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.

A warm Japanese salad made from cooked vegetable greens. You can use kale, broccoli, asparagus or even spinach - and usually Aemono uses a rather heavy dressing with sesame seed pastes but this video, shows you from start to finish, how to make Aemono in a simpler and yet delicious manner. I am glad I found Tomoko on youtube. She has other cool videos on basic Japanese cooking that all Japanese foodies should check out.

Here’s here video showing you how to make Aemono:

Buta No Kakuki, or Japanese braised pork belly is a delicious and heart warming dish that goes very well with rice or noodles. What is funny is that this braised dish is very similar to the Chinese braised pork belly dish and while flavors are slightly different from the ingredients used, the basic fundamentals of cooking this dish is the same - low heat, slow cook = delicious buttery braised meat.

There are many ways that the Japanese braised their Buto No Kakuki and a standard ingredient in this dish are leeks. Today my braised pork will be steamed to perfection. No hassle, just leave it on your steamer for 3 hours until the pork is tender and its natural jus surrounds the braise meat. Very delicious and very good for you. I have also added a bit of honey to give the dish a very full bodied flavor instead of just sugar and some 5 spiced powder.

Here’s what you will need:

500 grams of pork belly, cut into 4 inch lengths.
1.5 tablespoons of honey
1 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 leek, chopped finely
1 teaspoon five spice powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon of koshered salt

Method:
1. Marinade pork with ALL the ingredients overnight.
2. On a steamer plate, arrange slices of your pork around the plate and add a few teaspoons of marinate on top.
3. Steam on steamer, on medium-low, for at least 3 hours.

After 3 hours, serve with rice and your favorite vegetables. You’ll enjoy this dish especially during colder days :)

another alternative recipe would be to try adding yoghurt to tenderize the meat first - you can check that out here: Five Spiced Wonder Ribs.

The thing I would like to introduce here is the fresh Avocado Pesto, which goes perfectly with pasta and even as a sushi filling. But today, I am going to use it as a sauce for fettuccine - a type of flat Italian noodles that is like a thick soba. Feel free to replace the pasta with your favorite Japanese noodles, although I wouldn’t recommend using Ramen noodles :)

As you know, the usual pesto we all know uses fresh basil, pine nuts and olive oil. But you can make pesto out of anything in Italy. So I had some nice avocados hanging in the kitchen I thought I would make something different from them and created this basil pasta. It’s very rich, so you can just omit the pine nuts and add sundried tomatoes to balance out the flavor a lot more. Here’s how the recipe goes:

Avocado Pesto
1 ripe avocado
1 bunch of parsley
1 handful basil
a few sprigs of fresh oregano
a few sprigs of mint
4 sundried tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons of olive oil

Method:
Put them all in a food processor and start blitzing! Blitz! Blitz! Blitz! Until you have a nice paste. You can stop blitzing now although you’ll be tempted to go on. It will yield enough for 4 serving. Set it aside until ready to use. (Do cover it with a plastic wrapper to avoid any oxidization of the avocado which can turn into an unappetizing brown)

Cook some pasta: Fetuccine, Spaghetti, Spiralli, Linguine, Farfalle, etc etc etc.
When it’s al dente, drain the water and add 2-3 tablespoons of your avocado pesto in. Mix well and eat! :)

Kitchen Experiments

This is a 5 minute video paying homage to Japanese food that I’d like to share with you. We eat with our eyes, they say. “They” being some of the most famous chefs in the world :)

Enjoy! Now i feel like fresh toro sashimi :P

With the weather predictably cooling as the days go by, it’s time for something warm, nourishing and hearty. That means stews, soups, and casseroles are in again to warm the tummy. I saw a Kenchin-style soup online and I thought it would be awesome to share it with you guys. It’s all vegetarian because kenchin-style kinda means temple-style. The broth is made from miso paste and the rest of the ingredients comes with your preference. Usually autumn vegetables are used and as the season transcends to winter, ingredients change to what’s available during the season. But lotus root is a popular choice for Kenchin-style soups because it “sweetens” the soup as well as it is healthy for you.

The recipe is derived from Bento.com, but frankly, you can use whatever ingredients you want. You can even add meat into your soup if you want, after all, we are not monks here :P

So here’s the recipe:

# 5 1/2 ounces (150g) burdock root
# 4 dried shiitake mushrooms
# 2 1/2 cups (600ml) water
# 1 block konnyaku, about 10 1/2 ounces (300g), cut into bite-size pieces
# 3 tablespoons sesame oil
# 10 1/2 ounces (300g) daikon radish, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
# 7 ounces (200g) carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
# 3 1/2 ounces (100g) lotus root, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
# 2 tablespoons soy sauce, for preparation
# 2 1/2 cups (600ml) konbu stock (see below)
# 4 tablespoons sake
# 1 block firm tofu, about 14 ounces (400g)
# 4 tablespoons soy sauce, for the soup
# 3 1/2 ounces (100g) baby spinach or other leafy greens, cut into 2-inch (5cm) lengths

1. Scrub the burdock root thoroughly and scrape off the skin with the back of a clean knife. Cut the burdock into bite-sized pieces, place immediately in cold water, soak for 5 minutes, then drain.

2. Soak the shiitake in the water for about 30 minutes until soft. Drain, and reserve the water. Remove the stalks, and then cut the caps into 1/4-inch (5mm) slices.

3. Boil the konnyaku for 2 to 3 minutes, then drain.

4. Heat the sesame oil in a saucepan, then add the burdock root, shiitake, konnyaku, daikon, carrot, lotus root, and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and stir-fry for 5 minutes.

5. Add the shiitake water, konbu stock and sake to the saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Remove any froth from the surface, and cook on low heat until the vegetables are tender.

6. Without draining the tofu, crumble into lumps and add to the saucepan along with 4 tablespoons of soy sauce.

7. Add the baby spinach to the saucepan, and cook until wilted.
Konbu stock

* 1 2/3 cups (400ml) water
* 1 piece dried konbu, 4 inches (10cm) square

1. The white powder on the surface of dried konbu adds to the flavor, so do not wash the konbu before use, simply lightly wipe with a damp cloth.

2. Place the water and the konbu in a saucepan, and leave to soak for 2 or 3 hours.

3. Place the saucepan over medium heat. Just before the water boils, remove the konbu. Use the konbu-flavored water as stock.

See how similar they both sound? Croquettes are originally western, adapted by the Japanese for the Japanese. Some Korokke has mince meat in them some are just made of potatoes and other bits and pieces of vegetables. Anyhow, I think Japanese croquettes are delicious! Here’s a vegetarian version of Korokke from my own. If you desire meat in your croquettes, just add mince.

Korokke
2 medium sized potatoes, boiled
1 medium onion, minced
1 small carrot, diced
1/4 cup of baby peas
1 egg
salt and pepper to season
bread crumbs
2 tablespoon oil

Optional: 200 grams of mince pork, chicken or beef

Method:
1. Boil potatoes until soft and mash them with a fork. I like to leave bits of small chunks for texture :)
2. Heat pan and saute the onions until soft and slightly caramelized, (you should add your mince meat here if you are using any and saute until they are cooked) add your peas, carrots and saute more for another 3-4 minutes. Take off heat and leave the pan aside.
3. In a big bowl, combine the mash potatoes, sauteed vegetables, salt&pepper, and egg. Combine the mixture until it is well amalgamated.
4. Shape a bit of the mixture with your hands until it resembles are small puck/disc and then dredge it with bread crumbs to coat.
5. Deep fry or shallow fry on medium heat (make sure your oil is not too hot) until golden brown. Serve! :)

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.

Half boiled egg or soft boiled egg is a delicacy that is so simple, that it is quite cumbersome to achieve. A lot of attention needs to be paid to it unless you have a special half boiled egg cooker in your kitchen :)

This is absolutely my favorite-est ways of eating eggs and it’s great with toasts. Now, I don’t know if Japanese people eat this but i figured if they’d eat fresh egg dips for their Shabu-shabus and Nabes, they’d probably eat this as well. And tt’s hard to achieve because if you go over your time by just a minute, your half boiled eggs would turned into hard boiled eggs.

Okay, i am sure most of you know what hard boiled egg is. Half boiled or soft boiled eggs is a level before the egg achieving hard boiled status. The whites are half done and runny and the yolk is not dissimilar to the yolks on a sunny side up, runny. To achieve the perfect half boiled egg, you need to put two eggs in a medium sized pot and fill it in with cold water. Set it on the stove on medium heat and wait until it starts a gentle boil (not rolling boil). Turn off heat immediately and remove the pan to another cool stove or counter with a coaster. Let the eggs sit for 2 minutes and immediately take it out with a spoon.

Crack open with a small metal spoon and scoop the beautiful half boiled eggs into a bowl. Eat with salt (or soy sauce) and pepper. YUM!

The yellow runny yolk on clouds of half cooked whites never fail to cheer me up :)

Pictures from my own food blog.

Gari or pickled ginger usually served as a palate cleanser with sushis are delicious and packs a punch. I made my own gari the other day but I forgot to take pictures. I followed a recipe online about it but I don’t remember where i procured the recipe anymore. But i am still very determined to share it with you because gari is so easy to make.

As we all know, gari has a pinkish color to it. It’s a natural coloring that fresh young ginger imparts when it is soaked in vinegar. But it would have to be with young ginger if you want that color. Otherwise, older ginger would taste just fine but without the color. Oh and the older the ginger, the spicier too. :)

So here’s a recipe for gari that I hope you will find useful in your kitchen:
2 fresh ginger roots, peeled and cut into manageable knobs
3 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon salt

Method:
1. In a 2L sterilized jar, put your ginger knobs in. Make sure the ginger are pat dry first if they’re a little too wet.
2. Mix vinegar, sugar and salt in a pan and cook until it comes to a boil and all the sugar and salt crystals are dissolved.
3. Pour it into the jar containing the gingers. Let it cool, cover and store in the refrigerator. Pink hues will be visible after a while. If not, that’s fine too, the ginger pickle is still as good :)