For Summer Fatique

It is hot and humid here. In this weather we drink a lot more liquid than any other days. This liquid can replace the loss of water from sweating. However, it is also as important to eat the right amount of food that contains mineral, iron and vitamin C to refresh our tired body.

Vinegar helps us to fight fatique, beef supplies minerals and iron, while cucumber and radish are sources of vitamins. So here it is....

My favorite recipe in summer for fatique is Beef Radish With Sesame Dressing (147 kcal, serve 4).

What you need:

cucumber and radish slice thin (see photos or you can do alternative cut as you like)

150 gram of thinly sliced beef -> dip the fresh meat in a mixture of 1tsp soy sauce+ 2 tsp sake +1 tsp sugar and leave it for a few minutes

white radish (see photos, or alternative radish if the same one is not available)

To make sesame dressing:

a mixture of 4 tbsp grated white sesame + 2 tbsp of rice/apple vinegar + 2 tbsp of soy sauce + 2 tsp of sugar + 2 tbsp of cooked soup stock (chicken/fish/beef as you prefer)

What needs cooking:

You need to stir fry the beef using a little bit of oil (i used sesame oil but alternative oil is OK)

Put all the ingredients in a big bowl for salad.

* Check Measurement: 1 tsp = 5 ml, 1 tbsp =15 ml

Quick & Easy Appetizer

Asparagus Wrapped with Cheese and Raw Ham

What you need is what you have in the title, boil fresh asparagus with a little salt, then wrap them with sliced processed cheese and raw ham. Arrange nicely and top with olive oil, sprinke some black pepper. Wala! you have one dish for appetizer already.

Tomatoes With Sesame and Sugar

As the title says, you need tomatoes, white sesame powder (ground sesame) and sugar. I like to peel my tomatoes, by pouring boiling water on them first. I think it is a matter of taste. Then cut them into slices then sprinkle sugar and sesame on the top according to taste. If you have finely sliced bonito, you can also use them as toppings. Wala! second dish for appetizer.

Raw Tuna or Raw Bonito Salad With Onions and Chives (Carpaccio)

Make sure you get a fresh tuna or bonito and slice them like you would prepare a sashimi. Use a fine sharp knife for a nice cut of sashimi. Then slice 1 onions finely and wash them in cold water to get rid of spicy taste. Place sliced onions and chives (alternatively fresh basil) in the center while decorating the raw fish around them.

Prepare dressing:

1 tbsp of olive oil, grated garlic (pls adjust amount according to taste), 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tbsp soy sauce, adjust taste with salt and pepper.

Note: raw onions, fish and ham taste good to adults, but not children below 3

Equisetum arvense ("Sugina") !

An amazing plant, called "sugina" (in Japanese) was found to have positive effect in controlling blood sugar level if taken regularly, therefore it is recommended for those with health problems such as diabetes or, other problems related to high blood sugar level.   Recent analysis also found its positive effect for treatment of pollen allergy.   

I never actually see the plants myself until last Monday, when i walked to a nearby, a small and local natural reserve park, with my daughter and we met a man washing this plants in the running water there. The plants grows everywhere near clean water, he said.

This plants apparently contains 5 times the amount of Kalium, 155 times of Calcium and 3 times of Magnesium that you would find in ordinary green vegetables, such as spinach.   Here the plants are best picked during April to May.

You can boil them or fry them with a little oil just as you would fry ordinary vegetables.   

Onions

I was watching this program called 美Happy (read: "be happy" but the Kanji 美literally means Beautiful) on TV and today's theme was about Onions and Brocolli.   A simple tips to share:

* onions are very good for beauty because it has an anti ageing elements, also

* it is best to cook brocolli using microwave to keep its vitamin C intact, rather than boiling

* and a funny tips when chopping onions: bite a wooden chopstick (keep it in you mouth) while chopping your onions, well.... that way you don't have teary eyes... try! it really worked! 

An onion recipe taken from "Healthy Recipe For Children" by Makuuchi Hideo-san.

COOKED ONIONS

Ingredients:

2 onions

1 cup of dashi (or broth)

1.5 tbsp of soy sauce

1.5 tbsp of sugar

How to make:

1. Slice onions into very small pieces edible for children (5 mm length)

2. Put onions in the pot with dashi, soy sauce and sugar and bring to boil

3. Cook until the onions becomes soft.  Serve with warm rice and other dishes.

4. For those not allergic to eggs, you can also add egg to the onions and cook them well together.

ONIONS WITH MINI TOMATO

Ingredients:

300 gram of mini tomato

1 small onions

3 tbsp of dried baby sardines (shirasu) or alternative dried small fish

salt and pepper

How to make:

1. Wash the mini tomatoes and chop onions very finely

2. Put all ingredients in a pot with a little bit of water and bring to boil

3. Cook until onions becomes soft enough, then add salt and pepper for taste.

Please note that for children it is best to cook with no oil/little as possible, fresh vegetables and basic seasonings like salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce or miso, instead of using instant seasoning with additives.    Also it is best not to feed children below 1 year old: eggs, raw fish, too much soy beans products or dairy products, as it may cause allergy when they get older.

Miso Lovers

Miso paste is a traditional Japanese seasoning produced by fermenting rice, barley and/or soy beans with salt and the fungus.  When i first saw miso paste, i wonder why there are several colors of miso paste and what the differences may be.    Well, i read an article today about miso.

In the past, people here said that you can tell the home town of a person if you know what miso paste the person likes to use most at home.   Apparently miso made in different parts of Japan, has different ingredients and colors.

Up north in areas like Hokkaido and Tohoku, miso were made of mainly rice and the color are dark brown (sometimes we call them red miso), they are saltier than other types of miso.   In the West, like Aichi prefecture, miso were made of mainly soy beans.   In further Westside of Japan people used rice to make miso, but the taste is sweeter and the color is rather pale (here called white miso).    In Kyusu and Kumamoto miso paste is mostly made of barley and the color is usually light/bright.

Tips for Miso lovers:  

1. Use lighter color miso in winter time, then as the season changes to spring and winter, use a darker type of miso.

2. You can buy two types of miso of different colors and use a mixture of them in the process.

3. Lighter color miso is sweeter with lower salt is suitable in winter, whereas the darker color (red miso) which is saltier is suitable for summer.

4. Color of miso differs by the way they process the soy beans.   When you steam soy beans for a longer time, the color of miso turns darker - such as in the case of making red miso.   When you steam soy beans for a shorter time, the miso turns pale/lighter - such as in the case of making white miso.

Please note that soy beans are the main ingredients of most miso you see nowadays.

Easy Roll Cabbage

Have you heard of cabbage being soporific, meaning you can actually sleep better upon eating a lot of cabbage?   Well, i don't quite feel it that way when i eate cabbage.  I like cabbage because it contains lots of vitamins and here in Japan cabbage is a popular vegetables in early spring, usually cooked in soup or other hot dishes - believed to have a positive effect on skin and boost antibody against cold or minor illness.

Serve 2

Ingredients

6 slices of cabbage (big and round)

200 gram of minced pork (choose a less fatty one if you are concerned about fat level)

1/2 finely cut onions

4-6 pcs of shiitake mushrooms (alternatively you can use other type of mushrooms available)

1 tbsp of butter

1/4 tsp of salt

a little pepper

a slice of laurel (leave)

100 ml of water (i prefer using 200 ml of chicken broth or Japanese broth)

100 ml of tomato puree (use fresh tomatoes if you like, but it takes time, i usually use canned tomato puree)

variation: half boiled broccoli, white radish

salt and pepper to season the soup

1 tbsp of butter at the end of cooking for creamier taste 

How to make:

1. Prepare 6 slices (or more if  you like) cabbage leaves, by first cutting the core of cabbage, then peel out the cabbage leaves slowly so that you do not break the leaves unnecessarily

2. Boil these slices of cabbages in water until it becomes softer (but make sure you do not overcook it in boiling water)

3. Prepare minced meat, finely chop/mince mushrooms and onions -> put all these mixture together and add seasoning

4. Take each cabbage leave and wrap about two tablespoon of mixture nicely so that when you boil them the roll cabbage will stay in its shape.  Place them into a pot.

5. Pour the soup and bring it to boil then pour tomato pure into the pot.  For variation, you can add already half boiled broccoli and white radish, and a few sausages will make the soup taste even better

6. Taste it and adjust with seasoning at the end

Takikomi Gohan

If your main diet is rice, you may find that sometimes plain rice tastes rather boring.   Here, we have a recipe called takikomi-gohan (literally means, mix cooked rice).  It is when you mix other ingredients with the plain rice.    There are various recipes for takikomi gohan and basically two ways of cooking it.

First, you prepare the mixture separately from cooking the plain rice.   Secondly, you can mix the ingredients with the rice then cook them together in the rice cooker.

My favorite is Go-Moku-Takikomi-Gohan (meaning, five mixture rice) - where you put 5 different ingredients in the mixture.

What you need:

3 cups of plain rice (or even brown rice if you like a healthier type)

540 ml of water (a little more if you use brown rice) - i recommend that you make Japanese soup stock (dashi) with this 540 ml of water, instead of just plain water (it tastes much better with dashi)

2 tbsp of sake* and mirin* each

3 tbsp of soy sauce*

5 mixture ingredients (you can change the variety of mixture with other ingredients such as: cooked corns, sliced fried tofu, ham/bacon, sweet potatoes sliced into little cubes, etc.) :

200 gram of chicken meat (sliced into little cubes)

1/2 carrot (sliced into little cubes)

80 gram of burdock (sliced thin and smallest possible)

4 shiitake (you can choose raw shiitake or dried one - if you use dried shiitake, make sure you dip them in water for a while first before cooking)

konnyaku (rinse konnyaku with salt water to get rid of its unpleasant smell) - you may find konnyaku in a Japanese store, otherwise use an alternative ingredients such as: dried tofu or my favorite in spring time is "bamboo shoots" - use already boiled bamboo shoots.

How to make:

1. Season the chicken meat with 1 tbsp of sake and 1/2 tbsp of soy sauce.   Put aside.

2. Cut all the ingredients into small cubes or thin slices.  Then mix them into a bowl.

3. Prepare rice in the rice cooker as usual.   Then pour the water (or dashi water) into the rice cooker as you would do when you cook rice.   Put the 5 ingredients and mix well in the rice cooker.   Then pour sake*, mirin*, soy sauce* into the mixture.   Stir well.

4. Turn on the rice cooker and start cooking.

5. When the rice is cooked, open the rice cooker and the first thing you need to do is to stir the rice well.   You will find that most of the ingredients will sit on the top of the rice.  Mix them well.

Warnings!

1.  Some rice cooker do have special mode for cooking takikomi-gohan, unfortunately some rice cookers do not.   But don't worry.   I have an alternative recipe.  You can actually cook the 5 ingredients separate from the rice.   Cook the rice as usual in the rice cooker - with plain water or dashi water adjusted accordingly to how much you normally use to cook rice.

How to cook the 5 ingredients:

1. Prepare 1 cup (150-160ml of dashi) in the pan.

2. Pour the sake*, mirin* and soy sauce* mixture and the 5 ingredients into the pan.

3. Cook with a low fire until all the water runs out.  While cooking stir the mixture time to time to avoid burning and uneven cooking.

4. When the plain rice is ready, pour the cooked mixture into the rice and .... you have the same "takikomi gohan" at your table!

Enjoy also a variation of takikomi gohan in onigiri!  Good luck!

Colorful Onigiri

Chikuwa Onigiri

Ingredients:

Freshly cooked rice 200 gram

Chikuwa (cooked fish cake) 1 

Small size spring onions - accordingly

Boiled eggs (use only Yellow part) - accordingly

Thin deep fried bean curd 2 tablespoon

How to make:

1. Cut fish cake into small slices as in photo.   Also do the same for the rest of ingredients.

2. Put all decorative ingredients into a bowl and pour the warm rice and mix them all well.

3. Use a round shaped cup or bowl to make onigiri as in photo, alternatively you can try the Japanese traditional style, by hand and make it into shapes that you like.   Remember to wet your hands a little before you began the process.  

My favorite shape is a triangle.  By the way, you can find triangle shaped onigiri at any convenience stores here in Japan.

Rainbow Onigiri

Similar to the above, you need the following to make colorful red and yellow:

1/5 of red and yellow paprika (red & yellow pepper)

2 slices of ham

20 gram of processed cheese

1 tsp of parsely

a little of olive oil

and dried seaweed (nori) for final wrapping

a little of salt and pepper for seasoning

How to make:

1. Cut paprika, cheese, ham into small pieces (see photo)

2. Mix all ingredients into a bowl (together with the warm rice - use 150 gram for this recipe)

3. Season well with salt and pepper according to your taste

4. Shape them to your favorites ;D

Enjoy colorful healthy onigiri for lunch!  My girl loves colorful onigiri in her lunch box, i hope your kids love them too!

Sliced Pork With Ginger Sauce

Spring is lovely with mild weather, however there are still cold and windy days at times.   My favorite recipe is anything with ginger :D  ginger makes your body warm and it feels good when the body is warm....  hm, not too warm, i guess ;D　　　See photo (right)

The Japanese call it "Buta-niku no shouga yaki" , a popular lunch time menu at family restaurants, Japanese bento (lunch boxes) or served for home cooked meals.

What you need to make "Buta-niku no shouga yaki" are:

6 slices of "buta-niku" (sliced raw "pork" - type: ones used for making roast pork)

salt and pepper for initial seasoning

1 tbsp salad oil for frying

Sauce:

2 tsp of each: mirin, sake, soy sauce

grated "shouga" (ginger) - according to taste (i usually prepare at least 1 tsp of it)

How to make:

1. Season the meat with a little bit of salt and pepper

2. Prepare the sauce

3. Dip the meat into the sauce for 10-20 minutes (or longer for stronger taste and color)

4. Fry the meat

5. Place the meat into a clean frying pan and pour the left-over sauce on the top and reheat.

6. Serve when it is hot with freshly cooked rice and green vegetables, such as finely sliced lettuce or cabbage and fresh tomato.

The vegetables on the photo is probably only found in Japan, a rare spring wild herb, called "fuki no tou".   Here some tempura restaurant usually serve "fuki no tou" tempura in the spring time. It tastes bitter but has a very rich flavor.... hm, the best is for you to come here and try it yourself ;D

Tips for freshly cut cabbage/lettuce for salad:

Put them into a bowl, then pour 1 tsp of salad oil, a little salt, sugar and 1/2 tsp of rice/apple vinegar.  Mix them well.   Then decorate with canned tangerines or you can also use fresh ones ( but peeled tangerine taste better). 

Niku Jyaga (Braised Meat With Potatoes)

Do you know that the word "jyaga"-imo (Japanese name for potatoes) is derived from the word Jagarata (old name of Jakarta, now capital city of Indonesia).  Japanese named it from Jagarata because that is how potatoes arrived in Japan, it came from Jagarata.   Some Japanese who have travelled South and lived in Jagarata in the past, brought back potatoes and started potatoes cultivation here.

See photo (top left) for Niku Jyaga

What you need to make Niku Jyaga:

200 gram of thinly sliced pork meat

5-6 potatoes

1 whole onions

2 tbsp of sugar

2 tbsp of soy sauce

2 tbsp of sake

1 1/2 cup of dashi (preferably use Japanese type of broth)

1 tbsp of salad oil

It is very easy to make:

1. Peel potatoes and onions (also the meat if they are not yet cut into thin slices).   Cut them into edible slices.   Some people may like finely cut onions, which is also OK.

2. Fry the onions in the pot you will use for cooking.   Use salad oil for frying.

3. Also fry the meat and then put the potatoes into the mixture.

4. Put all the required sauces, then pour dashi.

5. Cook until potatoes becomes tender.    Put a lid, however, it is better to let a little bit of steam out of the lid as you cook.

Spring Healthy Menu - Check Out Your Favorites!

Secret of Japanese Cooking "Dashi"

I have used the term "soup stock" many times in some recipes in this blog.   Some of you probably know that Japanese cooking requires preparation of making soup stock (or commonly called as "dashi").    There are 2 ingredients commonly used for making dashi, "konbu" and "katsuo bushi".    

Other types of Japanese dashi are made of dried sardines or other dried fish (various type).  Photo on the left shows various type of ingredients for dashi.

Konbu is dried seaweed, not those that can be used to make Japanese salad.  Konbu is used mainly to make dashi.　Konbu dashi is made by dipping the konbu in the water for about an hour.  Then use it to make the soup, 2 slices of 5 cm konbu for 4 cups of water.

Katsuo bushi is fine flakes of dried katsuo (bonito).    

The same way with katsuo bushi, you need a boiling water, dip 20-40 gram for a 4 cups of water and use strainer to take the katsuo bushi out after 3-5 minutes.

For a better taste you can use a combination of konbu and katsuo bushi to make your soup stock. It will give you a rich taste and flavor.    Making dashi is all about experiment and taste.    Some like it strong and others may like it mild.

Nowadays there are packed dashi powder available that are easy to use.   However it is important that you check the salt content of this powder because some may be more salty than others.   

I make my own dashi at home and it is not difficult to make once you get used to it.    What i can tell you about making dashi is that you can make it and store  it for about 2 days.    It will not go bad as long as you store them in the fridge.   Professional cook also recommends this method.

I also learnt so far that the best way to make dashi is not to combine too many unrelated

 ingredients.    Such as, when you are making chicken soup stock, you need not use konbu or 

katsuo bushi since you can just use chicken.   Japanese dashi tastes mild in general, therefore stronger flavor of chicken can surpass the taste of konbu/katsuo bushi.

Here are some photos of how the professional make katsuo bushi.  They are not easy to make at home, so i usually buy the ready to use katsuo bushi/bonito flakes.

Spring Calls For Celebration

Spring is here! It is time for a little celebration at home.   My daughter loves these colorful sushi, clear clam soup with rice cakes inside, and five color sweet vinegar mix (lotus root, carrots,  fried tofu, konyaku, shiitake).    Rice cakes in soup are made of rice flour.   The pink colors in many of the dish symbolizes spring time, sakura and other flower blossoms.

Vegetables such as bamboo shoot, rape blossom, clam, lotus root, pickled sakura & leaves, are commonly used in cooking this season.

Meanwhile I like chirashi sushi, just simple - a set of my favorite raw fish on top of sushi rice*, with thin sliced fried eggs and nori (dried seaweed) and avocado for toppings.

The more time consuming one to make is a complete dinner course consisting:

Freshly cooked brown rice with a sprinkle of salt and grind sesame (black recommended, but i used white).

Vegetable miso soup (thin sliced burdocks, Japanese radish/daikon, carrots and tofu)

Mackerel cooked in miso paste and broth (mackerel has lots of bones but taste great)

Fresh raw octopus or boiled ones pickled with seaweed and cucumber.  (You can replace octopus with freshly boiled prawn or squid, or other fresh raw white fish.  I won't recommend tuna.)

Fried tofu and vegetables (string bean and pumpkins)

Dessert is a very spring like, an easy to make non-egg pudding with salted sakura as toppings.

The dessert is made mainly of flour and sugar, about 60 gram each.   First you melt the sugar in boiling water (150 ml) then add flour while continue to stir/mix well.   Pour the mixture into a container through a fine strainer so that you get a finer consistency.   Put container in the steamer and steam it for 15-20 minutes.    Cut into slices, decorate with salted sakura* and put them in the refridgerator first if you like to serve it cold.

*salted sakura is usually available at a Japanese shop/market during this season

*sushi rice is seasoned using vinegar, sugar, salt and a little of soy sauce - ref. Chirashi sushi recipe in January

Hanami Bento (Lunch Box)

Rice Balls With Green Soy Beans (Eda Mame Onigiri)

Prepare:

nori (dry seaweed)

already boiled and cleaned bamboo shoot - sliced thin

How to cook bamboo shoot:

Cook bamboo shoot in a broth (i like fish/chicken)  of 100ml for 200 gram of bamboo shoot, with 1 tbsp of sake, 1 tsp of mirin, 1 tsp of sugar, a little soy sauce and salt for seasoning

What you need to make rice for onigiri:

3 tablespoon of sake, 1 tablespoon of mirin, 1 teaspoon of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of salt for two cups of Japanese rice

Cook rice as you would do as usual using a rice cooker then put the ingredients above before cooking.

When the rice is cooked, open the rice cooker and stir the rice well so that the beans mix well with the rice.   Then begin to shape the onigiri (i like working by hands - wet your hands before touching the rice).  Wrap it up with nori and top with cooked bamboo shoot.

Grilled Spearfish (Marlin) With Sesame

I put 2 slices of cut Spearfish into 1 tablespoon of soysauce and 1/2 tsp of curry powder mixture and let it absorb the seasoning for 15 minutes.    Then I cover the fish in starch (about 1 tablespoon of starch for the 2), then sprinkle a lot of grind white sesame all over it.    Grill it at 200 degrees in the oven for about 20-30 minutes until it is cooked (Dont forget to flip half way to get an even color).   Alternatively you can fry them using salad oil.

Red Potatoes With Sesame

Deep fry red potatoes like you would do banana fritters.   Alternatively boiled red potatoes in sweet soy sauce (2 cups of water, 1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp of soysauce).    Then sprinkle with sesame after it is well cooked.

Boiled Rape Blossoms

Salt and water - boiled for only 2 minutes then put them into cold water to maintain freshly green color.

A New Brocolli ?

The other day I received a parcel from a friend, whose friend worked in the agriculture.   In the parcel was a strange looking vegetable, as big as an apple.  

This is a photo of a new type of broccoli - hm, to me it looks like a combination of broccoli and cauliflower ... i boiled it and had it for lunch.  It tastes sweet but has a texture somewhat different from broccoli nor cauliflower.

My friend said it is going to be the new type of broccoli currently being researched here as it is said to have a higher level of nutrients... etc.   Hm, i must keep a note on this one!

Rainbow Colors - Source of Vitamins

We already know that red, yellow and green pepper are good sources of vitamins, especially C.   Here is my favorite ways of presenting the rainbow colors of vitamins on the table.

Ingredients:

1 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

1 orange pepper

1 green pepper

Sauce:

3 tablespoon of soup (fish broth/chicken broth)

1 1/2tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon (1tsp = 5ml) of mirin

How to make:

1. Grill all colorful pepper until their skin turn dark all over.    

2. Put them into cold water so that it is easier for you to peel the skin

3. After peeling the skin, cut into smaller edible sizes and arrange them into a bowl

4. Prepare the sauce and pour it into the bowl (make sure the bowl can stand heat!)

5. Steam the bowl filled with colorful peppers with the sauce for 10 minutes.

Note:

If you get fresh and sweet ones, you need not add sugar, otherwise, you may like to add a little sugar for sweeter taste.   I hope this colorful side dish add a vibrant color to your menu!

Onions & Spareribs Soup

Another very easy recipe with a good source of collagen, protein and for better blood circulation.   Do you know that onions can improve your blood circulation?

Serve 2 (399 kcal/person, 1.6 gram of salt)

Ingredients:

2 Onions (300 gram)

Pork ribs 300 gram

2 tablespoon (1tbsp=15ml) of sake 

1 cup of water (160ml)

1 tablespoon of soy sauce (or more if preferred)

salt & pepper (a little)

How to make:

1. Prepare a pot of boiling water.   Boil spare ribs for 10 seconds in the boiling water and put it aside.

2. Put into another pot, sake and water accordingly, and bring it to boil.   Put into the soup pork ribs and cook at low fire for 30 minutes.   

3. Put the soy sauce, salt and pepper into the pot and boil again for another 10 minutes.

Serve hot with rice.

Hinamatsuri Sushi Cakes Recipe

My daughter is looking forward to having these sushi cakes on March 3rd, maybe you would like to try making some too! They are easy to make, look very attractive and taste good.

What you will need:

a cup of similar shape (see photo of sushi cakes - diameter 4 -5 cm is the best) 

freshly cooked rice (preferably Japanese rice)

rice vinegar, sugar and salt (for seasoning the rice)

raw tuna (make sure they are fresh)

raw salmon roe (make sure they 

are fresh)

scrambled eggs (2 egg yolk)

advocado - cut into slices accordingly (see photo) & mayonnaise

boiled shrimps 

a can of tuna

green seaweed for salad (alternatively boiled spinach) - both needs to be chopped finely

sakura paste/powder (alternatively beetroot)

How to make rice for sushi:

1. Rice for sushi needs seasoning

For example to season 2 cups of cooked rice, you need 1 tbsp of vinegar, 1 tbsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp of salt.   Pour these seasoning while you stir the rice (while it is warm).   Continue stirring the rice with these seasoning until the rice is no longer steamy/hot.

2. Taste your rice and adjust according to preference, some children like it sweeter than others.

How to make layers of rice:

1. Put a layer of plastic wrap (one used for cooking) neatly into the cup before filling up the layers.   This will make it easier for you to get the cake out.

2. Press each layer with a spoon very firmly, so that the rice and other mixture will form a shape that you desired.   Remember that the shape of sushi cake will follow the cups you use.    Once three layers are made, flip the cup upside down and gently pat the top of cup so that the cake will drop nicely on a plate to serve.    

3. Remove the plastic wrap only after the sushi cake stays on the plate.

How to make the Yellow Pink Green Sushi Cake

1. First layer is green: Prepare mixture of rice with green seaweed/ boiled spinach to make the first layer, pour this mixture into the bottom of cup

2. Second layer is pink: You can get sakura paste/powder that you can mix it with rice.  OR you can use beetroot to color the rice.  Squeeze beetroot to get the juice and mix it with rice - adjust accordingly depending on color preference

3. Third layer is yellow: Mix the rice as you cook the scrambled eggs (2 egg yolk for 1/2 cups of cooked rice)

How to make the Avocado Shrimp Cake

1. Prepare mixture of rice with tuna (canned tuna) - ratio 3:1

2. Mix avocado with mayonnaise and put it in the middle layer

3. Decorate the top of sushi cake with slices of avocado and shrimp 

How to make the Pink Raw Tuna Cake

1. Prepare raw tuna by putting it into blender so you get a raw tuna in paste form

2. Prepare finely chopped seaweeds or finely chopped spinach (which was already boiled and water is drained properly)

3. See photo: mixture of green is to go in the middle of layers