I was craving chirashizushi (chirashi sushi) today, but didn’t feel like paying a lot of money. 1 good bowl = $20+. So for the same price, I made 2 bowls at home!! I usually get really good sashimi or sashimi grade fish blocks from the Japanese market. They have the freshest fish! My large sashimi package came with maguro (nice tuna), sake (salmon), tako (octopus), uni (sea urchin), and hamachi (yellowtail). I like to add Sweet Tamagoyaki and either salmon roe or tobiko (flying fish eggs). All I had to do was make the Sushi Rice and dinner was ready in a flash.

Ingredients:

Sushi Rice
1 large package of mixed sashimi
Sweet Tamagoyaki
salmon roe or flying fish egg (tobiko)
wasabi, soy sauce, pickled ginger

Makes about 2 bowls

Cooking Instructions: *click picture to enlarge*

Step 1: Make Sushi Rice and let it cool down completely. Then fill a bowl with the sushi rice.

Step 2: Put the pieces of sashimi, tamago, uni, and tobiko on top.

Step 3: Serve with wasabi, soy sauce, and pickled ginger.

I love going to asian bakeries, but I love baking even more! So today, I decided to make Anpan (red bean bun). Making anpan at home tastes better than the bakery kind. It’s warm, extra fluffy, and FRESH!

The only thing I recommend when making the bread is using Saf-Yeast Instant Yeast. It’s my favorite instant yeast. It’s usually not sold in stores, so you’ll probably have to get it online, but it’s worth it. No warm water or proofing required, and your dough rises faster (I learned about this yeast while attending an asian bakery class. Not the typical instant rapid rise yeast that’s sold in stores).

Serve with milk or warm green tea~ Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Bread
200 grams all-purpose flour (or bread flour)
40 grams sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Saf-Yeast Instant Yeast
1 egg (lightly beaten)
60 grams water
20 grams milk
1 tablespoon melted butter

Filling and topping
250 grams red bean paste
black sesame seeds (optional)

Things you might need
Stand Mixer or
Hand Mixer  with dough hooks
Food Scale

Makes 7 to 8 Anpan

Cooking Instructions: *click picture to enlarge*

Step 1: Mix the flour, sugar, salt, and Saf Instant Yeast together. Then add water, milk, and the lightly beaten and form a messy dough. Add the melted butter. Now knead for 5 to 8 minutes using a Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer with dough hooks. You can also knead by hand (it will take a long time). When the dough is smooth and elastic, move to a clean bowl. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place for about an hour (until doubled in size).

Step 2: Split the dough to 7 to 8 pieces (about 50 grams each). Roll each into a smooth ball. Cover and let it rise for 10 to 15 minutes.

Step 3: Roll the red bean paste into a ball (about a large tablespoon in size). Now take the dough and flatten it (not too much). Add the red bean paste and wrap the dough around it and seal.

Step 4: Flatten once more. *This part is optional. You can use a tablespoon to make an indention in the center or use sharp scissors and make 5 deep cuts around the dough.*

Step 5: Now cover and let the buns rise another 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 6: Bake for 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. Instead of egg wash, I like to brush a little bit of olive oil on the bread after it’s done baking to make it shiny. I also like to add some black sesame seeds. Enjoy!!

Happy New Year! I made Korean Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings for this new year! It’s a Korean tradition to eat rice cake soup for good luck and to turn a year older… Yes, I don’t really like the turning a year older part, so I used to not eat this as a child. I added beef dumplings because my husband won’t eat rice cake soup without them. This recipe will take a while to make, but it’s worth the time. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Dumplings
200 grams ground beef (7oz)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
2 teaspoon oyster sauce
100 grams minced onion
2 minced green onion
20 gyoza skins (wrappers)

Beef Stock
6 short rib bones (with some meat on the bones)
7 to 8 cups water
1 green onion

Rice Cake Soup with Dumplings
Beef stock
Beef from the bones
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and Pepper to season
1 cup rice cake ovalettes
Dumplings
1 fried egg (julienne strips)
Quarter sheet Nori/Korean Gim (julienne strips)
1 green onion chopped

Makes about 4 servings

Cooking Instructions: *click to enlarge picture*

Step 1: First make the beef stock. Put the short rib bones in cold water for 30 minutes and then drain the bloody water. Boil 7 to 8 cups water in a large pot and add the bones and 1 green onion. Cover and simmer for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. After 1 hour 40 minutes, throw away the bones but cut and leave the meat in a separate bowl. Transfer the stock into a really large bowl to cool. Once cooled, the fat will float to top. Use a spoon to remove most of the fat until you have a nice beef stock. Cut the beef from the short rib bones into bite sized pieces and mix with 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic. Put aside until needed.

Step 2: Make the dumplings. Marinate the ground beef with the oyster sauce, ginger, and garlic. While the beef is marinating, mince the green onion and onion and cook over medium heat until the onion becomes clear. Let the mixture cool down.

Step 3: Mix the marinated ground beef with the cooled onion mixture to make the filling. Place a tablespoonful of filling on each gyoza skin. Wet the outer edge of the gyoza skin with water. Fold the gyoza in half and tightly seal into a half moon shape. Take the corners and fold upwards to form a fotune cookie shape and then press to seal once more.

Step 4: Now it’s time to put everything together. Lightly beat one egg and fry it and let it cool. Then cut into julienne strips. Also cut the nori into julienne strips. Put aside until soup is ready.

Step 5: Move the beef stock to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the beef (from the bones) and chopped green onion. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes. Now add the rice cake ovalettes and dumplings and cook for 4 more minutes. Top the soup with the julienne strips of egg and nori and some extra green onion. Serve with rice and and radish kimchi.

I love coffee flavored desserts, so I thought it would be nice to make coffee cookies! These coffee cookies were a hit with my husband who’s not really a coffee drinker. This coffee cookie recipe is quick and easy to make and great to give as gifts! Try putting them in a cute jar or box and give as a gift for Christmas

Ingredients:

100 grams cake flour
35 grams sugar
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
50 grams toasted walnuts
pinch of salt
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon water
20 grams raisins
powdered sugar, to dust

Things you might need
food scale
Cookie Pan

Makes 16 cookie balls

Cooking Instructions: *click picture to enlarge*

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Step 2: Put the cake flour, sugar, coffee, walnuts, and salt in a food processor and process for about 10 seconds (or until the walnuts are well grounded).

Step 3: Now put the mixture into a mixing bowl and add canola oil. Form a pasty dough, then separate the dough with your hands to form small crumbs. Add the water and form into a clean dough. If you like raisins, you can combine it with the dough now.

Step 4: Divide the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Put each ball on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes.

Step 5: Let the cookies cool for about 20 minutes. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

I wanted to put some cookie ornaments on my mini Christmas tree, but couldn’t think of the shape I wanted. So, I decided to make Christmas cookie ornaments with leftover dough from the green tea swirl cookie pops! Now, my mini tree is ready for X-mas!!

Poke holes with a skewer and bake the same way as the green tea swirl cookie pops. When they’re done baking, you can put a string through it and hang it on the Christmas tree.

Working with Matcha Powder during the Christmas season is a must because it’s green! I love making Green Tea Swirl Cookies, but I thought it would be cute to put them on a lollipop stick and give as gifts (I got the idea from a food magazine while waiting in line at the market). Good luck with the recipe and happy holidays!

Ingredients:
Plain Dough
100 grams cake flour
20 grams sugar
2 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoon water

Green Tea Dough
1 tablespoon Matcha Green Tea Powder
80 grams cake flour
30 grams sugar
2 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoon water

Things you might need
Lollipop Sticks
Gift bows
Silpat or parchment paper
Cookie pan
cookie sheet
food scale

Makes about 15 to 18 cookie pops

Cooking Instructions: *click picture to enlarge*

Step 1: To make the plain dough, mix together the cake flour and sugar in a mixing bowl. Then add the canola oil and form a pasty crumbly dough. Add water and form into a dough. Roll out the dough into 6 inch x 7 inch square (about 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick).

Step 2: Make the green tea dough. Combine the Matcha Green Tea Powder, cake flour, and sugar. Then add the canola oil and form a pasty crumbly dough. Add water and form into a dough. Roll out the dough into 6 inch x 7 inch square and put on top of the plain dough (you can trim the edges if needed).

Step 3: Start from the end facing you and roll the 2 doughs together. Wrap and freeze the dough for about 30 minutes to make it easier to cut. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 4: After 30 minutes cut the dough into 1/3 inch slices. Take a lollipop stick and poke a hole to the halfway mark in each slice. Remove the sticks since they’re not oven friendly. The hole will remain in tact even after baking (the dough doesn’t contain eggs so it won’t go soft). Bake for 28 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Step 5: When they’re done baking, put the lollipop sticks back in and let the cookies cool down. Decorate as you wish and serve or wrap and give as gifts!

My husband got me an electric takoyaki maker last year and I’ve been having way too much fun! I wanted to share how to make takoyaki so you can make it at home too!

Takoyaki is a ball-shaped Japanese snack mainly stuffed with octopus, beni shoga, and green onion. It’s like a miniature okonomiyaki except it’s gooey inside and round like a golf ball. It’s a popular street and festival food and I think they’re great for families and parties!

You can use takoyaki flour mix or okonomiyaki flour mix. There’s an Okonomiyaki kit at amazon.com which comes with everything you need except the mayo and the sauce. Don’t be discouraged if your takoyaki ends up a mess the first time. It takes a lot of practice to make pretty takoyaki, but that’s the fun part! With more practice, you’ll be a takoyaki master in no time

Takoyaki Pans and accessories

Small Takoyaki Pan (stovetop pan)
Electric Takoyaki Maker
Electric Takoyaki Pan – Medium Sized
Takoyaki Pick
Okonomiyaki kit (comes with everything except mayo and the sauce)

Ingredients:

80 grams blanched octopus, diced
1 green onion, chopped
1 tablespoon beni shoga, chopped
100 grams takoyaki mix or okonomiyaki mix
1 1/2 cup water (340cc)
1 egg
oil, to brush

Topping
Takoyaki or Okonomiyaki Sauce
Kewpie Mayonnaise
aonori  (green/blue seaweed flakes)
katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

Makes about 20 to 24 pieces

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Prepare the ingredients. Blanch the octopus and dice it. Chop the green onion and mince the benishoga. Now make the batter by combining the takoyaki flour, water, and egg (you can click on the pictures to enlarge).

Step 2: Heat the Takoyaki pan. Brush on oil into each cup and top of the pan. Pour the batter into each cup. It’s ok for the batter overflow the cups.

Step 3: Now quickly add the octopus, green onion, and beni shoga into each cup.

Step 4: After a couple minutes, use a Takoyaki Pick and give each piece a 90 degree turn.

Step 5: Now use the pick and give another 90 degree turn, stuffing the edges as you turn.

Step 6: Keep rotating each piece to round out the shape. That will also evenly brown the pieces.

Step 7: Top with takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise, aonori, katsuobushi, and enjoy! The inside will be gooey ^^ Oh, and be careful! It will be extremely hot!

I love any type of Japanese korokke (croquette), but kani kurimu korokke (crab cream croquette) is my favorite. You’ll bite through the crispy panko shell and end up in a creamy crab sauce heaven. Pair kani kurimu korokke with curry and you’ll lose your mind for bit…

Crab cream croquettes are easy to make and they freeze well, so you can make this ahead of time and use as needed (just follow the steps before the deep frying part and individually wrap and freeze). I have a ton of these in my freezer ready to go to serve with cold beer or curry. They’re great for bentos too!

Ingredients:

For the Filling
100 grams crab meat (more if you like)
1/3 cup corn kernels
1/2 medium onion, sliced thinly
2 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper, to season

Breading
flour, to dust
1 beaten egg
Panko Bread Crumbs, to coat

oil to fry
optional sauces (tonkatsu sauce or curry)

Things you might need
Mandoline Slicer
Saute Pan

Makes 2 to 3 Servings

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Have the filling ingredients measured and ready to go. Thinly slice the onion with a Mandoline Slicer.

Step 2: Heat a sauté pan and sauté the onions with butter until lightly caramelized. Add the flour and mix well.

Step 3: Now add the milk and cream and season with salt and pepper. Stir and let the sauce thicken a bit. Add the corn kernels and crab meat and mix well. Turn off heat and let the mixture cool a little. Then move the mixture into a container and refrigerate about an hour or until the mixture has hardened.

Step 4: Divide the mixture into 5 pieces and form a patty shape (or shape of your choice). Dust each patty with flour and dip into the beaten egg.

Step 5: Now coat with Panko Bread Crumbs and deep fry until golden brown.

Step 6: Serve with tonkatsu sauce or CURRY for the ultimate foodie experience!

For this year’s Thanksgiving dessert, I wanted to stray away from the usual apple or pecan pie. I wanted to make something low in calories and slightly healthier, so I made Blueberry Cookie Crumb Bars (without butter!).  These blueberry cookie crumb bars are super easy to make and will disappear quickly. Since the bars are low in calories, I felt less guilty gobbling them up with some vanilla ice cream!!  :)

Ingredients:

150 grams Cake Flour
50 grams Almond Meal
25 grams sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoon Maple syrup
130 grams frozen blueberries

Things you might need
food scale
7″ Round Pan with Removable Bottom or
6″ Square pan with Removable Bottom

Makes one 7″ round or 6″ square cookie

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line pan with parchment paper or use baking spray.

Step 2: Mix the cake flour, almond meal, cinnamon, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add canola oil and form a pasty dough.

Step 3: Separate the dough with your hands to form crumbs. Add Maple syrup and form into a dough once more. Separate the dough into 2 pieces.

Step 4:  Crumble and press 1 of the pieces of dough into bottom of the pan. Add the frozen blueberries.

Step 5: Crumble the remaining dough for the top layer. Gently press down and bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Step 6: Let it cool down for about 30 minutes. Cut into bars and serve. It goes well with vanilla ice cream

Today was a “must bake cookies” kind of day. I scoped out the pantry to see what ingredients I had and found peanut butter and Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. Then I realized I had no butter or eggs! I really didn’t feel like going grocery shopping, so I told myself I would try making a healthy recipe. Making healthy cookies is a huge trend in Asia right now, and I remember reading about using canola oil instead of butter. Since the cookies would be eggless, I used cake flour to create a delicate/flaky texture. This recipe is very easy to make and can easily become vegan.

In the end, the healthy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies turned out great! I’m going to go buy some cute jars or boxes and give these cookies as gifts. Make sure you let the cookies cool down completely before eating

Ingredients:

100 grams cake flour
30 grams sugar
40 grams crunchy peanut butter
2 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoon water
30 grams Bittersweet Chocolate Chips

Things you might need
food scale
cookie sheet

Makes 12 to 14 cookies

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cake flour and sugar. Then add the peanut butter and canola oil.

Step 2: Form a pasty dough, then separate the dough with your hands to form small crumbs. Add the water and form into a messy dough.

Step 3: Add the bittersweet chocolate chips and knead gently with hands. Separate dough into 12 to 14 bite-sized balls. Flatten each piece and bake at 350 degrees F for 22 to 25 minutes.

Step 4: Let it cool down for 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

After watching “The Dotch Cooking Show” (Japanese cooking show), I was inspired to make Ebi Chili. I think I made this ebi chili recipe 7 times this past week… That’s how much I love it! What’s ebi chili? It means Chili Shrimp in Japanese and it’s based on the Chinese Kan Shao Shrimp. Korea also has a version of this dish, but it’s usually very expensive to order and the portions are small. I saved lots of money by making this ebi chili recipe at home and ate more than I was supposed to.

I had to tweak the sauce a bit and changed the batter and frying style. Frying the shrimp twice helps keep it nice and crisp even with the sauce. I also like to eat ebi chili with fried rice. The spicy/tangy/slightly sweet sauce mixed with the fried rice is heavenly~

Ingredients:

Fried Shrimp
20 tiger shrimp 21/25 (about 270g)
a little bit salt to season meat
1 egg white
6 tablespoon Potato Starch
7 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon oil (for the batter)
oil to fry

Chili Sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1/2 green onion, minced (white part)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoon Toban Djan
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock (100ml)
1/2 tablespoon sake (japanese cooking wine)
1 1/2 tablespoon chili oil
1 teaspoon potato starch + 1 teaspoon water

Makes about 2 to 3 Servings

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Mix 6 tablespoon Potato Starch with 7 tablespoon water and let the potato starch settle in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (overnight preferred).

Step 2: Mince the garlic, ginger, and white part of green onion. Put aside until needed.

Step 3: Mix the ketchup, Toban Djan, sugar, sake, and chicken stock in a small bowl. Put aside until needed.

Step 4: Remove the shell and tail from shrimp. Butterfly (make a cut along the back) and devein. Lightly season the shrimp with salt.

Step 5: When the potato starch and water have separated completely, drain the water. Mash the potato starch with a spoon and mix with the shrimp, 1 egg white, and 2 tablespoon oil.

Step 6: Deep Fry the shrimp at 375 degrees F for about 2 minutes. Take all the shrimp out and wait for the oil to heat back up. Fry all the shrimp together once more for about another 3 minutes. This will keep the shrimp crisp even when the sauce is added. Stir the oil with long chopsticks to let the steam (moisture) out once in a while.

Step 7: Heat a wok on medium heat. Add 1 1/2 tablespoon chili oil. When hot, add the minced garlic and ginger and stir until fragrant. Then add the sauce mixture and stir over high heat. Let the sauce bubble a bit then add the potato starch/water mixture to thicken.

Step 8: Add the fried shrimp and minced green onion and sauté just until the shrimp is coated (only 5 to 10 seconds). Serve with fried rice.

Japanese cooking shows always inspire me to make something new! I’ve never had menchi katsu with cheese, so I had to try it. Let’s just say, I’ll always make menchi katsu with cheese from now on.

Menchi katsu (minced cutlet) is basically a panko coated, deep fried ground beef/pork cutlet. It’s often served with curry or tonkatsu sauce and it’s another dish that’s great for bentos! If you like Japanese Hamburg Steak, you’ll love this dish as well. If you’re not a fan of cheese, you can leave it out and still enjoy menchi katsu. I used pepper jack cheese for the filling, but you can use any cheese. Serve with shredded cabbage and rice.

Ingredients:

For the patties
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
300 grams ground pork or ground beef (10.7oz)
salt and pepper, to season
4 tablespoon Panko Bread Crumbs
1 tablespoon Japanese Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
4 slices pepper jack cheese

Breading
Flour, to dust
1 beaten egg
Panko Bread Crumbs, to coat

oil to fry
Tonkatsu Sauce, for dipping

Makes 2 to 3 Servings

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Finely chop the onions. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and let it melt. Add the finely chopped onion and let it brown lightly (about 8 minutes). Constantly stir so it doesn’t burn. When the onion is light brown, remove from heat and let it cool down.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, add the ground pork or ground beef and mash until smooth. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Now add the cooled onion, egg, panko bread crumbs, and Japanese Worcestershire sauce and mix well.

Step 3: Divide the mixture into 4 patties. Fold the cheese into quarters and fill the center of each patty. Make sure the cheese is covered on all sides with the meat mixture. Don’t make the patties too thick (it will take longer to cook and it might burn).

Step 4: Dust each patty with flour and dip into the beaten egg.

Step 5: Now coat with Panko Bread Crumbs and deep fry until golden brown.

Step 6: Serve with rice, shredded cabbage, and Tonkatsu Sauce. Menchi katsu also goes great with curry.

I’m back from Korea and just now getting over being jetlagged. I’m finally back in the mood to cook! I’ve been craving Japanese Hamburg Steak for a little over a month so I decided to post this recipe.

Japanese Hamburg Steak is my favorite yoshoku. I first got hooked on this while visiting Japan. The hambagu that I liked the best was always juicy with a light sauce. After experimenting with lots of different sauces, I found that a lighter sauce is better. It doesn’t overpower the Hamburg Steak. My sauce is a light teriyaki/dashi broth sauce and it’s meant to be thin. It’s not the thick demi-glaced style sauce served in most restaurants. Oh! and some people like to mix in ground pork when making a hambagu, but I prefer using 100% beef ground chuck (front shoulder meat). In my opinion, ground chuck has a better flavor and great for making hamburger style patties.

Japanese Hamburg Steaks are not only popular with adults, but also popular with children and their bentos! Serve with rice, potatoes, and other vegetables. You can leave the grated daikon out if you don’t like it If you want to try the toyko hambagu, add a fried egg, sunny-side up.

You’ll need a Saute Pan with a Lid to make this dish.

Ingredients:

Hamburg Steak
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
300 grams ground chuck (10.7oz)
1 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice wine)
1 1/2 tablespoon milk
1 egg
1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
salt and pepper, to season
1 tablespoon oil, to cook
2 tablespoon water, to steam
extra 1 tablespoon butter, to finish

Sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon mirin
2 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon granulated dashi (hon dashi)

Grated Daikon Radish, to top (optional)

Makes 2 Hamburg Steaks

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Finely chop the onions. Heat a large pan over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter and let it melt. Add the finely chopped onion and let it brown lightly (about 8 minutes). Constantly stir so it doesn’t burn. When the onion is light brown, remove from heat and let it cool down.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, add the ground chuck and 1 tablespoon sake (Japanese rice wine) and mash the beef until smooth.

Step 3: Now add the cooled onion, milk, egg, and panko bread crumbs. Lightly season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Step 4: Divide the mixture into 2 large oval patties and remove the air in each by tossing from one hand to another. It should make a slapping sound. This process will help the hamburg steak from breaking into pieces while cooking. Now lightly flatten the patties. They will fatten back up while cooking.

Step 5: Heat a large sauté pan on high and add oil. Brown one side of the patty and flip. Then add 2 tablespoon water and cover. Reduce to med-low heat and cook for 8 minutes.

Step 6: While the patties are cooking, make the sauce by combining water, sugar, mirin, soy sauce, and granulated dashi in a pot. Bring to a boil and let it boil for about 15 to 30 seconds then turn off the heat. The sauce should be light and watery (not thick). When the patties are done cooking, flip once more. Now, add a little bit of butter over the tops of each patty.

Step 7: Top with grated daikon and lightly pour the sauce with a spoon (about 2 to 3 spoonfuls). Serve with potatoes and other vegetables or shredded cabbage and rice.

Agedashi Tofu is my favorite Japanese tofu dish. It’s deep fried tofu served in a soy sauce/dashi based broth. Agedashi tofu is easy to make and great to serve as a side dish or appetizer. It’s also great as a snack! I don’t know why, but I always like to have some type of calm Japanese music playing in the background while eating this dish. It makes me feel like I’m in ancient Japan

The key to making good agedashi tofu is getting the excess water out. I use paper towels and something slightly heavy. Serve each cube of tofu in a separate bowl with the broth. Garnish with chopped green onion and katsuobushi flakes (bonito flakes).

Ingredients:

Fried Tofu
1 package of silken or soft tofu (10 oz)
4 to 6 tablespoon potato starch, to dust
oil to fry

Tentsuyu Broth
1 1/4 cup water
1 piece small kombu
katusobushi (small handful)
2 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoon mirin

Topping
1 chopped green onion
small katsuobushi flakes

Makes 2 to 3 Servings

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Leave kombu in a pot of 1 1/4 cup cold water for 20 minutes. Bring the water, soy sauce, mirin, and kombu to a boil. Let it boil for a minute, then add a small handful of katsuobushi and let it simmer for 30 seconds. Remove kombu and katsuobushi and turn off heat. Keep broth warm.

Step 2: Put something slightly heavy on top of the tofu with paper towels to remove excess moisture. Cut the tofu into large cubes (about 4 to 6 pieces). Dust the tofu with potato starch on all sides.

Step 3: Deep Fry at 375 degrees F for a minute or until the tofu is lightly golden brown.

Step 4: Serve with the tentsuyu broth and garnish with chopped green onion and katsuobushi. You can also add grated daikon if desired.

It’s October, which means it’s almost time for Halloween, my favorite holiday! This year my hubby got me a Coffin Cake Pan, so I decided to make Brownie Coffins. You can follow my recipe below or use any other brownie or cake mix to make coffin cakes. I also really liked the Finger Cookie Pan and I’m trying to convince my husband I need it as I write this.

For the decorations, you can use Candy Pen. I also melted some white chocolate to make the spider/lady bug hybrids, web, and skeleton. Extra thanks to my husband for making me the skeleton.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar (add another 1/4 to 1/2 cup if you like it sweet)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
a pinch of salt
Melted white chocolate, to decorate

Things you’ll need
Coffin Cake Pan
Candy Pen
Halloween Sprinkles

Makes 5 to 6 Coffins

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray the Coffin Cake Pan with baking spray.

Step 2: Melt 1/2 cup butter in a microwave safe bowl. In a large mixing bowl mix together the melted butter and sugar. When smooth, add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well.

Step 3: Beat in the dark chocolate cocoa powder. When smooth, beat in flour, salt, and baking powder.

Step 4: Fill the coffins about 2/3 of the way with the brownie batter. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes (22 minutes worked for me).

Step 5: When the brownies have cooled, decorate as you like.

It’s almost Halloween!! But with all the baking I’m doing, I forgot to get a costume! Any last minute costume ideas?

Anyway, I decided to make Halloween Mocha Cupcakes since my husband was craving adult cupcakes (something with less sugar and more coffee). I used buttermilk and cake flour in the ingredients and these cupcakes turned out to be SUPER MOIST! You can eat these right away, but I like to eat them the next day because they taste 10 times better

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Ingredients:
Mocha Cupcakes
1/2 cup oil
2/3 cup sugar (add another 1/3 cup if you like it sweet)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoon Coffee Extract
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup Cake Flour (100g)
1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (60g)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Mocha Mascarpone Frosting
3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
2 teaspoon Coffee Extract
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 8oz container mascarpone cheese

To decorate
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, melted
Dark Chocolate Cocoa Powder, to dust
Halloween Sprinkles
Fright Night Sprinkle Mix
Large Spooky Sprinkles
Candy Pen

Things you might need
Nonstick Cupcake Pan
Halloween baking cups

Makes 12 Cupcakes

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Prepare the frosting by melting the chocolate in a double broiler. When the chocolate has melted, add heavy cream and coffee extract. Mix well and chill in the refrigerator until needed. Don’t combine the mascarpone cheese, yet.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line the cupcake pan with Halloween baking cups. In a large bowl, combine the the cake flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Step 3: In another large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, egg, and vanilla and coffee extract and mix well. Then add the buttermilk and mix well again.

Step 4: Now stir in the flour mixture and mix until well combined.

Step 5: Pour the batter into a ziploc or piping bag and pipe into the cupcake pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean (I baked mine for about 24 minutes).

Step 6: Let the cupcakes cool in the pan for about 5 to 10 minutes and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Step 7: While cupcakes are cooling, make the chocolate decorations. Melt the chocolate and use a ziploc or piping bag to pipe out your design onto some parchment paper. Sprinkle the halloween sprinkles before the chocolate hardens. Chill in freezer until needed.

Step 8: Finish the frosting. Using an electric mixer, beat the mascarpone cheese until light and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate cream mixture from earlier and beat until combined.

Step 9: Roughly spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes. Dust with cocoa powder and decorate with sprinkles and chocolate.

While visiting Korea, my husband’s aunt invited us to stop by Thailand! Since I love Thai food, I was super excited to go! My favorite restaurant was Son Tong Po Cha Na (Seafood Sornthong Restaurant) in Bangkok. Here’s some of the things I loved eating

Pad Thai (stir-fried noodles)

Rice Noodle Soup (almost like a Thai pho dish)

Stir-fried Water Spinach

Steamed Shrimp

Crab Fried Rice

Fried Sea Bass with Papaya sauce

Curry Crab (This was my absolute favorite)

Pepper Crab (Hubby says Singapore style is better)

Tom Yum Kung (Thai hot and sour soup)

My husband and I ate until the plates were pretty much clean. We were incredibly full…

But! couldn’t resist the pork satay grilling outside!

Some of my favorites were:

Spicy Sausage/Fish Cake Kebab

(I liked these better than the spicy rice cakes)

Walnut Cookies or Walnut Cakes

(These were very hot and crispy unlike the storebought ones)

Super Long Soft Ice Cream

(From Myeongdong)

Susubukumi

(Pan-fried sorghum flour rice cake with red bean paste)

Steamed Red Bean Buns

(Hot and Fresh)

Today, I spent the day at Insadong, Seoul Korea. It’s a popular tourist destination for visitors and local natives. Insadong is a 700m long street filled with Korean souvenir shops, restaurants, tea shops, street food vendors, pottery and antiques, and more!

After walking up and down the long street, I was super thirsty and decided to stop by a traditional Korean tea house. The name of the tea house was Insadong and it’s a popular place to film Korean movies and dramas and a favorite of the natives. There’s a lot of variety on their menu, so you can choose from traditional hot or cold teas, Korean pastries, and desserts. I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the Korean garden in the back, but be sure to take a look if you visit!

Insadong Tea House

Inside the Tea House

Iced Omija Tea

Iced Pine Leaf Tea

“Let’s fire up the grill,” is what my husband said before our trip to Korea. Since we’re going to Korea, we decided to post our Spicy Korean Barbecue Chicken Recipe before leaving. If you love spicy foods and barbecue, this is the recipe for you!

I recommend using a charcoal grill and marinating the chicken overnight for best results! Be careful not to burn the chicken! There are ingredients such as sugar and soy sauce which will burn easily, so watch the heat while grilling. Oh! and don’t substitue the gochujang with other chili pastes. It won’t taste the same

Ingredients:

Marinade
2 tablespoon Gochujang (korean red pepper paste)
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon sake
1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon red chili powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 lb Chicken Thigh Fillet

Makes 4 Servings

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1: Make the marinade sauce.

Step 2: Remove excess fat from the chicken and cut to open up the thigh to even thickness.

Step 3: Marinate the chicken for at least 2 to 3 hours (overnight preferred).

Step 4: Grill on a charcoal grill over direct heat for best results. Be careful not to burn the chicken! There are ingredients such as sugar and soy sauce which will burn easily, so watch the heat while grilling.

Step 5: Serve with Red leaf lettuce and crown daisy.