I like to keep Koya Dofu, freeze-dried tofu, in my pantry because it doesn’t go bad for a long time, and it can be used to make many “meat” dishes as it has the right texture.
Katsu, or dee-fried meat, is a popular dish in Japan, and my husband and I both like it too.
Doesn’t this look great?
I use Panko for the crunch.
You can use any type of sauce, but this time I decided to go with sweet dark miso glaze.
This is popular in the Nagoya region, where I grew up.
This sauce goes so well not only with the Katsu but also with the shredded cabbage (and rice).
I’m so glad that now a few local Asian grocery stores carry the type of dark miso from the Nagoya Region, “Haccho”.
I made extra, because I knew we would enjoy this on other things as well.
Mochi, sticky rice cake, is eaten at the beginning of the year traditionally in Japan.
I was shocked to find out that Mochi was sold out on December 30th when I went to the Asian grocery store which typically carries a lot of Japanese foods including seasonal items!
I apparently underestimated the number of Japanese people living in this area.
However, the next day our neighbor came for a rescue!
They were able to find Mochi at a different store and got some for me.
There are many ways to enjoy Mochi, but Zenzai (you add a toasted Mochi to sweet bean soup) is one of the popular ones.
This Macha Zenzai is one of its versions.
I initially made this (picture above), where I used straight Matcha.
This was delicious as you can really enjoy the unique bitterness from Matcha and how well it goes with the sweet read beans which is added as a topping.
But I also wanted to try the Matcha “latte” version.
This was also delicious, and probably better received by non-Japanese or people who are not used to drinking Matcha straight.
Can you tell the Mochi was nicely browned and puffed?
Mochi was added to the Matcha latte as well as chestnuts and sweeet red beans.
You now know why Mochi is called “sticky” rice cake?
It’s sticky and stretchy!!
Be careful when you eat Mochi though because every year the number of deaths caused by choking spikes in January in Japan; people die from choking on Mochi.
I am looking forward to enjoying more Mochi dishes the next few days.
I love Banh Mi, but I don’t get to make it as often as I like.
Because this sandwich requires certain ingredients, I do need extra planning or time to make one if I have to make from zero.
Luckily today I happened to have several key ingredients already.
Thus, I was able to put this together without much hassle.
I just purchased Daikon radish and cilantro.
I had homemade vegan meat (actually two types of meat!) already.
I had some leftover dishes that could be put together to make “pâté”.
And when this idea came to me, I was at an Asian grocery store which sells the type of baguettes (soft and light) that were perfect for Banh Mi sandwich.
Doesn’t this look great?!
I used homemade “pork” and “chicken” vegan meat for this, and they worked great, by providing different flavors and textures.
Ta da!
You can probably see the meat better in this picture.
You can also see how strong I look (I’m not that muscular, but in this picture I look very strong, don’t I (lol)?).