japanese

Homemade furikake no. 8: Hijiki and chirimenjako (tiny tiny fish)

hijki furikake image

I'm cheating a bit here since this recipe has been featured already on Just Hungry. But it did get rather buried in a general article about seaweed, so here it is again in the Homemade Furikake series.

This combines hijiki, which is full of fiber and minerals, with chirimenjako, tiny little whole salted fish. You can find both at Japanese grocery stores, and Chinese grocery stores carry something similar. Since they are whole fish, they are full of calcium, and also pack a lot of umami. Many Japanese people are lactose intolerant, so they get their calcium by eating things like chirimenjako.

Keep reading Homemade furikake no. 8: Hijiki and chirimenjako (tiny tiny fish) →

Bento no. 20: Shrimp chirashizushi, an easy sushi bento

Bento contents:

3/4 cup (about 160ml) white rice with sushi vinegar (180cal)
5 peeled shrimp cooked with sake (90cal)
1/2 chikuwa (80cal)
Cucumber with seasoning (10cal)
1/4 carrot (30cal)
1 T. edamame (20cal)

Total calories (approx): 400 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 15-20 minutes in the morning, 5 the night before

Type: Japanese, sushi

Chirashizushi is just a bed of sushi rice with toppings of your choice. Here I have used peeled frozen shrimp that is steam-cooked with a little salt and sake in a dry pan, half of a chikuwa (a fish paste produce that looks like a bamboo branch), plus cucumber, edamame and carrots. If you cut the carrots in decorative shapes, allow a little more time. It will be pretty anyway with the colorful toppings. Since the protein components of this bento are quite low fat and low calorie, the whole bento is under 400 calories. This bento was inspired by one in Yaseru Obento Recipes.

Keep reading Bento no. 20: Shrimp chirashizushi, an easy sushi bento →

Bento no. 19: Salmon furikake and frozen tofu nuggets

Bento contents:

1 cup (about 220ml) sprouted brown rice (220cal)
2 Tbs. salmon furikake or flakes, 1sp. gomashio (60cal)
Tofu nuggets made from about 2/3rds block (200g) of soft tofu (160cal)
Carrots and celery cooked in bouillon (30cal)
Steamed asparagus spears (20cal)

Total calories (approx): 490 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 5-10 minutes in the morning, 20-30 previously

Keep reading Bento no. 19: Salmon furikake and frozen tofu nuggets →

Homemade furikake no. 7: Salmon furikake (or Sake flakes)

Is this salmon (sake) furikake? Or is it salmon (sake) flakes? Or maybe it's even salmon soboro. Whatever you call it, it's finely flaked salmon that you can sprinkle onto plain rice, use as an onigiri filling, or on ochazuke. You could fold it into egg for a salmon omelette, on boiled vegetables...whatever your imagination can come up with.

Salmon flakes are often sold in jars that cost around $8 for about 150g. You can make it yourself for less than $3, depending on how expensive the salmon is. You can be even more frugal and use the little bits that are stuck on the bones when you filet a whole salmon. This is probably how fish soboro or flakes or furikake was invented in the first place.

Keep reading Homemade furikake no. 7: Salmon furikake (or Sake flakes) →

Bento no. 18: 3-color soboro bento

Bento contents:

1 cup (about 220ml) brown rice (220cal)
2 Tbs. beef sorobo (80cal)
2 Tbs. iri tamago (70cal)
Blanced Swiss chard leaves (5cal)
Swiss chard stalks sautéed in butter (30cal)
Hijiki with bean curd (50cal)
3 fresh lichees or litchi (15cal)

Total calories (approx): 475 (how calories are calculated)

Time needed: 15-20 minutes in the morning, 20-30 previously

Type: Japanese

Keep reading Bento no. 18: 3-color soboro bento →

Iri tamago or tamago soboro, another standard Japanese egg recipe

There are three very commonly used Japanese egg recipes. One is _tamagoyaki_ or atsuyaki tamago_ (and its variant, _dashimaki tamago), a rolled omelette. Another is _usuyaki tamago_, a very thin omelette which is used as a wrapper or shredded and used as a topping. Ther third is iri tamago, finely scrambled eggs that are used quite a lot as a topping. It's here because it's such a handy ingredient for bento. If you think you need a bit of color and protein, there's no faster egg dish you can make.

Keep reading Iri tamago or tamago soboro, another standard Japanese egg recipe →