Meat and potatoes: nikujaga

Written by: adekun on 27 August, 2008 9:33 pm - Filed under: japanese — 3 Comments »

Nikujaga or nikujyaga is a typical Japanese comfort food. Even the preparation is typical in that it is opposite to the usual strict conventions.

Nikujaga was invented by chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the late 19th Century. It was inspired by beef stews served in the British Royal Navy which Japanese naval legend Tōgō Heihachirō encountered while studying naval science in Portsmouth, England. Upon his return to Japan, he commissioned a Japanese version of the dish for use in the Japanese Navy because of its nutritional value.
Source: Wikipedia The link to the recipe at the bottom is worth checking.

On asking a couple of people what goes in they said “just guess”. Pressing them further got differing answers. It’s up to personal taste and may need some perseverance. The amounts below should cover six people. (continue reading…)

Tags: onions, potatoes, recipes

Roast potatoes without a joint

Written by: adekun on 25 August, 2008 9:12 pm - Filed under: recipes — 5 Comments »

Always been keen to bring the delight of a roast potato to the Japanese. If not met well, I can always scoff the lot.

• potatoes of the floury kind
• fat or oil
• salt
• pepper

Crank the oven up to 250ºC. The roasting tray needs to come out with a few millimetres of very hot fat or oil. Whilst that’s heating up, peel the potatoes. Cut into equal sized pieces, about the size of an egg. Put the spuds in a pan and pour over boiling water (it’s better that way round if you’ll clumsy like me). (continue reading…)

Tags: potatoes, recipes

End of the summer 08 veg

Written by: adekun on 22 August, 2008 8:32 am - Filed under: garden — 2 Comments »

Towards the end of the weekend I thought I’d follow the crow’s lead and take advantage of the damp ground. A heap of weeds were brought together, rather like one of those Eastern European hay stacks fondly remembered. Elsewhere, more potatoes were planted; about half the amount of the previous lot. Once the tomatoes and cucumbers were removed, everywhere was dug over before a scattering of red clover seeds. There’s still a few pepper and chilli pepper plants that are good and the aubergines should last a bit longer.

Tags: cucumbers, garden, potatoes, tomatoes, weeds

Sniffing potatoes

Written by: adekun on 25 July, 2008 4:09 pm - Filed under: blog — 2 Comments »

I’ve just whittled away the afternoon smelling potatoes. The spuds have been hanging up in the garage waiting to turn green. Despite checking them when digging them up, a few had turned putrid. The smell was horrid; hot cat shit.
I am anxious about storing them without anywhere cool to store them. The humidity is a real problem. The spuds were spaced out between layers of newspaper in a few boxes. Hopefully the orderly three layers will make checking them easier.

Tags: garden, potatoes

July main crop harvest

Written by: adekun on 17 July, 2008 4:10 pm - Filed under: garden — 2 Comments »

It is so humid at the moment. As a result, a paltry target of harvesting one row of potatoes was set. Day four and mission accomplished, just has the rain arrives. I’m happy with the yield. Despite giving several bags away prior, the spuds created a nice mound in the wheelbarrow. Two of the rows had the haulms cut to two or three in an attempt to see if the average size of the tubers would increase. While there isn’t an astonishing difference overall I think it worked. Jacket potatoes once the skins harden.

Tags: garden, potatoes, weather