What is known as ‘Florentine’ in Japan is very different from ‘Florentine’ in Australia. It is basically sweet cookies topped with crispy caramelised Almond Flakes. For the base, you can use your own cookie dough or sweet shortcrust dough. There are so many different recipes and methods these days. Many people roll out the dough …
When I want to use up leftover Egg White, I often make ‘Langues de Chat’ Biscuits. Ingredients are easy to remember. You need same weight of 4 ingredients, that are Egg White, Butter, Sugar and Flour. Today I added Almond Flakes and baked the whole mixture into one large sheet. You can easily break it …
I had a bag of leftover 1 cup Almond Meal that was already mixed with 1/2 cup Caster Sugar. It’d been in the pantry for a while and I had to use it up. I was looking for a recipe that I could use it for, and found my ‘Sachi’s Coconut Cookies’ recipe. I replaced …
I often use Marzipan (Almond Paste) as filling for cake and tart. Store-bought Marzipan contains unwanted ingredients such as preservatives. Marzipan is extremely easy to make at home. I use Milk but Water can be used. If you use Fruit & Berry juice, or other natural ingredients such as Coffee and Matcha, you can create …
‘Dorayaki’ is a Japanese sweet of two small pancake-like sponge wrapped a filling of Sweet Azuki (Red Bean) Paste. These days there are many variations. On the other day I saw Chestnut Cream Dorayaki that was available from a convenience store chain in Japan. I love Chestnut Cream as you can find how much I …
I recently discovered an Italian sweet called ‘Brutti ma Buoni’ that means ‘Ugly but Good’. I love that name! This recipe is based on my ‘Egg Whites & Almond Cakes’ but inspired by that Italian sweet. The ugly cookies are easy to prepare on the baking tray. Depending on the cooking time and temperature, these …
I added Sweetened Chestnut Cream and also coarsely chopped Roasted Chestnuts to my Pound Cake batter. You definitely need Rum for this cake. This is a divine cake for chestnut lovers like me. Cake Tin Standard Loaf Tin Ingredients 150g peeled Roasted Chestnuts *coarsely chopped1 to 2 tablespoons Rum125g Butter *cut into small pieces, softened …
These dried infant Sardines can be found at Japanese or Asian grocery stores as ‘Niboshi’ or ‘Iriko’. ‘Niboshi’ is a very popular ingredient for Japanese home cooking, but it’s so hard to find where I live. Yesterday I found a bag of ‘Niboshi’ at a nearby Korean grocery store! I bought it and cooked this …
Roasted & Peeled Chestnuts are lovely to eat, but it requires time-consuming work to make. These days, canned or vacuum-packed whole peeled chestnuts are available. A local Asian grocery store sells them, too. Those whole chestnuts can be a special sweet when they are coated with lovely chocolate. Ingredients 20 Roasted & Peeled Chestnuts1 tablespoon …
The main feature of this dish is Chestnuts. In Japan, there are many dishes that are similar to this dish, and root vegetables are often used, such as Potatoes, Satoimo (Taros), Lotus Root, Gobo, etc. But, this one is special. If you have never cooked Chestnuts for savoury dishes, you should try it. The flavour …
‘Sekihan’, steamed short grain glutinous rice cooked with Azuki (Red Beans), is sometimes cooked with Chestnuts as well. But Chestnuts are not commonly available where I live. I looked for a substitute for Chestnuts and I tried some different nuts. Now I can tell you that the best substitute is Cashew Nuts. This ‘Auzki & …
Not very keen on Tofu? Please know that Tofu is soy milk. ‘Silken Tofu’ is made by coagulating thick soy milk. It can be used for cooking just like cow’s milk and cream. See my ‘Tofu Cream’ recipe. Once you tasted these delicious chocolate truffles without prejudice, you would love them. Naturally, they can be …
Japanese Anchovies, large and tiny, often dried or half-dried, are very popular ingredients for Japanese home cooking. It’s so hard to find in Melbourne where I live, but ‘Ikan Bilis’, or South East Asian dried anchovies, are available from most supermarkets. I cook ‘Ikan Bilis’ in Japanese way. Makes 4 to 6 Servings Ingredients 100g …
On the other day, at my friend’s house, I tasted ‘Roti’ bread with peanut sauce for the very first time in my life. It was a takeaway food from a local Thai restaurant. I instantly fell in love with ‘Roti’ and the sauce, but again I found the sauce too sweet for me. So I …
‘Goma-ae’ is a very popular Japanese dish and it is made with ‘Goma-ae’ sauce, which is a sweet sauce of ground toasted sesame seeds and it goes very well with many vegetables. Sometimes ‘Kurumi’ (Walnuts) is used instead of Sesame Seeds, and the dish is called ‘Kurumi-ae’. You can use Peanuts, and the dish is …