Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard

Announcing New Hands-On Cooking Optimization Classes…

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:59:58 +0000

Would you like to experience how to prepare real meals FAST, Kitchen Wizard Style step by step, by participating from beginning to end? And learn how to do it night after night?

Many of you asked me for fully hands-on, “how to do Kitchen Wizarding day after day” classes, so that you can duplicate it at home.

I’m happy to announce that now my fully hands-on, 3 day series encompassing the essence of the Kitchen Wizard Method is coming to Marin County’s ITK (In the Kitchen) Culinary in Sausalito.

In these classes, you’ll learn my unique yet easy secrets to batch prep and keep everything ready to go, so all you have to do is mix and match at a moment’s notice to put fresh meals on the table day after day without stress.
You will not only learn recipes, but my revolutionary cooking methods that save you tons of time, money and food; especially invaluable for those with smallish families including single people.

ITK is very spacious and has 12 stoves, so you will have the space to make most recipes on your own.
Each class builds on top of each other, so taking all 3 is recommended (and you get a great discount).
You will experience how easy it is to make many exciting dishes with little effort – it’ll blow your socks off!

Only able to attend one or two? No worries.
Each class can be stand-alone, and the key points will be reviewed and expanded upon, so that you can easily duplicate the processes you learn at home.

Cooking Optimization Hands-On Class
Date: September 1 – 3 (Wed, Thurs, Fri)
You can either sign up for the entire 3 day series, or separately for individual classes.
Details & Sign-up: http://ITKCulinary.com/classes/CookingOptimization.html
This is a very popular class, so sign up now!
(Click here to review ITK’s policies.)

If you know anyone who are interested in learning how to put real, healthy meals on the table faster & cheaper, please pass along the info.

Hope to see you there.

Mari

Shira-Ae (白和え) Tofu Crumble with Greens

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:00:19 +0000

Have you ever ended up with tofu leftovers? What do you normally do with it?

Do you want to know my secret? Crumble with a fork, cook in microwave, then you can add to practically anything. For example, soup — not only for miso soup, but also other Asian style soup, mix with ground meat and make a healthier burgers, scrambled tofu, stir fry, stuffing for gyoza, with rice. You can even add it to smoothie or make desserts, if you use the kinu-goshi (soft or medium-soft). You can also do this to extend the life for a few more days, when you have a fresh tofu that’s about to expire. (Tofu can be frozen in the pack or with water, yet the texture changes compeletely.)

And yes, in case you are wondering, you can make this first, and make the tofu scramble I shared with you on my last post.

Scrambled Tofu Base

Crumble a tofu with a folk and place it on the microwavable plate lined with a paper towel. Microwave high for 4-5 minutes.
Leave until cool to handle, transfer to a tupper ware lined with paper towel. Store in the fridge.

One recipe I want to share with you today is called Shiro-ae. Literally means mixed with whites.

Shira-ae

Ingredients:

Scrambled Tofu mix – 1 cup (about 1/2 block of tofu)
Nerigoma (sesame paste), ground sesame seeds, Tahini or peanut butter – 2 TBS
Sugar – to taste
Soy sauce – to taste
miso (optional) – to taste
Salt – pinch
Greens – 1 1/2 – 2 cups

Method:

Mix tofu, sesame paste, sugar, soy sauce and salt.
Steam or boil greens, shock in ice water, and squeeze water out well. Chop in bite size pieces. Or just use leftover vegetables.
Mix 1 and 2 right before eating.

Note: My favorites are broccoli or spinach, yet other vegetables such as carrots and sea vegetables especially hijiki can be used for this dish.
What’s your favorite way to eat tofu? Please share as comment below.

Recipe: Japanese Tofu Scramble (いり豆腐 Iri Dofu)

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:14:39 +0000

What dish speaks to you “HOME”?

For me, it’s iri-dofu, Japanese tofu scramble. It’s one of the most typical Japanese home-cooked dish, and you probably won’t see it served much at restaurants (unless it’s more casual “Izakaya” type place.) With a chopsticks full (?) of this fluffy tofu and tuna mixture with steamed rice, I breathe in the delicate scent of soy sauce, green onion, and sake, and am immediately transferred back to Tokyo. This version is a bit different from what I ate growing up with julienned vegetables, but it combines my other childhood favorite of tuna and green onion, and it’s more flavorful and easier than more traditional version. It only uses 4 main ingredients of widely available products (for some people, always on hand), and not much chopping. If you don’t have sake, use very dry white wine.

Iri-dofu 　いり豆腐 (Tofu Scramble)

Ingredients (Serves 2-3 as main dish, 4-6 as side dish)

Tofu (Momen, in the US, use medium or medium firm) 1 block (about 400g)
Tuna 1 can (6oz 170g), packed in olive oil kind preferred, DO NOT DRAIN OIL
- If its in water, drain water well, use 2 TBS Olive Oil in step 3.
Eggs 2, beaten
Green onions, sliced 1/2 c (about 3)
Sake, 1 1/2 TBS
Soy sauce, 1 1/2 TBS
Kosher Salt, pinch (optional. If not using, increase the amount of soy sauce to 1 ts to 1/2 TBS)

Method:

Drain water from tofu in a strainer for 5-10 min. To make the next step faster, I scramble tofu loosely and put in a microwaveable container with a lid and a plastic strainer to collect water. Microwave for 3-4 minutes on high. If your container doesn’t have a plastic strainer, create a bridge with two chopsticks, and place whole tofu on top, so that the water will drain.
Heat a pan or skillet with relatively wide bottom and short sides (to allow the water evaporate faster), then scramble the drained tofu with a wooden spoon on high until water is evaporated.
Add the entire can of tuna with olive oil from the can. If using the tuna packed in water, add the olive oil to tofu before adding the drained tuna. Mix well and continue to cook to coat the oil well with tofu.
Add Sake, Soy Sauce and sliced green onions. Continue to stir so that it will not burn.
Add a pinch of salt in beaten egg, and pour it around the tofu. Stir the tofu quickly with 4-5 chopsticks until egg gets firmer. Serve hot.

Note: A note about the microwave: As many of you know, the more powerful your microwave is, the shorter you need to cook. Ours rotates, but is a very small one, the type that barely fits a dinner plate. So, if you have a newer, powerful microwave, please start with half of the time suggested, and add time little by little to obtain desired results.

Variations:

Vegetarian version:
1. Instead of tuna, use 4-5 small dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in water for about 30 minutes to 1 hour. To quicken the process, remove the stems, break it in half, soak in water with a pinch of sugar mixed with right side up, and top it with a small plate so that mushroom will submerged in water. Microwave for 2 min. When the shiitake are soft, squeeze the water out, and slice them thinly. Save the juice for later use since it adds a lot of umami (savory flavor) to many Japanese dishes.
2. Slice other vegetables such as carrots and snowpeas/green beans (for color and vitamin A and C) thinly and about 1 inch long. The total amount should be about 4 oz.
3. At step 3, add oil and vegetables instead of tuna. You may want to add a little more soysauce and some sugar (about 1/2 TBS) to add more flavor.
You can also use soaked and squeezed hijiki seaweed with other veggies.
For crunchiness, also try gobo (burdock root) or renkon (lotus root). They oxidise easily, so as you cut, release them in water mixed with a bit of rice or white vinegar.
Instead of tuna, try ground chicken (or you can add this to vegetarian version.)
1. After step 1, heat oil in a pan or skillet, cook ground chicken until well crumbled. Then add carrots, vegetables and saute briefly.
2. Add tofu and follow the directions, 2, 4 and 5.

So what’s your favorite home-cooked meal? I look forward to your comment. : )

Pantry Tips to Eat Well with Minimum Time and Effort

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 21:00:33 +0000

Do you want to know the secret to our last-minute gourmet lunch in Seattle I covered in last two posts?

Pre-prep some versatile base, and keep it in fridge or freezer.
Build a efficient and versatile pantry that’s easy to mix and match to whip up different dishes.

I talked about Stuffed Tomatoes last time, so let’s talk about the rest — Bruschetta with Olive Tapenade and Farmer’s Market Salad with chickpeas.

The Olive Tapenade we used was from Trader Joe’s, but you can easily make it. Great use of leftover olives from a jar. If you want to know how to make it, click here. It’s packed with umami, boosts flavor of many things, such as pasta, sauce, salad dressing, on top of meat, fish, etc etc.

Another big time-saving is that we had all the French bread pre-sliced thin, and toasted, again ready to go. This “Ready to Go” concept is pretty powerful. When you do have things in this state, you use them. When you don’t, you don’t, and end up wasting it.

By just reading it, you’d think “Of course I know that, Mari!” But when you actually pre-prep some extra, keep in the fridge (or freezer), and experience how convenient they are, you’ll really KNOW what I mean and get hooked with this method. It’s because when our mind sees it as work we have to do, it convince us “Gosh, too much work! I don’t wanna do this.” However, when it’s already done, it will tell us “Oh, look! It’s already done for me, ready to be used. I should use it!” Shall I call it the “Convenience Factor”?

When there are more baguette rounds than you can use in a few days, they can even go in the freezer to extend their shelf life and be ready to be used for last minute appetizers and lunch. With these, and pre-caramelized onion in the freezer, you can make a beautiful French Onion soup, just like those you have in Paris in 1o minutes, instead of hours! Thanks to this trick, I can make it throughout the year, when it’s freezing in the middle of the summer in the Bay Area.

Oh yes, the farmer’s market salad. All you need are assortment of chopped vegetables, a can of chickpeas, and lettuce. We used cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots, just because we had them, but it could be anything you have in the fridge. Cherry tomatoes and baby carrots require virtually no chopping. If you are short with time, always keep them instead of regular tomatoes and carrots.

These pre-cut cucumbers from the day before also cut our prep time. Here’s the Kitchen Wizard Tip. Regular American cucumber have very thick, waxy skin, and huge seeds, so both pretty much need to be removed — meaning extra time prepping. If you use English cucumber, or better yet, Japanese or Persian cucumbers which has thinner skins and smaller seeds, you can save that time and effort. They also have lower water content, so they seem to last a bit longer, especially after they are sliced. Because of this, you never see a regular, American cukies in my fridge.

A can of chickpeas is very handy. All you have to do is open a can and drain. They add good fiber and protein, and delicious. Good in salads, soups, curry… Yes, with it, you can make hummus at home! (I’ll post a recipe soon.)

As you see, what kind of produce you use often determine how much prep you’d end up with. So when you go shopping, think from efficiency and versatility stand-point, and select accordingly. You’ll be glad you did. As a rule of thumb, think small and thin when you want to save time, because they require in no (or less) chopping and shorter cooking time. Keep these versatile produce (and of course, pre-prepped items) in your fridge, so that you can make many different things in very short notice.

For more pantry tips, check out this post.

What do produce do you keep in your fridge that save you time and effort? Share your favorite with the world!

Recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes with Prosciutto

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 11:22:47 +0000

So you want the recipe for these delicious lunch, eh?

I highly recommend you first make Sauteed Mirepoix or Sauteed Mirepoix and Meat Mixture , so the rest is super fast. You can also make many different dishes from it, just like my student Mariko did and realized that it changed the way she thinks about food and cooking. It changes yours too.

Just to review, these Mireopix mix varieties are something I call Progressipes. By adding an ingredient or two, they transforms into different dishes or bases that saves a ton of time and effort for you later.

A. Uncooked Mirepoix

Chop approximately 1-2:1:1 onions, celery and carrots. Super easy if you use food processor. Use some as it is, use the rest for B.

B. Sauteed Mirepoix

Saute uncooked mirepoix (onion first, then celery, and carrots) in Extra Virgin Olive Oil until the vegetables sweat and tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Save some as it is. Use the rest for C. If you are vegetarian, skip to D.

C. Sauteed Mirepoix and Meat Mixture

Add uncooked sausages out of casing, or chopped bacon, or ground meat. The amount of meat is up to you. If you want it more vegetable-y, use less. If you want it meaty, add more. If you are using bacon, it should be less, otherwise it’d be too bacon-ey. Taste and season. I normally use 1 lbs of chicken sausage, to about 8 cups (about 2 lbs) or more of uncooked veggies. Save some as it is, Use the rest for D.

D. Sauteed Mirepoix, Meat and Tomato Mixture

Add chopped tomatoes or canned tomatoes into C. Again, the amount of tomatoes are up to you, and can be also increased later. For example, if you want to use it as stuffing, I’d recommend using regular tomatoes, about the same amount as the sausage (2 large tomatoes for 1 lbs of sausage, 2+ lbs of veggies). For Bolognese sauce or chili, I’d use a large can of tomato for the same amount. Use for many different dishes.

You get the idea.

When making stuffed tomatoes, you can either use B, C, D depending on your preference.

Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients:

Tomatoes
Sauteed Mirepoix (with or without meat and/or tomato)
Cooked rice
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese
Chopped herb (optional): parsley, basil, pesto, arugula etc.
Prosciutto

Method:

If using oven, preheat the oven at 400F or at broil. If using toaster oven. skip to 2.
Remove the top and cut tomatoes in half, horizontally. Scoop out the seeds and chop. Cut the bottom of the tomatoes slightly if they are tippy — be sure to leave plenty of flesh, so that the stuffing will stay inside. Lightly season with salt and pepper. If you want to be fancy, cut the top 1/4 of the tomato, and scoop inside. Save the tops if you choose to use them as a “cap”.
Mix sauteed mirepoix (recipe above), cooked rice, scooped out tomato flesh, grated cheese, and herb if using. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Stuff the tomatoes with 2. Top with a piece of proscuitto and grated cheese.
Bake in 400F oven or at broil until cooked through, depending on the size, but about 10 min. if using “tomato caps”, bake it separately, so that proscuitto will crisp up.

The sweetness of baked tomatoes, with salty, crispy proscuitto with Parmigiano Reggiano… ahhh it was heaven. Healthy and very yummy… It’s like umami bomb exploding in our mouth! Making mirepoix for the first time feel daunting, because of all the chopping involved. It was for me before, too. But your Food Processor will do the job for you, very fast. Or Traders Joes sell them in a tub. $2.99 for 1 lb. I think it’s pricey, but hey, if you think about the versatility and time-saving later, it’s definitely the 2nd best option! Plus you can freeze this. Once you find out how many things you can make with it, and its variety, and how much time and effort it saves, you will not be able to live without it.

If you don’t have a food processor, you may consider get one, because it can be used for many other things like making bread, pizza, ice cream, pesto and dips from practically anything. If you have a baby, you can turn everything into home-made baby food. If you get slicer and shredder attachements, you can make coleslaw, sliced potatoes (Spanish Omelet, anyone?), French Fries, etc. in no time.

This is a great example of eating well without spending much time… Now you see it can be easily done just by a bit of pre-prepping, and mixing and matching leftovers. It’s really fun to play with food this way too. It took me less than 5 minute to assemble, and 10 minutes max to bake. Without them, this stuffed tomatoes would have taken 1 hour to prepare.

Yes, sauteed mirepoix saves you time, and more importantly, lots of efforts. It also creates a lot of varieties easily and helps you cook and eat healthier and tastier.

The question is… when are you going to make it?

How to Eat Well with Minimum Time and Effort

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:06:00 +0000

Do you ever need to whip up a meal in a hurry?

Sometimes for your friend, who you have to impress?

That happened me recently.

Dreadful? No. Actually easy. You can do it too once you find out my secret weapon I share on this post (and recipes on the next few posts.)

This happened when we visited Seattle, to visit our new niece, Anna, and of course, her big (literally) brother, Hugo, Mommy Amy and Daddy Dan.

Oh, yes, he’s the one who loves natto sushi. (This girl is not Anna. She’s our friends’ daughter Kiera.)

One thing I wanted to do during this trip is to make some my favorite pre-prepped items with Amy so that her transition back to work after the 2nd baby would be easier.

On Sunday afternoon, we made some sauteed mirepoix, since she had tried it before and liked the fact you can use it for so many different things, and add a boost of flavor. Since she doesn’t have a food processor (I highly recommend her to get one!), I became a human Cuisinart. I also taught her how to make onion and sausage mixture, because it’s also very versatile, from Appetizers to Zsoups.

For dinner party that night, I made stuffed zucchini flowers with rice, mirepoix mix, sausage mix with some Parmigiano Reggiano. They were a hit!

Fast forwarding to Monday…

We met up with an old friend of ours Margeret from our pottery class. She’s a great cook and a foodie, so we always have a great time seeing her when we visit Seattle, or she come visit her family in the Bay Area.

Here are the girls: Margaret, me, Amy and Anna.

We were originally just meeting for coffee. Yet we had such a good time, Amy just decided to invite Margaret over for lunch.

What lunch? Who’s gonna make our lunch? I knew that Amy needed to make “special lunch” for her baby, and during that time, she will not be able to make any grown-up lunch. That includes me and everyone but Anna. To complicate things more, Margaret had a meeting in that afternoon, I needed to pre-prepped more stuff for her first few weeks back at work, and flying out that afternoon.

We’ve already chowed down all of my home-made artichoke spread I brought from home as gift for Hugo and the family from SF, so that’s not an option. I knew that we had some copper river salmon leftover from Saturday, and some proscuito (another souvenir along with Zucchini Flowers). so maybe we could make some sandwich. But Margaret is a major foodie, and an excellent cook… I was secretly panicking on our ride back home.

As soon as we walked in the door, I dig my head into the fridge. It was like a treasure hunting, the good kind! Since I labeled all the leftovers, and kept them in the front, it was super easy. Small containers of leftover sausage and onion mixutre, and mirepoix and rice mixture, and grated Parmegiano Reggiano I used for these zucchini flowers the night before… Proscuito, tomatoes, the olive tapenade from TJ’s we opened on Sunday… The extra rounds of french bread I toasted… A ball of rice from the freezer… Pre-cut halves of cucumbers, grape tomatoes, and salad… Pretty much all leftovers we saved from last two nights. Prewashed, precut, pre-prepped. The only thing completely new was a can of chickpeas. All we needed to do is just to assemble a few different dishes!

So here’s the menu of the fancy, last minute three-course lunch Margaret and I whipped up in 10 minutes. The longest it took was heating the oven and broiling.

Bruscetta with olive tapenade,
tomatoes stuffed with mirepoix, sausage and rice mixture with proscuito and Parmigiano Reggiano on top (this was sooo good, especially the crisp prosciuto on top with a bit of PR… drool…)
Farmer’s market salad with chickpeas (I named it because it has lots of veggies and healthy. Much better sounding than leftover salad with chickpeas.)

Healthy yet very yummy…

Actually we had the 4th course, Polenta Pie with Pears and Rosemary. But Margaret only had 30 min before she rushed to the meeting.

So this is a great example of eating well without spending much time… Just by a bit of pre-prepping, and mixing and matching leftovers. It’s really fun to play with food this way too. Without them, this lunch would have taken 1 hour to prepare.

I’ll share the recipes for this luscious lunch on my next posts…

Freezing Tips: How to Extend Life of Your Food & Save Time Later….

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:36:00 +0000

Are you enjoying beautiful summer and longer days?

When I was living in Japan decades ago, warmer month, especially June till September or so meant everything gets moldy. I mean EVERYTHING. The most vivid memory is that even my water color paints got moldy. And every year, I ruined a few pairs of leather shoes because I didn’t dry them inside and out completely to remove every drop of the moisture immediately after the rain (practically every day between the rainy season of mid-June to July). This meant my mom yelling at me every time, why I didn’t take care of my things, blah blah blah…

Food in the fridge? Oh yeah. That was my Mom’s weakness. The thing is, whenever we mentioned about something moldy in the fridge, my mom would cry how dare we to make fun of parents (of their imperfection?).

Basically no win situation. You really need to be careful in these humid places! These moldy things cause family arguments. No wonder I left really far away to somewhere that barely rains, and pretty much determined to avoid visiting Japan during the summer.

One of my college professor did a research about the co-relations of high temperature and the increase in crime. People seem to get cranky and act up when it’s humid. But that’s another story.

I’m glad that I live in the Bay Area now. No more moldy shoes, water color, nor moldy food…. and no more argument with my mother, since she lives in Tokyo, thousands of miles away.

The thing is though, wherever you live, summer means temperature soaring, and that means shorter shelf-life for food. This could be a serious challenge especially if your household is small like ours — one, two or with little ones.

Utilizing freezer is a great solution, especially for the summer months. But unless you know how to do it effectively, those frozen blocks of food could cause you a lot of headaches, go straight to the waste, or your freezer will turn into a morgue of unusable frosty foods.

I used to waste a lot of food, but now barely any goes to waste, even in the summer.

Would you like to know the secret?

I freeze excess food and use it on an as needed basis. This saves me not only food, but also money and time later.

Here are some tips to not only extend shelf-life of your food but also save lots of time and money later. (Click the links to see more.)

Please be sure to post your questions, comments, your own tips and success stories on the comment boxes!

Want something more hands on??
If you are in the Bay Area, join me for my “Ready2Go Kitchen: Freezer to Table” Hands-on Class!

So what are your favorite freezing tips? Please share yours as comments.

Enjoy some summer freezing fun and magic!

Turkish Style, Stretchy Icecream Made with… What?

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:30:29 +0000

A while ago, I wrote I made something unique with natto leftover, and showed you this photo, and asked you to guess.

I haven’t given you the answer, have I?

The answer is… Turkish Style, Stretchy Icecream!

I got this recipe from Cookpad, my favorite recipe site. Unfortunately, it’s only in Japanese. Anyway, handful of people posted this super sneaky recipe of making Turkish Ice cream (called Dondurma) like stretchy ice cream by using a leftover cup of natto. I think it was originally aired on TV.

This is the natto (furmented beans) I used - Tezukuri Natto, from Japan Traditional Foods, handmade in Sebastopol, never frozen as on my previous post.

First, I opened the package, and topped with Japanese mustard and dashi-shoyu (milder, tastier soy sauce) that came with it.

Then I swirled it a few times inside of the cup, round and round… We Japanese do not stretch it up. That may be fun to do since it could go up to 4 ft. However, it makes it harder to eat, and tend to create a mess.

And I topped it on steamed rice, and a little bit of Ao-nori flakes.

Yum… I repeat. Their natto is far tastier than regular super market natto. I never really cared for natto that much before, especially those sold in the US. They are previously frozen, mushy and stinkier than those in Japan. However, because Japan Traditional Food hand-made their natto locally in small batches, and never freeze it, theirs has full of umami, nutty taste and firmer texture. I must say I crave them now… If they are bit more affordable, I would eat it all the time!

So here’s the empty cup of natto. A good food must be enjoyed as many time as you can, even the empty cups.

I made ice cream just to try this pseudo Dondurma recipe. This is regular vanilla ice cream. It should work with any kind. If you are sensitive to natto smell, it may be better to use stronger flavored ice cream like chocolate or coffee. Just scoop them into an empty natto cup, and swirl around and around, much more than when you did with natto itself until it stretches. (See the video below).

The real dondurma is made with salep, which makes the ice cream extremely stretchy. When I was in Turkey, I tried to bring it home so that I can make dondurma at home, but the export of salep is prohibited. This natto version doesn’t stretch as much, and of course, not the same with the real one, but at least, it’s really fun, with kids of all ages.

Oh, the smell? We try really hard with nose touching the cream, yet barely noticed it. According to these recipes on Cookpad, any natto from supermarket should work, but they are far more stinky, so I imagine the smell could be an issue for American people.

See my husband trying it on the video:

I’ve recently found that our 3 year old nephew loves ordering natto at sushi restaurant. Great! Next time we go visit Seattle, I’ll treat Hugo and myself a nice natto lunch and this ice cream later. No one else, just Hugie and I, since his parents said they couldn’t even stand the smell of it coming from his plate.

Last year Hiyashi Chuka (Cold Chinese Noodle Salad). This year Sushi — I even learned to stop him crying by offering some sushi — work like a charm! Next time Natto! Woo hoo! All beloved food from my country. You are a true foodie, at such young age. I’m very proud of you.

“WE love Shoo Shee!” Hugo and Kiera (our friend Erik and Brenda’s daughter) agree.
Isn’t love and bond created by food beautiful?

Want To Know Secrets to Put Real Meals on the Table, FAST?

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:43:43 +0000

Do you want to know the secret to put REAL meals on the table, FAST without stress?

If you know how to cook efficiently and resourcefully, you will put good, real meals on the table fast, and will enjoy your creations. If you are inefficient in the kitchen, you won’t. it’s that simple.

“But Mari, how specifically?” You may ask…
So… Before the busy summer season starts, join me for a free class:

“Top 10 Secrets to Put Real Meals on the Table – FAST!”

When: Tuesday, June 8th, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Where: Oakland Public Library Lakeview Branch Event Room
550 El Embarcadero, Oakland, CA 94610 tel: 510-238-7344
Cost: Complimentary to my blog readers

At this one hour class, you will learn my top 10 simple and unique cooking secrets that are usually kept only between great Japanese home-cooks. I adapted them for the American kitchen and lifestyle to help you to put real meals on the table fast, so that you can enjoy whatever you make. This is about how to save time in the kitchen while creating more varieties, the Japanese way. Appropriate for all cuisines and dietary restrictions.

By implementing just a few of my unique secrets, you will not only save time, but also save money and reduce waste.

The space is limited, and filling up quickly, so please sign up now before it becomes full.

Once you are registered, you will receive confirmations and reminders with details (map, parking info etc) automatically.

Feel free to invite your friends and family who would love to learn the secrets to put real meals on the table fast without stress.

Hope you can join me. It’s free & fun!

Mari

PS: For those of you who are not in the Bay Area, soon “Secrets to Real Meals – FAST” classes will be offered as tele-seminar so that people outside of the Bay Area can attend. Be sure to sign up for my free newsletter to be notified.

Event Report: Organic Megumi Natto Release Party at Ozumo in SF

Mari @ Secrets of a Kitchen Wizard — Wed, 26 May 2010 11:37:20 +0000

Have you ever had “NATTO” before? Fermented soy beans from Japan?

Do you like it?

For many non-Japanese, its stickiness and pungent aroma (some call it offensive) are a bit too much. Actually many Japanese from Western Japan do not care for it either.

Recently, I was invited to the Organic Megumi Natto Release Party at Ozumo in San Francisco. There were many professionals from the food industry, as well as media, young and old, Japanese and non-Japanese, gathered to Sample this strange substance from Japan in the right hand, with sake in the other.

To my surprise, this natto didn’t smell much, and is a lot tastier than what I am used to, especially here in the US. And my pure American bred guinea pig who normally hates natto even gave it a thumb’s up! Yay! Originally, he was quite resistant about going to a “Natto Event”, but I told him that it’s at Ozumo, there will be free food and sake (getting easier to convince him), and if he doesn’t like it, we can order something else. At that point, he was sold. I could have gone by myself, but I really wanted him to try really good natto, and change his perspective about our beloved (?), stinky and sticky staple of Japan. Look how happy he looks! (Yes, you should ALWAYS trust me!)

So what’s different about this not-so-stinky natto?

Megumi natto is made in Sonoma County, Sebastopol, CA to be exact. It’s never been frozen, unlike its cousins from Japan sold in the US. There are two kinds — “Megumi Natto” (meaning blessed natto) and “Tezukuri Natto” (hand-made natto). It’s hand made locally in small batches from high-quality no GMO soy beans with traditional methods. You really can taste the beans — nutty, firm yet creamy, and it does have more delicate aroma, which to me, is appetizing.

So how do you eat Natto, and what are the benefits? Watch the video.

Introduction to Natto Video (6 min) — 2 min out of this video is the same with below.

Short version (2 min)

They served four kinds of appetizers made of natto at the party:

Natto Maki
Age tofu
Natto on tamago yaki
Natto Donburi

This age-tofu with natto was great, especially when we were able to score those just out of the fryer. The natto was actually hidden under the tofu, so it was great to start for (or fool) my guinea pig.

These look like upside version of age-tofu. Actually this is natto on top of Tamago yaki, the sweet egg omelette you’d order at sushi restaurant. I found the egg a bit sweet, therefore strange combination with natto (even though I love adding beaten raw egg to natto with rice). This one was my least favorite.

These are what they called Natto Maki. Traditionally natto maki is rolled sushi with natto inside, but this one is actually cucumber and asparagus roll with natto on top. With the black of seaweed, yellow of natto, green of shiso leaf and red of umeboshi plum paste, they were very pretty to look at, and offered various taste and texture sensations. Shiso leaves are often used in natto maki (with sushi rice) at Japanese restaurants, their refreshing aroma and taste help reduce distinctive smell and taste of natto. When natto is mixed into miso soup, it does the same thing. Try it!

They named these Natto Donburi, meaning natto rice bowl. Bowl… hmmm… To me, they look more like traditional natto maki. The green color of wasabi on top was pretty, the chef was a bit too generous… It was a bit overpowering to me. To my personal taste, a bit of yuzu kosho would have been a nice addition for not only color but also aroma and more delicate kick.

And there were a few tubs of natto floating around, and people were having fun stiring and stretching this (not-so) stinky substance to several feet. (It stretches up to 4 feet.)

To my surprise, the founder of Megumi Natto, Mr. Minami Sato and I went to the same graduate school in Arizona, AND the same university back in Tokyo. As he told me he went to Keio, I could totally see so-called “Keio Boy-ness” in his presence and smile. He totally reminds me of my friends, especially because I just saw many of them a month ago in Tokyo at our reunion!

This was a really fun party with lots of great people. I wish they had a little more natto appetizers to sample. Maybe they were so good, the guests ate a lot more than expected! Megumi Natto has a lot of potential in the US market, especially for Japanese food enthusiasts, especially if Japanese restaurants like Ozumo is willing to put fun and tasty natto appetizers on their menu — or even as Sakizuke (amuse bouche).

A few days ago, there was an article on Wall Street Journal on Organic Megumi Natto titled “Tempting US Palates with Fermented Soy” last Friday.

Reading the comments, I’m convinced the biggest challenge Mr. Satoh is facing is the typical prejudice many Americans — those who were FORCED to eat natto when they were in Japan — have about natto. I have to tell you, his natto is far superior to these natto from super markets you and I had, growing up in Japan. (Remember, I lived in Japan till I was 27, I had a lot of it.) This is not your father’s Oldsmobile… I mean, this is not the same with typical supermarket natto you’ve had in the past. If you try it, you will agree. My American bled guinea pig agreed — you saw his happy face! He even asked for more and was very disappointed when he found out they ran out. Probably because they were so good, the guests ate a lot more than expected!

Thank you Sato-san and Dallas-san from Japan Traditional Foods, and the staff at Ozumo for a great party! And of course, thank you Nobuko for inviting me.

If you want to buy some, here is the list of stores you can buy Megumi Natto and Tezukuri Natto.

Later in the week, I found their Tezukuri Natto (I don’t know what the differences are between Megumi Natto and Tezukuri Natto except for the packaging difference) at Mitsuwa Market Place in San Jose. And yes, of course, yours truly, the leftover wizard needed to make something very different and fun with natto.

What is it?

Look…

Can you take a guess? Leave yours in the comment box. If you guess it right, I will treat you to one at our house!

I’ll reveal my secret on my next post. : )