My Japanese Summer Foods-Part 1: Mentsuyu, Somen Noodles, and Hiyayakko!

There's no getting around it...summer can get unbearably hot! What a better way to cool off than to help yourself to nearly effortless, refreshingly cold Japanese dishes? Well, that's how I have stayed cool so far! This is the first part of my Japanese summer dish posts because I do plan on making more so stay tuned!!!

This post is about mentsuyu, somen noodles, and hiyayakko~! :D

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Ideally, the first thing to make would be mentsuyu which is a multipurpose sauce that is typically used for dipping during the hot summer months in Japan. Now...let's get cooking, shall we?

Here's what you will need:

Serving: 1 Cup

-1/2 cup soy sauce

-1/2 sake

-1/4 cup mirin

-handful of bonito flakes (katsuoboshi)

Add everything into a pot!

Bring it to a boil.

After it begins to boil, remove the pot from the heat, put on a lid, and allow it to completely cool off. 

After the sauce has cooled down, strain the bonito flakes out of it.

Use a spoon to press down on the bonito flakes to make sure that all of the sauce has been strained into the bottom container.

And...there you have it! You can leave it in the refrigerator and it lasts for a few weeks! I only made this amount because I used all of the sake that I had left to make this. If you have enough of each of the ingredients, I highly recommend making a good amount of this so you have it at the ready! Just remember that mentsuyu is always two parts soy sauce and sake and one part mirin!

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Now onto our first dish of the summer: Somen Noodles!

Somen noodles are thin Japanese noodles made from wheat flour and are usually served cold. They are so delicious and refreshing! 

Here is what you need:

-1/4 cup mentsuyu

-1/2 cup water

-Somen noodles

-Ginger (peeled and grated)

-Green onions (chopped)

-Optional: Nori 

I didn't take any pictures during the cooking process! It's pretty simple so I will just sum it up:

First, cook the noodles according to the package directions and make sure that when you strain them, take special care to get all of the starch out! Treat the noodles like laundry that you just washed in the river! lol xD 

Be sure to place the noodles in a bowl of ice water to keep them cold! If you want, chop up some nori and place it on top of the noodles! Yum! 

Mix the mentsuyu and water together and stir it well with chopsticks. Grate peeled fresh ginger and chop a green onion. Add the green onions and ginger to the sauce, dip the noodles, and enjoy!

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Last, but certainly not least is...hiyayakko!

Hiyayakko (冷奴) or cold tofu, is a chilled tofu dish that can be served with a variety of toppings!

According to Wikipedia, "Hiya means cold, and yakko refers to the servants of samurai during the Edo period in Japan."

Here is what you need for my version:

-1 small block or half a block of silken or soft tofu

-Peeled and grated ginger

-Bonito flakes

-Green Onion

-Karashi

-Soy sauce

All you have to do is carefully take the tofu out of it's package and pat it down gently with a paper towel. Be careful because soft tofu is very delicate! Place it on a plate.

Add any ingredients that you like! This gives you a chance to be creative with the dish! I used what I had in my kitchen at the time: green onions, grated ginger, and karashi (a Japanese mustard, usually spicy), and bonito flakes! I would like to try it with grated daikon next time! 

All you have to do next is pour a little soy sauce over the tofu and it's toppings and that's it! I had this a few days ago and I think it's absolutely delicious! Please give it a try! ^-^

My Version of Mapo Tofu with Recipe!!! (マーボー豆腐)

I have been wanting to make Mapo Tofu ever since Cooking with Dog posted a video about it in 2010. I could never find all of the ingredients and made it a goal to one day make it no matter what (If you're curious, you need to mix tian miang jiang and doubanjiang, the two sauces that I could not find). A few weeks ago while I was grocery shopping at a local Wegmans, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye...



I began jumping with joy while my boyfriend stared at me...he should be used to this by now! I immediately put it in the car and decided to make it that very night. I am not usually a fan of "out of the box" sauces and prefer to make my own, but in this case it worked perfectly! I would just add in a few extra ingredients to make it more authentic! ^-^

A little etymology lesson: "Ma stands for "mazi" (Pinyin: mázi Traditional Chinese 麻子) which means a person disfigured by pockmarks or leprosy, the latter is also called 痲 má or 麻風 máfēng. Po (Chinese 婆) translates as "old woman, crone". Hence, Ma Po is an old woman whose face was pockmarked. It is thus sometimes translated as "Pockmarked-Face Lady's Tofu"."-Wikipedia

Here is what you will need:

 

-1 box Chinese mapo tofu sauce
-1 block firm tofu
-1 lb. ground beef
-Chopped green onions
-1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
-1 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
-1 Tbsp. soy sauce
-Chinese granulated chicken stock
-2 Tbsp. sake
-Steamed rice
-Sesame oil
-Potato Starch mixed with water for thickener (2 tsp. potato starch/1/3 tsp. water)

*I did not measure as a lot of it depends on taste and what you think the right amount should be.

First of all, prepare the ingredients: Chop the garlic and ginger, drain and cut the tofu into cubes, etc. Now begin to prepare the rice (I love my rice cooker! <3) You want the rice to be nice and hot when the mapo tofu is ready!



Heat up a pan on high heat, add in the sesame oil and coat the pan with it. When the oil is hot, add in the ground beef and break it up into small pieces while stirring continuously until fully cooked.



After the beef has been cooked thoroughly, add in the chopped garlic and ginger and reduce the heat to medium. Stir fry until aromatic. It smells so good!!! xD



Next, push all of the beef to one side and add in the mapo tofu sauce packet and reduce the heat to low in order to increase the flavor. Constantly stir to avoid burning at this point and stir until evenly browned.



Next add in the first Tbsp. of sake and continue to mix followed by the chinese chicken stock, soy sauce, and the remaining sake. Stir the mixture lightly.



Put in the tofu cubes and gently stir them in the pan and be very careful not to break them apart! Bring the mixture to a boil at high heat again and then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2-3 minutes. This reduces the tofu's moisture and allows the sauce to be absorbed by it!



Next add in the chopped green onions and stir very carefully until completely combined. Then lift the pan off the burner and mix in the potato starch by swirling the pan. Place the pan back onto the burner and using the wooden spatula, push the mixture using gentle motions to make sure that you do not break the tofu! Lastly, heat over high heat for about 30 seconds to thicken it and IT'S DONE!!! :D



First put some rice in a bowl and then add on the hot mapo tofu!



I recommend adding a little shichimi on top for a very tasty garnish.



I highly recommend this Chinese turned Japanese dish! It's it so fun to make and tastes amazing!!!

My Versions of Gordon Ramsay's Asian Dishes!!!

I really look up to Gordon Ramsay and after watching an episode of his Ultimate Cookery Course dedicated to quick Asian recipes, I knew I had to try them out for myself! The episode I referenced is here! It's really a great show! Although, being a bit of an Asian food buff, I did notice a few things that I would change about the recipes...they turned out great! :D

First, I made Gordon Ramsay's Chicken Stir Fry with Rice Noodles. Here is what I used:

-A box of flat and wide rice noodles

-1 boneless chicken breast (butterflied and chopped into strips)

-1 head of broccoli

-2-3 garlic cloves (finely diced)

-Soy sauce to taste

-2 beaten eggs

-1/2 lime (to squeeze)
-Peanut oil for cooking
-Hot chili oil

And...it turned out amazing!!! I made this twice in one week! The lime really gives it a nice zest! I even made a version with mushrooms and it was fantastic! You can really be creative with this dish! :D


The second dish I tried was called Noodle Soup with Poached Egg and Onions!

Here is what I used:

-Shiro miso paste

-Instant dashi granules

-Freshly grated ginger

-Dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 20 mins.)

-Soy sauce to taste

-1 egg

-Thinly sliced portobello mushrooms

-Udon noodles

-Fresh spinach

-Green onions
-Sake 

My favorite part was to pile on the mushrooms, udon, and spinach, followed by the rest of the soup! I added shichimi on top of course! ;)



I will post the recipes for these delightful dishes when I make them again!!! xD

It's Gyoza Time!!!

I was going through some old pictures on my phone of food that I have made in the past and came across this one: Gyoza.

Gyoza (or pot sticker) is a dish that originated in China and has made itself known in many parts of the world. It is a pan-fried dumpling that is typically filled with ground beef or pork and vegetables such as cabbage and green onions. They are simple to make and are delicious!!!

The recipe that I used is from a YouTube cooking channel that I frequent called "Asian Cooking Made Easy." Please check out Lila's channel and watch her videos! She is such an amazing cook and is such an inspiration to me. Click here to visit her channel! ^-^

Here is what you will need for my rendition of the recipe:

-1/2 of a napa cabbage (chopped and steamed in the microwave)

-3 green onions (chopped)

-3 garlic cloves (roughly minced)

-1/4 piece of fresh ginger (grated)

-3/4 lb. of ground pork

-1 tsp. sugar

-1 Tbsp. sake

-2 tsp. soy sauce

-1 Tbsp. cornstarch

-Pack of gyoza wrappers

-1/2 Tbsp. peanut oil

-1 Tbsp. sesame oil

*Make sure that you wash your hands well before the first step! 

First, place the pork in a bowl and add in the sugar, sake, soy sauce, cornstarch, green onions, garlic, and ginger. Use your hands to mix everything all together! I always love this part!!! :D

After mixing everything together, add in the cabbage and mix some more! Yay!!!

On a personal note, gyoza is one of my favorite dishes to make because my boyfriend helps me fold them! It can be time consuming, but we got back and forth like an assembly and we always end up finishing in no time! ^-^

These photos were taken about a year ago and I didn't take better ones showing how to fold the gyoza so I looked one up on Google! :P

Make sure that you wet half of the gyoza skin in order to make it stick and just keep folding! Make sure to place them folded side up on the plate. It may take a few tries before you get used to it, but you'll get it in no time!!!

After you fill and wrap all of the gyoza...it's now time to fry them!!! 

Now heat up a large non-stick pan that has a tight fitting lid on medium high heat. Add the peanut oil to the pan and spread it around using a paper towel. Depending on the size of the pan, fill the pan up with just enough dumplings so it's full, but not overcrowded. You never want to overcrowd your pan. 

After the dumplings have been added, our in 1/2 cup of hot water and put the lid on and let them cook for 7 to 8 minutes or until the water evaporates. If this is your first time making these, it can be easy to burn them so you may want to keep checking on them regularly.

I know, it's a different batch! :P

After the water evaporates, you can drizzle a little sesame oil over the gyoza if you wish and let them cook for another minute or until the bottoms are brown. The first few times I made gyoza, they stuck to the bottom a little and there was a coating of black "burned" stuff on the bottom. If that happens to you, don't worry! They are still salvageable! Just use a spatula to remove them and place them on a plate, or can just put a plate on top of them and carefully flip the pan over so the gyoza transfer onto the plate (this way is more fun!) And...they're DONE! :)

You can also make the perfect gyoza dipping sauce by mixing soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, a little sugar, and a little hot chili oil! 

I love serving bubble tea alongside side gyoza!!! It's amazingly delicious!!! It's also fun to place the plate neatly in the center of the table and let everyone serve themselves! ^-^

Since these photos are so old, I might make another post on how I make this that is more detailed!

See you soon! 

Marinated Eggs!!!

Hello all!!! I just wanted to make a quick post dedicated to marinated eggs! They are delicious and are perfect for soups or just for snacking! And they are so easy to make! 

Here is what you will need (minus the platypus! :P ):

-1 egg

-3 Tbsp. soy sauce

-3 Tbsp. mirin

-Ziplock bag

-Mini strainer (or anything to get the eggs out of the boiling water)

First, you have to fill a pan half full of water and bring it to a boil. Gently place the egg (or eggs) in the pan using a mini strainer or spoon.

Then, allow the egg to boil for about 20 minutes if you want a hard boiled egg. Let it boil for a bout 10 minutes if you want a more soft boiled egg. 

Next, run the egg under cold water to cool it down and place it into a bowl filled with cold water and ice. Carefully crack the egg and while continuously dipping the egg into the water, gently peel off the shell. 

Then, take a paper towel and pat the egg dry and set aside.

Sit the ziplock bag on the counter and add the soy sauce and mirin and swish it around until they are mixed. Now place the egg in the bag.

Next, use a tie of some kind to keep the egg submerged in the marinade and place it in the fridge. The longer you marinade, the tastier it will be so I suggest that you let it marinade overnight for the best result! 

After you take it out of the fridge, remove the egg, lightly dab it dry and either cut it in half, or leave it as is!!! AND IT'S DONE!!!

My all time favorite use of the marinated egg is as a yummy topping for miso ramen! <3

I hope you liked my post! I can't wait to see what you come up with! 

The possibilities are endless!!!! ^-^