Red daikon, red mochi.

A colorful version of the Chinese snack that is called in Japan daikon mochi and I can’t pronounce any of its names in Chinese dialects… Well, radish cake.

I washed and grated my red skin daikon radish. It’s white inside as usual.

I steamed the daikon. Added an equivalent volume of mochiko (sticky rice flour) with enough water to get it creamy. For flavoring : salt, chili pepper flakes, dry shiitake mushroom, fish flakes (skip for vegan version). And fried slices of garlic.

I steamed the cakes. Let them chill.

Then pan-fried cuts of very cold cakes in sesame oil. They become creamy inside, crispy around. The flower is a slice of raw daikon.

For sauce : sweet chili sauce + Bulldog Worcester style sauce.

Cumin lamb chop and kujo negi, Chinese style

Another way to serve a lamb chop. A fun quick lunch.

Pan-fried with sesame oil and cumin seeds.

I had a few fresh Kujo negi, Kyoto leeks.

The tender part of greens.

The white part is cut into angel’s hair.

The sauce : Chinese black miso, a little gochujang and powdered cumin.

I didn’t make them. I bought ready to use Chinese Spring roll wraps, warmed them in the steamer.

That’s served : Take a crepe, put veggies, meat and sauce on it, roll and eat immediately.

Genmai okayu, brown rice brunch soup

Okayu, rice porridge. An many pickles. It’s simple, colorful, feeling and very tasty.
I had a cold, not much appetite. That was perfect.

Umeboshi, salty plum, with the red shiso that comes together.

Aka kabu, red Kyoto turnip tsukemono.

Cornichons à l’estragon, with the onion from the same jar. Behind, a few capers.

Toasted abrura-age (fried tofu) and 2 sesames.

All the topping are ready.

And the rice. Just good brown rice, longly simmered in water.

Deconstructed inari soba and 4 treasure mozuku soup

Inari-zushi are sushi in little pockets like this (click). I wanted to make a variation , inari soba, with soba noodles instead of rice but I made a technical mistake, so the taste is here, delicious, but the shape, not at all… The second dish is a seaweed and veggie soup.

Abura-age (fried tofu) simmered in a broth of soy sauce, paprika, with a little chili and garlic.
MY MISTAKE : I forgot to open the pockets before simmering. And later, that was… impossible without tearing all apart.

I have made kujo negi into threads :

I’ve salted slightly and mixed with fresh soba buckwheat noodles (boiled 1 minute, then cooled in iced water, drained).

So I’ve placed the noodles on top of the pockets. The project was to fill them.

Fresh edamame from kuromame (black soy beans)

You need to cook them. It’s possible to rub the pods with salt and boil them that way, or to open as I did.

Inspired from a Chinese soup. I’ve cooked green and black edamame, dices of kabocha pumpkin and slices of okra. I’ve added sea salt and mozuku seaweed to the cooled broth. A few slices of sudachi lime bring fruity acidity.

Mixed baby leaves, plus mitsuba and cherry tomatoes.

My lunch !

Mabo fair : aubergine and tofu

There exist mabo tofu and mabo aubergine, two sister Chinese dishes widely adopted in Japan. Today they are on the the same meal.

My lunch tray. Yes, that was delicious and filling.

The base is the same : onion, garlic, ginger, Sichuan pepper and azuki beans. After simmering, I add miso, paprika and I pass the mixer. I’ve added slices of green hot chili.

Aubergines steamed, then stir-fried with garlic. I’ve added the sauce and more paprika, water and reheated. On the finished, a tbs of fragrant sesame oil and a few roasted sesame seeds.