She is the author and photographer of a food blog - My Kitchen (www.mykitch3n.blogspot.com). My Kitchen was established in May 2005 with her first physical kitchen located in Sydney (Australia) followed by Perak and Penang (Malaysia), and it is now in Kyoto (Japan). My Kitchen stands for Malaysian kitchen as well as kitchen of mine (hers), with a collection of over 500 cooking and baking recipes. Today, My Kitchen blog has an average of 4000 page views daily.
Some of her recipes were featured in popular websites (e.g., Rasa Malaysia, Mom Entrepreneur and Key Ingredients) and local media. She was interviewed by Shin Min Daily (Singapore local newspaper) in year 2008 as a foodie and shared her recipes in that particular half page coverage. She is now a regular recipe contributor of Y3K Recipes which is a bi-monthly food magazine.
From zero knowledge to a Japanese home-cooking recipe writer, it is not by chance but a lot of time and hard work she has put in. She picked up Japanese cooking since she met her husband and her dream was to cook him dishes that he missed back home. Thus, many of the recipes in this book are Kansai influenced dishes - sweeter in taste compared to Kanto regions.
In this book, she has taken into consideration difficulties in obtaining Japanese ingredients in small towns of Malaysia and other foreign countries. Please be assured that all ingredients called for in this book are available locally, both at major supermarkets and Japanese food suppliers in Malaysia.
Japanese cuisine is always associated with healthy and delicious eating. What makes Japanese cuisine healthy and delicious? Most Japanese dishes use little or no oil at all and served in small portions. Also, Japanese cuisine emphasises on varieties of fresh ingredients used or served in each meal. With basic ingredients such as soy sauce, Mirin and Sake and a good pot of dashi, many delicious and healthy Japanese dishes can be prepared at home without fuss of any kind by just addingin some other simple stuff.
Enjoy Japanese food at home - cooking, eating and entertaining!
For any enquiries about recipes, please email to japanesecooking123@gmail.com
Acknowledgement:
Many thanks go to My Kitchen readers who have been supporting the blog in many ways and giving me encouragement in writing a cookbook.
Appreciation is expressed toMr Richard Er, editor of Y3K Magazines, who had given me his helpful comments and support in completing this cookbook.
Last but not least, I thank my husband Takemi Fujikawa for being so supportive and understanding at all times.
Perennial Favourites Of Lydia
When we were first introduced to Lydia's blog of http: //www.mykitch3n.blogspot.com, we discovered her recipes were clear and easy to follow. Ingredients were healthy choices and evoked into nice colorful dishes when done. Well, it has had by then attracted over a million hits.
It was in year 2009 and Y3KRecipes celebrated its eighth anniversary when we visited Lydia in her Penang home. Of course we got captivated with her cooking flair and her happy family life. Lydia is married to a Japanese university professor and she is a degree holder from Australia majoring in Child Psychologist. But for the love of her family, she gave up a career to don on an apron and learnt to cook with a heart. As her husband longed for home-cooked treats, naturally she became very interested in hishometown influence in the cuisine. Soon, nutritious meals for her two junior boys came into the limelight too. On her happy face, one can see the beam of "happy food" that anyone would love to stomach.
An oriental cook will undoubtedly have high standards of selecting the best and freshest ingredients. In Japanese cuisine, fresh quality ingredients can be the most essential word and the finishingtaste should be refreshing not overwhelmed by too much oil or seasoning of salt, sugar unless it is an unusual old recipe.
Try Lydia's compilation of easy and healthy Japanese recipes without burning a hole in your pocket. You should have no problem whatsoever putting together a beautiful home-cooked Japanese meal to impress your family and friends.
Contents:
Meat Recipes
08 牛肉と山芋の煮物 (Gyuu niku to yamaimo no nimono) Beef and Wild Yam Stew
10 牛肉のそぼろ(Gyuu niku no soboro) Stir-fried Minced Beef
12 鶏の唐揚げ - 柚子わさび風味 (Tori no karaage - yuzu wasabi hūmi) Citrus-Wasabi Flavour Fried Chicken
14 筑前煮(Chikuzenni) Chicken and Vegetable Stew
16 鶏の照り焼き (Tori no teriyaki) Chicken Teriyaki
18 牛丼(Gyū-don) Beef Stew Over Rice
20 豚のチーズ巻き(Buta no chi-zu maki) Pork-cheese Roll
22 豚の野菜巻き (Buta no yasai maki) Pork and Vegetable Roll
24 豚の生姜焼き(Buta no shogayaki) Stir-fried Pork with Ginger
26 豚のみそ焼き(Buta no misoyaki) Stir-fried Pork with Miso
28 豚のすき焼き風 (Buta no sukiyaki hū) Sukiyaki-style Pork
30 豚かつ (Tonkatsu) Pork Cutlet
Fish Recipes
32 鮭のおろし煮 (Sake no oroshi-ni) Salmon Stew with Grated Radish
34 鮭の照り焼き (Sake no teriyaki) Salmon Teriyaki
36 さんまの塩焼き (Sanma no shioyaki) Grilled Pacific Saury with Salt
38 鯛の煮つけ (Tai no nitsuke) Snapper Stew
40 鯛の塩胡椒焼き (Tai no shio-kosho yaki) Grilled Snapper with Salt and Pepper
Seafood Recipes
42 あさりの酒蒸し (Asari no sake mushi) Steamed Clam with Sake
44 海老フライ(Ebi Furai) Fried Prawn with Breadcrumb
46 海老マヨ(Ebi mayo) Fried Prawn with Mayonnaise Dressing
Egg Recipes
48 茶碗蒸し(Chawanmushi) Steamed Egg Custard in Cup
50 だし巻き (Dashi maki) Rolled Omelette
52 煮玉子(Ni-tamago) Braised Egg
54 卵と大根の袋煮 (Tamago to daikon no fukuro-ni) Radish with Egg Pocket Stew
Tofu Recipes
56 油揚げのみぞれ和え (Aburaage no mizore ae) Simmered Tofu Puff with Grated Radish
58 揚げだし豆腐 (Agedashi tōfu) Deep-fried Tofu
60 冷奴 (Hiyayakko) Chilled Tofu
62 麻婆豆腐(Mapo Tōfu) Braised Tofu in Spicy Bean Paste Sauce
64 オクラと豆腐のポン酢和え (Okura to tofu no ponzu ae) Okra and tofu withponzu dressing
66 豆腐のステーキ (Tōfu no suteeki) Tofu Steak
Vegetables
68 椎茸の煮物 (Shiitake no nimono) Braised Shiitake Mushroom
70 すき焼きコロッケ (Sukiyaki korokke) Sukiyaki Croquette
72 大根のステーキ (Daikon no suteeki) Radish Steak
74 煮豆 (Nimame) Simmered Soybean
76 野菜天婦羅 (Yasai tempura) Vegetable Tempura
78 椎茸のおひたし (Shiitake no ohitashi) Stir-fried fresh shiitake mushroom
80 南瓜の煮物 (Kabocha no nimono) Pumpkin Stew
82 南瓜のそぼろあんかけ (Kabocha no soboro ankake) Pumpkin Stew with Minced Chicken Gravy
84 揚げ出し茄子(Agedashi nasu) Fried Eggplants
86 じゃがいものきんぴら (Jagaimo no kinpira) Stir-fried Potato Strips
88 連根饅頭 (Renkon Manjū) Lotus Root Patties
90 浅漬け (Asatsuke) Lightly pickled cucumber
92 へちまと帆立のあっさり煮 (Hechima to Hotate no assarini) Luffa and Scallop Stew
94 ケールのおひたし (Kēru no ohitashi) Kale with Sesame Dressing
96 納豆ドレッシンッグサラダ (Natto doressingu sarada) Salad with Natto Dressing
98 ポテトサラダ (Poteto sarada) Potato Salad
100 若布と帆立の酢の物 (Wakame to hotate no sunomono) Sunomono with Scallop
102 うざく (Uzaku) Sunomono with grilled eel
104 山芋と若布のサラダ (Yamaimo to wakame no sarada) Wild Yam and Wakame Salad
Soup
106 豆腐とわかめの味噌汁 (Tofu to wakame no miso shiru) Tofu and Wakame Miso Soup
108 あさり味噌汁 (Asari no misoshiru) Clam Miso Soup
110 豚のつみれ汁 (Buta no tsumirejiru) Meat Ball Soup
112 豚汁 (Tonjiru) Pork and Vegetables Miso Soup
Others
114 餃子 (Gyoza) Pan-fried Dumpling
116 お好み焼き (Okonomiyaki) Savoury Pancake
Rice
118 混ぜご飯 (Mazegohan) Mixed Rice
120 赤飯 (Sekihan) Red Bean Rice
122 散らしずし (Chirasi-zushi) Scatter Sushi
124 稲荷ずし (Inari zushi) Sushi with Simmered Tofu Puff
126 太巻きずし (Futomaki zushi) Thick Roll Sushi
Noodles
128 ざるそば (Zaru soba) Chilled Buck Wheat Noodles
130 冷やし素麺 (Hiyashi somen) Chilled Somen Noodles
132 きつねうどん (Kitsune udon) Udon with Simmered Tofu Puff
134 かけそば (Kake soba) Soba Noodles In Hot Soup
136 塩焼きうどん (Shioyaki udon) Stir-fried Udon
