Pork salad with Japanese style onion dressing

I couldn't sleep well last night so was sooo sleepy today.  I needed to take a nap so couldn't join any Halloween parties, which made me so sad because I was looking forward to the party since I came here in Boston.  So tonight I just made a salad as dinner.  Poor Halloween night...;(

Pork salad with Japanese style onion dressing (2 serves) 

• any vegetable for salad
• thin sliced pork
• 1/2 onion
• 4 Tbs of ponzu
• 2 Tbs of olive oil

1,  Cut vegetables into small pieces or thin slices.

2,  Boil thin sliced pork until color changes completely.

3,  Grate onion and add ponzu.  Heat them until boil lightly.  Take it off a fire and add olive oil then mix well.

4,  Place vegetables on a plate and add the dressing.  Place boiled pork on the vegetable and add the dressing again.

It was so sad I couldn't go outside tonight but still this salad made me fine.  I decided to sleep early before the day of the Halloween next year!!

Chicken and eggplant donburi with ponzu mayonnaise sauce

Maybe because of autumn appetite??  Recently I have a vast appetite!!  Even though I had a cold, I wanted to eat something hearty meal.

The rice bowl today I made had kind of rich taste because I used mayonnaise for sauce but even so still I could taste refresh because I used ponzu sauce also.  Ponzu is made with citrus juice, dashi and soy sauce mainly so cyrus juice give really refresh favor!

Also this one has a lot of vegetable more than meat.  So I think it's super healthy... maybe...??

Chicken and eggplant donburi with ponzu mayonnaise sauce (1 serve)

• 1/4 pound of chicken thigh
• 1/4 pound of eggplant
• 1/4 of onion
• Cooked rice for 1 person
• 1 Tbs of sesame oil
• 1 tsp of garlic
• 2 Tbs of ponzu
• 1+1/2 Tbs of mayonnaise
• salt
• Black pepper

1,  Cut chicken thigh, egg plant and onion into small cubes.  Soak eggplant in water for 10 minutes.

2,  Chop garlic.  Heat a pan, garlic and sesame oil until quite hot then stir-fry chicken thigh until brown.  Add onion and stir-fry until pliant.
3,  Add eggplant and stir-fry again until pliant.  Add mayonnaise and ponzu and stir-fry quickly.
4,  Season with salt and black pepper

I am sure that for me autumn is the season for good appetite more than reading and arts!!

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??

Hijiki Tofu Hamburg

Do you know "Hijiki"?  It's  one of Japanese seaweed and good for lots of Japanese food like boiled dish, rice boll, Takikomi-gohan and more.  So Japanese people are familiar with it very much.  We often use dried one.  Originally the color is deep green it changes the color to black like this picture after crop.

I heard that recently so many American people like hijiki because it has a lot of nutritions like calcium and iron and actually the half of it is just fiber!  So it's super healthy!!  And to ladies's joy it even makes their skin moisture and white.  Of course, taste really good!

Tonight I made a tofu hamburg with hijiki.  I needed some healthy food because recently I was addicted to potato chips...  I know I can become fat easily if I eat too much but can't stop eating because American potato chips are so nice!!

Anyway, I'm showing how to make a tofu hamburg form now!!

Hijiki Tofu Hamburg (2 serves)

• half pound of silk tofu (☆)
• 1 Tbs of dried hijiki (☆)
• 1/3 of carrot (☆)
• 4 Tbs of panko (☆)
• 2+1/2 Tbs of mayonnaise (☆)
• 1 tsp of dashi powder
• 1/2 tsp of soy sauce (☆)
• 1 tsp of corn starch (☆)
• 1 Tbs of sesame oil
• Seaweed sheet
• ponzu or soy sauce for sauce

1,  Wrap tofu with kitchen paper and put it on the microwave for 2〜3 minutes for draining

2,  Chop carrot into small pieces and cut seaweed sheet into long and narrow

3,  Add 3 Tbs of water to hijiki and leave for 20 minutes until completely soft (If you use tepid water, leave for 10 minutes)

4, Put all of  (☆) in a container and mix them very well with folk

5, Put a bit of oil on your hand and make four flat bolls then wrap with seaweed sheet (If it's too soft to do that, add some panko.)

6,  Add some corn starch all side

7,  Heat a pan and sesame oil until quite hot and sauté tofu hamburg with medium fire until brown

8,  Add ponzu or soy sauce when you eat

This time I just add soy sauce and ponzu when I ate but actually other sauce can go well with this hamburg, for example, lemon juice, sesame sauce, dashi, ground daikon radish, miso and mayonnaise...and more!!  Please try your original sauce and if you find your favorite one, let me know!

Oh actually, I haven't eaten any potato chips yet today.  Yeah :))

Ume shiso chicken katsu

My friend and I walked around the Boston common park tonight then saw so many people were walking with lighting ballon. 

It was a "LIGHT THE NIGHT WALK".  People were walking for encouraging cancer patients.  This event has taken place in America and Canada every year.

We got light balloons and joined the walk thinking about cancer and hoping that all patients could recover from cancer and get normal life.

It was a beautiful night and unforgettable experience.

Anyway, we walked a lot so when we got home, we were so hungry and wanted to eat something which made us energetic.  Today's dinner was the chicken katsu with ume plum and shiso leaves!!

Ume shiso chicken katsu (2 serves)

• 2 Slices of chicken thigh
• 4 pieces of shiso leaves
• 4 pieces of ume plum
• egg, flour and panko
• ground daikon radish
• ponzu

1,  Remove white fat from chicken thigh and slice up it and add salt and pepper then leave for 10 minutes

2,  Place shiso leaves and ume plum which was already removed seed and chopped into a paste on the center of the chicken and spread flour which was mixed with a bit of water as a glue

3,  Dip it in flour and beated egg ordinary and add panko wholly

4,  Deep fry it in hot oil until both side become brown

5,  Cut into bite-sizes and place on a plate then add ground daikon radish on the top of chicken katsu

6,  Add some ponzu when you eat if you would like

I already mentioned that ume plum has a lot of citric acid so makes you recovery from fatigue when I made Daikon radish salad with ume plum dressing. Tonight we really thanked umeboshi for their work again!  We need you!!

Anyway, I am so sleepy right now...  I should have done exercise more...  Have a good night☆

Wasabi ponzu vegetable marinade

I woke up early because it was so chilly this morning.  Recently I feel autumn is coming by the day.  Actually I watched a weather news this morning and the caster said that summer is completely ended here in Boston.

Despite the situation, I had a lot of summer vegetables in the fridge.  I often make marinade when I have vegetables I already used a little bit.  

Wasabi ponzu vegetable marinade

• 1 eggplant
• 1 zucchini
• 1/2 pack of fruit tomato
• 4 Tbs of olive oil (☆)
• 6 Tbs of ponzu (☆)
• 1/2〜1 tsp of wasabi (☆)

1,  Cut eggplant and zucchini into thick slices

2, Mix all of  (☆) in a small bowl

3,  Heat a pan until quite hot and add olive oil and grill vegetables with medium fire

4,  Move the grilled vegetables to a deep dish and add mixed marinade sauce until the grilled vegetable is quite hot

This marinade sauce goes with any vegetables!  Mushroom, onion, potato and more!!  Also this marinade is good for sandwiches.  Actually I already decided that I'll make a vegetable marinade sandwich for tomorrow lunch.  I am going to my favorite bakery store tomorrow morning!!

Tofu with vegetable ponzu thick sauce

Do you know "Ponzu"?  It is a citrus based Japanese sauce which is mainly made from citrus juice, soy sauce and dashi (Japanese soup stock).  It is widely used for Japanese food, for example, grilled fish, shabu-shabu, steamed vegetable and tofu etc.  I like ponzu so much because it makes any food delicious so easily.

I was so tired today and wanted to make something quickly!  That's why I was so happy when I remembered that I had a bottle of ponzu in the fridge because I could make dinner without so many seasoning and I was sure more than that it would be definitely taste so good!!!

Tofu with vegetable ponzu thick sauce (For 2 people)

• 1/2 pack of tofu
• 1 Tbs of sesame oil
• 1/2 carrot
• 5 pieces of snow peas
• 1/2 pack of enoki mushroom
• 2 Tbs of ponzu (☆)
• 4 Tbs of water (☆)
• 1 tsp of potato starch (☆)

1,  Cut tofu in thick slices and cover all side with potato starch

2,  Mix all of (☆) in a small bowl

3,  Cut carrot, snow pea in thin slices and cut enoki mushroom half

4,  Heat a pan until quite and add sesame oil with low fire

5,  Add sliced and covered with potato starch tofu and grill with medium fire until brown

6,  Heat another pan until quite and add oil with low fire

7,  Add cut vegetables and stir-fry them quickly

8,  Add mixed (☆) and boil until thick

It took less than 15 minutes to make this dish including clean up time.  That's great!!  Ponzu flavor always makes me feel fresh and I can forget tiredness.  Actually ponzu has a lot of citric acid more than normal vinegar.  That's why I wanted to eat ponzu tonight I think!  I recommend ponzu when you are tired so please try!!

Stir-fried yu-choy with ponzu dressing

One of my friends gave me a chinese green vegetable, the name is "Yu-choy". (Japanese pronunciation is "ゆちょい" )  Do you know it?  Actually, I didn't know and it was first time to see it.

She said that it tastes like a Japanese mustered spinach and has nice texture.  I was really curious so I tried to cook this immediately after I got my home!


Stir-fried yu-choy with ponzu dressing

• 1 pack of yu-choy
• 3 eggplants
• 1 Table spoon sesame oil
• 1 tea spoon chopped garlic
• salt

◆ponzu dressing

• 1 Table spoon sesame oil
• 3 Table spoons ponzu
• 1 tea spoon white sesame seed

1. Mix all ingredients of the ponzu dressing
2. Wash yu-choy and cut it about 2 inches in length, and wash and slice eggplants into wedges
3. Put sesame oil in a pan and heat it with low fire
4. Put chopped garlic into a pan with low fire and wait until you can smell garlic
5. Put cut eggplants into a pan and stir-fry with medium fire
6. Make sure eggplants are stir-fried very well, put cut yu-choy and stir-fry them with medium fire quickly and put a little bit of salt.  Don't stir-fry too much!
7. Serve stir-fried eggplant and yu-choy and put dressing on it

What my friend said is absolutely true!  It tastes like some Japanese vegetables so goes with Japanese seasonings very well!!  Oh actually, yu-choy has lots of vitamin A, C and calcium.  So it is good for your health, I think.  Let's try if you find this vegetable :))