Monday, October 29, 2007

Dorayaki

We used to get dorayaki from Yaohan when I was little. I loved those bean-filled pancakes, so perfectly round and fun to hold and squish. But then again... I loved all kinds of food. Oh well!

Decided to make my own using oatmeal. I sometimes have oatmeal pancakes for breakfast, made with cinnamon, lemon and raisins. For my doroyaki, I used pulverized green tea leaves. Haha! A crazy idea that popped into my head as I was making the pancake mixture.

You can make these small and round, or larger and folded in half :D




Pork Chop Stack

"Where's the meat?" asks a hungry hubby... I can live without it, but he can't. Poor guy.

Here's a nice treat for him... lotsa meat, big chunky pork chops, soaked in pineapple juice for 3 days, then seasoned with lemon myrtle salt (that a friend gave me), crumbed and pan-fried.

Having in mind that he likes his food saucey (?), I whipped up a garlic tomato sauce, generously poured all over.


Friday, October 26, 2007

Appam

I love Indian breads... any kind... Northern Southern... wheat flour, atta, rice flour... All go down very well. :))

Thought I might be ambitious to make Appam from scratch... it really isn't easy to get right. Here's my first attempt! Tastes more sour than those I've tried. But really yummy with lots of grated coconut and brown sugar. While the mixture was fermenting, I dreamt about Appam all night!

I must have eaten 8 of them already. :p~ Great for breakfast and dessert, and for mopping up curries! Yum yum!

Thin and crispy... just the way I like it!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Natto!

How much I love Natto, I can sing its praises till kingdom come! It's really addictive! Especially after you stir it till it's all gooey and stringy... Goes pretty well with Shiso. My mouth is watering. :p~


Aburaage

Aburaage make handy pockets which can be stuffed with pretty much anything you like. A Japanese lady showed us how she made hers with bean sprouts and spring onions... so healthy and delicious! Mine has bean sprouts, corriander and sliced chilli. Grilled till crispy on the outside!


Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Vegetable Stews

If you love meat, like some individuals I know... then this would not interest you. In fact, like hubby, you'd ask: "No meat?" with a look of disdain. I reassured him that there'd be lots of meat at the North Indian buffet that evening. :))



Konnyaku, eggplant and sugarpeas.





Choko & Kelp.

All stewed in dashi. Yum yum.

Monday, October 8, 2007

Making Yuba at Home

Thought that it would be fun to make my own yuba (tofu skin) at home, so I started to simmer some soymilk in a pan. Soon, yuba started to form at the top and I fished it out with my chopsticks.





So oishii I could melt into a puddle! Didn't need any sauces or condiments. Had a nice mouthful to eat every minute or so... this went on for about 30minutes, till I was just about soyed over.





Ureshii!

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Oishii!!

Lately, I've been taking a great interest in Japanese Home Cooking. Ooh... the variety of ingredients available in the suupa in Japan... really sparks my curiousity. Just sea vegetables alone... there are so many kinds... the most bizzare I found was funori -- a kind of spiny burgundy coloured seaweed.

And the veggies! All kinds of veggies to be pickled, steamed, deep fried, stewed, stir-fried, and also eaten raw. I had gobo cooked in different ways and decided to replicate the stewed version at home.



And of course, a nice piece of grilled fish and more stewed veggies to go with a steaming hot bowl of gohan!

Oishiiiiiiiiiiiiii