Sakura Mushipan and Matcha Swirl Bread

Sakura Mushipan and Matcha Swirl Bread (?) These two kinds of bread caught my eyes at the nearby bakery today. I knew the pink one was “Sakura (cherry blossom) mushipan (steamed cakebread),” which is my favorite. Usually they sell sakura mushipan in the cherry-blossom season only, so I don’t hesitate to buy one when I find them on the shelf. I had no idea what this one with many green stripes inside was... When I read the tag, I found that the green stripes were matcha cream. Boy, it must be some work to make the matcha cream look this way. The bread was soft and not too sweet, which I liked, but I didn’t taste matcha very much… And this Sakura mushipan ! The mushipan is very soft, and the anko (sweet azuki -bean paste) at the bottom adds some, not too much sweetness, which is wonderful! What I like the best is, however, the salted cherry leaf at the bottom. It has a very distinctive flavor, and to tell the truth, I hated it when I was a kid. At that time I never saw Sakura mushipan around, but Sakuramochi was already very popular. I still remembet the first time I tried a salt-preserved cherry leaf. When I was eating a sakuramochi, my grandma told me to eat the leaf, too. I thought she was kidding, but she insisted and promised me it would taste good, so I gave it a try. And I hated it. I just spitted it out and was mad at her for the rest of the day. Well, my preference changed as I grew up and now I love the combination of lightly sweetened mushipan (or mochi or whatever), sweet bean paste and the salty cherry leaf so much. The taste of the cherry leaf always reminds me of my grandma’s gnarled fingers (because after that incident I made her remove cherry leaf from sakuramochi every time I ate one). *** OH! I'm terribly sorry !!! I forgot to save the comments from 3 people given to the picture of Sakura mushipan!! Forgive me please....

Tenmusu

Tenmusu from nearby tenmusu shop When I was younger, I thought tenmusu (rice ball with batter-fried shrimp inside) was a real unfamiliar food. The idea of putting batter-fried food in a rice ball sounded so strange to me. I thought that deep-fried batter would taste greasy and awful, and would never go well with the rice. It was after I turned 20 years old when I tasted tenmusu for the first time. And guess what? I liked it!! Maybe It was largely because I grew to love green perilla by then. The green perilla is just wonderful in tenmusu, I think. Its refreshing flavor cancels out the greasiness and goes well with the nori (dried seaweed). I like these tenmusu from the shop, but more green perilla leaves and more salt would make them even better, I think.

*** From Me to Myself ***

Here’s a little something from me to myself to cope with this crisis of getting one year older ; ) My homemade Birthday Cake I spent all afternoon yesterday making this special cake. To rationalize the time and effort I was going to spend on it, the cake had to be really special, the one and only cake on the face of the earth. So I decided to do everything I had always wanted: 1. Making a square-shaped cake. Japanese birthday cakes are usually round, but I miss the kind of cakes I had in the U.S…. 2. Writing “Happy Birthday ” on a cake. It sounds like something you can do anytime, but actually, I haven’t done it before. 3. Using “sugared violet” for garnishing a cake. I saw “sugard violet ” in a baking book when I was a kid and got charmed by it. It just sounded so romantic! In order to give a little extra flavor to the cake, I added a little grated orange rind and orange juice when making the cake batter. I used “Kiyomi” orange, which is said to be the hybrid of tangerine and trovita oranges. To be perfectly honest, it made the cake a little heavy, but I loved the orange flavor! It was really a big challenge for me, but I did slice the cake in half and sandwiched whipped cream and flesh of Kiyomi orange. Now I have to confess that I’m not good at handling cream at all. It always takes so long for me to whip cream, even though I use a lot of ice cubes to cool it while whipping, and I get tired. Especially this time, the orange-colored one was runny no matter how hard I whipped, probably because of the tiny amount of water I added to dissolve the food coloring powder and orange curacao? Anyway, I’m not going to tell you how long it took for me to decorate this cake, but finally!! I managed to smooth the surface and wrote “Happy Birthday” on it. When I put the sugared violet on the cream, I had a great feeling of accomplishment. It did NOT turn out exactly as I had dreamed of, but at least I tried out everything I had been dreaming of. It is nice to know that someone (even it was myself) spent so much time and effort for my birthday, after all. A Big Piece for myself, of course. So this is my XXth birthday, folks. Looks like I love trying something new and/or different, and it’s not going to change no matter how old I get ;) BTW, I tasted the sugared violet for the first time in my life, and it’s amazing! I expected it to be just sugar-sweet with no particular flavor, but it does have very distinctive flavor!! I wonder if the flavor was artificially added… or is it something that naturally comes from the violet??? Hmmmmm…. I love it! It tastes so good with nice black tea.

Hurray!!

Guess what this is? It’s rhubarb sprout. My rhubarb seemed completely dead at the end of November last year, but today I noticed that it was alive!!! I wonder how big this rhubarb would grow this year…

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts

Stir-fried Bean Sprouts This is my favorite dish that I often make before my pay day. In Japan, bean sprouts are SO cheap. Of course, that is not the only reason that I love this stir-fry dish. I just love the crunchiness of the bean sprouts. For dessert, I had a blueberry muffin that a friend of mine gave me yesterday. The blueberries in the muffin tasted so good. I wonder when I would be able to bake blueberry muffins with the blueberries from my balcony garden... Maybe this summer? Oh I can hardly wait!!

Aren't They Cute! - Pikachu Kasutera -

Pikachu Kasutera Hope you know what Pikachu is. If not, it’s a character in Japanese anime, “Pocket Monsters.” There’s a vendor who sells this Pikachu kasutera near the Izakaya I work at. I don’t know what triggered me to go for it today, but I came home with a bagful of these cute yummies (500 yen a bag). They were still warm when I got home. Look at the closeup. Yeah, they are too cute to eat. BTW, there's another vendor near the Izakaya who sells Doraemon Kasutera. I might try them, too, someday.

Garden Report - March 2005 -

Young leaves of my blueberry It has been terribly cold and windy for the past 2 days so I thought my plants were probably frozen to dath. I saw today, however, the young leaves are growing OK in my balcony garden, telling me it’s spring now. Young leaves of my dogrose Maybe I should go look for early cherry blossoms somethime this week.

Tororo-jiru

Tororo-jiru (grated yam soup) Again I’m not sure what this should be called, but Tororo-juru (grated yam soup) seems to explain what this is. It’s grated yam and egg mixture poured into kombu (kelp)-and-soy-sauce based soup. I was going to drop the yam mixture like dumplings into the clear soup, but I just got impatient and poured the mixture in all at one time ;P

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies Yep! I tried out MrsT’s Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies resipe. They look pretty nice, I think. Actually, they turned out rather crunchy than chewy ;P I guess I baked them a bit too long. Usually I need to bake longer than the baking time said in almost any recipe, because my oven is so small, old and not very powerful. Maybe it didn’t apply to this recipe. Anyway, they taste pretty good. Next time I’ll watch the baking time and might add some honey to make it more chewy. Thanks a million, MrsT!! :D My cookie jar looks so happy to be filled up with these yummy cookies.

Oyako Donburi and Soy Milk Cakey 2

Oyako Donburi (Chicken and Egg Bowl) This was my humble accomplishment of last weekend. Sorry, I’ve been too lazy to blog until today. What's in the photo above is what we call Oyako donburi (chicken and egg bowl) here. Oyako means “parent and child,” and this dish got its name obviously because chicken and egg are used for the topping. It is important not to overcook the egg and add something green---like green onion or mitsuba. Fuwa Fuwa Soy Milk Cakey -Matcha Version- I also made Rachel’s Fuwa Fuwa Soy Milk Cakey --- matcha version, this time. Again mine turned out very soft, but better than my last attempt. At least, it came out from the small cake tin alright this time. I liked the taste, but could have added a little more matcha.

White Stew??

White Stew or Cream Stew? Honestly, I’m not sure what I should call this. White Stew? In Japan, we call this “Cream Stew” --- that’s what it says on the package of the roux. Anyway, when I found all these vegs at discount, I felt as if they were all pushing me to make this dish. In addition to the discounted vegs, I added scallops, corns and onions. Good way to increase my taurine and aspartic acid intake, right? I really needed to recharge myself today... It was a nice day off today, after all. I did have a little exercise, walking along the river (in the rain). Also I painted a watercolor, which I haven’t done for months! Now I’m going to take a sip of nice white wine and go to bed early. Good night.

Mapo Tofu

Mapo Tofu I wanted something soft and a little bit spicy for late night supper today. So here it is. Mapo tofu. Oh yeah, instant sauce mix again. I was tired after Izakaya work tonight… BTW, in Japan we call this "Mabo Dofu." Mont Blanc Ice Cream My very late night supper tonight finished with this “Mont Blanc ice cream.” Actually this was a bit disappointing, but cold ice cream was really refreshing after a little spicy Chinese dish : )

Izakaya Menu -1- Mentaiko Spaghetti

OK, for those (including foodpocket) who are interested in what kind of food we make at the Izakaya where I work, here’s one thing we serve there: Mentaiko Spaghetti. Mentaiko Spaghetti So, what’s mentaiko? This site explains what it is. (See Karashi-mentaiko there.) Some people like it on cooked white rice or in onigiri (rice balls), and some people use it for making fried rice. There was no such thing as mentaiko spaghetti when I was a kid, but maybe in the past 15 to 20 years, it has become popular in Japan, I guess. Again, I usually depend on the “seasoning paste” when I make mentaiko spaghetti. I guess the paste is mentaiko mixed with veg. shortening or something, and maybe artificial color, too? I add a little bit butter when mixing the paste and spaghetti just like they do at the Izakaya (I'm not allowed to make this　there. Cooks do). See the tiny, pink fish eggs on pasta? And this topping --- thinly sliced shiso (green perilla) leaves and thin nori (dried seaweed) strips --- is exactly what they sprinkle on this a bit spicy spaghetti at the Izakaya. This is not the most popular dish at the Izakaya I work, but some people seem to love this very much.

Something (Slowly) Getting Closer to Soft Ginger Cookies

Soft Ginger Cookies...? I didn’t blog about it, but I’ve tried out Alicat’s Soft Ginger Cookies about 3 times since I saw her post last October. Every time they turned out really tasty, but my cookies never looked like hers… mine always turn out a little thicker, with no crack at all. I thought maybe it was because I used honey instead of the molasses called for in the recipe. So I tried everywhere I could think of to find molasses. Finally, I found one place --- could be the only one place in entire Kochi --- that has this: I used this "full flavor" molasses this time, and the photo on top is the result I got. Yeah, they are thinner, at least… but still no crack. I wonder why… They taste so good, though ; ) BTW, the molasses costed about US$ 6.50.

I Know Almost Nothing about Mexican Food - Chicken Fajita? -

OK, here’s my confession: I know almost nothing about Mexcan food. Can I call this Chicken Fajita? I've been to some Mexican restaurants/fast food places both in Japan and the U.S. including Taco hel..., sorry, Taco Bell in the past. I’ve had tacos. I’ve had fajitas. I’ve had chilli con carne. (They’re all Mexcan food, right?) I liked them all, and I have a craving for them once in about every 4 to 5 months. That's about it. Today I was in the mood for a bit spicy Mexcan dinner with beer, so I decided to use up the leftover “burrito seasoning mix” I had in my kitchen for a while. I also wanted to have guacamole which I fell in love with when I first tasted it in AZ, USA. So I bought a very ripe avocado and, again using up a bag of seasoning mix, made some guacamole. To add some nice and fresh tomato flavor, I chopped up a ripe tomato and mixed it with “salsa seasoning mix.” I know...I can’t survive without “seasoning mix” stuff when it comes to Mexican dishes. So now you know my ignorance. OK, here comes another ignorant question of mine… when you put all these (chicken and onion slice seasoned with “burrito seasoning mix,” guacamole, chopped tomato seasoned with “salsa seasoning mix” and cheese) wrapped in lightly toasted tortilla, can I call this “Chicken fajita?” And another one: What’s the difference between “taco seasoning mix” and “burrito seasoning mix”? Are they very different? Anyway, this fajita tasted pretty good. BTW, we do have flour tortilla here in Kochi. Never ever underestimate an inaka (rural) city in Japan. The nearby supermarket which closed today didn’t have pistachio flavored “look chocolate” or thinly sliced rice cakes, but did have flour tortillas like this. They must be quite different from real Mexican tortillas, but the taste isn't too terrible. I guess I won’t fail too much as far as I stick with all those “seasoning mix” series. ;P

Kasu-Jiru

Kasu-jiru (Sake-lees base soup) This dish definitely warms you up on a cold winter day. The secret ingredient is sakekasu (sake lees) dissolved in the soup. It makes the soup really thick and gives rich flavor by adding subtle sourness(?). If you put too much, the alcohol in the sakekasu might make you sweat quite a bit. You can put meat and vegetable of your choice, but root vegetables like daikon, carrot, taro and pork or fish are popular ingredients, I think. Konnyaku and aburage are also good in kasujiru. This time I put daikon (from my boss again. Thanks!), carrot, taro, shiitake, salmon and konnyaku in this tasty soup. Salmon tasted soooo good in this soup! Actually I’m not very good at making kasujiru. Good cooks seem to be able to season this soup without making it brown with soy sauce, but I always end up with pretty dirty-colored kasujiru even if I used light soy sauce. I heard the trick is using salt and a little miso effectively. Well, looks like I need a bit more practice.

French Toast

French Toast This doesn’t happen too often, but I felt like having French toast for breakfast this morning. (French toast almost always reminds me of the old movie, "Kramer vs. Kramer." Have you seen that?) Today I sprinkled a little cinnamon over the toast and didn’t use any syrup. My sister adds just a bit of instant coffee into the egg and milk mixture. She said she got that idea from some kind of women’s magazine.

Crazy Weekend - Cheddar Cheese Shortbread -

OK! Finally, the comment problem is solved! Somehow my comment system kept giving me errors when I tried to update it, so it took half a day for me to fix it. Sorry I couldn’t respond to your comments earlier! Please forgive me. Last weekend was just too … what should I call it… CRAZY! Cheddar Cheese Shortbread This is the pic from the crazy weekend. This is Cheddar Cheese Shortbread that I baked Saturday night for a fundraising event on Sunday. To make this, I sort of combined 2 shortbread recipes: lemon shortbread and cheese shortbread. I adopted the amount of butter, flour and cornstarch from the lemon shortbread recipe, and experimented (gambled?) a bit on the amount of cheddar cheese. Of course I can’t get McLaren’s Imperial Cheese here, so I bought a block of red cheddar cheese and grated it. The shortbread ended up having many small cheddar chunks here and there, but it was kind of yummy, though probably it’s not the way cheese shortbread is supposed to be. ;P Anyway, that part wasn’t too crazy, though the fundraising kept me rather busy. Baking and selling were fun, after all, and since I didn't make too many of them, my shortbread sold out quickly. I was pretty happy to see that. :D What was crazy was that somehow my laptop had a local-network error or something Friday night, and I completely lost access to the internet. On Sunday, I excused myself for a while from the fundraising and brought my laptop to a computer shop and had its setting fixed there. So Sunday night after the fundraising was over, I was all ready to blog again, then the laptop gave me the same network error again!! It took me a long time to figure out what was wrong --- I had to reset the ADSL modem. My mind was fully occupied with that problem, so I totally forgot that I kept hot water running to fill the bathtub while working on my laptop and modem. The water was overflowing when I finally went to the bathroom (and the gas was automatically shut down because it was running over 1 hour, so it was cold water that was overlflowing from the bathtub). I had to get outside to release the safety-device for the gas. Then I went back to my laptop, finally fixed the problem, and started responding to the comments I got and left unresponded over the weekend. It didn’t work… the Blogger’s comment update broke the BloggerHacks comment function. I thought I had enough for one day, so I shut down my laptop, took a hot bath and went to bed last night. This morning, feeling refreshed from the good sleep last night, I finally fixed the problem with the comment system, after some errors. Well... it feels so good to be back in my normal blogging environment, after all. :D

Problem...

Looks like something’s wrong with my comment system. I’m trying to fix it, but it might take some time. Please be patient.

Music Meme

OK, I was tagged by Alicat of Something So Clever and here’s my addition to this music meme that’s going around. I don’t know if anyone would ever be interested in what kind of music I like, but oh well, what the heck. I’ll participate anyway. What is the total amount of music files on your computer? None. My PC is not for music. The CD you last bought? Breathless by Kenny G ..... Gosh, I haven’t bought any CDs since then?!?! Well, I always rent CDs and almost never buy one. That’s why.　CDs are so expensive here!! What was the last song you listened to before reading this message? Just When I Needed You Most by Randy Vanwarmer …. I heard it in a TV commercial (Toyota’s car) just before I read this message.　 Write down five songs that you often listen to or that mean a lot to you. Oldies, oldies...of course, what else? Think about my age…. 1. Almost everything by Simon and Garfunkel. 2. Hotel California by Eagles … I felt chill all over when I first listened to this song. 3. Shimauta by The BOOM… Beautiful anti-war song from Okinawa, Japan. 4. Sailing by Rod Stewart … The song I want to have on at my funeral. 5. Bed of Roses by Bon Jovi … I don’t know why but I often find myself singing this song when washing dishes or chopping up veggies. Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why? Jonny at Jonny Angel--- I’m really curious about what kind of music he likes. MrsT at MrsTweety a.k.a The Crazy Chinese Woman --- She’s a friendly person who visits my site often. Hope she likes this kind of game. Fish Fish at Kuishinbo~Meow~ --- We already went karaoke together, so I’d like to know more about her taste in music for the next time we sing together ;) Thanks! :D