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

Tomato Sauce

Written by: adekun on 1 August, 2008 8:53 pm - Filed under: recipes — No Comments »

six or more big tomatoes
a few small onions
half a carrot
one clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
two vegetable stock cubes
good pinch of salt
pepper
rosemary
basil

Sweat the diced onions and garlic in the oil. (continue reading…)

Tags: recipes, tomatoes

Chicken Pie

Written by: adekun on 27 February, 2008 4:40 pm - Filed under: baking — No Comments »

Pies are unsurprisingly unpopular in Japan. I miss them. With a little work it’s not too difficult to knock one together. Here’s a simple chicken pie recipe.

Chicken pie

300 g chicken
one batch Shortcrust Pastry
one batch White Sauce
50 g mixed vegetables
100 g mushrooms
1 tbsp olive oil
one beaten egg
a little onion

Make the pastry, after it has rested, cut it in half. Lighty dust your worksurface with flour. (continue reading…)

Tags: recipes

Say it with soba

Written by: adekun on 14 February, 2008 1:20 pm - Filed under: blog — 1 Comment »

The other day, I got to try my hand at making nihachi soba (lit. two eight soba). Despite the measures being simple, two parts flour to eight parts buckwheat, the motions are best watched at least once. I will post a recipe at some point. In lieu of that; in essence, to the sifted flour half the weight of water is added. Once brought together, fifty presses are applied (seventy for the girls). It is rolled and stretched out to a square, folded and chopped.

Making soba noodles

The resulting noodles are dropped into a pan of boiling water for sixty seconds before being plunged into ice cold water.

Making soba noodles

A typical accompaniment would be a sauce of dashi, soy and mirin.

Tags: food and drink, recipes

Bread

Written by: adekun on 14 January, 2007 10:50 pm - Filed under: blog — 2 Comments »

Earlyish yesterday, I made had a batch of dough with the intention of giving it a good few hours to rise. Using some bread flour found in one of the larger supermarkets, it was clear from the onset I had a better hand than previously. By lunchtime, I had a bowl brimming with dough. To finish I used a milk glaze. At the local boutique, loaves are priced between 600 and 1200 yen (£3 - £6).

Plain bread recipe