Victor came home from his mom’s with a bag of these wasabi puffs. I love how the Japanese bags of junk food come colorfully illustrated. Makes me want to eat them, which I did. Thankfully I didn’t eat the whole bag.
Posted in Cooking & Eating at Home, Food
Tagged eating, food, getting fat, Japanese
Victor is half Japanese and half Lithuanian. Most of his childhood took place in Japan, and he still has fond memories of his motherland. His dream is to one day move back and raise kids there, which I’m totally fine with since I’m always up for an adventure. Every so often Vic gets intense cravings for good Japanese comfort food. Usually we go out to eat or go to his mom’s house for dinner when this happens, but today I decided to cook at home. I’ve made Chicken Katsu many times in the past, but I have never made homemade Tonkatsu sauce until today. I do have to admit that it’s so much better than store bought.
Tonkatsu Sosu
(from The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo)
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup shoyu
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tbls Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp ground allspice
In a small saucepan, combine the Worcestershire sauce, sugar, shoyu, & ketchup. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring, until the volume is reduced by 20 percent.
Add the mustard and allspice, stirring. Remove the pan from the heat, and let the sauce cool to room temperature.
Posted in Cooking & Eating at Home, Food
Today I made Beef Sukiyaki for dinner. When I was a kid, my family and I would go to the local sukiyaki house to celebrate our birthdays. No longer is the restaurant in business, so now we just have to make it ourselves whenever we want. No need to wait for birthdays!
Beef Sukiyaki
Adapted from The Japanese Kitchen by Hiroko Shimbo
2 large leeks or a bunch of spring onions, cut into bite sized pieces
Fresh shitake mushrooms, rinsed & stemmed
1 head of Napa cabbage, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 bag of shirataki (taro gelatin noodles)
1 block firm tofu, cut into bite sized pieces
2 lbs (or more if you’re hungry like me) of thinly sliced rib eye or beef sirloin
3 pieces of bacon, sliced thinly
1 cup shoyu
1 cup sake
6 tblsp sugar
water
Arrange the veggies, noodles, and tofu side by side on a larger platter. Arrange the beef slices, partially overlapping one another with the bacon piled in the center.
In a small pitcher, combine ½ cup of the shoyu, ½ cup sake, and the sugar. Keep the other ½ of shoyu, sake, and water standing by.
Set a tabletop stove on the dining table. Place a heavy-bottomed deep skillet or shallow pot on the stove. Bring to the table the veggies and beef platters and the liquids.
Heat the skillet or pot over medium heat. Add the bacon and grease the entire inside surface. Add as many beef slices as there are diners. Cook the beef, without stirring or turning it for 1 minute.
Add enough of the shoyu-sake-sugar mix to submerge the beef. When the liquid begins to boil, turn over the beef, and cook it for 30 seconds.
Eat the beef.
Add a portion of each veggie, tofu & noodles. Add a little water to submerge ingredients. Cook the veggies for about 5 minutes. Eat the veggies.
Cook more beef, veggies, tofu & noodles. Eat the food. Taste the broth, and add more of either shoyu, sake, or water. Repeat.
Hopefully you have a bowl of rice to go along with it. And if you’re feeling extremely Japanese, you can crack a raw egg into a bowl and dip your hot food in it.
Posted in Cooking & Eating at Home, Food
