Are you a "B"i King?

Long time no write...

Well I'm changing this blog a bit to include some of the mini adventures I go on. Currently I'm in Japan so it's a big adventure, but this blog will provide me with some space to document where I've been in smaller increments. My host parents don't let me cook so I won't be updating much on the cookbook side of things, although at some point they want me to make a chocolate cake so that'll be a post later. Much of what I do anyway involves food so "tabemasyoo" still applies. And in keeping with that theme... the first post!

So right now, until 10/31 Burger King fast food "restaurants" in Japan are hosting a "B"i King challenge. What this means is that customers can order any Whopper meals (#1-5) and for 30 minutes it's 食べ放題 (tabehoudai = all you can eat!) Whoppers!! Crazy right? What's even more crazy is that the price of the "B"i King challenge is the same price as a regular Whopper meal (around 800円 or $10 as the current exchange rate is about $0.80 per 100円, unfortunately). What's the challenge part? What do you get if you beat it? Nothing! I have no idea why it's called a challenge other than you're challenging your arteries to not clog with all the beef you're eating.



The deal was before you order another burger you had to present your receipt (with time stamp), empty burger wrapper, and empty fries box. Unfortunately you don't get fry or drink refill. I did not participate but rather watched as my guy friends take part.





I believe they all only ate 3 burgers. I think I could've done at most 2 in 30 min and just order another burger to go and eat it the next day. All I've got to say is "only in Japan" (which I believe I will be saying a lot) and "it's not a mystery why they're not doing this in the US, BK would go bankrupt."

Also, when we left BK to go to the park this is what I found:



Creepy yeah? That's Colonel Sanders from KFC dressed as Santa. One of my pet peeves is putting out Christmas decorations, etc. before Thanksgiving or even Halloween is over so this is really early. However, my friend Carolyn tried to convince me he's dressing up as Santa for Halloween. For now we'll just go with that..

Blueberry-Apple Mini Pies

These pies are really great because you can just pick them up in your hands and eat them with minimal mess, but they do take a little while to make because you have to form each pie individually although it's very worth it. Filling recipe simplified from Michael Chiarello and dough recipe from my friend Joellen.

Filling INGREDIENTS:
3 apples
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 TBS butter
1/4 cup honey
pinch salt
3/4 cup blueberries
1 beaten egg
1 tsp cinnamon and 2 TBS sugar

DIRECTIONS:
Peel and core the apples and cut into eighths vertically and then horizontally to make small, less than bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Saute butter over medium heat until lightly browned, then add apples and saute for 3-5 min. Reduce heat to low and add honey, salt, and blueberries, and mix well. While the filling marinates make dough (recipe as follows).

Preheat oven to 400*F. One by one, brush one half of the circles with 1 beaten egg. Spoon about 1 TBS filling, fold dough over and crimp edges with a fork. Put on a buttered baking tray, cut air holes on top and brush with egg wash. Combine cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on tops of pies. Bake for 20-25 min until puffed and nicely browned. Cool 5-10 min before eating, filling might be very hot.

Dough INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 shortening
6 TBS cold water

DIRECTIONS
Lightly stir flour and salt then cut in margarine. Sprinkle in water 2 TBS at a time. When dough is at a consistency that's perfect for rolling out (not too dry so crumbly but not too wet to stick to surface and rolling pin), dump dough onto a floured surface and roll with a floured rolling pin. Continue to roll, but don't over work, until dough is 1/8th inch thick. Then use any circular cutter on hand that when folded in half will make the size pie you want, and cut out circular pieces of dough. When no more circles can be made combine scraps into a ball, roll it out, and cut circles, repeat until no more dough left. After a while the dough will become hard and dry, just add more water a little at a time until correct consistency.

NOTE:
-This recipe is really great because it can be made vegan, just substitute shortening with any oil based butter, egg wash with olive oil, and honey (if you're a really strict vegan) with a simple syrup mixture (equal parts water and sugar)
-The apples can be omitted from the recipe to just make blueberry pies, and vise versa if you want just apple pies.
-For my circular cutter I used an empty and washed tomato sauce 30 oz can. It was the perfect diameter for the size pies I wanted to make.
-Picture is if pies before baking so after they will have browned and puffed up a bit more.

-Enjoy!

Ox Tail Soup

This is a no fail, crock pot ox tail soup recipe from my dad. It's so delicious I haven't changed a thing (except downsizing the recipe because my crock pot is only 4 quarts or so). For those who don't like the sound of ox tail soup don't worry, it's basically a beef and rice soup that you won't regret trying.

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ox tails
6 cups water (or enough to cover meat plus a couple cups extra)
4 beef bouillon cubes (if you don't have beef bouillon cubes just use beef stock and omit water)
3 slivers crushed ginger
3 star anise
1 stalk green onion
1 pkg (1/2 cup to 1 cup) blanched peanuts

garnish to taste:
mustard cabbage, chopped width ways (long strips)
green onions, chopped
chinese parsley (cilantro), chopped
grated ginger and shoyu (soy sauce)
rice

DIRECTIONS
In the morning, place ox tails, water, bouillon cubes, ginger, star anise, and green onion in crock pot and set on low to cook for 12 hours. In the last hour of cooking, skim oil off the top of broth (this is very important because the broth will be very oily on top), add the blanched peanuts, and recover pot to finish cooking.

Ladle soup over rice (or some prefer the rice on the side), and garnish with mustard cabbage, green onions, chinese parsley, and the ginger and shoyu sauce to taste.

Note:
-Ox tails are basically beef tails so go ask the person behind the meat counter at your local supermarket (they probably won't have them ready in the case). Or if you can't find it then go to your local Asian or Latin food store and ask around there.
-The soup needs a long time to cook but if you only have 7 hours or so set crock pot to cook on high, and/or if you have even less time cook ox tails in a pan until brown and then place in crock pot with other ingredients (drain fat first).
-This recipe could be made the night before, refrigerated, and reheated before consuming (make sure to scrape off the white gelatin that congeals because that's the fat and oil).
-The ginger and shoyu sauce can be put directly into the soup or left on the side to dip the meat in.

-Enjoy!

Pink Velvet Cupcakes

The original recipe is from Paula Deen. I only changed a few things:
-made them pink instead of red because the red food coloring or beet juice are only aesthetic additions therefore why not save on coloring and just make them a cute pink?
-I normally don't specially go out and buy buttermilk when a recipe calls for it so instead I use milk and add a little lemon juice to "sour" it up
-the first time I used this recipe it came out too dry and hard (possibly a product of over mixing) so now instead of 1 egg I use 1/2 cup yogurt (vanilla or plain)
-lastly I really prefer chocolate over vanilla desserts so I increased the amount of cocoa powder (which changes the color a bit) and as an option put chocolate chips in

INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cocoa powder
3/4 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup milk combined w/ 2 tsp lemon juice, room temp
1/2 tsp red food coloring
1/2 tsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup yogurt
chocolate chips as desired, optional

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift together in a small bowl flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder; set aside. In a large bowl combine veggie oil, milk, red food coloring, vinegar, vanilla, and yogurt. Add dry to wet a little at a time and only until just combined; don't over mix! Add chocolate chips and mix lightly.

Put cupcake paper in cupcake tins or spray cupcake tins so cupcakes don't stick to the pan. Fill the cupcake tins about 2/3 full. Bake at 350* for 22-25 min or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 20 mins and then frost (recipe as follows).

FROSTING INGREDIENTS
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) , softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla until smooth. Then add powdered sugar a little at a time until light and fluffy (this part will take the longest especially if mixing by hand). Frost cupcakes.

-Enjoy!

To start off...

I'm calling this blog "tabemasyoo ka?" because it means "shall we eat?" in Japanese. Therefore this blog will mainly be about food, specifically making food - not only Japanese food but all different types of food. I'm no professional chef (or writer for that matter) but I love to experiment and LOVE to bake and cook, so this blog will partially serve as my unofficial cookbook. One thing to note, however, is that I don't write my own recipes, I find them online and then doctor them as I see fit to match my tastes. As much as possible I will cite who/where I found the original recipe, and I will admit now that most of the recipes will be from Paula Deen because I love her recipes butter and all. Also, as much as possible my photos will be my own personal photos of the food I make so they won't be as pretty looking as professional photos, but this is real cooking so even though it might not be the prettiest food, it'll be delicious.

That's all, enjoy!