
Serve with meal or as pupu (appetizer) while hot

NOTES: super close to ikamenchi!
The ikamenchi was on the sweeter side...closer to the flavors mochiko chicken has.

I love how it all came together quickly.

I'm making this again.

yubeshi

When we visited Totsukawa, we picked up a yubeshi. A hollowed out yuzu (citron) that is filled with savories like katsuobushi, sesame seeds, miso.

One way that we were served the yubeshi was thinly sliced on top of cheese, so that is one way that we had it at home.

Good with beer.

Another way that was suggested was as chazuke (with tea and rice).

So we tried it this way as well.

I like the yuzu flavor with the tea.

I froze most of this and will take it out every so often for us to have as pupu (appetizer) with cheese.

smoked ahi (tuna) dip

Remember that smoked ahi dip I tried when I was in Hawaii last year?

Well, I think I came pretty close to re-creating it.

The biggest problem was to find smoked ahi (tuna). I've seen some places selling smoked tuna online here, but they have it already seasoned.

Then I stumbled on smoked shoyu...don't ask me how they smoke it, but it is really good, and doesn't overpower the shoyu taste.

Smoked Ahi Dip : adapted from the ingredients on the Kokohead Foods label : makes about 1/4 cup

70 grams tuna, oil drained
1/8 teaspoon tamarind pulp, thinned with 1 teaspoon of water
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked shoyu
1/8 teaspoon chipotle chili pepper flake
1/8 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 tablespoon mayo

Mix everything together and chill. Serve with lavosh or baguette.

NOTES: So easy to put together! We had this with toasted baguette. Satoshi didn't try it in Hawaii but gave this one a thumbs up. I would definitely make this again.

edamame hummus

Have been waiting for edamame (soy bean) season to come around so that I could try making edamame hummus.

I didn't follow a recipe just whizzed some ingredients together.

Soy beans (cooked and shelled)
bagna cauda sauce
lemon juice
a little water

NOTES:This was super garlicky but so good on corn chips.

I'm making this again.

tom yum nuts

I was browsing in Kaldi one day and came upon these...Tom Yum Nuts.

If you are familiar with Tom Yum Soup, then you'll know it is a Thai version of "hot and sour" soup. If you aren't familiar, you can read more about it here.

Cashews are coated with a "caramel" then dredged into herbs and spices like chili, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.

These are spicy! and they are similar to Sahale Snacks' Sing Buri...Sahale's were sweeter.

These are nice with beer.

I'm glad I bought two bags...

the past couple of days

Sorry it's been quiet here.

Friday, Aunty M came to Japan and stayed with us.

Saturday, the weather was sunny and WARM, so we headed to Nakayama Temple to check out the ume (apricot blossoms)...beautiful!

Dinner that night was pupu party style...all sorts of stuff, including leftovers...

Sunday, the weather was again really nice, so we packed a bento and went on a little picnic at Suigetsu Park.

The ume were almost over here so it was nice to sit in the sun.

Dinner that night was again pupu party style.

This time we had 2 bottles of wine and lots of nibbles.

Monday...cold snap! we didn't do much of anything...

Tuesday, Aunty joined up with her tour group.

Lots of eating, walking and talking.

We hope she enjoys the rest of her trip around Japan!

merry christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope Santa brought all that you hoped for.

I bought us this assortment from Kiuchi Brewery, makers of Hitachino beers...Real ginger ale, Daidai IPA, Shuwashuwa umeshu (fizzy apricot wine), classic Japanese ale & Red Rice ale...we'll probably start tasting a couple of these tonight.

Christmas eve was an assortment of nibbles...veggies with bagna cauda sauce, kamaboko dip with ritz crackers and karaage (fried chicken).

I also had a glass of prosecco.

This morning, we traded gifts and Satoshi went off to work. Low-key Christmas as usual. I can't believe that 2014 is almost over.

We appreciate all the cards and messages from family and friends! (Thank you!)

Happy Holidays everyone!