Cooking with Figures

So, its been a while since I've posted on my blog! I've been wanting to post about a ton of stuff, but I haven't had the time since school has started. Anyway, today I had some free time and was inspired to make a new entry! If you're reading this, hope you like.

Thanks to my passion for PVC figures I have been introduced to Japanese culture and cuisine! Not to mention anime, but that's a whole different subject. ^^ I have always been a fan of sushi, but ever since I went out to dinner to Mifune, a Japanese Restaurant in the heart of Japan Town in San Francisco, I've been hooked on Japanese food! I'm always up for trying new dishes, and I absolutely LOVE the NOODLES!!! Although I love to eat out, times are tough and I don't have the extra $$$ to eat the great Japanese food I've come to love. Well, I've been craving some Udon lately and instead of going out to my favorite restaurant down the street, I decided that its high time that I educate myself on Japanese cooking so I can eat the things I love by making it myself. I enjoy cooking, and love learning new things to cook, so I decided to google a good Japanese Mart and discovered Oto's in Sacramento. I took a drive out there and discovered a ton of new ingredients to purchase so I can make some of my favorite Japanese dishes in my own kitchen.

When I got back from the store I unloaded my goodies and chose to attempt Udon with Corn and Chicken. I figured because my interest in figures catapulted my interest in Japanese cuisine that I would enlist the help of some of my favorite figures for help and share the results on my blog!

So I needed Mirin, Soy Sauce, Dashi, Udon Noodles, Corn, Green Onions and Chicken (Not shown) for this meal.

I boiled the noodles first, figured they would take the most time to cook

Thank goodness Saber is a master with sword, the veggies were cut in a flash

The noodles looked so good once I drained them!
I wanted to dig in right then and there, but had to resist the urge.

I combined the Dashi, Mirin, Soy Sauce and the veggies in the pan and let it simmer

While I was prepping and cooking I completely forgot about the chicken! I quickly put the frozen pieces in the Microwave on defrost and cut 'em up quickly
(looking back at the pictures I took I wish I had a tiny little knife to let C.C. hold, that would have been funny for this pic ^__^ )

The meal is almost done! Nadie is safely guarding the noodles from being eaten before its completely finished cooking.
(I don't know about you, but I tend to eat the food while I'm cooking it )

Ahhh, finially finished! My two big prizes for a job well done: Udon and (the long awaited) Fatina by Alter! I just recieved her in the mail today, I can't wait to get her out in the wild and take pics!

Closing Comments:

So, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into before preparing this meal...but I'm glad to report that it was super simple and really fun. This dish doesn't require many ingredients, and the great thing about it is it's versatility. I can basically add whatever I want to the dish, a variety of vegetables and meats. I can't wait to tackle this dish with some shrimp tempura or something different! I was so excited to dig in and was really satisfied with the end result. My broth tasted exactly like the one I'm used to, so all in all it was a success.

It was fun to take figure photography to a new level too; shooting the figures with food was both fun and a challenge. My time was very limited, so I had to come up with compositions on the fly and pick the next figure for the next shot even quicker. If anyone reading this is interested in the recipe to this meal here ya go:

- 3-4 cups of water with Dashi
- 1 tbs Mirin (sweet cooking sake)
- 2-4 tbs Soy Sauce (to liking)
- 1 tbs Sugar (I didn't use this)
- Udon Noodles

In order to make the broth you simply add the ingredients together in a pan (without the noodles) and let it simmer. That's about it to make the soup, otherwise I just cut up some fresh corn, chicken, and green onions for extra flavor/variety. After the soup became hot, I added the corn, chicken, and a small amount of green onions. The chicken didn't take long to cook, and once it was finished I threw in the noodles , gave it a quick stir, lowered the heat to "low" and covered it. I let it sit for several minutes so the noodles could soak up some flavor and then poured it into a bowl and enjoyed my new creation! What do you guys think, do any of you like to cook? would you ever consider learning a new dish from a different culture?

Saber has a lot of cleaning to do. Luckily she knows her way around the kitchen lol