Sakura Experiment #1: Sakura (Cherry Blossom) Angel Food Cake with Strawberries

It's sakura (cherry blossom) season, so I want to attempt some Japanese/western fusion recipes using some of the sakura extract, powder, and preserved blossoms that I've found. 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup AP flour
12 egg whites 
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon sakura extract
1 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon red food coloring (or as much as needed -- I went a little too Barbie pink here)

Directions
Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg whites, water, sakura extract, and cream of tartar. After the eggs begin to stiffen, slowly sift in sugar, beating continuously. Once you have achieved medium peaks, sift enough of the flour mixture in to dust the top of the foam. Using a spatula fold in gently. Continue until all of the flour mixture is incorporated.

Carefully spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes before checking for doneness with a wooden skewer or chop stick. When inserted halfway between the inner and outer wall, the skewer should come out dry.

Cool upside down on a wine bottle for at least an hour before removing from pan.  This keeps the cakes from collapsing as they set.

The cakes cooling on some bottles of wine that I just happened to have around my apartment...

Serve with macerated strawberries: Cut strawberries marinated with a pinch of salt, sugar to taste, and a tablespoon port, sherry, or yuzu sake (as I did here).  Let rest for at least 30 minutes.  

Garnish with powdered sugar and fresh or preserved sakura blossoms (rehydrated in water), if available. 

Based on the Good Eats Angel Food Cake recipe, because Alton Brown knows all...

Japanese Cocktail Hour: The Yuzutini

The long Japanese winter is on its way out, and spring is still a couple weeks away, but I have found a reason to love this time of year: it's yuzu season!  Yuzu ( ゆず) is a type of Japanese citrus fruit which many people describe as a mix between lemon and mandarin orange (though I think it's most like key lime).  I've been cooking with it a lot recently, so I've decided to post my Yuzutini recipe.  It's a basic flavored martini recipe, based largely on the Cosmopolitan.  Enjoy!

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The Yuzutini

1 part vodka, chilled
1 part orange liquor (triple sec, Curaçao, Cointreau, or Grand Marnier), chilled
1-2 parts sweetened yuzu or yuzu and lemon juice (depending on how sweet or strong you like your cocktail)
Fresh yuzu, cut into wedges* (key lime or lemon can be substituted if fresh yuzu is unavailable)


* Watch for seeds, since yuzu tends to have a lot more seeds than other citrus fruit of similar size.

Vodka, yuzu and lemon juice, triple sec, fresh yuzu, and a cocktail glass

1. Cool your martini/cocktail/wine class by filling with ice and cold water.  Set aside.


2. Put some ice cubes into a cocktail shaker or large class.  Pour in the vodka, orange liquor, and yuzu juice.  Squeeze a wedge of yuzu into the mix, making sure to bruise the skin (which adds the flavorful essential oils to the drink).  Mix well.

Fresh yuzu

3. Empty the ice water from the cocktail glass.  Squeeze another wedge of yuzu directly into the glass.  Strain the mixed drink into the glass, making sure to strain out the ice and first wedge of yuzu.  Cheers!

The Yuzutini

Dinner in Under 10 Minutes: Toasted Mochi with Citrus Stir Fry

I got home late tonight and was already starving, so my limited dinner options included instant ramen, defrosting some leftover lentil soup, or making something from scratch.  I decided to see how quickly I could make a meal, and it turns out, under 10 minutes from the time I walked into the kitchen.

So here’s my little 10-minute dinner experiment.  I hope you like it.

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10 Minute Toasted Mochi with Citrus Stir Fry

Packaged plain mochi (glutinous rice cakes)

Asparagus, cut into pieces

Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin), cut into pieces

Aburaage tofu (fried sheet tofu), roughly chopped

Scallions (Green/spring onion), chopped fine

Fresh ginger, grated or chopped very fine

Dried chilies, chopped fine

Ponzu – yuzu  (Japanese citrus) soy sauce

Honey

Olive oil

Fresh yuzu or lemon (optional)

 Aburaage tofu

Mochi

 

1. Begin to toast the mochi, either in a frying pan or in the toaster oven.  (Be careful, since, like bread, it goes from perfectly toasted and delicious to charcoal in just a few seconds.)  Flip when the first side is toasted.

 

 Toasting the mochi

2. Blanch the asparagus and kabocha (Boil the vegetables for 1 minute in lightly salted water.  Drain and immediately cool the vegetables by running under cold water or immersing in ice water to stop cooking.)

  

3. Heat a frying pan or walk over medium high heat (a water drop should “dance” in the heat before evaporating).  Add about ½ tsp olive oil.  Heat the chilies for about 30 seconds, then add the ginger.  (Remember, this is a stir fry, so keep the food moving over the high heat to prevent burning)  Another 30 seconds later, add the blanched vegetables, tofu, and scallions.  Cook another minute.   Add the ponzu (2-3 tbsp per person should be plenty) and honey (to taste – I only used about 1/2 tsp for just a little sweetness).  Reduce the heat to very low.

 The stir fry

4.  When the mochi is done (toasted on both sides and puffy and gooey in the center), put on a plate and pour the stir fry over the toasted mochi.  Finish with a squeeze of fresh yuzu or lemon.  Enjoy.

 10 minutes to dinner

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That’s my 10 minute dinner experiment.  It sure beat McDonalds!