Monthly Archives: February 2012

berry tiramisu

21/02/2012

the other friday evening, we had a dinner for 7 people at home. since it was a fairly large group (i’m used to cooking for 2 people normally), i decided to prepare 2 desserts: regular tiramisu and berry tiramisu.

as i was whisking the mascarpone mix, i was thinking maybe it was too much for 7 people after the big meal. but to my surprise, it was all gone at the end of the dinner party so they must’ve been damn good 🙂 and the good thing is that the preparation was absolutely effortless – i made the mascarpone mix jointly for the both tiramisu’s (just doubled the usual portion), and separately prepared their fillings.

and today, i would like to share the recipe for the berry tiramisu, which is more unique and definitely hard to find in tokyo.

berry tiramisu

ingredients:

250g mascarpone cheese (usually 1 pack)
3 egg yolks
3 egg whites
40g granulated sugar

280g frozen rasberries
200g fresh strawberries
50g granulated sugar
1 tbsp of kirschwasser (cherry liquor)

12 – 15 finger biscuits

directions:

1. in a large bowl, mix the egg yolks and mascarpone together until the texture becomes smooth
2. in another large bowl, beat egg whites to make merengue, while adding the sugar in 2 – 3 parts
3. gently and quickly add the merengue into the mascarpone mix in 2 – 3 parts
4. in a medium sized pan, add frozen rasberries and fresh strawberries
5. sprinkle sugar over the berries and leave it for 10 minutes or so
6. turn on the heat (low), and let it simmer until the berries are cooked. let it cool down.
7. separate the berries and liquid
8. add kirschwasser to the berry liquid
9. dip the finger biscuits one by one into the liquid and nicely lay them in a medium sized glass container
10. pour a half of the mascarpone mix over the finger biscuits
11. nicely spread the berries on top of the mascarpone mix
12. cover the berries with the rest of the mascarpone mix
13. let it sit in the fridge for at least 5 hours before serving
14. when serving, you can sprinkle powder sugar and/or some more fresh berries if you have

i’m so glad to have come up with this recipe. you get more praises from your guests than ever!

oh and just to give you more details about the dinner that evening, for the main course i cooked chicken marbella again, as it can be prepared the night before and as a result reduces the time for cooking in the evening of the dinner. i have to find more recipes which can be prepared the day/night before, which should be very handy for big dinner parties like this.

the entire menu was as follows:

appetizer: smoked salmon salad with grapefruits vinaigrette
main course: chicken marbella with jasmine rice
side dishes: tomato salad and cucumber salad
dessert: tiramisu, berry tiramisu


smoked salmon salad with grapefruits vinaigrette

the evening was filled with smiles and laughter, and everyone seemed to be satisfied with full stomach and empty wine bottles. i love having dinner parties like this. i think it is an ultimate luxury to end a busy week this way, with great friends, delicious food and interesting conversation.

Mum’s nikudon 肉丼 (pork on rice)

14/02/2012

every now and then, i get a craving for this dish called “nikudon,” which is pan fried marinated pork slices on top of a bowl of white rice. to be precise, it should be called “buta (pork) don” instead of “niku (meat) don,” but it is just the way my mom always calls it for whatever reason.

i am not a big fan of meat dishes to be honest, but i do love this donburi dish. it has many elements of what i like in food. it provides you this tasty juice of the pork, mixed with the saltiness of soy sauce and a little sweetness from the mirin sauce and sugar, and then this meaty texture gets blended into the purity of freshly cooked rice and the crunchy, cold texture of the cabbage slices… oh heavenly.

the recipe below is how my mom prepares it. make sure to get the correct ratio in the marinade mixture!

mom’s nikudon (pork on rice)

ingredients (for 2 people):

200 – 250g pork slices (sliced just like bacon. better with some fatty part too)
2 tbsp of salad oil
1 tbsp of sugar

marinade:
1 tbsp of japanese sake (if you don’t have it, use white wine)
2 tbsp of soy sauce
3+ tbsp of mirin (if you don’t have it, use honey, but 2 tbsp only)

2 bowls of freshly cooked rice
2 – 3 leaves of fresh cabbage, thinly sliced and washed in cold water (drain the water thoroughly)

directions:

1) pour in the marinade mix into a medium sized bowl
2) place the pork slices into the marinade. leave them aside for 30 minutes or so
3) heat a medium to large sized frying pan in medium heat, pour in the oil, and place the pork slices into the pan (be careful not to put the heat too high, otherwise the oil gets splashed due to the marinade). you can put all the marinade in as well
4) cook the pork slices until the colour gets golden brown and the marinade juice thickens
5) sprinkle the sugar over the pork slices and mix one last time
6) put the rice in a bowl each
7) place the sliced cabbage on top
8) on top of 7), nicely place the pork slices

it satisfies your taste buds as well as your appetite! great food for kids too, as it’s very yummy and nutritious.

hope you’ll like it!

—————–

– if you like donburi dishes, here is a recipe for “tori-don” chicken donburi

and “oyakodon” chicken & egg donburi

– have a look at my dauaghter’s kindergarten nikudon bento

– here is another popular recipe, oshiruko (sweet red bean soup), from Small Tokyo Kitchen

 

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