Day twenty-seven: Hello kitty!
Posted on | March 20, 2009
Sorry, don’t know where Hello Kitty! is from (somewhere in Asia, say China? Japan? Korea?)? But let’s adopt Hello Kitty! for the theme for today’s post, anyway.
So, to start, let’s look at some food, complete with recipes and some great cooking tips, that come from the same part of the world as Hello Kitty!
And feel free to copy this post because the barbecue recipe is perfect for picnics.
I’m turning Japanese, I really think so
98 Pound Girl, who is back today, and I were given three recipes to make between us: Boiled Rice, Chicken Yakatori, and Stir-Fry Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms. All three turned out perfectly, so let me give you the recipes and techniques for each so you can have a Hello Kitty! night, if you want.
Boiled rice
We’ve done rice before, so it is pretty easy stuff. Just remember two things, your ratio of rice to water is 1:2. Don’t forget to rinse your rice before you cook it. And use this brilliant trick from the Nepal Chef: Splash the top of the lid with some cold water. When the water has evaporated, your rice is done.
And it was!
Chicken Yakatori
This was fast and easy, but it was easily the most popular dish of all the groups. So popular, in fact, that there was nothing for me to bring home. Which meant the husband had to satisfy himself with a cheese sandwich for lunch (sorry sweetie!).
Here’s how you make this.
First, make a sauce of equal parts soy sauce and sake with a healthy dash of sugar and sweet cooking rice seasoning thrown in. Heat. Then pour a few tablespoons of this into a bowl and sprinkle in some flour. Whisk until the flour is dissolved. Then pour this flour mixture back into your pot, whisking all the while.
The flour will thicken your sauce nicely.
Next, thread some boneless, skinless chicken onto a wooden skewer. We used legs and thighs, putting all the meat from one leg on a single skewer and all the meat from one thigh on another and so on.
Here’s the brilliant tip with this recipe: Soak the wooden skewer in water in advance so it doesn’t catch fire when you are cooking. Yeah, it sounds obvious, but how many of you thought to do this? See? See?
Next, put your chicken on your barbecue (we used an indoor grill, and you certainly can use one if you have one, but if you don’t, a barbecue will work very nicely … so remember this for your picnics this summer).
Next, pour some of your sauce into a bowl so people can use this to dip and use the sauce that is left in your pot to marinade your meat as it grills (you have to keep the marinade and the dipping sauce separate because your basting brush touches raw chicken and you really don’t want to make people sick).
See how easy that is.
Stir-fry asparagus with shiitake mushrooms
Throw about a pound of washed, cut-up (we cut each spear into four slices, at an angle) asparagus into a hot wok lightly coated with oil. Follow this with a few handfuls of sliced shiitake mushrooms.
Now, and here’s the brilliant tip, also from the Nepal Chef: Splash a scant handful of water into your wok every so often to keep your vegetables from drying out. It worked like a dream.
Add a healthy dollop of oyster sauce with a scant pour of soy sauce. Throw in a tablespoon or so of sesame seeds and a pinch of dried red chilies if you like it spicy. Ditto three or four minced garlic cloves.
Then add a healthy dollop of oyster sauce.
Stir, stir, cooking until the asparagus is just turning tender, and serve with your Chicken Yakatori. Nom nom!
Test me, baby
Making all that was such fun. But, best of all, the chefs were in a good mood. And I even managed to get the Nepal Chef to tell me how he ended up moving to the US (he fell in love with an American … isn’t that sweet?).
Then the Chefs started to sing and half the students were singing with them. Good morning, all around.
Next: Into the lecture room and out with our number 2 pencils and we were all busily filling in tiny circles that represented what we all fervently hoped was the right answer.
No one was singing now.
The first five questions threw me big time: I was in serious trouble. Then the questions got easier. And easier still. Sure, I guessed at a few, but by the end, I could have taken this in my sleep.
Still, some of those questions were worded oddly. And I was so thrown by the opening qustions that I am not at all cocky about this. So I could pass or I could fail; it could go either way.
But whatever way it does go, I’ll let you know. I should have my grade in a few weeks.
Hello kitty!
Then home, scarfing down some food, and off to the vet for my cat’s one-year check up.
Cat is doing well.
Which is more than I can say for this lame theme.
But I’m tryin’.
Comments
4 Responses to “Day twenty-seven: Hello kitty!”
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March 20th, 2009 @ 5:48 pm
As someone who, at the turn of my head, can count 14 pieces of Hello Kitty-themed paraphernalia in my living room, I need to point out 2 things. Firstly, Hello Kitty is indeed Japanese in origin (1974-ish), from the now VERY wealthy people at Sanrio (http.sanrio.com). Annually, she easily pulls in a billion dollars in licensing (http://www.kittyhell.com). Secondly, 1:1 soy sauce:sake + sugar + mirin? + heat + thickening? Salty, savory, sweet + sour…Talk about unlocking the secret to the Caramilk! I loved eating freshly grilled yakitori from the stalls at the Richmond Night Market…BTW, this glaze is very close to the dumpling dipping sauce I make (soy sauce + honey + scant balsamic + heat)…Sooo loving your blog ^_^
March 20th, 2009 @ 7:08 pm
Hello Kitty is 100% American !
If you like to know everything have a look at the Hello Kitty webindex, see link.
March 21st, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
So what were those opening questions that threw you off?
June 17th, 2009 @ 12:14 pm
Thank you for this site. The content is much better than most I have visited and I have found the Day twenty-seven: Hello kitty! : information very helpful. Jo.