Strawberry Cream Puffs recipe いちごシュークリーム

Japanese cream puffs - the crispy choux shell contrasting with the dreamy vanilla bean custard cream filling - are (still) my favorite desert. I hope I don't sound biased, but I think my recipe for Crispy Shell Cream Puffs is the best.
Add strawberries and I think life is complete.

Can you believe, my sister had never made Japanese style cream puffs before? This was her first time, she made them for my birthday and they were amazing.

Which just goes to show, YOU can make these. And they will be amazing.
Perhaps they didn't puff quite as high as some batches I've made before, but they did puff, and they were crispy and delicious. I was very impressed.

Here is the recipe:
Recipe for Crispy Shell Cream Puffs and Custard Cream

Here it it is using American measurements:
Recipe for Crispy Shell Cream Puffs American measurements

Just add sliced strawberries while filling them and they turn into something magical.

The cream puffs from my recipe are just a little more substantial than the light-as-air cream puffs from Beard Papa's. I prefer these.

It was a delicious birthday. My mother made Sukiyaki for our extended family.

These pictures are of the cream puff leftovers the next morning. (Sorry we already ate all the big ones! lol) After taking these shots I consumed all three. It was so good.

Thanks Mum. Thanks Sis.

Tonjiru Recipe (very easy)

Tonjiru
What I love about Tonjiru:
- It is super quick and easy to make. One pot. Done.
That is, if you use my recipe. You may have seen other recipes out there that tell you to sauté the pork. In Japan these days, ain't nobody got time for that. And there's no need. Taste this one pot wonder and you will be making it again.
- You can't go wrong. The combination of umami-rich ingredients here mean this soup is going to taste awesome, no matter who makes it, no matter if you can't cook.
- It's a healthy meal. Vegetables, protein, it's all here. Serve with a bowl of rice on the side if you like.
Tonjiru 豚汁 is a hearty Japanese soup and a winter staple. It's a low calorie comfort food that makes you feel good because it's good for you. And it tastes like home.
"Ton" (or "buta" 豚 ) means "pork" and "jiru" means "soup" as in "Miso shiru" (Miso Soup). But I t's more like a meal than regular miso soup as it has pork and is full of vegetables. It's also a great side.

Tonjiru Recipe
50g miso paste
2 Tbsp Shoyu (Japanese soy sauce)
Thinly sliced pork (look in the Asian grocery store freezer, or an Asian butcher)
Gobo (burdock root. In Australia I can only get the frozen, sliced Gobo.)
Daikon (Called "Lobok" in Australia. Giant white radish) about a 15cm length
Carrot, 1
Shallots (green onion) about 2
*Aburaage (Tofu puffs/ Deep fried tofu)
*Konnyaku こんにゃく
*Enoki mushrooms
*Satoimo (baby taro, from the freezer) (*=optional)
1) Boil about 3-4 cups water in a large saucepan. Add soy sauce and vegetables except for Shallots. (Also add konnyaku, tofu puffs, enoki, if you have them) Simmer until vegetables are tender.
2) Stir in pork, keeping pork slices separate so they cook quickly.
3) Add the miso, then shallots. Serve.

I like to cook Tonjiru in my Japanese clay pot: (donabe)

Ingredients (clockwise from left): Daikon, Frozen Burdock Root, Enoki mushrooms, Carrot

This won't take you long to make, so when you finish eating, please share your review in the comments below!
Arigato! ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

Yakiniku Sauce Recipe

Yakiniku Sauce Recipe for Japanese Barbecue

I love Yakiniku.

Even the word can get a Japanese wagyu lover very excited.

Tender slices of beef that you grill at the table and dip in an addictively yummy sauce.

Since going out to a yakiniku restaurant (such as Gyu-kaku) does not always fit the family budget, we do it at home.  Easy.  Cheap.  Yum.

But now we live in Australia, one little bottle of yakiniku sauce costs $5 to $7.  Ouch.  

There is a better way.

Yes! I did it.  I made a recipe for Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Sauce (tare).

I read the ingredients listing on my bottle of Gyu-kaku Yakiniku tare/sauce,  and through trial and error and many, many comparison taste tests, I replicated it.

I am pretty impressed with myself and I hope you will be too when you taste this stuff.

Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Sauce Recipe 焼角 焼肉タレ

1/3 cup Shoyu (Japanese Soy Sauce such as Kikkoman)

1/4 cup Water

1 Tbsp Vinegar

1 tsp Salt

2/3 cup Sugar

1-2 cloves of Garlic, crushed

A little sesame oil

1-2 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Seeds (Irigoma) (ground if you prefer more flavour)

Ground Black Pepper, to taste 

1.  Place sesame oil and crushed garlic in a saucepan. Sauté gently over low heat 1 min.  

2. Add all other ingredients in a saucepan and gently bring to the boil, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.  Simmer very gently 5 min until it just starts to thicken.

Done.  Too easy.

This recipe makes about 250ml of Yakiniku Tare.  It keeps, refrigerated, for...ever.  (although we use it up in about 3 Yakiniku sessions.)

This is how we do Yakiniku in the restaurant, on a wire mesh over hot coals:

As well as the Karubi beef, we also had Eringi mushrooms and Piiman (like small and very tender, thin-skinned bell peppers) that you can see in my photo above.  Fresh shiitake mushrooms also go awesomely.

 For more ideas of Meat and Vegetables that can be used, here are my previous posts on Yakiniku:

Our Home is a Yakiniku Restaurant

Gyutan Yakiniku

...And this is how we do Yakiniku at home on a frypan at the table:

Wagyu is too expensive for my family's regular meals (except special occasions) so I bought a bag of frozen beef belly slices from the local Korean grocery store.  Don't worry about all that fat on there, most of it melts away when you cook it.  Soooo yummy!

The other meat I used here was some rib-eye fillet steak, which I sliced to half the usual thickness, and into pieces about 4x7cm.  You might see me at the butcher or supermarket picking out the most marbled tray of rib eye fillet.  

Both of these wagyu alternatives were delicious and about a third of the price of wagyu!

If you have a health grill, even better.  I just used a frypan this time because it is so much easier to wash up.

I told you.  I love easy.

The sauce served in Gyu-kaku Yakiniku Restaurants is so popular it is sold in supermarkets in Japan:

And now it is made in your kitchen (^_^)~*

You're Welcome!

❤️