The Gaijin Gourmet

魚料理ぎんだら - Gindara - Alaskan Black Cod

2010-04-05T10:49:00.000-07:00

こんにちわ! Your Gaijin Gourmet is back with another oh so おいいしい dish you will absolutely love! Today we introduce you to Gindara which is actually Alaskan Black Cod that we will prepare in foil and bake in the oven. This is another easy dish to prepare and a favorite of many of my Japanese friends. Black Cod is mostly harvested by the Boys of the Bearing Sea and a good portion of it gets shipped to Japan for consumption. Luckily for us, some of that cod makes it’s way down to the lower 48 and can be found in most American Markets. So aside from ease in preparation, the ease in acquisition of ingredients makes Gindara an excellent meal for us to feature here.

So let’s get started はじめましょお!
4 Block Cod Fillets - I say buy four because you will kick yourself in the butt if you only buy two. Trust me!
1 pkg Baby Spinach
1 Lemon
2 tblsp Mayonnaise
Salt & Pepper
Vegetable Oil
Tin Foil
1 Oven - なんちゃって! - Just kidding! No seriously, you'll use one.

The first thing you will want to do is start with the preparation. So in starting, take a good sized piece of tin foil large enough to completely encase your fillet. Fold your edges neatly as if you were going to place a square object inside. Do not approach this like a baked potato. Remember, presentation is very important. You’ll see why when we move over to the spinach.

Once you have your foil laid out, take a small amount of vegetable oil (or olive oil) and lightly baste the foil.

You can use a small brush to evenly prep your foil.

Now that your foil if prepped, you will now prepare the baby spinach.

Cut your spinach leaves in one inch lengths.

Place your spinach leaves inside the foil in a neat manner.

Place your black cod fillets on top of the spinach.

Lightly add salt & pepper.

Next, slice your Lemon in two. Use one half of the lemon and squeeze over the fillets.

You’ll use the other half later for garnish.

Take two tablespoons of mayonnaise and spread lightly over your fillets. For presentation purposes, it's recommended you use a squeezable bottle.

For personal taste I will also recomend using Japanese Kewpie Mayonnaise. It really adds to the taste! YUM!

Once you have made it this far, you can preheat your oven and fold over your tin foil. Ok, now this looks like you are baking a potato but trust me, this is going to come out seriously yummy!

Bring your oven up to 350* and bake for 15-20 minutes. Take a peak at 15 minutes and if your oven is like mine, you'll likely put your fillets back in for another five minutes. Always check to be sure.

Once your fillets are cooked, take your remaining lemon half and cut into thin slices for garnish and serve.

You'll discover the bed of spinach will have cooked nicely under your fillets. If your fillets have bones, don't fret. When properly cooked, the bones will lift nicely. Your end result should be phenominal. The Gindara literally melts in your mouth leaving you saying おいいしい!!!

Gindara is a popular fish dish in Japan and here in our home. It's both inexpensive and easy to make within thirty minutes. We think you will love this dish. We sure did! Let us know how yours came out!

Enjoy!

丼ずけ-どん - Zuke-don

2010-04-05T05:17:00.000-07:00

こんにちわ! I’ve been getting some positive feedback on some of my posts and every so often I’ll get a request to offer something basic that anyone with the least amount of cooking experience can make. Well to satisfy that request, we tried our hands at another Donburi using Tuna. For this Donburi you can use any sashimi grade Tuna but for this we are going to go native and use Hon Maguro (blue fin). Now if you have been reading the Japanese News lately, you have seen a lot of controversy over the use of blue fin tuna. I personally don’t have an issue with it for if it were so endangered I wouldn’t be able to find it so easily at the Japanese Markets here in Southern California. But if that is an issue for you I’ll repeat that you can always use any sashimi grade tuna as a substitute. We sure won’t object!

So here’s what you will need:
I pkg Hon Maguro – Tuna – Sashimi Grade
Japanese Soy Sauce
1 Cup of cooked Sushi Rice
Wasabi – according to taste!

If you are ready, let’s begin! はじめましょ!

To start we will first open our package of tuna. In Japanese markets you can get this pre-sliced but if this is not an option, no problem! Simply slice your tuna filet into bite sized one inch slices.

The next thing you will want to do is marinate your tuna in soy sauce as shown below. Refrigerate for one hour then turn over your tuna and refrigerate for another two hours. Sounds simple so far? It is!

There's no need to drown the tuna. Simply pour enough soy sauce to around 1/4 inch to effectively marinate.

After one hour, turn your tuna and re-refrigerate for another two hours as seen here.

If you have read our previous post on how to make sushi rice and have already have your rice ready to go, simply fill enough rice in a bowl and leave enough room for your tuna. Serve your marinated tuna over the rice. For me I like to mix my rice up but that is your choice just as you can choose to spice it up with a dash of wasabi in your soy sauce. In any case, you’ll wind up with a savory dish full of nutritional value such as omega-3, iron, potassium, & vitamin b6 proteins you’ll enjoy on a hot summer’s day or anytime of the year.

If you are looking to cut calories, we suggest using a low sodium light soy sauce as we use. You can also substitute your sushi rice with brown rice. We’ve tried to make Zuke-don both ways and it came out おいいしい!!!

So once again, the Gaijin-Gourmet has brought you another simple easy to make dish you can make whether you are here in the U.S. or in Japan and with little or no trouble at all.

Enjoy!

もち米 Sushi Rice Basics

2010-04-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

こんにちわ! The Gaijin Gourmet is back with another how to for you! Every now and then I will find myself talking about making Japanese dishes when someone stops me in mid sentence going ちょっとまってください (whoa-wait)! "how do you make Japanese sticky rice???" I say to them not to feel embarrassed if you didn’t already know how. (I sure didn’t learn over night until I was shown how to properly make it myself). It’s a fair and most basic question to ask and so I felt it was about time I covered this most basic and essential component to Japanese Cooking.

So let’s get to it! はじめましょう!

The first thing you’ll need of course is some good quality short grained rice. Your choice of rice is an important factor when you consider both taste and quality. If you have access to a Japanese market or an Asian market, you will have some decent choices to choose from. JFC has three brands Nozomi, Tamanishiki, and Yume. They are all excellent short grained rice to work with. We personally like Matsuri Premium Rice.

You can use other rice such as Shirakiku Calrose Rice but there will be some extra work involved as I will go on to explain here.

Now the difference between American methods of cooking rice and Japanese methods vary in both the ratios of rice to water and preparation. Now growing up I was always taught to use 2 Cups Water to each Cup of Rice then add butter. This will not do! For Japanese cooking your ratio will always be one cup of water to each cup of rice.
So let's start with one cup of rice. Before you go straight to adding your one cup of water you'll need to WASH YOUR RICE! なに? Yes that's right. You'll need to wash the rice. This is very important!

To wash your rice run cold water and rinse your rice repeatedly. When you first pour water into the rice pot the water will appear cloudy. You’ll want to rinse that cloudy water and drain over and over again until the water appears clear. With good rice you can accomplish this in six or seven rinses. The colder the water is the better your rice will wash. If you are using lesser quality rice you can find your self rinsing twice as much but with hard work and determination you can still produce sticky rice.

Once your rice water is crystal clear, you can drain one last time and now add that one cup of cold water equal to the cup of rice that has been washed. Add a pinch of salt and stir it around the pot once. The salt will help prevent the rice from sticking to the pot thus eliminating the American need for using butter. This is actually healthier for you.

Now that you are ready to go turn on your stove and bring to a boil. Make sure your rice is covered and periodically stir. Once the water is nearly completely gone, turn off the heat and stir once and quickly cover. Next shake the pot from side to side for two shakes. This will help absorb any residual water. Let it stand for at least two to three minutes.

Next add Rice Vinegar. This is the most crucial ingredient! Add between half to one capful of rice vinegar according to taste then stir. This is what truly gives the sticky rice it’s flavor. You can find rice vinegar in pretty much any Asian foods section in the US or Japanese market. If you want to take one additional traditional step; use a small towel and place over the pot to go under the cover. This helps retain moisture and keeps the rice from going hard. If you have a bamboo rice pot even better!

Now if you have followed all of these easy steps,

You too will now master sushi rice!

Enjoy!

鶏串- にわとりくし Niwatori Kushi - Chicken Skewers

2010-03-15T08:36:00.000-07:00

Konnichi-wa! Your Gaijin-Gourmet is back from another round in the dojo and back in the kitchen to bring you something simple and easy to make to suit your Japanese inspired tastes. Now with spring officially here, barbecuing season will be kicking into full swing before long. So to start spring off I thought I would give you something we were inspired to make while watching an episode of the 2004 NHK Taiga Drama Shinsengumi. Spring had hit the show and the Samurai were all enjoying teriyaki chicken skewers along the rest stops along the Old Tokaido Road. It looked so OIISHII that this modern day Bushi had to try it ourselves and offer it to you. Niwatori Kushi or teriyaki chicken on skewers as an easy dish you can make anywhere. And when I mean anywhere I mean here in the US or in Japan with ease. As I have stated before, what I offer here is nothing original but simple easy to make Japanese inspired dishes where ingredients and ease of assembly make Japanese cooking accessible to anyone. And with that disclaimer out of the way, let's get cooking!

As with any meal found on here, you'll need a few ingredients to get started.
1/2 lb of chicken breast
1/2 Cup of Teriyaki Sauce for Marinade
1 pkg Wooden Skewers
1 pkg Aluminum Foil
1 Basting Brush

OK this might not sound like rocket science but its always good to cover the basics. Take a 1/2 lb package of chicken breasts and clean with cold water. Cut away any excess fat for preparation. You can use thigh meat but you'll spend more time trimming fat so I recommend sticking with breast meat.

Once your meat is cleaned and trimmed of fat, take your breast meat and cut in 1 1/2 to 2 inch bite size slices.

Place your chicken slices and place into a bowl or mixing container.
Pour the Teriyaki Sauce to marinate.
Refrigerate for one hour.

Easy enough so far ne?

Good! - Let's continue!

After a good hour, take out your wooden skewers and place up to four pieces of teriyaki marinated chicken on each skewer. Don't place more than four per skewer. If you have ever seen anyone eating Niwatori Kushi on an NHK Taiga Drama, you'll only see four pieces on that skewer. Remember, it's not a Shish kabob. It's Japanese!

Now if you noticed, we earlier mentioned using aluminum foil. You'll use this for your gas BBQ or Japanese Hibachi Grill. Either method of grilling will work out fine. I reccommend taking the foil and lining the edge of the grill. The reason for this is if you have ever grilled shish kabobs before it's not uncommon for the skewers to catch fire and burn away. Lining your grill with foil will help prevent that so you can cook a nice presentable Niwatori. Remember, in Japanese cooking presentation is very important. わかりますか?

Line your niwatori right up to the edge of the foil. After 15 minutes, baste with a brush additional teriyaki sauce for flavor and according to taste. We really love teriyaki so we baste this a few times before serving. Remember to baste both sides.

Cook until golden. Don't do like the Ren-Faire guys do and burn the meat. Remember, presentation!

This dish can be served with sushi rice, noodles, or our favorite Yasai-no-Fukumeni which we previously posted how to make here. We hope you have a prosperous spring and fun おいいしい Japanese inspired cooking! Enjoy!

おいいしい!

ぎゅどんともやし - Gyudon to Moyashi - Beef on Rice with Bean Sprouts

2010-03-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Konichiwa! It's the start of the Third Month of the Year of the Tiger and the Gaijin-Gourmet is back with another easy to make recipe for you to enjoy! Rice bowl dishes can make some great lunches and with some added variants can also do well for light dinners. So we thought we would try our hand at one of them that caught our eyes from NHK along with our own added touch by adding a side dish we learned from Soy Sauce Queen. In such we have combined two dishes to make one combined dish that we believe you will find as おいいしい as we did.

So here's what we made: Gyudon- which literally means Beef on Rice is something that looked easy to make. Now that the Shinkendo dojo that we train at has moved right across the street from the Nijiya Market in Little Tokyo, we couldn’t help but take advantage of special beef packages available there. Now we have used the thinly sliced beef before for other dishes such as Shabu-Shabu and other dishes, but we had not used it before but not in a rice bowl dish. Luckily, we came across a rice bowl dish on NHK’s Japanese Kitchen where we could put all these things together. So let’s get started! はじめましょ!

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 package of thinly sliced beef – This is best found in Asian Markets.

1 Cup of Cooked Rice

½ package of Bean Sprouts

1 Onion

1 Cup (or two depending on taste) of white wine.

1 Cup of Water

¾ Cup of Japanese Soy Sauce

½ Cup of Mirin

4 Tsp of Sugar

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

I previously mentioned that the thinly sliced beef is best found in Asian Markets. If you are in Japan or near a Japanese Community. If this is not the case, You can improvise by working with Mexican Shredded Steak commonly used for my native Carne’ Asada. Once you have this little detail worked out, you’ll want to cut them in 5cm or 4 inch slices.

For these dishes, I prefer to use a white onion. Typically, you'll want to cut the top and the bottom off and remove the inner seed portion. From there make thin slices across the board. I recommend using the whole onion. Trust me, you'll thank me later!

Combine your 1 Cup of Water with a Cup of White Wine in a Wok or Skillet. Wok's work best for this. Bring the heat up until boiling point. Depending on how much beef you mat need to add another cup of Wine or Water depending on quantity and taste. Lower the heat to medium. Add your beef and simmer until browned. You should leave it in there between five and ten minutes. Once browned, skim off any surface broth.

Once your beef is ready, add your Mirin, Soy Sauce, and Sugar. Cover it for a few minutes then add your onions into the mix and continue to simmer. Cook the onions until soft. By now your you should be getting hungry. We sure did!

While your Beef & Onions simmer you can work on the Moyashi - Bean Sprouts. What you'll want to do is take a good handful of Bean Sprouts and put them into a smaller skillet. Use Sesame Oil and an additional 1/3 cup of Japanese Soy Sauce. Normally for cooking bean sprouts you'll want to use sugar and vinegar. If you are going to combine this with Gyudon this will over power the taste so I reccomend using only Sesame Oil and Soy Sauce to simmer for five minutes.

When everything is ready take your cooked rice and fill have a bowl, Top with the beef & Onions with a little room for your bean sprouts. Depending on your taste you can garnish with a little red sliced ginger. We didn't have any but we enjoyed this dish anyway! おいいしい!

When you have it all together you have what I call ぎゅどんともやし - Gyudon to Moyashi -

Beef on Rice with Bean Sprouts!

Enjoy!

おやこどんぶり Oyako Donburi

2010-02-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! Today I present to you an easy Donburi. If you are new to Japanese cooking, Donburi means rice bowl dish. Donburi's can be made with chicken, meats, or fish. For today I offer you an easy chicken donburi made with simple ingredients you can find pretty much anywhere. Now as we have stated in the very beginning of this blog , this is not my original creation or am I trying to deprive anyone of making money. My intention is to show you my cooking experience and how you can easily follow along to make both traditional Japanese meals or easy to make Japanese inspired meals. Wakarimasu ka? Okay then!

Now that I have my usual disclaimer out of the way let’s get cooking. よい? はじめましょお!

So let’s go over what we’ll need:

1/2 lb chicken breast - or more
4 eggs
4 dried Shitake Mushrooms – or more!
1 onion
¼ cup Water
1tsp Sugar
3tsp Mirin
4 tsp of Soy Sauce
Rice
Garnish - みつば - Optional

So the first thing you’ll want to do is unpack those dried shitake mushrooms and soak them in water. Soak them for no less than ten minutes. If there are any stems cut them off.

You’ll later slice the mushrooms in half before you are ready to use them.

Next, take your chicken breasts and slice them diagonally and then into to bite sized pieces. And then return them to the refrigerator until ready to use.
At this early stage you’ll also want to slice up your onion into thin slices. Now don’t be shy! You’ll want those onions in there. Trust me!

Depending on how much food you plan to make you may need to add an additional egg or two.

But if it’s just for two then stick with the program and beat four eggs together until they are ready for use.

So now if you have your chicken, mushrooms, and oinions sliced, you are almost ready to go. But first you'll need to mix your simmering sauce. I had made this Donburi before from Yukio Moriyama's book Japanese Cuisine. But as I have discovered there is always a slight deviation from her recipie when I am cooking. Sometimes, I stray from the measurements and just eyeball it to my taste. I think many people do this and in most cases it's ok. But if you are not sure of your cooking abilities then for the time being stick with the recipie.

So if you are ready to make your simmiring sauce, mix together 1.4 cup of water into a bowl. Do not go over a 1/4 cup as I ususally tend to do or you will end up having to drain the water midway during cooking. This can skew your results so try to avoid this. Mix your water together with the soy sauce, mirin, and no more than that tsp of sugar.

Next, pour your simmiring sauce into a good sized skillet and bring to a boil. Once boiling add in your chicken, onions, and mushrooms. Cook them until the chicken appears done and the onions tender.

This should take about 2-3 minutes.

If your chicken, onion, mushroom mix appears ready, pour the beaten eggs into the mix and cover for around one minute.

The optional part of the recipie calls for a garnish to be added in. The Japanese recipie uses a garnish called mitsuba but if you can not find mitsuba any regular garnish in small amounts will do. This is mostly done for presentation. This is of course entirely optional.

If you have your rice already cooked then you can serve up the contents of your skillet. Place rice into a bowl then place the chicken & egg mix over the rice. If you have any left over simmering sauce left over you can pour a small amount to sweeten your donburi. This makes for an easy meal suitable for lunch or a light dinner. Not to mention it is relatively inexpensive to make. And you know that's always a plus! So please come again! I hope you enjoy this recipie. Enjoy!

Omusubi Update!

2010-02-02T08:43:00.000-08:00

Yokoso! It’s been a little over four months since I started this little cooking blog. Up until now I have had a small stream of visits here and there. But last month’s post on Omusubi evidently was a big hit. So big in less than two weeks time I have over 1000 visits even surpassing my American Mishima writing blog. Even bigger yet that I am appearing on Google's first listings for Omusubi. Well what can I say? So far so good and no complaints! Whew! I had previously mentioned that my Omusubi went over big at the Shinkendo Dojo among the Real Japanese and to my relief it was also a hit at the Buddhist Temple. Boy was I relieved! So with that I would like to take a moment out to thank everyone for visiting my little page. どもありがとうございます! いってらっしゃい =)

まぐろのおむすび - Tuna Omusubi!

2010-01-17T17:07:00.000-08:00

ごめなさいございます, Sorry for the long absence.
But here we are as promised, we're back! It was two winters ago back when we used to get Hollywood UTB Television (Japanese programing with Engirish subtitles) that we first got the idea for this post. It was on the NHK Dramedy 地獄の沙汰もヨメ次第(Jigoku no sata mo yome shidai) aka Wives Make the World Go Round that we were first introduced to Omusubi more commonly known as the rice ball. In the show, Makoto Tachibana played by Makiko Esumi owns a Omusubi-Ya with the hopes of bringing Japanese Omusubi to New York. Her only obstacle is her hard core traditionalist mother in law named Chiyoko Morifuku played by Yoko Nogiwa who lives in Kimono and takes Japanese traditions seriously. Her extensive omusubi making on the show turned us on to this traditional Japanese stable.

Sure, anyone living close to Little Tokyo or any other Nihon Machi can go purchase Onigiri. But if this is not the case and you'd like to try your hand at making it at home as we have, then you can follow along the way we did ours.
To make Omusubi you'll need the following things:

4 cups Short Grained Rice
1/3 cup Rice Vinegar
Salt
1pkg Nori
3 cans of Tuna
Patience!

If you have ever made Mexican Tamales, you know you are in for a time consuming labor of love. And if Chiyoko Morifuku had anything to say about it she'd tell you that you really do this with spirit. That or she'd hit you over the head with her shamisen. So let's cook with gusto and do our best! がんばってください!

So as you might have guessed, we are going to need some rice. Short grained sushi rice is optimum. I prefer to use Matsuri Premium Rice for my Japanese Cooking.
Prepare rice as you would normally do. One part rice per part water and remember to put a dash of salt. Generally, I use two cups of rice to make six Omusubi. Depending on how large or small you make them, quantities may vary.

As with any other Japanese rice, add a cap full per cup of rice of Rice Vinegar and stir in. Shake your pot from side to side t absorb additional moisture.

Before you do anything else, fan your rice! You will be working with your hands and the last thing you want to do is burn your self with hot scalding rice in your hands.

Any good sized Japanese fan you have lying around from Obon will do!
Had I known this the first time I made Omusubi I would have not had to write this all so important reminder. And if this is your first time making Omusubi then you have already avoided your first crucial mistake. You see this is why I write this blog so you can learn how to and not to do in Japanese traditional or Japanese inspired cooking.

With your rice all squared away you will be ready for the next step.

In making Omusubi it is generally recommended to use small rice bowls in your preparation.

If you are a Shintoist like me you'll understand the importance of salt.
Salt is used for both purification and to keep the rice from sticking to your hands.

So have a bowl of salt handy because you will be needing it!

If you have already rubbed salt in your hands then you can proceed to the next step.

Take out your rice bowl and half way fill it with rice.
If the rice is still steaming, use your fan to cool it down.

My bowls are slightly over the size of my hands. You may want to use smaller bowls. I do not recommend using anything larger than this sized bowl or else you will make gargantuan rice balls that only a Sumo Wrestler could appreciate.

Next take a spoonful of canned tuna or cooked salmon meat.
Place it neatly in the center.

I recommend using tuna that has been preserved in water.
However you can use other available methods.

It's personal preference I would say.

With your rice spoon, place a small scoop of rice over the tuna covering it completely.

Sure this may seen obvious but in case you've never seen omusubi much less made it yourself I'd like to leave the detail so you don't write me and say I've got scalding rice in my hands...now what?

So now if your rice bowl looks like this, then you are ready to shape it into a rice ball.

Now if you have ever made home made meatballs before, then this will seem very familiar.

As previously aforementioned, you'll want to make sure your hands have been rubbed with salt.

You'll next turn your rice bowl upside down and into your hand.

From here, you will shape the rice by turning and squeezing the rice into a firmly packed, neatly shaped round rice ball to the best of your ability. The sticky rice combined with the salt will fuse the rice together when compressed. Make sure you shape your rice into a neat ball.

Remember, in Japanese Cooking presentation is very important!

Once your rice ball is ready you will be ready to add your precut Nori.

Lay the nori out flat and place the rice ball at one side.

Gently roll the riceball so that the nori carefully wraps around in the middle.

Take your time.

Once you have successfully rolled your first Omusubi, repeat the process. You will want to eat them within 24 hours. Keep covered so the rice will not harden.

You may spend two to three hours doing this but in the end you will end up with a traditional Japanese staple that you can impress your friends with.

We first debut'd ours at the Shinkendo Honbu Dojo in Little Tokyo. We deliberately did not tell Mrs. Obata Sensei who made this until we heard the first Oiishii from one of the resident Nikkei namely Mrs. Obata herself who was really impressed to see a non-Nihon-jin like me make Omusubi. This turned out to be a big hit for us and can be for you too!

Enjoy!

(Seen here is the batch we made for the Koyasan Buddhist Temple)

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

2010-01-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Years celebration marking the start of Heisei 22 and The Year of the Tiger. I apologize for not posting anything lately but I will get back to cooking soon as soon as some work or the funds I need to keep cooking come in. May all of you have prosperous New Years and we'll be back in the kitchen soon!

Kamotosoba

2009-11-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving time marks the beginning of the winter holiday season and with that comes holiday cooking. And with any great holiday cooking comes some planning. Oh yes, depending on what you serve and for how many people you have at your holiday dinner table there may be some leftovers.
By chance you are like me who is anything but traditional, turkey is just not going to do. For starters, it takes too long to make, it’s too big, too bland, it puts me into a catatonic state after I eat it, and finally, I am stuck with lots of leftovers. Especially when you only live with one other person, too many leftovers will get old quick. I have nothing against turkey or people who prefer turkey at the holidays. But if you would like to opt for something different then we take our holiday planning into consideration.

For Thanksgiving, we opted for a duck. Ducks are generally half the size of a turkey and often come with a premade packet of orange sauce. Before using that sauce you can add a qtr cup of orange juice & vermouth or vodka into the mix. Stir the mix and store it to cool while you prepare your duck. You can use prepackaged seasonings but if you can not find them you can make your own seasonings using white pepper, paprika, Lawry’s seasoning salt, and fresh ground pepper.

You’ll bake that duck according to its weight and internal temperature which should be around 180* when ready. Serve with sautéed mushrooms, green onions and mix with a wild rice and a side of cranberry.

Baste the orange sauce in the last ten minutes of cooking and you’ll have one memorable holiday dinner!

So now that we’ve covered our alternative to turkey and what to serve with it we are back to those leftovers. And here’s why I recommend a plan what you want to serve because unless you have a large family present you are going to be stuck with a lot of leftovers that will either bore you to death or end up in the dumpster.

Our six pound duck produced enough meat to feed four people. That left us with enough food to produce a second dinner. But why do the same thing twice? When I was a kid, if we did not have traditional Mexican tamales to off set the heavy turkey leftovers we would end up serving déjà vu of the night before and somehow it just wasn’t the same. But what do you want from leftovers? The late George Carlin had a great sketch about leftovers but you don’t necessarily have to rehash the same holiday plate that has since lost its luster. This is why when you consider any holiday bird consider the size, how many people you intend to feed, and what you plan to do with the leftover meat once the holiday is past. Hence our solution which we will call Kamotosoba (Duck with Noodles).

Cooking with duck opens possibilities. I wanted to make something Japanese with my leftover duck but opted to improvise with the items I had available on hand.

As stated in our title, this meal falls under Japanese inspired cooking. So here’s what we used:

Your leftover Duck
6 Shitake Mushrooms
2 pkg Yaki Soba Noodles
½ Onion
1 Carrot
1 tblsp Sesame Oil
1 cup Orange Sauce
Fresh ground pepper

The first thing you want to do is prepare your vegetables.

Cut the stems off the mushrooms and then cut the heads in half.
Next slice your carrots in wedges.
Then cut your onion in ¼” slices.

If you have a wok or a decent sized skillet, line your tablespoon of sesame oil to get the vegetables started.

Add your vegetables to your wok or skillet and occasionally stir while simmering. This should take no more than four minutes.

While your onions are doing their thing, slice your duck meat into smaller bite sized wedges then add them into the skillet or wok. Add pepper and stir for about two minutes. While the meat is cooking unpack the Yaki Soba noodles and add to the mix and stir for another minute.

Now if you managed to save some of the orange sauce from the night before you’re in luck!

As with any storage of sauces or liquids, evaporation can occur. To reconstitute your sauce add a ¼ cup of orange juice to your sauce and stir. This will bring life back to your sauce and remove any leftover trace of the previous night’s vermouth flavor. Once properly mixed, pour your orange sauce into the skillet or wok with the simmering meat & vegetables and stir for one minute and serve! This should serve about two to three people and will prove to be anything but the same old boring rehash of the night before.

You see, with proper planning you can have two great meals for the holiday and the day after without settling for the same old-same old. Our Kamotosoba came out very OIISHII and we hope yours will too!

Enjoy!

*L*

Gyūtsukune

2009-11-26T02:26:00.000-08:00

Last week we posted our little experiment we got from NHK and it was a big success. Not only did our Sake no Ebi Tsukune came out OIISHII, but people wrote to me directly and loved the recipe! Given the popularity of our take on Salmon Tsukune, we thought we would try our hand at Gyūtsukune which is literally a beef version of what we previously made. Like with Sake no Ebi Tsukune, we rarely follow instructions to the letter for one logistical reason or another but we do our best to show you or at least inspire you to do on your own.

Remember, were not trying to deprive anyone of making a living or claiming credit for something we didn't invent but merely showing you how we did at making some of the best Japanese dishes we can get our hands on. So if you're cool with that and not calling your lawyer...let's get cooking! Hajime!

Gyūtsukune at a glance looks allot like our earlier stab at Sake no Ebi Tsukune. The preparation methodology is the same but the ingredients make this it's own Tsukune. Now earlier this week I had bought a thing of basil leaves and shitake mushrooms. What drove me nuts was that somewhere in the middle of my 101 distractions which are impeding the completion of my Samurai Novel I am writing, I forgot what the hell I bought the basil leaves for! Ok, now that our memory came back to us after a heavy workout in the Shinkendo Dojo, my delayed memory recalled researching recipes at NHK's cooking page. It was there that I was introduced to both the fish and meat Tsukune recipes. As I previously mentioned before, I don't always follow or in some cases understand some of the directions I come across but that never stops me from making a good meal and neither should it stop you. As in my subtitle for my page, I will give you both Japanese and Japanese inspired cooking.

So getting back to our Gyūtsukune.... as with any recipe you'll some ingredients. The original recipe called for ground beef and pork. I have a general distrust of pork in this country so I opted to make my Gyūtsukune without pork otherwise I would have to call it Nikutsukune(Niku=meat / Gyū=beef). So here's what we used:

1lb of Ground Beef

5 Shitake Mushrooms

3 Basil Leaves

1/2 Carrot

1/2 Onion

1 Egg

1/2 Cup of Mirin

1/2 Cup of Soy Sauce

2tsp of Oil ( We use Olive Oil but Vegitable Oil is ok too)

2tsp of Sugar

2tsp Flour

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

3 Basil Leaves

As with our earlier fish based Tsukune, we recommend prepping your main ingredients first and the sauce second.

So first thing is first.
Take your Shitake Mushrooms and cut the stems off first.
Take a good sized mixing bowl and be ready to throw them in.
Slice and dice your mushrooms into tiny pieces.

You will repeat this slice & dice process with the onions and the carrots.

The original recipe called for six basil leaves.

We used three so the basil wouldn't overpower our dish.
If you have ever cut fresh basil leaves then you'll know exatly what I mean!

Once you have your basil, mushrooms, carrots, and onions chopped up into little pieces throw them all into the same mixing bowl.

By this point this should be smelling pretty good and you haven't thrown in the meat yet!

When working with raw ground beef, I like to use Lawry's Seasoning Salt. No Japanese recipe I know calls for it but that's what I like to use it and it's never thrown a dish so far so we'll use it here. Throw in your ground beef and use a dash or two or in my case three of the seasoning salt. You'll want to add roughly around the same amount of pepper into your ground beef. If you happen to have a black peppercorn grinder bottle like me then you're in even better shape.I recommend them.

Mix your meat with the vegetables into the mixing bowl. Add one raw egg and two tablespoons of flour. Mix everything we've mentioned so far in the mixing bowl until your meat becomes sticky. You'll want it that way to shape them. With the addition of an egg and some flour those of you who tried to make the Sake no Ebi Tsukune will appreciate this. After you have all that mixed return your meat to the refrigerator to keep cool while we move on to our sauce.

Like before, you'll take your 1/2 cup of Mirin, 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce and your 2 tsp of Sugar and pour into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and let simmer for about two minutes. After that you'll want to place your mixture in the refrigerator to cool down and retrieve your meat so you can move onto the next step.

The idea of this next step is to take your ground beef and shape them into a small flat hamburger like shape.

Once you have your meat shaped and ready to go, break out your sauce mixture and turn up that fire.

Add a tablespoon of oil into your sauce and stir it in before you add your meat.

Like with the previous tsukune post you'll want to fry them until evenly browned on both sides. This should take around five to six minutes depending on how big yours comes out.

After your Tsukune is browned and ready, serve it with a good Teriyaki sauce. We recommend Kikkoman Original for this dish and believe me it brings out a zesty flavor you are bound to enjoy. You'll never want to make teriyaki burgers the same way again!

So there I was, standing there with a handful of mixed ground beef when Tina suddenly goes over to Soy Sauce Queen's page and discovers she just happened to post a different variation of the same idea. Hers is called Hakusai Hamburger Steak. I was like oh shit! What's the chance of that happening! Seriously, I didn't see her blog until I was halfway done cooking. Hopefully Misa isn't going to think I'm trying to rip her off! We wouldn't do that to Misa Sensei. She has been very supportive in our endeavors as we are of hers so please visit her page if you'd like to see another way how to cook with hamburger meat the Japanese way.

We sure hope you have enjoyed this recipes and all the recipes we've posted here.
We appreciate all your comments!
Enjoy!
*L*

魚料理 Sake to Ebi Tsukune

2009-11-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

Konnichi-wa! Your “Gaijin-Gourmet” has returned with another fun recipe from Japan. Ok, I didn’t actually go to Japan since my last post but thanks to the internet and books, I can share with you my recent cooking experiences with both traditional and Japanese inspired culinary cooking. So let me share with you a seafood dish I learned from an NHK cooking show that we tried this last weekend called Salmon & Prawn Tsukune.

I love seafood and always have since I was a kid. I picked this recipe based on the ease to make and the obtainability to find all the necessary ingredients. I don’t read kanji but I do shop in Japanese markets in Little Tokyo (I like to think of it as my training for shopping in Japan). With this in mind I imagine if you are in Japan and can’t read the kanji labels finding what you need should for this meal will be as easy as pointing at the items you will need.

You can find salmon pretty much anywhere here or in Japan. So scoring a pair of salmon fillets for should be no problem. For the second item in this seafood doubleheader, the recipe calls for prawns. Prawns you say? Not to panic. Let me explain. I live in Los Angeles, so most markets mainly sell shrimp instead of prawns. What’s the difference you might ask? Not much to tell you the truth. Prawns are generally larger than their shrimp cousins. So in other words, you can do this exactly as the original recipe called for using prawns or improvise like me with the more easily obtainable large shrimp available in most American seafood sections at your local markets. Successfully acquiring a pound of each fish we can now move on to what else you’ll need.

1lb Salmon Fillet
1lb Shrimp or Prawns
½ Onion (White onion is good!)
1tsp Sake
3fl oz Mirin
3fl oz Japanese Soy Sauce
4tsp Lemon Juice
4 square inches of Konbu
Salt & Pepper
Thinly Sliced Ginger

This photo is of the konbu kelp we purchased at Nijiya Market in Little Tokyo.
If you are in Japan and can not read Kanji reference this photo!

Preparation!
The first thing you want to do is open all the windows because the place is going to smell fishy! Ok, (if you don’t live in a little box like me) maybe not. But seriously you’ll want to start with the shrimp. Do not buy precooked shrimp. Use shelled shrimp. Like with any meal involving shrimp, you will want to de-shell and de-vein your shrimp before you do anything else. This can prove to be time consuming but necessary to de-vein shrimp.

Your stomach will thank you later.

Once you have your shrimp ready you can bring out your salmon fillets.

Make sure you have all bones and any skin removed before proceeding.

You will then want to slice your fish into tiny bits and mince them.
You do this for both shrimp and salmon.

After you do this place the two fish in a bowl together.

Next you’ll want to take that half onion and chop it into just under a qtr inch bits. If you are familiar with Mexican Civiche’ it’s the same process.

If you happen to have one of those “Slap Chop” slicers then you are in business!

Once diced into tiny bits, throw your onions into the bowl containing the fish.

Add Salt & Pepper (sparingly according to taste) and the sake then mix it all together. Once mixed, cover it and place it back in the refrigerator to stay cool while you move onto the part.

Now in many Japanese recipes they tell you to start with your sauce or Dashi stock first. Of course when working with fish you might want to do that second. It’s really up to you but for practical reasons I always prep my fish or meats first especially on a hot day. Need I say more?

For our mixture well now break out that Mirin. If you are still not sure what Mirin is it’s basically sweet cooking sake. You can find this in any Japanese market or in most major American markets that have an Asian Foods section. If you live in a place where they don’t carry mirin but do carry regular sake then don’t despair. Add a pinch of sugar and stir into sake and there’s your mirin!

Now that we’ve covered mirin, let’s pour your mirin into a pan and bring it to a boil. Once you’ve hit the boiling point turn down your heat and simmer for two minutes. Next, add lemon juice and that konbu kelp. If you can’t find Konbu nearby you can always order it on line from any of the Japanese market sites I have listed here on the side. You’ll only need to buy one package and trust me, you won’t use it that much but it’s good to have for when you need it. Once you have the konbu and lemon juice mixed in with the mirin, add the soy sauce and place it back in the refrigerator to cool.

While that’s cooling bring your fish bowl out and prepare to get busy! If you have ever eaten Scandinavian food you may be familiar with Fiskballar – fish balls. This isn’t the same thing but the concept is the same. Take your fish mixture and shape them into balls. NHK recommends 5cm. If you live where we don’t use metric think about the size of an Italian meatball and you are in business! With our experience we found this to be easier said than done. The fish didn’t hold their shape so easily but with patience you can make this work. Just don’t make them any larger than this or they won’t retain their shape when you deep fry them. Once your fish is shaped into balls you are ready to go.

Final Steps.

Use a good sized pan for your mixture and pan fry the fish balls until they are nicely browned.
Once they are browned you are ready to serve.
Garnish them with thinly sliced ginger or shredded ginger and serve with a dash of Ponzu Sauce

You can find some great ideas and recipes on NHK World’s website. They do a great job showing you on their Japanese Kitchen show how to cook delicious Japanese meals. However, their website’s instructions could prove to be confusing.
As I have explained before, I don’t come up with these recipes. But what I do on here is share with you how I made these dishes and hopefully show you how you can too.

We certainly loved how OIISHII the Tsukune came out and it’s a definite “Gohan mo Ichido” for us. I hope it will be one for you too.
Enjoy!
*L*

Daikon no Miso Soba

2009-10-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

This is a side dish I put together from an idea I read in the Samurai book Yojokun by Kaibara Ekiken. In it he describes the idea of simmering sliced daikon root in miso. This seemed like an idea to try. After all, if it was good enough for the Samurai it was good enough for me.

So what I did here was take half a daikon root and made thin slices that included slicing around the edges.

Next I took some miso paste and prepared it for simmering. But this didn't seem like it was going to be enough for my American-jin taste. So when in doubt, improvise.

So up until now I followed the Yojokun's mention of simmering thinly sliced daikon root in miso.

But here is where I deviate from the Samurai who stirred this over a hearth in the Edo Period. You see being Latino, we love cooking with onions. So instinctivly I added half a white onion and cut the slices into thirds. To add some color, I took half a carrot and after peeling it I cut the carrot into wedges. You can use a whole carrot if you choose. I just used half a carrot because I am still out of work and never like to be without some carrot. You just never know when you'll need one!

Taking your sliced vegetables, throw them into a pot with your miso and simmer for a minimum of five minutes. I like to leave it in there longer but that's just me! When everything is firmly simmered, add one package of Yaki-Soba noodles and stir. You won't need to use more than one package. Trust me!

Enjoy!

This can be served as a delicious side dish.

We served ours with Soy Sauce Queen's Chicken Nanban. We found this to make a great meal combination.

To find out how to make that visit her blog.
soysaucequeen - chicken-nanban

Beef Shumai

2009-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

I've always loved shumai dumplings even before I knew what they were called. You can buy ready made shumai made of crab or pork. But if you love to cook and by chance you distrust the way they make pork products in the US, then here's a simple way to make Shumai using ground beef.

Now remember, I didn't come up with this recipe. I'm just here to show you how easy and inexpensive it is to make.

And you can make this in little or no time at all.

To make Beef Shumai you'll need:

1 pkg wonton skins
1lb of ground beef
2 Tbsp of thinly sliced or grated ginger root.
2 Tbsp of green onions (thinly sliced)
1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
1/2 Tbsp of sugar
Seasme Oil - 1-2 tbsp - Don't go overboard!
2Tbsp of cornstarch - or more

The first thing you'll want to do is to mix all the ingredients into the ground beef.
Mix throughly until sticky. Depending on how much ground beef you have you may need to add more sesame oil and corn starch. Just go easy on that corn starch if you are counting calories!

Next take a spoonful of your ground beef and place in the center of the wonton skin. The recipe I got this from recommends adding a green peas but you can do with or without depending on your taste.

If your hand looks like mine in the picture holding a wonton skin with a spoonful of ground beef then close your hand like you are closing a fist (don't close too tightly otherwise you'll have squishing out in all directions) and with your fingertips close the wonton skin enveloping the ground beef.

If you get a good batch going like seen here then you are ready to place them in a steamer. But don't rush! Cooking is supposed to be fun and not your own personal Lucy Sketch!

Place the Shumai in a steamer or steamer like improv. Make sure you don't pack them tightly in the steamer or they may tear apart when you are ready to remove them. Allow enough room (unlike my picture-doh!) for your Shumai to cook. Steam for around five minutes and serve them with your favorite sides.

Enjoy!

Serving up Soba

2009-10-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

Soba noodles never quite caught my attention until I first tried my hand at cooking Japanese dishes. That's likely in part due to their resemblence to spaghetti that we've grown up with here in the states.

Ahh but despite appearences, the similarities stop there.
Watch!

Like with any noodle you'll want to bring a pot of water to a boil.
Drop a bundle of the noodle into the ot and stir right away.
Decrease heat and simmer for no more than five minutes.

Now if you are in Japan, aquiring a zaru is no problem. Luckily, I live near Little Tokyo so I can find these things. But if you live out somewhere like my parents do in a state with no Japanese community then your on line stores can provide you with one.

So that the hell is a zaru anyway? A zaru is actually a bamboo mat used for draining noodles much like a colander and it's also used for serving as you'll see in my final photo.

You don't need a zaru to cook soba but it sure looks traditional if you do!

So now that you have your soba ready drain it with a colander or a zaru with cold water.
Rinse and drain completely before you serve! I can't emphasize that one enough. I once neglected to rinse thoroughly the first time I tried to make soba and thought I got a bad batch. Nope! That's why it's good to read the instructions!

Now that I've got your atten well continue on!

Presentation is always part of the game.

But it's not just presentation. It's ultimately about taste.

Here's what I reccomend servinv soba with:

Thinly diced green onions.
Thinly sliced nori (seaweed)
Wakame - Dried Seaweed.

Combine all these elements together on top of your zaru or favorite serving plate with a shot or two of Ponzu Sauce and you are ready for a quick and easy Japanese meal that can be enjoyed at any time of the day.

Enjoy!

Kaki Gohan - Oyster Rice

2009-10-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

I love oysters but some oyster dishes don't love me back.
But the only way you are going to know is to try. Part of my frustration with Japanese cooking is finding many of the specialty items that even the local Japanese market may not have. If you live where there are no Japanese markets than you know this frustration. This dish on the otherhand should be no problem regardless where you live.

All you need is:
2+cups of short grained rice
2+cups of water - note this takes some eyeballing!
1pint of oysters- without shell
3T of Soy Sauce
1T of Sake
1 Lemon for rinds
1 sheet of Nori

Most American markets in particularly in major cities have a small Asian section where you can find Nori. Or look wherever you can find sushi sold.

Of course if you are in Japan or near a Nihonmachi then this will be no problem.

So going back to Nori - You'll want to cut that in tiny strips for use later.

Next you'll want to wash and drain your rice and have it ready.
Now I have looked at the KakiGohan recipes from NHK World and Yukiko Moriyama's Japanese Cuisine books. In either recipes there is some amibiguity as to the part that follows next. Perhaps that's a language barrier or that's an asumption as to how to proceed next.

So unless you grew up with Japanese cooking or have your own Oba-Chan to answer your questions - the art of trial and error may apply. When in doubt experiment!

So here's what we did.

We went ahead and washed our oysters with running water and salt. This helps remove some of the muck you may encounter especially if you bought your oysters from a pre-packaged jar.

Next you'll want to mix that sake and soy sauce in a good skillet or wok and bring to a boil.
Once that's boiling throw in your oysters and simmer for a minute or two. Keep a good eye on them for depending on your oysters you may need to add some water and simmering time.

Once you are ready drain the oysters and throw them into the rice along with 2 1/2 cups of water and cover.
Cook on low heat for 15-20 minutes. Again, keep an eye on them. If your rice is ready in ten minutes don't wait until they are burning to turn off the heat. Reasonable so far? Wakarimasu ka?

As soon as your rice is ready gently stir and let stand for another few minutes.
If you are sensitive to oyster smell open those windows!

Now while that's standing you'll want to break out that lemon.

Thinly slice the rind. You can make them as small as you like.

When you are ready to serve you will garnish with the lemon rinds and the sliced nori.

When it's all done serve and enjoy!

Furofuki-Daikon Or What to do with a Daikon Root?

2009-10-16T19:25:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to try a Daikon Root recipe but had no idea once I found one how to follow along in a manner that made sense. Like with any new dish, there is bound to be some level of trial and error. My attempt was no exception.

For Japanese people this is no daunting task but if you are like me who didn't grow up with this stuff there's bound to be some initial confusion. But that's ok. We're here to share how we went about this so you can get an idea of what you can do and should you be in Japan and low on cash this is something you can make for next to nothing on the fly.

At first glance the Daikon Root looks sturdy enough to carve but one quickly finds how easy they are to split apart when you least want them to so proceed with care.

So what we did was slice in 1 1/4 inch cuts.
Next with a small pairing knife you'll need to peel off the outer edge of the Daikon Root.
This is where you find how easy it is to make unintentional cuts so take your time and make it look nice. Remember with any type of cooking presentation is part of the game. Once you have the outer edge of the root peeled away you'll want to make small cross like cuts to help absorb heat and avoid further splitting.

Now many recipes I have came across recommend cooking rice along side this dish. One byproduct of the rice cleaning process is the rice water. You'll actually want to use that water to cook the root slices for around ten minutes in a large sauce pan or cooking wok. On the surface this didn't make too much sense but they say this offers better texture so being I had never cooked with Daikon Root before, who was I to argue with?

Once you've cooked the Daikon Root in the rice water you'll want to drain that out and replace with a simmering sauce comprised of :
1tsp Sugar
1tsp Salt
2tsp of Mirin
3 or more tsp of Soy Sauce - Depending on taste.

Pour the Simmering Sauce in the Daikon and bring to a boil for ten minutes then serve.
If you have access to Japanese Kombu (kelp) you can add this when you serve it.

If you followed along you may do something creative with rice.
I added thinly sliced nori and furikake (roasted Sesame).
This is only a serving suggestion.

So far I have to say mine came out pretty good! That's a do-again at my house!

There are other Japanese ways to cook Daikon but for the simple first time this is one easy way to try.

Enjoy!

Yasai no Fukumeni

2009-10-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

Shitake Mushrooms & Cabbage

Here’s an easy side dish we tried over the weekend I am sure you will enjoy.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 pkg. Dried Shitake Mushrooms
1 Cabbage
1/3 tsp of Mirin
3 tsp of Japanese Soy Sauce

Now I’ve worked with Shitake mushrooms before but never understood which was better to purchase them dried or fresh. With this recipe the use of using dried Shitake becomes all too clear.

Many Japanese meals may contain either a broth or simmering stock I didn’t understand this before until this was explained to me such as I in turn will explain to you the reader of this blog. In this recipe, using dried Shitake Mushrooms ( cut in halves, or quarters depending on the size of the Shitake) soak them in water until soft. Don’t throw out the water just yet because you’ll need that for your simmering sauce. No, that’s not the sauce but that is the prime component of it so this is where buying dried Shitake comes in handy.

While the Shitake is soaking, cut half a cabbage into quarters. Remember that regardless of what ethnic cooking you are doing, presentation is part of the game so make those quarters neat!

Your nest step is to make your simmering sauce.
To do that, take 1 ¼ cup to 1 ½ cup of the water left over from the Shitake Mushrooms.

Next, add 1/3rd tsp Mirin and 3 tsp of Japanese Soy Sauce.

Mix these ingredients together and pour them into a wok or a large simmering pot. Heat to boiling.
Once the sauce is boiling lower to moderate heat and add the Shitake Mushrooms and let simmer for another five minutes.
Add your cabbage squares and cook until soft then serve!
Enjoy!

MabuTofu?

2009-10-10T15:14:00.000-07:00

For the record, Mabu Tofu is not a Japanese dish. It even says so on the box. But there we were one morning cruising the Nijiya Market in Little Tokyo after our visit to the Koyasan Betsuin when we came across this little culinary curiosity. As in markets in Japan there are always girls giving away samples of the latest to offer. This looked good enough to try and so what the hell we thought. We tried it and were instantly hooked.

So going back to one of the primary reasons we post this blog was to show you easy Japanese inspired cooking whether you are here or there or frankly in the mood for something that’s not going to cost you much. This falls into that cheap and easy to make yet very tasty category.

Here's a photo of the product so you can easily identify it.

Mabu Tofu is actually a Chinese dish that comes in pseudo-Chinese packaging that is made in Thailand and covered in Japanese Kanji.

Apparently this is popular among the local Nisei so what’s good enough for them is good enough in my household and so can be in yours.

So if you would like to give this a try here’s the simple and easy low down on how it’s made.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1Box Chinese Mabu Tofu Sauce
1lb Ground Beef / Chicken / Pork
14 0z Tofu
1tsp of Vegetable Oil

Now if you have everything you need, then let's get started!

Drain the Tofu and cube into small squares.
Heat the oil in the skillet and brown the meat. This takes no time at all.
Once the meat is browned you should be good to add the Mabu Sauce.
You’ll want to stir and simmer for a couple minutes.
Lastly, add the tofu and gently stir & simmer.

This takes no time at all to make and should serve about 4.
I recommend serving a vegetable side dish for a nutritional balance.
Serve and Enjoy!

Curry Gohan With Options!

2009-10-07T08:01:00.000-07:00

Curry is one of the more popular staples found on Japanese TV and in many eateries.

Now we’ve made curry before in the traditional manner served with a bed of rice. And we are sure you might have seen this done or tried it yourself too.

But it was one day while walking in the Japanese Village in Little Tokyo that we came across something that caught our eye. It was what looked like a plate of spaghetti sitting in the middle of a display rack of sushi dishes and Donburi’s. Nani???? Chotto-matte kudasai! Did we just say spaghetti? As a matter of fact we did!

Now what’s this all have to do with Japanese curry? Believe it or not we found a few Nisei that swear by this. And now we’ll we will show you!

As with any dish you’ll need the following ingredients:

Curry Mix – Available in Medium or Mild - (If you are familiar with Thai or Korean "HOT"- Don't push your luck!)
1 lb of ground beef
½ Onion
1 Carrot
3 Potatoes - I reccomend small white or yellow dutch potatoes.
1 Spaghetti pkg.
Cooking Oil

Now every cook has their own way or preparing meals. To save my sanity I like to make sure I have everything I need out and ready.

First, you’ll want to dice or cube your onions, carrots, and potatoes.
Second, you’ll want to get that pot of Spaghetti boiling.

While the Spaghetti cooks you’ll want to get the ground beef cooking.

Use only a small amount of cooking oil. Now when I mean a small amount I mean somewhere between 2 & 3 tbsp. When a recipe doesn’t call for Sesame Oil I like to use Olive Oil. That’s just a matter of personal preference but you can use whichever works for you.

Once the meat is sufficiently brown enough throw in the rest of the vegetables and simmer on a medium to low heat and occasionally stir.

Now if you bought the premixed Curry you can find in Japanese markets throw that into the meat.

But if that is not the case and you have the curry in cube form then you will want to have that ready. This may take some work - try adding water.

If that’s the case pour your curry into the skillet with your meat and stir for at least 2-3 minutes before serving. By now your spaghetti should be ready to drain and ready to serve.

Now you can do this one of two ways.

Serve the curry with meat & vegetables over the curry.

Or you can mix it all together.

This is optional.

Should you be in Japan, low on funds, bored of the same old-same old, or simply out of rice this method of making a Curry Gohan is a viable alternative.

But if the concept of using Spaghetti doesn’t fly with you,
Then when in doubt....Go Traditional!

Now to make traditional curry use the same fore mentioned methods but use:

1lb Stewing beef – cubed
1 Rice – 1 cup - I reccomend long grain white rice but you can use any rice.
½ Onion
1 Carrot
3 Potatoes - I reccomend small white or yellow dutch potatoes.

Follow the same cooking methods as before and your meal should look like this:

Curry consistancy is up to you.

In eateries curry is served aside from the rice. However this does not stop you from doing things your own way as seen by my example.

Reccomended side : Potato Croquet
You can find those in Japanese Markets.
(See Market Links)

Enjoy!

Sashimi Salad

2009-10-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

If you are counting calories and love seafood,
this is for you!

Now here is something that takes no time to make. You might think this is an absolute no brainer but you would be suprised how often I am asked on my MySpace page how this is really put together. For that reason I will explain for you here.

Now if you have access to Japanese Markets you can likely buy prepared sashimi. If this is not the case have no dispair. Check with your local fish dept for Sashimi grade fish or see if by chance they have a basic sushi section where you can ask the person making it for just the fish.
If that's the case you will want the following fish:

Salmon
Ahi or Yellow Tail Tuna
Mackrel
Roe - if available

Refrigerate. Use a good spring mix of leaves. Often you can find pre-packed mixes in local markets. Do not use mixes like for Ceasar Salad.

A good thing you can add is white crystal noodle as seen here.
Combine elements in the logical order. Remember, presentation is part of any good memorable meal.
Serve with any Sesame/Ginger dressing. And top with a hint of furikake ( roasted seasame) or use thinly sliced nori seaweed strips used for sushi that you can find in any Asian section.

Samurai Delicatessen?

2009-10-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

Watch John Belushi - Samurai Delicatessen in Comedy

View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

You guessed it - This is probably how my friends see me! lol

Jagaimo no Tosa-Fumi

2009-10-03T02:04:00.000-07:00

If you love potatoes - this one is for you!

You can use just about any potato for this dish but I like to use baby dutch yellow potatoes for this.

Simply cube the potatoes then boil them.
Next prepare and thinly slice green onions.
Next prepare the sauce, For that you will use a tsp of Sake'
tsp of Salt, and 3 tsp of Soy Sauce.
Drain water from pot then shake, add Panko breadcrumbs.
Add green onions, and serve sauce cold over potatoes and enjoy!.

Makes an excellent side dish!

Kyoto Style Omelette

2009-10-03T01:46:00.000-07:00

This may not seem like a big deal but believe it or not this is actually popular not to mention very OIISHII!!

This is best made with four eggs, sushi rice, rice vinegar, salt, ketchup and best served with Sapporo Beer from Japan.

This can be served any time of day and it's yummy too!

Tamago no Ramen

2009-10-03T01:19:00.000-07:00

Now if you have ever been laid off before or simply did not know what to make on a budget here's something for you!

You can find dried Ramen noodles just about anywhere.
I used to not care for them until I discovered Japanese ways of serving them.

Now in a pinch this can be whipped up in no time.

Ramen Noodles - I prefer Sapporo Ramen
Green Onions
Wakame
Tamago (Raw Egg)
Ponzu Sauce

Prepare Ramen as per the simple boiling instructions found on any Ramen package for two minutes.
Thinly slice green onions and add to your discretion. Add Wakame in light amounts. Now if you can not find Wakame where you live simply substitute with Nori. If you are using nori thinly slice the nori in thin strips and add,
Add one raw egg. Now don't add two eggs or it will over power your meal. Trust me we know!
Last but not least add a small sprinkle of Ponzu Sauce and you are ready to say Idadakimasu!

Salmon Salad

2009-10-03T01:05:00.000-07:00

Here's something that's easy to do.

Whether you are in Japan or here in the States you can always find some basic essentials to produce a Japanese or a Japanese inspired meal. Whichever case, you'll need some basic ingredients.

Salmon Fillets
Spring Leaves
Dried Seaweed
Ginger Dressing
Green Oinions

Now you may or may not have access to a Japanese market like I do. If that's the case all hope is not lost!
However many chain markets do carry a generic Asian Section in which you may be able to locate the things you need.
One such item I like to cook with is Miso-Yaki Marinade from Japan. This is important when grilling fish or poultry.
If you do not have Miso-Yaki nearby check for some basic Miso-Soup paste in your local refrigerated section or Asian section. Once you make your miso, marinate your fish for three hours. Your best choice of salmon is Alaskan Sockeye Salmon. Grill it over an open flame and detach the skin. The skin can be used in the salad or as a seperate side you can have with or without rice. The Nikkei at my martial arts dojo say the skin is the best part.

Now going back to our salad!
It is a matter of choice to add green oinions. I personally love them in many of my meals so if you want to follow my lead carefully slice the oinions and add sparringly. Now when I say use Spring Mix leaves I reccommend the prepackaged Spring Mix you can find at any market. Now if you are in Japan you obviously won't find a bag of salad with that label. Any good mix of leafy greens will do. Another item is Furikake which is dried roasted seasame which you can find in many Asian sections on the West Coast and certainly in Japan. Now if that is not available ground pepper will do.

Another item to add is Wakame which is dried seaweed. This is easily found throughout Japan and in Japanese markets here. You may also find it some Asian Sections. If this is not available try slicing Nori in thin strips. You can find Nori wherever they sell items to make sushi. Now if you have enough of these elements together you can put this all together.
This may not be authenticly Japanese but this is a low calorie meal you can make here or if you are in some place in Japan and can not make out the kanji. In any case you will survive and might even be as satiusfied as everyone I have served this salad to. Enjoy!

The Gaijin Gourmet

魚料理 ぎんだら - Gindara - Alaskan Black Cod

丼ずけ-どん - Zuke-don

もち米 Sushi Rice Basics

鶏串- にわとりくし Niwatori Kushi - Chicken Skewers

ぎゅどん と もやし - Gyudon to Moyashi - Beef on Rice with Bean Sprouts

おやこ どんぶり Oyako Donburi

Omusubi Update!

まぐろ の おむすび - Tuna Omusubi!

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu!

Kamotosoba

Gyūtsukune

魚料理 Sake to Ebi Tsukune

Daikon no Miso Soba

Beef Shumai

Serving up Soba

Kaki Gohan - Oyster Rice

Furofuki-Daikon Or What to do with a Daikon Root?

Yasai no Fukumeni

MabuTofu?

Curry Gohan With Options!

Sashimi Salad

Samurai Delicatessen?

Jagaimo no Tosa-Fumi

Kyoto Style Omelette

Tamago no Ramen

Salmon Salad

魚料理ぎんだら - Gindara - Alaskan Black Cod

ぎゅどんともやし - Gyudon to Moyashi - Beef on Rice with Bean Sprouts

おやこどんぶり Oyako Donburi

まぐろのおむすび - Tuna Omusubi!