Adventures in Mika's Kitchen
Last week, I noticed a strange low buzzing sound in our yard coming from my lavender bushes. I walked a little bit closer to figure out where the noise was coming from… and realized, each lavender flower had it’s own individual bee! So many bees… so many flowers! When I planted these bushes last year, [...]
After figuring out how to make Daifuku Mochi (Sweet Red Bean Mochi) a few weeks ago, I’ve been thinking about all the other types of Mochi that I could now make. I have some Yomogi (Japanese Mugwort) growing in the garden… and eventually those leaves will end up as Kusa Mochi (one of my most favorite [...]
Apparently, there are two styles of “Kung Pao Chicken“! The original Szechuan version was created during the Chinese Qing Dynasty, and normally contains Szechuan Peppercorns. These “peppercorns” do not come from the Piperaceae family (Pepper) - they are actually from the Rutaceae plant family (Citrus). This unique spice gives a tingling/numbing flavor which is typical [...]
Mochi is one of my most favorite treats to eat… I LOVE mochi! It’s so hard to come by though… Where we live, the nearest Japanese market is (at least) a 30 minute drive, and we don’t go down that way very often. Also, I’ve noticed that Mitsuwa Market has reduced their “fresh food/bakery” section [...]
Recently, I’ve been reading a lot about this “3-2-1 cake” online… It’s supposed to be a really easy single serving cake to make in the microwave using a rice bowl or a mug (which is great if you don’t want to have an entire whole cake lingering around your kitchen). **Cough** …portion control… **Cough** (You [...]
I’m always looking for new ways to cook beef short rib. The other night, I was combing through foodnetwork.com recipes, and found a Dave Lieberman recipe that looked good. I made a few adjustments to the recipe… and I was pretty happy with the results. The cloves of garlic end up wonderfully caramelized after cooking – [...]
I’m on a mission these days to try new foods… new vegetables, new flavors… basically anything that is outside my normal routine. It helps that the supermarket down the street now carries all kinds of exotic fruits and vegetables. For example, I can buy lemongrass, daikon radish, shitake mushrooms… even yuca root! I don’t normally [...]
“Milk Tart” is a very common specialty from South Africa – and is also one of my husband’s most favorite childhood desserts. You can purchase Milk Tart (a.k.a. Melktert) in markets or bakeries all around Cape Town – or like most people, just make it at home to serve as a dessert or an accompaniment with [...]
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