Takikomi Rice

This is my take on Takikomi rice, so it's a little different from what you would consider the standard recipe.

Takikomi rice is a dish full of warm, soothing umami from the mushrooms, hijiki seaweed and soy sauce.  The carrots and cabbage add sweetness, which matches the saltiness of the other ingredients well. Making everything together in the rice cooker also makes this recipe incredibly convenient, especially if you need to use your (possibly single, as in my case) stove burner for some other purpose.

Without further ado, the recipe!

Ingredients:

     100g Short grain white rice
     1 Tbsp soy sauce
     1 tsp mirin (or plain sugar)
     1/2 tsp konbu or dashi stock granules
     100g raw shiitake mushrooms
     100g finely chopped or shredded cabbage
     50g chopped carrots
     50g chopped snow or snap peas
     1-2 Tbsp dried hijiki (I always opt for more)

Put the rice in the rice cooker bowl and swish with cool water until it runs clear when you pour it out. I usually change the water 2-3 times to achieve this. Add water to just below the "1 cup" line (if that seems like a lot for your bowl, you can cut it back a little; I find erring on the side of a little less water is safer).

Add the soy sauce, mirin or sugar, and the dashi granules to the water and mix a little to disperse.

Add the hijiki, sprinkling it evenly on TOP of the rice; do not mix in! You want the rice on the bottom of the bowl to protect the vegetables on top from burning.

Add the rest of the chopped vegetables. You can add them in all mixed together, or create a "pie chart" pattern on the rice by putting them in lumped together; it doesn't make much of a difference to the final product. By the way, they will look like a LOT of vegetables, but they cook down in the steaming process. Trust me.

Turn on the rice cooker. I've made this on both the regular setting, and the "speed" setting with no adverse effects.

When the rice is done, open the rice cooker and use a rice paddle to mix all the vegetables into the rice. Try to use a cutting-and-turning motion to avoid crushing or breaking the grains of rice. Obviously this doesn't affect the taste, but it makes it prettier (^.^) Also, the soy sauce will probably have settled, making portions of the rice appear very dark brown. The juices from the hijiki rehydrating also will do that. This isn't burned rice and is perfectly normal.

Now CLOSE the rice cooker and leave it for 5 minutes or so. This lets a lot of the excess steam and moisture escape and the rice will be more "sticky" and less "slimy."

This recipe usually makes 3-4 servings for me. The leftovers refrigerate well; I haven't tried freezing them yet. If you try that, let me know how it goes! In the meantime, enjoy!

Mata ne!

The Japanese and Their Rice

To the Japanese, rice is such an integral food that it has, since times long past, come to be used to refer to meals in general. It's considered the main foodstuff of the country, in the same way that maize in Mexico or bread in France is.

However, there are many ways to prepare rice here, not simply as plain white rice. I've recently test-driven a couple of them.

日本人には、お米、って言うか、「ご飯」が、昔から食事の呼び方になってきたほど、大切な食べ物です。メキシコのとうもろこしやフランスのパンのような、この国の一番主な食品だと思われています。

でも、白米のままで食べられているだけではなく、実は、色々な用意し方があるんです。最近、私はその用意のいくつを作ってみた。

This is "Mugi Rice." The stuff on top is gomashio (sesame salt) and curry powder. This "mugi" means "barley," not "wheat."

これは、「麦ご飯」っていう料理。上にかけているのは、ごま塩とカレーパウダー。この「麦」は、英語では、「Wheat」ではなくて、「Barley」なんだ。

This rice is the super popular "Takikomi Rice." I put in a load more vegetables and hijiki seaweed than the recipe called for. It was sooooo good!

このご飯は、すごい人気のある「炊き込みご飯」！レシピーで書いといた量より、野菜とひじきをいっぱい入れてみた。すごく美味しかった！

This appears to be the very-common Wakame Rice, but like I am wont to do, I threw in a bunch of other green vegetables, hahah. Along with the wakame seaweed, there's broccoli and snap peas.

これは、通常のわかめご飯みたいけど、私らしく、他の緑色の野菜も入れちゃった、ハハ。わかめとともに、ブロコリーもピースも入っているよ。

It's not really rice-relevant, but with the wakame rice, I had a tofu burger.

お米に関係してないけど、このわかめご飯と、豆腐バーガーと一緒に食べた。

I'm thinking I should just post my recipes; dear readers, what think you? Might you be interested in that?

'Til next time. Mata ne!

ちゃんと自分のレシピーをアップしておこうかなと思うが、読者様は、どう思うのでしょうか？気に入ってくれるのかしら？

では、では、またね！

Osaka on Golden Week, Kyoto, Dotonbori and Okonomiyaki

So, finally, the last installment on my trip to Osaka and Kyoto!

After wandering around Korea Town for a couple hours, we headed towards the much-anticipated Kyoto. In particular, a temple called Kiyomizudera. We wanted to go to that particular temple because, when we studied abroad together in 2008, our class all took a trip to that temple. It was nostalgic for us both, so we wanted to re-experience it.

Kiyomizudera is at the top of a mountain, so to get there, you have to go up this really steep road. When I did this before, I remember feeling really winded after getting to the top, but this time it was pretty easy going. I wonder why? Maybe my health and/or endurance has improved since then?

では、いよいよ最後の大阪と京都の旅行の報告です！

Korea Townで一二時間過ごしてから、私たちが楽しみの京都のほうに行った。特に、京都での「清水寺」というお寺に行こうと思った。それはどうしてかと言うと、一緒に2008年に神戸で留学している時、クラスメートと皆で清水寺への遠足したから、なつかしいところなんだ。だから、もう一度行ってみたかったんだ。

清水寺は、山の上にあるので、行くように上向きの長い道を通らなきゃならないということだ。この前、大学生の時は、登ったら、ごっつしんどくなったと思い出せるのに、今度が前より楽に感じた。どうしてかな？健康かスタミナがよくなってきたかな？

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the road is super steep.

この写真で、ちょっと分かりにくいかもしれないけど、この道がすっご～く険しいよ。

Mid-way, we caught sight of this awesome-looking soft serve place. We decided to take an ice cream break, heheh.

 途中で、この美味しそうなソフトの店を見かけて、ちょっとアイスを食べて休憩しようって決めた、ハハ。

We got black sesame and ume, and shared them both!

 

 買ったのは、黒ゴマと梅！両方二人でシェアリングした！

It was pretty crowded so we didn't go into the temple proper, but we were able to get some great shots none-the-less.

 

 かなり込んでいて、入らなかったけど、どうせ色々ないい写真が撮れたんだね～

I'm sure Japanese readers already know about these, but in case someone unfamiliar with it is reading, I'll explain. This is a custom where people write wishes and prayers on the wooden boards. After writing them, the wishes theoretically will come true.

これは、日本人の読者がもう分かっていると思うですが、知らない人のために、一様説明しておきます！　この何枚の上に、人が願いを書いたんだ。願いが書かれて、叶われるっていう習慣だ。

 

 

After we got back to Osaka, it was still early but we were feeling a little peckish. So we decided to go get some takoyaki from Dotonbori.

 

 大阪に帰ったら、まだ早かったけど、仲がぺこぺこだったから、道頓堀のたこ焼きを食べに行った。

 

In Dotonbori, I saw this sign and it just tickled me. It's like, "Um...a wee bit busy, innit? Redo, perhaps?"

 

 道頓堀で、メニューを見て、中々面白かった。「おおおい！ちょっと。。。分かりにくくない？やり直せば？」って感じ。

 

But the signature dish in Dotonbori is without a doubt, takoyaki! I managed to score this truly excellent video of a guy making takoyaki.

でも、道頓堀の名物は、間違いなく、たこ焼きだよ！たこ焼きの作り方のこのすごくいいビデオをゲットした！

 

I went with salt-lemon flavored takoyaki. It was soooo tasty!

 

 塩レモン味のたこ焼きにした。美味しかった～！

 

But, for dinner, Nadine and I both wanted okonomiyaki! We decided on this place, called "Warai," because it looked really good.

 

でも、夕食としては、ネーディンも私も、お好み焼きを食べたかった！この「わらい」っていう店が美味しそうだと思ったから、入ってみた。

 

Doesn't it?! Doesn't it look amazing? God, I wanna go there again.

 美味しそうでしょう？！もう一度食ーィ！

 

Nadine's okonomiyaki. It's their namesake item, the "waraiyaki." Nadine had them put cheese and garlic in it too.

 ネーディンのお好み焼き。名物の「わらい焼き」で、チーズとガーリックも入れてもらった。

 

This one is called "koutenyaki." It has a lot of cabbage and panko in it, and a crunchy texture. It also had shrimp and pork. I adored the crunchiness of this!

 

これは、「京天焼き」っていう。キャベツやパン粉いっぱい、カリカリって食感しているお好み焼きだった。中は海老と豚肉も入っている。私、この食感気に入った！

 

 

We also got gyouza!

 

ギョウザも食べた！

My return bus the next day left early, so there's basically no day three. But I was so happy to get to spend a couple days hanging out with Nadine! And next time I go, I'll probably be with Mindi!

 

次の日の私の帰りバスは早い時間に出発する予定だったので、デースリーは、殆どなかった。でも、二日間のネーディンと遊びが出来て、うれしかった！今度行くとは、多分ミンディと！

Ja, mata ne!

じゃ、またね！

Osaka on Golden Week, Morning and Korea Town

The morning of the second day, I went out for a walk alone for a while. Nadine was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake her up.
二日目の朝、早く起きて、しばらく一人で散歩してきた。ネーディンは、まだ寝ていて、起こしたくなかったんだ。

Even in Osaka, in the early morning it feels deserted.

大阪でも、早朝の間に、廃村の感じがする。

 

I dunno what this temple was called, but I just kinda liked it.

このお寺は、何っていうお寺か分からないけど、気に入っちゃった。

 

Then, I wandered around a bit in the section of the city called "Chayamachi"...

そして、大阪でのちゃやまちって地域にぶらぶら歩いてて。。。

And found this intriguing art display!

この面白い出展作品を見かけた！

I took a picture of each and every one of those gnu, and I'm going to slap them on here in one go for you. You ready for this?

そのヌーの写真を一枚ずつ撮って、一発でザーと見せてあげる！よ～し、用意できた？

 

Ta-da!

ジャジャーン！

 

 

While I was getting those pictures, this couple of ladies started talking to me. They were doing some kind of research, and it involved taking a picture with every person who walked through this corridor in a five minute period. In return, I had them take pictures of us together for me, too, heheh.

この写真を撮っている間、この二人の婦人が話しかけた。何かのリサーチのために、五分間にこの廊下を通り超える人、皆と写真を撮りたがっていた。お返しに、私も写真を撮ってもらった、ハハ。

After that, I went back to the hotel. After cleaning up and prepping ourselves, Nadine and I headed to Osaka's Korea Town, in a place called Tsuruhashi. 

その後、ホテルに戻って、ちょっと準備してから、私とネーディン一緒に、大阪の鶴橋っていうKorea Townを見に行った。

 

It was still pretty early, so it wasn't terribly crowded, which was nice. There are lots of things I love about Korea Town, but one among them is the awesomely colorful tapestries and futons you can buy.

まだかなり早かったから、そんなに込んでいなくてうれしかった！私のKorea Townが好きなところは、色々あるけど、その一つはすごくカラフルな織物や布団なんだ。

 

And of course, I love the food!

もちろん、韓国料理も大好き！

This is called Toppogi (the Japanese pronunciation). It's really sweet and spicy, and I love it!

これは、「トッポギ」っていう韓国料理のおやつ。甘くて辛くて、美味しい！

I've kinda forgotten what this was called, but it's mochi batter with a peanut filling inside, fried on a teppan, and you get it piping hot.

これは、名前忘れちゃったけど、ピーナツのフィリングが入っている餅の生地が鉄板の上でしばらく焼いて、ホクホクで食べるお菓子だ。

I also bought these Korean-style mochi. Unlike Japanese mochi, these had lots of add-ins, and I rather liked them.

この韓国式の餅も買った。日本の餅と違って、材料が色々入れてあって、気に入った。

But I couldn't leave Korea Town without buying some kimchi! After all, it's for sale at just about every stall, and there are types you just can't get anywhere else.

でも、Korea Townを、キムチを買わなくて出てはいられなかったんだ！いっぱい売っているし、珍しいのもあるしね。

After trying a bunch of them, I settled on these three.

私は、様々なサンプルを食べてみて、この三つの種類にした。

 

From the top, going clockwise, surume (dried squid) kimchi, nori kimchi, and something called "hotate no himo" (scallop strings) kimchi.  They were all redolent with gochujang (korean bean paste) and spicy sesame oil, and sooooo good! Now it would be nice if I could buy them in my regular supermarket...

上から右巻きて言って、するめキムチ、海苔キムチ、最後は、「ホタテのひも」って言うキムチ。

皆、コチュジャンとラー油で味が付かられて、ご～っつ美味しかったよ！ 日常のスーパーで買えれればうれしいのにね。。。

 

So, next time, Kiyomizudera in Kyoto, Dotonbori, and okonomiyaki, which Osaka is so famous for! Watch this space!

じゃ、今度は、京都での清水寺、道頓堀 、大阪の名物のお好み焼き！楽しみにしてね！

Mata!

また！