Japanese Food Info & Recipes

Almond Jelly

2010-07-03T17:37:00.003+02:00

Ingredients:
Almond Jelly:
1/2 Pack (2g) Kona Kanten
3 cups (600ml) Water
50g Sugar
150ml Milk
Almond Essence

Syrup:
80ml Water
300ml Milk
50ml Cream
20g Sugar
Almond Essence

Procedure:
1. In a pan, boil 600ml water with 1/2 Pack (2g) Kona Kanten.
2. Once boiled, cook 2 minutes more in middle heat, stirring occasionally. Add sugar and almond essence.
3. Take the pan out of the stove, add milk and stir. Pour into smaller cups or forms and set aside to cool.

Procedure for Syrup:
1. Mix water, cream, milk and sugar in a pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add almond essence. Take the pan out of the stove just before it starts to boil. Cool in refrigerator.

To serve, pour syrup on top of jelly and enjoy!!!

Dango

2010-06-29T20:12:00.003+02:00

Ingredients for 4 people (about 20 dango):
100g Shiratamako
90ml Water
-for the sauce-
60ml Soy Sauce
40ml Mirin (Japanese cooking wine)
120g Sugar
120ml Water
-sauce thickener-
1Tbsp Corn Starch
3Tbsp Water

Procedure:
1. In a bowl, mix Shiratamako with 90ml water. Knead the mixture with the hand, and make small dango balls (like the size of meatballs).
2. Boil water in a cooking pot. Place the dango balls into the boiling water.
3. Once the dango is cooked, it will float on the surface of the water. Take the floated dango out and let cool in a bowl of cold water. (Put the dangos directly into the bowl of cold water).
4. Drain the dangos as soon as they have cooled.

Now the sauce -
1. In a small pot, heat the soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and water.
2. Prepare the sauce thickener by mixing corn starch and water in a small bowl.
3. As soon as sugar is dissolved, add the sauce thickener. Cook in low heat until sauce is thick.

Serve the dango on a plate, and the sauce on top of it! mmm!

Salad with Pork Shabu-Shabu

2010-04-23T13:03:00.004+02:00

Featuring: Kikkoman Gomadare Tsuyu (Sesame Sauce)

Ingredients (for 4 people):

300g pork (thinly sliced - for shabu shabu)
Lettuce
Green onions
Petit Tomatoes
other seasonal vegetables (for salad)
Kikkoman Gomadare Tsuyu (Sesame Sauce)
1 clove Garlic
1 slice Ginger

TIP: Shabu-shabu style pork - if your local supermarket would not cut the pork in very thin slices (like that for ham / salami), buy a block of pork and put in the freezer. Frozen meat is easier to cut into thin slices.

Procedure:
1. Fill a pot half with water and add the garlic and ginger. Bring to boil. Upon boil, drop the pork slices one at a time. As soon as the color of the pork changes, take it out of the boiling water and let drain.

2. Prepare the salad! Mix all the vegetables in a bowl, cut in bite size.

3. On top of #2, place the shabu shabu meat (from #1). As dressing, add in the Kikkoman Gomadare Tsuyu (Sesame Sauce) as much as desired.

Enjoy!!!

Pricky Tantan Udon

2010-04-23T12:32:00.004+02:00

Featuring: Kikkoman Gomadare Tsuyu (Sesame Sauce)

Ingredients (for 4 people):
4 bundles Udon
150g Ground meat
1/2 pc Onion
2 pcs Champignon (big)
1 Tbsp Sesame oil (or vegetable oil)

Sauce "A" :
300ml (1 bottle) Kikkoman Gomadare Tsuyu (Sesame Sauce)
200ml Water
1/2 tsp hot sauce

Procedure:
1. Cook the udon noodles in boiling water till al-dente. Set aside.

2. Mince the onion into small pieces, peel and slice the champignon horizontally into 5mm pieces.

3. Heat oil in a fry pan, add the ground meat and the minced onion. Add the champignon and let cook. Add Sauce "A" ingredients. This is now called the "Tsuke-tsuyu". Serve in a bowl.

4. Serve the Udon on a dish, and the Tsuke-tsuyu beside it.

How to eat: Dip the udon into the Tsuke-tsuyu and enjoy!!!
(Alternatively, you can serve the Udon topped with the Tsuke-tsuyu directly).

Somen Chopsuey - Japanese Style

2010-04-20T16:30:00.008+02:00

featuring: Hontsuyu

Ingredients (for 2 people):
2 bundles Somen (Fadennudeln)
80g Ham (or luncheon meat)
4 pcs Champignon (medium)
3 stems Scallions (green onion)
1 pc Paprika (small)
2 Tbsp Hontsuyu
Vegetable oil
Salt
Pepper

Procedure:
1. Cut the ham (or luncheon meat) to have 4cm in length. Cut the Scallions to 4cm long, cut champignons and paprika to bite size (not too small).

2. Cook the Somen in boiling water until Al Dente (not too soft).

3. Pour some oil into the frypan, and add the ham / luncheon meat. Add the champignons and season with salt and pepper. Add the Somen, scallions, and paprika. Stir fry. Add Hontsuyu and mix. Allow to cook a bit more.

Serve and Enjoy!

Tuna Potatoes

2010-04-15T11:28:00.005+02:00

Ingredients (for 2 people):

1 can Tuna
2 pcs Potatoes
0,5pc Carrots
0,5pc Onions
1,5 Tbsp Hontsuyu
0,5 Tbsp vegetable oil
Scallions

Procedure:
1. Open the canned Tuna and drain the tuna from the oil.

2. Cut the potatoes and carrots into bite size.

3. Cut the onions in 1cm pieces.

4. In a pot, saute the onions in vegetable oil. Add #2 (potatoes and carrots) and stir-fry.

Add #1 (tuna), Hontsuyu and 1,5 cups of water. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender.

5. Serve with scallions sprinkled on top.

Asparagus Spaghetti

2010-04-13T14:19:00.009+02:00

Ingredients (for 2 people):

160g Spaghetti
4pcs Green Asparagus
1pc Paprika
2 cloves Garlic
2pcs Bacon
1Tbsp Olive oil
50ml Hontsuyu
Salt (as necessary)

1. Cook the spaghetti noodles in boiling water with salt and olive oil.

2. Cutting!Peel the asparagus, cut in 4-5cm and boil. Cut the paprika in thin long slices. Cut the garlic in small pieces.Cut the bacon in 3cm pieces.

3. In a frypan, saute the garlic in olive oil. Add the bacon as soon as the garlic starts to give its flavor. Add the paprika and stir-fry. Add the boiled asparagus and the spaghetti noodles.

4. Add the Hontsuyu to finish off with a Japanese flavor!

Udon Noodles

2010-04-09T12:04:00.011+02:00

Udon, popular in the Japanese cuisine, is a type of thick noodle made of wheat. This is normally served hot as a noodle soup with toppings like Tempura or Abura Age (deep fried tofu packets).

In its simplest form, udon is served with flavored broth (kakejiru), which is made up of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin, and topped with scallions (green onions). Nowadays there are Tsuyu (noodle sauce) that can be used directly with Udon (example: Hontsuyu).

In summer, udon may be served chilled, called Zaru udon. This is normally served with shredded Nori and served on a sieve-like bamboo tray (called Zaru - therefore the name Zaru udon). The dipping sauce is just like the Kakejiru (above), which is a mixture of dashi, mirin and shoyu (soy sauce), is served together with Zaru udon. How to eat: dip the udon in the dipping sauce and enjoy!

How to make the Kakejiru / Udon dipping sauce:

6 cups of Dashi (Fish broth)
8 Tbsp of Soy Sauce
8 Tbsp of Mirin

OR simply:

0.5 cups of Hontsuyu
2.5 cups of water