Happy 2011!!!

明けましておめでとうございます。

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!!!

Melina x

Just let you know...

Haitai everybody! Sorry I've been quiet here on this blog. I've been extremely busy these days, but I'm happy to tell you the world that I'm going back to Okinawa for the summer!!!!!!! :):):)

Two more days until our holiday starts. We're flying via Tokyo and staying there for a week, then flying to Okinawa.

Hopefully I can update food I will have while in Tokyo/Okinawa.

Until then, see ya!

M x

Okinawa Day 2010 at Spitalfields Market!

It's Okinawa Day 2010 tomorrow!!! If you live around London, then do come and join us! It's going to be a fun event. I must be off to get some sleep. I'm getting up in 4 hours' time.

Click here for more details.

Hope to see you tomorrow!!!

Baked on 19/06/10

My husband and our daughter made flapjacks that day. He had never made them in his life, but he was inspired to make them after watching a cooking programme. My husband and our daughter both had fun making them together. When we visited my father-in-law on Father's Day, everybody there tried a piece and loved it!

Dinner on 13/06/10

Menu: Soki jiru, spinach ohitashi, and rice

That's the soup I didn't take to my friend's on the previous day. It still tastes lovely though. In the soup, I used spareribs, daikon (Japanese radish) and kelp. I made spinach ohitashi to go with it. I wanted something simple like this. I simply boiled some spinach for a couple of minutes, and squeezed out the water. Cut in 3 to 4cm length, and then soaked it in diluted hontsuyu. Hontsuyu is very useful and is commonly used in Japan.



Japanese Hontsuyu Soup Base for Noodle

Dinner on 12/06/10

Menu: Goya (bittermelon) champuru, somin (white noodle) champuru, jushi (rice with pork, shiitake, carrots), ninjin shirishiri (grated carrots and eggs), soki jiru (soup with spareribs, Japanese radish and kelp), chicken with marmalade and soy sauce

I treated my local friends to some Okinawan food at one of my friends'. Apart from the chicken dish, they are all typical Okinawan dishes. I don't know why we use the term "champuru" for the noodle dish (we use vegetables, tofu and meat in champuru dishes), but I believe there's an another name for it - somin tashiya (ソーミンタシヤー.) In traditional somin tashiya, white thin noodles, spring onions and salt are used. I would use sliced onions, tuna, and spring onions for the dish. My mum would use grated carrots as well. All the dishes are easy to make, but I will write about them another time.




This is the close-up version of the soup and rice dish. Actually, the soup wasn't a proper one. I used normal pork instead of spareribs. What happened was, I did make the proper soki jiru at home, but I wasn't confident enough to take it around. When I went to a supermarket on the way to my friend's, I couldn't find any spareribs. The soup still tasted nice though.

I was quite happy that my friends enjoyed the Okinawan food. :)





*My writing isn't good here, is it. Sorry, I'm getting tired. Time to go to bed now.

Dinner on 11/06/10

Menu: Spinach champuru, miso soup, rice, umeboshi puree

I wanted to have a simple dinner and made champuru with spinach. In champuru dishes, we use tofu, vegetables and some sort of meat (or tuna.) I've never used spinach in a champuru dish, but I thought "why not?" We had lots of spinach which I bought from the street market (three bunches for ￡1!!) I put in dashi stock, soy sauce and black pepper to taste.