Uneventfully Delicious

Posted by Hirono

I had okonomiyaki for breakfast, lunch, and dinner today. I made a batch of the dough mixture in the morning and made pancakes whenever I got hungry throughout the day. I think I ate about five today.

The dough batch included the following ingredients: ¼ head of cabbage; 2 medium carrots; 1 medium onion; 3 green onions, about a tablespoon graded yamaimo; 2 medium eggs; 5 tablespoons flour; and 7 thin pork slices. I ate about half a batch so nutritionally, it was pretty balanced. The only downside is that I used a lot of mayonnaise and ketchup.

I munched on a handful or two of Pucca (chocolate pretzel snack) throughout the day. I may have had a little too much. I feel pretty heavy today, despite not eating super heavy or greasy food.

Today was a very uneventful (but delicious and satisfying) culinary day. Okay, off to roll around the floor with a foam roller for my 30-minute daily workout.

P.S. Happy birthday, Dad! May this year be filled with great health and happiness! I love you!

A Perfect Day

Posted by Hirono

Breakfast (9:30 a.m.): A quick, natto and okra rice for breakfast before heading out the door to go running with Tiffany and Shannon. We ran the streets of Pasadena for a total of six miles, to prepare for the upcoming Pasadena Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon. We stopped by Starbucks to get a bottled water and got a sample of its new Blonde roast. I personally like the darker roast, Sumatra being my favorite, but this one was not bad at all! I would have ordered a cup if we didn’t have to keep on running!

Lunch (1:30 p.m.): We went to Le Pain Quotidien for lunch. I inhaled a piece of bread with the heavenly, almost crack-like white chocolate Blondie spread (can this thing be any more delicious?), and downed the Mint Lemonade.

I finally got to try the Tuscan Bean Salad that Tiffany got last time (and wished I had). It really hit the spot, after the run.

There was a guy with a sketchbook sitting near us at a communal table. When I got up to use the restroom, I got the glimpse of what he was drawing. On a paper, I saw a picture of a beautiful woman. When I looked closely, the woman looked very much like Tiffany. Are women supposed to feel flattered by this or be freaked out? We say it’s creepy.

Afterward, we stopped at Paper Source and Sur La Table, two of my favorite shops on Colorado Blvd. I picked up a small vegetable slicer. I already have a large mandoline with all the bells and whistles but I’ve never used it because I’m completely intimidated … but I think I can manage this smaller version. Cucumber sunomono, here I come!

Dinner (7:30 p.m.): I finally got to partake on the birthday celebration that my parents planned for me! I wasn’t able to attend last week because I ended up spending that Saturday in bed (darn cough attack!) so I was happy that I got to finally celebrate it with my family. We had okomomiyaki! Going to a nice restaurant is wonderful but there is nothing better than a dinner party at home with the family.

My mother baked an amazing, chiffon cake with strawberries and whipped cream that was out of this world.

(Please excuse my naked face. I came to my parents’ house directly from the workout / lunch and didn’t have the time to do my hair and put on my eyebrows.)

Today was an absolute perfect day, full of so much love. I’m the luckiest person in the world. Thank you, Mom, Dad, and Saori, for such beautiful celebration.

Tonkatsu

Posted by Hirono

Lunch (11:30 p.m.): I ate vegetable and shrimp pancake (leftover from yesterday’s lunch), with sushi vinegar and soy sauce dipping sauce. This is a cross between Japanese okonomiyaki and Korean pajeon. I skipped breakfast so I ate little more than I should have, even if it’s lunch.

Dinner (7:00 p.m.): My sister was supposed to come over for a workout tonight, then dinner afterward, but I felt like I was coming down with something so we postponed our session and my birthday dinner to sometime next week.I was a little bummed because I was looking forward to sweating with my sister but I think it was best that I took it easy. I started getting sore throat a few days ago and it’s still lingering. I feel fine except for the throat but I want to be cautious.

I was craving a bucket of KFC but didn’t want to get out of the house, so I made tonkatsu, fried pork, for dinner. Good thing I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer that I purchased last week. This was my first attempt at this (or any fried food, actually) and made lots of mistakes (wait, you mean I have to season the bread crumb too?), but it turned out pretty decent.

Accompanying the pork was thinly shredded cabbage, called “sengiri kyabetsu.” Sengiri means “sliced in thousands” and it’s a typical way we Japanese eat the vegetable. By the way, my father is the biggest cabbage fan I’ve ever seen. He eats cabbage almost every day! I think I got that from him because I too love this sweet, crunchy, and incredibly versatile vegetable, even though I don’t eat as much as he does. (One of my favorite cabbage dishes is Korean salad.) I also had a bowl of white rice, and homemade red radish pickle.

On a craft note, I finally got around to blocking the wrap I knit a few months ago. I purchased blocking mats from Knit Picks before the holidays and I’m really happy that I did. This wrap is called Guernsey Wrap by Brooklyn Tweed‘s Jared Flood, which was my first project from my knitting school.

The wrap design looks very intricate and it may come across super complicated, but it’s actually very simple. It knit incredibly quickly and I really enjoyed this project! I totally recommend this for intermediate beginner knitters!

Just the Way I Like It: Okonomiyaki

Posted by Hirono

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My year-end resolution is to incorporate more vegetable into my diet and reduce as much sugar and fat as possible to better my overall health. I’m certainly not the one to jump on the fad diet bandwagon and jeopardize my sanity so I need to look for ways to manage my health while still enjoying all the food I love (which, admittedly, is everything).

a22 Okonomiyaki I cooked for dinner tonight held the key to sensible eating. Often dubbed as Japanese pancake, okonomiyaki is a playground of all things wonderful – a colorful array of fresh vegetable including cabbage, onion, scallion, carrot and grated yam, and perhaps add some meat, squid or octopus, bind together with flour, water and eggs. The original version also includes fried batter crumbs for texture, dashi (fish stock) and a few slices of bacon or pork for added flavor, but I omitted those items – along with any kind of meat – for obvious reason. The pancake is usually topped with katsuobushi (bonita flakes), aonori (seaweed) and a special okonomiyaki sauce (I personally like tonkatsu sauce better) and ginger. Despite my attempt to reduce fat, I could not resist the drizzle of Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise!

“Okonomiyaki,” translates loosely to “however you like it,” suggesting that your imagination is the only thing holding you back from creating a one-of-a-kind, satisfying piece of delight.

Just by looking at the picture, can you tell that this okonomiyaki has one carrot, one large onion and almost two cups of cabbage? Talk about nutritionally dense and satisfying meal – just the way I like it.