Morimoto's White Lily

I fell head over heels for Morimoto's White Lily cocktail last weekend. It was my first time trying Morimoto's signature cocktail and I just LOVE it. What is not to love. There's Calpico (creamy!), lemon (citrusy!) shochu (smooth!) and Yuzu (citrusy!x2). I was able to approximate on how to make the cocktail without any fanfare. It came out pretty good, not exactly the same as Morimoto's but delicious nonetheless.

I don't have a cocktail shaker so I just mixed all the ingredients together in a pitcher. Chilled your ingredients before mixing so you don't have to add ice and dilute the cocktail, unless you have a shaker (the shaker strains out the cocktail from the ice). You can purchase Yuzu juice online or Japanese supermarkets.

Ingredients:
1.5L bottle Calpico (original flavor; white)
2.5 tbsp Yuzu juice
1.25 cup barley shochu
Lemon twist, for garnish (optional)

Mix ingredients in a pitcher except lemon twist. Serve on a cocktail glass with lemon twist on the side. Makes 4 drinks. Enjoy!

Broiled Mussels With Dynamite Sauce

Dynamite sauce is Japanese mayonnaise with hot sauce (such as Sriracha chili sauce). I don't know why they name it "dynamite", perhaps because it is spicy. You can get smelt roe (masago) in the frozen seafood section in most Asian supermarkets. This easy recipe makes a tasty appetizer or can be an entree as well.

1 box green mussels (2 lbs.)
1 cup Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie brand)
1/2 cup smelt roe (masago)
1 tablespoon half and half
Sriracha sauce (according to taste, I used 3 tablespoon)

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl except mussels. Line mussels on a baking tray. Spoon mayonnaise mixture on top of mussels, enough to cover the meat.

Broil mussels until it starts to brown and bubbly, around 5 to 10 minutes. Serve warm.

Cocoa Mochi

Got this recipe from the Mochiko Blue Star brand website. It's easy to make, almost a no fail recipe. Try it.

2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 box (16 oz.)Mochiko Blue Star Brand Sweet Rice Flour
3 cups water
extra cocoa powder for dusting


In medium saucepan, using a whisk, combine sugar and cocoa together very thoroughly. Then add 1 cup water and mix well. Heat syrup over medium high, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

Using a whisk, thoughly mix flour and 3 cups water in a large microwavable bowl until smooth.

Cover and microwave 5 minutes on high. Remove from oven and using a large spoon, mix thoroughly. Return to microwave oven, uncovered, and cook an additional 5 minutes on high.
Remove from microwave oven.

Add cocoa syrup and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into a 9 x 13 inch nonstick baking pan lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. Let mochi cool overnight or until firm.

Dust top with cocoa powder and invert contents onto a cutting board dusted with cocoa powder (before inverting pan, gently pull the mochi along the pan sides free).

Cut mochi into small pieces and dust all surfaces in cocoa powder. Store in airtight container and refrigerate.

Kabocha Curry

Vance once had kabocha curry before in a Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant in Chinatown and has been craving them ever since. The restaurant is no longer in business and I have never tasted the dish before so recreating it is rather difficult. Here is my version of the kabocha curry. I don't want to make it too spicy so you can actually taste the sweetness of the kabocha. Vance hates Japanese curry because it is thickened by "roux" instead of coconut milk and he doesn't like the consistency. So, this is a modified Japanese curry that's thickened by coconut milk instead of roux.


1 small kabocha, leave the skin on and cut into cubes.
2 cups baby carrots.
1 cup celery, chopped.
2 cups frozen green peas, thawed.
1 medium sized onion, quartered and chopped.
2 cloves garlic, chopped.
2 cups water.
1 can coconut milk (480 mL).
3 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon sugar.
salt to taste.

Ingredients (A)
1/2 cup water.
1/2 cup curry powder.
2 tablespoon red chili powder.

Heat oil on high heat. Add onion and garlic, fry until onion is translucent. Combine ingredients (A) into a curry paste. Lower the heat to medium and add curry paste. Fry for a few minutes until aromatic. Add kabocha, carrots, celery and 2 cups of water. Cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Add coconut milk, sugar and salt. Cook for another 15 minutes. Add green peas and cook for 10 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Serve warm with white rice.

Omusoba

My first Omusoba was at Go Japanese Restaurant in Astor Place. For those who doesn't know what it is it's an omelet with yakisoba filling topped with Tonkatsu sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, dried seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and gari (pickled ginger).

This is a fairly simple recipe, you can substitute yakisoba noodles with ramen noodles and bean sprouts with julienne carrots and cabbage. You can also add in julienne pork or chicken. Just use 1/2 cup of vegetables 1/2 cup of meat instead of a cup of vegetables. To make this a vegetarian recipe, just omit the bonito flakes.

• 2 packets yakisoba noodles
• 2 packets yakisoba seasoning (comes with the yakisoba noodle)
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon oil
• Tonkatsu sauce
• Japanese mayonnaise (Kewpie brand)
• Dried seaweed flakes
• Bonito flakes
• Gari (pickled ginger)

Add 1 teaspoon of oil in the wok. Turn it on high heat. Add in the yakisoba noodles, the seasoning, bean sprouts and soy sauce. Fry the noodles for a few minutes, if it is too dry add some water. Add in some Tonkatsu sauce (add more if you like your noodle saucy). Set aside the yakisoba.

Add the remaining oil into the wok. Break 3 eggs into the wok on medium heat to make an omelet. Put the yakisoba on the omelet and fold it into a semi circle.

Serve the Omusoba with more Tonkatsu sauce, Japanese mayonnaise, dried seaweed flakes, bonito flakes and gari. Dig in!