Ginger Sautee for the Lazy

Yeah, after working until 10PM at night 5 nights a week I want to come home and cook! and chop!♪ and slice!♪!

As much as I personally enjoy experimenting in the kitchen...
NO.
However, given the hideous, suicide-inducing weather I thought I would introduce something to keep you a little warm er, inside and out. (Ginger is traditionally considered a warming food in several respectable ancient cultures. Indian and Japanese being just two of them.)

Shouga-yaki （生姜焼き）is traditionally done with pork and real ginger (Shouga, 生姜) and the real stuff makes all the difference but our priority here is TIME and using what's usually left around the kitchen.

1/4 tsp Tamari　
1/4 tsp Mirin (the real stuff not the fake-Mirin.)
2-3 TSP　Prepared Tube Ginger
1/2 white onion
400g Momen (Firm tofu in the US)
6 leaves, Hakusai (白菜)

1. Chop onions to whatever size you have the energy for and cook until half-translucent in a little veggie oil.

2. You'll need to chop the tofu up nice and small though. Although you can do it in advance - chop, freeze, and then use the defrosted tofu bits later. (I should probably write how to successfully do that later.)

3. Throw everything BUT the Hakusai in the frying pan and cook 5 or so minutes so the tofu absorbs the goodness.

4. While cooking, slice the Hakusai into about 3cm wide strips. (Hint: Just pile all the leaves on top each other and hack away. You're not showing on the Food Network.)

5. Toss in thicker ends of Hakusai - cook about 1 minute. Then toss in leafy ends of Hakusai - cook about 1 minute.

♪☆♪FIN♪☆♪

It seems like a lot now that I write it, but if you do it a few times, it's like MaGic.


Cheers! (^_-)-☆

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

All translations copyrighted and owned by myself. All copyrights of their respective owners. No part of this web site may be produced, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner.

Culinary Delights

I totally forgot about Great Japanese Food like...

1) Aloe!
You can eat it in yogurt! You can drink it with grape juice! It's even an alcoholic drink!

2) Coffee Jelly!
Yes! They do not just have the "wall of canned coffee" in every conceviable convience and grocery store in Japan, they have it in Jello form! And even better, several varieties boast- "Caffineless so your children can enjoy it without worry.". On behalf of Starbucks, I thank you Japan--Way to go, hook 'em early.
And it comes with little creamers noless.

3) Chuu-Hai
Next to the wall of happy-coffee, is the even happier "wall of chuu-hai".
Let me explain. Japan is a drinkers paradise. Although the Japanese couldn't mix a cocktail to save their lives, they have these mixed drinks in a can like Bartles and James but not as overly sweet and only costing around 1 dollar for 8ozs. You can buy them in just about any store-grocery and convience store. And there are convience stores on pretty much EVERY corner here. As an additional perk, there are a rainbow of flavors for this stuff. They have traditional flavors like grape, apple, strawberry, white peach, etc.. but they also have Aloe , Golden Mango, Blood Orange!!!, Lycee, Guava, Passion Fruit! The first three are my favorite so far.

4) Satsumaimo
The Satsuma "Imo" or potato is the only potato I could imagine eating for breakfast, much less plain. It's a type of Sweet Potato, but not at all like US sweet potatos. After I came back from Japan the first time, I tried to eat the US Sweet potato the way I would eat a Satusmaimo-boiled and plain. No good! BLAH! There's just something special about the Satsumaimo that makes it good enough to be sold on the streets of Japan the same way we have hot dog vendors in NYC. (no comparison from the nutrional standpoint though. ;) )

5) Exotic chocolate
So, I went to the local liquer store again. I often do at least once a week because they are the ONLY place in this backwater (Literally. The previous tenet of the apartment pointed out that the new, improved name of this city meant JUST that. Not really the image to attract new business. ), that has some selection of international foods like cheese from the US, coconut milk, rice pasta, and FOREIGN CHOCOLATE. The foreigners always get the good chocolate. I found and promptly ate-to the dismay of my stomach:
. "Old Jamaica" from New Zealand-chocolate with rum and raisins. It should be noted that the list of ingredients specifically said "rum" not "rum flavoring".
. Some yummy bar from Germany that consisted of light rice kripsies ontop of fluffy strawberry cream wrapped in milk chocolate. YUMMY and refreshing.

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

Ads make the world go around. Help us out!

"Chicken" Chaat

Since I mentioned this recipe previously here and I do make it CONSTANTLY (I can't help it. It's really good and really quick to whip-up. ), I thought I would post my recipe for "Chicken" Chaat:

400 grams of firm yaki doufu (or 200 grams each of momen and yaki doufu)
200 grams of shirataki (optional, but highly recommended)
3/4 tsp of salt
3/4 tsp ground hot pepper
1 tsp of ground garlic
4 tsp of ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric

3 Tbsp real lemon juice
4 Tbsp of salt-free butter or ghee

Toss all in a semi-deep pan and cook while stirring over low for about 10 minutes.
You can eat it right away, but as with all Indian food, it tastes best if it has the chance to absorb the flavor for a few hours or over nite. :)

-Best served over Basmati or Jasmine rice-

Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

Ads make the world go around. Help us out!

The Ubiqutous, Lurking Soybean

Tofu...
You can't swing a dead cat without here hitting a block of tofu. (Monty Python as a veg*n)

I like Tofu, but I have discovered that the Japanese view of how to use tofu is very, very limited to the confines of their "shokubunka"-food culture. Frankly, I've made wonderful sweet potato pies, chocolate-pumpkin-goodness pies, tofu tacos, tofu italiano with red wine and maitake mushrooms, numerous casseroles, and an infinite number of curries all with that one special ingredient, TOFU. Besides, tofu gets a chicken-like texture if you freeze it (sliced) and then defrost it. I LOVE that in my Tofu Chaat, formerly "Chicken Chaat" recipe. <3<3

I'M NOT A VEGAN! WHY SHOULD I USE IT??
Even if you aren't a veg*n of some sort, tofu is super-cheap compared to beef or chicken in Japan (on the order of half price of meat for the same weight!) and as such, worth a try. There's also the added benefit of disposal. Garbage in Japan is strictly separated and "nama", or "raw" garbage is picked up at most 2 times a week.
Where does it stay in the meantime??
In your apartment. You can NOT leave your trash outside your door, or in the hall, or somewhere else. It goes out on trash day and ONLY trash day.
Nothing like the smell of rotting meat wafting into your apartment from outside on your balcony in the spring and summer. (I was a carnivore the first 2 years here. I *know*.)
Tofu, on the other hand... Well, you get the picture. There's no "bad" pieces, or the blood-soaked towels that sit under the meat to soak up the "juices", or grease, so nothing to throw out in a bag except the plastic container it came in.

I loathe cleaning and I like cheap (when it's HEALTHY) so it's win-win for me! Anyway, give it a try. It's cheap and not pumped full of bovine growth hormone or antibiotics. ;)

A GARDEN FULL OF TOFU:
Momen:
We would call this "Firm" in the USA. Good for stirfry or slicing and baking. Will break apart with hard stirring like in a curry.

Kinu:
We would call this "Silk" in the USA. Breaks apart the minute you try to handle it. Only good for baking and hiding it in other foods as it can be easily and completely crushed into a white...paste. This is due to the higher water content of Kinu tofu.

Yakidofu:
Cooked or Lightly Fried tofu. Great for most main-dish recipes. More compressed (less water) than Momen; and due to the slight pre-cooking, more meatier in texture and taste.
WARNING: The consistency of Yakidofu is entirely dependent on the manufacturer. I've bought yakidofu that held together only as well as momen, but the good stuff is far more compressed (less water), and can take a good beating when you put it in curries.

Agedofu:
Deep fried tofu that is hollowed out for use as a "shell" for stuffing. Never used it myself because of the deep-frying.

HOW SHOULD I USE IT??
Besides, the basic pointers I gave up in the "GARDEN.." section, I would suggest this site. My favorite recipe and veg*n "support" site: vegweb.com


Thanks again for stopping into my little corner of the 'net, and Happy Browsing!!

Ads make the world go around. Help us out!