Tag Archives: cooking

Food, Personal/Site Updates

Indian-Style Food

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IMG_0195[1]Today I took a cooking lesson instead of baking.  We tried our hands at cooking Indian cuisine.  We ended up making two kinds of curry (the one on the left is spinach based), along with samosas, turmeric rice, a fresh salad with zucchini, chick peas, etc., and a mango sorbet as dessert.

Everything was delicious, but the Japanese seem to have a surprisingly different view of what’s spicy, as this is not the first time that I’ve witnessed fellow students being unable to finish their meal because it was “too spicy”.

Food, Recipes

RECIPE: 野菜の天ぷら – Vegetable Tempura

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How to Make Vegetable Tempura

Ingredients

  •  ¼ cup Kaeshi 
  • 2 cup Dashi
  • Tempura Flour
  • Vegetables, Sliced or Cut into small pieces (can be whatever you like!)  Here are some of my personal recommendations:  Broccoli, Asparagus, Carrots, Zucchini, Mushrooms…
  • Canola Oil or Vegetable Oil for Deep-Frying

Directions

  1. For the dipping sauce, heat the kaeshi and dashi over medium heat until it comes to a gentle simmer.  Turn off the heat and divide the sauce into 4 small bowls.
  2. Heat the oil in a wok or a deep pot (about 4 inches deep) to 340 degrees Farenheit.
  3. Prepare the tempura batter by mixinh ½ cup flour with about 6 tablespoons cold water.  The texture of the batter should be similar to crepe batter.
  4. Dredge the vegetables in (dry) tempura flour, then dip each into the tempura batter.  Shake gently to remove excess batter and then drop into the heated oil.  Vegetables should cover only half of the surface area of the oil.  Wait for them to rise to the top of the oil and cook until lightly golden and crisp.
  5. When finished, take out of the oil and let it rest on a plate covered with paper towels to soak up the excess oil.  Remove paper towel, and serve on plate with a bowl of dipping sauce on the side.
  6. Tempura is best eaten quickly before it gets soggy, so once prepared, make sure to enjoy it right away!
Food, Recipes

RECIPE: 牛丼ぶり – Gyuu Donburi

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You may often see family restaurants and fast food joints in Japan serving gyuu donburi, or gyuudon, but why not try making it for yourself?

Gyuudon is a form of donburi dish.  Don literally means “rice bowl”, buri is the act of putting something on top.  In other words, donburi is a rice bowl dish with something put on top of the rice.  And gyuudon is an extremely popular type of donburi in Japan. The gyuu in gyuudon means “beef”.

How to Make Gyuu Donburi

Ingredients (Makes 3)

  • 1 ½ cups Short Grain or Medium Grain White Rice
  • 1 ¼ cups Dashi
  • 2 tablespoons Sake (for cooking)
  • 3 tablespoons Mirin
  • 1 ½ tablespoons Sugar
  • 1 Medium Onion, Cut into thin wedges
  • 7 ounces Sirloin Beef, Cut into thin strips
  • 3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 3 Eggs, Lightly beaten

Directions

  1. Rinse the rice.  Soak the rice in cold water for 30 minutes to an hour (not required, but it does make the rice taste better).
  2. Drain the rice’s soaking water and add back 1 ¾ cups of cold water.  Cook the rice in a rice cooker if available.  If not, cook in a heavy-bottomed pot and follow the instructions written on the rice package.
  3. Meanwhile, combine the dashi, sake, and mirin in a medium skillet, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat.
  4. Add the sugar, stir until it dissolves.  Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 5 minutes.
  5. Add the onion, and cook until it is soft, approximately 3-5 minutes.
  6. Add the beef, and cook for 2 minutes.
  7. Add the soy sauce and cook for 2-3 additional minutes.
  8. Pour the eggs over the beef and onion and cook, covered for 1-2 minutes.
  9. Divide the cooked rice among 3 individual large bowls and top with the beef, onion, and egg mixture.
  10. Pour a generous amount of the remaining cooking broth over each serving.  Serve the dish while hot and enjoy!
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!