Perinaise

Do you like mayonnaise? I do! Especially Japanese mayonnaise, I just love this creamy dipping sauce for most of grilled meat, seafood, omelette etc. I just tried a new kind of mayo sauce called Perinaise, a unique creamy blend of mayonnaise with Peri-Peri sauce from Nando's, my favorite grilled chicken. I got the Perinaise original which means one with medium heat level but if you are an extreme hot chili lover there is also Perinaise Hot ready to burn your tongue.

Today I just cooked my okonomiyaki with mixed topping of Japanese mayonnaise and Perinaise, yum..!

(My okonomiyaki with perinaise)

Happy Christmas!

My posts have been slowing down lately, it's merely because I have been flat out over the past month with tonnes of workload, working back every single day including Saturday! Well, it's Christmas season, the busiest season of the year and I even feel this season is the busiest ever in term of my workload.

I am not sure if it's a bit too early to wish you all a Happy Christmas but down here in my city the Christmas season kicked off with Christmas celebration in the city on 26 Nov (I missed out this time) a month before the Christmas day, followed by Christmas parade (I missed out this too) and then Christmas trees lit up on every city's corner. So I wanna wish you all a Happy Christmas and hope you enjoy this festive season!

My tiny Christmas tree

Thankfully, I still enjoy this Christmas season apart from my business and I am looking forward for my Christmas holiday soon :)

Love Plus

Love Plus is a DS game by Konami, basically it's a dating sim where you can choose the girl you want to date, then you try to get her fall in love with you and after you've got the girl you can email her, call her, and even kiss and touch her (on the cheek, arms, etc) via the touch pad!

Last week I read this unique news on Sydney Morning Herald about a Japanese man known by his nickname SAL9000 who married Nene Anegasaki, her virtual girlfriend, in an official-looking but not legally reception in Tokyo last month. He even took her on a 'honeymoon' to Guam!

The reception included a priest, an MC, a DJ, speeches from friends and family, photo slideshows, wedding music and even a bouquet. The entire event was streamed live on a Japanese video-sharing site, of which SAL9000 is a prominent member.

I recall a friend saying 'we are victims of technology', is that true? wonder if romance and sex could be replaced by technology? Back to 'Love Plus', in a real daily life a couple occasionally come across a conflict, and if you wish you could avoid a conflict by 'switching your spouse off' anytime you want to, you'd better try this dating sim plus :)

Only in Japan..

The Kingdom of Robot

Reading an article about International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Tokyo reminds about 'The secret of Karakuri', an event by Japan Foundation in Sydney November last year. No doubt! Japan is the Kingdom of Robot, just name it: industrial robot, house hold robot, pet robot, chef robot, cute humanoid and the list still goes on. Among all of those stunning hi-tech invention, the Robo-chef is my favorite one, sounds like I really am a foodie?

(Okonomiyaki robot, picture courtesy of : Mainichi)

This Okonomiyaki robot demonstrates its ability to cook Okonomiyaki during the International Robot Exhibition 2009 in Tokyo on Nov.25, 2009. The robot, which has 15 joints, can take verbal orders from customers and use standard kitchen utensil.

Japan's Kawada Industries Inc.'s newly developed industrial robot 'Next Age' cuts ribbon with honored guests at the opening of the International Robot Exhibition 2009, the latest robo event organized by Japan Robot Association. (picture courtesy of AFP photo)

Japanese engineer Tomotaka Takahashi introduces the new robot 'Ropid', the fastest runner and best jumper, 'Ropid' also responds to voice commands, with either action or speech. (picture courtesy of AFP photo)

Only in Japan..

Heart and Star Onigiri

I am always fascinated about Japanese food, not to mention about their 'kawaii' food, and since we read that 'Hana Sushi' book (see my previous post about Sushi dolls), we've been learning the art of creating that 'kawaii' food especially sushi and onigiri. Here are another onigiri from my kitchen, heart and star shaped onigiri.

(The star shaped onigiri topped with ham and a slice of boiled egg)

I am not an expert onigiri maker so I got this handy onigiri makers with heart and star shaped mold. It's an easy-to-use kitchen stuff to make your own onigiri, you can see the product's review on this Jbox link.

Once again, I give the credit to my wife for her patience creating these 'kawaii' onigiri!

Sushi Dolls

Here are another creations from our kitchen: Sushi dolls!

Inspired by lovely miniature Sushi dolls on Hana Sushi book, we tried to make our own Emperor and Empress Sushi dolls using sushi rice for the bodies, quail eggs for the heads, wrapped in elegant kimonos made of ham and omelet for the empress. We used mustard green for the Emperor but actually I'd recommend using lettuce since it's more edible, we just couldn't find any lettuce in the kitchen so we grabbed mustard green instead. Some pieces of carrot and mushroom for the accessories, a bit of red chili and using black sesame seed for the eyes.

I give the credits for my wife for her patience creating these Emperor and Empress Sushi Dolls.

Hana Sushi book, a wonderful Sushi book full of colorful and fun creations of Sushi by chefs Akiko Namiki and Eriko Teranishi.

Refreshing deserts

Summer is just around the corner with the temperature soared above 33 degrees Celsius last week. I am a kind of person who prefer the chilling winter than scorching summer, so in hot day like last week, all I want is having some refreshing deserts.

Here are some beautiful refreshing deserts made by my wife, fruit salad and chocolate pudding.

(fruit salad)

It's a light, smooth yet firm pudding with strong chocolate scent and topped with a piece of tortilla chip, mixed berries and kiwi fruit to give a beautiful finishing touch!

Almost forget, it's not a Japanese food nor related to Japan but it does have a bit of Japanese touch, can you find it? yes, the Pocky! a famous Japanese stick coated with chocolate