Tuesday, September 19, 2006
| You Are a Learning Cook |
You've got the makings of an excellent cook, and the desire to be one.
But right now, you're just lacking the experience. You couldn't be a top chef yet, but you could be an apprentice. |
Monday, September 18, 2006
Strengthening the immune system
Prevention is better than cure
My immune system has always been on the weak side. I absolutely dread winter. I probably get the same number of colds as the average person but one thing I get which is decidedly odd for a 24 year old is aching joints and rheumatism! It really slows me down.
The last six years I have suffered from on going fatigue which was no fun for someone in their early 20's but thankfully since last autumn I have started improving which has made me *so* happy.
Last winter I came across the recipe to an immune strengthening drink which I drank faithfully every day for most of winter. I also took 1-2 cloves of garlic chopped and swallowed like pills every morning. (needless to say I discovered the need to carry mints around with me!)
I only got one cold (before I started the drink) and I was able to fly back home alone - a 22 hour trip one way- and enjoy a 2 and a half week holiday without getting overly fatigued at all! whoopee!
Even though autumn has only just begun I might start taking this drink and the garlic again.... prevention is better than cure, right?
Cold and Flu Prevention30 cloves of garlic (peeled) and roughly chopped (chopping, mincing is important. It has limited health benefits eaten whole)
5 whole lemons (cut into big chunks with rind)
1 small piece of fresh ginger (add more if you like it spicy!)
Cover with 1 lt of water and bring to the boil. As soon as it bubbles,
turn off the heat and let it cool down without removing the lid.
Strain through a sieve into a bottle and keep in the fridge
Since I have a small fridge and don't have room for a large container I usually make small batches every 2 days. The above is only a
guide. Adjust to taste!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Weekend Chef
Ash cooks on the weekend, sometimes for every single meal =) Not only do I get spoiled by getting the weekend off but I love his cooking -he is GREAT!
Korean Chijimi and Bibimbap are common weekend dishes and tonight we had
bibimbap.
I LOVE it.
It may have been the fact I came back raving after eating it on Korean airlines that spurred Ash on to make it at home.
Since I don't make it myself and Ash doesn't use a recipe I can't write one out for you, but I'll add some links at the end of the post.
Apparently bibimbap means 'mixed rice' in Korean...
mmm it was so good. It was hard to stop at just two bowls!
Here are some links I found in case you want to try it at home.
BibimbapKoreanfoodnycWoman's Day Recipe
--> It says to use Jasmine rice, but we just use plain ol' white rice. I really can't imagine using Jasmine rice.
夏野菜のビビンバ(Japanese recipe)
Saturday, September 16, 2006
We received this bag of homegrown corn yesterday. They are so small and pale my first thought was, are they edible? We'll soon find out =)
Update: before I got a chance to cook and try one out, Ash threw the lot out. Apparently the workmate who gave them to us originally got them from his Mum and the corn was excess cow fodder! No wonder they were colourless, tiny and oddly shaped. Probably wouldn't have enjoyed eating them but I hate to see waste so if it's easy to dig a couple of cobs out the trash I'll give them to Ken-chan the neighbourhood rooster :-)
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Eggplants everywhere
Calling all eggplant lovers out there!
This time of year eggplants are cheap and everywhere. I lurve eggplants! Similar to my beloved zucchini which is unfortunately not often found around here and can be very expensive .
When I suddenly find myself with a huge bag of eggplants and a very limited time to use them up it can be hard to think of what to do with them. Grill them with the skin on, take the skin off, rinse under cool water, slice and top with ginger and katsuobushi? Yum, but gets a little repetitive and boring.
This recipe is something a little different and of course super easy and delicious!! Great with rice. You could also use this sauce with almost any vegetable. I know I also use it with shishitou (green pepper).
Spicy Garlic Eggplant
1-2 medium eggplants
Sesame oil
1 tsp (or more) Garlic, chopped
1 tsp Fresh ginger, chopped
2 tsp Hot pepper paste (I use Korean Taeyangcho Gochujang. 'Kochujan' in Japanese)
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 C chicken stock
sesame seeds for garnish
- slice eggplant into aprox 3cm thick slices
- saute until soft (you may have to do this in two batches)
- transfer the now soft eggplant to a dish
- lower heat and cook garlic, ginger and hot pepper paste for a minute, then add soy sauce, sugar and stock.
- return eggplant to the pan and cook until sauce thickens and garlic is soft. (add a little cornstarch mixed with a tsp of water if sauce is too thin)
- serve onto a large platter and top with sesame seeds
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Japanese sticky chickenThis is so easy and so good! Basically you don't need a recipe, just mix the following to suit your taste, but here is a loose guide.
-Mix water, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar to taste.
(Aprox 1 C water, 1/3 C soy sauce, 1/2 cup vinegar, 2 and half Tbs sugar)
-1 Garlic clove. Depending on how strong you want the taste, add the clove whole or chop/mince....
-I sometimes also like to add a small chunk of fresh ginger or chilli pepper
- 8 small chicken drumsticks (keep the skin on. If you're like me and watching your weight you can take it off later but really the skin tastes sooo good and I leave it on for Ash)
* Put all ingredients in a saucepan, set to a high heat.
*After it starts boiling, lower to a simmer for about 20 minutes
* Remove any scum
* After 20 minutes, increase to a high heat until the sauce thickens
*Arrange on a platter, remembering to remove the garlic clove
* Delicious with rice. Also good for bento lunches.
HERE is a link to the recipe where I took the quantities from, since usually I would just mix to taste.
The cutest tiniest eggplants eva!
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Boiling chicken? Sound dry and tasteless? Doesn't have to be!
Perfect Boiled chicken-In a large pot boil enough water so that you know it will cover the chicken breasts sufficiently.
-Add 1/2 tsp salt
-Once the water is boiling, add the chicken breasts (we leave the skin on and take off before eating)
-Boil chicken for *3* minutes. Time it if you can.
-Once the 3 minutes is up, turn off the heat, put the lid on tightly and leave it until the water has cooled down completely. I generally leave for 1-2 hours.
Do it this way and you'll have perfect juicy chicken breasts!
We eat a lot of chicken breasts! On 'the diet' it was the only meat we could eat because if you remove the skin it is fat free. We still prefer to limit the fat in our diet.
I am still searching for a place that supplies whole chickens... It is my dream to roast a whole chicken... mmm... I have yet to ask if I can order one at the chicken sashimi place but other than there I have no idea where to look. It probably would be a lot easier in a bigger town or city.
We used to live in a bigger town, but 2 and a half years ago moved out here.
oh, the convenience when we lived in a big town! We lived across the road from a Lawsons convinience store (combini), up the road there is a small grocery store, a few doors down is a pub and I see that they have built a coin laundry there now too. Despite how good that sounds I wouldn't move back there for anything! The roads in H-town are terrible. Noisy and congested. It's just too busy for me. I love the small peaceful town of 4,000 we live in now. Even if the local combini often closes at 8pm! (0_0)
Did you notice the title of this blog is champon cooking? Champon is a dish in Japan with all sorts of things thrown in together with noodles. That basically sums up our cooking. No fancy looking meals! No expensive ingredients! Just whatever is on hand or whatever is on special at the supermarket!
A month after we arrived in Japan, just over 3 years ago, we were thrown into a strict and healthy diet , similar to the macrobiotic diet except that any form of oil was forbidden too! Eek! Basically we lived on grilled fish, veges, plain noodles and miso soup for months. No wonder I lost 9kg!
We're off that diet now (thank goodness!) which means we can indulge ourselves occasionally in the delights of oily and sugary foods, but in many ways that diet changed our life for good. Now if a dish contains more than one tablespoon of oil we start to get guilt attacks ;-) We still eat plain and simple food and it can be a challenge to keep meals healthy without spending a lot of money. This blog is so that I can share simple and cheap recipes I have found, tried and can recommend to you. Enjoy!
