Weekday Dinner

Hi, this is KK, Sushi Artist / Healthy Muffin Maker / Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

 

It’s been a while since I last introduced our family dinner, and thought I’d share a recipe or two.

 

Tonight was simple as usual, the Menu was (starting from the top)

-Spinach in sesame dressing

-Eggplant and onion in miso paste

-Pan fried chicken with plum flavor

-Koya-Tofu (dried tofu cooked in Japanese broth)

-Miso soup

-Hijiki rice

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very simple, easy to cook with lots of veggies.

 

At the moment, Yumi is really into Hijiki Rice, and will eat 2 bowls! I try to make a lot of it and keep stock in the fridge for emergencies.

 

Here is the recipe

Hijiki Rice

-2 cups rice (Japanese standard = 360cc)

-10g Hijiki (it is a type of seaweed)

-2 Tablespoon dried anchovies (you can use canned tuna in water)

-2 Chikuwa (Japanese fish cake)

-2 Deep fried bean curd, (pour cupful of boiling water over it to remove excess oil)

-1/2 carrot

-2 1/2 cup liquid (including 2 Tablespoon soy sauce, 2 Tablespoon mirin)

 

Method

Step 1: Soak Hijiki in water for 15min, wash rice under running water, drain and soak in clean water for at least 30min.

Step 2: Chop chikuwa, bean curd and carrot into small pieces

Step 3: Drain rice, place in a thick pot (I use Le Creuset), place chopped ingredients, hijiki, anchovies and pour liquid; Cook on high heat for 8 min, then on small heat (VERY SMALL) for 12 min, wait 10 min and remove lid.

 

Enjoy it hot or in OMUSUBI style!

 

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5 Day Dinner Challenge : Day 3

Hi this is KK, Sushi Artist / Healthy Muffin Maker / Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

It’s the 3rd day of my cooking challenge, and I’ve added 1 item, tofu! Yes, that was necessary to cook tonight’s dinner. Can you tell where it is used?

The menu for tonight is:

-Home made fish cake with edamame

-Carrot and Celery “Kinpira”(Vegan)

-Chickpea in Miso and Mayo sauce(Vegetarian, not vegan because I used mayonnaise)

-Broccoli in sesame dressing(Vegan)

-Celery rice(Vegan)

-Tofu miso soup(Can be made vegan but I used bonito flakes today, so this is only vegetarian)

Very basic Japanese dinner, yet really easy to cook.  Full of proteins, vitamins and mineral!

Believe it or not, Yumi ate 2 bowl of rice today. It must have been yummy!

5 day Dinner Challenge : Day 2

Hi this is KK, Sushi Artist / Healthy Muffin Maker / Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

I had a big fund raising even on Saturday, to support the children in Japan who have been affected by the earthquake and tsunami last March. With the support from my playgroup mother friends, and many other people, we held a garage sale / bake sale in Turramurra. I have been up since 4:00 AM, baking, so by the time I got home, I didn’t

 have much strength to cook dinner. So, using some left overs from the bake sale and things in the fridge, this is what I made on Day 2 of my challenge.

I didn’t buy anything today (too tired to go shopping!) but there was some fish in the fridge so that became our main course.

MENU for Day 2

-2 types of Entree; Salmon and Avocado pie(Non-Veg), Eggplant pie(Vegetarian but not Vegan)

-Onion and Mushroom soup with egg whites(Vegetarian but not Vegan)

-Carrot Salad with Honey Lemon Dressing(Vegetarian but not Vegan)

-Sushi Salad with walnuts(Vegan)

-Steamed Fish with Thyme and Mushroom

-Cheese and Baguettes and Red Wine (^-^)

Hide’s Lunch

Hi this is KK, Sushi Artist / Healthy Muffin Maker / Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

 

So, I cooked fresh rice for breakfast. What do I do with it? Prepare some lunch for my husband Hide!

A very simple lunch, but is should keep him going through the afternoon!

 Using the rice, I made two different types of rice ball, one is with my  “Handy salmon flakes” and another is with “Umeboshi (pickled plum)”.

For the side dish, I cooked some “Dashi-maki-Tamago (rolled egg)” and vegan burger again! This time, using chickpea and celery.

I will ask him how he liked it, and then introduce the recipe!

Cooking Rice with Le Creuset

Hi this is KK, Sushi Artist / Healthy Muffin Maker / Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

 

As much as I love to cook, I love collecting kitchen ware. But there’s some rule to it, and I try not to buy things that can only one thing. On the other hand I love things that I can use in many different ways, and Le Creuset is certainly one of them. I cook my rice in it, and never fail.

 The key to cook the rice in a nice fluffy way is the water:rice ratio.

In Japan, 1 cup of rice is 180cc (In Australia, 1 cup is 250cc) and when cooking “regular” rice,usually water:rice ratio is 1:1.1~1.2. I  am using the word “usually” because new season rice is “softer” so I would use less water, maybe 1:1~1.1. And if I am cooking sushi rice, the ratio would be 1:1. This is because I would be adding sushi vinegar later to the cooked rice, and if you cook it with 1:1.2 ratio, it becomes too soggy.

 

So, to cook 3 cups of rice, I would prepare

-540cc Medium grain or Short grain rice

-620cc water

-Rinsing water, Soaking water

 

Method:

Step 1: Put rice in a large bowl, and under a running water, rinse 3~5 times, until the water becomes clear.

Step 2: Soak rinsed rice in water (make sure it is all covered) and let it rest for at least 30min

Step 3: Drain all the soaking water, place the rice in Le Creuset (I am using 20 inch to cook 3 cups), pour 640cc water; Cook on high heat for 8min, and then on low heat for 12min. Rest for 10min before serving.

 

For this amount of rice and water, the pot would come to boil at  around 8min. This does depend on the type of stove you are using, and how “strong” your “high heat” is. When I say “high”, the flame should be a bit smaller than the rim of the pot. It shouldn’t be going outside of it.

Also, the time depends on the type of pot you are using. Personally, I think heavier the better. I tried using Titan pot that Hide bought for camping (it is supposed to be “Good Quality”, very energy efficient, but very light) and the rice turned into coal! So, try avoiding aluminium pots and even steel pots unless they are multi layered.

 

I hope you can find your perfect combination!

 

Mushroom Delight

Hi this is KK, Sushi Artist / Healthy Muffin Maker / Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

 

I came across my favorite vegetable at the market, Shimeji Mushroom and King Oyster Mushroom!

Wow, they are sooooooo good, you must try them! The one I find at the supermarkets are not so nice, but the ones I bought at the market was fresh and had lovely aroma and taste. To enjoy the most out of it, I made 2 different types of sautees and a flavored rice.

This dinner was completely vegan, with okra and round bean and bak choy as a side dish. Very typical Japanese style dinner, and very low in calories, so great for all the dieters!!

 

Today, I will introduce how to make the flavored rice. Very tasty, and Yumi’s favorite. I made small omusubi rice balls for her, and she would eat two! Holding it inside her own small hands, she gobbled down happily.

 

 

 

Ingredients (for 4-5 people, but we always freeze half and enjoy it later in the week)

-540g Medium grain rice (this is equivalent to 3 “rice” cups in Japanese standard)

-2 King Oyster mushroom (we call it ERINGI in Japan)

-4 Shimeji mushroom

-1/2 Carrot

-1 Fried bean curd (Abura-Age)

-500 cc (2 cooking cups)  Dashi broth (or water)

-3 Tablespoon Soy sauce

-2 Tablespoon Sake (cooking rice wine)

-2 Tablespoon Mirin

-1/3 teaspoon Salt

 

Method

Step 1: Wash and rinse rice several times under running water, soak in water for 30min, drain.

 

Step 2: Cut all the ingredients (mushrooms, carrots, bean curd) into thin strips, about 2cm length and 1mm wide.

 

Step 3: Put the rice in a rice cooker/heavy pot with lid. Place all the vegetables and broth on top. If using rice cooker, press start button, if cooking over stove, cook on high for 8min, and low for 12 min.

 

Once you have the rice ready, it is easy as pie! I love flavored rice, especially with mushrooms. This is made into a vegan recipe, and there are other variations using similar ingredients, which I will try making again soon!

 

 

 

Takenoko-Gohan (Flavoured Rice with Bamboo Shoots)

Hi this is KK, Sushi Artist, Healthy Muffin Maker, Mum 🙂

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Finally, I had time to cook the bamboo shoot I bought at the market! 

Well, actually, on the day I bought it, I cooked it in baking soda to get rid of the bitterness, and seasoned it in Dashi(Japanese broth) and put it in freezer. Now, the time was right so I finally made my flavored rice: TAKENOKO GOHAN.

The result?

 

YUM! FANTASTIC!!

Worth all the effort. Yes, it is a hard work to make this, especially preparing the bamboo shoot in the beginning. But well worth it. This was proven by my family, my husband ate 2 bowl fulls and even Yumi, my 18 months daughter ate this for her night time snack! After eating 2 sushi rolls and 1 egg for dinner, she ate half a bowl of my rice 🙂 She goes

“Gohan (which means rice)”

and opens her mouth to be fed. Cute, but mummy was worried about the size of her tummy!

Anyway, I am not sure if I will make this again, because I can’t find the ingredient at a local supermarket to start off with, but will leave the recipe for you to all imagine 🙂

My bamboo shoot was about 700g when I peeled the skin, so I made 2 batches of stock.

Ingredients(1 stock; please keep this as the basic ratio and change it according to the size of the bamboo shoot)

-200g Bamboo shoot, precooked (*)

-700ml Dashi stock (**)

-3-4 Tablespoon Soy sauce

-1 pinch salt

-1 Tablespoon Mirin

-2 Tablespoon Sake (cooking rice wine)

-3 Japanese cups Rice (540g)

How to make it!

Step 1: Bring everything EXCEPT RICE and bring to boil, cook for 10min: wash rice in water drain and soak in clean water for at least 30min.

Step 2: Cool the bamboo shoot& liquid until completely cold (You can now separate them into smaller proportion if you are cooking more than 1 batch; and freeze!)

Step 3: Drain rice and put in a rice cooker/large sauce pan; drain and separate bamboo from soup, place on top of rice; measure 540cc from the remaining soup and add to rice; rest for 1 hour.

Step 4: Cover, cook on high heat for 8min, low heat for 12min (or press start on your rice cooker)

It is time consuming, but not difficult as it seems. You just need a long time to prepare it, so I did it on 2 different days, made 2 batches and kept them in the freeze until it was ready to be cooked.

(*) To precook  bamboo shoot, remove all the hard skin, this will decrease the size to about 2/3 , unfortunately you can’t eat the outside skin. It’s too tough. In a large pot, bring water to boil, add 2 Tablespoon baking soda and cook the bamboo for 1-2 hours until they are soft and tender, drain, cover in cold water and rest overnight.

The water I cooked the bamboo shoot turned red, you don’t have to change the water, this is to remove all the bitterness.

(**) Dashi is a Japanese broth made from dried konbu(kelp) and dried bonito flakes. If you want to make this vegan, you only need konbu kelp.

I am not sure if I can suggest ENJOY as usual, but it is worth trying if you found a bamboo shoot in the market. I know our family will be enjoying this for a while.

By the way, this does not last long in room temperature, so if there are leftovers freeze them again so you can enjoy it later!