Simple Kani Salad Recipe

We've been ordering kani salad from the neighborhood Japanese restaurant, so I thought I should finally learn how to make it myself. After hoarding cucumber from the Baguio public market I worked on gathering the other ingredients. I didn't expect though that I'd have to hunt for it (just like the tempura stuff). Anyway, I managed to find all the ingredients thanks to my online friends!

Ingredients

2-3 cucumber (next time I'll try the Japanese cucumber, but I got my stock from Baguio)
kani (got it from SM Hypermarket)
mango (got it in a gas station at NLEX)
Japanese mayonnaise (found it in Rustan's Supermarket)
3 leaves lettuce (optional)
Fish roe (I skipped this)

How to

(1) Peel the cucumber. Cut julienne style using a peeler. Don't use the part with seeds. Let the juice drain using a strainer before you mix with other ingredients.

(2) Cut up the mango in cubes. Eat the middle part (bone). (Cooks privilege!).

(3) Divide kani into strips.

(4) Place lettuce on the bottom of a bowl. Layer on cucumber, then add mayonnaise and arrange kani and mango on top.

(5) Take a photo. Mix. Then eat!

Kani and Vegetable Tempura

Bagets made a special request to cook tempura at home and after sampling tempura from a popular local fast food I told myself I could do much better (my palate has strangely been rejecting oily food lately). It was a bit hard though to assemble the ingredients. I consulted several online recipes and this is what worked for me with the limited supply available locally.

12-15 pieces kani (you can also use shrimp if you like)
10-15 pieces vegetable (squash + radish or whatever you want)

Tempura sauce

1/2 cup kikkoman
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon dashi powder + 1.5 cup water (or use 1 beef cube)
2 tablespoons mirin or rice wine
1/2 cup grated radish

(1) I couldn't find any dashi powder so I dissolved one beef cube in 1.5 cups of water in a saucepan. Stir until it dissolves.
(2) Add kikkoman and white sugar. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
(3) Add grated radish. Just keep the mixture warm, don't let it boil.
(4) Remove from fire. Let it cool a bit before adding the mirin.
(5) Set aside but don't remove from saucepan. Just warm it a little before serving.

Batter

1 cup cake flour (APF is fine too)
1/2 cup cake flour (or APF) for dredging
2 cups cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1 cup cold water with ice

I know it looks a little odd, I was trying not to burn it (haha). 

Don't fry the kani too long though coz it'll start breaking out. 

(1) Mix cake flour (or APF) with cornstarch.
(2) Add 2 egg yolks (make sure they just came from the ref)
(3) Add water until the batter is light (not thick). Add ice if it gets watery/add water if it's too thick. Make sure that the batter is cold until you finish cooking.
(4) Dredge kani/veggies in flour and coat with batter (not too thick, you don't want it to be chewy).
(5) Deep fry in vegetable oil.

Serve with tempura sauce. Grated ginger and radish on the side (optional).

It took me about an hour and a half to go through the recipe (including research on techniques and washing dishes), but I think I'll finish faster next time.

Verdict:

Sweetie and Bagets loved it. We all ate too much! 

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe (Step by Step Guide)

This post is dedicated to Vince, Ellaine and Saki. 

It's strawberry season and we brought home some strawberries freshly picked from Benguet. One thing about strawberries is it rots easily so I thought I'd experiment and preserve the strawberries by making some no-bake cheesecake.

Here's how I did it:

Crust

Place a cup of crushed Graham Honey Crackers in a bowl.

Melt 1/3 cup of butter. I normally do this by steaming it so it doesn't become oily.

Crush 1 cup of peanuts or cashew. We like it a bit crunchy so I don't crush it too much. (I use peanuts because my son is allergic to cashew).

Add the cup of peanuts/cashew in the bowl.

Add 1 Tbsp. of brown sugar.

Mix well.

Add the melted butter onto the bowl. Mix well.

Put the crust mixture into a 9" baking pan or Pyrex dish. Or you can use aluminum trays (I prefer this because it's easier to limit what we eat and I can easily give a tray or two to my Mom).

Flatten the crust mixture to the bottom of the pan using a spoon or the bottom of a glass.

Let the crust harden in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

Filling

Chop into small cubes 2 cups of strawberries (about 20 pieces).

Dissolve a pack of Knoxx Unflavored Gelatin in 1/4 cup of hot water. Let cool.

Make sure that the cream cheese has softened before you start making the filling. I usually take it out of the fridge while I make the crust. Place a bar of cream cheese in a bowl. Process cream cheese with 1/2 cup of sugar. Add sugar slowly. Add a cup of all purpose cream and mix well and then add the dissolved gelatin.

Add two cups of chopped strawberries. Use a spatula to mix.

Get the hardened crust from the freezer.

Add the filling and the put it in the freezer. Let it freeze for at least 3 hours.

EAT!

Optional: add fresh strawberries on top before serving.