The cooking adventures continue here on the Terrace.

And they are lots and lots of fun too :)

Today I made two new things. First: Onigiri. In English: Rice balls.

Onigiri are a kind of snack food in Japan. In New Zealand one could buy a savory or sausage roll. Perhaps a muffin for a snack. In Japanese convenience stores, you can purchase a wide variety of onigiri. They can come with a range of different fillings, often with seaweed somewhere. Or they can just constitute another way to eat plain white rice, except on the go. There's something very satisfying about making and eating your own onigiri, which I discovered today.

The process is simple: Cook some rice (I used sushi rice - it's stickier - I doubt long grain rice would mold the way sushi/short grain(?) rice does) cool it down a little, not so it's been chilled in the fridge just room temperature or warm. Then you put a clump of rice onto a sheet of glad wrap and using your hands mold it to shape. You can add a filling in the middle or you can mix furikake (like different kinds of seasoning) to the rice and mix it together.

The ones I made (pictured above) include: Two with a tuna and mayonnaise mixture in the middle and two which have been mixed in with furikake. They were delicious :)

And tonight for dinner I made a tofu vege soup stir fry thing.
Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
Tofu
1 carrot
1/2 an onion
2 mushrooms
clove of garlic
1/2 a capsicum
1 chili
tofu
(for the sauce)
1 cup dashi
1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake
1/2 Tbsp sugar

aaaand, salt and pepper to season.

Method:
1. Cut up garlic and cook in a pan with some oil. When the garlic-y smell rises, add onions. When onions are cooked, add other veges and stir fry until carrots are slightly softened.
2. Add the sauce/broth mixture and simmer for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add tofu. Just scoop it in with a spoon. Then simmer for another 2 or so minutes.

The original recipe didn't have the chili but I had one, so I just used it. Phew. Did that chili work. It was slightly painful to drink the broth part, so to those of you with faint hearts, DO NOT ADD. I though it was delicious though. Definitely something for you to try dad! The original recipe also had beef in it but I didn't have anything suitable so I omitted it.