Soba Noodle

Soba Noodle is Japanese buck wheat noodle that is usually eaten cold. At restaurant it is usually server over a bamboo serving plate and accompany with dashi sauce. Some time fried vegetable tempura top it off for another great yummy flavor all together. I prefer my plain and simple so that I can savor the nice aroma and sweetness of the dashi sauce with the noodle. It a very simple noodle to make and always put a smile your eater faces. With it chewy texture and melt in your mouth flavor this noodle can be a complete lunch or dinner, for it very filling. I often make this with sashimi instead of rice it fill in the carb void.

3 Bundle of soba noodle (usually 6 in a package)
1 Tbsp grinded to paste diakon
2 Tbsp minced scallion
1 Cup bonito flavored soup base
2 Cup of water
½ Cup dried seaweed chopped into tiny strips

Methods:

1. Fill pot up with water and bring it to boil.
2. Place noodle in and cook for 7 minutes or to package instruction.
3. Remove and run cold water to stop the cooking process. Leave it in the water for 5 minutes.
4. When it cold, pick the noodle up by the handful and roll into a ball and carefully press your hand together with the noodle in between it so that you can drain the water out. Place the ball of noodle on a strainer to dry it.

To serve, place on or two ball of noodle in a bowl. Add enough bonito flavored soup base and top with dry seaweed, scallion and diakon paste. In some restaurant would add tempura vegetable or fish ball sliced. No matter how it is serve it is just so good.

Serve cold.

Sear Tuna Wrap in Black Sesame

Twice a month we would get our sushi craving by making it at home. Of course when I say sushi, what I meant is sashimi. We rarely have sushi unless in roll or wrap version. Beside the kids don’t really sushi, due to the fact they don’t like anything raw.
Yes, I said raw. I know for those of you out there that never had sushi are thinking. Is it safe? Is it good? How could you eat that stuff? I got all of that remarks and more when I tell people that I love sushi.

So here a quick tips for those of you sushi fearing people out there. Of course, sushi always seem so exotic and enticing when eating at a sushi bar or restaurant. Maybe it the atmosphere and the company or the price tag or just the though of someone making it makes it taste so much better. Even though it assumed to cleaner and safer, it not always is. But if you have no other choice for what reason make sure that the restaurant is busy, slow restaurant meant the food is not always fresh.


And if unfortunate like me where sushi bar is rarity and making at home is not an option but a must then here how to prepare your fish.

• Make sure to always buy sushi grade fish
• Clean and freeze it over night.
• Defrost in the refrigerator only. Never, never room temperature or hot water.
• Cut and serve right away when it super cold.
• As always it taste awesome with soy sauce and wasabi!


Ingredients:

1 Piece of Sushi grade tuna
3 Tbsp of black sesame
1/8 Cup of soy sauce
1 Tsp of Chinese hot sauce
1 Tsp of rice vinegar
1 Tbsp of wasabi
1 Tbsp shredded daikon for garnish

For the sauce: Mix the soy sauce, vinegar and hot sauce together.

Methods:

1. Take the piece of tuna out of the freezer and semi defrosted it in the refrigerator.
2. Roll the tuna in the sesame, make sure to cover all corner.
3. Heat the skillet to hot and place the tuna to cook about 1 minute on each side.
4. Remove from the skillet and with a sharp knife slice carefully against the grain.
5. Assemble it on the plate and carefully spoon the sauce over it and garnish with daikon, hot sauce and wasabi like in the picture above.
Chill and serve cold.

Mochi Recipe

Is a very soft and chewy glutinous rice ball with sweet bean filling. I like the super soft texture on my finger…because I tend to play with it first before eating it. It feels like the stress ball that you can squeeze and mold with you find at sporting good store, but a lot softer. It almost like the mochi that most frozen yogurt chain carried, only it softer and more tastier with filling.

The first time I had this was at a Korean bakery in Garden Grove. I was amazed that it looked so much like the Chinese version rice ball that we normally make during Chinese New Year just without the syrup. I knew I had to try it! And I tell you I can eat 3 or 4 of these at a time, because of it sweet and chewy texture with creamy red bean filling…I love anything that is chewy.

This is my very first time making this dessert. I was always very intermediated by the softness of the texture and never thought that I could succeed in it. Well I am here to tell you that it was a success! I found out the key ingredient that makes it soft even to the next day is the wheat starch…therefore this is a must add ingredient, forget this you will have a soft texture the first day and hard the next. And the plus is that it super easy and my kids love it. It helps because they do clean it up pretty fast, rescuing my waistline.


Ingredients:

1 Cup glutinous rice flour
3 Tbsp of wheat flour (makes it stay for a couple of days)
1 Cup of Water
½ Cup of Sugar or to taste
¼ Cup of corn starch for dusting

Filling:

Most time the filling are red bean paste, but I like to create my own flavor.
1 Cup of grated coconut
¼ Cup of palm sugar
1 Tbsp of black or white sesame seed
2 Tbsp of water
1 drop of food color (optional)

For the ice cream filling: To be continue...


Methods:

For the filling:
1. Put the palm sugar and the water in a pot and bring to boil. Then lower the heat to medium and let it thicken.
2. Add the coconut until the sugar is fully absorbed and there no more water left.
3. Stir in the sesame seed on low heat for a couple of minutes and remove let it cool.
4. Roll into quarter size ball and set aside.

For the mochi skins:
1. In a glass bowl, add the flour and water and stir well until completely blend.
2. Add the sugar and blend well.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and microwave for 2 minutes.
4. Take out and stir well until it completely blend and turn to thick blob.
5. Cover plastic again and microwave for 30 seconds.
6. Take out stir again completely.
7. Take the corn starch and dust all over the cutting board.
8. Put the hot mochi mixture on it and let it cool for a couple of minutes.
9. Taking a piece the size of half dollar coin and make a ball.
10. Flatten the ball and knead the side to make it bigger, about the size of your palm.
11. Place the ball filling in the middle and cover all filling and then roll again into a ball.
12. Slightly flatten the ball to about ½ thick and dust with corn starch.
13. If you want you can make all kind of new flavor such as white and black sesame seeds.

You can serve this cool in the refrigerator or room temperature.

Enjoy!