It has grown on me!: 06/2023

Thursday, June 29, 2023

How to Cook Easy Pork Fried Rice

Last month, I cooked this pork fried rice. It's very easy to cook and had savory flavor with soy sauce and bonito flakes. I really like this recipe!

Actually, I found this recipe from Japanese YouTube video about five years ago. The famous Chinese restaurant chef, Miyuki Igarashi (五十嵐美幸), is teaching how to cook easy fried rice in this video. When I tried this recipe for my first time, I was surprised at how easy it is to make delicious fried rice. Since then, I've sometimes cooked this fried rice. If you love fried rice, you should try this recipe.

How to Cook Easy Pork Fried Rice

Ingredients for 2 Servings

2 Servings of Cooked White Rice

2 Eggs

1 Tablespoon of Sesame Seed Oil

1/2 lb of Pork (Minced or Ground)

One 3g-Pack of Katsuobushi, Dried Bonito Flakes

3 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce

4 Green Onions (Sliced)

1. Mix white rice and eggs lightly.

2. Heat oil in a large pan over high heat, and cook the pork until it's fully cooked.

3. Add katsuobushi and stir.

4. Add soy sauce and stir until it reduces a liquid.

5. Add the mixture of white rice and egg. Stir-fry it until egg is fully cooked and fried rice is not sticky.

6. Add green onions and stir.

7. Serve and enjoy!

These are also my entries you might like.

■How to Cook Best Chicken Teriyaki

■How to Cook Quick and Easy Fluffy Mushroom Omelettes

■ICHIRAN Instant Ramen - The Best Instant Ramen from Popular Japanese Ramen Restaurant (How We Cooked!)

■All About Marutai Kyushu Local Ramen! Must-Try Japanese Instant Ramen

■Myojo Chukazanmai Ryanmen - The Best Hiyashi Chuka Instant Noodles

■Top 3 My Favorite Ramen From Marutai Kyushu Ramen Series

■How to Cook Yakisoba with Instant Noodles, Sapporo Ichiban Chow Mein

■How to Cook Omurice, a Japanese Omelette Stuffed with Rice (Cook Like a Pro!)

■How to Make An Easy Egg Toast (Japanese Sliced Bread + Japanese Mayonnaise = Deliciousness)

■Don Quijote (Donki) Haul - What He Got in Japan

■What He Got at Drugstore in Japan - Haul

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

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

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

■How to Cook Miso Soup

■8 Interesting Japanese Kitchen Gadgets!

My entries related to cooking can be seen here.

My entries related to my favorite recipes can be seen here.

My entries related to foods my husband cooked can be seen here.

My entries related to Japanese noodles can be seen here.

My entries related to Japan Haul can be seen here.

My entries related to Best Japanese Beauty Products can be seen here.

My entries related to Japan can be seen here.

★You can find my recipe entries through my Pinterest.

Thursday, June 22, 2023

【Hike】Black Star Canyon Falls Trail in Silverado

On April 8th, my husband and I decided to go to Black Star Canyon Falls for hiking. I found this trail, Black Star Canyon Falls Trail, on AllTrails App, which is my favorite app for hiking. Because we had a lot of rain in Southern California this rainy season, waterfalls had a lot of water and were flowing beautifully. If you live in Southern California and love hikes, you should try Black Star Canyon Falls at least once in your lifetime. It was the most strenuous hike I've tried this year.

Tips for Walking on Black Star Canyon Falls Trail.
・Apply sunscreen on entire body.
・Wear sunglasses and hat with high UPF.
・Drink water often.
・You can bring your dog but it's very difficult to climb up rocks with a dog.
・It's a strenuous hike.

・Bring water shoes. (You need to walk in the river.)

・Wear long pants and watch out for poison oaks.

My Black Star Canyon Falls Trail Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App)

When I go hiking, I use Under Armour MapMyWalk App to track my walk.

My Black Star Canyon Falls Trail Walking Summary (UA MapMyWalk App)

Last year, I also started using AllTrails App. It's easy to use and helped me to not get lost. In addition, it's easy to find new hiking trails, and you can save your activities on AllTrails App. If you love hiking, you should try this app. It makes your hiking more enjoyable.

My Black Star Canyon Falls Trail Walking Summary (All Trails App)

Parking

There are a lot of free parking spaces along the street of Black Star Canyon Road. However, this trail is very popular, so if you would like to park near the trailhead, you should be here in the early morning. Otherwise, you probably have to park too far from there.

Black Star Canyon Road

We arrived here around 7 a.m. on Saturday. Many people had started walking already that day. We parked about 300 feet away from the trailhead.

Trailhead

Trail Hours

There is no sign for trail hour. This trail is open year-round, but the best time to visit the waterfall is after a rain.

Black Star Canyon Falls Trail

There was the mountain lion warning sign at the trailhead of Black Star Canyon. In Orange County, mountain lions can be found in many cities. Therefore you should know what to do if you encounter a mountain lion before you go hiking in the mountains in Orange County.

Black Star Canyon Falls Trail

Black Star Canyon Road

Trailhead

First, we started walking on Black Star Canyon Road.

It was a flat dirt road and very easy.

Sadly, you will see some graffiti during this hike.

There were graffiti on the bridge.

After walking on Black Star Canyon Road for 2 miles or so, you will see the sign of Black Star Canyon Falls. Then, go down to the right. We hiked the steep hill down to get to Black Star Creek.

Black Star Creek

When we got to the creek, we changed our shoes to water shoes because this trail requires to walk in the water a lot. The trail is muddy because many people walked with wet shoes, so you need to have good shoes with grip for this slippery dirt and rocky path. I don't recommend flip flops, sandals nor crocs for this trail.

Sometimes, it was difficult to see where the trail was. Basically, we needed to go up the river.

There was graffiti on the large rock. Indeed, I saw that some people had spray cans in their pocket and noticed something like spray paint smell.

We sometimes needed to walk on an extremely narrow path.

We also walked in the cold water.

We also needed to climb the rocks many times to get to the waterfalls. I was impressed at that some people were climbing rocks with their dogs being kept on leash. It must be very hard to do so.

Black Star Canyon Falls

Black Star Canyon Falls

We finally got to the waterfalls. It had a plenty of water and was flowing gracefully. It was so refreshing. We saw that a few people took the risk and tried to climb up to the tunnel.

We enjoyed having some snacks and water there while watching the waterfalls.

Then, we started going back to the trail, and it was physically demanding because my legs were already very tired after climbing a lot of rocks. The trail got muddier after many people walking on wet shoes. In my way back, the trail was more crowded. I saw many hikers, and it was sometimes a little difficult to pass other hikers around large rocks and in the river.

We finally went back to the parking lot. It was 7.5 miles and took us 4.5 hours to complete this hike. It was the hardest hike I've ever had in the U.S. My legs were sore from this hike for a few days.

It was our first time to see waterfalls in the U.S. We were glad to be able to see the beautiful waterfalls after having a lot of rain in Southern California. If you are planing on trying Black Star Canyon Falls trail, go here in winter or spring for waterfalls flowing and don't forget to bring good shoes with grip. I recommend water shoes for walking in the river.

If you like Orange County hikes, you can check out my previous entries related to hike I tried from the book, 50 Hikes in Orange County.

1. San Gabriel River to Turtle Overlook (Long Beach/Seal Beach)

2. Dana Point Headlands (Dana Point)

3. Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve (Huntington Beach)

4. Bayview Trail (Newport Beach)

5. Crystal Cove Tide Pools (Newport Beach)

6. Aliso Peak (Laguna Niguel)

7. Pecten Reef Loop (Aliso Viejo)

8. Bommer Canyon (Irvine)

9. Laurel Loop (Laguna Beach)

10. Mariposa Trail Loop (Laguna Beach)

11. Little Sycamore Canyon Loop (Laguna Beach)

12. San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (Irvine)

13. Wood Canyon Trail (Aliso Viejo)

14. San Onofre State Beach (San Clemente / Oceanside)

15. Guna Peak (Laguna Beach)

16. Oak Canyon Nature Center (Anaheim)

17. Horseshoe Loop at Irvine Regional Park (Orange)

There are my entries related to my hikes I found on AllTrails App.

1. San Clemente Beach Coastal Trail (San Clemente)

2. Talbert Regional Park and Fairview Park (Costa Mesa))

3. Turtle Rock and French Hill Loop (Irvine)

4. Back Bay Loop Trail (Newport Beach)

5. Black Star Canyon Falls Trail (Silverado)

      These are my entries you might like.
■Walking Along Shoreline in Long Beach, Los Angeles CA (October 2019)

■Dana Point Headlands - Dana Point, CA (September 2019)

■San Clemente Beach Coastal Trail - Hiking Trail Next to The Railroads (September 2022)

■Quail Hill Loop Trail in Irvine, CA (April 2019)

■La Jolla Cove in San Diego (March 2019)

■San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine (February 2019)

■Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach (January 2019)

■Swimming with Wild Dolphins (Big Island, Hawaii, January 2015)

■Dolphin Watching in Dana Point (July 2017)

■Our Whale Watching Trip (Dana Point, August 2013)

■San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine (March 2017)

■La Jolla Cove - Beautiful Spring Wildflowers and Wild Animals (2018)

       My entries related to wild animals can be seen here.

       My entries related to Orange County Hikes can be seen here.

       My entries related to sunset can be seen here.

   My entries related to hiking and walking can be seen here.

Thursday, June 15, 2023

What Do They Sell at Costco in Japan?

As I mentioned in my previous entries, my husband and I visited Japan last year. When we visit Japan, we always go to Costco. It's because Costco Japan sells many Japanese products which you have never seen at Costco branches in the U.S. You can check out my previous entries related to Costco Japan.

If you are a Costco member, you'll have access to any Costco location in the world. Just keep in mind that Costco Japan only accepts MasterCard credit cards and cash while Costco in the U.S. accepts Visa credit cards and cash. This time, I used my Capital One Quick Silver credit card (MasterCard), which is a 0% foreign transaction fee credit card, and I can earn 1.5% cashback rewards on any purchase. You can check out my previous entry, What You Should Take to Japan - Japan Travel Tips.

Today, I'm going to share with you what Costco sells in Japan.

Costco Japan

We went to this Costco located in Fukuoka on Monday, so the parking lot was not too busy that day. However, when we visited there on holidays before, it was pretty crowded. If you want to avoid busy days, you might want to go there on weekdays.

Costco Gasoline

At the entrance, you can see the gas prices. Just like Costco in the U.S, Costco Japan has gas prices significantly cheaper than other nearby gas stations.

Appliances

This Japanese refrigerator (258,000 yen, $1856) is for a larger family, but my refrigerator in the U.S. looks bigger. 😆 However, when I lived in Japan, I didn't think Japanese refrigerator was small. Japanese one looks smaller but the inside is spacious and is high efficiency. The reason why I loved Japanese large appliance was that it wouldn't break for so many years. My mother-in-law who lives in Japan told me that her old Japanese refrigerator had worked for over 30 years in her kitchen. She finally replaced it to new one even though it was still working without any problem.

This refrigerator was only 85,800 yen, which is equivalent to $617.

These Smeg cute refrigerators are made in Italy.

Car Electronics

In Japan, dashboard camera sales has been significantly increasing these years.

Bakery

Hotel Bread

This hotel bread was 598 yen ($4.30). We purchased it for my mother-in-law. It was slightly sweet and so fluffy.

Madeleine

I really like Japanese bakery because it has just the right sweetness for me. If you are used to American sweetness, you might feel that Japanese bakeries and pastries are less sweet.

Mini Donuts

Chocolate Croissant

Tiramisu

This tiramisu must taste good but is too huge. It was 1,580 yen, which is equivalent to $11.36. I thought that it probably costs $50 or more at a pastry shop in the U.S.

Strawberry Mascarpone Cake

Apple and Berry Tart

Birthday Sheet Cake

Triple Cheese Tart

Carmel Flan

Belgian Chocolate Cake

Costco Ready-Made Meals

Beef Garlic Fried Rice

Costco Rotisserie Chicken is also popular in Japan. Yet they have more of prepared meals you want to try.

Charcoal Grilled Chickens

Ajillo

These years, Ajillo has been very popular in Japan. You can just put and heat it in a pan, and serve and enjoy.

Pasta Pescatore

Red Alfredo Chicken Penne

Soba Noodle with Spicy Roasted Pork

Whole Pizza

Sushi

4,780 yen for 50 Pieces of Sushi

One of the reasons why I really wanted to go to Costco in Japan was that I really missed authentic Japanese Sushi. Costco Japan sells very fresh high quality sushi at reasonable prices. The price is as cheap as ones at Japanese conveyor belt sushi restaurant, which is called kaitenzushi (回転寿司) in Japanese, but the quality is as high as ones highend sushi restaurants serve. If you are a sushi lover and are planning on visiting Costco in Japan, you should try their sushi. You will be surprised at how delicious their sushi is. You might think that Costco in the U.S. also sells sushi. However, sushi at Costco in the U.S. is not as good as Japanese ones and is not authentic sushi at all. You will be satisfied their high quality sushi in Japan.

3,380 yen for 48 Pieces of Sushi

I purchased this set of 48 pieces of sushi. It has salmon, tuna, octopus, yellowtail, anago, squid, egg and negitro maki. It was 3380 yen which is equivalent to $24.31. (It's only 50 cents for one piece!) I really liked the huge negitro maki, which has tuna, green onion and green shiso leaves.

1980 yen for 24 Pieces of Sushi

This Salmon and Grilled Mackerel Sushi has 8 pieces of salmon nigiri sushi, 8 pieces of salmon rolls and 8 pieces of grilled mackerel rolls.

3,380 yen for Fresh Kaisen Sushi Bowl

This Kaisen Bowl looked so good. It has marinated tuna, salmon, salmon roes, squid and so on.

1,980 yen for 18 Pieces

We also purchased this Tuna and Salmon Sushi which had nigiri sushi and rolls. We enjoyed this sushi with my mother-in-law and she was impressed at Costco sushi. She was surprised that the size of sushi was huge and it was so fresh.

Seafood

Fresh Sashimi

They also sell many kinds of fresh sashimi such as tuna and sea bream.

Seafood Medley

I was surprised that this frozen seafood medley can be eaten raw. Just defrost it in a refrigerator and eat it with soy sauce. I had its sample at Costco and was so fresh and good. 😋

I wish I could buy and bring it to the U.S.

Frozen Whole Squid

Snacks and Candies

Imo Kenpi

Costco Japan has many Japanese snacks and candies. You can check out my previous entry, 10 Products I Purchased at Costco in Japan. This time, I only purchased this Imo Kenpi, which is crispy Japanese sweet potato fries.