ANIME DINNER (TAKOYAKI AND ONIGIRI)

Yup, Anime dinner, foods that you commonly see in the anime shows. My daughter gave me this idea a long time ago but there was one dish that i could not make w/o the pan. I am glad that the Asian store is now selling this kind of grill, i believe it's because of the demand that's why they carry it now. I think a muffin pan can be a good substitute for the grill then bake it..hhmm i've got to experiment on that.

If you have kids, chances are you've heard of Anime and Manga or if you watch Japanese cartoon shows obviously you have an idea what anime is. http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vZW4ud2lraXBlZGlhLm9yZy93aWtpL0FuaW1l

Okay, just what is anime? It means animation in English. It originated in Japan, it's actually Japanese cartoons with incredible animation techniques while Manga is the comics version. Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Sailor Moon or Dragon Ball Z are just a few example of an anime. In these shows they have incorporated Japanese foods..ofcourse sushi being the common/popular food but they have introduced more Japanese dish.

We made two of the many dishes. The first one is Takoyaki w/c means Tako (Octopus) Yaki (Grill)- Octopus Balls/Dumplings. Japanese considers this fast foods because they are cooked or sold on the street.

The second one is my daughter's favorite Onigiri w/c means rice balls. This is actually a snack in Japan. But i personally find it too heavy to be a snack. It's traditionally filled with pickled plums, or fish. There are a lot of variations on what fillings you can put in the rice ball. My daughter used tuna with Japanese spicy Mayo and egg, we aren't sure if it's served w/ a dip but we like ours w/ wasabi and soysauce.

The Onigiri are fun and easy to make w/ your kids, so if you have kids that are into Anime this is a good start for kids to explore or "enhance" their taste. They are both delicious!!!!




Takoyaki Grill Pan (This is a Vietnamese version)

Ingredients for the Takoyaki :

Boiled octopus, dried shrimps,tempura crisp, dried seaweeds, dashi stock or fish stock or plain water, chopped green onions, flour, eggs and takoyaki sauce.

Tako (Baby Octopus)

Cooking Away

Almost done!

Takoyaki with bonito flakes(dried fish flakes)

Takoyaki w/o the bonito flakes (Takoyaki sauce, mayo, nori)

Onigiri (Made by my daughter)

Typical Onigiri shape Fillings made: Tuna with Japanase Spicy Mayo and Eggs

Wasabi and Kikkoman Soy sauce

ENJOY!!!

LILY BULB STIR FRY

I get enthused everytime i see blogs of new recipes, another version of a recipe i like or new ingredients. I get interested and sometimes find it a challenge if i can't get the ingredient or find any substitution. This "root bulb" is something new to me and i was on a mission to find this "veggie". Thanks to my friend Debbie for introducing this root/bulb.

As i mentioned before i get my Japanese ingredients and stuff at a small Japanese grocery/produce market near my place. I've seen lots of ingredients that looks "alien" to me and always wonder how they are cooked and the taste..lily root bulbs are one but didn't bother coz i had no clue. Another example are the burdocks but that's going to be another blog.

Okay..when i say i'm on a mission..i really mean it. I was disappointed to learn that they (Japanese stored) don't sell lily bulbs anymore, it wasn't selling. Since i couldn't find lily roots in my place, I thought i'd be able to find them in Chinatown Chicago...yeah we were there last weekend. As i was going through the aisle of a Chinese supermarket, taking pictures acting like a tourist , i came across these vacuumed pack white "thingy" that looked like the lily root Debbie blogged.

As you can see from the picture below it's only labeled in Chinese, so i had to asked the cashier who fortunalety speaks English. She said it's edible lily bulb, widely used in Asian countries esp. in Korea, China and Japan. She surprisingly is well versed w/ this lily bulb, and told me that there are an array of varieties for lily root/bulb. She then described these veggie exactly as what Debbie described in her blog...aside from it's nutritional and medicinal value, people like it becoz it's creamy, sweet and has this refreshing flavour.

Regrets, regrets..i bought only one package! what was i thinking? Actually i was still kind of apprehensive to buy a lot. So i ended up making just the stir fry for now ha!ha!. It was very good!!! something that we would love to have for dinner again...if only i can purchase them here. Oh well, guess it'll have to wait until we go back to Chitown.

Edible lily bulb (Chinese variety) but accdg. to the lady it taste the same as the Japanese kind.

They look like elephant garlic bulbs . Clean them and take out the blemishes. Slowly take off the petals.

They look gorgeous! I took a bite and they were indeed crispy, with a tinge of sweetness, they had a crunch like endives or thin slice of celery but a much sweeter and crunchy taste.

I still have streak o' lean in the freezer...so i opted to use them in lieu of bacon. Streak o' lean btw are just thin slices of porkbelly.

Slice them in bits and render out the fat.

Yummy!!! Save the fat/lard..they are good in moderation ofcourse.

I had no idea what veggies i was going to cook..these are the veggies i had in my ref, yellow, red, orange bell peppers, edame and scallions.

Saute garlic, onions, then add the rest of the veggies ofcourse including the lily petals seasoned w/ S&P. Stir fry no longer than 1 minute or they will lose their sweet flavour and the crisp. Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, little of fish sauce (optional), slurry (mixture of cornstarch and water) as thickener. Pour into the veggie mix and stir until sauce thickens. Taste and adjust the flavor.

STIRY FRY LILY ROOT BULB

EDAMAME AS THE APPETIZER.

ENJOY!!!!

MANAKEESH "MIDDLE EASTERN PIZZA"

In the Middle East they serve and eat this for breakfast but for me it's anytime of the day. I make this at home using fresh baked pita w/c i buy from a middle eastern bakeshop. As you guys know i've been baking bread lately and thought of making pizza dough to make manakeesh. I think i prefer the thin crust pizza dough, i love the crisp as oppose to the chewyness of the pita, but really either way, FRESH pita bread or homemade pizza dough will work.

I made my pizza dough and divided them into 18 small balls. Then made free formed mini pizza.Make sure to crank up your oven temp to 500 DEGREES and have your pizza stone heated up.

ALL MY MEASUREMENTS ARE ESTIMATES. IT'LL ALL DEPEND ON HOW MANY CRUSTS YOU WILL MAKE.

Mix together 2 T Olive oil, 3 T Zatar, 1 T Sumac and 1 t Lemon juice. I know Zatar has sumac but i want to taste more sumac.

IF YOU MADE TOO MUCH MIXTURE USE THEM TO COAT ANYKIND OF FISH THEN BAKE..YUM!

ZATAR / ZAATAR/ ZA-ATAR - An herb mixture composed of savory, thyme, sumac, and sesame seeds. A prepared mixture of this herb mixture can be found at most Middle Eastern groceries






SUMAC/ SUMAK - A Middle Eastern spice that comes from the grated skin of a dark berry. It has a slightly acidic, astringent flavor. I also use this w/ my lentil soup, YUMMY!

The green powder is Zatar and the red is Sumac.

SAUCE TOPPING INGREDIENTS FOR MANAKEESH: Zatar, Sumac, Labna, Feta Cheese, Lemon

LABNA, LABNEH, LABNE - A Middle Eastern Yogurt cheese also called kefir cheese.


Make your own vegetable toppings. The Zatar/Sumac mixture will be your sauce toppings or if you can't really find or make your zatar make the yogurt as your sauce toppings.
Arrange them on your heated pizza stone and bake for 5 to 10 minutes.

I USED SPINACH, RED ONIONS, TOMATOES FOR MY VEGGIE TOPPINGS AND ADDED FETA CHEESE AND DOLLOP OF YOGURT OR MAKE SOME WITHOUT CHEESE BUT FOR THESE CRUSTS I SPREAD SOME LABNA FIRST THEN THE ZATAR MIXTURE

THESE ARE SOME OF THE MANAKEESH VARIATIONS I MADE.

MANAKEESH USING PITA BREAD. THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME TO MAKE THEM AT HOME, SO YOU'LL NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MY FIRST AND THE LATEST I MADE. i'M TALKING 2005 - 2009.

I DIDN'T MIX THE ZATAR AND THE SUMAC WITH THE OLIVE OIL. I DRIZZLED THEM W/ OLIVE OIL. IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!

I PRECOOKED MY VEGGIES BUT THEN AGAIN IT WAS STILL DELICIOUS!!! GO FIGURE

MEYER LEMON BARS WITH CANDIED MEYER LEMON SLICES

Eureka Lemon and Meyer lemon

Meyer lemon (a cross between Mandarin Orange and Eureka Lemon)

CANDIED MEYER LEMON SLICES:


1 C sugar

2 large lemon thinly sliced *

1 Cup water

In a heavy sauce pan, combine the sugar with 1 cup water.

Bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar.

Add the lemon slices.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 30 minutes.

Remove from the heat and let the lemon slices cool in the syrup.

Let dry for hours or bake at 200 degrees F just to dry up the syrup.

Syrup can be used for lemonade or for your tea.

* 3 lemon if you’re using meyer lemons.

Lemon slices in syrup

Dry candied slices

Or bake at 200 degrees F for few minutes just until it starts to dry out.

Garnish lemon bars w/ the candied lemon slices

Place bars on cupcake liners for easy pick up and not make a mess.

Meyer Lemon Bars

Crust:

½ C unsalted butter (1 stick)
¼ C confectioners sugar
1 C all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Lemon Filling:

2 large eggs
¾ C sugar *
1/3 cup lemon juice *
1 T grated lemon zest
2 T all purpose flour
Confectioners sugar

To make the crust:
Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.
Mix in the flour and salt until the mixture looks like pebbles.
Press it down into a greased 8 inch square baking pan.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven until golden brown, about 18 minutes.


To make the filling:


Beat the eggs and sugar until smooth.
Mix in the lemon zest and juice.
Mix in the flour.Pour the mixture onto the crust.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F oven until set, about 20 minutes.
Cool completely before serving.
Dust with confectioners sugar.
Garnish w/ the candied meyer lemon slices.

* Adjust the measurements depending on what kind of lemon you’ll be using. For this recipe I used meyer lemon. If you use eureka lemons (the kind of lemon we see at the store) make the sugar 1 cup and lessen the juice because these are tart and sour compared to meyer lemon w/c are sweet and less tart.


THANKS TO KEVIN FOR THE INSPIRATION. http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/2009/03/meyer-lemon-bars.html

GREEN TEA AND BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES

I DOUBLED THE RECIPE TO MAKE BOTH THE GREEN TEA AND BLUEBERRY CUPCAKES. FOR THE BLUEBERRY, SUBSTITUTE GREEN TEA TO FRESH OR FROZEN BLUEBERRIES, IN MY CASE I USED FRESH BLUEBERRIES.

GREEN TEA CUPCAKE

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 pkg. (4 oz)Philadelphia cream cheese, softened

3 eggs

1 cup flour

1/2 T baking powder

1 t green tea powder (Matcha)

1/2 t. salt

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Beat butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition. Beat an additional 5 min. or until very light and fluffy. Add cream cheese; beat 1 min. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, green tea powder and salt. Add to butter mixture. Beat until well blended. Pour batter into cupcake molds with cupcake linings and bake for 30 minutes or when a clean toothpick is clean when inserted into the cake.

FROSTING:

2 C confectioners’ sugar

4 t green tea powder (matcha)

8 oz cream cheese, softened

5 T unsalted butter, softened

1 t vanilla extract

Sift together confectioners' sugar and green tea powder. Set aside. Mix and beat together cream cheese, butter and vanilla on medium speed for at least 5 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add sugar/green tea mixture gradually. Increase speed to medium and beat for 5 minutes or until all are incorporated. Frost with a piping bag.