Not Feeling Well? Have Some Miso Soup! :D

I wasn't feeling too well yesterday and my mom knew just what to get me in order to make me feel better! Shiro miso paste, firm tofu, and a cookie! If you didn't know already, I LOVE PUMPKIN EVERYTHING! That's why she got me the cookie! xD 

I already had the dashi and wakame so it took me around 7 minutes to make this nutritious and delicious soup! I always add a little shichimi on top for added flavor! ^-^

So if you are feeling under the weather, try giving this soup a try! It's easy to make and is well worth it!!! 

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 Miso Soup With Recipe!

Miso soup has become a staple for my household over the past few years...when we're sick, we crave it, at night, we crave it, in the morning, we crave it...okay! We crave it all of the time! It's also super easy to make! ^-^

Here is what you need:

-8 Cups of water

-2 tsp. instant dashi granules

-Miso to taste

-1 Tbsp. dried dried wakame (seaweed) 

-1/2 tofu block cubed

-Chopped green onion

-Chopped carrots (not pictured)

-Chopped daikon radish
-Fresh spinach
-Shichimi (Japanese 7 flavored chili powder) (OPTIONAL)

First, dry off the tofu with a dry kitchen towel and place it under something in order to drain the rest of the liquid.



Prepare the rest of the ingredients...

Bring a pot of water to a boil and then add in the carrots and daikon and parboil them until they are tender. Between 10-15 minutes. Also parboil the washed spinach for about a minute and set aside.

Bring the 8 cups of water to a boil, add in the dashi granules, and use a whisk to help dissolve the granules.



Bring the heat down to medium low and add in the tofu, carrots, and daikon. Drain the seaweed and add it into the pot. Simmer for 2 minutes. After it's done simmering, add in the spinach and stir it all together! Take it off the heat! Almost there! :P



Place the miso paste a small mesh strainer and use a pair of cooking chopsticks to dissolve the miso into the pot! We like a lot of miso at my house! ;)



My boyfriend and I already ate half of it before I took the above picture! It's just that good! xD



Place some green onions on top! Adding a little (or a lot) of shichimi makes it taste even better! I highly recommend it! And IT'S DONE!!! :D



This nourishing soup is perfect for any time of day and is so good for you! Please try it at home! ^-^