For the chicken:
4 chicken legs (or breasts)
1-2 eggs
Flour to cover the chicken

For the western vinegar sauce:
4 Tbsp soy sauce
6 Tbsp sugar
5 Tbsp vinegar
Pepper to taste (for adults)
1 tsp ketchup (for children)

For the tartar sauce:
1-2 hard-boiled eggs (if you like)
1/4 onion (if you like)
1/3 cucumber or pickle (if you like)
5 Tbsp mayonnaise (if you like)
1 Tbsp ketchup (if you like)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp mustard grains

1. Chicken
   1. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces
   2. Salt and pepper to taste
   3. Roll chicken in the flour and dust off
   4. Dip the chicken in a beaten egg(s)
   5. Fry the chicken until cooked
2. Western Vinegar Sauce
   1. put sugar, soy sauce and vinegar into pan and put any piece of ginger, onions and carrots and boil
   2. if you want, you can add red pepper for adults and ketchup for kids
3. Marinade fried chicken in the western vinegar sauce to give it moisture and flavor
4. Make a Tartar Sauce
   1. Chop Boiled eggs and onions and cucumber (if it is good pickles), and add salt and pepper and ketchup and mayonnaise
   2. If you have the chopped parsley and lemon juice, whipped cream and mustard, whisked together and added to the above mixture, that makes it taste much better.
5. Put the tartar sauce over the chicken
6. Eat it

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 2

1 bunch garlic chives
3 eggs
3 Tbsp Chinese soup stock
Salt, pepper, & soy sauce to taste

1. Chop the garlic chives into ˜3-inch pieces
2. Crack the eggs and combine with the garlic chives and Chinese soup stock
3. Transfer all ingredients to a medium-sized frying pan and cook over medium-high heat until finished (like an omelet)
4. Add salt, pepper, & soy sauce to taste

Note: If you prefer, you can add sliced pork belly (looks like bacon). Just cook the pork first, then add it with the rest of the ingredients in step 2 above.

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 3

400 g pumpkin (seeded, peeled, boiled)
250 cc milk
200 cc heavy whipping cream
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Take the seeds out from the pumpkin and cut into large, bite-sized pieces
2. Boil the pumpkin pieces until all the water has evaporated
3. Remove the pumpkin peel (if not already done)
4. Put the pot with the pumpkin pieces back on the stove and cook over medium-high heat (make sure there is no water left in the pot)
5. Put the pumpkin pieces and milk & cream into the food processor and blend until smooth
6. Transfer from the food processor back to the pot and heat until it begins to boil
7. Salt and pepper to taste
8. Gently pour cream a little cream into the bowl for finishing touches

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 3

300 g pork belly (Bara)
2 Tbsp sake
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 onion
* 2 Tbsp okonomiyaki sauce
* 2 Tbsp soy sauce
* 2 Tbsp sake
* 2 Tbsp mirin
* 2 Tbsp ketchup
* 1 tsp sugar
* 2 pieces of ginger (ground)
* 1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream

1. Cut the pork into 2-inch pieces and mix with the sake and soy sauce for the base taste
2. Cut the onion into 1/4-inch slivers and sauté over medium / medium-high heat
3. Mix all * and boil
4. Put oil into the pan and stir in pork and onion
5. Cook until pork and onion are done

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: serves 2

Warabimochi
2 Tbsp warabi (bracken) starch
2 Tbsp water

Kinako topping
Kinako (soybean flour) to taste
Sugar to taste (usually ˜1 to 3 ratio, sugar to kinako)

1. Mix the starch with the water
2. Cook over low heat until boiling, stirring continuously
3. Once the mixture is white and sticky, remove from heat
4. Drop a spoonful at a time of the warabimochi into a bowl of ice cold water
5. After sitting in the water for a couple minutes, remove from the water and top with kinako

Recipe Summary
Prep Time: ˜15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
Yield: serves 4

3 medium-sized potatoes
2 carrots
2 onions
1/2 head of broccoli
200 g leftover vegetables (cabbage, radish, green onion, celery, etc.)
1 bag of sausage
2 cubes chicken consommé
1 laurier leaf (a.k.a. bay leaf)
salt & pepper to taste

1. Peel all vegetable and cut in bite-sized pieces
2. Make several puncture marks in the skin of the sausage so it doesn’t burst while cooking
3. Put the vegetables, sausage, and laurier in the pressure cooker
4. Dissolve the chicken consomme in a little hot water and put in the pressure cooker
5. Fill the pressure cooker with enough hot water to cover all of the ingredients
6. Begin to cook over high heat
7. After steam starts to come out from the pressure cooker, cook for an additional 10 minutes (low pressure=10 minutes, high pressure=8 minutes)
8. Remove from heat and release the pressure
9. Add salt & pepper to taste

Note: You can substitute sausage for bacon block or chicken wings. You can also use thyme & parsley to enhance the aroma of the dish.

Use a 7-inch spring-form pan

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sifted all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice

1. Make sure the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature. Line the cake pan with wax paper.
2. Put the graham crackers in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.
3. Soften the butter and mix with the graham cracker crumbs.
4. Pour the graham cracker mix into the bottom of the pan and press down lightly to make the base. Preheat the oven to 340 F.
5. In a bowl, beat the cream cheese, with an electric mixer until soft, then add the rest of the ingredients, in order, mixing  each one thoroughly first before adding the next.
6. Continue until the mixture thickens, then pour into the cake pan, on top of the graham cracker base. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes. Remove and leave to cool.
7. Once it has cooled, remove from the pan, discard the lining, and leave on a rack to cool completely.

For the pancake batter:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1 teaspoon mirin

For the pancake filling:
a little sunflower or vegetable oil
2 cups shredded sweetheart or green cabbage
9 oz bean sprouts
finely chopped green onions or chives to taste
dried fish flakes to taste
4 oz thinly sliced uncooked pork
Salt & pepper to taste
6 oz thinly sliced squid (or to taste)
about 20 oz cooked Chinese egg noodles
4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
8 eggs
4 tablespoons tonkatsu sauce to taste
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
red pickled ginger (beni shoga) and ao-nori to taste

1. To make the batter: sift the flour and baking soda into a bowl. Add the water and mirin and mix well.
2. Heat a little oil in an 8-inch frying pan over moderate heat. Pour in enough batter to make a thin pancake.
3. Sprinkle a quarter of the chopped cabbage, bean sprouts, green onions, dried fish flakes, and chopped pork onto the batter. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Put the squid on top and cook – making sure that the pork and squid are properly cooked before going to the next stage.
4. Add 2 tablespoons of batter to the pancake then turn over and press lightly using a spatula.
5. In a separate frying pan heat a little oil, then add the cooked noodles and fry lightly. Season with 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, shape the noodles into a circle and transfer the previously cooked pancake on top.
6. Fry two eggs then put the pancake and noodles on top of the eggs and turn the whole thing over. Turn out onto a plate so that the eggs are on the top and the noodles are underneath. Repeat this procedure using the rest of the ingredients.
7. To serve: mix the tonkatsu sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato ketchup and drizzle over the assembled pancake. If you have ao-nori seaweed, sprinkle it over and add the red ginger for garnish.

1 quart fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed and quartered
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 cups half-and-half
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split in half and scraped
6 egg yolks

1. In a food processor or blender, combine the strawberries and 1/2 cup of the sugar. Process until smooth.
2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, combine the half-and-half and sugar. Bring to a simmer.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth.
4. Add 1 cup of the hot liquid to the egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
5. Add the yolk mixture to the saucepan of liquid and whisk until incorporated.
6. Bring the liquid back to simmer and continue to cook for 4 to 6 minutes or until the mixture coats the back of a spoon.
7. Remove from the heat and stir in the strawberries. Whisk until smooth.
8. Pour the mixture into a glass bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the mixture. This will prevent a skin from forming while cooling.
9. Cool the mixture completely.
10. Process the mixture according to the ice cream machines’ instructions.

I’m planning my second crop and I think I’ll try to make the lettuce more crisp and the baby bok choy more wide (ours are pretty skinny). I’ve been reading up on growing techniques and hopefully some of the things I’ve learned will help improve my future harvests.