i hope you eat good food, grow beautiful things, and have more love than you know what to do with.
I bought a bag of gingko nuts and picked up a pack of chicken gizzards (they looked so fresh!) and decided to grill the gizzards yakitori style. While chicken gizzards are often not to everyone’s taste (even if they are delicious morsels perfect for grilling …
Both my 4 year old and 1 year old are fiends for ikura (salted salmon roe) so whenever I make the trip to the Asian supermarket (I now live far from Flushing), I always endeavor to buy some. It’s cheaper than ordering at the restaurant. …
We had prime rib at my mother-in-laws house for Christmas yesterday, and took home a lot of the steak as leftovers. An easy and delicious way to use it up was to cube it and make teriyaki. The sauce is very easy, with all the things I have in my pantry already. Instead of using fresh ginger, a pinch of ginger powder gives the sauce just the right amount of kick.
My cookie molds are also great for other things, and I added a bit of cuteness to it in the form of a cheese bear. On top of the rice, I diced cucumbers, roasted sweet potato, a shrimp and mayo salad, and an egg star. This is actually considered “bara-chirashi” style as it is cooked ingredients scattered over the rice.
Steak Teriyaki Recipe
Sauce
1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine all the ingredients for the sauce and place in the microwave for 20 seconds. Take out and stir. The sauce should be thickened and glossy. If not, heat it in the microwave for an additional 10 seconds.
2. Heat a pan on medium high, add a pat of butter (butter and teriyaki sauce are a match made in heaven) and sautee the vegetables until the onion is fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and place in plate.
3. Put the cubes of steak in the pan and quickly sautee until just reheated (or to desired done-ness if from raw.) Place on top of the vegetables.
4. Pour the teriyaki sauce over the meat and veggies, and garnish with either toasted sesame seeds or parsley.
One of my favorite rolls is the Boston roll. I know, it’s weird right? For someone who loves raw fish as much as I do, why would I want to eat something that’s as common as some shrimp, cucumber, mayo, and lettuce in a roll? …
I was tired of buying crackers and thought it shouldn’t be too difficult to make, right? In my course of trying to become “supermarket independent,” this has been one of my better ideas. What more is that the kids LOVE helping, because it’s simple, with …
At one of the largest Japanese outlets in the northeast, Mitsuwa, they have onigiri in the flavor of spicy tuna and wasabi tuna. I really enjoy both, and usually buy one two munch on while I shop. I sometimes recreate it at home because it’s easy and a great way to use up leftover rice.
Today’s bento was the result of being too lazy to really “cook” anything, and because some of my shiso leaves have matured after their haircut a few weeks ago. (I grow shiso year round, see how I grow them–or they grow themselves–here.)
I always have canned tuna, wasabi powder, mayo, and sriracha in my pantry/fridge, which means it’s so easy for me to put together (and yes, the spicy mayo you get in sushi restaurants is actually sriracha based.)
Ingredients (makes 4)
1. Drain the tuna and press as much water as you can from it. Mix the mayo (you can use less but I like mine very creamy) with the tuna until well incorporated.
2. Divide the tuna and mix wasabi powder into one, sriracha into the other.
3. In your onigiri mold, press some rice to the bottom and add a tablespoonful of either wasabi or sriracha flavor tuna. Then add more rice to cover and press the mold down. Wrap with either shiso leaves or nori sheets.
4. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Enjoy!
If you’ve never had cheese on your Japanese curry, you’re missing out! The combination is absolutely scrumptious! In this recipe, rather than putting vegetables in the curry (although you definitely can!) I used it plain, with just water. I always have boxes of House Food’s …
I had a single sweet potato I bought for sweet potato rice porridge (my youngest is getting over a virus right now and very picky about what she eats–but she loves sweet potatoes.) I also had some zucchini, red onions, as well as a bag …
Our second daughter was born in the year of the monkey–a sign that pretty much describes her to the T. Inquisitive, funny, mischievous, and very, very precocious, my cute little monkey girl inspired this bento today.
You can use either chicken or pork–I just so happened to have pork on me. If you use chicken, do me a favor and use thigh meat. Breast is such a dry unflavorful part of the chicken that I won’t use it unless absolutely necessary (and to be honest, I can’t think of a single thing to use it for except maybe salad.)
I have tonkatsu sauce, but if you don’t, ketchup, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce all work well. Just need some acid to give it a bit of a kick.
Same with the panko breading–if you don’t have that, sweet potato or corn starch all work fine on its own. I like the extra crunch.
This same tonkatsu recipe can be used for katsudon or katsu curry (recipe for katsu curry can be found here)–pretty much anything that calls for katsu this recipe will work for.
Recipe for the Tonkatsu
1. Optional: Tenderizing the meat will give you a bigger, rounder, flatter, and crispier piece. Not doing so will be a meatier bite. I did not do it this time but if you suspect the meat to be poor quality and tough, then you can.
2. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. When you drop some panko breading in and it starts sizzling and bubbling, it’s ready. Keep and eye on it and don’t let it smoke or else your katsu will not have a pretty golden color.
3. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt and pepper on both sides of the pork. Coat both sides in a thin layer of corn/sweet potato starch (this helps it hold the egg wash and panko breading so it doesn’t come off in the oil.) Dip the meat in the egg wash and cover in panko breading–I use a plate with the panko spread out. If you don’t have panko breading, cover it in more corn/sweet potato starch.
4. Fry in the oil until both sides are golden brown. Check the interior by poking a small hole–the juice should run clear and the meat should no longer be pink. Take out and drain on a paper towel.
Recipe for the Sandwich
1. In whatever order you want, assemble your sandwich!
I absolutely love Gudetama–he’s just so adorable! I even have a mug with him on it that my husband has ferreted away because he likes it so much too! In this bento, I have him laying on seven grain rice (recipe below), with the egg …