Nagoya style sesame chicken

When you travel to other cities in Japan, you will find various local dishes. There is this famous dish called Tebasaki (chicken wings) in Nagoya, which is located in the middle of Japan. Unfortunately I was not able to try it when I traveled to Nagoya several years ago as I was busy for trying another dishes, but here is the recipe so you can make it at home or wherever you are!

I made this for our family Christmas this year. I used boneless and skinless chicken thighs instead of chicken wings. It will be easier to eat but you could make it either way.

Serve 4 to 5
Total time: about 20 min

• 2 lbs of boneless and skinless chicken thighs (or chicken wings) cut into bite size pieces
• Flour to coat the chicken
• Oil for deep frying
  
  [Sauce]
• 1/4 cup of brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of Mirin
• 3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of Sake
• 3 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon of Soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of white sesame
• 1 teaspoon of grated garlic
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper

1. Combine the ingredients of the sauce in a large bowl.

2. Coat the chicken evenly with flour.

3. Pour at least 2-inches vegetable oil in deep skillet or wok. Heat oil over medium heat. (Drop a bit of batter or a small chicken piece into hot oil. If batter or a chicken piece rises to surface immediately, oil is ready for frying.) Slide the chicken gently into hot oil. Fry the chicken for about 6 or 7 min.

4. Transfer the chicken into the sauce bowl and soak it well. Repeat 3 and 4 until all the chicken for the meal has been fried and soaked in the sauce.

5. Enjoy while it's hot! Add some black pepper or Shichimi Togarashi (Assorted chili pepper) if you like it spicier.

$ Approximate budget I spent for this recipe (excludes seasonings) $

• 2 lbs of boneless and skinless chicken thighs  : $2.98 ($1.49/lb at Sprouts*)
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  Total                                                            : $2.98

* Price effective thru Dec. 22, 2010 at Sprouts

Avocado Tempura

When I ate avocado for the first time, I was only 13 years old. My cousin, who had eaten avocado while he was in the US to study abroad, bought it at a supermarket that had rare fruits and vegetables. He brought it to my family to let us try. He told me it was sort of a fruit so I expected it to be sweet or tart, but he recommended to eat it with soy sauce and wasabi. As I expected, it tasted...weird, buttery and tasteless. My first try was not so good. However, after several years from the experience, I heard that Avocado was very nutritious so I tried it again. By that time, avocado was getting more and more popular in Japan and was known as a kind of vegetable. Still, eating avocado with soy sauce and wasabi is the most popular way to eat because people say it tastes just like Sushi of Tuna or Toro (fatty tuna which is very expensive). This time, I decided to think it was like a vegetable or maybe sushi instead. It was a good idea. Since then, I've loved it so much!

The other popular way of eating avocado in Japan is tempura style, which is also good. I recommend avocado tempura when the avocado is still a little firm. By heating it up, it gets a little softer. As you can also eat fresh avocado, you will not need to fry it long or need to use a lot of oil.

Serve 2
Total time: about 20 min

• 1 and 1/2 Avocado
• 2/3 cup of Shirakiku Tempura batter mix
• 100ml (a little less than 1/2 cup) of ice water 

1. Halve the avocados and slice each half lengthwise into 4 to 6 slices.

2. I usually use this Shirakiku TEMPURA Batter mix to make tempura. You could also make tempura as directed in the back side of the package.

Pour ice water into a bowl and sprinkle in the Tempura batter mix. Then, stir quickly with chopsticks or a fork making sure not to beat. The batter should be thin and lumpy so that the tempura will be crunchy.

3. Add avocado into the bowl and coat it with the batter gently.

4. Add about 2 tbsp of oil in a skillet and cook the avocado in hot oil over medium heat until the bottom gets crispy.

5. Flip over the avocado and cook until the batter gets crispy.

6. Done! Remove the avocado tempura from the pan and place it on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

Tips to make a crunchy tempura are to use ice water, to prepare the tempura batter just before cooking and not to beat when making the batter.
I eat this avocado tempura with soy sauce, ponzu (citrus-based sauce), or salt.

If you still have the batter left, I recommend you to use it for any other vegetables such as slices of onion, carrots, green peppers, or maybe for shrimp. Making tempura at home is not as hard as you think if you have tempura batter mix.