Fruit

by : Reiko Fruit, Other, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Tofu Katsu Rice Bowl & BACC

I realized that I had a bag of Panko, Japanese bread crumb, I had bought a while ago but was not using much, so I decided to make Tofu Katsu.

They were perfectly fried.

I love how the Panko makes the crust so crunchy.

I was initially thinking about serving it with sweet miso glaze, but at the last minute, I wanted Tonkatsu sauce as well, so I went with half miso and half Tonkatsu sauce.

Katsu is almost always served with shredded cabbage in Japan, and I follow the rule.

This burdock & yuzu dressing is so good and it makes everything, even simple cabbage, taste better!

Apparently, the lychee is in season right now, and I get beautiful organic lychees from farmfruitforlks, included in my farm box.

They are absolutely delicious!

I’ve eaten lychees before, but these are definitely the best lychees I’ve ever tasted.

We’ve been in Bangkok for a little over 9 months now.

Since we are not here as a tourist, we feel like we have so much time to do things, which makes us somewhat lazy.

The other night we shared our lists of things we want to do in Bangkok, and we decided to start crossing off those items.

Last week we went to the science museum and the planetarium. ✅

This week we visited the Bangkok Art & Culture Center.

It’s a beautiful building, and its architecture, my husband said, reminded him of the Guggenheim museum in New York.

There were many interesting art pieces.

This one was titled as “Burden – Take me to Dream No. 1”.

Amazing how you can create the look/feel of water so beautifully without using water.

At this museum there are some cute shops where you can buy interesting items created by local artists and brands.

There aren’t many museums I truly enjoy, but this one, I’m glad I went.

You can easily spend a few hours at this museum, or longer if you decide to have lunch and/or a cup of tea as well.

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May 6, 2025

by : Reiko Drinks, Fruit

Passion Fruit Mango Lassi

It’s been really hot in Bangkok the last several weeks.

Coming from Minnesota, I thought I would embrace this weather and I have, but this recent heat has been a bit hard to deal with and keeps me from being outside too long.

When it’s hot, my body craves fruits even more, and when I received these beautiful passion fruit and a mango (not in the picture) from fruitfarmfolks, I thought they would make a refreshing drink.

Lassi is made with yogurt, but this time I used coconut milk and lime juice in place of yogurt.

I added a little cardamom, and I really liked the flavor.

It was so delicious and refreshing.

There are so many things I like about living in Thailand, but having easy access to delicious fresh fruit is definitely one of them.

By the way, I don’t like raspberry or blackberry seeds, but I don’t mind passionfruit seeds.

I wonder why…

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March 18, 2025

by : Reiko Fruit, Japanese Food

Trying to Eat More Sustainably
サステイナビリティに目を向ける

I’ve been interested in eating more sustainably for a while, but I wasn’t quite sure where to start until I found Happy Grocers.

It’s a store/organization in Thailand that focuses on organic farming, locally sourced produce, and seasonal consumption, all of which are things I’m very interested in.

They offer delivery service, so I decided to order some online.

You can choose items from their list, but while I was doing it, I came across something called “surplus set”.

It’s a mix of vegetables and fruits that need to be eaten or cooked right away.

It seems like a great way to help reduce waste, so I got that along with a few other items.

Because of the area where we live and how much spend, I qualified for free delivery.

My bags arrived on the day, during the time slot that I specified.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amount and the variety.

The quality was overall very good, too.

Other than one ear of corn which was past its prime, everything else was fresh, and many of them looked so fresh that I didn’t feel the need to eat or cook right away.

In addition to the surplus set, I bought tofu, tempeh, soy meat, and a Jerusalem bagel.

Since you don’t know what you get until they arrive, once they arrive, you have to make a game plan quickly.

Since I got them at 11:00 a.m. I decided to cook some for lunch and some others after lunch.

I thought ratatouille was a good way to utilize the yellow pepper, zucchini, eggplant, and onions.

I also decided to make another dish with the sweet potatoes.

The fruits were perfectly ripe and ready to eat.

They were so sweet!

This was my first time trying Jerusalem bagel.

It came with za’atar spice mix.

It was very tasty.

I love trying new things.

It turned out to be a great meal!

After lunch I prepared a few more dishes by using other vegetables.

Once cooked we could enjoy them for the next few days.

Like this.

This is miso eggplant x soy meat.

My husband is not a big fan of eggplant, but he liked this and had a second helping.

I served this over rice.

Celery kinpira.

Kinpira is a type of Japanese side dish, typically made of root vegetables.

Japanese style potato salad.

The mayo is home-made and vegan.

Pickled cucumber and shio-konbu.

I’ve also prepared a few more dishes with the produce from the surplus set.

Trying to come up with dishes to make based on what are provided is a challenge and fun.

It kind of reminds me of the old TV show, “Iron Chef” (lol).

Happy Grocers – https://happygrocersbkk.com/

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October 3, 2024

by : Reiko Breakfast, Fruit, Gluten Free

Tropical Paradise Pancakes & Wax Wraps
と・こ・な・つパンケーキ & 蜜蝋ラップ

My kitchen in our new home is not complete yest, but it’s got the basics and it is functional.

So, I decided to cook for the first time since we moved to Bangkok.

My husband had been requesting my banana-mango rice flour pancakes.

The ingredients are a few and simple…

-Bananas

-Rice flour

-Mango powder

-Salt

-Baking powder

The key is not add too much flour, which makes the pancakes dense.

Luckily, I was able to get all the ingredients needed, including 100% mango powder.

This is the mango powder, made in Thailand.

It has a bright color and taste!

It’s a simple recipe, but since it is my first time using the kitchen, it takes time to do anything!

So I set up the table while waiting for the pancakes to cook so that I didn’t have to scramble at the end.

My husband got our drinks ready.

He is so helpful around the kitchen!

(By the way, he did the dishes afterwards, too!)

Green tea for me, and butterfly pea tea for him.

The pancakes turned out great!

I was happy to see that the bright yellow color from the mango powder stayed.

Everything in general costs less compared to the U.S., except for certain things such as western foods.

For instance, maple syrup.

First of all, we couldn’t find maple syrup in regular grocery stores, so we had to go to one that is a bit fancy.

And it was the most expensive item we’ve bought at grocery stores in Bangkok so far. 🙂

On the other hand, beautiful dragon fruit like this is easy to find and much cheaper. 🙂

Here is a plate of paradise!

Unfortunately, I forgot to serve it with coconut milk, which I had bought just for this.

(I’m so angry with myself about this!!!)

Thankfully, I remembered later.

The creamy coconut milk went so well with all the tropical fruit flavors.

By the way, do you know wax wraps?

I had been interested in them for a while, and finally I decided to try them.

I was looking for something different than plastic wraps to cover food, and I thought this might be a good way to replace plastic.

What attracted me to this product are 1) organic cotton 2) plastic and silicon-free, 3) easy to wash, and 4) reusable.

I decided to start with SuperBee ( https://superbee.me/ )’s beginner set, which includes 3 wraps.

There are many different designs, but I liked this simple Hexagonia (with a little bee!).

Oh, I just found out that this is a Thai company, located in Chiang Mai!

This makes me happy because I’ve been trying to support products that are made locally, preferably by small businesses.

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September 7, 2024

by : Reiko Fruit, Other

Strawberry Rhubarb Amazake Mojito & Grapefruit Amazake Mojito
苺ルバーブ甘酒モヒート風カクテル＆グレープフルーツ版

I don’t drink alcohol much at all.

If you ask me how much I drink, I would say a few times a year, a few sips in one setting.

Zero beer (too bitter!).

Zero zake (too strong!)

A bit of wine.

Cocktail? Yes!

Mojito used to be one of my favorite cocktails.

And I thought it would be fun to make a mojito-like cocktail with my homemade Amazake and fresh mint I got from the farmers market.

This turned out to be absolutely delicious!!

It’s almost dangerous because it’s so good that I drink too much.

You can make this amazing cocktail by combining strawberry puree, rhubarb jam, sugar, Amazake, mint, club soda, and ice cubes.

I also happened to have sweet juicy grapefruits, and I made the grapefruit version too.

Which would you like to try?

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May 23, 2023

by : Reiko Fruit, Other

Green Tea Yuzu-Ade
緑茶柚子エード＆のんびり一週間

This one week between Christmas and New Year always feels so different.

It makes me want to be laid back and really relax in a good way.

And this drink definitely helped me do just that.

The refreshing flavor of Yuzu goes so well with green tea.

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December 26, 2022

by : Reiko Fruit, Pizza/Flatbread, Potatoes/Squash

Apple Kabocha Pizza with Cashew Yogurt and Pecan Nuts
林檎かぼちゃピザ、カシューヨーグルトとピーカンナッツのせ

Walking to the local farmers market is something we do in the morning on most Saturdays.

I love this little routine we have.

But you can tell things are quickly changing, with less leafy vegetables and more root vegetables…

This means we only have a few weeks left before they close until next spring.

One of the things we got from the market was these Regent apples.

This particular vendor was so knowledgeable and friendly, and she helped us pick which to cheese.

We loved these apples.

They are crisp, sweet, juicy, and just super tasty!

The Kabocha is from Trader Joe’s.

I have bought Kabocha from the farmers market in the past, but some of them that they were labeled as “Kabocha” did not taste like actual Kabocha.

So unfortunately, now I only buy Kabocha from stores.

I cooked the pizza with Kabocha slices (quickly pre-cooked in the microwave) and apple slices first, and then, it was served with cashew yogurt, pecan nuts, maple syrup, and cinnamon.

This was delicious!!

There is something so special about fall foods.

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October 16, 2022

by : Reiko Fruit, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Plant-Based Chirashi-Sushi
菜鮮ちらし寿司

Chirashi literally means “scattered”.

Chirashi-sushi is a bed of sushi rice with various things (usually fresh fish) scattered over rice.

As I said above, it’s usually fish (especially those found at Japanese restaurants in the U.S.), but in Japan a lot of people use other things, including a lot of vegetables.