"Grilled" Miso Onigiri with Recipe! (焼きおにぎり)

One of the first recipes I ever tried was making onigiri and I have loved it ever since! I love trying to make different variations of onigiri and although I have made grilled miso onigiri before, I thought I would make them better than ever before! I am going to apologize ahead of time because I didn't take a lot of pictures because I didn't think about putting it on my blog until after I started making it! >.< I will do a full recipe for this one of these days!

Here is what you will need:

For the Chicken Karaage:

-1 boneless chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces

-1 Tbsp. soy sauce

-1/2 Tbsp. ginger juice

-1/2 Tbsp. sake

-1/2 beaten egg

-1 Tbsp. flour

-1 Tbsp. potato starch

-Vegetable or canola oil for frying

For the Yaki Onigiri:

-Freshly steamed rice

-2 tsp. toasted black sesame seeds

-1 Tbsp. shiro miso

-1 Tbsp. mirin

-1/2 tsp. brown sugar

-A pinch of instant dashi powder

-2 tsp. sesame oil

First I made the chicken karaage. I cut the chicken and placed it in a glass container. Then I added in the soy sauce, ginger juice, and sake and mix well with your hand. Make sure to tightly cover the container  and placed it into the fridge for marinate for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, toast some black sesame seeds and set them aside. Also cook the rice for the onigiri and set it aside as well. You should also prepare the oil on the stove for frying.



After 30 minutes, drain the now marinated chicken and place it back into the container. Add in the beaten egg, flour, and potato starch and mx it well with your hand.



Using kitchen chopsticks, gently place a few pieces of chicken in the pot at a time and allow them to cook for 5-7 minutes or until a nice and crispy golden brown. When they are done, place them on to a paper towel to get rid of the excess oil. Do this until all of the chicken is gone!

I don't have pictures for this part, but I will explain what I did. Get a medium sized bowl and place some of the rice in it with the rice paddle and add some of the toasted sesame seeds. Using the rice paddle, mix the rice with the sesame seeds until mixed thoroughly.

Next, get a piece of saran wrap and place it on your hand. Use the rice paddle to pick up some rice and place on the palm of your hand. Place a piece of the chicken in the middle of the rice and place a little more rice on top. Close the rice in the saran wrap and mold it into whatever shape you want it to be. Without actually touching the onigiri, unwrap it and place it on a plate and repeat until all of the rice is gone!



This is how they should look! Almost there! :P

Okay, I have some pictures for this next step!




For the miso sauce, combine the miso, mirin, brown sugar, and dashi powder and mix it well using kitchen chopsticks.




Next, turn the burner on medium heat and add in the sesame oil. When the oil is hot, place two onigiri onto the pan and cook both sides until light brown.



Get your kitchen brush ready because this next part has to be done quickly!



Gently brush on the miso sauce and flip them using tongs and then brush it on the other side and flip it again. Pay close attention because the sauce can burn VERY easily! Do this to either half or all of your onigiri and...THEY'RE DONE! :D



At first I only "grilled" half, but after trying one, I grilled the rest!!! xD



These onigiri are so delicious and lasted about three days before my boyfriend and I ate them all!



Here is what they look like on the inside!

Onigiri is so versatile, you can be really creative when it comes to what you want to have in the center! Please try it and see what you like best! ^-^

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

Chinese Marbled Tea Eggs With Recipe!!!

If you know me well then you must know how much I love eggs! I love trying all different kinds of recipes that use eggs and this one may just top them all...Chinese marbled tea eggs!!! I referenced Jaden Hair's awesome recipe from here site Steamy Kitchen! ^-^

Here is what you will need:

-6 eggs

-3/4 cup soy sauce

-2 black tea bags (I used Red Rose)

-1 or 2 small cinnamon sticks
-2 star anise

-1 tsp. sugar

-2 strips dired orange peel*

*In order to dry your own orange peels, you have to carefully peel the orange, making sure that you only peel the skin. Hang it in your kitchen and allow it to dry for a few days and voila! :)

First, boil the eggs for about 15-20 minutes and then run them under cold water. Using the back of a spoon, carefully crack the shell just enough so that you still keep it intact. The more intricate the design, the more flavorful the egg!

Add the eggs back into the water that you boiled them in along with all of the other ingredients. Bring the water to a boil and then immediatly turn it down to low.



Put the lid on the pot and simmer for 40 minutes. Then leave everything in the spot to steep overnight...be patient!!! :P



The next morning, carefully strain out the eggs and throw away everything else!



Above is what the excess ingredients will look like :P



Look how cool the shells look! xD

And they're done!!! They look as awesome as they taste...BELIEVE ME! :D

You can eat them as they are or even put them into miso or ramen (like above)!!! The possibilities are endless! ^-^