Okaki - Japanese Rice Cracker

Okaki are traditional Japanese rice crackers. It's a simple recipe to make okaki using blocks of mochi.

Ingredients:

4 blocks mochi rice cakes
*oil for frying
salt and peppers to season

How To Make:

Cut mochi (rice cakes) into about 1/4 inch thick small pieces. Spread the mochi on a flat tray. Dry them in a cool and dry place for a few days. Heat oil to 360 degree F and deep-fry the mochi pieces until browned. Remove rice crackers from the oil and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over the rice crackers.
*makes 2 servings

Mizu-Yokan

Yokan is a tradional Japanese sweet, which is made of azuki beans, agar agar, and sugar. This is a type of yokan called mizu-yokan. Mizu means water in Japanese. Mizu-yokan includes more water than other kinds of yokan. This yokan makes a cool summertime dessert.

Ingredients:

1 stick kanten (agar agar), or 1/6 oz. kanten powder
1 1/4 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 lb. anko (1 1/2 cup)

How To Make:

Soak kanten in lots of water for about one hour. Squeeze the kanten and tear it into small pieces. Put the kanten in 1 and 1/4 cup of water in a deep pot. Heat it on low heat until the kanten dissolves. Add sugar and stir well. Next, add anko. Stir constantly and simmer until thickened. Stop the heat. Pour the mixture in a flat container. Cool it until harden. Cut the yokan into small blocks to serve.
Makes 4 servings.

Shu Cream

Cream puffs are called as shu cream in Japan. The filling in this chu cream is custard cream.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter
2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 eggs - 2 eggs
For custard cream filling: 2 tbsps flour / 1/2 cup sugar / 1 cup milk / 2 egg yolks / 1 tbsp melted butter
*powdered sugar

How To Make:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Beat eggs in a bowl. Put butter, sugar, and water in a pan and bring to a boil. Add flour in the butter mixture and stir quickly. Stop the heat. Add eggs slowly in the mixture and mix well. Place a cooking sheet in a baking pan. Put the dough in a plastic bag to squeeze out as small mounds in the pan. Make 8 or 9 mounds of dough. Bake them in the 375 degree F oven for 30 minutes. Cool the puffs and cut them in halves horizontally. Make custard cream as follows. Mix egg yolks and sugar in a pan. Add sifted flour in the pan and mix well. Add warm milk in the pan gradually. Place the pan on low heat and stir the mixture constantly until thickened. Stop the heat and add melted butter and stir well. Cool the custard cream. Fill the bottom halves of puffs with custard cream and place the top halves. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
*Makes 8 or 9 puffs.