Avocado Grapefruits Salad and Mamezara

This is what I made the other day for dinner.  Avocado and Grapefruits Salad and Chicken cutlet with arugula.

This is Mamezara(Japanese little dishes) I bought in Kyoto.  You can use this little dish for a chopstick holder, put some spices such as sea salt, pepper, sansho(it is a spice earthy and tangy with a bit of lemon taste) or chill.  Cute, aren't they?

Onsen(Hot Springs)

What I missed the most was going to Onsen(Hot Springs).  There are so many hot springs in Japan.  This time was near Lake Yamanaka in Yamanashi Prefecture.

The food was great and I put the dinner photos here.  Japanese Food uses lots of Shun food (Food representative of the season) so you can see a lot of ingredients of spring in the photos.

                                           Appetiser

                                           Sashimi

                                           Tempura

                                           Grilled Fish

                                           Side dishes

                                           Shabushabu

                                           Rice and Miso Soup

                                           Dessert

Kyoto

Kyoto is always good to feel real Japan.  I went to Kyoto on school trip when I was 15.  It was great because great to travel with friends, but I don't remember much about visiting temples, learned about culture etc as I was a kid:p  Since then, I went back to Kyoto and love to visit there.  My husband also likes there very much and we wanted to show our children what Kyoto like.

I have a food business person who lives in Kyoto and I did work with my bento business with him before. He still advise me about food business etc and we met in Kyoto this time.  He picked us up by his car the day we arrived and took us to a very traditional Kyoto food restaurant.  It was fantastic!!

Then we went to Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion) .

And Kiyomizudera.

Japan 3

We visited our good friends in Nagoya.  We've known each other almost 10 years and it was great to see them.  It was a delicious Nabe dinner that night, but I totally forgot to take a picture because we were too busy to talk, eat, drink.
She made a very nice bread for next morning.  Even though we stayed up so late the night before, she made these bread for us which made us so happy.

                                                Nagoya Castle

Japan 2

This is Ekiben. Ekibens are a specific type of bento boxed meals, sold on trains and trains stations in Japan.  There are so many kinds of Ekiben.  We went to Nagoya and Kyoto.  I bought this ekiben at Tokyo station and ate on Shinkansen.

This is what I got.  Lots of vegetables.

This is my husband and kids ate.  Katsusand(Pork cutlet sandwich) with some sushi.  This Pork cutlet shop is very popular and famous.  It's called Maisen.

Japan 1

I was in Japan on holiday.  It is a beautiful time in Japan.  I would like to share with you about my trip.

Sakura is beautiful and I enjoyed it very much.

This is real Wasabi.  Many restaurants in Japan serve you this real wasabi so you can grate it by yourself.  The flavor is wonderful.

Penne cream sauce

Whenever I have no time to cook, I just cook this pasta for my family.  It's really easy and tasty.

Cut prosciutto into small pieces and cook in a pan with a 1tsp olive oil.
Add frozen green peas and double cream.
Add boiled penne and salt and pepper if needed.

Quick and tasty meal!

Tsukune

Tsukune is a Japanese chicken meat ball often served at Yakitori restaurant.  Minced chicken goes bad very quickly so you must get fresh one and cook on the same day.

1. Mix with minced chicken(300g), chopped negi(leek 1/2), one egg white, bread crumb(2tsp), salt and pepper.
2. Put a small portion of canola oil on your hands and make 12 balls.
3. In a pan, 1tsp canola oil and grill the balls.
4. When it becomes golden brown, add 1tsp Sake, 1/2 tsp Sugar, 4tsp Mirin, 2tsp soy sauce and until the sauce becomes thicker.
5. Sprinkle shichimi(Japanese spice mixture).