Totoro rice is part of a larger Japanese character based meal titled "Kyaraben on Steroids" featured in August's Foodbuzz's 24-24-24. Click here to see the entire meal.

Here is the tutorial for Totoro Rice.

First, you must make the gray rice by mixing ground up black sesame seeds with rice. I typically use a small spice grinder and grind up about 2-3 T of black sesame seeds.

One you have made your gray rice, take a glob of the rice using plastic wrap, and form an oval out of it. You can also form the ears of the Totoro.

Next, make a mound of white rice and put another layer on as his belly.

I then cut out eyes with a straw using fish cake (kamaboko).

I cut out his eyeballs and the designs on his stomach from seaweed using a pair of scissors.
Next, decorate around Totoro using whatever you have. In this case, I used Korean Spinach Salad as the "grass" underneath him.

Finally, I cut out some carrot flowers and red bell pepper flowers. You can make the carrot flowers by cutting 3 notches into the side of the carrot and then slicing it.

With the tulips, you can cut with scissors the old fashioned way.

Definitely check out Anna the Red's Bento Factory for much more detailed tutorials on how to make Totoro bentos.

The post Totoro Rice appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

Those Thanksgiving weekend sales are dangerous.

Last Thanksgiving weekend we walked into Sears with the intention of checking out some appliances. Before we knew it, we had plopped down a couple thousand of dollars in exchange for a spanking new double door refrigerator and a convection microwave oven.

I hadn't even considered getting a convection oven. How quickly salespeople can change your mind.

Well, it's been over half a year since we got our appliances delivered, and I have to say, this tiny urban kitchen is loving her new appliances. After having suffered for years with 20+ year old appliances (that probably needed replacement parts like these), I was thrilled to have a microwave that could properly pop popcorn and a refrigerator that dispensed water!

I've been slow to adopt the convection oven capabilities of my microwave. Maybe I'm chicken, or maybe I'm just too lazy to learn. I have no other excuse for why it's taken me this long to learn how to make perfectly crispy roasted potatoes.

But alas, I've finally figured out a good recipe that makes potatoes that I love.

I used Yukon golds from my CSA farm share, which have fantastic potato flavor and are also waxier in texture. I love waxy potatoes, which could explain why I loved these potatoes even more.

Convection Oven Roasted Potatoes
Potatoes, cut into 1 inch cubes
Vegetable oil
Herbs (e.g., rosemary)
Sea salt

Spread out the potatoes in a single layer on the convection microwave tray. Toss with olive oil to coat and season liberally with salt and herbs. Heat on convection mode at 450 °F for 35 minutes, or until the edges are crispy.

Serve!

Additional Resources
Looking for a new refrigerator? Come visit this website for more details.

The post Convection Oven Roasted Potatoes appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

There is something glorious about the magical combination of miso, mirin, sake, and sugar. This beautiful, multi-purpose glaze can be used to make a delicious seared black cod a la Nobu style or can be brushed on slices of eggplant to make a fantastic side dish or appetizer.

As I've been cooking a lot more during this pandemic, I've enjoyed revisiting old favorites and trying out new recipes. This one is a winner and I use it often, especially if I'm making a seared tuna or hamachi filet (with yuzu kosho, one of my favorite Japanese condiments).

Cut eggplant lengthwise, score down the middle, and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 10 min before blotting off the water with a paper towel.

Lay eggplant in a single layer flat side down and roast for 15-20 minutes.

Turn eggplant around and brush with miso mirin glaze.

Broil for 1-2 minutes with glaze side up. Serve!

This stuff is so delicious, I often just eat it straight out of the oven. Of course, you can also chill it and use it as a side dish in a bento lunch. It's versatile, healthy, and super tasty.

Miso Glazed Eggplant
adapted from the New York Times

• ¾ pound long Japanese eggplants
•  Salt to taste
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon sake
• 2 tablespoons white or yellow miso
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Cut eggplant lengthwise, score down the middle, and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 10 min before blotting off the water with a paper towel.

Preheat oven to 425F (200C). Lay eggplant slices in a single layer flat side down and roast for 15-20 minutes.

Miso Glaze
In a small saucepan heat together mirin and sake over high heat. As soon as it begins to boil, bring down the heat and add miso and sugar, mixing until all combined and sugar is melted. Remove from heat and add sesame oil.

Remove eggplant from the oven and flip slices around so that the flat side is up. Brush the miso glaze on the eggplant flat side and broil for 1-2 minutes until the glaze charrs and bubbles.

Serve!

The post Miso Glazed Eggplant -Nasu Dendaku appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

During this pandemic as I have been cooking more, I began supporting a local organic farm in Hong Kong. It reminds me of my old days in Boston when I used to receive gorgeous bounties of produce every week from Siena Farms, a local farm that practiced sustainable and organic methods. This Hong Kong farm is located in one of Hong Kong's land areas preserved for farming. It's been a joy to receive weekly deliveries of local, organic produce again.

I've always enjoyed farm shares because they give me incentive to try cooking vegetables I've never cooked before. In Boston these farm shares exposed me to things like French breakfast radish, rutabaga, celeriac, watermelon radish, garlic scapes, and much, much more.

Recently my Hong Kong organic farm started to grow okra. I've usually had okra either in a gumbo (where it's sticky, gooey, and soft) or deep fried Southern style. Here in Asia, I learned that you could quickly char okra and then quickly stir fry with your favorite meat.

The end result is much less gooey and sticky, and almost reminds me a bit of blistered Shishito peppers (though they still do have a bit of gooeyness inside).

All in all, I found it to be a lovely way to prepare okra, and I ended up only cooking it this way throughout the whole okra season.

Charred Okra
1. Cut okra in half, split down the middle
2. Add about 1 tablespoon of high heat oil (e.g., grapeseed, avocado oil), and heat until pan is very hot
3. Lay okra flat side down onto the pan in a single layer, being careful not to crowd the pan
4. Wait 2-3 min until the flat side is bit charred, and flip.

If you want, you can just sprinkle some sea salt on top and call it a day. However, if you want you make it into a stir fry with meat, you can remove the okra from the pan and cook the meat separately, combining both at the end.

In my case, I simple cut up some pork loin and quickly stir fried the meat with ~1 teaspoon of oil over high heat to char the outside and cook the inside. After a couple minutes, I combined the cooked meat together with the okra I had set aside and just tossed both together.

Serve!

The post Pan Charred Okra Stir Fry appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.

I have always wished that the little dollop of potato salad in a Japanese bento were bigger. Since I was young, I much preferred the light, whipped, airy Japanese potato salad over the typical US picnic variety (doused in mayonnaise) or even the German kind, which was tart and mustard-y. However, it always seemed elusive because I only saw it when I went to a Japanese restaurant, and they never gave a lot.

This year, I finally decided to try making it. I was floored at how easy it was to replicate my all-time favorite potato salad. This time, I did not hold back, and made a HUGE portion to make up for all those childhood times when I longed for another scoop of this creamy, potato salad that almost resembles mashed potatoes.

Japanese potato salad is much lighter, and the addition of rice vinegar adds just enough brightness to balance out the Japanese Kewpie mayo.

Finally, the addition of quickly salted cucumbers and lightly blanched carrots adds a lovely crunch to the salad.

Step by Step - How to Make Japanese Potato Salad

Boil potatoes starting with cold, salted water until done, around 15 min. Drain and let stand. It's better to use a fluffy type of potato versus a waxy one (e.g. Yukon gold vs. red potato).

Meanwhile, make a quick salted "pickles" for both the cucumbers and onions by mixing with sea salt, mix, and let stand for 10 minutes to let the water "sweat" out. Squeeze out the water, rinse, and set aside.

Gently mash the potatoes and then add salt, pepper, rice vinegar, and sugar. Add quick pickled cucumbers, carrots, onions, and Kewpie mayonnaise.
Serve or chill for serving later.

Yum!

Japanese Potato Salad

Adapted from Lovely Lanvin
5 medium Yukon gold potatoes
⅓ cup Kewpie mayo
½ Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
¼ red onion, minced
½ carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
⅓ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 T rice vinegar
1 T sugar|

Potatoes
Boil potatoes starting with cold, slated water until done, around 15 min. Drain and let stand.

Quick Pickled Cucumbers
Meanwhile, make a quick salted "pickles" for both the cucumbers and onions by mixing with sea salt, mix, and let stand for 10 min to let water out. Squeeze out the water, rinse, and set aside.

Blanched Carrots
Quickly blanch carrots for 1-2 min. Drain and set aside

Put It All Together
Gently mash the potatoes and then add salt, pepper, rice vinegar, and sugar. Add quick pickled cucumbers, carrots, onions, and Kewpie mayonnaise.
Serve or chill for serving later.

The post Japanese Potato Salad appeared first on Tiny Urban Kitchen.