Fuwa Fuwa Hot Keki- Fluffy Pancakes

Apparently, fluffy pancakes are super popular in Japan now days.

I work compressed hours to get a Friday off every other week. It feels so special to have a  slow morning with pancakes knowing that other people are working!!

Ready in: 20 minutes

Ingredients for four pancakes:
1 egg, separate egg yolk and white
10g sugar in egg white
100cc milk
Butter to bake
Fruits and icing suger to garnish
[Prepare in a shifter]
100g flour
5g baking powder

Required Equipment:
Flour shifter
Hand mixer
Towel

Step 1: Prepare ingridients

Step 2: Make meringue

Step 3: Whip egg yolk and add milk and dry ingridients 

Step 4: Add  meringue in to step 3 and lightly mix

Step 5: On the low heat, warm up a pan and prepare a dump cloth. When the pan is warmed up, place the pan on the cloth to cool down a bit. 

Step 6: Put butter and one ladle of batter on the pan and cook at very slowly.

 

 Step 7: Once you see some bubbles on the surface, cover the pan with a lid.

 Step 8: Flip it and cook

Step 9: Enjoy!

Kasutera (Castella) - Fluffy Honey Sponge Cake

Kasutera is a classic Japanese dessert from Nagasaki in Southern Island. It has a very simple taste, but is very delicious. Try to eat it next day. It becomes very moist!

Ready in: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

2 eggs

3 tablespoons of sugar for egg white

2 tablespoons of sugar for egg yolk

5 tablespoons of flour, shifted

2 tablespoons of honey

Required Equipment:

Non-metal poundcake mold

Step 1: Preheat the oven at 350F.

Step 2:  Separate egg yolks and egg white in bowls, add sugar in each bowl. Start whipping from egg white and then egg yolk.

<Important> Bowls have to be dry in order to make hard meringue.

Whip it till yolk becomes creamy.

Step 3:  Add honey in yolk and whip it.

Step 4: Add flour in yolk and mix it.

Step 5: Add egg white into yolk, and mix it lightly.

Step 6: Pour it into the mold and remove the air by dropping the mold a couple of times. 

Step 7: Bake it at 350F for 10 minutes, and lower the temperature to 300F for 15-20 minutes. 

Step 8: Wrap it in plastic to keep moist and leave it overnight.

Tsuji Ura Senbei- Fortune Cookies with Egg White

I always thought that fortune cookies were from China, but I was wrong! The concept was actually brought from Japan to the U.S.! We have a culture to take a fortune paper at a shrine, and cookies that are in this shape.

I've never liked the taste of fortune cookies, but enjoy reading what it tells me.

Try to make fortune cookies that I like to eat!

My mom makes these cookies whenever she has egg whites to use. We call them "egg white cookies" but they actually have a fancy name "langue de chat". I love these cookies!

Ready in: 40 minutes to make 7 cookies

Ingredients per 1 egg white (makes 7 cookies):
1 egg white
3 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoons of flour
3 drops of vanilla essence
2 tablespoons of melted butter and 1 tablespoon of water, optional

Required Equipment:
Fortune paper
Baking pan
Parchment paper
Electric hand mixer, or whisk
A mug
Muffin cups

Step 1: Heat up your oven at 375F

Step 2: Put egg white and sugar in a bowl, and whip it

Step 3: Add flour, and whip it

Step 4: Add vanilla essence, butter and water, and ix it well.

Step 5: Scoop the batter with a tablespoon, and spread it onto parchment paper that is on a baking pan. Make sure you only bake 2-3 cookies at the time to be able to fold them while they are still hot, and each cookie is about 3 inch diameter.

Step 6: Bake them for 8-10 minutes, and flip cookies over as soon as you take them out of the oven. Very quickly, you place your message paper and fold it into half.
<Tip> If your cookies crack, add a bit of water into the batter for the next batch.

Step 7: Using the edge of a mug, make it into a fortune cookie shape, and keep it in a muffin cup to hold the shape. 

Kawara Soba- Teppanyaki Green Tea Soba Noodles with 3 Colour-Toppings

During Japanese civil war, there was a story that soldiers cooked food on a heated roofing tiles. Someone tried it now days, and got popular. It's called roofing tile noodles.

When I visited my friend's house, she made it for dinner. It was quite tasty and got me surprised that it can be homemade.

What can you make with seasoned meat: Bibimbap (Korean Beef Bowl)
What can you make with a thin omelet: Vegetable Sushi Wrapped

Ready in: 20 minutes

Ingredients for two:
2 bunches of green tea soba noodles
Some frying oil
One green onions
Shredded Nori paper
Grated daikon radish, optional
Minced meat, pork/beef/chicken
[Seasons for Meat: Prepare in a bowl]
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of Miso
1 tablespoon of Sake
[Omlet: Prepare in a bowl]
1 egg
1 teaspoons of starch
2 tablespoons of water
[Dipping Sauce: Prepare in a pot]
500ml water
2 teaspoons of Daishi powder
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of Mirin
2 tablespoons of Sake


Step 1: Cook meat with seasons, chop green onions, make paper thin omelet

Step 2: Heat up the dipping sauce

Step 3: Cook noodles in boiling water, rinse it under running water, and drain water

 Step 4: In a pan, fry noodles until you see crispy burn

Step 5: Place crispy noodles on a plate, and put toppings on them

 Step 6: Serve with a dipping sauce

Chikin Namban- Battered Chicken in Sour Sauce with Tartar

There is a nation-wide Bento take out store in Japan. This is my favorite bento there. 

Ready in: 15 minutes

Ingredients for two:

2 chicken breasts

1/4 cups of corn starch

1/4 cups of frying oil

[Prepare coating sauce in a pan]

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of vinegar

[Tartar]

1 boiled egg, minced

1/4 onions, minced

A handful of parsley or coriander

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

1 tablespoon of vinegar

Salt and papper

Required Equipment:

Pan

Pot

Step 1: Heat up coating sauce. No need to bring it to boil. Put it aside.

Step 2: Put all ingredients in a bowl, make tartar.

Step 3: Coat chicken with corn starch.

Step 4: Heat up a pan and put oil. Grill chicken. Make it crancy!

Step 5: Dip chicken in the sauce, and coat it well.

Step 6: Place chicken and pour tartar on top.