Chashu

I am a big fan of ramen and their chashu, especially those braised with soy sauce. I have always wondered how they rolled the chashu to round shape. A search on google brought me to try Just One Cookbook's Chashu. I started exploring her recipe and it was so good, I made it multiple times already. However, I didn't roll it round, I used the pork belly as it is. Everyone who tried the chashu I made said it was very nice. Even though there were multiple steps and patience needed, the efforts were really worth it. Below is the recipe I made on my third attempt.

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Recipe for (Block) Chashu, adapted from Just One Cookbook
(Makes for 8-10 servings)

Ingredients:
1.2 kg Whole block pork belly, cut into 2 equal portion
1 Negi (long green onion), or leeks 
1 knob ginger
1 tbsp Cooking oil
1 cup Sake (240 ml)
1 cup Soy sauce (240 ml)
2 cups Water (480 ml)
100g Sugar

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet (or regular frying pan) over high heat. Sear the fat side down first, then flip over to sear all sides until brown.

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2. While searing, put all the ingredients for seasonings in a heavy-bottom pot (or cast iron) that fits the Chashu. 
3. Add the Chashu and bring it to a boil, skimming the scum and foam. Then turn the heat to low/simmer.

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4. Put an Otoshibuta (drop lid) on top to press the ingredient down and limit the evaporation. (I used baking paper to cut to the shape of the pot)

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5. Simmer on low heat for next one hour, rotating Chashu every 20 minutes (keep Otoshibuta on all times!)
6. After one hour plus, the liquid will be reduced in the pot. I didn't cook further to reduce the sauce though. 
7. Turn off the heat and let the Chashu rest in the pot.

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8. To serve, slice the Chashu into ¼ inch pieces. 

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9. Use a blow torch to sear the Chashu slices to enhance the flavor. 

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10. Strain the leftover cooking sauce and refrigerate, or pour slightly to the Chashu for more taste.
11. Serve as sides, or in a ramen.

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Japanese Braised Daikon

When I was at Finest one afternoon, I couldn't help but to notice a nice daikons in the basket. It wasn't from Japan, it was from our neighbour. I proceed to purchase it, having in mind to braise it over the weekend.

So I found this recipe and made it. It was refreshing. The taste gets stronger and better overnight in the fridge. I took it over many days as condiments for my breakfast.

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Recipe for Japanese Braised Daikon, adapted from Tabesuki.

Ingredients:
1 large Daikon radish (about 350-400g)
1 1/2cups Dashi
2 tbsp Sugar
4 tbsp Soy sauce
3 tbsp Mirin

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Method:

1. Peel, top, and tail the daikon, and slice into rounds, about 3/4 inches thick.
2. Arrange the daikon neatly in a large pot, and add the dashi, sugar, mirin, and soy sauce. Bring rapidly to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer.
3. Cook for about 30-45 minutes, until a knife inserted passes through without resistance. Serve immediately with some of the braising liquid, or leave to steep.
4. Refrigerate if not using within a couple of hours. Can keep for over 2 weeks.

I had my daikon with homemade chicken broth and kale as breakfast.

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Chashu Tamagoyaki Bento Set

Recently I have been attending customised Japanese cuisine workshops. So when my husband went to Shanghai few weeks back, I requested him to buy some bento boxes for me from JD.com. Although they were smaller than the ones I used during my workshops, the quality was good. Therefore, it was worth to get them.

Many of us like to buy such kitchen wares or baking wares, thinking we will use them one day. Well, some became white elephants, while others were used past their usefulness. In order for my husband to see that I will use what I bought, I decided to make a bento set lunch. I made Chashu with tamagoyaki bento set lunch. The chashu was really tender and juicy. I overcooked my tamago and it tasted a bit dry. Overall, I must say it was a good attempt on my first bento set.

Recipe for Chashu, adapted from Just One Cookbook.
(Makes for 6 persons)

Ingredients:
1kg Pork belly block (I cut into half)
3 tsp Salt
1½ tbsp Cooking oil
2 inch Ginger, sliced

Seasonings
570g Kombu Dashi (original use water)
1 cup Cooking sake
1 cup Soy sauce
9 tbsp Sugar

Method:

1. Peel and slice ginger.
2. Sprinkle and rub the salt on the pork belly.

3. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over high heat and brown the fat side first, then flip over to brown the other side. It’ll take about 15 mins.

4. While browning, put all the ingredients for seasonings in a heavy-bottom pot, including sliced ginger.
5. Place the pork belly in the pot and bring it to a boil.

6. Place an otoshibuta (drop lid) on top of the meat. If you don’t have one, make one out of aluminum foil (and here’s how). To learn more about what Otoshibuta does, click here. (I used a loose cake pan base as the cover.)

7. Lower the heat to medium low and simmer, occasionally turning, for about one hour.
8. Remove the otoshibuta and take out the meat and cut into thin slices.

9. Reheat your skillet and place some sauces into it. Place the cut meat into the skillet and let it coat with the sauces, turning it. Total time to simmer is about 2 mins.
10. Remove them and set aside.
11. Reserve the thicken sauces for the rice later.

To make tamagoyaki, click here. I used the recipe from my workshop and made spring onion tamago. I also use dashi for my tamago.

To make sushi rice, click here.

To assemble, scoop the rice to the left corner of the bento box. Then arrange chashu and tamagoyaki on the sides and the right side of the bento box. Add sliced cucumber or any other fresh vegetables of your preference. Serve and enjoy.

Swiss Rolls and Jap Sweet Potatoes

I bought some strawberries last week and found that they were really sour! I knew nobody would wanted to eat those, including myself. So I've decided that I shall bake a cake sheet, then turned it into swiss rolls. I mixed the strawberries with the frozen blueberries and cooked them with sugar to form berries sauce for the swiss rolls.


I didn't do very well with the rolling of the swiss rolls. Somehow, they don't turn out to be tight as I wanted them to be! Maybe my filllings were too thick? I shall be less generous next time. *excuse*


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Ever since our last Food blogger's party, I've been thinking about Rei's sweet potato cake. Finally, this week I saw that the Japanese sweet potatoes were having sales. Without hesitation, I bought quite a few and decided to make the sweet potato cake. I can't quite remember the taste, but after I boiled the sweet potatoes, it was so sweet I decided not to add coconut where I had originally intended to! So what I did was just to add salted butter into the mashed potatoes, put them into the baking cups and baked them for about 25mins. It was really nice. The natural sweetness from the jap sweet potatoes was really really good! Yummy. I shall again next time with coconut, unless I ask Rei for the recipe. :p

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

Every evening, on the way home from office, I will think and ponder what cakes or pastries that I will bake after my dinner. Then I'll try to recall what else is left in the fridge or the cabinet that might expire soon. My list of to-bake are just endless! There are so many items I want to try, but just didn't have the time to do it. Yesterday evening, I decided to use my cream cheese. Even deciding on the recipe for cream cheese was difficult. Cannot be too difficult to bake, cannot take up too much as I only have an evening of time...blah blah...

Finally, I settled on Alex Goh's Japanese Cotton Cheesecake. The result was just perfect! Too good to be true! My family just love it! I shall try different flavours in the next few days! :)

Look who is hiding behind??

Ah-ha! It's Rayquaza! He came to see if my Japanese Cotton Cheesecake is good enough to be considered "Japanese"!


Post Mortem: For the benefits of those who are interested to know what is water-bake, here is a picture for sharing. I hope this is clearer now.


As promised, here is the recipe from Alex Goh's "Fantastic Cheesecake".
Ingredients:
(A) 160g Cream Cheese, 25g Butter, 120g Milk
(B) 40g Flour, 30g Cornflour
(C) 4 Egg yolks
(D) 4 Egg whites, 1/8tsp Cream of Tartar, 100g Sugar, pinch of Salt

Method:
1. Grease and line the bottom of two 20-cm oval pans. Wrap outside of the pans in foil.
2. Place (A) in mixing bowl and stir over double-boiler until thick. Remove it from double-boiler.
3. Add (B) and mix until well combined. Add (C) and mix until well blended.
4. Whip the egg whites in (D) until foamy. Then add the remaining (D). Continue whipping until soft peaks. Add it into the cheese mixture from step (3).
5. Pour the cheese filling onto the prepared oval pans. Bake in water bath at 160C for 40-45 minutes or until well incorporated.
6. Remove cake from the oven. Remove the cake from the mould immediately. Set aside to cool.

My notes: I used a 8" round pan. I should have used a 9" round pan instead. Then it will be flatter and bigger, rather than higher and smaller.