A few weeks ago I was trying to escape from the
hacking scandal and get some fresh news when I landed in the
NHK channel now in HD with
SkyHd and discover that the channel is just not another news channel where they
repeat again and again the same information. NHK offers you a complete set of programmes that will help you understand the
Japanese culture and their landscaping.
One of the programmes is
Your Japanese Kitchen where the chef
Harumi Kurihara famous in whole Asia for
her several bestselling cook books
and cooking programmes where fusion typical Japanese food with western
style. She is like our
Nigella and
Jaime Oliver all together. Without doubt
Your Japanese Kitchen shows very interesting recipes, the big shames are the
two co-presenters Daniel Khan and George Williams who are a real pain to watch like some of the
program guest stars.
Today I leave you
some recipes I have tried recently from
Your Japanese Kitchen but you have a
lot more on their webpage and also in the TV channel which I highly recommend
to record and just watch the last 3 minutes where it is quickly explained the ingredients and how to cook the dish.
I need to admit as well that at the beginning I think
will be more easy to get all the Japanese ingredients, the big English
supermarket´s have some but the best is
go straight ahead to an Asian Market Shops, this little corner shop in your commercial
street can really surprise you! And also you will need some basic Japanese
cooking utensil also easy to find in Asian Market, in general the prices are accessible
for any economy, the more complicate to find and also more expensive are the
traditional Japanese vegetables.
Uramaki –Zushi . Inside-out sushi rolls
Ingredients
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Sushi
Vinegar
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300g sushi rice
1 avocado
Nori seaweed sushi sheets
8 crab sticks
Shiso leaves (perilla leaves)
Mayonnaise
Toasted sesame seeds.
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100 ml rice
vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt.
Put these 3 ingredients in a bowl or jar and mix until
dissolve.
Utensils: Sushi mat. Cooking paper
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1. Cook
the rice and put on a wooden surface, pour over the vinegar mix very well and
at the same time try to cool the rice to room temperature using a fan. That
will prevent the rice to be too sticky.
2. Peel
and Slice the avocado in strips
3. Put
the paper and nori in the sushi mat. With a tablespoon put a few rice over the
nori and spread very well all over the surface. Turn over the nori with the
rice. And now put the avocado and shiso leaves over the nori just in the
middle, and spread over the leaves a few mayonnaise and then the crab sticks.
4. Roll
tightly making sure ingredients stay within the roll and do not spill or ooze
out.Nex t unroll and if the mixture is firm remove slowly the paper.
5. Spread
the sesame seeds in a big plate and coat the sushi roll in the sesame seeds.
6. Cut
the sushi into rolls. You need to press the knife very firmly to get a clean cut.
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| Uramaki –Zushi Step 1 |
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| Uramaki –Zushi Step2 |
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| Uramaki –Zushi Step3 |
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| Uramaki –Zushi Step4 |
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| Rolling Uramaki –Zushi |
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| Press firmly |
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| Rolling in the sesame seeds |
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| Ready to eat! |
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Simmered pork with carrots
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| Simmering pork with carrots |
1 carrot (diced)
100g thinly sliced pork belly
200 ml Dashi stock
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp mirin
1. Combine
dashi stock, soy sauce, sugar and mirin in a pan and bring to boil.
2. Put
the pork slices in the pan Spread the pork piece by piece in the pan and simmer
4 minutes
3. Put
the pork aside and introduce the carrot into the pan. Then spread the pork over
the carrots again.
4. Now
you need simmer the pork the Japanese use an Otoshibuta (a drop lid), really is
a wooden lid that you can put right over the food to hold the ingredients together
and keep them from scattering and help the ingredients absorb the seasoning.
You can buy one or make one for yourself using aluminium foil, or instead you
can use a pan lid just one size less to your
actual pan.
5. Time
to time baste the pork with the juices. Simmer for 10 minutes
6. Turn off the heat and let absorb all the
seasoning for another 10 minutes. Serve with rice.
Quick Milk bread
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| Barbacuing Milk bread |
100g plain flour
100g strong flour
2tsp baking powder
2tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt
100ml milk (room temperature)
2tbsp plain yoghurt
1tbsp vegetable oil
1. Sieve
the plain, strong flour and baking powder in a bowl. Add the sugar and salt.
2. Pour
over the milk and yogurt and finally the
oil, and mix with your hands very well until make a dough, work the dough for a
couple of minutes.
3. Now
cover the dough with cling film and
leave rest for 10 minutes
4. Put
the dough over a working surface, sprinkle some flour over the dough and the
surface. Spread the dough using your hands or with the classic rolling pin
until you flat the dough until 2 cm approx.
5. Cut
it with a knife in pieces any size you like and shapes you like.
6.
Cook
in a medium heat BBQ, grill or even pan fry!
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| Rolling the dough |
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| Cut the dough in any shape |
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Okonomiyaki Japanese Pancake
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| Okonomiyaki Japanese Pancake |
Ingredients
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3 cabbage leaves (shredded very finely)
100g taro (genteelly grated)
200 ml plain flour
100ml dashi stock
5 eggs
150g shrimps (shelled)
5 squid rings (cut into pieces)
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12 slices of bacon
1 tbsp ginger(minced)
Spring onions (chopped)
Mayonnaise.
Sauce: Mix 2tbsp of
ketchup and 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce.
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1. In
a bowl combine the taro with dashi stock and beaten egg. Add the flour, mix,
add the cabbage and mix again.
2. Now
add and mix the shrimps, squid, ginger and spring onions.
3. Heat
a tbsp. vegetable oil in a medium size pan in a medium heat. Add part of your
cabbage batter, spread in the pan and top cover with some bacon slices.
4. After
4-5 minutes turn over the pancake. Cook for another 5 minutes.
5. In
another pan heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil and, add 2 eggs, as soon you put in
the pan break the yolk and immediately pass the pancake to the egg pan with the
bacon side up. Cook for 1:30 minutes.
6. Put
the pancake in a plate with the egg side up and spread a tbsp. of mayonnaise
and do the same with the ketchup Worcestershire sauce.. Add some dried green
laver and top with dried bonito flakes if you can find it, if not don’t worry because already the dish will taste gorgeous!
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| Okonomiyaki batter |
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| Adding bacon to the pancake |
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I hope you have enjoyed the recipes and it will be good idea if you
try some of them. To be honest if you have been cooking traditional British and
European food without influences cooking in Japanese food it can be at the beginning a bit tricky, but with practice you will
master dishes like sushi and you will learn which condiments you can use a bit
more or not. But at the end Japanese food is a great fun and is always good to
know how to cook your food in a different way, sooner or later you will find yourself fussioning
your dishes with Asian flavours and if
you learn to cook some Japanese dishes the next time you will appreciate more the food of a Japanese
restaurant.
◦
Japanese Celebrity Chef Harumi Kurihara
