Potato and Leak Soup

When potato and leak meet, it becomes a comfort soup.
Leak is not available in Japan, and it may be substituted with long white onion.

Lamb Chop and Mashed Potato

This is marinated lamp chop sold in Trader Joe's, and it was wonderfully inexpensive.
The flavor was also very nice and simple, only pepper and thyme.

Cuscus Salad (クスクスサラダ）

I saw this recipe from a book, "Lunch in Paris" by Elizabeth Bard. She has a lot of nice authentic recipe in the book, and I love to try all of them !

 

Pork and Zatsai Soup Rice (豚肉とザーサイのスープかけご飯）

This is my mom's recipe. It's very simple dish but very addictive :)
She told me that she gained weight because of this dish during this crazy hot summer in Japan.

Roasted Boiled Chickpea (焦がしひよこ豆）

You can get raw chickpea at Indian grocery store, and it is very different from canned or dried chickpeas.
Just boiling them is already amazing, but I roasted a bit to put extra kick to it.

Hot Salad (温野菜サラダ）

I've got nice small mushrooms, heirloom tomato, and crispy zucchini at the farmer's market.
Diced them and marinate with good olive oil and a bit of lemon.

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup using Japanese instant noodle packet (即席ラーメンを使ったベトナム風チキンラーメン）

You need to buy Japanese raw instant noodle kit from Japanese super market.
They have usually Miso, Shio(Salt), and Shoyu(Soy Sauce), and I recommend to use Shio(Salt) flavor for this recipe.

Mexican Dinner (メキシコ風ラップディナー）

This is a fun time ! and very easy and quick to prepare.
Prepare your favorite topping of Tacos and make your own on the table.
I prepared one chicken and one shrimp dish described in the following, and
avocado, cilantro, lettuce, red onion, red bell pepper, and limes are nicely arranged in a plate.
Remember to have salsa sauce and other sauces on the table as well ! 

The shrimp dish is sauteed shrimp with Achiote powder.
Achiote is name of plant which bears seeds containing red powder in it.
Achiote powder is mixture of this powder, vinegar, and salt.
It has similar tastes to Paprika, but a bit bitter.

The chicken topping is sauteed chicken and green and red pepper with Tacos spice.
I've got Tacos spice from Trader Joe's, but I believe any spice mixture you like will do.

You can make your own Tacos on the table !

Minced Chicken & Lettuce Soup (鶏ひき肉とレタスのスープ)

I was lazy to make meat ball. In stead, I didn't rigorously stir minced meat so that it forms some chunks.
Combination of chicken, lettuce, and mushroom is quite nice.

Salmon Tartar (サーモンのタルタルソース)

Sauteed salmon with butter after dusting it with flour.
Sauce is egg tartar sauce. Minced boiled egg, onion, mayonnaise, lemon and black pepper.

.

Baby Taro Curry with Soy Sauce （サトイモ カレー）

I added soy sauce to Indian curry which turned out to be really successful.
Baby taro is  eaten in Japan as well, and usually cooked in soy sauce, so I should not be surprised to see this combination works.

Chickpea Curry (Chole)

I will write recipe of Chole someday since I finally mastered it.

Fig Compote Jelly (いちじくのコンポートのゼリー）

I've got figｓ in a farmer's market nearby, and felt the fall is already around the corner.
Red wine and fig are totally in fall color in this jelly.

I've made it in pink antique pilex container ! Isn't it cute ?

Green Garbanzo Beans

I've got a back of unusual Garbanzo Beans, and added curry leaves, ginger, and mustard seeds.

Sambhar (サンバー)

Sambhar is served in every meal in India which is similar concept as Miso soup to Japanese.

Chicken Liver Curry (チキンレバーカレー）

I made chicken liver pate sometime back, and reused it to curry.

Garlic Diced Steak (さいころステーキ）

Diced steak is popular dish in drinking bars in Japan.
Even though beef is too hard for normal steak, it becomes very nice if you make it into diced steak.

What you need:
- beef
- baking soda
- garlic
- salt / papper
- white radish sprout

How to make:
-1 Pat beef with the back of knife thoroughly which will break hard fiber on the surface of beef.
-2 Cut beef into cubes
-3 Put a bit of baking soda and salt to beef, and mix it.
-4 Put a lot of minced garlic and bake the beef.
-5 Serve steak with black pepper and preferably white radish sprout. Lemon and soy sauce go well with it as well.

Chinese Creamy Corn Soup

You have always two choices in Chinese restaurant.
Either Hot & Sour Soup or Corn soup.
Both of them are pretty easy to make, and this time I made corn soup.

アメリカの中華料理店では大抵, 酸辣湯スープかコーンスープが出てきます。
両方ともとても簡単にできます。今回はコーンスープを作りました。

What you need:
- Can of creamy style cone
- Egg
- Chicken soup stock
- Salt and pepper
- Chicken (optional)

How to make:
-1: Boil water and creamy style cone. Add small pieces of chicken if you like.
-2: Add soup stock and season it with salt and pepper
-3: Beat egg, and gradually add it to boiling soup by using chop stick or folk. You can gradually pour beaten egg through the tip of chop stick or folk so that stream of egg goes into water.

材料：
- クリームスタイルコーン
- 卵
- チキンスープの素
- 塩、胡椒
- 鶏肉（好みで）　

作り方：
- 1: 水とクリームスタイルコーンを鍋で沸騰させる。好みで小さく切った鶏肉を入れる
- 2: チキンスープの素と塩コショウを加える。
- 3: 溶き卵を加える。

gazpacho （ガスパッチョ）

My friend told me that Gazpacho is originally just a mixture of olive oil and bread in Spain.
After tomatoes were brought from New World to Europe, people started adding tomato into it.
It is unimaginable ti see gazpacho without tomato or pizza without tomato sauce...
I'm glad that tomatoes exist on Earth !
Gazpacho is a really refreshing soup in hot summer 
( Well, it's been chilly in Californian this year ..)

What you need:
- A slice of bread
- Tomato
- Garlic
- Good Olive Oil
- Salt and pepper- Lemon
- Parsely
- Cucumber and your favorite vegetable


How to make:
- Mix and blend everything in blender.

Japanese Curry

 Indian Curry was conveyed to Japan in the late 19th century,
and now Japanese curry is so common in Japan that it is one of the most popular menu in house holds.

Peking Chicken (北京チキン）

This is easy version of Peking Duck which is one of the most expensive dish in Chinese restaurants.
I used Japanese spring roll skin and Teriyaki chicken in stead of Chinese pancake and crispy duck.

Chicken Udon

Udon is wheat noodle, and you can buy it as dried form or frozen form.
You can boil it and mix with sauce or dip into soup.
I made "Dashi" which is soy sauce, soup stock, sake, and sugar, and added boiled Udon in the end.

Mozzarella Tomato Spaghetti

 Mozzarella cheese really shines in this dish.
By slightly being warmed up, Mozzarella become milky and chewy which is different texture from just raw Mozzarella.

Tandoori Chicken （タンドリチキン）

I put American BBQ spice rub this time as well as Tandori Chicken Masala.
It became more appetizing.

アメリカはよくBBQを食べますのでスーパーに行くとBBQ用のスパイスミックスが売っています。
今回はいつものタンドリスパイス（マサラ＝スパイス）に加えてBBQミックスをかけてみたところ、もっと味が複雑に美味しくなりました。

What you need:　
- Chicken (leg or drum stick preferred)　
- yogurt
- vinegar or lemon
- salt
- Tandori masala ( or you mix some red spices)　
- BBQ spice mix　

How to Make:
- Marinate chicken in yogurt, salt, vinegar(or lemon) and Tandoori masala over night.
- Bake it in toaster oven or oven in high temperature( ~ 400F). You can add BBQ spice mix on the top.
- Serve it with lemon.

材料
- 鶏肉。腿肉か上腕が美味しいと思います
- ヨーグルト
- 酢またはレモン
- 塩
- タンドリスパイスミックス。内容はちょっと調べてください
- BBQミックス。これは調べてみます。

作り方
- 鶏肉をヨーグルト、塩、酢（またはレモン）に一晩つける。冷蔵庫に保存。
- トースターかオーブンで焼く。BBQミックスを表面に振り掛けると美味しそうに焦げ目がつきます
- レモンを添えてどうぞ

Seaweed Salad

I soaked dried seaweed in water to make it soft,
then mixed with soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, and white radish sprout.
It's a real summer treat !

Indian Omelet

I mean Indian omelet by adding green chili and onion, and made it thinly.
I didn't know until I had this dish that purpose of adding green chili is actually to add flavor to dish but not to add spiciness. 
I top with melting cheese. It's light and good side dish.

Chirashi Sushi in Party Style

Yes, I know. I made it again. This time is for a small party, so I put more decoration.

Pâté au Poulet ( Chicken Liver Pate)

I love pate, and have been buying pate from shops up til now.
It turned out to be one of the easiest dish I've ever made.
It is wonderful that I have a lot of control in how much butter I add,
what sort of spice I add, and most of all I can make sure chicken liver look fine.

How to make:
1: wash liver and remove strange looking ones, and remove all the fat and strings.
2: chop liver into small pieces and soak into milk more than 30min which will remove smell from liver.
3: saute garlic and your favorite vegetable in a pan. I used celery, carrot and onion.
4: When all the vegetables are browned, add chopped liver.
5: Saute till outside of liver is cooked, and add whiskey or any alcohol you like.
6: Keep mixing till liver is cooked, but not over cooked. Most of recipe says till inside is slightly pink.
7: Put contents of the pan to mixer, and blend it while putting some butter, salt and pepper.
8: Taste it and adjust amount of butter, salt and pepper.
9: Keep in a container and put plastic wrap otherwise surface will turn to be unhealthy color.
French people put lard on it to prevent this oxidization.
10: Have it with something tangy and slice of baguette.

Cantonese Rice Polledge (Congee)

I finally did it !!!
I have tried this dish so many times in the past, and I've never got the characteristic creamy texture and flavor till today.
It's again chemical reaction between oil and rice starch. As I wrote before, one sort of tastiness comes from reaction between oil and starch such as white sauce, fried potato, etc...

How to make:
1: Marinate one cup of rice in oil for a day
2: Maximally boil a big pot of water, and add rice in it.
3: Don touch for 30min while you keep maximum strength of heat. During this process, surface of rice is heated up more than 100deg-C thanks to oil coating rice, and rice grain burst.
4: Mix from bottom and boil further while adding more water if it's necessary.
5: Serve with your favorite garnish. I added pidan ( blackened egg), green onion, and chinese pickles.

Chicken and Fried Egg Plant

I fried a lot of egg plant in one time, and keep it in fridge.
This is very useful in a busy week. I just need to mix it with chicken or shrimp or
soak it in some sauce.