Check out My New Blog!!

Hey all!!

Check out my new blog at http://www.kaoricooks.com!

It's chock full of new recipes with lots of beautiful pictures and step-by-step instructions for cooking simple and delicious recipes!!

The most recent post is about how to make mozzarella in 30 minutes, from scratch! You can view it at this link: http://www.kaoricooks.com/recipe/homemade-3-ingredient-mozarella-cheese-in-30-minutes/


Best wishes to you in the kitchen!

Kaori

{MOCHI-FILLED} Strawberry Japanese Rice Cake Recipe!

Japanese food is a big passion of mine. 
When it comes to mochi, this passion increases seven-fold.

Mochi, mochi, mochi.

 The gooey, soft, and sensual bite of supple, steamed sweet rice flour, dusted lightly in starch, giving way to a bite-ful of perfectly sweetened red bean paste. With beautiful mouth-feel, bringing back memories of Japanese mochi festivals, but mostly memories of my mom and her Japanese friends sitting down to make huge batches of multi-colored mochi cakes, all in hues of pink, matcha green, and the light, powdery blonde of Kinako roasted soybean powder.

Mochi is comfort. Mochi is home.

And now you can make it in your home :).Thanks to my mom, who took most of the mochi process pictures, and who gave me this recipe! All you mamas out there, you always deserve more credit than we give you <3. Some of these photos are also from my recent mochi class. 

The recipe is as follows, and is so simple, you will be in disbelief. 

Ingredients & Equipment:

• 1 box mochiko
• water
• sugar
• ready made sweet red bean paste, called "anko". You can buy this at basically any Asian grocery store, and it usually comes in a plastic bag. Snip the corner off the bag for easy use.
• cornstarch, for dusting
• tightly-woven kitchen towel, for steaming the mochi
• steamer (any kind, doesn't have to be fancy
• plastic gloves, if you want to work with the mochi while it is very hot (totally optional)

1. Buy a box of mochiko (sweet rice flour), you can get one at any local Asian store (Chinese, Japanese, probably Korean stores too)

2. Pour the box of mochiko into a bowl, and after emptying the box, fill half the box up with sugar (granulated, not powdered). Throw that in the bowl too. Next, fill the entire box, up to the top, with water. Pour that in the bowl too, and mix all together, until smooth. What? Fill a BOX with water?? Weird! 

Trust me, it works. 

3. Lay a tightly-woven kitchen cloth or cheesecloth over the steaming section of a steamer. Pour the well-stirred mochiko-water-sugar mixture into the steamer, on top of the cloth.

4. Steam the mixture on high heat for 30 minutes, until, when poked, mixture is pretty much solid. Give it 40 minutes if your doubtful. Meanwhile, spread out a large amount (1 cup) of corn starch on a table or cutting board. This will help you be able to work with the mochi so that it doesn't stick.

5. Once finished steaming carefully remove the kitchen towel from the steamer, making sure the mochi mass doesn't spill out of the cloth. Flip the cloth over and let the mochi mass land onto the cornstarch-covered surface. Cover the mochi mass with corn starch, under and on top of it. Optionally, let the mass cool for a few minutes, or start working immediately on making mochi cakes.

6. Cover your fingers with corn starch and quickly pinch off a piece of mochi, smaller than a fistful, and, using your fingers, flatten it out into a small disk, about 1/2 inch thick. Do this until all of the mochi mass is gone.

7. Using the red bean paste bag, and optionally, horizontally sliced strawberries, fill the mochi with about 1 tablespoon of red bean paste, and a strawberry slice. As can be seen in the picture above, you can pre-portion small balls of red bean paste, which will make it easier.  Make sure that the strawberry slice in on the bottom and anko paste on top, so that the end result will show case the beautiful color of the strawberry. 

Done! Let them cool for about 30 minutes for maximum enjoyment! They will last for about 24 hours, so if you are saving them, leave them in a tupperware container on the counter, as refrigerating mochi cakes causes them to toughen up, and changes their consistency. Stay tuned for more recipes!!

Please subscribe to my blog today, so that you can stay up-to-date with all of my recipes and ramblings!

I will soon be moving my blog to kaoricooks.com! You can easily subscribe on 
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Interview with Molly Wizenberg and Brandon Petit!

GUYSSSS ----> !

you won't believe but I got to interview and visit Molly Wizenberg, the author of A Homemade Life  and Delancey!! I contacted her before visiting Seattle, and she agreed to let me come interview and visit her!! In this interview we talk about how to find your voice as a writer, and she gives some very good and practical tips. She also gives tips on how to run a successful blog, and about the history of her and her husband Brandon's restaurant, Delancey. 

In part 2 of the interview, Brandon speaks about how to create a successful restaurant business, and the many things to consider when creating a restaurant!




I cannot explain to you how enthralled I was with meeting this amazing couple!! I got my Delancey book signed by Molly, Brandon showed me the back of the restaurant, where they have been doing cooking classes with "The Pantry at Delancey", and he walked me through the cooking area of the restaurant. As a finale, I enjoyed the pizza with my husband Alan and a friend. The crust was super thin, and crispy and bubbly at the ends. We enjoyed the "white pie", a pizza topped with mozarella, grana, and other delicious cheeses, topped with aromatic, juicy slices of garlic clove, and we tried the Bacon and Onion, a red-sauce pizza topped with caramelized onions and thick pieces of smoky bacon, of local and delicious quality.

Meeting Molly and interviewing her inspired me a lot because I realized she is a normal person, just like you and I :). I sometimes tend to idolize authors and put them on a pedestal, but I realized that she worked hard to get to where she is, being consistent with her blog, developing her voice as a writer, building a restaurant...that all takes consistent energy and effort. I learned a lot from her interviewing about being a writer, and I think you will too.

Enjoy! Please comment below with your thoughts <3



Kaori: "Molly, what are some tips on how to become a good writer?"

Molly: "Just write everyday."

Chinese Chicken Take-out Style!

What a revelation! Here is a quick blurb on what I found out about making chicken the Chinese take-out way!! (Food nerd alert!) 

I've always wondered how the chicken was so velvety and soft, and had a certain smooth texture when I got Chow Mein or a vegetable stir fry with chicken. 

TODAY I FOUND OUT.

Ok, and here is the recipe I used to find out how to do this magic!! Thank you Test Kitchens of America!! Find the recipe here.

Here is the simpler version of the recipe, that can be used with any type of stir fry or noodles!

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces chicken breast, cut into 2 inch pieces (make sure they are thin and not thick)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 teaspoons cooking wine
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Directions:

1. Cut chicken into 2-inch lengths, then cut each length into 1/2 inch thick pieces.

2. Combine chicken with baking soda and water in bowl. Let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (This softens the chicken!!)

3. Rinse chicken pieces in cold water, making sure to get all baking soda mixture off. Drain well and pat dry with paper towels. 

4. Whisk rice wine and cornstarch in bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat.

And you're ready to go! Add this to a stir-fry of vegetables, stir-fried noodles, etc...!


P.S. Yesterday was my last day of graduate school! Woot! 

COMPLETE Japanese Ramen Recipe (Broth + Noodles + Toppings!)

Ramen made from my class at The Seasoned Farmhouse

Hey everyone, and welcome to my blog confessions of a cook! I don't usually do this sort of thing, but I am releasing my recipes for noodles, broth and toppings to all of my supporters and followers! Please subscribe to the blog if you think this food rocks your socks, and if you want to hear about more recipes and photos from me in the future!! The subscribe button is small, but right above this blog post, I believe. :) ENJOY these recipes! Please comment below with your thoughts and questions! THANK YOU! <3 --Kaori

Ramen made at home (photo by Shino Takahashi)

My mom and I made this bowl together in California :)

Ramen Soy Broth

(Feel free to double or triple the recipe if you would like to save some broth for future use!)

Broth Ingredients:

(makes enough noodles for 4 bowls)

2 lb chicken wings or other chicken bones (drumsticks or chicken back)

2 lb pork bones (can be bought at local Chinese market)

1 carrot, whole (no need to cut into pieces)

Two 3-b-6 inch pieces Konbu (thick Japanese seaweed)

1 cup dried shittakes, rinsed

1 white onion (whole, remove skin but don't cut into pieces)

1 leek, sliced in quarters and cleaned (or one bunch scallions)

10 cups of water, or enough to submerge the bones

Tare (Concentrated liquid to add to broth)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons soy tare (liquid remaining from the chashu pork)

1 tablespoon Mirin

½ teaspoon pepper

Method:

1. Rinse the konbu under running water, then combine it with the water in a 5 quart pot. Bring the water to a simmer over high heat and turn off heat. Let konbu steep for 10 minutes.

2. Remove the konbu from the pot and add the dried shittake mushrooms. Bring the water to a bowl, then turn the heat down so that the liquid simmers gently. Simmer for 30 minutes, until the mushrooms are plumpled and rehydrated and have lent the broth their color and aroma.

3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

4. Remove the mushrooms from the pot with a slotted spoon, and add the chicken bones to the pot. Keep the liquid at a gentle simmer, with bubbles lazily and occasionally breaking the surface.

5. Skim and discard any foam or fat that rises to the surface of the broth while the chicken is simmering. After about one hour, the meat should fall away from the bone. If that's not the case, keep simmering until it does.

6. While chicken is simmering, put the pork bones on a baking sheet or roasting pan and brown them in the oven for an hour, turning them over after 30 minutes to ensure even browning

7. Remove chicken from pot and add roasted bones, carrot, onion, and leek to the broth. Adjust heat to keep pot at a steady simmer. Then simmer the pork bones for another 5 hours. Add water if the liquid evaporates to keep it at the same water level. However, after 4 hours have passed, refrain from adding additional water. (DURING THIS TIME PREPARE YOUR CHASHU, TARE, RAMEN NOODLES, EGG AND OTHER TOPPINGS, ESPECIALLY THE ONES THAT REQUIRE REFRIGERATION)

8. As the bones cook, remove the foam that appears at the top of the broth. Keep doing this. Leave the pot uncovered. Add more water to the broth if it is getting very low from evaporation, but stop adding water after hour 4 has passed.

9. Remove and discard the spent bones and vegetables, and pass the broth through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

11. After broth is finished, pour 1 cup of strained broth into a bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons of the tare (the concentrated liquid produced after boiling the chashu in soy sauce), 1 tablespoon of the mirin, and a little pepper. Add the tare to taste, some people like the ramen broth to taste stronger, and others like it to have a light flavor.

12. Pour over top of cooked noodles, add ramen toppings, and enjoy!

Ramen Noodles:

Ramen Noodles:

(from Chef Marc’s Norecipes.com)

Noodle Ingredients:

(makes enough noodles for 4 bowls)

300 grams bread flour (about 2 cups)
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon Koon Chun Potassium Carbonate & Sodium Bi-Carbonate (Kansui)

Method:

-Make the noodles. Combine the kansui and warm water. Place kansui-water mixture and flour into a standing mixer with a paddle attachment and mix on low for 5 minutes

-Knead dough by hand for several minutes and then let rest

-Flatten noodles with an attachment or hand-crank to the “4” setting, or however thick you would like it.

-Or use a rolling pin to roll until very thin

-using spaghetti pasta cutter attachment, slice dough into noodles, or cut by hand, and cook in boiling water until they float to the top

-Drain noodles under cold water

-Place noodles in a bowl

Toppings

Toppings in uncooked form

Homemade bamboo menma (recipe from Momofuku), Ajitsuke eggs, nori seaweed, green onion

Uncut Chashu Pork, Onion, Carrot, rehydrated shittake mushrooms, and konbu kelp

Chashu (Sliced Pork)

Ingredients:

2 lbs pork shoulder (or more)

4 cups soy sauce

½ cup cooking wine

4 cups of water (for initially cooking pork)

1 smashed clove of garlic

1 tblspn ginger (just one piece, not chopped into little pieces)

string to tie up the chashu

Method:

• Wash the piece of pork shoulder and then tie knots around the piece of meat, going both vertically and horizontally. This will allow the pork to hold its shape while cooking
• Place tied-up pork shoulder into a small saucepan of water. Pork should be submerged in water. Cook the pork for 20 minutes in boiling water, flipping the pork after the first 10 minutes. Afterwards, dump water out.
• Pour all of the soy sauce into the saucepan, along with the ginger and garlic. Soy sauce should come halfway up the pork.
• Cook for 20 minutes on both sides of the pork, cook pork more if needed (if pork is not all the way cooked through)
• Save the liquid left over after cooking the pork! This will be used to add to the ramen broth later.
• Done! Refrigerate pork until cold, then slice into thin pieces. It’s important that the pork is cold before slicing so that it keeps its shape.

Soft-Boiled Eggs "Ajitsuke Tamago":

Ingredients:

3 eggs (enough for 6 bowls of ramen, since eggs will be cut in half) 

Water for cooking eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda (makes eggs easier to peel)

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons Mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)
ice bath made from lots of ice cubes and cold water

Method:

1. In a small pot, heat up water to a rolling boil.
2. Place the eggs in the water gently, with a spoon to prevent cracking. Water should be at a rolling boil as you place the eggs in. This helps the egg be easier to peel after boiling. Also, older eggs are more easily peel-able, so use your older ones first :). Immediately set a timer to 5 minutes.

3. After 5 minutes are up, immediately douse eggs in an ice bath to stop the cooking process
4. Peel shell off of the eggs very carefully, as the egg is still soft on the inside
5. Mix together the soy sauce and mirin in a small bowl. Place peeled eggs in the small bowl so that they are submerged more than halfway. Place a square piece of paper towel on top of the eggs and fold over the side of the eggs. The paper towel should soon absorb the soy + mirin liquid, which it is supposed to do.
6. Refrigerate for 1-3 hours, and the eggs are ready to be cut in half and used as toppings.

ENJOY YOUR FOOD!! AND PLEASE COMMENT BELOW TO TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS! THANK YOU <3  --Kaori

Super Easy and Delicious Secret Ingredient Pulled Chicken with Bell Peppers

Hey all!

I wanted to share with you a delicious recipe that my mother told me about, which is SO simple and tasty, IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND!!

Secret ingredients? Ketchup and Mustard :), just the simple condiments you can find at any grocery store! So if you're looking for a simple and crowd-pleasing dish to cook for dinner tonight....here it is!


Delicious Pulled Chicken with Secret Sauce

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts
1 bell pepper
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Method:

1. Cook the chicken breasts on medium-high heat in a pan, with a little oil. Cook until fully-cooked, then remove from pan.

2. Next, slice the onion and bell pepper into long, 1/2 inch thick slices (or whatever, you can't mess up with this dish). Mince the 3 cloves of garlic.

3. Stir fry the onion, garlic, and bell pepper in a little oil on medium heat in a pan until translucent

4. Shred the now-cool chicken with two forks (doesn't need to shredded too finely, just loosely shredded)

5. Add the chicken back to the pan with the bell peppers and onions. Add in the ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper, and stir until all is mixed. Simmer this mixture on medium-low for 30 minutes (meanwhile, cook your fresh rice!)

6. Finished! Enjoy :)

Lisa's Creamy & Delicious Vegan Macaroni and Cheese!! (Guest Post)

About Me

My name is Lisa Shimotani. I’m a wife, PreK teacher, grad student, soon-to-be nutrition educator, and just discovered the joy of cooking vegan and vegetarian meals! I’m passionate that food can be both nutritious and delicious 

 Kaori and I in Taylor, TX at Louie Mueller BBQ (before I became vegetarian). Kaori and her husband came all the way to Texas for our wedding and baked her famous matcha cupcakes for all of our guests!!

Kaori and her husband came all the way to Texas for our wedding and baked her famous matcha cupcakes for all of our guests!!

Why did I choose to become Vegetarian?

I started reading a lot of books on the benefits of going vegan, and being someone who did not eat a lot of meat anyways, I wanted to give it a shot. Originally, I wanted to go vegan, meaning I could not have any dairy, seafood, and eggs in my diet along with meat. I slowly bought less and less meat, as I didn’t want to go cold turkey but slowly incorporate a vegetarian diet. I found it too difficult to be completely vegan, as I do love fish and my husband loves his eggs in the morning, so I naturally went vegetarian and excluded meat from my diet. The quote “you are what you eat” has always stuck with me, so I do my best to include more fresh vegetables, fruits, and legumes in my diet to replace the meat.

What benefits have you seen so far from being vegetarian?

Eating more fruits and vegetables! I have always loved fruits and vegetables, but realized that I definitely didn’t consume enough in my daily diet. Even though you are vegetarian/vegan, does not mean you are healthier, you can still have a lot of unhealthy foods! I am very conscious of this and have made a lot more effort to include fresh foods in my meals, which has inspired me to cook more. Knowing that I am using whole, fresh ingredients makes me excited before a meal, as I know how vital fresh, whole foods can be for our body. By replacing meat with vegetables, legumes, and good carbohydrates I have also noticed a change in my energy level. I work full time as a teacher and recently started taking grad classes in nutrition, but within a couple months of consuming more whole foods I’ve noticed that I have more than enough energy to complete my daily activities without feeling completely exhausted at the end of the day like I use to.

Vegan Mac & Cheese

This is one of my favorite vegan meals: it’s so simple and delicious. Though I am not vegan, I enjoy cooking a lot of vegan meals and eating vegan bakery goods  I rarely eat cheese, but when I make this dish I don’t even miss cheese!

I found this recipe by following a group called thegreenplateclub on instagram. I made a few tweaks with the recipe, mainly decreasing a few of the ingredients, which is why I put a lesser amount for most of the ingredients. I would put the lesser amount first and taste the sauce after you blend it together to see if you want to add more.

Vegan Mac & Cheese Ingredients

• ½ lb. pasta
• ½ cup water
• 8 oz. firm tofu
• ¼ - ½ cup canola oil
• ¾ -1 cup unsweetened soy milk (I use almond milk)
• ¼ cup soy sauce (I usually add a little less as soy sauce has a strong taste)
• 1 cup nutritional yeast (key to making it “cheesy”)
• 1 ½ tsp paprika
• 1 ½ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • crushed red pepper (I love using Tabasco sauce) and any fresh vegetables (cilantro, fresh diced tomatoes)
  
  
  Vegan Mac & Cheese Instructions
  1. Cook pasta al dente
  2. Combine water, tofu, canola oil, unsweetened soymilk or almond milk, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, paprika, garlic powder, and salt in a blender until smooth.
  3. Add sauce to the pot of drained pasta, stir and cook on medium for an additional 5 minutes.
  4. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper and any additional toppings
  
  

All ready for lunch: topped with cilantro and tomatoes

Thanks for the wonderful post, Lisa!! Look ahead for more posts from guest bloggers in the near future!! <3 Love Always, 

Kaori

Valentine's Day Strawberry Chocolate Truffle Cake!

I thought it was necessary to share with you this mouth-watering chocolate truffle cake recipe! I loved making it because it was so easy to make, amazingly moist and delicious, and just beautiful to look at!

Cake:I found this fail-proof recipe for a chocolate cake on the Add a Pinch blog, thanks for providing me with this great recipe! This difference between this recipe and others is that it uses 1 cup of boiling water, which combines with the baking soda to aerate the cake and make it SUPER moist!! 

Chocolate Ganache frosting and Truffles: Contrary to it's fancy-sounding name, chocolate Ganache is ridiculously easy to make! All you do is heat up heavy cream and mix chocolate chips into it. This mixture yields both the frosting as well as the truffles!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CHOCOLATE CAKE
INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1½ teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon espresso powder (I just used coffee grounds)
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare two 9-inch cake pans by spraying with baking spray or buttering and lightly flouring.
2. For the cake:
3. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and espresso powder to a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk through to combine or, using your paddle attachment, stir through flour mixture until combined well.
4. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture and mix together on medium speed until well combined. Reduce speed and carefully add boiling water to the cake batter. Beat on high speed for about 1 minute to add air to the batter.
5. Distribute cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and cool completely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chocolate Ganache Recipe (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

• 9 oz bittersweet chocolate
• 1 cup heavy cream
  

Method:

1. Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and whisk until smooth. Stir in the rum if desired.
2. Allow the ganache to cool slightly before pouring over a cake. Start at the center of the cake and work outward. For a fluffy frosting or chocolate filling, allow it to cool until thick, then whip with a whisk until light and fluffy.
   

Frosting: Let ganache mixture cool a little bit (10 min) and then frost the cake with it, using a knife

Truffles: Cool ganache mixture in fridge (30 min, mixture should be cold but still pliable) and then take out small ball size pieces with a spoon. Shape into a ball shape with your fingers, then dust in cocoa powder, and you're done!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Putting together the Cake:

• After baking and cooling cake, make the ganache mixture, and allow to cool

• Slice strawberries for decorating the cake

• Spread 3/4 of ganache mixture as frosting over the cake, cool the rest of the ganache in the fridge, and use for the trufflesVoila! Enjoy! Great for birthdays, Valentine's Day, etc..!
  
• Boil 1 tblspn strawberry or other kind of jam with 1 tblspn water, and brush mixture onto strawberries for a pretty glaze