Crunchy Yakisoba/かた焼きそば

With Seafood

Dishes like this make me homesick…quite resemble to Nagasaki’s sara (pronunce sa-ra)-udon (皿うどん), seafood plus thick sauce over crunchy noodles. Nagasaki Japan’s food scene was influenced by Dutch, Portuguese and Chinese because import business thrived there in the mid 1500s.

Nagasaki’s local cuisine, champon(ちゃんぽん)…don’t call it champion though sometime I feel like champon is champion…I am a champion and you’re gonna hear me roar!…(oops, some words trigger me to burst out singing and dancing)…anyway, other popular noodle dish sara-udon is not really udon. One source says that a noodle shop owner had trouble home delivering champon because of spilling of soup (mind you, this is pre-Tupperware era), and Nagasaki is famous for having hundreds of slopes everywhere… so that the jelly like, sauce was invented…this is more like urban legend to me but…. I see it all, I see it now…

This revised recipe is from Miki Fujiwara, a mega blogger whose blog ‘Fujiwara family’s everyday home cooking’ has a neighborhood of 120.000 people (mind boggling, right?) who access her blog every day.

Ingredients and Instructions for Crunchy Yakisoba - 4 servings (Print Recipe Here)

For sauce

• 4 cups of water
• 1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root  Note: I used fresh but you could use tubed grated ginger.
• 5 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 2 Tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 Tablespoon Chinese chicken soup base (granule)
• 4 Tablespoons potato starch (片栗粉)

Mix sauce ingredients except potato starch in a 4 cup glass measuring cup for easy pouring or in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine well. Put potato starch in a small bowl and add about 1/4 cup of just mixed sauce and dissolve starch with fork or chopstick. Put the whole thing back in the sauce mixture and stir well. Set aside.

• 8-10 cut dried shiitake, if the shiitake comes in whole then you need only 3 (cut in 4-6)
• 4-5 dried kikurage (black fungus/黒木耳) optional, tear in small pieces…skip it if you don’t like this stuff.
• 10 Tablespoons vegetable oil divided.
• 450g (roughly) fresh yakisoba noodle, divided in three bundles 
• 1 carrot peeled and cut in 2 inch lengths about 1/8 inch thick
• 1/4 of small cabbage roughly chopped
• 1/2 of onion thinly sliced
• Seafood of your choice or approximately 2 cups of frozen seafood mix, available at Korean market for reasonable price, defrosted if frozen.  I used shrimp, octopus, baby scallop
• 4 young corn from can, drain and rinsed, cut in half…I don’t care for it but I included it for the sake of my blog.
• 12 hard boiled quail eggs from can, drained and rinsed…next time I will hard boil them myself.
• White pepper, salt
• 1-2 teaspoons sesame oil 

1. Soak dried shitake and kikurage (if using) in a prepared sauce. Set aside.
2. Heat 3 Tablespoons  of oil in a large non-stick frying pan at medium heat. Loosen –up the first bundle of yakisoba noodles and spread onto the pan. When the bottom turns light brown, flip over and cook the other side until brown. Using tongs, lift and turn the noodle several times until the noodles get crunchy and golden brown. Place onto a plate with paper towel to absorb oil. Do the same for other two bundles. Set aside.
3. Quickly clean the same pan with a paper towel. Add the last Tablespoon of oil and heat at medium heat. Sauté the onion and carrot until soft. Add cabbage, continue to sauté until cabbage is limp, then add seafood.
4. Mix one more time (make sure that sauce is not separated) the prepared sauce before adding to the pan (step# 3). Cook until it thickens.
5. Add young corn and quail eggs, pepper and salt to taste. cook for 1-2 minutes stirring often. Pour sesame oil around the edge and stir to combine.
6. Place the yakisoba noodle on a large platter and pour the sauce over the noodles. Serve immediately to enjoy the crunchiness of the noodles.

I bought a large can of quail eggs, then put the leftovers in the dill pickle jar…this would be nice snack.

Guess what I found? My husband brought a yellow rose still alive in all the rain we had in our tiny rose garden. He made a olive bread, cleaned the gutters, carved the pumpkin and got ready for Trick-or-Treaters, it was busy day…thanks honey!

Last Saturday was very gloomy due to heavy rain. There was no good light to take the Today’s Tapas (#todaystapas) picture. This is just a ham and cheese sandwich but Halloween style. I made the face with pickled grapes and avocado.

I made this Mango and Avocado salad with Pomegranate and Dukkah from Angie’s Recipe. Guilt free and refreshing!

Can you believe it’s November already?  Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh…don’t you love this song by Katy Perry?

Cozy up

Seafood and Mushroom Doria

I can’t fathom that there are some rice cookers that cost more than $1,000 in Japan. One from Mitsubishi corporation sells for $1,400. Has the Japanese passion for perfect cooked rice driven people insane? I dunno, but I certainly am intrigued and would have loved to have volunteered for a taste test.

I bought a new rice cooker recently. Because I saw too many flaws in my old one and I simply fell out of love. I mumbled a few words when I put this one behind me (I mean, put it in a donation box)…”I appreciate your hard work for all these years but …it’s not you…it’s me…I hope you understand”. Anyway, I was seduced by the 20% off price tag, a strong persuasion to form a new relationship.. it did not cost a thousand yet it is a perfect match. See the pic? Isn’t he dreamy? He’s an induction heating type.

Doria is a popular dish in Japan but the chance of encountering this on a menu is rare in US restaurants. Japanese style curry restaurant in Portland Kale offers a nice curry flavored doria. Gratin-ey with rice and seafood. Cozy and warm – a welcome dish on a cold Autumn night.

Ingredients and instruction for 4 to 6 servings

• White rice 2 rice cooker cups
• Cumin seeds (not the ground kind) 2 teaspoons
• Butter 2 Tablespoons
• Salt 1/8 teaspoon
• Shrimps 4-6 shelled and cleaned. Slice in half length wise.
• Scallops 4-6 sliced in half thickness
• Squid, body only about 3x5 cut in 1x2 rectangle.
• Mushroom – any mushroom – I used maitake and white beach mushroom. Need 1 or 2 small packages cut off stem ends divide in 4 or 6 bundle.
• White wine 75cc
• Parmigiano Reggiano cheese 1 cup or more grated.
• Chopped parsley for garnish

For the white sauce

• Butter 4 Tablespoons
• Low viscosity flour (薄力粉) approximately 1/2 cup loosely packed.
• Milk 350cc or more
• Salt and white pepper to taste

1. Make cumin seed rice – wash rice and put in the rice cooker. Add water as directed. Add cumin seeds, butter and salt and cook. After it’s cooked stir with rice paddle to insure cumin seeds are evenly distributed. Put the cooked rice (3 - 4 cups) in an oven safe dish.
   .
2. Spread shrimp, scallops, squid and mushroom on the bottom of pan. Sprinkle with wine then put lid on to steam cook for 2-3 minutes at medium heat. Do not over cook. Put steamed seafood, mushroom and liquid left in the pan on the top of rice.
   
3. Make quick white sauce – Melt butter on the skillet or pan at medium heat. When the butter starts to bubble, add flour and stir until incorporated at low heat. Turn heat to high and add milk all at once and stir until creamy at high heat. Note: this white sauce should be quite loose, add more milk if the sauce is getting too thick. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the steamed seafood and mushroom
   
4. Heat oven to 400F. Generously top with cheese and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until cheese is golden.
5. Garnish with parsley and serve warm.

 

If you have the resource plus desire to own a high priced rice cooker, wait until a new model comes out. Then the price of the old model suddenly drops like 25 to 30 percent. It’s practically same but a better deal. Isn’t that nice? And my favorite maker is Elephant Mark (象印) but Tiger rice cooker getting lots of votes lately…what is it about animals and rice cookers though?

We spent nearly 3 hours raking the magic carpet, I mean fallen leaves, last Saturday. This is the After photo.

It was like this two weeks ago. Shinning ,Shimmering, Splendid…. A whole new world…A new fantastic point of view, no one to tell us no or where to go…

…Stay here, now is  time to rake, my husband interrupted my singing.

I watched a friend’s two boys one afternoon. I really don’t care for Sponge Bob but I’m grateful for the show as it gave me a 20 minute breather. Are you sure you don’t want to watch an another episode?…They are so cute!

Thank you for dropping by. May your day filled with laughter and fantastic deals.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gathering

Scallop and Vegetable Tempura/帆立と野菜の掻き揚げ

Assorted vegetable and sea foods fry is called kakiage in Japanese. The word kaki came from gather-up (かき集める) or put together (組み合わせる). Then the word “age” (no this is not how old you are but is pronounced ah-geh)  means fry, so that whole meaning is gather-up to fry. This is a great recipe to have when you have left over vegetables which you want to get rid of sooner rather than later. The small amount of tempura batter is used for light, crisp tempura.

There are many varieties or versions for kakiage recipe (see my other kakiage recipe)-no surprise! because there is almost no limit on what goes into kakiage ( I don’t recommend zucchini though, it tends to get soggy and too soft). Today, I had scallops, carrots, onions, eringi, and sweet potatoes but shrimp, green beans or burdock roots are also tasty additions. You could make a vegetarian version if you like. Be whatever.

This original recipe was featured in a free magazine I picked up at an Asian market. Currently residing in Seattle, Gourmand Shinya used to own restaurant and former chef, contributing to the ‘Earth Cooking’ (地球料理) in the YOUmaga magazine. I like his no egg, maple syrup as a sweetener recipe for the earthiness.

Ingredients for 4-6 patties

For sauce

• Soy sauce 4 Tablespoons

• Sake 2 Tablespoons

• Water 2 Tablespoons

• Maple syrup 2 Tablespoons

Mix everything in a small sauce pan. Bring to boil at medium high heat, then simmer for 2-3 minutes at low heat to remove alcohol. Set aside.

Today’s meat and vegetables for kakiage-need about 2-3 cups.

• 5-6 Scallops or 1/2 pound, slice into 3-4 times each.
• Small sweet potatoes or orange yam- peel and cut in thin match sticks  and soak in water for 5-7 minutes.
• 1 medium carrot - cut in thin match sticks, try to cut in same size as sweet potato.
• 1 large eringi - cut into thin strips
• 1 small onion cut thin and separate.

Other ingredients

• Flour 1/2 cup
• Cold water 1/2 cup
• 3 Tablespoons of flour or 2 Tablespoons of corn starch
• Flour 1/2 cup
• Cold water 1/2 cup
• Sea salt about 1/2 teaspoon
• Oil for frying – oil should come up at least 1 inch in a deep heavy skillet.
• Sesame oil 1-2 Tablespoons (optional)

1. Heat oil at medium high heat (temperature is about 355F). Add sesame oil for extra aroma.
2. Without over mixing,combine the 1/2cup of flour, cold water and salt to make batter-Don’t mind the flour mixture’s lumpiness. Set it aside.
3. Mix all vegetables and meat in large bowl.
4. Sprinkle the 3 Tablespoons of flour or  2 Tablespoons of corn starch in and combine well.
5. Divide vegetable in 4 or 6 sections.
6. In a separate bowl, put 1 section of vegetable mixture in.
7. Add about  2 Tablespoons of  flour mixture, stir just until combined (do not over mix).
8. Gently slide in the whole bowlful of vegetable mixture and fry for about 3 minutes. Use a large slotted spoon or watch-ma-call-it? (there’s a picture of it above) to ever so gently turn over. Cook until crisp and golden in color.
9. Lay on the paper towel  to remove excess oil.  Pour some of sauce over and eat while it’s hot!

We had kakiage over udon noodle but having it over cooked rice is also fantastic! Here I used thin cut of long green onion (東京ねぎ) as a condiment. Plunge in ice cold water to make crisp.Gourmand Shinya suggestion of hamburger style is I think chic! In this case I will use lots of arugula or spinach instead of lettuce.

For my birthday last week, a group of friends took me for a birthday lunch. It was way fun! Then for supper, my husband, my son and I went to a nice restaurant.  Whew, I had a cook-free day for a change. Nice! The next day, my Japanese friends and I had an another birthday lunch (which I forgot to take a camera). Doubly nice!  But my waist is expanding.

A Japanese friend baked me a mochi cake for my birthday. Sweet! Literally!

 

I have left over chestnut cream since I made my husband a Mont Blonc Cake for his birthday. I baked chestnut cream madeleine. Talk about losing weight. But the cream is expensive, why you want that to go bad? The rose in this photo is called ‘Sugar Moon’  the winner of  ‘2012 Best Fragrance’ category.

This was in the damaged box from last week’s blog post. Big Island Bees Honey.

 

Out to Sea

Seared Scallops with Almond Vinaigrette

Sorry Mr. Hitchcock, I was not thrilled with Vertigo (the sensation)…at all! I don’t know how but suddenly it is as if  I was taken to a small boat on rough seas and forced to stay there to experience endless seasickness. Any sudden movement of my head brought spinning of the room and dizziness that freaked me out. I desperately wish to get off the boat this instant.

My day was spent mostly lying on the bed with high volume of HGTV viewing and movie watching. The House Hunter is one of my favorites on HGTV. I will get upset if the buyer didn’t choose a house that I thought would be the best choice. What? I thought you wanted a house in the city, 40 minute drive to your work place on a good day is not short commute. Some couples rejected a house because the garage is upfront or they dislike the carpet but they choose the house near busy street. Hmmm…the carpet thing you could change easily but location isn’t.  You know that, right? A near retirement couple chose a luxurious condo over a house for amenities and view, but that condo fee is $1200 a month! Seriously? But seriously it’s your money, do whatever you want. I wish I have an extra $1200 a month to spend.

Movie watching is getting very easy – just by a push of remote button. The Japanese movie ‘Killer Bride’s Perfect Crime’ is a comedy with little bit of a musical - ok the musical part was too silly but strangely funny. ‘Castaway on the Moon’ is Korean movie. It’s a comedy version of ‘Castaway’. When the Wilson like object he talks with was hilarious. I fall asleep in other movies. The medicine the doctor prescribed for me makes me drowsy. Oh good, I’m already in bed!

My husband made this the other night. It was featured in Bon Appetite magazine. A few ingredients are missing from our pantry but he made some substitutions or just omitted it. It was quite simple,clean and delicious! Wow! It almost looks like in the magazine.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup roasted almonds preferably Marcona
• 5 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil divided
• 1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper
• 8 Large sea scallops
• 1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 Tablespoon peach preserves*
• Fresh herbs, baby arugula or micro greens

*He knows that we don’t have peach preserves but only needs 2 Tablespoon so he peeled a peach (gift from friend, larger than Utah peaches probably from Hood River,Oregon) cut it small and with 4 Tablespoons of sugar and start cooking. Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice simmer to reduce to half the volume. Puree in food processer for smooth texture. He thinks apricot preserve would be good alternate.

1. Finley chop almonds into small pieces but not into a powder. Mix almonds and 4 Tablespoon oil in a medium bowl.
2. Wisk in 1 Tablespoon vinegar and chives. Season with salt and pepper,set it aside.
3. Heat 1 Tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Season scallop with salt and pepper then add to the skillet. Cook until golden on one side.
5. Add butter to the pan and turn over. Cook, frequently tilting skillet and spooning butter over, until deep golden color and caramelized.
6. Stir preserves and 1/2 Tablespoon water in a small bowl to loosen.
7. Plate by smearing 1 Tablespoon of preserve mixture. Top with scallops. Drizzle some vinaigrette over, garnish with arugula or other greens.

 

Friends brought me a meal yesterday because my husband was at a dinner meeting. It was wonderful. I am grateful for their kindness.

Another friend dropped off cookies and crackers.

2 weeks ago- before I got sick, my husband and I were weeding in our garden when I came across this huge dandelion.

We visited a nursery the same afternoon. All roses were 60% off!  I loved this rose. It is called ‘Fiesta’. Ole!

Thank you for your phone calls, emails and visits. I think that my ocean voyage is drawing to an end. I hope so.