J-Food Day 15: Kabocha and Mabo Tofu

Japanese Food Project Day 15... Jeremy was playing raquetball tonight so I got home and started cooking. I started out really ambitious but didn't make everything I intended to, but still made 2 complete dishes.

Dish 15. Braised Kabocha- I love kabocha squash, which is Japanese pumpkin, but similar to butternut squash. I braised it with onions, carrots, yam noodles, and shiitake mushrooms in the usual sweet soy sauce and dashi flavoring. Japanese food really isn't that complicated when a lot of the flavors are consistent. This is one of my favorites and go to dishes so I think it turned out good. The only issue that I encounter is if I don't pick a good kabocha and it's not very tasty to begin with. This one wasn't the best, but I think it turned out fine!

Dish 16. Amy style Mabo Tofu- We had ground beef that I needed to use up, so I decided to make mabo tofu even though I didn't have the "tobanjan" chili paste but I added some red chili pepper to add a little spice to it. I flavored it wth miso, soy sauce, a little sugar, and simmered it all together. It actually turned out great! I had never made mabo tofu from scratch before, but I really liked my first attempt... this is my first awesome dish on the first try!

Jeremy definitely liked the mabo tofu a lot better than the kabocha, but I liked both of them!

I was also trying to make kabocha cheese croquettes at the same time, but I was a bit overambitious with that. I got to the point where it is ready to be shaped and breaded, but that will have to be tomorrow or the day after!

Week 2 Ratings

Here is the week 2 recap and ratings of the dishes I made for the Japanese Food Project.

Yamakake Soba
Yakisoba- 1 1/2 stars... must try again
Curry (improved over 3 days)- 3 1/2 stars
Chicken Katsu- 3 stars- next time I'll fry it
Hijiki- 4 stars
Hijiki Mixed Rice- 3 1/2 stars
Rolled Cabbage- 3 stars... I'll go back to the tomato version

There are a few things I definitely need to improve on but it has been a good project so far! Many more to come!

Next week I'm looking at making braised kabocha squash, kabocha squash croquettes, salmon avocado rolls, kinpira gobo, shiraae (if I can find a suribachi/mortar & pestle), miso stir fry, miso soup, and maybe ichigo daifuku dessert! But again, we know how schedules change based on my mood or desire! 8 dishes a week and I'll make it to the 30 dish goal by September 30!

J-Food Day 12- Lots of Dishes

Japanese Food Project Day 12 meant LOTS of dishes because I was slacking throughout the week for numerous reasons. Today I ended up making 5 dishes before 1pm- don't mess with this determined girl!

Dish 10. Veggie Curry from scratch (not cubes)- I was determined to make curry without the cubes sold in stores, so this was trial #1. I thought I had all the spices for the "make your own garam masala" mix but it turned out I didn't... but it was okay despite that! I put onions, potatoes, and carrots into my curry and thickened it with a roux (which I messed up a little so it didn't thicken as much). I also wanted to add some grated apple for added depth of flavor but I clearly didn't plan well enough to follow the recipe to a tee. I started the curry yesterday and finished it today- don't try to squeeze in cooking when you have to be somewhere for dinner that night! Overall, Jeremy had seconds so that must mean it wasn't too bland!

Dish 11. Baked Chicken Katsu- I know it is never going to taste as good as fried chicken katsu but it was worth a try. I needed to pre-season it a little better also since it would have tasted better if it were flavored more ahead of time. Since it went in for katsu curry though, it wasn't so bad! If we were to eat it alone, I would've made some tonkatsu sauce for it too, so either way, I guess it's not so bad! It wasn't as crispy as it would have been fried, so lesson learned!

Dish 12. Rolled Cabbage (dashi style)- The usual rolled cabbage I have made many times before is a tomato sauce type, which I didn't think was super Japanese so I tried the simple dashi type. The cabbage didn't stay together for the rolling as much as I had hoped, so there were 4 fully rolled cabbage pieces and the remainder were meatballs with cabbage pieces on top. For some reason there was a bit of a buttery flavor to it (there was no butter added), but it was simple and good. I still think I personally prefer the tomato version but again, this project is a learning experience!

Dish 13. Braised Hijiki- Hijiki is dried seaweed that needs to be soaked in water for about 15-20 minutes to return it to cooking shape. I added carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and a few sugar snap peas for color. I braised it in dashi, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, and sake until the liquid was practically gone. That would be the one dish today that I think turned out just as I hoped! My Mom's is still better, but for my first time, it was pretty close!

Dish 14. Mixed Hijiki Rice- I cheated a little by combining the hijiki I was braising and the hijiki I was going to mix into the rice, because the braising liquid was only slightly different. After making so many other dishes, I thought "not worth the minor change, combine it!" I cooked them together, then mixed it in to the freshly cooked white rice. This is the first time I made mixed rice, not to be confused with takikomi rice, because mixed rice is adding flavors after the rice is cooked. Takikomi rice cooks the flavor in during the rice cooking process. I would say this rice was fairly successful too!

I'm going to a 4 year old's birthday party tonight so pizza and cake doesn't allow for more Japanese cooking. I'm still well within reach of the 30 dishes in 30 days!

J-Food Day 10, "Yakisoba"

Japanese Food Day 10... yesterday was dinner at a friend's place so I had big dreams to make several different easy dishes... you have your on days and your off days- this was an off day.

Dish 9. "Yakisoba" Seems simple enough when you make yakisoba out of the packet, but I tried all different things this time. I wanted to make "shio yakisoba" or translated to salt stir fried noodles, instead of the usual saucy kind. Mistake #1 at the store was that I assumed "Chukamen" or Chinese noodles were the same noodles as the yakisoba noodles, and that I could treat them the same. It ended up becoming... well gobbly goop as I like to call it. (I don't know if the picture makes it look goopy enough.) The stir fry of veggies was fantastic- ginger, garlic, cabbage, onions, carrots, bean sprouts, onion chives, and ham. Mistake #2 was deciding to add the noodles which were already looking like an issue before I added it to the stir fried vegetables. Part of me regrets adding the beginning of a gobbly goo mess, but it was done and that's the end of it. I also ended up making a saucy yakisoba, instead of a salt one, in an attempt to save the dish. I figured with the goo ball, it would be better saucier than as a salt goo ball. Trying to save this mess took forever and I didn't get around to making other dishes also... it looks like the weekend or the next few weeks are going to be packed with dishes!

Overall, it was okay but neither one of us really liked the texture of the finished "yakisoba". I wonder if the leftovers will be eaten... yes, I think it was that bad. I kept thinking to myself "but I'm not a cooking failure!" I thought about doing it again to improve but I don't have a strong desire to someday offer a noodle option. I'm leaning more towards rice bowls or rice bentos so maybe I'll give the noodles another try after this month is over!

J-Food Day 8: Yamakake Soba

How is today day 8 of the project when Friday was day 7 you ask?
I knew I was going to be away during Labor day weekend so I substituted the last weekend of August for labor day weekend. Which means Sat-Mon don't count! I'm starting to thinkthat fitting in 30 dishes is going to be tough especially with birthdays and events I know we'll be attending, but I will make it happen!

Dish 8. Tonight was "Yamakake soba" which is basically warm soupy noodles with yamaimo or white grated mountain yam on top. I cheated and used dashi powder instead of making my own stock... next time! I also added dashi soy sauce, soy sauce, and mirin for the soup base. I added shiitake mushrooms for flavor, some daikon, cabbage, and carrots for a healthy mix of flavors and colors. I then added in the soba noodles and voila! Dress up with a little green onion, pour on some of the grated yam "goo" and dinner is served!

I really liked it and Jeremy liked it too. He mixed the yam into the whole thing so he didn't really taste the "stickiness" of it. I don't think it has much flavor but definitely adds to the texture. It was delicious but not something that could be served as a bento-type item. Maybe the soup could be a side soup on its own! No matter, it was a successful Amy concoction!

I have a lot of ground to make up for this week, but the plan so far is:
Braised Kabocha Squash
Pilaf or flavored rice
Kabocha squash croquettes
Baked chicken katsu
Curry
Another type of pickled vegetable
Maybe sushi rolls
Maybe miso soup

J-Food Day 7: Unfried Potato Korokke

Week 1 of the project has been completed!
Today I was inspired by a recipe I saw for potato korokke or croquettes that are the flavor without the hassle of shaping, flouring, egg-ing, breading, and frying. Instead, it's an assemble in the pot and put it over rice method!

Dish 7. Potato Korokke (unconventional)- The ingredients are potatoes, ground turkey, carrots, onions, corn, and cabbage to serve with it. I sauteed the meat, carrots, onions, and corn in one pan, then added boiled potatoes to it and mashed it together. Add flavorings, and voila! I used the tonkatsu sauce I made for the okonomiyaki/Japanese pancakes with this as well. I love being able to use so many of the same ingredients for different dishes! I also toasted and sprinkled the panko bread crumbs to give it a crunch, but I didn't really feel the crunch since I didn't put as much on as a fried korokke would have.

In assembling for eating, we put some brown rice down as the base, then some cabbage, then the potato mixture, topped with toasted panko and sauce. It was quite delicious, but of course Jeremy still likes the fried version better. Who doesn't like fried food, right? It was my attempt to make it healthier but of course it wasn't as good as what it would've been in its traditional shape! It was worth a shot!

Since it is the end of week 1, I wanted to recap the list of items I've made this week and how I felt about them:
Turkey & Cabbage Gyoza- 2/5 stars
Okonomiyaki- 3/5 stars
Turkey-burg- 2/5 stars
Nikujaga- 5/5 stars! Keeper!
Pickled Cucumbers- 4/5 stars! Keeper!
Chicken Teriyaki- 4/5 stars! Keeper!
Potato Korokke- 4/5 stars!

Woohoo- I'll be taking a weekend break but to be continued next week!

J-Food Day 5: Teriyaki Chicken

Japanese food project day 5! Today is chicken teriyaki day! I marinated it overnight in a little sake, soy sauce, and ginger, so I was hoping that after I got home it would be a breeze...

Dish 6. Chicken Teriyaki: Result- yummy!
It started out well where I browned the chicken on both sides, but I was using some bone in chicken breasts that I had purchased for soup a while back and froze extra pieces. The problem was that these were huge pieces that I couldn't exactly slice off the bone to make chicken teriyaki with. So, I browned both sides and I was supposed to steam it with a little sake for 5 minutes... well 5 minutes ended up being a little longer than that to cook these big doggers. Good thing I wasn't absolutely starving, even though I didn't get home until a little after 7pm, and thankfully I have a patient husband!

After I checked that the chicken had cooked through (I had to add more water and raise the heat to steam faster) I added brown sugar, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and dashi soy sauce for the additional flavor. Right as it was finishing, I added some shiitake mushrooms and cabbage to cook in the sauce as well to soak up the delicious flavor of the sauce. The sauce isn't as thick as what comes out in restaurants or is sold in bottles because I didn't add any cornstarch or other thickeners. I like it more broth-y than a goo-like texture, especially if it is homemade. The pictures may not look that great but trust me it tasted good. A little rice, a little chicken, some cabbage and mushrooms topped with a little sauce... It took a while and in the end the chicken got chopped up into pieces but Jeremy liked it, I liked it, everyone wins! Another successful dish- this is encouraging!