New Year's Eve

I met one of my really important friends yesterday and had so much fun!
It's great to be with someone who thinks every single thing positively.
I always come up with great ideas through synergetic effect.

Looking back, 2009 was a very good year to me.
I met so many interesting people and absorbed much knowledge.
I thank everyone for giving me great opportunities so that I can have a broader perspective this year!

Have a great new year's eve and a happy new year!!


I ate this noodle when I visited Cambodia.
I don't know what this is, but this was really delicious!!

Mashed Potatoes (Asian-style)

[Recipe]

Ingredients for 4 people:

2 middle-sized potatoes
1 cucumber (In Japan, we usually use the kind which is thin and long)
1 boiled egg
5 sliced ham
*5 big spoons of mayonnaise
*3 big spoons of sweet chili sauce
*1&1/2 big spoons of powdered cheese(Parmigiano-Reggiano)
*A little bit of black pepper
A little bit of salt and *pepper

1. Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces and immerse them into water for a while. After draining water, put them in a heat-resistant plate, sprinkle salt, wrap the plate, and heat them in a microwave until they get soft.

2. Slice cucumber and rub them with salt. When they softened, wash the salt away and drain water. Shred boiled egg finely. Cut ham into strips.

3. When the potatoes got soft, mash them using masher. Put mashed potatoes in a bowl and add *marked ingredients and mix them. Add boiled egg and ham in the bowl and mix them.


I'm going back to my hometown tomorrow!
Happy holidays everyone!!


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Vegetable & Fruit Meister

Since I love cooking, I took a license of "Junior Vegetable & Fruit Meister" last January.
It is a license certified by incorporated association "Japan Vegetable & Fruits Meister Association".


I sometimes do the work as "Vegetable & Fruit Meister".
My activities are:

-Visit a company and hear details about their new product. Then eat their new product and tell them my opinion.

-Teach in a cooking class.

-Help preparing food for a party.

-etc.


However, I usually am an office worker, so I can only work on my free time.


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Little tip for "Pumpkin Muffin"

-You can make it a pound cake if you use 16cm pound-cake pan!
(In this case, heat the oven at 180℃ and bake it for 12 minutes. Take the cake out from the oven and cut longitudinally with a wet knife. Put it back in the oven and bake another 30 minutes.)

-Mash pumpkin when it's still hot. It's hard to mash after it got cold.

-Be sure to let egg warm at room temperature. If it's cold, the dough could be separated.

-Make sure that you beat the egg and divide into several times when you mix it with the ingredients. If you don't beat the egg and if you don't divide it, the dough could be separated.


*For a "Pumpkin Muffin" recipe, see my blog dated on December 19, 2009.



I visited Angkor Wat last month. It was amazing!

"Pumpkin Muffin"

The other day, I made "Pumpkin Muffin" for breakfast.

[Recipe]

For 5 muffins:

50g of pumpkin (without skin and seed)
50g of butter (salt-free)
40g of millet sugar
1 egg (middle size)
50cc of milk
*80g of flour
*30g of almond powder
*4g of baking powder
*Little bit of cinnamon powder
1 big spoon of rum liquor

1.Let egg, butter and milk warm at room temperature.
Shift flour, almond powder, baking powder and cinnamon powder all together.

2.Remove skin and seed of a pumpkin. Cut pumpkin to a proper size and put them in a microwave till they get soft. When they get soft, smash them using a masher.

3.Beat butter with sugar in a large bowl until cream. Break and beat an egg. Add egg in the bowl in 3 parts and mix the ingredients. Add pumpkin, milk and rum liquor and mix them.

4.Add 2/3 of the powder that you shifted in #1 in the bowl and mix them (If the dough is too hard, add extra milk). Add the rest of the powder in the bowl and mix until barely-combined. Put the dough into muffin cups. Heat the oven at 180℃. Bake them for 20 minutes in the oven.


*For a little tip when you make "Pumpkin Muffin", see my blog dated on December 23, 2009.


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Japanese-style party!

4 of us finished work at 15:00, and drove to the hotel where the party will be held. Stopping by supermarket and liquor shop to get some stuff for after-party.
It was a Japanese-style party, about 60 people came!
There were some entertainment by a couple of groups, which were really funny.
After the party we were singing karaoke till 5:00 in the morning. Everyone else was sooooo tired next day at work...





These are appetizers.













This "Nabe" was really delicious.













This is what the room look like.

Little tip for "Soy milk soup"

I'm having a really big end-of-the-year party tomorrow!
Already so excited!!


Here's the little tip when you make "Soy milk soup":

-Do not boil the soup. It changes the taste and make the soup less delicious.

-Soy milk can be substituted for milk.

-You can put any vegetables! As long as you think it's delicious, such as broccoli or carrot.


For a "Soy milk soup" recipe, see my blog dated on December 13, 2009.



This is one of the flowers that I'm taking care of.
It's really cold outside, but my hibiscus looks just fine;)

Soy milk soup

[Recipe]

Ingredients for 2 people:

1 bunch of spinach
100g of pumpkin
1/8 of onion
400cc of soy milk
1/2 big spoon of bouillon
50cc of fresh cream
Little bit of salt, pepper and parsley
Olive oil


1.Cut spinach and pumpkin and boil them. When they get soft, put them in a maund and drain water. Cut onion into strips.

2. Put olive oil in a heated pan and saute onion. When the onion gets soft, put soy milk, spinach and pumpkin in a pan. Simmer it for a while. Turn off the heat and put fresh milk, salt and pepper.

3.When it cools down, put them in a mixer for 30 seconds.
Pour it to the pan again, and reheat it.
Pour the soup in a cup and spread parsley.

*Be sure that the soup is cooled down before you put them in a mixer. If you put them at a high temperature, it may blow up!

For little tip when you make "Soy milk soup", see my blog dated on December 14, 2009.




The Christmas Concert was safely finished.
I feel so free!

Little tip for "Nibuta"

I have to practice the piano for a concert coming on this Sunday.
So, I stay home tonight and made "Ramen" with "Nibuta" that I made the day before yesterday.

"Nibuta" can be used for many food, such as fried rice, salad and so on.


Here's the little tip when you make "Nibuta":

-The reason that you tie kite strings around pork block is to arrange the shape of the pork. The pork will be evenly-heated by arranging the shape. If the shape of the pork is not arranged, some part of the pork will be hard and other part will be soft.

-Japanese green onion is to rid the meat of its smell. Normally, we use green part of a Japanese green onion, but white part can be used, as well. Generally, we do not eat green part, so we use it like a herb.

For a recipe, see my blog dated December 10, 2009.


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煮豚 : Nibuta

I made "Nibuta" yesterday.


[Recipe]

Ingredients for 4 people:

500g of pork picnic shoulder (block)
1-inch piece of ginger
2 pieces of garlic
1 piece of Japanese green onion (only green part)
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup of Japanese sake
3 big spoons of sugar
3 big spoons of Mirin

1.Tie pork picnic shoulder by kite strings.
Shred ginger and crush garlic.

2.Put pork picnic shoulder in a pot, and pour water till it covers the pork.
Put ginger, garlic, green onion, sake and sugar in the pot, and bring the pot to a boil.

3.When it boils, put soy sauce and cover the pot with a drop lid.
Cook on low heat for 30 minutes, turning upside down in every 10 minutes.

4.Put Mirin in the pot and cook on low hear for another 30 minutes, turning upside down in every 10 minutes.

*Pour water along the way when it's running low.


For a little tip when you make "Nibuta", see my blog dated December 11, 2009.


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Little break

This is a very popular sweets called "Pocky".
The manufacturer is "Ezaki Glico Co.,Ltd." which was established in 1929 in Japan.
In Europe, "Pocky" is known as "Mikado".

"Pocky" has over 40 flavors in Japan.
Banana, blueberry, green tea, etc.
Today, I had "Mont Blanc" flavor which contains cake crumb in the chocolate.
Try some when you have chance to visit Japan!

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End-of-the-year party (忘年会: Bounenkai)

Year-end party season has begun!!
In Japan, we have lots and lots of parties in December.
At maximum, I got 5 parties in a week!

I hope that I could report wonderful foods in Japan:)


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