Sliced Fried Pork on Rice bento

Ok I realize it's been quite a long time since I promised to try out the recipe from my new cookbook but in my defense I have been pretty busy lately! Also I did try the recipe last week but I've been down with a bad cold since then and haven't had a chance to post it yet. Also, I apologize because I did not have a chance to go and find a new bento box for use here in Japan so it's on a plate instead. However now I have the translated recipe and finished product ready to go! Once again it is from: 超早っ!べんとうでマジうまランチ cookbook. This recipe makes enough bento for one person .

Ingredients:
About 1 cup/200 grams of warm cooked rice
3 pieces (100 gram each) of thin sliced pork thigh (pork chop style)
1/3 cup potato starch
1/2 TBSP vegetable oil
-seasonings for pork:
1 TBSP sake
1 TBSP mirin*
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 Tsp. sugar
2 cm of Japanese yam (but US sweet potato should be ok)
-seasonings for yam:
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. butter
10 cm of leeks**
1 green pepper (small)
1 TBSP vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Fill bottom half of bento box with rice, press smooth with rice paddle.
2. Rinse yam, cut in half, then cut into 1 cm (1/2 inch) slices.
3. Place yam slices in heat resistant bowl with a little water (for steam). Add seasonings, cover with plastic wrap and heat in microwave for 2 min or until tender. Then remove.
4. Rinse leeks and then cut into 1.5 cm (1 inch) slices on a diagonal angle.
5. Rinse the pepper, slice in half, cut out stem & seeds, then slice in half again.
6. Heat 1 TBSP vegetable oil in frying pan, lay onions in on their sides in one half of pan, and green pepper slices on the other. Grill on medium heat for 1-2 min. Then flip them (they suggest using cooking chopsticks) and grill for an additional 1-2 min. Remove from heat & arrange on top of rice.
7. Take pork slices, coat in a thin layer of potato starch, if you have too much brush it back off.
8. Use a paper towel to clean out the frying pan. Then add 1/2 TBSP vegetable oil and heat the pan. Add the pork slices and grill on medium-high heat for 1 min. flip and grill an additional 1 min. When both sides are done lower temperature and grill 2 min. more (use a lid). Remove lid and raise temperature to medium heat, add sake, mirin, soy sauce, and sugar. Continue frying until liquid is absorbed, flip partway through to evenly coat. Then remove from heat.
9. Remove plastic wrap on yams, put into bento in one corner. Then place grilled meat on top. Let cool completely before placing the lid on top.

Explanations/Suggestions:

* Mirin is a japanese condiment kind of like soy sauce. It is technically a type of sake used in cooking as it has a low alcohol content compared to sake. It also contains quite a bit of sugar and has a strong taste. There are two types: Hon mirin and shin mirin. Hon mirin has alcohol, shin mirin has almost none. I have heard that they taste the same but also that shin mirin doesn't cook as well. So up to you which one to use. Here in Japan shin mirin was like impossible to find.

** Leeks if you don't already know are a type of onion but they don't have a bulb like onions normally do. In Japan they are just called 'negi' which means onion and are left at that. I have included a picture of them in case you don't know what I'm talking about.

- When I made this recipe I used 2 green peppers because in Japan they are tiny and a small US bell pepper is about the size of 2 in Japan.
- I just used the whole leek and didn't worry about it being 10 cm.
-as for the Yams I messed up on them ended up making practically an entire yam so mine ended up with too much lemon juice and not enough sugar. Also you can cook these in a pot with water in the bottom like I did instead of in the microwave.

And here are pictures of the finished product:

Cool New Cookbook

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Beef Sukiyaki

Hello again! This recipe is in the Betty Crocker Cookbook c.1973 and is one of my new favorite recipes. I found it when I was looking for some easy recipes to make here in Japan that doesn't involve an oven. A crockpot is an awesome thing but sometimes you just don't have time to do all the prep work involved and admittedly a crockpot takes longer to cook food than an oven does. This recipe is good because it is easy to make, I always have leftovers to eat the next day, and it's delicious! But I digress, the recipe is:

Economy Sukiyaki

1 lb. beef boneless round steak*
1/3 cup soy sauce <--I used 1/2 cup
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 beef bullion cube
1/2 cup boiling water
8 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced <--again I don't like so I omitted**
1 bunch green onions (about 8 medium), cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 large onions, thinly sliced <-- I omit
3 medium stalks celery, cut into diagonal slices (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 can (8 1/2 oz.) bamboo shoots, drained <-- ok I used fresh but hey I'm in Japan right?
3 oz. spinach, torn into bite-sized pieces (about 3 cups) <-- I omitted because a. hard to find spinach in japan, and b. I don't like cooked, only fresh.
3 cups hot cooked, rice <-- Its Japan so I have a rice cooker

1. Cut beef steak across grain into strips, each about 2x1/4 inch.
2. Mix soy sauce and sugar; toss with beef. Cover and refrigerate 2 hours.
3. Drain beef, reserving marinade.
4. Cook and stir beef in oil in 12 inch skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat until brown. Push beef to side of skillet.
5. Dissolve bouillon cube in water; stir into reserved marinade. Pour into skillet
6. Arrange mushrooms, onions, celery and bamboo shoots in seperate sections of the skillet.
7. Cover, simmer until beef is tender, about 10 min. Add spinich; cover & simmer 5 min. longer. Serve with rice.

Substitions:
-Beef boneless top loin steak or tenderloin for the round steak. Do not marinate. Stir in soy sauce and sugar with the boullion.

Changes I have made:
** instead of mushrooms I add about 2 medium or 3 small potatos, cubed and softened.
- I also simmer for about 30 min. once all ingredients are in, stirring a bit occassionally. This makes the sauce absorb into the ingredients and trust me it tastes better.
- I always marinate the beef. The one time I didn't marinate it the taste was much weaker than it normally is.

And once again I present you with pictures of the finished product. Enjoy!

Curry Love

Ok today's recipe is one that is near & dear to the heart of every Japanese person. Opinion polls run by Japanese companies, magazines, etc. show that the #1 food of most Japanese is Curry Rice, or as they call it kare risu. Japanese curry differs from Indian curry because it is much weaker in the spice department. Most restaurants here in Japan offer curry, and there are a lot of restaurants whose menus have mostly or all curry items.

I love Japanese curry because a. you can make a lot of curry for not much $, and b. it's really good to eat on those cold winter evenings. Not that it's winter at the moment but there's still a nippy aspect to the spring air here in Hokkaido. So when I came to Japan I noticed how popular curry was here. I've never really had curry before in the US but the cafeteria at the school, and also (as stated above) there's a lot of curry restaurants here. So I decided to make my own curry.

The curry section at the grocery store is impressive. About half an isle completely filled with curry kits. You can buy the kind that already has everything in it & all you have to do is heat it up, the kind that is already made but requires meat, and the kind I prefer. Most curry comes in block form with all the spices & thickening agents already compressed. It looks like a cube of dog food basically. One box of curry mix (about $3/4) can make enough curry for 8 people.

I usually make 'House brand Vermont Curry' which is a brand I've seen before in the US. Thus I could find english instructions for the japanese package. It comes in different strengths of spicy. Trust me when I tell you I am not a spicy loving person. So when I tell you that level 1 curry is NOT SPICY AT ALL you know I'm not downplaying it. There are 5 levels & I use level 3. Its just spicy enough to give it a little kick without being too spicy for words. Instructions from the english version of the package are as follows:

Directions: (12 Servings)
1. Cut meat or chicken, onions, potatoes and carrot into bite size. Saute in saucepan until lightly browned.
2. Add 5-3/4 Cups (1400ml, 47 fl. oz.) water and bring to boil. Cook over low to medium heat about 20 minutes, or until tender.
2. Remove from heat. Break curry sauce mix into pieces and add to saucepan.
3. Cook over low heat about 20 minutes, or until curry thickens. Serve over cooked rice or pastas.
Note: When using a half packet, please add half the amount of the ingredients mentioned (above) and 3-1/2 cups of (approx 850ml, 29 fl. oz.) of water

Here are the changes I make to that:
1. I put a lid on the pot & cook veggies + meat until veggies are soft and meat cooked.
2. I put water in a seperate pot & boil. Then I add the stuff from the pan.
3. I use about 2 2/3 cup water, not 3 1/2 cups. I like mine to be a little thicker.
4. Because the veggies are already soft I don't need to boil for 20 min. And it only takes about 10 min. for the curry to get thick after I've added the spice cubes.
5. I've only tried curry with rice, not pasta. So I've no idea how that would taste. Sorry. :P

Half of the curry package is enough to feed me & my 2 friends with leftovers for my lunch the next day. So I wouldn't worry too much about not having enough curry to go around. Please enjoy my crappy pictures for the curry & the spice cubes.

Japanese Cooking #1

So tonight I've made a dish from my Japanese Homestyle Dishes cookbook. I confess that I haven't used this book as much as I probably should. Although a good portion of the middle of the book is devoted to sushi. I have absolutely no desire to make my own sushi, lol. If I want sushi I just go down to the sushi street near the Otaru Canal. :)

This soup tastes really great, I usually eat it by itself and with a piece of buttered bread or a roll or some sort. It's light enough to eat in the summer and is comforting & hot on a cold winter day. You could also omit the chicken and make it a vegetarian dish. :)

This recipe is called: Tofu and Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vinegar
4 oz. burdock root, peeled (optional) <-- I don't put this in
8 oz. firm tofu (called 'Momen' tofu in Japan)
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
4 0z. ground chicken <-- I usually double this
1 potato, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced <-- I chunk it
1 cup daikon (japanese white radish), peeled, quartered, and thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled, quartered and thinly sliced
5 cups dashi stock or 2 1/2 teaspons instant dashi granuales disloved in 5 cups water*
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, quartered <-- I don't like mushrooms so I omit
2 spring onions, cut into sections
Seven spice chili mix or sansho powder <-- this is an essential ingredient

Directions:
1. Combine the water and vinegar in a mixing bowl. Shave the burdock root into thin, long strips and soak in the vinegar-water mixture for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse & drain.
2. Using a fork, break the tofu roughly into chunks. Set aside.
3. Heat both the oils in a saucepan over medium heat and when hot, add the chicken. Stir-fry the chicken, until just cooked, about 1 min.
4. Add the burdock root, potato, daikon, adn carrot, and stir-fry for another 2 min.
5. Add the dashi stock, soy sauce, and salt, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 4 min. Stir in the mushrooms and tofu into the soup, and simmer fo ranother 2 min. Add the spring onions and remove from the heat. Serve immediately with the seven spice chili mix or sansho powder.

*Trust me when I tell you that making your own Dashi stock is disgusting. The first time I made this recipe I made my own stock and it's basically water that you soften up dried seaweed in, then you pull out the seaweed and put a bunch of dried fish flakes in and boil. The disgusting part comes with a. fish smell, and b. you have to strain the fish flakes back out which is slimy and sticky. The instant stuff is just as good and is a lot less of a hassle. Any asian food store/japanese food section should have it.

Ok so here are some pictures of the soup. And I threw in a pic of the sansho powder in case you have trouble finding it.

Welcome to my new blog!

So I tried to create a blog title about cooking but I guess a lot of people have the same idea is me! So it was very hard to get a good website name, and so I pondered on it and it came to me. Thus CookingGiraffe was born. Haha. Who is the giraffe you say? Meet Georgie:



He was adopted last summer at the Binder Park Zoo. He has been with me when I've made some of my first cooking experiements (No I don't carry the giraffe around with me lol!). And he enjoys eating some of my tastier experiements. Haha.

Ok so basically this blog is going to be about my cooking experiments. I don't really care if anybody reads it or comments on it. It's more of a way for me to catalog recipes that I liked, how I made them, what changes I made to recipes, etc. And also what they looked like of course! I will try to list sources for my recipes if they exist (some are family copies) and also original vs. changes I made to them. If somebody does actually read this blog and wants to comment on it I say go for it! I'd love to hear what other people thought of my recipes and hear about their own ideas. But most of all I just want this blog to be fun!