okara mochiko chicken

Yesterday, we had some flurries and then we had some rain.

Satoshi didn't need dinner.

Most times when this happens, I buy something because I don't really like cooking for one.

I was watching a program and they mentioned that if your want to fry with dried okara, you should mix it with some flour.

So that is was I did...mixed some dried okara with some mochiko (rice flour) & regular flour.

I didn't deep fry, just pan fried.

This version turned out better than when I tried it before with only the dried okara.

I have some leftovers, so I think I may turn this into onigirazu for one of our lunches this weekend...

Hope you have a nice weekend.

makeshift

Most homes in Japan do not have central heating.

You could look at that as being a "bad thing"...but I like the fact that I can use my hallway as a makeshift refrigerator...storing veggies and other items that don't fit into my "real" fridge.

Do you have central heating in your home?

thankful

Thankful for another year around the sun...for friends, family & good health.

Yesterday, Satoshi had to work late, so I celebrated on my own...

With champagne...

La Maison du Chocolat's apricot eclair & tiramisu.

Glad you are all a part of this adventure...thank you!

chocolate season

With Valentine's a week away, chocolate season is in full swing.

I didn't check out Salon du Chocolat (Osaka) this year, as the space that they hold this event at is so teeny and it is always so krazy crowded!

I hear the Salon du Chocolat in Tokyo is now being held at a huge convention area called Tokyo Forum.

I am still hoping we can check out the one in Paris soon!

The other week though, I did check out Hankyu's chocolate fair...

Patisserie Sadaharu Aoki's canelés in plain and chocolate. I enjoyed the chocolate one more as it was tender, the plain seemed a bit overcooked and hard.

Osaka Tsuruya Hachiman's chocolate dorayaki...chocolate is mixed with sweet bean paste...the chocolate flavor was super light.

Kamakura Ca.Ca.O.'s dark chocolate tarte...super rich! The crust was flaky and the inside chocolate pudding was really rich and chocolatey.

Over the weekend, I dragged Satoshi to try this...Es Koyama's soft serve.

Ethiopia Blue Nile Coffee paired with Peruvian Piura 63% chocolate. We enjoyed this. It wasn't too sweet nor were either flavors overpowering.

It was nicely balanced.

Love this time of year...

shimabara tea

Recently there was a Nagasaki Fair in Umeda.

We love these fairs because it brings different food items to us without the extra online shipping fees.

Shimabara tea is a relatively new company, and we were able to sample (and purchase) some of their teas.

The large red package is their organic green tea.

The smaller red package is their black tea and the yellow package is their black tea with ginger.

(The ginger tea and black tea are delicious and the ginger one has a nice kick!)

The man selling these teas was very knowledgeable.

He suggested we put some of the organic tea with ice for two hours and let the ice extract the tea...

So I tried doing it his way...

except I didn't have a tiny pot to do this in, so I made my own...

After an hour it looked like this.

After two hours the tea was a really light green but it wasn't bitter.

He then suggested that we add some cold water (drink it), then some warm water (drink it), then some hot water (drink it).

By the time we tried it with some hot water, the tea was a little darker green and a little cloudy.

There was a slight bitterness to it too.

His last suggestion was that we "eat" the used tea leaves because this green tea is organic.

So we tried it with a little ponzu (citrus soy sauce) like he also suggested...delicious! kind of like spinach, only a little bitter.

We're glad we tried this and will continue to keep an eye for them in the future since they do not sell online.

setsubun

Today is Setsubun, which I've written about in detail here.

It is a yearly ritual which is held every February 3rd, the day before the first day of Spring for the Japanese Lunar calendar.

In Osaka, we silently eat ehomaki, uncut sushi, facing a specific direction that changes from year to year, while making a wish. (This year's direction is hoku-hoku-sei (N-N-W)).

Since I didn't have time to buy or make ehomaki, and since there are so many non-traditional versions of ehomaki out there, we're eating "eho-spam musubi" this morning.

The weather is supposed to warm up over the weekend and then the weather will go back to cold next week.

Hope you have a great weekend.

menu

It's that time of year when I get together with my host-mom & my host-brother's wife for lunch.

Today, we went to Menu, the tiny restaurant nearby that Satoshi and I love.

The food is always delicious (that pork ragout was so tender!) and it was nice to spend some time with them.

Thanks for a great day!