Homemade Japanese Curry Sauce

Yes.
You can make Japanese curry from scratch using all natural ingredients (in fact none of the ingredients are Japanese). Only new item I had to add to my pantry was curry powder.

Cooking time: 45 min
Servings: 4-5

Ingredients:

For the roux (a thick curry paste)

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
  
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoons ketchup (or tomato paste)

For the curry:

• 2 teaspoon oil
• 2 large onions roughly chopped
  
• 1 1/2 lb of boneless beef short ribs or chicken
• 2 carrots cut into chunks
• 4 cups water
• 1 large potato or kabocha squash
  
• 1 big fuji apple peeled cored and pureed (I used a blender)
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  
• 1 teaspoon curry powder

Step 1: In a big pot, add oil at medium heat and saute onions until translucent and slightly brown. Add the meat of your choice and cook until the skins are caramelized.

Step 2: Add carrots, potatoes or squash, salt, curry powder, pureed apple and water. When the whole thing starts to boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 25 min.



Step 3: For the roux, in a separate sauce pan, melt the butter at low heat and add the curry powder, flour, cayenne pepper, and ketchup.

Step 4: Add liquid from the simmering pot to the roux and whisk.

Step 5: Add the finished roux into the simmering pot and stir. Add more salt or ketchup to taste.

Serve over white rice.

Maple Blueberry Jammy

I thought making jam at home was a long and arduous process, but this one is super easy and yummy ! Best of all, this is made w/ all natural ingredients (no pectin, no sugar) and the finished product is gooey and not watery. This will taste amazing on toast or on fresh cold yogurt in the morning !

Cooking time: 30 min
Serving: 1 small cup of jammy

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen & thawed blueberries
1/2 cup maple syrup (mildly sweet) or add more if you like it very sweet
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (or juice of half lemon)
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice (or juice of half orange)


Step 1: In a sauce pan, add the blueberries and smash them down a little so the berries will release their juice.
Step 2: Add maple syrup and turn on the heat at low. When it starts to simmer, add the lemon and orange juice and stir.

Step 3: Let the mixture bubble at low heat for about 30 min. Stirring occasionally.

Step 4: Turn off the heat after 30 min and let the mixture cool. It will thicken naturally as it cools down. Put it in a jar and keep in the refrigerator.

Spicy Nak-Ji Bokum (Spicy Octopus w/ Veg)

Perfect winter dish that will warm you up instantly !

Cooking time: 30-35min
Servings: 5

Ingredients:

Baby squid or octopus ( 1.5 lbs) - I get mine from Chelsea Market. Super tender when cooked !
1 carrot
1 head of broccoli
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion
some rice cake (optional)

Spicy Red Sauce: (this could be prepared in advance & kept in refrigerator for a week)

1 tablespoon of go-chu-jang (korean red pepper paste)
1 1/2 tablespoons of go-chu-ga-ru (crushed dried red pepper)
2 tablespoons of mirin
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon of honey or agave syrup
1/2 teaspoon of minced ginger or ginger powder
1 tablespoon of sesame oil
1 tablespoon of warm water


Step 1: chop up all vegetables in bite size. Rinse the octopus in cold water and drain. Cut up the octopus in bite size.

Step 2: In a frying pan, add olive oil or vegetable oil and cook the vegetables.
Step 3: In a small pot, boil water to cook the octopus. When the water starts to boil, drop in the cleaned and cut octopus for about 1 min (be careful not to overcook. It will taste rubbery) then drain the water.

Step 4: Combine the drained & cooked octopus into the cooked vegetables and stir in the spicy red sauce. Cook for about 5 min until well incorporated.

Serve w/ a bowl of rice and some pickles !

Galbi-jjim (Braised Short Ribs)

Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hr
Serving: 6

This is my go-to dish whenever I have special guests over. Truly hearty and tasty braised short ribs that melt in your mouth !

Ingredients:
Boneless short ribs 1.5 lbs
Bone-in short ribs 1.5 lbs
1 Daikon (medium size)
1 carrot
1-2 heads of broccoli
2 yellow onions
1 fuji apple
4-6 mushrooms (any kind)
2 jalapenos
4 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger (your thumb size)
1 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup Agave syrup
1/2 cup honey



Step 1: If you are using bone-in short ribs, dunk them in cold water for about 30 min and discard the water. This will get rid of impurities and will make the dish taste very clean.

Step 2: Cut up the meat (bone-in and boneless short ribs) into bite size and trim the fat wherever necessary.

Step 3: Peel and clean all vegetables. Combine roughly chopped onions, garlic, ginger and apple into a blender (or food processor) w/ 1 cup of soy sauce and 1/2 cup Agave and 1/2 cup honey. Puree the whole thing, then taste. It should taste well-balanced sweet & salty. Add more soy sauce or honey/agave if necessary.

Step 4: Place the meat in a big pot and pour the soy sauce mixture (step 3). You can stop here and let it marinate for 2 hours or overnight in the refrigerator or can move on to the next step. Allowing time to marinate will give you a deeper taste but cooking it right away won't make a big difference.














Step 5: Place chopped vegetable on top (daikon, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, more onions optional) of the meat and start cooking at low heat for about 1 hr to 1.5 hr.
















As the vegetables cook down and release their juices, it will start to smell amazing ! Serve with a bowl of rice.

Crunchy Nutty Bar

This snack bar is full of nutty goodness. I used my fav nuts- almonds, walnuts & pistachio- to create this crunchy nutty bar. Enjoy as your breakfast on-the-go or power bar before a big workout.

Baking time: 30-35min
Yields: 20-25 bars

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose-flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup (mildly sweet) or 3/4 cup (very sweet)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cardamon (optional)
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/4 cup coarsely chopped salted pistachio
1 egg at room temp
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter melted in microwave 30 seconds
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 F. With parchment paper, line a 9 by 13 by 2 inch metal baking dish and lightly spray the paper w/ veg. oil cooking spray.

Step 2: In a large bowl, mix together, flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, baking soda, and the oats.

Step 3: On a baking sheet, toast the nuts - almonds, walnuts, pistachio- in the oven at 350 F for 5 min.

Step 4: Mix melted butter, egg, vanilla extract in a separate bowl and set aside.

Step 5: Stir in the toasted nuts from Step 3 into Step 2 flour mix. Then add the maple syrup and the butter mixture (step 4) until the dry and wet are well incorporated.

Step 6: Pour the combined mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 min until light golden. Cool for 30 min before cutting into bars and store them in a airtight container up to 3 days.

Chocolate Almond Butter Cookies with Jam

I am probably the only person who does not like peanut butter. So I created this lovely marriage of almond butter, jam, and cocoa for myself, and my hubby thinks this is actually better than the ones I made with peanut butter for him.

Baking time: 11 min
Prep time: 15 min
Yields: 24 cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temp.
3/4 cup creamy almond butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 light brown sugar
1 egg, at room temp
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup blueberry, or blackberry jam

Directions:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375F and mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside

Step 2: Beat butter, almond butter, white & brown sugar together with a hand or stand mixer until smooth for about 30-40 secs. Add the eggs & vanilla extract and blend well. Add the flour mixture gradually until everything is well incorporated. The dough should come together nicely and should appear very moist.
Step 3: Form the dough into golf ball size balls and place them on baking sheets with parchment paper. Using the back tip of a wooden spatula, make a hole in the center of each ball of dough, about 1/2 to 3/4 inch deep. Spoon 1 teaspoon of jam into each hole.

Step 4: Bake for 11-12 min until you start to see the surface of the cookies a little crackled. Cool the cookies completely about 15 min before serving.