#tamagoyaki

I have always been known as the person who starts a venture and jump from one to the other without totally mastering any particular field. In the astrological point of view of the Western and Chinese cultures, it must be primarily caused by the position of celestial objects at the time of my birth. I was born under the zodiac Gemini (the twins known to have split personalities) and the year of the Metal Horse (impulsive in productivity). After all, I’m part Chinese and it’s my second nature to involve astrology every time I get the chance. 

One of these ventures engages in different cuisines to further enhance my culinary skills. Today, I was so delighted to spend my free day from work to prepare a sumptuous and complete meal for my family. I decided to do it completely Japanese! It may look like a laborious and dull domestic chore, but it’s actually therapeutical and pleasurable to do. Results of hard work in the kitchen are best harvested when you see the people savouring the food with every bite. Nothing beats the rewarding and pleasurable feelings out of making other people happy. I think it’s one of the best lessons I still bear in mind from my Home Economics teacher way back in high school.

Anyway, here are the photos of every dish I prepared for our dinner.

Presenting our menu:

• Miso soup
• Salmon Sashimi (sliced salmon)
• Gunkanmaki (warship roll)
• Shrimp nigiri 
• California maki 
• A variety of makizushi (sushi rolls)
• Ebi Tempura (shrimp)
• Nasu Tempura (eggplant)
• Satsuma Imo Tempura (Sweet potato)
• Tamagoyaki (fried egg roll)
• Green tea ice cream

Individual Platter: (L-R) California maki, Makizushi, (T-B) Ebi Tempura, Satsuma Imo Tempura, Nasu Tempura and a ball of Japanse rice.

To share Platter A: (L-R) Salmon Sashimi, California Maki, two kinds of Gunkanmaki, Shrimp Nigiri and Tamagoyaki.

To Share Platter B: California Maki and A variety of Makizushi

To share Platter C: (L-R) Salmon Sashimi, California Maki, two kinds of Gunkanmaki, Shrimp Nigiri and Tamagoyaki.

Platter C is almost the same as Platter A. The only difference are the kinds of Gunkanmaki included.

Dessert: Green tea ice cream (to cap off the lovely night)

On the side note: I was dreadful the day before thinking of the worst, which is not finding any tuna available in any store nearby. Lo and behold, there was no available tuna everywhere!!! It’s my first time preparing a complete Japanese meal without a tuna so I settled with salmon instead. 

I’m proud to say that all of my culinary skills were either self-taught or passed on to me by my parents. Neither of my parents work for the industry (both CPAs) but our family and extended family are very passionate in cooking! Plus, it’s a common Filipino culture for families and relatives to dine in together in every possible meal. Thus, it’s a pleasure to be preparing food for large groups of people. I never received any formal trainings in Japanese cuisine and in anything about cooking/baking in general but I’m longing to have one. Practical work may be the best way to learn but not when it isn’t backed up with theoretical knowledge. It has always my been principle when it comes to learning. Both must go hand in hand. 

A little history on how I started, I first prepared sushi when I was in high school. My dad bought me a simple hard-bound sushi book with the most basic recipes. There were only less than 10 recipes on it, and one of them is how to prepare the rice - the most important ingredient! I started with a simple bamboo sushi mat as my tool, tried the other kinds that promise to do the task faster and more efficiently, but as I go along, I decided to stick to the very first one I had - the bamboo mat!

Then after several trial and errors accompanied by my research on basic readings of How-Tos and different techniques from different chefs and culinary enthusiasts, I learned to develop my own style, which is the one that suits my needs and my skills best. 

Basic knowledge in absolutely everything is at the tip of our fingers with the power of Internet. Gone are the days of literally dragging ourselves to the library (which includes catching up with their closing time) just to satisfy our hunger for information. With great power comes with great responsibility… and of course, opportunity!

Don’t you love our generation? We can utilise whatever we have to enhance our skills efficiently and conveniently!

FYI, I also learned my Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator skills just by reading tutorials through the Internet. ;) I’m very much grateful for it!