Messy Witchen - Food, Recipe, Dining Blog

Mentaiko Pasta 明太子パスタ

Updated 19th November 2022.

Mentaiko pasta (明太子パスタ) is a Japanese-style pasta or fusion pasta or in Japanese, wafu pasta (和風パスタ). This style of dish in Japanese cuisine is called yōshoku (洋食) or wafu food (和風) which incorporates Western cooking style with Japanese. Some of the best known examples of yoshoku dishes are katsu (e.g. crispy chicken katsu チキンカツ), omurice, korokke and pasta.

Every time I eat this mentaiko pasta, it reminds me of cacio e pepe, an Italian cheese and pepper pasta. Both excel at highlighting their main ingredient(s) and making ’em shine. They give our tastebuds the utmost pleasure and delight! I knew mentaiko pasta is a keeper the moment I tasted it.

Don’t play-play. It may look plain (ok la I skipped the garnishes) but mentaiko pasta is no plain Jane.

September 29, 2022
2,492 views

Raw Eggs Avocado Smoothie

Selamat Hari Merdeka! Have a good holiday.

Not sure if anyone realizes this, but Messy Witchen was down for about a day or two. All is well now. Sorry, if your comments got lost. Kindly comment again if you don’t mind.

What? Not another raw egg recipe! *silently bashing Amy of Messy Witchen

As if sharing my favorite raw eggs banana smoothie recipe is not enough, I also shared how to make real mayonnaise recently (p/s: real mayo is made of raw eggs). Well, raw eggs ain’t going anywhere as it’s one of the most wholesome complete real food out there.

As I recently got hold of a few kilos of 034 avocados, I’ve been making raw eggs avocado smoothies very often and I thought some of you would be interested in the recipe. So, here it is.

Smooth and delectable raw eggs avocado smoothie! 🥚🥚🥑
I wonder if the word smoothie comes from smooth? 🤔

August 31, 2022
3,312 views

Condiment

Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise

Store-bought mayonnaise had always been a staple in my household since I was young. But as I grew older, there was always this naggy feeling about it. One of the ingredients in mayonnaise is egg (perishable) but why is it that store-bought mayonnaise is shelf stable and has long expiry? So, I stopped buying and eating mayonnaise except when dining out (at sushi places). This went on for a few years until at last, I could not take it anymore. I want mayonnaise back in my life.

I’ve been making homemade mayonnaise for 3 years now. At first, it was challenging, but the more I make it the easier it becomes. Recently, I started to lacto-ferment the mayonnaise. Lacto-ferment increases the nutrient profiles of the mayo and makes it last longer naturally (fermentation is an ancient food preservation method). Besides that, it has that special tang to it that you cannot find in regular mayonnaise and store-bought mayo.

Making mayonnaise at home is the best way to pamper yourself. Really!

July 25, 2022
2,595 views

Appetizer, French, Snack

Sardine Rillettes

Ahh how time flies. It’s two months since I last posted here. I missed posting last month because my laptop was being repaired and after that, I was busy with tax submission. Anyway, all is well now and here’s a simple and delicious recipe for you all.

I first learned about French rillettes in the form of pork rillettes. While I haven’t tried making pork rillettes before I’ve made sardine rillettes many a time. Rillettes are meat cooked slowly in its own fat and then shredded and mixed with the warm fat and packed into small pots. The surface is then sealed with a layer of fat to preserve the meat (like pâté). In the case of sardine rillettes using canned sardines in oil, you only need to mix the sardines with the oil from the can, then shred and season.

Sardine rillettes is quick to whip up and tasty. Perfect food for when you’re busy!

June 27, 2022
2,901 views

Japanese, Quick & Easy

Pickled Cucumber With Shoyu Koji きゅうりの醤油糀浅漬け

I hope that your interest in the world of koji is in full throttle since the introduction of shio koji and shoyu koji. Here, I would like to share this easy pickled cucumber with shoyu koji recipe. It uses shoyu koji as a pickling agent.

In Japanese, this recipe is called きゅうりの醤油糀浅漬け or kyūri no shōyu kōji asazuke. It’s a type of tsukemono (Japanese preserved vegetables) called shoyukojizuke 醤油糀漬け/醤油麹漬け which utilizes shoyu koji to pickle the ingredient(s). Because pickling cucumber takes a short amount of time (ready in a few hours), this type of pickling method is called asazuke 浅漬け.

You’ll love this pickled cucumber with shoyu koji! ❤️❤️❤️

April 22, 2022
3,802 views

Japanese

Shoyu Koji 醤油糀

In this post, I’m going to introduce to you yet another umami seasoning made with koji. Previously, I’ve introduced shio koji 塩糀/塩麹 to my blog readers. Have you read it yet? Do run through it if you have not as it contains information on koji which will help you understand this post better.

Brewing my own traditional fermented soy sauce is beyond my reach right now. So I was excited to learn about shoyu koji 醤油糀/醤油麹/しょうゆ糀/しょうゆ麹. Shoyu koji is made by fermenting koji in shoyu (Japanese name for soy sauce). With the help of the famous Japanese fungus called Aspergillus oryzae aka koji, regular shoyu is transformed into super umami shoyu.

Delicious and umamilicious shoyu koji 醤油糀! 😋😋😋

March 30, 2022
5,102 views

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