Lightly poached

Evening all! Apologies if this post is full of typos, but I can barely keep my eyes open... the after-effects of a long and busy weekend. The boys had school on Sunday (happyokai (performance) in the morning, followed by lessons until the usual time) with a day off in lieu yesterday. K decided to have the afternoon off work so that we could take the children swimming. There's a funky pool (complete with an onsen) not too far away, and K was very keen to try out their climbing wall (yeah, it's meant for kids, but there ain't a bigger kid that K):



I chose to soak in the various baths instead, the first time for me to venture into one of these since... certainly before having the children... I was very thankful to have my friend Laura with me, I would never have gone in on my own! We chatted away for ages, poaching in the hot jacuzzi, and I came out feeling the warmest I've felt in months. Now why didn't I do this sooner?! Can't wait to check out the radon hot spring in our town next :-D And we rounded off the day by stopping off for sushi on the way home, 'twas bargain day at only 88 yen a plate!



On the food front, made some tofu burgers the other day that got wolfed down in seconds by all three kids (including M, and she's turning into the picky one of late)! None of them even noticed that there were veggies hidden in them.

Tofu burgers

1 pack tofu, very well drained*
300g minced beef/pork
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 green peppers (Japanese peppers are very small, so just use one if they are large where you are), finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 egg
2/3 cup bread crumbs
3 tablespoons milk or water
seasoning

* The easiest and quickest way to drain tofu is to cut it into quarters, place it a couple of layers of kitchen towel on a plate, then microwave it at 500 watts for about 2 and a half minutes

Sauce

4 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons cooking sake
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons mirin

Mix together the sauce ingredients, turn off the heat and pour straight over the cooked burgers.

I served these Rocomoco-style, over rice, shredded salad and cherry tomatoes, and topped with a drizzle of Kewpie mayonnaise, a sprinkling of sesame, and a fried egg.

What's cooking?

It just occurred to me that I haven't posted any recipes here lately! Rest assured, I am still cooking. Tonight's dinner, for example:



Japanese style tofu burger

1/2 pack tofu
200g minced chicken
1/2 leek
small piece fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon sake
1 teaspoon soy sauce

1/2 pack shimeiji mushrooms
100ml stock
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons mirin
1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
100g kabocha (japanese pumpkin), sliced
2 shiso leaves

Drain the tofu and press between a kitchen towel to remove excess water. Crumble the tofu into a bowl and mix in the chicken, sake and soy sauce. Finely chop the leek and ginger and add to the mixture. Form into four burger shapes.
Fry the kabocha, season and then arrange on serving plates. In the same frying pan, add a little extra oil and cook the burgers. Plate up with the kabocha. Add a little butter to the pan, break up the shimeiji mushrooms and fry for a few minutes. Mix together the stock, soy sauce, mirin and cornstarch, then pour over the mushrooms and stirfry for a minute or two. Spoon over the burgers, then garnish with the chopped shiso leaves.