One Dish Rice Cooker Meal

I wrote previously about how I've been baking in my rice cooker.  I tried another recipe, this time for a full meal, earlier this week.  Raku recently introduced me to farro, and I'm in love.  It's a grain, bigger than rice, with a nutty flavor and a great chewy texture.  I bought some at an Italian grocery and when I saw a rice cooker recipe for Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms and Farro I knew I had to try it.

You just combine all the ingredients in the rice cooker (after marinating the chicken), and turn it on.

I was worried I was going to end up with some gross half-cooked chicken, or some other sort of disaster.  But when it finished there was a completely cooked meal waiting for us.

So, here's my final review.  The mushrooms and farro were great, but the chicken was overcooked.  It's possible that this is my fault because I bought really small chicken breasts that were already pounded pretty thin.  A regular one might have come out perfectly.  When I try it again I'll post an update.  Otherwise I think the chicken could do with some garlic and salt in the marinade, but overall I'd recommend it.

Fancy!

Thinking Tropical Thoughts

The sun is finally out!  I'm not sure if it's a just a brief reprieve or if rainy season is winding down, but the sun is back, the sky is blue, and when I check my weather app there is no rain predicted for the next five days.  Heaven!  My herbs are just as happy as I am.

Cilantro, Basil, and Mint

Yesterday I found these seasonal summer pocky.  I think I was more excited about the tropical advertising than actually eating them, but who doesn't love a seasonal snack?

Mango-Pineapple and Chocolate-Coconut Pocky

The best news of all is that last night we booked a weekend trip to Okinawa.  It's not until October, but I  already can't wait!  I even painted my nails orange to match my tropical state of mind.

Earthquake Kit

Let's take a minute to talk about earthquakes.  It's been strange to adjust to living in a place where earthquakes are an inevitability.  But Japan does an amazing job preparing for and dealing with them.  Building are built on rolling foundations with specially reinforced frames to withstand earthquakes, every neighborhood has a designated evacuation zone, and everyone is advised to keep an earthquake kit.  In the Tohoku earthquake in 2011, 92.5% of people died from drowning after the tsunami, which is of course terrible, but it illustrates how well prepared Japan is for earthquakes.  And luckily Tokyo is in a protected bay that greatly reduced the chance of a tsunami.

Because of the safety of the buildings, earthquake kits are more for the chance that we might spend a considerable time without power after a major earthquake.  The government puts of recommendations of what to include, and I thought I might share ours.

Our Earthquake Kit

 These are the non-perishable foods I chose.  Mainly because they had the latest expiration date.  You don't want to have to constantly be replacing this stuff.

 LED flashlights, with lots of extra batteries.

For health purposes, alcohol wipes, bandaids, and face masks.  There could be lots of debris in the air.

Since the electricity could be out, candles, matches, and heat packs in case it's cold.

This last thing was John's idea.  Portable battery chargers for cell phone are really popular, so we got one with lots of extra batteries.  Cell towers and internet could still be out, but it seems better to have the possibility of being able to contact people rather than just having a dead phone.  And then some trash bags, just because it's a recommended item.

The final thing, which is not part of the kit exactly, but is important to have, is a good supply of water.  In an emergency, stores could be closed (or bought out quickly).  And even worse is the idea of having to carry a lot upstairs if the elevator isn't working (we live on the 18th floor).  I recommend ordering it on Amazon so you never have to carry it (even in a working elevator).

12 2-Liter Bottles

Baking in a Rice Cooker

Will I sound crazy if I admit that sometimes I daydream about my old kitchen in America? It's true. Before coming here I was a pretty good cook, and an excellent baker.  It's the baking I miss. It's such a calming process. You start with all these raw ingredients, but when you combine them in just the right way you end up with a beautiful product. And I love to bake for people. Well, it's hard to do that without an oven.

Lately I've been focusing more on cooking, and I've learned a lot. My techniques are improving, and I''m learning a lot of delicious recipes. (Thai peanut noodles for dinner tonight with homemade raspberry sorbet for dessert) One way that my kitchen has improved though, is that I own a rice cooker now. Cooking rice has always been a pain, but now it's so simple, and the rice comes out perfectly every time.  It's amazing!

Rice Cooker Love!

A couple weeks ago I discovered that you can bake in a rice cooker. Crazy! I've got a lot more experimenting to do, but I've already had some pretty exciting results. Some rice cookers have a cake function, but mine doesn't, I've just been doing everything on the regular setting.  

The first thing I tried was a banana bread recipe specifically for rice cookers.  After the first round of baking it wasn't done, so I let it cool for a few minutes and ran it again. (It won't restart when it's too hot) And then a third time. At that point I was afraid the bottom was burning, but the top still wasn't done, so I took a deep breath and flipped it over  I cooked it once more and it came out perfectly. The bottom (now top) had browned a lot, but although it looked burned it didn't taste that way. (This has been my experience with all three baking attempts). The texture and flavor were exactly what you'd hope for with banana bread.

Look!  I baked something in my own house!

For my second attempt I got a little bolder.  I decided to make my regular corn bread recipe (The Pioneer Woman's recipe to be exact). It's a fluffier, buttery corn bread, not a super dense or super sweet recipe - sort of like a corn muffin in texture. I whipped up the batter and put it in, imagining it would take 2 or 3 "sessions" of baking, but it came out perfectly the first time.

Inside the rice cooker bowl

Yum!

My third attempt was the least successful, and honestly I'm not sure what the problem was yet.  (I need to test more recipes. )  I made a lemon yogurt cake (The Barefoot Contessa's recipe), and after the corn bread expected it to be finished after the first round of cooking.  Yeah, nowhere close.  So, I ran it again.  And again.  It was still gooey on top, so I decided to flip it like the banana bread.  Well, the batter was not as solid as the banana bread, so it sort of slopped all over when I flipped it.  I was pretty sure it was going to be a total disaster.  But after that round of cooking it was done.  The middle was probably a little softer than it should have been (though that might have just been the lemon syrup), but we still ate it.

Not too ugly, huh?

I've done some more reading, and now think I might be able to roast potatoes, and even cook full meals in the rice cooker. It must seem a little crazy, but I'm actually really enjoying this new hobby. I'll update you when I've got more successes (or failures) to share.

My Favorite Ramen

Last month I had no problem telling you where the best burger in Tokyo is, but there's no way I could say where the best ramen in Tokyo is.  For starters there is just too much ramen in Tokyo for me to ever try them all.  More importantly there are so many types of broth, noodle, and topping options it would be like me telling you that penne with pesto is categorically better than spaghetti with marinara sauce. But I can tell you about my favorite ramen.  (If John was writing this he might even try to tell you it's the best)

Furyu Ramen in Shibuya

We first on stumbled Furyu with Tim and Christine back in November.  I was hungry and irritable, frustrated that we hadn't been able to find the perfect souvenir for Christine's sister, and sad that they were leaving in a few hours (so probably being a terrible host) when we finally decided to eat lunch.  I ordered the spicy miso ramen and fell in love at first bite.  Honestly, the first time I wasn't sure if it was just so good because I was starving, or if it was really that amazing.  But John and I have been back several times and it is always wonderful.

So delicious and so affordable!

Furyu makes Hakata style ramen which is a wonderful rich pork broth (called tonkotsu) with thin straight white noodles (as opposed to thicker, crinkly, yellow noodles).  The regular tonkotsu is delicious, but the spicy miso paste they stir in takes it to a whole new level of deliciousness.

I'm getting hungry just from the pictures

I normally just get the regular bowl for 600 yen.  It comes with been sprouts, green onions, and some diced up pork.  I really prefer the pork diced into tiny bites that mix into the soup, rather than the larger slices of chashu that John gets.

John's ramen with chashu

Furyu has many locations all over the city, but I personally prefer the Shibuya location.  I thought their ramen was just a little bit better than in Shinjuku.  I'm not sure about the others, but in Shibuya they have an English menu.  They also offer extra noodles, so if you aren't stuffed after the first bowl just call out "Kaedama" to the chef and you can have up to two free noodle refills.

Furyu Ramen
Hours: M-S 11:00 am-3:00 am, Sun 11:00-8:00
Locations

Spicy Sausage Doritos and Laser Hair Removal

Raku and I found these at the grocery store, and they were too funny not to try.  They're not bad, though they didn't really taste like sausage.  John thought they were cool ranch - when I showed him the bag his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Weird!

Other than the funny snacks, life has been good here. It's rained for the past three days, and is supposed to keep going until Sunday, but we're having a brief (though cloudy) break from the rain.

This afternoon Raku and I have scheduled a consultation for laser hair removal. Apparently it's very common in Japan, and clinics are constantly having crazy specials to lure clients in. We found a package that costs just under $20 and covers 8 sessions (2 years worth) for underarm hair removal. How great would it be to never shave your armpits again? If all goes well I'll report on the process soon.

If you're in Tokyo and sick of shaving, but looking for something a little less permanent than laser hair removal I would recommend Elena Jade salon for waxing.  Elena is Australian, and always fun to chat with while she does her work.  She's licensed in Australia and even trains other estheticians here in Tokyo.  She imports organic products from Australia, and I've always been very pleased with her work.

Elena Jade

Hours: Mon-Tues 11:00-9:00, Wed-Fri 10:00-9:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-7:00

Phone: 03-6438-9895

Address: 1-5-19 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Map

Good Food

I've had a lot of really great things to eat lately (including Korean food for dinner tonight), and I thought they deserved a blog post.

Since we arrived here I've been missing greek yogurt so badly.  Fage is sold in some of the import grocery stores, but the price is just completely insane.  It's like 690 yen for a single serving and 3000 for a medium size.  But, then I discovered that I had just been oblivious to the greek yogurt right in front of me all along.  It's really good and comes in plain, raspberry, and honey.

So delicious!

Moving on to Italian food, a friend taught me a few weeks ago how to make homemade pasta.  I thought it would be really complicated, but it was actually quite simple and fun.

Making Cavatelli

The final product

And finally, we had an incredible mango.  I have to admit that I was totally tricked, and would never have bought it if I knew what was going on.  But it wasn't labeled clearly, and I was in a regular grocery store, not a gift fruit store.  Yeah, I totally bought a mango that cost $20 by accident.

Worth the money?

When it rang up I was so shocked I didn't know what to do, so I just went ahead and paid.  It was definitely the best mango I've ever eaten.  It was incredibly sweet and the texture was perfect.   Not something I'd buy on a regular basis though.

Lately I've been working on some really exciting baking experiments that I'll post about soon - there's still a little more work to be done though.