A new fry pan/skillet

Recently I bought a new fry pan. I know that is not very exciting, but a good fry pan is important for cooking well without too much oil. And less oil is healthy, right? But I have to tell you something important before you get too interested ... I IMPORTED the fry pan from the USA! Crazy? Maybe, but here are my reasons:

I've been looking for a good fry pan for YEARS! About 7 years to be precise. I want something that is easy to cook with, so I tried many kinds of non-stick pans. Even the expensive ones were not so good after just 1 year or so. The non-stick coating slowly wears off. The second to last pan I bought was an expensive one from America that I bought from a local kitchenware shop. It was expensive and the box said the coating would last for many years. Well, it lasted for 1 :(  In the end it was no different to the next pan, a cheap one from a local home-center store.

The other reason I am worried about pans is that actually I don't want to use Teflon coated ones. There is some research that says the coating is toxic and very bad for our health. I don't know if that is true or not, but I don't want to take any risks. Anyway, if the coating comes off little by little, where does it go? I surely don't want to eat it!

So then I bought a stainless steel pan like chefs use in a restaurant. It is nice if you cook food on a high heat with much oil, but honestly it is difficult to use in daily life. If you are not careful, the food sticks very quickly :(

Then one day I was looking around on Amazon.com and the site was promoting kitchenware. I had some free time so clicked on the pictures just to see what kind of things are popular in the USA. After a few minutes of browsing, one brand of cookware caught my eye. It is a brand more famous for food processors, so I was curious about the pans.

Take a look at this site and you can see a selection of pans and also watch a video.

Before you decide you want one too, I have to tell you that you CANNOT buy them in Japan. Cusinart Japan doesn't sell this particular type of pan with ECO "hard anodized" coating. So why did I want THIS pan, and not one I can buy domestically? It's because the ECO pans are totally non-toxic even at high temperatures.

The pan itself was on sale for less than 5,000yen but shipping from the USA to Japan cost that much again. Was it worth it? YES! Great to cook with and the handle doesn't get hot at all - just like the video said. I highly recommend it. Now I just have to wait and see how many years I can use it :)

Pork patty

 Hamburger patties are easy to make but they usually include breadcrumbs and milk. I only want to use meat, vegetables and spices. If you make small patties there is a risk they will be dry - the answer? Make a big one!

1. Roughly chop 1 brown onion.
2. Put the onion, one clove of garlic, pink peppercorns, and fresh herbs into a food processor.
(chives, sage, rosemary, thyme). Whiz until onion is very small.
3. Remove onion.
4. Put two small packs of 100% pork mince into the processor and whiz until sticky.
5. Put the onion back in and add one egg. Whiz 10 seconds.
6. Heat olive oil in a pan.
7. Lightly cook one apple, green negi leek and thyme. Remove.
8. Put the meat mix into the pan in one big patty. Press the middle down.
9. Cook on both sides until done.

I cut it into quarters and we ate a quarter each for dinner. The other two quarters went into our lunch boxes for the next day.

It does take a few times to get used to eating this type of meat patty instead of one made with breadcrumbs. My type is "meatier" but is still very juicy. Of course, it is healthier and lower in carbohydrate.

Apple is very good with pork. Many people would have some kind of apple sauce, but real apple is simpler, faster and healthier. Cooking it with the green part of the negi leek gives it a nice savory fragrance. The apple is also nice cold in a lunch box.


When cooking, I try to use the least number of items. In this case, just a knife, cutting board, food processor, one bowl, and one pan.

Cook the vegetables in the pan first, while preparing the meat. (I cooked green beans in water in the pan before adding oil and cooking the apples.)

Red turnips

Recently I bought something from the farmer's shop expecting it to be a kind of beet (beetroot), but when I cut them I found out they were red turnips.

This meant suddenly thinking of something new to cook. Simple and easy is best, so here is the recipe:

1. Peel and quarter turnips.
2. Cover with water in a small pan.
3. Add one sachet of organic vegetable stock.
4. Simmer until just soft.
5. Remove the turnip.
6. Simmer the stalks until just soft.


 The stalks were nice too, a bit like crunchy spinach. I ate those as a side dish. The turnips went into my lunch box for the next day.

By using a small pan, and only a little water, you won't lose all the nutrients into the liquid. In the final photo, you can see there is only enough water remaining to cover the bottom of the pot.

White fish soup

I had the inspiration for this soup from making Japanese "nabe" (a dish cooked in an earthen-ware dish on the table). Nabe are almost always water based, but white fish goes well with milk, especially for people who don't like a fishy smell. Soy milk can be substituted for milk.

1. Put 2 tablespoons of good quality olive oil in a pan. Turn on the gas to low-medium heat. (Point: oil olive burns easily so don't make it too hot. You can use other oil like canola, but olive oil is healthier.)
2. Add two cloves of chopped or crushed garlic.
3. Add one half of an onion, thinly sliced.
4. While the garlic and onion are frying on LOW HEAT, do the next steps. You should stir the pan sometimes.
5. Slice some potatoes very thinly. (About 2mm, with a hand-held slicer). Add the potatoes to the oil and mix. Be careful not to break the slices.
6. Cut the ends off some green beans and cut them into 3cm pieces. Add to the pan and toss in the oil.
7. Add half of a very thinly sliced carrot. (Again I use the slicer.)
8. Add about a 5mm slice of butter. This is to give extra depth and fragrance to the soup. To cut calories, skip this step.
9. Add some milk a little at a time while mixing, about 700ml in total. DO NOT BOIL IT!!!
10. Add two fillets of white fish. I like cod (tara) and I rinse the fillets under water first. Cook on a low heat for a few minutes until the fish becomes white. DO NOT BOIL!

The total time from start to finish is less than 15 minutes because I prepare the next thing while the first things are cooking.
This is delicious served with a simple green salad. You can use salmon fillets for variation or add a pinch of curry powder to the cod soup. It is also nice the next day for breakfast! If you make it thick like stew, using a roux, you can change it into gratin by putting it in a baking dish, adding cheese to the top and baking. Or put the stew on top of toast, add some cheese and bake it.

Beans & tomato stew

Here is a super fast and easy stew for emergencies.

I'm breaking my rules because I'm using imported canned products. Canned tomatoes are something I usually keep for emergencies and most brands you can buy in Japan are processed in Italy. So even though this is delicious and healthy, it is NOT seasonal, fresh or from this country.

1. In a heavy pot, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and one chopped onion.
2. Fry the onion for about 3 minutes.
3. Add in one can of beans. This picture shows chickpeas.
4. Add one can of chopped tomatoes.
5. Put a little water in the tomato can (about 1/3 of a can), add water to the pot.
6. Add 1 heaped dessert-spoon of fragrant (not hot) curry powder.
7. Cook for 5 minutes over a medium heat.

NOTES:
1. You could start with chopped bacon if you had some, then add the onion.
3. Any canned beans are okay - chickpeas, red beans, white beans.
6. The curry powder actually doesn't make the stew taste like curry. It comes out as a fragrant tomato stew.

Sometimes I chop up a carrot into very small pieces and add it with the onion. You could also add celery.
Once I added a can of anchovies and that gave a nice salty taste but no fish taste.

Purple sweet potatoes!

I bought some sweet potatoes from my local farmer and the label said "blue sweet potatoes". Hmm, I thought. Well, they weren't blue but were VIOLET!

I cooked them by wrapping them in damp kitchen paper and microwaving until done.

There were actually two varieties. The ones with reddish-purple skins were purple inside, and the ones with beige-ish skins were violet inside.

I've had purple sweet potatoes before, but not such lovely bright ones!

Salmon parcels

One of the easiest ways to cook fish is in a foil parcel.

1. Tear a piece of foil about 30cm long. (Longer is better than shorter.)
2. Put a little olive oil in the middle of the foil and wipe it around with your finger.
3. Put a boneless salmon fillet or white fish fillet in the middle of the foil.
4. Top with some sliced or shredded mushrooms. In this case, maitake.
5. Top with very thinly sliced white onion.
6. Wrap up the foil parcel, and close the ends.
7. Bake in a toaster oven, regular oven or under the fish grill for about 8 minutes.
8. Leave to rest for 2 minutes.
9. Be careful of the steam when you open it.

NOTES:
1. If you don't want to use foil, you can use a Pyrex dish with a lid.
2. The olive oil will stop the fish from sticking. Wiping the oil around with your finger is OK! If you use a brush, you'll have to wash it. Mother Nature gave you fingers, so use them ;)
7. This recipe is good because you can use the toaster oven or grill while you are cooking vegetables on the top of your cooker. You can put the packages in there and forget about them.

This dish is not good cold. But you can cook plain salmon in this way and add it to your lunch box, flake it for rice balls, etc.

You can also prepare the parcels in the morning and then cook them at night.

Small chicken fillets (sasami chicken) is okay cooked like this.