Japanese

I started out this post dedicated to miso soup, but then when I was looking for my recipe, I came across a few other Japanese recipes we like, so here they are:

I like miso soup. I don't think I ever was really exposed to it till practically here in the Philippines when we got it free at a popular fast food Japanese restaurant. Since then, I've wanted to be able to make it. I think I attempted it (horribly) on vacation in Hawaii . . .

Well, I have since found a recipe that we love and it's VERY easy! Whenever we do an Asia type meal and I need a little extra food, I make this soup.

Miso Soup
2 t handashi granules (this is important, when mixed with the water it makes kinda a fish broth)
4 C water
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine dashi and water. Bring to a boil.

3 T miso paste (I usually use a red miso paste)
1 C water
Miso miso paste with water. Reduce heat. (don't allow to boil after the miso is added)

Diced tofu
Seaweed (nori) for soup (optional)
green onion, chopped
Add tofu, nori and green onion. Simmer gently 2-3 min. Serve

Next recipe I actually found on a Hawaii local food site. I like to make extra and freeze them (since we never eat all of them in one meal). They are handy to pull out and fix.

(As a side note, if you want to beef it up a bit more without adding more meat, it's easy to add some tofu diced small into it and nobody even notices! I actually do that quite a bit when I make ground meat things since the tofu takes on the flavor of whatever I'm cooking. It saves me money - tofu is cheaper than meat - and it's healthy.)

Gyoza
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground chicken
3/4 C chopped cabbage
1/4 C mushrooms (chopped)
1/4 C carrot (shredded)
1 t ginger, diced
2 t garlic, diced
1 t shoyu
package of gyoza wrappers (sometimes I use dimsum wrappers)

Mix all the ingredients with your hands. Fill each wrapper with about a teaspoon of mix and fold it up. (This takes a while, but if you aren't too particular about the looks, you can get your kids to help - they seem to enjoy it)

You can either steam, boil or fry for about 7 mins or until filling is cooked. They are also good to add to soups or eat with rice. You can mix equal portions of shoyu and vinegar for a dipping sauce.

Last, we don't have any prepared mixes of teriyaki sauce that we can pick up and dump on some chicken. I found this chicken teriyaki recipe which is so easy and yummy that I don't think I need a mix anymore.

Teriyaki Chicken
1 whole chicken chopped up (I would think it's about 6 pieces)
3/4 C sugar (some people may prefer brown sugar)
3/4 C shoyu
1 T fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves of garlic, minced

Basically, you just mix it all up. The recipe said to marinate it for 3 hours and then bake at 350 for an hour, basting frequently. I didn't have the time to marinate it and didn't feel like turning on the oven so I just covered and boiled it. I brought it to a boil for a few minutes then turned it down and let it simmer for about 30 mins. The last 5 minutes, I remove the cover and boil it again so more of the flavor would cook into the chicken (Mom Briones does this with her adobo). We still liked it.