Okonomiyaki (Japanese Pancake)

Okonomiyaki

Ingredients:

-1 cup flour + more for mixing
-3/4 cup dashi stock
-3 or 4 slices of bacon, diced
-1/2 head cabbage, slivered
-2 carrots, cut into slivers
-1 green onion, diced
-1 egg
-Okonomiyaki sauce
-Spicy Mayonnaise (mayo + a dash of Sriracha sauce)

1. Mix everything together (except the sauces). Be sure that the vegetables and bacon are cut into as small slivers as possible!
2. Continue adding flour in increments until the mixture has the consistency of pancake batter.
3. Ladle out a scoop onto a hot frying pan and spread out to about 1/4-inch thickness
4. Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes, then flip over and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes.
5. Drizzle spicy mayo and okonomiyaki sauce on top. Enjoy!

Hokkaido Milk Bread

Here I am, frantically struggling to update all the latest pictures I've taken before school starts. Unfortunately, I feel like a few of my most recent shots haven't had much thought into them. I'm not entirely satisfied with the composition of some of them...but that's okay. The most important thing is that I put them down on this blog, and maybe in the future, I'll correct these photos again.

For the majority of my life, I feel like I've been handed amazing situations and people who have really helped me through life. And for the most part, I am in constant shock at how much I have lucked out by receiving these gifts.

Recently, I've been learning to become a little more impulsive, a little more carefree, a little more free to whatever life throws at me. But sometimes, when something comes along that is almost too good to be true, I hesitate to accept it immediately. It's even after you've closed your eyes and pinched yourself blue to awaken yourself from whatever dream you may be having, when you look up and see that same thing waiting for you as open and accepting as ever, that you should maybe start considering it as reality. Maybe? I don't know...it's still a dangerous concept to let yourself go completely because it puts you in a very vulnerable position. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like I have much of a choice in the way I feel...

Tangzhong Loaf with Green Tea Custard

Okay, seriously, I surrender. I'll admit it: I'm bored. I need to go back to school, even if it means the hell of finals and stress and week-long, exercise-deprived library visits.  It's horrible! And the worst thing is that we've sort of hit a heat wave here in NorCal, and even I'm not bored or crazy enough to go running in this heat. Plus, Dad is still in Vegas for his convention, so I don't have anyone to cook for (Mom won't eat my food, unless it's to humor me)! So I'm here stuck at home, doing some occasional cooking for no one, and occasionally watching some of Mom's korean dramas (ugh, what have I resorted to!).

The other day I tried making more Tangzhong Starter because Mom has this thing against crusty breads (she says it makes her teeth feel like they're going to fall out), and Tangzhong is supposed to yield a softer crumb. I found a recipe on Do What I Like for a soft bread loaf and thought it would be fun to make some buns with them. Since I had leftover frozen matcha custard filling from my dorayaki pancakes, I decided to fill them up with it. However, I read somewhere (I lost the link) that you can also fill it with pork floss or Rou Song, so I've posted the recipe below. However, in general, this bread is very versatile and can be filled with anything from red bean paste to hot dogs or curry.

Miso Soup

I know, this isn't exactly a recipe, and I certainly cannot claim credit for making this (well, unless you count pouring in the hot water). But our next-door neighbors had just come back from a family vacation to their hometown in Osaka, Japan, and they brought back a very interesting souvenir for us.

It was a very beautiful (as are all things Japanese) box containing 9 different shapes that looked a lot like cookies or cakes. Good thing we didn't eat them though, because they were in fact ready-made miso soup mixes! Apparently, each 'shape' represents a different flavor, but we've only tried the orange one on the left so far. The cookie-like thing is actually a giant inflatable tofu containing dried green onions and some kind of pink vegetable. There's also some seasoning packets inside. Overall, it was very convenient and tasty - just like the real thing! Mom told me to pack it away and take it with me to Philadelphia, where I probably won't have such easy access to fresh food.

Dorayaki with Green Tea Cream Filling

Today was one of the slowest days I've had in a very long time. I hadn't slept well last night and woke up pretty early for no particular reason...after all, it wasn't like I had any pressing issues to address. Anyway, I woke up, ate breakfast (I think I'm starting to OD on fiber, what with FiberOne cereal for breakfast and lunch, and dinner consisting mostly of purple rice and vegetables), and decided to pass the morning making Japanese dorayaki, or sweet pancakes.

Traditionally, dorayaki contains a filling of adzuki (red bean) paste, but Dad doesn't really like it, and we didn't have any in the house. Oh, did I mention that the temperature sky-rocketed to about 95F today? I didn't really feel like leaving my front door, never mind driving to the market. So, anyway, I did some research, and apparently, people have started putting all kinds of fillings inside - peanut butter, custard cream, even nutella! I found a recipe for the custard cream and decided to tweak it a little with our leftover matcha (green tea) powder.