Recipe: Tori to renkon tsukune (chicken and lotus root meatballs, teriyaki style)
Liven up your next bento with these chicken and lotus root meatballs
Tsukune are meatballs, usually made from either chicken or pork. They make a delicious meal, or an excellent addition to a bento (Japanese luchbox).
Here, we’re adding a twist to usual recipe by adding renkon (lotus root). The grated lotus root softens the meatball mix, while the other – roughly chopped – half of the vegetable provides some texture.
If you prepare this for a bento, garnish with shichimi (assorted spices) instead of asatsuki. The more adventurous can even use leftovers as filling for teriyaki meatball sandwiches (just add lettuce and mayonnaise!)
Chicken and lotus root meatballs
Ingredients (serves 3 – 4)
- 300 g of chicken mince
- 150 g of lotus root
- 1 egg
- 10 g of ginger (1 clove)
- 50 g green onion
- 1 teaspoon of sake
- 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of potato starch
- 2 tablespoons of sake
- 3 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons of mirin
- 1 tablespoon of white sesame seeds
- 3 – 4 tablespoons of chopped asatsuki chives
Method
Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to a bowl containing roughly 2 cups of water. Peal the lotus root and place it in the water for ten minutes to whiten it and take out any bitterness.
Take the lotus root out of the bowl and remove any moisture with the paper towels. Chop half (75 g) of the lotus root roughly into pieces 1 – 5 mm square. Grate the other half of the lotus root.
Finely chop the ginger and green onion. Take a bowl and mix the chicken, ginger, onion, lotus root, sake, soy, egg and potato starch until sticky.
Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a frying pan and warm it on a low heat. Moisten your hands with water and shape the batter into balls, then sauté with the lid on the pan. One one side becomes brown, turn them over. Sauté both sides for 5 – 6 minutes in total on a low heat. Repeat the process until you finish the mixture.
Next, prepare the teriyaki sauce. Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl. Once you have finished cooking the meatballs, turn the heat to medium and pour the sauce into the frying pan. When it comes to the boil, turn the heat to low and dunk the meatballs into the sauce – 1 minute for each side.
Boil the sauce down until it thickens. Plate the meatballs and pour the remaining sauce over them. Garnish with a pinch of sesame seeds and chopped asatsuki chives.
Recipe: Grilled mushroom wafu salad
Shiitake, maitake, shimeji. The perfect ingredients for an autumn-inspired salad
In Japan, mushrooms are considered the flavor of autumn. This easy to prepare salad is seasoned with salt and citrus to emphasize their complex flavor.
Here I used three types of mushrooms common in Japan – shiitake, maitake and shimeji. If you are struggling in your search for maitake or shimeji, experiment with other varieties. Portobello mushrooms, for example, aren’t common in Japan, but should work equally well in this recipe.
Grilled mushrooms wafu salad
Ingredients (serves 2)
100 g of shiitake mushrooms
100 g of maitake mushrooms
100 g of shimeji mushrooms
1 sheet of deep fried tofu pouch
1-2 of citrus juice (kabosu or sudachi are ideal, but you can use limes, lemons, etc.)
1 pinch of salt
Method
Clean the mushrooms with a brush. Next, cut away the stems of the shiitake mushrooms.
Cut away the roots of maitake and the shimeji. Divide them into a little bunches for grilling.
Next, grill the deep fried tofu pouch in a toaster or on a grill until it becomes brown and crispy on the outside, then slice into strips 4 – 5 centimeters in length and 1 centimeter wide.
Now grill the mushrooms for 3 – 4 minutes on a medium to high heat. Once cooked, slice the shiitake into bite-sized pieces and roughly mix the mushrooms with the deep fried tofu pouches.
Plate the mushrooms and season with a pinch of salt. Serve with a slice or two of a citrus fruit such as kabosu.
Recipe: Sudachi ponzu (citrus and soy sauce)
Make your own batch of this citrus and soy sauce.
Ponzu is a type of sauce made from soy and citrus fruit. In Japan, fruit such as kabosu, sudachi or yuzu are used to make ponzu. I chose sudachi because it’s currently in season. A little later in the year, I would have chosen yuzu.
Sudachi ponzu (citrus and soy sauce).
You don’t have to use a Japanese citrus fruit when making ponzu. It can also be made with citrus fruit more readily available in western countries: lemons, limes, and so on.
The basic proportions are 5 parts fresh juice: 5 parts soy sauce: 2 parts mirin. Hanakatsuo is roughly flaked dried bonito, and is mainly used for creating dashi, the stock on which so much Japanese cuisine is built.
I recommend you use a glass jar or bottle to store ponzu, as this minimizes the chances of oxidization. You can try it after a week but I suggest you have it after it has been stored for a month. Make it now, and it will be perfect to have as a dipping sauce for nabe (hotpot) at the end of the year.
Ingredients
- 500 ml soy sauce
- 500 ml sudachi juice
- 200 ml mirin
- 5 – 10 g hanakatsuo
- 10 – 15 cm of konbu (kelp)
Method
Squeeze the juice from 1.5 kg of sudachi fruit.
Mix all of the the ingredients in a large bowl (one which can hold 1.5 – 2 liters). Let the mixture stand for 24 hours and then remove the hanakatsuo and konbu. Store in a large jar or PET bottle and keep it in the fridge.
Recipe: Kabocha no korokke (pumpkin croquette)
As the mercury drops, stay warm with these tasty pumpkin croquettes.
Almost every Japanese department store has a food hall located below ground. These depachika offer a huge range of food from across Japan as well as overseas. Whether you’re looking for Japanese sweets, French cheese or Chinese dumplings, the depachika has it all. Some of the most popular food halls in Tokyo are below Shinjuku’s Takashimaya and Isetan department store. I’m also a frequent visitor to Tokyu Foodshow beneath Shibuya station.
Croquettes – made with everything from potato to crab – are a depachika favorite. They’re usually presented on trays and you make your selection with a pair of tongs, placing them in a plastic container. This recipe uses kabocha (pumpkin), but with a bit of experimentation, you’ll find you’ll be able to use it for many of the other flavors you come across in your department store wanderings.
Note that the pumpkin paste should be cooled before you shape the croquettes – they handle more easily after brief refrigeration.
Pumpkin croquettes
Ingredients (serves 3 – 4)
- 500 – 600 g pumpkin (400 g after removing seeds and skin)
- 50 g onion
- 30 – 50 ml milk
- 1 tablespoon of fresh cream
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- A pinch of black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of corn (canned corn is fine)
- 1 egg
- 3 – 4 tablespoons of flour
- 2 cups of bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
Method
Remove the pumpkin seeds and cut it into 3 – 4 cm squares before peeling away the skin. Place the pumpkin in a pre-warmed steamer and warm it on a medium heat. Once the water is warm, place the pealed pumpkin into the basket and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, so that they become soft. Use a skewer to check if the are cooked all the way through.
Mash the pumpkin with a fork.
Place the pumpkin in a heatproof bowl and mash thoroughly with a fork. Add the milk and fresh cream then mix carefully. Place a frying pan containing a teaspoon of vegetable oil on a medium heat. Chop the onion into 5 mm squares and saute them for 2 – 3 minutes. Once transparent, add to the bowl containing the pumpkin.
Now warm the bowl in a microwave for 3 – 4 minutes to remove moisture. While the pumpkin is still warm, add 1 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well. Add 2 tablespoons of corn and mix roughly. Now allow the pumpkin to cool.
Prepare 3 trays, each containing:
- beaten egg
- flour
- bread crumbs
Moisten your hand with a little vegetable oil. Take roughly 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin filling and shape it into a ball. Repeat until you’ve used all the filling.
Coat each of them with flour, beaten egg and bread crumbs (in that order).
Pour the vegetable oil into a deep frying pan (3 – 4 cm deep) and warm to 170 degrees. Carefully place the croquettes into the oil, turning them over occasionally.
When the croquettes turn light brown, use a metal spoon to retrieve them and drain on a tray.
Serve them on a plate with tonkatsu sauce.
Recipe: Piman no butabaramaki (peppers wrapped in pork)
A simple hors d’oeuvre that’s bound to disappear quickly.
Cocktail parties are a rarity in Japan. When entertaining family or friends, most Japanese elect to host the event at a local izakaya rather than in their own houses or apartments – there simply isn’t enough space at home. When Japanese do have people over, the numbers are usually small and the meal something relatively simple and easy to share – nabe (hotpot) or gyoza (Chinese dumplings) are particularly popular.
Red and green peppers wrapped in pork
If you have the space for a larger number of guests, however, this dish of red and green peppers wrapped in pork makes for the perfect finger food. The citrus of the ponzu cuts through any oiliness in the pork, and the still-crispy vegetables add a crunchy texture to each mouthful.
They also make an excellent side dish and can be combined with other otsumami to make a delicious izakaya-style meal. Better, they don’t have to be served right away – the pepper and pork rolls can be served either hot or after they have cooled down.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 50 g of green pepper
- 50 g of red pepper
- 100 g of thinly sliced pork belly
- 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoons of ponzu
- 1 tablespoon of yuzukosho
Method
First, cut off the top and bottom of the green and red peppers. Next, cut into halves and remove the seeds. Slice them into strips 5 mm thick.
Put them into a bowl of cold water and rinse them for 2-3 minutes and drain (when you prepare salads or other vegetable dishes, you should put the vegetables – especially leaf vegetables – into a bowl of cold water to enliven them).
Remove the water with a paper towel, then divide into 6 portions. The green peppers and the red peppers should be mixed almost half and half.
Place a thinly sliced pork belly on a cutting board, then sprinkle a pinch of salt. Place one portion of the peppers in the center and roll them. Repeat another 5 times.
Pour the vegetable oil into a frying pan and warm it on a low heat. Once the pan has heated up, lay down the pork rolls so that the ‘seam’ (where the end of the pork meets the rest of the roll) is face down – think of the nori around sushi rolls. As the side of the roll cooks, it will bind itself to the rest of the pork.
Turn the heat up to medium and sauté that side for 2-3 minutes till it becomes brown and perfectly bonded, then sauté the rest of the roll so it is cooked evenly.
Place the rolls on to a dish with a pinch of yuzukosho on a top of each. Pour 2 tablespoons of ponzu gently from side over the finished dish and serve.
Recipe: Satsumaimo no nimono (sweet potato with pork belly and ginger sauce)
‘Tis harvest season, and what better way to welcome autumn than with satsumaimo?
Satsumaimo (sweet potatoes) have a pink skin and a creamy texture similar to yams. They’re a popular ingredient in Japanese cooking, particularly during the autumn months.
Here, the sweet potato is cooked with pork and ginger. I recommend you serve this together with other dishes and share it out at the dining table.
Sweet potato with pork belly and ginger sauce
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 300 – 350 g sweet potato
- 70 g thinly sliced pork belly
- 10 – 15 g (or 1 clove) ginger
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon sake
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 150 ml water
Method
Wash the sweet potato and slice into 1.5 cm thick pieces. Place in a bowl of water for 20 – 30 minutes to remove any astringency.
Soak the potato in a bowl for 20 - 30 minutes.
Peel the ginger and slice thinly.
Pour 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil into a large pot on a low heat and and sauté the ginger. Once it begins to smell, add the thinly sliced pork belly and turn the heat up to medium. Braise the pork so that the fat begins to coat the base of the pot.
Now strain the sweet potato and use a paper towel to take off any excess water. Add the potato to the pot.
Mix with the pork so that the potato is fully coated by the oil. Sauté for approximately 5 minutes. Don’T worry if at this stage the potatoes look oily – that will change when the next set of ingredients are added.
Next, add the sugar, sake, soy sauce and water (in that order). The sauce should now almost cover the ingredients.
1. Cut to match the shape of the bowl.
2. Cut off the the end of the wedge.
3. A finished otoshibuta.
4. Cover the potato with the otoshibuta.
Place an otoshibuta (a drop lid made from paper – see the photos to the left) over the ingredients and simmer on a low to medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes.
If the sweet potato is soft (use a skewer) the dish is ready. At this point, sauce should be left at the bottom of the pot. When serving, be sure to pour some of the sauce over the ingredients.
Recipe: Wafu pasta with yuzukosho sauce
A delicious meat-free pasta
This dish is easy to prepare and is vegetarian-friendly.
The key to success is making sure that the eggplant is washed in salt water prior to cooking, so as to prevent it from absorbing all of the oil. Be sure to squeeze the salt water out, though.
As yuzukosho has a strong flavor, start by adding only a teaspoon – you can always add more later.
For more about yuzukosho, listen to Episode 8 of the Japan Eats Podcast, where the Japanese condiment is discussed in detail.
Wafu pasta with yuzukosho sauce
Ingredients (serves 2 people)
- 160 g of bavette (or spaghetti)
- 200 g of eggplant
- 100 g of shimeji mushrooms
- 1 clove of garlic
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 4 tablespoons of sake
- 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon of yuzukosho
- 10 g butter
- 5 – 6 sheets of shiso to garnish
Method
Pour 200 ml of cold water into a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon of salt. Remove the top of the eggplant and then cut it in half lengthwise. Cut each half into six more pieces. Put the slices into a bowl of saltwater for 5 minutes to remove any bitterness.
Pour two liters of cold water into a large saucepan and place it on the gas table. Once it has come to the boil, add 20 g of salt and the pasta.
Pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the frying pan and add finely chopped garlic. Place the pan on a low heat and sauté slowly until they’re lightly browned.
Remove the salt water from the eggplant by squeezing each slice softly. Add to the pan and sauté until they too become brown. Again, use a low heat.
Once the eggplant is ready, add the shimeji mushrooms. Cook for another minute.
Pour 4 tablespoons of sake into the pan, then cook on a low heat to burn off the alcohol.
Add 2 tablespoons of boiling water from the pot in which you’re cooking the pasta. In addition, add 2 tablespoons of soy sauce to the inner surface of the pan, and add 1 teaspoon of yuzukosho and turn off the heat. Mix thoroughly.
Drain the pasta and then add to the pan. Combine with the sauce.
Add 10 g of butter, and again mix well.
Finally, wash the shiso and remove the water with a paper towel. Roll the leaves together and slice thinly. Serve with the shiso as garnish.
Recipe: Buta no shogayaki (pork ginger)
A simple pork sauté that’s full of flavor
Pork ginger is Japanese comfort food, pure and simple. It’s often featured in bento lunches, as it can be prepared in advance and tastes equally good served hot or at room temperature. Best of all, its dead easy to prepare. Serve with a handful of shredded cabbage (kyabetsu no sen-giri).
Pork Ginger
Ingredients (serves 2 people)
- 200 – 250 g pork (sliced between 1 and 1.5 mm)
- 150 g cabbage
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- 20 g (1 clove) of ginger
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons of sake
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
- 100 g chopped onion
Method
Wash the cabbage leaves and remove the core. Pile the leaves together and then roll and cut into 1 mm slices. Place them in cold water for 10 minutes, and drain.
Place a frying pan on the gas table and add one tablespoon of oil. Warm on a low heat.
While heating the pan, take the slices of pork and coat them in a thin layer of flour. Now increase the heat to medium and sauté the pork until brown. Be sure that the pork strips are cooked evenly. When they are ready, take them from the pan and on a plate.
Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan and warm it on a low heat. Slice the onion into pieces 5 mm thick – cut against the grain. Sauté the onion until it softens and becomes translucent.
Now pour the sake, sugar, and soy into the pan. Turn up the heat to medium. Put the pork back into the pan and add the ginger. Mix and cover the pork and ginger with the sauce. Serve with sliced cabbage and a generous helping of the sauce.
Recipe: Matcha ice-cream
A delicious summer dessert
Summer has well and truly arrived and what better way to beat the heat than to make your own ice-cream?
In Japan, one of the most popular ice-cream flavors is matcha, or green tea.
Ideally one would use an ice-cream machine to churn and freeze the mixture, however with a little extra effort it’s possible to make matcha ice-cream without one.
Matcha ice-cream
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 100 ml milk
- 5 g matcha
- 7 g corn starch
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 100 ml fresh cream
Method
Put all of the ingredients other than the fresh cream into a pan and place on a low heat.
Mix with a whisk and once it has thickened, turn off the gas and allow the mixture to cool.
Place the cream in the bowl and whisk until thickened (it should still drip slowly from the whisk). Pour the now cool matcha into the cream.
Pour the combined ingredients into a plastic container and freeze for 3 to 4 hours.
Scoop the ice-cream from the container and serve.
Recipe: Goya champuru
It ain’t easy being green
On the face of it, goya isn’t the most appetizing of fruit. With its dark green complexion, prickly texture and bitter taste, it looks like a cross between a cucumber and a durian. Even its English name is less than appealing – ‘bitter gourd’.
But while it may look intimidating and taste bitter uncooked, goya is actually delicious when properly prepared. And it’s easy to remove much of the bitterness. Simply scoop out the seeds and slice into thin pieces. Soak these in water for 10 – 20 minutes and you’re done.
The fruit is said to have a variety of health benefits (it’s high in Vitamin C) and is commonly used in traditional medicines to combat such things as diabetes and high blood pressure.
Goya is a key ingredient in Okinawan cuisine (the name itself is Okinawan – nigauri in Japanese) and goya champaru is the prefecture’s signature dish. Goya champaru is popular elsewhere in Japan, particularly during the summer months.
This preparation is for a very simple version of the dish. To add volume and texture, add a handful of moyashi (bean shoots). You can also add pickled ginger as a garnish.
Goya champuru
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 1 goya
- 200 to 350 g tofu (momen tofu)
- 100 to 150 g pork (sliced butabara pork is best)
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 5 g kezuribushi
Method
First cut the goya in half and take the seeds out using a tea spoon. These seeds and the white pith around them is very bitter and should be removed carefully. Next, slice the goya into 5 mm slices. Place these into a bowl of iced water for around 10 to 20 minutes (this too is to minimize the bitterness).
While the goya is soaking in the cold water, wrap the tofu with a paper towel and warm it in a microwave for 3 minutes in order to draw the water out of the tofu. Now cut the pork into bite size pieces and mix with a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour 1 tablespoon of salad oil into a pan and cook the pork. Strain the water from the goya and as soon as the pieces of pork begin to change color, add the green vegetable to the mix. Cook the pork and goya together for 1 to 2 minutes.
Breaking the tofu into small pieces by hand, add these to the mixture in the pan. Season with a pinch of salt, a pinch of pepper and 1/2 tablespoon of soy sauce. Mix thoroughly, trying not do break the tofu up too much.
Crack the eggs and pour them into the pan, making a circle around the edges of the pan. Cook these slowly. When the egg begins to cook, turn off the gas and pour a dash of sesame oil into the pan.
Serve, placing kezuribushi onto the top of the dish.
