Search this site

Halloween Pumpkin Muffins Halloween was never a "thing" in my childhood in Japan but it's become very popular in recent years. The pumpkin on the other hand, is a central part of Japanese cuisine - it goes into everything - soups, pickles, mixed rice and tempura. Pumpkin as an ingredient also makes for a delicious muffin so as the "trick or treat" season approaches, I thought would publish a recipe that can be used to make a delicious Halloween treat, decorated or undecorated, a pumpkin muffin. The pumpkin component adds a little richness, softness and sweetness to the pumpkin. I've used microwaved pumpkin and roast pumpkin flesh in this recipe before but the easiest route to a great tasting pumpkin muffin is to use canned pumpkin puree. This is stocked in supermarkets in the UK and as all the cans I've found are produced in the USA, it's a sure bet that you'll find it well stocked in the US as well. I'm not sure about the rest of the world but if you can't find it anywhere, as I said, roast pumpkin and microwaved pumpkin work in this recipe as well. If you choose to cook the pumpkin yourself, for the equivalent weight, I would add another 1 tbsp of milk to the recipe. I shan't go into the ins and outs of decoration here - there are lots of sites you can find with fantastic ideas for Halloween themed decorations that are done much better than I can do. Suffice to say, if you make these for Halloween, they do look rather cute with a little ghost or a "mummy" popped on the top! If this has got you in the mood for pumpkin muffin making, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Halloween Pumpkin Muffins or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy Halloween baking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 6 Halloween Pumpkin Muffins) 130g / 4.5oz canned pumpkin puree 150g / 5.3oz plain flour 1.5 tsp cinnamon powder 80g / 3oz brown sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda a pinch of salt 1 large egg 60ml / 2fl oz vegetable oil 1 tbsp milk 6 muffin cases oven temperature 180C / 350F convection setting. a block of sugar icing if you wish to decorate. how to: combine the plain flour, cinnamon, baking powder, biocarbonate of soda, and salt in a bowl and mix well break the egg into in a mixing bowl. add the vegetable oil and milk and whisk together. add the sugar and whisk again sieve the flour mixture into the egg mix and gently mix together. then, add the pumpkin puree and mix together again into a smooth muffin mix turn on your oven to a convection setting at 180 C / 350 F. spoon the muffin mixture into the 6 muffin cases. cook for 20 - 25 minutes. (22 minutes works perfectly in my oven but check after 20 minutes and see whether you need to give them a little more time in your oven leave to cool for 30 minutes. serve "as is" or decorate on a Halloween theme Halloween Pumpkin Muffins

Miso Yaki Udon This recipe comes courtesy of my collaborator, Yumiko Nikaido who resides in Tokyo. It's a very simple stir fry dish that's easy to create and very quick to prepare. The flavours are quite typical for a Japanese noodle dish but with the added richness and umami of miso and a little kick from the generous use of black pepper and a dash of hot sesame oil just before serving. The recipe uses pork but works very well with chicken and beef as well. As a planet friendly alternative, you won't lose any flavour if you go completely meat free either - just increase the amount of vegetables you plough into the recipe. I use a mild, rather sweet miso when I make this dish but it works well with darker, saltier varieties of miso as well. If you're just starting out with miso, just remember the general rule: the darker the miso, the stronger and saltier the flavour - choose the miso according to your own taste preference and you won't go wrong. As I said above, this is a very simple dish to make. You can have it ready in less than 30 minutes. If this makes you want to introduce some noodles into your culinary life, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Miso Yaki Udon or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy stir frying! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 2 servings) 1/4 sweet pointed cabbage 1/2 red bell pepper 1/2 small-medium carrot 200g / 7oz belly pork some black pepper 2 portions of Japanese udon noodles, fresh or frozen some dried chilli flakes (as much as you wish) 1 tsp garlic paste a dash of hot sesame oil (or chilli oil) for the stir fry sauce; 1 tbsp cooking sake 1 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp mirin 2 tbsp miso paste a dash of pepper 1 tbsp vegetable oil how to: first, prepare the vegetables: chop the cabbage into large chunks. remove the seeds and cut the red bell pepper into thin strips. last, slice the carrot and then cut into matchsticks slice the belly pork into small chunks and sprinkle generously with black pepper next, make the stir fry sauce: combine the cooking sake, soy sauce, mirin and miso in a bowl. add another dash of black pepper. mix into a sauce and then set aside now to stir fry: heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. add the sliced pork and stir fry for about 2 minutes add the vegetables to the pan and stir fry for another 2 minutes now, add the stir fry sauce, garlic paste, dried chilli flakes and the udon. stir fry for another 3 minutes and your dish is ready to serve plate up and drizzle with a little sesame oil over the top Miso Yaki Udon

Kaki Persimmon and Parma ham salad with Balsamic glaze Persimmon is called Kaki in Japan. The Kaki Persimmon ranks as one of my favourite fruits - it's soft, very sweet and has a beautiful mellow orange colour. This delicious fruit has a long history in Japan, having been introduced from China about 1500 years ago. Depending on where you live, you might know the kaki as a persimmon. As I live in the UK, most of the kaki I buy either come from Spain (where they are called "kaqui") or Israel (where they are known as a "Sharon fruit".) Kaki are very good for you and contain lots of fibre along with Vitamin A and C, phosphorous, potassium and calcium. The kaki is a winter fruit and is in season from October to January, so availability is just around the corner. I usually buy as many as I can and then ripen them in stages. I'll pop some in the fridge to slow them down, some in the fruit bowl, where they can take a couple of weeks during winter to soften, and then some more in a small cardboard box with some bananas which speeds the ripening process. That way, I can have some in my home until February the following year. You can test a kaki for ripeness by simply giving it a little squeeze - if it gives a little, then it is ready for this receipe. You can enjoy eating kaki by themselves but personally, I like to use some of mine in salads when they are at an early stage of ripeness and still quite firm and just a little less sweet. My Kaki and Parma ham salad recipe actually comes from Japan where it has been popular for a few years now. I pair it with a balsamic vinegar dressing that I reduce down to a glaze with some honey. I can honestly say it is one of the tastiest salads out there. Kaki Persimmon and Parma ham salad with Balsamic graze is a very straightforward dish to make. Most of the fruit / vegetable is raw so only requires a little rinsing and cutting. The one exception is the aubergine / eggplant, which I fry with some salt and pepper. The balsamic vinegar glaze takes about 5 - 6 minutes to reduce to a more gooey consistency. Then it is simply a matter of assembling and enjoying. As I mentioned above, this Kaki Persimmon and Parma ham salad with Balsamic graze works best with kaki that are still quite firm. An overripe kaki would be likely to be a little too soft to cut into pieces and make things a little messy. My only other tip is that if you over reduce the glaze and it becomes too stiff, then you can easily reverse the process by reheating and adding a little more vinegar to loosen it again. So, there you have it - a delicious, healthy salad that you can make in 20 minutes from start to finish. The servings below are ample enough to use as a lunch or supper. If you would like to give this recipe a try, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Kaki Persimmon Parma Ham salad with Balsamic glaze or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes two servings) 120g / 4oz salad leaves 1/3 large aubergine/eggplant 1/2 tbsp olive oil salt & pepper 10 baby tomatoes, rinsed 1 avocado 1 kaki / persimmon 5 large slices of parma ham 100ml / 3.5floz balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp honey how to: first, rinse salad leaves. (any salad leaves will do - I used a mix of red and green lettuce leaves.) cut the piece of aubergine / eggplant in half longways and then slice the two halves. then, cut the slices in half again. soak the pieces in water for about 10 minutes to remove the slightly bitter flavour of the flesh to make the balsamic glaze, measure 100ml / 3.5floz of balsamic vinegar into a small pan. add the honey and boil for about 5 minutes, until it has reduced to about 2/3rds of the original amount prepare a medium frying pan with 1/2 tbsp of olive oil over a medium heat. add the aubergine / eggplant pieces and season with a little salt & pepper. fry until slightly coloured and softened which should take 3 - 4 minutes slice all the baby tomatoes in half cut the avocado in half and remove the stone. peel and then slice the halves into 7 - 8 slices each cut off the top from the kaki / persimmon and peel, then cut the fruit into quarters. remove the white core from the four quarters and then cut into chunks cut the parma ham slices into thirds. roll each piece into a little parcel to plate up, make a bed of salad leaves on each plate. add the aubergine / eggplant, avocado, parma ham, kaki/persimmon pieces and tomatoes last, dress with your balsamic glaze Kaki Persimmon and Parma ham salad with Balsamic glaze

Satsuma Fruit Sando Now and then, I get the urge to make myself a naughty but nice treat and what could be naughtier and nicer than a Japanese fruit sando? Soft white bread, whipped double cream and some fruits - in this case, a whole satsuma (or tangerine or clementine, if you prefer) along with half of a kiwi, all formed so that when cut, the sando's contents resemble a cute flower, complete with leaves and stalk. Pretty and utterly delicious but a little bit naughty so definitely not a recipe for everyday consumption! Making these little treats is really simplicity itself. Two slices of white bread, some double cream whipped until firm, the eponymous satsuma and a half of kiwi is all you will need. There's no cooking involved, just a 30 minute rest in the fridge to firm up the sandwich once you've created it. You can make one of these in 15 minutes. What are my tips to produce a Satsuma fruit sandwich? First, you must get your double cream nice and firm. I use a electric whisk to achieve this quickly - use a hand whisk by all means but it will take that much longer. Second, use the smallest satsuma, tangerine or clementine you can find. That way making the sandwich will be easier and the fruit won't force the bread slices apart. Third, as the satsuma goes in whole, I retain the crusts on two sides of the slices of bread to preserve a little more structure. Usually, when you make a Japanese fruit sando, you would remove all four crusts but because of the size of the satsuma, I find it helps to retain the crusts on two sides. Fourth, you might be forgiven when you make your first sando for thinking, "this looks such a mess!" Well, don't worry, the messy bit gets covered up when you make your sandwich. Fifith, use the sharpest knife in your drawer when you cut the sandwich - that way you get the best possible finish and there's no cream smeared across the satsuma or kiwi, so you get a beautiful, vivid impression of a flower in a sandwich! That's about it really. Some recipes insist on square slices of bread but I don't think it's essential. I've used various bread brands to make these and they all seem to work fairly well as long as the bread is thinly sliced and therefore easy to form aound the fruit. So, what's stopping you? Make up a plate of these for your friends when you want a few "Wows" and "Yums" echoing around your kitchen! If this introduction has put you in the mood for a little Japanese treat, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Satsuma fruit Sando or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy eating! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 1 Satsuma fruit sando) 2 thin slices of white bread 1 small satsuma / clementine / tangerine 1/2 kiwi 1 - 1.5 tbsp sugar 100 ml / 3.5 floz double cream a large square of cling film to wrap the sando peel the satsuma and remove as many of the stringy bits from the fruit as you can cut off the ends of the kiwi, then cut in half. (you will only need half of the kiwi to make one sando.) stand one half of the kiwi on its end and cut 1 thin slice. use a sharp knife to remove the skin and set aside remove the skin from the rest of half kiwi and then lay flat and slice into 4 pieces combine the sugar and cream in a tall container or a deep bowl and whip until thickened to a firm consistency - the cream should be form enough not to drop off the whisk now move to the bread - lay the two slices on a cutting board and remove two of the 4 crusts to create your sando, spread an even layer of cream on the two slices of bread. the cream should be at least 6mm \ 1/4 inch thick next, position the bread with the corners north, south, east and west in a diamond shape. place the satsuma on its side near the top of the top corner. (when you cut the sando, you will then see the satsuma flesh resembling a flower.) next put 2 small pieces kiwi under the satsuma. cover these with a layer of cream. then put the larger slice of kiwi on the top. cover that with cream too. place the other 2 small kiwi pieces on top and cover with cream again now, use the rest of the cream to cover the whole of the satsuma - so that you end up with a sausage shape of double cream down the middle of the slice of bread next, gently place the second slice of bread over the cream and fruit. press down gently now, wrap the sando carefully in the cling film and press down a little more firmly to shape the sando. restthe sando in your fridge for at least 30 minutes just before serving, cut the sando in half to creat two triangular halves. (make sure you cut in the right direction to create the flower effect.) once made, your Satsuma fruit sando should keep in the fridge for a day or two but they are best eaten straight away! Satsuma Fruit Sando

Bacon wrapped Enoki mushrooms This recipe comes courtesy of one of my Instagram followers - Carolina from France. It's a dish that in Japan is made with very thinly sliced pork and is called, Enoki no Niku Maki - Meat (meaning Pork in this case) Wrapped Enoki. I think that maybe Carolina's version is better - in place of the thinly sliced pork (which is quite hard to find outside of Asia,) this recipe uses rashers of streaky bacon which adds an extra, smoky depth to the flavour - if you are a mushroom lover (and have no problem eating bacon) , I suggest you try these - they really are quite scrumptious. The recipe itself is very simple - along with the bacon and enoki mushrooms, you'll need some honey and soy sauce and that's it. I garnished the dish above with some finely sliced spring onion but that's just for a little colour contrast and you can dispense with it if you wish. These make a great starter or a finger food at a party. They also serve well as a meat dish in a multi dish meal. If this sounds like a recipe that you would like to try, then you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Bacon wrapped Enoki Mushrooms or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 10 enoki parcels) 10 rashers of streaky bacon 100g / 4oz enoki mushrooms, rinsed for the sauce; 1 tbsp honey 1 tbsp soy sauce 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil how to: in a small bowl, mix the honey and soy sauce together, then set aside next, remove the root from the rinsed enoki mushrooms. using your fingers, tear off 10 little parcels. try to keep the parcels the same size roll each enoki parcel in a rasher of streaky bacon. make sure you cover most of the enoki stalks but leave the ends of the parcels open. make up 10 parcels heat the vegetable oil in a medium frying pan. place the parcel with the bacon rasher end on the bottom (this will seal the wrap as the bacon cooks.) fry the parcels with the lid on for about 3 minutes or until the bacon is lightly browned. as the bacon cooks, use a fork or chopsticks to turn the parcels over. cook for a couple of minutes until lightly browned. adjust the heat if the bacon begins to burn keep turning the bacon parcels until they are browned all over while the parcels are still in the pan, drizzle over the honey and soy sauce mixture. roll the parcels around to get them well coated and then turn off the heat serve immediately Bacon wrapped Enoki mushrooms

Easy instant Yakisoba Pan The Japanese have grown to love their convenience foods since fast food stores first started up in the country in the 1950s. One perennial favourite is Yakisoba Pan. As the name suggests, Yakisoba Pan consists of two main parts - Yakisoba fried noodles and "pan" which is the Japanese name for bread, deriving from the French term for bread. (This was one of my favourite after school treats with my friends on the walk home from high school.) With many Japanese foods, there is often a story behind the food and Yakisoba Pan is no exception. In post-war Japan, a hungry population needed to be fed, so restaurants devised various cheap and cheerful meals to meet this demand and one such food was Yakisoba - fried soba noodles were cheap and quick to produce. Paired with some fried cabbage and a generous portion of Japanese brown sauce, Yakisoba made for a filling, satisfying any time street meal (although Yakisoba was and still is a big favourite to make at home too.) In restaurants and stalls, Yakisoba was often served with bread to wipe up any remaining sauce from the plate. Legend has it that one diner suggested serving Yakisoba on bread to soak up the sauce and make it easier without any waste. Thus, Yakisoba Pan was born. (Whether this is true of not, but it does make for a good story!) My authentic but easy recipe for Yakisoba Pan cuts a few corners and swaps out a few ingredients to make this dish easier to create without having to purchase special ingredients: First, I use instant noodles that you can buy in a pack in just about any store. (This is a fast food dish after all!) I used Nissin brand instant noodles but I'm sure other brands work equally as well. Second, although Yakisoba Pan usually has a topping of powdered nori seaweed (aonori) and shredded, pickled red ginger (beni shoga) , I dispense with these and use the seasoning from the instand noodle pack instead along with some Japanese mayo. For a colour replacement for the (red) beni shoga, I fry a little red pepper along with the noodles and cabbage. Third, I don't use butter on the bread rolls. Some recipes do advise this, but as far as I remember, a proper Yakisoba Pan comes unbuttered. (Butter was an expensive commodity back in the day in Japan!) Fourth, I use some mayo at the end for some extra flavour. Yakisoba Pan isn't a highly seasoned dish, but modern tastes want more flavouring, so I add this for an extra layer. By all means, if you think it's too much, then dispense with this step. Making Yakisoba Pan is very easy - 30 minutes tops to prepare. It's suitable for a filling (and high in carbs) lunch or snack for growing children and is great for picnics. (Although Yakisoba Pan is best eaten immediately, they will keep for a few hours - just leave the seasoning and mayo until you eat them.) I usually make two Yakisoba Pan per person as a serving. It's funny, two of these on a plate always looks a little dauntiing but somehow everyone always manages to gobble them up! If you would like to see how to make your own Yakisoba Pan, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Yakisoba Pan or just scroll to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy Cooking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 4 Yakisoba Pan rolls) 4 hotdog rolls 1 packet instant yakisoba noodle 1 large sweet pointed cabbage leaf a small piece of red bell pepper about 2 in / 5 cm long 1 - 1.5 tbsp Bulldog sauce or yakisoba sauce 250ml water (or according to the instructions on the packet) some mayo for a final drizzle how to: slice the hot dog rolls down the middles but make sure you don't cut all the way through cut the cabbage leaf in half. remove the thick midvein, then roll up and shred slice the pepper into small rectangular pieces to make the yakisoba noodles, boil bring water to the boil in a frying pan. add the instant noodles and the shredded cabbage to the pan. cook for 2 - 3 mins or until the water is mostly absorbed into the noodles. (the cooking time may vary depending on the noodle brand, so check the instructions on the packet.) add the sachet of sauce from the packet, the chopped pepper and the Bulldog brown sauce and stir fry for about 1 minute lay your 4 hotdog rolls on a plate or chopping board. carefully fill the rolls with about a quarter of the yakisoba noodles each finally, drizzle over some mayonnasie and the seasoning from the instant noodle packet Easy instant Yakisoba Pan

Yaki Onigiri in Ochazuke This recipe was provided by my good friend Yumiko who lives in Tokyo. It's a combination which on the face of it is sounds quite plain and simple. But this is one of those recipes which is deceptive - the sum of the parts turns out to be a lot greater than the whole. Translated into English, Yaki Onigiri in Ochazuke reads as pan fried rice balls (the yaki onigiri bit) in a Japanese clear soup (the ochazuke bit). If you've browsed my site or other Japanese cooking sites, you've probably come across both of these foods. Onigiri rice balls are one of Japan's oldest foods and ochazuke isn't far behind. But, you might not have come across a recipe which combines them like this as it's a relatively new idea. The key to getting this dish right comes down to two things: First, a really tasty, umami-laden clear ochazuke soup. If you were pushed for time, you could cut a corner and use an instant dashi stock as the base for your ochazuke. But doing this, you would miss out on the wonderfully rich umami flavour that only a made from scratch dashi stock can produce. (On the other hand, if you want to practice getting your pan fried onigiri perfect, you could test tun the recipe using instant dashi stock...) For a hand made dashi stock, you'll need two essential ingredients - dried konbu (which you might know as kelp) and katsuobushi dried bonito flakes. You can buy these online or in many Asian or Japanese food stores. If you like your Japanese food, these should be two essentials in your larder. (As ever, I should add that you don't need to discard the used konbu and katsuobushi - you can use them in other dishes.) The second key is getting a nicely formed, slightly crispy onigiri rice ball. Forming your onigiri rice ball isn't two difficult. You're looking for a roughly triangular shape that you create by making your hands into a cupped shape. (Take a look at the Youtube tutorial for a visual demo of how to achieve this.) Once the rice balls are formed, they go into a pan and get fried in a little sesame oil that imparts a delicious woody, smoky flavour - a wonderful complement to the umami aromas in the ochazuke clear soup. The other flavours that go into the onigiri come from a mixture of those two Japanese culinary mainstays - soy sauce and mirin. The onigiri get fried long enough just to lightly brown all over - that way you get the lovely crispy on the outside, soft on the inside texture and, most importantly, your onigiri won't fall apart in the soup! Once you've prepared the ochazuke and onigiri, all that remains is to combine the two in serving balls. I use some garnishes to provide another level of flavour - some celery laves (in Japan, I would use mitsuba but you will find celery more easily), toasted white sesame seeds, some wasabi and a half sheet of dried nori seaweed cut into matchsticks. Then, just enjoy - I think you might be pleasantly surprised by the depth and complexity of flavour in this seemingly simple fare. If this has got you in an onigiri/ochazuke frame of mind, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Yaki Onigiri in Ochazuke or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 2 servings) 400g / 14oz cooked Japanese rice 10g / 0.35oz dried konbu (kelp) 20g / 0.7oz katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) 1 litre / 1.8pints water for the garnish: 2 tsp toasted white sesame seeds a few springs of celery leaves (or mitsuba, if you can find / grow it) 1/2 nori sheet (seaweed sheet) a little wasabi paste for the onigir rice balls: 2 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp mirin for the dashi stock ochazuke: 1 tsp salt 2 tsp soy sauce 2 tsp sesame oil or vegetable oil you'll also need a square of cling film and a sheet of kitchen paper or a muslin cloth how to: first, cook your Japanese rice either using a rice cooker or a sauce pan. you will need 400g / 14oz of cooked rice to make 4 onigiri rice balls to prepare the dashi stock for the ochazuke clear soup, put the water and dried kelp into a saucepan. leave for 30 minutes for the flavour of the kelp to infuse into the water meanwhile, fold the 1/2 nori sheet in half, cut into two and then cut into matchsticks and set aside next combine the 2 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of mirin in a small bowl. microwave for 1 minute on 600W and set aside. (this technique is called "ni-kiri" in Japanese and is usually done in a saucepan to boil of the alcohol content of the mirin. I use the microwave for speed and convenience. you can skip this step if you wish. PS: don't use a higher microwave setting or it will boil over!) now back to the dashi stock. when the 30 minutes is up, turn on the heat to low / medium and bring the kelp and water in the saucepan to the boil, then turn off the heat at once. remove the kelp, then add the dried bonito flakes to the saucepan. leave for 2 - 3 minutes when the bonito flakes have sunk to the bottom of the saucepan, use the sieve with either a muslin cloth or kitchen paper to filter the dashi stock next, return the dashi stock to the pan. turn the heat to medium. add 1 tsp of salt and 2 tsp of soy sauce and mix briefly before setting aside now to make your yaki onigiri rice balls: add roughly half of the soy sauce and mirin mixture to your cooked rice and mix together well now, take a square of cling film and lay it on your counter top or table. use a spatula or spoon to divide the rice in the bowl into 4 equal portions take 1 portion of the rice and place it in the centre of the cling film. use your hands to lightly form the rice into a triangular shape ball. (be careful not to squash the rice too hard.) repeat with the other 3 portions of rice to form 4 onigiri now, pour about 2 tsp of sesame oil into a hot frying pan. place the 4 onigiri in the pan and fry for about 1- 2 minutes until the onigiri are lightly browned. flip the onigir and fry again for about 1 minute until lightly browned on both sides. next, stand the onigiri on their sides and fry to get them browned and crispy all over last, flip the onigiri onto their backs again and turn off the heat. pour the remaining soy / mirin mixture over the onigiri to serve, place 2 yaki onigiri each into two serving bowls. pour the hot ochzuke over the yaki onigiri. add the celery leaves, sesame seeds and a little wasabi paste on the side. lastly, sprinkle over the nori matchsticks Yaki Onigiri in Ochazuke

Vietnamese style Noodle Salad I am a big fan of Vietnamese food - I love the lightness of the dishes and the subtle sweet and sour aromas of the food. This noodle salad is my creation based on a Vietnamese style dressing and bean thread vermicelli noodles. It's light, fragrant and a makes for a great summer lunch or supper dish. It's also quick to prepare and really dead simple. The ingredients for this noodle salad are all fairly easy to find if you don't already have them waiting in your fridge or larder. The three slightly left field things you'll need are bottles of oyster sauce and fish sauce for your sweet and sour dressing and a packet of bean thread vermicelli noodles. Apart from that, you'll need a little coriander and/or mint, a couple of cloves of garlic, a couple of limes and then some really standard kitchen mainstays; a chicken breast, carrot, cucumber, a dried chilli and some lettuce leaves - that doesn't sound too daunting, does it?. There's some slicing and mincing involved, a little stir frying and that's about it really. Twenty minutes should get you there. As for the vermicelli noodles, just plunge these into a pan of boiling water, turn off the heat immediately and then wait 5 minutes and they'll be done - what could be simpler? I suggest you give it a try! If this recipe has got your taste buds going, then you can find the Youtube tutuorial by clicking Vietnamese style Noodle Salad or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Nau An Vui Ve! (That's Happy Cooking in Vietnamese!) Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: 2 servings for the sweet & sour dressing: 2 cloves of garlic a little dried chilli (to your taste) 1.5 tbsp sugar 2 tbsp fish sauce juice of 2 limes 2 tbsp cold water 60g / 2oz carrot, peeled 60g / 2oz cucumber 60g /2 oz lettuce 1 chicken breast for the chicken breast marinade: black pepper 1 tsp sugar 1/2 tbsp fish sauce 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce 2 bundles dried vermicelli noodles (about 100g /3.5oz) 1 tsp vegetable oil a handful of fresh mint and/or coriander how to: first, to make the dressing: slice and mince the garlic cloves and put them in a small bowl slice up as much dried chill as you like and add it to the bowl add 1.5 tbsp of sugar & 2 tbsp of fish sauce halve the limes, squeeze out the juice and add to the bowl add 2 tbsp of water and stir well next, slice the carrot & cucumber and cut julienne style into matchsticks slice up the lettuce leaves lay the chicken breast on a chopping board and cut into two schnitzel style fillets. slice into strips and put into a second bowl sprinkle the chicken with some black pepper. add 1 tsp of sugar, 1/2 tbsp of fish sauce and 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce. stir together well bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. drop in the vermicelli noodles and turn off the heat. leave the noodles to soften which should take about 5 minutes (the time may vary according to the brand, so please check the packaging for instructions) drain the noodles and using a pair of scissors, cut them 3 or 4 times to make them shorter (which makes them easier to eat) next, cook your chicken. heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil in a small frying pan. add the chicken and stir fry for 4-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through now to plate up: add half of the noodles to each serving bowl. then, place half of the lettuce, cucumber, carrot and chicken on top of the noodles garnish with some chopped mint and/or coriander leaves just before eating, spoon over the sweet and sour dressing Vietnamese style Noodle Salad

Fried Aubergine-Eggplant and Beef Patties in Teriyaki sauce Are these sandwiches? Or might you call them Fried Aubergine-Eggplant and Beef Patties in Teriyaki sauce? In Japanese, they're called "nasu no hasami yaki' which translates as "fried folded eggplant". Whatever you choose to call them, I can assure you they make an unusually deliciously lunch, dinner or suppertime treat and a great way to use aubergine-eggplant in your cooking. You start with a large aubergine-eggplant, one of Japan's most popular vegetables - called nasu in Japanese. One large eggplant should be sufficient for 2 servings. Slice it into 16 - 18 slices. The slices should each be about 1/4 inch or 7 mm thick, which means they will cook quite quickly and allow the beef inside to cook as well. As you probably know, eggplant can have a slightly bitter taste when cooked. The way to remove this taste is to give the slices a bath in cold water for around 15 minutes. If the pieces float in the water, just put a small plate or saucer on the top to keep them immersed. While your aubergine-eggplant slices are having their bath, you can prepare your "sandwich filling". In Japan, a pork or chicken filling is normally the way to go, but I use beef in my recipe for a richer flavour and also because it goes great with the teriyaki sauce that i use to finsh the dish off. The filling is a combination of minced beef, minced shiitake mushroom and minced spring onions. This is all bound together with a tablespoon of plain flour and seasoned with salt and pepper. Give it all a good mix and then use your hands to knead the mix into a nice sticky lump. Next, bring the aubergine-eggplant slices out of their bath and pat dry. Pair the slices so each pair are the same size (IE, pair them in the order that you cut them.) You should end up with 8 or 9 pairs. They will vary in size but that is part of the charm of this recipe, I think. Now, using your hands, you scoop up a small lump (maybe 1 heaped tbsp) of the patty mix and place it on one of the eggplant slices. Gently press to form the patty to match the eggplant slice in size. (The Youtube tutorial below shows you how to do this.) Next, place the other eggplant slice from the pair on top. Press down gently to form your sandwich. Repeat until you've used up all the eggplant slices. Now you are ready to fry your aubergine-eggplant sandwiches. Pour about 2 tbsp of vegetable oil into a hot frying pan and adjust the heat to medium. (Depending on the size of your frying pan, you might need to cook your aubergine (eggplant) sandwiches in two batches, which is what I do.) Fry for 5 minutes on the medium heat then gently turn the sandwiches over and fry for a further 4 minutes. When the 4 minutes are up, I usually flip once more and cook for a final 2 minutes to make sure that the beef patty is nicely cooked through. If any of the patties still look a little "oozy" then use chopsticks or a pair of forks to hold them upright and cook the edges a little. (Watch the Youtube tutorial and you'll see what I mean.) Once this is done, remove the aubergine (eggplant) and beefpattes sandwiches from the pan onto a square of kitchen paper to rest. Finally, you can use the same pan to create your drizzling triyaki sauce - this is a mixture of brown sugar, cooking sake, mirin and soy sauce. You turn the heat up to high and boil to reduce the sauce by a bout a third and evaporate the alcohol, which should take 3 to 4 minutes. The result is a lovely teriyaki sauce with a sweet soy flavour - it's an ideal accompaniment to your aubergine-eggplant and beef patties in teriyaki sauce. Now, all that remains is to plate up and enjoy. (I guarantee, you will enjoy these!) If this recipe has got your digestive juices flowing, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Fried Aubergine-Eggplant and Beef Patties in Teriyaki sauce or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. PS. If you're just starting your Japanese cooking journey, you can find all the ingredients you need at Morueats (UK only). ingredients: (make 2 servings) 1 large eggplant-aubergine 1 fresh shiitake mushroom 3 spring onions 200g / 7oz minced beef a little salt & pepper 1 tbsp plain flour 3 - 4 tbsp corn flour 2 - 3 tbsp vegetable oil for the teriyaki sauce: 2 tbsp brown sugar 3 tbsp cooking sake 3 tbsp soy sauce 3 tbsp mirin how to: The first thing to do is prepare the vegetables. Slice the aubergine-eggplant with each slice being about 1/4inch or 7 mm in thickness. A large eggplant should give you about 16 - 18 slices. When you have sliced up the eggplant, place the slices in a bowl and cover with water for around 15 minutes. This will remove the bitterness. If the slices float, place a small plate on top of them to keep them under the water. When the 15 minutes is up, drain the slices and set aside. Next, thinly slice the rinsed shiitake mushroom, then mince the slices and put them in a small bowl. Remove the root ends of spring onions. Slice and mince them as you did with the mushroom. When you've finished mincing, add them to the bowl along with the minced shiitake mushroom. Next, put the minced beef in a large bowl. Add the minced shiitake and spring onion. Season with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and the tablespoon of plain flour. Mix everything together really well until you have a lump of raw beef and vegetables for your patties. Set up your eggplant slices in pairs that are roughly the same size. Then, take up about 1 - 1.5 heaped tablespoonfuls of the beef mixture in your hand. Take 1 eggplant slice in your other hand and put the beef mixture onto the slice. Using your fingers, gently spread the mixture evenly until it matches the size of the eggplant slice. Then, take the second slice to create your "sandwich". Lightly press the slices together and shape the beef patty inside until you get an even filling. Repeat with the rest of eggplant slices and the rest of the beef patty mixture. Next, spoon 3 - 4 tbsp of cornflour into a small bowl. Cover each eggplant sandwich in a good coating of cornflour including the edges. Now, onto the cooking. Heat 2 - 3 tbsp of vegetable oil in a hot frying pan. Adjust the heat to medium and place the eggplant sandwiches in the pan. (You may need to fry in two batches). Fry for 5 minutes over the medium heat. After 5 minutes, flip the sandwiches over and cook for another 4 minutes, then flip them again and cook for about another 2 minutes to make sure that the beef patty mixture is cooked. If not, you can flip the eggplant sandwiches again and fry another 1 - 2 minutes. When they're done remove the eggplant sandwiches to a plate with a square of kitchen paper to rest. Next, use the same pan to make your quick teriyaki sauce. Combine the sugar, cooking sake, soy sauce and mirin in the frying pan. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to the boil. Stir to dissolve the sugar and keep boiling until the alcohol has evaporated and the teriyaki sauce reduced by about one third. This should take about 3 - 4 minutes. Plate up your eggplant sandwiches and drizzle over the teriyaki sauce. Fried Aubergine-Eggplant and Beef Patties in Teriyaki sauce

No Cook Vegan Dashi A good umami-rich dashi is one of the foundations of Japanese cuisine as you probably know. But for vegans, there's a problem with dashi - it is made with katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes) which is a fish product. So, if you don't want any animal products in your food, here's the good news - you can make your own fragrant Japanese dashi stock without using katsubushi. It gets better too - there's absolutely no cooking required! All you need to make a no cook vegan dashi is three ingredients: cold water, shiitake mushrooms and a piece of dried konbu (kelp.) This no cook dashi is made at least 24 hours in advance of when it will be needed. It spends that time in the fridge with the shiitake and konbu slowly releasing their subtle umami flavours into the water. What you get is a fragrant stock - not as rich as a dashi stock prepared with katsuobushi but a very good substitute which is ideal for Japanese o-sumashi clear soups and vegetable ramen and udon dishes. So, if you want to try out what must be the easiest ever vegan dashi stock recipe, you can watch the Youtube tutorial by clicking No Cook Vegan Japanese Dashi or just scroll to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX ingredients: (makes 1 litre / 2 pints of stock) 10g / 0.3 oz dried kelp/konbu 5g / 0.2 oz dried shiitake mushrooms 1 litre / 2 pints of cold water a sealable container or large screw top bottle how to: rinse the dried shiitake mushrooms lightly with some water to remove any bits pour the water into your container or bottle. add the shiitake wipe the konbu with a damp cloth or kitchen paper. you don't need to get it wet, just remove anything on the surface. add the konbu to the water refridgerate for 24 hours next day, remove the kelp/konbu and shiitake mushrooms from the container and you no cook vegan dashi stock is ready to use. you can keep it for up to 14 days in the fridge No Cook Vegan Dashi

Sakuraco Every now and again, I get approached to feature merchandise on my blog and Instagram channel. Most of the time, I turn these offers down - either the product is not connected to Japanese food and cooking or the product just isn't something I could honestly recommend to my readers. But once in a while, something comes along which hits the spot, being both relevant and a great idea. The Sakuraco - delicious Japanese gift boxes are one of those products. Heritage of Hiroshima by Sakuraco The idea behind Sakaraco is to give buyers the opportunity to sample a wide variety of traditional Japanese snacks and cookies delivered to you from Japan. The snacks and cookies come from some of the many small, artisanal makers in Japan - the kind of makers you'd otherwise never have the opportunity to find without visiting Japan. Along with the snacks and cookies, Sakurco also supplies an item of Japanese chinaware, in this case a small ceramic plate, ideal for serving your Japanese snacks. Sakuraco changes the theme of their gift hampers monthly. The box shown above is their Heritage of Hiroshima gift hamper which sources its contents from Hiroshima Prefecture. Heritage of Hiroshima by Sakuraco Inside the box, you'll find Strawberry Baumkuchen, Setouchi Sudachi Noriten, Setouchi Hassaku jelly, Setouchi Lemon Jelly, Muscat Grape Gummies, White Peach Castella, Oyster soy sauce Arare, Setouchi Lemon Kaki no Tane, Kudzu Yu, two tea bags, Shio Dare Senbei, Kyoho Grape chocolate Crunch, Setouchi Lemon Cookies, White Peach Drayaki and a small plate. If you haven't already heard about the quality of Japanese confectionary and snack-making, you'll be convinced after you've tried some of the goodies in this box! Sakuraco sell their Japanese gift hampers by subscription. You can buy a one-month subscription which means you'll get one box, up to a twelve-month subscription, meaning one hamper each month for twelve months. A gift hamper like this makes a great, unusual gift that's bound to delight anybody that's interested in Japan or just in trying different foods from around the world. Sakuraco - delicious Japanese gift boxes come very highly recommended! If this article has got your mouth watering, you can buy a subscription via my site by clicking the following affiliate link: https://sakura.co/?rfsn=7977460.f736f5 . (In the interests of of transparency, I receive a small commission for every subscription sold via kurumicooks.co.uk.) Happy snacking! Kurumi XXXX

Burger Musubi Like me, you may be partial to the occasional hamburger. For many Japanese of a certain age, a McDonald's Burger - (or make that a MakaDonaldo as the Japanese pronounce it) used to be a big childhood in the 1970s. Like most foods that the Japanese adopt as their own, the taste gets adapted over time to better suit local palates. One innovation that a Japanese rival to McDonald's called MosBurger (Mountain Ocean Sun Burger - don't ask me why!) introduced in the 1980s was the rice burger. Rice burgers were a great idea, especially if you found dry, spongy burger buns a bit of a disappointment. But there was a catch with the rice burger - it had to be served in a paper wrap because the rice was too soft to hold its shape - out of the wrapper, it would simply fall apart - not great for a "food on the go". But there are some neat solutions to this problem, like my burger musubi recipe presented here. First, you can shape the rice using a mould and then fry it for a few minutes. Frying the rice makes the starch bind the grains of together into a much more solid form. This is the hack I use to make my burger musubi "rice buns" and I find that the rice does become firm enough to be able to pick up and hold just like a burger bun. Second, you can wrap the rice and burger in a half sheet of nori seaweed. So, how do I make these and what do you need to make this recipe? The only piece of "kit" you will need is a musubi mould. This is a small rectangular mould made of of food grade plastic with a small lid like the ones you can see below. These are quite cheap - you can buy them online for Musubi Mould around £4 / $5. As for the ingredients, you'll need a couple of burgers to make four burger musubi. Obviously, you'll need some cooked Japanese rice. (The rice has to be a short grain "sticky" variety or the grains won't bind together.) For this recipe, I flavour the burgers with teriyaki sauce. I also add a slice of cheddar cheese but this is a "naughty but nice" option that you can omit if you prefer. (I just can't resist cheese!) The only other thing you will need are a couple of sheets of nori and you'll be good to go! If the photo above isn't enough to get you drooling just a little bit, then let me assure you, once you've tried one or two of these little beauties, you might never want a burger in a bread bun again. Really! If you want to try this out, you can find the Youtube tutorial by clicking Burger Musubi or by scrolling to the bottom of the page. The written recipe is just below. Happy cooking! Kurumi XXXX. ingredients: (makes 4 musubi burgers) 400g / 14oz cooked Japanese rice, (to make 4 "rice buns") 2 quarterpound burgers (ready made) 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp teriyaki sauce 2 sliced cheese 2 sheets of nori some mayo 1 small bowl of water 1 musubi mould and lid first, cook the burgers according to the instructions on the pack. I fry the burgers for this recipe in a dry for 10 minutes on each side over a medium heat meanwhile, dip your musubi mould in the bowl of water. with the mould wet, you're less likely to get rice sticking to the mould take 2 heaped tbsp of cooked Japanese rice and spoon it into the mould. use the spoon to tamp down the rice into the mould, then form the rice into a flat slice using the lid of the mould using a little pressure. next, raise the mould gently and push the rice out using the spoon - you should have a nice, even flat "bun". repeat until you have made 4 pairs prepare a second frying pan. heat 1/2 tbsp of vegetable oil in the pan and fry the rice musubi buns on each side until lightly browned. once done, set aside now return to your burgers. add 1 tbsp of teriyaki sauce to each burger, then flip the burgers over and coat them well with the sauce. once the burgers are cooked, cut each in half now move on to the nori seaweed sheets. fold each sheet in half lengthways and cut into 4 sheets do the same with the 2 slices of cheddar, cutting each in half now to assemble your burger musubi! spread some mayonnaise over one of each pair of rice buns. add 1/2 of a burger on top and then a 1/2 slice of chedder cheese. put the second rice bun on the top. carefully wrap with the 1/2 nori sheet finshing with the ends of the sheet on the bottom of the burger musubi. repeat to create 4 burger musubi the burger musubi are more substantial than a traditional burger so you only need to serve with a side salad for a satisfying (and really delicious) meal! Burger Musubi