Broccori and Shrimp with Thick Sauce

I always care about color scheme in food. I want there to be red (or orange), yellow, and green colors in the meal because these colors will give an edge to your appetite and look gorgeous as well. So, I love the great combination and color of Broccoli and Shrimp. Also, it will warm you up since it has ginger. If you are not used to the spiciness of ginger, you could cut it out or use less ginger than directed in the recipe below.

Serve 2
Total time: about 20 min

• 1/2 lbs of broccoli
• 1/3 lbs (or as much as you like) of shrimp
• 1 ginger clove, minced
• A dash of salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or potato starch)
• 2 tablespoons of the water
• 1 teaspoon of sake for shrimp
  [Sauce]
• 1 teaspoon of seasoning paste or asian chicken broth powder
• 1 tablespoon of sake
• 200ml (about 1 cup) of  water

1. Cut the broccoli into bite-size chunks. Remove the shells from all the shrimp and season with 1 teaspoon of sake. 

2. Boil the broccoli for about 2 min. (Or, you could microwave it for 1 min.)

3. In a medium pan, cook and stir ginger in hot oil over medium heat for 15 seconds. Add shrimp and cook.

4. Add the sauce and bring it to a boil.

5. Add the broccoli. Cook it for about 2 to 3 min or until it gets the firmness you desire. Add salt and pepper.

6. In a separate small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 2 tablespoons of the water. (Please do this right before the next step because it will separate over time.)

7. Reduce heat to low and add the cornstarch dissolved water over the broccoli and shrimp. Cook and stir for about 1 minute more.

8. Done

For the pork bowl recipe, go to this page.

Pork Bowl with Onion

This is quite easy to make. We love it so much that I always regret not having made more for leftovers. If you love pork, you've got to try it! As for rice, I usually cook more rice than needed for a meal, then divide it into meal-size portions. I store the cooked rice in an airtight container in the freezer so that I can eat rice whenever I want to.  

Serve 2
Total time: about 20 min (If you cook rice by rice cooker, it will take about 40 min depending on how fast it cooks.)

• 0.6lbs(300g) to 1 lbs of pork boneless country-style ribs
• 1/2 to 1 onion
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of dashi powder (Bonito Fish Soup Stock)
• 1 tablespoon of cooking sake
• 1/2 tablespoon of mirin (Sweet Cooking Rice Wine)
• 2 cups of cooked rice
  - Optional -
• Green onion for topping
• A pinch of pepper

1. Cut the pork into bite-size chunks. Cut the onion in half in lengthwise sections and slice thinly.

2. In a skillet, cook the pork in hot oil over medium heat for about 3 to 4 min.

3. Flip over the pork and cook until it is no longer pink.

4. Add the sliced onion. Cook and stir it for about 2 minutes or until tender.

5. Add sugar, mirin, sake, dashi powder, and soy sauce.

6. Cook and stir until the sauce is almost gone. Add the green onion for topping and pepper if you like.

7. Done! Serve it over the steamed rice.

For the Broccori and Shrimp with Thick Sauce recipe, go to this page.
 

Japanese Curry

Good things about curry are that it's super easy to make and you could add anything you like to curry. You could add tomato and eggplant as summer curry, or shrimp and scallop as seafood curry, or chicken, pork, mushroom, peas, okra...anything! One time I added a can of tuna because I wanted my husband to eat tuna to take in more protein. He likes curry, but he doesn't like tuna. Of course, I also added other vegetables such as potato and carrots. I was so glad he didn't notice there was tuna in curry. So, you could try to add any vegetables that your spouse or kids don't like if you chop them into small pieces : ). We don't want to force them, but we want them to enjoy meals and be healthier, right? In fact, according to researches curry is known to have many health benefits. It has many spices that help liver function, antioxidants, appetite improvement, diet, etc.. We should all eat it more often.

First of all, you could get a package of curry at a Japanese supermarket or online. You will find many varieties of curry. Basically there are 4 levels of spiciness; Mild, Medium hot, Hot, and Extra Hot. Although the Extra Hot is not common to find. If you have never tried any of these before, I would suggest to try no hotter than Medium hot until you know which level of spice you prefer. There are several brands of curry. You are most likely to find "S&B" and "House". They are both good, but I like the S&B brand. They are originally a company for spices and their curry has deep and rich spices. If you mix curry with other brands, it is very good as well. When you get a package, it comes with 2 curry roux, (containers that hold the curry). I used one of them for the following recipe.

Serve 3 to 4
Total time: about 45 min

• 2 pieces (or 1/2 lbs) of boneless skinless chicken thigh
• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 and 1/3 cup of broccoli (I use the stem as well after peeling the hard skin)
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 cups (750ml) of  water
• 1/4 lb (1/2 package) of Japanese curry roux
  - Optional -
• 1 potato

1. Cut vegetables into bite-size pieces.

2. In a large deep skillet, cook and stir garlic in hot oil over medium heat for 20 seconds. Add onion and cook until tender. (You could also cook minced onion until light brown. Some people do this for about an hour! This will give you a sweet and rich flavor in the curry.)

3. Add chicken and cook until it is no longer pink.

4. Add the vegetables into a skillet and stir it well. (I usually start adding the big chunks of vegetables first, such as potato and carrots that need to be cooked longer. Then add the other vegetables which will be cooked faster, such as the floret of broccoli or the tomato.)

5. Add water into a skillet and bring it to a boil.

6. Turn down the heat to a medium-low heat. Skim off the scum while simmering the ingredients for 20 minutes.

7. Turn off the heat. Add the curry roux and dissolve it completely.

8. Turn on the heat again with a low heat. Simmer for at least 5 minutes and mix it sometimes so it won't get burnt at the bottom. 

9. Done! Serve it with rice, bread, or naan bread.

If you add a potato, it tends to spoil rapidly in a hot weather like summer. I'd recommend to save leftovers in a container, such as a Tupperware, and store it in the refrigerator.

It is so good as well if you add cheese as a topping on the curry. We also serve curry over Udon noodles. They are really good!

Tender chicken with vinegar

This is the second time for me to cook this meal. Of course, my husband and I liked it a lot.
Sometimes, chicken breast can be dry depending on how you cook. I prefer chicken breast when it is tender. By marinating with vinegar, it gets really tender but it doesn't get too sour. You will enjoy the texture, it's just like when you eat chicken nuggets. Plus, it doesn't have a strong flavor so we can't stop eating it.

Serve 2 to 3
Total time: about 45 min (including marinating)

• 2 pieces of boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 to 3 tablespoons of flour
  [Marinating sauce]
• 2 teaspoons of vinegar (I use distilled white vinegar)
• 2 teaspoons of cooking sake
• A pinch of salt and pepper

1. Slice chicken into half inch or bite size pieces. Put it in a small bag like a Ziploc bag. (I usually buy a lot of chicken when it is on sale, then chop meat and put them in bags for a portion of meal and freeze them. Sometimes I keep using the bag until when I need for marinating or seasoning. A quart size bag is the best one for the two of us for a meal.)

2. Put vinegar, sake, salt, and pepper in the bag, and set aside in the refrigerator for more than 30 min. (You could start making something while marinating. I made vegetable stir-fry and miso soup in this period.)

3. Put flour in the bag and knead the bag gently to coat the chicken evenly with flour.

4. In a skillet, cook the chicken in hot oil over medium heat for about 3 to 4 min.

5. Flip over the chicken and cook until it gets light brown on both sides.

6. Done!

I think this can be a good appetizer or snack. It will be delicious if you put Yuzu Kosho on the chicken. 

If you do up to step 2, you could freeze it to save for a later meal. Thaw it in the refrigerator before going to work in the morning and all you will have to do is cook it when you return from work. It will save you the preparation time.

Sweet & sour pork

This is one of the recipes that my husband and I love. You could use a chicken breast or thigh instead of pork if you like. We love pork. I like to eat pork more often in order to take in vitamin B which fights against fatigue, tiredness, exhaustion, depression, etc.
Originally, you would need to deep-fry pork before stir-frying it with vegetables to make sweet and sour pork, but you will not need to in this recipe. So, I will say this is healthy sweet & sour pork as you are using less oil. You could also add cucumber and pineapple if you like.

Serve 2 to 3
Total time: about 30 min

• 0.6lbs(300g) pork boneless country-style ribs
• 1 carrot
• 2 green bell peppers
• 1/2 to 1 yellow onion
• 1 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon of sake (for marinating)
• 1 teaspoon of soy sauce (for marinating)
• Salt and pepper (for marinating)
  [Sauce]
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of ketchup
• 3 tablespoons of vinegar (I use distilled white vinegar)
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch (or potato starch)

1. Cut the pork into bite-size chunks. Marinate in the soy sauce, sake and season with salt and pepper.

2. Peel the carrot and cut into 1/8 inch rectangular slices. Cut the green bell pepper in half, remove the seeds, and cut into bite sizes. Cut the onion into bite size pieces as well.

3. To prepare the sauce, combine the sugar, ketchup, and vinegar in a bowl. Set aside.

4. In a wok or a 11-inch skillet, cook and stir garlic in hot oil over medium heat for 15 seconds. Add pork and cook. Stir until no longer pink.

5. Add onion and carrot to skillet; cook and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until crisp-tender.

6. Add the green bell pepper to the skillet. Cook and stir until tender. 

7. Add the sauce over the vegetables and pork. Stir it well.

8. In a separate small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in 2 teaspoons of the water. (Please do this right before next step because it will separate as time goes.)

9. Reduce heat to low and add the cornstarch dissolved water over the vegetables and pork. Cook and stir for about 1 minute more or until it is heated through.

10. Done! I served it with brown rice and miso soup.

Introduction

Since I came to America in 2009, I have noticed that you can eat lots of food from all over the world anywhere in this country. You don't actually have to travel to eat specific foods such as Mediterranean cuisine, Spanish, Caribbean or Mongolian food. What a great country! If you'd like to try many foods from throughout the world, America is the best place to visit. And of course, I've found lots of Japanese restaurants here and there. It's very nice for a person like me, who came from another country, to find the restaurants that have the food you are familiar with. You can go and eat whatever food you love, Japanese in my case, anytime you miss the food. It is also entertaining and fun to see a colorful variety of Sushi rolls. This is something we don't have in Japan. I am very impressed by the creativity and inspiring ideas of these sushi rolls. You will not miss sushi in this country. They usually have Tempura, Teriyaki chicken, Udon noodles etc. at these restaurants as well. I am also impressed by the fact that these foods are much more well known in America than is the word "Konnichiwa", which means "hello" in Japanese.

But wait a minute, we Japanese have more good food to offer. Why don't they have those items in their menus? I should say that Sushi , Tempura, Teriyaki chicken, etc., are more welcomed by people in this country but we don't eat them all the time in Japan. At the same time, I have noticed that people here are conscious of their weight and want to be healthier. Then why not try Japanese meals at home? It might take some time to try cooking new or unfamiliar meals, but some of them are simple as well as economical! Frankly speaking, I spend about $130 to $150 a month for groceries for the two of us. We don't eat Ramen noodles to save so much money in our grocery expenses. We eat a wide variety of vegetables and meat! Plus, my husband has lost 14 lbs., about 1 lb. a month, with his only change of habit being what he eats since I started cooking for him. I knew that he lost weight, but I did not realize that he had lost that much! And most importantly, he loves the meals I make.

In this blog, I would like to introduce more Japanese style meals, or a fusion of Japanese and a variety of other countries meals, that you can try at home. I hope you will enjoy the Japanese recipes that I will introduce to you.

In the end, please excuse my imperfect English as it is a secondary language for me. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.