Taiko Japanese Drum Performance

Taiko Japanese Drum performance in action by Asute Club.

We had this opportunity to watch the performance during one of our Sakura Club sessions. Initially we got to watch them, then we were given the chance to experience playing it as well. It was fun watching them, absolutely not boring as when i used to watch the older men played 'rebana' back home in Kelantan. In Taiko, they dance while hitting the drum, and they move in unison! I loved watching them hitting the drum-highly energized though they were actually old uncles and aunties playing them!

Toyota Shi Stadium

This is Toyota Stadium that we went to for an evening drive two Sundays ago...They had a car exhibition at that time. When we arrived, they were actually closing already so there was nothing much to see apart from the stadium itself! Not that I am into cars so much, only that we had nothing to do..! We just bought some oranges and ate them at a bench around the stadium while enjoying the view...

Chicken Cashewnut

Ingredients

250g chicken breast meat, cubed 10 dried chillies, seeded and halved 1 onion, quartered 1/2 green capsicum, cubed 100g cashewnuts, deep-fried 2 tbsp oil 2 inches ginger, finely shredded Marinade for chicken: 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce 1/2 tsp sugar 1/4 tsp pepper 1/2 tbsp sesame oil 1/2 an egg white Sauce (combine): 1 tbsp Premium oyster sauce 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp cooking wine 1/2 tsp sugar or to taste 1 tsp sesame oil 1/4 tsp salt or to taste 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce 2 tbsp water Thickening (combine): 1/2 tsp corn flour 1 tbsp water Method Marinate chicken for 20-30 minutes. Shallow fry chicken until fragrant and golden. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a wok, sautee shredded ginger and fry dried chillies for 30 seconds. Add in the rest of the ingredients and the pre-fried chicken. Stir-fry briskly, then add thickening. Sprinkle with a dash of sesame oil and mix in cashewnuts before dishing up to serve.

This is what I cooked this morning for the ICT wives party at the Ekaku Apartment Hall. It was teamwork with Kak Mimi in charged of cooking rice, Ain cooked tomyam, Zaharah made stir fried vegetables and Zura did bubur kacang hijau for dessert.

For the past one week..

For the past one week, we've been to our Nihon go class as usual, (this is Umair engrossed listening to sensei in class...) and an open house in Nagoya organized by Abang Lan, a Phd student & family. It was a great get together with the rest of the Malaysians living in Nagoya. Today we had another Welcome & Farewell Party for the ICT wives. I don't have anything much to say really, except from it was nice not having to cook once in a while and enjoying food laid out to us! I just cooked today though for the ICT wives party as it was a pot luck kind of party. Umair was quite a handfull today, so I didn't take as much pictures as I wanted to. The Indian ladies did a farewell dance for us. They were really good actually. With one of them dancing out like straight from a Bollywood movie!

Toyota Shi no Char Udon

Hihihi, I am currently crazy about Char Kuey Teow, but since I am running out of the flat noodles, I used Udon (Japanese noodles) instead. Put in some asari as well to replace the kerang that is not available here. So, this is my modified version of Penang Char Kuey Teow...
The Toyota Shi no Char Udon!

Penang Char Kuey Teow

After a year of staying here in Japan, I have finally found the kuey teow. Did that for dinner last night...,Nizam invited Ah Kong over for dinner, and he ate 3 plate full of this! It was so wonderful to see him enjoying the food that I cooked. Nizam even took it for his packed lunch this morning-left me nothing for breakfast!
I didn't have any kerang with me, I just put in big prawns instead. It turned out to be really good all the same!
So for all those kuey teow lovers, this is a must try recipe!
Ingredients:

1. Prawns (don't take away the skin, the beard or the tail)
2. Kuey Teow (flat noodles, or udon will do!)
3. Beansprout
4. Daun kucai
5. Black pepper -optional
6. Kerang
7. Eggs
   

To make the soy sauce:

1. Prawn Stock
2. Nampla (fish sauce)
3. Gula Melaka
4. Kicap Masin
5. Kicap Manis
6. Oyster Sauce

(bring everything to a boil)

To make chilly paste:

1. Prawn (deshelled)
2. dried chilly paste
3. garlic
4. green onion
5. Salt and Sugar to taste
6. a little oil

Blend everything together. Heat oil in a wok and fry the blended ingredients for 30seconds till it turned out to be pasty like chilly boh.

Method:
Heat oil in a wok, and fry in prawns with skin and tail intact till cooked.
Add in the prepared chilly paste and soy sauce.
Put in Kuey Teow, toss and turn, before adding in the vegetables.
Crack an egg, and mix in.
Ready to be served.


Easy!!!

Nagoya University Raya Open House

Yesterday we were invited to a Raya open house organized by Malaysian students in Nagoya University. There were about a hundred of us all together at the event. It was held at
the International House lobby, Nagoya Institute of Technology. Thanks to the navigator, it was easy to find the place. After fetching the Kosen students from the railway station nearby our place, we convoyed to Nagoya with Mus and Seifhul. Hamidi and family went to Osaka, so they didn't join us. At the open house, they served us with Lontong, Soto, Satay, Mee Rebus, Mee Goreng, Nasi Impit and Kuah Kacang. What I liked most was their Raya Cookies..!!! I think I ate most of the cookies served instead of the dishes that was laid on the table!
We had a great time meeting with some of the other Malays as well. They all came from all around Nagoya.

Assam Fish Curry

I've been wanting to make this dish ever so long, but I didn't have any daun kesum so I had to KIV this project until Kak Mimi gave me some before she went back for Raya (Thank You Kak!). I made this for buka puasa on the last day of Ramadhan. This recipe is actually from Amy Beh's conundrums that I tried years ago when I was a practicing Veterinarian. On days that I didn't have cases, that's what I used to do-cutting out her recipes from the papers and compile! Nizam especially love this dish if it was cooked with Stingray.


Ingredients:-

1. 1kg mackerel (ikan kembong)
2. 250g ladies fingers
3. 1 tomatoe, quartered
4. 3 sprigs polygonum leaves (daun kesum)
5. 4 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 500ml water
6. 1 wild ginger bud, halve and smash stem
7. 2 pieces of tamarind skin
8. 5 tbsp oil

Ground Ingredients:-

1. 12 shallots
2. 8 fresh red chillies (i used homemade dried chilly paste)
3. 4 slices galangal
4. 1 cm fresh turmeric
5. 2 tsp fish curry
6. 2cm square belacan
7. 2 stalks lemon grass

Seasoning:-

1. 3/4-1 tsp sugar
2. 1/2-1 tsp salt
3. 1 tbsp chicken stock granule

Method
Heat oil in a deep saucepan and sauté ground ingredients and wild ginger bud halves and polygonum leaves until aromatic and the oil rises.

Add asam jawa juice and bring to the boil. Add ladies fingers, dried tamarind skin and simmer for 8-10 minutes. Put in mackerel and cook for 10 minutes. Add tomato and adjust seasoning to taste. Dish out and serve with hot plain rice immediately.

Satay

Ingredients:-

1. 1 kg chicken/beef fillet ~ cut into 2.5cm x 2.5cm pieces
2. 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3. 4 tablespoons sugar
4. 2 tablespoons honey
5. 2 tablespoons cooking oil
6. satay sticks

extra oil and lemon grass for basting

To blend :

1. 3 shallots
   
2. 2 candlenuts
   
3. 2 cloves of garlic
4. 3 cm fresh tumeric or 2 teaspoons tumeric powder
5. 4 cm ginger
6. 2 lemon grass
7. 4 cm galangal (lengkuas)
8. 1 tablespoons corriander seed }
9. 1 teaspoon fennel seed (jintan manis) } fry without oil over low heat till fragrant
10. 1 teaspoon cummin seed (jintan putih) }

Method :

1. Mix sugar, honey, cooking oil and salt into the blended ingredients to form a paste.
2. Rub paste mixture into the diced chicken or beef and leave it to marinate for 3 hours.
3. Thread seasoned meat on to satay sticks.
4. Grill over char- coal fire or under hot grill . Baste with oil and water mixture to keep meat moist.
5. Serve with cucumber, onion cut into wedeges, kuah kacang and nasi impit.

Raya Day!!!

Just finished reading MT while sipping a cuppa of hot MILO. RPK sent this Raya card from his detention center...,and we are here celebarating with our loved ones. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Maaf Zahir & Batin to you too Pete! May God's Blessings Ever be with you and your family on this day and always!!! Please be strong and have faith...,our thoughts and prayers are with you..!!!

Umair is stilll sleeping and Nizam is in Toyota shi for solat Aidulfitri. I had my bath and scrubbed the satay grilling tray from last night. It is now 9.44am and am waiting for Umair to get up.

This is our second Raya that we are celebrating here. For this year I made 2 pairs of baju melayu each for my boys. It was a surprise Raya gift for them. Nizam was broadly smiling no doubt! As for myself, I wore a a new baju kurung given to me by Kak Lin...a niece in Sabah-THANK YOU KAK!!! A pretty brown and purple combination!

This time around, we are celebrating at Seifhul's place in Obayashi. We reached there at 11am. The 3 Kosen students were already there. Raya mood was definitely in the air what with the dining table was prettily filled with a vase of colourful flowers, bottles of Raya Cookies (Jam Tarts, London Almond, Cornflakes cookies, Pistachio cookies and biskut gajus), lontong, nasi impit, mee hoon goreng and we quickly add on with our very own home made satay. Among the ICT's, we were the first to have arrived. Next was Hamidi's family. They brought with them rendang daging and lemang. The last one was Mus's family who brought kuah kacang and ayam percik to add on to the feast. Sany brought a Raya cake. The table was definitely set for the celebration! I think all of us made a great team really, as all of the main Raya dish was there. After some group picture taking session just outside the house (it was actually right in front of a graveyard!),we started digging in for the food!!! We spent the whole day at Seifhul's place and came back only at 8.30 at night after playing with some fire crackers. Some Japanese came to join us to play with the hanabi. For dinner, we had 5 additional guests with Nizam's friends from Pakistan and Thailand came to join us. All in all, we had great fun today-celebrating 1st syawal in Toyota Shi!!!