Ever wondered what to do with that pesky leftover rice? Well wonder no more! Thanks to Japanese cookbooks, by eyes have been opened to the many creations which I can try. So far I've had a go at two. Although one of them is pretty much just fried rice. So I'll give you the recipe for the other.
Curry Rice
Ingredients:
200g (1 cup I think) cooked rice
1Tbsp butter
1/4 onion
frozen veges
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 can (40g) tuna
Melt the butter, cook the onion. Add the veges until they're defrosted. Then add the curry powder til it coats everything. Then add the rice and tuna and mix well. It's very nice and spicy. But the stuff I had was probably made more spicy by the fact that I didn't have any plain tuna so I used half a can of thai chili flavoured salmon intstead. My mouth was on fire. But in a pleasant way :)
Thanks for the email dad! The photos were really awesome. My favourite was the one of Claire and mum. Claire looks like she's being blown away by the awesomeness of the giant tree thing they're looking at. It's good to know you guys are all having a good time!
Into my second week back at uni now. Things are starting to get back into a flow. My Monday is by far the most intense day with 9-1 lectures and then a tutorial at 2. After that it's nicely distributed over the week. I've got looooots of assignments to do over the semester though. My first is due on the 30th July and then I have another due on the 3rd of August I think. Luckily the first is just a bibliography writing assignment pretty much and the second is an essay plan rather than an actual essay. So I'm not too worried at this stage.
And yes dad, I'm totally looking forward to Thursday! It's getting closer and closer! And then I'll see all you guys (minus alice) again this weekend probably. Although I Think I'll be staying with Ryan, him just back and all.
Not much more to say, but I hope everyone is doing well!
Love Erin
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Gazing at the moon
Today has been fine and dandy.
The weather here has been sunny all week but that good weather finally gave up on Wellington and it's been raining all of today. Well, drizzling. But that's fine with me. Saturday means sleeping in late, not doing much and talking to Ryan lots on skype. That is, when skype doesn't randomly cut out on me. The internet connection is really annoying here - I don't know when it's going to work and when it isn't!
I'm glad you're keen to try some of my recipes dad, I'm having a really fun time trying them all out actually. And I think the curry one has probably been my favourite one so far actually! I bought curry powder especially because I've seen it a bit in recipes.
Today I went simple and made myself some soba. Soba are Japanese buckwheat noodles. In Japan the three main noodles are ramen, soba and udon. Although there are some others such as somen, which is eaten cold in the summer. Anyway, my favourite is definitely soba in its simplest form - cold (hot too) with a simple dipping sauce. Normally when I've had it it came with some spring onion and grated daikon to mix in with the sauce. I didn't have daikon, but I did have spring onion, which made a nice addition.
Here's the recipe for the dipping sauce for four people:
200ml dashi stock
3Tbsb dark soy sauce
3Tbsp mirin
Then you just heat it until it comes to a boil and you can either cool it and have it with cold noodles, or leave it hot, it's up to you! This sauce wasn't quite the one I remember having in Japan, but I thought it was really tasty :) Oh, and just to clarify - you don't really put the noodles in a bowl and then the sauce over top. Usually they'd be served drained of the water they were cooked in on a bamboo mat (like the ones you use to roll sushi I guess) and then the sauce in a bowl on the side. As you eat, you dip the noodles in the sauce.
Yummy!
The weather here has been sunny all week but that good weather finally gave up on Wellington and it's been raining all of today. Well, drizzling. But that's fine with me. Saturday means sleeping in late, not doing much and talking to Ryan lots on skype. That is, when skype doesn't randomly cut out on me. The internet connection is really annoying here - I don't know when it's going to work and when it isn't!
I'm glad you're keen to try some of my recipes dad, I'm having a really fun time trying them all out actually. And I think the curry one has probably been my favourite one so far actually! I bought curry powder especially because I've seen it a bit in recipes.
Today I went simple and made myself some soba. Soba are Japanese buckwheat noodles. In Japan the three main noodles are ramen, soba and udon. Although there are some others such as somen, which is eaten cold in the summer. Anyway, my favourite is definitely soba in its simplest form - cold (hot too) with a simple dipping sauce. Normally when I've had it it came with some spring onion and grated daikon to mix in with the sauce. I didn't have daikon, but I did have spring onion, which made a nice addition.
Here's the recipe for the dipping sauce for four people:
200ml dashi stock
3Tbsb dark soy sauce
3Tbsp mirin
Then you just heat it until it comes to a boil and you can either cool it and have it with cold noodles, or leave it hot, it's up to you! This sauce wasn't quite the one I remember having in Japan, but I thought it was really tasty :) Oh, and just to clarify - you don't really put the noodles in a bowl and then the sauce over top. Usually they'd be served drained of the water they were cooked in on a bamboo mat (like the ones you use to roll sushi I guess) and then the sauce in a bowl on the side. As you eat, you dip the noodles in the sauce.
Yummy!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Curry!
Today has been an interesting day.
It was deliciously fine, so I decided to take my textbooks (notice I say take, not lug; they are perfectly sized and hardly heavy, so I do not need to lug them up hills) to the Botanic Gardens and read them in the sunlight. I chose a nice seat in the sun...
Well, it looks much nicer when you sit on it anyway.
And I spent about two hours textbook reading in the sunlight. As well as watching people walk past and listening to the birds. It was a very productive hour in the end. I'd like to always do this to do my readings, but being in Wellington, I can't always trust the weather to permit me to do so. I'll just enjoy it while it lasts!
Then, this evening I attended a public lecture done by Ann Tickner. From the sounds of her introduction, she is a very esteemed scholar in the US. She talked to us about International Relations from a feminist perspective and about how feminist influences have been good in the IR realm. It was thoroughly interesting, I thought ^^
Aaaand, then I came home to cook another lovely Japanese recipe. A tofu curry.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients (serves two)
300g tofu
150g beef
1 onion
1 carrot
4 mushrooms
a handful of beansprouts
1tsp curry powder
2 Tbsp sugar (mixed with 2 Tbsp water)
3 Tbsp sake
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp dashi stock (in water)
1 Tbsp tomato sauce
Basically, just cut everything up how you like it. Cook the onion in some oil, add beef. Cook. Add all the other veges and curry powder. Mix it all together so the curry powder coats everything. Add sugar (with water), sake, soy sauce, dashi and tomato stock. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes. And eat!
It was reeeeeally good.
Tofu is amazing.
It was deliciously fine, so I decided to take my textbooks (notice I say take, not lug; they are perfectly sized and hardly heavy, so I do not need to lug them up hills) to the Botanic Gardens and read them in the sunlight. I chose a nice seat in the sun...
Well, it looks much nicer when you sit on it anyway.
And I spent about two hours textbook reading in the sunlight. As well as watching people walk past and listening to the birds. It was a very productive hour in the end. I'd like to always do this to do my readings, but being in Wellington, I can't always trust the weather to permit me to do so. I'll just enjoy it while it lasts!
Then, this evening I attended a public lecture done by Ann Tickner. From the sounds of her introduction, she is a very esteemed scholar in the US. She talked to us about International Relations from a feminist perspective and about how feminist influences have been good in the IR realm. It was thoroughly interesting, I thought ^^Aaaand, then I came home to cook another lovely Japanese recipe. A tofu curry.
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients (serves two)
300g tofu
150g beef
1 onion
1 carrot
4 mushrooms
a handful of beansprouts
1tsp curry powder
2 Tbsp sugar (mixed with 2 Tbsp water)
3 Tbsp sake
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp dashi stock (in water)
1 Tbsp tomato sauce
Basically, just cut everything up how you like it. Cook the onion in some oil, add beef. Cook. Add all the other veges and curry powder. Mix it all together so the curry powder coats everything. Add sugar (with water), sake, soy sauce, dashi and tomato stock. Cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes. And eat!
It was reeeeeally good.
Tofu is amazing.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
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.
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.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Salmon success?
Today was my first day of semester two. Or rather trimester. But I'll stick with semester cos I'm only doing two.
I woke up nice and early because my first class was at 9am. Which means I have to leave Stafford at 8.30am. Actually, most of my days start at nine this semester, which is perfect for early birds like myself. Anyway, today I had Linguistics, Japanese and International Relations. Mostly it was all admin stuff in all of the classes but we got into the content a little and they all (although, of course Japanese will be) seem really interesting. IR is a gigantic class, like expected. The lecture theater is crammed full to the brim. There's not really much else I can say about my classes yet. Apart from that they sound like they'll be immensely interesting.
Dad: Today I bought some salmon. I did it. At the supermarket. There were two piles: salmon steaks and fresh salmon. I got a steak. Although I swear that it said boneless steaks and the other pile had bones. But perhaps I read it wrong because when I went to cook it to my horror it had bones in it :( So I was like OMG WHAT DO I DO?!?! And I kind of just got the bones out the best I could. There were still some left in but I just had to deal because it was getting to the point where I was massacring it, not merely pulling the bones out xD
After that disaster, I cooked the salmon in the same teriyaki sauce we used for the chicken in the weekend. It was good. I was a little concerned about cooking the salmon and ruining it, but it came out OK in the end.
Salmon = conquered
...
kind of anyway.
XD
I woke up nice and early because my first class was at 9am. Which means I have to leave Stafford at 8.30am. Actually, most of my days start at nine this semester, which is perfect for early birds like myself. Anyway, today I had Linguistics, Japanese and International Relations. Mostly it was all admin stuff in all of the classes but we got into the content a little and they all (although, of course Japanese will be) seem really interesting. IR is a gigantic class, like expected. The lecture theater is crammed full to the brim. There's not really much else I can say about my classes yet. Apart from that they sound like they'll be immensely interesting.
Dad: Today I bought some salmon. I did it. At the supermarket. There were two piles: salmon steaks and fresh salmon. I got a steak. Although I swear that it said boneless steaks and the other pile had bones. But perhaps I read it wrong because when I went to cook it to my horror it had bones in it :( So I was like OMG WHAT DO I DO?!?! And I kind of just got the bones out the best I could. There were still some left in but I just had to deal because it was getting to the point where I was massacring it, not merely pulling the bones out xD
After that disaster, I cooked the salmon in the same teriyaki sauce we used for the chicken in the weekend. It was good. I was a little concerned about cooking the salmon and ruining it, but it came out OK in the end.
Salmon = conquered
...
kind of anyway.
XD
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Long time, no post
Back to Wellington and into the blogging spirit already!
First I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone that made my holidays awesome :) I had a great three weeks. Although it probably doesn't seem to anyone like I did much, I had a really enjoyable time. It was good to just hang with and talk with everyone again for such a long period of time. I'm missing the serenity of Palmerston North already!
As you all know, I got rather obsessed with my Japanese translating over my holiday and now that I am well equipped to cook with a whole lot of recipes up my sleeve, I am utterly determined to try my hand at Japanese cooking. As well as the three Japanese cookbooks I have from Japan, I have also built up a collection of cookbooks that are in English. From all of this, I should be able to come up with some things to cook for quite some time.
I started tonight actually. I was going to have something simple like soup and toast for dinner because I was unpacking this afternoon and unprepared to go all the way to the supermarket to get some things. So I had to look for a simple recipe that I could cook with what I had. I cooked a side dish for my dinner. The recipe was from a mini Japanese cookbook I have by Keiko Ishida. It was a recipe for pumpkin but I thought it looked good and decided to try it with kumara instead. So this is my version of the recipe. I adjusted the ingredients a little accordingly.
Simmered kumara
Ingredients:
1 kumara
150ml water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
toasted white sesame seeds (to taste)
salt and pepper
Method:
1. Cut up kumara into pieces about 2 x 3 cm.
2. Put kumara, water and sugar in a pot, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add mirin, soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until kumara is cooked and most of liquid has reduced.
4. Serve and garnish with sesame seeds.
This tasted good. And it required me to toast sesame seeds too which was a little scary. But they are much more tasty now.
And I had this with a gigantic bowl of rice and egg :)
First I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone that made my holidays awesome :) I had a great three weeks. Although it probably doesn't seem to anyone like I did much, I had a really enjoyable time. It was good to just hang with and talk with everyone again for such a long period of time. I'm missing the serenity of Palmerston North already!
As you all know, I got rather obsessed with my Japanese translating over my holiday and now that I am well equipped to cook with a whole lot of recipes up my sleeve, I am utterly determined to try my hand at Japanese cooking. As well as the three Japanese cookbooks I have from Japan, I have also built up a collection of cookbooks that are in English. From all of this, I should be able to come up with some things to cook for quite some time.
I started tonight actually. I was going to have something simple like soup and toast for dinner because I was unpacking this afternoon and unprepared to go all the way to the supermarket to get some things. So I had to look for a simple recipe that I could cook with what I had. I cooked a side dish for my dinner. The recipe was from a mini Japanese cookbook I have by Keiko Ishida. It was a recipe for pumpkin but I thought it looked good and decided to try it with kumara instead. So this is my version of the recipe. I adjusted the ingredients a little accordingly.
Simmered kumara
Ingredients:
1 kumara
150ml water
2 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
toasted white sesame seeds (to taste)
salt and pepper
Method:
1. Cut up kumara into pieces about 2 x 3 cm.
2. Put kumara, water and sugar in a pot, cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add mirin, soy sauce and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until kumara is cooked and most of liquid has reduced.
4. Serve and garnish with sesame seeds.
This tasted good. And it required me to toast sesame seeds too which was a little scary. But they are much more tasty now.
And I had this with a gigantic bowl of rice and egg :)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Sweet relief
I've never been so glad to have my exams over.
Three hours of torture. Resulting in one very sore hand but also one very happy Erin. I'll think about the results when they come.
For now it's time to par-tay!
Or in my case, lie in bed and watch movies with lots of chocolate all night long.
Heaven!
Three hours of torture. Resulting in one very sore hand but also one very happy Erin. I'll think about the results when they come.
For now it's time to par-tay!
Or in my case, lie in bed and watch movies with lots of chocolate all night long.
Heaven!
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