Japanophile

That's the term my brother uses for non-Japanese people who are completely obsessed with Japanese culture. While I'm not sure that description fits me entirely, there is one aspect of Japanese culture I envy greatly - their food.

The Japanese diet is remarkably well-balanced. When most people think of Japanese food they think of sushi - low fat, vegetables, protein, and grains all in one bite! However, as I've explored the world of Japanese cooking, I've found that its not about cutting any one ingredient out. Instead, Japanese cooks focus on small portions of items that are higher in fat and sodium, and large but well-seasoned portions of the dietary "freebie" items (ie: vegetables and fruits). For instance, a commonly prepared Japanese dish is tempura - pieces of chicken or whole shrimp coated in batter and deep fried in oil. Does that sound "good" for you? No? Well then consider that the serving size is only 2 meat items per plate. Just two. Two shrimp, about 4" long including the tail, and the rest of the meal is rice and seasoned vegetables.

In my opinion the best example of Japanese portion control is the bento box. Remember the My Little Pony or Power Rangers plastic lunch box you had when you were little? Well the bento boxes are Japan's version. Typically they are oval shaped and have two tiers separated by a plastic partition. Predictably, they sport cartoon characters (for the kids) or artistic patterns (for the adults). The idea is to use the size of the bento as a guide for how much food to pack. Traditionally the bottom tier is thinner, and holds the rice or noodle component of the meal, while the top tier contains the protein and vegetable portions. Alternatively, one can purchase smaller containers to set inside the bento box, dividers to make more compartments, and even tiny bottles to fill with the appropriate sauce.

Although I can hardly imagine a farming Japanese woman of the 1800's taking the time to fashion little creatures out of her child's lunch components, the "kawaii" (cute) bento craze has taken hold in recent years. Now the idea is to use the box are a storage/transport device, portion measure, and artistic canvas. For some examples of these modern bentos, check out http://justbento.com/ - a blog completely dedicated to them.

As I'm sure you have guessed, this entry so far has been an elaborate lead in to my own attempt at making a bento. Only, since I haven't the spare change to invest in an actual bento box, we had our kawaii components on plates. ;-)

Building a Bento:

1. Japanese omelet with spring onions (double this recipe to make 2 if you are serving 2 people or want leftovers)

• 1 egg $.11
  
• 1 T water
• 1 squirt soy sauce
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 green onions $.19
  
• 1 tsp soy sauce

Total Cost: $.30
Servings: 1
Cost per serving: $.30

To Make: Bring a small pot of water to a boil, add the green onions (sliced into thirds) and cook approx. 2 min or until soft. Remove them, run them under cold water, and squeeze out the excess liquid. Next, lay them on a plate and drizzle 1 tsp of soy sauce over them. Squeeze out the excess soy sauce and set the onions aside.

Then heat a pan over medium-low and coat it with oil. The Japanese cooking video I watched actually added the oil to the pan, and then pushed a small piece of paper towel around the pan to make sure it was evenly coated and absorb the excess oil. I did this and it worked great. While the pan is heating, beat the egg, water, sugar, and squirt of soy sauce together, then add them into the pan.

Lift the pan off the heat and tilt it to coat the bottom completely. When you can slip a spatula beneath the edge of the egg, place the green onions at one end of the omelet, and roll the egg sheet over them, continuing to the other side of the pan. Turn off the heat and allow the omelet to sit on the hot pan another 20 seconds, then remove it to a plate and let it cool.

2. Japanese Potato Salad

• 2 small red or yukon gold potatoes $.30
  
• 1.5 medium carrots $.07
  
• 1/2 cucumber $.15
  
• 1 tsp mustard
• 1 T capers
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1 T olive oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Red pepper flakes/powder to taste

Total Cost: $.52
Servings: 4 (side dish sized)
Cost per serving: $.13

To Make: Peel the potatoes and scrub the carrot if the skin appears rough. Slice both vegetables thinnly and place them in a pot of lightly salted water. Bring the water to a boil (NOTE: If making omelet as well, use this water to blanch the spring onions).

While the potato and carrot are cooking, wash and cucumber and slice it thinnly. Place the slices in a bowl and coat them with salt. When the potato and carrot can be poked through with a fork (about 10 mins), drain them well (use a colander if you have one) and place them in a bowl. Add the mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, and some pepper, then mash them together roughly. You want the texture to be chunky, but with a creaminess that comes from the mashed potatoes.

Next, rinse the cucumber slices and stack them up on a cutting board, chopping them into small pieces. Mix these and the capers into the salad, then check if you would like to add salt or red pepper. Allow it to cool before serving.

To Garnish: Cut a 4" long section of carrot, as wide as you can find. Peel the carrot and cut five longitudinal notches into the side of it. When you look at the carrot from the end, it should have the rough shape of a flower. Then use the pointed end of a chopstick or kebab skewer to deepen the cuts and make the petals more rounded. Finally, slice the carrot as you normally would, and use the flowers as a decoration on top of the potato salad.

3. Rice triangles (onigiri)

• 1 c white or brown short grain rice $.60
  
• water to specifications of type of rice

Total Cost: $.60
Servings: 4 (2 small triangles each)
Cost per serving: $.15

To Make: Cook the rice completely, then allow it to cool to a handle-able temperature. Then, draping a piece of plastic wrap over your left hand, spoon about 2/3 c of rice into your palm on top of the plastic wrap. Close the plastic wrap around it and use both your hands to squeeze the rice into as small a ball as possible. Then shape it into a triangle - or - if you're more ambitious - a heart. Twist the plastic wrap into a knot to hold the shape and allow it to sit until cool. These may be eaten plain (as we did) or stuffed with meat filling at the time of their shaping. To do this you would drape the plastic wrap as before, add the rice to it, and then create a shallow hole in the middle of the rice mound. Spoon the filling into the hole, and wrap the remaining rice around it.
Note: If you have extra onigiri, store them in plastic wrap in the fridge to prevent them from drying out)

To Garnish: Use pieces of dried fruit, thinnly sliced scallions, or whatever you have available to create faces for the triangles.

4. Ham and Cheese shapes

• 3 slices of ham at least 1/4" thick $1.2
  
• 3 slices of cheese at least 1/4" thick $1
  
• 1 T marmalade $.10
  
• 1 T soy sauce

Total Cost: $2.30
Servings: 4 (side dish sized)
Cost per serving: $.58

To Make: While the rice for your rice triangles is cooking, use a cookie cutter or a knife and a pattern cut out of tinfoil to cut the ham and cheese into fun shapes. I made hearts and stars, but you can try whatever strikes your fancy. Heat the marmalade and soy sauce together in the microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and heat 30 seconds more to combine. There you have your cheap version of teriyaki sauce, which can be poured over the ham when it is time to eat!

To Garnish: Cut off the end of a lettuce leaf and set the shapes on it.

Cheap Hint - check if your deli sells ham or cheese "ends" - literally the ends of the meat and cheese logs they slice in the deli. There's nothing wrong with these except that they aren't sliced to uniform thickness and they may have more "skin" (in the case of the meat) than usual. They are also about $3 cheaper per pound, and the thick slices are perfect for making shapes!

5. Rabbit Apples

• One firm apple $.30
• 1 T lemon juice
  
• 4 currants or raisin bits

Total Cost: $.30
Servings: 4 (side dish sized)
Cost per serving: $.08

To Make: Wash the apple and slice one side off it. Then cut slices so that both sides show white flesh but the skin is still intact on the back side of the slice. Shave the bottom flat so that the slice will stand on its own, skin side up. Next, make a V - shaped cut on the skin and peel up the "ears." This tutorial is helpful - http://lunchinabox.net/2007/12/13/how-to-make-apple-rabbits/ however, I added a step. At the rabbits "head" cut two half moon shapes out of the skin to serve as eyes. the tapered end almost looks like a nose!

To Garnish: Make a small indentation with the tip of a knife and press the currants or raisin bits in to look like eyes. Be sure to do the lemon juice bath or the rabbits will be chocolate brown by lunch time!

Total Cost for Bento Lunch for 4 people....
$4.02
That's just over $1/serving for the math challenged readers out there! ;-)

And because the whole point of the bento is that it looks cute....I have pictures. :-D

Whew!

Well, the week that was midterms but did not want to admit that it was midterms (just a coincidental confluence of 4 difficult exams) is over. Hooray! Now I will be able to post all the delicious recipes we had this week. Minus the two nights we had frozen ravioli with canned sauce because I was too busy to cook. *Ahem*

So what was good this week?

Dinner Crepes. Everyone I told about this recipe was horrified. "CREPES? During an exam week? How on earth did you find the time to make something so fancy?" Well let me tell you - the only thing fancy about crepes is the French name. Our grandmothers lamented over these impossible thin concoctions that would be ruined if the amount of grease on the pan was slightly off, but we're living in the modern non-stick age. And with non-stick, crepes go from restaurant-only fare to weeknight treat!

Dinner Crepes

3 eggs ($.33)
1.5 c water
1.5 c flour ($.15)
.5 tsp salt
1 tsp butter ($.02)

To Make: Beat eggs in a mixing bowl, then add the salt and water. Lastly, mix in the flour until you have a soupy batter (should be much thinner than pancake batter). If you substitute part whole wheat flour, keep it in a 1:2 ratio with white flour and be prepared to add additional water to make the batter thin enough. Heat a nonstick frying pan over 3/10 heat (the upper end of low) for 3 minutes if you have a gas stove and at least 5 if you have an electric. To check if the pan is ready, touch the butter on the end of a nonstick spatula to the pan surface. It should just sizzle. If it jumps or threatens to burn, your heat is too high. Spread the butter evenly around the pan, and pour about 1/4 c of batter into the hot frying pan.

Here's the tricky part - as soon as you pour the batter in, lift the pan off the burner and tilt it in a circular fashion. Your goal is to get the crepe batter to cover the bottom of the pan in one thin layer before it starts to cook. This will take a few tries to get right, but don't despair - the mistakes still taste delicious, even if they look funny! Once the crepe is mostly cooked (the top should just look a little wet), use the nonstick spatula to lift up one edge and flip it over. Then cook about 15-30 seconds on the other side. Repeat until the batter is gone. You may find you need to keep buttering your pan, but mine is usually fine once the first one is done. Stack the finished crepes on a dish, separated by pieces of wax paper or, in a pinch, paper towels.

Servings: 4
Total Cost: $.50
Cost Per Serving: $.13

Crepe Filling
1. Breakfast for Dinner
1/3 box frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed to remove extra water ($.26)
1 fresh roma tomato, diced ($.20)
4 eggs ($.44)
2 oz feta, bleu, or other strong-flavored cheese (go with what's on sale) ($1?)

To Make: Scramble the eggs, spinach, and tomatoes, cooking until the tomatoes are done to your preference (if you prefer your tomatoes fresh, just add them in at the end to warm them up). When the eggs are done, scoop about 1/3 c of the mixture into a crepe and sprinkle a tablespoon or two of cheese on top. Then roll up the crepe and enjoy! (a mild salsa or roasted red pepper sauce would go wonderfully with these crepes).

Servings: 4 (hearty servings)
Total Cost: $1.90
Cost Per Serving: $.48
Cost Per Serving with Crepes: $.61

Servings: 4

2. Chicken and Broccoli Crepe
1lb chicken (cut of your choice, boneless thighs work well) ($1.49)
1 package steamable broccoli ($.99)
1 c milk or plain soy milk ($.30)
1 c shredded cheese (we used part-skim mozzerella) ($.66)
2 T flour
1 T butter/margarine ($.06)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp basil

To Make: Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and saute until white all the way through. Microwave the steamable broccoli - using that time to make the alfredo sauce. Melt the butter in a bit of the milk in a small sauce pan, adding the flour once the mixture is smooth. Add the salt, basil, and remaining milk (slowly), stirring with a whisk. Bring the whole mixture to a near-boil (so that there are bubbles rising around the edges) and stir in the shredded cheese, turning off the burner. Finally, retrieve your broccoli from the microwave and drain the excess water from the package, mixing in the broccoli with the chicken. To serve, place about 1/3 c of the chicken and broccoli mixture in each crepe, pour on about 2 T of sauce, roll it up and enjoy! To make it look pretty, drizzle the sauce over the top of the crepe and sprinkle a few basil bits around the plate. :-)

Note: If you're truly pressed for time, you can use alfredo sauce from a jar, however, this is much more expensive and probably worse for you because it is typically high in sodium and fat. To save time AND money, try these strategies instead.
1. Buy chicken in bulk-value packs and cook it ALL, right away. Then cut it up and freeze it in 1/2lb amounts in freezer-safe ziplocs. That way, recipes like this one and SO many others will be half way done already!
2. Make extra crepes and freeze them between layers of wax paper in freezer safe bags. They will keep for up to 2 months if they are room temperature when you freeze them. (if they are hot, the condensation will contribute to freezer burn).

Servings: 5 (hearty servings)
Total Cost: $3.44
Cost Per Serving: $.69
Cost Per Serving with Crepes: $.82



Leftover Crepes? How about some other cheap and fun ideas!

• Ice Cream Crepes! The best thing EVER. Take about 1/3 c of ice cream (the best part is that it doesn't even have to be great ice cream because the crepes are so great!) and place it in the crepe. Top with chopped nuts, chocolate sauce, or berries (my favorite). Fold it up and serve immediately. To make it look fancier, drizzle chocolate or caramel sauce over the rolled up crepe and place a few berries/chopped nuts on top.
  
• Breakfast Crepes - the easy way. Try sliced banana and a little peanut butter wrapped up and drizzled with honey or maple syrup. Low fat cream cheese or yogurt mixed with frozen berries and topped with powdered sugar is another great option.
  

See, crepes aren't just for gourmands anymore!
-Marielle-