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.