Recipe: Many of my friends have told me their addicted to this simple dish. Avocado Toast.5/12/2014 How simple can it be?
Really. All I used was:
I've heard many of my girl friends talk about this dish here in San Francisco. Some say it's great with a drizzle of honey. Some like to add dried berries. The best thing about this dish is that it's customizable! Tell me more about your customization if you have any :)
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Who likes Empanadas?
Who likes Gyozas? Who wants to hear about a fun, delicious twist on a gyoza? Most of us who access this blog love curry (I hope). Especially Japanese Curry. Today, I decided to wrap up Keema curry in the Japanese Gyoza dumpling wrappers! Why, you ask? Because, I was craving for a snack somewhat similar to an Empanada. Unfortunately, it's very hard to find frozen Empanadas here in Japan, but dumpling wrappers are very cheap! These delicious dumplings were super crunchy and crispy on the outside. The curry inside and the wrapper itself matched perfectly too. Pairs great with wine or beer. Great appetizer or finger food for parties! Keema curry, for those of you who have not tried it yet, is basically stir fried minced meat with curry spices. It's not runny like the traditional Japanese curry. It's more like paste. That's why I thought it would be a great idea to wrap it up with Gyoza wrappers! I bought the ready-made Keema curry but I plan to post a recipe for it soon as the ready-made kind may be hard to find in the US....If you cannot find the ready-made curry but want to try this a.s.a.p, I highly recommend for you to cook some minced meat and add some salt, pepper, curry spice and maybe even some cumin? Steps
That's it. If you decide to use ready-made curry/meat like me, it takes less than 20 minutes. 15 minutes of it is just waiting for it to cook in the oven... Enjoy! Recipe: Japanese simmered Hijiki. Great way to eat this super food; high in iron and fiber!8/11/2013 I was surprised to see DAISO (Japanese $1 store) in San Francisco selling hijiki!
Hijiki is a very well known healthy ingredient in Japan; it's high in fiber, iron and calcium. The most popular dish which is made using this ingredient is a simple simmered dish. It's a side dish, not a main dish. People like to throw in carrots, garbanzo beans and even konnyaku. All of which can be found in the US. The ingredients are simmered in a sweet broth made of dashi, soy sauce and sugar. It's simple, tasty and very good for you. Great to pack in your obento too. Hijiki is usually sold in its dried state. You'll have to soak it in water for 20-30 minutes. The amount will increase by 7 to 8 times; it's fun to watch :) Ingredients (This makes a substantial amount, maybe around 6-8 servings)
Steps
I was surprised when I saw a small Japanese kabocha being sold at a Farmers Market. Kabocha is a pumpkin or it could also be a winter squash of Asian variety according to Wikipedia.
If you follow my blog, you may have realized that I've been cooking a lot of "boiled" dishes lately. The technique is to "niru" (煮る). When you cook ingredients in a broth, the broth is sucked up by the ingredients, ending up in a very tasty dish. This technique can be used for vegetables, meat and seafood. The best thing about it is that it is so easy. You just prepare the broth (probably just a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, etc), toss in the ingredients drop a lid and wait for the broth to be soaked up! The dish I'm introducing today is a Japanese kabocha nimono (煮物). Kabocha boiled in Japanese broth. It's sweet but savoury. The more you leave it in the broth, the more intense the taste will get. So be careful in boiling the ingredient too long! Ingredients:
Broth
Steps:
Note: Mix while heating so that the pumpkin is heated evenly. Also, you can adjust the heat to low since the aluminum foil lid can contain a lot of heat. I packed the leftovers in my bento the next day. Became tastier than the day before! With all the amazing vegetables in season and my visits to the farmers markets here in San Francisco, I've been needing to find a way to consume the vegetables but in an easy manner; especially for those weekday dinners at home after work. I've discovered the simplest Japanese vegetable stir fry recipe!
Ingredients (for 2 people):
Steps: Simply stir fry the veggies your pan until they are cooked through, then add the Hondashi, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Heat until water is evaporated. It's delicious and makes your dish taste like a true Japanese dish despite its simplicity and ease! Please give it a try! It goes well as a side dish with grilled chicken, grilled fish and even my favourite natto! One of my favourite destination in San Francisco so far are the Farmers Markets! There are so many around the city all throughout the week and the quality of vegetables and fruits you get there are outstanding. My favourite so far is the "Heart of the City Farmers Market" in Civic Center. If you follow my Instagram, you should already know that I got 2 large daikons, 4 apricots/peaches, bitter melon and zucchinis, all for $3. I also got a bag full of delicious onions and zucchinis for $1 each last week. You get fruits and veggies in season directly from the farmers, how amazing is that?!
One vegetable I've been seeing a lot at these Farmers Market recently are eggplants! I've already introduced the ginger eggplant stir fry on this blog, but today I'll introduce something more simple and easy. A simple Japanese stir fry, somewhat like a teriyaki sauce! May I warn you that my boyfriend and I just could not stop eating this. It was so tasty, went perfectly with Japanese rice; just unstoppable. Ingredients
Steps
So I've begun my life as a fulltime employee in San Francisco. Absolutely loving it so far. Starting my second week, I decided to pack obentos to work! There are cute cafes around office but they are all crowded and the last thing I want to do is wait in line! I've never really packed true Japanese obentos myself. I've always watched my mom though. I decided to start simple. A bed of rice with furikake, tamagoyaki and some stir fried veggies. Absolutely perfect.
How to make a simple but delicious and safe to eat obento? Read below! Rice
Tamagoyaki (Japanese sweet omelette)
Stir fry veggies
Tortillas are very expensive here in Japan. I went to a local supermarket (known to provide low prices) and found 10 tortillas for around $6. Ouch. This didn't stop me from sharing the concept of wraps, dips and spreads to my family in Japan. I decided to make my own tortillas instead! I make my own pizza with my boyfriend sometimes so this tortilla making ended up being very similar to that.
- - - T O R T I L L A - - - My first homemade tortillas ended up being chewy, soft and on the thicker side. Instead of wrapping things inside, we ended up dipping or placing the spreads and dips on top. After thorough research online about making tortillas, here's what I used:
Steps:
- - - D I P S / S P R E A D S - - - Simple Yoghurt Guacamole
Garlic Basil Mayo
Tomato and Basil Marinade
Hummus
Love avocado? I do.
I've been meaning to use up the avocado I got at Whole Foods ASAP. What better way than to use it in a sweet dessert while your city is on lock down? This pound cake uses no butter, no sugar. Instead I used avocado, cinnamon and honey! The pound cake turned out to be super moist, perfectly chewy and the taste emphasized more on the avocado. If you aren't an avocado lover, I suggest you add a little more honey or cinnamon to mask the taste of avocado! Like always, my desserts are not as sweet compared to those desserts often sold in the US, so if you are a sweet tooth, make sure to add more honey. Perfect for breakfast or a snack with some lovely tea or coffee! What You Need: (For 5 inch x 2.5 inch container)
Steps: (Due to the simplicity, I'm going to go with text based steps rather than posting a photo for each step!)
As you all probably know, Boston has been going through a chaotic couple of hours with the suspect of the Boston Marathon Bombing incident on the run. With a "shelter in place" order, it was a great chance to use up some left over ingredients in the fridge!
"Negi Yaki" is basically a savoury pancake made with just green onions ("Negi"). You usually fold the pancake up and enjoy it like a crepe. I hid some cheese in mine. Since you fry it, the outside becomes very crunchy and since we use starch in the mix, the pancake itself becomes pleasantly chewy. The smell of the sesame oil is perfectly appetizing as well. I mixed some soy sauce, sesame seeds and chopped up garlic as a dipping sauce. What You Need: (Makes 1 pancake)
Steps:
Izakayas are basically casual restaurants who concentrate on serving drinks and small Japanese tapas dishes such as edamame, fried chicken, salads, etc. Back when I lived in Japan, I went to an izakaya on a regular basis to enjoy the "All you can drink" menu as well as regular menus. There are fancy izakayas to regular type of izakayas. Izakayas made for specific target customers too; some izakayas focusing on seafood lovers, some on older business men. It's really fun to scavenge around for your favourite izakaya since there are so many; especially around popular stations.
Back to this recipe of cabbage mixed with salt and sesame oil called "shio-kyabetsu" in Japanese. It's a very simple dish and very popular amongst izakaya lovers and yakiniku (Korean bbq) lovers. It's always served as an appetizer. It's just a perfect salad to accomodate other meaty dishes or alcoholic beverages. Please give it a try, it only takes a minute to make! What You Need:
Simply mix all the ingredients together. Yup, that's it. Number of steps: 5 steps Time taken: 15 - 20 minutes Approximately 240 kcal per serving About This Dish: If you have followed my blog you probably know by now that I love chicken! With so much shredded cheese leftover in my fridge, I had to think of a quick and simple dish to make for dinner. This dish may sound childish and too simple, but let me tell you...It is definitely worth trying! The cheese is placed in the center of the chicken then is wrapped up. After cooking, the cheese then melts in your mouth. Additionally, the pan makes some of the melted cheese crunchy and irresistible. Enjoy with just salt and pepper! The taste of the chicken and cheese is perfection. You could also try frying or making this chicken a fake katsu using this popular recipe! What You Need: (Makes 3 servings)
Number of steps: 6 super easy steps Time taken: 10 min prep, 20 min in oven. Approx. 90 kcal per mini yaki-onigiri About This Dish: Onigiris (rice balls) are delicious even when they are not baked, but when the rice is dipped in soy sauce and are baked on both sides, making the onigiri crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, it's becomes a dish you will start craving for! They're called Yaki-onigiris. In Japan, my mom used to make these for lunch as it is easy and goes well with various side dishes such as chicken. It is also eaten at Izakayas along with some sake and yakitori. It's just a fun twist to your regular onigiri, please give it a try! You don't have to use fresh cooked rice. You could even use left over rice in your freezer or fridge to whip this up quickly for lunch! Just make sure you warm the rice up before you dip it into the sauce. What You Need: (Makes 11 mini yaki-onigiris)
Number of steps: 3 steps Time taken: 10-15 min About This Dish: Mochi, mochi, mochi. My favourite word and food. I whipped this dish up for my father who was craving for an "otsumami" with his sake and beer. In the fridge, I had a potato, so I used that! It turned out to have a great texture, very mochi like. I put in some butter and cheese so the taste is something an adult or child will love. You can make a ton of it and freeze it for future use. What You Need: (For 6 mini jaga-mochis)
Recipe: "Daigaku-imo", fried sugar coated sweet potatoes! A famous dessert or side dish in Japan.11/20/2012 Number of steps: 3 steps Time taken: 10 min Approx. 120 kcal per serving About This Dish: Though I've been attending school for the last 4 years in the United States, I still have no clue on how to celebrate Thanksgiving...We ended up ordering a "Thanksgiving dinner package for 2" at Whole Foods. Delicious, and it lasted us 2 days. With the mountain of sweet potatoes in my fridge, I decided to make this Japanese snack, "Daigaku-imo". Deep fried sweet potato coated with sugar (or honey). Some people eat it as a snack, some eat it as a side dish for dinner. All up to you :) The crunch and the softness which comes after is just something you must try. According to Wikipedia, this dish is called "University-potato" since it was a trending snack near Tokyo University in the Taisho period. What You Need: (2 serving, plenty to share between two)
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