Sauces and Marinades with a Taste of Orient.

Or Tomkatsu, Teriyaki, Hoisin and Company !

Today, we're going to cook again. Not quite cook, just mix the favourite Japanese Sauces !

Japan cuisine, as you probably already know is rich in mischievous sauces, so let's prepare my 3 favourites : )

We'll start with Teriyaki Sauce/Marinade.

Well, you can either buy it (in  your favourite Chinese grocery shop), or basically prepare your own tasty home-made Teriyaki !!!

INGREDIENTS for the Teriyaki:

50 ml ........... Soy sauce
25 ml ........... Saké
25 ml ........... Mirin
6 g ............... Brown sugar
1.5 cm ......... Ginger root
1 .................. Spring onion

INSTRUCTIONS to have a delicious Teriyaki:

- Mix together the soy sauce, saké, mirin, brown sugar, chopped fresh ginger root and chopped spring onion
- Enjoy the taste
- Or mix the sauce with other ingredients to create delicious stir-fries, salads or soups

Now. let's move on with Tonkatsu ! : ) Either buy or go on !!!

INGREDIENTS to create Tonkatsu:

30 ml ................. Ketchup
12 ml ..................Worcester sauce
12 ml ................. Soy sauce
12 ml ................. Mustard
6 ml ................... Saké, or other Rice wine
6 ml ................... Rice wine vinegar
1.5 g .................. Garlic powder
3 pieces ............. Cloves
6 g ..................... Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS to have a wonderful Tonkatsu:

- Mix ketchup, worcester sauce, mustard, soy sauce, saké and rice wine vinegar
- Add garlic, sugar and ground cloves
- Mix well
- Enjoy the taste !

Again, it's up to you whether you want to make your own Hoisin sauce, or just buy some in the nearest (Chinashop...I love that word !) In case you go for the first option, do not forget to buy...

INGREDIENTS for extraordinary Hoisin:

450 ml ............ Wine vinegar
2 cloves .......... Garlic
6 ml ................ Soy sauce
6 g .................. All-purpose flour
6 g .................. Sugar
1.5 g ............... Chilli powder
1.5 g ............... Salt

INSTRUCTIONS to prepare Hoisin:

- Boil wine winegar, soy sauce, salt and chilli
- Add pressed garlic
- Reduce
- Thicken with the flour
- Pour into glass jars (bottles, whatever you have)

I tell you, it's up to you, whether you make your own Japanese sauces at home, or whether you buy them ready-made in a nearby chinese shop : )
Just let me recommend - home - made is da best !!!

Yours N.

Bengal Tigers, April Stevens & My Desktop defile.

Greetings, My Beloved Asian Brothers and Sisters !
Today I will talk a bit about the tigers !
You may say, that tigers are not quite a chinese thingy, you can find tigers in India or Siberia as well, but I will (not) purely concentrate (not) only on those ones that dwell in China !

Tigers in China are to be found especially in the southern region (if talking about the wild nature) and, obviously, everywhere around the country ( in the ZOOs) : )
What is special about the chinese tigers is that they look just perfect ! Beautiful skinny striped monsters ! (Unlike their Siberian brothers, which are just too fluffy, which makes them look rather "fatter"...)
Tigers are just beautiful animals !!!!!!!! Beware to say anything else, whenever you talk to meh !!!! Ha-ha !

Whenever I talk about the tigers, the first thing that will pop up in my mind is probably the song by April Stevens - Teach me tiger... I really do not know why, but still.

Amazing, isn't it ?! : )

Anyways, if talking about China and Tigers, I cannot omit the symbolism of the tiger (which, by the way, can be not only found in wild nature and ZOOs, but also in the Chinese Horoscope ! Wow !). The Tiger symbolizes power, energy, royalty, protection, generosity, illumination and/or generosity. Tiger is also a symbol of yang energy (we'll discuss Ying and Yang some other day, I promise).
Totally a King (of the Jungle !).

And - as for the last point I want to make today - I need to tell you a secret !
I also keep a little fluffy darling tiger as a desktop on my notie : )
Who wondered, raise up your hand !
I cannot see you ...

This is (was) my desktop ! Brilliant ! Perfect ! Fantastic !
Ain't that fluffy monster just wonderful ?!
You can comment, but do not dare to say it is not !
...you know, I just love tigerrrrs !

RAWWWWRRRRR !

Yours N.

Everybody lives in a Chinatown !

And I'm all truthful eventhough it doesn't seem so, at least, not at first sight !
What is actually a Chinatown ? According to Wi-ki-pe-dia: "... a Chinatown is a certain type of ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people". But not necessarily !
I bet you have already spotted some "enclave of overseas Chinese people" even in your hometown. And I bet you have came across all those chinashops, chinese restaurants, grocery stores or fast foods there where you live. All packed in chinese, of course !
Let's say you concentrate just on these and nthing else... Let's say so !
Doesn't it feel like living in a Chinatown ?

This is the photo of a Chinatown in London. But you do not really need to be surrounded by an environment like this to feel like being in a Chinatown !
Believe me, I beg you !!!!!!!!!!!!

 I will show you what Košice (the second biggest city ? ha-ha ! town located in the east of Slovakia) looks like: Here we go !

Beautiful ? Yeah ! Magickal ? Sure it is ! But Chinese ? Not quite...
Eventhough it doesn't really look like a Chinatown, (I'm there at the moment, by the way, in Košice, I mean) I really feel like living in One of them !!!
You may wonder why...

I'll show you !

This is on the outside:

Wee ! We have a sushi bar in here !

And this is in the inside:

Oh ! Such delicacies ! Who could resist, huh ??? : )

It's not just because of one f...ing damned sushi bar... there's (far) more to it ! We have Orient grocery store, we have something called "Exotic Gifts" ( a chinashop anyway !) a couple of fast-foods and that is actually the reason to proclaim myself being a citizen of A REAL CHINATOWN !

Think about it for a while ... and concentrate well. Ain't you just the same like my sexy self ?
Don't you feel like a citizen of A REALCHINATOWN as well ?

Feel free to tell me !

Yours N.

My China-style rice - Soyauce rice recipe.

Now let's start cooking !
Here is one of my favourite recipes - I made-up this Soyauce rice when I was bored (and hungry and playing with chopsticks : )
Let's go on !

INGREDIENTS you will need to create this delicacy:

150 g ......... Rice
10 ml ......... Soy sauce
10 g ........... Peanuts
6 g ............. Sugar
5 ml ........... Rice vinegar
dash ........... Black pepper
1/2 clove .... Garlic
300 ml ........ Water

INSTRUCTIONS you need to follow to taste the Soyauce rice:

- Cook the rice in the water
- Let it cool
- Mix soy sauce, ground peanuts, sugar, rice vinegar, ground black pepper and pressed garlic
- Combine with rice
- Serve a pile of Soyauce rice in a dish or form into balls
- Serve hot or cold
- Now prepare your beautiful chopsticks and enjoy !

I believe you're all about to try this delicacy right now !
It is a magnificent chinese taste of the chinese food that makes this dish a seventh wonder : )
Soooo.... let's get it started and let's enjoy the best cuisine in the world !!!

Yours N.

A Pair Of Mandarin Ducks.

A pair of mandarin ducks, or Tao Hua Yun, symbolizes love, faithfulness and harmony of a healthy relationship. According to Feng-shui you should keep this talisman somewhere around or above your bed for the purpose of mantaining a good relationship with the One you love.

Truth to say, that Feng-shui teaches that objects in pairs strengthen your love in general, whether it is ducks, dolphins or butterflies or anything else. On the other hand impaired objects make your relationship status worse day by day.
What does that mean ? Whenever you go shopping, buy two ! : ) (I apply this ever since, lately I bought two scarves, two bottles of juice and two cans of Wasabi peas, they're absolutely fantastic, but I will tell you about that some other day.
To get back to mandarin ducks, as I found out during my further investigations (ha-ha ! sounds so sophisticated, but I still could have done that better and say research, huh  : ), they should be best located in the southwest or northwest corner of your house, flat, room, lair, mousehole or whatever you live in.(I'm fighting a compulsion to put another beautiful picture in this place...)

 

Ok ! I failed !
Anyway, note the red ribbon with the Chinese knot ! It is very important, that the ducks are equipped with this stuff. And yes, the ribbon MUST be red and yes, the knot MUST be Chinese. So stop tying up that threads you have in your hands and run to your favourite chinashop ! Buy, grab or steal, what you need (murders of the shop-assisstants are not allowed).
Tao Hua Yun is not only a fresh and beautiful decoration for your dwelling, but also a little big helper in the matters of your relationship ! At least, they say so...
Whether it really works or not I cannot tell, well, not at the moment. I'm just on my way to the chinashop and you can guess what I am going to buy...
BINGO ! A pair of mandarin ducks !
Just cannot forget "always buy two"...

Yours N.

Let Me Introduce myself !

                                      Welcome to my blog ! I hope you like it : )
 My name is Nina. I was born on December 26th 1989 and I am a japano-chino maniac ! I love everything connected with japanese and chinese culture - from language, literature, art, theatre through myths, legends, movies through history, calligraphy, music to design, clothes and cuisine. Just everything ! My aim is to put this mess on this blog and spread my mania further by infecting YOU ! Yea, I mean YOU !!!
Status: You've been just infected by japanochinofilia at the moment of hitting My Orient Express.
Put up with that, my beloved brothers and sisters ! : )

Yours N.