Tacos de Camaron Capeado

Camaron Capeado is battered and deep-fried shrimps.  We cook shrimps by this method also in Japan (as you may know as "Tempra"), but the big difference of this Mexican version is that beer is used in the batter!   You can enjoy this delicious shrimp tacos with your favorite toppings like; home made Guacamole, chopped onion&cilantro and lime juice and they taste just like you're on vacations in Los Cabos!

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
 ...<to cook shrimps>
500g shrimp
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup corn flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup light beer (such as Corona)

8-10 tortillas
Chipotle mayonnaise
chopped cilantro&onion
Guacamole
lime

Directions
1. Clean and devein shrimps. (Defrost if you're using frozen ones.) 
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, corn flour and salt.  Gradually add beer into the flour mixture and mix well until there's no lumps.
3. Coat each shrimp slightly with flour and dip in the batter.  Deep-fry in vegetable oil (at 175°C/350°F) for 4-5 min. until golden brown. 
4. Top with your favorite toppings such as; cilantro, onion, Guacamole.  Pour some chipotle mayonnaise, squeeze lime juice over and enjoy! 

Tamago Sushi

Sushi is perfect menu for a girl's night.  It's light, looks like pieces of jewelry and easy to pick up while chatting.  Last Friday my husband was away for his business trip, so I invited a friend over and prepared sushi, both Nigiri and Futo-Maki.  I used frozen and pre-sliced Sashimi you can get in Asian store for most of Nigiri, though, I made Tamgao-yaki (sweet egg omelet) and tuna&corn Gunkan (Nigiri that is boat-shaped and wrapped with Nori) myself.  You can't miss these home made sushi classics!!  This sweet egg omelet also goes in my Futo-Maki (rolls) usually, as its sweetness harmonizes all the diverse ingredients.  It might give you an extra work but definitely upgrade your sushi if you seek for authentic taste of Japan.  So I'd like to share the basic recipe of Tamago-yaki.

Ingredients
5 eggs
3 tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tbsp. sake
3 tbsp. water
a pinch of salt

Directions
1. Beat eggs in a bowl together with sugar, sake and salt.     
2. Heat a non-sticking pan (preferably square shaped) over medium heat and spread some vegetable oil with paper towel.
3. Pour 1/3 of egg mixture just to cover the pan with a thin layer.
4. When the bottom is firm (the surface should be still liquid) after 1-2min., lift up the closer side and fold.  Keep folding the egg sheet until you come to the end.  Push the roll back to closer end of the pan.  Oil the surface of the pan with paper towel again and pour another 1/3 of egg mixture.  Lift up the roll a bit so the liquid goes under the roll too.  Then fold again from your side towards the other end.  Repeat this process again with the remaining egg mixture.
5. Place egg roll on a cutting board and cool.  Slice as desired (thick slices for Tamago0Nigiri or think strips for Maki). 

-May. 23 grocery shopping € 28.31/ € 95.59 left

Curry Doria

 Curry Doria as a spin off of my curry.  Doria is one of Japanese-western classics and traditionally has buttered rice or pilaf, white sauce, topped with cheese then baked in oven.   It was invented in 1930's by Chef Saly Weil, who was chief chef at Hotel Newgrand Yokohama, who was asked to prepare something comforting for an European guest who had a cold.  You can find many variations in Japan, such as with chicken, seafood, or tomato based meat-sauce (Bolognese) and it's absolutely fun to create your own Doria.  My version is basically rice&curry but mozzarella cheese on top changes the flavor drastically and you don't think you're eating same thing!   

Ingredients (for one)
a tsp. butter
a portion cooked rice (about a cup)
1 1/2 cup curry
50g mozzarella cheese
1 egg

Directions
1. Spread butter on the surface of your gratin/baking dish.
2. Spread rice in the bottom, then curry, and sprinkle cheese on top.  Make a crater in the middle and crack an egg in.
3.  Bake at 180°C/350°F for 20 min. until cheese is golden brown. 

Korokke Curry

 Japanese curry was never my favorite when I still used to live in Japan, maybe because I had it too much.  My father LOVES curry so it was on the table at least once a month.  Wherever you go (college cafe, restaurants in ski resorts, outdoor festivals...), there is curry, curry, curry...like you can never get away from it.  However, once you are away from home and you stop seeing it on restaurants menu at all, you start missing what you always had growing up.  That's when I make curry.  In Japan, it's often served with toppings; Tonkatsu, fried veggies, cheese, eggs...  Korokke also makes a great topping giving some mildness to your spicy curry.  

Ingredients (8-10 servings)

a package of curry sauce mix (like a package on the photo, available in Asian food store)

500g beef 

3 large potatoes

3 medium carrots

2 medium onions

5-6 cups water  

rice
Korokke for topping

Directions
1. Cook rice.  Cut beef into bite sizes.  Slice onions.  Peel and cut carrots and potatoes in to bite sizes.
2. In a large pot, heat oil and cook beef until golden brown.  Add water and cook for 1.5 hrs. until beef is tender.
3. In a skillet heat oil and fry onions.  When onions are translucent, add carrots and potatoes and cook for another 2-3 min.
4. Add veggies (step 3) to the pot of beef and cook for 30 min.
5. Add curry sauce mix and let it melt.
6. Serve on warm rice and top with Korokke (or anything you like). 

-May. 16 grocery shopping € 9.50/ € 150.18 left

Champignons & Salami Pizza

 A perfect pizza dough doesn't exist, in my opinion.  Because it all comes down to one's taste.  Some like it bread-like fluffy and other like paper thin and crispy.  I like soft inside and slightly crispy on the edge or thin and chewy Napoli style.  I've tried so many pizza doughs since I moved to Germany; pre-mixed flour from Italian whole sale store, pre-maid sheet from Penny, normal flour (type 405) with fresh yeast and whatnot...and I've come to my best so far this time!  I used simply type 550 German flour which is equivalent to all-purpose-flour, with a gluten content of 9-11%.  I had never touched other kinds of German flour with mysterious numbers (550, 1050, 1150...!!???) because I didn't understand what they mean.  Ok now I know that it has to do with gluten content after some investigation; the higher the number is, the higher its gluten content is.  Learning from this little discovery, my next mission will be to try making chewy pizza dough!!

Ingredients (makes three 28cm/11'' large pizzas)
 ...<for the dough>
500g all purpose flour
2 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
300cc warm water
50cc olive oil

 ...<for the sauce>
150g(about 3/4cup) tomato paste
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. pizza herb mix
3 tbsp. olive oil
2/3 tsp. salt

 ...<toppings>
mozzarella cheese
champignons (I used canned mushroom)
salami

Directions
1. Make the dough. Put all the ingredients in a large bowl and knead until well combined and smooth, for about 5 min.  Cover and let it rest in a warm place for 40min.to 1hr. (until the flour is risen to double the size).  
2. Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the sauce.  
3. Divide the dough into three equal portions foaming ball shapes.  
4. Dust the working surface with flour and flatten the dough to 7-8mm/1/4'' thickness using rolling pin.  
5. Slightly oil the pizza pan/baking sheet or surface and place the pizza dough.  Spread the sauce, then mozzarella cheese and mushrooms.
6. Bake at 230°C/450°F for 7-8min.
7. Take the pizza out once and top with salami, put it back in oven for 30 sec. and done!!

-May. 15 grocery shopping € 11.45/ € 159.68 left

Tortellini with Pesto Cream

 We got back from Denmark hungry last Wednesday afternoon and I figured out I didn't have anything in the fridge but half a bottle of heavy cream.  I quickly had to come up with something to fill our stomach and decided to cook tortellini with cheese inside, which my husband brought back from his business trip to Spain.  To go with tortellini, I made creamy sauce using a half a jar of Basil pesto I had thrown in the freezer a few weeks ago.  That was my "Thank God I haven't thrown it away!" -moment of the month.  I made the sauce totally by guess but it turned out to be very delicious pasta that I would make again even if it's not the only choice! 

Ingredients (serves 2)
250g tortellini
150ml/5oz heavy cream
1/4 cup Basil pesto

Directions
1. Boil tortellini as instructed in the package.
2. In a skillet or pot, combine heavy cream and pesto.  Simmer over medium frame for about 3-4 min.
3. Put drained tortellini into the sauce and stir to combine for another min.  Serve warm. 

Akari

 A review of Japanese restaurant "Akari" in Hamburg.  It's one of a few authentic restaurants owned by Japanese.  On top of that, they serve casual home cooking like Curry, Teriyaki chicken and so on, which you can't find in exclusive Japanese restaurants.  Everything tastes like in Japan here and worth the price.  They do weekday lunch at more accessible price. 

Ingen no goma-ae (boiled green beans with sweet sesame dressing) as a starter.

Tendon (prawns&veggies Tempra bowl) €18.  Perfectly crispy!!

Sushi&Sashimi plate €22.  So fresh!! 

Green tea ice cream €3 for dessert.  The size was beyond my expectation...

Japanisches Restaurant Akari

Papenhuder Str. 67
22087 Hamburg

Tel.: 040 / 220 08 03

Non-fried Karaage, Tamagoyaki & Onigiri

My parents, who are enjoying their retirement, sent me a photo in which they're having picnic on a beautiful lakeside with homemade lunch box.  There are some "regulars" in mom's lunchbox since my childhood; Onigiri (rice balls), Tamgoyaki (sweet egg rolls) and Karaage (fried chicken bites).  Those are the things I would chose for my last supper, if I had to, because they bring me back happy memories such as school trips, sport events, picnic...and I feel like my heart is filled with love after a few bites. 
I used a package of pre-mixed batter mixture.  What's special of this one is that it's made for microwave cooking.  Don't have to deep-fry to make fried chicken sounds like a revolutionary solution to reduce fat and calories, but to be honest, Karaage is tasty because it's fried with oil!!  So I think I should post the recipe for the regular deep-fried version.

Ingredients (serves 4-6)
500g/1.1lbs chicken (preferably thighs for the juiciness but I always use breast) 
a clove (about 20g/0.7oz) ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp. sake
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup corn starch
salt&pepper    

Directions
1. Cut chicken into bite size.  
2. Grate garlic.  Grate ginger also and squeeze to get the juice.
3. Put chicken in ziploc bag and combine with garlic, ginger juice, sake, soy sauce, salt&pepper.  Let it rest at least 30 min. 
4. Mix flour and corn starch well.  Coat chicken with the flour mixture and deep fry in oil (over medium heat) for 4-5 min.   

-May. 9 grocery shopping € 13.18/ € 171.13 left

Kimchi Natto

The menu on last Wednesday was; 
-steamed rice
-miso soup with onion
-spinach, tomato&egg stir fry
-Kimchi Natto

You can find fermented food in many parts of the world.  Kimchi from Korea, Sauerkraut from Germany, Anchovy from Italy, Kefir from Russia...all of them have been an important parts of human diet and old knowledge for food preservation without any chemicals.  Many of them have a strong flavor or a smell but I try to have them  on the table as much as possible on daily basis for its health benefit.  It is very efficient way to intake essential amino acids, vitamins&minerals.  You just have to chop Kimchi roughly and mix into a package of Natto to create this powerful food combo!

Chicken Enchilada Lasagna

 Enchi-lasagna; a beautiful marriage of Italian and Mexican cuisine!  Well, the truth is, there is no element of Italian...I was just too lazy to roll chicken in tortillas, plus I had all the leftover ingredients from Mexican lunch day.  So I just layered tortillas and things I had in the fridge, and threw it in the oven.  The taste is pretty much the same as chicken Enchiladas but the layers of tortillas look nice when you cut and serve.   We enjoyed it with slices of avocado and lime-pickled red onion with Habanero.  This Yucatan style pickled onion is must-have on our table.  You can check out how-to-make on my previous post "Panuchos".  As you like, sliced Jalapenos, black olives, corn can go between the layers.   

Ingredients (serves 6)

 ...<to cook chicken>

3 pieces/about 1lbs of chicken breasts

1 tsp. salt

half a onion

2 cloves of garlic

12 corn tortillas

1 1/2 cup refried beans

2 cups(about 15oz) Enchilada sauce

*if you want home make the sauce, pls refer to "salsa for the pork" on my pulled pork post!

200g/7oz sour cream

200g/7oz shredded cheese(Colby jack, Gouda or etc)

1 cup vegetable oil for frying

Directions

1. Cook chicken in water with onion, garlic and salt for about 15 min.  Drain, cool and shred.

2. Cut tortillas in half.  Heat oil in a skillet and dip tortillas in oil, for about 20 sec. each side.  Place on paper towels to drain excess oil.

3. In a bowl, combine shredded chicken, sour cream, 1 and 1/3 cup of Enchilada sauce and 50g /1.7oz cheese.

4. In a baking pan, layer tortillas, refried beans, chicken mixture.  Repeat the process to have 4 layers.

5. Sprinkle the rest of cheese (150g/5.3oz) and the rest of Enchilada sauce (2/3 cup).

6. Bake at 180°C/350°F for about 15 min.  

-May. 5 grocery shopping € 12.18/ € 205.09 left

Sauce Katsudon

 Katsudon, Japanese pork cutlet rice bowl, is usually made with fluffy scrambled eggs, sliced onion and dashi-based sweet sauce.  But this time, I made it without eggs simply because my husband dislikes rice bowls with eggs.  This egg-free version isn't totally my creation but does exists traditionally in some regions in Japan and it's called So-su (''sauce'') Katsudon.  The sauce is pretty different, based on Worcestershire sauce to make sweet and a bit zesty deep-fried cutlets on a bed of shredded cabbage.  It makes a perfect stick-to-your-ribs supper! 

Ingredients (serves 2)
3-4 pork cutlet slices
salt&pepper
2 tbsp. flour 
1 egg
1 cup Panko
vegetable oil for deep frying

2 portions rice
1/6 head cabbage
mayonnaise (optional)

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. Tonkatsu sauce/Bulldog brand Chuno sauce
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. Mirin
1 tbsp. sugar

Directions
1. Make pork cutlets.  Salt&pepper cutlets.  Coat with flour, dip in beaten egg, and cover with Panko.  Deep fry until golden brown.
2. Make the sauce.  In a sauce pan, bring Worcestershire sauce, Chuno sauce, soy sauce, Mirin and sugar to boil, then simmer for about 3 min. to thicken the sauce.
3. Shred the cabbage finely.
4. In a serving bowl or a plate, lay rice and then cabbage.  Dip cutlets in the sauce and place them on top.  Dress with mayonnaise if you like.

Tostadas

  We prepared Tostadas for the Friday lunch party main dish.  "Tostadas" means crispy fried corn tortillas and when you top them with several ingredients to make a dish, it's also called "Tostadas".  We had tortillas and all other toppings ready on the table so each guest can make his own.  The toppings were the most classics in Mexico; refried beans, shredded chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, cheese and sour cream.

Ingredients (for 12 Tostadas)

 ...<to cook chicken>

3 pieces/about 1lbs of chicken breasts

1 tsp. salt

half a onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 can of refried beans

half a head of iceberg lettuce

2 small tomatoes

1 avocado

200g/7oz feta cheese

150g/5-6oz sour cream

Directions

1. Cook chicken in water with onion, garlic and salt for about 15 min.  Drain, cool and shred.

2. Fry tortillas in a skillet with a plenty of vegetable oil, until they get crispy.  Drain excess oil on paper towels.

3. Shred lettuce thinly. Chop tomatoes into small dices.  Slice avocado.  Crumble feta cheese.

4. On a tortilla, spread refried beans and layer with chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, feta cheese and sour creamas, as the photos below.      
* Optional topping we used is sliced red onion with diced habanero in lemon juice.

Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

Another baking project was to make Pasteis de Nata!  The best version I have ever had was in Portugal, at  Fábrica dos Pastéis de Belém in Belem area near Lisbon.  Monks of Jeronimos Monastery created the very first custard tarts in 18th century.   Of course the original recipe is guarded secret so I guess we will have to try 1,000 recipes until you have your best tarts.  Here's my version... 

Ingredients (for )

2 pie sheets

6 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

200ml/ heavy cream

100ml/ milk

1/3 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tbsp. corn starch

cinnamon and confectioner's sugar to sprinkle

Directions

1. Mix sugar and egg yolks in a bowl.

2. In a sauce pan whisk in milk, heavy cream and corn starch and heat over medium heat.  Do not boil. 

3. Mix 2 into 1 (whisking quickly so you don't get lumps!) and put it back in the sauce pan.

4. Cook the mixture over very low heat for 10min. stirring constantly.

5. Cool the custard covered in the fridge at least for an hour.

6. Grease the mini muffin pan and line with pie sheets.

7. Pour in the custard and bake at 250º C/°F for about 15-20min.

8. Sprinkle cinnamon and confectioner's sugar to serve. 

Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Frosting

Haven't posted for a week!!  We had 4-day-weekend and everything slowed down but the good thing was that I had time for baking, which I rarely do.  I love baking, actually, but I avoid it in order not to have sweet temptation around the house.  

We organized a Mexican lunch party on Friday, inviting hubbie's colleagues and their families. I baked carrot cake with maple cream cheese frosting and also Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese egg tarts) for desserts.  To go with the sweet frosting, I prefer the carrot cake a little lighter than normal so I used my mom's recipe.  I literally grew up with this cake!  As is often the case with Japanese baking, she used minimum amount of sugar so it's much less sweeter than American carrot cakes.  

Ingredients (for about 20 cupcakes/4'X10' loaf pan)
 ...<for carrot cake>
200g/7oz carrots
150g/5.3 flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. baking powder
a pinch of salt
3 eggs
50g/1.8oz butter
130g/4.5oz sugar

 ...<for frosting>
120g/4oz cream cheese
60g/half a stick butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp. maple syrup

Directions
1. Shred carrots.  Combine and sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt.  Melt butter in a microwave for 30 sec. and cool.
2. Beat eggs with an electronic mixer adding sugar gradually until the mixture gets thick and foamy.
3. Mix in flour mixture. (do not stir too long!)
4. Mix in melted butter and shredded carrots.
5. Pour into buttered foam and bake at 180°C/350°F until tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
*40-45min. for a large pound cake form, 20-25min. for regular size cupcakes.
6. To make frosting, beat all the ingredients together with an electronic mixer until smooth and fluffy.
7. Frost the cooled cake and serve.                     

-May. 1 grocery shopping € 8.75/ € 241.25 left