Japanese Fried Eggs (ref. Soba Jan 28th.)

Slightly different from the ordinary fried eggs you may have cooked before, the texture of Japanese fried eggs is soft, not oily, varies in taste and has layers.  It tastes somewhat like tofu.

Ingredients:

3 eggsgrated carrots (finely grated) 50-70 gram OR parsely

sake 1 tbsp

sugar 1/2 tsp

 salt 1/4 tsp

oyster sauce 1 tsp

Ideally you should have a small frying pan (square shape) and a pair of chopsticks, however if you can not use chopsticks, use an alternative tools - please check at a Chinese/Japanese shop near you.

How to make:

1. Put 3 eggs into a bowl and mix them well

2. Prepare grated carrots OR/AND finely chopped parsely

3. Pour sake, sugar, salt and oyster sauce then mix them well

4. Heat frying pan and check that there is not too much oil in the frying pan

5. Pour a little portion just light enough to cover the surface of frying pan (check: Photos)

6. Repeat the process as you roll the eggs and put it aside on the corner of the frying pan

7. Make sure the heat is not too hot or the eggs will be dry and difficult to roll or breaks as you roll

Check out these photos before you start cooking:

Chanko Nabe (ref. VisitJapan)

Ingredients:

chicken meat (breasts) 2 pcs

white cabbage  1/4

Welsh onion 2

Tofu (white) 1

Deep fried tofu (thin sliced type) 1

carrots 1/2

konyaku* (if available)

Fish balls/other meat balls 1 pack

1200 ml of soup made using fish stock or chicken stock

Sauce:

*sake 200ml

*mirin 3 tbsp

salt 1tsp

soy sauce 2 tbsp

ginger slices 10 grm

How to make:

1. Make sure that all ingredients are in appropriate sizes, so first slice all vegetables, tofu (cut into 8 portion - not too small or it will break) and chicken into smaller pieces easy to eat

2. Prepare 1200ml of soup with fish stock/chicken stock (you can use cube stocks or powder)

3. Prepare the sauce in a separate bowl

4. Bring the soup to boil

5. Put into the soup, all ingredients meat, vegetables and tofu in order, followed by the sauce, and turn the fire into medium 

6. Continue to cook until they are well cooked.  Taste and adjust with soy sauce and salt.

B a n a n a Juice For Breakfast

Ingredients (serve 1 person @ 200 kcal):

1 medium size bananas

1 tbsp of honey (dilute it with 20ml of warm water)

1 tbsp of soybean powder (or alternatively white sesame powder)

low fat milk or soymilk (200mL or adjust consistency according to preference)

How to make:

1. Prepare a juice mixer/blender

2. Peel bananas (it tastes better when they are sweet)

3. Add soybean powder (sesame powder), put honey mixture, and milk/soymilk

4. Blend them well

In the summer time you may want to add one or two ice cubes if you like to drink it cold.

Tuna & Mayonaisse Spaghetti (2 steps)

It is time for lunch.   You open the fridge and find mayonaisse and Welsh onions and in the cupboard you have a can of tuna.   What can you have for lunch?  Yes, a tuna mayonaisse spaghetti - my favorite, easy to make dish.

Ingredients:

Spaghetti 200 grm

Tuna 1 can (160grm)

Welsh onions 1 (15cm)

Sauce:

Sesame oil & Mayonaisse 1tbsp each

Soy sauce 1 tsp (if any) OR alternatively salt 1/2 tsp

Pepper (adjust according to taste)

Black sesame powder and white sesame powder 1 tbsp each

How to make:

1. Prepare the sauce, by combining sesame powders, soy sauce, pepper, oil & mayonaisse in a large bowl.     Cut the welsh onion into very fine little slices and mix together with the sauce.

2. Prepare boiling water for spaghetti as usual.   Boil spaghetti well and drain the water using a strainer.  Quickly move the cooked spaghetti into the large bowl and mix with the sauce well.

Ready to serve!  Taste best when it is warm.

Potatoes For Skin & Anti Ageing

Potatoes contain lots of vitamin C which is very effective in 

helping the skin to produce collagen and strengthening blood 

vessels and nervous system.  

Vitamin C is widely used in skin products to prevent spots/

freckles and anti-ageing supplement.  

Some "easy to get" vegetables/fruits that contain lots of vitamin 

C are (in brackets is amount of vitamin C per 100 gram intake):

Lemon (100mg), Persimmon (70mg), Kiwi Fruit (69mg)

Red pepper (170mg), Broussel sprouts (160mg), Parsely (120)

Potatoes (35mg), Sweet potatoes (15mg)

Easy To Make Potato Recipe - Curry Potato Fry (low calorie)

Ingredients:

Potato 2 (about 300g = 105mg of vitamin C)

Salad oil 1/2 tbsp

Curry powder 1/2 tsp　(1tbsp if you like stronger curry taste)

Minced meat (you can use beef or pork or both) 50 gr

Salt adjust according to taste

Parsely to decorate

How to Make:

1. Peel potatoes and wash them clean.  Cut potatoes into thin slices and put these slices into a bowl of water for 7-8 minutes

Then take the slices of potatoes out and put them on a clean towel to dry

2. Fry the minced meat and sprinkle salt and pepper lightly. After being well fried, move it to a separate bowl.

3. Put salad oil in frying pan and fry the sliced potatoes until they change color.

4. Pour the curry powder, fried minced meat and continue to fry, then adjust taste by adding salt if necessary

Do you know what is this food made of?

This is a photo of fish cakes (in Japan you call it "chikuwa" or in different shape, "kamaboko") being put on the grill,  at the Kamaboko Hakubutsukan (The Fish Cake Museum) in Odawara.

You can click below to see animation showing how fish cakes were made in the past.   Nowadays the process is mostly done by machines, however there are still some traditionally made fish cakes in the local market.

http://www.kamaboko.com/museum/animation/index.htm 

Y O K A N (ref. January 20th 2009)

Yokan is a low calorie sweets that is good for your health.  It is made of red bean, which is known to lower cholesterol and contains high level of protein.   It is very easy to make.   Those who have made jelly (hard type) before, can easily make yokan.

Ingredients:

Canned "cooked" red beans 1

Jelly powder (do not use instant powder that does not require boiling)

Water 400 cc

Warnings: 

*Make sure that the amount of jelly powder and water match.  You can adjust your own recipe depending on the type of jelly powder you use.

*You may need to put the red beans in the blender first, if you like the yokan to come with soft texture  (see photo)

How to make:

1. Prepare ingredients to make jelly as usual - but this time make sure that you do not put too much water.   Adjust the first step according to the type of jelly mixture you use.

2. After bringing the mixture to boil, turn off the fire, then pour the whole red beans into the jelly mixture.

3. Stir well and taste it (you can add sugar according to taste).   If the red beans is already sweet, you probably do not want to add sugar.

Note that the jelly you made may not have the same color as the one in the photo.   The more red beans you put, the darker color the yokan will be.

Feeling Cold? Sore Throat?

Recommended for early symptoms of cold:

1. Grilled spring onion (Welsh onion)

Wash the onion clean and cut into 5-6 cm length.   Heat the grill/oven to 180 degrees and bake the onion until it turns brown evenly on all sides.   Peel the layer that turns brown and eat the cooked onions (inside the brown layer) with soy sauce.   You can eat it as it is or with soy sauce, mayonaisse, according to taste.   Very effective remedy for early symptoms of cough.

2. Grated Ginger and Honey Drink

Wash the ginger clean and grate it to make about 1 tablespoon (1tbsp).   Squeeze the juice of ginger and mix it with 1 tbsp of honey (adjust honey according to taste).   Then pour hot water and stir well.    Drink it warm.  Very effective remedy for those feeling cold in winter or feeling cold with fever.

3. Pear juice (Chinese pear)

Peel pear and grate it or put it in the mixer.   Pour the juice into a pan and heat it until it becomes warm enough to drink.

4. Daikon (Japanese Radish) & Spring onion Soup

Prepare chicken broth.   Cut daikon into smaller pieces that are easy to eat, also cut the spring onion into edible slices.    Boil the vegetables and put seasoning according to taste.   Salt and pepper for plain soup.   Alternatively, you can cook it with miso or soy sauce (in which case do not put salt and pepper inside).

5. Daikon (Japanese Radish) & Honey

Use about 5 cm of daikon, peel first and cut into 7mm cubes or thin slices.    Put the sliced daikon into a jar then pour honey until it covers the top.   Make sure honey is pure 100% honey not one that contains lots of sugar.   Pure honey is more effective.   Put the jar in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

How to drink? Put the mixture (2 tbsp) in a cup of straight tea or you can eat the pickled daikon just like that.   This has proven to work among various people, not just myself.

Not recommended early symptoms of cold:

1. Milk or any other dairy products, especially served cold.

2. Coffee, tea, other drinks that contain caffeine

3. Sweets, such as chocolates, cakes, or other food containing lots of sugar.

Dairy products, caffeine and high level of sugar work negatively when the body is trying to create antibodies to fight the unwanted invaders, bacteria/virus.   The activity of white blood cells is much better when the body is warm, i.e. taking food/drinks that make the body "warm" is better than taking food/drink that make the body "cold".

Guess! What is this?

This is one of the oldest Japanese sweets and well known throughout Japan.   Guess what is it made of?  And what is the name?

Chirashi Sushi

This one may look familiar to some of you! 

Serve 2, @340kcal

Ingredients:

Rice 2 cups

Cucumber 1

Egg 1

White radish 3 slices (3 cm, sliced thin)

Rice vinegar, salt and sugar (1-2 tbsp each - adjust according to taste)

Raw salmon or can be replaced by raw tuna 135 gram

Sesame powder (black)

Salmon roe (raw) 50 gram

Seaweed-paper (nori) sliced

How to make:

1. If possible use Japanese rice, otherwise cook rice as usual (just make sure you do not put too much water as the steamed rice will be too sticky)

2. Slice the cucumbers thin

3. Stir the egg well and prepare frying pan.   Pour the mixture evenly on the frying pan and start the heat. Fry until it becomes dry and crispy enough to cut into thin slices.  

   Prepare raw radish, cut into thin slices.  

4. Put the steamed rice into a bowl, then put vinegar, salt and sugar and mix them well 

5. Decorate the top of rice with salmon, salmon roe, slices of eggs and vegetables.

Persimmon & Dried Persimmon

Do you know that persimmon and dried persimmon is effective to prevent hangovers?

There is a study in Japan that shows that before people enjoy their late night cocktails/sake/any other alcoholic drinks, they should eat persimmon or dried persimmon in order to reduce the chance of getting a hangover.   

Apparently there is a substance in the persimmon that helps the body process alcohol and therefore the effect of having too much alcohol on the following day can be avoided.

Yam Soup

Serve 2 people, 40kcal each

Ingredients:

Chinese yam (can't be replaced with taro yam) 200gr

Soup stock (chicken or fish stock according to taste) 1.5 cup

Vinegar 1 tsp 

Salt - according to taste

Soy sauce 1 tsp

Dried seaweed (for topping)

How to make:

1. After peeling the yam, dip it in the water for 10 minutes, then wash away the slimy bits in running water.   Wipe it dry.

2. Grind the chinese yam until it forms a paste 

3. Prepare soup stock and put salt, soy sauce accordingly, then bring the mixture to boil 

4. Then pour the yam mixture a little by little to the soup while continue to stir

Salmon and Potato Gratin

Serve 1 person, 627kcal, salt content 1.8gr

Ingredients:

Raw salmon 2 slices (about 200g)

Potato 2 (about 300 gr)

Onions  1/2 (about 100 gr)

Cream 1/2 cup

Milk  1/4 cup

Pizza cheese 3-4 tbsp (about 40gr)

Salad oil 1 tbsp

Salt

Pepper

Breadcrumbs 2-3 tbsp

No white sauce needed therefore very simple and easy to make 

How to cook:

1. After peeling the potatoes, cut them into 1 cm cubes.   Put them in the water for 5 minutes and rinse them with water.    Peel onion and cut into thin slices

2. Put them in the pot with some water (the amount of water should be just covering these potatoes) and boil them for 10 minutes until they become soft enough (check softness using a stick)

3. Prepare a frying pan, put 1 tbsp of salad oil and turn the fire to medium

4. Fry the raw salmons 2-3 minutes after seasoning them with a pinch of salt and pepper, until they turn golden brown.   Then put them aside.  

Also fry the sliced onions.   Then pour milk and cream into the frypan together with onions and heat the mixture on low fire for 2 minutes.

5. Prepare a heat-proof bowl and put the golden brown salmon (including the sauce left in the frypan), fried onions, boiled potatoes and then pizza cheese, breadcrumbs in this bowl

6. Bake at 180-200 degrees Celcius for 10-15 minutes  

Check: before the top part gets burn, make sure to cover the bowl with aluminium foil and continue baking.   Top it off by sprinkling some pepper.

Chinese Yam & Sausage with Miso Gratin

Serve 1 person, 370kcal, salt content 2.8 gr

Ingredients:

Chinese yam 10-12 cm

Sausage 4 pcs

Green pepper, red pepper 1 each

Pizza cheese 60 gram

Miso 1 tbsp

Mayonaisse 2 tbsp

Salt 

Breadcrumbs

How to cook:

1. After peeling the Chinese yam and put it into a sealed poly-bag and crush it so that it breaks into smaller pieces.

2. Cut green pepper, red pepper and sausages into smaller sizes that are easy to eat

3. Prepare 1 tbsp of miso, 2 tbsp of mayonaisse and mixed them together in a bowl into a miso mayonaisse paste

4. Put the whole mixture into a heat-proof bowl, then pour the miso mayonaisse paste, pizza cheese and then breadcrums (in this order), spread them evenly and get them ready to bake in the oven (180-200 degrees Celcius) for 8 -10minutes