After 1 night of success, 1 night of failure and 1 lunch of laziness, we've hit the jackpot tonight with another night of success. ;)
Definition of success:
- Food was pretty good despite this being a first attempt.
- Food was cooked quickly and with minimal preparation work.
- We could eat dinner long before the sun set [ie: we could eat at 7/8 rather than 8/9]!!!
The first night of success:
Featuring my kawaii donburi bowls that I bought on sale in Urban Outfitters, I present to you OYAKODON! [親子丼]
They were surprisingly easy to make [it would have been even easier if I had the right pan but o well.] and I just followed this youtube video:
It is from a series called "cooking with dog". The voiceover is hilarious! =P The recipe is pretty good and I omitted sake [which would probably give a fragrance.. Maybe I should have used shaoxing wine? Haha..] because I didn't have any. I also made more sauce because I received a request..=P
They were really fast to make although the rice presented us with some problems because erm.. I don't really know how to cook Japanese rice.^_^" There are quite a few steps to it, including soaking and draining.. O well. The rice turned out okay after a few rescue attempts.=P
The easy parts of the meal
- Cooking the topping for oyakodon
- Cutting up the seaweed, spring onions and onions
The hard parts of the meal
- Deboning the damn chicken
- Saving the rice
The second night of success:
Another simple meal that I came up with on my way home from class.
Garlic and Cherry Tomato Pasta with stir-fried xiaobaicai and Pan-seared Whitefish from Whole Foods.^_^
The pasta was pretty successful even though it was my first time tossing the pasta directly in the pan with the sauce and the fish was really successful despite this being my first time searing fish and second time working with fish in general.=P
The garlic-butter-味噌-mushroom sauce I made to go with the fish! [That's miso by the way, for those who can't read the Japanese..] It was a totally experimental sauce since I couldn't find a recipe online... I just threw stuff into the pan and hoped that my combination of stuff wouldn't turn out too badly. In the end, it was quite a success I must say! Haha.. The mushrooms overpowered the miso a bit so maybe I won't add mushrooms next time but I have to say.. I think the sauce would go great on pasta. ;)
Garlic Butter Miso Mushroom Sauce
No proportions sorry! I just poured stuff into the pan..
Ingredients
Butter
Minced Garlic
Sliced Mushrooms
Shiromiso [I guess akamiso would work too but I have no idea]
Mirin
Black Pepper
Soy Sauce
Water
Melt butter and then stir-fry the garlic a little before adding the mushrooms. Stir till the mushrooms are almost cooked before putting in the rest of the ingredients. Add water for desired thickness and simmer till your desired texture. Serve with panseared whitefish. [White fish prepared by sprinkling salt and pepper over the fish and then searing it in a pan with oil and a bit of butter.]
The easy parts of the meal
- Defrosting and cutting up the fish
- Cooking the pasta
The hard parts of the meal
- Making the sauce because I was worried it would turn out badly
Ahh. I hope that we can continue our trend of fast and delicious meals in future. I hate wasting time in the kitchen slowly cooking when I can cook and eat quickly before I go study.-_-"
I wish I had money to buy fish more often!!! ^_^ It's a nice treat though! I love Whole Foods!
cheers
*[-witchstone-]*
[music : Dreams High and Mighty Color]
[mood : ^_^ success!]
[food : garlic-cherry tomato pasta with xiaobaicai and seared whitefish with garlic butter miso mushroom sauce]