Rice omelette with ume plum sauce

It seems I caught a cold yesterday because I was outside for long hours to see the regatta race.  When you catch a cold, what do you wanna eat?  For me, I get the urge to eat something mild and not so strong and salty.

The rice omelette today I made doesn't have strong taste but the more you chew it, the more flavorsome it becomes.  

When I made an Omu-rice (rice omelette),  I made an omelette and flavored rice separately but this time, I just mixed all ingredients of rice omelette and pan-broiled.  Even thought it's easy, the taste is great and complicated!!

Rice omelette with ume plum sauce (2 serves)

• 1/2 pound of cooked rice
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbs of mayonnaise
• 1 Tbs of hijiki + 3 Tbs of water

Ume plum sauce

• 1 cup of water
• 1 tsp of dashi powder
• 3 pieces of ume plum
• 1 green onion
• 2 tbs of potato starch or corn starch + 4 tbs of water 

1,  Make ume plum sauce.  Cut a green onion into thin slices and Remove seeds from ume plum and chop into a past.  Boil water in a pan and add dashi powder, green onion and ume plum.  After that, add starch and water and boil until thick.

2,  Soak hijiki in water for 15 minutes of so.  Mix all ingredients of rice omelette except butter (This time I used Japanese anchovy but if you don't have it, that's totally fine)

4,  Heat a pan and 1 tsp of butter until butter melt and become light brown color.  After that,  add 1/2 of rice omelette ingredients and make omelette shape with spatula.  Make another omelets in this way.

5,  Place the omelette on at the plate and if you would like, you can tear seaweed seat and green onion

It has really deep and delicate taste.  Even if I don't have a cold, I want to eat it again!

Anyway, I'm gonna go to my bed hoping I can completely recover by tomorrow morning!  Have a good night :)

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☆

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!!!

Daikon radish salad with ume plum dressing

It was "Columbus day" today.  Columbus found the Americas about 510 years ago so it's a big holiday as celebration.  Since a happy monday today and yesterday I met one of my friend after a long time who came form Japan, I had wine kind of too much last night because I was so happy!  That's why this morning I wanted to have something refreshing.

Do you know Japanese ume plum (called umeboshi)?  It's a kind of pickles.  It's really sour and refreshing. 

 It has a lot of citric acid so makes you recovery from fatigue and to my joy it even helps recovering from a hangover!  That's great so I made a salad with ume plum dressing.

Daikon radish salad with ume plum dressing

• 0.75 pound of daikon radish
• 1/2 of green onion
• 1 sheet of seaweed sheet
• 0.15 oz of dried bonito shaves

Ume plum dressing

• 3 pieces of ume plum 
• 3 Tbs of olive oil
• 1/2 Tbs of soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp of wasabi

1,  Remove a seed from ume plum and chop it to a paste with a knife then mix all ingredients of dressing

2,  Cut a daikon radish into julienne strips (called Katsura-muki) and cut into thin sticks

3,  Cut green onion into thin slices

4,  Shred a seaweed sheet and put on a plate.  Place cut daikon radish on it and put green onion and dried bonito shaves then put ume plum dressing on it

It made me so refreshing so I could enjoy happy monday:))  Thanks umeboshi, you are great and love you♡