trying out japanese dishes like chawanmushi & steak don recently & decided to do a full Japanese course dinner for my good friends, RI friends & spouses, on 28.9.2015.^^

daughter came home & joined dinner so we had 9pax.

it was very fun! haha! 🙂

#1 i decided on a shabu pork starter after looking at a shabu pork salad recipe on japanesecooking101.

just to be sure, i try out with shabu beef the day before & it was very good!

the grated daikon (radish) was a great idea. below that i had 4 julienned small japanese cucumber. very refreshing.

but the key is the sauce – just 1part sushi vinegar, 1 part mirin, 1 part tsuyu. this like the best sauce ever! haha! ^^

i also had miso belly pork. this done 12hrs in 85degC oven then browned on medium low fire in non-stick pan. very tasty dish.

i also had kakuni (japanese braised belly pork), and a friend brought kimchi. that made up the first dish. 🙂

#2 second dish was a chawanmushi. it was pretty ok but not as good as my first trial of the dish few days day.

quality was inconsistent. i had to steam 2 batches of 4 ramekins for 15mins at each go when friends were here. for one batch my phone timer stopped at 12m20s in between & i lost the timing.

#3 my third dish was a prawn bisque. while it is european & not a japanese dish, i had been to a few restaurants in kyoto & also osaka where they served western starter & soup as part of a japanese course meal.

prawn bisque was below my usual standards.

the method was ok. i had enough good mix of vegetable base to balance the prawn shells & heads stock.

i think i should have reduced the liquids further to get a more intense bisque.

#4 the wafu (和风) pasta, wafu (和风) braised eggplant & teriyaki cod was an excellent dish though. ^^

#4.1 this the first time i did a kind of “wafu (和风) pasta” other than mentaiko pasta. & the taste was wonderful!

i followed the recipe on japanesecooking101 here.

simple ingredients – just streaky bacon, shimeji mushrooms & yellow onions. & the sauce again is the key – dashi (i used chicken/vegetable stock), mirin, tsuyu & a little sugar& reduced.

taste was just exquisite. it’s not better than most of my pastas which are also very good, but it’s good! 🙂

#4.2 teriyaki cod is one dish i cooked a number of times & always, invariably good.

this time i reduced the sugar & also a little less salty.

#4.1 the wafu 和风 (japanese braised) eggplants was simply excellent! this the first time i do a japanese braised eggplant. it’s so easy & the taste was just fantatsic!

again i got my recipe from japanesecooking101 here.

i still want to do the chinese version though (i like the ye shanghai one very much). don’t think much difference, probably just use oysters sauce instead.

#5 for the gohan course, i had a don.

the friend who brought kimchi doesn’t take beef, so i prepared kakuni, a japanese braised belly pork.

this time though i used a different braising method, a 6hr gentle slow braise in a crockpot from cold to 85degC (using meat thermometer). ^^

#5 for the other diners, i had a 400D grain-fed wagyu ribeye & a 150D grain-fed black angus ribeye. both were excellent!

and the japanese rice was perfect! so very tasty, one friend went to add rice & just ate the rice plain.

#5.1 the miso salmon belly was very good too.

very tasty, just like eating in restuarants in japan.

i also had tamago. the shape & folding was a disaster & one could not even make out the lines, but taste was pretty ok & quite a good addition to the meaty don dish! 🙂

#6 i not very sure how i lost it. haha! 🙂

lava cake was the very first dessert i made, not sure where has all the lava gone.

anyway seems that everyone like the taste though….wait till they have my really lava ones..haha!

like this one! looking back at the records, it was during a dinner on 28.1.2013! 🙂

a friend brought “shanghai” moon cake, one lotus paste, the other red beans.

so pretty, and very good moon cake too, mainly because the lotus paste was not so sweet like most moon cakes are, and the pastry, with some addition of nuts, was excellent! 🙂

one friend brought ondeh ondeh. everuone loved it!

some friends brought rose sparkling wine & white wine too.

& wife offered up her whisky collection. 🙂

very fun enjoyable evening with friends.

c.h.e.f andy