recipes

[Nick]

hey... I've recently become hooked on Iron Chef, and have thus decided to learn to cook (my current menu includes ham sandwich and ramen noodles)... could anyone pass along some Japanese style recipes for someone not too skilled at cooking, but don't taste too bad? Noodles or fried rice, etc. would be helpful.

Thank you in advance,

Nick
Future Iron Chef America

[Joseph Svinth]

Udun Irichi, fried noodles

1 pkg 9 oz udon -- boiled, washed, drained

Make the following sauce:

1/4 cup salad oil
1/2 clove garlic
1/2 cup cooked pork slices
1 tsp. dashi-no-moto
2 Tbsp shoyu
1 tsp. awamori
1 cup stock or water
3 stalks green onion

Brown garlic in oil, add pork slices, and rest of ingredients. Bring to a boil. Add the noodles and heat thoroughly. Garnish with minced green onion.

Note: Rafute (cooked pork) can be used for this dish. In place of pork, tuna or salmon (canned) can be used for variety.

Source: Okinawan Cookery and Culture, by Hui O Laulima (Honolulu: ui O Laulima, 1975)

Want a cookbook? Go to the nearest Japanese community center or church. (The latter in North America is as likely Methodist or Presbyterian as Buddhist.) Ask the Aunties if they have cookbooks for sale. Say thank you, pay your money, and there you are.

If that isn't convenient, then try http://www.najc.ca/nexus
and go to "Food & Shopping."

[Margaret Lo]

Nick - your answers lie in Hiroko Urakami's book called Japanese Family Style Recipes!!! :) Yum Yum!

Its sold from Amazon and costs $25.00 or so in hardcover - no soft cover but worth the $$$. A lot of the recipes call for no more than 4-5 ingredients! I have used it to great success and the only thing to note is to ease up on the sugar since the book has children in mind and can be a bit sweet sometimes.

Ex: Did you know that Gyudon (thin sliced beef and onion over rice) needs only shoyu, mirin, sake, sugar, and dashi? then throw in beef and onions and pour over rice and grill an egg sunny side up and pop it on top of everything. It takes 1/2 hour at most. The only trick is finding thin sliced beef, called soft beef in the market. Same recipe applies for oyakodon (mother/child)which is usually chicken and egg over rice. Always use dark meat chicken.

The book also has s teriyaki recipe which is essentially the same as above in slightly different proportions.

You do need a little rice pot ($30-$40) - it helps a lot - and a trip to the local Chinese market will get you most of the things listed. You'll need shoyu, dashi, mirin, white cooking wine (sake), miso, roasted sesame seeds in white and black varieties, invest in a small mortar/pestle, buy a good nonstick grill pan and pot. Chinese markets also stock good steel cleavers for $10-$15, no need to pay more.

Also buy some rice sprinkles, in small canisters full of seaweed, bonito, sesame seeds etc...

Overall, invest $100.00 and you'll save a lot of $$ and girlfriends will be impressed.

M

[Edited by Margaret Lo on 01-24-2001 at 10:50 AM]

[Earl Hartman]

Margaret:

Pretty good advice, but let me add a little.

There are a few things that a real Japanese kitchen just cannot be without. If you have these things, you can make Japanese food.

Rice (short grained Japanese variety)
Miso
Shoyu (soy sauce) (Japanese and Chinese soy sauce are different)
Konbu (kelp for soup stock)
Katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings, usually sold already shredded. Katsuobushi looks like wood planings. It is used for making soup stock (dashi) and for garnish)
Tofu (soft (kinugoshi) and hard (momengoshi). Remember, Japanese and Chinese tofu are somewhat different.
Sake (you don't really need mirin; you can get the same effect with sake and sugar)
Nori (dried seaweed sold in sheets, often called "sushi seaweed")
Wakame (dried seaweed used in soups and salads)
Sesame seeds (as Margaret says)
Togarashi (dried hot chili peppers)
Ginger
Long green onions (Japanese long green onions look more like long thin leeks than American green onions; they are MUCH better for Japanese cooking than the standard American variety)
Dried shiitake mushrooms (black mushrooms)
Daikon (Japanese long white radish; looks like a giant white carrot)

Anyway, there are other ingredients, of course, but these things are really fundamental.

You will also need a rice cooker, a few pots and pans, and a fish broiler. You will never really need an oven for real traditional Japanese cooking.

[Nick]

hmm... I don't even think we have a Chinese supply store, I'll have to check around... thanks, and keep em coming...

Nick

[Margaret Lo]

Nick - Search under Asian foods and many sites pop up with sauces, snacks etc...

I'm looking for a wok stove if anyone is liquidating a Chinese restaurant. :)

Thanks for the complete list Earl.

M

[Joseph Svinth]

Nick --

In your neighborhood, think Korean and Vietnamese. For background, see http://goldsea.com/Features/Dixie/dixie5.html .

For some addresses, see
http://www.ilovechina.net/yp/aabd/Grocersr.htm



[Edited by Joseph Svinth on 01-25-2001 at 06:16 AM]