blogging101

What is Kinako (きな粉) ?

/ Mutsumi / Leave a comment

Kinako

Have you heard of ‘Kinako’? If you like Japanese sweets, Kinako is one of the ingredients you come across occasionally. It is a yellowy powder substance that is made of Soybeans. You can make it at home but I recommend to get it from a shop because it is very hard work and also it is probably much nicer, from my experience anyway.

When I was a high school student our domestic science teacher made us study about certain Japanese food ingredients. My group chose ‘Dried Shiitake Mushroom’ and some other group chose ‘Kinako’. They made home-made Kinako and we tried tasting it during the class. I remember that it tasted quite the same as the one from the shop but the texture was far too dry and we felt almost like choking. So, you don’t have to try making it by yourself. Get it from a Japanese Food shop.

Continue reading →

Advertisement

Anko-ruffles

/ Mutsumi / 2 Comments

Anko-ruffle

Although I haven’t manage to post ‘How to Make An/Anko’ yet (‘Tsubu-An’ Making has been posted now), I decided to go ahead with this post by thinking that presumably some readers know what ‘An/Anko‘ is and where to get it. But if you don’t know I will post how to make it shortly.

So have you heard of ‘Anko-ruffles’ before? No? You might have guessed it. Yes, it’s a made-up name from ‘Anko’ + ‘Truffle’ by me. These are Japanese Sweets I created but just look like Chocolate Truffle, don’t they? The taste and texture are completely different. This is one of the easiest Japanese Sweets to make. If you can gain some ‘An/Anko’ by either making it yourself or buying it.

 <Anko-ruffles> (Gluten/Dairy/Oil, Fat Free)

Anko-ruffle with Tea‘An/Anko’ is the most essential ingredient in Japanese Sweets ‘Wagashi’. It is sweet bean paste. The one I used for this sweet is ‘Tsubu-An’ which is made from Azuki beans. If you have a little amount of ‘An’ (An is sometime called ‘Anko’. They are exactly same things) and some powder ingredients, you can make Anko-ruffles!

As the dry powder ingredients I used ‘Matcha’ Green Tea, another Japanese substance ‘Kinako’ and Chocolate Powder for this time. I will talk about ‘Matcha’ Green Tea and ‘Kinako’ in separate posts.

Continue reading →

Some Experimental Shots with Glass

/ Mutsumi / Leave a comment
baton twirlers

Baton Twirler Girls in a local festival reflected on window

‘Photo101’ –  Glass, Squared

Here are some of my experimental shots with glass. I tried to get some kind of effect like reflection and viewing through etc … but unfortunately none of them are satisfactory … 😦

Bank

wine glass

pub

Water over the Edge

/ Mutsumi / 2 Comments
Edge

Water Feature at Kojimachi Kaikan Hotel, Tokyo

‘Photo101’ – Edge & Alignment

This is one of the Japanese gardens made by the famous buddhism monk designer Shunmyo Masuno. This is built along a Hotel facing to the lobby. There is not much gap between the water feature and the building and water falls down from quite a height. It has a huge impact as water power.

Can you hear the Scream?

/ Mutsumi / 4 Comments
The Naked Screaming Biscuitmen

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaarrh!!

Day 14 on ‘Photo101’ – Scale & Observation

Can you hear their scream? These are the Naked Screaming Biscuit Men. I was supporting a crowdfunding campaign for a short film ‘The Naked Screaming Man’ last summer and made these little funny & tasty men as a perk for contributors. The film is about a Naked Man hiding behind a bush so I wanted to create edible smaller version of him as a joke hiding behid … broccoli bush?! Basically I scaled the situation down!!

Blurred Vision

/ Mutsumi / Leave a comment
Town Hall shadow

Is this an illusion?

Day 10 on ‘Photo101’ – Mystery & Lighting Effects

This is a part of our Town Hall on Day11 Challenge ‘Behind Closed Doors’. Actually this was shot in colour but looks B&W. This silhouette looked interestingly spooky so I took a photo.

Town Hall entrance

This is the same spot from the front of the building.