Mayorer

You know in the past there was a craze in Japan where people put mayonnaise on everything? Maki wrote about it on her blog, and I thought, hmm ... I think I will fit in very well, since I put mayo on a lot of things as well. My favorite of course is Kewpie, but it gets expensive, so I enjoy the Fat Free Kraft mayo as well. There is a slight texture difference in the fat free kind. It feels lighter, fluffier and less creamy on the tongue, and slightly more sour (?) but overall nothing different. Plus it's healthier! Ha ... well not really.

So far I've seen people look at me oddly when I eat:

French fries with mayo
Corndogs/Hot dogs with mayo
Spaghetti with mayo
Rice with mayo (but to be fair california temaki is rice, ebikko, vege, and mayo)
and of course, not to sound trailer-parkish ... but mayo sandwich!

Am I a "mayorer"? I think so!

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I'm currently hunting for a Zojirushi rice cooker, so anyone out there who has experience with these rice cookers, please enlighten me on the ones with the best value. My rice cooker has not been working right ever since Stewie climbed the dining table and flung it to the floor. -_-; And yes, I have my rice cooker right on my dining table for easy access. ke ... ke.

Steak and Sushi

The other day I tried my hand at cooking prime rib. It came out uber tasty, except slightly more done than I was expecting. I like my meat medium rare to rare. This came out medium well. The au jus was delicious with Merlot, but a little too salty. We also had olive oil roasted asparagus and roast garlic (that I spread on toast!) My parents would have enjoyed this meal at home.

The next day we had fried rice for dinner. I think I basically just threw in whatever I had, hot dogs, spam but this time I put a Japanese flair to it by adding umeboshi (pickled plum) to enhance the flavor. It tasted better than I thought it would have.

Next up is what I made for dinner today ... again. So purdy! California maki with crab stick. avocado and tobikko (capelin roe), and the other is kampyo (marinated root) crab stick and sakura denbu (which gives it the gorgeous pink color!) Everyone needs to eat more neon colored foods!

Sushi Nigiri

The fish was not half bad, although I was quite angry at the cut. I guess getting sushi grade fish from the store was too much to hope for! I marinated them in vinegar and shoyu and they tasted just great! We had tuna and salmon, and after divvying up the pieces, I was actually full. The rice was really perfectly sticky and made really nice nigiri. They did not break apart or anything when picked up and dipped in soy sauce. I forgot about the tobikko though. Oh and this is the photo of the maki sushi from the potluck:

From left: Kappamaki (cucumber), futomaki two kinds - one with kani (imitation crab), kampyo and tamagoyaki (sweet egg roll) one with cucumber, sweet egg, kampyo and kamoi sakura denbu - and oshinko maki (pickled radish)

Temaki - California Handroll

BASIC TEMAKI SUSHI

2 CUP SUSHI RICE (I used Nishiki brand)
1/2 CUP SUSHI VINEGAR (or use a vinegar + sugar mix)
1 PACKET TOASTED NORI SEAWEED (make sure it comes in large sheets)

1 CUCUMBER / KYURI (Japanese cucumber)
1 PACK IMITATION CRAB MEAT (You can use stick form or loose pieces form but stick is prettier)
MAYONNAISE (I could not find Kewpie so I used normal Kraft)

Additional Ingredients (optional)
WASABI (Japanese horseradish, comes in tube form for convenience)
EBIKKO / TOBIKKO (seasoned shrimp or fish roe)
LETTUCE / AVOCADO (oh yum)
GRILLED / FRIED SALMON SKIN
HOT DOGS (I have never tried this but it seems tasty to slice them up and include it in the temaki)

1) Cook rice in rice cooker according to the instructions on the bag.
2) Fluff the rice and mix in the vinegar (I used less than 1/2 cup vinegar because I don't like it overpowering the rice "scent")
3) Let rice cool a little bit before handling.
4) Cut the nori seaweed with scissors if it is too large, otherwise, proceed to place an adequate amount of rice on the seaweed, put your dollop of mayonnaise or wasabi.
5) Add your fillings.
6) Roll it up and enjoy~! Make sure you serve it right away as the nori will tend to get soft and harder to bite. Temaki sushi is eaten from the end of the cone upwards, but you can do it the other way too! Ha ha

** Notice I did not recommend raw fish, this is so that anyone can make this recipe without possibly contracting listeria or other dangerous bacteria that can manifest in raw food. Personally, I think raw fish should only be handled by professionals. Not everyone can stomach raw fish and I am not supposed to eat it while pregnant anyway~!

Onigiri

ONIGIRI (aka Riceballs)

I do not have any umeboshi, or takuwan, so I used furikake. Still yum though. I think I made both types, round (traditional) and the triangle. Some day I will figure out why there are two shapes after doing some research but for now, eat time.

Itadakimasu~!