Garlicky Shrimp Onigirazu

Some times, I become very excited with all the possibilities of a recipe I come across and explore on other sites.  Onigirazu is just that recipe, easy to make, great for leftovers delicious and beautiful to look at!  

This week, I have been experimenting with a street food that has become popular In Japan in the last couple of years.  Just One Cookbook writes about it's interesting evolving history.  It is like a rice ball or onigiri but more like a sandwich which was first introduced in a cartoon twenty five years ago by the main character who loved to cook for his family.  

The recipe is very versatile as the fillings are endless.  With a little practice the small packages are easy to assemble and can be a complete meal.  Perfect for lunch!

The frist Onigrazu I made was not wrapped tight enough and I did have difficulty cutting the plastic wraping, a sharp knife is best

The ingredients I used were similar to the square Smoked Salmon Sushi that I make as an appetizer for a group.  

Garlicky Shrimp Onigirazu
for one

3 medium shrimp
1/2 carrot, grated
1-2 leaves of Romaine lettuce
3" piece Cucumber 
1 sheet of Nori
sliced avocado
2/3 - 1 c of cooked rice
Mayo
Hot sauce

• Prepare the vegetables; I did add chopped green onions and cilantro.
• The shrimp was sautéed in Olive oil and butter.  When the shrimp is pink, grate fresh garlic over the shrimp, cook for a minute more.
• Place the sheet of Nori on a piece of saran wrap, a bit bigger than the sheet of Nori.
• Layer in the centre of the Nori half of the rice
• Add hot sauce, layer of shrimp, layer each of the vegetables, a squeeze of mayo on the lettuce, ended with the rest of the rice.

• You should have a small package of the filling in the centre of the seaweed wrapper. 
• Bring each end of the Nori to the centre, I did add a dab of lime juice to stick the ends of the Nori.
• Then using the Saran wrap, bring the plastic tightly to form a small package 

• Let rest in the refrig before slicing in half.  Leaving the plastic on as it makes for easier eating. 
• Enjoy!   

I have just come across Kikkomaan Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce and it is dynamite.  Great flavor and heat!  

Solo eating is so much better at home!

Looks like I needed to pack the filling a little better, but still awesome tasting!

Take Two

The same ingredients were used this time but in place of shrimp, I used a fillet of smoked fish

The results were also delicious and I think the appearance of this Onigirazu is much better!

This sandwich tasted awesome with a cup of Green Tea with Roasted Rice.  

In making this recipe, I was thinking of my Cousin's wife in Southern Manitoba who has just developed a taste for Sushi. I will be checking to see what she thinks of this recipe!

Chicken Meatballs

A recipe that I have been having great fun with was posted by Just One CookBook called Chicken Meatballs. This dish is called Tofu Hambagu in Japan.  It has tofu mixed into the ground meat and although you can see the tofu in the ground meat, once it's cooked, one does not know there is tofu in the meatballs.  In fact, I am yet to tell my husband that there is tofu in the meatballs. 

Ingredients

• one package of Ground Chicken
• Traditional firm Tofu, use half of the package 
• 1-2 carrot, grated
• 1-2 chopped green onion 
• 1-2 Tbsp. of freshly grated ginger root
• 1 egg
• Salt and Pepper
• Oil for cooking

Teriyaki Sauce

• 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 Tsp corn starch

In this recipe, I used carrots as I like the looks of carrots in the meatballs or meatloaf.   Nami from Just one cookbook uses bell peppers in her meatballs. 

  

Nami also wraps a paper towel around the tofu and lets it drain for 15 minutes. A suggestion from a Chinese friend was to freeze the tofu first as freezing seems to release more moisture,  When I had cooked some of the meatballs in the Cast iron pan on my BBQ, there was a lot of liquid which did eventually evaporate.   This also could have been because I had frozen half of the meatball raw.   

The meatballs were served with a teriyaki sauce which is delicious

I made a cold noodle salad to go with the Chicken Meatballs 

I have also mixed Tofu into my breakfast pork Patties, which also are fluffy and delicious.

Love this recipe!  

Crawfish: food or pets

My cousin Eleanor blogs about her family and occasionally my emails become food for her blog. The latest was after her niece, Lisa wrote about her cruise around Vancouver and posted a picture of a Squat Lobster.  Lisa wondered if anyone was interested in Lobster Bisque.

At the same time, I had emailed Eleanor the following:

I was thinking of Anastasia this morning as I read a food blog, Just One Cookbook!  This American is in Japan and her kids are fishing for crawfish as apparently they are kept as pets there. I can identify with this as kids we used to play with these things as we chases them in the Wilson River.  They always moved backwards and hid under rocks. I remember Anastasia coming to visit us on the farm. It must have been when Baba & Guido were still living in town.   To our horror, she collected a pail full and cooked them. I don't think anyone ate them. Maybe my Dad did as he was most adventurous.  I remember her talking about them being eaten in Sweden for some festival. Now I wish I had tried them. Another cousin picked the clams in the river. Now that is another story!


Anastasia is Eleanor's sister. Eleanor also featured her in one of her blogs on  her birthday. 

Love the picture of Evelyn!! yes, I only think  of her as Evelyn!!

As a young teen , I too was mesmerized by your sister.. So were a lot of the young men in the small town.    Many heads turned when she walked down the street in her stilettos.  She visited us with what must have been a trunk of clothing that she had mainly sewn, a very Audrey Hepburn look.  The dresses had a full circle skirt with a petticoat crinoline slip and
halter tops with a collar.  I also remember an awesome black hat with netting on the brim that must have had at least 12 inches wide brim!!  I was fascinated with her look and style along with her super smile and red hair! I remember her saying to Mom that fashion styles alway cycled back and that she kept some of her favourite pieces to re-wear in the future!  I wonder if she still has any of these dresses or at least the patterns.

The hospital was across from the house if you remember and I remember her baking a layered cake for the staff! I can't remember why?  


Last summer, in Halifax there was one lobster left over from a lobster feast so I made Chowder.  I am not a fan of bisques or blended soup as I like to see what is in the soup.  Since I am not a fan of cream soups either, this chowder was loaded with seafood .