Dainty Bites

Another Japanese dish. I didn't follow the cooking instructions at all but the dish turned out surprisingly ... good! Guess, I was either just lucky this time round or that the recipe is really robust enough for my messing around. (^.^) I'll leave you with the proper instructions here. Enjoy! === Meat & Potato Stew === Ingredients: * 4 - 5 med size potatoes * 250g - 300g beef * 2 med size onions * 1/2 med size carrots * 12 green beans * A pinch of salt * 1 pkt of noodle konniyaku * 800ml - 1000ml dashi stock * 1.5 tbsp curry powder * 2 tbsp cooking oil Sauce ingredients: * 4 tbsp sake * 2 tbsp mirin * 4 tbsp sugar * 3 tbsp soy sauce Mise en place: 1. Peel potatoes and cut into bite size. Soak in water to prevent discolouration. Set aside. 2. Combine the Sauce Ingredients. 3. Thinly slice the beef and set aside. 4. Thinly slice the onions and set aside. 5. Peel and chop carrots into bite size. 6. Top and tail the green beans and put it in a pot of boiling water for 3 - 4 mi

This is one of the Japanese recipes which I have found and adapted from a mircowave recipe to a stovetop recipe. Both my hubby and I like this dish for it's simplicity and taste. Serve this standalone dish with hot rice! Enjoy! === Simmered Chicken with Leeks === Ingredients: * 1 tbsp cooking oil * 600g chicken breasts, cut to bite size * 1 slab of konniyaku, cut to bite size * 1 stalk of leek, washed and cut to 3 cm length * 2 green peppers, cut to bite size * approx. 1 cup water Sauce Ingredients: * 2 tbsp sake * 1 tbsp mirin * 1.5 tbsp sugar * 3 tbsp soy sauce Directions: 1. Combine Sauce Ingredients with chicken. Set aside. 2. Heat oil in saucepan until hot. Saute the leeks until softened. Add seasoned chicken into saucepan. Cook until chicken is opaque on the outside. 3. Add water, konniyaku and green peppers. Cover and simmer until the green peppers are tender.

I'm sure that this post needs not introduction as to what food I am gonna talk about today. Yes, I love the golden arch to bits and in today's post, I am going to talk all about how the food offered. Nah, I'm just kidding. The above picture was taken with my new camera Nikon D40. I am still experimenting with all the different modes and trying to figure out how to take a decent photo with it. Somehow I feel like I am behind the wheels of a Ferrari, but I'm without a licence to drive. Anyway, I'm always a believer that the best way to learn how to swim is to jump right into the water. So that's a photo of my girl's toy lunchbox. I think this is one of the photos that I am most satisfied wth. Just don't start talking to me about depth of field, exposure, lightings, yada yada.... I know nuts. But here's a place to read more, if you are interested in photography and food styling . I've been making some good progress with my Japanese, and the followin

I am starting to see the rewards of having a freezer well stocked with homemade food. I am a believer! Having cleared out some science projects and other unidentified stuff residing in my freezer , I have stocked it with some simple, freezer friendly items that I could think of. Thus far, I have gyoza, sausage patties, yakitori chicken balls and vegetable spring rolls all chilling in my freezer. This is almost the maximum I could stuff inside for now. I realised that there would be at least once a week, we would dip into our freezer bank for a quick meal when we were just too beaten up to stand another minute in the kitchen. And also, after studying all the bento books (read: looking at pictures), I think freezer really plays a big part in the food preparation. No way would anyone be able to cook in peace given the morning rush hour. Having some items in the freezer does help reduce the prep time. Because of this, I am thinking maybe I should step up my efforts to increase my freezer b

My little cherub best friend and hero, Uncle D, is going away soon and he decided to take her for a little expedition today. Unfortunately the weather didn't permit us to walk around the botanical garden today, so instead, we headed for VivoCity. So I packed a simple lunch for my little cherub this morning. ::: Child's bento menu ::: Pan seared salmon Steamed broccoli Rice with little omlette squares The container and matching tote bag are bought by my sister direct from Japan, but it has been said that these can be bought from any dollar shop. Initially, I was quite skeptical about how much food these tiny weeny containers could hold. The verdict: more than enough food for a tot. Just a footnote. My Japanese language is progessing and I think I can make out some simple recipes for now. I've managed to pick up certain interesting points made in the bento books and share them here later.