...I don´t really like them that much!

Yes, the truth will always come out.... And finally my daughter had to come clean (after 2 mochi half eaten): Mummy, I don´t really like those sweets that much!

Here she´s pretending to want some! For the camera....

Daifukumochi - the candy that makes Norwegian kids cry...

So I came home from Japan two years ago with loads of Japanese sweets. They´re mainly made of rice flour and beans. The taste is somewhat different from western sweets. My daughter has set her mind on liking everything Japanese, so she ate them with all the enthusiasm only a small kind can. She also invited the neighborhood kids in for a treat... the result; tears.

They looked so tasty, pink and green, in such a nice box!

Two years later I thought I´d try to make my own. I didn´t have azuki beans to make the filling, so I made plain without filling, but with green tea. They came out very well on the second try!

Here goes:

Daifukumochi

3/4 cup glutinous rice flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp matcha

potato starch to dust with

Sift matcha into flour in a large bowl.

Mix sugar and water in a pan, bring to a boil.

Pour the liquid into the flour and whisk as hard as you can.
Transfer the mass back into pan and simmer while stirring for 2 minutes or so.
Put the mass on a plate and cut small pieces that you drop into

potato starch
and roll into small balls.

Enjoy! (Ps. Be careful when handing them out to kids - might case unwanted reactions!)

Tea-marbled eggs, o-cha tamago

New year - new things to try!

Marbled eggs are originally a Chinese tradition, but they´re used in Japan too. In Japan there´s also sho-yu tamago (eggs in soya), that´s an easier fix.

Anyway, recipe is easy, but cooking takes some time.

Put 3-5 eggs in a pan (one layer). Hard boil them and let them cool down.
Take a heavy spoon and crack the eggshell all over without breaking off pieces.
Put the cracked eggs back in the pan.

Mix:
2 tbsp black tea ( I used Darjeeling first flush - fancy me)
2 tbsp soya (I used organic Tamari)

extra salt if you use low-sodium soya

4-5 star anises
2 logs cinnamon or 1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp sugar
Pour it over the eggs and fill enough water to cover the eggs.
Let it simmer for 1-3 hours, refilling water if needed.

The egg will look brown and a bit scruffy when done... and can be kept in the fridge in the cooled down, strained liquid in a jar for quite some time or for 2-3 days wrapped in plastic.

Peel the egg and eat it as a part of a bento box, a snack, with dinner... I had mine with furikake!

While I´m waiting for my camera to return...

.. here´s some random creativeness! Just for fun....

Waiting for nori.... shopping fabric!

...from a very nice friend in Japan!
I haven´t been cooking much japanese food this autumn I´m afraid, but I hope to get back in the swing of things very soon!

My only purchase in the japanese stuff department has been some stationary and very nice fabric for my daughters room from
www.superbuzzy.com. Comes highly recommended, but you will shop too much!
Pictures of my 3,5 yards of medium japanese fabric from November Books coming soon.....
...and later the final result when fabric has been made into pillow and curtains for my daughters room-makeover.

Kimono day!

Sunday is kimono day in our house.... or, to be correct; yukata for me. Sadly I didn´t get a real kimono for myself in Japan... but next time I will! My daughter is just beginning to fit into hers. She looks fantastic! Never mind my bad sash knitting skills, at least I managed some kind of bow.

J has a pink child cotton kimono with sakura and chrysanthemum flowers.

I´m wearing my Hasseludden (www.yasuragi.se) yukata.

Sake

I was lucky to get hold of this bottle... Kikusakari, Kioke shikomi, Junmai Daiginjo quality. Happy times! It´s not often one can get hold of Japanese sake of good quality here. I´m also waiting for the first Norwegian sake to reach the stores, it´s under production in the south of Norway.

Shiso

Just a few pictures of this years shiso.

Spring!

Spring has been generous to my garden... I have daikon and shiso growing and will plant japanese cucumbers soon. Pictures coming!

One rose died this winter, but the replacement is now in its box and slowly growing. The surviving rose looks good too!

Inari with shiitake

Today´s Sunday treat: Inari with shiitake mushrooms and rice.

I cheated and bought ready-made inari this time.... I usually make them myself from abura-age, but the inari no-moto is so handy when you have no time for that... I managed to get some without msg, so I´m happy!

Today I used:
2,5 cups of rice: white and brown mixed
3 large, dried shiitake´s, left for 30 minutes in warm water to soften
1/2 carrot, diced
Sesame seeds, black and white mixed
Mix of mirin, soya, dashi, salt and sugar

Rice is boiled, and while this happens I cut the shiitake and carrot into strips and boil them in a mix of mirin, soya, dashi, salt and sugar.
The boiled rice is mixed with this + sesame seeds and filled into the inari.

We eat the inari with soy sauce and ginger. Yum!