May 15th Lunch

May 15th,

I really wanted to eat a Japanese menu.

Maybe my stomach needed something gentle.  There's a lot of Japanese dishes that are delicious but are easy on the digestion.  Maybe the day after binging on junk food.  Also miso soup as part of your breakfast is good for mornings you have a hangover, it will help rehydrate you.

Lunch:

Tofu Salmon Stew, Cucumber Otsukemono (Pickled Cucumbers), Tamago Yaki (Japanese Style Eggs), and Miso Soup with Onions

Tofu Salmon Stew.  Very simple to make but very delicious.  The main flavoring I used was ginger which is also very good for you if you aren't at your 100%

Japanese style eggs, known in Japanese as Tamago Yaki (tamago = egg, yaki = cooked). It's basically scrambled eggs wrapped into a roll and cut into thick slices.  You see them a lot in Japanese bento.  There are two types of tamago yaki; sweet and non-sweet.  Sweet type of tamago yaki typically is plain but non-sweet type of tamago yaki can have various other ingredients mixed in with it such as fish like salmon and tuna, and veggies like carrots, daikon raddish, and sea weed.

Whether the tamago yaki is sweet or not depends on the preference of the maker, but in Sushi restaurants tamago yakis are typically sweet.

Of course, I have had tamago yaki since I was little but this is the first time I have ever made them.  The ones I made are the sweet kind, not too sweet.

My mom always made non-sweet tamago yaki for me at home with plenty of spinach.  I didn't particularly dislike spinach but it definitely made it easier to eat it.

April 19th Lunch

April 19th,

The cherry blossoms in Japan are beautiful, no question.  But the problem is they don't last long because right after they come into bloom comes the rain and the rainy season...sad...

But, I guess that makes them more precious.

Lunch:

Miso Cheesy Chicken & Somen Salad with Ao Shiso Dressing

This is the second time I made Miso Cheesy Chicken.  I think I did it better this time.

Somen Salad.  Somen (so men)  is a very thin noodle made from wheat flour.

Somen is usually served cold.  There's a summer activity with somen called nagashi somen where you take a long flume of bamboo to make a sort of water slide for the noodles.  People stand along next to the bamboo water slide with a bowl of dipping sauce and catch noodles as they come down and enjoy.  It's a fun yummy group activity!

Slightly thicker noodles are called hiyamugi and then the even thicker noodles udon.

March 12th Lunch

March 12th,

Today, lightly roasted bonito was on sale.

In Japanese it's called かつおのたたき (Katsuo no Tataki) and as I said it's lightly roasted on the outside and raw on the inside.  Usually you add a dab of pureed ginger on top when you eat it.  It's got a bit of a stronger (fishy) taste compared to maguro (tuna) so fair warning before you try it.

For lunch the tataki was accompanied by miso soup with tofu, broccoli, and rice.

March 11th Lunch

March 11th

Had pleasant lunch out in Shibuya with Mom today.

Ate at the restaurant d47 食堂(syokudo) at Hikarie shopping center at Shibuya station.

It was a Japanese hipster restaurant with the waitresses all dressed like hipsters.

I had the 北海道定食 焼き糠さんま (Hokkaido Teishyoku Yaki Nuka Sanma)

Hokkaido themed teishyoku (lunch platter) with Grilled Bran Pacific Saury.

Grilled Pacific Saury is a very common dish in Japan, very yummy.

Along with the fish was potato dumplings which were super chewy like mochi balls (Yum!!), miso soup, and rice.

Along with it, I had some fancy apple juice.  "Wonder Apple" apple juice.

Made with Aomori prefecture apples; Aomori prefecture is famous for its apples! 

February 14th Lunch

February 14th,

It's cold, it's cold, it's co~ld!!

Pumpkin and Cucumber with Meat Ankake

Ankake is a thick sauce.

Curried Carrot and Daikon Radish Yogurt Salad

Onion and Tofu Miso Soup

February 12th Lunch

February 12th,

Easy Japanese menu using canned sardines

Miso Sardine with Cucumber

Avocado and Tomato Yogurt Salad

Pumpkin and Tofu Miso Soup