Fish Trip Cafe

This is a unique, creamy low-fat pasta dish and it’s suitable for vegans.

Soya milk and miso (fermented soya bean paste) go well together, because they are made from same ingredient. And a spoon of miso paste brings a great savory and richness to the sauce.

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— Miso & Soya Milk Pasta with Mushrooms (serves 2) —

160g shiitake mushroom & shimeji mushrooms (Shiitake mushrooms: sliced. Shimeji mushrooms: base discarded, mushrooms separated. )

1/2 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

200g tagliatelle

1 tablespoon miso paste

300 ml soya milk

2 tablespoons white wine

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

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Cook the tagliatelle as directed on the package. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a flying-pan over medium heat, add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for 3-4 minutes.

Add the white wine into the flying-pan, bring to a boil over high heat.

Turn the heat to low, pour in the soya milk and heat until piping hot. Add the miso paste and stir until the miso is melted.

Add the cooked tagliatelle and chopped parsley into the flying-pan, tossing everything together.

Fig is written “無花果” in Japanese which means “fruit without flower”, so I believed that figs have no flowers.

I was delighted when I found out that the figs are actually flowers, inside-out flowers, and an interesting story about ‘fig wasp’ for pollination.

The nature world is amazing and the combinations of figs and honey are amazing too. Thanks wasps and bees, they are hard workers.

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— Fig and Camembert Tarts (4 tarts) —

200g puff pastry

2 figs

60g camembert cheese

1 tablespoon whole-grain mustard

1 table spoon honey

Some fresh thyme leaves

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Roll the puff pastry on a light floured work surface into a sheet. Cut out 4 round bases (approximately 2.5 inch diameter) and make a small rim with the remaining pastry.

Place the pastry bases on a baking paper.

Cut the camembert cheese into 4 pieces and place on the pastry.

Cut the figs into quarters, and arrange them on the camembert cheese.

Mix the mustard and the honey in a small bowl and drizzle over the figs.

Bake the tarts in a preheated 200C/400F oven for 20-25 minutes until the pastry in crisp and golden.

Garnish with some thyme leaves.

I had a very busy weekend and had strange dreams all night long. Dream brings me to the different world and it’s fun even if it was a nightmare but I was exhausted when I woke up this morning and my skin looks tired.

I need to eat a quick and easy nutritious dish for my tired body and skin today. So I decided to cook my favorite healthy ingredients ‘tofu’.

This is very easy & tasty tofu steak, and it’s suitable for vegetarians too.

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— Teriyaki Tofu Steak (serves 2) —

350g tofu (firm, 1 standard size block)

1 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn flour

some chives, finely chopped

*****

— for the teriyaki sauce —

1 & 1/2 tablespoon soya sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine (sake)

1 tablespoon sugar

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 10-15 minutes.

Mix all the teriyaki sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Cut the drained tofu block into 4-6 thin blocks.

Mix the flour and the corn flour, and then coat the tofu blocks.

Heat the oil in a frying-pan and fry the flour-coated tofu over medium heat on each side until golden.

Add the teriyaki sauce in the frying-pan and shaking the frying-pan gently and cook both side until the sauce has thickened.

Garnish with the finely chopped chives.

Hangover…

I went into the kitchen and picked up my ‘magic jar’ in the fridge.

This magic jar takes care of me very well.

When I have a hangover, sore throat or cold, whatever I feel bad, I just mix this syrup with hot water and drink it. It provides instant relief.

Also, mix with sparkling water is really refreshing in the summer.

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— Honey Lemon Ginger Slices —

1 lemon

100g ginger

300ml honey

1 cinnamon stick

5 cloves

1 star anise

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Wash lemon and ginger well and slice them thinly.

Put the sliced lemon, sliced ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves and anise in a jar and pour the honey.

Cap the jar and let it set at least 8 hours (turn the jar upside down sometimes).

To serve, stir 2 tablespoons of the honey mixture into 250ml hot water or sparkling water.

You can keep the jar of honey mixture about a month in the fridge.

One of the best things about living in Europe is I can get a lot of kind of cheese.

I love cheese, I feel very happy every time when I walk into a cheese shop, it’s like Disneyland to me, and I feel like Mickey Mouse (Mickey Mouse must love cheese as a mouse, I guess).

I picked up Chinese leaves for this salad, because Chinese leaves have firm & crisp texture, mild & delicate flavour and it doesn’t hijack the great flavour of blue cheese. Also, this leaves are very low-calorie, good source of vitamin C and potassium, so I can enjoy the cheese flavour without concerning my diet.

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— Chinese Leaf Blue Cheese Salad (serves 2) —

100g Chinese leaves

40g blue cheese

2 tablespoons sour cream

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

*****

— for garnish —

2 tablespoons blue cheese, crumbled

20g walnuts, crushed

1 tablespoon raisins

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Slice the Chinese leaves finely and set aside.

Place the blue cheese in a bowl, crush into small pieces with a fork. Add the sour cream, mayonnaise, fresh lemon juice and minced garlic in the bowl, and mix everything well.

Add the sliced Chinese leaves into the bowl and mix with the blue cheese cream.

Dish up the salad and sprinkle with the crumbled blue cheese, crushed walnuts and raisins.

This is a very easy & tasty exotic dessert. It takes less than 10 minutes to make.

The banana skin is not edible, but I like to keep this cute natural banana skin plate for serving.

A little bit of rum add an elegant flavour to this simple dessert.

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— Pan-fried Banana with Coconut Sauce —

2 bananas

150ml coconut milk

1 tablespoon rum

1 tablespoon butter

1 & 1/2 tablespoon sugar

Some almond flakes

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Cut the banana in half lengthwise.

Heat a frying-pan, melt the butter and fry the bananas (cut side down) over medium-high heat about 3 minutes until golden brown on cut side.

Sprinkle the rum over the banana, and then pour the coconut milk, sprinkle the sugar in the frying-pan.

Simmer the banana with the coconut sauce until the sauce has reduced by half.

Sprinkle almond flakes. Serve warm.

This tofu puff tart was a great success. I’m very happy.

Tofu (soya bean curd) has so many health benefits as I wrote before (Tofu Balls Recipe), it’s good for making clear skin, weight control and aid against heart diseases etc. I try to use these kind of nutritious ingredients for daily cooking in a natural way.

I don’t think I’m health-conscious person. I love chocolate, biscuit and crisps etc., they are great! But, maybe my basic idea of ‘eating food’ is still very Japanese. In Japan, “what is good things me to eat” is most important for everyday meals, because we believe that healthy food is also the most natural medicine, and the relationship between food, good health, nature and remedy is woven into our culture and life-style.

Anyway, we need to eat everyday to live, so, taking healthy ingredients without hard work is a good idea. And, sometimes need to eat chocolate cakes for pleasure too!

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— Tofu, Feta & Cherry Tomato Puff Tart —

300g tofu (firm)

200g cherry tomatoes

50g feta cheese

2 teaspoons fresh thyme, finely chopped

Some pettit black olives, stoned

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

A pinch of black pepper

Some olive oil

Half of 375g pack ready-rolled puff pastry

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 20 minutes.

Place the drained tofu in a bowl and mash, add the chopped fresh thyme, minced garlic, salt and black pepper, mix everything together.

Cut the ready-rolled puff pastry approximately 11 inch x 7 inch and place the pastry on a baking sheet.

Spread the tofu mixture evenly over the centre of the pastry (leaving 1/2 inch border all around the edges)

Crumble the feta cheese over the tofu mixture, arrange the cherry tomatoes and black olives on top.

Drizzle some olive oil on the cherry tomatoes.

Bake in a preheated 190C/375F oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry in crisp and golden.

A morning after the rain.

That remind me mushroom hunting. I was often forced to go to a mushroom mountain by my dad when I was teenager (I was born in the country side of Japan). I hated mushroom hunting because I didn’t like to get my clothes dirty and I was really fed up with mushroom dishes everyday after the hunting.

But I’m sure now I can enjoy to go to the mushroom mountain and fill up a big bag with full of mushrooms and to be pleased with full-course mushroom meals.

Well, I was obsessed with mushrooms this morning, and I decided to cook a mushroom dish for lunch.

The combination of garlic, butter and soya sauce makes beautiful taste. And I really enjoyed this mushrooms dish.

But, the best mushroom dish I’ve ever had was that dish after the muddy mushroom hunting.

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— Oyster Mushrooms Fried Rice (serves 2) —

200g uncooked long grain rice

120g oyster mushrooms, tear into pieces

20 stalks chive, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon white wine

1/2 tablespoon soya sauce

1/4 teaspoon salt

A pinch of black pepper

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Cook the rice in a large pot of boiling water until cooked (follow the package directions). Drain and allow to cool (or use leftover trice straight from a fridge).

Heat the butter in a frying-pan over medium-high heat, stir fry the oyster mushrooms and finely chopped garlic.

Pour the white wine evenly over the mushrooms and season with the salt and pepper.

Add the cooked rice into the pan, stir fry about 2 minutes and sprinkle with soy sauce, then sir fry a bit more.

Turn off the heat , add the chopped chives into the pan and mix.

When I was a child, my mum told me ‘Eat tofu, if you want to have soft smooth skin like tofu’.

So, that’s one of the reason why I keep eating tofu (of course I like the taste too!).

Tofu is made from soya beans, it obviously has many of the nutritional benefits; low-calorie, high protein, rich in vitamin B and cholesterol-free etc. Also it helps further absorption of vitamin E which is a very important vitamin for antioxidant and smooth skin.

This tofu balls have nice fluffy texture and perfect for a snack.

I ate it a lot this afternoon, and wishing my skin is becoming like tofu.

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— Tofu and Vegetable Balls (about 20 balls) —

400g tofu (firm)

50g carrot

50g fine beans

15 stalks chives

3 tablespoons corn flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon soya sauce

A pinch of salt and pepper

Oil for deep frying

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— for the creamy wasabi dip —

1/2 teaspoon wasabi paste

2 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

A touch of salt

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Wrap the tofu in a clean tea towel or some layer of kitchen papers, and place a heavy thing (such as a pan) on top of it to force out excess water, then leave it for about 20 minutes.

Put the drained tofu in a bowl and mash. Add the corn flour, beaten egg, soya sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix them well.

Chop the carrot, fine beans and chives finely and add them into the tofu mixture and mix all together.

Roll the tofu mixture into small balls.

Heat the oil to 170C/340F and deep-fry the tofu balls until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper.

To make the wasabi dip, place the wasabi paste, sour cream and lemon juice and mix well. adjust the seasoning with a touch of salt.

Serve the tofu balls with the wasabi dip (or any kind of your favourite dip for chips).

It’s a Japanese tradition to eat soba noodles on New Year’s Eve.

Soba noodles symbolize longevity because it’s physically long. And, Soba noodles are easy to bite and cut off, so it’s considered to sever any hardship that have happened during the year.

I was thinking it’s a strange custom.

But when I looked up the nutrition of buckwheat (the ingredients of soba noodles), I started to think that the custom might make sense.

Buckwheat is very high in rutin, an essential nutrient that is not found in other grains. Rutin is powerful antioxidants that fight free radicals which are responsible of some of the major health problems such as cancer, arteriosclerosis, strokes, and age-related senility. Also, buckwheat is rich in vitamin B1 making them a good option got those recovering from stress and wanting to regain a decent energy level.

Good. I eat soba noodles today, wishing good health and not to carryover any bad things to 2011.

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— Soba Noodle Salad (Serves 2) —

160g Soba Noodles

40g rocket

Some sesame seeds

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— For the dressing —

1/4 onion

5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons soya sauce

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

A pinch of salt

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To prepare the dressing, peel and grate the onion, place the grated onion, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, soya sauce and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well. Season to taste with a pinch of salt.

Cook the soba noodles in large pot of boiling water until cooked (follow the package directions). Drain and rinse well under cold water and drain again.

Transfer the soba noodles to large bowl. Add the dressing and toss to coat.

Add the rocket and toss gently.

Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve.