title . introduction . about ikuno . journal . photos . recipes . links . email sabine Japanese Cooking with Sabine basic ingredients . all recipes Okay - you are halfway there! You opened up this part of the website, so you must be interested in making some Japanese food! Bravo! It`s really not that tough, provided that you have some basic ingredients. I am including recipes that I like - some of them are considered pretty fancy - made for special occasions, while others you could find on the dinner tables of Japanese families on normal nights. Basic Japanese cooking is not as complicated as what you would get at a Japanese restaurant back home. Often, you will find things like fried rice or noodles, fried fish, some boiled vegetables (like spinach or seaweed) and tsukemono (Japanese pickles). You will almost always find a bowl of plain, white rice, and a bowl of soup sitting there beside your plate. At tleast this is what my research has turned up! So put on your aprons and ganbatte (good luck)! Okay! You should be good to go for the basics! Are you ready to try your hand at being the "Iron Chef?" Wednesday, May 08, 2002   Make your own TOFU! OK - this one is completely untested by me - I am getting it from our local English arts and entertainment magazine, "The Kansai Time Out". Good luck! Stuff Needed: 500g of soya beans, soaked overnight and thoroughly rinsed a milk carton (cleaned) with the top cut off and many holes poked into it (for drainage), or cheese moulds cheesecloth/ clean, new J-cloth - at least 2 sheets 20g bittern (seabrine concentrate) - or try a really strong saltwater solution amounting to no more then 1/4 cup of liquid newspaper covered in saran wrap something to act as a weight Line the milk carton with a cheese cloth. Drain the soaked soya beansand pulverize in a blender. Pour the beans into a pot and add enough water to double the quantity. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-30 minutes, removing any foam which rises to the surface. In the meantime, dissolve the 20g of bittern in a little bit of water. Line a colander with cheesecloth. When the soyabeans are done, pour the liquid throught the colander - what comes out (soy milk) will become the tofu. The left over pulp (okara) is used to thicken stews and to add to boiled vegetables - it is very healthy! When the soy milk cools to about 70 degrees celsius, pour in the bittern and stir gently. The tofu should then separate from the water. Pour into moulds and cover with a cheesecloth. Place saran wrapped newspapers over top and place weights on to press out the liquid. After about 30 minutesremove the tofu from the moulds (do this under water), and store in water. It should last a few days in the refrigerator. .... Or you could just go to Safeway and buy a pound for 2 bucks.... 5/08/2002 10:17:00 PM This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?