Today, in Australia, there are not many people who don’t know about Karaage chicken.
More and more people are eating it at home as well as in Japanese restaurants.
Recently, vegan people want to eat kaarage but don’t want to use fake chicken,
so, I was thinking what can I use… and few month ago, I used tin of jackfruits and the texture was like pulled pork so I had an idea and came up with this recipe.
What is jackfruit?
Jackfruit is a large, tropical fruit native to Southeast Asia that is becoming increasingly popular around the world. The fruit is a relative of the breadfruit and the fig and can weigh up to 80 pounds (36 kg) and be up to 3 feet (0.9 meters) long.
The outer layer of the jackfruit is a green, spiky skin that is often removed to reveal the yellow flesh inside. The flesh of the fruit is sweet and fragrant, with a flavour that has been described as a mix of pineapple, banana, and mango or Some people say taste like bubble gum. It has a fibrous, meaty texture that is sometimes compared to pulled pork, and can be eaten raw or cooked.
Jackfruit is a nutrient-rich fruit that is high in fibre, vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants. It is also a good source of other essential vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, calcium, and iron.
In addition to its nutritional benefits, jackfruit is also a popular meat substitute among vegetarians and vegans due to its texture and flavour. It can be used as a substitute for pulled pork in sandwiches, added to curries or stews, or even used as a pizza topping.
Overall, jackfruit is a versatile and nutritious fruit that is gaining popularity around the world for its unique flavour and texture.
Where can you buy tinned jackfruit?
You can buy it at pretty much any supermarket in the health section or health food shops.
Tips for this recipe
Tinned jackfruit is hard so you will need cook if for at least 2 hours or until soft.
To cook jackfruit, cover the fruit with water and the baking dish with foil. Cook in an oven at 180℃ for 2 hours.
When you cook the jackfruits, don’t let it dry so check water level periodically.
If you are celiac or gluten free, use Tamari and quinoa flake, or if you can get them, gluten free oats.
Nikujaga is Meat and potatoes are a staple dish for Japanese people.
It is also called “mother’s taste” in Japan.
It is a dish that has been around for a long time and is probably one of the dishes passed down from mother to daughter.
These days, many households make it simply by using dashi (soup stock) powder instead of soup stock.
This is probably due to the fact that they are both working and have little time to cook.
However, I would like to introduce a delicious Nikujaga using a freshly made dashi.
Please refer to the previous article on how to make dashi using a teapot.
What you will need this time
Potato
Carrot
Onion
Konjac noodles (You can buy at Coles or Asian shops).
Beef thin sliced (You can buy at Asian shops, and they are already sliced). called shabu shabu style beef.
Soy sauce, Sake, Mirin. (You can buy at Asian ships or sometime find them at Woolworth or Coles)
Beef shabu shabu style cut from asian shopsShirataki-konjac noodles from asian shops
Tip for making Nikujaga
Choose thin beef with a good amount of fat.
The amount of fat in beef used for Nikujyaga is crucial.
Too much fat will result in a greasy texture, while too little will result in a bland texture.
Sautee ingredients before simmering. Although nikujaga is a stewed dish, the process of adding water and simmering is only the “finishing touch.
By sautéing the ingredients first, it prevents them from falling apart. It also adds a savory flavour.
Remember stewed dishes have more flavour the next day.
This time I made Char Siu Bao for Gluten Free.
This recipe doesn’t need time for the dough to rise and uses the same pork belly bites again so saving time and effort.
Tips for this recipe
For the filling will give you enough for 10-12 Gluten free Char Siu Bao.
The dough recipe will produce 5-6 Gluten free bao so if you want to make 10-12 each of gluten free Char Siu Bao, please double amounts.
When you steam Char Siu Bao, cover the lid with kitchen towel so don’t drop excess moist on Char Siu Bao.
Using pudding moulds and put muffin or cupcake cups in the moulds to hold Char Siu Bao in shape.
If you don’t have a steamer, use deep frypan. (Check the video how to)
Have you heard of Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)?
I just watched the latest movie called Mugen Train and one of the main characters, Kyōjurō Rengoku, was eating a Bento on the train. He kept saying “Umai” “Umai” “Umai”! “Umai!!” in Japanese means delicious!
In Japan, EKI-BEN, a specific type of bento boxed meals sold on trains and at train stations, is very popular. Rengoku’s bento has beef, a boiled egg, grilled shallots and Tofu with with a soy and ginger sauce. This recipe is only using one frypan (except for the boiled egg) and is quick and easy to make.
What is Gyunabe Dish?
Beef with a sweet soy and ginger sauce
What you need:
Sliced beef – I bought already thinly sliced Wagyu beef from an Asian shop.
Or you can buy thin sliced beef at Coles’s or Woolworth’s frozen section.
Dashi powder – from Asian shops or Woolworth called Katsuo Dashi or Shimaya Dashi Stock.
Soy sauce and Mirin – Asian shops, Coles, and Woolworth.
Tofu – you can buy at any supermarkets. I used Momen tofu as it’s very easy to handle.
Hi there!
Today I want to talk about how to make a high-protein plant-based BENTO box.
Vegan or Vegetarian people are always getting enough vitamins from lots of vegetables but our bodies need protein as well so this post will concentrate on protein.
Where I work, I see sometime vegan people don’t know how to take protein also which vegetables has high contain protein.
BENTO INGREDIENTS
Good plant-based sources of protein:
Aburaage – Deep fried tofu pouch.
Chickpea
Tofu
Quinoa flakes
Sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds
Red rice
Black rice
Mushrooms
Eggplant
Tamari
Soy sauce
Boil water and add aburaage to remove excess oil (1-2mins is enough).
Remove the aburaage from the boiling water and let cool.
Wash enoki, trim the edges then cut in half.
Remove excess moisture from aburaage and slice it.
Add 1 tbsp of sesame oil into a pot and turn heat to mid.
Add the enoki and aburaage into the pot and stir.
Add 1 tsp of ginger, 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of sake into the pot than stir.
Add 1 tbsp of soy sauce into the pot and stir.
Turn off the heat and let cool.
Carrot and sultana or raisins salad
Wash and shred the carrot.
Add sultanas or raisins into a bowl.
Add the shredded carrot into the bowl.
Add 1 tsp of apple vinegar, 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of maple syrup, ¼ tsp of cumin, ½ tsp of salt and 1/8 tsp of pepper into the bowl and mix well.
Chickpea & tofu Hamburg (Rissoles)
Wash all the vegetables, chop 65g of onion, 30g of mini capsicum, 50g of shred carrot, and shred 100g of zucchini.
Heat up a frypan over a mid-heat and add 1 tbsp of sesame oil.
Add all the chopped vegetables to the frypan, stir, and cook until the onion is soft. Turn off the heat and let cool.
Add the chickpeas and tofu into a blender and blend well.
Add the blended mix into a bowl.
Add the cooked vegetables into the bowl.
Add ½ tsp of ginger, ½ tsp of salt and 5 tbsp of quinoa flakes into the bowl and combine well.
Heat up a frypan over a mid-heat and add 1.5 tbsp of sesame oil.
Form the chickpea and tofu mix in to 7-8 ball-shaped portions and add to the frypan.
Cook one side until a light brown colour and turn over and do the same.
Add 1 tbsp of sake, 1 tsp of ginger, 1 tsp of sugar to the frypan.
Add 2 tbsp of soy sauce to the frypan and turn over the Hamburg.
Turn off heat.
Eggplant and mushroom KINPIRA
Wash all the vegetables.
Cut eggplant and zucchini in to bite-sized pieces.
Remove the core and slice the mushroom.
Heat up a frypan over a mid heat and add 2 tbsp of sesame oil.
Add the eggplant to the frypan, stir, and cook until half done.
Add mushroom and zucchini to the frypan and stir.
Add 2 tbsp of sake, ¼ tsp of chilli flakes, 1 tbsp of sugar and stir well.
Add 1 tbsp of sunflower seeds and stir.
Add 1.5 tbsp of soy sauce and stir well then turn off the heat and let cool.
Pack all dish to a bento box
Put cooked rice into a bento box.
Add all the cooked ingredients to the bento box.
Video
You can prep before day
Enoki & Aburaage
You can cook it the day before and store in your fridge. It will actually taste better because the aburaage and enoki soak up the sauce.
Carrot and raisin salad
Shred carrot and add raisin then mix in the dressing. The next day the dressing will have soaked into the raisins.
Egg plant, mushroom & zucchini KINPIRA*
Cook all ingredients in sauce. Like the enoki and aburaage the eggplant will soak up the sauce and taste better.
Chickpea & tofu Hamburg (Rissoles)
Using ready-cooked tinned chickpeas is easy but you can also use dry beans, soak 1 day, then cook the next day. Make rissoles before day and next day, just cook with frypan.
Cook rice and freeze in small portions.
Being Japanese, I really love cooked rice, so I always cook a lot and freeze in small portions. Because I am always busy it’s good to always have in the freezer when I need it.
*What is Kinpira
Kinpira is a Japanese cooking method in which root vegetables like burdock, carrot, lotus roots etc, are simmered in a sweet soy sauce. You can use other vegetables but these are most commonly used in Japan.
4 dishes for bento
How much protein do you need in one day?
As you know, vegetarian or vegan people always eat lot of vegetables but you need good proteins as well. For woman at east 40g a day and for men at least 50g. If you exercise often or have a higher-than-average muscle mass then you’ll need more.
0.8g protein per kg body weight
EX 50kg of weight X 0.0008 = 40g
Athletes or highly active people need from 1.4 g of protein per kg body weight.
High protein contains food list
Pumpkin seeds 26g
Almond 20g
Sunflower seeds 20g
Chia seeds 20g
Cashew nuts 19g
Oats 13g
Edamame 11g
Soybeans 15g
Chickpeas 9g
Peanut 25g
*Protein contained in 100g of food
Legume
Yes, plant-based diets can be high protein, but some ingredients contain the 9-essential amino-acids found in animal protein.
Animal protein contains these essential amino-acids and is called a complete protein. Vegetable protein doesn’t usually have these essential amino-acids and is called an incomplete protein but that doesn’t mean amino-acid content is zero. However, some vegetable protein, such as soybeans, quinoa, or buckwheat kennels do contain the 9-essential amino acids so they are a complete protein.
How to ensure good protein intake for Vegans.
Mixing a few kinds of vegetable protein and using complete proteins will ensure an adequate protein intake. Soybeans or legumes don’t contain methionine, but seeds and nuts do. Seeds and nuts don’t contain lysine and threonine, but legumes do so mixing them in a dish will increase the amount of complete protein.
What are the 9 essential amino-acids?
• Valine
• Leucine
• Isoleucine
• Threonine
• Methionine
• Lysine
• Phenylalanine
• Tryptophan
• Histidine
These are used for muscle repair/growth, metabolism, immune functions, etc.
Snack
Have a snack between meals
If each meal doesn’t contain enough nutrients or sometime you don’t have time to eat because of work or whatever reasons, have a snack between meals like nuts or seeds. Theses day you can buy snack packs at supermarkets or make small portions of nuts and seed at home and take with you.
Check my latest video on how to make rice the Japanese way and how to cook multigrain rice.
Bento’s are getting popular all around the world these days so this blog is an introduction to making a bento box for lunch, or a picnic etc. I have stories about bento, when I was at Junior High School we had to take bento box as we didn’t have a cafeteria or tuck shop like western schools. My mother had to wake up early and make my bento for me, my father, and my brother. Her bento style didn’t use colourful foods like reds, greens, or yellows and was mostly just brown. Don’t get me wrong it tasted good but I complained to my mother that other kids lunch box were so colourful and mine wasn’t! She didn’t get upset and just laughed.
BENTO INGREDIENTS
One day, my mum had to go to work really early so my aunty made bento for us. They were so colourful, there was yellow, green, red and it looked great. I was very proud of my bento at school that day so after school I told my mother all about it and said I wished my aunty made me for me every day and again she didn’t get angry just laughed. After that I felt so bad because I maybe hurt her feeling. My parents worked 6 days a week and long hours then she had to take care of my father, my brother and me. She didn’t have time to make a bento pretty but she made them for us every day instead of doing what she wanted to do. I never complained again and felt thankful to my mother. Now I think I should help my mother more.
Another story is one day my mother made bento for my lunch on a day I was off from school. I was cleaning the house because she was at work and I opened all house to change the air. I was washing dishes in the kitchen and my bento was on the dining table when a cat snuck in ate my bento!!!!! I was so upset🤬. I swore at the cat and called him some bad names. Hahahah. Enough bento stories. Thank you for reading.
Now! I am going to talk about what you need for a good bento.
This will give you an idea for choosing the right bento box for you. • Choose the right size for you, if you choose too small, you will be hangry soon or if it’s too big you will not be able to drink coffee after lunch 😭 (This is me). • Choose one you can heat up in with a microwave. • Choose Thermos so you can bring soup for winter or cold salad for summer.
Ides of guideline for bent box size for men 6-8 yeas old 500ml 9-11 600ml 12-40 900ml 50- 800ml
For woman 6-8 500ml 9-11 600ml 12-17 700ml 18-60 600ml
Next tips, • Cook ingredients though completely, especialy proteins like fish, meat, egg. • Remove any excess moisture and using a paper towel. • Cool down your food completely before packing you lunch. • Use soy sauce or vinegar as there will naturally kill bacteria. • When you marinate chicken, marinate extra and make small portions for lunches and freeze them in ziplock bags. • Cut vegetables for whatever you need. • Wrap asparagus with bacon the day before. (You can also use green beans) • Prep salad for your bento before day. (such as cauliflower mayo).
These are some tasty bento ingredients. • Karaage • Egg frittata • Boiled egg • Carrot salad • Stir fry capsicum and bacon • Boiled vegetables. • Frozen mix vegetables, stir fry with a little and salt and pepper (green, yellow and orange colour) • Furikake • Pumpkin • Chili cone cane • Corn butter • Tonkatsu • Frozen mini spring rolls • Fish fingers • Frozen chicken bites
JAPANESE LUNCH BENTO STYLE
There are lots of ideas for bento menus, above is just the tip of the ice burg. I will make more bento idea videos in the future. Also, when I cook rice I make extra and them separate it in to small portions and keep it in the freezer. In the morning, lots of people don’t have time especially mothers, so using frozen products or prepping for bento when you make dinner will make it easier for you. Just cook and pack lunch boxes. Use ice packs or if you have a fridge at work keep your bento in there. Try not to use nuts because lots of kids are allergic to nuts.
*1tbsp of Oil for cooking the salmon, the asparagus and teriyaki chicken.
Instructions
Prep for asparagus wrapped with bacon: wash asparagus and cut in half.
Use long bacon strips to wrap the asparagus and a toothpick to hold it in place.
Prep for Cauliflower curry mayo: cut 80g of cauliflower in to bite sized pieces and boil them until the cauliflower is nice and soft but not mushy.
Cool the cauliflower down and put it into a bowl.
Add 2 tsp of mayonnaise, ⅛ tsp of curry powder, ¼ tsp of salt and ⅛ tsp of pepper into the bowl mix well.
Prep for teriyaki chicken: cut the chicken thigh into bite sized pieces and put them into a bowl.
Add ½ tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of sake, and 1 tsp of sugar into the bowl and marinate the chicken.
Prep for Tamagoyaki: crack 3 egg into a bowl and add ½ tsp of dashi powder, ½ tsp of soy sauce, 1 tsp of sake, ½ tsp of sugar and ⅛ tsp of salt into the bowl and mix well.
Add the 1 tbsp of oil into a bowl and soak the paper towel.
Using a Tamagoyaki pan (which you can buy from Daiso), heat up the pan to mid heat and with our oil-soaked lightly coat the surface. Check the temp is correct with a small drop of egg. If it sizzles you’re good to go.
Pour the ⅓ of the egg mixture into the pan and move the pan to spread the egg mixture evenly. Break any bubbles with the end of a chop stick.
When the egg’s surface starts to firm up, fold and push the egg into edge of pan.
Spread the oil again then pour another ⅓ of the egg mixture into empty space in the pan.
Lift the already folded egg up with chop stick and let the egg mixture run under it.
Break any bubbles again, cook until it starts to firm up again then fold and push to the end of the pan.
Repeat this process with the last of the egg mixture.
Turn off the heat and place the Tamagoyaki on a board to cool down.
Cooking our prepped ingredients: heat up a fry pan and add 1 tbsp of oil over a mid-heat.
First, starting cook the salmon and add ¼ tsp of salt.
Next add the teriyaki chicken in to the same fry pan.
Next add the asparagus.
Check the salmon and turn it over. Also check the teriyaki chicken and the asparagus.
Cook them through and turn off heat.
Put cooked rice and all cooked ingredients to a bento box.
