#162 Three-Ingredient Japanese Cotton Cheese Cake

 

I saw this from Ochikeron's You Tube channel. I made this several times now and I am too excited to make this dessert again! It only has three ingredients and is gluten and grain-free!

If you are beginner cook, it is not a simple dessert to make, but it is not too difficult, especially the second time. Tip: make sure that you follow the instructions to prevent it from cracking and browning. The result is a delicious cheese cake that you and your family will love!

THREE-INGREDIENT JAPANESE COTTON CHEESE CAKE:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 white chocolate baking chips

• 6 large eggs, at room temperature

• 1 block (8 oz.) cream cheese at room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat oven in 340 F.
2. In a large microwave oven safe bowl, melt chocolates in microwave oven in 20-second increments until melted.
3. Separate egg white and yolk, place the egg white in a large steel bowl, the yolk in a small bowl.
4. Once chocolate is melted, add the cream cheese and yolk, mix well until smooth. Set aside.
5. Whip egg white until it forms a soft peak or meringue, you know when it is ready if you can turn your bowl upside down and the egg white sticks to the bowl.
6. Add the meringue to the chocolate-egg mixture, in batches, until it is combined. 
7. Line a 4-inch baking pan with parchment paper in the bottom, to prevent it from sticking and on the side-to prevent cracking (this is very important, see Oicheron's video on how to)
8. Pour the mixture in the lined baking pan. Drop it gently twice to let air bubbles out.
9. In a separate, bigger baking pan, add water, and then place the pan with the cake mixture on top. (if you are not sure how to do this, see Oicheron's video on youtube)
10. Bake at 340 F for 15 minutes.
11. Lower temperature to 320 F and bake for another 15 minutes.
12. Turn the oven off, and leave the cake in the oven for another 15 minutes then remove from oven.
13. Let cool or chill, enjoy!

     I'm so happy I learned how to make a delicious grain and gluten free dessert! I hope you enjoy this one too!

#153 Sashimi Lemon Dipping Sauce

It takes a lot of patience to shape thin slices of raw fish into salmon roses. It was very challenging, without proper research and especially when my stomach was growling! Very little patience was left, since there's the picture taking that needs to be done. :)
The end result, is a nice image, looks nothing like a rose :/, but I did a very good job on the leaves and stem I believe, I used the wasabi paste extracted from a tube, so that part was very easy. For this recipe, I just wanted to share a really tasty dip for your sashimi, or thinly sliced raw seafood. It is very simple to make, here's how:

SASHIMI LEMON DIPPING SAUCE

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
1 green onion, (green part only), chopped finely

Directions:

1. Heat vinegar, sugar and sauce in a small saucepan, stirring, until sugar dissolves.
2. Remove from heat, add rind; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Sprinkle sauce with onion.

Recipe adapted from Tasting Japan, Australian women's weekly magazine

 

This weekend, I learned a few do's and don'ts in Japanese etiquette, but here is what I learned about serving Sashimi:

When serving sashimi with soy sauce and wasabi on the side, it is traditional to serve the wasabi and soysauce separately, that is, not to mix the ingredients. This is because the wasabi does nothing to enhance either the flavor or sensation of the sauce. And, you don't know how much wasabi your guest wants in her/his soysauce! Leave the mixing to them.

Another important thing that I learned is, you can use your own chopsticks to take food from the communal dish if no serving implements are provided, but turn them around and use the clean handle end. Turn right way around again to use them for picking up your own food. :) Good to know!

Blogging is great. If I didn't have this blog, I don't know if I would even try making my own salmon roses! :) When I ate sashimi with friends  at restaurants, which I have- so many times, nothing compelled  me to learn more about it. I simply know it was Japanese food, raw, tastes good and then enjoyed it while catching up. None of our conservations revolved around food, it was always about our busy lives and all the crazy stuffs around us. Starting a food/cooking blog definitely opened my eyes,  I learn so much, I see food and home cooking in a different light now; cooking to me  is no longer a task, but a really fun, intimate activity at home, it helped me personally develop things within me that I didn't know I had. I am  also falling in love with food photography.  I think it is time to retire my point and shoot camera. :)

#152 Sashimi Rolls

I am a huge fan of Japanese cuisine. It is delicious, low in fat, deceptively simple to prepare, beautiful and fresh. I have always thought that the Japanese diet is a great attribute to their longevity. Their methods of cooking  have very little added fat. They consume lots of fish, and fucoidans, which are long chained molecules found in seaweed. Researchers believe that fucoidans are partly responsible for the extraordinary longevity observed in Japanese populations, where organic, unpolluted seaweeds form a significant dietary component. To embrace the Japanese diet is a no-brainer, but having cooked, photographed and posted 151+ dishes now, for me it is truly hard to stick to Japanese cuisine exclusively, especially here in the United States, there's just too many choices available. However, it is not too difficult to stick to a healthy diet. There is a saying, if it is important to you, you will make a way, if not, you will find an excuse. So if longevity is important to you, you will find a way to eat healthier, like the Japanese do. 

One of my favorites is a Japanese delicacy called Sashimi. It is thinly sliced raw seafood, traditionally served with soysauce and wasabi paste. You can use tuna, fatty tuna, squid, prawn, octopus, mackarel, snapper, white snapper and red salmon. I haven't tried prawn and octopus, yet. :) Maybe when I am bored with the fish variety, I can try eating octopus tentacles. Umm, okay, maybe just the prawns! Now sticking to red salmon and tuna, which are my two most favorite.  I found this recipe for sashimi rolls,  I loved the idea of inserting raw vegetables in each roll of the sashimi. It was fun, definitely worth all the effort because it was different and  delicious!

SASHIMI ROLLS

Ingredients:

sashimi fish
cucumber, halved lengthways
red bell pepper
green onion

japanese soy sauce
wasabi

Directions:

1. Sharpen knife using a steel; wipe knife. Cut fish into paper-thin slices.
2. Remove and discard seeds from cucumber and membrane from  red bell pepper. Cut cucumber, red bell pepper and green onions into long thin strips; trim strips  to approximately the same size as the width of the fish slices.
3. Place one fish slice on board; place one or two pieces of each vegetable at one end. Roll fish to enclose filling; repeat with remaining fish and filling. Serve sashimi rolls with soy sauce in a separate bowl.

recipe adapted from Brigid Treloar, Australian Women's weekly test kitchen

#128 Cocoa Mochi

While at the grocery store heading towards the dairy section to pick up milk, I noticed a box of sweet rice flour, the price was half off; I never fail to notice a discounted price at  grocery stores even if I am walking really fast, those yellow and red labels are just so hard to miss! :)  And don't we all get distracted at the grocery store and end up buying what wasn't planned? And that's what, as always, happened to me. So I picked up this small white box with a blue star and read the package. I haven't bought rice flour ever but  a former neighbor bought me a bag like 5 years ago. It was never used. I was going to put it back into the shelf but then I realized this was a different rice flour: it's a "sweet rice flour" and then I saw a recipe printed on it's box: Cocoa Mochi. A Japanese rice cake dessert,  it is a traditional food eaten on Japanese New Years' day. I remembered buying mochi ice cream at Trader Joe's a while ago and it was chewy, sweet, a delight! That memory convinced me to make mochi for dessert. For less than a dollar, I thought why not...I bought the 1 pound box of Koda Farm's Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour and immediately started making it when we got home. I read the directions and it looked pretty easy, it can be made in the microwave oven, shouldn't be that hard, right? I was excited. Mixing it with the water and sugar was a breeze, it dissolved easily. Then came the cooking part. One thing that  I did not like: once the rice flour is cooked, it sticks everywhere! The moulding requires a lot of patience, before I worked on the shape, I made sure my hands were wet, this trick by the way will save you  all the frustration in making a decent looking sticky mochi. How the talented home cooks make it so fabulous looking, you know, perfectly round, with ice cream inside, by hand.. is beyond me. This recipe calls for cocoa for dusting ( to prevent it from sticking). But if you want to add food coloring, a few drops will give it a nice pastel color, and then you can skip the cocoa powder for dusting and  use potato starch or powdered sugar instead.

COCOA MOCHI (Easy Microwave Version)

Ingredients: 

2 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 box  Mochiko Blue Star Brand Sweet Rice Flour
3 cups water
extra cocoa powder for dusting

Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, using a whisk, combine sugar and cocoa together very thoroughly. Then add 1 cup water and mix well. Heat syrup over medium high, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
2. Using a whisk, thoughly mix flour and 3 cups water in a large microwavable bowl until smooth. Cover and microwave 5 minutes on high. Remove from oven and using a large spoon, mix thoroughly. Return to oven, uncovered, and cook an additional 5 minutes on high.
3. Remove from oven. Add cocoa syrup and mix thoroughly.
4. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 inch nonstick baking pan lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Let mochi cool overnight or until firm.
5. Dust top with cocoa powder and invert contents onto a cutting board dusted with cocoa powder (before inverting pan, gently pull the mochi along the pan sides free).
6. Cut mochi into small pieces and dust all surfaces in cocoa powder.
7. Store in airtight container and refrigerate.

The result: a chewy, dense mochi with just the right sweetness for us.  I really like this recipe. So, was it easy? Well I  really thought it was, microwave cooking almost always means easy heating/cooking, right?... certainly not in this case, the ease stopped at the moment I put the bowl inside the microwave oven and pressed it's buttons! "No pain, no gain" was my mantra from start to end. The process got harder and stickier as the mixture starts to cook. I had some patience enough to finish the task but  I was complaining too much the whole time! More patience next time. If you really want to make this yourself, don't be discouraged, it's really not THAT hard...just a little bit and on that day, I was a tad whinier than the usual, so... :) But honestly, it was definitely well worth  the effort! :) We made and really enjoyed a delicious Cocoa Mochi!

My next project is  mochi ice cream! I did try making it using this batch after the cooked Mochi has cooled down, but the ice cream melted the second it touched the Mochi, but I am not giving up! I will keep searching for a recipe on how to properly do it. Please share a good recipe in the comment section if you have one!

#116 Gizzard Yakitori

Although I know which part of the chicken it's gizzard is located, I prefer not to write about it right now; I suggest that you do not find out yet until you have tried this dish. :) What I can  tell you right now is this: Chicken Gizzard is chicken meat that tastes very interesting and very different from the thigh, or breast meat. Chewy yet very good. It is also always sold at a good price. For under $5, and even less than your favorite Starbucks drink, you can feed this delicious appetizer to six people. One of the few good meals for that price! I got a pack of 1.38 lbs for $2.29. Inexpensive, don't you think? :) Chicken gizzards bring good memories of life back in the Philippines, where it is mostly grilled and enjoyed by, I would guess 99% of the population. Since I really do not know what those roadside barbecue stands (where we usually bought it) from back home use in their sauce, I simply googled chicken gizzard recipes and learned that the Japanese also consume it, and call it "zuri" or "suganimo". Yakitori, Japanese for grilled chicken or skewered food in general usually use either salt for seasoning or tare sauce, a simple marinade consisting of sake, mirin, soysauce and ginger, before the meat is cooked in skewers on a hot grill; alternatively, you can use your oven, and add chicken thighs, livers or hearts for this recipe.

Yield: Serves 6

GIZZARD YAKITORI, in Tare Sauce

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken gizzards (or boneless thigh meat, livers and hearts)
1/2 cup dark soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup mirin
2 tablespoons sake or dry sherry
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
Scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish.

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into one-inch pieces and place in a shallow dish.
2. In a small saucepan, combine soy sauce or tamari, mirin, sake or sherry, brown sugar, garlic and ginger. Bring to a simmer and cook for 7 minutes, until thickened. Reserve 2 tablespoons sauce for serving. Pour remaining sauce over chicken, cover, and chill for at least one hour (and up to 4 hours).
3. If using wooden or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for one hour. Preheat grill or broiler. Thread chicken pieces onto skewers, and grill or broil, turning halfway, for about 3 minutes for livers, 10 minutes for gizzards and 6 minutes for thighs. Serve drizzled with reserved sauce and garnished with scallions.

Recipe adapted from here

 

 

 I brushed fresh chili paste to add some heat. Really good!

#89 Japanese Seared Beef

Yup. The picture shows an accurate image of how Japanese Seared Beef is served. R-A-W in the middle. You sear the outer part of the meat, which kills the harmful bacteria, and then once browned, you have to immediately plunge the seared meat into cold water to stop the cooking. I have to be honest with all of you, I did have second thoughts about eating it, because I've never, ever eaten raw beef in my entire life...so I got a little bit scared, at the same time was very very curious about how it would taste like. I thought, oh well, if they say it is safe to eat, then it is. After several minutes of staring at it, I ate the daikon first, then the cucumbers then dipped the meat in the ponzu sauce for several minutes, :) then started eating one slice at a time. It wasn't bad tasting, infact it was very flavorful and juicy. While eating it very slowly, I started thinking about my usual medium rare to medium meats. It was just way to rare for me. It was great to try it, the meat is so tender, the ponzu sauce was delicious, and some say meat cooked rare are loaded with super protein.  I didn't get sick after 48 hours of eating it, but I didn't feed it to anybody else- was too paranoid! Will I make it again because it tasted great? Let's just say that, I will think hard about it. :)

Yield: 4 servings

JAPANESE SEARED BEEF


Ingredients:

1 cup finely shredded daikon
400 g beef eye fillet
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cucumber, halved lengthways

Directions:

1. Place daikon in medium bowl, cover with cold water, stand 15 minutes, drain.
2. Brush beef with oil and cook on heated oiled grill plate (or grill or barbecue) until browned all over. 
3. Allow to cool or plunge into cold water to stop cooking immediately. Drain and pat dry with absorbent paper.
4. Remove and discard seeds from cucumber; slice thinly. Cut beef into thin slices and arrange on a plate with mounds of daikon and cucumber. Serve with Ponzu sauce, recipe follows.

PONZU SAUCE


Ingredients:

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup japanese soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Combine juice, sauce and water in a small bowl; sprinkle with onion. 

Recipe adapted from Australian Women's Weekly Magazine.

Daikon, mooli, or white radish often associated in Japan, was originally cultivated in continental Asia. There are many variations of daikon, but the one that is widely consumed in Japan is the aokubi-daikon which has the shape of a giant carrot. In Japanese cuisine, it is made into pickles, simmered, grated and mixed in sauces such as Ponzu, even dried and preserved. It's sprouts are used as garnishing or eaten as a salad. The leaves, called suzushiro are edible, used in stir fries and pickling. Every year, on January 7th, the daikon leaves are included in the customary eating of "seven-herb rice porridge"  when the Festival of Seven Herbs, or also known as Nanakusa no sekku is celebrated.

#71 Fried Tofu with Sesame Seeds, Daikon and Ginger

A nice and simple fragrant dish. I like tofu, and when coated then fried with the sesame seeds, both flavors blended together beautifully. The grated fresh daikon radish and ginger is eaten with it and then dipped in warm sauce.. it changes the entire taste!.."Yum! That's really good!", I said after the first bite and more "Yum!" followed. I am aware that I have such a low maintenance set of taste buds...almost everything tastes great! Ha! :) And so these new flavors, are just simply heavenly to me. I have not seen this in any Japanese restaurants so it's really great to find and taste it for the first time in our kitchen.

Yield: 4 servings


FRIED TOFU with SESAME SEEDS, DAIKON and GINGER

Ingredients:

600 g firm tofu
1/3 cup plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup black sesame seeds
1/3 cup white sesame seeds
vegetable oil, for deep frying
1/2 cup finely grated, drained well
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

For the sauce:

1/3 cup primary dashi
1 teaspoon mirin
1 tablespoon japanese soy sauce

Directions:

1. Press tofu between two chopping boards with a weight on top, raise one end; let stand for 25 minutes.
2. Cut tofu into cubes (2.5 cm) cubes, toss in flour- shake off excess flour. Dip tofu in egg, then in combined seeds to coat.
3. Heat oil in medium sauce pan or a deep fryer; cook tofu, in batches, until browned lightly all over, drain on absorbent paper or wire rack. Serve with warmed sauce and daikon topped with ginger.
4. Heat combined sauce ingredients in a small saucepan. Serve.

TIPS: If you are allergic to sesame seeds, you can use breadcrumbs to coat before frying.

Recipe adapted from: Australian Women's Weekly Magazine

Japan is the world's largest importer of sesame seeds, which is a very important component of Japanese cuisine. Burma and India are the largest exporter of Sesame Seeds. The seed, which is commonly off-white in color, also comes in buff, tan, gold, brown, reddish, gray and black colors.

#63 Beef and Vegetable rolls

Looks difficult to make, but not at all! It's an artful dish and I just loved making it. Very fun. The taste? It's great. Try it!

BEEF AND VEGETABLE ROLLS


Ingredients:

2 medium carrots
6 asparagus spears, halved lengthways
3 green onions
12 thin slices beef eye fillet (300g)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup (60 ml) mirin or sweet rice wine
2 tablespoons sake
1/4 cup (60 ml) japanese soy sauce


Directions:

1. Using a vegetable peeler, slice carrot lengthways into thin strips. Cut carrot strips to width of beef. Place asparagus in heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water, stand 2 minutes; drain, rinse under cold water, drain. Cut asparagus and onions to width of beef.
2. Lay beef slices flat ad sift 1 tablespoon of the cornstarch lightly over top. Lay two pieces each of carrot and onion and one piece of asparagus across the dusted side of each slice of beef and roll up. Tie rolls with kitchen string or secure ends with toothpicks. Dust rolls lightly with remaining cornstarch.
3. Heat oil in medium frying pan and cook rolls until lightly browned all over. Remove rolls from pan, wipe oil from pan with absorbent paper; return rolls to pan. Add combined sugar, mirin, sake and sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, turning occasionally, until rolls are cooked through. If a thicker sauce is preferred, remove rolls and boil sauce to reduce. Return rolls to pan and coat with sauce.
4. Remove rolls from pan, cool 2 minutes. Remove and discard toothpicks; cut rolls in half. Arrange on serving plate and serve with remaining sauce.

TIP: Very thinly sliced beef, sold as yakiniku or sukiyaki beef is available from Asian grocery stores.

Recipe adapted from The Australian women's weekly cookbooks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Delicious!

#61 Japanese Cucumber Salad

This is a very simple dish. If you love the freshness of cucumbers, this is a great recipe that you should try. It is not complicated to make at all and tastes great. I toasted sesame seeds for the first time, it smelled so good!

 

JAPANESE CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredients:

2 medium cucumbers, or 1 large English cucumber
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted


Directions:

1. Peel cucumbers to leave alternating green stripes. Slice the cucumbers in half lengthwise; scrape the seeds out with a spoon. Using a food processor or sharp knife, cut into very thin slices. Place in a double layer of paper towel and squeeze gently to remove any excess moisture.
2. Combine vinegar, sugar and salt in a medium bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add the cucumbers and sesame seeds; toss well to combine. Serve immediately.

Notes:

To toast sesame seeds, heat a small dry skillet over low heat. Add sesame seeds and stir constantly until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.

Recipe adapted from www.eatingwell.com

I love how the Japanese put importance in frugality, and at the same time on the quality of their foods. They value ease on the preparation, nutritional value and beautiful presentation.  They have one of the healthiest diets in the planet. That's why I crave for their food all the time. It's amazing. Growing up in Asia where healthy food is inexpensive, I feel lucky and  I appreciate how my mother's proper parenting taught us the importance of  a healthy all-natural diet.  I consumed only organic meats and produce growing up in the Philippines, all from our backyard and from nearby farmers. Here in the US, you pay more to eat natural foods. :-( To solve this problem, I seek ways to live a healthy and economical lifestyle. Just like how the Japanese do.  Cooking and eating at home frequently is one way. And I think growing your own food without chemicals is another way to achieve that lifestyle.  Included in my bucket list is to have my own nice-sized backyard and utilize it down to the last square footage. It will be beautiful with flowers but will also grow all my favorite herbs and veggies, chickens and maybe a little fish pond too for our consumption. I want just like the one we had during my childhood. And then I can create more Japanese dishes with the best ingredients straight from my own backyard. :) Soon.

#47 Japanese Omelette Roll

Japanese cuisine is always  artfully presented, simply amazing and tastes so delicious. I discovered this method of cooking eggs from a magazine, and I had to do it. The biggest problem that I encountered while creating this dish is the difficulty of rolling it, while keeping all the eggs in tact. I do not own a wide pan, a wide square frying pan is ideal to use. I made the eggs on a hot griddle, had to watch it closely, the eggs needed to be cooked thoroughly to keep it intact, yet moist enough so that it rolls easily and retain it's rolled form. Honestly, it was one of the hardest breakfast dish that I have ever made! After so many tries, I was able to roll and slice it into these beautiful bite-sized  pieces. This dish is typically served with grated fresh radish and soy sauce. Loved it, and will I do it again? Sure! It's a refreshing recipe and a great way to make eggs, sans the fattening addition to breakfast dishes that many of us are accustomed to every morning. Just a load of  protein and healthy greens.

JAPENESE OMELETTE ROLL

Ingredients:

8 pieces of large eggs

vegetable oil

fresh spinach

Directions:

1. Using a wire whisk, mix the egg whites and yolk thoroughly.
2. In a pot, boil water, then once it boils, add the spinach and let it cook for a minute. Remove from boiling water and wash it with cold water.
3.  Using a bamboo mat, remove excess water from the cooked spinach. Set aside.
4. On a hot square frying pan, add vegetable oil.
5. Add eggs, carefully watching it, don't burn it. Once it is cooked, add the spinach on top.
6. Roll. And cut into bite sized pieces.
7. Serve with grated radish and soy sauce.

 

I also tried rolling some eggs without spinach in it. I love raw vegetables and so I put the rolled cooked eggs on top of fresh spinach leaves. For more flavor, I added vinegar, salt and pepper. Turned out great!

#39 Japanese Style Chicken Curry

I wanted to try a great recipe from olive magazine, but was lacking the miso paste, the fresh ginger and the curry powder. I was really craving for curry and so  I decided to improvise! The result of my ingenuity, thankfully, was not a disaster. I wouldn't say it will taste perfect to others as nothing beats the flavor of fresh ginger and miso paste.. but we made a great tasting Japanese style curry using the ingredients that we had available. We absolutely loved it!


Japanese Style Chicken Curry


Ingredients:

1 packet AKA MISO SOUP (Soybean Paste Soup)
1 1/2 cups of water
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
2 full chicken breasts
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon cinnnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon mirin
1/8 teaspoon salt
trimmed green beans
1/4 cup of chopped green onions
Steamed rice, to serve


Directions:

1. Heat 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan and brown the chicken pieces on both sides until golden. Remove from the pan. 
2. In the same non-stick pan, add  the remaining 1/2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, let it heat then  add garlic cook until brown.
3. In a bowl, add the water and then empty the miso soup packet. Stir well. Add into the pan.
4. Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, ginger powder and the browned chicken. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add the green beans, green onions and mirin then simmer for another 5 minutes.
6. Serve with steamed rice.

 

Curry ( カレー karē ) is one of  the most popular dishes in Japan. Curry was introduced to Japan between the mid 1800's to early 1900's by the British. Served in different styles and a wide variety of meats are used. In Japan, beef and pork are popular, whereas in many neighboring countries, chicken, seafood, lamb and vegetables are most common. Back home, we always ate Chicken Curry. Next time we will try a good lamb curry recipe.

#4 & #5 Tasting Japan

Japanese food is, hands down-- my favorite. I love how Japanese restaurants are found in every block in the Bay Area. And it must be also true in all major cities around the world.  I don't think I will ever get tired of it. I love making different Japanese dishes myself, because it is truly an enjoyable experience for me every time. It's quick, healthy, artful and very delicious!Tuesdays are always busy for us. So soup & sushi were the top choice. My ballerina was tired last night after two hours of dancing so, she didn't even bother to choose :)

For the soup:   clear soup with prawns & spinach

Sushi:  my version of  "California Roll"

CLEAR SOUP WITH PRAWNS & SPINACH

Ingredients:

6 uncooked prawns

baby spinach leaves

3 strips lemon rind

1 L of primary dashi

2 tsp light soy sauce

Directions:

1. Shell & devein prawns, leaving tails in tact.Cut a small slit in the middle of each prawn. Push tail through the slit.

2. Cook prawns in small saucepan with enough water, do not cover the saucepan. Cook for 1 minute.Drain. Set aside.

3.  Boil water in a pot and then add the spinach. Once slightly wilted, remove from heat. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Drain & set aside.

4. Cut slits along both long sides of the lemon rind starting at opposite ends, but don't cut all the way. Leave about 5% to keep the strip of lemon rind intact.Then gently pull & twist to form a triangle.

5. In a saucepan, boil the Dashi and then add the soy sauce.Note: I boiled a separate soup water for the ballerina since she is allergic to seafood.

6. In a serving bowl, arrange the spinach and the prawns, with tails facing up. Pour the boiled Dashi, and top with the lemon rind triangle.

I also found out that this soup can be paired with cooked beef slices instead of the prawns- she enjoyed it! And since we had rice, she poured rice on her soup. Great thinking!

  

 MY VERSION OF CALIFORNIA SUSHI ROLL

 Ingredients:

cucumber slices

avocado slices

crab meat or imitation crab meat

japanese rice

sushi seasoning

sheets toasted seaweed (yaki-nori)

Directions:

1.  Cook rice.  

2. Once cooked, let it cool down in a bowl, then add the sushi seasoning. 

3.It's sushi roll time. (There are so many sushi making videos you can check out online). This is the easiest way for me to roll (nori on the outside), California rolls are made inside-out. But I like rolling mine the traditional way. It's easier.

4.Wipe knife with a damp cloth. Slice through the roll, wiping knife between cuts.

FUN FACT:

In the 1970's, a sushi chef named Ichiro Mashita based in Los Angeles began experimenting with replacing tuna with avocado. After he discovered that the texture & taste of avocado is a great substitute for tuna, the Califonia Roll is born. He eventually made the roll with rice on the outside because the Americans did not like how the nori looked on the outside :)