Guest Blog Post: Dining in Japan

Miss Liz just got back from Japan and has all sorts of food/meals to share!

I must admit I was nervous about the food in Japan. I went with two friends from work-Bekka and Rachel. I thought there would be sushi everywhere and I’m not a big sushi fan. Turns out, Japan has a wide variety of food and I was pleasantly surprised. Of course, there were lots of food that I was not ever going to try-ie horse meat.

My favorite meal was at a tiny restaurant that only serves dumplings in the Harajuku region of Tokyo. We found the spot courtesy of Lonely Planet.  We ordered some of each type of dumpling-plain and garlic and leek.  They were warm, tender and delicious. I loved the garlic and leek dumplings. Our meal also came with pickled cabbage (which you see every where in Japan) and cucumbers with miso sauce. The miso sauce was the perfect mixture of tangy and spice with the crunchy cucumbers.
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We tried soba noodles for dinner one night. They are cold buckwheat noodles. You dip them into soy sauce. Honestly, I wasn’t into it.

Tokyo is famous for its fish market. All the surrounding side streets have tiny stalls selling food. Rachel was adventurous enough to have a huge oyster (again with soy sauce) at 715am.  Some things, none of would try, like the chicken feet.
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We were always nervous when trying street food. It was never labeled in English and the people selling it rarely spoke English. One day, people were crowded around a stall, we figured it had to be good.  OH MY GOD. This was my favorite food in Japan. Problem is, we still don’t know what we ate. It tastes like fried dough filled with sweetened black beans. Now, that sounds like a silly combo and nothing they would eat in Japan, but it was amazing and the Japanese were lining up for these little snacks.
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It took us a few days to realize, Japan stops serving lunch at 2pm.  Unfortunately, one day, we were really hungry and it was down pouring. We were desperate to find a restaurant that was open and had an English menu.  After 20 minutes of walking around in the rain, we settled on the only open restaurant we could find. They did have a menu with pictures, but no one spoke English. I asked 2 young men in the restaurant what the pictures were and they were able to tell me the following: “Beef, Bird (with a guy moving his arms like the chicken dance) and Shrimp”.  Bekka and I got beef. Rachel decided on “bird” ie chicken fingers.

Before leaving for Japan, I heard about rice balls. I thought I was going to be in heaven. Turns out, its densely packed rice and then fried/grilled and then sits in your stomach like a hockey puck. They sell rice balls, which are not fried but wrapped in nori at convenience stores for quick snacks and breakfast.
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Rachel did some research in Kyoto in found a really fun local restaurant where we got to sit on tami mats. Kishakura specializes in chicken.  They offered tofu as an appetizer, I passed on it but it looked really pretty.  We share a bottle of local Sake.
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One day, we needed to grab a quick meal. So, we had Ramen that we ordered from a vending machine. This is pretty common in Japan for causal restaurants. You order at the vending machine with help of plastic food showing you what your order will look like. The ramen was great. The noodles were thicker than ramen we make a home with boiling water.
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Finally, sushi! I don’t like sushi, but I tried it in Tokyo at convoyer belt sushi place.  Bekka and Rachel enjoyed it.
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All in all, it was a great vacation and we had some interesting food!

Would you like to be a guest blogger? Email emily@thethreebiterule.com for more details!

Peanut Noodle Salad Hot or Cold

Marcus Sameulsson had me at bok choy. Well, I actually hadn’t cooked bok choy before but I loved this recipe from his blog. This was a pretty quick one to put together and it reheated well the next day for lunch.
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Peanut Noodle Salad with Edamame and Bok Choy

 

Serves 4, adapted from Peas and Thank You

 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp honey
8 oz whole wheat spaghetti
2 heads baby bok choy, chopped
2 cups frozen edamame

Directions:

In a food processor mix coconut milk, tomatoes, peanut butter, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, and honey until smooth.
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Boil the pasta.
While the pasta boils, cook the bok choy for about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender before adding the edamame and cook until heated through.
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Add the spaghetti to the pan and pour the peanut sauce mixture into the pan, tossing to coat.  Serve warm or at room temperature.
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This was a really great meat-less meal. I was shocked, but Mr. J really liked it too! I wasn’t sure he’d be really into the coconut milk/peanut butter sauce. This was also a great use of whole wheat pasta. Normally, I really don’t like it and honestly, I’d often prefer not to even have pasta if it is going to be wheat.

It is fresh tasting. Each bite had something different…from the noodles coated in the creamy peanut sauce, to the bite of the edamame, to the leafy bok choy. The recipe had peppers in it but I threw in some carrots for color instead.
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps, aka Everything Good In a Sandwich

We don’t eat a ton of sandwiches at our house but I’m working on changing that. I know, I know, I’ve said I don’t love sandwiches. I actually love them when they’re made-to-order. I adore breakfast sandwiches too. I only dislike sandwiches that have been sitting around sogging all day inside a high school locker or if I can’t tell what’s inside the sandwich.

I had a lengthy discussion at work about hummus on a sandwich…or hummus in general. Did you know the USA has a dried bean and lentil council? This is my worklife. Anywho, back to the sandwich subject at hand.

I made Chicken Bacon Ranch Wraps and they were really tasty.
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Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup milk
¼ cup ranch dressing
1 tbs dried ranch dressing powder mix
1/3 cup panko & 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg + 1 tbs water, whisked
Wheat tortillas
Lettuce
Tomato
Shredded cheddar
¼ cup ranch dressing
4 strips of bacon

Directions:

Marinate the chicken in the milk, ¼ cup of the ranch dressing, and dried ranch powder for a few hours.
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Remove from the marinade and dredge in eggwash then breadcrumbs and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
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Cook the bacon, then crumble it.
Assemble the wraps with lettuce, tomato, chicken, bacon, cheddar, and ranch.
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You don’t really need a recipe for this but I thought the marinade and breading was spot-on so I wanted to share it. I liked that these were filling and fresh but not fried. I have an aversion to frying foods. The wheat wrap and real lettuce (iceburg = not real) make this slightly healthier than your local pizza place’s version of the same thing since my chicken isn’t fried either.

Like most things I cook, the chicken could be prepped in advance and popped in to speed up the dinner, or prepped and frozen for next time.

If you’re lucky like me, when your sis comes to have these for dinner she’ll also bring treats from her favorite bakery!
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Creamy Spinach Enchiladas & Avocado Eggrolls

After thinking about other ways to use ricotta I thought, why not Mexican? I’m sure nobody who knows anything about enchiladas would ever use ricotta but I’m not pretending I know anything other than what tastes good.

The thought of biting in a huge hunk of cream cheese makes me shutter. I like ricotta because it’s light and creamy. It was beautifully green (thanks to some spinach) and light but full of flavor.
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Ingredients:

12 oz whole milk ricotta
2 cups spinach leaves
2 slices of thick cut ham
1 tbs taco seasoning
6 whole wheat tortillas
1 ½ cup enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar

Directions:

Blend ricotta and spinach in a food processor, or by hand (chopping spinach first).
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Pan fry the ham and taco seasoning just until golden and warmed through.
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Stuff each tortilla with the ricotta mixture and top with ham.
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Roll them up and put them into a baking dish.
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Top with enchilada sauce and bake 20 minutes at 375.
Finish with shredded cheese and bake 3 minutes to melt.
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I liked this seemingly strange combo. I actually had the ham around so that’s why I added it but I really liked it in here! You could easily use shredded chicken, sauteed peppers & onions, or corn and black beans…or whatever. These were cheesey inside and out and had some textural contrasts too.

Then I decided to recreate a recipe I had from a restaurant. Jose MacIntryre’s has these crispy avocado eggrolls that are addicting…especially during $1 appetizers 😉

Ingredients:

Egg roll wrappers
2 avocados
2 tbs salsa

Directions:

Cut avocados and mix with salsa
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Put 2-3 tbs of the avocado mixture into the center of the wrappers. Tuck 2 opposite corners towards the center, and then roll the corner closest to you to the center and roll it away from you (like rolling up a burrito).
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Fry for a few minutes on each side.
Remove and let cool on paper towel.
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These were pretty good. Not as good as the restaurant, but I liked it. Mr. J wasn’t a big fan so I had his for lunch the next day. That’s when I remembered they’re served with some creamy dipping sauce.

I mixed some ranch dressing, bbq sauce, and taco seasoning. Ohh my goodness. That’s the ticket! Don’t knock it will you try it!

Fontina and Prosciutto Pizza with Arugula

Ahhhhrugula! I think I’ve decided that if I were going to eat one food for the rest of my life it’d be pizza. I love all sorts of crazy toppings and I have learned a thing or two.

I was partially inspired by the last pretty authentic neopolitan pizza I’ve had lately (Antico Forno) when I dreamed this one up. I also was feeling a salad-y topped pizza for a change too. It’s nicely springy and would even be a good vehicle for any leftover Easter ham you have kicking around!
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Ingredients:

pizza dough
1 tbs chopped garlic
3 tbs olive oil
2 cups shredded fontina
4-6 slices of prosciutto
3 cups arugula
drizzle of truffle oil
¼ cup with shaved Parmesan

Directions:

Pre-bake the crust for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
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Top with cheese and garlic/olive oil mixture brushed on crust. Return to the oven until melted (about 5 minutes)
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Once out of the oven, top with slices of prosciutto
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Then top with arugula tossed with truffle oil
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It was good, and different. I liked the few quality ingredients. The prosciutto was salty and the fontina was googy and nutty. By not cooking the prosciutto, it kept it really soft and bite-able.
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I actually didn’t top the whole thing since obviously it was going to be lunch the next day. It reheated well too!