dinner for one

Well, the typhoon has passed Osaka, I think we got off easy with just a lot of rain. This morning the sun was actually shining as if the typhoon never existed.

Satoshi is off to Guam & Saipan for business. It was kind of questionable with the typhoon, but it looks like he'll be able to fly out from Narita. (He has to fly out from Narita because all the flights from Kansai were full.)

So, it is just me for dinner tonight. Kind of sad cooking for one...oh well.

I made buta kim chee donburi (pork with kim chee bowl) and put it atop lettuce, mizuna and rice. I also had carrot salad, some daikon pickles and the spicy soybeans. The spicy soybeans are good cold as well as straight out of the pan.

I may not post for awhile, unless I get inspired to cook this week, but I wouldn't hold my breath, although you never know...

Have a great week!

waiting for the typhoon to pass

Well, the typhoon is now over Kyushu and part of Shikoku, it is estimated to pass over Osaka either tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime, we have been having rain off and on during the day. (Can you believe that Satoshi had to go to work?)

Anyway, I saw the recipe for this pupu (appetizer in Hawaiian) in Gourmet Magazine's January issue. I also saw it being served here. (I think it may be a trendy thing in Hawaii now)...stir fried soybeans with garlic and chile.

Another easy dish to make and really good with BEER!

Stir Fried Soybeans with Garlic & Chile
from Gourmet January 2007--adapted from Pineapple Room

1 lb. soybean (frozen in shell)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame seed oil
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoon minced garlic

Cook soybeans in 5-6 quart pot of unsalted water for 5 minutes then drain in colander.

Stir together soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a bowl.

Heat wok over high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately.

Add vegetable oil, swirling to coat wok. Add ginger & garlic and stir fry until fragrant (about 15 seconds). Add soybeans, stir fry until lightly charred (about 2-3 minutes).

Add soy sauce mixture and stir fry until soybeans are coated and most of liquid has evaporated (about 1 minute).

Enjoy!

I had this appetizer for dinner along with shogayaki donburi (pork ginger bowls) topped with okra and green onions and of course...BEER!

NOTES: I used fresh soybeans for this recipe. The flavor of the sauce is very addicting and leaves a little sting on your lips after you have eaten a few.

corn chowder

Well, I made it to the supermarket before the rain got too hard and picked up some food items to last us at least until Sunday. They say that the typhoon will pass over Osaka around Sunday or so.

I don't know what it is, but there is something about rainy days that make me want soup. Sure, outside the humidity is still awful with the rain, but being indoors, I just wanted to curl up with a book and make some soup for dinner.

It has been awhile since I've made this soup, but since I still had some luncheon meat from making goya champuru, I decided to make a soup that we used to eat growing up....corn chowder. This dish is really easy to make and doesn't take too much time either.

1 slice of bacon, cut into strips
1/2 luncheon meat/spam, cut into cubes
1 potato, cut into cubes
1/2 onion, diced
corn kernels taken off 1 cob, rinsed and separated
2 cups skim milk
salt and pepper to taste

1. Prep the bacon, luncheon meat, potato, onion and corn.
2. In a pot, heat some oil and add the onions, cook until transparent.
3. Add the meats, potato, corn and milk.
4. Cook until the milk begins to bubble, then turn down the heat to simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
5. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with rice.

NOTES: This was the first time that I used fresh corn, it was great because the kernels stayed quite crisp even after cooking it. If you cannot find fresh corn, you can use canned corn just drain it well. Also, I know a lot of people do not eat luncheon meat/spam, but it is something that I grew up eating and most people from Hawaii love it. If you do not eat luncheon meat/spam, don't use it, but don't cut out the bacon from this recipe, it really gives this soup flavor. Instead of rice, you could also eat this with crackers or bread too.

Enjoy!

blueberry

Blueberries are available in the supermarkets now. They are coming from the U.S.

I saw on a U.S. news program that the price of blueberries was rising. The first pack that I bought was quite expensive almost US$4 for 150g. Another pack that I saw was organic and almost US$8! (I quickly put that one back.) The next time I bought some, it was US$3 for 150g. I think it may be timing.

All I know is that they are good with sliced bananas and muesli in the morning.

It is Friday the 13th...We are expecting a typhoon over the next couple of days. Okinawa has already had very strong winds and rain. It is already raining here, I usually go grocery shopping everyday, but just in case I can't get out on Saturday and Sunday, I'm going to pick up a few more things today. Satoshi is also supposed to go on a business trip to Guam and Saipan on Sunday, but with the typhoon coming, he wasn't sure if he would be able to fly out...wish us luck!

Have a nice weekend!

ja ja men

Satoshi and I have been watching a program in the mornings and they often eat this dish...ja ja men or ja jan men.

When the people on this show eat this dish, it looks really delicious, so Satoshi has been saying how he wants to eat ja ja men. (I really think there are more foodies in Japan, they have so many shows which have lots of "food porn"!) Anyway, I looked in my cookbooks and found a recipe in the Szechuan cookbook, "Tenyu", which I've posted about recently.

The recipe is kind of complicated and takes some time to make, but I think if you prep everything ahead of time, you could easily throw the components together for a weeknight dinner.

Ja jan makes about 350g
300g minced pork
30cc laoshu (chinese rice wine)
30cc shoyu (soy sauce)
20g tenmenjan (sweetened miso (bean curd paste))*
Keeps in an airtight container for about 4 or 5 days

*if you cannot find tenmenjan, use the following recipe to make your own.
Tenmenjan (sweetened miso) makes about 500g
300g hacchomiso (dark miso (soy bean paste) that is fermented for 3 years found mostly in Nagoya)
150g sugar
500cc warm water
In a bowl, mix the miso with water a little at a time with a wire wisk, when the mixture gets a bit creamy, mix in the sugar and add more of the water.
Heat mixture over medium heat, when it begins to boil it will look like bubbling lava, turn heat to low and cook for 1 hour. Be careful as the liquid may fly out while simmering and burn you.
When the mixture turns to a consistency of ketchup, turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.
Keeps in an airtight container for about 1 month.

Ja ja men Serves 1
100g ja jan
3 shiitake mushrooms
20g mizuna (spider mustard)
1 packet Chinese noodles
1 tablespoon cornstarch/water (to thicken)

Sauce A: 1 tablespoon tobanjan (chili paste)
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
200cc soup stock or warm water

Sauce B: 1 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon laoshu (chinese rice wine)
1 teaspoon sugar
2 grinds of pepper
2 tablespoons of minced scallions

Sauce C:pinch of salt
1 teaspoon shoyu (soy sauce)
2 tablespoons of soup stock or warm water

Slice shiitake thinly, and mizuna to 5 cm in length, rinse and set aside.
In a pan, put 1 tablespoon of oil and add ja jan, tobanjan, ginger and garlic. When you can smell the ginger and garlic, add the soup/water. Next add the shiitake and Sauce B ingredients. Then thicken the mixture with the cornstarch/water.

Cook your chinese noodles according to the directions on the package.

Put the ingredients for Sauce C into your bowl/plate and add the noodles. Top with the shiitake mixture and mizuna.

Enjoy!

NOTES: I didn't know the romanized way to spell some of the Chinese ingredients so I am posting it phonetically (sorry!). I made half the recipe for the ja jan, and boiled double the amount of noodles. For the shiitake mixture, I used the measurements above and the amount of mixture and spiciness was just right for two people. The shiitake mixture is quite spicy, so if you do not like it too spicy, cut back on the tobanjan (chili paste). If you cannot find mizuna where you are, any type of green leafy veggie would work. Although this dish took some time to prepare, it was definitely worth it!

trying to beat the humidity and rain

The weather here hasn't been too nice. It has been raining for the past couple of days, in Kyushu (southern Japan) they have been having major flooding. We have been having some rain and humidity too which makes going to get groceries not too fun, kind of depressing and non-motivating if you ask me.

I wanted to share with you some things I have been eating. Goya Champuru--I've posted about this before. We started eating this after our first visit to Okinawa about 4 years ago.

Hot and Sour Soup or Suanratan--I got the recipe from a book I have called "Tenyu"--it is relatively easy to make. It didn't taste exactly as I imagined it would, I think I may have to try making it again some time.

2 kinds of chilled tofu-this dish is perfect for warm days. A block of momen tofu (hard type soy bean curd) plus tamago tofu (savory soft egg custard), a little shoyu (soy sauce), the konbu (kelp) stock that the egg custard comes with and lots of okra on top.

Mushroom risotto made from dried mushrooms that Bourgogne sent me. (Thank you!)

Lastly, a cool dessert made by Seikanin. This one is called Kiraboshi (shining star). We had this on Tanabata. A clear ume (plum) flavored gelatin with yokan (jellied sweet bean paste)stars and sasa (bamboo leaf).

I hope your week is going well and you are keeping cool/dry where you are.

how time flies...

I can't believe that a year has passed already.

It was a year ago that my family and I made the climb up Mt Fuji.

3776m (about 12,390ft) of mountain.

To read more about our adventure, and re-live the memories, check it out here.