The healthiest fry chicken

Sometime I miss fried-chicken flavor, but living in a closed house with very poor kitchen fan, I can not fry chicken everyday. Here is my solution, and it works well for me, it both time consuming and oil consuming (too much oil is not good, right?, but too few you can not fry chicken).

1. Ingredients:
- 1 pound of cut boneless chicken thigh (I bought a box from Mitsuwa)
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup of flour
- salt and pepper (1/2 tea spoon each)
- Oil: I don't use high heat, so any oil is fine, today I use sesame oil. I don't use a lot of oil, just enough to cover every corner of a pan, may be 3 to 5 spoons.

2. Method:
- Mix meat with salt and pepper, marinate for 5 to 10 minutes if you have time or while you preheat the oil at medium heat

- In a plastic box, put the chicken and flour together

- Shake it well

- Place the chicken 

- Turn each side after 5 minutes, do it twice, after 20 minutes, your chicken dish is ready! You can use paper tower or Japanese oil removing paper before serve.

Chicken curry - Vietnamese flavor

1. Ingredients
- I box of cut chicken thigh ( I bought from Mistuwa: chicken thigh for nabe)
- Curry powder (the best one is Vietnamese curry powder)
- Chopped lemongrass: 1 spoon (if you don't have Vietnamese curry powder
- 1/2 tea spoon of sugar
- 1 tea spoon of salt (or 2 spoons of fish sauce if you have)
- 1 tea spoon of flour
- 1/2 cup of water
- Green onion and 1/2 onion

2. Method
- Marinate all ingredients with chicken for 5 to 15 minutes (except onion)
- Add 1 tea spoon of oil into a preheated pan, than put all the chicken and marinate sauces, use medium high heat, stir well for 5 minutes.
- Add flour, stir well in 30 seconds,
- Add water, Close lid for 10 minutes, stir well every 5 minutes,
- Finally, add green onion and onion,
DONE!

Roast shrimp with shelf - Vietnamese style

1. Ingredients:

- Shrimps: 6 (for 2 people), I bought these shrimps at Mitsuwa super market, Irvine

- Chopped garlic (2 gloves), shallot (half one), lemon grass (1 spoon), 

- Fish sauce (1 spoon) or Salt (1/4 spoon), sugar (1/2 spoon), dry red chili (1/4 spoon) 

- Olive oil (1 spoon)

2. Method:

- Mix all seasonings well

- Devein and clean the shrimps, dry well with paper towel 

- Marinate shrimp with the sauce for 15 minutes

- If you have skewers, use it, otherwise the put the shrimp into baking tray

- Use roast setting with Breville oven, 420 degree for 15 minutes

Tea for summer: Adagio from Lupicia

This non-caffein tea you can find at Mitsuwa Torrance. 

This is how I brew it

How to make Homemade Inarizushi (稲荷寿司)

This homemade sushi is suitable for breakfast. I just need to prepare for 10 minutes with a bowl of rice.

All you need:

1. Rice

- Take the rice out of cooking pot, add a little salt, sugar, and 1/2 spoon of rice vinegar.

- Mix well and leave it there for 5 minutes to cool down

2. Tofu skin: I bought this one from Nijia market in Torance, I think it's the best one I can find there with the most natural ingredients.

3. Topping: I use chopped green onion and cooked salmon. I may try pickle daikon or ginger next time.

4. Stuff the rice into the tofu skin (they make it like a bag already) after 5 minutes. 1 small bowl of rice can make exactly 4 pieces.

5. Enjoin it!

Here is the best salmon I can find in Mistuwa. It's a little bit pricey compared to the other brands but it has 2 jars in a package, so you don't have to push yourself finished a whole jar in a short time. If   you dont have tofu skin, just prepare a bowl of rice, and 1 spoon of this salmon and chopped green onion, may some slices of dried seaweeds, your breakfast is ready!

New Shun knife 7" - Classic Asian cook's

This is the best knife I've ever had. It's super light and sharp. The first day I used it, I had to cut slowly because its sharpness was over my expectation.

The best purchase from Amazon deal 

And here is the sashimi I cut by myself using this knife: The best ever home-cut sashimi:

Monkfish liver salad - Japanese style

We often order monkfish liver (Ankimo) dish at Japanese restaurants, the price is not too expensive, but this time, we found ankimo at Mitsuwa Irvine at a very crazy price: $79.99/pound. Well, gave it a try with traditional Japanese salad style.

All you need:
- Some slices of monkfish liver

- A sweet onion
- Ponzu sauce and soy sauce

- Optional: katsuobushi or green onion

1. Prepare a big bowl of cold water, add several cubes of ice

2. Slice a sweet onion (half one is ok, I just want to eat more, so I add a whole one). You can use a very thin knife or just a slicer.

3. Add the sliced onion directly to the cold water, leave it there for 3 mins, or until you finish slicing

4. Drain it and put it back to the bowl

5. Add ponzu: 3 spoons, 1/2 spoon of soy sauce then mix well and fast to keep the onion crispy and sweet

6. Put the onion the a dish, add the monkfish liver, then add katsuobushi

7. Optional: The dish will be greater if you have a cup of good sake: Wakatake Ginjo (Onikoroshi sake - Junmai Ginjo)

Japanese Cream mochi at Mitsuwa market

Japanese sweets deli - Mochicream is selling very delicious and beautiful mochi at Mitsuwa market (Costa mesa)

 Here are what we bought

Lovely mocha kochi (green tea) with red bean 

This is our afternoon tea: a combination of mochi and Japanese green tea

Hochicha mochi, made with a kind of traditional tea in Japan, a little bit bitter but very delicious!

Red bean mochi

And here are the sakura mochi!

Plum wine

It's great time to drink ume (plum) wine. We bought this one at Mitsuwa, the best one I can find (and not so expensive, just around $14) without additives, alcohol, and sulfites, just natural from CHOYA!

Steam tofu sandwich

This dish is very simple but it takes more time if prepare for more than 2 persons if you use Breville Risotto Plus 

1. Ingredients:
-Firm Tofu: 1 pack , it's better to have tofu as I bought in Asian tofu store: Dong Phuong tofu
- Slice pork (I bought from Mitsuwa)
- Napa cabbage or cabbage: some leaves
- Carrot and green onion
- Cilantro, garlic, black pepper
- Fish sauce:1 spoon, oyster sauce: 1 spoon, sugar: 1 spoon, lemon juice: 1/2 spoon, 1/2 spoon tapioca powder.

If you eat spicy, prepare some slice of red hot chili

2. Method:
- Marinate meat with  1/2 spoon oyster sauce, pepper, tapioca powder

- Pour water to the bow and use saute setting (you can pour up to 30% capacity of the bow if you want to cook for 1 hour)
- Prepare the vege: cut into same size as tofu

- When the water is broiled, carefully put the sliced meat and vege between every 2 slices of tofu

- For two persons, you can use 2 layers of meat, and it takes about 25 mins to cook, for more people,use as many layers as you want but it will take about 1 hour.

- While waiting for the steam, you can prepare the sauce:  put chopped garlic and cilantro and the rest of seasoning into a small bow, add 1/2 cup of cold water (better to use warm water) and mix together.

- Take the tofu out and pour the sauce on it.