Chinbin (Okinawan-style crepe)

We have some kinds of crepes in Okinawa, but today I'm going to write about a sweet crepe called Chinbin. It is very simple, but really tasty. I have never made it from scratch and always use this packet mix. There are only simple ingredients in the mix: wheat flour, Glutinous riceflour, baking powder, brown sugar and salt. I just add water to the mix, and then fry it as you would any other crepe mix.

Our crepe has a distinctive brown sugar flavour and tastes really nice. We commonly use brown sugar which is much more nutritious than refined white sugar. (we grow sugarcane, and brown sugar is one of the popular souvenirs from Okinawa.)

When I make Chinbin from scratch, I will write a recipe for it, so you can try :-)

Dinner on 30/10/07

Menu: Okonomiyaki

My husband wanted something different for dinner, so I decided to make simple Okonomiyaki. I wanted my daughter to try some, so I used cornmeal flour and rice flour instead of wheat flour (she had a mild wheat allergy and is supposed to be fine now, but I don't give her a lot of flour.) I only used finely chopped cabbage, onion, green onion, grated potatoes and two kinds of flour mixed with water (I used a bit of mince beef for my husband.)

We didn't have Okonomiyaki sauce, so we used Bull Dog Tonkatsu Sauce instead. My husband truly enjoyed his dinner!



Okonomiyaki kit / Japanese pizza - 4.3 oz x 3

Dinner on 29/10/07

Menu: Stir-fry with moyashi and bacon, miso soup, rice and umeboshi puree

We went food shopping at Tesco before dinner in the evening. When we came back, I started cooking right away and decided to make a stir-fry as we had just bought fresh moyashi. We had two slices of bacon to use, so I used this as well as green pepper, onion, ginger and garlic. I made the stir-fry nice and simple without adding too much seasoning. In the miso soup, I used onion, carrot, leek, brussel sprouts and parsnip.

I will write a recipe for the stir-fry which is really easy to make.

Bibimbap (Bibinba)

This is a famous Korean dish called Bibimbap (or Bibinba as we call it.) I found an easy recipe for it, so I decided to make it (it must have been more than a couple of years ago.) As I was a vegetarian for almost ten years, I had never tried this dish until I made it for myself.

It was really easy to make, and really tasty. My husband who had never tried it before loved it very much, and I ended up making it twice in a week!

I will write a recipe for it soon.

Pork Pilaf

Serves 4

3 cups (600cc) of short-grain rice
200g thin sliced pork, cut in thin short strips
1/2 onion, cut in 1cm cubes
1/2 celery, cut in 1cm cubes
1 carrot, cut in 5mm slices, cut into quarters (gingko-leaf shaped slices)
1 clove garlic, cut finely
50g frozen peas
3 cups (600cc) of soup stock (I would use chicken stock)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2tbsp turmeric
1 bay leaf
a pinch of sea salt & pepper

1. Wash rice a few hours before cooking and let it dry.
2. In a pre-heated flameproof casserole dish, add oil, onion, celery and stir over medium heat until they are soft.
3. Add carrot and stir for a couple of minutes and then add pork and garlic.
4. When pork changes to a white colour, add rice and mix them together.
5. When the rice is coated in oil, add curry powder and turmeric and stir for a further couple of minutes.
6. Stir in hot soup stock, bay leaf, salt & pepper and make the surface flat with a wooden spoon, and then bring to boil.
7. Reduce heat, stir in peas, cover and let it simmer over a low heat for about 25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed.
8. Remove from heat and let it simmer for further 10 minutes.
9. Stir through pilaf with wooden spoon and serve.

Dinner on 22/10/07

Menu: Meatballs and vegetables, miso soup and rice balls

This type of meatball is popular in Japan and is one of the popular lunch box menus. These meatballs remind me of my childhood. Especially, they are popular amongst kids.

I hadn't had meatballs for a long time, and I decided to make them from scratch. It was very easy to make. I made rice balls to go with them. My daughter had the same, and we all enjoyed our dinner.

By the way, I completely recovered from flu which went on for a while. One of my ears was congested until a couple of days ago, and it was difficult for me to talk to other people. (I could hear my own voice and breathing while talking, and it was bothering me.) My daughter coughs sometimes, but we all are feeling fine now.

Flu.....

Yes, I did catch a cold... really bad one. I recon we had a flu or something as it was really really bad. We suffered a lot. I started feeling achy and shively just before going to bed on Wedneseday night. The following day was like a hell to me. The muscle of my both legs and knees felt achy, and I had a terrible headache. Each hair was like a needle, and I just felt awful. I didn't have an apetite either. I felt sick for a couple of days.

My daughter had a temperature on Tuesday night, but it went down back to normal on the following morning. Amazing recovery!

I didn't enjoy cooking when I felt sick. I knew that I needed to eat something, but I didn't know what to eat. I was too ill to think about it. While in the kitchen feeling very sick, I thought of my mum. I really missed my family back home. In my culture, it's quite normal to help each other when somebody is in that kind of situation, especially, if the person is a family member.
We can't stand not doing anything for the person.

It wasn't easy to look after my daughter who was also unwell, when I was very ill, but I'm getting better and better day by day.

Last night, I cooked rice with Daikon (Japanese radish) & Aburaage (fried tofu) and miso soup with Chinese cabbage and Daikon. I cooked pork with suger, soy sauce, cooking sake & garlic for my husband. I was almost crying in the kitchen as I felt really sick and realising there's nobody to help me. I felt homesick.

I feel much better today and cooked a nice soup which I'm going to write about next time.

Lunch on 02/10/07

Menu: Vegetable & bacon puree soup

My husband and daughter have a cold at the moment, and I made soup for them. I think that soups are comforting food, especially, when you are ill. Luckily, they seemed to have an appetite, so I made the soup quite thick. I used potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, bacon, garlic, ginger, cooking sake and pepper to taste. (I made soup without bacon for my daughter.) I used a hand blender (for the first time!) to puree the soup. It was very easy to make. I will write the recipe for it some time soon. I made it following what my heart told me, and I didn't measure the ingredients.

Hope they will get over the cold soon before I catch it...