The Global Kitchen

AsianFoodGrocer.com just became a member of Food Buzz's Tastemaker program and were kind and generous enough to send me a $30 gift certificate!

I was really excited! Their products are more Japanese, which, I don't have a lot of experience cooking so this was the perfect opportunity for me to try some new products.

Service was super fast. I had my order in 2 days and it was very well packaged. I would definitely order from them again.

My favorite item is my Maruman Organic Soy Sauce. I sipped a little out of a spoon and it is good. Plus I'm a sucker for cool packaging.

One thing the company asked is that I create an original recipe. Yipe! Like I said I am not proficient in Japanese cuisine so this was a real challenge.

It also probably didn't help that I waited until the last minute either. Anyway I got home one night and realized I was at my deadline. I checked the fridge to see what I could come up with and found some ginger and a package of snowpeas.

It's also hot here today and I wasn't in the mood to cook but I thought a cold noodle salad sounded appetizing. And it was!

So I don't know how original this is as it's a riff on some of the soba noodle salads I've had in the past but I did not use a recipe. If I were to make it again I would add shredded carrot and maybe swap out the peas for shredded baby bok.

Soba Snow Pea Salad with Miso Dressing

3 oz soba noodles
1 cup Snow Peas
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs white miso
1/2 tbs mirin
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp fresh ginger chopped fine
Chopped salted roasted peanuts if desired

Boil noodles until just about done. Drop in snowpeas and boil for 15-30 seconds, until they turn bright green.

Drain and pour ice water over noodles and snowpeas to chill.

In a small bowl combine soy sauce through ginger. Combine with noodles and snowpeas and top with chopped peanuts.

Yeah I know I tagged this as vegan/vegetarian but read on.....

I confess I'm not a huge fan of green salads. I eat plenty of them, but I usually start with all the additions and nibble at the greens.

I bought a Mr Bento Lunch Jar and have been searching for tasty grain, noodle and bean salads for the main course container.

This recipe seemed right up my alley. It comes from Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I did replace the tofu with shrimp because I didn't want to bake. I used water instead of sake and skipped the extra sugar. And i used short grain brown rice.

It is really good and mild compared to the spicy dishes I usually eat. i'm thinking it would be a bitbolder with the sake. Next time.

Japanese-Style Rice Salad
MARK BITTMAN
Time: 30 to 60 minutes, depending on the type of rice
Yield: 4 to 8 servings.

1 1/2 to 2 cups short-grain brown or white rice
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped scallion
1 small or 1/2 large red or yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped or shredded celery
1/4 cup finely chopped or shredded carrot
1 cup firm tofu, preferably baked, optional
6 tablespoons miso paste
3/4 cup warm water or sake
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon mirin or honey
1 tablespoon rice vinegar, or more to taste
2 sheets of nori, lightly toasted
2 tablespoons black or white sesame seeds, toasted.

1. Cook rice in abundant salted water, as you would pasta, until it's just done; white rice will take 10 to 15 minutes, brown 30 or a little longer. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again, then combine with vegetables and tofu in a large bowl.

2. Put black pepper, miso, water or sake, sugar, mirin or honey, and vinegar in a small bowl, and whisk together. Taste, and add more vinegar and a pinch of salt, if needed.

3. Combine rice mixture with miso dressing with 2 big forks, fluffing rice and tossing gently to separate grains.

4. Crumble nori over salad and sprinkle with sesame seeds, taste, and adjust seasoning or moisten with a little more dressing. Serve at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day, bringing salad back to room temperature before serving.

I get a lot of fantastic and healthy recipes from a magazine called Women's Health and Fitness. This particular recipe came from the October 2008 issue. There was an article on healthy Japanese food and since most of my experience with Japanese food is limited to Sushi I decided to have a look.

Donburi is the fast food of Japan and this version is pretty filling. It's also very easy but be sure and have your mis-en-place ready as it comes together quickly.

I think this could have used a bit more flavor-maybe salt or more soy. It was good but maybe I'm used to more bold flavors.

Anyway I'll make it again and experiment a bit.

Recipe HERE