I’ve only had the opportunity to eat Daifuku once and I must say, I prefer this to plain mochi because the filling always gives a wonderful surprise when you take a bite. I found this really useful video on how to make daifuku:

Rice for breakfast in Japan is not an unusual thing. In the west, eating rice for breakfast may seemed a bit weird because it’s just not the same as bacon, eggs, toasts or cereal and milk. But look at it this way, people eat healthy carbs for breakfasts, the Japanese does too – with rice.

Tamago kake Gohan is essentially piping hot rice with an egg broken into it. The concoction is usually stirred and the hot rice will semi-cook the egg. It is not unlike softboil egg on rice except it is all mixed together.

What you need is:
1 egg
1 bowl of hot rice
soy sauce

Method:
1. Crack egg in a plate, season with some soy sauce to taste. Stir to combine.
2. Take out the bowl of hot rice, make a center in the middle and pour the egg mixture in. Stir well and eat it with your favorite Japanese pickle and a side of miso soup.

This is the easiest, most nutritious breakfast on the go if you think about it. If you have left over rice from last night, just heat it up in the microwave with a sprinkle of water and crack and egg in. Hey, Rocky drank eggs every morning, i don’t see why we can’t eat eggs and rice. Seems like a yummier version, if you ask me :)

I wrote about Niigata and the sake festival that’s coming up but one thing I would like to point out is the quality of rice that comes out from that prefecture. You see, rice is an integral, if not most essential, part of cooking in Japan. It’s importance is unsurmountable although modern day foodies have claimed that the importance of rice has dwindled in the generation. What I mean by insurmountable is the fact that, despite it’s supposed dwindling importance, rice has managed to remain in the modern day Japanese’s lifestyle in more ways than one — it is here to stay.

For example, the rice cakes (onigiri) that so many love as snacks daily regardless of age or trend. Or mochi, that sweet chewy stuff everyone loves and cannot do without during the New Year? Or sake, a drink that is importantly popular and unique to Japan and sushi, the mother of all Japanese food to the commercial world. All of these foods need rice and the best rice comes from the Niigata region, touted as the rice capitol of Japan.

Niigata is known throughout Japan as the home of Koshihikari rice, sworn by many to be the best in Japan. The region is also known for its severe winters and heavy snowfall. The Echigo Plain, sometimes referred to as Japan’s rice belt, stretches far and wide around the city of Niigata, home to around 810,000 people. Niigata’s abundant harvest of high-grade rice yields some of the most sought-after sakes and rice crackers in Japan.

Read more…

You can read more about the region in the link above but there is one recipe that I would love to share with you. It’s a specialty from west of Niigata called Sasazushi. It’s bamboo leaf wrapped sushi and it’s especially similar to it’s South East Asian counterpart called Lemang, glutinous rice cooked in bamboo casing. In any case, it looks something like these although there is no set ways of making it and recipe varies from family to family.

Nigiri is another type of sushi where the rice is hand pressed instead of rolled out with a nori sheet. While it may seem like the simplest thing to do, it is actually not so simple. Correct pressure and size of the rice roll is crucial in making the perfect nigiri. And some sushi chefs takes years to perfect this skill.

If you apply not enough pressure while pressing your rice, your nigiri sushi will fall apart before you could even pick it up, but if you apply too much pressure, you’ll feel like you’re eating mochi. Either way, it just wouldn’t do.

Here’s a very useful video of making Nigiri demonstrated by some very generous people who put it up on YouTube.

Enjoy!

Watching them making mochi the traditional way is entertaining and educational. It looks hard but that’s how Japanese ancestors have been making mochi to celebrate the new year for hundreds of years. And as always mochi = happy faces :)

Futomakizushi is a specialty in Chiba. The sushis are rolled and designed with flowers or auspicious characters which makes the eating experience a unique one :)

A local specialty of Chiba Prefecture, futomakizushi (large sushi roll), brings together Chiba’s best ingredients from the land and the sea. Cherished at special occasions and gatherings for generations, rolled sushi (makizushi) from Chiba is a sumptuous work of art that, when sliced, reveals a splendid array of colors. Even today, communities and families in the Chiba region proudly carry on the tradition of making this culinary delight.
photo

Chiba Prefecture’s official flower, the rape blossom.

People across Japan are fond of makizushi (sushi roll) which generally comes in two sizes, large futomakizushi and thin hosomakizushi. Makizushi is made by placing cooked white rice mixed with rice vinegar, sugar, and salt on nori (a sheet of dried laver). Thin cucumber sticks, tuna, or other fillings are then placed in the center of the rice, and the nori and rice are rolled around the fillings.

Chiba-style futomakizushi is made by laying down a sheet of nori or a thin layer of omelet, over which is spread cooked white rice. Then reddish or pink rice that has been colored with red shiso (beefsteak leaf) and umezu (plum vinegar) is laid over the white rice, along with kanpyo (dried gourd strips) flavored with soy sauce or sweet rice wine. Popular fillings include asari no tsukudani (Manila clams simmered in soy sauce, sweet rice wine, and sugar), shiitake mushrooms, and green vegetables. The fillings are arranged in a uniform way over the length of the roll so that when it is cut, each slice has the same appearance.

Futomakizushi can be made so that when cut, the fillings reveal vivid patterns including seasonal flowers, animals, kanji characters, cartoon characters, or even people’s faces. Skilled futomakizushi artisans in Chiba are able to create designs of almost anything. Fun as well as tasty, futomakizushi is a food of celebration that brings joy to many people.

read entire article here…

I love chicken rice porridges. I believe rice cook into a congee is called Okayu in Japanese and it’s usually served to those who are malaise and unwell. Well, I believe that porridges are good for you – it gives your digestive system a break and it warms your body’s core, especially on cold winters day. Here’s a Chicken Porridge recipes that is so simple, you can make it every week :)

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice
10 cups of water/ broth
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
100gram of dried oysters, washed and soaked for 15 mins
2 century eggs, quartered
5-8 thin slices of ginger

Topping:
Chopped Spring Onion/Chives
Sesame oil
Pepper

Method:
1. Cook rice and water in a pot for about 30 minutes, until every grain of rice breaks down, rendering the mixture into a thick consistency.

2. Add your dried oysters and ginger slices. You can also start adding your seasoning now too; salt, pepper, oyster sauce and sesame oil.

3. Cook for another 10 minutes. Stirring constantly. It would be easier if you have a rice cooker but otherwise, you would need to lookout for your pot of congee from burning at the bottom of the pot.

4. Now, add your century eggs and let the congee cook for another 10 -15 more minutes before serving.

5. Top it off with some chopped spring onions, a splash of sesame oil and some pepper.

Green tea is my all time favorite drink, everyday I would drink at least a cup otherwise my day just do not feel complete. I guess it’s mainly for health reasons that I do this. It’s become an autonomous part of my life. Anyway, I stumbled across a recipe online that combines rice and green tea called Ochazuke. Actually there is a similar dish in a Chinese district of Hakka that serves the same rice dish but from what I recall, the dish was slightly bitter from the thick green tea broth that was slathered on the rice but not the Japanese version, which has a thin green tea broth. Hence, I have an curious streak about Ochazuke.

The meal looks like a very warm and hearty one, with green tea as a thin broth, topped with various toppings that makes it flavorful. Just Hungry, has an example and recipe to go with it. Tell me if the picture doesn’t scream yummy to you because it does to me. I love meals that are soupy and warm.

Has anyone tried Ochazuke before? I would like to try it but i don’t have the ingredients for the toppings, so I am gonna have to make a pass till later.

I love porridges especially on cold, wet days. It’s very soothing. In Japan, a similar recipe is called Okayu. It’s basically rice porridge cooked in broth or water, and with some added ingredients. It’s the perfect food that soothes the soul which is why Okayu is fed to the sick because it gives them energy to recuperate without being too hard to digest.

To me, I think food like these gives the digestive system and the body a break. It’s healthy and delicious. It’s something that everyone should try once in a while :) You can put any ingredients you like in your okayu – meat, seafood, veggies, etc.

I found a delicious Okayu recipe online that I would like you guys to try. I made my own rice porridge using century eggs (which is a peculiar thing to some) and dried oysters. It was very yummy. But first let me share with you an Okayu recipe made with preserved salted plums.

Recipe taken from Recipeland:

1 c Short grained japanese style
Rice (wash thoroughly)

4 c Water

2 3 rounded tablespoon white
Miso paste (more or less to Taste)

1 Or 2 large salted preserved
Salted plums—umeboshi (to Taste)

1 Cake kinugoshi tofu

1 c Fresh spinach

1 c Fresh nappa cabbage

1/8 t Sake or mirin (optional)

“Okayu” – Japanese-style porridge.

While you wait for your water to boil:

Break apart tofu into little chunks (dice or just use hands) Wash spinach well and cut into 1/4″ segments Wash nappa cabbage and cut into 1/4″ segments take seed out of umeboshi and cut into small pieces

When water is at a nice rolling boil:

Add miso (make sure it completely dissolves in water) (At this stage, taste to make sure you have enough miso in water and add more miso or water for desired taste.) Add rice, tofu, spinach, nappa cabbage, and umeboshi Add mirin or sake (optional)

Once the mixture come back to a nice boil, put cover on pot and reduce heat to low simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Cook longer if you like a more creamier porridge.

This makes a nice replacement for soup on a cold day. If eaten as a meal, I like to puree some raw daikon with a tiny smidgin of fresh ginger, lemon juice, and soy sauce as a garnish on top of my okayu.

Here is a picture of my Chinese version of Okayu, using century eggs and dried oysters:

A lot of people confuse sushi to be raw fish. Well, a lot of caucasians confuse sushi to be raw fish…:P Sushi is basically steam cooked japanese rice wrapped with whatever you fancy, really. Do a wiki search on sushi – it’s interesting. Sashimi, and not sushi, is the name for served raw fish. There are many types of sushi but the sushi I am making are called sushi rolls – the most common sushi type you see in sushi bars.

The perfect sushi is actually in the rice. It doesn’t matter what you put in it as long as you got your rice right, you’re good.

What you need for the PERFECT sushi rice:
3 cups of rice
3 3/4 cup water
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

The rest of the ensemble:
Nori (seaweed sheets)
cucumbers, julienned
carrots, julienned
red peppers, julienned

optional filling: kimchi, kimchi fried chicken, roasted pork, teriyaki chicken, etc etc etc.

Once that is done, here we go, sushi step by step:

First you will need to clean the rice:

You gotta make sure that you clean them well – that means getting rid of the white murkiness of the water. And at the same time, you polish the rice by rubbing them in your hands gently. The rice is very fragile and will break so just do it like how you would play mud, for example.

Once your rice is clean, you add 3 3/4 cup water into the rice and let it cook in a rice cooker.

While your rice is cooking, you prepare your sushi vinegar (sushi-zu) that you add at the end when the rice is cooked. So you combine the rice wine vinegar, sugar and salt and stir it till all solids are dissolved. Putting the vinegar solution in the microwave for 30 seconds to heat, will help with dissolving the solids :)

Once that’s done and your rice is cook. You fluff it up with a fork or your rice scoop gently and pour the sushi vinegar in. Stir the rice to combine flavors…stir as how you would fold a cake batter – and while you’re at it, fan the rice with a magazine using the other hand or just do it like me; blow air into the rice with your mouth. Becareful not to spit in it :P

Your rice should be sticky and not mushy. Each rice grain should look polished and shiny, just like in the picture. Scoop your rice out onto a plate.

It’s now time to assemble your sushi! I even made my own gari (pickled ginger; recipe later) as you can see in the picture.

Here’s my sushi mat and my nori sheets.

So put a the rice on the nori sheet like in the picture…

Start adding your filling. I live with a vegetarian, so i added julienned tofu pieces whcih i marinated with some soy, pepper and mushroom sauce.

Roll your sushi tightly. It’s the beginning that is the hardest but once you get the hang of it, every other time would be a breeze.

So, in the end, you should get a tightly rolled sushi just like the picture. Continue rolling until you used up all the rice. 3 cups of rice should yield you about 5 rolls of sushi – depending on how big or small u want them to be.

Cut the sushi into 1 inch thick rolls. And you have a feast :)

I made a sushi out of stir fried kimchi chicken for myself. The result? Absolutely scrumptious!

Source: A series of kitchen experiments