Craving for…

Posted by gmirage1 on Sep 10, 2011 in Desserts, Japanese | 3 comments

Mochi. Those molded Japanese rice cakes of various colors following its flavor and ingredients. This came from seeing my photos of the ginataang bilo bilo we cooked at mom-in-law’s place. Those are glutinous rice balls cooked in coconut milk added with tapioca pearls, jackfruit strips, cubed sweet potatoes and plantain banana. Hubby specifically requested for this dessert. She taught me how it’s done.

Since glutinous rice flour is the same ingredient used for making bilo bilo (balls) and mochi, I thought that it’s possible for me to make them at home too.

So the little boy was more than willing to help. He enjoys everything that can be done in the kitchen…baking, stirring soup, setting the timer, putting muffin paper into baking tins and most of all, eating. So here, his hands are full of glutinous rice flour that he’s making into balls.

We’ll soon make mochi.

Chicken Teriyaki Bentou

Posted by gmirage1 on Aug 11, 2011 in Bentou, Japanese | 4 comments

I bought a really helpful and cute recipe book…the title says it all - Kawaii Bento Boxes. It’s to motivate me to cook more packed lunch for the hubby…those healthy and nutritious and attractive dishes!

This particular lunch would be chicken teriyaki breasts. Having gone on vacation, I don’t have the book right now but I’ll update this post along with the recipe as soon as I get home.

for:

Ikura sushi

Posted by gmirage1 on Aug 1, 2011 in Japanese, sushi | 6 comments

INGREDIENTS

1 cup prepared sushi rice (recipe here)
1 sheet nori
3/4 teaspoon wasabi paste, or to taste
4 ounces prepared salmon roe

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare 8 finger sushi by dipping your right hand into a bowl of vinegared water and then tap your fingers on a damp towel to remove excess water, and take up about 2 tablespoons sushi rice. Form the rice into 8 small oval bite-sized portions, measuring about 2 inches long by 1 inch wide.

2. Cut nori into 8 strips, each 1 inch X 7 inches. I cut mine too big

3. Wrap a 1 inch strip of nori around the sides of each finger sushi, shiny side out (sticking it closed with a grain of rice, if necessary), creating a tiny collar all around the rice.

4. Dab a little wasabi paste on top of the rice inside the nori collar. Delicately spoon about 1 tablespoon of the salmon roe into each nori collar. Serve immediately while the nori is crisp. (Lifted from FabulousFoods.com)

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for Orange Tuesdays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays

Ebi – All You Can Eat Japanese Restaurant

Posted by gmirage1 on Jul 14, 2011 in Japanese | 24 comments

(Eel, california maki, butterfish sushi, tuna and salmon sashimi)

Long before I got obsessed  with macarons I was addicted to eel. I wrote a lot of times about eel before… before this blog’s content were deleted. I remember an instant when I had to search all over the city for a restaurant selling them…lol. Little did I know that they’re sold at the Asian grocery stores by the Naschmarkt. After that discovery I would allot a part of our food budget for eel, even once a month.

Imagine my excitement seeing them at EBI, a Japanese restaurant we visited with friends last week. The joint was established just last year but they already have a big following…I think it has to do with the food, the ambiance and of course, the budget.

Customers are given 6 rounds to order. You will be given a menu where you cross out your choices. Theirs would be the most diverse I’ve seen. Ranging from the usual maki and sushi comprised by salmon, tuna, butterfish to maki of different fillings and temaki too of your choice. There’s sashimi from the freshest fishes (no sea urchin though). They got lobsters and shrimps – but are limited for one order only, additional orders would cost you 4,90€ each.

There’s duck, lamb, pork, beef, chicken, turkey for grilling…be sure you browse each type of cooking and sauces indicated on the dish. There’s gyoza and other dumplings too – I was only able to taste one.

(Spicy tuna roll, I think and california rolls.)

My japanese taste buds opted for well, Japanese, but I did have a bit or two of the others as taste-test. The kids also had everything Japanese but because there was a small playroom they tend to go there than eat. I was a bit disappointed that they didn’t get to enjoy the food as much as I did.

For dessert we tried their ice cream in flavors of vanilla for the daughter, red bean for the older son, black sesame for the little boy and green tea for me. I wasn’t able to taste the green tea as something unexpected happen…I had to leave the table earlier with my youngest to take him to the hospital.

The restaurant was big and ideal for group-eats. Like us, we reserved about 4 tables to accommodate all the food coming in. hihi. The ambiance, I said, was totally cool and the open kitchen an additional plus. The only thing I think they’d done better is the playroom…the floor were solid cement and thus injured my super active son.

Not minding that, I’d definitely be back for more. At 16,90€ a head, it’s worth saying “tomorrow, I  will really start my diet.”

Ebi is located at our district so it would only take us 7 minutes to travel by car, since we don’t have one we take the bus. It takes 25 minutes with public transport (2 buses) so expect to see more of this restaurant here.

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EBI

All you can eat Japanese Restaurant

Leopoldauerstrasse 45, 1210 Vienna

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Ebi (Shrimp) Tempura

Posted by gmirage1 on Jun 16, 2011 in Japanese | 7 comments

As promised, here is the shrimp fry/ebi tempura recipe I I said I’ll be posting last weekend.

Ingredients:

12 large shrimps, deveined
salt and pepper
1 cup of panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, well beaten
*oil for deep frying

How to:

-Remove heads and shells of shrimps but leave tails.
-Make a few incision on the stomach of shrimps and lightly press the back to straighten them.
-Cut the edge of each shrimp tails and remove dirt (black thingy) using a knife.
-Dry shrimps on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

-Place flour, egg and panko in bowls and arrange them in that order.
-Lightly dust shrimps one by one in flour.
-Dip floured shrimps in egg.
- Coat them with panko.

-Heat oil for deep frying in a deep pan to about 340-350° F.
-Fry breaded shrimp until brown…drain and place on paper towels.

-Serve as is or with tartar sauce and shredded cabbage

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Bentou

Posted by gmirage1 on Jun 11, 2011 in Bentou, Japanese | 12 comments

We had a special assembly today and yesterday outside of Vienna. The kids and I travelled an hour from the city’s Westbahnhof to St. Pölten to freshen up and be full with spiritual food. The affair starts from 9 in the morning and ends up short before 4pm. It is but natural to bring bentou (packed lunch) since there’s a one hour alloted for this.

For today hubby helped me prepare what we were bringing. We had ebi tempura, soy-butter salmon fillets, surimi maki, sushi rice, buttered veggies and peaches for dessert. Above bentou box is for me and  the little boy.

I was sticking to the make-it-colorful rule in bentou designs thus the outcome. Colors does make it attractive, don’t you think?

I packed a separate lunchbox for the older boy. His contains much the same us ours only lesser.  I’m proud to say that he did finish this serving. My daughter was having a headache so she stayed at home with dad. We made sure that there’s enough for them too especially the ebi tempura because it’s her favorite.

For the recipe on making sushi rice, please click here. You can use sushi rice as is or make maki, onigiri, sushi and musubi. It is not advisable to make sushi or maki with raw ingredients so stick to surimi, cucumber (not Spanish) and other cooked stuffing.

Hubby did all these surimi maki saying that I should bring some for friends who enjoy them. I will soon post a recipe for ebi tempura…I’m a bit tired because of travelling. See you again!

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A post for :

Yummy Sunday, Weekend Eating, Blue Monday, Yellow Monday