Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked rice (will last two meals for two of us)
2 2/3 cups water (I didn't really follow this measurement rather just added my own estimation)
1 small carrot - julienned (I love carrots so I added more)
1 section (7oz/200g) renkon lotus root or boiled bamboo shoot (I saw the lotus root being sold in TNT and they were broken up in sections and surprisingly the section I bought weighed exactly that amount) - sliced thinly
8 to 10 large shrimp (I added about 14 of the shrimps of the 51/60 size ... whatever that is)
1 tbsp rice vinegar + 4 tbsp rice vinegar
8 to 10 dried shiitake mushrooms (I don't know about dried shiitake mushrooms, I just used whatever dried mushrooms I had and they were big so I used only 6)
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp sake
1 tsp salt

There were other stuff like the 4 inch strip dried konbu kelp which was optional and the 2 to 3 stalks mitsuba trefoil or italian parsley which I didn't have on hand. I didn't use these two but I did add in spring onions.

The instructions below were what I did since I didn't follow her instructions to the 'T'. If you would like to know the exact instructions, please refer to the book.

1. Wash rice and drain.
2. Julienne the carrot.
3. Cook the shrimp in a small pan of boiling water til they turn colour. Add 1 tbsp vinegar in the pan for flavouring, stir briefly and remove from heat.
4. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water til they soften. Drain, cut of the stems and reserve the mushroom water. 5. Squeeze the mushrooms to let out any excess water and saute both sides in sesame oil.
6. Add soy sauce, 1 1/2 tbsp sugar and mushroom water to the mushrooms and simmer over medium heat. The mushroom water was just enough to cover the mushrooms. When most of the water have evaporated, cool and cut mushrooms in thin strips. Mmmm ... they were delicious ... just couldn't stop myself from having a piece. (Hubby says: "PIECES you mean! That means more than one piece!!!")

Ingredients all prepared ....

7. Mix sake, salt, 4 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tbsp sugar. Add the mixture and water to rice in rice cooker or cooking pot. Stir briefly. Arrange the carrots, lotus root evenly over the rice then the shrimp.
8. Cook rice. Allow it to steam for about 10 minutes after it is cooked.
9. Mix the rice gently to spread the ingredients out evenly and serve with mushroom strips and spring onions.

Hubby's portion

What did taste like? Well, a bit vinegar-ry but it was different. I loved the mushrooms and the lotus root was nice and crisp. Would I try it again? Yes but the next time I am going to use sake instead of shaoxing wine.

Yummy broiled eel and avocado encased in rice and seaweed.

Unagi is basically "broiled fresh water eel". I had prepared this delicacy on August 7, 2009. Yes, I am a big fan of Japanese food. Well I am a big fan of seafood in general, and an even bigger fan of anything roasted, broiled, fried, or barbequed! Yum! Anyway, the following is a quick list of ingredients used:

1 cup Sushi Rice (Kokuho Rose)
2 cups of water
2 Tbsp of Seasoned Rice Vinegar (Mitsukan)

6 sheets of roasted seaweed (Takaokaya Yakinori Tokusen)
1 Avocado
Broiled Fresh Water Eel

The Takaokaya roasted seaweed comes in an affordable pack of 50 sheets. I had bought it at T&T Supermarket in Metrotown awhile back.