Japanese beef curry

I am indulged in Japanese TV series recently. Originally I just wanted something close to home, but it did put a smile on my face. In the show, I saw them having beef curry. Um~ that certainly brought back some good memories. I wanted to have it for dinner today, so I ran out of the door to the grocery store and got myself some ingredients. Curry is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. Japanese curry, unlike the Indian or Southeast Asian curry, has a slightly hint of sweetness to it. The basic ingredients for vegetables are onion, potato and carrots. For the meat, beef, pork or chicken are the most popular choices. It is so easy to make, and it tastes better today than yesterday!

Cold buckwheat noodles 日式冷蕎麥麵

Tuesday was the first day of summer. In the US, many people celebrating it by having BBQ in the backyard. Well, we only have a charcoal grill, and to fire up a charcoal grill is a lot of work, so I decide to cook something else instead. This cold Japanese style buckwheat noodles fits the theme! Of course, we will pick some other day to have a BBQ party in our backyard. I have to admit that BBQ meat tastes very good!

To do this cold buckwheat noodles authentically, I did a lot of homework. Here is what I found:

Pad thai 泰式炒麵

I love Thai food. Every time I move to a new city, I must look for a good Thai restaurant for sure, and I will become a frequent guest there. My love to Thai food started in a little Thai takeout place on the side of a street. It was owned by three brothers and sisters. The big brother was around 17 or 18 years old, serving as the chef. And the two sisters were so young and so cute, serving as cashiers. I will never forget the naive smiles on their faces, so simple and so cute. Surprisingly, their food tasted much better than the food in some fancy restaurants. Now I always use "Pad Thai" as my test to a new Thai restaurant: if they can't even do Pad Thai right, they probably can't do anything right. After a while, I try to reproduce it at home so that I can be more generous with the ingredients.

Steamed egg custard 蒸蛋

Steamed egg custard is a savory dish commonly seen in oriental cuisine. Japaneses cook it in tea cups, so it is also called "tea cup steam" (茶碗蒸). It can be plain, or topped with minced pork, shrimp, clams or fish cake (魚板). I like it just because its texture is similar to jello or tofu. From a modern medicine point-of-view, it is high in protein yet low in calories. It is so tender and silky, but you got to know the golden ratio of water and egg. The more water, the softer the texture. But if there's too much water, the egg won't cook into a custard. The one I use is from my high school English teacher. (Yes, my high school English teacher !!) One day in class, she told us about her secret of making steamed egg custard.

Salmon teriyaki 照燒鮭魚

It was very warm and full of thunder storms all day long yesterday. However, the weather today is totally different from yesterday. Although the rain has stopped, it has cooled down to the mid-60s. Don't be fooled by the sunshine and blue sky, the wind feels so cold outside. My in-laws gave us so much fresh produce. Some are from their own backyard garden, and some are from the local grocery stores. I'd better use them up before they've gone bad. I also grilled some salmon to go with the vegetables.

Bak kut teh 肉骨茶

It's already mid May, but it has been raining for the whole week, and the temperature is only in the low 50 degree Fahrenheit. I see people walking on the street all with heavy coats, but the temperature next week will be in the 80s! Such a weather roller coaster is not fun. It's very easy to catch a cold.

My husband worked from home today, because someone was coming to do some work around the house. Since he's already home, he's in charge of dinner, so I didn't have to beat the traffic to get home to cook. "Bak kut teh" is the best choice, it's hearty and it's easy. It's the best remedy for a cold rainy day like this, and it's easy enough for my husband to cook.