Japanese Style Spinach

This Japanese specialty is know as O-hitashi and is a simple to prepare side dish for chicken or fish, such as salmon or tuna. What i made might not be called O-histashi as i have changed the dressing to my taste. Well, whatever, not only is this recipe simple to prepare, it only needed everyday ingredients, plus water and two very simple, quick cooking techniques - blanching and dry-toasting.  Some easy plating tricks, will at the end, result to something that is visually quite stunning, delicious and healthy too.


For recipe and how to click HERE Read More......

Kasutera - Japanese Honey Castella For Chinese New Year

Here is another cake which is deliciously
 sweet to serve to your guests during the
 Chinese New Year.  The green tea present will be auspicious and bring 'choy'/prosperity to your home.........

Continue to read and for recipe click HERE Read More......

Futomaki - Thick Sushi Roll

Futomaki are thick sushi rolls which includes various fillings. They are also known as fat rolls. My friend Sam who is a Sushi Chef told me that it is easy to make Sushi.  All i needed was some goodwill and a good guide, meaning that he will show me how.  Looking at his nimble fingers working with the rice, trying not to blink in case i missed some valuable tips, but i must have blinked, cos the roll was ready right before me,  like magic, my mouth was opened wide with astonishment.   I insisted that he would have to roll on slow motion and this time, he went extra slow, so i had more ideas of how a good sushi roll was done.  Then it was my turn,  i was so excited that i forgot all the tips and made a huge mess.  Our hungry friends could not wait for lunch, so Sam had to continue making lunch for us and i promised him that i will go home and try to remember his teaching and not make a mess.  You think that i will remember?  I did keep my promise , i made some and a mess too.

Sushi Rice:
Ingredients: 

2 cups sushi or short grain rice
2 cups water, plus extra for rinsing rice
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt or 2 tsp regular table salt

Method:

Place the rice into a mixing bowl and cover with cool water. Swirl the rice in the water, pour off and repeat 2 to 3 times or until the water is clear.  Pour enough water to cover rice and let it soak for 30 minutes.

Place the rice and 2 cups of water into the rice cooker and cook rice until done.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a small bowl and heat in the microwave on high for 30 to 45 seconds.

Transfer the rice into a large wooden or glass mixing bowl and add the vinegar mixture. Fold thoroughly to combine and coat each grain of rice with the mixture. Allow to cool to room temperature before using to make sushi

California Roll

Ingredients:

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced into 1/4-inch thick pieces
4 sheets nori
1/2 batch sushi rice, recipe as above
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cut into matchstick-size pieces
4 crabsticks, torn into pieces

Pickled ginger, for serving
Wasabi, for serving
Soy sauce, for serving










Method:

Squeeze the lemon juice over the avocado to prevent browning.

Cover a bamboo rolling mat with plastic wrap.

Lay 1 sheet of nori, shiny side down, on the plastic covered mat.

Wet your fingers with water and spread about 1 cup of the rice evenly onto the nori.

Place 1/8 of the cucumber, avocado and crab sticks in the center of the sheet.

Grab the edge of the mat closest to you, keeping the fillings in place with your fingers, and roll it into a tight cylinder, using the mat to shape the cylinder. Pull away the mat and set aside. Cover with a damp cloth.

Repeat until all of the rice has been used. Cut each roll into 6 pieces.

Serve with pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.

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Spam Musubi

In Hawaii, Spam musubi, a tradition of Japanese onigiri,  is a very popular snack   Spam musubi is composed of a block of rice, be it jasmine or sushi rice,  with a slice of grilled spam(luncheon meat can be used, then the snack will be called Luncheon Musubi) on top and nori (seaweed) wrapping to hold it together. There are no fast rules to making this yummy snack except for the 3 main ingredients, cooked rice, Spam and Nori.  The sauce is of your own choice and if you are like me, i like mine naked - meaning 'no sauce' cos i find that the Spam is flavorful enough, in fact too salty.  A musubi mould would be good to have but until i visit Hawaii to get one, i will have to continue to make my musubi with a homemade improvised mould - an empty small can of Spam with both ends removed and a thick cardboard cut to the size of the can, covered with several layers of aluminium foil to be used as a press. A word of caution, the edges of the bottom of spam can is very sharp, so neaten sharp edges and use with caution.   I love making spam musubi for breakfast cos it is fast to make.  You know - asian household -  i always have leftover cooked rice and i will just heat it up in the microwave.  I even use the microwave to brown my slices of Spam - no washing of pans.  Yes, in a jiffy you can assemble and a sumptous breakfast/snack can be served.

Ingredients:

5 cups cooked sushi rice/jasmine rice, room temperature
5 sheets nori, cut in half lengthwise
1 (12 oz.) can Spam
Furikake(optional), to taste

Sauce:
6 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp mirin
4 tbsp sugar






Method:Cut Spam into 10 slices. Fry until slightly crispy. Remove and drain on plate lined with paper towels.

To make the sauce, in another pan, combine soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to low. Add Spam slices, coating them in the mixture. When mixture has thickened, remove Spam from pan.

To assemble, lay a sheet of nori lengthwise on a clean surface. Moisten lower half of musubi mould and place on lower third of nori. Fill musubi mould with rice and press rics flat until the rice is 3/4-inch high(this height is desirable but it does not matter, if you have put in more rice, then the height will be taller -  no rocket science). Sprinkle rice with furikake if using. Top with slice of Spam. Remove musubi mould with the press still on top of Spam,  keep in a bowl of warm water to keep it clean and moist.



Starting at the end towards you, remove the press and  fold nori over Spam and rice stack, and keep rolling until completely wrapped in the nori. Slightly dampen the end of the nori to seal it.

Repeat with the other nine Spam slices, making sure to rinse off musubi maker after each use to prevent it from getting too sticky.

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Seaweed and Rice - Renee and Alexander's Lunch

After all the feasting during the Chinese New Year Celebration, Renee and Alexander were very happy just to have plain rice with seaweed.

Ingredients:

Plain Rice - warm
Seaweed
Cute Moulds

Method:

Pack warm rice into moulds and then decorate with seaweed.

Serves

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Green Tea Kasutera/Castella Cake

This was a gift and what a welcome one as i have yearned to taste one since it has so many good reviews of how good it is. I was inspired to try to bake one.

This is my green tea kasutera wannabe, at least this time it did not go to the Culinary God and in fact, tasted better than the gift. I don't know if i had used the wrong type of Green Tea Powder, which is slightly brownest than green and the Honey was brown too, thus making my cake more like a caramel cake. The most important thing that i managed to bake this sponge without it sinking and creating a huge crater and i was glad that i borrowed BakeWise by Shirley O. Corriher from the Library. The first chapter - Priceless Knowledge is all what home bakers need to know before we start baking.

For this cake, i went through Genoise in this book and applied what she has to suggest with her technical knowledge - the recipe has to balance - the weight of flour and sugar are close to equal and the amount of sugar should not exceed the ratio of 1 - 1.25 to the weight of eggs.

Adding more egg yolks to the whole eggs improves their aerating ability and the stability of the foam.

Temperature of the eggs and sugar is important and the desirable temp. of 86 - 90F and to achieve a thick egg foam with very fine bubbles, patience is required. Beat on medium and since beating time on medium speed is extended, the stability of the foam increases.

Adding 1 tablespoon of sugar to the flour aids in blending the flour into the batter and prevents white clumps of flour in the baked cake.

Add the flour before you add the fat. The fat must be added at the final mixing stage to minimize the loss in volume.

Folding anything into the foam can be tricky, so i love the technique of blending a cup of the batter with the melted butter/oil, and then folding this mixture into the rest of the batter.

A good kasutera is moist, with a very fine texture, and is very light. It should have a dark brown and sugary top and bottom. It is sweet yet not cloyingly sweet. It should not have any oil but i added in 2 tablespoons besides adding in 2 yolks cos according to E,J. Pyler in Baking Science and Technology, modern eggs may be deficient in yolk solids. The next time around, i would use 2 tablespoon of whipped cream instead of oil and milk.

Although most sponge is baked with cake flour, bread flour is used in this recipe to give more structure to the mixture.

A long long time ago when i came here to visit and i wanted to bake the Kuih Lapis Batavia but there was no square cake pan available in the house. So, i covered a square cardboard box with heavy duty aluminium and voila the cake baked in it was so moist and wonderful. i used the same approach and it did not failed me this time too. The cardboard is thick and not as hot so it allowed the cake to finish baking and remained moist. My dear friend, Nellie, gave me a very good answer to my question of why the green tea turned brown - it is HEAT which caused oxidation.

Ingredients:

4 large eggs

2 yolks

4 1/2 tbsp fine granulated sugar

3/4 cup bread flour,

1 tbsp fine granulated sugar,

1 tbsp green tea powder

1/8 tsp salt

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp milk

2 tbsp oil

Sugar for sprinkling

Glaze:

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp hot water

Method:

Line a cardboard box with heavy duty aluminium foil and grease the inside, then line with grease proof/parchment paper, bottom and sides - make the sides 1 1/2 inches higher than the sides. Sprinkle sugar on to the base of box.

Arrange oven rack to the middle of oven and preheat oven @ 350f.

Sieve flour, green tea powder, salt and sugar together.

In a saucepan, one which your mixer bowl will sit and the bottom does not touch the water, heat about 1 inch of water to 110f.

Rince mixer howl with tap water as hot as possible to warm, then dry well.

Whisk eggs, egg yolks and sugar in the warm bowl sitting over the simmering water.

Check the temperature of the mixture, you want to get the mixture between 86 - 90f. Keep whisking and checking the temperature.

Put honey and milk in a bowl and place it over the warm water, stir to melt the honey. Remove and leave aside.

Place the bowl of warm egg mixture on the mixer with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed for 2 minutes only. Turn the speed down to medium(4 in kitchenaid) or just below medium and beat for 10 minutes until the foam is completely cool, thick and shiny.

Sift part of the flour mixture on top, avoiding the edges of the bowl and 1 tbsp of honey and milk mixture. Very carefully fold once only by dipping a large spatula into the foam at the 12 o'clock position, dragging it across the bottom. At the 6 o'clock position, lift up some foam and spread it across the top. Sift more of the flour mixture and honey mixture, fold again. Try to incorporate all the flour and honey mixture in about three to five batches and fold carefully to blend.

Place oil in a medium mixing bowl and spoon in 1 cup of the batter and fold together. When this is well blended, fold this mixture into the main batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 300f and bake further for 40 minutes. Check for doneness.

As soon as the cake is out of the oven, brush the top with the honey-water mixture.

When it's cool enough to handle but still warm, lift it out of the pan, paper and all, and put into a plastic bag. Seal the bag and put into the refrigerator, for several hours preferably overnight as this will ensure a moist texture.

To serve, use a very sharp serrated knife to make clean cuts. Cut off the sides and make small, neat slices.

Enjoy

Serves

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Daifuku

These are so good! Daifuku (which means great luck) is a Japanese sweet treat made of glutinous rice pounded into paste and molded into shape. The outside is a glutinous rice cake called mochi. For daifuku, it generally means it’s filled with anko, which is sweet red-bean paste. The most common mochi are white, pale green or pale pink. A current popular trend for daifuku is a filling of fresh strawberry covered in strawberry jam or anko ; covered, of course, in mochi. Daifuku come in two common sizes, one about the diameter of a half-dollar coin; the other is palm-sized or in my case, i follow the size of the strawberry. Some versions of daifuku contain other types of fruit, mixtures of fruits and anko, and crushed melon paste. Daifuku is usually covered in a fine layer of corn or taro starch to keep them from sticking to each other or to the fingers as you eat them. Some are covered with confectioner's sugar or cocoa.You can make various daifuku--just change the filling.

Ingredients:



1 cup shiratama-ko (glutinous rice flour)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/3 cup water

1 1/4 cup premade anko

12 fresh strawberries - choose all the same size
Katakuri-ko (potato starch) for dusting

Method:

Make 12 small anko balls and wrap strawberries in.

Put water and sugar in a heat-resistant bowl and mix well.

Add shiratama-ko flour in the bowl and mix well.

Put the bowl in microwave and heat the dough for two minutes. Stir the dough.

Heat the dough in microwave until the dough inflates. Stir the mochi quickly.

Dust a flat pan with some katakuri-ko starch. Also, dust hands with some katakuri-ko.

Remove the hot mochi from the bowl to the pan by hands. Dust hands with more katakuri-ko starch and divide the mochi into 12 pieces by hands. The mochi is hot and sticky, so be careful not to burn your hands. Make 12 flat and round mochi.

Fill mochi with prepared strawberry anko balls.

Repeat the process to make daifuku cakes.

Makes 12 daifuku.

Serves

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Mango Mochi

Mochi is one of my favorite things to eat. There are endless ways to prepare and flavour mochi - only limited by your imagination (and stomach).
Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made from glutinous rice. This Japanese glutinous rice delicacy is molded into shape just after pounding the rice. The sticky Mochi are a bit of a challenge to eat. Mochi forms the basis of many Japanese confections such as daifuku, which is mochi stuffed with sweet filling. So, this mochi filled with mangos, should it be daifuku??????? The chinese way to name a dish is simple, just name it from its ingredients - Glutinious Rice Balls With Mangos.

Ingredients:

2 cups glutinous rice flour

1/2 cup rice flour

1 tbsp santan powder

2 tbsp oil

2 cups hot water

1/2 cup Tang Mango Flavor

2 drops of mango essence

2 drops of yellow coloring

2 ripe mangoes (diced )

Dessicated coconut for coating

Method:

Mix glutinous rice flour, rice flour and santan powder into a big mixing bowl.

Dissolve Tang Mango Flavor powder with the hot water and add in the oil, mango essence and yellow coloring.

Pour this into the flour mixture and mix till smooth and well blended.

Microwave on high for one minute. Stir and continue to microwave, one minute at a time until mixture is translucent and cooked. (Cooking time depends on the wattage of your microwave)

Leave aside to cool.

For easy moulding of mochi, use plastic gloves and greased them with some oil.

Take a 30g piece of dough and flatten it into a round disc, wrap in as much mango cubes as desired. Seal the edges tightly and shape it into round balls.

Coat the shaped mochi with dessicated coconut.

Serve chilled.



Serves

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Tangzhong starter / Water roux starter

Angie's Recipe and Cornercafe are my favorite bloggers, who have shared so many of their experience on bread-making. This Water Roux is something new to me and thanks to them and so many other bloggers, i have made successful bread using it. Thank you Angie and Seadragon for sharing and not forgetting all the other bloggers who shared too.

A Tangzhong starter / Water roux starter is a mixture of flour and water. That is to combine together one portion of bread flour and five portions of water by weight in a pot.

Heat up the mixture to bring out the gelatinization of starch in flour. What makes the bread baked with this kind of starter different is Starch Gelatinization, which helps to engage more water, namely more water will be absorbed, to provide a characteristic softer, more elastic-textured bread. Moreover, the bread will have long-lasting freshness

I have made Cocktail buns using it and they are the best soft buns, forget about it in the Dum Sum restaurant and make some following the recipe which i will post tomorrow.


Ingredients:

50 g Bread flour
250 ml Water

Method:

.

In a bowl, whisk together the water and the flour until the mixture is well blended and lump free.

Stir the mixture while it cooks over the medium heat to reach 65C/150F. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and cover loosely with plastic wrap to prevent from drying.

Store the starter in the refrigerator after completely cooling down.

To use the starter, measure out the amount called for in a recipe and let it warm to room temperature.

Unlike sourdough starter, this special Tangzhong starter doesn't improve its flavour with age. So it's preferably to use up in 3 days.

Serves

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Takoyaki

'Tako' the Japanese word for 'octupus' and 'Yaki' for 'grill. so, if no octupus is used, can this be qualiflied as 'Takoyaki'? I used thick squid to try out this recipe and to play with this pan. If these balls were not accepted with enthusiasm, it will be alright, at least there was not a dent in the pocket - paying for the expensive octupus - the squid was only 99 cents/lb. Surprising, everyone who ate them liked them except me, i liked the batter to be more like pancake rather than this which was like the 'kuih' or pudding texture. Perhaps i chose the wrong recipe but anyway it was a very enjoyable effort flipping the balls.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL

Ingredients:

200g chopped boiled octopus
cooking oil
benishoga (pickled ginger) (to taste)
chopped negi (or scallions) (to taste)
tenkasu (or rice crispies) (to taste)

[Batter]:

450cc water
1 piece konbu (kelp), 10cm square
15g powdered katsuo-bushi (shaved dried bonito)
200g flour
2 eggs

[Sauce]:

commercial takoyaki sauce
or worcestershire sauce
or bulldog sauce
or mayonnaise (Best Foods or Hellman's)

Method:


1. Clean the konbu by wiping it lightly with a cloth.

2. Cut the konbu into 2-centimeter-wide partial strips against the grain, but don't cut all the way to the edge .

3. Add the water and konbu to a pot, and cook uncovered over a slow fire.

4. Just before the water starts to boil, remove the konbu from the pot. The liquid should be a light yellowish or greenish color.

5. Add shaved katsuobushi to the water as it starts to boil.

6. After the liquid has been boiling a minute or two, turn off the heat.

7. Quickly remove the shaved katsuobushi from the liquid with a filter or strainer or cloth. Try to remove the katsuobushi while it's still floating on the surface, before it has a chance to sink.

8. Allow the liquid to cool, then add the liquid, flour and eggs to a bowl and mix.


Directions - takoyaki

Make a small test batch of 4 or 5 takoyaki at first, to check the consistency of the batter. Add more flour or water as needed.

1. Oil the takoyaki pan.

2. Add pieces of chopped octopus to each cup.

3. Pour in the batter.

4. Add benishoga, negi and tenkasu to taste.

5. Cook the takoyaki pieces until they achieve the desired degree of firmness, turning them over frequently.

6. Remove from the pan and serve with sauce and/or mayonnaise.

Serves
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Flapjacks

When my guests are Asians, i know what to serve for breakfast but what do you serve American Guests for breakfast besides leaving the boxes of cereals and milk on the table? Flapjacks are the easiest to dish up. I made some smaller and fill with red bean paste and they were the best Dorayaki ever.


Ingredients:

2 c. unsifted all purpose flour

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 c. milk

6 tbsp. butter, melted

4 lg. eggs, separated at room temperature

Vegetable oil for frying

Butter, optional

Method:

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Beat together milk, butter, and egg yolks.

Stir into flour mixture just until moistened.

In small bowl with electric mixer beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Fold into flapjack batter.

Heat a large non-stick skillet (i use Cusinart Griddle) over medium heat and rub lightly with oil.

Spoon batter about 1/2 cup at a time into skillet to make 5 1/2 inch rounds. For Doriyaki, spoon 1/4 cup or less to make 2 - 2 1/2 inch rounds.

Fry until surface appears dry and bubbles form around edge. Turn and fry on other side until done 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

Serve with butter and maple syrup and for Doriyaki, sandwich with red bean paste

Serves

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Kinpira Gobo/Burdock Salad

This is an overview from University of Maryland Medical Center :

Burdock has been used for centuries to treat a host of ailments. It has been traditionally used as a "blood purifier" to clear the bloodstream of toxins, as a diuretic (helping rid the body of excess water by increasing urine output), and as a topical remedy for skin problems such as eczema, acne, and psoriasis. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, burdock is often used with other herbs for sore throat and colds. Extracts of burdock root are found in a variety of herbal preparations as well as homeopathic remedies.
In Japan and some parts of Europe, burdock is eaten as vegetable. Burdock contains inulin, a natural dietary fiber, and has also been used traditionally to improve digestion.

After reading this overview, i had to cook this vegetable for my family and found this japanese recipe which was easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb gobo (burdock root)
1/4 lb carrot
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp mirin
1/2 tbsp sake
1 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsps vegetable oil



Method:

Peel gobo and shred it into very thin strips.

Soak the gobo strips in water for a while and drain well.

Peel the carrot and cut it into short and thin strips.

Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan, and fry gobo strips for a couple minutes.

Add carrot strips in the pan and stir-fry them.

Add all seasonings in the pan and stir-fry well.

Turn off the heat.

Sprinkle sesame seeds.

Serves

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Miso Soup

The first time i made Miso Soup with wakamie, the surprise I got when I saw the little wakamie that i soaked became a huge bowl of it. It took me several days trying to use it up, wakamie in my instant noodles, wakamie in almost anything i can think it tastes good.



Ingredients:

5 cups of water
3-4 TBS of Miso (soy bean paste)(Miso comes in a variety of flavors, textures & colors. Generally white types are sweet, red types are salty - usually found in the refrigerated section.)
1 package or 3 TBS - dried shaved bonito flakes
3"x3" piece of kombu
3 scallions - chopped
1/2 pkg. of tofu - cut into 1 inch squares
2 - 3 strands of 4 inches wakamie

Method:

Bring water to a boil. Add kombu and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Add in bonito flakes and bring back to a boil, turn off fire and allow bonito flakes to settle to the bottom.

Pour through a strainer and bring soup back to simmer.

Use a strainer for the miso, dilute into soup, add in wakamie and diced tofu and let soup come back to a boil.

Serve hot with chopped scallions(spring onions)


Supplementary Ingredients that can be used in this miso soup recipe:


1 lb. of pork meat or chicken
6-8 dried shitake mushrooms
1-2 bundles of somen

Serves
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