Chicken Miso Stew (Nabe)

(serves 3 to 4)
Miso Stew or Miso Nabe is a winter dish that is popular in Hokkaido. The concentration of protein and carbohydrates in miso and soya milk creates a stew that is hearty and robust, giving it the power to keep the cold at bay. Every region has its own unique way of cooking their miso stew and there is no definitive cooking method or set of ingredients, though the meat is usually fish, pork or chicken. If you’ve never tired a Miso Stew don’t worry, my particular way of cooking Miso Stew is suitable to Western tastes.

Ingredients

1. Chicken Legs (2, with thigh)
2. Red Miso (4T)
3. Carrot (1)
4. Onion (1)
5. Mushroom (1.5 cups)
6. Yam (1)
7. Garlic (1T, minced)
8. Mirin
9. Sake
10. Soy Sauce
11. Soya Milk (unsweetened, 3/4 Cup)
12. Maple Syrup

Preparation (the day before)

1. Debone the chicken and cut the meat into bite sized chunks. Keep the bones in the freezer for use the next day.
2. Mix in a large bowl 2T Red Miso, 2T Sake, 1T Mirin and 1T Maple Syrup until you get a paste. Stir in 1T of minced garlic.
3. Place the chicken meat in the bowl and toss well until each piece is coated with the marinade. Cover the bowl with cling film and keep it in the fridge overnight.

Preparation

1. Peel a yam and cut it into bit sized chunks. Place the yam pieces on a sheet of aluminium foil and drizzle them with 2T oil and 2T mirin. Wrap the yam up in the foil and place in a toaster oven set at 180^oC (360^oF) for twenty five minutes.
2. Put 3T of oil in a large pan (or clay pot) and heat the pan until the oil is searing hot. Keeping the fire on high, pour in the chicken together with all the marinade. Stir fry.
3. When the chicken begins to shrink, add 3/4 cup of soy milk and 3/4 of water. After a quick stir, pick out the chicken pieces and set them aside on a plate.
4. When the contents of the pan come to a boil again, put the chicken bones in the pan, as well as 1T sugar, 1T Soy Sauce and 2T of Red Miso. Turn the fire down to bring the liquid in the pan to a low simmer.
5. Peel a carrot and slice it into 1/8 inch thick oval pieces. Put the carrot slices in the pan.
6. Peel an onion and cut it into 6 equal wedges. Place the onion in the pan. Cover the pan and simmer for about 15 minutes.
7. Cut your mushrooms into appropriate size if you have chosen to use a big variety. I used Shimeji in the picture above and used them whole.
8. When the carrot is no longer crunchy, add the mushrooms, chicken and yam to the pan. Cover and simmer for a further five minutes. Remove the chicken bones before serving.

Notes

• You’ll notice I specified Red Miso above. You can also use Hatcho Miso, but preferable not any of the white, yellow or golden varieties of Miso, for the unique flavour of miso dissipates into plain saltiness with cooking. For more information on Miso, you can refer to this post about Miso.
• Nabe (pronounced nar-bay) is not the Japanese word for stew. It refers to a shared hot pot, sort of like a fondue using soup.
• If don’t have any unsweetened soya milk, you can use plain milk instead. 
• The reason you put in the carrots before the onion is carrot takes longer to soften. Don’t reverse the order of steps 5 and 6.  
• One key element of this recipe is cooking the yam and chicken separately from the stew. Both chicken and yam taste better when cooked at high temperatures. You can of course choose to just boil everything in the stew, but the result will not be as good. 
• Miso stew is best eaten with steamed rice as a staple, although you can use another type of staple, like noodles or bread. This stew is not meant to be eaten on its own.
• Instead of putting the bones in the freezer, you could also keep them in the bowl with the marinated chicken if it is big enough. A third option would be to boil the bones to create 3/4 cup of stock which you then put in the fridge. 

 

Daikon in Awase Dashi Consommé

(serves 4)
Dashi is the quintessential Japanese seafood consomme. As it is made using desiccated ingredients, there is no frothing or oil patches, and thus no need for repeated skimming, making it much less labour-intensive to prepare than its Western equivalents. In addition, using no fresh seafood means a seafood consomme without the smell of seafood. Daikon is a mild tasting root vegetable that absorbs the taste of whatever it is simmered in. Together Dashi and Daikon form the ultimate combination. The recipe is essentially two recipes, one to boil the Dashi itself, and a second to make a soup by infusing the Dashi into the Daikon. The result is a delicate, yet intense and flavourful consomme.  

Ingredients

1. Daikon (400g)
2. Konbu (20g)
3. Sakura  (1/2 Cup)
4. Small Mushrooms (1 Cup)
5. Hon Dashi
6. Sake
7. Raw Rice
8. Spring Onion

Glossary

1. Daikon = Japanese Radish
2. Konbu = Dried Kelp
3. Sakura = Dried Shrimp
4. Hon Dashi = Bonito (Tuna) Stock Granules

Preparation

       

1. Cut out a six inch long section of the Daikon (Japanese Radish). As the outer layer of the Daikon is deceptively fibrous, you will need to remove more than just the skin. Drag the peeler lengthwise along the daikon three times, over the same area.  Rotate a bit and repeat until you end up with a sort of octagonal cross section. Now peel down the ‘corners’ of the octagon until you end up with a roundish cross section.
2. Cut the Daikon cylinder into 4 equally sized discs. If you want you can bevel the edges (which I didn’t bother to) for a more professional appearance.
3. Add 1 heaped T of raw rice into a pot containing 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the Daikon pieces to the rice water and simmer for 15 minutes. (This will leech out the distinct grassy taste of the radish)
5. Rinse the Daikon in water and set aside for the time being.
6. After cleaning the pot, add 6 cups of cold boiled water to it. Place 20g of Konbu (Dried Kelp) in the water and very slowly heat up the water. Use the Konbu as is, do not wipe or rinse it, even if you notice some white specks.
7. When you see small bubbles forming at the bottom of the pot, remove and discard the Konbu immediately. (If the water gets any hotter, the stronger undesired tastes of the Kelp will be extracted into the stock as well)
8. Bring the stock to a boil and add 2 flat T of Hon Dashi granules, 1t of sugar and 1 cup of Sakura (Dried Shrimp).
9. Place the Daikon back in the pot and simmer under a low flame for one hour. Replenish the water as neccessary. Leave the Daikon to soak in the pot until you are ready to serve the consomme, for several hours if possible to maximize flavour infusion. If it’s overnight, you’ll need to refrigerate.
10. Slice enough mushrooms to get one cup of bite sized mushroom pieces.
11. When it’s time to serve the soup, bring the pot back to a simmer. Add the mushrooms and 1T of sake and simmer for five minutes. Garnish with finely julienned spring onion stalks.

Notes

• Type of Konbu
  There are a few varieties of dried kelp, and the one I typically use is called Hidaka Konbu (日高昆布). It is an affordable multipurpose kelp and the most commonly used variety. 20g is three blades cut in two. There are more expensive varieties such as Ma Konbu (真昆布) and Rishiri Konbu (利尻昆布) but Hidaka is good enough for home cooking. Don’t confuse Konbu with the edible Seaweed Sheets (Nori) used in sushi. I’ve included a photo so you know what Konbu looks like.  
• Type of Mushroom
  I usually use a mushroom called Hen of the Wood (a.k.a Maitake) which has a nice earth flavour, or Beech Mushroom (a.k.a. Shimeji). Morels would be suitable as well. Small mushrooms with a little bit of the stalk are the way to go. Mushrooms to avoid are the dark ones like portobello, which will make your consomme black and the less delicate varieties like abalone mushrooms.
• A more traditional alternative to using Hon Dashi granules is to use skipjack tuna shavings (a.k.a. bonito) instead. If you choose to go this route, you will have to boil a cup of bonito shavings in the stock for one minute and then wait for the shavings to sink (about 10 minutes). Then you have to pour the pot’s contents through a metal mesh. I don’t bother with this as Hon Dashi granules can achieve the same taste in a few seconds.
• Daikon is a Japanese word and it may be labelled under a different name wherever you are. Some other names for Daikon are White Radish, Oriental Radish, Winter Radish and Icicle Radish. Korean Radish is not the exactly the same but can be used as a substitute. What you should not substitute for Daikon are red radish or horse radish.
• If you can’t find any Sakura dried shrimp, what else can you use? Dried Anchovies would be a good substitute, but you have to remove them before you add the mushrooms. You can also use mini clams, but add these together with the mushrooms. Do not use Chinese type dried shrimp which are vastly inferior in quality and in any case unsuitable for soup. Again, for the avoidance of doubt I’ve included a photo of Sakura for your reference.
• If you happen to have some lying around in the fridge, you can also use cooked rice instead of raw rice. Increase the amount to 2 heaped T but reduce the boiling time from 10 minutes to 1 minute.
• FYI: Stock made from Konbu alone is called Konbu Dashi. Stock made from Bonito shavings (and therefore from Hon Dashi granules too) alone is called Katsuo Dashi. Stock made from a combination of both Konbu and Bonito is called Awase Dashi. If someone mentions Dashi without specifying what type, he means Awase Dashi.  

 

Miso-Cured Black Cod

(serves 2)
Miso-Cured Black Cod, also known as Gindara Saikyo Yaki, started out as a way to preserve fish in Japan, but has since become the default method of cooking Alaskan Black Cod. The curing process cuts through the fattiness of the black cod, and results in a decadent smokey and buttery flavour that makes Gindara appreciated by one and all, young and old. Of all the ways of preparing fish in Japan, this is perhaps the one that is most suited to Western palates.

Ingredients

1. Alaskan Black Cod (500g)
2. White Miso
3. Mirin
4. Sake
5. Minced Garlic
6. Cooked White Rice
7. Mayonnaise
8. Salt

Preparation

1. Make a solution using 2 cups of water with 1T of salt and 1t of sugar. Brine 500g of black cod in the solution for 20 minutes.
2. After rinsing the cod, wrap each piece in some paper kitchen towel and squeeze gently over the sink. Wrap the fish with fresh pieces of kitchen towel to soak up any remaining water. Leave the fish to fully dry on a metal rack for half an hour or so.
3. Mix 2 heaped T of white miso (40g) with 3T Mirin and 2T sake in a bowl until you arrive at a paste. Stir in 1t of minced garlic.
4. Slather the marinade onto the fish and then place the fish into a zip lock bag. Seal the bag with minimal air and then proceed to move the fish pieces around inside the bag. This will ensure the miso mixture comes into contact with every surface of the fish.
5. Cure the fish in the fridge, for 2 days if you desire a milder flavour, and up to a week for a more intense miso infusion.  
   
6. When you are ready to cook your black cod, allow the fish to warm to near ambient temperature.
7. Use a few T of oil to wash the curing marinade off the fish. Miso chars easily, so you should be thorough.
8. Arrange the fish on a baking tray with the skin side facing up and place the tray in a toaster oven preheated to 180^oC (360^oF) for twenty minutes.
9. Traditionally miso-cured black cod is served fish white steamed rice, a generous dollop of mayonnaise and a few slices of pickled ginger.

Notes

• Alaskan Black Cod is also called sablefish. It is technically not actually a member of the cod family, so do not substitute another type of cod. You can however cure other kinds of large oily fish with the same method. Swordfish for example would be a good alternative.    
• Brining and removing the excess water are essential as they prevent a fishy odour from developing. You are after all leaving the fish raw for several days in the fridge. Other recipes typically get you to sprinkle salt over the fish, but I find brining to be more effective, and less salty.
• Oily fish take to freezing much better than white fish, so there is no need to use fresh fish, especially if you follow steps 1 & 2.
• If you are using steak cuts (as pictured) a good idea would be to roll the fish pieces onto their side for the final 5 minutes of baking, then plate with the bottom side up. This gives the fish a good finish.
• If you are using a full oven, you can reduce the cooking time to fifteen minutes as a large oven does not lose much heat compared to a toaster oven when you put the fish in.
• You must use only white miso. It is milder and sweeter. Outside of Japan it’s probably the last type of miso you would have around at home, so if you are tempted to try this with red or yellow miso, don’t. YIt won’t end well. Even if you do use white miso it will still tend to be a bit on the salty side, it is cured fish after all. You thus have to serve it with a very plain unsalted staple, like rice.
• Miso-cured Black Cod is also great for BBQs. Just wrap individual pieces in foil and broil them over the barbie. 

 

Beef Curry Sweet Potato Korokke

(makes 12)
Korokke, the Japanese version of the croquette, are big in Japan. Unlike the original French version they contain meat and vegetables and come in all kinds of flavours. The other special thing about Japanese Korokke is they are rarely used as side dishes and are typically eaten as a street food type snack,  or even as a meal.  Beef curry is probably one of the more unique flavours and well worth trying.

Ingredients

1. Minced Beef (200g)
2. Sweet Potatoes (500g)
3. Onion (1)
4. Cream Cheese (125g)
5. Eggs (3)
6. Bread (3 slices)
7. Curry Powder
8. Corn Starch
9. Worcestershire Sauce
10. Mirin
11. Nutmeg
12. Paprika

Preparation

1. Leave three slices of bread without any wrapping in the fridge overnight.
2. Boil 500g of sweet potatoes for 25 minutes.  Use just enough water to cover the sweet potatoes and reserve the flavoured water after boiling.
3. Drain away the water into a container for later use and allow the sweet potatoes to cool in the pot. Then peel, dice and finally mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. There is no need to completely pulverize the sweet potato, you want a bit of texture.
4. Pour 1/4 cup of the reserved water into a bowl. Stir in 2T curry powder, 1T mirin, 1t worcestershire sauce, 1t nutmeg, 1t salt. Marinate 200g of minced beef in the mixture for 15 minutes.
5. Peel and dice one onion into 1cm sized pieces. In a few T of oil, pan fry the onion bits until they are limp, but before they brown too much. Add the beef and stir fry until the beef is cooked.
6. With the fire still going, make a hole in the middle of the pan and add 125g (about 4T) of cream cheese. Spoon in a few T of the reserved water and move a spatula over the cream cheese in a circular motion until it has liquified (see picture).
7. Add the mashed sweet potato and mix everything together well. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Keep the ‘filling’ in the fridge for a minimum of several hours.
8. Cut the dried bread into croutons and desiccate further in a toaster oven at 120^oC for 15 minutes. If you don’t have a toaster oven, toast before dicing the bread.
9. Place the croutons on a piece of foil and methodically crush with the jagged face of a meat mallet. There is no need to hammer; simply press down firmly on the smooth face of the mallet head (see picture). Again, there is no need to completely pulverize the bread, you want some variety in crumb size.
10. Prepare three shallow dishes, one with the bread crumbs, one with 1/4 cup of corn starch and in the third one beat 3 eggs with 1/2t of salt.
11. Warm up oil in a pot for deep frying. The temperature is right when a bread crumb thrown in creates bubbles.
12. Spoon an amount of filling equal in size to an XL egg into your hand. Shape this into a log. Roll the log first in the cornstarch to get a thick coating of starch, then quickly in the egg. Finally roll the log in the bread crumbs. Immediately deep fry. Repeat until all the mashed sweet potato is used up. As the insides are already cooked, you can adjust the heat as you like to produce a nice deep orange finish for your Korokke.
13. Roll the croquettes while cooking occasionally to ensure even cooking. When a croquette is done, place it on a bed of paper towels to absorb excess oil.
14. Serve your croquettes with a mayonnaise flavoured with paprika.

Notes

• If you leave your bread to dry in the fridge for several days, you can skip the toasting part and crush right after cutting into croutons.
• Cumin is not curry powder, it is not even the biggest component of curry powder. If you wish to mix your own, you can use the labelling on this package curry powder as a guide to the proportions of each ingredient.
• When coating the croquettes you can cover the ends by pushing the material up against the top and bottom of the log. This will reduce the handling of the croquettes and help them keep their shape.
• Yes I used sweet potato instead of potato. It is not uncommon to use something other than potato for Korokke in Japan, for instance yam, pumpkin or taro.
• If you want your Korokke to look exactly like the real McCoy you have to buy something called Panko Crumbs instead of crushing your own breadcrumbs. They are leafy crumbs which allows them to be bigger than regular crumbs.
• Steps 12-13 are best done by a two person team.
• The croquettes will continue to brown a bit after you remove them from the oil, so don’t over brown them.
• If want to make the shape perfect, you can roll your filling in cling film into (4?) long sausages. Place the sausages in the freezer for 15 minutes to harden them further before frying, but don’t completely freeze them solid. If you want it fast and easy, you can also make your croquettes in the shape of mini hamburgers.

 

Japanese Hamburg Steak

(serves 4)
The Hamburg Steak is the predecessor of the hamburger, before it was turned into a humble sandwich. That’s not to say the Hamburg Steak is simply a hamburger without a bun, for it has many more ingredients, for instance a gravy. In this sense you can think of the Hamburg Steak as a cross between a Salisbury Steak and Bangers & Mash. The city that the most people eat Hamburg steak is not Hamburg as you might expect, but Tokyo; in Japan every family restaurant will serve Hanbagu Steakey and it is cooked at home by every family. My recipe is based this delicious Japanese version of the Hamburg Steak. 

Ingredients

1. Minced Beef (500g)
2. Egg (1)
3. Shallots (5)
4. Milk (0.5 cup)
5. Bread (2 slices)
6. Onion (1)
7. Oxo Beef cube (1)
8. Mustard
9. Worcestershire Sauce
10. Miso
11. Sherry
12. Soya Sauce
13. Butter

Preparation

 

1. Leave 2 slices of bread exposed in the fridge overnight to dry out.
2. Toast the bread on very low heat for 15 minutes to make them ultra crispy and then smash the bread with a mallet into crumbs (in a plastic bag).
3. Peel and cut 5 shallots in half and julienne them into very thin slices. Peel and cut one onion in half and slice it into thick half rings. If the outmost layer of the onion is thin, you should discard it as it will get burnt before the rest of the onion softens.
4. Pan fry the shallot slices in 3T of oil on a low flame until you notice a few pieces have turned brown (see picture). Turn off the heat and allow to cool (the shallots will darken further). After some time spoon the shallots and oil into a mixing bowl.
5. Add one egg, 1/2 a cup of milk, 1T Worcestershire sauce, 1t soya sauce, 1t mustard, 1t salt to the mixing bowl and mix well. Stir in the bread crumbs. Next, add the ground beef followed by a sprinkle of 1t white pepper and fold until you get a homogenous mixture. Leave the beef to stand. Do not be concerned if there are any pieces of bread crumb visible.
6. In the same pan, sauté the onion slices on low heat in 3T of oil until the onion begins to darken.
7. Dissolve 1 Oxo beef cube and 1t of miso in 1 cup of boiling water. Add the stock to the pan with the onions. Follow up with 1T sherry, 1t sugar, 1t mustard and simmer until most of the water has boiled off and you are left with an onion gravy. Pour the onion gravy into a gravy boat or other vessel.
8. Separate the ground beef into 4 equal parts with the end of a fork or spoon. Shape each portion into a ball in your hands, which you then flatten into a thick (1 – 1.5 inch) patty.
9. Add oil to the pan (which you have cleaned) and heat up the pan. When the oil is sizzling hot, place the beef patties into the pan.
10. Pan fry the beef patties for 6 minutes flipping them every minute or so. After the 6 minutes add 1/3 cup of water and cover – allow the beef to steam for a minute.
11. Remove the cover and add a large knob of butter. Flip the hamburgs one last time. Turn up the heat. When most of the water has boiled off, plate the hamburgs and pour the pan’s residual liquid into the onion gravy. Spoon the gravy over the beef patties to complete your hamburg steak.

 Notes

• The staple typically served with Hamburg Steak is steamed white rice or mashed potatoes, rarely fries and never bread.
• Like other steaks, there will usually also be an assortment of cooked vegetables like carrots, egg plant, tomatoes or string beans. Many of these can be cooked together with the beef in the pan so plan accordingly. A sunny side up fried egg is also typical.
• If you don’t like the idea of an onion gravy, Hamburg Steak is also be served with a variety of other sauces, like black pepper sauce, mushroom sauce or demi-glace sauce.
• For the ‘cheeseburger’ version of the Hamburg, you don’t place a slice of cheese on the meat, but insert a block of cheese in the middle of the raw burger.  
• The Hamburg Steak is supposed to be eaten well done, so don’t try to make them ‘medium’. In Japan they sometimes mix some minced pork with the beef and you definitely want to eat pork fully cooked. Even fully cooked the meat will remain tender and juicy because of the non-meat ingredients and the steaming, so there is no need to worry about your ‘burger’ becoming tough and hard unless you really overcook it a lot.
• Do not substitute onion bits for the shallots. It won’t impart the right flavour to the beef. 

 

Know Your Cake

This is my 20 page guide to cakes from around the world. The countries these cakes, pastries, pies and desserts come from include France of course, and Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Japan and America.  With it you’ll be able to name your cake and eat it too. With the guide they’ll be no more not knowing the name of the cake you just ate or wondering how you are ever going to order it again.  

Sample of one of the pages

The PDF was actually made for another of my blogs, but since it is related to food I thought it would fit right in here. Don’t expect anything too fancy or detailed; a lot of it is just cut and paste from here and there on the internet, but  it’s put together everything in one place and does the job.

Download PDF of  Kobi’s Cake Guide version 2.3

 

Miso-Cured Chicken Wings

(makes 2 dozen wings)
Chicken wings are a party staple and a favourite among children, and the unique blend of Miso and honey will make your wings all the more popular. I have yet to meet a person who didn’t like my Miso-cured wings. The vast majority of Miso-flavoured wing recipes make you cook the wings twice, the second time after painting on a miso glaze. My method does away with this troublesome glazing procedure and cooks the wings in one go. Furthermore, curing allows the flavour of miso to penetrates all the way into the meat. 

Ingredients

1. Mid-joint Chicken Wings (1 kilo)
2. Red Miso
3. Mirin
4. Honey
5. Turmeric
6. Tahini
7. Sesame Oil
8. Soya Sauce
9. Liquid Smoke (optional)

If you are unfamiliar with Miso, refer to this page. Similarly for information on Mirin, refer to this page.

Preparation

1. You need to begin the day before. Defrost and rinse your wings.
2. Leave the wings to drain in a colander or strainer for at least 5 minutes.
3. Arrange the wings on half of a large dish cloth. Fold the empty portion over and press down gently to dry the wings as best you can. Unfold and allow the chicken to dry further while you make the marinade. You can place a sheet of paper towel between the chicken and the cloth to make the cloth easier to wash, but don’t try using paper towels alone or you end up using half a roll.
            
4. In a ceramic bowl mix the following: 2T red miso, 2T honey, 1T mirin, 1T tahini, 1T sesame oil, 1t soya sauce and 1t turmeric. You can also add 1t of liquid smoke if that is your preference. (nb. the T’s for the pastes are heaped ones)
5. As many of these ingredients are from the fridge you will need to microwave the mixture for about 15 seconds before they will can mix well. Alternatively, put the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water for a while. Stir and mash down with the bottom of a table spoon until all the lumps are gone and you end up with a smooth paste.
6. Place the wings in a gallon zip lock and add the marinade. Squeeze out most of the air and then massage the bag and roll it around to get the marinade evenly over all the wings.
7. Place the bag flat in the fridge overnight. Some water will be drawn out from the wings making the marinade a bit more watery, that is normal. Flip the bag over once every 6 hours or so to ensure the curing is even.
8. The next day the wings will be cured. Arrange them on a wire rack in a tray(s) and allow the wings to warm to room temperature. The wings should not be touching each other. Don’t leave any splotches of marinade on the wings as these will become black patches of burnt skin as the excess sugar carbonizes in the oven.
9. Preheat your oven to 180^oC (350^oF). Place the tray(s) in the oven for 20 minutes. The time may vary a bit from oven to oven, so decide when the wings are ready by visual inspection.

Notes

• The issue with most marinades is they are too watery and they drip off when they heat up in the oven, hence the need to paint on a layer of glaze at the end. That’s why this recipe emphasizes keeping the wings dry, so do not skip steps for 2 and 3. The tahini and turmeric play an important role in keeping the marinade thick so do not substitute them for something else. Also do not add any additional liquid to the marinade.
• You can also use a toaster oven. Set it to 200^oC (390^oF) and bake each batch for 25 minutes – the toaster oven is weaker than a regular oven, but can do the job – 8 wings at a time as shown in the photo.
• You can also skewer the wings and cook them over a BBQ.
• You can also use white miso, but you will need 3T instead of 2T as it is less salty. The white miso version is milder and sweeter. I typically use 2T white and 1T red when I make my wings.

 

Goma Style Cold Ramen (Hiyashi Chuka)

(serves 2-3)
Cold Ramen or Hiyashi Chuka was traditionally served in summer as a refreshing chilled alternative to hot Ramen in the days before air-conditioning became commonplace and is still served seasonally in some places. Thus all the ingredients of Hiyashi Chuka, cucumber, ham, omelette and imitation crab sticks and even the Ramen itself are served cold. This Goma variety is served in a creamy sesame sauce and is great for lunch on a hot day. If you love the taste of peanut butter, you are definitely a fan of Goma Hiyashi Chuka, even if you don’t know it yet.     

Ingredients

1. Ramen (2 servings)
2. Tahini
3. Ham (100g)
4. Imitation Crab Sticks (100g)
5. Cucumber (1/2)
6. Eggs (2)
7. Sesame Oil
8. Sesame Seeds (black or white)
9. Soya Sauce
10. Rice Vinegar
11. Mirin
12. Hon Dashi Granules

Early Preparation 

1. If you keep your Tahini in the fridge, take it out ahead of time so it has a chance to warm up.
2. Dissolve 1t of Hon Dashi granules in 1/3 cup of warm water to make some stock.
3. Beat 2 eggs with 1/3 of the stock, 1T of Mirin and 1 heaped t of sugar. Cook an omelette with the egg mixture, using low heat to make sure it doesn’t get burnt. Cut the omelette into strips that are about 1/8 of an inch wide and place the egg strips in the fridge, covered in cling film.
4. Cut the ham into long strips matching the egg. Do the same with the crab sticks. Also put them in the fridge in cling film.
5. Julienne half a cucumber into long thin pieces. They must be as thin as the noodles so they don’t remain rigid. Ideally you’d use a mandolin slicer for the cucumber as it is difficult to cut the cucumber sufficiently thin by hand. Keep the julienned cucumber in the fridge as well.
6. If you intend to make your Hiyashi Chuka presentable keep all the toppings separate in the fridge. They should also all be of the same length.
7. Now for the sauce.  Mix 3 heaped t of Tahini with 2T sesame oil, 1T rice vinegar, 1T Mirin, 1t soya sauce in a bowl. Use the back of a tea spoon in a circular motion to integrate the tahini into an emulsion.
8. Dissolve 1t sugar in the remaining stock. Stir the stock slowly into the emulsion to thin it down into a sauce and then place the sauce in the fridge. It should thicken again once it becomes cold.

When You Are Ready To Serve

1. Boil the ramen. When the noodles are done (it’s best to judge by tasting) rinse them immediately with running cold tap water in a colander. You’ll need to move the ramen around with your hands as the bottom portion will tend to stay warm. Use iced water if it is a warm day and your tap water is not cold.
2. Leave the colander to drain for a short while and then divide the ramen onto plates. Pour the sauce evenly into the noodles and then arrange the toppings over the noodles.
3. Finally sprinkle each plate with some sesame seeds and serve.

Notes

• Gomadare means Sesame Paste Sauce, which is where the ‘Goma’ in Goma Hiyashi Chuka comes from. Plain Hiyashi Chuka refers to original cold ramen that is served in a vinegary soya sauce.
• Hiyashi means chilled, which makes sense but Chuka means Chinese Style, which is strange since this dish was invented in Japan. My guess is that the closest thing Cold Ramen resembled when it first came out was Chinese tossed noodles (i.e. Lo Mein) and that’s how Chuka came into the picture.   
• The egg and cucumber are standard ingredients for Hiyashi Chuka, but the strips of meat are allowed to vary. You can also have more than 4 toppings. Some common alternatives/additions are roast chicken, Chashu pork, fish cake, corn and tomato.
• The sweet omelette is essentially made according my Tamagoyaki Recipe. You can check it out if your are interested in the finer details.
• The Ramen that you use should be of the yellow wavy type. If you can’t find ramen pasta is a viable alternative. In Japanese-western buffets you sometimes see a cold pasta version of Goma Hiyashi Chuka in the appetizer section. And of course you could try making ramen from spaghetti. Whatever noodle you end up using, make sure its a type of noodle that doesn’t get mushy easily – i.e. no instant noodles.
• If you have no Hon Dashi, you can substitute in 1/3 cup of any kind of stock you fancy, but it should be salted.
• If you have no Mirin you can boil 4T Sake with a dab of maple syrup down to 2T to make your own substitute.
• If you have no rice vinegar, any kind of white vinegar should do.

 

Easy Tamagoyaki (Stacking Method)

(serves 4)
Tamagoyaki is the sweet omelette in the shape of a brick that you find on a Sushi platter. At home you can serve it as an amuse-bouche or a side dish. Tamagoyaki only requires a few simple ingredients but the typical method of making them can be technically demanding, requiring the rolling of multiple omelettes into a square Swiss roll on a hot pan before they fully cook. This takes lots of practice to get right as you have to work deftly. Fortunately there is an easier way for the novice that results in a perfect Tamagoyaki the first time and every time, the Stacking Method.      

Ingredients

1. Eggs (4)
2. Mirin
3. Hon Dashi
4. Sugar
5. Nori (Dried Seaweed Sheet) – optional

see notes below for alternatives to
Hon Dashi and Mirin

Preparation 

1. In a large bowl, dissolve 1T of sugar and 1 flat t of Hon Dashi granules in 1/4 cup of warm water.
2. Add 4 eggs and 2T of Mirin to the bowl and beat the mixture until it becomes a fairly uniform yellow colour.
3. Use a small pan, a pan that has a flat bottom. Place it on very low heat. Add a few drops of oil and spread it around the pan.
4. Ladle into the pan enough egg mixture to cover the whole pan without you having to tilt it. If the egg bubbles, splutters or gets cooked instantly, then pan is too hot. When the egg is almost cooked, flip the slice over to cook the other side. Next, flip the omelette sheet onto a plate and leave the pan off the fire for the time being. The omelette should be of the same thickness throughout, which is why the pan needs to be flat.
5. Add a new ladle of egg mixture to the pan and put it back atop the flame. When the egg is almost fully cooked and only a thin film of raw egg is left on top, remove the pan from the fire. Using the back of a spoon spread the remaining raw egg evenly over the entire surface of the omelette sheet.
6. Stack the first omelette sheet onto the one in the pan and return the pan to the fire. Press down with a flat spatula to ensure the raw egg is evenly distributed and after about ten seconds when the two sheets have fused into one, flip them back onto the plate.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 adding more layers until almost all the raw egg mixture is used up and you end up with a block of Tamagoyaki as shown here. During the whole process add oil as required.
8. Cut the block exactly into two halves. Smear a thin film of the remaining raw egg mixture on the top of one half-block and place the other half-block back in the pan, again on low heat. Next, position the hot block onto the other block with the cut ends on the same side and press down firmly. The idea is to let the hot egg cook the film of raw egg to cement the two blocks together.
9. Allow the new tall block to cool and then wrap it in cling film. Sandwich it between two plates in the fridge. When the Tamagoyaki is cold, pad it dry with some kitchen towels, trim away the uneven bits at the edges and then cut the block into mini-bricks.
10. Wrap each brick with a strip of dried Nori seaweed. The Nori should overlap at the bottom and a dab of water will suffice to join the two ends. This allows your guests to eat their Tamagoyaki with their bare hands if they wish.

Notes

• Ideally you should use a Makiyakinabe pan. This is a pan that has three vertical sides and is rectangular in shape, as shown here. Modern ones are now made of non-stick material. Your next best alternative is one of those small pans for frying one egg at a time.
• You definitely want to avoid burning the egg. A slightly browned patches are ok, but no more than that. You can notice in the top picture there is a brown line running along my Tamagoyaki, which is what will happen if your fire is too strong. Using a low flame may not be enough. Move the pan away from the fire often and make frequent use of the residual heat to cook the egg. Also, only pour in the raw egg mixture after removing the pan from the fire. Patience wins the day.
• You also want to cook the egg evenly. To do this move the pan around so the fire is not concentrated on one spot for too long. This also prevents the egg from getting burnt.
• You can skip step 8 depending on how big your pan is, how many Tamagoyaki bricks you want to end up with and how tall you’d like them to be.
• If you have no Hon Dashi, you can substitute in 1/4 cup of any kind of (salted) stock you fancy.
• If you have no Mirin you can boil 4T Sake with a dab of maple syrup down to 2T to make your own substitute.
• If you are into Japanese egg recipes, two others I have on this site are: Steamed Chawanmushi and Runny Yolk Eggs for Ramen.

 

Rich White Chicken Ramen

(serves 3)
This is a relatively easy way to make an impressive rich chicken stock for Ramen, on par with those in Ramen restaurants. You won’t need to grind bones and slave over the simmering stock for hours, simply by using soy milk as the secret ingredient. A lazy man’s Torikotsu Ramen if you will. The Chicken Chashu and Caramelized Leek used in this recipe give this Ramen its own character.   

Ingredients 

1. Chicken Wings (8)
2. Chicken Breast (2 halves)
3. Ramen Noodles (3 servings)
4. Bacon (3 slices)
5. Soy Milk (1.5 cups)
6. Eggs (3)
7. Leek (1)
8. Hon Dashi
9. Soya Sauce
10. Chicken Stock Cube (1)
11. Sesame Oil
12. Sesame Seeds
13. Coriander Seed Powder

The Night Before 

1. Rinse the wings, they must be whole, not just the mid-joint. Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a pot. Place the wings into the boiling water together with 3 slices of bacon.
2. Cut the leek into half. It should be at least 1 inch in diameter, or else use more than 1 leek to compensate. Place the top half with the leafy portion into the pot and retain the lower half for later use. Keep the pot on a very low simmer for an hour and then leave covered overnight.
3. Brine the 2 pieces of chicken breasts in a solution of 4T salt and 4t soft brown sugar dissolved in 4 cups of cold water. Make sure all the meat is submerged and keep them in the fridge overnight. (refer to the link in the notes below if you haven’t done this before)
4. Boil some water in a different pot and place 3 eggs in the boiling water for 7 minutes and then straight into iced water. This is to get the yolks runny but the whites cooked, the so-called Ajitama style egg. Shell the eggs carefully and soak them in a solution of 1T of soya sauce and 0.5t of soft brown sugar in 1 cup of water. Keep them in the fridge overnight as well. (again refer to the link in the notes if you haven’t done this before)

The Next Day

1. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer again. Boil until the volume is reduced to about 3 cups. In the meanwhile…
2. Rinse the brined chicken breasts thoroughly and marinate in 2T sesame oil, 1t Chinese Wine, 1t coriander seed powder and 2T sesame seeds.
3. Take the boiled eggs out of the fridge and allow them to warm to room temperature.
4. Julienne the remaining half of the leek. Pan fry the leek in 4T of oil until they are light brown. The leek should continue to darken for a while after your turn off the fire.
5. Pour the stock through a strainer to remove any sediment, discard all the solids. Pour the filtered stock back into the pot. Add 1 chicken stock cube, 2t of Hon Dashi and 0.5t of sugar, followed by 1.5 cups of soya milk. Bring to a simmer again.
6. Remove and reserve half the crispy leek from the pan for later use as garnishing. Add some of your chicken soup to the pan with the other half of the crispy leek, stir and pour everything back into the soup pot.
7. Arrange the sesame seeds in the marinade onto the chicken breasts like a crust. In a toaster oven, cook the chicken breasts for 10 minutes at 150oC followed by another 10 min at 200oC. Alternatively you can roast them for about 13 minutes in a regular oven preheated to 180oC. In either case the chicken is done when it begins to shrink. Check visually to make sure you don’t over cook.
8. Allow the breasts to rest and when at room temperature slice them as shown below. Deglaze the baking tray with some of your chicken soup and pour everything back into the soup pot.
9. When the soup has been reduced to 3 cups again, skim off any film that has formed on the surface and it is ready for use. Check for taste and add a bit of water or salt as needed; remember that Ramen soup has to be more salty than regular soup.
10. Cook the raw noodles in a separate pot of boiling water. Strain the noodles and separate them into 3 large bowls. Add boiling soup and top off with the chicken slices, the crispy leek and the eggs sliced in half.

Notes

• If your chicken breast came with the breast bone, cut this out carefully and boil it with the wings. In fact any chicken bones you have on hand can be added to the stock pot. They will increase the gelatin content of your stock. 
• Your soya milk should not be of the sweetened variety. It’s the type some people add to their coffee in place of creamer.
•  If you are unfamiliar with brining, you can refer to this page (but ignoring the poaching part).
• If you are unfamiliar with making runny yolk eggs, you can refer to this page (but ignoring the optional part).
• Use whatever type of noodles you like but if you want to be authentic and can’t find real raw ramen noodles, you can make ramen noodles out of spaghetti following the procedure from this page.