Jambalaya Original Recipe Contest 2010

Last Friday, on 9/17, the USA Rice Federation invited me to the finals of Jambalaya Original Recipe Contest 2010 held in Tokyo. 10 finalists cooked their original Jambalaya recipes. Mine was "Addictive La-Yu Jambalaya".

Jambalaya is a Louisiana Creole dish of Spanish and French influence. I used Taberu La-Yu for my recipe which is very popular in Japan this year!

The judges were from the USA Rice Federation, chef Kuniaki Arima from Passo a Passo (Italian Restaurant in Monzen Nakamachi, Tokyo), and a famous blogger Yummy-san!

The chef Arima was a fun person, so we could relax and cook at our own pace. Also, Yummy-san was a nice friendly person! There was a party after the contest and I could spend a lot of time with them (right top photo). I really want to thank the USA Rice Federation for this wonderful opportunity!

What I received was the special award. The prize was a dinner for two at Passo a Passo! Yay!!! Surprisingly, my recipe "Addictive La-Yu Jambalaya" was served at the buffet party, too! (left bottom image - the very right dish). Thanks!!!

The contest was broadcast live at USTREAM.

Changing my story, yesterday was a holiday, so my darling and I stayed home and worked on the wedding stuff but our scanner and printer broke X( We now realized we should do everything in advance!!!

Bye for now.

Please click below and vote for me.

Meiji Amino Collagen - Morning Smoothie

Meiji Amino Collagen is No. 1 collagen supplement in Japan! It contains 5000mg of 100% low-molecular fish collagen (collagen peptide) per spoon, which is 1.5 times more absorbable than pig-derived collagen, and contains only 27 kcal. Supplementing the collagen helps you maintain healthy skin, hair and nails.

I don't actually like the taste of collagen, but I found it doesn't taste much of it if you add into this smoothie!!! Since last year, my darling and I drink this smoothie in the morning. Believe it or not, we found our hair and nails got stronger!

Every weekend, I freeze bananas for weekdays. Did you know that banana is an anti-cancer fruit?!

Anyway only good ingredients are mixed in this smoothie. Why don't you try out!



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Morning Smoothie

Difficulty: Very Easy
Time: 3min
Number of servings: 2

Necessary Equipment:
blender / mixer

Ingredients:
1 spoon Meiji Amino Collagen
100g (4oz.) flavored yogurt of your choice (I use mixed berries or kiwi)
1 (150g) frozen banana
250cc soy milk

Directions:
1. Place everything in a blender / mixer and process until smooth.
2. Pour into a glass, serve as soon as possible.
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Good luck!!!

Oh, by the way, I will see you guys next Tuesday since I have to attend the contest tomorrow and we have a national holiday (Respect-for-Senior-Citizens Day) on Monday :D

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Healthy Pan-Fried Minced Cutlet

Thanks to all! Now over 100 people have tried my minced cutlet recipe and said yummy!!! You can find their photos and comments here :)

Do you know minced cutlet? We call it "Menchi Katsu" in Japanese. Well, it is kind of croquette, made from the mixture of ground meat (beef or pork, or both) and minced cabbage, breaded and deep-fried. Certainly my darling's favorite food, but is high in calories!!! Therefore, I came up with this idea. Instead of deep frying, I stuffed the meat in aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch) and pan-fried it without using oil until crisp! Yummy indeed!!! My darling loves it :D

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Healthy Pan-Fried Minced Cutlet

Difficulty: Easy
Time: 15min
Number of servings: 1

Ingredients:
100g (3.5oz.) ground beef and pork mixture
50g (1.7oz.) cabbage
25g (0.8oz.) onion
A
* 1 tbsp. Panko (bread crumbs)
* 1 tsp. sesame oil
* 1 tsp. soy sauce
* salt and cracked black pepper
B
* 1 tbsp. ketchup
* 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 aburaage (deep-fried tofu pouch)
vegetables of your choice

Directions:
1. Mince cabbage and onion.





2. Mix ground beef and pork mixture, (1.), and (A) in a bowl by hand until the mixture comes together and sticky.



3. Pour boiled water over aburaage to remove the excess oil. Drain and dry with paper towels. Place the abura-age on a cutting board, and roll one cooking chopstick over it to make it easy to open. Cut a side of aburaage and gently open the pocket.

4. Stuff (2.) in (3.).





5. Heat cooking oil in a frying pan, place (4.), add 2 tbsp. of water. Cover the pan and steam it on medium heat until the water is almost gone. Then open and cook until the surface is crisp and brown.

6. Cut into bite-size pieces, pour (B) mixture over them. Serve with vegetables of your choice.




My original recipe in Japanese is here.
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Enjoy!

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