Innie or Outie

This version of local take-out meals was simple yet absolutely delish with karashina-fu mix, deep-fried hard boiled egg, rice with black sesame seeds, umeboshi, carrot-egg mix, konbu-konyaku mix, and a scrumptious pork rib smothered in an almost “Texas-style” barbecue sauce.

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It comes as no surprise that someone came up with a more flavorful version of the traditional senbei rice cracker. Various versions of red chilli pepper sauces can be found throughout the island and probably in mainland Japan as well.

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Here’s a familiar home cooked snack with a local twist, SeaChicken Snack:

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Equipment and All Ingredients Needed

1 Small container with lid 1 Knife 1 Cutting board

1 Small bowl 1 Can opener 1 Kettle**** 1 Stovetop burner****

1 Small can tuna

½ Cup water

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon fresh chives

1 Tablespoon cracked black sesame seeds

1 Teaspoon soy sauce

1 Teaspoon dehydrated wakame

½ Teaspoon minced garlic paste

4 Precut spiced-nori sheets

4 Slices bread of choice

*Soup of choice ***Speedy Option*** 2 packets instant miso soup

View video with further details.

This past week has been a busy one and we haven’t had much time for getting creative in the kitchen. Finding a free moment (due to a rainy day), hubby finally had a chance to give stew meat a bit of a twist, Papa’ s Beef ‘n Taters:

For the meal, hubby tenderized, sliced, and sautéed stewing beef in olive oil; added whole grain mustard, classic mustard, red wine, white pepper, minced garlic paste, and canned mushrooms; then simmered until sauce was reduced. The potatoes were sliced, microwaved, then sautéed with olive oil and fresh chopped chives; a bit of spinach and a small salad of iceberg lettuce, quartered cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, scallion, creamy cheese dressing and dried oregano flakes completed the meal.

Here’s another simple and filling meal that can be made in minutes with a precooked basic crockpot chicken base, Simple Crockpot-Chicken & Bean Pasta Dinner:

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Whenever convenient, precook basic crockpot chicken base of finely chopped carrot, bell pepper, onion, potato and chicken thigh with dried fennel, bay leaves, red miso paste, sesame oil, white pepper, rosemary leaves, minced garlic paste, minced ginger paste, water, and chicken broth granules. Remove bay leaves and freeze until needed.

When needed, remove chicken base from freezer; place in pot; and begin defrosting on medium-low heat. Meanwhile, start short pasta-of-choice water and cook according to directions on package. Also, in a seperate skillet, heat olive oil and saute frozen bean mix of choice adding dried oregano flakes; once defrosted thoroughly combine with chicken base; stir-in quartered fresh cherry tomatoes. Once pasta is al dente, strain and add to chicken base combining completely; plate and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese; garnish with fresh basil leaves; add whole wheat dinner roll on the side as an accompaniment.

Here’s another simple meal by hubby making use of frozen pre-made springroll leftovers, Papa’s Double Roll & Tuna Dinner:

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For the meal hubby used frozen leftover springrolls with a ketchup and soy sauce dipping sauce, karashina and canned tuna with oil, rice garnished with cracked black sesame seeds, and spiced nori.

Here’s another quick and simple meal for those busy days, Turkey-Rice Dinner:

The meal consisted of canned turkey chili on leftover recooked rice topped with melted cheddar cheese and fresh basil; an iceberg lettuce, cucumber, scallion, and cherry tomato salad topped with creamy cheese dressing, bacon bits, grated parmesan cheese and dried oregano flakes; and toasted whole wheat dinner roll slices with garlic paste.

Here’s another quick and tasty meal hubby came up with for the busy days, Papa’s Seafood Medley:

For the meal, hubby added shrimp and steamed new potatoes to leftover Savory Chicken Sauté” veggies with leftover Tuna Asiano as a side-dish.

This is a “viking” (choose-you-own-goodies) style take out bento meal with rice, seaweed, fu, konyaku, mushrooms, potato croquette, string beans. tuna, chicken, greens, and daikon.

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Here’s a simple dish that has a combination of Asian and Italian flavors, Tuna Asiano:

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The dish consisted of chopped frozen asparagus sauteed in olive oil with minced garlic paste and chopped white onion, drained canned tuna, dried oregano flakes, drained canned button mushrooms, canned diced tomatoes with liquid, powdered thyme, soy sauce, cracked black sesame seeds, brown sugar, white pepper, dried parsley flakes, leftover precooked rice, grated Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil sprigs.