by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Mother Earth Sushi Plate
母なる大地寿司プレート

This lovely sushi plate was our lunch today.

Ideas for food come from various places, but this one came from a very unexpected place.

It all started with these apples.

These apples don’t look that special outside.

But look!

The inside has this lovely pink color.

I found these apples at the grocery store inside the Midtown Global Market.

I’m so glad that they were sampling them, because otherwise I would have had no idea how special they were.

They were being sold as Pink Pearl Apples.

I wanted to make something to really showcase the beautiful color of these apples.

And this is what I came up with.

Nigiri Sushi!

Forming rice into a certain shape sounds easy, but once you try, you quickly realize why sushi chefs have years of training, just to master this skill.

So I use my little tool.

This is definitely not approved by any sushi chefs, but they are perfectly okay at our house(lol).

This tool does a good job at making these rice balls uniformly like little soldiers.

I was going to make just apple sushi, but at the last minute I decided to make other versions too.

Plant sushi.

I just love how they look and taste.

Pink Pearl apple.

Beet.

Radish and Yuzu pepper paste.

Tomato and seaweed.

It was perfect when served with veggie wakame (seaweed) miso soup and hot green tea.

The leftover was made into Chirashi (scattered) Sushi.

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by : Reiko Bento/Lunch Box, Japanese Food

Shojin Bento Box
精進弁当

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.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta, Soup/Stew

Showa Curry Ramen
昭和カレーラーメン

Curry is not the most popular soup flavor for ramen, but it does exist and it is tasty.

This is my second ramen bowl.

I found it at the local Asian grocery store, and I liked the colors and the design.

I didn’t notice it when I saw it at the store, but when it was compared to my other bowl, it’s significantly larger.

I wonder if it’s made in US, reflecting the general portion size difference?

Noodles go in.

It doesn’t look much in this bowl, but I actually placed more than I typically use for one person.

Since I don’t make curry ramen often, I was a little uncertain about what to use for garnish.

I simply topped it off with corn, scallion, and tomatoes.

Loved the combination of the sweet corn and curry.

 

If you like ramen and if you like Japanese curry, this is a must!

I made my curry soup from scratch without using the store-bought roux, and it turned out delicious!

Recommended beverage: Cold Brew Sencha Green Tea.

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by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta

Home Alone Spaghetti
ホームアローン・スパゲッティ

When I go grocery shopping, I’m pretty good at sticking with my list.

But there are a few items that I impulsively purchase.

Well, okra is one of them.

It’s hard to find fresh okra at grocery stores, and when I found these beautiful ones at the farmers market this morning, I had to have them.

When sliced, they are like flowers.

My husband has come a long way, and he now eats a wide variety of vegetables, so many more than he used to.

However, okra is something he still won’t touch.

I think one of the reasons why okra is not that popular in the U.S. is its stickiness.

Interestingly, people in Japan adore okra for that.

I decided to make this spaghetti dish for lunch today, because my husband wouldn’t be home.

So why not adding all the things he does not like but I love.

So along with okra, natto (Japanese fermented soy beans), kimchi, and avocado all joined in the bowl.

With a little drizzle of soy sauce and olive oil, it became a perfect lunch for one.

I hope everyone is enjoying this long weekend.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta, Sandwiches

Fueling One Teen At A Time! Yakisoba Roll
男子必須？焼きそばパン

This is one of the most popular snacks among the male teens in Japan.

I remember that when I was in high school, a lot of boys would go buy this role (often more than one) for their afternoon snack.

Why is it popular?

Well, it’s DOUBLE CARBS: bread and noodles!

First, you make fried noodles, Yakisoba.

Typically it’s garnished with red ginger.

It’s easily found at many Asian stores in the U.S. now, but I decided to go with pickled beets for the color instead the red ginger, because it’s natural; red ginger is actually ginger colored artificially.

I actually really liked the look of the beets.

They reflect light and are very pretty.

You scoop up noodles.

Stuff the bun with as much as Yakisoba.

I used a homemade bun.

I actually never had a Yakisoba roll in my life even when I was in Japan, probably because I always associated it with a guy food.

But I actually really liked it.

Tasty, and of course very filling.

Anyone interested??

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Mushrooms, Potatoes/Squash

“East Meet Midwest” Okonomi-Yaki
もっと？モダン焼き

Okonomi-Yaki is a popular savory pancake in Japan.

The most used ingredient is cabbage.

Other than that you can basically add anything, but the popular ones are pork and squid.

This time king mushroom (cooked with garlic), purple cabbage, and chive went into my Okonomi-Yaki batter.

You mix them well.

Typically you can start cooking it into pancakes at this point.

But you know me, I like to give a little twist.

Since I was making this for breakfast (Okonomi-Yaki is usually NOT a breakfast food, but it doesn’t mean you can’t eat it in the morning!), I thought “why not adding some hashbrown potatoes?”

Since I live in the Midwest, Idaho potatoes seem like a great candidate for a partner of my Okonomi-Yaki.

I cooked the potatoes until browned and crispy.

Doesn’t it look yummy?

The idea is that you don’t add the potatoes to the batter, but you place the potatoes at the bottom, and pour the batter over the potatoes.

So you cannot really see the potatoes well in the picture, but they are there, at the bottom.

The pancakes were served with two types of Japanese Sauce (one is Japanese style worcestershire sauce and the other is a little sweeter and thicker sauce specifically made for Okonomi-Yaki), homemade vegan mayo, dried seaweed called Ao-nori, and chopped fresh chive.

This was so tasty!

I love king mushrooms in my Okonomi-Yaki.

My husband says it tastes like octopus.

I do agree.

It has the seafood-like texture and taste.

Here is a close-up picture.

You can see the potatoes.

When I think of it, I do make “east meet west” kind of dishes often.

It’s usually not so much of an effort or a project, but many dishes naturally turn out to be that way (lol).

I’d like to think this is a good reflection of our happy East-meet-Midwest marriage!

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Mushrooms, Noodles/Pasta

Tonkotsu-Style V-Ramen
とんこつ風Vラーメン

I grew up eating ramen a lot.

It’s so popular in Japan, and when I found out that a lot of Japanese people post ONLY ramen pictures on their Instagram page, I was not surprised.

Some of them go out to eat ramen every day, and they don’t run out of new ramen shops to try!

Anyway, I’ve become a little more serious about ramen myself recently.

When I found this dried ramen noodles at Amazon which had great reviews, I had to order a package.

I also got myself a new bowl.

I always wanted to have a traditional ramen bowl.

I typically like a lot of toppings on most dishes, but when it comes to ramen, I’m probably a bit more traditional and stick with a few.

The most popular ramen topping is probably “Char Siu” or barbecued pork slices.

Instead of pork, I prepared yummy portabella mushroom slices.

The mushrooms were so delicious; a bit sweet and a bit spicy from these Japanese “shichimi” spices.

The noodles were cooked perfectly.

Ramen looked so good in my new bowl!

Made me feel like I was back in Japan.

I really liked these noodles as they are so authentic.

They have the right chewiness, flavors, and look.

The soup turned out to be super tasty too.

Tonkotsu ramen is known for its rich flavored soup.

“Tonkotsu” ramen became quite popular in the U.S., but I’m not sure if people really know what that means.

Tonkotsu literally means “pig/pork bones”, and you make your soup from them.

(My vegan version contains no pork or any type of meat, but it does have a similar rich flavors that are very satisfying.)

“Tonkatsu” is another popular Japanese dish in the U.S., and I sometimes hear people say “Tonkatsu” ramen, but that’s incorrect, unless the ramen is served with “tonkatsu” as a topping.

Tonkatsu is “pig/pork cutlet”.

Just a little not-so-necessary piece of information  (lol).

But if you say “Tonkotsu ramen” correctly, you will certainly look like someone who knows your ramen (lol).

The soup was delicious as it was, but a little splash of this Yuzu hot sauce I found at Trader Joe’s brightened up the flavors.

I always wanted to take a picture like this.

If you eat good ramen, I think it’s obligatory.

And this is an acceptable way in Japan to finish your soup.

I do not recommend doing this in the western countries though.

Tonkotsu-Style ramen soup: onion and garlic sauteed in canola oil, water, kiridashi-kombu, tahini, soy milk, mirin, sugar, soy sauce, salt, pepper

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

T-Roll with Mayo and Teriyaki
T巻き、マヨと照り焼きだれ。

I make sushi rolls often, but I still get excited when I make one.

As a result, I tend to prepare too much stuff to roll in.

I don’t always do this, but it is fun to serve with sauce.

I happened to have just made V mayo using this recipe (except that I used apple cider instead of lemon juice).

What you see here are sushi brown rice, cucumber, sweet and spicy tempeh, avocado, and radish.

It barely closed!

So good!!

The mayo and teriyaki are a golden combination.

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Japanese Food, Noodles/Pasta

RED Ramen
赤ラーメン

When people travel, they often bring something home.

For me it’s usually a food idea(s).

This RED Ramen was inspired by Vegan Tonyu Red (ramen) I had at Marukin Ramen in Portland which I visited last month.

I tried to upload my picture of their ramen, but for some reason I was not able to.

But trust me, their soup was red!

I mean really red.

When I first saw it, I instantly thought it would be way too spicy to eat, but it wasn’t.

It was spicy, but more than anything, it was tasty.

So now back home I wanted to make my own red ramen.

These are not really ramen noodles because they are a bit wider and flatter, but I like these.

First of all, they are vegan (no eggs).

And I like its ingredients.

Simple.

No artificial yellow coloring.

Believe it or not, lots of noodles contain artificial yellow coloring.

Next, I pick a bowl for my ramen.

This is not a traditional ramen bowl, but the “white x red” color combination with the unique design makes it a good candidate.

(I’m actually shopping for a traditional ramen bowl right now.)

Made in Japan!

Noodles go in first.

Soup, and then grilled king mushrooms and toppings.

My RED Ramen was super tasty!

And spicy.

So I think I accomplished my mission with this one.

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Potatoes/Squash

Mmmmm… Roasted Satsuma-Imo
うまっ！焼き芋

Although Japanese cuisine has become pretty popular around the world, there are still so many amazing Japanese foods people are missing out on.

One of them is Satsuma-Imo, or Japanese sweet potato.

Yes, it’s a personal opinion, but a lot of people who did try it, including my husband, as well as many Japanese people who live abroad would agree with me.

In the U.S., they may be sold as “Oriental Sweet Potato”, “Asian Sweet Potato”, “Japanese Sweet Potato”, or “Satsuma Potato”.

They have unmistakably dark maroon colored skin (inside is white).

The ones (above) I picked up are a bit chubby, but usually the shape is just like regular sweet potatoes.

How do you cook it?

Well, the best way is roasting it.

When roasted, it brings intense sweetness.

During the roasting process, I noticed that syrup-like liquid was woozing out of the potatoes, which really shows how sweet these potatoes can be.

I love the taste, but the texture is also wonderful.

It’s soft and moist, but not too moist and it keeps the texture satisfying and pleasant.

You can add it to your dinner plate, but it also makes a great snack as it is.

The potato is just so delicious as it is that I typically do not add anything.

No salt, not syrup (please DON’T), no sauce, but the only thing I may do is putting a little piece of butter, which is a whole another story and will probably deserve its own post about it (lol)!

Other ways I enjoy Satsuma Potatoes include tempura and miso soup.

So yesterday we checked out a cactus shop that recently opened in Minneapolis.

This (above) was one of the cacti I really liked, but I came home with…

This one!

It was love at first sight for me.

Isn’t she just lovely?

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