Tsukemen (Dipping Ramen)

Tsukemen is "dipping ramen" that is popularly eaten in Japan.

The way of eating Tsukemen is, serve noodles in a plate, offering soup in another bowl,
and eat with dipping noodles in a soup as like Zaru soba (cold soba style).

Both good Tsukemen and Ramen are possible to make in the Netherlands.
You don't need special ingredients, and you can get most ingredients in Albert Heijn.

I am from Tokyo then I love to cook Tsukemen or Ramen with Tokyo style soup.
Tokyo style soup is the combination bouillon from both meat and fish.
This style of Ramen soup is called "double soup" in Japanese slang.

In Japan we have Sababushi (dried, fermented, and smoked mackerel).
This ingredient is often used for Ramen or other dishes in Japan.
Therefore in the Netherlands, I can use smoked Mackerel instead.

soup is the combination of chicken bouillon, mackerel bouillon,
and soy sauce bouillon after stewed pork.

Soy souce stewed pork. Pork meat is for eat, and soy souse bouillon is one of an element of soup.
Put boiled eggs in this bouillon to make soy souse egg.

AH fresh pasta with egg is closer taste to Japanese Ramen noodle more than other Asian noodles in here.
Many Japanese people in the Netherlands, they use this AH pasta for Ramen or Yakisoba.
Must get this brand (Spagetti that includes egg), other pasta doesn't work for ramen/yakisoba.

For more detail refer my Japanese blog.
http://ameblo.jp/utrecht/entry-10649416076.html

Homemade Japanese dinner for my guests

My friends visited our place on last week. They were looking forward to have my Japanese dinner. I cooked special Japanese dinner for them.

Around 80% of Japanese restaurants in western countries are organized by non-Japanese.
Those places are often different from native Japanese taste.
Therefore I cooked for my guest to introduce Japanese home taste as much as possible.

Detail of meals is as follows:


1. 五目寿司(Gomokuzushi)
Cooked ingredients are mixed in the body of rice in a bowl. It is commonly eaten in Japan.
My Gomokuzushi, mixed ingredients are carrots, bamboo shoots and Shiitake mushrooms. Toppings are omelet, shrimps, carrots and something green vegetable.


2. 鮭の味噌焼き(Sake no Misoyaki)
Spread Miso paste and whisked egg on Grilled salmon.


3. えのきと玉ねぎ、麩の味噌汁(Enoki to Tamanegi, Hu no Misoshiru)
Miso soup with Enoki (thin white mushroom), onion and Hu (麩)Japanese wheat gluten)


4. 肉じゃが(Nikujaga (Japanese stewed meat and potato)
Nikujaga is a common home-cooked Japanese dish. The dish contains meat, potatoes, onions, and carrots stewed in soy sauce based bouillon. It is also sometimes seen in izakaya (Japanese pub) in Japan.


5.ひじきの煮付け(Hijiki no netsuke (stewed Hijiki)
Hijiki is a seaweed and is a traditional food in Japan. This is a common home-cooked Japanese dish. Typical grand mother's meal. Stewed with soy sauce and fish stock.

6.いんげんの生姜煮(Ingen no Shougani)
This is a traditional dish within my family. My grand mother often cooked this dish.
Boil kidney beans with ginger, seasoning is soy sauce and Konbu stock.
About Konbu stock, refer to my other article as follows.
http://japaneseholland.blogspot.com/2009/01/konbu-dashi-basic-seaweed-stock.html


7. 切干大根(Kiriboshi daikon)
Kiriboshi daikon is Dried Daikon. This is one of a popular Japanese ingredient.
Seasoning of this dish is soy sauce and Konbu stock. Also this is popular Japanese grandmother's dish.

8. ほうれん草の白和え(Hourensou no Shiraae)
This is also a typical grandmother's dish in Japan. Boiled spinach mixed with smashed Tofu.


Our tableware is Japanese pottery and Japanese lacquerware. My mother gave us those valuables when we were in Japan.
Real and original Japanese lacquerware is expensive therefore most Japanese restaurants provides imitation (plastic) lacquerware nowadays. (My Japanese lacquerwares is real and original)

Dessert: 抹茶かん (The agar of Japanese green tea)
served with 餡子(Japanese Bean jam) and whip cream

One important essence of Japanese cuisine, is called "Motenashi no Kokoro (もてなしの心. the mind of warmly treatment)".
To cook Japanese foods beautifully is to show sincerity to the guest by cooking.
This kind of mindset is also used for Japanese tea ceremony.

Hello Kitty pancake

Cooked Hello Kitty pancake. How to ?



I bought this frying pan in Japan. we can get unique Hello Kitty products in there.

Sorry for eating Hello Kitty face but tasty, hehe.