April 29th, 2008
Udon are one of my favourite noodles (up there with soba and somen). This recipe was more like a “empty the cupboard improvisation but it turned out quite good.
First I boiled a pot of water and mixed in the end of a packet of consomme stock cubes. This was only about half strength so I built it up with some dashi granules. At the same time I grilled some thin sliced lean pork, some mushrooms and green onions and hard boiled an egg. When the stock was boiling, I dropped in the fresh udon noodles and green vegetables for about 3 minutes. Served it into bowls and added the pork, mushrooms, onions and egg.
This is nothing exotic but I hope that it will inspire you to try throwing together whatever is in your kitchen rather than heading out for takeaway junk food again.
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 28th, 2008
You might have read that some lucky scientists have chanced apon a frozen colossal squid weighing 500kg. While they struggle with the process of defrosting the thing without letting it rot, I thought I would scale up a standard simmered squid with giant white radish recipe for them to use when thay are finished with it.
500kg raw squid
250kg of giant white radish
1 bucket full of yuzu rind
1 bathtub full of water
4 buckets full of sake
1 small shovel full of sugar
1 large shovel of soy sauce.
Clean, dry and cut up (with a big knife) the squid
Peel and cut up the radish
Simmer the water, radish, sake and sugar for about half an hour in a box trailer over a low fire
Drop in the squid and simmer for the rest of the day with a sheet of ply wood over the top as a drop lid
Line up a crowd and serve over giant bowls of rice.
Seriously though, I hope they make some interesting discoveries about the squid so that such a beautiful massive creature didn’t die without reason.
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 26th, 2008
When I am in Japan I dream of Australian Hamburgers. When I am in Australia I dream of Japanese Tonkatsu (crumbed pork cutlets).
Last week I was in Australia fulfilling my Japanese dream, tonight I am back home in Japan cooking up a Tonkatsu dream meal. A ridiculously large mountain of shredded cabbage and grated carrot. 2 crumbed pork cutlets. A bowl of rice and some tonkatsu sauce, lemon juice and mayonnaise. Now I am full and fulfilled
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 25th, 2008
One of the most popular small fish in Japan are these long thin silver missiles called Sanma. They are a dark fleshed and deliciously oily (think Omega 3) fish that takes roughly no time at all to prepare and cook. Cleaning is a 10 second affair and scaling is a waste of time. About 2 minutes on each side in the grille and you are done. This probably explains why they are always available and popular in supermarkets. That and the way that they keep on stubbornly reproducing despite the fact that millions of Japanese people (and foreigners) are set on eating them.
By Tom -- 1 comment
April 24th, 2008
More specifically this is an ichigo (strawberry) cookie tart cake stick. What makes an ice cream with artificial strawberry lumps covered in a shell of white chocolate a cake stick?
It tasted great but I have a lot of trouble thinking about cake when I eat it. Worth a try, but don’t expect too much
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 23rd, 2008
This is a simple one pan dish that takes literally less than 10 minutes to fry.
Chunks of chicken are dropped into a hot pan with some onion. Follow this with fine mushrooms and sliced piman (green pepper or capsicum) and a decent squirt of sake. When the sake has disappeared throw in some sesame, swirl it around and serve it on rice.
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 22nd, 2008
There is nothing to do with noodles, rice or Asian cooking in this recipe but I’m sure you’ll forgive me if you try it.
This is my own version of bread and butter pudding made from memory so I’m sure it could be improved.
Take about 6 slices of bread without crusts. Butter and Jam them then squash them into a buttered pan. Then pour on about a cup of milk with an egg and a squirt of vanilla essence mixed in. Let it sit for about 10 or 20 minutes and then bake at 180 degrees until it is well and truly brown on top.
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 21st, 2008
This is a relatively quick dish that can be cheap if you live in Japan or Canada or expensive if you live somewhere like Australia. I bought my salmon for about 250 yen ($2.50) while it might cost $10 in Australia.
All you need to do is grill some salmon until it is barely cooked and then flake it up and remove any bones.
Take a bowl of rice and layer vegetables of your choice (I used spinach, onions and mushrooms) and then scatter the flaked salmon on top.
It is a simple and delicious meal that is loaded with all of the good stuff.
By Tom -- 0 comments
April 19th, 2008
These guys have nothing to do with noodles, rice or Asian cooking but I don’t care. They are Slovakian Easter biscuits, and they are very cool. The biscuits are full of spices and the icing is apparently done by old Slovakian grandmothers (it must take a lot of patience and time). Unfortunately, the details don’t show up in my photo, but they look great, trust me.
By Tom -- 1 comment
April 18th, 2008
These guys are second contenders for popular noodles. They are slightly wider and flatter than soba and are white because they are made from wheat flour. They cook for slightly longer (maybe 7 minutes) and are a bit more forgiving. Still if you overcook them you will end up with very handy wallpaper paste or porridge. These can be cooked and then fried, souped or just eaten. There is no real rules about how you use noodles when you cook them at home. Yes, they are a poor cousin to fresh udon noodles but they are quick and cheap and they last on your shelf for a long time. I like both types.
By Tom -- 0 comments
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