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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by : Reiko Other, Rice/Grains, Soup/Stew

Buddha Bowl & Beer with Calamansi

Many of our meals are served in one bowl or one plate because our dining table is small and also to have the fewest dishes to wash.

So we eat this type of rice bowl or Buddha bowl often.

I don’t post every bowl I make, but this, I felt, was worth posting because it turned out to be so pretty and also exceptionally flavorful.

I love everything you see in this bowl, but the golden berries really took it to the next level.

They were perfectly sweet and tangy, and added this great freshness.

I have to add, however, that recently I like to have a cup of miso soup with my meal especially when we have rice.

The Haccho (very dark) miso really makes the soup so tasty and makes me feel home.

I’ve never been a big drinker, but recently my alcohol consumption has been close to zero.

My husband doesn’t drink much either, but he does enjoy an occasional glass of beer.

We had a lot of beautiful calamansi (citrus fruit), and he wanted to add it to his beer, which I thought was a brilliant idea.

You know, just like the Mexican beer, Corona with a lime wedge.

Only his beer was Asahi, though (lol).

(He likes this Japanese beer.)

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by : Reiko Asian Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Atsuage-Tofu with Chinese Chili Sauce

In Japan there is a popular Chinese dish called “Ebi-chili”.

It’s shrimp cooked in sweet and spicy chili sauce.

This time I decided to use Atsuage.

Atsuage is a fried tofu, and I use this tofu a lot because of its firm texture and an extra firm outside layer.

The chili sauce is sweet and spicy at the same time, and it goes so well with white rice.

As you can see, I simply served the tofu and sauce over rice.

A few side dishes you see are corn mayo salad and cucumber pickles.

Plus, a cup of miso soup completed the meal.

Very good!

I will definitely make it again.

I am thankful that many grocery stores here in Bangkok carry Atsuage tofu.

But I recently found on SNS a tofu shop located in Fukui, Japan, called Takeuchi Shoten (Japanese).

They sell amazing-looking Atsuage tofu.

According to their website, they fry the tofu in three steps, first at a low temperature, then at a mid temperature, and finally at a high temperature, which, they explain, contributes to the juicy tofu with the crispy outside layer.

They have a delivery service, but unfortunately only in Japan…

I hope I can try their Atsuage tofu sometime.

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by : Reiko Rice/Grains

When life gives you ginger… Inari with Ginger Tsukuda-ni

I made Ginger Cranberry Scones and a few other ginger dishes, but I still had a lot of ginger left.

I wanted to use it up before it went bad, so I decided to make “tsukuda-ni” with it.

Tsukuda-ni is a popular Japanese side dish, cooked with sweetened soy sauce based sauce, until all the sauce is absorbed.

It has a strong flavor and is often enjoyed with a bowl of rice.

I added some salted kombu (shio-kombu) and roasted sesame seeds at the end.

It turned out wonderful!

Today I made inari-sushi and finished it off with the ginger tsukuda-ni and edamame.

The spiciness from the ginger was a nice kick.

Served with salad with homemade carrot dressing (this was delicious!: carrot, onion, white vinegar, sugar, salt, olive oil, Dijon mustard).

And a cup of miso soup.

I always like to have miso soup with rice.

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by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Breakfast, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Vegan Egg

Natto Rice with Vegan Egg
納豆ご飯、ヴィーガン”卵”のせ

Lately, I’ve been eating bread (multi grain whole wheat) for breakfast, but Natto rice is still one of my favorite breakfast meals.

I had some leftover vegan “egg yolk” from Sukiyaki (previous post), and I generously placed it over my Natto rice.

I used to add just soy sauce to my Natto rice, but now I like using both soy sauce and vinegar.

This exceeded my expectations!

What’s your favorite breakfast food?

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by : Reiko Air Fryer, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains, Tofu

Tofu Karaage Onigiri Lunch
豆腐唐揚げおにぎり定食

It was a busy week, and I was glad that I decided to give myself a day off today.

You need to listen to your mind and body, right?

Instead of working, I decided to make a nice lunch for myself and my hubby.

This salted Kombu seaweed is one of my favorite things to keep in my pantry.

It’s not always easy to find in the U.S., so when I find it, I always buy it.

The salted Kombu and chopped pickled beets were added to freshly cooked Japanese rice.

Taste it first and then add salt if it’s needed.

The salted Kombu is quite salty, so you want to make sure if additional salt is needed first.

These Onigiri turned out so pretty with the pink color from the beets.

But they are also super tasty!

Kombu Onigiri is one of my favorites.

I also made Karaage with the extra firm tofu from Costco.

The Costco tofu is so firm, firmer than the regular extra firm one I buy from other stores, and it works great for this dish.

Karaage is a Japanese fried chicken.

You marinade the chicken first, and I do the same with my tofu.

I used my air fryer to fry the marinated and floured Tofu.

It works every time.

Also found the lunch tray are miso soup, kimchi, and curried chickpea salad.

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by : Reiko Rice/Grains, Tofu

Rice with Bean Sprouts and Ground Koya-Tofu
豆もやしと高野豆腐そぼろでごはん

I love bean sprouts, but they are usually served as a side dish, never a main dish.

I had such a large bag of them, and I was in a mood for eating a lot of it with my rice.

So I made this yummy dish with thick rich sauce.

It’s sweet, sour, and spicy, all in one!

I got this freeze-dried tofu, Koya-Tofu, at the same Asian grocery store where I bought my bean sprouts.

This tofu was marked down because the use-by date was near.

The freeze-dried tofu is very unique.

The texture is firm, so it can be used in place of meat.

This time I made them into small pieces by using the food processor to make them resemble ground meat.

The bean sprouts were topped off with the Koya-Tofu ground “meat”.

Itadakimasu – Thank you for the food.

Generously place the bean sprouts-koya-tofu mixture on top of the rice.

Yum!

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by : Reiko Beans/Lentils, Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Natto Fried Rice
盛りだくさん納豆チャーハン

I think this was my first Natto fried rice, but it’s a popular dish, so I may have made it before (I just don’t remember).

One of my Instagram friends gave me some ideas regarding what to put along with natto, so I was prepared.

-Natto

-Garlic

-Mushrooms

-Butternut squash

-Shungiku

-Capers

It turned out great!

I will definitely make it again.

I loved all the flavors coming together, sweet, salty, bitter…

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by : Reiko Rice/Grains

Dinner with Buckwheat from a Friend
いただきもののロシア?そばの実でごはん

A friend of mine gave me this.

She thought I would like it.

We cannot read what it says on this side of the box, but we suspected that it’s from Russia???

Thankfully, a different side of the box did say “Buckwheat” and there were English cooking instructions too.

It’s portioned and bagged individually, and you just need put the whole bag in boiling water to cook.

It looked like this when cooked.

I simply served it with Tofu cubed steak, sauteed broccoli, and kale-red pepper salad.

And I drizzled my onion-sesame-ginger sauce over the whole thing.

It was super tasty!

My friend was right.

I did like the buckwheat.

Nice texture and flavor.

Did you know buckwheat is a good source of protein, too, as well as broccoli?

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by : Reiko Japanese Food, Rice/Grains

Yearning for Spring… Veggie Sushi Rolls 春待ちきれず、薄桃色ごはんでベジ巻き

You would think that there should be some signs of spring in March, but it’s snowing again in the Twin Cities.

I wanted to make the sushi look a bit spring-like, so I added a light pink color (from radish) to the rice.

Apparently, the color was too light, and unfortunately it’s hard to see in the pictures…

This (pickled radish), on the other hand, shows a beautiful pink color.

Itadakimasu – Thank you for the meal.

Hot green tea to complete the meal.

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