After Bosa

After visiting Bosa market, every time I cook Italian food for almost a week or two. I already made several Italian dishes this time, so I'm gonna post some of the pictures.  

This is a Chicken Tomato Risotto. I often use Japanese rice to make my risotto, yet I used the Carnaroli rice this time. It has different texture and more like traditional taste.  

Butternut squash Ravioli with traditional brown butter sauce. It was perfect for my sunday lunch=)

I cooked  osso buco, but I forgot to flour it... 

Made traditional pepper corn brown sauce, but with less cost (as usual!!) I used mirepoix , a dollar demi-grace sauce powder from super store, and some other ingredients including whole tomato can, crashed pepper corn, and bouillon. 

Saffron risotto was perfect with the brown sauce, and I really liked the bone marrow part. 

I want to stay in Italy for few months,

just to study Italian cooking one day... =)

BOSA holic

Yes, here is my report from yesterday. My best friend Mark and I got Bosa Italian market in the after noon, and had a cup of cappuccino from their Coffee shop. The coffee from Bosa was very flavorful, and it was so much cheaper. We learned a lot about Olive oil from one of the workers there. It was a wonderful way to spend my Saturday noon =)    

Cappuccino from Bosa

Meat: My favorite Pancetta, Sweet Bread, Osso Buco

It will be my first time cooking the Sweet Bread. I really love sweet bread since I tried at Labattoir in Gastown (Vancouver), so excited to cook it.

Pastas: Pappardelle, Spaezle, Fresine

My top two favorite pastas are Pappardelle and Spaezle!!

Butternut squash Ravioli, Carnaroli risotto rice, Ravioli maker 

I learned home made ravioli from my friend who is a chef few years ago, so I will cook home made ravioli with using the goods I got yesterday =)

Cheese: Buffalo Mozzarella, Mozzarella Burrata 

I was looking for this Burrata for almost a year! Burrata is an extremely soft Mozzarella wrapped with normal Mozzarella cheese.

Unfiltered Olive oil for finishing, Veggie Bouillon, Basil classico seeds

I will cook many kinds of Italian food this week,

and let you guys know how it goes =)

And Next weekend, Mark  and I will cook home made Udon!!

Beef Tail

I always thought it is very difficult and takes many complicated steps to cook beef tails. I learned this Beef tail soup recipe (picture below) from my boyfriend's mother. It may takes few steps and time, yet not too difficult and the taste is amazing!! The most important step of cooking Beef tail is the cleaning. Only thing you need to do is to let the tail sit in the cold water for half an hour. This step will take out blood from tails and make the soup clean and clear. After 30 min, take out the tails from water, and pre-boil them for 10 min (boil them from water). After these 2 steps, you can make any dishes including tail soup, tail stew, or tail curry.    

This is the Tomato Beef Tail soup which I learned. Tail meat is very soft, and it comes out without cutting off with knife. Awesome Pure and Natural taste =)  

I enjoy the beef tail soup first, and often use its left over to cook Stew or Curry. This is the beef tail stew I made last week from leftover. Took about 6 hours.

This is the Tail Curry. This curry was one of the best curries I've ever made.

It is fun to cook something professional/ difficult to make, and it is one of my ways to relief my stress. I would also like to introduce to you my stew recipe (from scratch) soon! I'm about to leave my home to meet up with my best friend mark, and we're going to the Famous Italian Market in Vancouver called Bosa market. I will post pictures of stuffs I got tomorrow!

Enjoy your week end 

and have some awesome food =)

Economical Cooking

Do you know Whole Food Cooking? It is a way of cooking with use of whole edible parts of veggies including leaves, stems, fruits, skin and roots. According to this whole food cookery, most of the part of vegetables are edible and contains rich nutrients. I personally believe in this whole food cooking because it can improve our health, and reduces the expenses for food at the same time.   

In Yamaguchi prefecture (southern part of main island in Japan), people eat skin of the mandarin orange which they grown, because it is very good for health especially for the skin. The skin of orange made in Yamaguchi is very thin and less bitterness, so easier to have it. I want to try it one day. 

I made this Role cabbage few weeks ago. My favorite way to eat role cabbage is to have it with sour cream, bacon, and  basil. And...↓

Cabbage Core Marinated Salad

I always have this salad when I make role cabbage. Marinated with salt, pepper, vinegar, and canola oil. Cabbage core is a bit bitter when you have it raw, so use salt to soften them first, or boil it. You can enjoy cabbage core as an ingredients for miso soup as well.

Radish Skin Mayo Salad

Clean the radish skin well, and Peel the radish skin a bit thicker than usual. Salt it to soften them (use salt water), and mix with mayo and Aonori (Dried Seaweed powder). 

Broccoli Stem and Radish sprout miso soup

These taste a bit sweet after boiling the broccoli stem, so it goes well as an ingredients for soup. Make sure to peel the stem skin first because that part is very hard to chew. 

Cook dishes that are good for 

Your Health and your Wallet =) 

Chinese New Year

Sorry that I took long time to update my blog. I have so many things that I wanted to share with you guys. Let's start off with my Chinese New Year 2013=) I made Japanese Style Shiu-Mai called "Shumai". Unlike chinese Shiu Mai, Japanese one uses white wrapping seat and often put a green peas or baby shrimp on top. Karashi mustard will perfectly match with the juice from pork filling and soy sauce. I would like to share the recipe, yet I forgot to measure the ingredients so I will post it when I make it next time =) 

Japanese Shumai 

I added bamboo shoot which was left over from making chinese lettuce wrap. That bamboo shoots actually gave a nice texture, and made it taste better!

Kani-Tama soup (means Crab-Egg soup) 

I used Fake crab instead.

Stair fried Garlic Gai-lan 

 One of my favorite chinese dishes

Mapo tofu

A lot of my friends told me that they love my mapo tofu,

so I want share my simple recipe soon!

Almost time to say hi to the Spring, yet still cold in Vancouver...

Wear Warm, and Eat Warm =)

Ps. Add a tiny bit of grated ginger and honey into your favorite tea!!

Surprisingly, it will keep you warm and still taste good =)

Otsumami

 Otsumami is a type of snack or light meal that goes well with Alcohol. Similar to the appetizers! Each one of us has our favorite Otsumami, and one of my favorite otsumami is the Nametake, recipe below. Nametake is usually sold in a jar for $5 to $6 in Vancouver. You can have it with Oroshi (grated radish), Tofu, or with rice. If you make it at home, it is Cheaper and Healthier!!! and goes well with beer and sake =) 

Home made Nametake

     Ingredients : 2 package (150g each) of enoki mushrooms

                        Soy sauce 3 table spoon

                        Mirin 1.5 table spoon

                        Cooking Sake 1.5 table spoon

                        Sugar 1 tea spoon

                    *Shichimi for condiment

Cutoff the edge, and cut Enoki mushroom into about 1.5 cm pieces.

Wash off the dirt with cold water.

Add all the ingredients except *Shichimi, and cook it with low-medium heat.

Cook it for 5 to 10 min until the sauce became a bit sticky. 

Remove from the heat, let it sit till it gets cold.

You can have it with Oroshi as an Otsumami.

You can mix with Bacon, Asparagus, and Oroshi to make a Wafu Pasta .

Enjoy my Recipe!!

and make your own Otsumami =)

Fast Food

The Fast Food is the term given to food that can be prepare and served very quickly. Unlike typical Fast food, my Fast food is very healthy and still tasty!! Here is some of my fast food recipes =)

Mini Rose Hotpot

Ingredients: Chinese Cabbage, Sliced pork. Your favorite Broth, Salt and Pepper 

※I used Japanese Fish and Kelp stock. You can use Chicken stock or Consomme instead

Wash Chinese Cabbage, and put Chinese cabbage and pork one by one on top of another. Add broth and cook on the heat until the pork is nicely cooked. 

Marinated salad

Ingredients:Sliced Onion, Sliced Celery, Tomato, Olive oil, white vinegar, salt, pepper 

 Mix all of the ingredients together, and let it sit for 10 min.

Szechwan pan-fried Potato

Ingredients: Shredded Potato, Canola oil, Szechwan pepper, Salt and pepper

Put Shredded Potato into ice wanter and let it sit for 5 min. On heated fried pan with oil,  add Szechwan pepper and shredded potato. Cook for two min, then add salt and pepper for taste.

These are the  recipes for busy people =) 

Enjoy your supper with short cooking time!!