SCC's Japanese Home Cooking Edition: Land of the Rising Sarah

Hello friends! Here's some new and daring info! Did you know that Japan produces something besides electronics and anime porn of girls with cat ears? (Here's looking at you, everyone I went to college with...) It does! Specifically, my awesome friend Sarah! She got here when she was 18 and since then has TAKEN AMERICA BY STORM. By that I mean, we are friends and she cooks crazy awesome. Usually, when you think about Japanese food, you think of sushi, but Sarah, authentic Japanese person™ decided to take things a different route.





For her Supper Club, Sarah cooked every day Japanese style comfort food, the type of thing that mothers usually cook for their kids and families. Think of it as the Japanese version of meatloaf or mac and cheese, (except, ya know way more awesome because it's Japanese and by nature they do everything better than us,). Anyway, it was totally different than what I thought was usually served in a Japanese household, but as always, it was nothing short of being delicious!



Japanese Potato Salad

5 potatoes
rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp of sugar
canola oil
Persian or Japanese cucumber
carrots
1/2 an onion
Japanese mayo

Steam or boil the potatoes until soft. While potatoes are being cooked, make french dressing by mixing rice wine vinegar with canola oil and some sugar. For every 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, use 2 tablespoons of canola oil. Taste the dressing and make sure it is not overly sweet.

Whisk the dressing together. Remove the skin of the potatoes and mash them while hot.
Add the dressing in it while it is hot and mix with some black pepper and salt. Slice cucumber and sprinkle with salt. Let it sit for a little bit and then squeeze out the excess moisture.

Thickly slice the carrots and put it in the microwave with some water to soften it up so it is not crunchy. Thinly slice the onions and soak it and rinse the onion to remove overly onion-y flavor. Add the cucumber slices, carrot slices and onion slices to the potato/dressing mixture. Mix all together. Add 1/2 cup of Japanese mayo. You can add more or less mayonnaise depending on your taste. Keep refrigerated.


Chicken Katsu

chicken breast tenders
oil for frying
flour
Japanese panko
egg
milk



Take pieces of chicken tender, dredge in flour, then in beaten egg mixed with a little bit of milk and then finally in the panko. Make sure you pat the chicken in the panko so the panko sticks firmly to the chicken.

Heat oil (canola or vegetable works). To see if temperature is high enough, throw a piece of panko crumb and if it starts sizzling the oil is hot enough. Deep fry chicken pieces until they are golden brown. Serve with tonkatsu sauce (You can make your own tonkatsu sauce by mixing ketchup with worcestire sauce 1 to 1 ratio).


Beef Curry

veal bone (1 medium size)
beef chunks (they sell it as "stew" meat, but you can use any meat for curry)
2 onions
garlic
2 carrots
2 potatoes
Japanese curry roux blocks (You can find them here: http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com)


Roast veal bone in a shallow roasting pan in the oven for about 20-30 minutes. While it is being browned, saute sliced onions and minced garlic together until the onions are caramelized. Transfer into a deep pot. Brown the beef separately and add to the pot. Once the veal bone is roasted, also add that to the pot. Follow the instructions on the curry pack to see how much water to put in. I put in about 1.5 Liters.

Put a lid on the pot and let it stew for as long as possible. I stewed mine for close to 3 hours. Once in a while, remove the scum that has accumulated at the surface of the pot. After you are done stewing the meat with the veal bones, remove the veal bones and add the potatoes and carrot. Stew for another 30 minutes. When potatoes are soft, turn off the heat, add the curry blocks and mix. Turn the heat back on for a little and serve hot with rice.




Christa's Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches
I came up with the idea for these after I made waaay too many waffles and had no idea what to do with them. Admittedly, they have nothing to do with Japanese food, but they were awesome, so I feel like I get a pass.


an even # of mini waffles
(I made these using a mini waffle pan and used a
buttermilk waffle recipe, but you can use Bisquick,
or if you're really lazy, just buy a bunch of the frozen
pre-made mini waffles.)
maple ice cream
dark chocolate







Wait for waffles to cool. Melt chocolate and drizzle over waffles. Refrigerate until chocolate is hard (about an hour).

Put about 2 tbsps of ice cream on half of the waffles. Top with the remaining waffles. Wrap each one in foil and/or plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or until you are ready to serve. Bam! Waffle sandwiches!



Booze Pairings!

Choya Umeshu Plum Wine
I am not into sweet wine, but when it comes to Japanese food, especially when it comes to Sarah's spicy Japanese curry, it is a must!

Choya Plum wine is probably the easiest brand to find at your local liquor store. It is lightly sweet with great plum, apricot and peach flavors. It has a good mouth feel, a nice coat but not too thick. I highly recommend taking the label's advice and enjoying it on the rocks or mixed with a dry sparkling wine.

This wine goes very well with any spicy Asian food but works as a dessert in itself. It also comes with nice little booze soaked plums right in the bottle to munch on when you're done!


Asahi Beer
The most popular beer in Japan! Super dry and refreshing, this beer goes great with spicy food and complements the acidity of the Japanese style mashed potatoes perfectly. In my opinion, beer is the best alcohol pairing for curry, and this one sure did the job!


Sake!
This particular booze blogger has convinced herself that she is allergic to sake, but when you make this for your crew you should definitely go out and get some! Kampai !!!














Chicks/chicken; Frying, frying, frying; I have mad chopstick skillz












Wine is classier out of plastic cups; Mochi!












This has nothing to do with SSC but Sarah has the coolest nails ever; General deliciousness!


Cheers!
Christa, Phoebe and Sarah





About Sarah
Sarah grew up in Tokyo, Japan and went to International and American schools her whole life. She finished her undergrad in Northern California and is currently working towards her masters in Gastronomy at BU. She received her culinary certificate through BU last fall. She is very passionate about food and she goes by the "live to eat" mentality. Most of all, she loves to cook Japanese comfort food!

Supper Club 2: Sushi Tuesday! (1/25/11)

Sushi- my favorite overpriced undercooked food. While I love sitting at a sushi bar watching a chef, who probably apprenticed in Japan for a hundred years, expertly slice a wee piece off a semi-beautiful looking fish for a mere $12, I decided watching my best friends struggle over rice and badly cut fish would be way more fun. And it was!

Edamame, wasabi peas, sesame crackers, sashimi, and baked scallops held us over as we took turns struggling through several hundred yards of saran wrap, sticky rice and chunks of raw fish. When it was all done, though, the spread was absolutely beautiful. We were luckily to get a few pictures in before it became a mad dash of chopsticks and fingers reaching to grab a spicy tuna roll, a salmon avocado roll, or something Phoebe invented involving everything that was within her reach. I think I might have actually tasted some potato chip crumbles…

Sake shots, lots of laughter and record-breaking amounts of inappropriate conversation made us forget the sticky rice that had somehow ended up in our hair and down our shirts and like always we all left counting the moments until next Tuesday.


Things you will need for a sushi night:

Sharp knife
Bamboo sushi roller
Seran wrap
Nori (thin dried seaweed sheets used for rolling sushi)
Soy sauce
Wasabi
Chop sticks





Sushi fillings we used:

Cooked chopped shrimp
Spicy tuna salad (chopped raw tun, sriracha and Kewpie to taste)
Spicy creamy scallop salad
Raw salmon slices
Imitation crab*
Avocado slices
Jullienned cucumber
Sprouts
Jalapeno slices



*Found in freezer section of Japanese market. Rub between hands and then chop to break up and then mix with Kewpie to taste.


Jalapeno Sashimi Appetizer

salmon or yellowtail
1 part soy sauce
1 part yuzu sauce*
thinly sliced Jalapenos (if you want it spicy keep the white part, if not remove)
small two inch slices of sashimi



Combine soy and yuzu. Place jalapenos on sashimi. Drizzle soy/yuzu sauce on the fish.
*Yuzu is citrus juice that can be found at any Asian market.


Sushi rice
2 cups short grained rice
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

Rinse rice in large bowl until water is clear
Put rice in medium saucepan with 2 1/2 cups of water
Bring to boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer until water is absorbed (about 20 minutes)
Place rice in bowl and cool in refrigerator
Mix vinegar, sugar, salt and sesame seeds
When rice is cool, mix in vinegar mixture gradually


Cutting sashimi and fish for rolls

The first, and most important part is make sure you have a good knife
Slice 1/4-1/2 pieces across the grain (by slicing the fish you are making sure the cuts are even and fish stays together)
Clean knife after every slice
You want the natural lines of the fish going vertical




Spicy Creamy Scallops
1 lb scallops chopped into 1/2 inch dices
4 tablespoons Japanese mayo*
2 tablespoons Sriracha

Preheat oven to 400
Mix scallops with other ingredients
Place in baking dish
Cook for 15 minutes

*You can find Japanese mayo at any Asian grocery store. I prefer using Kewpie 1/2.




Fresh Fruit Salsa
I realize that fruit salsa isn't exactly Japanese but I felt it went the raw theme we had going.

Ingredients:
2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
1 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
2 bags cinnamon sugar pita chips

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Serve with cinnamon sugar pita chips. I usually need 2 bags.


Booze Pairing
Cocktail: Cucumber Saketini

3 ounces Hendrix gin
1 ounce sake
6 thinly sliced cucumbers

Mix gin, sake, 5 slices of cucumber and ice in cocktail shaker
Put last slice cucumber on rim of glass as garnish

Beer: Kirin
Pale golden color with lacy white head. Sweet grassy aromas with hints of citrus. Balanced and refreshing with some tartness. Clean and subtle on palate so does not clash with spicy sauces.

Wine: White
Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde Portugal $7

This slightly effervescent wine is a perfect inexpensive wine to go with sushi. Delicate enough to not overpower fish but also has a complex acidity that makes it a joy to drink. Aromas of tropical fruit, apples and white flowers.

Wine: Red
A-Z Pinot Noir

Minerals, cherries, and spice on the nose. Great rich balance of heat, fruit, and tannin on the palate. Acidity and fruit tones accentuate the rich flavors of the tuna and salmon.



Cheers!
Christa, Rachel and Phoebe


About Rachel

Rachel is the "professional drinker" of the group. She is from California but currently resides in Somerville. She graduated from Boston University's Culinary Arts program in the Fall but her true love is booze, which is why she is drinking her way through the Elizabeth Bishop and Master Sommelier programs. She has traveled the world drinking wine but her favorite spot is among her ladies...