Kaimono

Are you interested in a Japanese supermarket?
Shall we go kaimono (shopping) ?
Today I'll show you some Japanese food in a supermarket.  



Fresh fruits

Fresh vegetables



Japanese ingredients(umeboshi,tsukemono etc)

Tofu &  deep-fried bean curd

Eggs

Fish

Daily products

Frozen goods

Drinks

Meat



Sauces and  seasonings



Teriyaki chicken Donburi

Today I will teach you how to cook home made Teriyaki chicken donburi (donburi means big rice bowl).
It's also a common addition to bento boxes in Japan.


   ingredients (for 2 people)    

Teriyaki chicken donburi 
☆chicken thigh   200-250g    cubed
☆2 eggs
☆1/2(half) bunch of spinach

sauce
☆1tbsp shoyu(Japanese soy sauce)
☆1tbsp cooking sake(or dry sherry)
☆1tbsp mirin(or honey)
☆1tbsp sugar

＜Method＞1. mix the sauce ingredients in a cup

2. ＜spinach＞

Simply boiled in salted water and drained.When cool enough chop into 2cm strips.

3.＜eggs＞

 Beat  the eggs well into a pinch of salt and pepper.Then  pour into lightly oiled pan stirring well with chopsticks.

The consistency you are looking for like bread crumbs that is small dry and yellow.

It takes only 3mins but you have to really scratch it up with those chopsticks.

4.＜chicken＞

Saute the chicken in a lightly oiled pan.
On medium heat SKIN SIDE DOWN
until skin is crispy.

Then turn over and cover letting the chicken steam until cooked through.
The chicken skin side is very oily, so wipe off  an extra oil in a paper towel.

Turn to low heat adding the teriyaki sauce※(method 1)※ to the chicken,turning often(3-4times) until the sauce is reduced by half.

To complete the Donburi (big rice bowl),the chicken which should be serve warm is arranged on 1/3 of a bowl of hot rice.

1/3each for spinach and egg,the hot sauce is then drizzled mainly over the chicken,but also a little over spinach.

The egg is left undrizzzled for it's beautiful yellow appearance.



Most Japanese home cooking uses mirin(sweet-sake), 

sake(cooking-sake) and shoyu(soy-sauce).

If you can't find them in your local supermarket Japanese food shops are sure to have these and other Japanese ingredients,so please check the internet for your nearest store!!!



Bento box version



Kawaii

         What are these???
                Chocolate?         Soap?       Ice cream?

Believe it or not they're Yudetamago.(boiled eggs)
Today I'll show you how to make these kawaii (cute)yudetamago.

These are moulds which
I bought in a  ￥100 shop.

They cost only ￥100  for 2.




They're light made from plastic.

The method is so simple,just boil the eggs in the normal way for 10 mins but instead of cooling,peel the eggs while still hot.
 (this is the only tricky part  Ouch!!! )

Then,put the hot shelled eggs into the moulds and let them cool in a bowl of cold water for 10mins.

Be careful when taking the eggs from the mould as it's easy to ruin the shape.

Another interesting but simple Japanese invention!!!

Japan to use these kawaii shapes for making bento boxes. 

☆　Have you read  about Kawaii kuma?　☆

Kama-meshi

Kama-meshi is a very important,but not well-known food of japan.It's named for the kama,Japanese iron rice cooking pot which was used before 1950's in every household and restaurant.
Meshi means rice and meals but this word is a little bit old-style Japanese.Nowadays,usually men say meshi but it means meals and casual Japanese.

 portable kama

Since it's replacement by the electric rice cooker it has become a cultural icon.Reminding Japanese people of their connection to  an ancient culture.The electric rice cooker is so convenient,cooking the rice and keeping it warm at the push of a button, so it's wide spread adoption was inevitable.
But kama-meshi is revered by modern Japanese,who claim it gives a special flavor to the rice and are able to bask in warm memories of their childhood and cultural roots.

Anyway,I went to yakitori restaurant so I ordered " Tori(chicken)kama-meshi " which is a chicken,shimeji mushroom and carrot version.The flavoring ingredients are placed in the kama with row rice and dashi(soup stock)and slow cooked for 30 min.
After ordering the kama-meshi is brought to the table and cooks before the guests eyes.
As we wait patiently we must never take off lid even for a second , otherwise the dish will be spoiled resulting in hard  under cooked rice and the offender will be scolded.

After 30min has passed the lid is lifted,the aroma is savoured and the contents are well-mixed before serving.

Yakitori

Yakitori means skewered chicken-grilled  over charcoal.
Yakitori restaurant is popular with all Japanese people,it doesn't matter what age or gender.

Usually people go to a yakitori restaurant after their job with coworkers or friends but also it's normal to ho there with family.
In general,yakitori restaurant is not  big,most of them are very small, space is limited, so it the restaurant is busy,it can be a little bit noisy.

There are 2types of seat,one is at the table and the other is at the counter.Yakitori goes well compatible with sake(rice wine),so men often come here alone, so count er suits that kind of customer.

This is a counter  seat,with a lone customer enjoy his yakitori and sake or beer

Yakitori is a well-known food of Japan,because of course it's tasty and easy to eat,It is nor necessary to use chopsticks  because the skewer is thin and small so we just pick up the skewer and bite off the grilled chicken directly.It's not considered rude!

Yakitori is grilled over charcoal not in a pan,so it's very healthy because during the grilling also a lot of fat is released from the chicken.
We have 2choices in flavor for yakitori, tare(special yakitori shoyu sauce) or shio(salt).

It's also de rigueur that there are various other foods and alcohol on the menu ,of course it depends on the restaurant ,but they have at least 100 choices of food and alcohol.

The menu of choices

I will show you some food that I ordered!!!

Japanese pickles

This is pickled cucumber.
Usually Japanese pickles are made from
cucumber or eggplant.

smoked duck

negima

negi means spring onions and
ma means between.
This is skewered  spring onions between chicken  with tare(special sauce)

sasami

white breast meat with shio (salt)


tsukune

minced chicken with various seasonings.
usually round shaped.

deep fried chicken with ponzu sauce

ponzu sauce : a sauce containing soy sauce and vinegar or citrus juice




tebasaki

chicken wings.
we can choose deep fried or grilled.
this is the grilled type. shio(salt) flavor.









After drinking alcohole,usually Japanese people order rice meals as their last food.
Of course I ate special Japanese rice meal!!!
Next time I will show you and tell you about kamameshi.

Do you want to eat yakitori and want to drink sake???



Tamagoyaki

Tamagoyaki means Japanese omelette.
Also tamagoyaki is a typical Japanese food usually included in a bento(lunch box) with onigiri.
This is not also bento but also daily home cooking.

Almost every household in Japan has a small,rectangular frypan for making tamagoyaki because traditionally,everyone ate tamagoyaki with rice,miso soup and grilled fish for breakfast.
If you visit Japan sometime you will be served this kind of breakfast in old style Japanese hotels,but since the 60's people have been adopting  many aspects of western life style so fewer and fewer families are eating a traditional breakfast.



Ingredients (for 2 people)
2 eggs
a pinch of salt and pepper

break the eggs into a bowl and whip roughly with a pinch of salt and pepper.

lightly coat the frypan with sesame oil,and useing very low heat,spread a thin layer of egg.

 useing a spatula fold the egg over itself as it cooks.




repeat  3 or 4 times until cooked,all the while pouring new egg into the pan and folding.

It's important to whip the egg roughly because it will make a beautiful,marbled pattern.

(appearance is always important in Japanese cuisine)

There are many varieties of tamagoyaki which are used special occasions or sold special high-class shops.