Party menu 2: Steamed mushroom rice wrapped with bamboo leaf (Chimaki), Ikebana

When I invite guests, I often make this chimaki. It never missed the appreciation. 

It is served in the bamboo steamer-container on the table. When I open the lid, the cute bamboo chimaki appeared in the steam! 

This dish takes time and effort, however, is worth to do so.

The bamboo scent is transfereed to the rice.

Everyone falls in love with chimaki in a bite. 

It is tasty and fun to entertain guests!! 

Ingredients of 15-18 pieces of chimaki

• Sweet rice/Glutinous rice*: 2 cups (400-450cc) 
• Bamboo leaves**: 15-18 pieces
• Shimeji mushroom: 150g (1pack)
• Enoki mushroom: 150g (1pack)
• Shiitake mushroom: 7-8 pieces
• Pine nuts: 3 tablespoons
• Vegetable oil: 1 tablespoon 

<seasoning>

• Soy sauce: 3 tablespoons
• Mirin: 3  tablespoons
• Salt:1 teaspoon
• Sugar:1 tablespoon

*Chimaki is made of Sweet rice/Glutinous rice. You can find it in Asian food stores. It looks bit more whitish than other kinds of rice.

**Bamboo leaves can be found in Chinese shop. They can be replaced with sheet of aluminium foil (though less cute looking but much easier to wrap the stuff).

Directions

1. (This process should be done in the previous night) Wash sweet rice and soak in water. In a separate bowl, soak bamboo leaves in water. Leave them over night.

2. Drain the water of rice through a net, leave it for 30-40 mins

3. While resting the rice, wash each leave with a sponge to remove dirt

4. Fill water until half depth of a pan which got a similar diameter of the bamboo steamer's and start to heat it up. If you don't use the bamboo steamer, fill water in a steamer and heat it up over high temperature. 

Place a double-layered kitchen paper in the bottom of a steamer-container, fill the rice carefully and cover with a kitchen paper 

5. Steam the rice for 25 mins over high temperature

6. While steaming the rice, prepare the mushroom stuffing. 

Slice shiitake into thin, remove the bottom part of enoki and cut it into half length. 

Remove the bottom part of shimeji and tear it into pieces

7. Heat up a large frying pan over medium temperature, grease it with vegetable oil and fry all mushrooms. Once they get slightly tender, add all seasonings and pine nuts and keep frying for 2-3 mins. Put them in a large heat-resist bowl

8. Once the rice steamed, put the steamer-container straight from the pan in the sink and sprinkle 1 cup of cold water (be careful when you move the bamboo container. It is very hot!)

9. Add steamed rice into the bowl and combine it with mushrooms well

10. <Wrap the rice with bamboo leaves>
There are two sides in each bamboo leaf: coarse and smooth. Please make sure to use the smooth one inside and the coarse one out. The coarse leaf vein helps to hold the folded leaf surfaces when you wrap it up.

10-1. To start, make a triangle shape with the edge of a leaf and then stuff one tablespoonful of the rice

10-2. Press the surface of rice portion with the bottom of the spoon to make the rice is tightly stuffed

10-3.  Cover the rice portion with the leaf and turn it to the next triangle dimension. Keep wrapping up the portion tightly until the end of the leaf 

10-4. Put the end of the leaf under the nearest side of the leaf to close

11. Steam chimaki pieces another 10 mins to serve.

In addition to mushrooms, I like to add pieces of chicken, fried tofu and chestnuts to be fried with mushrooms.

I know all procedures look complicated. However, it is worth to try. It is very tasty and warming dish.

Ikebana

When I receive guests, I usually decorate our living-dinning room and bathroom with flowers. 

I do this in the previous night.

After putting some flowers, I feel more lifted up and enjoy imagining guests' arrivals to the room. Then the perfume of flowers enhances my cooking energy. 

After guests' arrival, I am usually busy preparing food while Mr. Husband serves drinks. I think nicely decorated flower will help to entertain guests in place for me.

Holding a dinning party is the thing to create the entire landscape and atmosphere by the host and the gusts, I think. 

I always appreciate my guests and my family to make my cooking idea realise at the table and share it with me.