Last weekend I made a homemade burger and oven baked chips. I generally prefer fish to meat, but sometimes crave MEAT, which means I want not chicken but either beef or pork!
I decided to make a burger and chips since they are something I can cook very well at home in a healthier way. Cooking a patty for a burger at home is a healthy option, considering the risk of contaminated meat. Also with this recipe chips are oven roasted instead of deep fried. I found this method never deteriorates the taste of chips while decreasing a lot of calories. If you crave meat, this is the perfect recipe!
Homemade Burger (serves 2)
Ingredients
- Burger bread
- 2 slice of tomato
- 2 slice of cheese
- Some lettuce
- 2 tablespoon of mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoon of brown sauce+1 tablespoon of honey/homemade sauce (detailed below)
For the patties
- 200g Beef mince
- Half of onion
- One clove of garlic
- One tablespoon of ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
- Bread crumbles
- One egg
- Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Chop the onion and saute with olive oil until it gets golden brown. Put aside to cool completely.
2. In a big bowl put the meat, grazed or chopped garlic and ginger, nutmeg, onion, egg, salt and pepper, and mix them together very well with your hand until it gets sticky.
3. Put the bread crumbles. This finalises the texture. Please go slow as you add. Less bread crumbles, softer the patties will be; however, if they are too soft, they will be broken when fried.
4. Make the ingredients into 2 portions.
5. Toss one chunk of the meat between your hands for 10 times and release air bubbles in the meat. If you skip this process, again meat will be broken when cooked in a pan. Form into a patty with the height of 2 cm. Repeat this with the other chunk.
6. Heat some olive oil on a frying pan, and wait until it gets hot. Then cook the patties one side with the high heat.
7. Flip over the meat, and pour two tablespoon of water. Put the heat into the medium high with the lid on so that the patties are steamed. When the juice coming out from the patties gets transparent, that means the inside of the patties is cooked.
8. Put the lid off and cook the patties with the high heat again until they get beautiful brown colour.
9. Toast the burger bread and spread the mayonnaise.
10. On the above side of bread put the lettuce, tomato, cheese and one of the patties. Then spread some brown sauce or homemade sauce (recipe below).
11. Place the below side of bread on, then put the upside down. Voilà!
*Optional
I make the sauce on the same frying pan.
1. Wipe the greasy juice on the pan roughly with a kitchen paper.
2. Put 1 tablespoon of ketchup and uster sauce, 1/2 tablespoon of red wine and 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce, and mix them together in the pan.
3. Cook the sauce until it gets bubbles.
I do not think we can find uster sauce in a supermarket outside Japan. It is a kind of brown sauce made from veggies and fruits. You can use regular brown sauce with one tablespoon of honey.
Baked Chips (serves 2)
Ingredients
- One potato
- Dried herb (I used basil)
- Salt
- Olive oil
Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 200 C.
2. Peel and cut the potato into slices of 1 cm.
3. Put the potato slices in a bowl of water and rinse starches. This gives extra crispy taste when they are cooked.
4. Blanch potato slices in boiling water for about 5 minutes, and then drain in a colander well.
5. Spread the potato slices on a baking tray, and drizzle some olive oil and toss with salt and herb.
6. Roast for 25 minutes or until they are golden brown.
7. Scatter salt to serve.
I know what we eat is very important. I know burgers and chips are not counted as healthy foods. I know we should eat lots of vegetables, drink water and avoid processed food.
However, I personally think the quality, amount and moderation are also very very important. So if I crave something, I always try to get the better quality of that food, instead of banning from eating it, and enjoy the reasonable amount, instead of neither overeating nor undereating. I never cut out anything from my diet, but I try very hard so that everything is in moderation.
This sounds very simple, but actually difficult to practice since what we want to eat and how much we should eat are completely depends on our condition and we have to be constantly aware of our body needs.
However, I believe that is the key, and followed the voice of my body last weekend. The burger and chips were very tasty and satisfying, and I definitely recommend them when you crave MEAT!
I love Japanese food: I love rice, I love miso soup and I love soy sauce. However, that does not mean that I eat only Japanese food. My mum likes Western food as well, so she often cooks pasta, roast chicken and many other kinds of non-Japanese dishes. This is one her recipes and I have decided to blog about since it is very easy! I know that "real" western tartare sauce has more ingredients such as capers and pickles, but they are not so common in Japan and my mum makes it in more simpler way, as you can see below...
Ingredients (serves:4)
- 4 boiled eggs
- 1 cup of mayonnaise
- 1/2 of onion
- Some fresh or dried parsley
- 1.5 tablespoon of vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Mince the onion and microwave it for 30 seconds or put it in ice water for 1 minutes. Using kitchen paper, remove the juice and water completely.
2. Chop the eggs. I prefer to have them chunky but you can cut them as you like.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all the ingredients.
I like to have fish with this sauce. My methods are:
1. Remove the fish from the fridge and leave it until coming up to room temperature.
2. Season with salt and pepper, and coat with flour.
3. Fry in a pan with olive oil.
4. Enjoy with tartare sauce!
I especially recommend the combination of salmon and tartare sauce. Salmon is really good with soy sauce or miso, which I will blog in the future, but tartare sauce is also my favourite.
Other ideas for this sauce could be sandwich, deep fried chicken and potato salad. My mum always serves deep fried oysters with this sauce in winter, which also super yummy!
I know mayo is not as healthy as soy sauce, but if you add one big plate of salad, I think this could be counted as a healthy lunch!
I never skip breakfast. Even when I worked in Tokyo and had to leave my apartment very early, I always grabbed something that I can eat at the office with a cup of coffee.
Now being in the UK, I have a little more time for myself in the morning and enjoy breakfast. Below are some examples of what I eat. They are all easy-to-make but still promise a good start of the day.
1. Granola, yogurt, bananas, blueberries and strawberries
This is very easy-to-make and yummy! I know granola contains a lot of sugar but I think it is relatively ok to have something sweet in the morning.
For those who travel to Japan: I am not particulary following food trend, but for the last couple of years pancakes have been a centre of the breakfast trends in Japan, especially among young women. Granolas are considered to be the next and there are many granola shops opening, so if you are a big fan of granola or experience the trend in Japan, you should stop by at these places. At some of them (for example: GANORI) you can even try some Japanese flavour such as green tea granola and yuzu citrus granola!
2. Bagel, grapefruit yogurt with dried dates.
I love grapefruits! Some of my friends say they are too bitter, but I just like its taste. Also I feel that I am kind of purified when I eat grapefruits, if that makes sense...
I prefer regular yogurt to lowfat yogurt. However, I drink soy milk instead of regular milk to control the amount of daily fat intake.
I also love bagels but it is super expensive in Japan. Here I can get 5 bagels for £1.6 whereas one bagel is about £1 in Tokyo. I hope bagels attract more attentions after the granola and that there will be a little more competitions...One of the good things about livig in the UK is I can enjoy bagels every day!
3. Bagel with cream cheese, apricot jam and raspberry jam.
My boyfriend came up with this idea of putting two kinds of jam and I absolutely loved it! Look at the color. This blows your morning blue!!!
4. Brioche with raspberry jam
Raspberry jam is my favourite. In Japan you can find it only in a big supermarket, so when I am in Europe, I always go for raspberry jam instead of strawberry jam.
5. Yorgurt, granola, bananas, nuts and cinnamon on top
This is my current most favourite breakfast. For those who feel bored with yogurt in the morning, please try this combination. Cinnamon would be a happy discovery!
6. Sunday breakfast
Sometimes I have big European breakfast on weekend, as you can see. When I was in Japan, my sunday breakfast was rice, miso soup and natto (fermented soybeans.) Spending so much time on cooking on weekday is not realistic, and in fact all the foods that I have mentioned are very easy to make. However, I like to have special breakfast for weekend! I have more time to cook and more time to enjoy!!!
7. A cup of coffee
I always have to finish my breakfast with a cup of coffee.
I have decided to start my blog with cooking instructions. What I often asked by my international friends is how to cook Japanese rice, so hope this helps you a little. I will talk about as much details as possible so that I can clear concerns that those who are new to this could have, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!
Firstly, before I begin, I would like say cooking rice is pretty simple": What you need is just rice and water! You do not even need a rice cooker!!! Although there are a number of methods and what is the "proper/best" way to cook Japanese rice is controversial even in Japan, I think we should take it easy. I am sure there are lots of people who want to try but have not cooked yet just because that is unfamiliar to you. I know what it is like since I have not cooked couscous yet for that reason. However, at least regarding Japanese rice it is pretty simple to cook!
Also I would like to mention that rice is healthier than other carbs. For example, bred contains butter and salt and you often even spread another butter or jam, whereas you cook rice only with water. Also you get some water from steamed rice, which helps digestive systems. It would be even better when you cook brown rice. Personally I do not cut carbs because I feel I need it, but I always try to choose good ones. So here is my procedures...
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What You Need:
1. Japanese rice
Akitakomachi is my favourite brand. Sasanishiki and Koshihikari is also recommended. Also in Japan I think the brand called "Milky Way" is popular especially among younger people. If you live in outside Japan, you can try any sticky (Japanese) rice or short grain rice though I do not cook Thai rice since that tastes and smells differently. Japanese rice is sweeter, and sticky obviously.
A half cup of uncooked rice should be for one person. I always cook 2-3 cups of rice at a time, and freeze some rest as individual pieces of each portion. Ideally rice should be cooked every time you eat for the best taste and flavour, but I think it is also important for you to use your time wisely. You ltsaucan microwave for a few minutes and I would say it is still really good!
2. Water
You need 1.3-1.5 cup of water per one cup of rice. Brown rice requires more water, I would say 1.8 cup of water.
3. Others
Some people put a pinch of salt. My grandmother from my dad add a spoon of Japanese sake. However, personally I like to cook with just water when I cook white rice. I often put a little salt when I cook brown rice.
Directions:
1. Rinse your rice
Get a saucepan with a lid, and put your dried rice in it. Put cold water until the rice is covered and stir the rise gently by using your hand. You should drain the water a few times until the water is clear but 2-3 times of changes should be enough and it does not have to be "perfectly clear".
2. Soak for 30 mins
Put water according to the amount of your rice and leave it for 30 minutes. I found this an important step since this makes rice fluffy and sticky.
3. Boil and simmer your rice
Set the saucepan uncovered on the hob. Boil your rice with the highest heat possible. Once it is boiled, then lower the heat as much as you can and put the lid on. Simmer the rice for 10-12 minutes. One very important point: do not take off the lid, do not stir the rice and just leave it for at least 10 minutes.
4. Leave for 10 mins
Check your rice and see if it is cooked. You might find small holes on the surface of the rice when it is well cooked. If it is still watery, cook for another a couple of minutes, but please make sure that it will not be overcooked. You might need to cook longer for brown rice. Once it is done, remove the saucepan from the heat, fluff the rice gently but quickly with a rice scooper or spoon a couple of times from the bottom, and let it sit with the lid on for 10 minutes. This helps rice absorb the water and you will get the best texture.
5. Serve
Enjoy!!!
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I had rice porridge for lunch today. I cooked it from frozen rice! I like plain steamed rice, but also enjoy adding some arrangements.
In addition to the simple cooking procedures, a good thing about rice is that it is inexpensive. Some of you might think Japanese food is costly in Europe or America, but if you get 5kg of rice, it lasts for ages. Currently I live in the UK and I think rice is cheaper than bread or pasta.
When I started livig in the UK, I had tried to eat more bread and pasta since I wanted to experience British food culture, but at a certain point I came back to rice for all those benefits I mentioned in this post. YES, rice is soooo good!!!
