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Futomaki Large Sushi Rollls Are you a sushi lover? If you are, why not try making your own sushi at home? In case the thought hadn't already occurred to you, making sushi rolls yourself will cost you a fraction of the cost of a takeaway or eat in dining (and they'll be fresher and tastier than a takeaway too!) You can eat these rools for lunch or dinner with maybe a bowl of miso soup. Futomaki sushi rolls also make great finger food at a party or other social event. You probably already know that sushi comes in several types. There are hosomaki (small) sushi rolls, futomaki (large sushi rolls, like the ones I make here, temaki (hand rolled) sushi and even eho (very large) sushi rolls which are a speciality from Osaka. What you might not know is that sushi rolls are really quite easy to make. All you really need is a sushi rolling mat which you can buy quite cheapy (+ / - £ / $ 5) and a sharp knife. The recipe I've devised here doesn't use any specialy ingredients and there is no raw fish involved either. The contents of the roll are shiitake mushroom, seafood sticks, some spring onion and Japanese tamagoyaki sweet omelette (I show you how to make that too.) If you're interested in how to make this, you can find the recipe below. If you want to take a look at the video tutorial, (and I would recommend you take a look to understand the rolling technique), just click on Futomaki Large Sushi Rolls or scroll down to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy rolling! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: 2 cups (300g/10oz) Japanese rice 90g / 3oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, clean 1 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp soy sauce 3 eggs 2 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp mirin a sprinkle of salt a little sunflower oil 8cm / 3inch cucumber 3.5-4 tbsp sushi vinegar 3 sheet of nori 9 seafood sticks a sushi mat how to: to cook yourJapanese rice, rinse the rice several times until the water is nearly clear. You can cook Japanese rice either in a large saucepan or a rice cooker. to prepare the filling start with the mushrooms. remove the ends of the stems then slice the mushrooms. put the slcied mushrooms in a small saucepan. add the sugar and the soy sauce and cook the mushrooms over a medium heat for a few minutes until the liquid has almost evaporated. set aside. next, to make a tamagoyaki sweet omelette, break 3 eggs in a jug or bowl. add the sugar, the mirin and a pinch of salt and mix everything well. heat a little oil into a small frying pan. pour 1/3 of the egg mixture into the pan. as the omelette forms, pop any little blisters that bubble up in the omelette. wait until the omelette skin has formed on the bottom of the pan, then use a slice to carefully fold the roll to one side of the pan. pour in another 1/3 of the egg mixture to the pan and gently lift the cooked egg roll to let the raw egg slide underneath. adjust the heat if the pan is getting too hot. once the omelette skin has formed, roll your tamagoyaki (egg roll) over a second time to the other side of the pan. If the pan is getting dry, this is the time to add a little more oil. add the rest of the egg mixture to the pan and repeat the process. when the tamagoyaki roll is ready, set aside on a plate. now, prepare some cucumber matchsticks. thinly slice the cucumber longways. remember to discard the middle of the cucumber where the seeds are as you won’t use that part. arrange the slices in a pile and then cut into matchsticks, before setting aside. next, to make the sushi rice, put your cooked rice into a large bowl. add the sushi vinegar and gently mix together, being careful not to mash the rice as you mix. now is the time to slice the tamagoyaki into 5 strips longways. to create your futomaki large sushi roll, place a sushi mat onto your chopping board, place 1 nori sheet, (rough side up) on the mat. one side of the sheet should be slightly longer than the other. place the longer sides at the top and bottom of your mat. place about 1/3 of sushi rice on the nori sheet. gently smooth out the rice over the sheet, leaving about a 2 cm / 3/4 inch strip at the top of nori without rice. next, lay 3 seafood sticks in a line about a third of the way up the rice. follow with a strip of tamagoyaki. one strip won’t cover the whole length, so lay another strip of tamagoyaki alongside the first and cut it to size. add 1/3 of the cucumber matchsticks and last, add 1/3 of the shiitake mushrooms over the tamagoyaki egg roll. now on to the rolling. hold the bottom of the sushi mat with both hands and roll the sheet over the rice and filling. use your index fingers to keep any filling in place if it moves. give the roll a firm squeeze to form the roll. unroll the mat and check the shape of the roll. then, roll once more, giving the roll a last, light squeeze to finish. use this technique to make 2 more sushi rolls. to slice your futomaki large sushi rolls, use a sharp kitchen knife dipped in water between slices. (this will prevent the rice from stiicking to the knife as you slice.) first, trim the ends of the futomaki roll, then slice into 8-9 pieces. plate up and serve with soy sauce. enjoy your futomaki large sushi rolls! Futomaki Large Sushi Rollls

Temaki sushi Temaki sushi - "hand rolled sushi" - is a great party food for adults or kids. Everyone can get stuck in and roll their own sushi with their favourite fillings. It's great fun and easy to do - the key with creating a nicely formed cone shape for your temaki is to resist the temptation to lay too much rice and filling on the nori. You can prepare your ingredients for temaki sushi in under 30 mins. If you like wasabi, you can spread a little dab onto your filling before you roll - personally, I like my temaki sushi without but there's no "do" or "don't" about it. Once you've rolled your temaki sushi, just dip it in a little soy sauce and enjoy! This recipe makes 4 temaki but once you've got the hang of it, you can add more fillings and get the whole family rolling! See my starter recipe by clicking Temaki Sushi . You can also watch a Youtube tutorial about the hand rolling technique by clicking Temaki sushi . Happy rolling! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: makes 4 temaki sushi 2 sheets of nori, cut into halve 150g cooked sushi rice for the filling: 4 thin strips, avocado 4 x 1.5cm / 0.75 inch strips, raw salmon (sashimi grade) 4 x 8cm / 3.5 inch cucumber matchsticks how to: spread a heaped dessertspoon of sushi rice onto the left side of a nori sheet lay 1 piece of avocado, 1 piece of cucumber & 1 piece of salmon diagonally over the rice fold the bottom left corner inwards, then wrap the right side around to form a cone shape seal with a grain or two of sticky rice serve with soy sauce & wasabi Temaki sushi

Tuna and Spring Onion California Sushi rolls I hope you enjoyed my Seafood stick California rolls (Uramaki inside out rolls) recipe that I posted a while back. Now, here's another simple California roll recipe for you. This time I used fresh tuna and spring onion. This is a good way to try your hand at rolling a simple California roll but do remember that you will need sashimi grade tuna to make it (I don't want you getting an upset tummy!) A lot of California rolls these days uses other ingredients, especially shichimi (Japanese five spice pepper) and mayo but I think if you are using a good quality tuna, it's delicious on its own without draping it with a blanket of other flavours. As always, my advice if this is your first attempt to roll sushi, is to take a look at the Youtube tutorial so you get a visual idea of how it is done. You can find the written recipe just below and for the Youtube tutorial click Tuna and Spring Onion California Sushi rolls or scroll to the bottom of the page. Happy rolling! kurumi XXXX. If you would like to see some alternatives for California rolls, take a look at my Salmon and Avocado California Sushi rolls here. Tuna and Spring Onion California rolls ingredients: (makes 2 rolls / 14 - 16 pieces) 200g cooked sushi rice* 1 sheet of nori, halved 6 strips of sushi grade fresh tuna 1 spring onion 2 tsp toasted white sesame seeds 1 tbsp of mayonnaise 1/4 tsp of chilli sauce a sushi mat some cling film a bowl of water for hand * you can find a recipe for how to make sushi rice in the Recipes section of my website how to: unroll your sushi mat and wrap it tightly with cling film 2 or 3 times (this will stop the rice sticking to the mat) mix the mayo and chilli sauce well finely chop the spring onion wet your hands & spread 1/2 of the sushi rice onto one of the 1/2 nori sheets in a thin layer - do it gently to avoid tearing the nori sprinkle 1 tsp of the sesame seeds evenly onto the rice now, gently take hold of the nori sheet at the bottom, lift and turn over so that the sesame and rice are in contact with the clingfilm and the nori sheet is uppermost place 3 strips of tuna across the nori sheet about 1.5cm from the bottom, add 1/2 of the chopped spring onion above the tuna and spread the mayonnaise mixture over the tuna to roll the sushi: take hold of the bottom edge of the nori with your thumbs. lift and roll the bottom edge of the sushi mat over the filling and roll to form the sushi roll. you can use your index fingers to keep the tuna in place if needs be give the roll a little, light squeeze with your fingers to make sure it is well formed, then unroll the mat and your roll should be complete now, cut the sushi into 6 pieces, wetting your knife between cuts to stop the rice sticking to the blade repeat this process again for the second roll your uramaki rolls are now ready to serve. pour a little soy sauce into two small bowls and add a little wasabi - season the roll with a little dip of soy sauce and a smear of wasabi according to your taste Tuna and Spring Onion California Sushi rolls

My final "grow your own" leaf vegetable this year is mitsuba , or Japanese parsley. Mitsuba is a versatile leaf - in fact it's more than a leaf as you can eat the whole plant, roots included! Fresh cut Japanese mitsuba. - Mitsuba, also known as Japanese parsley, is a good source of potassium and vitamin k. When I planted my mitsuba seeds, they took almost two weeks to germinate. As I wanted a continuous supply, I planted more seeds just as the first batch had begun to germinate. Unlike the mizuna and shiso I've grown this year, mitsuba prefers a shady or semi-shady spot as it grows best out of the sun. I planted most of my seedlings in pots and put them in sheltered spots. I find mitsuba is less vigorous than mizuna and shiso and you have to wait a little longer between cuttings for the plant to recover. My mitsuba took about 2 months from planting out until I could harvest some leaves. (silly me, I forgot to record all this in a video but if you're interested there's a "how to" on growing mitsuba, just click Grow your own Mitsuba . Osumashi with Mitsuba Shiitake and Tofu. There are plenty of ways to use mitsuba once you've harvested it - salads (try combining it with some mizuna and shiso in a green salad), in tempura batter, in Japanese savoury steamed egg - the list goes on - (I've got recipes for all these dishes available in the Recipes section of the site if you want to have a browse.) The one thing not to do with mitsuba is to overcook it - it's at its best raw or gently cooked for just a minute or two - otherwise you'll find it becomes quite bitter. I've prepared some simple recipes that you can try out with mitsuba, including a Japanese consomme (Osumashi) with mitsuba, shiitake and tofu (like the picture on the left). it's very healthy and very easy - you can watch a quick Youtube tutorial by clicking heOsumashi with MitsubaShiitake and Tofur . Alternatively click Osumashi with Mitsuba Shiitake and Tofu here for the written recipe I also used some mitsuba to make a miso soup with mitsuba and the daikon I've been growing (like the photo below). You can watch the Youtube tutorial for this recipe by clicking Miso soup with Daikon and Mitsuba . The written recipe is here Miso soup with Daikon and Mitsuba . Miso soup with Daikon and Mitsuba You can pair these soups with a bowl of rice and a third dish for a satisfying healthy lunch or dinner. Mitsuba is a perennial, so if you do grow some, just cut it down to ground level at the end of the season, give it a mulch to protect it from frost and it should happily renew itself next year. Happy cooking (and growing)! Kurumi XXXX.

Natto Just like marmite in the UK, natto is a food that divides opinions in Japan - you either love it or you hate it. So what exactly is natto? Basically, natto is made of soya beans fermented using natto yeast (bacillus subtilis) which I understand comes from rice straw. Natto is well known for its health benefits - if you want to find out more about this, you can find find lots of information on the internet - (personally, I make natto and I eat natto because I like it but it's nice to know it's doing your body good as well!) Natto's flavour matures after it's fermented. You can keep it for two weeks in the fridge and the flvaour will keep on improving. You can also freeze natto which means you can make a big batch and divide it into eat now and keep for later portions. Although most Japanese eat natto with a bowl of rice, there are other ways you can use it like Natton Linguine and Natto Maki sushi rolls. I'll be putting some other recipes on the blog in the coming weeks. But first, you have to have some natto. Of course, you can buy it but why not try to make your natto instead? It isn't really that difficult - it's a bit like yoghurt, it's easy to do but you have to wait for the result. If you're interested in making natto, the first thing you will need is some natto yeast (or natto spores as you'll also find them described on the internet). Alternatively, you could buy a pack of ready made natto and use that as your activator although I have to confess I always use natto yeast as a starter. Next, you'll need some raw soya beans - you can buy these at most supermarkets or online. For the fermentation stage of making natto, I use my oven, which has a low temperature setting down to 30C. If you can't use your oven, I've heard of people using breadmakers or slow cookers - the key is to keep the soya beans at 38-40C for 20+ hours. You can find a written recipe by clicking Make your own Natto . The Youtube video tutorial is here on the right, above. I do hope you'll try this out - I know there are a lot of gimmicky features and videos showing people grimacing when they try natto but if you like rich, savoury flavours like blue cheese and marmite, you may well think natto is great too. Happy fermenting! Kurumi XXXX. Ingredients: 450 g soy beans 0.1 - 0.2g natto yeast* * the amount of natto yeast you need is tiny - it won’t hurt if you put a little more in though how to: wash & rinse the soya beans 3 times under running water next, soak the beans in a bowl under cover for 24 hours drain the beans and steam for 40 - 45 minutes in a covered pan (but preferably in a pressure cooker) meanwhile, use boiling water to sterilise a pyrex dish (or other container) a large spoon and a small glass let the beans rest 15 - 20 minutes after steaming take 25 ml of the steaming water and put it into the sterilised cup. add 0.1 - 0.2g of natto yeast to the water and mix spoon the soya beans into the sterilised pyrex dish. then, pour the natto yeast solution over the beans and stir gently with the sterilised sppon cover the pyrex with clingfilm and pierce 10-12 times with a knife. then, push the clingfilm down to cover the beans next, cover with another layer of clingfilm and pierce but this time leave the clingfilm covering the top of the pyrex put the pyrex into an oven* and ferment the beans at 38-40C for 24 hrs remove the dish from the oven. you can eat some your natto straight away if you wish but the beans will gain more flavour if left for a day or two in the fridge. your natto supply will last 7 - 10 days refridgerated. *i use the oven method for fermenting but you can try other methods such as a slow cooker - the key is to keep the beans at a constant temperature to allow fermentation to take place How to Make your own Natto

Wasabi Rocket I don't know if you're well acquainted with wasabi rocket. If you are, maybe like me, you are a recent convert. Earlier this year, I was looking through my seed catalogue to see what new additions I could make to my little vegetable garden and, low and behold, I came across wasabi rocket. "Rocket leaves that taste like wasabi," I thought, "now that's something I have to try." So, the order went out to my seed supplier and I had a few hundred, tiny, grain-like wasabi rocket seeds within a week. It turns out wasabi rocket is easy to grow. I grew one batch in a large pot and I'm now on my second batch. The recent hot weather and heavy rain has made this batch bolt (which apparently wasabi rocket does at the drop of a hat) but it's still producing nice, tasty leaves. I'll probably sow a few more seeds in August for a late autumn crop as well. As for the taste, wasabi rocket really does taste like a mild wasabi, so it makes a great addition to Japanese dishes. Salmon Sashimi with Wasabi Rocket You can buy these leaves as a salad in the UK but they are quite hard to find. Asda supermarket used to sell wasabi rocket leaves but now they appear to have bundled them up with other varieties into a "strong rocket" mix. Honestly, if you have a large pot going spare or a little space in your garden, it is so easy-peasy to grow your own. (Oh, and I forgot to mention - wasabi rocket is good for you, providing iron, folate and vitamins A and C - then again, it's a green leaf vegetable, so of course it's good for you, right?) So what have I used my leaves for? Well, I've wrapped t wasabi rocket in nori and used it to flavour onigiri rice balls and I've put a few leaves into miso soup. I've also used it with salmon sashimi as a kind of Japanese-style carpaccio (see the photo above) . Does that sound good to you? If so, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Salmon sashimi with Wasabi rocket . If you want to grow your own wasabi rocket, you can find the Youtube tutorial for that by clicking Grow your own Wasabi rocket or just scroll to the bottom of the page. The easy -to-follow "how to grow" instructions are just below . Happy growing! Kurumi XXXX. How to grow Wasabi rocket. what you’ll need: 1 packet wasabi rocket seeds some small pots enough potting compost to fill the pots (larger pots for planting later) extra potting compost water how to: fill some small growing pots 3/4 full with potting compost sprinkle 4-5 seeds per pot and lightly pat the seeds into the earth cover with about 2cm of potting compost and keep the soil moist with water but not wet place in a warm sheltered spot outside or if it’s cold, indoors your seeds should germinate in about 7-10 days keep the earth damp and in 3-4 weeks, you should be able to harvest the “baby”leaves or if you wish, pot on for larger plants to pot on, I plant 2 plants in a 30cm diameter pot put the pot somewhere sunny and keep your wasabi rocket well fed & watered, especially during very hot spells you can harvest full grown leaves 3-4 weeks later (wasabi rocket is a "cut and come again" plant, so the leaves will quickly regrow to replace those you've harvested.) Wasabi Rocket

Kabocha Here's the latest in my "grow your own Japanese veggies" posts. This time, we're looking at pumpkins, or " kabocha " in Japanese. Not only are kabocha easy to grow, they also decorate your vegetable patch with lovely green tentacle stems and little flowers. I bought some seeds and planted them in potting compost in mid-April - it was already warm enough to leave them outside to germinate. This is a Kapanese variety called uchiki kiri which goes by some other names you might recognize; potimarron or onion squash - the seeds are widely available online. If you haven't tried this type of pumpkin before, you're in for a nice surprise - the flavour reminds me of chestnuts and the flesh is a lot smoother than a butternut squash. Not only that, kabocha are also very good for you - high in fibre and anti-oxidants, low in calories and a great source of potassium and other minerals as well. Uchiki Kiri seedinlg at 1 week. The seeds I planted took about a week to germinate and I let then grow to about 6-7 cms high before planting them on into deep soil dug in with plenty of fresh compost. Just keep them well watered and well fed - if the leaves begin to yellow, water and feed more. I use a tomato feed fortnightly on mine which seems to work well. In a couple of weeks you'll get the beginnings of trains of beautiful water lily-shaped leaves and then yellow flowers which develop into your Uchiki kiri kabocha at about 8 weeks. baby pumpkins like the one on the left. You don't need to do much else at this stage but do keep the pumpkins off the soil (I use up-turned plant pots) to prevent them from rotting if the weather turns very wet. Just water well and feed. if you notice the leaves becoming a bit mildewy, mist them with a 50%/ 50% mixture of water and milk and the mildew will disappear after a week or so. Your first pumpkins should be ready to harvest about 100 days from planting. The uchiki kiri variety turns a lovely fiery orange colour - before you harvest, test the skin, which should be hard to the touch. The stalk should be about 2 inches long - if not, leave the pumpkin to mature a little more. Once you've harvested your pumpkin, you can keep them for up to 3 months in a dark, cool place before using them - (some growers leave them in the sun for a week after harvesting to soak up some final rays) . I've got several recipes using Japanese pumpkins coming up - meantime, if you want to give growing your own a try, there's a short Youtube tutorial Grow your own Kabocha or scroll down to the bottom of the page. You can find the "how to grow" recipe just below. Happy growing! Kurumi XXXX. Grow your own Kabocha what you’ll need: a pack of kabocha seeds 20 cm pots potting compost water how to: plant one seed per pot at about 1 cm depth and mist with water the seeds should germinate in 5-7 days, if they don’t, just keep the earth damp and they will come! plant out in full sun when there is no chance of frost and the plants have sprouted at least 2 main leaves keep kabocha well watered and feed with tomato feed every 2 weeks as the kabocha appear, keep them supported off the ground to prevent rot in wet weather, an upturned plastic plant pot is a good way to do this the kabocha will change colour from yellow to a deep orange as they mature they are ready to harvest when the skins are hard and the stalk is about 5 cm long - this should take about 100 days Grow your own kabocha

Daikon and Cucumber salad My daikon and cucumber salad makes an ideal detox dish if you feel you've been over-doing the calories recently and want a few days of lighter eating. Of course, it's not only for detox - it is a light, fibre rich salad that'll be kind to your body and good for a guilty conscience! The salad is a simple combination of raw daikon (white radish / mouli) , cucumber and red onion, the latter soaked in water to sweeten its flavour - you can do the same with the white radish if it tastes a little bitter - just shred it and soak it for a few minutes and, like magic, the flavour will mellow. The vinaigrette combines rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds and a little honey - simple, healthy and delicious. This recipe makes a generous helping for two as a meal - otherwise you can use the same amounts for a side salad for four. You can find the written recipe just below and for the Youtube tutorial just click Daikon and Cucumber salad or scroll to the bottom of the page. Happy eating! Kurumi XXXX. Daikon & Cucumber salad. ingredients: (makes 2 generous portions) 300g white radish, peeled and halved 300g cucumber 1 small red onion for the vinaigrette 3.5 tbsps japanese rice vinegar 2 tbsps honey 2 tsp sesame oil a pinch of salt 1/2 tbsp toasted white sesame seeds how to: to make the vinaigrette: mix the rice vinegar, honey, sesame oil and salt together sugar and cooking sake and mix well to make the salad: thinly slice the onion and place in water for 10 mins slice the radish lengthways and then into fine sticks cut the cucumber diagonally then into fine sticks drain and squeeze the onion combine the vegetables and drizzle with the dressing Daikon and Cucumber salad

Oden Here's a one-pot winter warmer from Japan...Oden. While Oden might not be so well known outside of Japan, it is very popular with the Japanese - so much so that there is even a canned version - "oden-can" which is meant to be stored away as earthquake emergency food! Most people associate oden with winter although it is sold all year round - in my childhood, you would find an oden stall outside just about railway station - ideal for grabbing a quick meal on the way home from work at night. Nowadays, people who want to buy readymade oden, will mostly head for a convenience store, many of which have oden simmering away over the months of winter. But oden is really quite easy to make and there's no right or wrong ingredient - the ingredients I've used in my recipe are typical ones but there's nothing to stop you experimenting! Some of the ingredients, such as chikuwa, look a little unusual but you can buy them at Japanese and Chinese food stores. The longer you cook oden, the more the flavours from the broth are absorbed into the food - so if you have time, you can keep your oden on the hob from an extra hour at a low heat and it'll get even better! When you've made your oden, simply ladle some into a bowl, squeeze out some "karashi" (Japanese mustard) into the bowl and enjoy with an accompanying bowl of steamed rice. If you fancy trying this recipe at home, you can find the written recipe below. you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Oden or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. Ingredients: 2 servings 4 mini chikuwa* 4 baby potatoes, peeled 80g carrot, peeled & halved 2 chicken drumsticks 2 boiled eggs 4 fish balls* 4 fried fish balls* 2 fried fish patties* 4 x 1.5cm / 3/4 inch daikon/white radish, peeled 1/4 packet konnyaku* 15 cm / 7 inch piece of dried kelp for the soup: 1 tbsp japanese cooking sake 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp mirin 750 ml japanese dashi stock** * you should be able to find fish balls, fish patties and konyaku online or at an Asian food store.   ** you can use instant dashi granules or see my website for how to make a authentic japanese stock round the edges of the white radish using a knife or peeler  (this will help the daikon keep its shape once it is cooked) gently score the top & bottom of the daikon to help it absorb more flavour cut the konnyaku into 4 slices, then cut a slit inside and turn the pieces inside out put the daikon and water in a saucepan & bring to the boil add the konyaku & cook for 3 minutes, then discard the water put the stock, mirin, soy sauce & cooking sake into a large saucepan or casserole add the the chicken, bring to the boil & cook for 5 minutes, then skim off any scum from the meat add the daikon, potatoes, carrot, konyaku & kelp and cook for 5 more minutes add the rest of the ingredients and simmer over a low-medium heat for 50 - 60minutes your oden is ready. bring to the table and allow your dinners to select their choice of food from the pot serve with a bowl of rice Oden

Hayashi Rice Here is a new recipe from my friend Yumiko Nikaido who lives in Tokyo - it's called Hayashi rice - this one is perfect for those chilly autumn nights when you want something warming and hearty. I don't think anyone is sure why this dish is called "Hayashi rice" in Japan - there are various explanations - was it invented by someone called Hayashi? Is it a Japanese pronunciation of "Hashed rice"? Whatever the reason, "Hayashi rice" is a "yoshoku" dish, meaning that it is a Japanese dish made in a Western style. Personally, I like to think of it as a beef stroganoff minus the cream. If you look around the internet, you'll find there are quite a few variations for this recipe but I think this one is the best - a little spicy with that signature Japanese sweetness. Served with a bowl of steamed white rice, I can think of nothing better when the nights are closing in and Jack Frost comes a knocking. If you want to warm up a chilly evenings, you can find the the Youtube tutorial for this recipe by clicking Hayashi Rice or scroll to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. For another Japanese beef recipe, why not take a look at my traditional Gyudon beef donburi recipe? Hayashi Rice ingredients: (makes 2 servings) 200g rump steak 75g shimeji mushrooms 75g button mushrooms 180g onion 1 tbsp paprika a pinch of salt & pepper 2 tbsp plain flour 300ml hot water 1/2 beef stock cube 1 tbsp olive oil 20g butter 50ml red wine 50ml tomato ketchup 50ml bull-dog sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 dried bay leaf for serving: 300g cooked rice (wet weight) mix with 20g butter 1 tsp chopped parsley for garnishing how to: peel and cut the onion into 1cm slices put the onion & 10g of butter in a bowl, wrap with cling film and microwave for 4 mins at 600w dissolve the beef stock cubes in hot water and set aside remove the bottoms of the mushroom stalks, slice the button mushrooms and separate the shimeji mushrooms cut the beef into 5mm slices and coat with a mix of salt, pepper, paprika & flour well heat 10g butter & olive oil in a frying pan, brown the meat lightly over a medium to high heat (keep the leftover flour mixture for later use) add the microwaved onion, mushrooms & the leftover flour mixture to the pan add the beef stock and cook for 1 min add the red wine, tomato ketchup, bull-dog sauce, oyster sauce & bay leaf and simmer for 10 mins over low heat stir the rest of the butter into the rice and serve Hayashi Rice

Ribeye Katsu Now and again, I get the urge to spoil myself with a nice steak. If i'm feeling extra indulgent, instead of simply frying it, I make it into a steak katsu like the one above. If you look at my blog regularly, you'll know I like katsu dishes and this one has to be up there with the best. A thinnish, good quality steak is an ideal raw material for katsu - it cooks quickly (depending of course on how you like your steak) so there isn't too much chance of the breadcrumb coating of the katsu getting overdone when you deep fry. It's a quick dish, no more than 25 mins from prep to plate. I like my steak medium rare so I fry them for 3 - 4 minutes which leaves the centre rare. For well done, I'd fry them for 4-5 mins. I serve my ribeye katsu with a big salad but in Japan, you would find most people like a side of steamed white rice as well - (I'm just trying to keep the personal calorie count down!) If you're feeling indulgent today, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Ribeye Katsu and the written recipe here . Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. If you'd like to try a Katsu dish with fewer calories, why not try out my Chicken Katsu ? ingredients: 2 servings 2 ribeye steaks (around 250g each) 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 salt 40g plain flour 1 egg 60g panko breadcrumbs veg oil for deep frying some kitchen paper some bulldog sauce & tomato ketchup (or you might prefer mustard…) how to; season both sides of the steaks with the garlic powder, pepper & salt beat the egg and set aside coat the beef with the flour, dip in the beaten egg and coat well with the panko heat 2cm of vegetable oil to 180’C in a pan and deep fry the katsu for 3-4 mins turning a couple of times (the cooking time will vary depending on how you like your steak but keep an eye on the colour of the panko as you don't want it to burn) serve with some salad drizzle the katsu with the brown sauce / ketchup / mustard Ribeye Katsu

Japanese Hamburg steak with Daikon sauce So what exactly is a Hamburg steak? I hear you ask. The answer is very simple. Take away the bun from a hamburger and you're left with...yes, you guessed it, a Hamburg steak. As the name suggests, the Hamburg steak had it's genesis in Hamburg, Germany in the nineteenth century. The Hamburg steak found it's way to Japan via the USA during the occupation at the end of the Second World War. While the hamburger has gone on to achieve global domination since it dressed itself up inside in a bun, the Hamburg steak has fallen into something like obscurity in most places but retains its popularity in Japan. I think the reason is that the Hamburg steak consists of minced beef (although in Japan it's also made with pork) mixed with onion, some panko and some egg. It suits the Japanese tradition of eating meat in smaller pieces rather than as a steak or a similar large cut. Meat has always been (and to a degree still is today) viewed as a scarce commodity so the idea of making it go further by cutting, mincing and mixing, is still deeply rooted in the Japanese psyche. The thing I love about a Hamburg steak is that you can infuse lots of different flavours into the meat before it's cooked and you can mix up the other constituents as well - the result - more flavour and less reliance on the meat itself for satisfaction. For this Japanese Hamburg Steak with Daikon Sauce recipe, I used some mirin and soy sauce for flavouring . The daikon sauce adds still more flavour as well as providing another high fibre vegetable to your meal. If you think this is a recipe to try in your kitchen, you can find the youtube tutorial by clicking Japanese Hamburg steak with Daikon sauce or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. A similar Japanese dish to the Hamburg steak is Menchi Katsu, a panko coated minced pork meat ball. You can find the link to that recipe clicking here Menchi Katsu . Hamburg Steak ingredients: (makes 2 servings) 1/2 onion 250g minced beef 2 tbsp panko/breadcrumbs 2 tbsp milk 1/2 egg, beaten a little salt & pepper 1/2 tbsp veg oil 2 tbsp mirin 3tbsp japanese cooking sake 3 tbsp soy sauce 200g daikon/white radish how to: finely slice & chop the onion add the milk to the panko, mix and set aside for 5 mins put the minced beef in a bowl, add the onion, beaten egg, salt & pepper and the panko mixture and mix everything together well take 1/2 the minced beef mixture & shape into a burger repeat with the other 1/2 peel & halve lengthways, then slice the daikon. then put it into a blender & blend to a pulp add the mirin & blend again into a puree heat 1/2 tbsp of veg oil in a frying pan, fry the burgers for 3 mins with a lid on, then turn over and cook for another 2 mins add the cooking sake, soy sauce & daikon puree to the pan, stir the daikon puree around the hamburg steaks and cook for 5-6 mins, so that the alcohol evaporates your dish is ready - serve with a salad or vegetables Japanese Hamburg steak with Daikon sauce