Tsumiki Fusion Soba with Cha Siu Pork

A bit of background lifted from About.com: Tsukimi soba is hot buckwheat noodles with a raw egg topping. Tsukimi means moon viewing in Japanese. Since the egg resembles the full moon, these kinds of noodle dishes with egg toppings are called "tsukimi."

This dish, with it's sweety cha siu pork, bok choy and chicken broth base, it most definitely not your authentic Japanese noodle soup. But hey! This one is even better :)

Miso Soup with Tofu, Chicken &Udon

Somehow or another i seem to be getting blamed for my family's burgeoning waistlines and creeping cholesterol levels. Could they be referring to my deep fried rolls of pork, cheese and ham?? Or is it that cake made from cream, condensed milk and evaporated milk they are so disgruntled with? Either way there's no denying that we've been putting on a little bit in the winter months. And so, i turned to the cuisine many of us turn to when looking for something low in fat but high in yum- Japanese.

This is a cheats version of Miso soup where i just use the instant sachets, though true miso soup using miso paste is hardly much more complex. Feel free to change around anything you put in the dish, it's really a free for all. Prawns, pork, beans, sprouts. It's all destined for the pot.

Katsudon

One of my sisters was once a notoriously fussy eater. She's definitely come out of her culinary shell in the last few years, but as i was munching down on this dish i thought about how much she would enjoy it. Sometimes Japanese food can be off putting to fussy eaters, but i think i've done a good job of creating the ultimate westernized Katsudon; what is essentially 'nugget, rice and chicken soup!'. But don't let that put you off, this katsudon really hits the spot, particularly as Melbourne mopes into it's dreary cold season.

Donburi, or don for slang is a term that refers to a Japanese 'rice dish' or one bowl meal comprising generally of soup, rice, meat and vegatables. In a previous post i put up a recipe for oyako donburi or chicken rice bowl, and this time i thought i'd try my hand at katsu don, or crumbed porkchop rice bowl which is a little bit more intricate.

Thanks to Shizuoka Gourmet  for providing me with the basics of how to make this dish, but i've changed things around to suit my tastes an an ultimate 'comfort' food. The biggest change is replacing the dashi broth with a chicken and soy broth.

Note that the recipe below indicates ingredients for 3 but in the photos i actually only made a single serving of katsudon. 

Aburi Wagyu with Radish & Ginger Fuzz and Crisp Garlic

This week on a business trip i went to a Japanese restaurant in Brisbane called Sono. The food there was absolutely amazing! One of the dishes they had was aburi wagyu, an unusual almost tataki style dish, but the resultant flavour was very different. This recipe began as an attempt to replicate that dish, but finding no example recipes online, i decided to make it my own with the addition of rice and a much fresher mixture on top of the wagyu. I'm pretty proud of the results!!

Ingredients

• About 100gm wagyu fillet
• 1 cup sushi rice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 5 small radishes
• 1 2 inch knob ginger
• 3 tbsp light soy
• 1 lemon
• 4 tbsp mirin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp oil
• 2 spring onions, slivered

Method

Rinse the sushi rice and cook with 1 cup water over low heat until water has evaporated.

Lay the sushi rice out on a plate to cool.

Combine the 3 tbsp mirin with the salt and sugar and heat until dissolved together.

Sprinkle the mirin mixture over the rice and carefully toss. Set aside

Heat a frying pan to high heat with no oil.

Sear the outside of the wagyu fillet for 30 seconds on each side and then transfer to fridge immediately to halt cooking process.

Finely grate the radishes with 1/2 clove garlic and 1/2 inch of ginger. 

Heat in a frying pan over very low heat, being careful not to brown, until some of the spiciness has left.

Set aside for later.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a saucepan.

Finely slice the remaining garlic clove and fry until golden, then transfer to a paper towel.

Pare off a slice of the lemon's peel and 'fillet' out any of the white as below.

Thinly slice the peel into long thin strips.

Wet hands and shape rice into small logs and place on serving plate.

Very thinly slice the wagyu fillet diagonally.

Layer the wagyu on top of the rice pieces.

Top the wagyu with a small amount of the ginger and radish fuzz. 

Top the fuzz with 2 thin slices of the lemon peel.

Top with slivered spring onions and a slice of the fried garlic

Serve with ponzu sauce.

Ponzu Sauce

Finely grate the remaining ginger.

Combine the soy, 1 tbsp mirin, and 1 tbsp of the lemon juice in a cup.

Press the ginger in a sieve over the cup to extract 1 tsp of ginger 'juice'.

Mix together and pour into serving dishes.

Dorayaki Double Up!

Basic Oyako Donburi

Oyako Donburi is one of my favorite Japanese comfort foods. Beating it is katsu don however when i saw how many calories that dish has, i freaked out and decided to go for the healthier alternative. The word 'Oyako' i believe can be translated to 'mother and son' and refers to the chicken and egg that dominate the dish. Served over sticky Japanese rice and ladelled with a sweet dashi broth, Oyako Donburi is very easy to make, but takes a short while to cook properly.

Note that this is the most basic version! Feel free to add whatever tickles your fancy: shitake mushrooms, tofu pieces, chilli, anything!

Ingredients (per serve):

• 150gm skinless chicken breast, sliced
• 3/4 cup dashi broth (i used chicken broth because i dont like dashi much)
• 1/2 a white onion finely sliced
• 1tbs mirin
• 1tbs light soy
• 1 large egg lightly beaten
  
• 2 spring onions sliced on the diagonal to garnish
• Japanese steamed rice 1 cup, to serve
• 1 tsp peanut oil
  

Method: 

Heat the oil in a pan over med-low heat (note that the pan should be small enough so that when the dashi is poured in, it will cover at least half of the chicken slices).

Layer the onions on the bottom of the pan. Do not stir them!

After 5 or 6 minutes of letting the onions sweat and begin to caramelize, lay the chicken sliced on top. Still don't stir!

Gently pour in the wet ingredients.

Poach until the liquid has halved in quantity and the chicken is fully cooked.

Pour the egg over the top of the mixture (DONT STIR) and let the pan simmer until the egg is almost cooked.

Using a spyder (or whatever you can), transfer the chicken, egg and onions over the bowl of steamed rice, trying to move each serve in 1 piece.

Ladel over the remaining broth and garnish with the spring onions.