A Pretty Little Bird Told Me...: Japanese

Showing posts with label Japanese. Show all posts

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Sushi, Sushi, Sushi!

I LOVE SUSHI.

I just love it. It's delicious, healthy, and super fun to make. This was my first attempt, and I am hoping for many more soon (in fact, I think a friend is coming over tomorrow and we can make some)!

You ready for the fun fact? I didn't use a recipe. I just kind of made it up.

You see, I decided that I wanted to spend two weeks on an All-Asian (or mostly Asian, mostly Japanese) Diet. Boyfriend and I went to Chinatown in NYC to get some groceries and discovered how inexpensive fresh fish and vegetables are out there. Like...I want to ONLY buy from Chinatown because of it. So we bought over a pound of fresh salmon, some imitation crab sticks, sushi rice, a bamboo sushi mat, nice chopsticks, wooden skewers, and the list goes on! Once I finally move to the city for good, you can bet your britches I'm going to be buying awesome bowls and plates. So I decided to try my hand at making sushi! I did look up a sushi rice recipe (involving rice vinegar and salt that I added to taste), and took a chance! So here's my take on a Philadelphia Roll, a California Roll, and a Spicy Crab Roll!

Ingredients:
-3 c. sushi rice, cooked, rice vinegar and salt added (this may leave you with extra rice, I can't quite remember)
-3 sheets nori

Philadelphia Roll
-1 oz. fresh salmon, raw, cut into small, relatively thin strips
-2 tbsp. light cream cheese, spreadable
-1/4 cucumber, julienned

California Roll
-2 imitation crab sticks, cut in half lengthwise
-1 tbsp. light cream cheese, spreadable
-1/4 cucumber, julienned (1/2 avocado is preferred, but I didn't have any at the time of my original picture-taking)

Spicy Crab Roll
-2 imitation crab sticks, shredded
-1 tbsp. light mayonnaise
-3/4 tbsp. sriracha hot sauce
-1/2 avocado, halved and thinly sliced
-2 green onions, thinly sliced

1. Lay a piece of nori on the sushi mat.
2. Gently spread rice evenly across the nori. Do not make the layer too thick, but be sure to cover the surface.

3. Pile on the ingredients of your choice. I placed all of them at the end so they would end up in the center when I rolled. If you want a mix of rice and ingredients, cover the entire sheet.

4. Firmly roll up the nori using the bamboo mat. Make sure the ingredients stay together!

5. Slice evenly and plate. Enjoy!

I also attempted a roll with the rice on the outside and the nori on the inside, like you see in many restaurants. That was much harder and a horse of a completely different color. I'll try again sometime.

Making sushi in your own home is much more simple than you think! It takes a bit of patience but it is so worth it!

Happy Eating!

Dango (Rice Flour Balls)

If you've ever watched Japanese anime, you've probably seen these white balls on skewers that the characters eat. I never quite knew what they were, so in my research for Japanese food, I read about dango, which are essentially mochi balls. I found the recipe on this website. Boyfriend and I discovered that they're a tad tasteless, so make sure you pile on the sauces! The boy didn't like them but I actually thought they were pretty good.

You don't have to put them in the oven, but it definitely adds a little bit of a crisp outside that is a nice contrast to the gooey, chewy inside. We ate ours with soy sauce and wasabi alongside yakitori and sushi. Those recipes will come next!
Happy Eating!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Happy New Year!

Hang on, bloggers!
Don't give up on me yet!

I've been so busy with life (and preparing for my graduation in May) that I haven't really had much time to dedicate to food blogging. I have, however, been trying to follow a Japanese and Asian-style diet in the last few days and it's supposed to last me another week and a half. It's delicious, pretty simple, and lots of fun, but the high salt content is turning me off. Learning how to adjust the recipes and not use so much. Also a lot of carbs I don't need. But it's a good experiment and overall pretty healthy! Salmon's expensive, though...I have no clue how the Japanese can afford that! Haha. I'm working on a lot of recipes, so hopefully I'll have something for you soon. Having a really bad camera doesn't help my blogging experience, either. One day I'll have an AMAZING camera...let me just pay for food, rent, and the headshots/resumes/website/clothes I need for the start of my career first...!!!

Oy vey! Taking a break from crazy life never seems long enough!

So here's a picture of some yummy Asian food to tide you over until then. ;) Clear soup with mushroom and green onion, pan-fried tofu with soy and ginger, homemade rice ball, and soy-boiled bok choy. Mmm.

P.S. I also have a recipe for homemade tangelo marmalade coming up! Made it for E for Christmas. :)

Happy Eating and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Sushi, Sushi, Sushi!

Dango (Rice Flour Balls)

Monday, January 9, 2012

Happy New Year!

Followers