Recipes- England meets Okinawa...

Food is a tricky subject in my world.

I love it and hate it at the same time, I adore cooking with it and creating new dishes and despite appearances, I do like eating and trying new things. 

However the past couple of years have been completely focussed on losing weight and becoming smaller and healthier, and with that I have become so concerned about getting fat again that I have ended up with what I call 'safe food' and then there's everything else- that I just can't eat. 

Now I am 40kg smaller and healthier I want to rediscover what I love to do and what my most favorite person in the world taught me to do. Baking, cooking and eating good food. 

I am going to share my  favorite recipes I've made so far- and make more effort to experiment and enjoy the eating again as much as I love the cooking and the creation of it. 

I've been getting to grips with the food here and also trying to create foods that are familiar from home. 

This has resulted in me ending up with some fusion recipes where I've had to substitute ingredients or where I've liked something and wanted to mix it into something I already make. 

So fusion recipie number one is: 'Touganzuki Scones'.

Touganzuki is a traditional Okinawan sweet made using Tougan - which is an Okinawan melon -also used to make soup. 

The sweet it is still prepared in the same way as it was for the Ryukyu Royalty and so it truly a traditional Okinawan sweet. I think it has the texture of a fresh apple- crisp and juicy and it is incredibly sweet, it holds its shape as flavour when used in baking too- Hence, perfect for my recipie. 

'Touganzuki and Cinnamon Scones' 

Difficulty- Easy 

Prep time- 20 mins 

Baking - 20 mins 

Quantity - 8 (approx)

Ingredients: 

350g flour (+5g of baking powder)

80g butter 

60g sugar 

175ml milk (warm) 

10ml shiquasa (or lemon) juice

200g touganzuki 

15g cinnamon 

5g nutmeg 

5g salt

1 egg yolk (for glazing) 

Method: 

1- Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. 

2- Cut the butter into cubes and rub it into the flour until you have what looks like breadcrumbs. 

3- Add the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix. 

4- Chop the Touganzuki into small pieces, add to the bowl and gently mix. 

5- Add the lemon juice to the warm milk and add this to the dry ingredients. 

6- Fold the mixture together until it forms a lose dough, 

7- Place onto a lightly floured surface and knead until it comes together (not too much) 

8- Roll the dough to a 4-5cm thickness and use a cookie cutter to form the rounds (re- knead and roll as needed- less is better though!) 

9- Cut 8 scones and put them onto a baking tray and brush the top with beaten egg yolk.

10- Bake in the oven at 180c for 15-20 minutes until brown and risen. 

Scones are one of the first things I ever remember making- they are simple and easy as long as the recipe is followed! 

I enjoy baking these and of course- it goes well with a pot of tea!