Spicy miso soup

I`m really sleepy right now, but I just can`t wait till tomorrow to share our dinner with you. So pardon me if you can hear me yawning like in every minute. Sleepy and getting excited at the same time. Weird?

*Yawn*
 Zzz....


Quick quick.
Saute garlic, onion, and chili. Add some more chili if this doesn`t look spicy enough for you.

Throw in shimeji mushroom...

...and shrimp. Stir a bit. In case you`re worried, I always wash and devein my shrimps no matter how sleepy I am. So please tell me that you do the same.

Back to the spiciness, this is what I use to make my spicy food looks redder without making it too spicy. Gochujaru, Korean chili powder. I drool every time I look at red food.

*Yawn*

Now this is my new ingredient. Plain soy milk. Correct, not cow`s milk or coconut milk either. Soy milk. I`m really glad I used this!

Pour in soy milk in batches according to the thickness you want and stir well.

I just never get bored with this konnyaku. I mean, its chewiness and blandness are just perfect for including it in many many dishes. Almost zero calorie. Ha, another goodness there.

*Yaaaawwn*
Am I dreaming right now?

Miso paste. Because we`re making miso soup. Keep in mind that miso has a very rich flavor (with high-sodium content), so you don`t want to overuse it.

As it has a very thick consistency, it will turn into lumps if you just plunge them in directly to the soup. From what I watched learned on TV, a good way to do this is by placing it in a small strainer and stir it with chopsticks with the strainer half soaked in the soup. Thing is, I always cook my soup with a spatula. So I just push it out with the back of spatula and it always works fine for me.
After stirred in the miso, you can adjust the thickness of the soup. More water to thin out, or more milk to thicken up. Or more miso for richer taste.

Don`t you want something green in your red soup? I always do. Throw in green paprika slices.

And bean sprouts too. This is a veggie party in a pot. Stir well and taste.

And serve. A bowl of spicy vegetable-soymilk-miso soup. Rich. Spicy. With fibers.

Oyasuminasaaaai, everyone. Nightie night!


Ingredients:
Garlic
Onion
Chili
Shimeji mushroom
Shrimp
Konnyaku
Green paprika
Bean sprouts
Soy milk
Miso

Cabbage and egg soup

What is wrong with me?! I`ve been neglecting my lil` box these days. I hope you do still remember me....err...do you?
My crappy ceiling is still on my top list of things to be blamed for, but honestly, I could have just whipped up something edible if I was on a better weather.
By the way, this has nothing to do with the kitchen, or food, or anything, but this is me sitting outside after (accompanying him) taking pictures of a shrine at 9 pm  before finally got bored and hungry again. We had our dinner just 2 hours before.

And some people did come to the shrine to pray on that kind of time! New Year in Japan is time for people to go to the shrine, pray, write down their wishes on a wooden board, and hang them on a provided place. It`s really interesting to know what people wish for. Hey, I should have gotten one too and asked for a disaster-proof kitchen! Maybe next time.

Yes yes, I remember this is a cooking journal. And since I didn`t cook anything (showable to you) recently, let me just give you something from my "unpublished" folder. No, I just made that up. But I`m seriously thinking of making that folder.

So, one morning I woke up feeling sick. Sick like someone just punched my stomach. Maybe it was Monday. I can`t remember, but I have some kind of uncured Monday allergy. I knew I needed something warm and soft. And yummy of course.

Start with preparing dashi or Japanese soup stock. Garlic and I are BFF, so I started with sauteing minced garlic with olive oil, poured in water, and threw in dried shiitake mushroom and kombu. Some notes here:
1. Skip the garlic if you`re not into it
2. Soak the shiitake mushroom in water for like 3 hours to get more flavor before you use it if you got time (I didn`t)

While simmering up your dashi, get some cabbage. Wash it and chop up.

When your dashi looks ready, toss in the cabbage and let it get wilted.

Crack an egg (I used two) into a cup, beat up, and pour into the soup.

Stir up until the soup gets thickened by the curdled egg.

Season it with salt and pepper and the soup is ready. You heard me right. Salt and pepper only are just perfect for this soup. But you certainly can add any seasoning or condiments you like.

As I need more calories to start up my day, I had it with rice.

Pour in the soup, top it with benito flakes, and enjoy your morning!

I completely forgot about my stomach feeling sick earlier.

Ingredients:
Garlic, minced
Dried shiitake mushroom
Dried kombu seaweed
Cabbage, chopped
Whole egg, beaten
Water
Benito flakes for garnishing

Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011!

It`s January 1, 10 pm in Japan and I hope it`s not too late or too early (is there any place where it`s still Dec 31, 2010?) to greet you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!
Year 2010 gave me so many memorable events and moments for these reasons:
1. I (finally) graduated (after all those years)
2. I (finally) turned 30 (oooopsss..!)
3. I got married
4. I fell in love with cooking
5. I started writing this blog

I`m sure you too have your own precious moments last year (and before that too) and let`s wish for more great moments to come in our lives!

As for our New Year`s celebration, we didn`t exactly doing any celebration. My kitchen still needs to get fixed, but water already stopped dropping for now at least. On New Year`s eve, we actually had our dinner outside and each of us had a bowl of beef udon. Back home and when it was nearly 11 pm, he said he was hungry (again!).
So I checked out the fridge and I`ve got wonton skins, which I bought before the kitchen incident, some cheese, and canned tuna. Alright, wonton pizza it is!

Crunch crunch crunch! Yes, I`m shamelessly showing you what we had for our New Year`s eve. This is not a festive treat, but definitely a delish one, I tell you. Very quick to whip up too! Crunch!

So, how was your New Year`s party??