Japanese Bento Box Lunch

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Japanese Bento Lunch BoxIn Japan bento lunches are popular. Bento is typically a home-packed meal but they are also readily available in convenience stores, supermarkets, department stores , stations and bento shops. Bento comes in all varieties and with many different food combinations. It traditionally contains rice, meat or fish and vegetables but it’s really up to you what you want to put in it.

Bento boxes are typically retangular shaped like the one in the photo above and the layers can be stacked on top of each other so that it is convenient to carry around. They come in a huge array of colours, patterns and sizes and can also be in the shape of animals, food, popular Japanese characters, etc.

There are many different bento accessories available such as picks, cups (to separate food), sauce bottles, rice molds, vegetable cutters, seaweed punches, egg molds, etc so that you can make cute and beautifully presented lunches.

I love making bento lunches if I have the time (as they can be very time consuming!) and creating different themed lunches using the many accessories that I own. Today I made a simple bento lunch consisting of mostly Japanese food. It contains boiled vegetables with spicy miso sauce, salmon furikake rice ball, fish cake balls with edamame, gyoza dumplings (see my Japanese Pan-Fried Gyoza Dumplings Recipe post for the recipe), kimchee fried rice (see my Kimchee Fried Rice With Cheese Recipe post for the recipe), seaweed with sesame, cream corn croquette with Kewpie mayonaise and rambutan with pineapple for dessert. I used some cute flower bento picks that you can find in my WorldOfKawaii Etsy shop to accessorise the lunch ♥

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Japanese Pan-Fried Gyoza Dumplings Recipe

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Japanese Pan-Fried Gyoza Dumplings
Gyoza are grilled Japanese dumplings. They are originally a Chinese dish but are very popular in Japan. They have more of a garlic taste than the Chinese version and the skin is thinner. Gyoza are usually eaten as a side dish to ramen noodles and in Chinese restaurants in Japan. I like to make a whole bunch of them and then freeze some and use them later for my bento lunchboxes or boiled with instant noodles :)

Ingredients (makes 32 dumplings):Mitsukan Rice Vinegar

  • 32 gyoza skins
  • 270g minced pork
  • 200g cabbage
  • 3 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 2 spring onions (chopped finely)
  • 1/2 tbsp ginger (finely grated)
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • cooking oil
  • soy sauce (for the dipping sauce)
  • rice vinegar – see photo opposite (for the dipping sauce)
  • chilli sesame oil / rayu (for the dipping sauce)

Uncooked Gyoza Japanese Dumplings

Directions:

  • Boil the cabbage until soft and then drain well. Soak up any excess water using a paper towel or use a cheesecloth to squeeze out the water. The cabbage should be dry so that it doesn’t make the gyoza skins soggy.
  • Cut the cabbage into small pieces and put it into a large bowl.
  • Add the minced pork, garlic, spring onion, ginger, sesame oil and soy sauce to the cabbage and mix well. Put the mixture aside for a short while to marinade and to allow the flavours to infuse.
  • To make the gyoza, put a gyoza skin in the palm of one hand and put about a heaped teaspoon worth of the mixture in the centre of the skin.
  • Have a small bowl of water on hand and dip a finger in the water in order to moisten the edge of one half of the skin.
  • Fold the gyoza skin in half over the mixture and pinch at the top in the middle to seal it at that point. Pleat the skin starting from that middle point out on both sides until the skin completely seals the mixture inside (see photo above). Make sure to press firmly whilst pleating to make sure the skin sticks together. If you have a gyoza folding press such as the one in the photo below you can use this to make the gyoza (personally I think it doesn’t make such attractive looking gyoza).
  • Repeat this until you have used up all the gyoza skins and mixture.
  • To cook the gyoza, heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large pot on a medium heat and fry the gyoza on one side with the pleated edge up for about 3 minutes until it is brown and crispy on the bottom side.
  • Add 1 cup of water to the pot so that the gyoza are half submerged.
  • Cover the pot with a lid, leave on a medium-low heat and allow the gyoza to steam cook until the water has completely evaporated and there is a little oil still left at the bottom of the pot.
  • Leave the gyoza to cook for a little longer to make sure that the bottoms are crispy.
  • Serve the gyoza with a dipping sauce of soy sauce, rice vinegar and chilli sesame oil mixed together.

Gyoza Folding Press

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Mussels In Tomato, Garlic And Chilli Sauce Recipe

Posted on April 22, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Mussels In Tomato, Garlic And Chilli Sauce

If you want to cook a fancy meal but time is a factor, mussels are quick and easy to cook as well as cheap! For this recipe I cooked the mussels in an Italian style tomato, garlic and chilli broth.

Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 700g fresh mussels
  • 6 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 1 onion (finely chopped)
  • 2 small red chillis (sliced)
  • a pinch of ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley (Italian parsley can be substituted with regular curly parsley)
  • 1 can (411g) peeled tomatoes (cut the tomatoes into quarters)

Directions:

  • Clean and debeared the mussels. For a step-by-step guide for cleaning and debearding mussels, this website gives a good explanation.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and add the onion and garlic.
  • Stir fry until the onion turns translucent and then add the tomatoes (including the juice from the can), parsley and chillis. Using the back of a wooden spoon, mash up the tomatoes a little and season the sauce with pepper.
  • Reduce the heat and simmer with the lid covered, for around 30 minutes or until the juice is thick, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the mussels to the sauce and cover the pot. The mussels will release liquid whilst cooking adding to the flavour of the broth.
  • Cook for around 3 to 5 minutes stirring the broth a little and remove mussels from the pot as soon as they open to prevent them overcooking. Discard any that do not open.
  • Ladle the broth over the mussels and serve with bread.
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Chicken And Sweet Corn Soup Recipe

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Chinese Chicken And Sweet Corn SoupThis is a very simple and healthy recipe for the popular Chinese chicken and sweetcorn soup.

Ingredients (serves 4):

  • 125g chicken (cut into small pieces)
  • 600ml water
  • 1/2 chicken stock cube
  • a pinch of salt
  • a tin of cream style corn (418g)
  • 1 egg (beaten)
  • 1tsp cornflour

Directions:

  • Heat the water in a pot until boiling and then add the chicken pieces.
  • Add the chicken stock to the water and stir until dissolved.
  • After a few minutes the chicken should be cooked. Add the cream style corn, stir well and then cover the pot and bring it back to the boil.
  • Stir the beaten egg into the soup slowly.
  • Mix the cornflour with 1 tablespoon of water in a bowl until dissolved and then add it to the soup to thicken it (more cornflour can be used if you prefer a thicker soup).
  • Add a pinch of salt and stir the soup before serving.
Posted in Chinese Recipes | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Thai Green Curry With Chicken And Aubergine

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Thai Green Curry With Chicken, Thai Aubergine & Pea Aubergine
This is a classic and flavourful Thai green curry recipe with chicken and Thai aubergine and pea aubergine. If you can’t get hold of Thai aubergine and pea aubergine then you can substitute them with a purple aubergine.

Ingredients (green curry paste):

  • 10 small green chillies
  • 1 big green chilli
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 coriander root
  • 1/2 tbsp kaffir lime zest
  • 1/2 tbsp galangal (finely sliced)
  • 1 tbsp lemongrass stems (finely sliced)
  • half a garlic (peeled)
  • 1 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp ground roasted coriander seeds
  • 1/2 tsp white pepper powder
  • 10 sweet basil leaves
  • 10 coriander leaves
  • 3 shallots (peeled)
  • 1/2 tsp shrimp paste

Directions (green curry paste):

  • Using a pestle and mortar, pound the ingredients in the following order (make sure the ingredients are well blended before adding the next ones):
    1. Pound the green chillies (big and small) together with the salt.
    2. Add the coriander root and kaffir lime zest and pound.
    3. Add the galangal and pound.
    4. Add the lemongrass and pound.
    5. Add the garlic and pound.
    6. Add the cumin seeds and coriander seeds and pound.
    7. Add the white pepper powder and pound.
    8. Add the sweet basil leaves and coriander leaves and pound.
    9. Add the shallots and pound.
    10. Add the shrimp paste and pound.
  • The ingredients should now be well pounded and will have become a smooth paste (this green curry paste can be kept in a fridge for 2 weeks or a freezer for 1 month).
Palm Sugar

Palm Sugar

Ingredients (green curry):

  • 2 tbsp olive oil/vegetable oil
  • 2 tbsp green curry paste
  • 1/4 tsp ground roasted cumin seeds
  • 1/4 tsp ground roasted coriander seeds
  • 1 cup coconut milk (this can be bought in cans or you can mix 3 tbsp coconut powder with 1 cup of hot water)
  • 100g chicken (cut into small pieces)
  • 2 Thai aubergines (cut into quarters)
  • 10 pea aubergines
  • 2 big red chillis (sliced)
  • 1 kaffir lime leaf (torn into small pieces)
  • 10 sweet basil leaves
  • 1/2 tbsp palm sugar (see photo above)
  • 1/2 tbsp fish sauce

Directions (green curry):

  • Heat the oil in a pot on medium heat and then add the green curry paste. Stir it around until the aroma develops and the oil turns slightly green.
  • Add the coriander seeds and cumin seeds and stir fry until you can smell the aroma of the seeds.
  • Add a few tablespoons of the coconut milk, stir and simmer for a few minutes until the oil separates from the coconut milk. Repeat this 2 more times.
  • Add the chicken and stir it around until it is half cooked. Then add the aubergine and the rest of the coconut milk. Bring to the boil and cook for a few minutes until the aubergine and chicken are cooked.
  • Add the palm sugar and fish sauce and stir.
  • Gently stir in the kaffir lime leaves, chillies and basil leaves.
  • Remove from the heat and serve with rice.

TIP: When aubergine is cooked it tends to lose it’s colour. You can preserve the colour by soaking the aubergine before using it in a small bowl filled with water and the juice of half a lime.

 

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Hokkien Chicken Rice

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Hokkien Chicken RiceThis is a recipe that I got from my mum and is very easy to make in your rice cooker! I like to add fresh chillis to give it an added kick!

Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 250g chicken (cut into small pieces – around 2cm x 2cm)
  • 60g shitake mushrooms (sliced) – fresh or dried shitake mushrooms can be used (see photo below). If dried shitake are used soak them for a few minutes in hot water until soft enough to cut. The water used to soak them can be added to the uncooked rice to give it some extra flavour
  • 1/2 chicken stock cube
  • half a garlic (minced)
  • 3 small red chillis (optional)
  • 2 tbsp olive/vegetable oil
  • 3 tbsp dark soya sauce
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tbsp soya sauce
  • 1 tbsp cooking wine (optional)
  • 1 cup uncooked rice
Shitake Mushrooms Fresh And Dried

Shitake Mushrooms - Fresh And Dried

Directions:

  • Wash the rice and add 2 cups of water to it. Break a quarter of a chicken stock cube into small pieces and add it to the water. Start the rice cooker or start heating the water if you are using a pot to cook the rice.
  • Mix 3 tablespoons of hot water with a quarter of a chicken stock cube in a bowl until dissolved.
  • Heat the oil in pan on a medium heat and fry the garlic until the aroma develops.  Add the chicken, dark soya sauce, oyster sauce, soya sauce, cooking wine, shitake, chillis and chicken stock. Cook for around 5 minutes. The chicken should now be half cooked.
  • Open the rice cooker and add the chicken from the pan into the rice. Mix well and then close the rice cooker.
  • When the rice is cooked, serve immediately.
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Prawn And Shitake Wontons In Spicy Soup

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Prawn And Shitake Wontons In Spicy Soup
This recipe is a kind of Thai/Chinese fusion one because I used coriander and fish sauce which is used a lot in Thai cooking to make wontons that are slightly different from the usual Chinese ones. This wonton soup recipe is great as a starter or you can make more wontons and add dried vermicelli to the soup for a main course.

Ingredients (makes around 24 wontons):

  • 140g peeled cooked prawns
  • 50g shitake mushrooms
  • 2 cloves garlic (minced)
  • 3 spring onions
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp dark soya sauce
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander plus some coriander leaves for the garnish
  • 1 egg (separate the egg white and yolk)
  • 24 wonton wrappers
  • 2 small red chillies
  • 1 litre beef stock
  • 1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (see photo below – this can be substituted with dry sherry)
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

Chinese Rice Wine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions:

  • Finely cut the prawns and 1 spring onion and cut the shitake mushrooms into small pieces. Mix them together in a bowl with the garlic, 1 tablespoon soya sauce, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, coriander and egg yolk.
  • Take 1 wonton wrapper and lay it on a flat surface. Place 1 tablespoon of the prawn mixture in the middle of the wrapper. Brush the edges of the wrapper with egg white and fold it into a triangle, pressing lightly to seal. Bring the two bottom corners of the triangle to the middle and use some more egg white to hold it in place (see photo below). Repeat this for all wonton wrappers.
  • Slice the chillis and 2 spring onions at a steep diagonal angle to make long thin slices.
  • Mix the beef stock, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon soya sauce, sesame oil and rice wine in a pot and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Add the chilis and spring onions and then reduce the heat so that the soup is simmering. Add the wontons and heat for around 5 minutes until cooked.
  • Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves. (If serving as a main, add vermicelli after heating the wontons for 4 minutes).

Prawn And Shitake Wontons

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Japanese Onigiri Rice Balls

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Stephanie Law

Japanese Onigiri Rice Balls

Onigiri means rice ball in Japanese and is usually eaten as a snack in Japan. You can find onigiri in every supermarket and convenience store in Japan and there are also specialist onigiri shops which sell onigiri with all types of different fillings. Onigiri is traditionally filled with umeboshi (pickled plum), tsukudani (food stewed in soy sauce), salmon, katsuobushi (dried bonito) or seaweed. My favourite are ones filled with seaweed but I also like to use less traditional fillings such as vegetable tempura with kewpie mayonaise and avocado. Onigiri is really easy to make and great for bringing to picnics or in packed lunches.

Ingredients (makes 4):

  • 1 cup uncooked Japanese rice
  • Japanese seaweed sheets (nori)
  • salt
  • onigiri filling (eg. umeboshi, salmon, seaweed etc.)

Directions:

  • Cook the rice either in a rice cooker or in a pot and then let cool for 5 minutes.
  • Fill a bowl with cold water (this will be used to wet your hands so that the rice doesn’t stick to your hands when making the onigiri). After wetting your hands, sprinkle them with a little salt.
  • Take about 1/4 of the cooked rice and mould it into a triangular shape as seen in the photo above. Onigiri is typically a triangular shape but it can also be a ball or cylindrical shape. I sometimes use an onigiri mould (see photo below)to make my onigiri so that I can get a perfect shape.
  • Make a small dent in the middle of the rice and put your choice of filling into it (about a teaspoon worth of filling) and then cover the filling with a bit of rice to seal it in the middle.
  • Use a nori strip of about 2.5cm width and wrap it around the front and back of the onigiri as shown in the photo above. Alternatively you can sprinkle sesame seeds over the rice or I like to use Noritama Furikake (see photo below) which is dried seaweed, bonito and egg that is usually sprinkled over rice to give it some flavour.
  • After you’ve made your onigiri it’s ready to pop into your lunchbox or in a special onigiri box such as the ones below. You can also buy special onigiri wrapping (see photo below) that allows you to separate the seaweed from the rice until it’s eaten so that the seaweed is kept crisp and fresh!
Onigiri Mould

Onigiri Mould

Noritama Furikake & Hello Kitty and Rilakkuma Furikake

Onigiri Containers And WrappingCheck out my Etsy shop for cute onigiri moulds and Japanese Bento accessories! ^_^ WorldOfKawaii.etsy.com

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Red Curry Coconut Fried Rice

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Stephanie Law
Red Curry Coconut Fried Rice

Red Curry Coconut Fried Rice

Thai food has always been a favourite of mine. Last month I was fortunate to be able to attend the Blue Elephant cooking school in Bangkok and since then I have been trying to create Thai inspired dishes and adapting traditional ones. Coconut is a main ingredient in all Thai curries so I decided to make a coconut rice and fry it with red curry paste together with my favourite vegetables.

Ingredients (serves 2):

  • 1 cup uncooked rice
  • 1 cup coconut milk (this can be bought in cans or you can mix 3 tbsp coconut powder with 1 cup of hot water)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp red curry paste
  • olive oil/vegetable oil
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 whole garlic (minced)
  • 1/2 red onion sliced
  • 6 asparagus spears trimmed and cut into 4cm pieces
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g okra trimmed and cut into 1cm pieces
  • 2 spring onions sliced

Directions:

  • Cook the rice either in a rice cooker or in a pot using the coconut milk and 1/2 cup water
  • Beat the eggs and heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok or large pan over a medium heat and lightly scramble the eggs. Remove the eggs from the wok.
  • Heat 2 tbsp oil on a medium heat in the wok and fry the red onions and garlic for around 2 minutes.
  • Add the red curry paste and fry it to release the aroma of the red curry paste.
  • Add the asparagus and okra and stir fry until nearly cooked.
  • Add the coconut rice and then add the fish sauce and mix well with the vegetables and red curry paste in the wok for a few minutes.
  • Finally mix in the scrambled egg and spring onion and serve.
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Japanese Tofu, Edamame And Shitake Burgers

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Stephanie Law
Japanese Tofu, Edamame And Shitake Burgers

Japanese Tofu, Edamame & Shitake Burgers

I love everything about tofu, the taste, the texture and the best thing is that it’s so healthy and very versatile! I lived in Japan for 3 years and tofu is a big part of the Japanese diet. They have a huge range of different types and diverse ways of using it. Everyone enjoys a sneaky burger every now and then but here’s a recipe for a burger that won’t leave you feeling guilty and is actually healthy!

Ingredients (makes 6 burgers):

  • 175g firm tofu
  • 70g Japanese panko breadcrumbs (see photo below)
  • 1/2 tbsp white miso paste medium sweet (see photo below – this can be substituted with other types of white and red miso pastes. Red miso has a richer flavour compared to white miso. Instant miso soup paste can also be used if you can’t get hold of the other types)
  • 1/2 tbsp Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise (see photo below)
  • 30g boiled edamame (boil for around 5 minutes so that edamame is still firm and not mushy)
  • 50g tinned sweet corn
  • 50g shitake mushrooms
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 onion
  • olive oil
  • Japanese Bull-Dog worcestershire sauce (see photo below)

Ingredients - Japanese Panko Breadcrumbs, White Miso Paste Medium Sweet, Kewpie Mayonnaise, Bulldog Worcestershire Sauce

Directions:

  • Dice the onion and cut the shitake into very small pieces.
  • Heat some olive oil in a pan and stir-fry the onion and shitake until cooked. Set them aside for later.
  • Drain any excess liquid from the tofu and then put it in a large bowl and mash it with a spoon.
  • Add the panko breadcrumbs to the tofu and mix together well.
  • Add the onion, shitake, sweet corn, edamame, egg, miso paste and mayonnaise and mix well until the tofu mixture is smooth.
  • Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions and using your hands press them into burger patties.
  • Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the tofu patties on a medium low heat for around 4 minutes on each side.
  • Serve with Japanese Bull-Dog worcestershire sauce and rice.
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