cooking

Shobu (菖蒲) / Iris

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Shobu front

‘Koinobori‘ on my previous post is the traditional decoration on the ‘Kodomo-no-Hi‘ (Children’s Day/Boy’s Day) on the 5th of May in Japan. Another tradition on the day is that we decorate out house with ‘Shobu (Iris)’. So what is the reason behind this custom?

‘Shobu (菖蒲)’ on ‘Kodomo-no-Hi’

1280px-140614_Yagyu_Iris_Garden_Nara_Japan02bs5

Hana-shobu (ja.wikipedia.org)

First of all there are two types of ‘Shobu‘. One of them is ‘Hana-Shobu‘. It is Iris which we enjoy the magnificent flower with a striking colour and shape. The other one is medicinal ‘Shobu’ with very scented leaves but with insignificant flowers. They are totally different plants.

It seems like that people started using Shobu for this ceremonial occasion because …

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Financiers in Springtime🌸

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Strawberry Financier P

I was eagerly waiting for Sping to arrive for so long. I felt winter lasted forever but now it is spring. I see lots of posts of Sakura🌸 Cherry blossoms on Social Media Network particularly from Japan. In London Cherry blossom has started to open too. Some has flowered even in March by being confused with the strange weather this year. It is the season I like the most.

Although it is supposed to be a cheerful season it started to be rainy this week in England. When I see a grey sky I need some sweet that reassures me it is spring. The Colour scheme of the sweet came into my mind first – Pink! Then I thought of Strawberry Jam. I know Strawberry is a summer fruit in England but the Strawberry in my mind is light pink not that vivid red of summer Strawberry.

Strawberry Financiers

Strawberry Financier 2-2 P

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🎂 One Year Anniversary!

/ Mutsumi / 15 Comments

Happy B SJ

Today is a Special Day for Sakura Junction. It was this day, one year ago, I started this Blog. It is the one year anniversary! Hooray!

Although I wanted to write a Blog for such a long time, I could not start until last year. I wondered if there would be anybody that wanted to read my post or even if I could write something readable and carry on writing …

Now one year has passed and I appreciate that many people have stopped by my blog. I am so happy that you are very supportive to me, especially the people who take the time to leave nice comments.

Before starting the Blog there were many subjects I wanted to write about. I have written some of them but there are lots more I haven’t done yet. Maybe I am not a fast writer but hopefully I can cover all the things I want to write gradually.

Birthday Ukishima Cake with Strawberry An

So, for my Blog’s one year anniversary I made a Birthday Cake. Oh, actually it is not a normal cake. It is a Japanese sweet ‘Ukishima‘ cake and decorated with ‘Strawberry-An‘. When I was thinking what I could make for this special occasion an idea popped into my head and I had to make it. The spongy base is plain ‘Ukishima‘ and cream part is ‘Shiro-An (white bean paste)’ mixed with Strawberry topped with dried Raspberry. And of course the candle is edible made of ‘Nerikiri’ Japanese sweet. The whole thing is free from Gluten and Dairy.

Birthday Ukishima cut

It might look big, but it is quite small. You can compare the size with the fresh strawberry.

I am happy that I can celebrate the first year. I hope I can do that for the following years to come.

Birthday Ukishima

Thank you very much for reading my Blog, my lovely readers!   😀

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream

/ Mutsumi / 11 Comments

Melting Moments with Houjich Cream

Do you know ‘Houjicha’? It is Roasted Green Tea which is Japanese Tea with a marvellous aromatic scent. I enjoy having it when I want to relax and cleanse my body. Although it is Green Tea, it looks quite brown because it’s roasted.

I normally use loose leaves for making tea but recently I’ve got this lovely powdered Houjicha. The tea leaves were very finely ground and has kept the wonderful aroma and taste. This powdered type is quite a new thing for me and even in Japan (I think). I found it is great that you can add it into whatever you want to make without brewing tea.

Houjicha

Powdered Houjicha & Houjicha loose tea

I have been trying to use this powder in several ways and in order to enjoy its aroma at the maximum in the finished products I think it is the best using it without heating. The scent is so good that I don’t want to lose any during the cooking process. I think ingredients also should be limited. You know what they say; “Simple is Best!”

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream

Melting Moments with Houjicha Cream double

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Hishi-Mochi Ukishima on Hinamatsuri

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Usa hina

My little Rabbit Hina-ningyou

The 3rd of March is Girls’ Day in Japan. It is called ‘Hina Matsuri‘ or ‘Momo no Sekku‘ and we celebrate girls’ health and growth (Don’t worry we have Boys’ Day as well). This day we decorate ‘Hina Ningyou‘, the dolls of a princess and a prince or even with lots of their servants and music players on red carpeted shelved space, with Plum blossoms in a room.

My Hina Ningyou are Rabbits. I brought them when I came to England. They are very small and cute.

There is certain food we eat on the day that is all pretty and beautiful for girls of course. Main meal is definitely ‘Chirashi-zushi‘ which is Sushi rice served with colourful fish, vegetable and egg on top. We also have a clear soup with ‘Hamaguri‘ Big Clam.

One of the typical sweets for this day is ‘Hishi-mochi‘ which is Rice cake in a diamond shape in tricolours of pink, white and green). ‘Hina arare‘ (pastel coloured Rice crackers) and lots of sweets in flower shape & colours are often had as well. The girls have a drink called ‘Amazake‘ which is sweet Sake. Yes, it is a kind of Sake. Although there is alcoholic Amazake but normally we have sweet sake without alcohol, so young girls can have it on this Hinamatsuri.

I have been thinking what I should make for this day and wanted to try something new for me. And then one idea stuck in my mind so … here it is.

Hishi-Mochi Ukishima 

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Another day, another ‘Tai-yaki’

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Tai-yaki SJ (2)

On the day I did not have any sweet at home, the first & only thing I thought and wanted to make for my afternoon tea was ‘Tai-yaki‘. It is a fish shaped Japanese sweet with sweet Azuki bean paste filling.

It was sunny day even in London in winter and a Robin & a few Blue Tits were flying around in the garden. I felt Spring was getting closer. I had to have something nice.

Taiyaki halved

A cup of hot Sencha Green Tea was very nice too.

If you want to try out Tai-yaki, the recipe is on my old post. Please check it. Cheers  🙂

Soufflé Pancake with Strawberry Sauce

/ Mutsumi / 4 Comments

Souffle Pancake 1

Yes, yes another ‘Soufflé’ type food. Since the Sake Cooking Competition I like making soufflé. Its very soft light & smooth texture has the luxurious quality.

I also like Pancake. So why don’t I mix the two things I like together? I wanted it to have a custardy flavour so I did not add anything to the basic ingredients except for Vanilla extract.

If it’s a Vanilla flavoured soft sweet … it should be with Strawberries, right?

Soufflé Pancake with Strawberry Sauce

Souffle Pancake cut

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Mochi / Shiratama Dango (白玉だんご）

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You might know one of the famous very Japanese food ‘Mochi (Rice Cake)‘. We traditionally eat it during New Year’s days (we celebrate for 3 days). ‘Mochi’ is made from sweet glutinous Rice by soaking, steaming & pounding it.

Mochitsuki

Traditional ‘Mochi-Tsuki’ (Rice cake pounding)

It has become very rare to see the traditional ‘Mochi-tsuki‘ (Rice cake pounding) these days. It’s only seen in some kind of festival. Instead we have an electric Mochi maker for home use and people can make Mochi easily, however, it is still fiddly to go through the process for making small amount of sweets at home.

But there is another type of ‘Mochi’. It’s so much easier to make particularly for a very small amount. It is ‘Shiratama- Dango’.

<Mochi / Shiratama Dango> 

Shiratama

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Pancake Day in Japanese Style

/ Mutsumi / 12 Comments

It’s ‘Pancake Day’ today! It is not familiar Day for Japanese but I know it comes every year near Springtime.

So, what is Pancake Day?

Pancake Day is also called Pancake Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. It is a day before the start of Lent which is the period of 40 days leading to Easter. As you can guess I am not Christian so this is the maximum I can explain about this day. What I understand is that the Pancake day is the day people try to use up all their eggs, fat and sugar in order to clear up the cupboards at home before another feasting period (Easter).

What they do?

People make Pancakes! That is the main thing. There are some festivals and people race with a frying pan on one hand flipping pancake whilst running. It’s a fun day. On social media I saw someone who lives locally asking where is a cafe that serves good pancakes. I guess it is great to know where a good cafe is but what I can’t understand is why this person doesn’t make Pancakes herself? Originally that is what this day is for, isn’t it? And it is not difficult to make a pancake either. You just need basic ingredients of eggs, sugar and flour.

So I made my own pancakes. In my kitchen it cannot be a normal pancake. It has to be a Pancake in Japanese style. I made ‘Dorayaki‘ with ‘Matcha‘ Green Tea flavour.

Matcha Drayaki

Matcha Dorayaki half

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Rosy Sake Jelly with Raspberry Sauce

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Rosy Sake Jelly with Raspberry Sauce 1

Rosy Sake Jelly with Raspberry Sauce

This is the sweet dish I made for the Sake Cooking competition. The theme of my dishes for the competition was ‘Sake for Eating’. This dessert was a food but I wanted to put some reminder that Sake is alcoholic ‘Drink’. That is why I wanted to use a wine glass for serving this dessert.

My thoughts behind this dish were

1. I wanted to keep all the flavour and taste of Sake in my dessert without losing any by heating Sake. That is the reason I decided to make Jelly.

2. I like flavour of Sake, however, I wanted something ‘more than just Sake’. I infused Sake with Rose Petals in order to enhance the delicate Sake flavour. The consequence of that made the Jelly has fragrant Rose smell and also slightly Rosy pink colour. I managed to infuse Sake in both flavour and colour.

3. It has been changing in recent years but Sake still has the image as it is the drink for men more than for women. I wanted to create something which suggests that Sake could be something romantic.

Rosy Sake Jelly with Raspberry Sauce

Rosy Sake Jelly with Raspberry Sauce 2

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