Kasutera/Castella

We have different kinds of cakes in Japan. Most of them are french-style, I think. Of course, we have our own sweets and cakes, but the western-style cakes are popular as well. One of my favourites is kasutera, a sponge cake which is a specialty of Nagasaki. Apparently, it was originally from Spain and brought to Japan in the 16th century.

A couple of years ago, I was dying to eat this sponge cake, so made my own. It turned out to be really easy to make, actually. When I was in Okinawa, I had never baked cakes. I didn't grow up using the oven to start with and always thought that baking was pain in the neck. When I cook, I don't normally measure the ingredients. It works that way in cooking, but not in baking. You have to be accurate how much flour to use and so on. Otherwise, it will be spoiled.

When I baked kasutera for the first time, I was amazed how easy it was and how good it was. It was a real kasutera! I had never thought I could make my own kasutera in my life.

Baking is still not my expertise, but there are a few things I can bake.I will write the recipe for kasutera soon.

*The shape of kasutera is normally rectangle, but mine is rounded as I didn't have the right baking tin... Sorry about the bad photo. It's a bit blurred.

Pork with Ginger & Soy Sauce

Serves 4

4 thin sliced pork
1 big green pepper (optional)
1 medium size onion (optional)

Marinade
2 tbsp soy sauce
2.5 tbsp Japanese/Chinese cooking sake (or dry sherry)
1.5 tbsp sugar
1.5 tbsp grated ginger

1. Combine the marinade sauce, and marinate the pork in the mixture for about 15 minutes.
2. In a frying pan, fry the sliced pepper and onion. Add some salt & pepper to taste and put aside.
3. In the same frying pan, heat some oil and add the pork (shake off the sauce.) Fry until browned on both side.
4. Pour the sauce over the pork and bring to the boil.
5. Cook until the sauce thickens.

Serve with boiled rice; it goes well with the pork :-)

Dinner on 29/06/07

Menu: Roast chicken; boiled potatoes; boiled carrots; peas; roasted aubergine & onions

We had chicken two nights in a row... We had to use the chicken legs, so no choice.

I soaked the chicken legs over night in salty herb water and roasted them in the oven. I sprinkled sage on the potatoes - it goes well with them! The chicken was lovely and tender. Soaking it in salty herb water helps to make the chicken tender and moist. We both enjoyed it.

We are a bit naughty and having rice pudding again. It's ready to be eaten in a minute. Can't wait to eat it!

Dinner on 28/06/07

Menu: Chicken pilaf; salad

My husband has come back from his business trip. I wanted to cook something nice using chicken (we bought a pack of chicken legs the other day, and they had to be used soon.) I didn't want to stand in the kitchen for a long time, so I decided to make chicken pilaf which is quite easy to make. I used tomatoes, onions, garlic, peas and chicken. I will write the recipe soon.

It was quite nice, and my husband enjoyed it :-)

Dinner on 27/06/07, Rice Pudding

I made dinner just for myself last night. My husband has gone to Ukraine on business and are staying there over night. I had a simple supper: tuna salad and baked potatoes. The salad was really nice. I used lettuce, cucumber, carrots, celery, radish, red peppers, chickpeas, tuna and fried onions! I like having salad with tuna and don't use any dressing. I used fried onions for salad for the first time - they went well with salad.

The night before, I made rice pudding for the first time! We bought a bag of pudding rice the other day, and I heard my husband saying "Rice pudding! Oh, that would be lovely!" I bought it to use for cooking, but I decided to make the pudding for him. After having the salmon, I got the pudding out of the oven saying "Are you ready for pudding?" My husband was very surprised and really enjoyed it. I wasn't sure if I made it right as I had never tried a proper rice pudding before. It seemed to be a success :-)

Dinner on 26/06/07

Menu: Salmon steak; boiled sweetcorn; rice salad; radish

We had salmon steak for dinner. Normally, we buy rainbow trouts, but this time, we bought salmon instead. I like cooking fish simply without adding too much seasoning or sauce. I just sprinkled salt & pepper as well as potato flour on the salmon. It was really nice. I love rice salad these days because it's refreshing. It goes well with meat. I like eating radish when I have fish. Again, I couldn't eat all the fish, so I saved some for tomorrow.

Dinner on 25/06/07

Menu: Pork with ginger & soy sauce; fried green peppers & onions; steamed aubergines; simple vegetable soup; rice with peas


As we didn't go shopping over the weekend, we were running out of food. My husband was really tired after working for 27 hours from Friday to Saturday - it was crazy! He was going to work late afternoon on Monday (25/06), so we went to the local supermarket to buy some food just before the lunch time. I saw that packs of pork were on offer and was inspired to cook pork with ginger & soy sauce, which I hadn't cooked for a while, for dinner.

The pork was tender as I used Chinese cooking sake (I use it instead of Japanese cooking sake because it's cheaper than ours). It was rather a lot of meat, so I saved some for lunch the following day.

Sparerib Steak with Marmalade & Soy Sauce

Serves 4

4 pork spare rib steaks
1 clove garlic crashed

Sauce
5 tbsp marmalade
3 tbsp soy sauce
5 tbsp Japanese/Chinese cooking sake (or dry sherry)

1. In a pre-heated frying pan or flameproof casserole, add a little oil, garlic and the steaks.
2. Fry until browned on both sides.
3. Add the sauce and bring to the boil.
4. Reduce the heat and cook until the sauce thickens.

*Alternatively, you can use chicken instead of pork.

Branch on 24/06/07

Menu: simple chicken soup with ginger & Chinese cooking sake; rice; umeboshi puree

We had a long day yesterday. We had to take our daughter to the allergy clinic in the Ealing area and used the public transportation which was a nightmare!

We were very exhausted by the time we arrived home. When I woke up this morning, it was already 10:30am! I still felt tired and a bit chilly. It's not cold, but it's definately colder than yesterday. I wanted something warm to eat.

So, I decided to make my favourite chicken soup. I created the recipe a few years ago and am proud of it. It's simple, but really nice. I used daikon, Chinese cabbage, spring onions and salt to taste.

I feel warmer now :-)

Dinner on 22/06/07

Menu: Chicken with tomatoes, aubergine, onions, green peppers; rice with peas


I was on the phone with my mum yesterday. I always ask her what she's cooked for that day to get some ideas for my dinner. She told me about the curry she had had at a restaurant with my dad last week. It was a very simple tomato curry - only a few chunks of beef in it. She asked one of the waiters there what was in it, and he said "Only tomatoes and curry powder." My mum got an idea from it and made tomato curry the following day. She fried some garlic and chicken (instead of beef) and added tinned tomatoes as well as grated carrots and potatoes. Apparently, it was really nice.

"Thank you for the idea, Mum!" Hanging up the phone, I got some chicken out of the freezer. I was quite excited as I knew that my husband would love it. He likes curries, especially on Friday night.

I got a call from my husband when I was cutting vegetables. He said "I won't be back home tonight." It's been really hectic for him at work, and some people at work seemed to be staying as well.

So, change of the plan then. I decided to cook chicken with tomatoes, green peppers, aubergine and onions. I added some dried thyme and sage to taste.
It was really nice!

My daughter's dinner on 21/06/07

Everyday, I make vegetable soup and soft rice for my daughter, varying the type of vegetables from day to day.

She loves vegetables as much as I do! My friends are quite impressed with her as she gets really excited when eating vegetables.

That day, I used Chinese cabbage, cabbage, carrots, spring onions, daikon (Japanese radish/mooli) and onions for the soup. She loved it!

She can feed herself quite well now. She gets annoyed with me when I try to feed her and pushes my hands away! Well, sometimes I have to feed her when I want her to try a bit harder food. Otherwise, she swallows it without chewing enough.
Anyway, she seemed to be satisfied with her dinner :-)

Dinner on 21/06/07

Menu:Yasai champuru(vegetable stir-fry); Miso soup;
Rice; Umeboshi puree

As I had a simple lunch on that day, I wanted something nice for dinner.

Especially, when I'm ill, I always want comfort food. So, I decided to cook Yasai champuru which is one of the typical Okinawan dishes.

I used cabbage, moyashi (bean sprouts), onions, carrots, green peppers, bacon and of course, tofu :-) I used garlic & ginger as well. I put in some soy sauce and Chinese five spices to taste. We don't normally use Chinese five spice in our cooking, but I quite like it.

I really enjoyed my dinner.

Lunch on 21/06/07

Menu: Simple vegetable soup;Simple rice bowl with avocado, daikon and cucumber
















I didn't feel well earlier this morning. My daughter has a cold, and so does my husband. I must have caught it from them... I didn't want it to get worse, so I stayed in relaxing. I didn't want to stand in the kitchen for a long time - I wanted something quick and easy, but tasty.


"What can I have for lunch? Let's see...."

Opening the fridge, I found bits and pieces. The first thing which caught my eye was avocado.

"Okay, rice bowl with avocado then!"

It's very easy to make. All you need is cutting. Well, you need some cooked rice as well. Normally, I have it as a sushi rice bowl. I would make sushi rice (mix rice with vinegar & sugar) and put avocado, cucumber and tuna with mayonnaise on top of it. But today, I didn't bother making sushi rice, so I simply used normal cooked rice. When I say rice, that's Japanese rice :-) I didn't want to open a tinned tuna and make tuna&mayonnaise either, so the rice bowl I made was really simple. I sprinkled some soy sauce mixed with wasabi and nori(type of seaweed). It was really nice!


The soup was leftover from last night. Whenever my body needs lots of vegetables, I make vegetable soup. I used daikon, carrots, spring onions, cabbage, Chinese cabbage for the soup. I didn't add anything else.

If you think making sushi is too complicated, you can make this type of rice bowl. All you need is making sushi rice, which is simple enough, and put ingredients on top. And of course, don't forget to sprinkle some soy sauce!

Goya (Bitter Melon)

Okinawans love our bitter melon.

We have long hot summers, and eat it often as it contains lots of vitamin C.

There are several ways of cooking bitter melon, and the most common way is to stir-fry.


In Okinawa, we have many kinds of stir-fry dishes - we call it "champuru" which literally means "mix". There are many kinds of stir-fry dishes in Japan, but the difference between their stir-fries and ours is that we put tofu in them.

I bought a couple of bitter melons from a Chinese market the other day and cooked a very simple Goya champuru (bitter melon stir-fry).

I normally use moyashi (bean sprouts), carrots, tofu, tinned tuna, egg along with bitter melon, but I only had bitter melon, carrots and tinned tuna that day. It was still delicious!

Traditionally, we only add salt to taste, but I add a bit of dashi (powdered kelp or bonito) as well. Some people use soy sauce.

Some people use sliced pork instead of tuna, but I prefer using tuna.

I truly enjoyed my Goya champuru, and so did my 18 month-old daughter!

Dinner on 4/6/07

Menu:Miso soup; rice; spinach, salmon& grated Daikon




I have miso soup almost everyday. I love putting in lots of vegetables and seaweed. Last night, I added Chinese cabbage, onion, daikon(Japanese radish/mooli), carrots and wakame(seaweed) in my miso soup.

When making miso soup, we normally use dashi(either bonito stock or kelp stock) before adding ingredients to the boiling water, but if you put in lots of vegetables, you don't really need it (you could use it if you want).

The ingredients of the simple and typical miso soup would be wakame (seaweed), tofu and spring onion. My non-Japanese friends would ask me what to put in miso soup, but there is no rule - you can add anything you want! We sometimes use meat along with vegetables. I love using sweet potatoes or normal potatoes - they give a sweet taste to the soup.



The main dish was boiled spinach and salmon (canned) with grated daikon on top. It was really nice. I felt like having salmon, so I decided to make this dish. We love having fish with grated daikon! I added a dash of soy sauce to taste.

My Breakfast

My day starts up with two cups of lukewarm water.
I drink it as soon as I wake up and don't have anything else for at lease half an hour or so.

The reason why I drink water the first thing in the morning is because I heard that we lose water from our body while sleeping. We lose more than a couple of glasses of water - can you believe that?

I normally have cornflakes or rice crisps with soy milk, but my favourite is porridge :-)

I love eating porridge with soy milk, a few drops of vanilla extract and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top!!

Oh, that's the king of breakfasts!

Welcome to my kitchen!

Hello. My name is Melina.

I'm from a small island called Okinawa, which is located southwest of the main islands of Japan. (well, to be specific, Okinawa prefecture consists of 161 islands, and I'm from the mainland Okinawa.)
As I brought up by my mum who is a health freak, I'm also a health freak myself :-)

Actually, the longevity of Okinawans ranks number one in the world !!

I love cooking and enjoy creating new recipes.
I would like to share the love of food and cooking in this site with you.

Hope you will like my website and keep coming back!