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This is sort of leftover control but it was pretty good. On the previous weekend, we ended up getting quite a large pork loin roast. Instead of cooking all of it one way, I decided to divide it into two portions. From one half, I made several loin chops which I made into  "tonkatsu" pork cutlet and from the other half, I made Japanese/Chinese style pot roast or "chasu" pork (in this version, I also used star anise). Toward the end of the week, I made this double pork bowl using both the tonkatsu and the pot roast. I heated the tonkatsu in the toaster oven. For the pot roast pork, I added sliced onion and the pork with the cooking liquid in a small frying pan and cooked the onion until soft and the meat was heated up. I just put these two kinds of pork on a bed of rice.  I poured the juice from the pan over the onion and pot roast pork, then placed the sliced tonkatsu and added tonkatsu sauce. For the green, I also added blanched broccoli. The pot roast was the ver

Shepherd's pie or Cottage pie is a comfort dish original from British (United Kingdom) consisted of a layer of ground meat underneath a layer of mashed potatoes.  This recipe adapted from Rachael Ray and Alton Brown . Ingredients for 4 serving (2 cup each) Mashed Potatoes 2 pounds potatoes (my favorite is Yukon) 2 Tablespoon unsalted butter 3/4 teaspoon Kosher salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 egg yolk 1/4 cup of whole milk Meat filling 1 pound ground beef 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil 1 small yellow onion about 1 cup coarsely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely mined 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced into small pieces 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 teaspoon Kosher salt 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour 2 Tablespoons tomato paste 1 teaspoon chopped Thyme leave about 3-4 sprigs, fresh or frozen 1 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 cup chicken broth or beef broth 1/2 cup frozen peas 1/2 cup frozen corn Topping 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parley 1/4 cup grated cheese like mixed cheese

At home, we almost exclusively drink espresso or espresso-based coffee. On the weekend, we usually have cappuccinos in the morning with breakfast. In the late morning, we have macchiatos . Sometimes, in the afternoon, we have straight espressos . We went though several iterations of espresso makers. We have been using an Italian-made basic espresso machine called  Rancilio Silvia  for more than 10 years. We are on the 4th and probably best model we have had. Before this one, we used  Gaggia classic  which also made decent espresso coffee. Silvia is a totally manual model without anything automatic or fancy. It has only one boiler so you have to wait  (probably close to 1 minute) for the boiler to heat up for steaming the milk after brewing the coffee. It requires some effort but it does make a good espresso and also steam. It froths the milk adequately for  cappuccino  and  latte . I have replaced and upgraded parts during the year but one advantage of owning Silvia is many 3rd party

  This recipe adapted from Today Food  and China Dumpling wrappers .They are dumplings steam-fried in a pan. The bottoms are golden brown and crisp.  This recipe made about 60 pieces.  They are freeze well too. Soy-Ginger Dipping Sauce: 1/3 cup soy sauce 2 Tbsp rice vinegar 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro 1 green onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed 1 tsp peeled, and finely grated/minced ginger, fresh or frozen 1 small red hot chili pepper or chili sauce, optional Mix all ingredients together in a glass or non reactive container.  Covered and store in the fridge up to a week.  You can mash garlic and hot pepper first then add to other ingredients.  Rice vinegar can be replaced with lemon/lime juice and add a little sugar at times to suit your taste. Dumpling: For dumpling wrappers 420 gram all purpose flour,  unbleached or bleached about 3 cups unsifted; dip and sweep. 210-220 cc water, room temperature or warm water 1/2 tsp salt  For filling 1 lb ground pork (not t

I made this dish since we had leftover Japanese sweet yam. I braised this like I would "gobo" burdock root. I could have added deep fried tofu or abura-age to the dish to make it vegetarian but I used strips of pork instead and garnished it with black sesame (white sesame may have been better). Ingredients : Japanese "satsumaimo" sweet yam, washed and thinly sliced and then julienned (amount arbitrary, here I used 1/3 of medium yam) Pork cut into strips (again the amount is arbitrary, I used pork tenderloin but pork belly would be better). 2 tsp peanuts oil and 1/4 tsp of dark sesame oil 2 tsp each of soy sauce and mirin Directions : In a wok, add oil and heat up on medium high flame. Once the oil is heated up, add the pork and stir until the color changes. Add the sweet yam and stir to coat (below picture). Add the mirin and then the soy sauce and braise until most of the liquid is gone (see below). Compared to a classic burdock root kinpira, this one is still bit

A Shigefua knife lover in Europe has recently received this knife, Shigufusa kitaeji mioroshi deba, 180 mm, with a saya from Yoshizawa Riko through me, after waiting patiently well over two years.   Here's part of his/her comment: I really like the knife. It is my first single bevel knife so I was really looking forward in receiving it. I just finished initial sharpening....(Omitted) Now it is ready to cut like a razor. 最近、ヨーロッパで重房の包丁を愛する方が、吉沢利工から私を通じて、重房鍛地身卸出刃180mm、鞘付きを受け取りました。２年以上も辛抱強く待った結果です。 その方のコメントの一部： 本当にこの包丁を気に入りました。初めての片刃包丁だったので、受け取るのを本当に楽しみにしていました。最初の研ぎを終えたところです（省略） それでカミソリのように切れるようになりました。

After making oatmeal for breakfast, my wife remembered that she used to make oatmeal cookies based on PA Dutch recipe from an old PA dutch cookbook she has had forever. She has not made this for long time for some reason, so she decided to see if they were as good as she remembered. They were! This cookie has a nice soft texture and is an excellent cookie with tea. The oatmeal, raisins and nuts make this cookie. Ingredients : 1 cup butter (or shortening) 1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 eggs 2 cups flour 1/2 Tsp. baking soda 2 Tsp. baking powder 1/2 Tsp. salt 1 Tsp. ground cinnamon 1/2 Tsp. grorund cloves 1/2 Tsp. nutmeg 1 Tsp. vanilla 2/3 cup buttermilk 1 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats 1 cup raisins 1 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts toasted) Directions : Toast the oats in the toaster oven stirring frequently until light lightly browned and fragrant. Toast the walnuts and remove brown skin by rubbing in a dish towel. Let them cool. Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add eggs in

I did not like oatmeal for breakfast because, for me, it has a peculiar slimy texture. It is kind of funny for me to say that I do not like a slimy food since many Japanese foods are characterized by their slimy texture which has never deterred me from enjoying them. In any case, it was a cold day and my wife decided to make "a breakfast which sticks to your  ribs. So here we go, oatmeal and cappuccino for breakfast. Unexpectdly, this was much better than I remembered it. The cinnamon and raisin  flavors were nice and a pat of butter did not hurt. Amazingly, there was no slimy texture to the oatmeal. I am not sure what made the difference. My wife toasted the oatmeal before making the hot cereal. I wonder whether that made a difference or Quaker oats may have changed the processing to reduce/remove the sliminess. The cappuccino was topped with very stable and creamy froth which was made with a new Nespresso milk  frother. Ingredients : 1 cup Quaker Oats old fashioned 1 3/4 cups M

Before Christmas,  my wife baked quite a few breads including Italian Christmas Panettone bread. She tried making Panettone last year but because of a time constraint (she baked on Christmas eve!), she made a quick bread version instead of the traditional yeast version. Although the quick bread was excellent in it's own right, she really wanted to make a traditonal yeast Panettone. This time, we had enough time to start with "biga" starter. She had a bit of technical problem but made it before Christmas. It came out a bit on dark side. Later we learned that when using a paper mold, the temperature and baking time may have to be adjusted (?????? 10F lower and 10 minutes shorter ????). My wife found the original recipe  on line. Despite the high done exterior the inside was still moist. Ingredients: 400 grams All-Purpose Flour (divided) 175 grams Cultured Buttermilk, divided 125 grams Egg Yolks (the yolks of about 7 eggs 200 grams dried fruit (I used raisins) 100 grams Bo

This recipe got inspired  by Gyudon-Japanese Beef Bowel without Dashi. Make 2 servings  1 Tbs vegetable oil 1/2 medium yellow onion, thickly sliced 2 tsp soy sauce 1 Tbs Sake or white wine like Sherry; etc. 1 Tbs Mirin or Aji Mirin 1 tsp sugar 6 oz beef (rib eye, or tenderloin) thinly sliced 1 green onion, thinly sliced 2 cups of cooked rice. Heating oil in a 10 inch pan over medium high heat.  Add onion, stir until soft.  Add wines; soy sauce, sugar and meat stir well.  Turn the heat down to simmer 2-3 minutes until beef is cooked.  Serve beef over a bowl of rice with some juice.  Sprinkle some green onion.

My family never had a tradition of eating "Nanakusa-gayu" 七草がゆ or "seven herb porridge" which is usually eaten on January 7th. I am not sure of its history or reasons for it but in Japan, a package of 7 herbs for this dish appears in the market when the date nears. I made this porridge after we ran out of osechi and other dishes I made for the New Year. This is a rather interesting recipe which came from Buddhist monk Nishikawa 西川和尚. This porridge contains both grated and cubes of nagaimo 長芋. I made a slight modification and added baby water cress and topped with aomori powder and the meat of pickled plum. I served it with Mackerel simmered in miso sauce  サバの味噌煮, red wine simmered chicken liver  鶏レーバーの赤ワイン煮 and simmered Japanese "kabocha" squash  カボチャの煮物 for one weekend lunch. This is a rather simple recipe. Instead of using a totally vegetarian broth (i.e. kelp broth), I used a combination of kelp and bonito flakes for the broth. Ingredients (for two sm

Japanese are quite fond of curry. It was said the original Japanese curry was first served on Japanese Navy ships and is based on English modifications to Indian curry. Now, in Japan, many curry restaurants have proliferated including ones serving very authentic regional curries such as those in India, Thailand, and Nepal in addition to Japanese style curry. Japanese have three choices if they want to eat curry at home; 1. make it from scratch using authentic methods and spices, 2. Use commercial "curry roux" which is readly available and 3. or heat up Curry-in-a-pouch which is called "retoruto-kare" レトルトカレー.  Food-in-a-pouch or  "retort pouch"  / "retortable pouch" was initially developed by the US military to replace canned or bottled food, reduce the weight and waste and also to make a meal-ready-to-eat (MRE) that could be heated quickly. It was also used during space travel. In the US, food-in-a-retort pouch did not become very popular among

This is a variation of my focaccia bread . Although this is a bit too thick to make sandwiches, it is much better as eating bread dipped in olive oil. We like this particular Spanish olive oil . It has quite robust flavors. We recently got a newer pressing (for 2017). This is not a recipe but a note to myself for future reference. I made this bread to reuse (rescue) the sponge (or starter or biga) my wife was attempting to make for her Panettone bread.  My wife started the "biga" as per the recipe she found on line (200 grams or 1 3/4 cup of flour, 125 grams or a bit more than 1/2 cup of buttermilk, a small pinch of yeast, mixed together and let to stand at room temperature for 12-16 hours or until the volume doubles). It looked quite dry for sponge and she was afraid she had not followed the recipe precisely. So she prepared another batch which also looked quite dry for sponge. In any case, she did make Panettone using the second sponge which was successful. So, we had the f