Omurice

Omurice- A Japanese fusion dish consisting of fried rice wrapped in a thin omelet and usually topped with ketchup.
I made some for lunch today, and I was a bit skeptical with the recipe I used that called for ketchup in the fried rice, which would make the rice saucy (not what traditional fried rice should be). However, it's what goes into "traditional" omurice, so I went ahead with the recipe. And my, oh my, it was not bad at all. The rice actually soaked up the ketchup and bonded all the savory flavors of the veggie bacon that I used and the sweetness of the peas. It was very good.
Setting the rice aside, I made a thin omelet, placed the rice filling in and wrapped the omelet around it. Served with a little ketchup and I fell in love with this dish. The flavors are so well balanced; sweet, tangy and savory, which all ties in so well with the fluffy omelet wrap. I will definitely be making this again.
Recipe: Chicken Version

Totoro Cream Puffs

I had a major craving for cream puffs last night, so I whipped up some choux pastry and got a little creative. I piped the choux pastry into Totoro-shaped puffs and then added chocolate eyes and detailing after it cooled. The inspiration grew from a web-search I did several years back, whereas a fellow foodie did the exact same concept. Totoro is one of my most favorite characters from Japanese Animation; he stars in the film "My Neighbor Totoro" by the talented Hayao Miyazaki. He is known as the "keeper of the forest" appearing as a creature crossed between a raccoon, an owl and a rabbit.
Oh, and I used vanilla pastry cream as the filling.

 

Tempura Udon and Unagi Maki

So, for dinner today, I made Tempura Udon Soup and Unagi (Grilled Eel) Makizushi for my brother.
Udon is a thick, Japanese wheat noodle, almost equivalent to the Shanghai thick noodle. Broth for the soup was made from shiitake mushroom concentrate and seaweed broth; it was then seasoned with mirin, sugar, soy sauce and sake, along with salt and pepper. I bought new bowls to make this specific dish (mwahaha! I am such a nerd). Toppings included kamaboko (steamed fish cake; I accidently bought the white kind instead of the 'aka' or pink kind), naruto-maki, spinach, chikuwa, egg and shrimp tempura. Perfect for a cold night. (The broth was vegetarian so I added my own toppings that were non-meat/fish to it for myself).
For the side, I made Unagi Maki, which was a sushi roll filled with cucumber and sliced ginger and topped with grilled eel. Seved wtih pickled ginger and wasabi (on the new plate that matched the bowls mwahaha!). Yum yum!! My brother loved it!!

Sushi Tray

From top, clockwise: Ebi (shrimp) Nigiri, Smoked Salmon and Philly Maki, Kappa (cucumber) Maki, and California Maki

I was lucky enough to get extra cash this week by making this tray of sushi for one of my mom's customers. They ordered this tray for 40 bucks, with 50 pieces (plus a few bonuses) of sushi. I love making sushi.
I also made a tray for 20 dollars for a family friend who wanted to try. There was around 35 pieces in her tray (I forgot to take a photo...)
Anyways, yeah, so 60 bucks extra in my pocket this week hehe.

Instant Miso Ramen

Noodles, broth, coddled egg, naruto maki, chikuwa, and crab sticks

It snowed today in good ol' Edmonton and on cold days, I like to enjoy hot soups and drinks to keep me warm and cozy. I have been feeling better and decided to get back into the kitchen since I am getting very tired of rice porridge (or congee) with scallions....
So for dinner today, I made a quick miso ramen with vegetarian seafood toppings such as veggie crab sticks, veggie chikuwa (tube fish cakes), veggie naruto maki (pink slices) and for extra protein, a coddled egg. Ramen noodles was from a package of instant noodles (which I discarded of the powder). Quick miso broth made from water, miso paste, salt, pepper, mirin, sesame oil, mushroom granules and brown sugar. Brought to a boil, cooked the ramen in it, added in the toppings to cook and dumped all into a boil and arranged it. I boiled the egg separately and added it in. I know I lack actual vegetables but I didn't have any on hand.
Other than that, voila.
Instant Miso Ramen.

Dark Miso Soup

Simple and Light on the Soul; a great alternative to chicken soup

Miso soup, one of my favorite Japanese dishes. It is so simple to make yet not many people attempt or even know what it is."Miso" is a paste made from particularly soy beans but there are versions made with fermented rice or barely. It is used as a seasoning in Japanese or Korean cuisine, either in spreads or soups. I used a dark miso paste or "Akamiso" (red miso). The stock is flavoured with the kelp/seaweed, mirin and sake. The smooth tofu adds a subtle flavor to the saltiness and bold flavor of the miso. Garnished with sliced spring onions. This is a very light and simple dish that can be made in less than an hour and can be served with hot rice or just on its own.

Dark Miso Soup
3 cups water
1/2 cup seaweed, chopped into bite sized pieces
2 tsp sake
1 tbsp mirin
1 1/2 tbsp miso paste
1/2 cup tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
salt and pepper to taste
sliced spring onions for garnish

In a pot, bring water to a boil and add in seaweed. Boil off the seaweed for 10 minutes and add in sake and mirin. Mix miso paste with 2 tbsp water and add to pot. Stir and simmer on medium heat until all the paste is incorporated.
Add in tofu and simmer on low until heated through. Season to taste. Serve in bowls and garnish with onions.
Enjoy!!!

Veggie Yakibuta Ramen

Veggie Yakibuta Ramen (Roasted Pork and Noodles)

Veggie Naruto Maki

I have always wanted to try Ramen but I never got the chance to. And as my vegetarianism progressed, that chance seemed even thinner than ever since the broth of Japanese Ramen is made from fish or pork bones. Lately, I've been watching a Youtube channel called 'Cooking with Dog' where you can learn how to make Japanese dishes in a light, simple and delicious manner. So on this channel I see a recipe for ramen which got me really excited. So I made a 'huge' decision- I was going to make vegetarian ramen. I got even more stoked when I was at my Vegetarian Warehouse and I found the vegetarian version of  'naruto maki' which is a processed fish roll that you slice and add to ramen (except the veggie ones were already sliced). I also came across vegetarian pork fillet at the supermarket. So my experience began.

Ball of Noodle Dough

 Since fresh ramen noodles are hard for me to find, I decided to make my own. I searched up a recipe for ramen noodles that seemed decent and decided to try it.
I would cut the the dough smaller next time though, since the dough expanded a bit when boiled. Recipe found here.





Ramen Soup

1 pot water

1 tbsp salt

1 yellow onion, roasted

1 cabbage cut in half
1 piece of kelp

¼ cup Kikkoman soy sauce

3 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp soybean paste

2 tsp vegetable granules or more to taste

2 tsp grounded black pepper

In a large pot, bring water and salt to a boil. Add in onion, cabbage and kelp and simmer for 30 minutes or until onion and cabbage are tender when pierced with a chopstick.

Add in remaining ingredients and stir, simmering on medium heat until serving.

Toppings

Blanched spinach

Fermented radish: sliced thinly

Sliced pickled ginger

Sliced green onion

Nori square

Naruto Maki

*Pork Slices: Rub some ginger onto half the protein and pan fry half of veggie pork fillet in a sauce pan. Slice into ¼ thin slices.

Vegetarian pork fillet

Soft boiled Eggs: boil eggs for 4 minutes and peel. Marinate in 1 cup cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp whiskey or sake for 4 hours or overnight.  Slice in half with a string or thread.

Assembley

In a bowl, ladle with soup, add in cooked noodles and top with whatever toppings you want. Dash with some pepper and enjoy!!

*if you don't have or can't find pork slices, you can slice up firm tofu, brush with soy sauce and sugar, then pan fry the slices until golden brown.