Monthly Archives: April 2014

Food, Recipes

RECIPE: アンパン – Anpan

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A personal favorite, anpan is a Japanese bread (pan) filled with sweet red bean paste (an).  It is particularly popular with young children due to the character “Anpanman”.

Anpanman

My version of anpan isn’t 100% authentic, as some of my native Japanese friends have described them as more “buttery” than the anpan they are used to.  Despite this, however, they have also said that it’s some of the best anpan they have ever had.

I’ve made my anpan this way over half a dozen times, and each time it has not failed to be a hit with friends and family.  Please give it a try!

How to Make Anpan

Ingredients (Makes 12)

  • 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
  • 2 teaspoons Yeast
  • 4 ½ tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 ½ Egg
  • 1 cup Water
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • 3 ½ tablespoons Butter
  • 1 can of Koshi-an (Smooth Red Bean Paste)

Directions

  1. Put the flour, yeast, sugar, and half the egg in a bowl. Add the water.
  2. Turn the mixture out onto a floured board and knead for about 15 minutes.
  3. Sprinkle in the salt and knead some more. Add the butter a little at a time, folding over to create layers. Knead another 15 minutes.
  4. Let rest for 50-60 minutes. At the end of the 50-60 minutes, poke with your finger into the middle of the dough. If it stays down, the dough is ready.
  5. Flatten dough to press out air, and cut into about 12 pieces. Roll into balls, and place under a towel for about 10 minutes.
  6. Flatten a ball of dough in the palm of your hands, place a small scoop of koshi-an in the center of the dough and then gather all sides and pinch them together in the middle. When sealed, roll gently between your palms to make it round and put the sealed side onto your baking sheet.
  7. Repeat until all the dough and koshi-an is used up.
  8. Leave under a towel for another 40 minutes. When finished, coat the top of each anpan with the remaining egg.
  9. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Farenheit and bake for 8-12 minutes.
  10. These taste good hot or cool, but give them some time to cool a little out of the oven if serving while still warm because the red bean paste can get extremely hot and burn one’s mouth/tongue.

 

Food, Personal/Site Updates

Sakura Cheesecake

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photo 2

Last night in keeping with the season I made a sakura cheesecake in class today.  It’s actually 2 types of cheesecake; the first one is enclosed inside the second, and has pickled sakura flower petals mixed in along with some sakura liqueur (kind of strong, but very good!).  This cake also has NO FLOUR in it.  At all.  Just a spoonful of corn starch.

Food, Recipes

RECIPE: お好み焼き – Okonomiyaki

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It’s been a while since I’ve made okonomiyaki, but I found myself in the mood today.

For those who don’t know, okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning “what you like” or “what you want”, and yaki meaning “grilled” or “cooked”. In other words, okonomiyaki are “whatever you want” pancakes, so the ingredients can vary depending on one’s tastes.

Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

As I said before, okonomiyaki can technically contain anything, but here is how I prefer to make mine.  Feel free to adjust the Filling section with whatever you like!

How to Make Okonomiyaki

Ingredients (2 servings)

For Pancake Batter:

  • 1 cup Cake Flour
  • 1 cup Water or Dashi (kelp and fish stock)
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 2 tablespoons Potato Starch
  • 2 eggs

  • 2-3 tablespoons Vegetable Oil

For Filling:

  • 2 ounces Beef Sirloin, Cut into thin strips
  • 2 ounces Pork Sirloin, Cut into thin strips
  • 3 ½ ounces Napa Cabbage, Shredded

  • ¼ cup Green Scallion, Cut thinly

For Sauce/Toppings:

  • Tonkatsu Sauce
  • Mayonnaise
  • 1 sheet Nori (roasted seaweed), Crumbled or cut into small pieces
  • ¼ cup Katsuoboshi (bonito flakes)

Directions

  1. Sift the flour into a bowl.  Add and mix  the water or dashi, salt, and potato starch, stirring.  Divide the batter between two bowls.
  2. Put half the beef, pork, cabbage, and green scallion into each bowl.  Break the eggs and drop one in the center of each bowl.
  3. Heat a large skillet, add vegetable oil and swirl the skillet to coat the entire bottom.  When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium.  Mix the batter and the other ingredients in one of the bowls and pour all of the batter in that bowl into the skillet. Spread the batter into a large disk.  Cook the pancake over medium heat until bottom is golden.
  4. Turn the pancake over with the aid of two spatulas, press it to flatten the bottom, and cook the other side until golden.
  5. Prepare the second pancake in the same way as the first.
  6. Spread mayonnaise over the top of each pancake, then tonkatsu sauce.  Sprinkle half of the nori and katsuoboshi on top.
  7. Serve them hot and enjoy!

 

Personal/Site Updates

Taking a Writing Holiday

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Today was the first day of Tokyo Writer’s Salon’s Spring Beachside Retreat.  I had been meaning to attend one of the group’s meetings for the longest time, but this time I decided to just take the plunge and have at it.  It seemed like a good time to take a holiday from the stresses of the everyday and dedicate 48 hours of my time solely to the passion of writing.

Best decision I’ve made in a long time.