Tofu something

I know...
This would go well with beer but I didn't drink one.

Cubed Silky Tofu and Avocado

Half pack of Tofu (silk)
1 avocado
3 tbs soy sauce
1/2 tsp wasabi
2 tbs lemon juice
Half pack of Katsuobushi

You need to take out some of the moisture from the tofu. To do this place a paper towel on a plate then put the tofu on the paper towel. Next put another paper towel on the tofu and place a light plate on top. Let it sit for about one half hour.

Cube the tofu and avocado and put in to a serving dish. Then top with katsuobushi. Drizzle soy sauce, wasabi and lemon juice mixture.

You can use cream cheese instead of the tofu.
This has more calorie and fat but sooooooooooooooooooo yummy!
This makes your beer better.

Pho King

"Ame desu Ame desu...."
( It's raining and raining...)
Maybe the rain made me feel tired? It was too much trouble to cook dinner so we decided to go out.

We went to "Pho King" which is one of my favorite pho restaurants.

My Vietnamese friend said Pho King's pho is not traditional pho. They do have different styles of pho and that's why I like to eating there sometimes. I like No. 35 which is pork broth noodle soup with rice and egg noodles. I'm still full and I have garlicky mouth.

Onigiri lover

I had life drawing class at Mesa college yesterday.
My 6 hour drawing class starts at 8:50am.
I needed energy so I brought my Onigiri.

"Onigiri (rice ball)" is in the typical lunch box for Japanese.
Easy to make, easy to eat and delicious!! I made two of them. I put salmon flakes ( left over from last night) in to center of the first one. The other one is Umeboshi onigiri.


Onigiri reminds me of my childhood. I think each Onigiri has character. I still remember my mom's Onigiri ingredients. I will introduce my mom's Onigiri sometime.

I love rice...

Low carb meales are very difficult for me.
I really missed having rice so I cooked "Sansyoku don" which means 3 colored bowl.
I also made "Daikon & Onion miso soup".


Japanese dinner tonight :)


My "Sansyoku don" topping is usually "Niku soboro" ( ground meat ) , "Salty Salmon flake" and "Sweet scrambled egg" to put on the rice.


Niku soboro ( ground meat )
I like ground chicken for Soboro but I used ground beef this time.

1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 tbs Brown sugar
2 tbs Mirin
2 tbs Sake
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/2 tbs minced ginger

Stir fry the ground beef. Drain the extra fat. Put the beef back into the pan. Add these ingredients in this order: ginger, brown sugar, mirin, sake and soy sauce. You can adjust to your own taste.


Salty Salmon flake
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Salt both side of the salmon with 2 tbs and Bake 20 minutes.


Sweet scrambled egg
2 eggs, 1tbs sugar, 1 tbs mentsuyu.
You can cook just like a scrambled eggs.

Mentsuyu is a dark brown broth. It has soy sauce, sugar, sake and dashi. We usually use this broth for noodles (Soba, Udon) but sometimes I use this for seasoning because It's and easy way to season.

Serve the white rice in the bowl. Flake the Nori on the rice. Top the rice with the Niku soboro, salmon and eggs.

Capsi of the day

I took a sun bath with Capsi. The sun cured my dizziness.
I had just relaxing and lazy day.

Yellow Tomato Salad

I got cute yellow tomatoes from the farmer's market.

Thin sliced yellow tomatoes on the plate.
Splashed vinegar.
Sprinkled salt, sugar, pepper and grated parmesan cheese.

It looks better if you add some green.

Sweet tooth

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary.
We went to our favorite place BLUE BOHEME.

We did not think about diet food last night.
Of course I ordered steamed Black Mussels!! etc...


We got raspberry? cherry? chocolate mousse from the restaurant.
We were in heaven :)

Homemade Granola Bars

The first time I ate oatmeal, I didn't like it so I tried soy sauce and fish flakes which are common toppings on rice porridge.
It was OK. I could eat that but my husband freaked out LOL.

I have a big box of old fashion oatmeal. I was thinking what can I use this for...I came up with energy bars!
So I made granola bars today. Now I can eat oatmeal!

I love it! Yummy!


Caramel, Coconuts Granola Bars

2 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 cup shredded coconut, loosely packed
half cup of raisins
pinch of salt

Caramel
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup pure maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an baking dish and line it with parchment paper on a sheet pan. Toss the oatmeal, bake for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned.

Pay close attention while you make the caramel. - put the sugar in a dry skillet and place it over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts and begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Be careful; the sugar is really hot at this point. Still stirring, add the butter, which will foam a little. Once the sugar and butter become a caramel sauce. turn off the heat add pure maple syrup.

Pour over the toasted oatmeal mixture add the coconuts, raisins, salt, caramel in to the bowl and stir well.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Wet your fingers and lightly press the mixture evenly into the pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until light golden brown. Cool for at least 2 to 3 hours before cutting into squares. Serve at room temperature.

This recipe was adapted from "Barefoot Contessa" Ina Garten and "Tyler's Ultimate" Tyler Florence.

Lunch Feb 23. 2010

Potato and Arugula Fritata

Opus! high calorie lol

Dried Shiitake Mushrooms

These must be rehydrated by soaking in water before using. Many people prefer dried shiitake to fresh, considering that the sun-drying process draws out the umami flavour from the dried mushrooms by breaking down proteins into amino acids and transforms ergosterol to vitamin D.

Meat balls?

I had ceramic class today.
I was thinking about tonight's dinner menu while I was throwing.

Actually I had revelation while the wheel. I could make a cup much better than last time. I enjoyed throwing.

But my back was getting tired so I stopped for today because I don't want to get strained back again!

Anyway I decided to cook meat balls tonight.
I wanted to keep it low fat so I steamed it.





Steamed Meat balls


Ground beef 1lb
Mince half Onion
Mince of dried shiitake mushrooms
1 egg
Half tbs of Ginger
2 tbs of Katakuriko (or corn starch)
1tbs of Sugar
1 tbs of Soy sauce
1 tbs of Sesame oil
1 tbs of Sake

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix very well.
Make small balls and put them on Nappa cabbage.
Steam about 15 min.

Serve with soy sauce and mustard.

Low carb dinner

I started a diet last week. I'm trying to not to eat carbs with dinner. It's so difficult for me because I'm rice eater! I'm Japanese! I think tofu will help us!

I went to Del Mar farmer's market yesterday. It was a very beautiful day.
I bought some fresh arugula. It has a very bitter taste so I thought It would be good with something spicy and nutty.

Here is tonight's dinner

Chicken and Arugula Salad
Boil and shred some chicken
mix with soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili bean paste, sesame paste, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and canola oil
Now toss the mixture with hand prepared arugula.


Tofu and Wakame Soup
Chicken broth (from the chicken salad preparation)
fish broth pack (It's like a tea pack in dried fish and dried sea weeds)
you can get really good fish broth from this pack but It's difficult to find this in U.S.
wakame, tofu, green onion,
pinchi of salt

Put the fish broth pack in to chicken broth and boil 5 minutes remove the fish broth pack.
Add wakame, green onion, dice of tofu and salt.