Mabo Tofu

I am showing both the cheater recipe and the full recipe.  We prefer the cheater recipe.  This is not a dish to miss out on.

Cheater Recipe:
Cook-Do MaboTofu Sauce Packet
Firm Tofu (cut into small cubes with knife)
1/4 cup chopped Green onion
1/4 lb ground pork

1. Brown the pork over med-high heat.
2. Add Tofu and Mabo Tofu Sauce- heat through.
3. Garnish with green onion.

Making your own Mabo Tofu sauce:
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp grated fresh Ginger (or 1-2 tsp powdered)
3 Garlic cloves, minced (about 1 1/2 tsp Garlic)
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Fish sauce or Oyster sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth (or Dashi broth)
1 Tbsp Corn Starch
**optional 1 tsp- 1 Tbsp Hot chili sauce
** optional 1 tsp- 1 Tbsp Black Bean paste

1. Mix this all together & use it in place of the packet used in the above recipe.

Serve over Rice.

Enjoy!

Nikuman or Steamed Buns

This is a lovely little treasure.  Pillowy, somewhat sticky skinned steamed buns filled with whatever your tummy is craving.  I've had them with pork filling, teriyaki beef, and curry.  You can make them into a dessert recipe with some sweet red bean paste.  I found the recipe easy to follow.  I insist that if you attempt to make Nikuman, you watch this video & see how they're made.  This is not a recipe that is easily followed otherwise. The video features a french poodle who narrates the recipe as the Japanese lady next to him assembles.  Here are the main points to remember about making the bun part of the recipe:

Recipe for the buns with gram to cup conversion:

1 slightly heaping cup= 250 grams

1 tsp Baking powder= 5 grams

1 tsp yeast

5 tsp (or 1 Tbsp + 2 tsp) Sugar = 25 grams

1 Tbsp Sesame oil

1/2 cup Dashi water *to be precise to the ml conversion, you may add between 2 tsp and 1 Tbsp to this* 

                                    (1/2 cup water and 1/2 tsp dashi stock)

Now, Remember the following directions! 

1. To knead by hand for 10 minutes.

2. Then let the ball of dough rest in a bowl which is resting in pot of 104 degree water (I used a lidded pot) for 30 min.

3. Then section into 8 balls & let the balls of dough rest under a damp towel for 10 minutes.

~Form the Nikuman~ (excellent instructions on the video)

4. Warm up a pot with about an inch of water- just so it doesn't rise to level of the steamer basket (have it warm, not boiling) & turn off the burner.  Put 4 Nikuman on wax or parchment paper and place them on a steamer basket in this warmed pot with space to rise.  Put the lid on the pot and wait 10-20 minutes.

5. Then turn the water to a boil.  Once it has reached a boil, turn off the burner and let the lidded pot rest for 15 minutes. ~Done!~

Other tips:

For a faster turn out of the steamed buns, stacked steamer baskets are sold.  This way you can steam more than 4 at a time.

I really loved the recipe provided by "Cooking with Dog".  The Nikuman were a fancy little treat & a definite must for our Japanuary.  I used leftover Curry for the filling.

Another Japanuary cheat -Corn Pizza

In Japan, they serve corn on their pizza.  The other day I was feeling quite burnt out and my husband used that little trick to keep Japanuary going.  It actually tastes good in my opinion- not like "what have I been missing!?!" good, but just the "Huh, this doesn't taste bad." kind of good.  So there's an option for cheating on Japanuary.

Cheaters Japanese Curry

I think this recipe counts as a cheat because I use prepared curry from a box.  It is one of our favorite dishes though and it's rather simple.  It's basically beef stew with a curry base served over rice.

Ingredients:
Rice
Golden crown box of curry seasoning
carrots
potatoes
meat of choice (pork, chicken, or beef)
onion
*any other vegetable you like in beef stew*

1. Start the rice in your rice cooker or however you prepare it.
2. According to the directions on the box- pour the appropriate amount of water in a pot & place the pot over medium high heat on the stove.
3. Cut up the vegetables. Add carrots and potatoes to the pot. I like to keep the onions separate and sautee them with the meat in a separate pot.
4. Once the carrots are soft, add the curry seasoning, cooked meat and onions.  Stir and simmer until it is the consistency you like.  I like mine fairly thick.

Scoop some prepared rice into a bowl and pour some of the curry over it.  Enjoy!

~If you have leftover curry, lucky you!  Stay tuned, I will be using curry in a steamed bun or "Nikkoman" more commonly known by it's Korean name "Dim sum".~

Kabobs

I am not sure if this one technically counts as "Japanuary" since my kabobs were not Japanese looking enough (says my husband), however, they were a huge hit with everyone in the family.  You will need to have skewers for this project.

Ingredients:
Apples (I used 3)
Chicken
Sweet potatoes
Onion
Teriyaki Sauce

1. Cut up the apples & sweet potatoes into 1/4-1/2" thick x 2" pieces, quarter the onion, and cut the chicken into approx. 2" pieces.
2. Stack the pieces on a skewer (for onions, I used pieces that were 3 layers thick).  Put finished skewers on a baking sheet.  Once finished assembling kabobs, pour teriyaki sauce over all of the skewers and place in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

My kids really loved the kabobs.  It made for a very fun dinner- they were super yummy.  I'll definitely be making them again.

Gyoza!!

Today I made Gyoza from scratch- Wonton wrappers and all.  If the word Gyoza isn't familiar to you, maybe you know them by their American name "Pot-stickers".  It was an event of sorts- but it's very satisfying to have the bowl of pork & cabbage filling and the rolled out wonton wrappers in front of you with little portions of filling on each one.  It feels authentic.  All of the sudden you're a fantastic cook and you're not even breaking a sweat.  Recipe Time!
Wonton Wrappers:
2 cups flour in a small bowl
1 egg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3-1/2 cup water

1. Make a well in the flour.
2. Mix the eggs & salt- pour it into the flour well.  Use a spoon or similar utensil to begin incorporation, eventually, you will need to knead with your hands.
3. Add a bit of water to help the flour incorporate. (if it gets sticky, just add a bit of flour and knead the dough till it's smooth-ish)
4. Roll it out very thin- if using a pasta roller, level 7. (dip in flour and continue if it gets sticky)
5. Lay the sheet of dough out and cut 2 1/2 inch by 2 inch squares- just approximate.

Pork Filling:
1/2 lb  Ground pork (1 cup)
1/4 tsp hot oil
1/4 tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp minced ginger
1 chopped green onion
3/4 cup napa cabbage

1. Bring a small pot of salt water to boil.  Meanwhile, chop up & measure out the cabbage & prepare a bowl of cold water.  Once the pot boils, blanch the cabbage and transfer it to the cold bowl.
2. Combine all ingredients.

Putting it together:
1. Drop portions of filling on the wontons and they will close easily- just fold the wrapper over the filling and pinch the sides together- try not to leave too much air inside the wonton.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a frying pan over med-high heat. put gyoza in making sure they all have their own space.  Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add 1/2 cup water to the pan & cover it for 5-7 minutes.

~Serve with white rice~

Furikake: Easiest Japanese dish ever!

This one is a Gimme- a veritable cop-out.  This is what you make when you don't want to make anything.  Ingredients:
1. Packet of Furikake (also comes in a spice container)
2. Cooked Rice
Directions: Sprinkle Furikake over the rice and eat.

Furikake is simply rice seasoning.  It contains various things: sea weed, dashi powder, bits of salmon or shrimp, ground up dried fish, salt, and sugar and other seasonings.  It feels sort of like eating rice with fish food sprinkled over it.  It is pretty.  It is not a stand alone dish- it's might pass as a quick lunch.  I suggest- if making it into a meal- serve Furikake alongside Edamame (Soy Beans) or crunchy apple slices and peanut butter. I don't know how Japanese apples and peanut butter are- but it makes the meal feel complete.  You might also serve it alongside an egg dish or fry up an egg inside your rice and season it with Furikake (essentially making fried rice).

Happy Japanuary! Day 1: Oyakodon Buri

I have designated this month "Japanuary".  We will be making Japanese dishes every night for dinner this month.  Cooking Japanese food is amazingly cheap.  I about cursed myself for not doing this earlier.  There are some basics to start your Japanese pantry, and you might even have a lot of the things you need.
Here's your list:
1. Soy Sauce
2. Dashi (it's basically fish bullion)
3. Mirin & Sake (I just have Mirin)
4. Sesame oil (this one is optional)
5. Short grain white rice
6. Fish Sauce or Oyster sauce
7. Ginger (they usually want the root- not the powder)
8. Rice Vinegar
9. (Anything I left out)
I think that covers the basics- we had most of them because my husband spent a couple of years in Japan on a Mission. He was more than a little excited about Japanuary.

Yesterday we had a delightfully simple, ugly, yet elegantly flavored Oyakodon Buri.  It's a basic soup that you serve with a slotted spoon over rice.  Oyakodon means "mother child"; Buri means "over rice".  I find this name grotesque because it doesn't refer to the loving relationship between a mother and child- but it refers to the use of chicken and eggs in this dish- so you are eating "mother child".  Seriously?  Well anyways, despite it's uncomforting name, it is a very comforting dish and we will definitely be making it often. It's so simple and elegantly flavored- you just get over the name and fall in love.  So, here's the recipe:
Oyakodon Buri
2 cups Dashi broth
1/2 cup Soy Sauce
3 Tbsp Mirin
3 Tbsp Brown sugar
1/2 lb chicken- cut in pieces
1 small onion- chopped
1 cup approximate of your favorite mushrooms- cut up
4 eggs
2 green onions- chopped
1. Dissolve the Dashi, Soy, mirin, and sugar together over medium heat.
2. Add chicken pieces & onion, then mushrooms-- cook thoroughly (10-15 minutes)
3. Add 4 scrambled eggs and cook for about 5 minutes. Stirring is not necessary.
~Serve with a slotted spoon over a bowl of rice & garnish with green onions.~
As I said, it is not beautiful looking.  I have some ideas about how to pretty up the dish. Also to note: not all recipes call for mushrooms and we added the green onions with the eggs instead of as an afterwards garnish. For a magazine ready Oyakodon Buri:
1. Cook chicken in a separate pan from the broth (with the onion & mushrooms if you're using them), And take about 1/4-1/2 cup of the broth to cook the chicken in & season it.
2. Once thoroughly cooked, lower heat & pour 4 scrambled eggs over the chicken.
3. Serve a portion of the egg/chicken from the pan over the bowl of rice & pour a bit of the broth over the bowl- sprinkle green onions over as a garnish.  

Japanese Word for the day:
Pronounce "Ton oh Shee": you have just said, "Fun" in Japanese.