Japanese sweets :)

We had "Hanami" at the Japanese garden in Balboa park.
"Hanami" is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers. We needed that.

I brought home made "Dango"
Actually It was soooooooooooooooo yummy :)
It was more Oishii than I expected!


Here is my odango recipe.
You can make about 50~60 dango from 1 box of Mochiko.

Place the Mochiko (rice flour) into a bowl. Add some water and mix until it feels like your ear lobe. Make small balls and smash the center. Put the balls into boiling water. When they are cooked the dangos will dance in the hot water and float. Using a strainer, remove dango from the hot water and shock it in cold water.


In the picture the dangos on the left are covered in "Green tea & Kinako"
To make "Green tea & Kinako" powder. mix 1/4 cup of Kinako, 1 tsp of green tea powder, 3 tbs of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. You can adjust the sweetness.

In the picture the dangos on the right are covered in "shiroan." I used dry lima beans to make "shiroan" this time.
About 1 cup of dry large Lima beans. Put 6 cups of cold water and the lima beans in to a pot. Bring to a boil for two minutes then remove from heat and drain the hot water. Take off the skin. Put them back into the pot. Add 1 cup of water and 1/4 cup of brown sugar. Mash and stir to combine.

Brown rice with Red beans

This is a classic. Brown rice with beans.

1.5 cup of brown rice
1/3 of dry red beans

Soak the brown rice for about 1 hour.
Rinse the red beans. Put 5 cups of cold water and the red beans in to a pot. Bring to a boil for two minutes then remove from heat and drain the hot water. Let stand until cool.
Add cool red beans and brown rice in to rice cooker.
You can add some soy sauce. It adds more flavor.

I have this Zojirushi rice cooker.
This guy is really good! He is my great assistant.

Tofu something V

Sometimes I lose my appetite on a hot summer day.
What do I want to eat? What should I eat?

I love sour flavor.
Cold cucumber and tofu cools me down.

1 pack tofu (silk)
1 cucumber
2 scallions
2 tbs sakura ebi（a small variety of shrimp)
2 tbs roasted sesame seeds

mixture # 1
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice vinegar
1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs doubanjiang

Peal the cucumber skin like a stripe. Cut the cucumber lengthwise in half and take out the seeds with a spoon. Dice the cucumber. Mince the scallions. Combine with mixture 1 and then add diced cucumber, scallions, sakura ebi and roasted sesame seeds. Put tofu into a bowl and top with remaining ingredients.

Tofu something IV

I bought a "atsuage" at the Japanese market.
"Atsuage" is deep fried tofu.

I pan fried it on both sides for about 5 minutes until the skin becomes crunchy. If you have a toaster oven you can use that. Then I finished it with a touch of sesame oil to bring out a nice flavor, topped it with minced green onions and ground ginger. Eat with soy sauce.

Tofu Somethng III

This dish is called "Shira ae" in Japanese. It means "dressed with white". It's like a tofu dressing. Very nutritious!!

My recipe is not the traditional way to prepare it because I don't have the right Japanese cooking utensils. I'm sure the taste is still pretty good!


1 pack of tofu (silk)
1/2 bunch of spinach
2 small carrots
**You can use any kind of vegetables :)



Mixture #1
1 tbs sake
1 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs salt
2 tbs ground sesame seeds
1 tbs creamed sesame seeds

Wrap the tofu with paper towels and put into the microwave oven for about 15 seconds. This is an easy to remove extra water from the tofu. Cut the spinach into 1 1/2 inch segments and boil about 1 minute. Using a strainer, remove spinach from the pot and shock it in cold water. Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water. Thinly cut carrots and boil about 2 to 3 minutes.
Combine the mixture #1 ingredients. Mash the tofu and add the #1 mixture, stir to combine and then add spinach and carrots. Toss together.

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.