(Gluten Free, Sugar Free)

We go to Niseko in Japan every winter, considered the second snowiest resort on Earth, the powder is incredible.  What we also enjoy is the super fresh food and how everything I cook tastes amazing - even simple dishes like these.

These are so very easy, and super yummy every time!

These recipes are not very exact, as I pretty much wing it each time, but it's very easy and you can't go wrong if you try.

Niseko Crab Fried Rice

Please adjust the amounts, based on how many people you are cooking for.  The below feeds 4 adults and 4 children

Ingredients

• 2-3 Cups of Japanese white rice
  
• 4 Packets of fresh crab sticks (see photo)
  
• 6 Fresh local eggs
  
• 1 Bag of frozen peas
  
• 100% pure sesame oil
  
• 1-2 Tablespoons of tamari sauce (can use soy sauce if you are not gluten free)

Directions

• Make the rice the night before or the morning, so it is cool when you are ready
  
• Fry the eggs in sesame oil, chop into small pieces, then set to the side
  
• Shred the crab legs
  
• Prepare everything in bowls as per the photo below
• Fry the rice in sesame oil
  
• You really want to fry it until bits get brown and crunchy
  
• Add a bit of tamari sauce to your taste 
• add the rest of the ingredients when you feel the rice is fried enough
  
• serve hot with a few extra crab sticks on top
  

Hokkaido Fried Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 2-3 different varieties of local mushrooms
  
• Hokkaido butter
  
• Sea salt

Directions

• Salt the mushrooms
  
• Fry the mushrooms in butter until they are dark in color and 50% are crispy
  
• This takes a long time and during the process a lot of water will build up in the pan
  
• Be patient, the reward is very worth it 

As my husband said, this dish is more about the butter and the salt than the mushrooms!

Warm Edamame
Serve with a bowl of warm edamame in the shell (see the photo below for the one we buy)

This is really one of our favorite dinners at home in Niseko.  Try as I have, I cannot replicate it in Hong Kong or the USA.  It is all about the great Hokkaido ingredients, and our lovely kitchen in Niseko.

(Gluten Free, Vegan, Refined Sugar Free)

We are here in Niseko, and with full days skiing, I love a hot drink at night and often need some extra energy too.  All the restaurants on the slopes offer hot chocolate, but it is much too sweet for me, and I don't like all the milk.  Coconut Milk Hot Cacao is a great alternative!

Most of the time in the evening, I just have a Yogi Bedtime Tea, which really relaxes me.  But here in Niseko, Japan;
with fluffy powder snow outside; 
a day of skiing having both exhausted and exhilarated me; 
my favorite drink is Coconut Milk Hot Cacao.

This would also be an excellent hot morning drink, or something to fill in your flask if you are out all day in the back country.  

Ingredients

• 1 Can of full fat coconut milk**
  
• 1 Tablespoon of raw cacao 
  
• 1 Tablespoon of coconut oil
  
• 1 teaspoon of coconut sugar
  
• 1/2 Tablespoon of cinnamon (optional)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla (optional)

Directions

• Add all ingredients to a small pot on the stove
  
• Mix viciously with a whist or fork
  
• Heat gently until warm, but not boiling, some small bubbles okay
  
• Fill two small mugs with warm energy boosting goodness and enjoy
  
• My friend had to add a bit more coconut sugar to hers - so add more to taste if needed

This is a lovely thick smooth drink, which hits the spot after a full day on the slopes!

** In snowy Niseko on the island of Hokkaido, fresh coconut are not to be found, but M Pocket in Kutchan has cans of full fat coconut milk!