Salad with a Japanese Touch

I love meat,

It'll be hard for me to eat a complete meal without any meat in it,

But somehow I'm craving for salad all the sudden (that probably happens twice a year),

What can I do?

Let's put tuna together with my greens then.

Ingredients?

4 ohba leaves/perilla leaves (shredded)

1/2 pack of baby spinach

1 big cube of radish (grated)

1/2 orange zest

1/2 orange juice

Ponzu soy sauce

Tuna (the ones for sashimi)

Roasted sesame seeds

How?

First soak the tuna in ponzu soy sauce for about ten minutes,

Prepare a hot skillet, put the tuna in and sear for about 10 seconds per side,

Remember the center has to remain its fresh pink color, don't overcook it.

Transfer to a cutting board and slice the fish along the lines.

In a small bowl, mix the grated radish together with 1/2 orange zest, 1/2 freshly squeezed orange juice, and about 2 tablespoons of ponzu soy sauce.

Get a big salad bowl, put in the pre-washed spinach, shredded ohba, salad dressing, and some roasted sesame seeds.

(You can find perilla/ohba leaves easily in a Japanese supermarket,

they said that this herb is good for fighting cold and sore throat,

I'm kinda sick at the moment...

Let's see if this thing will do me any good.)

Give it a toss.

Lay the seared tuna on top of the salad,

Spray more sesame seeds and drizzle some ponzu soy sauce,

Garnish with shredded perilla leaves.

See,

I got my meat and fulfilled my cravings for salad at the same time.

Cindy's Rating: 7

Chocolat Roll from Hokkaido Festival ~ Mitsuwa Market Place

This is what I got from the Hokkaido Festival at Mitsuwa last weekend,

Everyday there was something special on sale,

Some cookies went from $1.89 to $1,

One big lunch box with 20 sushi costs less than $10,

They even had a live show of taking the whole tuna apart for sashimi.

In the area between the food court and the supermarket, there were some small stands,

They sold snacks, Japanese dango (snack balls mainly made of rice flour), cakes, tea, even seafood.

And I couldn't resist the temptation of getting this little cake-

It actually tastes pretty good,

Not too sweet, but yet pretty flavorful.

Especially the creamy part in the center,

I always eat around it and save the middle part last, then just swallow the whole thing at once.

Let's just pray that I can still buy it since the Hokkaido Festival had passed already.

Cindy's Rating: 6