Arancini is a great dish that can be eaten as a meal or a snack.
First I make rice balls.
My trusted Panko breadcrumbs make my arancini super crunchy, and I like it.
The rice balls are so tasty as they are, but of course, this is my favorite way to enjoy them.
Tomato sauce, nutty Parm, and fresh parsley.
I was at a newly opened Mexican bakery the other day, and I had a Concha for the first time in my life.
As soon as I saw it displayed at the shop, I remembered the melon buns.
(They are, however, quire different. The top of the concha is softer and almost melts in your mouth, but the top of the melon bun is definitely more crunchy and has the texture of shortbread cookies.)
Melon bun is extremely popular in Japan.
The name comes not so much from the flavor, but from the crunchy cookie top and soft bread inside.
People often decorate the surface with lines to make them look like a melon.
My mother used to make them all the time, and she actually made hers melon-flavored, but today many melon buns have various flavors.
Although I ate my mother’s melon buns a lot growing up, I never helped her making them.
This was my very first time making melon buns, and I won’t lie, I was a bit intimidated, mostly by the process where you make two parts, bread dough for inside and cookie dough for outside, and then put them together.
I made mine orange-flavored this time.
That is why you see the orange speckles in the cookie dough.
This was right before going into the oven.
Right out of the oven.
They turned out great.
You want crunchy outside and soft chewy inside.
And I think I was able to achieve that.
I found this recipe on one of the largest Japanese recipe sites, and I’m content with the result.
But next time I hope to make them with my mom’s recipe.
Hers had thicker cookie around the bread, and I wish to re-create that next time.
Napolitan Spaghetti may sound Italian, but it has nothing to do with an Italian dish.
It’s a classic Japanese spaghetti dish.
It’s basically spaghetti sauteed with vegetables and some type of cured meat (ham, bacon, etc) and finished with ketchup.
I grew up eating this spaghetti so many times, both at home and at kissa-ten.
You don’t find it at a fancy restaurant, but it’s a must dish on the menu at any kissa-ten, an older type of sit-down cafe.
These are the veggies I used this time.
First you saute the veggies.
Add cooked spaghetti.
Add ketchup.
Salt and pepper.
I like to doctor it up a little, usually with hot sauce and Japanese Worcestershire sauce, which gives a depth and richness to the flavor.
So tasty!!
It’s also a popular dish for bento.
Probably one of the easiest (and cheapest) ones to make.
I sprinkled a little nutty Parm.
And it was perfect.
Have a great weekend everyone.
I’m not thrilled about this quick drop in the temperature.
However, I do feel a little better when I think it as a pumpkin season!
My favorite, Kabocha.
Kabocha plus my plant-based butter plus my plant-based “cheese” equals “tasty”.
Crepes are like pancakes.
The first few never turn out right.
I have to say my first good one was number 6.
Spreading the cream and building the cake with the layers of crepe is a fun part of the process.
Very satisfying.
I decided to dress the cake with dark chocolate and walnuts.
I love mill crepe cakes.
They look so pretty despite the relatively easy steps required to make them.
Happy autumn, everyone.
I was in the mood for a big sandwich, and I decided to make Wanpaku sandwich for the second time.
Wanpaku sandwich is a popular Japanese sandwich.
I’m not sure exactly what is the definition, but basically it’s a sandwich with a LOT of stuff sandwiched.
Like those New Jersey deli sandwiches, as my husband says.
(“Wanpaku” means naughty or mischievous, typically used to describe physically active young boys.)
These tofu cutlets are so delicious!
People say anything deep-fried tastes good, and I do agree (lol).
The first time I made Wanpaku sandwich a few years ago, it was a disaster.
Although I was still not sure how much I could actually pile up, but I wanted something really voluminous.
I’m happy to announce that this time I succeeded.
Inside this sandwich you’ll find spinach, carrots, tofu cutlet with Japanese worcestershire sauce, radish, and purple cabbage.
By the way, I baked pullman bread for this sandwich.
This was not only pretty but also delicious!!
I could eat this everyday.
What do you do when you have two completely different flavor ideas for pizza, yet the pizza crusts you have are quite large, and it has to be consumed only by two persons?
Well, you make a half-and-half!
Prep time.
Herbed garlic tofu.
Some of the ingredients.
I like to prep toppings and sauce (and “cheese”, etc.) in advance, so that actual pizza-making is quick and easy.
We usually make crust, but this time we decided to use this pre-made bread.
(Of course we check the ingredients, and this passed our test!)
Right before going into the oven.
Then, I realized I forgot to add these veggie balls to the red side.
These IKEA vegetable balls are packed with real veggies, which I love.
The pizza was out of the oven, and the both sides were dressed appropriately.
It looks good, doesn’t it?!
The white side: garlic bechamel sauce, herbed garlic tofu, tomatoes, scallion, nutty Parm, a drizzle of Yuzu hot sauce
This Yuzu Hot Sauce from Trader Joe’s is one of my recent favorite condiments.
This brightens up any dish you use so well.
This works particularly well for “cream” based sauce/dish.
The red side: tomato sauce, mushrooms, red onion, green pepper, IKEA veggie ball crumbles, creamy cashew cheese sauce, Japanese basil (Shiso)
I was in the mood for Japanese flavored scones.
Made two versions.
This one is Kinako (roasted soy bean powder) and black sesame.
This one is Matcha almond.
I added some whole wheat flour, and the results were pretty rustic-looking, just the way I wanted.
They were perfect when served with my homemade plant-based butter.
Recommended beverage: cafe au lait.
Have a great weekend everyone.
It’s been a while since last time I made Bento.
Carrot Namul.
Braised Daikon and Soy Curd.
Curried Green Peppers.
Love these veggies.
I didn’t have to take it anywhere, but it was still fun to pack and wrap it just like a real bento box.
Mock fried oysters.
This may be one of my favorite bento boxes I’ve made.
Flavors, colors, and textures…
Everything kind of came together and worked wonderfully.
A view from the other side.
The leftover was saved in the fridge for me to enjoy the following week.
By the way, “Shojin” cuisine is a Japanese Bhuddist plant-based cuisine traditionally prepared by monks.
Who would have thought I could still eat Oyster Po’Boy Sandwich?!
Well, it’s thanks to Ms. iina, the author of this wonderful cookbook called “MODOKI” (“modoki” means “mock” in Japanese).
If interested in the mock fried oysters, please see my previous post.
My beautiful mock fried oysters and fresh veggies were generously placed on my homemade bun.
Mayo (homemade)-based sauce.
A bit spicy, a bit sweet, and a bit tangy.
One more shot to admire the beautiful “oysters”, before covered with the sauce.
This sandwich was ridiculously delicious!!
My husband, who is not a big fan of oysters, even loved it!!
(Again, please do not ask for the mock fried oyster recipe, as its ownership belongs to the book author, Ms. iina. Thank you!)
I’m not a huge fan of “mock” anything, as “mock” meat tends to stray too far away from whole-food.
But last time I was in Japan I bought this cookbook called “MODOKI (means “mock” in Japanese)”, as the ingredients are still mostly whole-food.
I’ve been interested in this recipe for a while, and finally I decided to give it a try.
Oyster was one of my favorite seafood before I switched to the plant-based diet, so I was pretty excited.
How did I like them?
Well, I absolutely completely LOVED them!!
These are insanely awesome!
They look like oysters, and the taste and texture definitely remind me of those of oysters.
But what’s so great about them is that they are simply DELICIOUS!!
I hardly ever buy cookbooks anymore, but I’m so glad I picked this up the last time I was back in Japan.
Please do not ask for the recipe, as its ownership belongs to the book’s author, Ms. iina. Thank you.
