stuffed egg fry

Japanese call deep-fried panko coated food "fry" (fu-ra-i). I wanted to use eggs and this was the end result. :) It turned out better than I expected. It's easy and fun to prepare, so you can have your kids help out in the kitchen, too. It looks really cute (egg-shaped deep-fried food - so cute!), it'll definitely be a hit at potluck or party. 

Ingredients: 

(Makes 12 fried eggs)

Eggs - 6 (hard boiled)

Onion - 1/2 (chopped)
Carrots - 1 med (finely chopped)
Ham, Sausage, Bacon or SPAM - 1 cup full **see TIPS

Mayonnaise (Japanese) - 2 TBS
Corn starch - 1/2 TBS
Garlic salt - 1/2 tsp 

[Panko coating]
Flour - 1/2 cup
Egg - 2 (beaten)
Bread crumbs (panko) - 2-3 cups

Prep:

1. Boil eggs for 10-12 minutes. Take it out and set is aside or run it through cold water. Shell the eggs. Set it aside.
2. Chop onion, carrots and your choice of meat into small pieces. 

Cook:

1. Cut the eggs in half. Take the cooked yolk out and put it in a medium bowl.
2. Heat 1 TBS of olive oil the frying pan. Fry onion and carrots until carrots are nice and tender. a
3. Add in meat. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in mayonnaise, corn starch and salt. The taste should be a little bit salty. Dish out the meat mixture into yolk bowl. 
5. Mix using spoon until it's easy to work with. 
6. In each egg white shell, take about 1 big tablespoonful of meat. Press it down using your hands like you're making a ball (or onigiri, if you know how to make it). Make sure you press it tightly. Repeat for the rest of the eggs. 
7. Coat each egg with flour, eggs and panko. The filling might drop off, so be gentle and hold the middle part as you coat them. 
8. Deep fry in vegetable oil (or half deep-fry and turn, to use less oil) until golden brown. **see TIPS 

 Serve:

1. Salad or pickled vegetables go well with this dish. Don't forget nice, hearty miso soup -- personally, it's a must-have for Japanese meals. :) 
2. Serve with tonkatsu (fruit & vegetable) sauce, or kojujyan sauce (from calamari salad recipe), or mayonnaise. 

TIPS:

• You can use one type of meat, or combination of meat. You just need 1 cup of chopped meat. If you don't have any of the mentioned meat, you can also use ground beef or pork. 
• When deep frying, make sure the oil is hot enough. Test it by sprinkling some panko in the oil. If it sizzles and floats, it's ready. If it sinks, wait a little longer. If the food is already cooked, you don't need long time to deep-fry. 
• Also, when deep frying at home, use smaller pots and less oil. Half deep-fried works great. Fill the pot 1-2 inch high.

kimchee jjigae (woo family style)

We love Kimchee jjigae! But if any Korean people eat our kimchee jjigae, they probably say it's not authentic kimchee jjigae. We put a lot of things in the stew - our favorite ingredient is SPAM. I moved to a very cold state, so we will be eating a lot of this in the winter (and other soups, too.) What is your kimchee jjigae like? Please share with me your version of kimchee soup. :)

Ingredients:

Kimchee (cabbage) - 1 cup
Kimchee (raddish) - 1 cup

Water - 5-6 cups
Miso - 1.5 TBS (**see TIPS)
Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 1.5 TBS
Garlic - 2 cloves (crushed)
Sugar - 1 TBS
Soy sauce - 2 tsp

Carrots - 2 small (thin slices)
Onion - 1 small (sliced)
Bacon - 3 slices (cut in 1 inch piece)Shiitake mushroom - 6 (sliced)
SPAM - as much as you like (cut in dice)
Chapchae noodle or instant noodle - 1 bundle (**see TIPS)
Tofu (silken/soft) - 1 packet
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped)
Spinach - 3 cups (or 1 bunch)

[Chicken/pork meatball]

Ground chicken - 1 cup
Ground pork - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 small (diced)
Garlic - 1 clove (minced)
Panko (breadcrumbs) - 1/3 cup
Egg white - 1
Pepper & salt - 1 tsp each
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Carrots (optional) - 1/2 small (diced)

Prep:

1. Cut all ingredients and set is aside.
2. Cook chapchae noodle according to packet. Drain & rince.
3. [Meatball] Mix all ingredients under meatball. Make 1 inch ball (toss the ball back and forth using your hands)

Mix all ingredients - use your hands and mix well!

Chapchae noodle

Cook: 

1. In about 4-quart pot, bring water, garlic, miso, and kojujyan to boil. 
2. Add in Kimchee (both kinds), carrots and onion. Boil for 5 minutes. 
3. Lower the heat and add in SPAM, Bacon, Meatball and shiitake. Simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add in sugar and mix well. Taste the soup and adjust if needed (too salty? add in more water). Simmer for 10 more minutes.
5. If you're happy with the taste, add in tofu, noodle, green onion and spinach. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

As you can see, the previous pot was too small to fit everything! :)

Serve: 

1. It goes perfectly with hot short-grain (Japanese/Calrose) rice. 

TIPS

• If you like more kimchee taste, add dashi instead of miso. Miso makes the taste mild. 
• You can use Korean instant noodle or udon instead of chapchae noodle.
• Use a bigger pot - when you add all the ingredients, the pot gets very full.

kimchee fried rice omelet

In our family, having SPAM is a treat! We like to combine SPAM with Kimchee. The combination is simply awesome. :) You like SPAM? You like Kimchee? You like eggs? Then this dish will sure to satisfy your taste buds. As usual, you can adjust how spicy by adding more chili paste or kimchee.

Ingredients:

Rice (long grain) - 4 cups (after cooked) *see TIPS

Kimchee - 1/3 cups (chopped)
Chicken breast - 1 (diced)
Spam - half a can (diced)
Spinach - handful
Garlic (optional) - 2 cloves (minced)
Green onion - 2 stalks (chopped) 

[Fried Rice seasoning]
Kojujyan (Korean chili paste) - 2-3 TBS *see TIPS
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 TBS 
Water or chicken stock - 3-4 TBS

salt & pepper to taste 

[topping choices]
Mayo 
Ketchup
Chili sauce
Kimchee

[Omelet] 
Eggs - 5 (beaten)
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Salt & Pepper - dash
Milk (optional) - 3 TBS (*see TIPS)

Prep:

1. Cut chicken breast and Spam in small cubes. Season chicken breast cubes with salt and pepper.
2. Chop Kimchee into smaller pieces. 
3. If you want to add garlic, mince it finely.
4. Wash spinach and set it aside. If you are using a whole spinach, cut them into smaller pieces. 
5. Chop green onion into small pieces. 
6. Mix fried rice seasoning in a bowl. 
7. In separate bowl, beat 5 eggs and add other ingredients for omelet. Set is aside.  

Chop the ingredients

Cook:

1. In a wok or frying pan, heat 1 TBS of oil. Add spam and fry until somewhat crispy around the edges. Add in chicken. Cook until chicken is almost done. 
2. Add in chopped kimchee. Fry until well integrated (couple of minutes).
3. Add in spinach, garlic and green onion and cook for another minute. 
4. Add in rice. Stir fry for couple of minutes. Add the fried rice seasoning (little bit at a time) and fry for additional 3-5 minutes. 
5. On a separate frying pan or on the one you were using for the fried rice (dish out rice on a bowl). Oil the pan. Pour enough egg mixture to make a thin layer of egg. 
6. Add about a cup to a cup and a half of fried rice on the bottom half of the egg. Fold the top half of the egg towards the bottom (so it looks like it's closing). 
7. Bring a plate close to the frying pan and slide and flip the eggs/rice on the plate. 

Make a thin layer with eggs

Put 1-2 cups of cooked fried rice on the bottom side of the eggs

Bring the top half and fold it in half

Serve:

1. Serve omelet with mayo, ketchup or more chili sauce.

TIPS

• Rice - rice kept over night works the best, but if you are making the day of, just make the rice few hours in advance and turn the power off after it finished cooking. Open the rice cooker lid. 
• Chili paste - you can use any type of chili sauce/paste. 
• Milk in the omelet make it fluffy. 

temaki sushi (hand-wrapped sushi)

Yesterday was my brother's birthday. We wanted to eat out, but then it was on Friday night, the restaurant was not too children-friendly, we might have to wait long, etc. Anyway, we decided that we'll have more enjoyable time if we stay at home and eat. Since my brother wanted Japanese, we prepared temaki sushi, which is very simple to prepare (just quite a bit of cutting and mixing). You can prepare everything in advance, so this recipe is perfect for parties (plus people like making their own sushi!). Each family has different recipe for this, but this recipe will get you started.

Ingredients:

Nori (roasted seaweed) - 10 sheets (will make 20 temaki sushis)

Rice (short grain, sushi rice) - 3 cups
Sushi-ko (Sushi rice mix powder) - whole packet for 3 cups of rice (see TIPS)

[Fillings]

Cucumbers (Japanese, English or Persian will work) - 2 (cut in strips)
Kaiware sprouts - 1 pkg
Eggs - 4
Spam - 1/2 can (or more if you love Spam and who doesn't? haha)
Unagi - 1 (store-bought, frozen)
Shrimp - 1/2 lb

Spicy Tuna (see recipe below)
Crab mix (see recipe below)

[Spicy Tuna]

Chopped Tuna sashimi - 4 oz
Green onion - 1 stalk (chopped)
Mayonnaise - 2 TBS
Garlic (minced) - 1 tsp
Sambal (Indonesian chili paste) or any chili paste/sauce will do - 1/2 tsp (or more if you want it spicier)
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Masago (optional) - 2 tsp

[Crab mix]

Crab meat (in Jar or can will be easier to work with) - 1 cup
Mayonnaise - 3 TBS
Masago (optional) - 2 tsp

[Sauce]

Soy sauce
Unagi sauce
Mayonnaise (Japanese)
Wasabi
Picked ginger (pink in color)

Prep:

1. Cook rice. 
2. Cut cucumbers in 4 inch length strips. Cut Kaiware sprouts just above the root. Wash and set them aside.
3. Beat eggs in a bowl, combine salt & pepper to taste (1 tsp of each should do). 
4. Cut Spam in strips (4 inch long, 1/4 inch wide). 
5. Shell the shrimp and take out the veins from the back and front of the shrimp. Cut the shrimp in half from the bottom part, but don't cut it completely, just enough to flatten the shrimp. 
6. Cut Tuna into 1/4 inch cubes. Mix all ingredients in the bowl and set keep them in an airtight container and in the fridge. 
7. Drain all liquids from crab meat. Add in mayo and masago. Mix and keep in an airtight container and in the fridge until ready to use. 
8. Cut the seaweed in half (if the seaweed is one big square) 

Cook:

1. Eggs, use rectangular shaped frying pan (you can buy this in Japanese supermarket). If you don't have it, you can use regular frying pan. Oil the pan evenly, pour enough egg to make a thin layer. With chopsticks, push the egg to one end of the pan. Pour in more egg mixture (thin layer, just enough to coat the pan). Let it cook for 10-15 seconds, then with your chopsticks, flip the egg from one end to another. Repeat the process until you don't have any more egg mixture. (You can flit up and down, or if you prefer going one direction, you can just push the egg to the end you prefer and repeat the same gesture. (Sorry, it's a bit complicated, I will take pictures next time)
2. In the same pan, fry Spam until little bit crunchy on the outside. 
3. In a small saucepan, boil water. Add in 1 tsp of salt to the water and with your chopstick, cook each shrimp. While you are cooking, make sure you press down with your chopsticks so that the shrimps won't curl up. 
4. Unagi - follow the instructions on the packet. Use microwave to save time. :) 
5. Rice - transfer cooked rice to a big container/bowl, add in sushiko (try half packet first, then slowly add and taste as you go). Let the rice cool a bit - you can fan the rice as you mix so that it will cool down. 

All the fillings on the table with Miso soup and salad on the side

Serve:

1. Place all the fillings and sauces on the table (yes, the table will be very full).
2. Take on piece of rectangular nori. Add about 3 TBS of rice in the middle. 
3. Add in the fillings and sauce (you can put in the sushi or dip it) you want. 
4. To roll, start from bottom right corner, bring it to the top left part of the rice, then roll it to make a cylindrical shape. But hey, it's your sushi, so it doesn't matter how it looks like as long as you enjoy it, that's perfect! 
5. Dip it with sauce or eat it straight. 
6. Goes well with simple salad and miso soup. 

one of my husband's creations

TIPS 

• If you can't find sushi-ko, just use Rice vinegar (1 cup of rice vinegar to 2 TBS of sugar). It might get soggy, so put it slowly. 
• You can add other fillings, too. I've seen people put steak, natto (fermented beans), sashimi (like salmon, tuna, taco, etc), cooked chicken, katsu, and on and on. So experiment and tell me what your favorite is! 

all-in-one fried rice

My daughter loves to eat, but she's also good at picking 'green' stuff out from her food. This recipe has lots of 'hidden' veggies, but still got other food (meat, eggs, rice, etc) to distract her. She loves fried rice and this recipe is another one-dish wonder (all-in-one dish!) in our family. It's very quick and easy to make --  perfect when you have left over rice and little bit of this and that. :) 

Ingredients:

Rice - 3 cups (measuring cups, prefer overnight/left over rice)

Beef - 100 g (1/2 cup sliced)
Chinese sausage - 2 (chopped)
Spinach - 2 cups (chopped)
Green onion - 1 stalk (chopped)
Eggs - 3 (beaten)

Lettuce - thinly shredded

Soy sauce
Sugar
Oyster sauce*

 Prep:

1. Slice beef and marinade with 1 TBS soy sauce, 2 tsp sugar, salt and pepper. 
2. Chop Chinese sausage, spinach, and green onion into small pieces.
3. Cut lettuce in thin slices, wash, pat dry and keep in a container (and in the fridge) until ready to use.
4. Beat eggs, add salt & pepper. Set aside. 

Cook:

1. Heat the wok/frying pan with 1 TBS of oil.  Fry beef until brown. Add in sausage, fry for another minute. Add in spinach. Fry for couple of minutes. Take out from the wok.
2. In the same wok/pan, add 1 TBS of oil. Fry eggs until almost done, then add in rice and mix well. Add in 1 tsp salt and sprinkle pepper. Fry for 2 minutes.
3. Combine back beef, sausage and spinach with rice. Add in 1 TBS of oyster sauce, salt & pepper to taste. Fry for 3-4 minutes, until somewhat dry. 

Step 1: Cook meat and veggies first. Take it out.

Step 2: Fry eggs and add rice

Serve:

1. Serve fried rice with lettuce and green onion. 

TIPS

• You can add any ingredients you can find in the fridge. The key to remember is fry the meat and veggies separate from egg/rice so it won't be too soggy.
•  * secret recipe - my husband's fried rice is the best I've tasted and it's because he adds oyster sauce and lettuce. Thanks, hubby!