I write something on my blog to improve my English skill.
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This week, I cooked this Japanese mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐).
Mapo tofu is a popular Chinese dish from Sichuan province. While Chinese mapo tofu uses Sichuan peppercorns, Japanese one doesn't and is less spicy. Today, I'm going to share with you how to cook Japanese mapo tofu. If you prefer less spicy one, you might like it.
If you have been following my blog for many years, you might know how much I love Kitano Ace (北野エース), which sells a variety of groceries. You can check out my previous Kitano Ace entries, Japanese Grocery Haul - What I Purchased at Supermarket, Department Stores and Kitano Ace in Japan and Japanese Grocery Haul - 7 Products He Purchased at Kitano Ace in Japan. If you are already an expert at Japanese foods and would like to find
something you don't see at regular supermarkets in Japan, I think you
will love this store. Kitano Ace has many branches in Japan. For instance, they have 15 branches in Tokyo. This time, we went to Kitano Ace located in Tofu Department store. We also went to Donki, Don Quijote (ドン・キホーテ), and purchased some groceries. Anyway, I'm going to share 7 Products I purchased at Donki and Kitano Ace with you.
Japanese sweet potatoes are called satsuma imo. Satsuma (薩摩, さつま) is a
former name of a district in Kagoshima prefecture. Imo (芋, いも) means a
potato in Japanese. Kagoshima prefecture located on Kyushu island (九州)
is the largest Japanese sweet potato producer in Japan.
2. Sakusaku Noriten with Wasabi Flavor (ツンと辛いわさび味)
Nori Seaweed Tempura Snacks with Wasabi Flavor
Purchased for 298 yen at Donki in Tokyo
Sakusaku Noriten with Wasabi Flavor (ツンと辛いわさび味)
Noriten (のり天) is nori seaweed tempura snacks. I purchased this Sakusaku Noriten with Wasabi Flavor at Donki. I love wasabi flavored snacks. I eventually gave it to my coworker.
I purchased this Cheese Flavored Noriten at Donki and gave it to my coworker as well.
4. Japanese Soup Stock with Flying Fish, Ago Iri Dashi (あご入りだし)
Japanese Soup Stock with Flying Fish
27 packs of soup stock
Purchased for 916 yen each at Kitano Ace in Tokyo
Japanese Soup Stock with Flying Fish, Ago Iri Dashi (あご入りだし)
Agodashi (あごだし) has been very popular in Japan. These are my must-buy products at Kitano Ace. Indeed, this Kitano Ace Ago Iri Dashi has been highly-rated. These are Japanese fish based soup stock. I use it to make miso soup, okonomiyaki and more of Japanese foods.
Japanese Soup Stock with Flying Fish, Ago Iri Dashi (あご入りだし)
If you want to cook miso soup, you can put one pack of agodashi in 800ml
(27 fl oz) of water and bring it to a boil. Then, simmer it for one to
two minutes and take the pack out from the boiling water. Add your
favorite ingredients such as tofu, and simmer it until ingredients are
cooked. Turn off the heat, and add your favorite miso paste. Serve it
and sprinkle some chopped green onions. That's it. You can also make
udon soup, takikomi gohan, nabe dish with this agodashi.
Before going to Japan, I had already decided to purchase this Yaki Shiosaba (焼き塩さば). It's because I saw it on this YouTube video, and they said that it's one of must-buy products at Kitano Ace. I also purchased a lot of this Yaki Shiosaba and gave them to my coworkers as delicious Japanese souvenirs. Although the glass containers are heavy and fragile to bring them to the U.S. However, it really went well with steamed rice, and I thought that I should have purchased more for myself!
6. Simmered Enoki Mushroom with Yuzu Kosho, Nametake (なめ茸 粒柚子胡椒仕立て)
Simmered Enoki Mushroom with Soy Sauce and Yuzu Kosho
Purchased for 369 yen at Kitano Ace in Tokyo
Simmered Enoki Mushroom with Yuzu Kosho, Nametake (なめ茸 粒柚子胡椒仕立て)
I had also seen this Nametake on YouTube, and it also made me buy it at Kitano Ace in Japan. Nametake is simmered enoki mushrooms with soy sauce. It has yuzu kosho (柚子胡椒, ゆずこしょう) in it, so it has a hint of fresh yuzu citrus flavor. It went well with soba and udon noodles.
Sliced Squid and Kombu Kelp Seaweed Flakes, Ika Kombu (いか昆布)
This is Japanese furikake. While we were at Kitano Ace, my husband found this sliced squid kombu kelp furikake (いか昆布), which has won the Gold medal in the National Furikake Grand Prix in Japan. It also really went well with steamed rice. It's light weight and delicious, so I thought that it's perfect for delicious Japanese souvenir.
I cooked this Japanese simmered chicken wings referring to this YouTube video. It has sweet and salty say sauce flavor. It's like teriyaki flavor with a hint of sour. If you like chicken teriyaki taste, I think that you might like it.
By the way, in Japan, chicken wings are called tebasaki (手羽先) and tebamoto (手羽元).
Tebasaki (手羽先)：Wingette
Tebamoto (手羽元)：Drumette
Teba (手羽)：Chicken Wings
How to Cook
Japanese Simmered Chicken Wings
Today, I'm going to share with you how I cooked Japanese simmer chicken wings. People in Japan sometimes add boiled eggs or Japanese radish to simmered chicken wings. This time, I added boiled eggs to it.
As I mentioned in my previous entries, my husband and I went to Yosemite National Park, and we hiked Four Mile trail to Glacier Point. When we arrived at Glacier Point, we noticed that the gift shop was open, so we decided to purchase some products there.
We purchased two ice cream bars, La Michoacana Mango and Fresh Strawberry Ice Cream Bars, for $1.29 each. We were glad that we were able to enjoy our favorite Mexican ice cream bars after hiking for long hours, and these made us feel refreshed.
We also wanted to purchase Starbucks Been There Series Yosemite National Park mug.
We went to Starbucks store located in Vons supermarket in Oakhurst
twice. On the first visit, we could not find any Yosemite mug. They were
selling a lot of California mugs though. However, on the second visit, they had a lot of Yosemite mugs, and we were finally able to purchase this mug!
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