It has grown on me!

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Yoshinoya Frozen Beef Bowl Deal

Yoshinoya Frozen Beef with Onion in Sauce

Yoshinoya frozen beef bowl pack is usually $3.99 but was on sale for $2.99 at Mitsuwa this week! As I mentioned in my previous entry, I was really impressed at this product because it tastes just as delicious as one at a Yoshinoya restaurant. :) Today, my husband and I had Yoshinoya beef bowls for quick and easy lunch. Just microwaved it for 2 minutes and served it on rice. I highly recommend you to try this one if you like Japanese beef bowl. :)

Yoshinoya Beef Bowl

We also had Japanese cucumber pickles which I made last night. :)

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

       These are my entries you might like.

■How to Make Tamago Kake Gohan - Raw Egg on Rice

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

Friday, April 29, 2016

A Package from My Mother-In-Law in Japan

Yesterday, my husband and I received this package from my mother-in-law who lives in Japan. She has periodically sent Japanese foods from Japan since we moved to the U.S. 8 years ago. Today, I'm going to share with you what she sent for us.

A Package from Japan

This is takanazuke (たかな漬/高菜漬け), Japanese mustard leaf pickles. Because my hometown is Fukuoka, where is famous for takanazuke in Japan, my late grandmother used to make one from scratch when I was child. Her homemade takanazuke was always in my kitchen back then. I really loved her savory takanazuke. :) When I visited my mother-in-law in Japan two years ago, I told her that how much I love takanazuke. Since then, she has always put takanazuke in her package for us. I'll cook takanazuke soon. You can check out my previous entry, How to Prepare Takanazuke, Japanese Mustard Leaf Pickles.

Tkanazuke

This is Nissin Chicken Ramen, instant ramen noodles. This instant ramen doesn't need to be cooked on a stove. Just place the noodles in bowl, and add hot water. Cover the lid (or a plate) and wait for 3 minutes. It's very easy and simple. This has been one of my favorite Japanese instant noodles since I was child. According to Wikipedia, Nissin Chikin Ramen (日清チキンラーメン) is a noodle brand and the first marketed brand of Japanese instant noodles produced by Nissin Foods since 1958.

Nissin Chicken Ramen

This is Shiokonbu (塩こんぶ), salted dried kelp. This is perfect for seasoning of rice balls and making Japanese pickles.

Kurakon Shiokonbu

This is Mitsukan Omusubi Yama (ミツカンおむすび山), seasoning for rice ball. Specifically, this is sakura mochi flavor (桜もち風味), which is spring limited edition. Sakura means cherry blossom in Japanese. I have tried so many Omusubi Yama series but never tried sakura mochi flavor before! The photo looks like sekihan (赤飯), steamed sticky rice with adzuki beans, though.

Mitsukan Omusubi Yama

My mother-in-law often adds this nori, dried laver, for rice ball in her package.

Nori

This is tsukudani furikake, seasoning for steamed rice. This is made of bonito flakes and sea lettuce.

Tukudani Furikake

This is Fueru Wakame Chan (ふえるわかめちゃん), dried seaweeds. Fueru (ふえる) means growing or increasing in Japanese, so the dried seaweed becomes bigger by soaking water. I'll use this wakame for making miso soup.

Fueru Wakame Chan

This is a pack of kokuto ame (黒糖飴). Kokuto (黒糖) means unrefined brown sugar in Japanese, and ame (飴/あめ) means a candy. Kokutou candies are my husband and my father-in-law's favorite candies. :)

Kokuto Ame

These are yokan (ようかん/羊羹), Japanese traditional sweets made of red beans. These are also my husband's all-time favorite sweets.

Yokan

This is Fukutarou Menbei, mentaiko flavored Japanese cracker. Fukutarou is one of the most famous mentaiko manufacture. Because Fukuoka is also famous for mentaiko, it reminds me of my hometown.

Fukutarou Menbei

This is a pack of high-fiber cookies. The cookies were made of oat bran.

This time, she sent this adorable owl basket. :)

       These are also my entries you might like.

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipes.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Seiwa - New Japanese Supermarket in Costa Mesa

Seiwa in Costa Mesa

Last weekend, my husband and I went to Costa Mesa. After shopping at Tokyo Central, we headed toward Seiwa, a new Japanese supermarket, which is located a few minutes drive away from Tokyo Central. They just opened at a former Fresh & Easy store this month. It was my first time to go to Seiwa, and I was pretty impressed at their pricing. Although Seiwa sells pretty limited selection of products compared to other Japanese supermarkets, but they sell Japanese products at very reasonable prices. I thought some of them were as inexpensive as ones in Japan! Actually, I really love this store. :) Today, I'm going to share what they sell with you.

Ajinomoto Japanese mayonnaise was pretty reasonable! Kewpie mayonnaise is pretty well known by people who love Japanese products in the U.S., but Ajinomoto mayonnaise is actually as popular as Kewpie one in Japan. Indeed, I don't know a difference in taste between Ajinomoto one and Kewpie one. Kewpie is the longest-selling Japanese mayonnaise, and Ajinomoto says that they make mayonnaise from only high quality ingredients.

Ajinomoto Mayonnaise

Hello Kitty making okonomiyaki was pictured on the packages. I am not big fan of Hello Kitty, but I couldn't resist buying the adorable mayonnaise. :)

Ajinomoto Mayonnaise

They were also selling huge jars of Kewpie mayonnaise.

I found they were selling okara (おから), which is a by-product from tofu and soy milk production. I just bought the same one at double price at Tokyo Central! I should have bought it here.

Natto (納豆), one of my favorite food, was also inexpensive!

They were selling so many products of Japanese sweet bean paste, which is called anko (あんこ) in Japanese.

KitKat Matcha Green Tea Flavor was also inexpensive!

There were more of matcha chocolate products!

As I mentioned in my previous entry, My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets and Snacks, Boubon Alfort is my favorite Japanese chocolate snacks. We bought one because of the price. :)

Many Japanese chocolate products were on sale there.

Bourbon Puchi Series were also pretty inexpensive! As I mentioned in my previous entry, Puchi Series by Bourbon - Japanese Sweets and Snacks Haul, these are adorable Japanese sweets and snacks.

These bears are iconic characters of Puchi Series.

I heard Myojo Chukazanmai noodles are very popular in Japan. I also mentioned it in my previous entry, Hiyashi Chuka, Japanese Summer Cold Noodles. We bought two of them. :)

Meiji Karl snacks are also my all-time favorite snacks. These were the lowest price I've ever seen in the U.S.! It's pretty hard to find these snacks at this price even in Japan.

Chirashi sushi ingredients were also as inexpensive as ones in Japan!

As I mentioned in my Japanese snack haul entry, when we visit Japan, we always purchase Umaibo snacks because they are always very inexpensive and have so many flavors we can choose from. These sets of Umaibo were also inexpensive, but each pack contained only one flavor. If these had been all different flavors, I would have purchased them.

Umaibo

     Now, Japanese yen currency is pretty low compared to 6 years ago. (That's why more and more tourists have visited Japan in recent years.) I think that's why Seiwa can sell Japanese products at these price ranges. I don't know if they continue to sell these at such a low prices. Because of the prices, I felt like as if I were in Japan actually. I will definitely go back this Japanese supermarket if I have a chance to go to Costa Mesa next time. :)

Seiwa
3151 Harbor Blvd
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

     My entries related to Japanese sweets and snacks can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japanese%20sweets%20and%20snacks

      My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

     These are also my entries you might like.
■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

■Top 10 Most Popular Japanese Foods

■My Top 15 Must Eat Foods in Japan - My Favorite Japanese Foods

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

■My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

■The Best Japanese Beauty Products at Mitsuwa, a Japanese Supermarket

■Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Daiso

■How to Make Japanese Deep Fried Chicken, Kara-Age

■How to Cook Japanese Curry

■How to Cook Miso Soup

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Interesting Japanese Beauty Products at Tokyo Central

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I went to Tokyo Central in Costa Mesa in the U.S. last weekend. This Japanese supermarket used to be Marukai supermarket, but Don Quijote, one of the most famous discount chain stores in Japan, purchased Marukai, and they opened Tokyo Central in 2013. When I lived in Japan, my husband and I sometimes went to Don Quijote which located near our previous home in Osaka. I heard that Don Quijote branches in Japan are also very popular for tourists because they sell varieties of products at reasonable prices, so tourists buy so many Japanese beauty products, Zojirushi stainless steel mugs, over counter medicines and etc for souvenirs there. If you are planning on visiting Japan, you should check Don Quijote there. Their branches are every where in Japan now.

Anyway, I would like to share with you interesting Japanese beauty products selling at Tokyo Central, one of stores of Don Quijote.

Tokyo Central

These unique facial mask sheets have been pretty popular in Japan in recent years. These must be very fun to put on when you sleep over with friends. When you put Kabuki Face Mask on your face, you look like a kabuki actor. :)

Facial Mask Sheets

This Kyojin Face Pack is the most popular one. :) Of course, they moisturize your face well. By the way, Shingeki no Kyojin is one of popular Japanese animations now. I have never watched it but seen some Kyojin products on TV.

Facial Mask Sheets

There were more unique facial mask sheets!

Facial Mask Sheets

This is a Geisha facial mask.

Pure Smile Geisha Facial Mask

This is a cat facial mask.

Pure Smile Cat Facial Mask

However, I prefer LuLuLu facial mask sheets. As I mentioned in my previous entry, the Most Popular Facial Sheet Masks in Japan, LuLuLun facial sheet mask series have been popular in Japan.

LuLuLu Facial Mask Sheets

LuLuLu Facial Mask Sheet

This time, I purchased a konjac sponge which I always wanted to buy in Japan. You might know that Konjac, as known as konnyaku and yam cake, is made of konnyaku potato. I sometimes cook healthy Japanese konjac dishes, but I have never used konjac as a beauty product before. Konjac sponges are also getting known in the U.S. and some konjac sponge products have many great reviews on Amazon US. I will review this konjac sponge through my blog some day. :)