Seasonings

I don't really have lots of choices when it comes to seasoning .. I can't take anything with alcohol or anything that is not halal.  And trying to find halal seasoning in Japan is not really a walk in the park. Just to let you know these are what I always use for my cooking. I just try to make do with what I have here. The food still tastes good. Authenticity? ah.. who cares.. I am not selling the foods anyway..

 L to R: Oyster sauce, Indonesian soy sauce, Japanese soy sauce, Hon tsuyu, kicap tamin, Yoshida sauce

My favourite chicken cube which I always use for preparing soup stock

Azumi-no, Matsumoto, Nagano

I just copied almost all my recipe posts from fb to this blog. Even though the prime objective of me setting up this blog is as a journal of things that I rarely do (read: cook) while I am away from M land, I figure it would be nice to post something other than food once in a while. 

Well, this was in May 2013. The whole department minus Dr OM went for a conference in Matsumoto, Nagano. Nagano was the place where they had winter olympic in 1998. 

pic: Nagano town

Anyway, I won't bore you with our conference details but we as always, whenever attending conference, our main aim is to go and see, visit, and do stuff. Not that we don't really want to learn new stuff from the conference, but basically, you learn more by reading journals. Oops.. :p

Ah well, forget the conference. We went to this wasabi (Japanese horse-radish- the famous side kick to sushi) farm. Supposed to be the largest in the country. And considering that wasabi is extremely popular in Japan, it might also be the largest in the world? Trivia aside, the place was quite big. , not in Matsumoto town where the conference was held but in the neighbouring town , Azumi-no. So we had to take the train which only ran once every hour. And there was no place for you to touch your electronic ticket (suica) at the station. Everything was old school. You can only slot your ticket into the gate, and in Hotaka station, Azumi-no.. you just drop it inside the small basket in front of the train guy. Interesting.

Pic: Hotaka station, Azumi-no

At Hotaka- station, we had to take a taxi to the wasabi farm. And our taxi guy was this extra friendly uncle who insisted we go and see this one monument on the way. We were reluctant to go as none of us knew what monument he was talking about but he even said he won't charge extra for stopping. So we went, took some photos and headed for the wasabi farm.

Pic:The monument which none of us actually knew why is it there for

At the wasabi farm, they sold everything with wasabi inside.

Wasabi ice-cream, wasabi beer, wasabi hot dog, wasabi bun, wasabi cookie.. and lots more. You can actually pay to experience how to make wasabi pickles and some more stuff that I forgot what.. but we were not that interested.

Auntie selling wasabi buns

Wasabi-no oyaki (Wasabi bun)

Wasabi ice cream

Wasabi rubbish bin (nope.. not made of wasabi :p)

The menu

Wasabi can only grow where the water is very clean

Wasabi

Wasabi

Praying to the wasabi lord? This farm has its own legend. Quite interesting. About this one warrior who was too strong when he was killed, his enemy cut his body and buried the pieces separately so that he won't be resurrected.

After an hour of photo session with wasabis, we went out and tried to catch ourselves a taxi to go back to the train station. The moment we stepped out of the farm, one taxi literally swooshed in front of us, opened the door and said that his friend told him that we might need a taxi to go back. Now that's what I call excellent service!. Of course, if this wasn't Japan, we would be extremely suspicious, but to those who have never been to Japan, their taxi drivers are the best in the world!! THE BEST! Those in M land are faaaaar out of their league. So we took the taxi and headed back to Azumi-no station. Again, being little ambassadors of the town, this taxi uncle became our guide and showed us around before going back. And no extra fees for that! 

Why put that geta (slippers) there? beats me..

The famous beautiful water of  Hotaka.. you can drink it from the source... 

Enlarge and read it for yourself

Oh.. we also went to Matsumoto castle. It was famous because of the battles... Very different from the palaces and castles in Kyoto. The ones in Kyoto are very nicely decorated, fit for Kings, queens, princes and princesses. But this one is more like a fort. With holes for guns. And the inside are full of weapons used during the wars.. hundreds of years ago.. The steps inside were very narrow and steep so that only one person can pass through at one time. 

Matsumoto castle

Yoroi-musha. but this guy (who is probably some high school kid doing a part time job ) is too thin and pale to be a warrior..

View from inside the castle

View from inside our hotel .. breath taking...

Well read more about Nagano here: Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nagano_Prefecture

Matsumoto castle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_Castle

Wasabi: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasabi

 Daio wasabi farm: http://welcome.city.matsumoto.nagano.jp/contents03+index.id+15.htm

Tofu no masago age, Kiriboshi daikon no itame ni

A.Lower right- Tofu no masago age 
B.Lower left- Kiriboshi daikon no itame ni

A. http://www.city.suzaka.nagano.jp/contents/recipe/recipe.php?id=46

Ingredients:
Tofu- half pack
Minced chicken-80g
Carrot-20g
Chirimenjako-dried small fish (bilis?) 10g
Ground sesame- 1/2 teaspoon
Egg-half
Starch-2 tablespoons
Salt-1/3 teaspoon
Shoyu-2/3 teaspoon (I think I used a little bit more than 1/3 or 2/3 of teaspoons for both salt and shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Sake (a little-cooking alcohol commonly used in japanese cuisine but I didn't use it in any of my cooking.. so maybe the Japanese might think it's not as authentic or as good as the original.. but i don't care)
Some oil to fry

Method:
1. Drain water/dry the tofu
2. chop carrot
3. Mix everything
4. Shape 3 into small balls and fry ( I just scoop using spoon and fried)

B. http://cookpad.com/recipe/2109746
Dried fine radish strips 50g
Carrot 2/3
Water 300 cc
Sugar and and a half tablespoon
Shoyu-japanese soy sauce- 4 tablespoons
Sake- Japanese rice wine- 1 tablespoons (didn't use)
Mirin -another type of cooking alcohol commonly used in Japanese cuisine- 2 tablespoons (didn't use)
Dashi ( I used cukup rasa (chicken stock from Malaysia)
I also add thinly sliced dried tofu (abura age)
Method:
1. Soak the dried radish in water (follow instructions on package)
2. Put all seasoning in water and boil. Slice carrots into thin stripes.
3. Drain and squash water out of the radish and add into the pot together with carrot (and in my case, abura age - dried tofu too)
4. Stir once in a while until the soup is gone.

Summer vege curry with diced chicken

Summer vege curry with diced chicken. Something that I would never cook if it wasn't for AS1's school lunch. Tip: I used microwave to soften the pumpkin and potato, to save cooking time. Taste? Full of vege taste.... And..... I am not a vege fan.. 

Salmon cheese teri yaki

Salmon cheese teri yaki
1.powder the salmon with flour
2. Stir fry with some shoyu, sugar (the usual ingredients in Japanese cuisine.. )
3. Add cheese. 
Simple.

the one in the middle of my bento box is kinpira potato.
Basically, just potato, radish and carrot sliced, and stir fried using the commonly used ingredients in japanese cuisine. Go figure.

Jagaimo no age ni (Potato- simmer fry?)

Jagaimo no age ni
Potato- simmer fry?

http://erecipe.woman.excite.co.jp/detail/50a07cdd86ea8ab9c08ec46dcf7ed3b5.html

potato 4～5個
French beans・2～3本 ( I obviously did not use this here)
salt- a little
white sesame seed 1 tablespoon ( I ran out of white ones so I used black sesame seeds)
Some oil to fry

Seasoning
Stock ・250～300ml how to make >>
Sake (alcohol 2 tbspoons- I didn't use)
Mirin(alcohol 1tbspoon- i didn't use)
Sugar 1tbspoon
Shoyu 1 tbspoon

Method:
1. Potatoes were cut (skin removed) , then fried in oil ( amount: just enough to slightly fry the potatoes. Not too much or not too little.
2. Prepare seasoning stock in a different pot, (do add water please.. this guy however did not mention how much so i just guessed.. one cup) Once boiled, add 1 to 2.
3. when the stock is almost dry, add the sesame seeds.

Chu-ka no chi maki (Chinese style glutinous rice)

Left: chuuka no chimaki
Right: Microwaved egg with furi-kake

the egg is too simple, just pour an egg into any silicone cup for cooking and i added furi kake (in this case- salmon flakes) and heat it in the micro wave for 2-3 minutes

Chuuka no chimaki (Nasi pulut ala Cina??)
http://cookpad.com/recipe/567732

Ingredients:
Rebung/ bamboo shoot 150ｇ(I didn't use it because I was too lazy to go and buyit)
Dry shiitake mushroom 3pc
Minced chicken 100ｇ
Rice 1 cup
Glutinous rice 1 cup
Ginger paste 2ｃｍ
garlic paste 1ｃｍ
Salt, pepper- a little
Sake- 1 teaspoon (I didn't use)
Shoyu -japanese soy sauce-2 tablespoons
Sesame oil 2 tablespoons

Method:
1.The writer wrote so complicatedly I don't have the energy to translate everything. So in short, what I did was put the washed shiitake mushroom, salt, pepper, shoyu together with the washed rice (both types) into the auto rice cooker.
2. The mince chicken was stir fried (actually I din't use oil so it wasn't really stir fry perhaps? I don't know, my cooking vocab is not that great.. ) together with garlic, ginger, salt pepper and shoyu. After that, add the whole thing into the rice cooker. Don't forget water.. the recipe owner did not really say it..
3.4. Just wait until it's done. I however had to add more water and had to re start the cooker twice because it stopped before the rice was cooked.

Wonton soup (wantan su-pu)

Failed attempt to make wonton soup from scratch.
The wrapper were just too chewy  But the filling was good.
Lessons learned: 
1. Oil works better than flour when rolling the wrapper.
2. Never wear black when you are making wonton wrappers. Never!

wrapper: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/dimsumwonton/r/wontonwrapper.htm

wonton soup: http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesesouprecipes/r/wontonsoup.htm

Cream Stew (kuri-mu shichu-)

Cream stew
http://cookpad.com/recipe/1278308


Chicken 500g
Carrot -2 sticks
Potatoes-３large ones 
Onion- 2 large ones
Chicken cube-2
Fresh milk 250 ml(２００ml)
Flour-４tablespoons
Salt１/２teapsoons
Milk２５０ml(３００ml)
Broccoli

(I didn't follow the amount.. adjusted according to what I have in my fridge)

Method:
1. Cut chicken
2. Fry chicken (without oil)
3. Add 3 cups of water, chicken cubes and carrot, boil well until water is reduced
4. Add largely cut potatoes with sliced onions,
5. When the potatoes carrot and everything is well cooked,
6. Mix fresh milk, flour and salt in a bowl, then add into the pot. Finally add milk
7. Stir frequently and make sure to lower the heat after you add milk. Don't let it boil
8. Taste and add salt if you want

Sesame roll.

Sesame roll.
http://cookpad.com/recipe/1798170



bread flour-220g
white sesame seed - 30 g ( I used 15g black and 15g white)
Sugar 15g
salt 4g ( I advise you to reduce this.. mine tasted very salty)
butter 10g
dry east 3g
milk 70ml
water 110ml

Method:
1.Put everything in the bread maker ( I always try to not to put the dry east into either water or milk..)
2-3..Knead and ferment (mine takes 90 minutes for this step)
4.Remove gas, and shape as you like
fermentate in the oven 40degrees c, 30 minutes
5. coat, then bake. 210degrees, 15 minutes but since my oven's max is 200, so I just exended the time to 20 minutes

Mexican bun.

Ok.. this one... is a failed mexican bun. but I wish to do it again one day. Anyway, this is the link to the recipe .. this one is tooooooo soft! but the taste was superb!

http://www.houseofannie.com/rotiboy-mexican-coffee-bun-recipe/

Miruku-pan - milk roll (roti susu?)

Miruku-pan - milk roll (roti susu?)

http://cookpad.com/recipe/2171750

Ingredient:
Bread flour- 200g
Milk 120g
margarine-20 g (I used butter)
Skimmed milk- 20g
sugar- 20g ( I have a sweet tooth so more sugar for me.. 
salt- 2g
dry yeast- 3g

Method:
1. Let the bread maker do the kneading and initial fermentation
2. Spread flour on rolling board and punch the dough to remove gas/ air bubble..
3. and 4 ask you to shape the dough into small cute shapes but I just rolled them as shown here.
5. 2nd fermentation using your oven. 35~40 degrees celcius, 30 to 40 minutes
6. When you are done with 2nd fermentation, take out and coat the buns with either milk or egg. I used milk. Didn't want to waste eggs. Preheat the oven to 180 degree celcius.
7. Bake for 12-15 minutes. ( I did more ..)
7.

Potato-korokke Potato croquettes

Potato-korokke　Potato croquettes
http://cookpad.com/recipe/2186407

Ingredients:
Potato- 2 (about 300g)
#Salt, pepper- a little
#Mayonnaise- 1 table spoon
#Milk- 1-2 tablespoons
Breadcrumbs- 5-6 tablespoons
cream cheese- 2 small packets ( I just use the pizza cheese I have in my fridge but i think cream cheese tastes better)
$Flour- 1 tablespoon
$water- 2 tablespoons

Method:
1. Cut each potato to 8 small pieces, heat in microwave in a bowl covered with clingy wrap. 600 watt, 4~5 minutes
2. While heating the potatoes, fry the bread crumbs in a fry pan, no oil. Stop when the colour turns nice brown.
3. Mash the potatoes, add # ingredients, be careful adding milk .. not too much or it will be too soft.
4. Dice the cream cheese
5. Mix $
6. Shape the mashed potato with cream cheese inside.
7. Roll 6 in 5 and then roll in 2
8. Toast in oven ( I just use microwave .. well, everything was pre-cooked anyway)

Hari-hari yude yasai

Ok. this was tough. I searched high and low for this recipe. Never ate it before so I don't know whether this one tasted like the real one or not. Anyway, got the recipe from here:
http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/tigerlily28jp/12262521.html

Ingredients:
Dried fine strips of radish
Carrots
Harusame/soo hoon (thin noodles made of bean/potato starch)
Sausage
Vinegar
Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Sesame oil.

Method:
Ok.. if any of you went to the link above you will notice that the writer didn't even write the amount or how to actually prepare this properly. So I just guessed.. and my guess was:

Slice all ingredients into strips..except the already fine strip of radish。and you can just slice the sausage like normal.. not strips..
Boil (again no boiling time given).. so just take a guess..
Drain the water and add some sesame oil and vinegar.
Mix well.

Sweet potato balls

Satsuma imo no goma dango atau nama Melayunya bebola keledek bersalut bijan. 
Got the recipe from here:
http://cookpad.com/recipe/1618370
Ingredients:
Sweet potato (keledek) -3 small ones
sugar - 1 table spoon (I adjusted and add more because my sweet potato were not that sweet)
Fresh Milk or just normal milk- a little
Salt- a pinch
Sesame- 1 pack ( I used both white and black and I didn't really use the whole pack)
flour- 4 tablespoons
water- 6 tablespoons (do adjust according to how soft your potato already is)

Method:
1. Peel the potato skin, cut to small pieces and heat in microwave until soft. (the recipe owner said 3 minutes but it took me more than 5!)
2. Mash the potato and while it's still hot, add sugar and mix. Then add in salt.
3. Add milk .. not too much or it will become too soft for you to shape it into small balls.
4. Shape into small balls and roll them in batter (water+flour)
5. Finally, roll the balls in a bowl of sesame seeds and fry.

(The recipe owner did not mention anything about the amount of oil so I just put oil in the fryer until a little bit more than half of the balls are inside the oil.

Tofu to wakame no miso shiru (Miso sup dengan tauhu dan rumpai laut)

Tofu to wakame no miso shiru (Miso sup dengan tauhu dan rumpai laut)

http://cookpad.com/recipe/2157368

Tofu- 150 gram ( I didn't even use tofu because I forgot to buy)
Deep fried tofu- 1 peace
Wakame (a type of seaweed)- as much as you prefer..
Miso- as much as you prefer but I used 2 table spoon of non-alcohol miso
soup stock- a little- I used fish stock, powder type as seen in the pic
Konbu (kelp)- 1 piece ( I didn't use this)
Water- 600 cc (about 2 and a half cups?)

Method:
1. Dice the tofu, and cut the fried tofu into stripes. Soak wakame in water.
2. Put konbu in water and boil. Once boiled, take the konbu out. (but I didn't do this. No konbu at home)
3. Add fish stock, tofu and dried tofu and let boil for a while.
4. Turn off the gas/heat and add miso. Stir and turn on the gas again, low heat, just a little while more.
5. Add wakame and serve.

September 3rd, 2013: niku-jaga

This is the 3rd or 4th time I made niku-jaga (meat-potato) for AS1 but I rarely remember the recipe. Since it is quite a popular menu in school, chances for me to prepare it again in the next two years are pretty high. Today's menu was hot rice with jako(tiny dry fish) , niku-jaga and the usual, boiled vege (almost daily). Anyway I got the recipe from here: http://cookpad.com/recipe/2325030 
And here's my poor attempt of translating. you might do it better than me but hey, neither Japanese nor English is my mother tongue :p

Ingredients （serves 3）

Potato                                         2-3 

Carrot                                                 1

Onion

1

Pork or Beef slice

300g

Green bean

some

Cooking oil

some

Seasoning

Sugar

2tbsp

Shoyu (Japanese Soy sauce)

3tbsp

Cooking alcohol

2tbsp

Mirin

1tbsp

Mentsuyu

1tbsp

Stock (I used chicken)

400cc

 カロリー・塩分を計算

1

Cut each potato into 4, chop the carrot、Put some water in microwable bowl and heat carrots and potato in microwave, 600w, 4 minutes

2

Adjust the time accordingly  (Check with toothpick) 

3,4

Slice onion, stir fry with cooking oil.Insert beef, stir. 

5

When meat becomes tender, Insert potato, carrot, bean. Mix well. Add stock.

I excluded all alcohol and seasoning containing alcohol. 

6

When the broth comes to a boil, 、add seasoning、Cover (aluminium foil is ok) and simmer over low heat.

I obviously never use pork in all my cooking,

7

Tastes better at room temperature.

I didn't follow the recipe 100%. I adjusted according to what I have in my kitchen.

Nutella cup cake

Nutella cup cake. Recipe by Devonay Stanton Potter. Baking has never been this simple 

Am sharing her post too..  this way, i can easily find the recipe in my album than searching through my timeline if I just share her photo

here's what she posted...

I am about to change your life. I am about to make you the happiest person on the planet. I am about to show you how to make brownies with only three ingredients. And I am going to exploit the inherent fantastical properties of Nutella in doing so.

See, Nutella already has fat, milk, and chocolate in it. Since those are the things you would normally be adding to traditional brownies separately, why not use a product that already has these things - and hazelnuts! See, you knew Nutella was amazing. But maybe you didn't realize its full potential. Until today - the day you met three-ingredient Nutella brownies.

Go. Make these. Now.

Ingredients:
1 cup (280g) Nutella
2 eggs
10 tbsp (62g) flour

Directions:
Put it in a bowl. Mash it up. Pour into a pan or muffin tin. Top with hazelnuts if you're feeling extra fancy. Bake at 350F (180C) for around 30 minutes (less time for cupcake form, more time if the centers aren't baked through).

That's it. You're done. Eat them. Revel. Be amazed.

You're welcome.

Saba no miso ni, Jagaimo no ni mono, niku korokke, so-men su-pu

Clockwise from upper left: Mackerel simmered in miso paste (saba no miso ni), Simmered potato (jagaimo no ni mono), meat croquette in the making, somen soup.

1. Mackerel simmered in miso paste: Got the recipe from here:http://cookpad.com/recipe/2220303
Ingredient:
Mackerel-1 (hey how do you count fish?)
Miso paste - 1 tablespoon
Soy sauce (shoyu)- 1 tbspoon
sake-1 tbspoon (didn"t use this one)
sugar-1tbspoon or 2teaspoons
water 200cc
ginger paste

Method-
1- cut the fish to half ( I cut smaller)
2-Insert shoyu, sake, sugar and water, simmer then put the makerel into the pan and simmer for about 5 minutes
3-Put miso and ginger, simmer for another 10 minutes
4- turn off the stove once the liquid is thick.

Simmered potato: http://cookpad.com/recipe/2250119
Ingredients:
potato-500g
onion-200g
cooking oil- 1tbspoon
*mirin (I didn't use), sugar, sake (didn't use)-2tbspoon each
Soy sauce (shoyu)-2tbspoon
Method:
1. Wash, cut the potatoes, steam for 5 minutes (600w) - well I used microwave. Slice the onions
2. Heat the oil in pan, stir fry the onion, then insert the potatoes. After a while, insert *, on medium fire
3. When it's almost dry, insert shoyu

Meat croquette: mmm nothing special here. Combination of microwaved potatoes, minced beef and chicken, black sesame, onion, salt, shoyu. The outside was flour- egg-breadcrumbs.

Somen soup: boiled somen in wakame soup. that's all.