Easy Japanese Bento Set recipe.

Preparing Japanese food at home can actually be easy and hassle free. You just got to decide what you want to eat then head off the buy ingredients, cook and assemble.

The following bento takes less than 1 hour to prepare!

Here's the little dishes incorporated in my bento:
Unagi
Yakitori (chicken and quail egg)
Yakiniku
Chawamushi
Mild Japanese chicken curry
Salmon sashimi
Japanese Rice

Please look through the ingredients list and cook in the following order to maximize time and freshness of food.

1. Japanese Rice
3 cups Japanese rice for 6 servings
Cook according to package.

2. Chawamushi:
Ingredients:
(makes 6 cups of chawamushi)

6 frozen shrimps, thawed (frozen packed shrimps are crunchier than fresh ones and are used in restaurants)
3 kani (imitation Japanese snow crab legs)
6 slices of Kamaboko (Japanese fish cake)
1 chicken thigh cut into 6 cubes
6 quarter sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon of Japanese shoyu (available from Daiso or Medi-ya)
Pepper
280ml of water
60ml of Kikkoman Hon Tsuyu (available at NTUC finest or Medi-ya)
3 eggs, beaten
Optional: salmon roe/caviar/sliced
Unagi

Equipments
6 sets of daiso chawamushi
Porcelain cups with lids
Steaming cloth if there's no lid on cups
Sieve
Measuring cup
Frying pan
Steamer
1 satay stick

1. Season cubed chicken thighs with shoyu and pepper.
2. Slice Kani into halves.
3. Heat frying pan, add a little oil, heat for 1 minute on low heat.
4. Pan fry cubed chicken thigh on both surfaces for 1 minute on each side. Remove and set aside.
5. On Medium heat, pan fry shrimps for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side, or has changed color.
6. Place in each cup, 1 of each: shrimp, chicken, kani, Kamaboko, shiitake mushroom.
7. Mix water and kikkoman Hon Tsuyu. The taste should be like Japanese broth. Add more Hon Tsuyu if you like.)
8. Add beaten eggs to broth and sieve egg mixture.
9. Carefully pour egg mixture into each cup, making sure you cover the filling. If there's excess, distribute the mixture again.
10. If you don't have porcelain cups
With lids, pls get a steaming cloth from Daiso, wet and tie the cloth to the cover of your steamer, add water to steamer and bring to boil.

11. Place cups in aluminum tray and steam for 15 minutes on medium heat. To check if cooked, use satay stick to pierce through and if liquid comes out clear, you are done!
12. Serve immediately! Top with salmon roe/caviar/sliced
Unagi if you wish.

3. Mild Japanese chicken curry
Ingredients:
1 pack mild Vermont curry
1 big yellow onion roughly chopped
2 russet potatoes peeled and roughly chopped
Cubed chicken thighs, pat dry
Oil
1. heat pot and add oil.
2. When oil is heated up, add onions and potatoes.
3. Pan fry until brown, add chicken and pan fry until surface brown.
4. Pour water to over all ingredients.
5. Bring to boil.
6. Simmer till potatoes are cooked through.
7. Add curry cubes, according to thickeness and liking. Do taste test.
8. When satisfied bring to a boil. Now it's ready!

4. Yakitori (scallop and quail egg)
Ingredients:
12 scallops
12 Boiled quail eggs
Yakitori sauce
Shredded seaweed for garnishing
1. String scallops onto skewers and Pan fry on medium heat on your flat pan.
2. Turn down to low heat. Add Yakitori sauce, simmer for a while on both sides.
3. Once scallops are cooked through, remove and add quail egg. Drizzle more yakitori sauce and it's ready!

5. Yakiniku
1 pack Shabu Shabu pork 200g
1 tablespoon Yakiniku sauce
Sesame seeds for garnish
Oil
1. heat wok with oil.
2. On medium heat add Shabu Shabu pork and use chopsticks to separate the slices to cook evenly.
3. Add yakiniku sauce and stir fry for 2 minutes. Now it's done!

6. Unagi
Get a pack of frozen unagi of your choice and place the sealed bag of unagi in boiling water for a few minutes. You are done with that!


7. Sashimi
Buy your own choice of sashimi and only prepare when you have assemble the rest of the dishes.
Do use the given wasabi and use your clean and dry hands to shape it into a leaf shape and use toothpick to create veins of the leaf for decoration.


Now enjoy this lovely Japanese dinner with your loved ones! Hope you like this recipe!

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl



R

Tempura Cereal Prawns

Imagine crispy prawns in yummy crunchy cereal plus deep fried curry leaves. So yummy isn't it. You can never stop at 1!

Ingredients:
500g Tails on Frozen large prawns or fresh large prawns
100g Nissin Tempura flour (the best!!!)
160ml cold water
5 tablespoon Nestum Cereal
1 tablespoon milk powder
1 tablespoon sifted icing sugar
Curry leaves
Chili padi

Tempura prawns
1. Mix tempura flour with cold water
2. Dip prawns in flour mixture
3. Deep fry at 160 deg Celsius till golden brown
4. Drain oil and set aside
5. Deep fry curry leaves at 160 degree Celsius for 1-2 minutes or until leaves turn translucent and crispy. Avoid placing it too long as it will brown and turn bitter.

Cereal
1. Combine cereal, milk powder and sugar and mix well.
2. Stir fry in low heat till warm and set aside

Presentation:
Place tempura prawns on plate, followed by cereal and curry leaves and garnish with chili padi if desired.

Enjoy!

Inspiring Yummy Mummies
PoshPearl

Homemade mashed potatoes

Mashed potatoes are really good on its own or with steaks, filling for buns, or eat it cold with salads. Mashed potatoes makes a good comfort food too!
My version of mashed potatoes do not come with brown sauce and it is a simplified version of a Japanese potato salad.

Ingredients:
3 russet potatoes
3 eggs
6 slices of picnic ham
Kewpie brand mayonnaise

For garnishing:
Japanese cucumber slices
Cherry tomatoes

1. Boil potatoes and eggs till potatoes are soft and can be easily pierced (40minutes) and eggs are fully cooked (8minutes)
2. Peel the potatoes skins and the shell of the eggs.
3. Use a fork to mash everything until you get the consistency you want.
4. Add mayonnaise. I added about 5 tablespoons.
5. Garnish with tomatoes and cucumber.

Mentaiko salmon tamago don

My mummy loves Mentaiko salmon served in restaurants. However after eating my version, she doesn't want to eat out anymore! You will be pleased to know how easy it is to prepare this dish that will make your guest grinning and asking for more servings! Thanks to Kew Pie Mentaiko bottled sauce and kikkoman hon tsuyu!

Ingredients listed is per serving
1 piece of sliced salmon
Kewpie mentaiko sauce Enough to drizzle on the top surface area of the salmon

Sliced onions, amount to your liking
1 teaspoon kikkoman hon tsuyu
1 beaten egg

Japanese rice. Ratio of water to rice 1:1

Optional garnish: seaweed and togarashi (Japanese chili powder)

1. Panfry salmon on medium heat, skin facing low, till fragrant and skin does not stick to the pan.
2. Flip over and till color change with a little brownish on the surface. Remove and set aside and drizzle Mentaiko sauce.
3. Using leftover salmon oil, sauté
onions till tender.
3. In a bowl, add hon tsuyu to egg and whisk well.
4. Add egg to pan and turn on fire on low. Stir egg continuously till it become scrambled. I like my eggs slightly runny so the eggs are ready within 1 minute.
5. Scoop cooked Japanese rice and place scrambled eggs, onions and salmon.
6. Add garnish and serve immediately!

Inspiring yummy mummies
PoshPearl

Review: Mediya Gyudon Kit

Your kids and hubby is hungry. You have just spent 2 1/2 hours baking breads and your family is hoping for a yummy Japanese meal. What do you do?
Well, the mediya Gyudon kit came to the rescue! Serving size is just nice for 2 adult and 1 child.
Just sautéed the onions with a little oil until fragrant and add the beef. Stir fry with a pair of chopsticks for 2-3 minutes or until 70% of the beef has turned brown before adding the sauce provided. After the beef is totally cooked, switch off the fire and serve with scrambled eggs (beaten with hon tsuyu) over steaming hot japanese rice if you like.
Like it to be spicy? Add lots of S&B brand togarashi (Japanese chili powder) and you got yourself a yummy and satisfying meal. Not enough? Pick up a sashimi platter and a pack of green tea sachets to complete your meal and you will have your hubby and child telling you how yummy it is all night long!

Japanese Char Siew that Melts in your mouth

Eating Ramen in Singapore cost an average of 10-30 dollars, depends on the ingredients. Hence I decided to give it a go at creating my own Japanese Char Siew to go along with store bought packet ramen. Using pressure cooker, I managed to achieve the melt in your mouth texture. This recipe is easy and besides eating with ramen, the char siew can be served over hot Japanese rice or a a side dish with some beer for your hubby if you like!

Here's the ingredients:
Pork belly 600g
Japanese Shoyu, 2tbsp
Japanese cooking sake, 5 tbsp
Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine), 3 tbsp
Hinode chicken BBQ sauce, 1 tbsp
Sugar, 1 tsp
Green onion, 2 stalks
Garlic, 1 clove

1. Using only tap water, pressure cook the pork belly twice in the pressure cooker.

2. Combine the ingredients and marinate at least 5 hours or overnight, in a bowl, flip over to marinate evenly.

3. Steam the whole bowl of marinate and meat for 10minutes in medium heat.
4. Slice and serve with ramen or as a lovely side dish!

Inspiring Yummy mummies,
PoshPearl

Chawamushi that melts in your mouth

I used to spend money in Japanese restaurants to satisfy my cravings for chawamushi and settling on set bentos just to have a chawamushi without paying for the costly Ala-carte price which can cost from two to six SGD dollars. However, the truth is, the cost price of making a cup of chawamushi is a far cry from the price to pay after service charge. In fact, not only do you get a yummy and satisfying melt- in-your mouth texture, you get the thrill of DECIDING on the ingredients you want! It is be as luxurious as adding salmon roe or caviar as a topping or adding Japanese scallops (hotate) in it. Whatever you and your family fancy!
Here's a simple modified version I use which is perfect for busy parents so that you can serve that piping hot chawamushi within 30 minutes from
Preparation to steaming to serving!

Here's my YouTube video to show you how to prepare it as well. :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mThNGjG7rXA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Ingredients:
(makes 6 cups of chawamushi)

6 frozen shrimps, thawed (frozen packed shrimps are crunchier than fresh ones and are used in restaurants)
3 kani (imitation Japanese snow crab legs)
6 slices of Kamaboko (Japanese fish cake)
1 chicken thigh cut into 6 cubes
6 quarter sliced shiitake mushrooms
1 tablespoon of Japanese shoyu (available from Daiso or Medi-ya)
Pepper
300ml of water
40ml of Kikkoman Hon Tsuyu (available at NTUC finest or Medi-ya)
3 eggs, beaten
Optional: salmon roe/caviar/sliced
Unagi

Equipments
6 sets of daiso chawamushi
Porcelain cups with lids
Steaming cloth if there's no lid on cups
Sieve
Measuring cup
Frying pan
Steamer
1 satay stick

1. Season cubed chicken thighs with shoyu and pepper.
2. Slice Kani into halves.
3. Heat frying pan, add a little oil, heat for 1 minute on low heat.
4. Pan fry cubed chicken thigh on both surfaces for 1 minute on each side. Remove and set aside.
5. On Medium heat, pan fry shrimps for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side, or has changed color.
6. Place in each cup, 1 of each: shrimp, chicken, kani, Kamaboko, shiitake mushroom.
7. Mix water and kikkoman Hon Tsuyu. The taste should be like Japanese broth. Add more Hon Tsuyu if you like.)
8. Add beaten eggs to broth and sieve egg mixture.
9. Carefully pour egg mixture into each cup, making sure you cover the filling. If there's excess, distribute the mixture again.
10. If you don't have porcelain cups
With lids, pls get a steaming cloth from Daiso, wet and tie the cloth to the cover of your steamer, add water to steamer and bring to boil.

11. Place cups in aluminum tray and steam for 15 minutes on medium heat. To check if cooked, use satay stick to pierce through and if liquid comes out clear, you are done!
12. Serve immediately! Top with salmon roe/caviar/sliced
Unagi if you wish.

Inspiring Yummy mummies,
PoshPearl