韮黄蝦子撈 Noodles in Prawn Eggs and Yellow Chinese Chives

日本語はこちらへどうぞ～

Okayama Prefecture (岡山県） produces 70% of the Yellow Chinese Chives (黄ニラ, 韮黄)　in Japan. The sad thing is that normal supermarkets don't normally stock them because it is not a common vegetable and not too many people know how to cook it.

Although, in the "exclusive" supermarket, Seijo Ishii (成城石井), they stock them regularly. The price is 398yen per bunch which is way too expensive to me!

How lucky that I found a bunch today at the discounted supermarket, Cousin （ガズン), for only 100 yen!



While I thought a bunch of Yellow Chinese Chives of 398 yen is expensive, it may be considered OK in Melbourne!

Talking to mum this morning, she told me ginger is AUD $58 per kg!!! Daikon (Japanese White Radish) is $4 per kg!!! Choy Sum (菜心) is AUD $5 per bunch!!!! Gosh, I can't possibly live in Australia again! Everything is SOOOOOOOOOOO expensive. Perhaps, a bunch of Yellow Chinese Chives of 398 yen (about AUD $4) may consider very "reasonable" to this ever inflating Australian consumer market.

What I made today tasted quite OK but with one regret. The noodle was not the "right" type. It got to go with the Hong Kong style Wonton noodle where the texture is more elastic, more chewy than what I used today. Oh well... this is Tokyo not Hong Kong, I should be very thankful that I can reproduce something close, yet, not the same!

How to "straighten up" a prawn for Tempura ~~~

A friend of mine asked me how to "straighten up" a prawn for Tempura recently. I explained it briefly in words but thought it may be easier to visually demonstrate how.

Honestly I forgot how I knew about "straightening up" a prawn for Tempura. It must be back to those days when I was still in Melbourne, as I had been cooking this since then.

I LOVE Tempura...................., yet, I won't use these prawns for Tempura because they are too fatty for me. I seriously need to lose a few more pounds before this summer! Wahh Ka Ka.....


1. Fresh prawn!


2. Peel off the shell and de-vein it.


3. Turn it up-side-down. Slit the bottom slantly a few times.



4. Flip it back up again. Gently push the prawn down and you can hear the "click, click, click" sound. That's IT! Easy...

Fermented Bean Curd Frenzy!!! 「腐乳熱潮」！

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It was probably in February............ Mr. Yim's ex-colleague came to Tokyo on business and it was very kind of him bringing 2 bottles of fermented bean curd (腐乳) to me.

Honestly, his kindness was very much appreciated! On top of that, I was terribly sorry that the sauce leaked and his clothes got stained!!!!!!! (Not to mention how stinky fermented bean curd could be........)

「有利腐乳」 (Yau Lee Fu Yu), a shop located in the wet market of Causeway, Hong Kong, under the bridge where we normally call it 「鵝頸橋」 (Goose Neck Bridge). There used to be a canal in that area and that's why the official street name is "Canal Street", and the canal was narrow and winding, hence local people started to call it Goose Neck Bridge even until now.

Born and raised in Kowloon, I was never that familiar with Hong Kong side. Yet, the only place that I would go was Causeway Bay, because my aunt's shop was located near there. I would normally catch Bus 113 home where the bus stop was located along 「鵝頸橋」 (Goose Neck Bridge).

To be frank with you, I have never purchased such a "huge" bottle of fermented bean curd in my life! Wanting to fully utilize it, I came up with a few "new" ideas!




Firefly Squid in garlic fermented bean curd sauce
蒜香腐乳螢火魷

(Not a bad combination! Only wished I could take a glass of "wine" with it!)


Cabbage and chicken fried in fermented bean curd sauce.
腐乳椰菜炒雞柳

This was not bad neither! At least the kids ate it all!

2010 Plum Juice Soda @ Home

日本語はこちらへどうぞ～

Last Friday was such a steamy hot day.

Thank goodness that I still got some plum juice that I made last year. I made this plum soda with Wilkinson Soda that I had NO IDEA where I got this bottle of nostalgic classics! Anyway, it was a delicious thirst quenching drink!

My 2010 plum juice tasted richer in body, deeper is taste after a year of maturation. Gosh.... I can't let anyone taste it! I am too selfish that I will keep it ALL to myself.... (just kidding.... I should pack a bottle home next time.)

I must order my Nankou Plums (南高梅　Nankouume）, a Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県) specialty SOON, as the good and cheap ones run out very quickly. Nankou Plums can be considred as a "branded" plum now because it is said to be of best quality plums in Japan.

2011 Golden Week @ Ebisu （恵比寿）

日本語はこちらへどうぞ～


This year, I took the girls to Ebisu Garden Place (恵比寿ガーデンプレス） where they had special events organized for the children during this GW.




Golden Week (GW) means a long week of public holidays and for 2011, it could be as long as 10 days if you take May 2nd and May 6th off from work (plus taking Saturdays and Sundays into consideration). No one in Japan doesn't know what GW is!


(They handed free balloons to children but C lost both within 10 mins... SIGH.......... Fortunately, her very smart sister got one back SOON after the lost of her 2 lovely balloons! It is still hanging up high at home.)

2011's GW starts from May 29th and the holidays are as follow:

April 29th Showa Day (昭和の日）
April 30th and May 1st (Saturday and Sunday)
May 2nd normal working day
May 3rd Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日）
May 4th Greenery Day (みどりの日）
May 5th Children's Day (こどもの日）

I think to me, all other public holidays are not that "relevant" except the May 5th Children's Day. Thanks to that, there are lots of children events during the GW period.

(We had Krispy Kreme for tea.... free cup of milk! Yup, FREE again!!! ha ha ha...)

They had 2 different kinds of crafts planned for the event. 1. To make your own windmill (かざくるま）. 2. To make your own flying carp　（こいのぼり）.

(Windmill made by A)

Further, the Mitsukoshi held a hand craft workshops during the GW 「親子でツクロウ・アソボウ」. "A" made a piece of hand woven cloth which got framed up and sent off to grandma in Iwaki for Mother's Day.


A chose some really colorful threads.


Working very hard on it.



Her masterpiece!

The highlight was the "bubbles" chasing spree! They used this bubbles machine to generate thousands and thousands of bubbles where C was crazy chasing after them! A had grown out of the bubbles chasing stage but C was absolutely crazy about it!



Chasing after the bubbles.

Where are you going??????????????? Wait for mummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Japanese Spanish Mackerel Fish Balls - 扁交魚=潮洲魚丸

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I saw my friend using Japanese Spanish Mackerel (鰆　Sawara in Japanese, and, 扁交魚 in Cantonese) for fish balls, following her recipe, I made my virgin attempt!

The taste was not bad but they were not "bouncy elastic" (彈口) enough. I ought to "bash" it up more severely next time to produce the desired results! This C9 will never add Borax (硼砂) in it! NO NO NO!

My dad made fish balls once in Melbourne where at a point he caught dozens of fish from Mornington Bay. Oh dear.... they were absolutely FOUL! Sorry Dad.... those fish balls were so stinky that even pigs won't approach them. That's what I thought, but guessed what, my sister ATE THEM UP!!!!!!!!!




Honestly, no one can be like my sister who never complains about the taste of anything. To her, anything tastes good and this is really her beauty! Love you dear sis!





Wrapped up those fish balls in a clay pot. 魚旦頭菜粉皮煲. A & C finished up all the flat wide glass noodles and broccoli. I ate up all the fish balls..... "Self Sacrifice" is required in extreme conditions sometimes.........

Wahh Kaah Kaah....

広味坊 Koumibou @ 祖師ヶ谷大蔵 Soshigayaookura

日本語はこちらへどうぞ～

Happy Mothers' Day to all mothers!

I called mum at 7.00 a.m. local time which was one hour ahead of her time, and guessed what, she was still in bed!!! Quickly greeted her briefly and I was back to my routine house chores.

Mr. Yim mentioned a couple of days ago that he would go bike touring today and I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO thrilled!!!!! The main reason being was that I had my eyes on this ordering style buffet lunch at "China Room" in Grand Hyatt Tokyo which was a special Golden Week menu for a while already.

Knowing he would NEVER pay 4,500 yen for a meal, and I had no courage to go alone without my kids (worrying I wouldn't be able to come back in case of emergency), I gave up hope of enjoying Peking Ducks, all you can eat Dim Sums, fantastic Hong Kong style desserts, etc...

Then he mentioned about bike touring this Sunday, meaning I could go to Grand Hyatt with the girls and he wouldn't be around!

My eyes were widely opened with JOY! Without a single second of delay, I called China Room but to my expectation, Sunday buffet was fully booked..... Of course, of course! Miracles would not happen that easily.

Not to disappoint myself on this very special day, I made a reservation to Koumibou (広味坊), which was a Chinese restaurant near my house. They had Peking Duck style salad (it was NOT Peking Duck), yet, it tasted something similar.

Since A and C were playing outside with the neighboring children from the morning, C was rather exhausted by the time we got to the restaurant.

She was throwing tantrum, refusing to eat, yelling... so the only picture I could take was the 焼き餃子 (Yakigyoza) the pan-fried dumplings.

To my surprise, the dumplings were more like prawn patties than the orthodox ground meat dumplings. I actually quite liked them. With no doubt, I will try to reproduce them myself in the near future.

I also ordered the Peking Duck style salad (北京ダック風サラダ）, 6 different small bites lunch (６種類のおかずランチ）, spring onions soup noodles (油かけた高菜と葱をたっぷり入りラーメン) which I tended to call this 「葱油麺」 in Cantonese.

I quite liked the spring onions soup noodles because the soup tasted like double boiled duck cavities soup.

Reminded me of this Melbourne Peking Duck restaurants called "Peking House"??? (not quite sure about this name) at Tooronga Village more than 20 years ago. Peking House closed down many years ago, however, the taste of their duck cavity soup lingered in my memory until now.

How lucky that Mr. Yim was away today! I could order whatever I wanted With his presence, he would only order the cheapest item from the menu, and he would definitely complain about C's uncontrollable behavior. Phew~~~

C slept in the restaurant after much struggle and I finally could leisurely enjoy my dessert and a cup of hot Chinese tea in the end! How wonderful!

What a lovely day it was..... !!!

All I wanted for Mother's day is the good health of my mother, my family and my girls. That's all. Just imagined if the girls got sick and I had to worry about C's febrile convulsion, even at the presence of the most fabulous Peking Duck would be tasteless.

Actually, I got a phone call from my sister wishing me happy Mother's Day, too! Wow... that was like winning Tattslotto (lottery tickets) in my life!

After experiencing much in my life, I self taught myself, be contented of what you have and cherish it to the full!

What a GREAT DAY I had!

Also, today was the day that I could finally get rid of my iPhone v.1 (which I got it from Mr. Yim of course!), because Mr. Yim passed down his iPhone 3 to me as he now has iPad 2 ! SUPER!

When we walked out the door, I saw a REAL duck came out! At the price of Yen 8000, you can have the whole duck to yourself. Next time.... I need "human power" to finish up the entire duck.

Salmon kebab with creamy avocado mayo sauce!

日本語はこちらへどうぞ～

Recently, I found this mayonnaise at "Natural House".  Natural House is an organic food specialty store and I simply got addicted to this rich, creamy and salt reduced mayonnaise.

I just realized they have no more stock now!  How lucky that I got myself a bottle. 

Eggs were laid by 100% non-genetically modified crops fed free range chickens.　　On top of that, apple vinegar was used and no artificial colorings or no additives were added.

I am definitely not their product developer nor their sales manager, I am simply saying what I believe in.  After trying this, I can't even switch back to Kewpie!  The down side of this mayonnaise is that it is 3 times more expensive than the usual one.  DARN.............

I made salmon kebab the other night, and to accompany that, I made this avocado tartar sauce taking all the onions, pickles, and capers away.  My girls won't eat them!  

Again, using my Japanese, I will say, "これはちょっと美味しいかも！” (Kore wa chotto oishii kamo.) meaning this is quite yummy....

Note that watercress..... fresh from my garden!  ha ha ha...

Kashiwa Mochi 柏餅

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May 5th is a day to celebrate!  It is a Japanese national holiday, Children's Day (こどもの日 Kodomo no hi).  

"WE", the parents, are supposed to dedicate our time totally to our children on this day!!!  (Yet, I want to say, everyday is children's day to my children though....) 

I beg your pardon, actually my above statement is not 100% correct. 

The significance of Children’s Day is to pray for the boys' good health.  This goes in tandem with March’s Girl's day celebration （雛祭り　Hinamatsuri)  which is a celebration of girls. 

On this day, we eat Kashiwamochi (柏餅） which is a pounded glutinous rice cake stuffed with red bean filling wrapped in the leaf of a Japanese oak (柏の木　Kashiwa no ki).  

As the leaves of these trees don’t lose their leaves until fresh leaves appear, meaning continuation of generations to generations (子孫繁盛 in Japanese).

In Japanese, they say, "「子供が産まれるまで親は死なない」=「家系が途絶えない」", parents will not die until a child is born, meaning the continuation of family name will never cease.

I bought 2 Kashiwamochi (柏餅）　yesterday.  One was filled with red bean paste and the other was filled with miso added sweetened white bean paste  (味噌餡 Misoan). We ate them yesterday and I preferred the white filling over the red.

This rice cake reminded me of the Cantonese version of something similar.  We call them "tea cake" （茶果) which is also a pounded rice cake wrapped in a leaf and the filling is contained of crushed peanuts, shredded coconuts, sesame and sugar.  Oh YUM!!!!!  

What leaf did they use???  

I have no idea but it was a specialty of my grandma's hometown Tung Goon （東莞).  

Perhaps I should try to reproduce it and use Japanese Oak leaves to warp it.  I should ask my relatives during my next HK visit what leaves they used to wrap up the "tea cake".

King Trumpet Mushroom 「杏鮑菇」 「エリンギ」

日本語版はこちらへどうぞ～

I went shopping with the girls last week and guess what we found at "Food Show" ( The mega supermarket)?

The unharvested cultivated King Trumpet Mushroomｓ still in the pot! 

I think it is called 「杏鮑菇」　or 「雞脾菇」　in Hong Kong.  In Japan, it is called 「エリンギ」 (Erinngi), originated from a borrowed Italian word, "Eryngi".

Organic growing medium is composed of lumber and agricultural waste, such as sawdust and grain milling bi-products that are usually discarded but absolutely loved by fungi. 

Then I asked the guy, "How do you pick it out from the pot?"  He said, "Just pluck it out!".   That's it???  

So A plucked it out and that's what remained in the pot......

Interesting~~~

This curious C 9 has a plot in her mind...... why not grow some "mushrooms" at home.... ?????  ha ha ha.....

Misuzu Agar Jello 「みすゞ飴」 「啫喱糖」 Gift from a friend

The shopping bag from Iijima 飯島商店.

For Japanese, please click here.

I got this really fantastic gift from my friend recently.  This jello confectionery was made from the best fruit compote and fruit juice produced in Shinshuu region (信州).  The must buy classic Misuzu Agar Jello from Iijima (飯島商店).

In Cantonese, I would tend to call it 啫喱糖 (Jello candy) which was one of my childhood favorites.  The one that I had when I was a child was wrapped with a thin mouth melting paper.  I am not sure if you can still find the same product in HK now.

What make it different from the other jello is that glutinous starch syrup is added so the texture is firmer and more resistant to warm temperature.

I got a bonus, too!  

Look at this beautiful jar of jam!

 

Made from a citrus fruit called Yugehyoukan 「弓削瓢柑」（ゆげひょうかん） where the shape is like an enlarged lemon and its fruit is similar to a grapefruit.  Something similar to a 「碌柚」in Hong Kong.

The sweet and aromatic citrus fragrance is unbeatable!

Now I am so tempted to visit Iijima (飯島商店）myself which is located at Nagano prefecture (長野県）。

Moss Phlox (a.k.a Moss Pink) 芝桜 (Shibazakura) @ Misato Shibazakura Park （みさと芝桜公園), Gunma （群馬県）.

日本語版はこちらへどうぞ！

Cherry blossoms (桜 Sakura）　might be Japan`s most well known flower of spring, but alas, this cloud-like pink canopy usually has a short life, and once its petals start to float down with the spring breeze, we feel it is the end of spring.  

To the contrary, in fact, it is just the beginning of the genuine Japanese "Spring" season.  Please think cherry blossoms is the opening ceremony of the flower competition and there are MORE to come.

Pink Phlox a.k.a. Pink Moss come in to exchange the baton of this spring relay race.

There are various places stretches from the south to north of Japan where you can enjoy this pulsating pink festival.  This time, we went to Misato Shibazakura Park （みさと芝桜公園) located in Gunma Prefecture （群馬県）。

I am so amazed by the work the gardeners have put together.  The design of the twirling patterns, the patchwork color co-ordination and landscaping.  All the well planned details and visual impact the landscapers and gardeners' are wishing to prevail to please your eyes.

Each pot of flower is not significant if it stands alone, yet, if you group them together, it will become such a vast picture that will grab each viewer's gasps.

By carefully plotting the different colors of Thrift (English name of Moss Phlox), the magical mosaic pattern will review, generating a carpet of enormous masterpiece.

The viewing season will last for another week or so, if you don't want to miss it, check this homepage out.  The largest Moss Phlox exhibition is in Hokkaido, why not drop by and relax in what the mother nature is offering you?

http://hananomeisyo.sakura.ne.jp/shibazakura.htm

(Can't read Japanese?  Get a Japanese friend to translate it for you..... ha ha ha)

Home made black sesame dressing 自家製黒芝麻醤

Last time when I visited Gerine Fine Food, Rose strongly recommended her black sesame powder (黒芝麻粉).  

So far, I have only used it for black sesame sweet soup (芝麻糊) or black sesame milk (芝麻奶), both are sweet dessert.  

For a change, I made this black sesame dressing (黒芝麻醤) and it went so well with boiled vegetables!  I am a very humble housewife, but I got to say, this dressing tasted much better than my expectation.

Black sesame is good to your liver and kidney.  Good for dry coughs, anemia, high blood pressure, constipation, vascular sclerosis and most of all, it restores moisture to your skin!!!  Beauty food!

What I have brought together this time are anti-aging food series.  Prawns, pine nuts, broccoli and Chinese wolfberries. 

So how do I look now?  

YOUNG AND RADIANT!!!!  

ha ha ha....

Recipe:

3 Table spoons of black sesame powder

1 Table spoon of soya sauce

1 Table spoon of brown sugar

1 Tea spoon of persimmon vinegar （柿酢)

2 Tea spoon of ginger juice

4 Table spoons of water

1 Tea spoon of sesame oil

Just mix all ingredients together.  Very easy.  Season to your own taste!  You can add more sugar or more vinegar depending on your personal preference.

The Northeastern Japan Specialty - Vegetable clear broth (八戸せんべい汁 Hachinohe Senbeijiru）

In Japan, they classify their food in "grades".  Those cheaper version of local favorites are called "B" grade gourmet (B級　グルメ B Kyuu Gurume） and those exclusive Michelin starred rating or equivalent are called "A" grade gourmet (A級　グルメ A Kyuu Gurume）.

Recently, B grade gourmet food have been utilized as a tool to rejuvenate local specialties.  This time, on our way to Gunma Prefecture （群馬県）, we stopped by at Takasaka (高坂) parking area and I found this Northeastern Japan specialty (東北名物　Tohoku Meibutsu）, Vegetable clear broth (八戸せんべい汁　Hachinohe Senbeijiru）.

http://japan-web-magazine.com/japanese/food/hachinohe-senbeijiru/index.html

Most soups in Japan are of Miso （味噌 fermented bean paste） based but Hachinohe Senbeijiru is made of a clear kelp (昆布　Konbu) stock.  The taste is further enhanced by dried mushroom (干し椎茸 Hoshi Shiitake）　where we all know dried mushroom is very rich is flavor as well.

I love its tranquility and its rich but clear flavor.  Perhaps I will make it today but with the absence of Senbei (煎餅 the think slice of biscuit).

Kiyoshi (喜よし） ＠ Sakurashinmachi （桜新町） 東京

I saw an article by So Sze Wong 蘇施黃 saying fish imported from Japan is too dangerous for human consumption.  

Is it true?????  

Or is she simply misinforming the public???

Being someone so famous, I really wish she can provide more factual proof than just using her "mouth" to say it.  Her words are so influential that people will blindly believe it without thinking it twice.

There's been enough non-factual and way too exaggerated news from overseas media about this Fukushima nuclear plant accident.

What I am saying is that if the Hong Kong Health Department has issued a certificate to certify this product is safe and good for human consumption, why don't you believe your own government's safety screening?

There's a Melbourne physicist-foodie who investigated the radiation level of sake from Japan.  Look at the results and I hope it will open up your eyes and not be blindly folded by what the media is telling you.

http://www.gourmethusbands.com/index.php4?ncomment=97

So, going back to what I really wanted to blog!

My friend came to Tokyo in February for a concert of her favorite Japanese rock star.  Sorry, I have no interests in any other things apart from "FOOD". 

This time, I took her to Kiyoshi (喜よし）.

Amuse: Sea Urchin slow cooked in soy sauce. (Sweet~)

お通し: ウニの佃煮 (Otoshi: Uni no tsukudani)

おまかせのつまみ　(Omakase no tsumami)

Chef's finger food recommendation

あいなめのお造り　(Ainame no otsukuri)

Greenling Sashimi

Very tender.

墨烏賊　（すみいか） (Sumiika)

Squid

So fresh!

鮑の塩蒸し (Awabi no shiomushi)

Abalone slow cooked in sea salt

Apart from my home-cooked abalone, this is the best I have ever tried outside.

塩焼きシマアジ (shioyaki shimaaji)

Grilled Horse Mackerel

I know my girl would love that crispy skin.

帆立貝の磯部巻き (hotate no isobeyaki)

Scallop wrapped in seaweed 

あなごの白焼き (anago no shirayaki)

Grilled congor

I love that 山椒 (Japanese pepper) on top. 

So, let's stop here for the finger foods.  

Next .... SUSHI!!!

ひらめ (hirame)

Flounder

So transparent!

アオリイカ　（aoriika)

Oval squid

こはだ(Kohada) 

 Gizzard Shad 

鯵　(aji)

Horse Mackerel

トロ　（toro)

Fatty tuna 

My dad's favourite!

ウニ　（uni)

Sea urchin

My favourite!  

I can't remember exactly what it was.  I think it was 蛤　(hamaguri) 貴妃蚌 .

To close off the deal, we had アナゴ　(anago) congor sushi topped with loads of sweet sauce.

I was only 80% full but my wallet was 100% over budgeted!!!!!  Had to stop at that point.

I have no fear eating Japanese fish and in fact, I believe fish caught near 日本海 (Sea of Japan) or 九州 (Kyuushuu) is far safer than fish caught in China!

However, I do have fear going out to the city at night worrying I won't be able to come home in case of unplanned blackouts.

Yet, there is another sushi shop near my house where I have always been wanting to try.  It is 鮨たかはし　(Sushi Takahashi).  

Will anyone come along with me?