AlohaMamma's Kitchen Stories

I Love Fried Rice....

Yes, I love fried rice of anything but soy sauce is a must thing to use; and place with chopped vegetables, eggs and some bits of shrimps or cheon sausages. Cheon sausage is like ..what my husband said; pancetta how Italains cook with it.  The fat needs to be rendered;  it is sort of fat being melted and that is where the flavor comes in.  My mom calls this chinese sausage 'Umami' and I know she is right.  Obviously, she is part of Hawaiian, Japanese, Cantonese and Caucasion (British and Dutch).

Anyway, this cheon is like Italian sausages that they can last a while in the refrigerator.  I prefer my mom's fried rice cooking.  I love to watch how she diced them, along with chopped vegetables and eggs. I loved to watch how she put them in a heated wok but low. After she is done with cooking friend rice, I liked to feel 'rewarded' with rich and flavorful fat that oozed out.  I don't know about you but you gonna try to fry the rest of the fried rice ingredients in the place of oil and it is better to cook in a spacious wok

 

The Ingredients:

2 lup cheon sausages
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
1/4 cup diced onion
2 Tablespoons diced green pepper
1 can (5 ounces) sliced water chestnuts drained
1 hard cooked egg
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon peeled and minced giner or
1/2 teaspoon grouns ginger
2 cups cooked rice

 

And then:

1. Dice up cheon sausages

2. Heat peanut oil in a large skillet and add lup cheon. Stir fry for 5 minutes to assure sausage is fully cooked.

3. Add onion and green pepper. Stir-Fry until the onion is nearly translucent

4. Add water chestnuts, egg, soy sauce, suagr, ginger, and rice to skillet. Stir-fry over low heat for about 10 minutes.

Tips: This recipe works best when you use leftover rice that has been chilled for several hours. Well.... Are you going to start cooking up a storm? Try this one!

Aloha! I am here to update my food blog and I know it has been a long time already! Hey, I'm good and alive!

I don't know if some of you know what is mochi and you can check this Mochi Ice Creams  Today, I went to Shirokiya at Ala Moana and there is a small center in the store that sell over 20 flavors: green tea, melon, mint, sakura, azuki beans, blueberry, strawberry, mango, etc.... Last week, I had green soybean mochi ice cream and my husband had three sweet mochi ice creams: all of them were so delish! And they are soft and chewy mochi.  The outside of the mochi have its silky mouth feeling and its have the lightness; includes the cream filling.  Mochi is long known in Japan but this became popular in Hawaii around early 90's.  It is so even that Mochi ice creams were mentioned as one of  Tokyo's insanely over Mochi Ice Creams .  Some of you never try these and I encourage you to try Strawberry Mochi Ice Cream first. It is a bit pricey but worth every penny. Let me find some photos from my External Hard Drive:

I think my little brother don't mind me using one of his photos and this one sure looks yummy.... I think... I leave this house soon and get myself a box of mochi ice creams.... right after I blog!

Katsu!

My husband and one of my daughters had cravings for buffalo wings and they wanted me to make them for  dinner.  I love to eat any kind of fried chicken thighs, breasts or wings but not that kind of spicy buffalo sauce on the wings.  Tonkatsu is a fried pork cutlet and katsu is Japanese style fried chicken.  It is made with light and flaky panko instead of flour so they become very crispy, crunchy crust with little efforts.  I love Panko!  Really, it is easy to make the perfect crisp chicken tender.  I only like to dip them in tempura or yakitori sauce.

Let me educate you about the history of katsu.  it is originally recipe from Japan and I also grew up in Japanese community with relatives on my sensei mom's side. My great grandma-san Matsu cooked variety of tonkatsu or katsu foods. Sometimes, she placed many sides like miso soup, orroke (croquette) teishoku, tofu with fish flakes, pickled eggplants, umi seeds, etc.... I remembered such a wonderful aroma of tonkatsu that came from her kitchen and she always shared her childhood stories with me and my brother. Talking about her, I miss her more.

Another favorite: katsudon is a popular Japanese food and it is a bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried chicken cutlet, egg, and condiments. Variations include sauce katsudon (with Worcestershire sauce), demi katsudon (with demi-glace and often green peas, a specialty of Okayama), shio katsudon (with salt, another Okayama variety), shōyu-dare katsudon (with soy sauce, Niigata style), and miso katsudon (a favorite in Nagoya). Beef and chicken can substitute for the pork.

The dish takes its name from the Japanese words tonkatsu (for pork cutlet) and donburi (for rice bowl dish).  It has become a modern ritual tradition for Japanese students to eat katsudon the night before taking a major test or school entrance exam. This is because 'katsu' sounds like the word for victory or winning.  Katsudon is a stereotypical food offered by a detective to a detainee who is being questioned for a case. ( my uncle said this when I was little).

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Quick and Easy

2 pounds chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

garlic salt to season

1/2 cup flour 2 eggs, beaten

2 cups panko flakes ( flour meal for breading)

Katsu Sauce

1/3 cup catsup

1/4 cup shoyu

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons Worceshire sauce

pinch of ground red pepper

Combine all katsu sauce ingredients; mix well. Set side.

Season chicken generously with garlic salt and let stand 15 to 30 minutes. Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a skillet. Dredge chicken in flour, dip in eggs and coat with panko in that order. Fry chicken until golden brown on both sides: drain on paper towels. Cut into 1-inch slices. Serve with katsu sauce.

Note: This is so-o-o-o delish!!! The katsu chicken is tender inside, light and crispy on the outside.  Children's favorite!

Here is the pic of Katsudon that I had nice lunch at Tetsuya restaurent with my husband.

Pretty & Colorful Pretzels

I love to share my recipes and secret cooking tips with people around the world and I like to bring my  kids back into the kitchen. The quality time between kids and parents is so important and cooking together is a great way to spend time with family. it is fun to do preparing some ono-licious treats with my kids!

Let me tell you little bit about me: As a little child, I learned about cooking at my grandma's home or dad's lu'au. The most I learned about baking and cooking was inside the house; I watched Grandmas, mommies and aunties cooked together while they sang in Hawaiian language. There was something magical about them and  my grandma would turn few avacado fruits into an enchanting pies! The kitchen was like a classroom and they took the time to explain so many things to me such as  why I cook first, the reason why I use that for flavor, and the reason  why I combine certain ingredients together. Spend time, cook and bake with ohana-it was all about fun and learning. So, I am grateful that they allowed me to share my aloha of baking or  cooking with others.

If you learn anything from me, remember this: whenever you bake or cook, make sure it comes from the heart and you do this with your children.

*Hawaiian words such as keiki (kids), lu'au (feast), ono (good), ohana (family) and aloha (love, bye, hello, hi)*" Fun! Colorful! Yummy! Easy! Kids will love these!

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Recipe

1. One package of Stixs Pretzels, cut in 3rd.

2. Either white or brown chocolate package (any brand will be fine. I used Chirardelli

3. Read the instruction on the back of package. Melt in microwave or double broiler.

4. Put pretzels in melted chocolate and then put them in mini cups.

5. Decorate with sprinkles. (Any kind is fine; depends on holiday occassions

6. Put them in refrigerator until they are ready to serve. Either, they can be put freezer until set. If they aren't ready to serve then put them in airtight container and place it in refrigerator until they are ready to serve.

It's an adventurous recipe and it's easy so gather your kids and let them start cooking up a storm!