Chicken and Mushroom Sweet Rice

鶏ときのこの炊き込みおこわ

White rice was valuable and hard to obtain long ago in Japan. Putting ingredients in a stone pot along with seasoning added to the rice cooking method was welcomed because you could use less rice. It has evolved since then and hundreds of recipes are available now days but my favorite still is the five ingredients rice(五目ご飯), because I get nostalgic about my late mother…she made the best seasoned rice…my complaint was that she only made it on special occasions; 1-2 times a year.

It tastes great even if it gets cold, plus no need for side dish…maybe some pickle or salted plum(梅干)?…clear broth is not too bad a combination either…mmm…baked egg(卵焼き), I must add.

Ingredients and Instruction  for 3-4 servings (Print Recipe Here)
Revised recipe of Masahiro Kasahara

Necessary equipment –rice cooker

• 2 cups (rice cooker cup) sweet rice (もち米)
• 1 package shimeji mushroom, cut off ends, separate
• 1 package enoki mushroom, cut off the ends, cut in half then separate
• 4 shiitake mushroom remove stems, chop cap into 4-5 pieces
• 2 chicken thighs, boneless, skin on, butterfly the chicken so that the chicken is mostly flat.
• Combined seasoning (3 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, 2 Table spoons each of mirin and sake) mixed in a measuring cup.
• 2x4 dried kelp sheet, clean the surface with moist paper towel
• 1-2 stems of mitsuba/Japanese parsley (optional) roughly cut leaves.

1. Wash rice and soak in plenty of water. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. If you are using regular white rice then soak just 30 minutes.
2. Put all mushrooms in a non-stick frying pan. Dry sauté mushroom at low- medium heat until the volume goes down to about half and it becomes aromatic, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
3. Heat another pan (or quickly clean the same pan used in step #2) at medium-high. Place chicken skin side down to brown the skin only, about 4 minutes then remove from heat. When the chicken is safe to handle, cut in chunks. Set aside.
   
4. Drain the rice and put in the rice cooker, add sautéed mushroom, chicken, mixed seasoning, 1 cup water* and push kelp in the liquid. Cook as normal (if you have a ‘Quick’ feature in your rice cooker, you may opt for that). * if you like softer rice, add another 1/4 cup of water.
5. When it’s done, remove kelp, stir to combine with rice spatula, top with mitsuba and serve.

 

Some of my Today’s Sweets instagram post (#todayssweets…do not confuse with Today’s TAPAS) – Soy milk pudding with dark brown sugar syrup…not bad!

Some of my Today’s Sweets are store bought. This fruit tart from Saint-Honoré French pasty shop in downtown Lake Oswego. I liked it!

Speaking of French, oui, oui, we dined at Cocotte – Fried frog legs! Son goût comme le poulet (It tastes like chicken)!

Our Anniversary and my birthday were both last week. I received bouquets of flowers, a plant and some chocolate from my husband, friends and neighbor. I’m flowered…I mean, floored with gratitude!

Sunlartan/酸辣湯

Chinese Sour Soup

We’re officially in autumn, I see some leaves are turning colors. The cooler temperature calls for warm soup that should not be complicated.  I made this mostly from what’s in the refrigerator.

Ingredients and Instruction for two servings (Print Recipe Here)

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 pounds pork cut into small pieces  You may substitute with chicken
• 1 stalk green onion minced
• 2 inch ginger root, skinned and minced
• 2 Tablespoons sake
• 1-1/2 cup water
• 1 bok choy separate green and white parts then sliced thinly
• 1 small bag enoki mushrooms, discard bottom dark ends, cut in 2 inches length
• salt, white pepper
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3 Tablespoons rice vinegar

1. Heat sesame oil in skillet at low heat. Add pork and cook until the meat just turns white.
   
2. Add green onions and ginger to the skillet. Sauté for 1 minute.
3. Turn the heat up to medium. Pour sake, water and sprinkle about 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper when the liquids boil,  turn heat to low, put the lid on and cook for 5 minutes.
   
4. Add bok choy’s white parts and enoki mushroom, put the lid back on and cook for a few minutes.
   
5. Add green parts of sliced bok choy, sugar and vinegar. Stir few times and it’s done! Take taste test, if you like more zing then add more vinegar
   

We drove to a hill to see the Super Moon last Sunday…wondered what it is like to see the moon form the airplane.

Still we had quite good spot to observed beautiful blood moon.

Goodnight Moon…

Epicurean

Follower of good food

While waiting for our ride at the airport, I turned up my shirt collar to shield me from the cool air. Returning from the midst of volatile weather in Japan, Portland seemed very calm and already showing the face of Autumn.
This is a PDX tradition photo

Since then I haven’t been cooking much…the first day back I fixed the instant ramen noodle below. I like the texture of the noodle and love salt ramen. I had to ask my son to order it on-line (10 packages for 1800 yen). The proceeds goes to the Maruyama Zoo of Sapporo, Japan. Neat, right?

The following day, I cooked the pricey ‘Yumepirika’(ゆめぴりか) rice. I could buy more but it weighed a ton. I recommend it to people who love white rice.Topped with ready made Strawberry Curry…Tochigi prefecture is famous for ‘Tochiotome’(とちおとめ) brand strawberry…I love strawberry but perhaps not in curry…too sweet for my liking but interesting.

We overindulged in sweets and baked goods…velvety smooth vanilla pudding for instance.

Everybody loves strawberry shortcake!?

This idea is cute though… I don’t really care for the combination – croissant taiyaki with sweet azuki bean filling (the custard filling is better I think).

We had a three course lunch at iconic NIkko Kanaya Hotel (日光金谷ホテル)  elegantly presented, mango ice cream for dessert…amazing!

Typhoon #18 brought so much rain and it caused flooding in many places. This is Nikko Station before the major rain fell…we feel sorry for those lost lives…We rode a bus north of Nikko to Kinugawa Hot Spring Resort (鬼怒川温泉) as the trains were not running because of the typhoon.Kinugawa means Angry Ogre River..it’s just like it’s name. The usually clear Kinu River turned into a muddy stream because of the excessive rain. Our hotel was just downstream and we were safe but this neighboring hotel’s structure was partially destroyed, fortunately no one got hurt.

 

My husband took this video of Kegon Waterfall/華厳の滝 in Nikko. The winds were so strong that it blew the water clear away from the usual course.

Soft serve ice cream cost nearly $5 each at Payard in Ikebukuro, before heading to the airport.

The highlight of our trip…Our grandchildren are all beautiful (biased? just a little) including the latest one. My husband and I instantly fell in love with him.

My husband in particular melted under his spell.

We had a hard time saying goodbye.

Frozen Tomato Pasta

Fast, Easy and Vegan

Sun-ripe tomatoes are flavorful and are great for snacking almost daily…I wish I could say that we grew them but these beautiful tomatoes are from a friend’s backyard…I’m a bit envious!

I had a planned to make Angie’s ‘Oven Baked Chicken with Italian Seasoned Tomato Sauce’ (looks fabulous, right?)…wait, no chicken?  We’re planning a trip very soon so we are limiting the number of grocery shopping trips lately…just buy the bare necessities…
Look for the bare necessities…
The simple bare necessities
Forget about your worries and your strife
I mean the bare necessities…
Old mother Nature’s recipes that brings the bare necessities of life!

What?…no song necessary?… I was about to dance….Anyway, I would like to introduce you to this very minimalistic dish so let’s put the candle…I mean tomato in the freezer!

Ingredients and Instruction for two servings (Print Recipe Here) Modified recipe from cookpad.com (recipe #3328313)

• 1 large ripe frozen tomato (put in the freezer overnight)
• 2 –3 cloves of garlic minced
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Spaghetti noodle or angel hair pasta (I used about 200g/8oz)
• 5-6 basil leaves tear by hand plus 3-4 whole leaves for garnish
• Salt and pepper

1. Put the minced garlic in a microwave proof bowl along with the olive oil. Microwave for 2 minutes at 60% power. Let it cool. Set aside.
2. Cook the pasta 2 minutes longer than the package direction. Drain and soak in icy cold water until pasta is cold. This is my way of cooking pasta – put pasta in a skillet, cover with water then cook at medium heat.
3. Grate the tomato, skin and all ( I advise to wrap the tomato with paper towel… it is very cold).
   
4. Mix the cooled garlic with olive oil, grated tomato and basil well in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Drain the noodles and shake off the excess water. Combine well with tomato sauce (#4). Garnish with basil. Add more salt and pepper if you like.

A not-vegan arrangement: Add cooked bacon and grated cheese

My favorite way to eat tomato is actually oven-baked tomato…yum!

We have seedless grape vines in our back yard which wild birds love…Hey, leave some for us!I made grape clafoutis and posted the pic on Instagram (#todaystapas). It’s French but resembles Dutch Baby pancake.

I saw a Watermelon Shark on the internet and I wanted re-create but my watermelon was round not oblong…I had to improvise…right?

The haze (from the wildfires) is gone for now… we’re grateful that we had some rain in the last few days.
This photo was taken two weeks ago when it was still hazy. My husband and I are leaving for Japan to see our newest grandchild. I hope I’m able to resume my blog when I get back though I just would like to say to all my readers ‘Thank you’ You’re truly my inspiration.