Indonesian Cooking Class

One thing I have really enjoyed doing over the past 4 years has been taking cooking classes with CHIC. I have taken Persian, Mexican, Japanese, Indian, fusion, and baking classes. This week I was able to take a new class –– Indonesian!

 One of the early trips our family took was to Bali and we absolutely loved the food, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn how to make some of our favorites at home. While I did not learn how to make Matt's favorite Indonesian recipe, Nasi Goreng, I did get to try first hand in making four other recipes.

First up was Kari Ayam, an Indonesian chicken curry.  This recipe was full of many flavorful spices––  cardamon, cumin, star anise, coriander, turmeric, ginger and curry powder –– along with chicken, shallots and potatoes. Sadly, the recipe also included coconut milk, which I am allergic to, so I only was able to take a small taste before having to scratch the hives on my hands.

The chicken was sauteed in all the yummy spices before adding the coconut milk.

This dish, best served over rice, is totally up Matt and Chris's alley. (Like father like son!)

Next up, was our personal family favorite, Chicken Satay.  It started off making the peanut sauce and ending grilling the chicken skewers right on the stove. This will be a must try at home.

First we had to brown raw peanuts for the sauce.

After browning, we ground the peanuts and added sugar, lime, salt, chili powder, water and kecap manis (a dark sweet soy sauce). This all went on the stove to cook until thick and bubbly.

Next you take some of the sauce, along with some more kecap manis, chili sauce and sweet chili sauce, and marinate cut up chicken pieces. You then skewer them and grill.

 Serve with the peanut sauce and you have an awesome dish.

The third dish we made was Gado Gado, an Indonesian salad. This was by far the easiest dish. Basically you steam any vegetable you like, hard boil some eggs, cut up some tomatoes, carrots, lettuce and atsu-age (thick, fried tofu) and put them on a plate. Serve with peanut sauce and you are done.

 Last, we made Vietnamese Spring Rolls. While this dish isn't specific to Indonesia, who can't help but love spring rolls? The inside of the rolls is a mixture of abura-age (thin fried tofu), cucumber, spring onions, lettuce, shiso leaves and glass noodles.

All these items are then rolled in rice paper. The rice paper is quite tricky and as you can see, I need much more practice. 

The spring rolls are best served with sweet chili sauce. Yum!

After 2.5 hours of learning how to cook these recipes, we finally were able to sit and enjoy ourselves.

 I've signed up for two more cooking classes in November–– Persian and Cajun. I can't wait.

Mexican Cooking Class

It is hard to believe when Matt and I first started dating I barely could make a box of macaroni and cheese or jello. To my defense, I was a freshman in college so I really didn't have to know how to cook anything. Over the years, I have learned to cook pretty well, so I was excited to come to Japan and be able to take a bunch of the cooking classes that CHIC  offers. 

Last week I took another Mexican cooking class. Yes, I know how strange it sounds that I take Mexican cooking classes in Japan. The classes are taught by a man named Greg, who is great at cooking authentic Mexican dishes. This is my third cooking class with him and my mouth is already watering thinking about the class being offered this fall.

This class focused on fajitas. We made two different beef marinades and two different chicken marinades. All of them were yummy, but then again when can you go wrong with meat soaking in tequila or beer. We also made a variety of topping and dips, including regular salsa, pico de gallo, mango salsa and guacamole.  If this wasn't yummy enough, we finished off the meal with homemade tortilla chips, flour tortillas, refried beans, Mexican rice and nachos.

I meant to take pictures of the finished food on my plate, however I was so involved with eating that I forgot to get my camera back out. Guess it is a good excuse to have to take the next class!

The Burger Pit

Earlier this fall I had been told the cafeteria manager at the kids school had opened a "real" burger restaurant near our house. We were very excited as the typical "burger" in Japan actually tastes more like meatloaf.  So today Matt and I decided to enjoy the beautiful weather and walk 15 minutes with Chris to The Burger Pit.

The restaurant itself is small. There are a few tables and then counter-like seating all around the cooking grill.  It was impressively clean and decorated with lots of Canadian flags and posters. (Jeff the owner is from Canada).

The menu was in Japanese an English and full of pictures. The menu features several different burgers, grilled chicken (which looked amazing) and grilled tofu.  And even more exciting than a real burger, was fresh-cut, homemade french fries. As for drinks, you can get many different sodas, Canadian beer and wine, Japanese draft beer and imported beer, such as Sam Adams, Corona, Guiness, and Budweiser.

The burgers are grilled right in front of you, which makes the ambiance of the place pretty cool.

All three of us ordered a regular cheeseburger set, which included homemade fries and a soda. The burger came topped with fresh lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles. The owner said he prides himself in using fresh ingredients.

After we finished our burger, Chris got to mark North Carolina on the the world map, showing where we lived before we came to Japan.

So Kobe now has a real burger shop. All we need is some good Mexican food and a buffalo wing shop and I will be a happy little expat.

Salsa, Guacamole, Enchiladas -- OH MY!

Since coming to Japan my taste buds have been introduced to some wonderful new types of foods, such as Indian, German, Persian and Vietnamese. However the one type food you cannot easily find is Mexican. And when you do, it isn't exactly what we are used to back in the States. If you were to ask most of the American families here what type of foods they miss the most, I would bet Mexican would be pretty close to the top of the list.

I was so excited when I found out CHIC was offering a Mexican cooking class this programming session. And although the menu was mainly items I already make at home, I didn't care.  IT WAS MEXICAN FOOD! Plus I love taking cooking classes and figured it would different than how I cook at home.

It took us two hours to work through the menu: Fresh salsa, guacamole, homemade chips, tortilla soup, chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice and refried beans. I think by the time it was all finished I must have been foaming at the mouth in anticipation of tasting it all.

Tortillas cut and ready to fry

Our teacher showing how to properly cut jalapenos and avocado

Ready to mix! YUM!

Cooking the chicken tortilla soup - yes that is a whole chicken

Blanching the tomatoes for salsa

Shredding the  chicken for enchiladas

Mixing the enchilada filling

Getting ready to make refried beans

My appetizer plate - homemade chips, guacamole and salsa

Tortilla soup all ready to eat

Main course

I had to be rolled out of the room after we were all finished. It tasted like authentic Mexican food (It was the homemade chips that sealed the deal). And almost every recipe was different in some way than how I cook at home, so it was not just tasty, but beneficial. I cannot wait until the next program. Rumor is we will be doing chicken mole and stuffed poblano peppers. Can we say YUM!

Yogurtland Osaka

Today my neighbor and I ventured to Osaka to check out the monthly temple sale (picture a giant flea market, only with Japanese stuff). It was a bit slow so we finished early and decided to forgo our post-temple sale Mexican lunch tradition and try Yogurtland -- a new chain shop from California.

Yogurtland Osaka just opened up at the end of August, so Beth and I hurried to beat the rush for when the store opened at 11 am. Needless to say, we were the first standing in the queue and I think surprised the worker when he opened the door and found us at the front of the line.

Yogurtland's tagline is Welcome to the land of endless yogurt possibilities, where you rule the portions, the choices and the scene. The whole store's "self-serve" concept is very foreign to many Japanese. You take a bowl and then serve your own flavor(s) of frozen yogurt and toppings before having it weighed.

I am not sure what the store's price is in the United States, but here it was ¥200 per 100 grams. My creation weighed in costing ¥1027 ($12.03).  Yes, I went a wee bit overboard with five different flavors of yogurt and two toppings. Needless to say,  my whole family will not be going unless their creation size is regulated or my children get themselves jobs.

The whole experience was fun and totemo oishii desu (very tasty)!  One new adventure that turned out to be a keeper.

How to Make Onigiri -- Sami Style

Onigiri is a staple food in the Japanese diet. An onigiri is a white rice ball (although it is usually triangular shaped), sometimes filled with some type of tuna, salmon, plum or other salty or sweet treat. Onigiri is often wrapped in nori (seaweed) or mixed with beans and/or mushrooms. You can walk into any convenience store and find a wide variety of onigiri. While we Americans would typically walk into a convenience store and buy a candy bar, a Japanese person would buy onigiri. 

Sami loves onigiri. She doesn’t like the ones with fish in them, but she does like the ones with plum, mushrooms, plain or with sprinkles. Someone suggested for me to buy Sami an onigiri maker set for her birthday.  You can find ones in all different shapes for kids. She was so surprised when she opened the box. 

She begged us tonight to let her make onigiri for her lunch. How could we resist? 

 First, you scoop the rice into the onigiri mold. 

Next, smash the rice down and pack in as much as you can. 

Press down the lid and hold for a few seconds. 

Press the little button in the back and eject the onigiri onto your plate or in your bento box. 

Lick your fingers when you think mom isn't looking. 

Our family likes the gomashiro (sesame seeds and salt) sprinkles so we added it to a few of the finished onigiri. As you can see we have the traditional triangle, bear, star, flower and heart. 


There you go. How to make onigiri –– Sami style!