Spice Up Your Life With a Taste of Japan

*Fun Bento Box**Cute and Natural Food From California*

11/30/2010

Daikon+Smoked Salmon+Cheese



Marinate sliced daikon radish in 3tablespoon vinegar,1tablespoon milin,1/2tablespoon sugar and 1/2teaspoon salt for one night. Wrap smoked salmon and cheese with the sliced daikon. Sprinkle salt over them.

11/28/2010

Black Bean Cake with Tofu Creme



Black Bean Cake
1canned black bean
1/2cup steel cut oats
1banana
3tablespoon cocoa powder
1teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4cup agave or maple syrup

1.Preheat oven to 350F. Line a mold with parchment paper.
2.Add all the ingredient to a blender and blend until smooth.Place into the prepared mold.
3.Bake in preheated oven for about 4o mins and cool in a fridge for about 3hours.

original recipes
http://cookpad.com/recipe/1218179


Tofu creme
1pack silken or firm tofu(if you prefer hard creme)
1tablespoon lemon juice
Agave or maple syrup

1.Drain tofu between paper towels with a heavy weight on top for 1 night.
2.Add to a blender and blend for about 3mims until to be free from tofu smell.
3.Add lemon juice and syrup and blend.

Bean&Umeboshi Paste



2/3canned garbanzo bean
3tablespoon plum vinegar
2tablespoon umeboshi plum paste
3tablespoon tahini
Soy milk

Add all the ingredient to a blender and blend. Add soy milk until paste forms.


Bean&Umeboshi paste + celery


Bean&Umeboshi paste + pasta


To make pasta source, add olive oil or basil paste to the bean&umeboshi paste until smooth.

11/27/2010

Healthy Tofu Mochi



Potato starch makes food stringy.

1/2pack silken tofu
4tablespoon patato starch

1.Add tofu and potato starch to a blender and blend untill smooth.
2.Heat 1 in a microwave about 2 mins. Then turn tofu and heat it in a microwave again for about 2mins.
3.Cover tofu with kinako. Serve with azuki bean paste.

11/26/2010

Japanese Balck Bean Paste Pumpkin Pie




Add a taste of Japan to your regular pumpkin pie or pumpkin muffin!
I used black beans instead of azuki beans to make Japanese sweet paste.

1canned black beans
3tablespoon suger

11/22/2010

Japanese terrine★




Okra is such a cute vegetable.

1.Line a terrine mold with plastic wrap.
2.Boil cabbage with dashi. Then take it our of dashi then line the mold with the cabbage.(Leave overhang to cover the top of the mold)
3.Add gelatin to boiled dashi.(gelatin should be mixed with a little cold water to moisten before add it to dashi)
4.Line up okra, shirasu, baby corn.
5.Pour 3 into 4.Cover with cabbage and plastic wrap.Refrigerate.

Eat the terrine with soy source.

11/17/2010

Takoyaki~Japanese Octopus Balls~





Had a Takoyaki party with my friends!

Ingredients (about 25 pieces)

For the batter
1/2cup flour
1egg
2cups dashi
1/4cup of grated Japanese yum(yamaimo)
2teaspoon soy source

For the filling
Could be anything..
EX, ocropus, green onions,corns,konjac...


For the topping
katsu sauce
aonori (seaweed flakes)
katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
mayonnaise

11/14/2010

Japanese croquette




Made croquette using aburaage(Japanese food product made from soybeans).
Original recipe is here.

8 croquettes

4aburaage
2potatoes
1/2canned tuna
1carrot
1/2onion
salt, pepper and soy source to taste
Oil for frying
katsu Source

1.Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add peeled potatoes,carrot,onion and cook until tender.Then drain and chop.
2.Stir together 1, salt, pepper and soy source in a mixing bowl.
3.Cut aburaage into half and turn them inside out. Stuff 2 into the aburaage pockets.
4.Place 3 in 1/4 inch of hot oil

Serve katsu source with croquette!

Inari-Sushi




10 picese of inari sushi

5Aburaage(Japanese food product made from soybeans)
1cupDashi
3/4cup suger
1/4cup of soy source

1. Put aburaage in boiling water to get rid of excess oils,then cut them into half.
2. Mix other ingredients and bring to a boil. Add aburaage to it and boil those down.
3. Cool aburaage and then squeeze those easily.
4. Stuff sushi rice into the aburaage pockets.

*Any extra aburaage can be used to make croquettes.

11/02/2010

Japanese sweets~Ohagi~ bean and rice cake

Japanese breakfast~Ochazuke~Green tea over rice