Back to School

First day of school! This turned out to be a colorful dinner thanks to some leftovers from the weekend. The dish in front is niku dofu ("meat and tofu"), usually stewed with green onions, but today I also added some green beans and onions. We also had some stewed kabocha, pork-stuffed eggplant, and cherry tomatoes.

Japanese Turnip Stew

After getting some large round Japanese turnips at the Farmer's Market last weekend, I was excited to try a new recipe, since I barely ever buy turnips. The funny thing was that once I served the dish, it looked almost exactly like this pork and daikon stew that I always make. The flavor was kind of similar too, though this one had a more gentle and kind flavor, since you use much less soy sauce and much more sake. It was yummy.

My Little Green Thumb

This morning we went to the KCC Farmers' Market for the first time in weeks, and were so happy to see a new vendor selling many types of potted herbs. We decided to start our new mini herb garden with things that seemed the easiest to take care of - italian parsley and thai basil. The parsley added some nice color and flavor to our delicious shrimp, clam, and tomato pasta lunch.

Miso Soup N Things

When we first moved to Hawaii, I thought that I would never be making miso soup anymore since warm soup is not necessarily what you want to eat when you're already plenty warm. But for some reason we've been having miso soup almost every day recently. I guess I love miso soup too much to let it disappear from our lives. So tonight we had it with some pork, fried tofu and veggie stew; and a couple of days ago, with some chicken, tofu shiraae, and stewed kabocha.

Goya Champuru

Tonight's goya champuru ingredients: bitter melon, pork, tofu, egg, onions, carrots for some extra color, soy sauce, sake, and ginger for some extra flavor.

Ankake Night

Pork and vegetable ankake, miso soup, and some sweeeet mini tomatoes.

Saba Mirin

Mirin-marinated mackerel with a tofu salad and eggplant miso soup.

Sukiyaki and Tako Salad

Tonight's dinner: a hearty sukiyaki and a refreshing, gingery octopus salad.

Stuffed Eggplant and Spinach Shiraae

Some new recipes you try once and then forget about them, but these two were so memorably yummy the first time I tried them that I decided to repeat them tonight: pork stuffed eggplant and spinach shiraae. Idea from H: sprinkle some green onions on top of the eggplant next time for more color! Some leftover kabocha pumpkin stewed with ground chicken rounded out our meal.

Niku jaga and Miso soup

A colorful dinner tonight of niku jaga ("meat and potatoes" stewed with onions, carrots, and yam noodles) along with spinach and mushroom miso soup and some veggies.

Pork and Cabbage with Veggies

Made this always yummy layered pork and napa cabbage dish, along with an assortment of veggies. Today, instead of adding any water to the pork and cabbage layers, I just used sake - almost 1 cup - and the dish seemed more flavorful than ever. If you're worried that we're eating too healthy, no need to worry - after dinner we paid a visit to our favorite new patisserie for a slice of fluffy and delicious pineapple cheesecake.

Ukulele Festival

Today I had the chance to play in the 40th annual Ukulele Festival on Oahu, and it was so much fun! While solo performances can be nerve-wracking, being able to play amongst a bunch of happy smiling fellow ukulele players kept me in good spirits throughout our performance, even though my ukulele slipped out from under my arm during a song. =) The highlight of the festival was the final performance by Jake Shimabukuro, who is such an engaging performer.

Moving on to food, we had pretty standard Hawaiian plate lunches at the festival, meaning rice, meat, and a macaroni salad - so almost no veggies at all. For dinner we tried to make up for our veggie-less lunch: we had a salad of mahi-mahi sashimi over spinach, and a baked tofu dish with lots of tomatoes, eggplant, and basil. I love veggies.

Happy July

Can't believe it's already mid-July! Ever since coming back, we've been taking some pictures but not getting around to posting anything, so here is a snapshot of what we've been eating recently. But first, a lovely picture by H of some 4th of July fireworks...




Iridofu with hamachi salad.


Salmon oyako rice with miso soup.

Sweet and sour soup with catfish and tofu, pork stir fried with watercress and onions.


More soup with salad and fried tofu stir fried with green bell peppers and bonito flakes.

Pork Stew/Salmon

Back to our usual go-to meals: pork stew (Wednesday)...




...and baked salmon with veggies (Thursday)!

Beef Stew

Tonight H made us a lovely beef stew with very tender chunks of beef and lots of veggies. As we ate, we were fascinated by the Lantern Floating event going on at the beach park in front of our place for Memorial Day. In this annual event, more than 2000 lanterns are released onto the ocean in memory of those who have passed away. We watched the progression of this beautiful event almost simultaneously out from our balcony with binoculars and on the TV for more close-ups. H took the photo below of the crowd and floating lanterns from our balcony. Very cool!

Shrimp Pizza

After a couple of days of eating minestrone soup with different things, we finished off our last bowls of soup accompanied by hearty little homemade pizzas topped with shrimp, mushrooms, and tomatoes. It was a simple meal, but was so satisfying because of our extreme hunger after our morning hike at Mariner's Ridge. Much steep uphill climbing was rewarded at the end with a beautiful view of the eastern coast of Oahu (picture by H).

Soy Milk Tarako Spaghetti

Tonight's dinner was a variation on the mentaiko spaghetti that I made before - today I used tarako (salted roe), and instead of just mashing it up and mixing it with butter and the pasta, I also added a soy milk broth for creaminess and some boiled and diced potatoes for volume. H and I had a split vote on which pasta we liked better - H liked the spiciness and saltiness of the mentaiko spaghetti, while I liked the mild sweetness and creaminess that the soy milk added to the tarako spaghetti.

Minestrone Soup

Whenever I make minestrone soup, I pack in so many vegetables that just chopping them up feels like some big accomplishment. Today I used tomatoes, carrots, onions, bell peppers, celery, parsley, cabbage, zucchini, and kidney beans. It's always a nice feeling to be able to clean out the veggie compartment in your fridge.

Yasai Iroiro

I couldn't think of a good title for today's dinner, so I am calling it "yasai iroiro," or assortment of veggies. Clockwise from top left corner: octopus salad with cucumbers and tomatoes; daikon and konnyaku cooked with soy sauce, sugar, bonito flakes, and red pepper flakes; pork stir fried with ginger, onions, watercress, soy sauce, and oyster sauce. I'd never bought watercress before today but thought I'd try something new. I like the crunchiness and flavor it adds to a stir fry.

Tofu Lasagna?

Ok so it's not really lasagna. The recipe was also described as "a western style mabo dofu." I don't know what to call it, so here is an explanation of what the dish is:
1. Put a layer of ground pork at the bottom of dish, then season with salt and pepper.
2. Cut up tofu (microwave for 4 min beforehand to get rid of water), tomatoes, and eggplant (optional) and sprinkle them all over the ground pork. Pour some yakiniku sauce over all of the ingredients.
3. Sprinkle cheese over the top, then bake in toaster oven for 30 min.
That's it! When I first saw the recipe, it seemed like a strange combination of ingredients, but there were so many people saying how tasty it was that I had to try it at least once. Conclusion: it really was tasty - will probably make it again soon, since I now have a bottle of yakiniku sauce sitting in the fridge.

Soy Corn Soup and Chicken Salad

Whenever we have some leftover roast chicken, I like to shred it and throw it into a green salad. Today I added some tomatoes, apples, and celery - crunchy and delicious. I also had some soy milk that I wanted to use up and decided to make a simple corn soup with soy milk, canned corn, cabbage, and chicken broth. I threw half of the corn into the blender to mix with the soy milk and chicken broth, and the other half I plopped into the soup after it was blended. The soup was sweet, creamy, and delicious. The cabbage added some nice texture, too.

Green Tea Pudding

After a simple dinner of leftovers plus some chicken baked with soy sauce/ginger (tasty!), the dessert experiment of the night was green tea pudding. As might be obvious from the picture, we used a loooot of green tea powder, along with some corn starch, sugar, and soy milk. The pudding had a nice texture, but was a little on the bitter side - a dark, adult flavor. Next time we'll aim for more child-friendly and use less green tea, more sugar. The sweet red beans on top helped though!

Unagi Maki Zushi

Every year, usually right around this time of year when school was about to end, we would do a maki (roll) sushi making day in my Japanese classes. I would "teach" the students how to make the rolls using the bamboo mats and then most of them would end up making prettier, better formed rolls than me. Today was no exception as I did the first roll and then H quickly took over as chief roller, producing the pretty pieces of art which we quickly made a colorful tower out of. Today's ingredients were: unagi, cucumber, avocado, shiso leaves, and yamagobo (a pickled burdock root that looks like a skinny carrot). Each ingredient added a nice flavor and color to the overall piece, but we decided that the yamagobo was the MVP of the night. Not only did it add a nice burst of orange color to the roll, but also a slight saltiness and refreshing crunchiness that complemented the other ingredients so well!

Chili

Tonight I tried recreating my mom's chili - a simple one using ground beef, canned tomatoes, kidney beans, and onions. It had that nice comforting taste from home but I felt like something was missing from mine - not enough salt? Some spice? Not quite sure. But it was definitely a nice change of pace from our always ultra-Japanese diet.

Kanikama and Bean Sprout Salad with Fried Tofu Stir Fry

New discoveries today: a tasty new salad dressing and ingredients for a yummy tofu stir fry. The salad dressing was just a mixture of mirin, vinegar, salt, sesame oil, and ground up sesame seeds. The recipe said that steaming the mirin beforehand and getting rid of the alcohol also increases the umami and overall flavor. I'm not sure I could tell the difference, but the dressing was pretty yummy on top of a bed of steamed bean sprouts, salad leaves, and kanikama (imitation crab). The other happy discovery of the night was the tastiness of the combination of ingredients in the stir fry: fried tofu, bell peppers, some pork slices, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and a handful of bonito flakes tossed in at the end. Yum!

Staple foods

This is our typical go-to menu - quick and easy to prepare. Broiled fish (mackerel marinated in mirin and soy sauce), miso soup (w/onions, carrots, shimeji mushrooms, and tofu), and green salad (w/cucumbers and apples).

Kabocha Pumpkin Pudding

After a simple dinner of sashimi with leftovers, we moved on to the highlight of the night: pumpkin pudding. I was looking for a different way to eat some kabocha pumpkin, and decided to try a very simple and healthy looking pudding recipe. The only ingredients were kabocha, milk, gelatin, water, and sugar. Maybe I should have followed the amounts of each ingredient more carefully, because I used a lot more pumpkin than indicated, and our resulting pudding was quite thick. Actually the texture and taste were almost like the filling of a pumpkin pie. Our little dish of pumpkin was so dense that by the time we each finished that tiny cup, we were surprisingly stuffed. Our next goal is to make a not-so-dense version of purple sweet potato pudding.

Bitter Melon Soup and Sashimi Salad

Per H's idea, I stuffed the leftover bitter melons with a mixture of ground pork, shallots, and ginger, and plopped them into a soup. You can't really see them at all in the first picture, but the second picture shows the raw stuffed stage, almost like a pretty flower garden blooming with bitter melons. To go with the soup, we had a simple sashimi salad with scallops and seared salmon, both of which were deeelicious!

Goya (Bitter Melon) Champuru

Last weekend we discovered a tiny Farmer's Market in Manoa, and in my excitement I bought lots of fresh veggies, including a bagful of goya (bitter melon). The very first dish that comes to mind whenever I come across goya is an Okinawan dish, goya champuru, where goya is stir fried together with pork, tofu, and egg. Today I also added some leftover onions and seasoned with sake and soy sauce. The goya is bitter but the other ingredients in the champuru nicely soften the effect. Aside from the apparently wonderful health benefits of goya, there's something comforting about this dish that makes me want to eat it every so often.

Tofu Burgers!

My mom's tofu burgers are one of my favorite dishes of all time. After having a craving for them a couple of months ago and getting a recipe from home, I finally got around to making them tonight! I was so excited, my mouth was already watering when I was mixing the raw ingredients. I mixed together ground chicken, tofu, ginger, green onions, egg, sake, sugar, and salt and pepper, then H pan fried the little patties to perfection. I think I could've added some more salt or soy sauce, but they were still tasty, especially eaten with the shiso garnish. Plus I looooove the soft texture that the tofu adds. Already looking forward to eating the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Ratatouille Wannabe

My image of ratatouille is more of a vegetable stew, but I found this simple "ratatouille" recipe and decided to make it since it was so simple and pretty. Just cut up an eggplant, zucchini, and tomato into semicircle pieces, then line them up as pictured and sprinkle some salt and pepper, olive oil, and herbs over them and cook in the toaster oven. Roasted vegetables are always yummy, especially tomatoes. We rounded out our veggie-centric dinner with a simple salad topped with shrimp and pork slices, and some Okinawan sweet potatoes.

Pork Maitake Asparagus Stir Fry

I always hear that maitake mushrooms go well with pork, so today I stir fried them together along with some asparagus and onions. I regularly buy shiitake and shimeji mushrooms, but hardly ever buy maitake. Some interesting discoveries from the package: their English name is "Hen of the Woods," and apparently they're pretty wonderful in terms of the richness of minerals and vitamins they provide - a small pack of them contains 312% daily value of Vitamin D! They're pretty tasty too, with a more distinctive look/texture than shimeji mushrooms.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Because stuffing eggplants was kind of fun the other night, tonight I decided to try stuffing some mushrooms. Based on some recipes I looked at, I mixed ground chicken with some ginger, sake, soy sauce, and corn starch, then lumped the mixture onto the mushrooms and broiled them. The finished product came out tasty but a bit gooier than expected. Next time I may stick to just ginger, salt, and pepper for seasoning.

Pork-Stuffed Eggplant

This is one of those recipes that's fun to make like an arts and crafts project. The basic idea is to make a partial lengthwise cut through the eggplant so that you'll be able to stuff a thin slice of pork inside. The flavoring is a mixture of soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and ginger poured over the stuffed eggplants. Then you just cover it up and cook in the microwave for about 7 minutes. So easy! My favorite bento place in Tokyo used to do this dish every so often and I loved it. So happy to know that it's so simple and equally satisfying at home, too.

Clam and Shrimp Pasta

Add together a can of fire-roasted tomatoes to a can of chopped clams with pasta and you get one of our favorite dishes. Such a simple and tasty dish that leaves us feeling so satisfied every time. I don't know why it's been so long since we've had it! The pasta is packed with flavor even with just the tomatoes and clams, but today we also added shrimp, onions, and shimeji mushrooms. The portions were big but it was so tasty, we finished it all off pretty quickly.