How to: Sushi night at home

Sushi is known as a pretty expensive dish, especially when you want to get the proper stuff. Do you love eating sushi? Do you feel restricted because of the price? Do you not have the necessary material to roll them up nicely? Well, I have the perfect answer for you. At home we eat sushi pretty often (at least like once a month) and this is how we do it. It's super easy and MUCH MUCH cheaper than eating out! (When I did it with friends in Holland it was around 5,5euros per person and we were stuffed!).

First of all, find a fishmonger and buy salmon, tuna, coquille, shrimps, etc. Do NOT buy it at a supermarket! It's not always mega fresh and you might get sick! (I mean it might not happen necessarily, but I would say avoid it, just in case. No one wants worms in his stomach right? :/). The best is to tell your local fishmonger that you are planning to make sushi (ie. eating the fish raw) and he will tell you if it's ok or not. For the quantities, let's say 100g-150g of salmon for one person? The rest (like tuna) is quite expensive so just order less :P Once you have your fresh fish, you will have to cut it to make it as close as sashimi as you can. For this you need a nice sharp knife. This is the tricky part for me, trying to cut the salmon/tuna nicely... But just try! It can also be thinner pieces than on the photo (this was cut professionally, but just so you can have an idea!)

Tuna

Salmon

Coquille St. Jacques

Shriiiimps

Ikura (Salmon eggs)

Now for the rice... Cook some rice in your rice cooker (you need sticky rice for this so risotto rice also works). When it's ready, place it in a bowl and add rice vinegar, just enough so you can lightly smell it in the rice. Set aside until you are ready to munch.

Just looks like normal rice :P

For this sushi night at home you can also prepare some cucumber cut, avocado (all cut into stripes) and have some philadelphia cream cheese. 

When you are ready to eat, prepare the soya sauce, wasabi and only at the last moment take your nori (seaweed) out. Why only at the end? Seaweed is dry. If you leave it in open air it won't be as crispy/dry anymore, and you really don't want that. Sushi rolls in restaurants are normally prepared right when you order them. If they are made in advance the seaweed is all humid and soggy... which is how it is in those already made lunch boxes in supermarkets... Anyways, fold the seaweed paper into 4, make a little pile. Put everything on the table, and now you are ready to commence the feast!

How the table looks like when everything is ready!

How to:

Take a little bit of everything (if you like everything) rice, salmon, tuna, avocado etc. Have your soya sauce and wasabi ready nearby. First, take some seaweed and add some rice on it (not too much so you can make sure to fold it afterwards!)

My dad also added wasabi here

You can either cut your sashimi into half like on the photo or but the entire piece on it. 

Fold it as shown in the picture:

It should look like this! As you can see it's not perfectly rolled. If you are one of those people that just likes folding with the bamboo thing then this is definitely no fun for you…

Pretty easy! :P

Then dip it in soya sauce! (It's best not to put tooo much of it, just a light dip or otherwise it might be super salty)

*dip dip*

And then NOM! so yes, you can do a number of different combinations:

•  Shrimp + Japanese mayo
• Cucumber + Japanese mayo
• Salmon + avocado
• Salmon + avocado + philadelphia cream cheese
• Tuna + avocado + philadelphia
• Tuna + avocado
• Coquille 

etc, etc. 

I like this way of doing it, it's fun to do with your friends and everyone eats whatever they like! You don't have to wait to make ALL the rolls (maki) and starve on the side while preparing everything (which also takes forever). Your seaweed also doesn't have time to become all soggy from the rice. I think it's a pretty good dinner idea when you have people over (which is what we do at home) and the guests always seem to enjoy this presentation of sushi!

Hope you try it! Enjoy! 

Galette Bretonne

Traditional galette complete! 

I'm sure everyone has heard of crepes. In many creperie places, they also sell savory ones which are actually called galettes in French. Those galettes are actually from my mum's region, Brittany and they are an absolute must if you go there. 

Galettes are pancakes made of buckwheat flour and good ones are supposed to be very thin and crispy. Unlike crepe that are beige-ish colour, the galettes are more of a brown colour. You can find these savory pancakes with an infinite type of toppings but I personally think that the best ones are the most simple ones. For example one of the most traditional and simple ones is galette complete, with egg, ham and cheese (emmental) which is the one I ALWAYS have.

*drool all over keyboard*

You might think I am narrow minded but I never ever take another one. This one is my absolute favorite of all times. It's not too boring because it has a few toppings which also allows you to taste all the flavors of the galette itself. This galette complete can also have some tomatoes or mushrooms. Anyways, by keeping it to the basics, you will really feel the buckwheat pancake and your wallet will also thank you (the most simple ones are the cheapest ones. The cheapest one that was delicious was only 5 euros! But its usually around 6 euros in Brittany and around 10 euros in Paris... Paris you cray!)

Galette complete with tomatoes!

Another traditional one is with andouille de guéméné, which is a pork sausage typical from Brittany. It smells really strong and it has a pretty strong particular taste. I guess it's one of those things that you either hate or love? I was not a fan when I was little (have not tried it again since) but my parents were always big muncher of andouille. 

Galette a l'andouille, you can see the crispiness of the pancake :D

Ok so I also have a photo of a galette with lots of stuff on it like some kind of ratatouille and a sausage. It also tastes really good so I would also recommend the more elaborate ones like these but I am really all about the complete one. Oh and the flag you see on the sausage is the Breton flag. Breton flag will most definitely pop up here and there if you ever go to Brittany (we have 3 of them hanging in our house :P).

Galette with sausage and ratatouille

Allright so... do you feel like just stuffing your face with these delicious galette after seeing these photos? (I do...) Do you wanna feel the crispiness of the pancake? The cheese melting in your mouth? Pop the egg yolk when you think it's the most appropriate time? Well, you don't necessarily have to go to Brittany to taste them because.... HERE IS THE RECIPE, yeaaaah boooooi! So yes here is the recipe from my mum! :D

Galettes Recipe

Ingredients:

• 250g of buckwheat flour
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 l of water
• 100ml of liquid cream 

For the toppings: eggs, slices of ham, emmental cheese etc. Depends on your mood :D

Preparation
To make galette it would be nice to have a very thin pancake pan BUT if you don't have it no panic, you can also use a regular frying pan :)

1. Mix all the ingredients in the order written above until smooth. You can also use an electric mixer to make sure nothing clumps up. 
2. Heat the pan with some butter and make sure the butter covers the entire surface of the pan. 
3. When the pan is hot enough, use a laddle to get enough of the preparation onto the pan. Make sure it is not too thick (it will make the galette heavy) or too thin (you will have holes otherwise) and spread it evenly over the pan. 
4. Let it cook slowly. 
5. When one side is cook, carefully flip the galette. Ok so this part you can use your own method as it is the trickiest part. Once you manage to flip it, let the other side cook until brown. 
6. When its done, serve on a plate. Add emmental cheese, slices of ham, fried egg, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, whatever you want :D

Perfect drink to go with the galette? Cidre of course. 'You mean cider'. No, no, my friend, CIDRE is the Breton cider. Delicious. Those 2 were made to be enjoyed together.. :3 The glass below is the traditional glass in which you drink cidre.

Noob looking fried egg (made by me. Apologies)

Bon appetit! :)

Recipe also available in French!

Galette bretonne:

Ingredients: 

• 250g de farine de sarrasin
• 2 oeufs
• Sel et poivre
• 1/2 L d'eau
• 100ml de creme liquide

Preparation:

1. Melanger le tout dans un bol. Utiliser un mixeur si necessaire pour ne pas avoir de grumeaux. 
2. Faire chauffer la poele et mettre un peu de beurre et recouvrir la totalite de la poele.
3. Quand la poele est assez chaude, utiliser une louche pour mettre la preparation. Faire attention a ne pas en mettre de trop! (Il ne faut pas que la galette soit trop epaisse)
4. Laisser la galette cuire lentement.
5. Quand elle est cuite, la retourner (differentes techniques personnelles peuvent etre utiliser :P).
6. Une fois retournnee, laisser cuire. 
7. A servir avec un oeuf au plat, emmental, jambon, tomates, champignons etc. et a deguster en buvant du cidre! :D

Oroshi Nattou Soba

Oroshi nattou soba made by my dad! :3

Soba is a type of japanese noodle that is made of buckwheat flour. The noodle is brownish and you can eat it cold and hot! Soba is a dish typically munched during new years, to be able to live long and young. At home, we just eat them whenever we want (I know such rebels right?) and when my dad makes soba, this is how we usually eat them (see picture below)! My dad grates daikon radish (the white puree type thing), sprinkle some spring onion, some sea weed and wasabi. You add the soba tsuyu (the dipping sauce) and you munch away. It's so refreshing, it's perfect for summer days!

He had told me about putting nattou (fermented soya beans) on soba and I have been drooling over the idea for some time... I think many westerners don't like nattou since it has a very strong smell (rather ssshtinkyyyy for some :P) and it's all sticky and all. In any case, I love it so I was super keen to try. This recipe is pretty easy. The main problem would be the ingredients that can be rather difficult to find in Europe like nattou and daikon radish. The latter can easily be found in asian grocery store I think (at least in London and Netherlands). Nattou is trickier... I find it in London in a Japanese store called Atariya. Apparently, you can also make it yourself but haven't tried that yet :P Japanese grocery stores are scarce in Europe and are also expensive... Soba is also yummy without it so no worries :D Just adding spring onion, sea weed and wasabi already makes it delicious! For the soba tsuyu I managed to find it in Asian grocery store so should be manageable... 

Anyways, here are the directions for oroshi nattou soba! 

Ingredients (for 2 munchers):

• 400g Soba noodles 
• Soba tsuyu 
• 2 packs of nattou (one for each person)
• 1/3 of daikon radish
• couple of spring onions
• sea weed

Preparation:

1. Boil the water for the soba.
2. In the meantime, cut the spring onion (in small bits).
3. Grate the daikon, it will become like puree. Its very refreshing and a bit spicy? (you will need a little tool for that)
4. In a bowl, add the nattou and the little sauce. Mix it well until its all gooey and stickyyyy.  
5. Cook the soba (check the time on the packaging. Usually soba noodles cook very fast so be careful not to over cook!). When they are done, drain them and use cold water to cool them down.
6. Drain them well and place them into a bowl. Add some soba tsuyu, enough so half of it is immersed in it (some tsuyu needs to be diluted in water so read the etiquette beforehand!). Add the grated daikon raddish, the nattou, and finally sprinkle on the spring onion and sea weed! 

Dekiagari~ Enjoy! :)

Frogs legs

So for my birthday this year, I went to a French restaurant in London. When a young French girl/boy becomes an adult, he/she has to eat 6 sets of frogs' legs. Just kidding. Nyaaaa~

Ok in all seriousness, I did try them but only because I have been very curious about how they tasted like. I had it as a starter and they were arranged like this:

I couldn't really realize what I got until I started separating them. Then I could really see the shape of the legs and I could really recognize the little animal (kind of made me laugh :P) as you can see on the photo below.

Such gracious legs.

I had heard before that frogs legs were kind of like chicken... And honestly I couldn't agree more. The meat is white like chicken and the consistency is also pretty similar. What was absolutely delicious was the sauce (butter, garlic and parsley). But the legs itself were nothing spectacular, I mean it just tastes like chicken but is more expensive than chicken. Obviously, it's worth trying and it's still a good experience but I don't think I would specifically order frogs legs for the sake of eating the actual meat. One down side was that I thought it was a bit too much for a starter (also because of the butter, it feels pretty heavy); only 3 sets of legs would have been enough for me. 

Anyways, I felt like a real Frenchy after eating this :P Oh no wait... Still never tried escargots... o_O