Collaboration with Sasha's Fine Food
Dish 1 - Honey mustard rosemary roasted chicken
Dish 2 - Asian chicken skewers with peanut sauce


The next product I'm showcasing from Sasha's Fine Food is their gorgeous Mt. Cook Alpine New Sealand Salmon Pieces which come in a pack of 250g. They are skinless and boneless  thus very convenient and easy to cook.

Sasha's salmon are imported from Mt. Cook Alphine, New Zealand where they are raised in pristine, fast-flowing fresh glacial waters making them fit, healthy and lean. In terms of taste and texture, the salmon is in fact sashimi-grade and has a firm, muscular texture with a clean, smooth flavour. And like the chicken which I have tried, the freshwater salmon is also free from hormones, antibiotics, vaccines and pesticides.


I cook salmon dishes at least once or twice a week as my son is crazy over salmon. One of his favourite dish is Teriyaki Salmon, so I decided to go for a Donburi using half of the portion.


I don't really have a specific recipe this time. Basically, sprinkle the salmon pieces with some salt and pepper, coat with corn starch and pan-fry till browned and crispy, set aside. I usually make my own teriyaki sauce to taste, using soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake and sugar. Bring the sauce to boil and slightly thickened, reserve half for the rice and toss the pan-fried salmon into the remaining sauce. In a bowl, add Japanese rice, drizzle with some teriyaki sauce, then top with the teriyaki salmon, ikura (salmon roe), tobiko (flying fish roe), chopped spring onion and seaweed.

Easy peasy and a meal that would make my son very happy!



For the other half portion of the salmon pieces, I chose to make Chirashi Sushi with them. Chirashi Sushi (?????) is also called Gomoku Sushi (????), Gomoku Chirashi (?????), or Bara Sushi (????) depending on the different regions in Japan.

Chirashi (???) means �scattered�, some finely chopped ingredients are mixed into sushi rice and then the rice is topped with more ingredients to make it look colourful. Usually cooked ingredients like unagi and shrimp are used (rather than raw fish), as well as some shredded egg, vegetables like snow peas, cucumber.

As a tradition in Japan, Chirashi Sushi is usually eaten on Hinamatsuri (???) or Doll�s Festival on March 3 every year. In addition, it's also a popular dish for parties, gatherings and celebrations.

The first time I ate it was during a homestay programme in Osaka where my host family made it for me, and the second time (also the last time) was a gathering for homestay participants at the end of the programme. I haven't eat this for a long time!


For detail ingredients and method of making Chirashi Sushi, my go-to reference is Just One Cookbook.

But for ease of preparation, I bought this Gomoku premix from a Japanese supermarket. All I have to do, is to cook the Japanese rice and mix the premix (sweet vinegar sauce, bits of mushroom, carrot, bamboo shoots, dried gourd shavings) into the cooked rice to get a flavourful sweet and tangy sushi rice. Then just top the sushi rice with desired ingredients; I used pan-fried salmon, cooked shrimp, shredded omelette, cucumber, ikura, tobiko and sprinkle with seaweed and sesame seeds.

Chirashi Sushi is typically served in a special type of sushi bowl called Hangiri (or Sushi Oke) which is a big wooden tub, but I couldn't find it so I just used a normal Japanese lacquer serving plate.


This is certainly a hearty Japanese meal which made me miss Japan so much! Definitely gonna make this from time to time :)

Stay tune as I continue cooking dishes with the pork slices and cod fillet from Sasha's Fine Food.

Sasha's Fine Food is an online F&B company that sourced ethically produced goods with preference to free-range, organic and/or fair trade food and drinks, and at the same time avoiding foods with unacceptable or unhealthy addictive. There's a wide variety of produce available in the webstore, from meat and fish to dry goods and groceries, dairy to beverages.

It's been 2 weeks since my vacation to Tokyo, and I have to say, I really miss Tokyo very much :(

Been a walking zombie since my return and didn't have the motivation to do anything, not even edit photos for the blog. I blame it on the haze and humid weather. The weather in Tokyo was cool and air was crisp, it felt so good there, food was delicious, shopping was great... I digress :p

As always, I had to buy some grocery and vegetables back, because they were so much cheaper as compared to prices in Japanese supermarkets here. Take for example, a large daikon (white radish) cost less than $4, whereas Isetan supermarket is selling medium size ones at $9+. Same goes for carrot, potato etc, and Japanese vegetables really taste much sweeter with better texture. But in SG, I really cannot bare to spend so much as there are cheaper alternatives; so every time I go Japan, it's so hard to resist the temptation to lug back some vegetables! Seriously I didn't buy that much, just the hardy root vegetables like, a daikon, 3 carrots, a bag of baby taro, some young burdock, a section of mountain yam, 2 goya (bitter gourd)... that's all and I gave some to my mum and MIL.


In Japan, people like to eat bitter gourd dishes during summer to revitalise energy and boast appetite. This particular dish, Goya Chanpuru is a very popular Okinawan home-style dish which is quick and easy to whip up. Ingredients are bitter gourd, pork belly or spam, firm tofu, egg, and seasonings are simple like soy sauce, miso and sesame oil.

Goya Chanpuru (Stir Fry Bitter Gourd with Pork and Tofu)

(serves 3-4)

Ingredients

• 1 bitter gourd
• 200g pork belly
• 300g firm tofu
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp cooking sake
• 1 tsp miso
• Dash of sesame oil
• Handful of bonito flakes (optional)

Steps

1. Cut the bitter gourd lengthwise, use a spoon to scrape off as much white pith as possible. Cut the bitter gourd into 0.5cm thickness. Boil some water, add a tsp of salt and blanch the bitter gourd for a minute. Drain and set aside.
2. Drain water from the tofu, use a heavy object to press onto tofu for 10 mins to remove additional liquid. Cut into big cubes and set aside.
3. Slice pork belly thinly and cut into bite-size pieces (I bought pre-sliced ones from supermarket).
4. Add a tbsp of oil into frying pan, once hot, add pork belly and stir fry till opaque.
5. Add bitter gourd and tofu and give them a quick stir fry.
6. Dissolve the miso in cooking sake, then add the mixture together with soy sauce and dash of sesame oil into the frying pan. Give all the ingredients a quick toss.
7. Lightly beat the egg and pour over the ingredients, give a quick toss. Plate and top with some bonito flakes if desired. Best served hot.

I like to top the dish with some bonito flakes, it enhanced the overall taste. Although the dish doesn't seem that appealing visually, it's very tasty and wholesome. Give this humble dish a try!

Last Friday, I took time off and travelled all the way from the west of Singapore to the east, to attend a hands-on class on Japanese Home Style Cooking conducted by Chef Aki Watanabe.

She used to teach at Shermay's Cooking School and I have attended quite a few of her cooking and baking classes which I enjoyed very much. Since Shermay has closed the school, Chef Aki is now conducting lessons at her private abode under "Atelier Koinu". In fact, she started Atelier Koinu even before teaching at Shermay's and has been doing so all this while.

Although I would love to attend more of her lessons, timing and distance is my concern. Anyways, I saw on her Facebook about this particular class with recipes that I'm very interested. So made up my mind to go the distance!


I must say I totally enjoyed the class, especially the hands-on, hardly had the chance to attend such classes. Learnt many useful cutting techniques and practical tips on cooking, and certainly gained more knowledge about Japanese cooking.

Best of all, we got to enjoy our fruits of labour immediately after the cooking and had a great time chit-chatting! This Japanese lunch set which I helped to prepare certainly looked tantalising and trust me, tasted equally good :)



I love this refreshing salad made of daikon radish, japanese cucumber and carrot and tossed in a dressing made of shio koji and sesame. I think I could just eat a whole bowl of it as a main dish instead of a side salad :p

This is the first time I learn about Shio Koji, which is a rice malt and salt seasoning. Besides using it as a dressing, it can also be used to marinate meat and fish. I love the taste of it and can't wait to go to Meidi-ya supermarket (only available there) to get some so that I can prepare this salad soon!


I love this hijiki seaweed salad too! The beauty of it is, it can be cooked in advance and freeze for future consumption. The Japanese uses this salad as a filler dish for bento box because it's suitable for eating at room temperature. Taste-wise is a little sweet and salty, very light on the palate, healthy too and hence very popular salad.


It's actually not that easy to cook a bowl of good authentic miso soup. Nowadays, ready-made miso soups are readily sold at supermarkets, but the Japanese still believe in cooking it from scratch starting from the dashi stock made of water, kombu kelp and Katsuobushi bonito flakes. It's important not to let the miso paste boil after adding to the stock or else it will lose its flavour.

This bowl of miso soup tasted mild with a sweet after taste, whereas most miso soup I tasted (including the ones I tried cooking) were simply salty and flat. Now I know.


Steamed Japanese Rice, each grain represents the heart and soul of the Japanese people. Cooking Japanese rice also requires meticulous technique of rinsing and rubbing and soaking the grains, not as straightforward as we thought. The additional steps are important to ensure that the rice cooked will be glistering, fluffy and sweet.

Actually I couldn't wait to try out all the dishes, but didn't have time to go to the Meidi-ya supermarket to gather the essential ingredients that I lacked. But definitely, I have to try them soon!