Mini Tonkatsu

Tonkatsu is basically a deep fried pork cutlet. It is very popular in Japan and has a myriad of variations. For example, you could slice it horizontally and place a slice of cheese in the middle before breading it or stuff it with ume boshi and shiso. The tonkatsu we made tonight is just the basic version, which features pork coated in panko (Japanese bread crumbs). Normally you would fry the entire cutlet as a whole, but we sliced our pork thin to make bite-sized pieces instead. My husband wanted to use the leftovers in his bento and smaller pieces work best for that.

The pork is first dipped in flour, then egg, then panko. We deep fried it for about 6 minutes, before letting it drain on a paper towel. Actually, we made three batches of tonkatsu and froze it for quick lunches. It reheats easily in a toaster oven. In Japan, tonkatsu is often served with mounds of shredded cabbage and cherry tomatoes. The freshness of the vegetables offsets the oil. Condiments such as Bulldog sauce and mustard are a must, though occasionally tonkatsu is served alongside rice with curry drizzled on top. A delicious donburi can also be made using tonkatsu and egg.

This side dish is green beans with sesame dressing. It is extraordinarily delicious and quite healthy as well. The dressing is made by grinding sesame seeds in a mortar (or with a food processor) until they form a paste rather like peanut butter. Then, a tiny amount of sugar and soy sauce is added, as well as a dash of sesame oil. This is then mixed with blanched or steamed green beens. So delicious! Try it with spinach, asparagus or broccoli too!

P.S. We got a deep fryer for Christmas. ^_^

Simple Chicken Drumsticks

Cooking needn't always involve scores of fancy ingredients to be delicious. Here is a simple chicken drumstick supper, served on a bed of sauted vegetables. The chicken was pan seared in a bit of canola oil and butter (just a dab!). The seasoning is a standard chicken mix that you can purchase in large plastic containers at any supermarket. When the chicken was browned, I added a tiny amount of water for it to simmer in. Cooking wine is another option for simmering, but water works just as well. I am trying to limit the amount of cooking wine I consume right now, though I am certain the alcohol burns off when it cooks. Still, one cannot help but worry a bit. For anyone who knows me, you know why. The vegetables were sauted in a dab of butter, with a pinch of salt. That's it! For vegetables you really can use anything that is lingering in your refrigerator. I used shiitake mushrooms, green bell peppers, garlic, onion, carrot and a little hakusai cabbage (suey choy). This meal was served with rice, miso soup and a small fresh salad (small because there are a lot of vegetables in the meal already).

Sukiyaki!

Sukiyaki is, to put it simply, beef seasoned with sweet and salty sauce. Often other ingredients are added to increase the enjoyment of the meal.  Sukiyaki is cooked hot pot style, usually at the dinner table. We used an electric hotplate, as we do not have a portable gas one (which is preferable). An iron skillet with handles is utilized instead of a nabe cooking pot (a nabe pot is what comes to mind when one thinks of this cooking style). You can buy special sukiyaki pots but a nice deep skillet will work too. Non-stick is fine. The beef, vegetables and simmering sauce are prepared beforehand and placed on the dinner table for diners to add to the pot. You can see that I used shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, carrot, leek, hakusai (suey choy) and konnyaku (a calorie-free jelly made of yam that absorbs whatever flavour you place it in). Other ingredients I would have liked to include are tofu both fresh and deep fried, shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves) and shimeji mushrooms. My husband desperately wanted to raw egg to dip the cooked meat and vegetables into but the chance of food poisoning is too much. In Japan when sukiyaki is eaten, everyone is given a bowl with a fresh raw egg. When you take something from the pot to eat, you dip it in the beaten egg first. I never did this but my husband insists it is the best way to eat sukiyaki. Oddly enough no one gets food poisoning from raw egg in Japan... The simmering sauce is made from soy sauce, mirin, sake, water and sugar.

Forgive the blurriness of the photo! This is my husband oiling the pan with a bit of beef fat. Now I know that sounds really unhealthy, but it is just a little bit and it gives the sukiyaki a full bodied flavour, so be sure to use some!

Here you can see the beef is lightly fried. A tiny amount of sugar is sprinkled on top of the beef as it fries.

Eventually you add the simmering sauce and then start placing other ingredients on top. Here you can see the hakusai. Once everything is added, you put the lid on and let it simmer until desired doneness. It is really delicious and fun to cook! Sometimes if there is leftover sauce you can add some pre-cooked udon noodles. Steamed rice suits this meal perfectly!

And for dessert...shortbread!

Hamburger Steak/Salisbury Steak

In Japan a 'hamburg' (hamburger) is actually what we would call Salisbury Steak. It is an oval shaped ground meat patty complimented with a gravy or sauce. Granted they do have hamburgers in Japan--at fast food outlets such as McDonalds, as well as their own domestic joint 'Mos Burger' (which I must say is the gourmet of fast food hamburgers!). However, there are entire restaurants dedicated to serving hamburg in all its meaty glory. There are variations on flavour, but the basic idea is to mix ground beef with ground pork, bread crumbs and egg. I like to use onions and garlic in my hamburg. A bit of ketchup and Bulldog sauce goes well in it too. I like to experiment with the seasonings--sometimes spicy, sometimes savory.  Ketchup is always welcome as a condiment for hamburg, but a popular sauce is a mixture of red wine, Bulldog and a small touch of ketchup. For this photo I just made a  brown sauce. Steamed vegetables such as carrot and broccoli are often served with hamburg to contrast any oily flavour. It is a far cry from tv dinner salisbury steak!

We have a variety of meat again!

Having gone to Costco last weekend, our freezer is now absolutely full of a variety of meal--drumsticks, chicken thighs, pork, beef, salmon, ground meat and shrimp. I now have some choice again about what to cook. Tonight we had lemon asparagus chicken drumsticks. The lemon lightens the flavour and so though the meal is hearty, it is not heavy. Lemon pepper further enhances the flavour.

This is of course Gyudon or beef bowl which I posted earlier. Really the meat should be cut much thinner, but even with partially freezing the meat, I can't seem to get a thin enough slice. Ah well, it was still delicious! Some supermarkets will slice the meat thin for you, but often they require you to give them a day's notice.

And finally we have banana chip muffins. Though the recipe calls for three bananas, I found that two worked much better. The dough had moisture, but was not gummy. I substituted half the white flour for whole wheat and used Splenda instead of sugar. The chocolate was real though. ^_^

Tis the season for hot pot!

With our recent snowfall and blustery weather, we were in the mood for hot pot! Japanese hot pot is cooked in a clay pot called a "nabe." That is why hot pot in Japan is called simply, "nabe" (nah-beh). This particular nabe has chicken drumsticks, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, naga-negi (Japanese leek), carrots, daikon (Japanese giant radish) and konnyaku (devil's tongue jelly). The broth is dashi stock mixed with about 1 tbsp of soy sauce. On top of all these goodies I placed...

A LOT of hakusai or suey choy. This cabbage goes on last, as it cooks very quickly. The harder to cook ingredients such as chicken, go in first. There are many different types of nabe and you can use almost any type of meat or seafood in it. As well, most any type of vegetable goes well in it. Tofu and fish cakes are also great additions. A particular delight is crab nabe...expensive though.

With some types of nabe, you cook the food yourself at the table using a hot plate or portable gas range. The broth is heated and each diner chooses from a plate of chopped vegetables and sliced meat. You can then cook your selection and eat it piece by piece. This is great for parties, but does not work if you are including chicken in your nabe. For safety reasons, chicken nabe is simmered beforehand. Tonight's nabe had chicken in it, so I simmered it for sometime and added everything at once. My husband and I each have a small bowl and we choose ingredients from the nabe to place in this bowl. We add a bit of the simmering broth and then a bit of flavouring such as ponzu or kimichi. It is always delicious and warms you right to the core! We will be eating nabe a lot more often now that the weather has turned cold. It is one thing to look forward to in the winter. ^_^