Yumilicious Japanese Food!

If you are a frequent traveler to Johor Bahru, you might have eaten at this Japanese Restaurant in City Square Mall before. It’s located on Level 2, and the interior decor is pretty authentically Japanese-style. Food quality is good, and prices are reasonable. We always try to dine in this restaurant whenever we are in JB. =)

You won’t miss the restaurant because they have really big cartoon mascots on it’s shop-front. Very enticing.

The menu

Check out the inside:

Lots of comics for the customers to read!

 

All the seats are in cubicle-pavilion style, so every group of customers get a personal space of their own, in a sense. Behind me, you see wooden planks, which are actually the menu items.

There are also video game facilities to keep kids (and adults?!) entertained

Yum Yum Food!

Fried noodles

Teppanyaki Chicken Bento set

Salmon Teriyaki

  

Chawanmushi

Gyoza

Squid legs stir-fried with chili powder (thumbs up!)

  

You got to try their food if you happen to be in JB! =D

Comfort Food

Made something quite cheena today. Can you guess what I am making from this list of items?

 

Check out the main ingredients:

And this… should be very obvious by now??

Yeh that’s right! I made 水饺！

I love to eat dumplings. A bubbling hot bowl of dumpling soup is just so wonderful on a rainy day! Wrapped my dumplings with the lovely ingredients inside… Great satisfaction!

Kept some of them in the freezer so that I can cook them for Isaiah with noodles tonight for supper if he’s hungry!

I had it for lunch myself. Nice! :)

Wanna try make your own dumplings too? Here is a list of simple ingredients you can have (modify according to your likes!):

• 200 grams of chicken, minced
• 100 grams of fish paste
• 10 prawns, de-shelled & minced
• 3 water chestnuts, finely chopped
• Dumpling skin, comes in easy packages
• Spinach for cooking in soup
• Chicken stock
• Noodles, to make it a full meal

Just mix all the meats together with the chestnuts, add a little corn flour and you can start to wrap the dumplings. Seal the dumplings with some water at the sides. In a pot of boiling chicken stock, throw in spinach and dumplings. Cooks very fast. Good to make lots of them and freeze them. Just take out from fridge & cook for a quick meal.

Enjoy! :)

Mushroom Pot

Went to Mushroom Pot restaurant with some friends the other day, and I must say their steamboat is really quite yummy! (Not very cheap though) :)

Check out their appetizer mushroom dish:

These are the 2 complimentary starters that came along with our steamboat ala carte buffet:

Mushrooms wrapped in seaweed & deep-fried!

Salad fried monkey-head mushrooms!

This is what our steamboat looks like. The mala soup is very yummy, and the mushroom-base soup is sweet! Great dinner it was!

YUMS! ~

Laksa Fiesta

Since Hubby couldn’t decide what dishes I should cook for dinner tonight, I decided to make Laksa for dinner!

I am not so diligent or clever to make Laksa from scratch, so naturally I went for the instant mixes. Hee…

Here are the rest of the ingredients:

Tau Pok, prawns, fishcake, beansprouts, coconut milk

And of course the thick vermicelli!

Look at all the lovely tau poks swimming in the soup!!

The final product! =D

Kless, The Cook

I make it a point to cook dinner every Monday for Isaiah and Joey, because I feel guilty that they haven’t been eating much home cooked food because of my busy schedule, and because I only have time to do marketing on Monday when Joey is in school.

And so, I asked isaiah what he wanted to eat last night, and this was the menu for tonight:

• Black bean & peanut soup with chicken feet
• Stir fried Xiao Bai Cai
• Fried Eggs with Onion

Don’t you think my Joey has gained some weight? Her face looks chubbier now. Maybe her routine schedule in school is doing her good. =D

I Had To Buy This

Hamburger

Bento Box!!!!

So incredibly cute, I had to buy it lor!! Even though my bento-making days are numbered. When Joey goes to school next year, meals are all provided, so no need for bentos anymore.

Retailing at Mini Toons @ $4.95 each!

A Lunch Box, Literally

Joey's bento today is literally a lunch box. You'll see what I mean. :)

The main dish is fishball soup with tofu, mushroom & spinach.

Kiwi as fruits for a balanced diet.

Here's where the box comes in. The food in smaller containers are all put into this large lunch box! Hee hee..

The round container is the soup. The box with pink lid contains the kiwi and the one with blue lid contains steamed white rice. Also thrown in a tube of mini M&Ms for afternoon snack. :)

Mr Sausage Bento

Today's bento turned out to be very 'yellow'. Most of the items are either yellow or in the family of yellows. :)

The whole bento

The first tier is a chicken with broccoli & mushroom soup which is nothing interesting to see. The 2nd tier is where Mr Sausage is. :)

3 heart-shaped onigiris, 2 egg stars (I steamed the egg using 2 star moulds.. heee), and Mr Sausage. The eyes and mouths are cut-out cheese.

Most bento-makers will use nori (seaweed sheet) to cut out the eyes & mouths using some puncher, but since Joey doesn't like to eat nori, I used cheese instead. But the outcome is of course not so good cos cheese breaks very easily. This is the best I could manage. =P But I am sure I will get better with practice.

To complete the meal is some diced golden kiwi in a separate container!

Noticed the cute flag picks and fork? They're my new finds at Daiso.. =D

Bento For Today

With a new versatile bento box, of course I had to use it today for Joey's lunch! =D

This is my new bento box!

Joey's meal today:

Steamed rice, bite-size sausages cooked in carrot soup base, sliced fishcake, chopped broccoli and diced apples.

This box is good if I am rushing for time, cos I just plopped each dish in its place without having to worry about decoration or layout of the contents. When Joey is eating, this can serve as a plate for her to eat directly from, rather than having the nursery helper feed her. It's alot more organised and so, less messy when she's feeding herself. The 2 larger compartments allows me to separate her meal into 2 portions so that she can have 2 meals in 1 single bento box. =)

When I have more time, I probably will think of better ways to decorate the bento contents. I already have some inspiration on-hand. =D

I am happy with this bento box!

It's Been So Long.....

....... since I bought a NEW BENTO BOX!!!!

wahahahahahahahaha...

It happened when I least expected it. I just finished buying some groceries and passed by this shop that sells alot of this and that, and I thought, why not go in and take a look, maybe I will find a new bento box? Haha, don't ask me why, because I haven't had that thought for the longest time!

This new box of mine is so good!!!

The exterior is cute enough...

And it has a oh-my-gosh interior!!!

Look at all the different compartments! Perfect for rice, main dish, side dishes and a fruit/snack! Super perfect!!!

Sure, it does not cost as cheap as Daiso. Yet, it's only selling at $3.90, and I'd say since it's the size of 2 bento boxes from Daiso, it's actually $0.10 cheaper. Haha...

A Balanced Diet

Having a balanced diet for kids is so very important. In their growing up years, they need to absorb as much nutrition as they can, so that they can develop well physically, mentally and intellectually.

This is, in my opinion, quite a balanced meal for my Joey. Did the lunch last Friday..

Colours dun look that good though. =P

The top tier is a dish of steamed chicken with minced broccoli and shimeji mushrooms

The 2nd tier is steamed rice with fried eggs & sausage

And of course, to make it a complete meal, I separately packed some diced apples for her to bring to the nursery as well.

To give her an extra treat, I also put in a slice of cheese on the top tray of her bento box. =)

A Simple Lunch

Packed a simple bento for Joey today..

The soup is chicken and corn soup with mushrooms and broccoli. The soup stock came from the corn flakes I mentioned earlier on, and I must say it made the whole soup very yummy and overflowing with corn sweetness!

On the top are 2 broccoli onigiris and a skewer of 2 fishballs. :)

I decided that the bento looks pretty plain, so I decided to keep the onigiri moulds inside. heee...

Makes the bento look more lively, don't you agree? =)

The Much Awaited Mee Tai Mak

Finally I cooked mee tai mak for Joey today! Heee.. so much talk about it previously but always never manage to find mee tai mak sold in supermarkets. By chance, I found it in Shop 'n' Save yesterday, and so today, there's fish ball mee tai mak soup for Joey!

The star of the day

Must remember to blanch it in a pot of boiling water first to get rid of the oil.

The ingredients that went into the soup!

Joey's meal for today. Ta-da!

Instant Goodness

Recently at a Japanese Food Fair at Taka, my MIL bought back 3 packets of interesting things. They are vegetables flakes from Hokkaido!

Pumpkin flakes

Carrot flakes

Corn flakes

They are quite interesting. Apparently, their moisture had been completely sucked dry and made into flakes so that they can be kept dry for a very long time without preservatives. Totally pure and natural. Just a small spoonful of it into a pot of water will turn that whole pot of water into a nice soup base.

And so, we stored them in 3 separate containers in our fridge so that we can just spoon in small amounts and make Joey's porridge and soups. :) Very convenient.

Tried the carrots one today to make Joey's porridge, and it really instantly made the whole porridge so thick with carrot concentrate! Heee..

Colour Rules!

Colours play such an important role in food! Not only do they make the food look tastier, a good combination of colours also meant that the necessary nutrients are all included. I'm talking about natural colours of course, not artificial colourings!

There are some ingredients that go into Joey's food almost everyday. For practical reasons, once I buy something from the market, I need to cook them bit by bit everyday until I finish everything. For health reasons, some of these items are really high in nutrients, so it's good to keep feeding Joey with them!

Ingredients like broccoli, carrots and mushrooms go into her food everyday. Actually Joey doesn't really like carrots, so I usually have to mince them finely so that she would eat them without realising that she already did. =P Surprisingly though, she actually likes munching on raw carrots. *weird0*

Haven't been taking photos recently of Joey's food cos they have not been very exciting. It's all the same few things.. porridge, marcoroni, rice, soup.. etc etc... Oh I wish I have more time to cook more interesting things! Let inspiration come to me!!!!

A Nice Little Meal

Joey's meal today:

The main dish is a fishball soup with chicken & carrots

Side dish is Steamed Egg Custard with Shimeiji mushrooms

The rest are packed into a bento =)

To prevent the soup from spilling, I covered with a cute aluminium foil

The lower tier with the rice and steamed egg

Also put in some colourful goldfish cheese pretzels at the top tray for snack time

I found this little bento tote bag at Daiso and decided to put her bento into it today!

Sambal Prawn Pasta

I tried the best-tasting assam prawn linguine last week at Bakerzin, and today I cooked my own version of it with sambal and a funny kind of pasta that resembles a car wheel!

Tastes really appetitising and good!

My stomach is very happy now... =D

Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars

Today's bento goes by the theme of Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars! Haha, not fanciful, but it is quite nutritious in my opinion. =)

The main course is a soup of broccoli, carrots, mushrooms & potatoes

Made star onigiris mixed with mashed broccoli & carrots. And there are ham stars everywhere too!

It's finally Friday!!!! =D

Fried Macoroni

Tried this dish today, and it smells really nice. =)

Used the macoroni from Marks & Spencer

Ingredients to prepare: Macoroni, minced chicken, minced mushrooms (3 to 4), broccoli (3 to 4 stalks), carrot flowers as decor.

How to cook this dish:

• Season some minced chicken with 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• Chop very finely 3 to 4 mushrooms
• Boil the macoroni and throw in 3 to 4 stalks of broccoli and carrot flowers to cook at the same time
• After about 10 mins, scoop out the broccoli and chop finely
• Next, fry the minced meat. I was amazed that I could actually stir fry the meat without adding a single drop of oil! Just need to keep stirring over very low heat
• Once the meat are cooked, add in a teeny weeny bit of dark soya sauce
• Add in the mushrooms and broccoli and keep stir frying. Add in the macoroni finally and viola, the fried macoroni is done!

Packed into 2 portions for Joey to bring to the office nursery. Carrot flowers on top as decor.. Note: They are supposed to be carrot Pac Man.. hahaha...

Still have some leftovers after packing, so I added in more soya sauce and chopped chilis and it became my breakfast this morning.. =D

Let me end off with photos of Joey monkeying around while waiting for our cab this morning!
Happy Wednesday, my friends! =D

A Special Monday Menu

Since Joey is 2 years old now, I reckon it's time to go beyond soup dishes for her and cook other stuffs for her. And since today is my off day, it's the best time to cook something a little special for her. =) On other mornings when I have to rush to work, I probably won't have so much time.

The ingredients prepared:

I did the 2 main dishes first!

Beef with mushrooms

Baby Dou Miao with ham

Here's the final presentation!

Did 3 onigiri with broccoli on a bed of fried eggs. =D The onigiris are really easy to make and a simple way to make your kids eat their greens. Just cook broccoli very finely (I only use the leafy part) and steam it in a separate bowl from the rice. When both are ready, mix the 2 together and put into a mould. It's not very clear here in the picture but it was supposed to be 'Rabbit Loves Doggie'. Hahaha.. By the way, in the small section, there's some cherry tomatoes just to add some colour.

Happy Joey!

Three Meals A Day

Joey eats three main meals a day, much like you and I. Thank God she is not a very fussy eater, so even though her three meals are all the same food, she still eats them. =P

Every morning, she would eat her first meal while watching Barney VCDs. Recently, she's been rejecting porridge, so it's mostly rice nowadays. After she's finished eating, I'll pack the rest into bentos for her to bring to office to eat for the remaining 2 meals.

This was yesterday's meal. Rice, chicken soup & steamed egg.

This is today's meal: Rice, steamed sausages with mixed veggies, chicken & potato soup.

Then packed into bentos..

Soups Are Good!

Chinese love to drink soups. Soups and rice go well like shoes & socks. Haha..

So, just a simple beef & mushroom soup for baby joey to go with rice..

There are 2 bear onigiris and 2 bunny onigiris to make it more interesting!

The soup contains beef strips, chinese mushrooms, carrots and wolfberries. It smelled really heavenly! Yums! =)

Back to Porridge

A simple one today...

Main Course: Beef & Mushroom porridge

Side Dish: Steamed veggies (Broccoli, carrots, yellow bell peppers) in Bovril soup base.

Snack: A mini box of Smarties & 2 Mandarin orange wedges.

Bento- Balance is the Key!

Used a new bento box today! Just the bento box alone can brighten up my morning! =D

The meal today is very balanced with meat, veggies, carbo & fruits. Good Good. =)

The staple item - Shell pasta

The main course - Beef cube soup with spinach & carrots

Dessert - Dragonfruit cubes

Looks very cheerful & happy eh??

This box is really useful. Every small container comes with an airtight cover, and if I remove all the individual boxes, it becomes a big bento box with a divider in between. Very useful box indeed!

A Happy Surprise Find!

Had a surprise find yesterday when I brought Joey out. Check out this new bento box I bought! It's not even supposed to be a bento box. It's a snack box for babies above 6 months old. But look how useful it is!

It has got 3 smaller containers, each with its own cover. When you remove the 3 containers, you will find a large box with a divider. How very useful! =D

Simple Bentos

Have not posted my bentos for a while... I didn't make many, and only took photos of the following 2 very simple bentos:

Bento #1

1. Steamed fish with broccoli

2. Sausage & cucumber skewer

Bento #2:

1. Chicken & spinach soup

2. Steamed egg

Sometimes this kind of 'little-effort' meals make my kid happier. She seems to like simple food.. heee..

Cocoa Flakes

Got inspired by Meiling's cocoa flakes, so I decided to make them myself! Haha.. I've always liked to eat cocoa flakes, so why not make them myself??

Got some tips from Meiling and went to get the ingredients. Everything for about $10.

Bought a few bottles as well so that I can store them and also give away some to my friends.. =)

My coca flakes! So easy to make & eat!

All packed!

Omelette-Wrapped Rice

Last night I was just thinking to myself that today I wanna try making omelette-wrapped rice for Joey and today I saw the vision come to pass!

I fried an egg as thinly as I knew how, with as little oil as possible (Sidenote: Does anyone know how to fry an egg without using oil? Cos I always wanted to fry eggs or make scrambled eggs for Joey, yet got to worry about the oil content)

Used yet another new bento box today

Wrapped the rice inside the omelette successfully! Hee..

The side dishes are one steamed corn cup and one steamed veggie cup.

The main course is a chicken soup boiled with spinach, potatoes & tofu. This goes into a separate container.

Joey is a typical Cantonese, so she loves soups. =)

Of Fishes & Butterflies

Yeps, I cooked fish for Joey today, and No, I didn't cook any butterflies (just incase you were wondering)

Ta-Da!

And I'm so excited to share a great tip with you today! Heee...

For the fish today, I actually used apples to steam it with cherry tomatoes & baby corns. Ya, I know this is not very conventional, but I thought since I have apples in the fridge, I might as well use them. And it was indeed a pleasant surprise! The juice that accumulated after the steaming was so sweet & very refreshing! This is probably nature's way of cooking without any man-made flavourings. Try it! Use apples when steaming fish! =D

Here is the staple for today: Spinach porridge

Decorated with 3 carrot Christmas trees for a happy feel. =)

Here comes the butterfly part. Don't you think the centrepiece looks like a butterfly? The sauce container looks like the body, and the 2 divider cups on each side look like the wings?

In the foil cup, there is the steamed fish with a carrot christmas tree for a uniform look. In the right divider cup, there are sausage cubes, and on the left cup, there are carrot cubes. All the dishes are to be eaten with the spinach porridge. Then there are some apple cubes to fill in the gap at the top.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Stay happy! =D

Bento Mummy Is Back!

Yeps, and it's because Joey is back in office nursery! Hahaha...

Used a new bento box today, and it's convenient with dividers inside, so I just need to put the food in. =D

This is what it looks like on the outside (The small container is a container of apples for desserts):

This is what it looks inside:

Just a simple meal with 2 heart-shaped onigiris on the top left, a hardboiled smiling egg on the top right. The main dish is steamed chicken with broccoli and carrots.

Recently, Joey has taken a liking to eating meats like chicken and beef. Previously, I only used them to cook porridge for her, but now, she wants to eat the meat as well. Abit concerned that her stomach cannot digest everything, but since she likes, we just let her lor.. =)