The Art of the Bento

Hello!
It's cold again.
But luckily it's not raining!
Also, it will be much warmer tomorrow :)
As I wrote before, tomorrow I am going out for dinner with my boyfriend.
He said he made a reservation at a restaurant! Yay!!!

Do you want to hear a funny story?
Yesterday, my boyfriend and I were planning to eat Udon for dinner out at a noodle shop.
However, I couldn't go out because I was waiting for the redelivery at home.
The package was important since it was a questionnaire for my boyfriend's health checkup which was held today.
Even worth, he needed to eat by 8pm to have a blood test.
So we gave up eating out and bought bento (bento is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine) at "Origin Bento" (it's a famous bento shop).
We fight over chili shrimp and stir-fried broccoli and finished our meal.
And what was funny is that today I talked about this to my co-worker and he said that the Origin Bento was on the news yesterday, have been serving outdated food to customers in the Tokyo area...
How bad timing!
I always cook at home and it was an unusual plan to eat bento...
Also, I didn't need to fight over our food...

Anyway, back to my cooking.
I will show you my bento art!
This I created for Kibun Foods (they mainly produce fishcake products).
I used their products to create this bento.
The menu is posted at their website :)

I gotta go now!
See you again!


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Soymilk Tofu Burdock Potage

Hi there!

This morning there was something wrong with my private Japanese blog. If I ever need someone to talk to about anything, I write there, so I was shocked...
But now it seems fine.
I hope it never happens again since I need a place to complain. Ha-ha!

Today, as I mentioned yesterday, my recipe is introduced at Megami's Recipes site :)
Here is the recipe: Soymilk Tofu Burdock Potage.
I simmered thin sliced burdock in consomme. Then put it together with soft/silken tofu into a blender and processed until smooth. The reason why I used the soft/silken tofu is because its texture is similar to that of very fine custard. It adds thickness to the soup!
Don't you think it's healthier than using fresh cream?!
I will write a detailed recipe in English if anyone wants.

Again, it is cold today.
Stay warm everybody!

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4 Advantages Using Japanese Rice Vinegar

Hello!
It is very cold today.
I couldn’t get out of my bed.
I thought about getting a day off from work.
Just kidding! (But was serious in the morning though...)

As I said yesterday, I will write about another collagen-related recipe.
The recipe is "Chicken Drumsticks Simmered in Tomato Vinegar Sauce".
I used Mizkan's rice vinegar (and diced tomato can, sake, chopped garlics and onions, mustard, bouquet garni...) to simmer the chicken drumsticks.

There are 4 advantages using Japanese rice vinegar when simmering:
1. Cook meat less greasy.
2. Meat can be more easily separated from the bone.
3. Increase of amino acid gives the meat rich taste.
4. When simmering "chicken with bone", the acid of the vinegar act directly on the connective tissue of the chicken bone and the meat. As a result, collagen and calcium can seep into the broth.

Don't you think #4 is quite interesting?!
I don't prefer to eat bony chicken, but now I changed my mind :)

The recipe in Japanese is here.
I will write in English if anyone wants.

Tomorrow, my new recipe will be introduced at Megami's Recipes site again! I don't know why but this time I received an e-mail announcement in advance.
Be sure to check it out :)

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