Steamed Tofu with Seaweed

This recipe is inspired from yesterday's Japan's Hour show on Channel News Asia. I saw the two ladies having the tofu soup, steamed tofu, fried tofu, etc, even the dessert is from tofu. I forget where was the tofu shop on the show, but the tofu soup and steamed tofu made me craving on tofu. So here is the recipe that looks like the one in the show. The outcome is similar to chawanmushi and the custard also taste like chawan mushi, so with some substitute here and there, you'll have your own chawanmushi.

Ingredients:
1 packet of silken tofu
5 gr wakame seaweed (soaked for 5 min with water, strained)
300 ml unsweetened soya milk
2 eggs
Seasonings: sugar, salt, mirin (mild taste, so don't go overboard)

How to:
Cut tofu to desirable size, put in the big bowl (fit in the steamer) together w/ the wakame seaweed.
Beat egg and soyamilk, together with the seasonings until quite fluffy and pour over tofu and seaweed.
Steamed for about 30 minutes until soft custards form.

** For Chawanmushi feel, substitute wakame seaweed chicken, shitake or matsutake mushrooms, fishcake. If you want to loose the tofu, change it with 2 more eggs.

** If your steamer is big enough, you can portion it to individual bowls, it'll look nicer.

Bakwan Mie

I”ve been craving for some fried stuff since yesterday. So, I made this wonderful easy treat. Enjoy J

Ingredients:
2 packs of instant noodle (or you also can use egg noodles) ±170 gr, boiled and cut to small pieces w/ scissor
100 gr frozen veggies, thawed and dried
50 gr white mushroom/shitake mushroom, cut small ** optional
Batter:
100 gr plain flour
50 gr corn flour
1 egg
3 tbsp beer
150 ml water
Seasoning: sugar, black pepper, salt
Sauce: Sweet soya sauce + sweet Thai chili sauce, mix

How to:
Whisk the batter and seasoning together in a large bowl until smooth and make sure the mixture is not too thin (should be able to make a ribbon with the tip of the whisk)
Add in the noodle, veggie and mushroom, fold until all incorporated
Heat up oil to medium low heat and scoop 1 big spoonful of the mixture to it. Fry until golden brown.
Serve with the sauce on the side

Hoshi ni Natta Shonen

Another great movie to watch. This movie is based on the real story of Sakamoto Tetsumu, Japan's first mahout (elephant tamer in Thai). Tetsumu grew up in a family with lots of animals since his mom supply animals for movies and CMs. Though he loves animals yet his relationship with his family was not that good. Then he met with an elephant called Randy. With Randy, Tetsumu developed a strong friendship and realized his talent in connecting with elephant. Thus Tetsumu embarked his journey to Thailand as the first Japanese trained to become a mahout. A very touching life story. I come to know this movie because I read the manga first and I literally cried but definitely this will touch your heart.

Anime List (Other than shoujo)

This thread posted solely to list non-shoujo anime (well, coz mostly are shounen/mecha) that I think worth watching. I’m not really a fan of shounen anime coz 1. some of them are just TOO long (100 plus episodes are consider short) 2. Some of them are just too bloody 3. Why do they have to make the girls’ body unbalanced (eg. The boobs are as big as watermelons)? or the girl is so cute to the point of ecchi. Some of the anime on the list are OLD, but I think it’s worth mentioning J ** The list is in random order.

Gundam 00 – Still ongoing. I just finished watching episode 24 and on the verge of crying. All stories of Gundam series involve heavy politics and the consequences of war. Gundam 00 really potrays how greedy humans can be and what the world become when those greedy humans are given power. Definitely must watch. Plus, kudos to the seiyus, they did a very fantastic job. And gotta love those Gundam suits.
Deathnote. I keep repeating reviewing this anime on my postings. Can’t get enough of this. What will you do if you’re given a notebook that can kill people by just writing their names on it?
Claymore. A very bloody anime. Claymores exist solely to kill youkais. However, when they themselves reach their limit, they will evolve into youkai too. A quite deep and dark anime.
D-Gray man – Still ongoing. One example of a never ending anime. Currently on episode 75, another new battle just started between the exorcists (Allen Walker and the Order) and Millenium Earl. None of the Noah Clans dies yet so will expect to have more and more episodes coming.
Bleach – Still ongoing. The manga is still running so chances of this never ending anime to end are reduced to 0. Getting more and more draggy nowadays, but nevertheless one of the popular anime out there.
Shugo Chara – Still ongoing. A cute anime. Everybody has an egg in their heart. This egg if nurtured can hatch and become your chara. Love it.
Bamboo Blade – Still ongoing. Just for your entertainment. The story is about a Kendo club and its member. Each member has different reasons on joining the club. One of them is to get free food.
Moyashimon – Still ongoing. Another funny anime but not sure on how the plot will go, which makes it interesting. Plus, those bacterias are cute.
Code Geass – the R series coming soon. Similar Gundam but more to physiological issue than the politics and the war itself. Lelouch’s character is similar to Raito’s Death Note. So you put this guy with the power of Geass…. A must watch.
Clannad – Still ongoing. My bro’s fave. The couple is very cute. It’s just that I haven’t seen the very funny scenes so far. But if you like The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi, then definitely this is a must watch.
Inuyasha – Still ongoing (?). This one is a truly never ending anime. Run on about 200+ episodes already until I lost track on where should I continue to watch. But Inuyasha can be considered one of the best story-wise of the never ending anime. It’s not boring although sometimes it’s draggy.
Rosario Vampire – Still ongoing. I read the manga and it’s still on going. The story of a human boy stranded in a high school for youkai and stuck with a very powerful vampire girl (when unleashed) that loves his blood
Kodomo No Jikan. The anime is about a new teacher teaching primary 3 students who know more ecchi stuff then him. Actually the way those little girls talk and act will not be considered ecchi if they don’t put LOTS of cencors on it, which make us think it’s ecchi. But this is what makes this anime is so funny. If you’re a Lolita fan then this is a must watch.

Moving Notice

When you see some old or very old postings dated today, don't be confused. I'm just moving my postings from my other blogs. The postings that I moved mostly are recipes and reviews that may be used as reference.

秒速5センチメートル ~ 5 Centimeters per Second

Another MUST watch anime and another reason why I love anime :). A new release in 2007, so it hasn't ended yet, but this anime worth the wait per subbed episodes.
The story begins with Takaki and Akari, elementry school students who were parted upon their graduation day. The interesting part is the story is told from Akari's point of view, then Takaki's point of view. Their relationship began to develop as they exchanged letters and in the end Takaki went to Akari's place to visit her, but then to depart again as he's going to transfer school to the place even further away.
A bit similar to Kita E ~ Diamond Dust Drops, both of them are in form of short stories. The only difference is Kita E is told with no narration. However, 5 cm is very good in the plot and story telling. Although lots of narration was used, but we still can feel the characters' emotion. I'm so touched on the scene when Akari called Takaki to tell that they can't go to the same school later on and both of them cried silently over the phone.
Another point that makes 5 cm one of my MUST watch list is the graphics. The scenaries, buildings, backgrounds are so detailed and actually look real. The sunlight and lighting particularly, they make the scenes look outstanding. From this anime, we can see how much anime can evolve in the past few years (2004-2007). Eg. Kita E was released in 2005 with wonderful graphics and 5 cm already shows the difference.
Moreover, more and more interesting anime coming in this 2007. Look forward to it :).

Anime List -- 2007

My latest favorite anime list in no particular ranking. There’s tons of great anime out there and here are some that left deep impression on me and get me addicted on starring at my small laptop screen. You’ll find lots of similarity in my list because my kinds of animes are those with lots of bishounen -- gorgeous guys (off course, I want to watch beautiful things that don’t exist in reality), romance, less fighting scenes (although I like some bloody scenes like in X, Ayashi No Ceres, but again we come back to point 1, those animes have lots of … ehem … bishounen, kyaaaa). Exception will goes to Death Note and Jigoku Shoujo. I’m currently watching Shinigami no Ballad (still not sure whether to include this to my list J).

Ouran High School Host Club – The most hilarious anime thus far, you’ll never feel tired of watching this over and over again. The story starts when a special scholarship student in a school for unbelievably rich kids, who never taste instant coffee all their life, broke a vase worth 5M Yen and was forced to work as a host in the host club to pay his debt. But they only realize that he is a she until episode 3. This is how the earlier episodes begin and all the hilarious stunts to follow.

Saionkoku Monogatari – Same formula as Fushigii Yuugi, with lots of bishounen but the main character, Shurei, is a lot smarter than Miyaka, which makes a huge difference. Not that I don’t like Fushigii Yuugi (I can’t resist anime with 7 bishounen running around haha), but I can’t stand of the prolonged Miyaka and Tamahome saga. Going back to Saionkoku, the story is about a young girl called Shurei who lived in the ancient country named Saionkoku. The first season shows less romance because the story goes with how Shurei overcome the challenges to become a good government official. Hopefully the season II includes more romance hehe..

Nodame Cantabile – Noda Megumi, in short, Nodame, is a music school student with enormous talent yet lack of ambition to pursue professional music, paired with Chiaki Shinnichi, a handsome and talented in piano and violin yet has an ambition to become a conductor. This unique pair makes the anime so fun to watch and makes you want to play piano too. Another version to watch is the live action drama. Nodame in the drama is so cute and Chiaki is so kakkoii. Also, watch them in Smap Bistro variety.

Nana – One winter night on the way to Tokyo with shinkansen, Komatsu Nana sat next to Osaki Nana and they get along right away. They met again by chance and ended up share an apartment #707(what a coincidence this is) together. With absolutely different characters, both Nana and Hachiko (nick for Komatsu Nana) face their challenges in both carrier and love life, like any other girls in their 20s. An absolutely addicted drama with good soundtracks (I like all the songs in there) and season 2 is coming up, hopefully soon. Don’t forget to watch the live movie version Nana and Nana2.

5 Centimeters per Second – Anime based on short stories, similar to Kita E. I like this anime for their story lines, graphic and details.

Glass Mask – Based on the 1970s popular manga (I read the manga when I was still in junior high to show you how old it is), the one that I watch is the remake version. This is a story about the life of Maya Kitajima, a girl with a frightening talent in drama, her ups and downs in life to pursue the role of Crimson Goddess. Worth to wait and watch.

Ayashi no Ceres – From the author of Fushigii Yuugi, Ayashi No Ceres, again with bishounen, shows more violent and bloody scenes compare to Fushigii Yuugi. Not as long as Fushigii Yuugi, and the story line moving quite fast for 17 series of manga.

Emma – Setting in 19th century of England, the anime is about the love story of Emma, a maid coming from lower class of the society, and Mr Jones, an eligible bachelor from the upper class. With class barrier in front of them the story keeps rolling. What is fantastic about this drama is the background details. The author really takes the consideration on what England looks like in 19th century.

All anime by CLAMP – XXXholic, Tsubasa Chronicles, RG Veda, Sakura Cardcaptor, X, Angelic Layer, Wish, Clover, Magic Knight – Rayearth, CLAMP Gakkuen. I like CLAMP so my opinion will be biased because anything by CLAMP is a MUST watch J. The common thing in CLAMP latest animes from Rayearth to XXXholic, is the white, soft and fluffy Mokona and the interrelated characters, eg. you'll find Sakura in Cardcaptor as Sakura in Tsubasa Chronicle but with totally different personality and story lines. Always shows optimized creativity and imagination with good story lines, detailed graphics, different presentations, CLAMP’s creation is surely worth to wait and watch.

Nadeshiko Sichihenge – This anime follows Ouran High School’s formula of success with 4 bishounen living together in a mansion. The landlord (only appears now and then) has a niece and wants them to take care of her and transfer her into a lady for a free stay. Little did they know that it’s going to be harder than they thought as the girl is a horror freak since she got her heart break from confessing her love.

Death Note – For those who watch the movie Death Note and Death Note 2, this anime is just to support the movie because it provides more details J. One fine day, Yagami Light found a black book (actually the book was purposely dropped by a bored Shinigami, Ryuk) and find out that the book holds a power to kill people just by writing their name on it. Gifted with a bright but apparently rather twisted mind, Yagami used the book to wipe out all the bad guys (according to him), thus makes him Kira (his code name). On the other side, there’s a guy with the code ‘L’ try to catch him. Thus this cats and dogs tale starts.

La Corda D’Oro – Another anime with lots of bishounen J. The theme is similar to Nodame Cantabile, but the difference is the main character, Hino, knows nothing about classical music. She just happens to be able to see the music fairy who’s flying around the school and is given a magic violin to participate on the school’s music competition. I like the soudtracks and the classical songs played in the anime.

Romeo x Juliet – Released in 2007, based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, but with the twist of anime formula inserted. Juliet’s family, the Capulet, was slaughtered by the Montaque family led by Romeo’s father to take over the power. Under Montaque’s leadership, the country suffered over poverty and only hoped to see its country’s glory back in place. 14 years later, as destiny follows, Romeo and Juliet met up and fall in love by chance. The background graphics are absolutely fantastic making it a treat to watch.

Ichigo 100% – Very cute junior high continue to high school romance J and I like the title.
Jigoku Shoujo – In English, Hell Girl. This anime comes in short stories. Each episodes is not related to each other. The main point is there’s a website when you can take revenge on those people who wronged you, but with a cost, your own very soul. The hell girl will give you a voodoo doll with a red string, and if you take the red string off, your opponent will go straight to Hell, and your name will be carved in Hell waiting for your death. Main lesson learnt, as bad as what you’ve gone through in live, there’s nothing worse when you know Hell awaits your death.