So I love Japanese food but have never had access to the ingredients. Just the other day I found a fairly large Japanese specialty market so that isn’t an issue anymore. What are some good dishes to start off cooking.
Two conditions though before you answer my question.
Can’t be sushi/sashimi. That’s easy enough to make and I have some bluefin in the freezer.
Can’t be tempura either. Again, I’ve made it before, have the ability to make it again and anyway, it’s a bit cliche.
Two questions:
Are you planning to wok?
[Alton]Do you have a jet engine?[/Alton]
I do not own a wok but I could potentially buy one.
I think yakisoba is delicious. You can usually find kits for making it in Japanese grocery stores with stir fry noodles and sauce. Add veggies and meat/tofu and you’re set.
Here’s two recipes that I’ve posted here before. The latter is probably actually a Korean import into Japan. Note that the first recipe was me writing off the top of my head. There’s no particular guarantee that the measurements are right.
To make okonomiyaki, you need:
Okonomiyaki flour
Okonomiyaki sauce
1/8 cup or so Katsuo-bushi
1 egg
1/4 Head cabbage, diced (approximate)
1/8 cup or less Beni shoga
And sliced meat or cheese of some sort to cook in (bacon would work, small shrimps work too)
Mostly guessing here, but I think you want about half the amount of batter as hard matter. So probably you would want something like 1.5 cups of batter and 3 cups worth of cabbage + meat + beni shoga + katsuobushi. It might be 1 to 3 ratio though. Better to add the batter slow until you get a nice rice-crispy treat globbyness.
You stir the batter, cabbage, beni shoga, egg, and most of the katsuobushi together. If you are using cheese, add it in as well. Cook the meat slices about a quarter of the way on a grill (medium heat). Spoon out half the batter/glop onto the grill and make into a circle about 6-8" in diameter, add the meat on top, then poor the rest of the batter on top of that. Turn it over with a large spatula when it can be turned. Turn every few minutes until it doesn’t feel squishy inside anymore.
Spread okonomiyaki sauce on top and sprinkle katsuobushi over that, slice into eight slices like a pizza or a pie, and serve. Serves one to two.
If you want to add ramen noodles, you’d probably want to cut back on the cabbage.
Original Link Kyuuri no Pirikara
3 cucumbers
1-2 teaspoons salt
1 garlic clove
1-2 slices ginger
1 teaspoon ra-yu (Chinese red chile oil)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 pinches each of white and black sesame seeds
3 shakes of shichimi (it’s pretty common stuff)
Take off most of the skin of the cucumbers (needn’t be all), slice into small chunks, cover in the salt and let sit for ~20 minutes.
When the cucumber has softened a bit (?), wash away the salt and dry.
Mince up the garlic and ginger, and mix up all the ingredients. Let cool in the refrigerator and then eat! (Note that you can adjust the amount of ra-yu and shichimi to get your preferred level of spiciness.)
You’ll probably be able to find a bag of yakisoba that includes the sauce and a recipe in English for how to make it (how much oil to use, approximately how much vegetable matter you want, etc.)
Onigiri (riceballs)
1 cup uncooked sushi rice
A few teaspoons sushi vinegar
Salt
Large nori sheets (seaweed)
Filling- Tuna, bonito flakes, bbq eel, or umeboshi (pickled plum, my personal favorite)
Cook the rice per the package instructions, allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Empty into a non-metallic container. Stir in a few teaspoons of vinegar. Taste it as you go to get to your desired flavor.
Get a bowl of warm water and drop a teaspoon of salt in there. Mix it up. Wet your hands and grab a small handful of rice. Mold it into a roughly cone-shaped ball. Poke a hole in the middle, add a small amount of filling and remold until the hole is closed. Set the ball on a tray, pointy side up. When ready to serve, wrap the bottom with a strip of seaweed to form a handhold. Makes 6-8 onigiri.
These are actually extremely easy once you get the hang of making the ball. They are very filling and inexpressibly comforting to eat. You can keep them in the fridge for about 3 days. After that, the rice starts to get a bit crunchy.
This page has a recipe for onigiri molded with plastic sandwich bags that looks quite easy to do. I haven’t tried it out myself yet.
How apropo.
This is the right season to make nishime. We make to celebrate the New Year. Nishime is a simple stew of braised veggies in which meat can be added. Indeed, we eat this after Buddhist funerals where meat eating is prohibited. We joke that cutting up the veggies takes longer than just to cook it.
How we do it in Hawaii is less than traditional.
We take about a pound of shoulder pork and and cube it into quarter inch pieces. You can use a whole chicken and cut it up into bite size pieces but usually we use boneless chicken thighs and/or breasts and chop them up. How much? Usually one tray. You actually use as much meat as you care too. In a 6 to 8 quart dutch oven, the heavier the better, simply brown the meat.
You can now add some ginger, peeled and slivered. The heavier root vegetables can now be added such as gobo, lotus root, carrots and water chestnuts, suitably cut up, since these take longer to cook. Cook covered at all times. Add a little water, about a quarter cup(you may also use chicken broth or stock). Keep it at a low simmer for about ten minutes.
You can now add your your other veggies: shiitake mushrooms or straw mushrooms, aburage, bamboo shoots and kombu seaweed, also suitably cut up. You can now add shoyu and mirin to taste. Simmer it for another ten minutes.
Next correct the seasoning: add more shoyu or more mirin. I personally like to add a little brown sugar. Add iraimo or white potatoes suitably cut up now, since they take the least time to cook. Try to push them toward the bottom of the pot. By now the various juices from the veggies should have come out.
You can probably turn off the heat and let it finish covered.
Inari Zushi (Fox Sushi) or Tofu Pockets
12- 2 x 5 inch rectagles Japanese fried tofu (abura-age)
3 cups cooked Sushi rice
sesame seeds
1 1/2 cups dashi broth, or vegetable stock
5 tbsp. mirin
2 tbsp sugar
5 tbsp soy sauce
Put tofu into a colander. Pour boiling water over them, press between paper towels to remove excess water. Cut each tofu piece in half; you should then have 24 pieces with one open side.
Put the dashi, mirin, sugar and soy sauce in a pot and bring to a boil.
Add the tofu pieces to the stock. Place a smaller lid to sink down on top of the tofu, reduce heat and very gentle simmer 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove tofu from stock to cool. When ready to fill, press out excess liquid and dry between paper towels. Fill with sushi rice, pressed into a flattened oval shape.
Keep under damp towel until ready to serve. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before service.
Enjoy! Over and over again.
one of my favorite recipes, amazing with lemon juice and Kewpie mayonnaise.
I made Japanese Curry Rice yesterday (karei raisu), which is a really ubiquitous food in Japan. It does not really require a trip to the Japanese food store, but it is really tasty and just excellent for cold winter nights. I used this recipe (I left out the chicken since I rather wanted vegetable curry, you could maybe also substitute beef). There’s a ton of Curry recipes on the net, so you might try browsing a bit and finding one that seems to be to your taste.