Kahala Goma Tei

Awhile back Landon had an errand to do at the Kahala Mall so he picked up dinner for us.  It was an awesome treat!

Shredded Pork and Szechuan Pickle Tan Tan ($15.75) with Ajitama Egg ($2.25)

 

Char Siu Fried Rice ($16.25)

   

Popcorn Chicken Tatsutaage ($10.50)

   

Chicken Cold Udon Noodle ($17.50)

   

Mini Curry Rice ($7.99)

   

Cleta's Almond Float

Cleta brought this almond float topped with a strawberry puree to ceramics class this week!  How awesome is that! 

Ceramics Class

I made the three gray bowls in the front.  At the last minute, I added a spout to the one on the left.  Erick did the brown bear in the middle of the back.  I forgot to take a close-up photo of it.

 

Cleta created two figures to go with her tree!

   

And here's my greeting card of the week.  LOL.

  

Wendell's Mini Beef Patties

Wendell got this recipe from Chef Chris Cho's site.  It was very moist and so tasty.  It made four logs.  Wendell fried up two of the logs and froze the other two for another day.  I think he'll probably make it for his softball team.  

Wendell tips:  No need to do the flour/egg coating.  Too much humbug and is unnecessary.  Also, instead of 1.4 pounds of ground pork, he used 1 pound.  And he added 1/2 tablespoon of  sugar because Chef Cho's video shows that.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Minced Beef
• 1.4 lb Minced Pork
• 130 grams Onion Finely chopped
• 90 grams Carrots Finely chopped
• 60 grams Scallions Finely chopped
• 650 grams Firm Tofu Squeezed and crumbled, Optional
• 3 tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 tbsp Fish Sauce
• 2 tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 tbsp Mirin
• 1.5 tbsp Garlic
• 1/2 tbsp Ginger
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 3 pcs Egg
• Flour For coating
• Egg For coating
• Vegetable or Canola Oil For frying

Instructions

• Place mince beef and pork in a bowl and gently fold it to combine.
• Finely chop the scallions, onion, and carrots, then add to the meat.
• Using a cheesecloth, squeeze out excess water from the tofu and crumble it on top of the meat and vegetables.
• Season the patty mixture with soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, mirin, salt, and black pepper. Add the egg on top.
• Mix the meat, vegetables, tofu, egg, and seasonings thoroughly to combine.
• Place the patty mixture on a plastic wrap and roll it to form a log. Twist to seal the ends and shape the mixture.
• Place it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.
• Once firm, slice it into into mini patties. Cook what you need and you store the rest for future use.
• Prepare scrambled eggs and flour on separate plates.
• Place pan on medium heat and add a bit of oil, coat the patties with flour then egg, then fry for 2 minutes on each side or until it’s golden brown.
• Serve hot and enjoy.

Liliha Saimin

Yesterday was the perfect cold, rainy day to have this.  It totally hit the spot.  The shiru had a shrimp/bonito flavor, and the curly noodles cooked in boiling water for 4 1/2 minutes was just right.

 

I got it from Foodland awhile back.  It was on sale for around $15 I think.

   

The box contained 3 servings. 

  

Ceramics Class

Erick made the lidded container on the left and I made the two spouted bowls on the right, maybe for sauces or gravy.  

Oxtail soup bowl is on the back burner.  Was giving me stress thinking about it.

I'm thinking of doing smaller spouted bowls next week.  You know how when you mix flour and water to add to your pot of boiling gravy to thicken it, and then the flour-water spills all over your stove because it has no spout?  Good idea, no?

I'm also thinking of making tall, cylindrical containers to hold chopsticks in, but that would mean I have to graduate to rolling out slabs and I still suck at that.  But, we'll see.

 

Cleta made this clever tree trunk . . .

   

and this footed planter.

   

And this is today's stress-relieving watercolor painting.

  

Amy's Cilantro

Amy dropped by the other day and gave me a bunch of her cilantro.  What's so amazing is that I rarely see her, and because she doesn't do internet she had no idea that I wrote about her and her cilantro-growing tips. 

I was so excited to see her.  I said, "Come. Come." and led her to the back of my house.  I showed her all of my cilantro-growing paraphernalia, mostly recommended by her.  I showed her my "leggy seedlings" and asked her what she thought.  She said that they'll be okay and recommended a spot in the yard where the morning light would be the best for them.

Thank you, Amy, even though you're not gonna see this.  Have a nice trip!!

Growing Cilantro - Leggy Seedlings

I was happy that my cilantro seedlings were growing so fast.  Until they started becoming fragile and started flopping over.  I learned that that's called "leggy seedlings".  Most sources say that insufficient light is the most common cause.

One source said to start all over.  Leggy plants will not produce healthy leaves and "it's not worth trying to nurse the doomed plants".  Another source said to replant them deeper, submerging all the way up to the leaves. 

 

I plucked out about half of them and threw them away.

 

Remember these?  I decided to plant these deep to the leaves in the vacated spots of the planter.

   

The roots on most of them looked promising.

   

I put the pot out in the sun.  But I left them for only a few hours.  It's just so brutally hot here, I feel uneasy about leaving them out for longer.  I think I'll try for early morning or late afternoon sun.

If the remaining leggy plants survive, I may try the second suggestion and replant them deeper.  But I do believe that it's easier said than done 'cause they seem so fragile.

   

Afterwards, I went to my desk to work on these.  Much easier to do.  LOL.

   

And here's Kai with a ball.  😍

  

Dd's Kalamata Quick Bread

Didi says:  

SOOOO ono…….wonderful with salami & cheese !!! Great recipe coz it's stuff you would always have on hand.

 

KALAMATA QUICK BREAD

 

1 TB olive oil

1 c. onion, chopped

¼ c. sun dried tomatoes, chopped

2 TB melted butter

1 c. buttermilk*

2 large eggs

2 c. flour

1 ½ tsp. dried Italian seasoning**

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

¾ c. kalamata olives, pitted, coarsely chopped

 

In a small skillet, saute onion in olive oil 3-4 minutes until wilted. Turn off heat; stir in sun dried tomatoes. Allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees; generously grease 2/5” loaf pans or a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a mixing bowl, combine melted butter, buttermilk and eggs well. Stir in dry ingredients and onion mixture. Stir well to combine. Mixture will seem very dense.

Transfer into prepared pans. Bake 20-25 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool 15 minutes.

*Buttermilk substitution – pour 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 1 cup measuring cup; fill with milk. Allow to sit 10 minutes.

**Can substitute Italian seasoning for basil and/or oregano…holiday time? Use dried thyme & sage.

Ceramics Class

Ceramics class started up again.  After two hours this is what I ended up with.  I tried making an oxtail soup bowl with an attached section to put your ginger/shoyu sauce in.  In the end, the bowl proved to be too soft and couldn't support the dipping portion.  It kinda collapsed.  I might need to go back to the drawing board or just move on to another project.  We'll see.

 

When I got home I finished working on this watercolor greeting card to help make me feel better.   It's a medium I'm more familiar with, but this too is also a work in progress.

 

Growing Cilantro - Method #2

About three days after I potted the cilantro seeds, I decided to put a few seeds into a damp paper towel.  I actually forgot about them until yesterday. 

I think crushing them first is the key to successful germination.

 

The roots are so long!!

 

With the encouragement of my sister Didi, I'm trying the colander method of growing . . . using a colander inside a bowl of water.  The gal in the instructional YouTube video says that as long as you change the water daily, you don't need to provide nutrients.

  

In the meantime this is how the potted seedlings are doing.

Dried Aku

My brother Cy went to Azama on 10th Avenue in Palolo Valley to pick up his fave dried aku yesterday.  Dried aku is actually not my thing, but I just wanted to share his pics.  

They also have fishcake, miso butterfish and lau lau!  I haven't been there in awhile.  I might need to pay them a visit soon.

Growing Cilantro

I'm a crappy gardener.  And I've heard that cilantro is very hard to grow.  But I wanted to try.

I got tips from the internet and from my friend Amy who grows the most beautiful, healthy cilantro.

Here are my sprouts today.  I planted the seeds 8 days ago.   Cilantro sprouts don't like to be transplanted so you should right away plant the seeds in a tall pot for their forever home.  Amy said to allow for long roots.  I used a 12-inch pot.  One source said to plant the seeds an inch apart.  I ignored that one.  I scattered the seeds and topped with around 1/4 inch of soil.

 

Amy said to use local seeds because "mainland seeds are hit or miss".  This pack was around $4.99 from City Mill.

   

It helps a lot if you crush them before planting.  It speeds up the germination time.  Each seed contains two seedlings.  I got my small suribachi in Japan.  Came in handy!

   

This might be the biggest tip of all.  Amy said to use the soil recommended by pakalolo growers.  Landon got it for me for Christmas.  It's from Ace Hardware in Kaimuki.  I think it was $60.

   

I added a lot of black cinder to the soil to help with drainage.  One tip that I saw online sticks to my mind because I tend to overwater, and the tip is to keep the soil "moist not soggy".

   

And finally, I added some worm castings . . . because somebody gave me . . . and it seems like a really good thing.   I would love any additional tips if you have them.  I think the hardest part is yet to come.

  

HIGOTO Japanese Eatery

Landon went to Kaimuki Shopping Center to pick up some fishing gear at J. Hara Store so he decided to go next door for some Japanese food.  Score!

Tofu Salad ($10.90). This actually is just part of the salad.  I already ate some before I thought to take pictures.  😄

 

Salmon & Ikura Cup Sushi ($14.90) 

 

Tenmusu ($3.80), Kombu & Harihari ($3.00), Tuna Mayo & Apple Cucumber ($3.00)

 

Miso Butterfish ($18.90)

  

Homemade Frozen Waffles

Cleta gave me a bag of frozen waffles that she had made from scratch and they came in so handy for a quick breakfast that after they were all gone I decided to make more.

 

I picked a buttermilk recipe from the allrecipes site.  It made 22 waffles.  They were a bit limp right off the waffle iron, but they crisped up perfectly after being frozen and popped into a toaster oven.

 

This was my setup.  I got the mini waffle iron from Ross awhile back for about $5.

  

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons white sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2 cups low-fat buttermilk

• ⅓ cup melted butter

• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients.

2. Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl until evenly combined.

3. Whisk buttermilk and melted butter together in a separate bowl; whisk in eggs.

4. Stir buttermilk mixture into flour mixture until just combined and batter is slightly lumpy; stir in vanilla extract.

5. Preheat a waffle iron according to manufacturer's instructions.

6. To cook each waffle, pour enough batter into the preheated waffle iron to reach 1/2 inch from the edge. Cook according to manufacturer's instructions.