Tag: ginger

Gratted ginger scones

When we were in Chicago We went to Wholefood quite often, and when lining at the cashier they always have some magazines. Usually people press in which I have no interest, but also few cooking and interior magazines. And I must say that I totally get attracted to these. And I ended up buying one, with plenty of autumn recipes. I was definitely too early and too hot for thinking about pumpkin cakes and heavy preparations, but this time might come I tought (and it came quicker than expected!). Most of the recipes are too rich in butter and sugar but they provide some inspiration for sure and moveme out of my comfort cooking zone. The first recipe that inspired me is scones. Well nothing that move me too much away of my comfort zone… I love to prepare scones. They are so versatile and so easy to prepare. They can be sweet or salty, they can be prepared in advance… Pear and ginger make a good combination and pears are just starting to be in season. Funnily pears in Japan are often called “la france”, a name I’ve never investigated but that has always intrigued me! So in the classic base of scone recipe I added fresh ginger gratted, cinnamon, vanilla and grated clove. I served it with fresh pears, but you can add the pear diced in the scones too!

Rehabilitation cooking

Since we came back from Canada I’ve this impression that I have forgotten how to cook and that I am in a transitional phase of rehabilitation. After such a long time not really cooking much and seeing so many ingredients that I can’t find easily in Japan and that gave me so msny ideas it’s tough for me. Though I’m very happy with the Japanese cooking I wish I had a little more time to prepare our dinner. I’ve came back exhausted and starved from work every evening because of the effects of the jetlag. Maybe also it’s the pressure of the approaching cooking contest… Yes, it’s tomorrow… I wonder if I will still be able to cook that quiche!!! So everything I have cooked this week was pure simplicity and it’s so simple I ask myself if that is actually cooking!!!!

Tofu and ginger, shishito, rice
Tofu and ginger, shishito, rice

Coconut milk and spices scones

Once the coconut can is opened, better use it! It’s really rare I use canned food but for coconut milk it is really nice (and for chick peas). The milk is really rich and creamy. So after I used a few for the curry I’ve been cooking with it a little bit. And first thing I dud was to prepare some scones for breakfast. I replaced the milk in the recipe with coconut milk. I added vanilla, cardamom seeds and some fresh gratted ginger. Baked and serve with some kind of homemade kaya: coconut milk cooked with sugar until creamy. It was delicious but it seems that the coconut milk loses a lot of taste when baked., so the spices gave most of the flavor to yhe scones.

Vegan coconut milk curry

Yes I know, the picture is not the most pleasant, but really taking pictures of risotto and curry is not an easy task! But both are super delicious! Since yesterday I had this recipe in mind and just tried it: perfect for our palates that don’t like spicy-hot food. It starts with simple brown rice, cooked as you like. Then I used 1 yellow zucchini, a handfull of shelled cooked edamame, fresh coriander plenty, a small bulb of fresh ginger, 4tbs of coconut milk, 1tsp of curry powder, salt, a bit of oil. In a pan I heat the oil and add the zucchini cut in chuncks (suze and shape you like), cook at high heat, when it starts to golden on one size I stir and reduce the heat. Add the coconut milk, the ginger gratted, the salt and the curry powder. Stir well, add the edamame. If the mixture is getting to liquid (water in the zucchini) add a table spoon of flour or starch and cook a little longer while stirring. Remove from heat and add the fresh coriander chopped, serve with the rice. Have a nice weekend!

Donburi

It’s a fact rare enough to be mentioned: I’ve cooked shrimps!!! Indeed it is awfully rare that I cook shrimps: 1. Because it’s not so easy to find wild shrimps; 2. Because I prefer them without head, don’t you think too these giant eyes are kind of weird? 3. It smells quite strong after… Anyway, I found some wild shrimps prepared for sashimi: head removed. They were not giant prawns like I like best but still a lot of conditions were there to give it a try. And I decided then to prepare them with what might already the last zucchini of the season (extremely short season in Chiba) with ginger and rice. So I gratted fresh ginger and marinated the shrimps in. Then I grilled them on a hot pan. I just steamed the zucchini and added small pieces of ginger and soya sauce. Served on top of Japanese rice, decorated with black sesame seeds. That’s all!!

A dinner with guests

The other night we had some guests at home, and when we do I need to be super-well organized to squeeze one hour to prepare dinner in my schedule, this usually my target time. So I need to think carefully the menu, the ingredients and once I enter the kitchen I know exactly what I’m doing. Usually I have some extra time or a few ideas on the fly, so that it turns I always improvise something. This time was no exception!

For the dinner it was simple: grilled delicious wild snapper with a little of sesame oil, rice with katsuobushi, white and pink turnip tofu salad with pumpkin seeds (similar recipe with the persimmon salad, but I replaced the persimmon with a little cucumber and the walnuts by kabocha seeds) and some pickled sweet ginger.

Then I realized that we didn’t have too much to snack while drinking so I decided to make a little extra, because it’s nice when you have dinner after work with friends to hang out and chat, to release the oressure of a long day at work. Well, with what I had in the fridge the best option was to make some kabocha chips, so I thinly sliced half a kobocha and cooked it in a bit of oil. Add some salt and served. That was a hit! Everyone loved it! 

Deal!

From left to right: ginger in vinegar, candied ginger, gono
From left to right: ginger in vinegar, candied ginger, gono

You may remember that I gave away to my neighbors my gingko nuts because there were really too many.  So to thanks us our little 84 years old neighbor prepared us some nice Japanese traditional condiments and brang them to us timely just before lunch, so I just had to cook some rice. There were three different preparations: ginger in vinegar, candied ginger in soya sauce, and gobo simmered with mirin, sake, soya sauce, sugar and small fishes. All of them were really delicious and now I want so badly that she teaches me how to prepare these!!!!

Perfect lunch! 
Perfect lunch! 

Lime and ginger cake

No better excuse than a typhoon to induldge with a cup tea and a piece of cake. The other day I bought beautiful limes in Ohara, so I decided to use them and make a lime cake, then I found a little piece of ginger in the fridge and found that it’d be the perfect combination. Et voila! How the lime and ginger cake recipe was written and executed.

I mixed half flour and half corn starch, baking powder, brown caster sugar, a bit of oil, eggs, stired well. Added the zest of one large lime, and the juice too. Added the gratted ginger (a little piece is enough). Stirred well again. Greased a cake pan, put the dough in, baked in the oven at 150~180deg until golden. Ate with a nice cup of Earl Grey. And kept the rest for breakfast!!!

Apple ginger cider

The other day we went to Aoyama to pick up our new car and we stopped for lunch on our way in a little passage in Aoyama dori with food trucks and cafe barracks celebrating the chia seed week. Don’t ask me what it is, I didn’t really get the point, none of of the food served was using chia, probably some promotional event… 

Still, they serve some decent vegan food and serve some drink, this is where we tried the apple-ginger cider. It was made out of French sparkling apple juice and ginger syrup, and quite good, though a little too sweet, so I decided to try making some today and invented my own recipe.

I had some fresh ginger root, so I made a syrup out of it by cutting into small bits one large root. I boiled it into 1/3L of water where I added some block sugar, once the syrup was ready I just let it cool down. For the apple juice, I don’t have a juicer, so I couldn’t make my own apple juice, so I bought some natural basic apple juice. And same for the sparkling water, just soda water. I mixed then in the following proportions: 1/4L of ginger syrup where I left the cubes of gingers for a better taste, but you can filter; 1/3L of apple juice and 1/3L of soda water.  If you like you can serve with ice cube, I like it at room temperature.

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