leftovers

I had some leftover shogayaki (pork ginger), so I made donburi (bowled dish).

I sliced cabbage and onion and heated in a pan until they wilted.

Then I added a cup of Japanese stock, 1 tablespoon shoyu (soy sauce), 1 tablespoon sake (rice wine) & 1/2 tablespoon sugar.

When everything was all bubbly, I added the leftover pork ginger to heat.

When the pork was heated through, I added two scrambled eggs.

I put some rice into a bowl, ladled the pork ginger mixture on top and topped it with some grated daikon (long white radish) and a dash of shichimi (Japanese 7-spice). I also served the donburi with some tsukemono (pickled veggies)--kyuri asazuke (lightly pickled cucumber) & rakkyo (pickled shallots).

It was a nice way to warm up plus use up all my leftovers.

earl grey nib muffins

I love Earl Grey tea! The citrusy aroma while sipping a cup is very relaxing and comforting to me.

I was excited to try a new recipe for Earl Grey Muffins.

This recipe comes from a muffin shop in Tokyo, they just came out with a cookbook and as I flipped through the book, the recipe for the Earl Grey Muffins jumped out at me.

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try them. If you can weigh your ingredients to the metric, it will be more precise than the US measurements I have on the side. I added cacao nibs to it because I wanted a bit of chocolate and nuttiness in there.

Earl Grey Nib Muffins adapted from "She Knows Muffin" makes 6 muffins
150 grams flour (about 1.17 cups)
6 grams baking powder (about 1.3 teaspoons)
1 medium egg
80 grams sugar (about 0.62 cups)
50 grams butter, melted (about 3.5 tablespoons)
70 mililiter milk, room temperature (about 0.29 cups)
contents of 1 Earl Grey tea bag (about 10 grams or about 2.5 teaspoons)
1 handful of cacao nibs

In a bowl, sift the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat the egg and sugar together until almost fluffy.
Put the butter and milk into the egg mixture and stir.
Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and add in your packet of tea and nibs.
Mix well.
Divide evenly into 6 muffin holders.
Heat your oven to 180C (350F). Bake for 25 minutes.
Check the 2 middle muffins for doneness with a toothpick.
Enjoy!

NOTES: these muffins were so light and airy! The citrusy aroma from the tea is just right and the nuttiness from the nibs give it a nice crunch. If you have loose leaf Earl Grey, run it through a mill or food processor before adding it to your batter. The recipe only makes 6 muffins--which is perfect for us. If making 6 muffins is too much of a pain for you, please double or triple the recipe. I hope to try more recipes from this book soon!

fig scones

Last week, I had a little cream leftover, so I made a really small batch of fig scones, using the easy recipe I have and two dried mission figs.

I forgot to add the sugar to the mixture, so I sprinkled some vanilla sugar on top instead.

It was delicious for breakfast!

With all the trauma from the week before, it was nice to see the mountains looking so autumn-y. With all the warm weather we've been having, the leaves took a l-o-n-g time to change color this year.

furikake

Do you like to put furikake on your rice? I do.

Furikake is a combination of seasoned dried ingredients which you sprinkle onto your rice. I've had this book for awhile and with all the weird label switching on food items and betrayal of trust going on around here by some food companies and restaurants, I've gotten to the point where if I can make it, I'll try to instead of buying it pre-made.

Here are two furikake recipes I tried...

Matsu no mi to okaka furikake (pine nuts and bonito furikake) translated from "Furikake 101" by Hideo Makuuchi

100g pine nuts
1 pinch of katsuo bushi (shaved bonito)
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 sheet of yakinori (toasted laver)

1. Toast the laver slightly, then with your hands crumble it. Set aside.
2. In a pot, toast the pine nuts on low heat.
3. Add the pinch of katsuo bushi and toast until the katsuo is dry.
4. When the katsuo dries, add the shoyu and sugar, cook until everything is dried.
5. Add the laver, stir and turn off the heat.
6. Serve over rice.

NOTES: this furikake, turned out to be kind of sticky and didn't dry well. But, the saltiness and sweetness went really nicely with the toasted pine nuts.

Kare-ko to Almond slice furikake (Curry powder and Almond slice furikake) adapted from "Furikake 101"

15g sliced almonds
12g saki ika (cuttlefish)
5g sakura ebi (sergia lucens)
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon kinako (soy bean flour)
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon shoyu (soy sauce)
1/2 tablespoon chopped parsley

1. Cut the cuttlefish to 5mm (about 0.19 inches/ 0.5 cm).
2. In a pan, roast the sakura ebi then grind with a mortar and pestle.
3. Roast the almonds, set aside.
4. In a small pot, add the shoyu, water and honey--heat on low.
5. Add the cuttlefish and sakura ebi.
6. When the cuttlefish and sakura ebi get dry, add the curry and kinako. Mixing well and making sure it doesn't burn.
7. Add the parsley and almonds, mix well and turn off the heat.
8. Serve over rice.

NOTES: this one was drier, I thought it would be a bit fishy-er, but it wasn't. The combination was delicious.

I hope to try more recipes in this book soon, they are quite easy and fast to make!

culture shock

This post isn't about culture shock in a bad sense, it is about the no mess ketchup with mustard packets that they give you when you buy corn dogs from the convenience stores.

One thing you should know, ketchup is pretty obsolete here. If you go to McDonald's or any other fast food place in Japan (at least the ones I've gone to anyway), you gotta enjoy your fries without ketchup. Though some Japanese burger places do sell their fries with seasoned salts.

When you go to the Japanese convenience stores, you can buy corn dogs. They call them "big American dog" or "American dog". The Japanese have obviously not seen the Costco hot dogs---though they do have Costcos here. (I should've checked out the hot dogs when I went there...)

So this packet comes with your corn dog and it is super easy to use and your hands don't get messy nor do you have to try to tear open the packet of ketchup or mustard with your teeth.

Just grab the sides and squeeze.

I love the fact that the packet has the grainy mustard in it! If you don't like mustard or don't like ketchup, too bad, it comes together.

And these corn dogs are only 105 yen (less than a US dollar!).

Though the texture of the weiner is quite soft, I sometimes buy a corn dog for lunch when I feel the need for some comfort food.

p.s. I just had the American dog at Starbucks...it came with messy, bite the packet with your teeth ketchup, a smidge of mustard on the bun, and quite a bit of sauerkraut and fried onions. The weiner's outside is nice and crisp, when you bite into it you can hear it pop...delicious.

hello...kitty!

I wanted to share with you something that will keep you warm on those chilly days. Soba.

When I lived in Hawaii, I never really liked Hello Kitty, or Kitty-chan as she is known here. But, after moving here, there is something mysterious about her that gets you hooked--and she's everywhere!

I recently found a kamaboko (steamed fishcake) made by Kibun. I think they make this for mom's who want to add something extra to their kids' bento (boxed lunches). There was also a Mickey and a Minnie kamaboko too.

After checking the maker's website, I was bummed to find out that the market I bought it at was selling it at a high price than the estimated retail price....sigh.

I cooked up some soba. Diluted 1/4 cup of pre-made soba sauce with hot water and added green onions and a dash of shichimi (Japanese 7-spice). Kind of spooky seeing so many faces looking at you, but it was a nice, light lunch.

Have a nice week!

akisu

The word in Japanese for a burglary is akisu (which literally means open nest). Apparently, the end of the year is a popular time for burglaries--probably all around the world?

With the recent break-in into our apartment, I've been cleaning. Somehow cleaning helps take my mind off of things while in a sense it was probably helping me "clean" out all the bad chi (energy).

The management guy came to fix the mail box on our door and said he will pass out flyers to the other residents to let them know about our break-in. He said it was the first time he's come across a burglary that entered through the mail box. They apparently stuck a pole through the hole from the broken mail box and used it to unlatch the lock. Since another apartment was recently vacated, he took their mail box and attached it to our door.

The locksmith came to put in another lock. I can't tell you how much relief I felt after having the lock put in.

In Hawaii, usually one lanai door is stationary, but in Japan, when unlocked, both doors move. We also put in some reinforcements for the lanai door. Though we live on the 3rd floor, you just never know...

So as we approach the end of the year, the bad elves are out in force waiting to ruin our holiday cheer. We just all have to keep an eye out for each other and try to keep the bad elves out of our castles.

Thanks for all of your words of support, they really helped me get back on track....back to the kitchen I go!

UPDATE (2/20/08): they indeed caught the burglars, 4 Chinese. They also had some items on them, so Satoshi will be going to the police to see if any of our items were found.