Back to day one

Monday marked my return to the gym and the diet regimen prescribed by my nutritionist (Yes, I have one). After a month and a half of cheating with food portions and avoiding exercise, I finally decided to get my mind and body on track. I thought starting it again would be hard but Day One went without a hitch, I actually wanted to pat myself on the back, haha! 

Hitting the gym has always been a lot easier to me than going on a diet. Prior to June 2011, I've never gone on a diet, I was so into sports growing up that dieting was not needed. And also, we're all such big and good eaters in my family that I've always been surrounded by people who love to eat, my dad actually made a promise to himself and my mom that we'll always have plenty of food in the house, no matter what time it was. So, you can see why dieting is such a big task. 

So, I thought hard as to what to cook for tuesday's lunch that can both pass my diet restrictions (I didn't wanna deprive myself of good food since according to my nutritionist it's really more about portion control) and be filling for my siblings Katherine & Raymond and I came up with Tempura Tuna Sashimi — our favorite dish to share from japanese restos. I have always wanted to replicate this at home ever since we first tasted it in Terriyaki Boy then in Sumo Sam then in...oh, you get the picture,  but never got around to doing it until yesterday. I was really excited to make this and so was Katherine & Raymond to eating it. After picturing the ingredients in my head it was really easy to make, so after, I needed wanted a no-fuss vegetable dish. We had a lot of fresh mushrooms left in the fridge and decided to stir-fry it in garlic — addicted to this and voila! Our lunch is done.

We haven't eaten in chopsticks at home for so long, so I brought them out and served our food — asian style. Who knew I'd miss eating using chopsticks at home. I think I now want a bento box...

Tempura Tuna Sashimi

1 Tuna fillet, sushi-grade

4 tbsp japanese mayo

1/2 tbsp wasabi

2 tbsp chopped scallions

tempura bits (see recipe below)

dash of chili powder

Tempura bits

1 egg

1 cup cake flour

1/3 cup cold water

bowl of ice

Dice the tuna fillet and chill in the fridge then prepare the tempura bits

In a bowl, mix together the egg and water. Add in the flour and whisk to make a batter. Don't over mix, the batter needs to be lumpy. Place the bowl of batter on top of the bowl of ice, as the batter needs to be cold. 

Heat the pan with oil for deep-frying. To test if the oil is hot enough, drop a tiny amount of the batter in the oil, if it immediately rises to the top then its ready for frying. Dip the wire whisk in the batter and shake it above the pan to make the batter splatter in the oil, (doing this will make the batter come out as bits when fried) once golden brown, remove from the pan and strain excess oil. Set aside.

Note: I actually prefer using my fingers instead of a wire whisk when doing this I like how the batter splatters better onto the oil.

Mix together the wasabi and mayo, fold into the chilled tuna. Coat evenly. Add in the tempura bits and mix. Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle chili powder, top with scallions and serve. 

Note: This needs to be served and eaten immediately.

Stir-fry Mushrooms

1 pack golden mushrooms

1 1/2 cup oyster mushrooms

1 cup shitake mushrooms

5 cloves garlic, chooped

1 1/2 tbsp oil

salt

pepper

Slice the shitake mushrooms into strips. Rinse all the mushrooms and set aside.

Heat pan with oil, sauté the garlic. Toss in the mushrooms and stir-fry until soft about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, stri-fry for another minute. Serve.