Deco-Rolls: Decorated Swiss Rolls. From Japan, obvs.

Hellooooo Worspress! That’s right, it’s Valentine.

I don’t care much for Valentine. Not because I’m single; I’ve kinda always disliked Valentine. I’ve never understood why we need a special day to spoil your partner (spoil me everyday, dammit!). If you’re single, society is rubbing it in your face- and that’s not cool. Even if you are casually dating, you can’t go on dates around Valentine because you think the other person might think that you think you’re really into them because you’re going on a Valentine date, and you think that would be way too much pressure… and arrhhhh! Haha

Anyway, if you’re into it, good for you 🙂 Hope you had a lovely day ❤

I spent mine spoiling my sister, as it was her birthday last weekend. We went to the Museum of London, had a burrito, walked around markets… and it was great.

When we came home, we decided to bake together. I’d always wanted to try making Deco-Rolls, or “decorated swiss rolls.” I first came across these in a Japanese book store, and I’ve now discovered that you can buy the deco-cake recipe book in English. BUT- I actually think the deco-cake recipes are a bit too faffy, and I’ve found a more simple one by Dulce Delight. Anyway, I decided vaguely to follow Dulce Delight’s recipe (FYI the video is probably more informative!).

So this is how it turned out:

And this is what my sister made 🙂

It was actually REALLY fun to make with my sister. We just sat down and piped our decorations, which is great to do together. I think I’ll have to work on my filling a bit more (I made dark chocolate ganache- tasted ok, but nothing special), but there will definitely be a next time to the Deco-Rolls. I think it’s also quite impressive, so a good thing to whip up for someone’s birthday!

Miso Aubergine: Nasu Dengaku

Mmmmm Aubergine. One of my favourite vegetables. I always have an aubergine or two in my fridge.

 

My flatmate was cooking me dinner tonight (prawn & cashew stir-fry), so I said I’d knock up a side dish. I decided to make nasu dengaku, which is aubergine glazed with miso sauce.

 

STEP 1: Chop up aubergine & brush on sesame oil on both sides. Roast for 20 mins (200C).

 

STEP 2: Make miso paste by heating up white miso, mirin & soy sauce (to your taste). Spread onto aubergine, and put back into oven for 10 mins.

 

STEP 3: Add a bit of grated ginger. Eat!

 

10 Minute Dinner: Salmon Ramen

I feel instant noodles are looked down upon here in the UK. It’s viewed as unhealthy student food, and people eat it for the price and convenience rather than the taste.

In Japan, however, it’s quite common for people to eat instant ramen noodles as a proper meal. It can be really delicious. The trick is to buy good quality ramen- not super noodles, and definitely not pot noodle! (Though they do have their place in society.)

So, I made poached salmon ramen for dinner tonight. I had some spinach and leeks to use up, so I loaded them on top (maybe a bit OTT with the leek! But it had to be used up). Other good ramen toppings include nori (grilled seaweed), boiled egg, bean sprouts, etc.- but you can put anything you want on there, like leftover chunks of roast chicken.

It took me less than 10 mins to make, which is great for a mid-week dinner 😉

 

 

My First Ikebana: Japanese Flower Arrangement

My mum teaches Ikebana, which is Japanese flower arrangement. Weirdly, I’ve never ever done it in my life.

Today, my mum was teaching a student at home, so she gave me her leftover flowers so I could have a go. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I think it turned out ok for my first attempt! Though I did get a little help from my mum at the end.

My mum’s Ikebana arrangements are so much cooler, I am trying to convince her to start a blog about it. Here’s a few photos I stole from her facebook:

Gyoza (Non-Pork) Party Time!

I am having one of those days where I want to eat something but don’t fancy anything. On days like these, I end up mass-producing food in hope that I’d want to eat some by the time I’m done.

Today I settled on mass-producing gyoza dumplings. 60 in total.

I don’t eat pork, so I have my own non-pork gyoza -filling recipe:

This makes enough for two batches. I usually freeze the other half.

-turkey mince (500g)

-beef mince (250g)

-firm tofu (1 pack, with water squeezed out as much as possible)

-cabbage (1/2, boiled, water squeezed out and roughly chopped)

-finely chopped spring onions (about half a bunch from supermarket)

-finely chopped ginger (a good handful)

-finely chopped garlic (2 or 3 cloves)

-3 tablespoons soy sauce

-3 tablespoons sesame oil

-2 table spoons mirin

-salt + blackpepper

 

You can get the dumpling ‘skins’ in any Asian supermarket, usually in the frozen section. I can’t really verbally explain how to create the parcels- but Youtube has plenty of tutorials, like this one.

 

To Cook:

-mix 1 teaspoon of cornflour in one cup of water

-put veg oil in frying pan + put on high heat

-place dumplings into pan, and leave till it starts getting crispy underneath

-pour in cornflour water & place lid

-when most of the water has evaporated, lift lid & fry till the cornflour makes a crispy lattice

-turn over onto large place & serve

For the dipping sauce, I use half soy sauce and half vinegar.

Cod Roe Spaghetti

It’s cod roe season!!!

Not many people eat cod roe in England, which is a shame. My favourite food is any form of fish roe. In fact, I was born in the Japanese county famous for their love of fish roe (Aomori, if you are wondering. Everyone there eats some form of fish eggs every day).

In Japan, cod roe spaghetti is a popular ‘Japanified’ western dish.

I added my own twist by adding a load of chopped parsley and grated mooli into the typical “cod roe+cream” pasta sauce.

Don’t be scared!! You can often get cod roe pasta sauce sachets in Japanese/Chinese/Korean supermarkets if you want to try it before you make it for yourself.

Happy Valentine! Japanese Feast

Oliver is working today (Valentine), so we decided to “celebrate” it yesterday.

We don’t really care much about Valentine, but we decided it would be a good excuse to eat ourselves to death. So, I came home from work early (a plus side of doing a PhD) & cooked away. I made:

karaage (Japanese fried chicken)

agedashi tofu (fried tofu with dashi)

daikon pickles (not in picture)

Japanese rice

Some spinach thing I make with dashi and white sesame

Chawanmushi

I decided to try making my first ever chawanmushi after I saw it on Master Chef. It was actually super-easy; it took about 20 mins to make. Word of warning: it curdles very easily (as seen on Master Chef). I had to make another batch as my first one curdled (it’s hard keeping an eye on things when you multi-task!!).

 

For dessert, we had plum-wine & honey jelly with raspberries:

 

 

 

We were very full.