Kakiage-Don (rice bowl)

The big hurricane Sandy arrived in Boston.  Due to this, all public schools were cancelled and also almost public translation didn't work.  I tried to go outside to grocery shopping because I didn't have so many stuff in the fridge but no sooner had I opened the entrance door then I gave up to do that because it was incredible strong rain more than expected.

Anyway, it was better to stay at home today.  Actually I was seeing outside from my room but nobody was there.

I made a Kakiage-donburi with all ingredients I had.  Kakiage is a type of tempura and a Japanese dish of seafood or vegetables that have been battered and deep fried.  It's really crispy and has a lot of flavor!  Usually I don't make this kind of deep fry but today I had a lot of free time so made it!!

Kakiage-Don (2 Serves)

• 1/2 of onion
• 10 pieces of freezer or raw shrimp
• 3 Tbs os edamame
• cooked rice for 2 person
• 1/2 cup of flour (☆)
• 2 Tbs of corn starch (☆)
• 1 tsp of baking powder (☆)
• 1/4 tsp of salt (☆)
• 100〜150cc of water
• 1 tsp of vinegar

sauce for kakiage-don

• 6 Tbs of mirin
• 3 Tbs of soy sauce
• 1 Tbs of sugar
• 100cc of dashi

1,  Peel shrimps and remove the digestive tract from the back of the prawn.  Cut into small pieces.  Cut onion into thin slices.  Put onion, shrimp and edamame in a bowl.

2,  Make batter.  Mix (☆) and add cold water and vinegar and mix quickly.  Don't mix too much.  If you think the batter isn't thin enough like this picture, you can add water a bit by bit. 

3,  Add onion, shrimp and edamame to the batter and mix lightly.

4,  Pour oil to a pan and heat it until quite hot.  When you drop a bit of batter from high position and batter rises quickly, it' a sign that you can start deep-frying.

5,  Deep fry the kakiage ingredients using two spoons to make a circle.

6,  After the edge become light brown, remove from oil and put on kitchen paper or news paper to remove extra oil.

7,  Make a sauce for kakiage-don.  Heat a pan and mirin until boiling then add all ingredients of sauce.  Heat and boil for 1 minutes or so.

8,  Place cooked rice in a rice bowl and add 1 Tbs of sauce.  Place kakiage on the rice and add sauce as much as you like. 

It has been really long time since I had kakiage-donburi last time.  I was so happy that I could enjoy this flavor and crispy texture in a while.

I enjoyed relaxing in my room today but hope that the hurricane will go away from Boston and disappear soon!!

Shrimp ball ginger soup

My mom came to Boston this June to see me.  She stayed for two weeks and went to a lot of places together.  Also I cooked together a couple of times.  It was so much fun for me and I hope to cook with her sometime soon.

I went grocery shopping today and found big shrimp sale.  I remembered that my mom made shrimp ball when we cooked together, which was so beautiful and tasty!  So I bought shrimps and tried to make shrimp ball remembering how she made it.

Shrimp ball ginger soup (2 serves)

• 6 pieces of raw shiitake mushroom
• 0.2 pound of raw shrimp（☆）
• 1 Tbs ob edamame（☆）
• 1 Tbs of corn starch（☆）
• 1 tsp of ground ginger（☆）
• 1 tsp of soy sauce（☆）
• 3 cups of water（★）
• 2 tsp of ginger（★）
• 2 tsp of dashi powder（★）
• 1 tsp of yuzu pepper（★）
• 1 tsp of soy sauce（★）
• 5 pieces of okra 
• 2 tsp of corn starch
• 2 tsp of water

1,  Peel shrimps and remove the digestive tract from the back of the prawn and chop to a paste.  Chop edamame to small pieces.  Mix all （☆）very well.

2,  Remove stalks from shiitake mushrooms and put shrimp paste on it.

3,  Boil them in hot water until color changes pink and remove.

4,  Cut okras into thick slices.  Add all of （★）in a pot.  After boil, add cut okra and boil it.

5,  Pour soup in a bowl and put shrimp balls on each cup.

This soup has a really delicate and deep flavor!  Also I added ginger so it made me warm up very much.  It's really cold tonight so I am sure I can avoid getting a cold with this soup :))

Daikon radish cake

I had dinner with my roommates tonight.  We ordered a home delivery pizza.  The pizza company said they could deliver in 20 minutes or so but actually we waited over 40 minutes but still pizza didn't come.  No way, thats too bad!  We were too hungry to wait so I made some appetizer quickly to stave off hunger.  We needed something to eat seriously!!

Daikon radish cake (4 pieces)

• 1 cup of ground radish
• 4 tbs of corn starch
• 1 tbs of dashi powder
• 1/2 cup of edamame
• 1/2 cup of shrimp
• 3 Tbs of cut green onion
• 1 Tbs of sesame oil
• Ponzu
• White sesame seed

1,  Squeeze ground radish lightly

2,  Add corn starch and mix well.  Add shrimp, edamame, green onion and dashi powder then mix well again.

3,  Make 4 pieces of round shape and add a bit of corn starch on surface

4,  Heat a pan and sesame oil until quite hot.  Grill daikon radish cakes with medium fire pushing to make flat with a spatula until brown

5,  Remove from the pan to a plate.  Add ponzu and white sesame seed before eating

I was not sure if it's taste okay but actually it's really tasty!  The texture of surface is crispy but inside is soft chewy.  I think it's pretty similar to chinese radish cake but normally they use not corn starch but rice powder.  More than that, this recipe is much easier than traditional Chinese recipe!  I was glad to be able to make this recipe :)  Actually one of my roommates really hate any vegetables but even he could eat it because he didn't notice I used a radish.  I highly recommend this recipe for people who dislike vegetables.  

When the pizza came to home, we were so satisfied.  But of course, we enjoyed the pizza also.  Ummm... maybe too much??

Broil salmon wrapped in foil (Hoiru-yaki) with miso and mayonnaise sauce

Broil something wrapped in a foil (called Hoiru-yaki, ホイル焼き) is a traditional Japanese cooking method.  In the past Japanese people wrapped with paper instead of foil but paper can burn easily so now we use foil normally.  I like Hoiru-yaki so much because I don't have to use a lot of stuff and after I put it into a oven, I don't have to pay too much attention.  It's super easy!!

Unfortunately I couldn't use a gas stove in my house because it was under construction today.  So I made a Hoiru-yaki because I could thought of only it as what I could make without gas.

Broil salmon wrapped in foil (Hoiru-yaki) with miso and mayonnaise sauce (2 serves)

• 1/2 pound of salmon
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 potato
• 2 Tbs of mayonnaise
• 3/4 Tbs of miso (☆)
• 1 tsp of sesame oil (☆)
• 1 tbs of sugar (☆)
• cheese
• 1 green onion

1, Remove the scales from a salmon and cut into a half then add a bit of salt then leave for 10 minutes

2,  Cut onion and potato into thin slices and put it on the microwave for 2〜3 minutes until soft

4,  Mix (☆) very well in a small cup and cut green onion into thin slices

3,  Spread a foil and put onion and potato, salmon,  (☆) and cheese in order

4,  Fold a foil into three like this

then fold both sides tightly like this 

5,  Bake it in a oven at 400°F for 20〜25 minutes and then put green onion and red pepper (If you have)

This miso and mayonnaise sauce's taste is rich so it goes well with not only salmon but also light food like cod, sea bass, scallops… and more!

I remembered that when I was in Japan, I often made so many kind of Hoiru-yaki, especially in winter. Maybe I'll show you other kind of Hoil-yaki this fall and winter :))

Seaweed garlic risotto with Shrimp and Edamame

I was looking forward to coming today because I had a plan to have lunch with my friends.  It has been 4 months since I met them last time so I was so excited!!  We went to a dim sum restaurant in China town and ordered so many dim sums like dumpling, steamed meat ban, turnip cake, spring roll…and more! (It was so tasty that I completely forgot to take pictures... ;(( )  I really enjoyed nice food and talking with them.  Actually we talked over 4 hours!  It was so much fun.  Recently they are so busy for working and studying and work so hard for their dream so today they really inspired me.  I though I had to make more effort like them!!  Thank you, friends :)

Anyway, when I got to home, I was so happy and full but after a couple of hours I felt hungry suddenly.  I remembered that the Japanese risotto I made this week was so good.  I was almost addicted to it so made another kind of Japanese risotto tonight!

Seaweed garlic risotto with Shrimp and Edamame

• 180cc of white rice
• 2 Tbs of olive oil
• 600cc of hot water (☆)
• 1 Tbs of dashi powder (☆)
• frozen shrimp as much as you like
• edamame as much as you like
• 1 sheet of seaweed sheet
• 4 Tbs of mozzarella cheese
• 1 Tbs of fried garlic
• 1 tsp of soy sauce
• black pepper

1,  Put (☆) in a pot and heat until quite hot then keep it warm
2,  Heat olive oil and a pan until hot and add white rice (don't wash!!) then stir-fry for 5 minutes with low fire
3,  Add 1/3 of  dashi soup and boil until dry
4,  Add another 1/3 of dashi soup and boil until dry and do same thing again.  It takes 10 minutes since you add dashi soup first time.
5,  Add frozen shrimp and edamame and boil until shrimp changes color completely
6,  Take a pan off a fire and add teared seaweed sheet, fried garlic, cheese, soy sauce and pepper then mix well

I realized that a seaweed sheet went with cheese very well!  You should try it!!

By the way, my friends and I went to a pastry shop after lunch.  I think it is the best pastry shop in Boston!  I bought some cakes home as dessert.

Look!  So beautiful!!

Tiramisu, key lime tart and creme brûlée... Mmm...yum yum yum♡

It was a really nice Sunday.  I feel like I can do my best next week:))  Thank you so much for today.  I look forward to meeting you guys again sometime soon!!!

Ume plum and Japanese anchovy risotto

I went to Sunday brunch with my friend last weekend.  We tried to order a pancake or something like that but the waiter said he highly recommended a mushroom risotto which was the most popular menu at the restaurant.  We changed our mind and ordered it.  Surprisingly it was so good and it became the most delicious risotto for us.

We couldn't forget the experience and today we tried to make risotto by our self.  Unfortunately we were too busy to go grocery shopping  so decided to make risotto with the ingredients already we had.  There wrier just cheese, ume plum, shiso leaf and Japanese anchovy (called shirasu)...no mushroom... ;(

This is shiso which is a kind of Japanese herb.  It has strong and good flavor so it makes food more tasty.  I was surprised that some perfume has shiso as a secret ingredient!!

This is Japanese anchovy.  It a so small fish.  Usually we can buy boiled one in Japan at any grocery store but for just short season we can eat fresh one near ocean in Japan!  (I have never tried thought...)

We were sure that the ingredients we had were enough to make nice Japanese flavor risotto!!

Ume plum and Japanese anchovy  risotto

• 180 cc of white rice
• 2 Tbs of olive oil
• 3〜4 pieces ume plum
• 10 leaves of shiso leave
• 4 Tbs of Japanese anchovy
• 3 Tbs of cheese
• soy sauce

Dashi soup

• 600cc of water
• 1 Tbs of Japanese dashi powder

1,  Remove a core from shiso leaves and cut into tin slices. (It's easy to cut if after roll like this picture)

2,  Remove seeds from ume plum and chop into a paste 

3,  Put dashi powder and water in a pot and heat until quite hot then keep it warm

4,  Heat olive oil and a pan until hot and add white rice (don't wash!!) then stir-fry for 5 minutes with low fire

5,  Add 1/3 of  dashi soup and boil until dry

6,  Add another 1/3 of dashi soup and boil until dry and do same thing again.  It takes 15 minutes since you add dashi soup first time.

7,  Take a pan off a fire and add chopped ume plum and cut shiso leaves then mix well

8,  Add cheese and mix then add Japanese anchovy and mix well

I didn't make risotto recently but realized how easy to do that is!  Actually it took less time than wait for cooked rice.  We are addicted to risotto already so will make other flavor sometime soon!!!

Avocado wasabi tartare dip

The air is exceedingly dry in my classroom by too much air conditioner ;((  That's a problem for me because sometime it makes my skin too dry and tight.  Ummm... you know for ladies it's very important to keep their skin moist!!

So this afternoon I was reading one article about moisturizer partly as learning about it and partly as studying English.  It said that avocado can make your skin so moist and bright.  Even a famous nutritionist of Ms. Universe recommends participants to eat 1/4 of avocado everyday and says "Avocado is the only one beauty essence in this world which you can eat"!!

I know about that now so I can't help to making something with avocado!!

Avocado wasabi tartare dip

• an avocado
• 1/4 of onion
• 10 pieces shrimps
• 3 Tbs of mayonnaise
• 1/2〜1 tsp of wasabi
• 2 tsp of soy sauce
• salt and pepper

1,  Chop onion into small size and add 1/2 tsp of salt then leave for 15 minutes

2,  Wash the onion well and squeeze with kitchen paper

3,  Boil shrimps until the color change and cut into small cubes

4,  Cut an avocado into bit-size and mush it lightly with fork

5,  Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix them very well

6,  Season it with salt and pepper

I just had this with cracker like a dip but I think this tartare dip will much with bread absolutely!  I'll make a sandwich with this dip tomorrow for lunch.  Can't wait!!

I hope tomorrow my skin can be much moister than today even though I just studied this proverb, "Roma was built in a day"...

Yuzu-pepper salmon sandwich

My school has already started this week.  For me it is important to have nice lunch at lunch break.  If I don't have nice lunch, I could not do anything in the afternoon.

It's an exaggeration to say that but I just mean I need good lunch for nice afternoon!  I think you guys also think so, don't you?

When I make lunch box,  how easy and quick is really important because I really rush and have not enough time to make it in the morning.  This sandwich tastes really good but it take less than 5 minutes to make it if you have the stock of  salmon flakes.  I usually make a lot of salmon flakes and keep it in the freezer so that I can use it quickly.  But even if you don't have it, maybe you can make less than 10 minutes.  So I highly recommend this sandwich for your lunch box!!

Yuzu-pepper salmon sandwich

• 2 slices of white bread
• 1/4 pound of salmon flakes （☆）
• 1〜2 Tbs of mayonnaise（☆）
• 1/2〜1 tsp of yuzu-pepper（☆）
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 pack of brown mushroom
• 1 Tbs of soy sauce
• 1 Tbs of butter
• baby spinach

1,  Toast 2 slices of white bread and spread mayonnaise the inside of both

2,  Mix (☆) well and season it with salt and pepper

3,  Put butter in a pan and heat until quite hot and stir-fry washed mushroom and then add soy sauce and stir-fry again

4,  Place baby spinach, salmon, sautéed mushroom on a toasted bread in order and sand with another bread 

It was happy lunch time with this sandwich♡  Only one thing I was sorry was I could not have fresh one because it's a lunch box... but that's okay!  Still it tasted good!!

Anyway, I have to do homework from now.  It's almost 12:00am... so sleepy...

Stir-fried Japanese mustard spinach and shrimp with sea salt sauce

Have you ever tried Japanese mustard spinach (小松菜, Komatsuna)?  It's a traditional Japanese vegetable and has thick leaves and firm stems.  It's a kind of Brassica rape and the origin is white turnip.

The reason which the name has "mustard" is that it has a little bit of sharp-tasting.  That's why I didn't like this vegetable so much when I was a little kid but now I love it!  Even if you don't like sharp-tasting,  you don't taste at all if you heat enough.  

Not only taste good but also it has a lot of nice nutrition. Vitamin A, calcium, iron, potassium, fiber and more!  Nutrition of Japanese mustard spinach are really similar to spinach's one but the amount is much bigger than spinach!  Actually the amount of calcium is 5 times of spinach.  How excellent it is!!

Unfortunately I have never had it since I came to Boston.  But today I found it at a grocery store finally!!  I would like to cook Japanese mustard spinach with shrimp which is my favorite food!!

Stir-fried Japanese mustard spinach and shrimp with sea salt sauce (2 serves)

• 1 pound of japanese mustard spinach
• 12 pieces of shrimps
• 1 Tbs of chopped garlic
• 1 Tbs of sesame oil
• salt 
• pepper
• 1 Tbs of chinese chicken soup stock
• 1 Tbs of potato starch (☆)
• 4 Tbs of water (☆)

1,  Mix (☆) in a small cup.  Peel shrimps.

2,  Wash japanese mustard spinach and cut into 2 inches length

3,  Put sesame oil in a pan and heat with low fire until quite hot.

4,  When you smell garlic, add peeled shrimps to the pan and stir-fry until shrimps change color and add a little bit of salt

5,  Add extra sesame oil and stems of Japanese mustard spinach and stir-fry well then add leave and stir-fry again

6,  Add chinese chicken soup stock and add chinese chicken soup stock then stir-sry

7,  Put out the fire and add  (☆) then mix them very well

8,  Turn on fire and stir-fry again until the sauce become thick and season the sauce with salt and pepper

The best season of Japanese mustard spinach is from autumn to winter.  I hope to have a lot from now!!