プリティーお弁当 #4!

I feel like I haven’t made a nice-looking bento in quite some time. Mostly because it’s winter and I’d rather have something hot from the school cafeteria like ramen or my personal favorite, 野菜炒め (stir fried vegetables). The cafeteria was closed today, since the faculty was having the annual “let’s talk about who may not be moving up to the next grade” meeting, and all of the students left after 4th period. Luckily, I was able to anticipate the closure of the cafeteria, and I got down to some intense cooking last night. Hopefully my creative-cooking-juices will still be flowing and I’ll have some energy to make some obento for next week, since we’ll be having final exams and the cafeteria will be closed yet again.

And now, what you’re all probably dying to know… the contents!

• chicken sautéed in soy sauce + ginger
• renkon (lotus root), carrot, and daikon simmered in dashi, soy sauce, mirin and butter
• steamed spinach dressed in tofu and sesame seeds
• Rice steamed with carrots, sesame seeds, and mushrooms in dashi, miso, and soy sauce

The simmered veggies were easy enough to make, modified from a recipe I saw on NHK’s きょうの料理 (today’s cooking). You wouldn’t ever think to add a tablespoon of butter to something that is so…typically Japanese in flavor and ingredients, but it compliments these kind of root vegetables so so so well. Try it!

The rice I used is standard short-grain Japanese rice, well-washed, of course! I actually added a tiny bit of oil (I used grapeseed oil) to make sure the rice didn’t stick. This particular type of rice, made with broth and vegetables mixed in, is more specifically called 炊き込みご飯 (taki-komi-gohan). I feel like it isn’t an everyday kind of food, and that it is usually reserved for special occasions, but hey… when ISN’T a bento a special occasion?! ヽ(^。^)ノ

梅番茶

One of my coworkers is a tea expert!! Well, kind of! He certainly knows a whole lot about tea, and has a collection of different kinds inside the cupboard next to his desk. He makes his own personal stash of bancha (which is roasted green tea) and umeboshi (pickled pums, that I usually get my very own container of every now and again). Today was a pretty chilly inside our lovely concrete block of a school, even though the plum trees outside are blooming and making their best effort to make spring start happening. So, in an effort to warm up, he made me some ume-bancha, which goes a little something like this:

you will need:

• umeboshi
• bancha (or just roast some medium-grade green tea yourself!)
• plum blossoms (optional)
• honey (optional)

directions:

First, bring some water to boil for the tea. Once the water has boiled, turn off the heat and wait a minute!! Then, pour the boiling water into your tea pot with the dry leaves on the bottom, and steep for two minutes.

While the tea is steeping, remove the seed from inside the umeboshi, and place in a teacup. Pour your steeped tea through a fine strainer and over the pickled plum and float a plum blossom on top.

Plum blossoms should have a sweet fragrance, and are bitter to the taste. Make sure your flowers are safe enough to be consumed!! (i.e. no pesticides!)

If you like your tea sweetened, add some honey to this, and it will be really REALLY nice. The overall flavors are actually quite bitter and then sour at the end, but honey will add a really nice sweetness that compliments the umeboshi really well.

Enjoy!

キムチ焼きそば！

Yum!! Kimchi yakisoba is probably one of my favorite things to make, and it’s so easy!! I’ve added approximate measurements, since you all should know by now that I never measure anything when I cook. I’ve also made this before with moyashi (bean sprouts) in addition to cabbage and onion. You could also easily use beef or chicken instead of pork.
Ready? Let’s begin!

You will need:

• 1 tablespoon of your favorite cooking oil
• 1/2 cup of kimchi
• 1/4 head of cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 large clove of garlic, minced
• thinly sliced pork
• 2 packages of pre-cooked yakisoba noodles
• 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons of ketchup
• siracha sauce to taste

Directions:

Take a fairly large sized frying pan or wok and heat up your cooking oil. Then, add the garlic and onions and cook them until they start to become transparent and very aromatic. Then, add your thin slices of pork. Shabu-shabu type pork works well for this. Once your pork is cooked through, add your shredded cabbage. Fry and stir. Stir and fry. Use a medium-high heat.
Then, add the soy sauce and ketchup. be sure to stir well and coat everything, otherwise the sauces will start to caramelize on the bottom of the pan since it will be very hot by this point. Add your pre-cooked yakisoba noodles and make sure they are coated with the ketchup and soy sauce. If not, you can always add a little more to make sure they get coated.
Now comes the good part!! Stir in the kimchi!! If kimchi isn’t spicy enough for you, add some siracha sauce and stir. The pan should be very very hot by this point, so it is fine if you turn off the heat completely and let it finish cooking by the residual heat. The noodles will suck up the ketchup, kimchi juices, soy sauce and siracha, and just become all around amazing. The pork should be completely cooked through and well coated with your sauces.

Serve on your favorite dish or in your favorite bowl and enjoy!!

★ ★ ★

I should also probably mention now that my hometown’s professional football team is participating in the national tournament (otherwise known as the superbowl) and yes, I’m excited about it, even though I’m not able to be at home to watch them or cheer them on with other loyal Pittsburghers.

so.. here we go Steelers!! One for the other thumb!!

Oh wait.. we got that one already…

the other index finger?

肉じゃが！

Did you know that niku-jaga (lit. meat & potatoes) is the Japanese take on beef stew?? A long long time ago, when foreign traders first came to Japan, Japanese people saw that they were eating beef stew, and they tried to imitate it using what was immediately available. It soon morphed into what we all know and love today as niku-jaga. I think everyone makes their niku-jaga a bit differently, much like how everyone makes their own particular style of curry, but here’s how I learned to make this classic pseudo-Japanese item.

You will need:

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 4 or 5 new potatoes
• pork, finely chopped (the kind you might use for shabu-shabu would be OK for this)
• 7 ladles full of dashi (broth made from konbu and katsuo-bushi)
• 1 ladleful of soy sauce (I’ll explain this measurement in the directions)
• 1 ladleful of mirin
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• Optional: konnyaku noodles, green peas, or 1 tablespoon sake

Directions:

*NOTE* I am going to reiterate that I am pretty bad at gauging the measurements for what I cook. I usually just add things to a pan or pot and it just magically turns out to be something worth eating 80-90% of the time! So, when my friend Ko-chan taught me how to make niku-jaga he explained that it was all about this 7-1-1 ratio. The 7-1-1 could be basically anything, cups, half-cups, ladles, etc. Since I have a miniscule kitchen and even tinier cookware, we decided to go with using the ladle to make the measurements. Please adjust the amount of onion, carrot, potato, and pork as necessary in accordance with however large you choose to make the measurements in your 7-1-1 ratio.

First! Halve or dice your potatoes, depending on how big or small they are. Cut your carrots into large chunks. Dice your onion as well.

Then! measure 7 whatever-fulls of dashi into your cooking receptacle! I used a pot! After this, add your 1 whatever-full of soy sauce, then 1 whatever-full of mirin! Simmer this liquid. Add the 1 tablespoon of sugar and dissolve. Then, put all of your vegetables into the liquid and bring to a boil. If you want to add sake to your liquid to give it a bit of a drier sweetness, this is the time to add it. Once the liquid has begun to simmer, make sure to taste it to see if any one flavor is overpowering another! You may find that your mixture is too soy sauce-ey or could use a little more mirin or sugar. Perhaps the entire flavor is too strong, and you need to add more dashi. Who knows. Adjust as necessary!

In a separate pan, brown your pork with a little bit of oil. It doesn’t have to be totally cooked to death, since it is eventually going into the boiling pot of veggies.

Once your vegetables have come to a boil, reduce to a simmer and add the pork. At this stage, you are going to want to cover the pot with either a lid or tinfoil. I don’t know why, but for some reason, the tinfoil skims all of the pork grime off of the top of the liquid, whereas a regular lid will not. Either way, you will end up with delicious niku-jaga. Simmer this until the potatoes and the carrots are soft enough to be pierced with a fork. If you’d like to add konnyaku noodles (as pictured) or peas (mostly for a color contrast) this is when to add them.

★ ★ ★

I know of some people who cook this stuff to death so that the liquid becomes entirely evaporated, but that isn’t really my style.. I like to have a little bit of the liquid remaining to keep everything in the bowl nice and happy and warm. I don’t usually drink it though, since there is a lot of salt in the soy sauce and (if I use the instant kind) dashi.

Let me know if you have your own take on niku-jaga. I’d be interested in knowing how you make it.

If you try this recipe, don’t' forget the 7-1-1 ratio!!!

serve steaming hot and enjoy!!!

★ ★ ★

P.S.:  Leftover niku-jaga makes for a very nice bento! I put some spinach dressed with sesame along with it, and some rice, of course.

mmm…クリーム シチュー...

Oh my goodness. Cream stew is probably one of the most delicious things ever. It’s not really Japanese fare, but I really never ate it until I came to Japan. I know that you can buy little cubes of roux for the stew in the grocery stores here, but they have a ton of salt and lord knows what else in them, so I prefer to make my own roux. It’s easy peasy and I know exactly what goes into my lovely stew. I am pretty terrible at guessing the quantities of the ingredients, since I basically go by how much will fit into the tiny pots I have, so I haven’t included any real measurements… ahem.

You will need:

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1 small head of broccoli
• 5 or so new potatoes, well washed (I never peel the skin off of potatoes, but if you’d like to, go for it!)
• *optional* napa cabbage
• 2 or 3 boneless chicken thighs, cut into nice bite-sized chunks.
• milk (I use low-fat milk, but whatever you like or have around is fine)
• 1 tablespoon-ish of butter
• 2 teaspoon-ishes of flour
• cooking oil (I use grapeseed oil)
• water

Directions:

First, add a tiny bit of oil to a nonstick pan and add your chicken and make sure it is cooked through all the way!! Then, remove the chicken and set it aside for later. In your pot, start sweating your chopped up onion with a tiny bit of oil (I like a large diced onion, not teeny tiny pieces) until translucent. Then, add your carrots, roughly chopped, and the new potatoes, diced. Add enough water to cover the whole shebang and let it come to a simmer. In the meantime, steam your broccoli in the microwave. I put mine in a little dish with a tiny bit of water. This way it gets cooked, but doesn’t turn soggy. Set this aside, maybe by the chicken.
Once your potatoes, carrots and onions have come to a simmer, cook them until you can easily put a fork through the carrots. The new potatoes shouldn’t take too too long to get cooked through all the way.

In a separate pot, start melting your butter and add the flour. Whisk it in until there are no lumps, but the mixture is thick. This is your roux. Then, add a ladleful of the water from the pot with the potatoes and dissolve your roux in this. Then, using a slotted spoon, start adding the carrots, potatoes and onions to the pot with the roux. Then add your chicken and broccoli. Once everything is in, add a little more of the potato/carrot water and pour in the milk until everything is covered. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir gently. You don’t want to break up the broccoli, but you want to make sure the roux is evenly distributed so that everything becomes thickened – so it becomes kind of… stew-ey.

Let this simmer and thicken. If you find that your stew isn’t thickening, you can always add a little more flour. Don’t forget to add salt and pepper to taste. The butter has a little salt in it, but without a little salt + pepper the stew can be a little bland.

Finally, in the words of the greatest of the greats, miss J. Child: Bon Appétit!!

★ ★ ★

This is a really nice fall/winter dish, and can be modified with vegetables you like. Sometimes it’s good with mushrooms, which would be added at the end, with the broccoli and chicken. It is good even with cabbage (I like Napa cabbage myself) boiled along with the potatoes and carrots. You could even possibly add small pastas to this, but since the stew is pretty thick, I don’t find it necessary.

Enjoy!

Bruschetta

Here’s the deal. I had a pretty crappy day yesterday. When I get upset, I cook (and write…or paint… but I’ve been having problems with painting lately). I personally find it to be relaxing. So. Here’s a recipe for Bruschetta that I, Bridget Beaver in Japan, invented! As far as measurements go, I don’t have measuring spoons and cups and all of that fancy schmancy stuff, so um… I didn’t include any. You’re totally on your own for that. This is a pretty simple recipe, so as long as you don’t drown everything in one ingredient, I’m sure you’ll be fine just eyeballing it.
Also, I usually cook for one (me!) so this is a recipe for one or two servings… depending on how much bruschetta you (or the people you love) can eat in one sitting! I like to use two tomatoes and then use about half of the topping right away, then throw the rest in a container and let it marinate in the fridge for tomorrow. It’s fabulous, I know.

You will need:

• Italian or a similar white crusty bread, cut into pieces approximately 2-3 inches in width and about… oh.. half an inch (more or less) high. (I use baguette bread, since it’s the most decent bread I can get here, and it can be cut into nice little rounds!)
• a tomato. or two.
• garlic (I LOVE garlic. Sometimes I use 4 cloves, but how much is entirely up to you)
• rosemary (dried OR preferably fresh)
• basil (dried OR preferably fresh)
• oregano (dried or… you know)
• parmesan cheese
• extra virgin (tee hee) olive oil
• salt & pepper (to taste)

Directions:
Take your bread and slice it into nice little rounds as seen in the photo above. If you would like to toast your bread, you may do so at this point. I don’t own a toaster oven, so this step is impossible for me. I don’t mind not having toasted bread, but YOU might mind! Set this aside for later.

Peel and chop up your garlic. How small your garlic pieces are is entirely up to you. I peel the garlic then smash it with the side of the knife, THEN roughly chop it. Never a fine mince or whatever. Oh, and FOR THE LOVE OF PETE, DO NOT USE GARLIC POWDER.

In a small saucepan or sauté pan (or whatever small-ish pan you have handy, seriously, I don’t want you to have to wash a huge pan for this recipe) take a few tablespoons of your favorite extra virgin olive oil and sauté your chopped garlic AND some rosemary until the garlic has turned a nice golden brown color… but not dark brown or black. Those are the WRONG colors. If your garlic has turned either of those colors, throw everything away and start over again. You have failed.
Also. don’t forget the rosemary. It’s nice to sauté it a bit in the oil to soften it up (if its dried) and to infuse the olive oil.

Remove the olive oil/garlic/rosemary concoction from the heat. Set aside! For later!

Cut up your tomato(es). I like to dice mine. You probably should dice yours, too. Place in a separate bowl.

Then, in that bowl with your nice diced tomatoes, add your basil, oregano, and salt & pepper to taste. In a pinch, you can do just Italian seasoning mix, but like… where is the fun in that? Also, you may omit the salt, since parmesan cheese is kind of salty to begin with, but some kinds aren’t.

Stir! Gently! Don’t break those lovely tomato dices!!!!

Then! to your tomato-spice mixture add your now cooled olive oil/garlic/rosemary sauté mixture!! And stir gently once again…

Finally, add your parmesan cheese to the tomato mixture. This can be done AFTER or BEFORE you spoon the tomato mixture on top of your little slices of bread. I like to do it before, so everything is done in one fell swoop, but you can sprinkle it on top, as you please.

Spoon your mixture on top of your bread, as shown in the above photo!!

If you have a toaster oven (which, I reiterate, I do not.) you can also sprinkle the cheese on top of the tomatoes on top of the bread THEN toast the whole shebang, which is also quite fab. Either way, don’t forget the parmesan cheese!!!

Finally… in the words of the greatest of the greats, miss J. Child… Bon Appétit!!

★ ★ ★

Ok, so this recipe can be modified to taste. You can add stuff, onion or arugula or olives or whatever, or replace the parmesan with asiago or another hard Italian cheese, or even throw some prosciutto on there, but seriously people, this is a good, basic bruschetta recipe. Have fun with it!! I know I did… and it made me feel better on such a crappy day :)