Mulled Wine Stuffing with Sausage and Chestnuts

Here's another special holiday family recipe from my mother that I had to make sure I learned how to make. This stuffing is possibly my favorite culinary aspect of the holiday season!

I love how the wine gives this stuffing acidity and a little bit of bitterness to cut through the richness of butter, sausage and bread. Most stuffings can be be a little stodgy and bland, and the use of the mulled wine brightens it up.

I've written about this stuffing on my slow cooker mulled wine recipe, as that is the ingredient that really makes this stuffing.You can add in dried fruit or nuts, or remove the meat entirely. It will still be acceptable to me. However, if you omit the mulled wine, it just won't taste right in my book. This is the only stuffing for me!

Now, the big trend for food photography for stuffing is giant pieces of bread that toast up nicely in the oven and make for a glorious picture, however I don't think that tastes as nice because everything doesn't have a chance to incorporate. If you prefer a drier stuffing, reduce the liquid to 1 cup each of broth and mulled wine. I like mine nice and mushy and don't really care if that's not as attractive to photograph. 

Kamaboko Dip

It's officially the holidays! Parties, potlucks, girlfriend get-togethers: I've got all that and more planned for the coming weeks, so you'll see a bit of a shift in the recipes I feature here.

There's a distinct lack of baking projects, recipes for parties, or appetizers for a crowd. I like small dishes, and this blog started as a way to feature what I cook on weeknights for myself and Mr. Mochi, and I don't deviate too often unless it is to make sure I write down one of my mother's recipe.


But with the holidays upon us, please look forward to some party dishes! First up: Kamaboko Dip!

I've made several dishes on this blog that feature kamaboko, but all of them have been pretty traditional Japanese recipes. So I wanted to showcase how we utilize it differently it as hapas and Japanese Americans here in the states. Of course I am sure you can think of plenty examples of where imitation crab (kanikama) is substituted for real crab. But here's an entirely new presentation for kamaboko.

Hiroshima-Style Okonomiyaki (広島風お好み焼き)

If you walk into an okonomiyaki joint in Hiroshima and ask for Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, you might get a funny look. To them, this is simply okonomiyaki and others just have it all wrong.

Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki starts with wheat flour and water, mixed to a thin batter that is cooked over a grill. Shredded cabbage is piled on top as it is halfway through cooking, along with whatever toppings you would like. Yakisoba noodles are put on top, followed by a fried egg.


This entire tower of savory goodness is topped with sauces and served piping hot.

Check out the layers!

What the difference between Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki and the rest of Japan? The more popular style of okonomiyaki mixes the cabbage and eggs directly into the batter rather than stacking them for a thicker okonomiyaki with almost a custardy inside, and most importantly it lacks the noodles.

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese dish that lots of people have tried describing it by attempting to liken it to pizza, but it's nothing like pizza! I liken it more to a Japanese savory cabbage pancake, but it's a little hard to describe even in these respects.

Okonomiyaki, in my opinion, is one of the most accessible foods to those who might be picky or apprehensive about Japanese cuisine. It's a shame that there's a huge lack of okonomiyaki shops in America because everyone who try it seems to love okonomiyaki. I myself actually dislike cabbage, but love this dish. Also in its favor is its nature of customization: okonomiyaki's name itself means "grilled as you like it," and you can add whatever you like to it: squid, seafood, bean sprouts, or anything else that strikes your fancy. For instance, Mr. Mochi loves pork belly and only wants a hint of mayo. No problem! Customization is key.

Amalfi (アマルフィ)

Before paying our respects at our family grave site and visiting the local temple in Yawatahama, my relatives in Japan took my brother, mother, and I to an Italian restaurant in the heart of Yawatahama called Amalfi. I wanted to share this experience with you as our meal showcased not only the Japanese's twist on Italian food, but also some of the local ingredients of Shikoku. Their attention to detail and ability to express a lot of flavor in small portion sizes were two things I was very impressed with.

Despite it being the lunch hour, our meal was a multi-course extravaganza. I think a lot of restaurants back in the states could learn a thing or two about portion control from places in Japan like Amalfi. This was a five course meal that managed to stay light!

We started out with an amuse-bouche of a warm potato cream soup with a thin savory crisp skewered on top with a side of a house parmesan cream cheese. The potato soup was pleasantly creamy and without any sort of graininess that sometimes happens with potato soup. I was impressed with how they managed to serve it piping hot as I've had amuse-bouches arrive lukewarm by the time they are done plating, and all of ours arrived at once. There was not a large staff by any means, so that meant they worked like lightning!

Kansansoubekkan (観山荘別館)

Our most memorable meal of Fukuoka (and perhaps the enitre trip) was at Kansansoubekkan (観山荘別館), a kaiseki restaurant.

Let us be clear: I am not a kaiseki person and neither is my mother. I'm a fan of donburi, ramen, and mochi. I am solidly a B-class gourmand. My mother is the type of person that got bored in France because every meal took so long.

So kaiseki was a leap for us. For those uninitiated in what kaiseki is: Kaiseki is a multi-course meal that really takes food to an art form.

Only seasonal ingredients, cooked fresh, are used, prepared and plated in a way to highlight not only the taste but the visual appeal of the dish.

We were served 12 different dishes over several hours in a gargantuan private room with just us in it and a view of their beautiful garden. It was a crazy ride, and something I am so glad I was able to experience!

We were sat in a traditional style room, without chairs, but there were several larger parties that elected to sit in a more western banquet style. We took a tour of the garden and took pictures in it, which I don't think most people were allowed to do, because we certainly messed up the pretty gravel designs by walking on it.

DTLA Night Market 2014

Summer has been crazy. June, July, and now August are gone in a blur! I went to the OC Night Market, the DTLA Night Market, Anime Expo, Comic Con, the K-Town Night Market, and the original 626 Night Market. I'm happy to say that I managed not to gain any weight in July, and actually lost weight in June!

DLTA Night Market definitely was a cheat day for me. I went with one of my friends (Incidentally, she is a damn cool chick and introduced me to Shin-Sen-Gumi back in the day) and Mr. Mochi to brave the summer heat and see what downtown Los Angeles had to offer.

DLTA Night Market was much smaller than the other two night markets I've been to, there wasn't as much real estate for them to work with. A lot of the same vendors from the OC Night Market were there, so I am going to focus my post on the different things we tried!

Jalapeño Cheese Age-Gyoza (揚げ餃子 の ハラペーニョ チーズ)

Normally here in the United States, we'd call these "Jalapeño Cheese Wontons", but since these are inspired by Honda-ya's Cheese Age, I thought it appropriate to called them gyoza instead.

Izakaya Honda-ya is our go-to place for a cheap but satisfying night out. Late on a Monday or Tuesday normally doesn't draw a crowd, they don't mind us lingering and ordering sporadically throughout the evening.



One of our favorite indulgent dishes is their Cheese Age, which means "fried cheese" but is so much more and very crave-able.

Luckily for you, it's also very simple to make. With just four ingredients, and the ability to prep these ahead, these are a great party snack.

Age (pronounce ahh-gay) means "fried" in Japanese, so age-gyoza means simply "fried dumpling." I'm still working on my Japanese grammar and sentence structure, so feel free to correct me in the comments regarding the Japanese title.

Ramen Crispy Treats

I've already posted on how much I love ramen. Mr. Mochi gets downright spiritual after finishing a bowl at Shin-Sen-Gumi. It appeals to me on the most basic levels; ramen is soul food. I see ramen as a hangover cure, rainy-day friend; a pick-me-up piping hot broth with slurp-able noodles that never fails to make you feel better.

Plus ramen is so customizable. A poached egg, some green onions, toasted nori, just about everything is free game. You can even peruse the vast amount of ramen hacks, where the instant ramen is taken to new heights of crazy and creativeness. I love creating my own weird combinations with premade food, like my KFC kare donburi, so I think that's why I have a soft spot for ramen hacks.

I had to try this one when I heard about it. After all, ramen hacks are usually savory, so any ramen dessert had to be tried. Especially since I knew these would make great gifts for Valentine's Day. Without further ado, I introduce you to Ramen Crispy Treats. Just like rice crispy treats, but use dry ramen.

If you use 4 packs of noodles, it will be like the picture, but I found I liked it with more marshmallow to ramen and made it again with only 3 packs, but they definitely were messier to eat as they were on the gooey-er side. Feel free to use whatever mix-ins tickle your fancy: M&Ms, chocolate chips, pecans, etc, would all be amazing. These treats will be denser than rice crispy treats, and nuttier tasting, but I surprisingly really enjoyed them. For decorating for Valentine's Day, I think some Valentine's edition Reeses Pieces or M&Ms would be very cute, or even some heart-shaped sprinkles!

Setsubun and Ehomaki Recipe!

Today is the day before spring begins according to the lunisolar calendar. On February 3rd, the Japanese celebrate Setsubun, celebrating the start of spring. Setsubun no Hi (節分の日), also known as the Bean-Throwing Festival, celebrates the start of a new year according to the lunar calendar. So several things are done to bring good luck to the coming year, as well as chase away the demons of the old year.

First, is the ritual of mamemaki (節分), which literally translates as bean-throwing, to drive away bad luck and demons (called oni). Usually someone in the family will dress up as a oni and people will stand at the doorway and throw soybeans at the door until the oni retreats. We had way too much fun throwing soybeans at Oni-Tiara, who in turn had way too much fun eating the soybeans.

So now that you've driven out the bad luck and oni (and in our case, attracted a begging pooch), you now eat some soybeans yourself to invite good luck in. Traditionally you eat as many soybeans as your age (Tiara should have stopped at seven beans) but I ended up snacking on them while I wrote this post, so I'm either extra lucky, or more probably, just fatter.

Another ritual is eating ehomaki, a makizuki sushi roll that is completely uncut, and contains 7 different ingredients for good luck. You're supposed to eat it in complete silence while facing a special auspicious direction that changes every year, for instance 2014 the lucky direction is east-northeast.

Now, even if you don't want to eat a whole sushi roll in complete silence, ehomaki are very tasty! They are actually just uncut futomaki, or fat sushi rolls, but it is kinda fun to eat them uncut like a giant sushi burrito. Maki-san at JustHungry has some great ideas for nontraditional ehomaki fillings on this page, as well as the most traditional fillings.

Dorilocos: Tostilocos with Doritos

This all started when my coworker shared with me her secret to a happy marriage: on Sundays, she would share a plate of Nacho Cheese Doritos with her husband while they watched television. They always have them served like papitas preparadas, sprinkled in hot sauce and lime juice but with Doritos instead of potato chips. She brought in this snack on a busy day at the office, and offered me a bite.

I was hooked, line and sinker. I have a huge affinity for antojitos, literally "little cravings" or Mexican street food. Except my cravings certainly aren't little by any stretch of the imagination. I've waxed poetic about downtown Los Angeles and the influence of Mexican street food with my L.A. Street Dog post. The same coworker that inspired this recipe was the catalyst for my chile mango candies when she brought in vero mango lollipops. I even used Mexican chocolate and dried chiles for my Christmas gift of caramels.

Now the Doritos are amazingly delicious served the way my coworker introduced me, with lime juice and Valentina hot sauce. But the idea that was planted in my head was something a little more epic: tostilocos with Doritos, or as I named them, Dorilocos.

Tostilocos are a newer antojitos to hit the street food scene. Tostilocos were spawned in border towns like Tijuana around the 1990s, a crazy mixture of salty, sweet, and sour. It's one of those dishes that on paper sound ridiculous, only making sense when you try it yourself. Cucumber, jicama, pickled pork skin (called cueritos), Japanese-style peanuts, hot sauce, chamoy sauce, and even tamarind chewy candies are poured on top of Tostitos chips for a dish that is aptly named loco or "crazy." Here in Orange County, you can find tostilocos at fruit juice shops, or even at swap meets.

Matcha Shortbread Cookies

I was a weird little kid. I loved all sorts of sour or bitter things, like kumquats and coffee. I definitely still loved sweet things, but even then my favorite candies would be the sour ones like warheads or sour patch kids. The waitresses used to think I was very strange to order coffee (decaf of course) and drink it just like my dad with cream and sugar.

This is all funny, because I didn't immediately love green tea, which has definitely eclipsed coffee in my book. It wasn't until I was probably around ten years old that I really appreciated green tea.

I love the popped rice in genmaicha!

I love pretty much all green tea, from toasty-roasty hojicha to mellow and sweet genmaicha. I love a hot cup of tea with a rowdy group of friends at Honda-ya, and I also love it curled up with a good book on a night in.

Of course, I also love to cook with it.

Most recipes you see that say "green tea this-or-that" are made with matcha. Matcha is made by taking the finest tea leaves that are grown in the shade and then drying and grinding them into a powder. It is much sweeter than normal green tea, and is a beautiful vibrant shade of green. Traditionally it is used primarily for tea ceremony, but nowadays I happen to think more people make sweets and baked good with it than actually drinking it with hot water.

This recipe is no exception, I borrow the sweet and bitter taste of matcha along with its gorgeous color. I also use genmaicha as a decorative garnish, and the roasted grains of rice add a pleasant crunch.

O.C. Buddhist Church Obon 2013!

Obon season is upon us! Dancing, drumming, food and festival games, let me paint a picture for you:

Japanese lanterns sway gently above us, silhouetted by a beautiful sunset: fiery red that roars across the horizon before extinguishing into a riot of pink and purple.

 Gold and silver, glitter and sparkle.

Nothing is as beautiful as a woman in a colorful kimono. In the sweltering heat, the thin cotton yukata allows one to stay above it all and the women here are glamorous despite the temperature. An elderly woman in a purple one patterned with white and silver epitomizes grace and refinement as she dances. Swirling and twirling to the steady beat of a taiko drum, these dancers circle around a center tower strung with lanterns, people watching and clapping along on the sidelines.

A little girl darts out amid the dancers, giggling madly in her flip flops and waving a clacking noise-maker gleefully. Soon enough, an older gentleman in a colorful orange happi coat scoops her up and brings her back to family. Little girls in their first yukata rush toward each other to compare obi, then break apart to have a furious war of waving uchiwa fans at each other.

People are shouting over the heads of others, recognizing friends from church. Backs are clapped, a bite of dango is offered, and then both parties swivel to smile at a child walking by with a precious bag of water containing one goldfish sparkling like a jewel at the bottom.


Above the beat of the drum, winding its way around the happy chatter, is the unmistakable aroma of Japanese festival food. It smells like coming home.

And then there's me, the perennial wallflower.

Not dancing, not talking, just watching this happy spectacle. There must have been skinned knees, lost fans, dead goldfish--but I never saw it.

Strawberry Bing Tanghulu (冰糖葫芦)

I mentioned in my 626 night market post that I had tried a street sweet from China that I was dying to share with you all, bing tanghulu (冰糖葫芦). When I first saw this sweet-on-a-stick, I was mesmerized by it. It looked like a person took fruit and made them into jewels, the way they glistened!

I've seen it spelled various different ways in English, from bing tanghulu, bingtang hulu to just tanghulu, or sometimes even bing tang hu lu (apparently just insert spaces according to your fancy). Any which way, fruit on a skewer that has been coating in a thin layer of hard candy is deliciously craveable. The conflicting textures of the hard candy and ripe fruit, crunchy/soft, and the opposing flavors, sweet/tangy, make it a delicious treat!

My twist on Bing Tanghulu, not dipped whole but drizzled!

Umeshu (梅酒)

Umeshu is an infused liqueur made by steeping unripe ume in shochu with sugar. When it has matured, it is easy to drink without a lot of bite to it, especially when mixed with carbonated water. At home, it is made by combining ao-ume (青梅 literally "green/blue ume"), kouri zatou (氷砂糖 rock sugar), and shochu (焼酎white distilled Japanese liquor).

It is also super easy to make, so when ao-ume is in season around May/June, you can walk into any Japanese market and see bags of ao-ume, kouri zatou, and big bottles of shochu.

Most of the time umeshu is translated as "plum wine" but that isn't really correct. The fruit called "ume" is really a type of apricot, and the drink really is an infused liqueur rather than a wine. But just like "umeboshi" gets translated as "pickled plum," no one will fault you for calling umeshu "plum wine" but don't drink this like it is wine, because it is much higher proof!

626 Night Market!

I had an absolute blast this weekend at the 626 Night Market held at the Santa Anita Park in Arcadia California! Billed as the largest Asian night market in the United States, I couldn't resist checking it out. They boast over 150 vendors, food stalls, food trucks, music acts, and even non-profit organizations, so I figured it would be a fun night out with tons of fun food to share with you all!

Admission is only $3 ($2 if you get there before 6pm) so it's relatively cheap, and the individual food prices were pretty reasonable. I recommend bringing cash, some vendors accepted cards and some were cash-only. And of course, make sure to bring a big appetite! Just walking to the event, you could smell delicious things wafting to the parking lot.

German Chocolate Brownies

Life in the Mochi household has been rather hectic recently. I've started an accelerated program for veterinary technicians as well as two other classes at another location, seized the opportunity to do some dog-sitting this past week, and consequently ate a lot of El Pollo Loco while feeling it wasn't worth it. I've never been good at stress and juggling so many things at once, and this blog is definitely taking a hit.

No worries, I've got some projects in the works, like umeshu/ichigoshu, and the long-awaited shiso katsuo ninniku recipe!

In the meantime, here's a quick recipe for all your summer hangouts. I made them for Mother's Day at my mom's request, but they would be a great addition for Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, or any picnic or barbeque celebration. My grandpa and I both love german chocolate cake, but sometimes life is too crazy to commit to making a huge multi-layered cake, so this is a fast fix with the same flavors. The other nice thing is both the topping and the brownies can be made several days in advance.

You can even take the brownies, top them with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and pour the topping over it, warm, for an amazing brownie sundae.

Smoked Salmon Crostini

I don't do a lot of entertaining, but when I do, it usually consists of finger foods and tea sandwiches. I love tea parties. Even more than tea parties, I love salmon.

My mother has always championed the healthiness of sustainably farmed salmon, and she served it so much my brother and I would complain as teenagers. Yes, we were spoiled brats. Now, being a terribly poor early-20's girl with her own place, I dream of salmon yet rarely buy it. So when I threw my party recently as mentioned in the previous post, I used it as an excuse to gorge on smoked salmon.

Like my caprese skewers, this is more about assembly than any other cooking skill. I've made these before, but this time I worked a little more on presentation and made roses out of the cucumber. It's a really quick step, but obviously they taste great either way.

As an alternative to crostini, you could even just take plain white bread, cut into squares without the crust, lightly butter to keep them from getting soggy, and make attractive open-faced tea sandwiches instead!

Caprese Skewers

Insalata Caprese is my favorite Italian dish. The most basic iteration is buffalo mozzarella, fresh sliced tomatoes, and basil leaves sprinkled in salt and olive oil. My favorite variation is the caprese with balsamic vinegar. As a kid, I was nuts for the stuff and time has done nothing to curb my enthusiasm for it. I am dangerous around a dish of balsamic and some nice bread for dipping.

Recently on Pinterest, I've been seeing caprese redone as a finger food, by using whole cherry tomatoes and ciliegine mozzarella (smaller than bocconcini) threaded on skewers with basil. Needless to say, I had to try this recipe the next time I threw a party.

I could chug this stuff

Most variations of the caprese skewers seem to forgo the balsamic vinegar, probably because for finger food it is messy and has the potential to stain things if it drips. Despite this, I will not forgo balsamic vinegar. My solution? A balsamic reduction or glaze that is thicker and more concentrated so it's less likely to drip.

You can make your own reduction, or cheat like I did and purchase it ready-made. I even went so far as to get mozzarella that was already marinated, but you can also marinate your own if you can't find them already in olive oil. You may think I'm lazy (that would be a totally sound assumption, by the way) but I like to have party bites that are fast and easy to make so I can focus on the main dishes, or just having fun. This is a ridiculously easy recipe.

Puppy Chow

I had tons of leftover chex, from the Nori Furikake Chex Mix, so I decided to make some puppy chow.

My good friend Riki was the first person to show me this recipe.  I've known Riki since elementary school, so I'm not sure exactly when she first showed me, but it was at an age where we probably weren't trusted with sharp knives that would be needed for anything more difficult. So probably sometime last year... lol just kidding!

It is definitely a good girl's get together food, and I am pretty sure we first made this at a sleepover.   It is super easy to make, tastes amazing, and has all the elements of a good recipe for friends to make together:

A) You get to shake everything at the end
B) No oven, no stove, just a microwave
C) You get to fight over who gets to lick the bowl vs spoon
D) There's no waiting for them to cool down like baked goods, where someone always burns their tongue, usually me

Okay that makes me sound like a special ed kid, but really sometimes simple is better, especially when you're doing nails, watching movies, and making something delicious all in the same night.