Asian-style Wok

A somewhat classical dish, I kind of forgot about this one, even though it's quite appropriate while I'm here in Japan. Too healthy for my current caloric needs, thus the portion size :-)

Fry thin beef slices in sesame oil, then set aside. Then onions and shiitake, set aside. Then shortly fry carrots, broccoli and snow peas under high heat, set aside. Shortly fry wok noodles, add everything that was set aside, as well as some water, soy sauce and sesame oil. Let cook for just a few minutes.

Clams in Wine Sauce

After I made the scallops I had white wine left. The day before I saw how my chef made clams in white wine  sauce that smelled incredible, so I did the same.

In a saucepan, cook unopened clams in white wine, fresh thyme, sliced garlic and either sliced shalots or a mix of sliced white & red onions. As the clams open, take them out and separate them from the shells. When they're all out, put them back in and cook further for 1-2mn.

Bananes flambées

Quick and not difficult to make, but always impressive!

The fire will lightly caramelize the sugar

Cut bananas in half in the middle and lengthwise. Then fry in butter under high heat, both sides. When they start to turn brown, sprinkle with brown sugar, remove from fire, add half a shot-glass of rum and set on fire!

The Mythical Duo

Wine & computers ? Close, but no. According to the bottle on the picture, Syrah & Grenache grape types. My opinion ? Maybe Cabernet - Syrah or Cabernet - Merlot.

Curry-pasta

Yesterday I couldn't decide between rice-curry or pasta with tomato-sauce, so I made curry-pasta, using autumn-vegetables.

Conclusion ? Good, but classical dishes are classical for a reason...curry is still better with rice!

Hokke

When I made a post about amadai, I mentioned was favorite japanese fish was still Hokke. Here's what it looks like. It's not really available outside Japan as it mostly comes from the sea of Okhotsk.

The rosemary on top I got after my visit to Ibuki hot-spring. Rosemary is quite expansive in Japan but there were huge bushes of it growing right between the hot-spring and the parking lot, so I helped myself :-)

The Canadian Farmer's Rice

Another rice variation, using 3 typical canadian ingredients: pork, onions and green peas (thinking of soupe aux pois ?). I came up with this idea after I discovered that green peas match with rice pretty well.

Looks inviting, doesn't it ?

In the pan: the 3 ingredients above, plus a bit of soy sauce and the cooking juice from the green peas. Here there's a bay leaf too because in came with the pork when I bought it.
With the rice: nothing, just cook as-is and add to the pan, letting cook a bit further while in the pan, mixing well.

Baked Potatoes

As for the main dish, another thing I didn't eat in a while: german-style baked potatoes (Offenkartofeln), at least something that ressembles it.

Bake potatoes in the oven until very soft. Just before the potatoes are done, prepare the filling: in a pan, fry mushrooms (here  shiitake) and square-cut onions, in olive oil. When done, add fresh cream and cook until it thickens. Remove from fire, add chopped chive. Cut a huge dent on top of the potatoes and place the filling inside.

In order not to lose the cooking juice of the scallops, I decided to reuse it to cook udon. I guess you could also cook rice in it for a nice flavor.

Add a bit of soy sauce, too

Coquilles st-jacques au vin blanc

Tonight for starters, I decided to make this one seafood commonly available in Japan and so expansive in Europe: scallops. I think the last time I had this was when I last lived in Japan, so about 2 years ago. Tonight I remembered I much I like these!

Fry one side in olive oil until it turns golden. Then turn over, add white wine and fresh thyme. Cook until the exterior turns completely white.

Mushroom-cream Bread, enhanced

I previously made a post about this great starter. Lately I tried with just eggplant cubes instead of mushrooms and it was great. Now I tried a mix of eggplant & mushrooms (hatake shimeji), and it's the best combination of all three. This time with the sprinckled chive, too!

I don't mean to brag, but this was really good :-)

Green-peas Rice

Another rice variation. This time I thought of using green peas, I wasn't sure how well it would match with the rice, but it turned out to be very flavorful, mostly because of the green peas.

With the rice: grean-peas.
In the pan: green peppers, shiitake mushrooms, soya sauce.
Preparation same as usual.

Ratatouille, the real deal

It's been a while I didn't do a real, classical Ratatouille. This remains one of  my favorite dishes, even though it used to be my worst nightmare as a kid.

Recipe available on demand :-)

Eggplant-Shiitake Rice

Another rice variation.

Start by quickly grilling eggplant cubes in a pan. Then cook rice together with those. Reuse the pan to fry shallots and cut Shiitake mushrooms in a mix of butter & olive oil, with pepper & salt. Finish the frying in a bit of soya sauce. When the rice is done, add to the pan and mix well under low heat.