Tuesday 23 December 2014

Traditional New Year dish

お節料理

Like Christmas in Norway, for many people new year is a family-gathering event in Japan.
Traditional Japanese new year dish is an important part of this occasion.
Probably you´ve heard of `O-mochi (sticky rice cake)´ that sends quite a few people to hospital every new year days because they clog the throat with the o-mochi?  It´s my husband´s favourite story when he explains about this sticky substance!
But it´s very tasty and I don´t know anyone who dislike it in Japan!


Recently I was a little tired of baking all the `julekaker´ (Although I love them a lot and am quite good at it!)
Then I suddenly come up with an idea to make a Japanese new year dish for family and fiends BEFORE Christmas.
I didn´t whether it´s possible to make traditional Japanese dishes in Norway, but here we go, this is the result and I´m very satisfied.  Except kuromame (cooked black beans) and thick konbu (kelp), I obtained the ingredients in Oslo.  So year 2015 I´d like to update all the recipes if someone wants to try.


They will be delivered to my dear friends.
Hope they enjoyed them :-)


I wish you a great holiday season and a happy new year!
God jul og godt nyttår!







Thursday 4 December 2014

Deep-fried aubergine with miso sauce

茄子田楽

This miso sauce is easy to make and very versatile to any sort of food.
I like to combine the sauce with zucchini, figs, tofu or aubergine as here.


Serves 4

Vegetable oil for deep-frying
1 aubergine
1ss toasted white poppy seeds (optional)

MISO SAUCE
80 g miso paste (red or white)
1-2ss sugar
2ts mirin
2ts water



1 Combine all the miso sauce ingredients in a pot.
Over low heat, stir until the sauce thickened the consistency.
(NB: it´s easy to burn.  Stir constantly!)

2 Pour vegetable oil to a pan about 1 cm, then preheat.

3 Cut the stems off the aubergine.  Slice into 2 cm rounds.
Piece with a fork in several places or use knife if you prefer.

4 Deep-fry the aubergine until tender.
(They won´t be crisp)

5 Drain the aubergine well then top with the sauce,
sprinkle with the poppy seeds.

Tuesday 2 December 2014

Cooked minced chicken with rice in lunch box

鶏そぼろ弁当

Minced chicken meat cooked in sake, soya & sugar is a classic topping on white steamed rice.
With scrambled egg and cooked green vegetable a Japanese tricolour lunch box is ready to go!


Serves 4

200g minced chicken meat
1/2dl sake
2ss sugar
2ss soya sauce
1/2ts grated ginger

4 eggs, lightly beaten
1ss sugar
1 pinch of salt 

50g green beans

4 bowls (ca. 500g) cooked rice




1 Cook the chicken meat, sake and 2ss sugar in a pan.
Stir constantly by using 4-5 chopsticks.
Add the soya sauce and ginger then simmer further until the meat is well cooked.

2 Make scrambled egg.  Add 1ss sugar to lightly beaten eggs then cook.
Stir constantly by using 4-5 chopsticks.

3 Boil the beans in lightly salted water until just tender (ca. 2 mins).
Drain and cool under cold running water.
Cut in 0.5cm length.

4 Divide the rice among 4 lunch boxes (or rice bowls, if you prefer),
and top each with the chicken, scrambled egg and green beans.

Sweet-vinegared ginger goes very well this dish.
Enjoy!




Thursday 20 November 2014

Prawn & pork meatballs with oyster sauce

海老と豚肉の肉団子・オイスターソース


Oyster sauce… yes, it´s a Chinese thing. 
But we love including Chinese and Korean food for everyday meals.
This is one of my recipes that, whenever I make it, all are gone at once!
Enjoy!


Serves 4

300g pealed prawns
100g minced pork
4 small shiitake mushrooms (preferably dried)
1ts chopped spring onion

1 egg
2ss potate starch (potetmel)
1/2ts salt 
1ss sake
1ss sugar
freshly  ground pepper

for sauce
1 garlic clove
1dl water
2ss oyster sauce
1ss sugar



1 Sork the mushrooms in cold water until they get soft if one use dried ones.
Place the prawns, minced pork, mushrooms and spring onion in a food processor.
Blend until the prawns are coarsely chopped.

2 Transfer mixture to a mixing ball then add the egg, potato starch, salt, sake, sugar and pepper.
Blend until smooth.

3 Roll the mixture into meatballs that are about the size of a small apricot.

4 Heat oil in a large frying pan, add the meatballs and fry them until browned.
Remove the meatballs from the pan, transfer to a plate.

5 To make sauce, clean the frying pan with kitchen paper then heat some oil.
Crush the garlic clove by using side of knife.
Fry the garlic until brown then remove from the pan.
Add the water, oyster sauce in the pan, sugar, mix well.
(Be careful!  The water can splash with the heat!)
Return the meatballs to the pan and cook further for 7 mins.

6 Transfer the meatballs to a serving plate.
Decorate them with thinly sliced white-part of spring onion.
(we call it `shiraga negi´)










Monday 17 November 2014

Miso Marinated salmon

鮭の西京焼風


Restaurant Nobu made this traditional dish famous by calling it `Black Cod´.
Here is a salmon version but you can also use scallops and even chicken.


Serves 4

4 salmon fillets

6ss miso (soya paste)
3ss mirin
3ss sake


1 Mix the miso, mirin, and sake well.  Marinate the salmon fillets with mixture for 1-3 days. 
(Put them in plastic container and refrigerate.  Turn around the fillets 1-2 times a day)

2 Take the salmon out from the mixture.  Clean them with kitchen paper.  Lay them on baking paper.

3 Put in the oven at 200 degree for 20 mins, or until cooked.