by : Reiko Sweets

Birthday Cake II
バースデーケーキII

If you are following my blog, you saw I already made my husband his birthday cak.

Well we finished eating it fast.

By the end of Sunday.

To tell the truth, his birthday is not until this week, and we realized that he wouldn’t have a cake on his actual birthday.

So I decided to make another one.

This time a mini one.

Luckily I had some leftover cake from his first cake (I froze it, but it didn’t stay long in the freezer!).

This is lemon cake and vanilla and raspberry butter cream frosting decorated with fresh blueberries and pistachio.

Isn’t it pretty?

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by : Reiko Sweets

Birthday Cake
バースデーケーキ

My husband’s birthday is in the middle of July, and we decided to celebrate it over the weekend.

I always ask him if he wants me to order a cake from a professional, but every time he tells me he wants me to make one.

That makes me happy.

So this year I made this three-layered lemon cake.

（He likes lemon, so his birthday cake is always a lemon cake!)

Lemon sponge cake, lemon butter frosting, and lots of fresh fruits.

I warn you.

There are a lot of pictures today.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta

Bukkake Soba
ぶっかけ蕎麦

We’ve been having hot and humid weather lately in Minnesota.

On a hot day like this I like something light, and Bukkake Soba is a perfect dish.

“Bukkake” means “dump stuff”, so you can basically use anything.

Enoki mushroom is one of my favorite mushrooms.

I like my Enoki simply sauteed.

It becomes sweet and super flavorful.

Freshly cooked Soba noodles.

This Bukkake version was made with Natto, turmeric tofu, Enoki, and salted Shio-Kombu.

But at the last minute I decided to add roasted Yaki-nori seaweed.

A drizzle of soy sauce.

And it was ready!

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by : Reiko Breakfast

Paprika Pancakes with Cheddar and Tempeh
パプリカパンケーキ、チェダーとテンペ添え

Since I learned how to properly maintain my sourdough starter, I have been making more pancakes and waffles; I don’t want to waste discard.

I love pancakes, but I like to mix things up, and I often try to serve them with some unusual ingredients.

These pancakes were flavored with paprika.

I had this beautiful homemade vegan cheddar, and I thought it would be fun to serve my paprika pancakes with this in place of butter.

And then, tempeh and scallion were sprinkled and served with fresh arugula and mustard maple syrup.

Perfect!!

Love savory and sweet together like this for breakfast.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains

Vegan Zongzi
中華ちまき

When we spent two months in Okinawa Japan last winter, we found a small Taiwanese restaurant in the city of Naha.

They served simple yet tasty vegan breakfast buffet, but locals all knew that their zongzi was what you have to get if you visit this small restaurant.

Apparently, they sell out often, and we were lucky to be able to buy a couple when we went there for breakfast.

We brought them home (our airbnb) and tried them for lunch that day, and they were absolutely delicious!

I’ve never thought of making zongzi at home, but my craving was so strong that I decided to give it a try.

I found these bamboo leaves online.

I did some research, and this seemed like the best quality I could get in the U.S.

I looked for Japanese sweet rice (just because I’m familiar with it), but I could only find this Thai one.

It worked just fine.

Zongzi typically contains pork, but mine was of course made meatless.

Instead, you’ll find lots of veggies, mushrooms, and chestnuts in mine.

My craving was completely satisfied!

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Sweets

Taiyaki (PB & J, Apple Shiso Cranberry)
たい焼き（ピーナッツバター&ジャム、りんご紫蘇クランベリー）

I made Taiyaki again.

This was my second time using my new Taiyaki pan, and I think my skills improved!

I wanted to color my “fish” pink, so I used raspberry powder (ground freeze-dried raspberries).

But apparently, it was turned blue due to an interaction with another ingredient in the batter, likely baking soda.

The blue actually was pretty cool, but it was not intended (lol).

Taiyaki is traditionally filled with sweet Azuki beans, but this time I decided to use different fillings.

This one is PB & J.

I used unsweetened creamy peanut butter and lingonberry jam.

The picture doesn’t do it justice, but it was delicious!

My new favorite for sure.

Apple compote, dry cranberries, and Shiso.

This was very good too.

Loved the chunky apples.

I enjoyed these Taiyaki with coffee.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Bamboo Sushi, Vegan Smoked Salmon and Mushroom
笹寿司、ヴィーガンスモークサーモンときのこ

Nigiri and rolls are popular types of Sushi in the U.S., but there are so many other kinds of sushi in Japan.

Bamboo sushi or “Sasa-sushi” is a type of pressed sushi and wrapped in bamboo leaves.

I recently bought a package of bamboo leaves, and I thought it would be fun to try making bamboo sushi for the first time.

(There were one hundred leaves in the package!)

These are so pretty.

Super happy with how they looked.

This time I made two versions.

It was so much fun to make them, as it was like artwork.

I liked them both.

No, I can’t choose which I like better.

One was white rice sushi, topped off with lemon, vegan smoked salmon, red onion slices, and capers.

The other was brown rice sushi, with vegan sausage, turmeric tofu, sauteed Bunapi mushrooms, and edamame.

This sushi is delicious with the wonderful toppings, but there is a reason why it’s wrapped in leaves.

The aroma from the bamboo is transferred to the sushi and creates an amazing unique flavor.

Very refreshing and perfect on a hot summer day.

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by : Reiko Pizza/Flatbread

Cauliflower Sausage Cheese Pizza
カリフラワーソーセージチーズピザ

Cauliflower is one of my favorite vegetables.

For a long time I believed that it wasn’t a nutritious vegetable because of the pale color, but I still liked it simply because of its taste.

But I have learned that it’s actually very good for you, and now I buy it even more often.

I don’t do this all the time, but when in the mood, I like to “color” my cauliflower with turmeric.

The bright yellow color makes any dish look good.

Spiced tomato sauce, vegan homemade sausage, turmeric cauliflower, vegan cheese, and fresh arugula.

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by : Reiko Bread

Sourdough Bread ５a and b
サワードウブレッドNo.5 aとb

Sourdough bread.

This is my 5th one.

I have to make a confession here.

My 3rd and 4th attempts failed.

I thought succeeding in creating active starter was the end of my sourdough journey, but I quickly realized in a hard way that I had to learn how to properly “maintain” and “use” my starter.

I’ve done so much reading and researching on how to make and maintain sourdough starter the past few months.

I don’t know the last time I was so studious like this.

I struggled, not understanding why certain things were happening (or not happening) , but learning new things and trying things differently with new knowledge was overall a great experience.

I was happy with my 1st and 2nd bread of course, but this time I feel happy and confident because this time I know why it worked.

This one, I used a new recipe.

This has a little tighter crumb.

Can’t wait to make sandwiches with this.

This is 5b.

I used the same recipe as I did for my 1 and 2.

Isn’t it beautiful?

They both taste great, but this one has deeper flavor and more rustic look.

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