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

Chicken Karage with mayo

(chicken karage don with mayo)

Here is my chicken karage don with mayo from Kimama Kitchen. After my first visit couple weeks ago to this Japanese kitchen right at the heart of Chinatown I came back for their popular Chicken karage with teriyaki mayo. They offer two dipping sauces for the karage, mayo or sweet chili sauce, and without thinking twice I chose Japanese mayo! my favorite sauce for dipping, just name any dish you want to dip, seafood, chicken, beef, tempura, this Japanese mayo goes well with any kind of food. The karage don comes with miso soup which you can refill as many times as you like, a generous offer you rarely find from a food shop in a food court. With special price of 9$, this big portion of Karage don more than enough to satisfy my craving for Japanese food!