ホッケの開き(Hokke fillet)

My work finally slows down, so I finally have some free time!

I grilled dried Hokke the other day.
Hokke has proper fat, unique texture and rich taste.
However, its freshness easily declines.

We can have Hokke at all times of the year, but the most delicious time is only for 2 weeks in spring and autumn.
羅臼(Rausu) in 北海道(Hokkaido) is famous for Hokke.
Hokke in Rausu is really big and delicious, so Hokke from Rausu is very expensive.
Rausu dried Hokke is about 1800 yen for 500g.
Compare to the cheap one in supermarket is about 200yen...

Anyway, if you like fish, you should definitely try one!


'

Muffin cup

I always use Matfer's cup.
Matfer is a company in France established in 1814.
It's famous for its very popular kitchen tools which are used by many ptissier.
http://www.matfer.com

It's made of silicon, so you don't have to put a butter to the cup.
Using this cup, muffin will be baked fine brown and easily removed from the cup!


'

お雑煮(Ozouni)

It's really good to be back to this blog.
I've been very busy these days, so I might not be able to update so often this month.
But I'll do my best;)

I was meaning to write a recipe of "Ozouni" since January...
"Ozouni" is a traditional Japanese food which is eaten in お正月(Osyougatsu)



What you put in "Ozouni" pretty differs in each area and family.
My family does not put many things in it, but in other families, people put carrot, potatoes, chicken, spinach and so on.

[Recipe]

Ingredients for 2 people:

400cc of katsuo(bonito) soup stock
50cc of soy sauce
4 pieces of rice cake
3 leaves of Chinese cabbage
1 piece of 油揚げ(Abura-age:deep fried tofu)
Proper amount of かつおぶし(Katsuobushi)

1. Put katsuo soup stock and soy sauce in a pan, and heat it.
Cut Chinese cabbage and "Abura-age" in rectangles.

2. When the soup boils, put rice cake, Chinese cabbage and cook them til rice cake gets soft. Put "Abra-age" in a pan and cook for 2 minutes.

3.Serve in a cup and spread "Katsuobushi".


'

ずんだ餅 (Zunda rice cake)

Hey, guys.
It has been a mess at work and I was working all day for the last 4 days.
Sorry, I couldn't update this blog.

Today, I think I'll be away from Japanese Green Tea talk.
Since I had "Zunda rice cake" tonight, I'm gonna talk about it.

It's a local cuisine in Tohoku(north east area of Japan).
It looks like this:


It does not look delicious...kind of, but it is delicious!
The green thing on top of the rice cake is "Zunda".
"Zunda" is paste made of 枝豆(Edamame:green soybean).
There are cake, cookie and shake made of "Zunda" which are all delicious!

The place where I live is far from Tohoku, but sometimes there is an event at a supermarket that sells varieties of food from everywhere.
And that's how I got this "Zunda rice cake" tonight;)


'