Beef Sukiyaki

Here's another imprecise recipe of mine that came out good so I'm blogging for the record.

 

Sorry to be lazy, but here's the recipe.  It's a combination of three different recipes. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

 

I bought this from Safeway 'cause I felt insecure about the flavor turning out okay.  Didn't really need it, but I added it in anyway.  It was $5.

  

Miso Soup with Fried Eggplant

This recipe is not precise, but I wanted to share (and keep a record) 'cause came out good.  We had leftover won bok so I just added that in.

Thinly slice and fry an eggplant after salting and soaking in water (to remove bitterness, supposedly).  Set aside.

Add a pack of dashi and a pack of bonito flakes (in teabag) to 5 cups of water set on medium heat. Remove and discard the packs after 10 minutes or so.  Add 1/2 cup of sake, a few dried shrimp, little bit of dried wakame, thinly sliced daikon, cubed tofu and the fried eggplant.

Just before turning off the heat put 5 tablespoons of miso into a strainer and strain the miso into the soup.

Pork Tofu

I followed Didi's recipe here, but had to modify it for a pound of pork instead of a quarter pound.  I also used shiitake mushrooms instead of enoki 'cause that's what I had.

Came out winnahs!  I need to go back to Foodland and pick up more of the thin-sliced pork belly again.  I think that was the key.

 

I have to show off the ceramic spouted bowl that I made for this exact purpose!

  

Sorry, but here's the recipe.  I'm too lazy to type it out.

Wendell's Easy Sautéed Yama Imo

Wendell found this recipe on the RecipeTin Japan site.  It's pretty much just three ingredients - yama imo, shoyu and butter!  And it came out so tasty that he made it again for pupu for his softball team.

Ingredients 

• 300-350g Chinese mountain yam
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Pepper (optional)

Garnish (optional)

• Chives cut into short pieces

Instructions

1. Peel mountain yam and slice it into 1cm thick discs.

2. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat and melt the butter.
3. Put the yam discs in the pan without overlapping.

4. Cook for 2½ – 3 minutes until the bottom of the yam pieces are browned.

5. Turn the yams over and cook further 2½ minutes until the bottom of the yams becomes browned.

6. Sprinkle pepper (if using) over the yam and add soy sauce.
7. Quickly turn the yam pieces over to coat both sides of the yam pieces with the soy sauce, then remove the pan from the heat.

8. Pile the sautéed yams on a serving plate, scatter the chopped chives over it.

Sanbaizuke

We had leftover hasu when Wendell made nishime for New Year's Day so I bought additional ingredients from the swap meet and made this sanbaizuke.  I used Cleta's recipe here.  Came out good!

Miso Butterfish from Chef Zone

This was so so so so ono!  It was about $25 from Chef Zone. 

 

   

It came individually packed like this.

   

I added some of this and marinated for a few hours before broiling.

  

Manju!

Wendell went to Kauai recently for a softball tournament and came home with some Lawai manju.  I've been craving it ever since and even wondered if we should go to Kauai to pick up more.

And so I started looking up recipes.  I decided on Keeping it Relle's Sweet Potato Manju recipe because it was "simple" and used a lot of buttah.  Plus, she did a YouTube video showing how to make them.

 

You don't have to put them on a wire rack to cool, but I did because . . . 

   

this is what they looked like just out of the oven!!  Whaaaat??!!  I thought I would need to drain them, but eventually the melted butter disappeared and I guess was absorbed into the manju.  I figured that the next time I make this I would use 2 sticks of butter instead of 3, BUUUUT it turned out so ono that I think I might just stick to 3.

You can find the recipe on YouTube just below the video.  I used one can of Koshian instead of sweet potato and ended up with 20 pieces instead of 18.  My bake time was about 10 minutes longer than stated.  Also, the recipe calls for 4 egg yolks, so I used the whites to do the egg wash instead of wasting another whole egg.

Dd's Ume Sesame Seed Dressing

Here's Didi's recipe for her ume sesame seed dressing that I used in my Shrimp Cucumber Salad. 

My cousin V reminded me that I had previously posted another recipe for one of Didi's ume dressings.  You can check that out here.  It's from 14 years ago!

UME TOASTED SESAME SEED DRESSING

 

1-2 TB umeboshi paste, 4 umeboshi seeds, removed** and chopped into a paste

1 TB water**

6 TB white sesame seeds

6 TB rice wine vinegar

¼ c. vegetable oil

2 TB soy sauce

1 TB agave nectar

2 tsp. sesame seed oil

2 tsp. fresh ginger, grated

1 ½ tsp. fresh lemon juice

 

Remove umeboshi from seeds, chop into a paste. Set aside. Place umeboshi seeds in a small mixing bowl along with water. Rub seeds in water to remove any access paste. Reserve. 

In a small skillet over low heat toast sesame seeds. When seeds begin to pop, immediately remove from heat. Grind toasted sesame seeds with a mortar and pestle until a fine powder forms. Transfer to a mixing bowl. 

Remove umeboshi seeds from water. Add water and remaining ingredients into bowl and whisk vigorously to bring to desired consistency. 

Optional to combine all ingredients into a food processor and puree to desired consistency.

Makes approximately 1 ½ cups.

Dd's Yakisoba

Our cousin V asked about the yakisoba that accompanied Didi's Asian Short Ribs.  Didi said that it was "super fast and easy" and provided the recipe.

YAKISOBA

Sauce:

2 TB Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. catsup

2 tsp. soy sauce

2 tsp. oyster sauce

1 ½ tsp. agave nectar

Yakisoba:

1+1 tsp. vegetable oil

1/3 fishcake (I use gobo fishcake)

½ small onion, thinly sliced

½ medium carrot, thinly sliced

1 c. head cabbage, coarsely chopped

3 stalks green onion, separate whites and green

Freshly ground black pepper

1 serving yakisoba noodles (I use single packet of Sun Noodle)**

Garnish: green parts of green onion, pickled red ginger (Glenn doesn’t really care for it, so I add to my dish)

 

Sauce: in a small mixing bowl combine ingredients well. Taste as needed (dependant on brands, might need to add more agave nectar. We like it more on the tangy side). Set aside.

 

In a skillet/wok over medium heat toss noodles (**the Sun Noodle brand comes in a “tight block”) in 1 tsp. oil, cooking until noodles have broken up. Remove to plate. Set aside.

 

Into skillet/wok over medium heat stir fry fish cake in remaining 1 tsp. oil. Add onion and carrot. Stir fry until vegetables are limp and fishcake is slightly browned. Season with pepper. Stir in cabbage, white parts of green onion, noodles and sauce as desired (start with half of sauce as add as needed). Toss well to combine (we like crunchy cabbage). Turn off heat; allow to sit 1-2 minutes. Garnish as desired. 

Serves 2.

Wendell's Japanese Potato Salad

Wendell made this a few days ago.  He didn't have cucumbers or ham, but it still came out good.  He substituted crab for the ham.  The recipe is from the Just One Cookbook site.

You can find the recipe here.

Wendell's Easy Namasu

Wendell made this namasu the other day.  It was really ono and when I asked to see the recipe that he had found online, I saw that it was Didi's recipe.

 He added a bit of ogo that he got from Times.

Ingredients

• 1 Japanese cucumber, thinly sliced
• 1 medium carrot, peeled, thinly sliced, slivers
• 1 daikon (turnip), thinly sliced, slivers
• 1 TB Hawaiian salt
• Water as needed
• 1 inch ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 c. sugar

Instructions

• In a saucepan over medium heat warm vinegar.
• Remove from heat; stir in sugar until dissolved.
• Set aside to cool completely.
• In a large mixing bowl toss together cucumber, carrot, daikon and salt. 
• Allow to sit 15 minutes.
• Rinse and drain well. 
• Squeeze all remaining water.
• Return to mixing bowl; toss with ginger and vinegar mixture.

How To Serve:

• Refrigerate for service. 
• Makes approximately 3 ½ cups.

Dd's Beef Sukiyaki

I want to eat this with a big bowl of white rice!

 BEEF SUKIYAKi

 

1/2 lb. sukiyaki style beef, paper thin slices

2 tsp. vegetable oil

1 large onion, 1-inch slices

3 stalks green onion, 2-inch diagonal slices

3 cloves garlic, smashed

3 thin slices fresh ginger, julienne

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 TB mirin sake

2 TB sugar

1/3 c. soy sauce

freshly ground black pepper

4 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced

Garnish: slivered green onions

 

In a large skillet over medium high heat, sauté beef in oil. Add onions, garlic, ginger. 

In a small mixing bowl combine cornstarch, mirin, sugar, soy sauce and pepper.  Into skillet stir in sauce mixture and mushrooms; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes until no liquid remains. 

Top with sliced green onions. Serves 2-3.

Layered Tonkatsu

This is my try at making tonkatsu like Nana Ai Katsu.  

Thanks to pal Linda for the idea and tip from my sister Didi about freezing, it came out good!

 

I bought shabu shabu pork and shabu shabu belly from Palama Market.  And BTW, did you know that the front part of the meat display case at the Makaloa branch lifts up so that you can get the meats yourself?  I didn't know that!  I'd been asking for help all this time.

 

I layered the meat 1 pork/3 belly/1 pork/3 belly/1 pork and made 5 cutlets.

  

I then breaded like I did for my chicken katsu and put them in the freezer.  See the chicken katsu instructions here.

   

The next day I fried them straight outa the freezer.

 

Cleta's Sanbaizuke

Cleta gave us a tub of her sanbaizuke and Wendell liked it so much that he asked for the recipe and made some for his softball team's after-game pupu.

Thank you, Cleta!!

 

 

Cleta tips:

I don't like too sweet a sauce so I lessen by about 1/2 cup.

I don't measure out the veggies, I just add what we like: daikon, cucumber, eggplant, mustard cabbage and hasu.

Also, 1) I've been only soaking for 1/2 day cuz I just want to get it done but I think boiling the sauce is a must. 2) The soaking with salt is by taste. If when I ready to squeeze and the salt water is too salty, I'll rinse with water. 3) I didn't add this time but I put wakame too. 4) I don't care to bite into ginger but I think adding ginger would be good.

My Chicken Katsu

This was the first time for me to make Chicken Katsu.  Came out good.  Landon made the sauce. He just threw things together minus Worcestershire sauce 'cause I'm not a fan.

I followed a recipe from Mochi Mommy website. I rinsed the chicken and patted dry, pounded the filets to kinda flatten them and then sprinkled with little bit of salt. I dunked them in the egg/flour mixture and then the panko. I didn't deep fry like the recipe said, instead just used about 1/2-inch of oil.

4 chicken thigh filets

2 eggs plus 1/4 cup flour, mixed

1 1/2 cups panko

oil to fry

My Best Miso Butterfish

I've blogged about making miso butterfish before, but I just wanted to tell you that I made my best one yet the other day.  What made the difference was the brand of miso that I used.

You can find the original recipe here, but I've also included it below. 

 

This is the one that I used and what I'll be using from now on.  The local one! 

Combine 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup mirin and 1/4 cup sake and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon shoyu and 1 cup miso.

Marinate the fish for 2 to 3 days.

Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, then broil for a few minutes.

Wendell's Tazukuri

Wendell followed a recipe from Just One Cookbook to make this Candied Anchovies dish.  He tweaked the recipe by adding in a stalk of gobo, a hasu bulb and some dried shrimp.   He said that the softball guys "pounded um" (twice).

 

  

Black Cod from Times

Times had frozen black cod on sale last week for $12.99/pound.  They were packed two to a tray.  When I unwrapped the tray I was surprised to see that each piece was sealed individually.  The fillet pieces were firm with a large flaky texture and . . . another surprise . . . totally boneless.

I'll be checking the ads for another sale and, cross fingers, hoping that they'll be of the same quality.

I used the recipe from here to make miso butterfish.  Was winnahs. 

Dd's Buta Nikujaga

The potatoes seem like an unusual addition, but I think it would be my favorite part of the dish.

BUTA NIKUJAGA

 

10 pc. snow peas, trimmed

Salted water as needed

1 TB canola oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 medium onion, wedges

2 cloves garlic, smashed

½ -inch knob fresh ginger, peeled, crushed

½ # sukiyaki-style thinly sliced pork

2 medium Yukon gold potatoes, stew cut

Seasoning:

2 c. dashi

¼ c. mirin

¼ c. soy sauce

2 TB sake

1 TB agave nectar

 

In a small saucepan over medium heat blanch snow peas 30-45 seconds.  Immediately place in iced water; set aside. 

In a medium saucepan over medium high heat saute onion, garlic and ginger in oils. Add pork stirring to coat well with oils. Cook until no longer pink. Add dashi to almost cover ingredients. Add potatoes. Bring to a boil. Skim any scum and foam from surface with a skimmer. Add remaining seasoning ingredients. Cover; allow to simmer, stirring occasionally until potatoes are cooked through; about 15-17 minutes depending on your preference.  For this dish, I prefer my potatoes a bit overcooked.  Allow to sit covered, 15-20 minutes.

For service: top with snow peas. Serves 3-4.

Dd's Braised Tofu and Pork with Enoki Mushrooms

This is my kind of dish!  Looks so ono!

 

BRAISED TOFU & PORK WITH ENOKI MUSHROOMS

 

½ block firm tofu, cubes, drained
¼ # thinly sliced pork, sukiyaki style

Marinade:

Salt, freshly ground white pepper

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. Shaoxing wine

½ tsp. agave nectar

½ tsp. cornstarch

½ tsp. baking soda

 

2 tsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. ginger, grated
3/4 c. chicken broth
1 TB oyster sauce
1 TB shoyu
½ bunch enoki mushrooms, bottoms trimmed off

2 stalks green onion, 2-inch pieces

1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 tsp. water
Garnish: chopped green onion

 

In a mixing bowl combine pork with marinade ingredients. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

In a skillet over medium heat brown pork in oil about 2 minutes.  Add the garlic and ginger; stir fry for 30 seconds.  Stir in tofu, broth, oyster sauce and soy sauce until well blended. Allow mixture to boil. Reduce heat; add mushrooms and green onion. Cook 1 minute. 

In a small bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch.  Stir into skillet until thickened to desired consistency about 2-3 minutes.

Garnish with chopped green onion. Serves 2-3.