卵焼きの物語 Chronicles of Tamagoyaki

As I mentioned in previous posts, motivated by the upcoming 中体連 ("Chuutairen" the Kamikita District (Junior High School) Sports Tournament) and inspired by Shinya Shokudo (both the manga and drama), I've recently set myself a goal of learning to make 卵焼き ("tamagoyaki" = Japanese style omelette) "reasonably well."

My aim is to have a nice-looking bento for the Chuutairen.

Friday night I went to Shimoda Jusco to buy the tamagoyaki pan from Muji. I could've bought the pan anywhere, I suppose, but the first time I went to Muji in Japan (Oct. 2007, between arriving by night bus at Tokyo Station and taking the train to Narita Airport to fly back for A&L's wedding) I really wanted to buy it--even though I knew at the time that I knew I wasn't likely to cook anything, much less tamagoyaki! Considering my usual spend-thrifty ways, it's quite amazing that I actually held off on buying it for almost three years! =P



Anyway, I put my purchase to use pretty much right away. I happened to have two eggs in the fridge that needed to be used up before Sunday (Jun. 6), so I made my first tamagoyaki attempt on Saturday afternoon.

Here's a basic recipe (from the magazine 毎日ラクちん!朝つめるだけ!3分弁当―おかず&アイデア214, "Every day's a cinch! Just assemble in the morning! 3min. bentos-214 side dishes & ideas"):

基本の卵焼き (１台分) Basic Tamagoyaki (makes 1 roll)

材料 Ingredients:
卵...２個 Eggs - 2
砂糖...小さじ２ Sugar - 2 teaspoons*
しょうゆ...小さじ1/2 Soy Sauce - 1/2 teaspoon
水...大さじ２ Water - 2 tablespoons
サラダ油...少々 - "Salad" (vegetable) oil - a little
*This recipe is for 甘い卵焼き ("amai tamagoyaki") so feel free to adjust the amount of sugar/soy sauce to suit your tastes

Directions:
1. Mix the eggs, sugar, soy sauce and water in a bowl.
2. Heat oil in a pan* on medium-low heat, making sure to coat the pan evenly with oil.
3. Pour about half of the egg mixture into the pan, spreading evenly
4. When the bottom starts to solidify, roll the egg into the omelette shape (from the "top" of the pan (i.e. the side of the pan furthest away) towards yourself)
5. Place the omelette on the "top" side of the pan
6. Put a bit more oil into the pan**
7. Repeat steps 3 & 4 using the remaining egg mixture
* If you don't have a rectangular tamagoyaki pan, it's possible to make it using a circular pan, but it's more work. Basically before step 4, you need to fold in the sides of the egg to make it a rectangular shape.
** So far I haven't actually used this step...Maybe that's part of the problem?

Note: If you're making tamagoyaki for a bento, to prevent it from spoiling easily after you've cooked it, wrap it in plastic wrap and microwave it for about 30s to ensure that it's completely cooked through to the center. (If you serve it fresh/hot off the pan, it's OK if it's slightly undercooked in the middle...)

I think I had beginner's luck on my side the first time since I actually managed to roll it quite nicely and the shape turned out pretty well. The insides were kind of unevenly cooked, though, so I did end up microwaving it, just to be safe.

You can see that although the ends look deformed, when you cut them off, you get the proper looking tamagoyaki. Looking at the colour variation between the two different ends of the omelette (particularly the side with all the white showing), however, you can tell that it wasn't cooked evenly/properly. ^^;;

Still when I plated it with octopus shaped wieners (I only used half the bag the first time I made them), it looked very cheerful and made me feel really happy eating it.

In my two attempts since then, I managed to cook it more evenly in the middle, but I messed up on the rolling part so it ended up not looking as nice.

My second tamagoyaki (made today,  Mon., Jun. 7) was just an overall disaster. The egg "ripped" when I was rolling it, and one side was really bumpy and uneven (although I placed it on the plate bad side down, so it actually looks better in the picture than in reality)..

It was pathetic that I had to try to redeem myself and made another one (third overall) right away. This time the the first half was really nicely cooked and shaped, but I messed up when I was trying to roll the omelette the second time. I think I tried to roll it a bit too early so it ripped and again made the final product look rather deformed.

But when I sliced it up, it turned out to actually have quite a nice, well-balanced oval shape, so I was able to make decent looking hearts out of them!

Here you can see what happens if you try to make hearts with an omelette (i.e. tamagoyaki #2) that wasn't rolled nicely and therefore had an uneven/deformed oval shape:

Anyway, as you may have guessed, my dinner tonight was two (rolls of) tamagoyaki. Not the healthiest or most balanced meal, but considering that lately I've been forgetting to eat dinner, I guess it's better than nothing. ^^;;

Given that the Chuutairen is only 12 days away, I suspect I will have many more meals of tamagoyaki in the near future--unless I can learn to make them "reasonably well" quickly. =P

Octopus-shaped red wieners

I'd seen them plenty of times in various anime/manga, but I was never inspired to make them myself until I read/watched 深夜食堂 (Shinya Shokudou, i.e. "Midnight Restaurant").

深夜食堂 is a series about a restaurant that is open from 12am-7am. The only things on the menu are 豚汁定食 (tonjiru teishoku, i.e. pork miso soup set), beer and sake, but you can order anything you want to eat, and if he can, the master (a.k.a. chef/owner) will make it.

The very first episode of both the manga and drama is 赤いウインナー (Akai (red) Wiener), a story about a Yakuza named Ryuu, who, surprisingly always orders a plate of tako (octopus)-shaped red wieners. Obviously there's a bit more to the story than that, but the point is, reading the manga and watching the drama made me want to try making them for myself.

I'd never seen red wieners in the hot dog/sausage section of Jusco, though, so it took a little bit of searching on Saturday before I found them. They were about an aisle down from the other hot dogs/sausages in a small section dedicated to various bento (弁当) "toppings" (for lack of a better word).

Since I had an office day today (Monday) I decided that I would get up a little earlier than usual and make the tako wieners for my lunch.

It's really quite simple; all you have to do is cut the wiener lengthwise from about halfway to the bottom. Then turn the wiener 90 degrees and cut it lengthwise into four strips (again, from about halfway to the bottom). This gives you the eight "legs" of the octopus. Then you simply cook the wieners in a fry pan on medium heat until the legs are nice and curled. ^_^ (There are even instructions on the back of the package in case you can't figure it out on your own!)

Objectively speaking, the wieners themselves really aren't anything special, but somehow just having them in the octopus shape makes them extra special/delicious. ^_^ For my chuutairen bento, I am definitely going to have tako-wieners as well as tamagoyaki!! (I plan to purchase the pan sometime this week, and I'll probably spend my free nights next week practicing making tamagoyaki like mad! =P

Speaking of bento lunches, I learned from some female Japanese friends a while ago that a "nice/proper" bento should have red, yellow, and green items. Even if all the food is really tasty, if it's all brown/the same colour, it's perceived as an "obaachan" (old lady) bento. Seeing all the books for making cute/attractive bentos, I'd already figured that appearances were considered important for (homemade) bentos, but I'd never heard about this 3-colour rule before...

Even though today's bento mostly followed the 3-colour rule (the potato salad was more white than yellow) and was considerably "better" than my usual tuna onigiri and raw veggie--mini tomatoes and carrot & cucumber sticks--bento, I know I've still got a long ways to go in my bento-making skills...

In particular, today's top and bottom trays, while individually OK didn't really go together taste-wise. With the more "Western-style" side dishes in the top tray, I probably should have gone with sandwiches and/or pasta for the "main dish" in the bottom...

(Incidentally, the potato salad was also 深夜食堂-inspired. Usually I just put apples and/or hard-boiled eggs into my potato salad, but in the 深夜食堂 drama I saw that the Master used cucumber, carrot and ham, so I decided to try it out...Quite tasty!

Another side note: Even though iI know it's a fictional story, I can't help but wonder where the Master buys his 赤いウインナー. I mean, the bag I bought was 98yen for only 7 wieners, but he serves Ryuu a whole plate of them! I wonder if there's a place that sells them in bulk? =P)

But at any rate, just eating a bento that I put a little more care into than usual  enabled me to really enjoy my lunch today. ^_^ As I said before, the tako-wieners especially made me happy! I guess I'm still a kid in that sense--cute shapes make me excited about even the simplest foods, like rabbit-shaped apples, for example! Now that I've mentioned it, I think I'll also include those in my chuutairen bento!! =P

Hotaru no Hikari 2 drama!!

I am so excited! I just found out that there will be a second season of one my favourite manga/drama series airing this summer! ^_^ (Official Japanese homepage: http://www.ntv.co.jp/himono2)

Given the way they ended the first series it's a given that the plot is bound to diverge quite a lot from the manga. But to me that's not a bad thing. I actually prefer series that differ significantly from the original over adaptions that simply condense the original stories to make them fit into a movie/series time frame. For example, I really liked the Lemony Snicket: A Series of Unfortunate Events movie (which was based on the first three books of the series), but didn't particularly like the Harry Potter movie series (which was pretty much just a dramatization of the books).

It will be airing Wednesdays at 10pm on Nippon TV (RAB Aomori) starting on July 7th. =D

Can't wait!!

(This news makes me really glad that I decided to sign on for another year! If I went back to Canada in August as originally planned, I'd only be able to watch about half of the series!)

Cooking up a storm

I had the day off last Monday since I was "working" on the Sunday (May 16). I use the term "working" lightly here since helping out at the Sports Festival is so fun it didn't really feel like work. (Although I admit getting up early to make it to school by 7:45am was a bit of work for me...)

Anyway, since I had the time, I decided to cook a real dinner that night (with the help of my many recipe magazines/books).

Clockwise from top left: chicken cheese "sandwich" saute; tofu "lasagna;" microwave steamed broccoli; potato & bacon saute; (store bought) garlic bread.

Unlike many of the other recipes I've attempted since I made a conscious decision to try to learn how to cook more things, the beauty of these recipes was their simplicity. They required very minimal (and inexpensive) ingredients and had very few steps to follow. It still took me a fair bit of time since I'm inefficient in my food preparation/cooking, but overall the cooking process felt a lot smoother this time around (as compared to my previous cooking experiences).

The tofu "lasagna" was awesome!! It's my new favourite recipe--simple, easy, fast and delicious!! I got the recipe from 母に習えばウマウマごはん by 小栗左多里 ("Mom's a Great Cook" by OGURI Saori, the author of the popular ダーリンは外国人 ("My Darling is a Foreigner") series). This recipe alone was totally worth the price of the book. (I haven't had a chance to try any of the other recipes yet, but after the success of this one, I definitely intend to!)

Here's the recipe to try at home (if you can read Japanese at all, I recommend buying/borrowing a copy of the book to read for yourself):

豆腐のラサ二ア（２人分）Tofu Lasagna (serves 2)

材料 Ingredients
木綿豆腐…一丁 "Momen" tofu (made with cotton cloth) - 1 package (~300g)
なす……２個 Eggplant - 2 (the ones I used were fairly small (~15cm?) and long rather than round)
トマト……１個 Tomato - 1 (*a small one will suffice)
ミートソース缶…１缶（２９５ｇ） Canned "Meat Sauce" (aka spaghetti sauce w/ meat) - 1 can (295g)
とろけるチーズ…５０ｇ Shredded Cheese - 50g
サラダ油……大さじ２ "Salad" oil - 2 tablespoons (30ml) (I used extra virgin olive oil in place of regular vegetable oil)
塩・こしょう……各少々 Salt & Pepper - a little of each

Directions:
1. Wrap tofu in paper towel and microwave for 2 min* and then cut into 8 slices (*at 500w = ~1.5min at 600w and ~2.5min at 400w )
2. Cut the eggplant into 1cm rounds and the tomato into 5mm rounds, discarding the stems (of course)
3. Heat oil in a pan and lightly fry* both sides of the tofu and eggplant; sprinkle lightly with salt & pepper (*on med-high heat)
4. Lightly grease a gratin (i.e. ceramic & oven-safe) dish* with oil; spoon 1/3 of the meat sauce into the bottom of the dish; place a layer of tofu on top; cover with another 1/3 of the meat sauce; arrange remaining tofu and eggplant on top; cover with remaining meat sauce (*I used two small, individual-size oval dishes measuring approx. 16cm x 11cm x 4.5 cm)
5. Put cheese and tomato on top and bake* until cheese is melted and slightly browned (*again, the recipe was made for a 500w microwave oven w/ baking capacity, but I set my (toaster) oven to 175°C and baked it for about 25-35 minutes)

 
I really like many of the "Orange Page Books"cooking magazines. They have a lot of pictures and simple/easy but tasty recipes. Also I like that the recipes are designed to serve 2 (and not 4) so I only have to eat leftovers for a couple of days rather than an entire week. =P The other recipes from Monday's "feast" were all from Orange Page magazines. The chicken was only so-so, but both the broccoli and the potato & bacon dishes worked out pretty well.

This recipe was from the 15分でごはん!―パパッと作れてウマッ! ("15min meals! Quick & tasty!") magazine:

ブロッコリーのレンジ蒸し（２人分） Microwave Steamed Broccoli (serves 2)

材料 Ingredients
ブロッコリー…小１株 Broccoli - 1 small head
粉チーズ……大さじ１ Grated (parmesan) cheese - 1 tablespoon
塩・こしょう…各少々 Salt & Pepper - a little of each
オリーブ油…大さじ１ Olive oil - 1 tablespoon

Directions:
1. Cut broccoli into florets; cut large pieces into half
2. Mix broccoli, olive oil and salt & pepper in a microwave-safe bowl; sprinkle with cheese; cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 2min* (*at 500w = ~1.5min at 600w and ~2.5min at 400w )

This recipe was from the 手間なし、きっぱり「即」ごはん ("No effort, instant meals") magazine.

ポテトとベーコンのソテー（２人分）Potato & Bacon Saute (serves 2)

材料 Ingredients
じゃがいも…大１個（２００－２３０ｇ） Potato - 1 large one (~200-230g)
ベーコン……３枚 Bacon - 3 slices
サラダ油……大さじ1/2 "Salad" oil - 1/2 tablespoon
塩・（粗びき黒）こしょう…各少々 Salt & (if available, coarsely ground black) pepper - a little of each

Directions
1. Peel potato and cut into 5mm x 5mm sticks; soak in water for 5min; drain & wipe dry; cut bacon into 5-6mm strips (width-wise)

2. Heat oil in a fry pan on medium-low heat; add bacon; when browned, turn to medium heat and add the potato; when all ingredients are lightly coated in oil, reduce to (medium-)low heat, cover & cook for ~3min; once potatoes are tender, mix in salt & pepper

Next on my list of things to learn how to cook are some basic items of Japanese home cooking:
1. (甘い)卵焼き ("(amai) tamagoyaki" = (sweet) Japanese omelette)
2. きんぴらごぼう　("kinpira gobou" = chopped burdock root cooked in soy sauce and sugar)
3. オムライス ("omurice" = omelette rice)

I've had my eye on a "3min bento" magazine, which has the recipes, so once I've bought that--as well as the tamagoyaki pan, I'm going to start practicing! My goal for the tamagoyaki in particular is to be able to make it reasonably well by June 19-20th, i.e. the Kamikita District Grand Sports Tournament weekend a.k.a. chuutairen (中体連). I'll need to bring a bento for both days, so this year (unlike the previous two) I'd like to actually have something resembling a "proper" bento--i.e. more than just rice balls and raw veggies (mini tomatoes, carrot & cucumber sticks).