This post is by Kay, who writes the K’s Kitchen section of Todd’s Wanderings. She also happens to be Todd’s lovely wife!

Only the Japanese can turn a meat loaf into a gourmet dish!

First of all, I have to apologize for my looong absence from K’s Kitchen. Here is my excuse…I was on bed rest from February to June due to some complications for my pregnancy and I couldn’t use use the computer much. The good news is that (A) our son was born in good health 4 weeks ago; and (B) K’s kitchen is back now

Today, I would like to introduce you to a ‘Japanese Western Food’ called ‘Hambagu’. Basically this is a dish made from ground beef and is similar to a rounded meatloaf or a salisbury streak. This dish originates from ‘Tartar Steak’ in Germany. It is not known exactly when this dish arrived at Japan but it’s sometime during Meiji Era (1868-1912) that similar dishes started to appear. In fact, beef was not common prior to this period in Japan. Since the 1950s, Hambagu (yes this is a very Japanese way to pronounce Hamburg) has become really popular as a home dish and its popularity continues today.

According to my husband (who is American and is familiar with the Japanese culture), the uniqueness of Hambagu in Japan as a foreigner is that this dish can be an expensive and posh dish and an economical dish at the same time. (Todd here: I mean seriously, who would serve a meatloaf at a five star restaurant!)

The recipe that I am introducing to you today is my mom’s special recipe (again!). The particular point for this recipe is that you bake the dish in an oven, while we normally only use a frying pan to cook it in Japan. This way, the juicy taste of the meat will remain. Enjoy this Japanese Western Food!!

Hambagu Ingredients (for 4 people)

Ground Beef: 240g

Ground Pork: 160g

Bread Crumbs: 60g

Milk: 100cc

Egg: 1

Salt: 1/2 teaspoon

Pepper, Nutmeg: a pinch or two each

Sauce

Sherry (alcohol) 3 Tablespoons (if not available, you can also substitute with whisky or brandy)

Ketchup: 3 Tablespoons

Worcestershire Sauce: 1.5 Tablespoons

Chicken broth: 3 Tablespoons

Mustard: 1 Tablespoon

Mushrooms- sliced finely (as much as your like to cover each patty)

How to cook Japanese Hambagu (cooking/preparation time: 45-50 mins)

(1)   Chop onions finely, sauté, and cool them down.

(2)   Soak the bread crumbs in milk

The Pate, trust me it gets better looking as the cooking continues

(3)   Put onions, bread crumbs in milk, salt, pepper, eggs, and nutmeg in a bowl and mix them.

(4)   Add ground beef and pork into the bowl and mix well with the ingredients in (3). Divide the pate into four.

(5)   Throw each piece from right to left hand to get rid of air in the pate and make a rectangular shape with 2 cm thickness. Push the middle part to make a dent.

(6)   Put 1.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil into the frying pan, heat it up, and fry the outside of the pate for 2-3 minutes to brown them.

(7)   Put vegetable oil onto the oven pan, put the hamburg pate, and bake them for about 13 min with 220 C.

(8)   Take out the hambagu patties from the pan, remove grease from the pan, and collect the remaining meat essence into a small pot.

(9)   Sauté mushrooms and put into (8), add the ingredients for sauce, and heat up until it boils. Serve the hamburg with the sauce on top.

You can also serve a side vegetable dish such as carrots grasse or sautéd beans, as you like.

What do you think? Have the Japanese perfected the meatloaf?

Japanese Hambagu Recipe (Japanese Gourmet Hamburger Patty? WOW) is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This post is by Kay, who writes the K’s Kitchen section of Todd’s Wanderings. She also happens to be Todd’s lovely wife!

These are the Seven Herbs

This is a special and traditional dish that Japanese eat on January 7^th with the wish to get rid of evil and bring health. Also, there is a connotation for resting your stomach after eating heavy and rich Osechi Meals over New Years. The porridge/congee is cooked with seven kinds of herbs: (Japanese parsley (seri); Shepherd’s purse (nazuna); Jersey Cudweed (gogyō); Common chickweed (hakobera); Henbit (hotokenoza); Turnip (suzuna); and Daikon (suzushiro).

They are seven herbs which represent spring. For your reference, there are seven leaves for autumn but they are for decoration not for cooking.

To be honest, this is not a very tasty and attractive dish as it is, but I like the significance of this custom and the idea to rest my stomach after eating a lot over new years. That being said, there is a period that I like to eat Porridge/congee, when I am sick. In the US and some countries, they tend to cook chicken soup when they are sick but Japanese tend to go for this porridge. In case you have not tried it when you are sick, this is the best dish to throw into your stomach and recover quickly when you don’t have appetite! We put these special herbs only for the Nanakusa Gayu, and normally eat the plain Porridge with some Japanese side-dishes, pickles, or plums (Umeboshi).

Ingredients (for 3-4 people)

• 

  I love the green and white!

  Japanese Rice: 1 cup (Can be substituted with other sticky types of rice such as Thai). I use Macedonian rice in Kosovo which works perfectly!!

• Water: 7 cups
• Salt
• 7 kinds of herbs (Seri, Nazuna, Gogyo, Hakobera, Hotokenoza, Suzuna, and Suzushiro- See the introduction paragraph for details). If you would like to make a plain porridge, you don’t need these herbs.

How to cook (cooking and preparation time: 40-50 min)

(1)  Wash rice and put in a pot with 7 Cups of water. Leave it for about 1 hour as it is.

(2)  Cook the rice in the pot for about 40min. Start the stove on medium and turn it down to low once the water starts boiling. If the water evaporates earlier than 40 min, that’s fine as long as the rice is cooked well.

(3)  Wash the herbs, cut them into small pieces, and put then in the pot. Cook for a few minutes, add salt, and leave the pot with the lid off after turning off the stove.

(4)  Serve in a bowl with some additional Japanese side-dishes /tsukemono as you like. Please see the reference below for pickles in case you would like to purchase them at the Asian Store.

Tips: The above recipe is cooking rice from scratch.  If you have some already cooked rice, you can also use it with 2-3 times more water than the amount of rice until the porridge looks like the one in the photo.

Japanese side dish to go with porridge/congee:

Tsukemono (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukemono)

Umeboshi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeboshi)

Tsukudani (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukudani)

Curbed Tuna (Katsuobushi) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katsuobushi) with soy sauce

How did it go? What other Japanese dishes do you like?

Nanakusa Gayu (Japanese Porridge or Congee with Seven herbs) is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This post is by: Kay (my lovely wife and writer for K’s Kitchen!)

Turkish Tabboleh in a nice Turkish bowl straight from Istanbul's Grand Bazarr

I just came back from my work trip to Istanbul. Although this was my third trip there, I am still impressed with the energy and number of people! And Istanbul will welcome you with so many interesting activities including beautiful historical sights, shopping, and delicious Turkish cuisine. Today, I would like to introduce you to one of the Turkish dishes called Kisir which is a Turkish style Tabboleh.This dish is very healthy and friendly for vegetarians. As usual, I had to substitute bulgur with couscous as I could not find bulgur in Kosovo (and forgot to buy it while in Istanbul). I hope you enjoy this glimpse of Turkish Cuisine!

Ingredients (for 4 people)

Couscous: 1 cup=240 cc (and of course use bulgur if available)

Hot water: 1 1/4 cup

Salt: 1 teaspoon

Tomato paste: 2 Tablespoons (other recipes calls for hot pepper paste which is probably better to add the spicy taste)

Green onions: 1/2 Cups (finely chopped)

Onion: half (finely chopped)

Italian parsley: 1-1.5 cups (finely chopped)

Cucumber: 1 (diced)

Red paprika: 1/4 cup (finely chopped)

Pomegranate syrup: 1 Tablespoon

Lemon juice: 2 Tablespoons

Cumin: 1 Tablespoon (if you fry and grind) / 2 Tablespoons if you use powder

Tomato: 1 (diced)

Pepper: 1 teaspoon

Olive oil: 2 Tablespoons (or more if you like)

Fresh mint leaves (if available): 2 Tablespoons (chopped)

How to cook (cooking/preparation time: 30-40 min)

(1)  Chop all the vegetables as instructed above

(2)  Put Couscous in a pot and pour hot water mixed with salt and tomato paste into the pot. Put a lid and let is sit for 10 minutes. Then fluff up couscous with a fork softly.

(3)  Roast cumin in a frying pan and grind them.

(4)  Combine couscous, pepper, cumin, vegetables, and mix them well.

(5)  Add Pomegranate syrup, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt depending on the taste.

(6)  Serve in a bowl!

That’s all! It is quite easy to make, isn’t it?

Was that easy? Delicious? Tell us how tasty it was, or how it all went horribly, horribly wrong

How to Cook Kisir-Turkish Tabbouleh is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This post is by: Kay (my lovely wife and writer for K’s Kitchen!)

I apologize for taking a break from K’s kitchen for sometime…I thought that I’d have a lot of time during the summer but my work kept me busy until we left for 9 Day Balkans Road Trip. The good news is that we had a great harvest of tomatoes, basil, Sri Lankan chili, and thyme in our small garden on the balcony. We were indeed busy watering and taking care of the plants every morning before we went to work, but our effort really paid off!! Today, I’d like to introduce you to Caponata- K’s Special. This dish is one of my favorites because it’s healthy and remains tasty for a couple of days.

Yummmm...fresh vegetables soaked in delicious juices.

Ingredients (for 3-4 people)

Onions: One big size or two medium size-chopped to 1cm pieces

Paprika: 3 Red and 2 Yellow (if you use a regular big paprika, you can use 1 Red and 1 Yellow) cut into the size of a thumb

Egg Plant: 3 medium size or 1 big size- slice them in 5-8mm width (if they are big, please cut them in half)

Fresh tomatoes straight from our beer...I mean, balcony garden

Tomatoes: 2 large tomatoes diced

Zucchini: 1 medium size- sliced 5-8mm width

Garlic: 2 cloves- sliced

Chili: 1 small Sri Lankan chili (or any other kind, or without if you don’t like spicy food)- finely chopped

Basil: 4-5 fresh leaves (if you don’t have fresh ones, you can substitute with the dried basil)- chopped

Thyme: 1/4 of handful (if you don’t have fresh ones, you can substitute with the dried thyme)

Olive oil: 2-3 Tablespoons

Bay leaf: 2-3 leaves

Salt and pepper

How to cook (cooking/preparation time: 30 min)

We grew thyme as well

(1)  Cut all the vegetables mentioned above

(2)  Fry garlic and onions with 2-3 Tablespoons of olive oil until they are cooked and browned.

(3)  Add egg plant, paprika and zucchini and fry them until they are soft and cooked.

(4)  Add tomatoes and sauté all the vegetables until tomatoes have cooked and the juice comes out.

(5)  Season with salt and pepper, and put thyme, bay leaf and basil and cook for another 5 minutes,

(6)  Serve on a dish and garnish with some Basil leaves.

Personally, I like eating Caponata a day after cooking. The flavors soak into the vegetables and the dish tastes better. Please try eating the day after cooking. You will notice the difference

I’m not sure if this is a proper way, but I keep Caponata in the fridge and eat with Cous Cous as a nice cool dish.

Was that easy? Delicious? Tell us how tasty it was, or how it all went horribly, horribly wrong

Italian Caponata- K’s Special is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This post is by: Kay (my lovely wife and founder of K’s Kitchen!)

In Japan and some parts of Europe, this summer has been extremely hot and harsh. In Kosovo, we had some rather cool weeks in July, but it’s finally become hot in the past 2 weeks. Having spent several years in the tropics, I actually prefer a hot and sticky summer to a cool one….I love licking ice cream while complaining about the temperature and the humidity….I know I’m odd (at least my husband claims so)!

There are noodles under there, I promise!

When it’s hot, we lose our appetite and don’t know what to cook. A-ha! Here is a great menu for you! Hiyashi-chuka, which literally means Cold Chinese (or Ryan-Ban-Mien in Chinese). This dish is very popular among Japanese in the summer because the cold taste stimulates their appetite. The standard Hiyashi-chuka is with a soy and vinegar sauce, but I would like to introduce you to a Sesame Sauce this time, which is my favorite.

The beauty of this dish is that you can substitute the ingredients with different items that you have at home and also add or reduce according to what you have.

Ingredients (for 3 people)

Chinese noodles: 3 packs (If you can’t find them, you can simply use instant ramen noodles)

Chicken breast (or can be thigh): (150 g) – can be substituted with other ingredients such a cooked steak or ham.

1 Cucumber (or about 120g)

3 Eggs (with 3-4 teaspoons of sugar, a pinch of salt, and mix of 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 Tablespoon of water)

Bean sprouts: 100g (optional) boiled.

Shitake mushroom (optional)

Tomatoes or lettuce (optional)

(a) Sesame Sauce

Soy sauce: 80cc

Sugar: 40g

Rice Vinegar: 50cc

Chicken broth (you can also use the chicken cubes): 100cc

Sesame paste (you can also use tahini): 40g

(b) Sauce to cook Shitake mushroom

Soy sauce: 1.5 Tablespoons

Sugar: 1.5 Tablespoons

Water: 3 Tablespoons

How to cook (cooking/preparation time: 30 min)

(1)  Make the Sesame sauce and set aside

(2)  Season the chicken with a pinch of salt and steam it until it’s cooked (or you can wrap it and put it in a microwave, or even boil it if you prefer). Shred them into long pieces. You can also use any kind of meat (or none at all) if you don’t have chicken. For instance, ham is often used at the restaurant. You just need to cut them thinly. If you have steak, you can also thinly cut them and use as a substitute. I used cooked pork, as you can see in the photo!

(3)  Cut the cucumber thinly (3mm), about the length of a toothpick. If you decide to have lots of fresh vegetables, you can also cut tomatoes and lettuce in a similar shape and length.

(4)  Quickly boil the bean sprouts and pour sesame oil on to taste.

(5)  Cook the Shitake mushrooms with ingredients (b) until it is cooked. Add sesame oil to taste after cooking. Cut them thinly.

(6)  Beat eggs and add sugar, salt, and starch. Pour a small portion into the pan,  just enough to cover the pan as if you are making a crepe (see the photo). Make several sheets of crepe looking egg omelets. When you are finished, wrap them all together and cut them long and thin (3mm) from the side.

(7)  Boil hot water and cook the noodles. Please don’t cook too long!! Pour noodles into the strainer and wash them with cold and fresh water until they cool down. Drain the noodles.

(8)  Serve the noodles on a plate and put different kinds of ingredients on top of the noodles. Pour sesame sauce on top and the dish is ready!!

Moms Are Strict

As you have noticed, all the ingredients are supposed to be cut thinly. Since I was young, I was always told by my mom to cut the ingredients in a similar shape. If they are mostly long shaped, cut them thinly. If they are rounded, cut them in a round shape with the similar size. Japanese tend to be very particular about the shape of ingredients in general, but I think this principle also applies to many cultures including China….

Was that easy? Delicious? Tell us how tasty it was, or how it all went horribly, horribly wrong

Hiyashi-chuka (Ryan-Ban-Mien)- Chinese Cold Noodles for Summer is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This post is by: Kay (my lovely wife and writer for K’s Kitchen!)

Is it only kids who love fried chicken? Nope! I still love fried chicken and this ‘Yu Lin Chi’ is even more special for adults because it goes well with chilled beer!! This dish is popular among EVERYONE-drinkers and non-drinkers, adults and children.

The ‘Yu Lin Chi’ recipe is also from my mom which I learned more than 13 years ago. Having lived outside Japan for 10 years, I’ve been absent from my mom’s cooking class (yes, she teaches cooking), but I still get her recipes from time to time and try out new dishes. It is not always easy to cook some dishes without the right ingredients but I’ve learned how to substitute some ingredients with other items by now! The beauty of this ‘Yu Lin Chi’ is that you can cook with generally available ingredients. OK. Here we go!

Ingredients (for 2 people)

Chicken thigh: 400g

Leak: 1/3 of a long leak (finely chopped)

Yummy, yummy Yu Lin Chi Special Chicken Sauce!

Ginger: 1/2 Tablespoon (finely chopped)

Lettuce 5-6 leaves

(a) Marinade for chicken

Salt:1/3 teaspoon

Soy sauce: 2 teaspoons

Sake: 1Tablespoon

Pepper to taste

(b) Special Sauce

Soy sauce: 3 Tablespoons

Vinegar: 2 Tablespoons

Sugar: 2.5 Tablespoons

Sesame oil: 1 teaspoon

Chicken broth (or clear soup with the stock): 1Tablespoon

How to cook (preparation time: 15 min; cooking time: 20 min)

(1)  Cut the chicken to open it up and keep the thickness even.

(2)  Marinade the meat with (a) for 5-10 minutes, just long enough to give it a nice coating.

(3)  Finely chop the leak and ginger, and tear the lettuce into pieces.

(4)  Put the ingredients for sauce together in a small bowl.

(5)  Heat oil, enough to cover the chicken, up to 160 C (315 F) and throw in the chicken (well don’t throw or you’ll get burned by the oil!). Keep the flame of the stove in the middle range until the center of the chicken is cooked fully.

(6)  Turn up the heat for a minute to make the chicken crispy.

(7)  Put the chicken on top of a bed of lettuce on the plate. Pour on the sauce. That’s all!

If you like to eat with rice, please check how to cook rice in the recipe for Nishoku Gohan.

Was that easy? Delicious? Tell us how tasty it was, or how it all went horribly, horribly wrong

This post is part of the Lonely Planet BlogSherpa Travel Blog Carnival hosted this time by Kat over at Tie Dye Travels on Food Around the World. The Carnival is hosted every two weeks by a BlogSherpa member. The topic this time is Food Around the World. I hosted one here earlier on Todd’s Wanderings about Travel Safety.

Chinese Fried Chicken with special sauce- Yu Lin Chi is a post from: Todd's Wanderings

This post was written by Kay, who writes the K’s Kitchen section of Todd’s Wanderings. She also happens to be Todd’s lovely wife!

When I went to my friend’s house awhile ago, she served me a freshly baked banana muffin for breakfast. It made me really happy early in the morning and kept my happiness all day (along with a very nice coffee, of course!). This is it! I want to bake muffins in the morning on the weekend! I was determined to find the good recipe. I looked into several recipes in my cook books and on the internet, and found this recipe (adapted from David Herbert’s Simply Perfect Every Time) which is very tasty and easy. When I tried this for the first time, I confirmed the happiness!! My husband Todd was away (at that time for 6 weeks!), so I decided to share this happiness with my friends and they all loved the muffins!

When it comes to baking, some people tend to think that it is time-consuming and troublesome, but once you try this recipe you will change your opinion! Try it now!

Ingredients (makes 12-14 small muffins):

Flour (all-purpose): 2 cups (with 240 cc per cup*) or 300g

Baking powder: 2 teaspoons

Baking soda: 1 teaspoon

Salt: 1/8 teaspoon

Yogurt and milk mixture: ½ cup plain yogurt and ½ cup milk

2 Large Eggs

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

Sugar: 3/4 cup or 187 g

Unsalted butter: 1/2 cup (melted)

Fresh or frozen blueberry: 1 cup (or other berries depending on your preference)

*not all cups are the same and in Japan 1 cup=180 cc

How to cook- Cooking time: 20 min prep plus 20-25 baking time

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius (or 375 Fahrenheit). Have 12 muffin cups ready. If you are using the tinned     cups, spray with oil or rub the oil inside the cups.

2. Shift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together and put them all in a bowl.

3. Put the milk & yogurt mixture, beaten eggs, lemon zest, sugar, and melted butter in another bowl and mix them well.      Add this mixture into the flour and mix them all together.

4. Even if you see lumps in the mix, don’t worry as long as ingredients are mixed. Add blueberries and mix further.

5. Put the muffin dough into the muffin cups.

6. Bake the muffins for 20-25 min. From my experience, I would suggest that you keep the muffins on the lower shelf for 10 minutes and then move them to the upper shelf and bake for another 10 min. If muffins turn brown, poke a toothpick in and see if the dough sticks to it when you pull it out. If it’s not baked enough, bake for another 3-5 min. When muffins are done, take them out from the oven and let them cool for 5 min before taking them out of the cups.

Eat, drink coffee and enjoy the happiness

What do you think? Leave a comment and tell us how your muffins turned out.

Yogurt Blueberry Muffin Recipe: The Cure for any Homesickness is a post from: Todd's Wanderings