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Chicken Kara-age with Kabocha Rice

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Chicken Karaage Recipe

Fried chicken known as Kara-age is a very popular dish in Japan.  While it maybe deep-fried, it’s not greasy. The word Kara comes from the word empty, meaning there is no batter, and this recipe is simply an appetizing combination of garlic, ginger, soy, sake, sesame oil and cornstarch.  

During hot summer months when our garden is ripe with tomato and cucumbers, I like to serve kara-age along kabocha rice and a simple salad of tomato and cucumber tossed with ponzu sauce and freshly, chopped shiso leaves.  You will be surprised how well they all go together.

Gather up all of your ingredients.

Chicken Karaage Ingredients

Cut chicken into small pieces for frying and marinate for about 10-15 minutes.

Marinate Chicken

Get all your ingredients for the rice ready.

Kabocha Rice Ingredients

Add the squash to the rice just before cooking.

Cook Kabocha Sqaush

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do, and please leave a comment if you have any questions!

Chicken Karaage
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Chicken Karaage

Japanese style fried chicken.

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 600 grams chicken thigh with skin on, cut into 16 pieces
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sake
  • 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh, grated ginger
  • 2 gloves grated garlic
  • 1/3 cup corn starch
  • Oil For Frying as needed

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, soy, sake, sesame oil, ginger and garlic. Set it aside for 10-15 minutes to marinate.

  2. In a medium pot,  add oil to about 1 inch deep and set it on medium heat. 

  3. Add cornstarch to chicken and mix well. 

  4. When the oil is approximately 375 degree, deep fry chicken until golden brown. 

  5. Best if served hot.

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Kabocha Rice

Steam rice with kabocha squash

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 cup white rice
  • 1 1/4 cup water
  • `1 cup Kabocha, peeled, cored and cut into bite sizes
  • 2 tablespoon sake
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • toasted black sesame seeds for garnish

Instructions

  1. Wash rice and drain well. Add one 1 ¼ cup of water to rice and set it aside for 15-30 minutes.

  2. In a rice cooker, add rice with water, sake, mirin and salt. Set kabocha on top of rice and cook according to your rice cooker.   

  3. When rice is cooked, fluff the rice and serve with sprinkle of black sesame seeds.  

Recipe Notes

Note: You may substitute Kabocha with sweet potato or chestnuts to make a delicious autumn rice.  

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Japanese Potato Salad

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Japanese Potato Salad Recipe


Japanese Potato Salad 

This is everyone’s favorite salad at Tanpopo Noodle Shop as we often served it for staff meals. And believe it or not, it’s also a very popular side dish in Japan. Often, you’ll find a side of potato salad in your bento box or at deli in grocery store. In this version, the potatoes are lightly mashed and tossed with Japanese mayonnaise, cucumber, hard boiled eggs and onions.  

Peel your potatoes and cut them into smaller pieces so they cook faster.

Cutting Potatoes

 

Start with the potatoes in cold water, bring  to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. The potatoes should be soft but not overcooked.

Boil Potatoes

Lightly mash the potatoes.

Thinly slice cucumbers and onions. Combined all ingredients and season with salt and pepper as desired.

Slice Cucumebers

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Japanese Potato Salad

This is everyone’s favorite salad at Tanpopo Noodle Shop as we often served for staff meals. This is a Japanese style potato salad where potatoes are mashed and tossed with Japanese mayonnaise, cucumber, hard boiled eggs and onions. Enjoy.  

Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes

Ingredients

  • 900 grams Yukon Gold potatoes
  • 1/4 cup Japanese Mayonaise
  • 1/8 cup Rice Vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon Salt
  • pinch Black Pepper
  • 4 eggs Hard Boiled
  • 1/3 cucumber Thinly Sliced English or Japanese Cucumber
  • 1/4 onion Thinly Sliced Onion

Instructions

  1. Fill a medium size pot with cold water and add potatoes. Bring the water to a boil and reduce the heat to low and gently cook the potatoes until soft, about 15-20 minutes.  

  2. While the potatoes are cooking, boil 4 eggs to make hard boiled eggs. Cool and slice.  

  3. Remove the seeds off the cucumber and slice them thin. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set it aside. Slice the onion very thin and also sprinkle with a pinch of salt and set it aside for about 5 minutes. When cucumbers and onions are soft, squeeze out excess water and keep them in a fridge. 

  4. When the potatoes are soft and tender, remove the pot from the heat and drain all water. While the potatoes are hot mash them fine then add mayonnaise, vinegar and salt, mix well. Let it cool in the fridge.  

  5. When the potatoes are cold, add sliced cucumber, onion and hard boiled egg and mix well. Adjust seasoning with salt pepper and more mayonnaise. Serve cold. 

 

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Okonomiyaki

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Bacon Okonomiyki

“As You Like” Savory Pancake

Summer is time for abundance and we have a delicious recipe using cabbage.  These simple, savory pancakes were born after the war in Japan when there was a shortage of rice.  Decades later they are as popular as ever. There are even restaurants in Japan specializing in okonomiyaki and many Japanese restaurants in America have the dish on their menus.

Okonomiyaki means “as you like” and as the name suggest, add the ingredients of your choice to create your own original pancake.  Here in the US where we live, very thin slices of pork belly that are traditionally used can be hard to find, but bacon makes a delicious substitute.

 

Cooking Okonomiyaki

Bacon Okonomiyki
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Okonomoyaki

Originating from Osaka, Okonomiyaki is a savory pancake made from shredded cabbage, flour and a variety of ingredients. 

Ingredients

  • 1/2 head Shredded Cabbage
  • 8 strips Bacon, about 5 inches in length
  • 1 cup Tempura flour or Okonomiyaki flour
  • 1 cup water or dashi stock
  • 4 teaspoon vegetable oil
  • Pinch Sakura Ebi ( as desired )
  • Japanese Mayonaise
  • As Needed Bonito Flakes
  • As Needed Shichimi Pepper

Instructions

  1. Mix tempura flour and dashi or water to make a batter in a consistency of pancake batter.  

  2. Add shredded cabbage and dried shrimp (if using) to the batter and mix well. If the batter seems too wet, add more flour. If too thick, add more water.

  3. Heat frying pan on medium heat. Add 1 teaspoon of cooking oil then lay two pieces of bacon. When bacon starts to sizzle, add one quarter of cabbage mixture on top of bacon and cook on low heat until bottom surface is slightly brown. Flip the pancake using spatula and cook the other side about 5 minutes on low heat. When cabbage is soft and tender and cooked through, set the pancake on a warm plate.  

  4. Cook three more pancakes.  

  5. Serve individual okonomiyaki on a plate. Top it with Tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise and sprinkle of bonito flakes. Serve warm.  

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Shio Koji Marinated Salmon

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shio koji salmon

Here’s a quick recipe for salmon marinated in shio koji. If you are unfamiliar with koji, it’s a type of mold that is used to make sake and miso. In sake production, koji is added to cooked rice and is responsible for the conversion of the starches present in rice into fermentable sugars.

Shio Koji

Shio Koji

When combined with salt it also makes a great marinade that enhances flavor and tenderizes. The texture is similar to fish marinated with miso, but the flavor is lighter. So if you don’t want to over power piece of fish or meat with a miso marinade, try using shio koji.

If you are able to find shio koji, this recipe quick and easy.

Recipe for Shio Koji Broiled Salmon

Ingredients:

Fresh salmon steak
Shio Koji Marinade

Directions:

Preparing Koji Marinated Salmon

Preparing Koji Marinated Salmon

 

  1. In a small bowl combine 1 part shio koji to 10 parts salmon. In my case, the salmon steak weighed about 600 grams, so I added about 60 grams of the shio koji marinade.
  2. Allow to marinate for 3-4 hours in the refrigerator.
  3. Broil and serve.

 

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Chicken Katsu

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Chicken Katsu

Chicken Katsu

One of those family favorites and a classic of Japanese home-style cooking. The Bull Dog brand tonkatsu sauce is a must have with this dish. Serve with grated cabbage, rice and miso soup.

 

Recipe for Chicken Katsu

Ingredients:

1. Chicken breast, de-boned and skinned
2. Soy bean oil
3. Flour
4. Eggs
5 Salt and Pepper
6. Panko bread crumbs
7. Tonkatsu sauce
8. Lemon slice

Directions:

Chicken Katsu prepping station
1. Fillet the chicken breast so they have an even thickness. If the chicken is thicker than 1/4 inch you will prolong the cooking time and the breading may become too brown. We are looking for a nice golden brown when done cooking. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Prepare your station. You will need a bowl or flour, lightly beat eggs and some panko.

3. If the chicken is overly moist, the breading will not stick well. Pat dry with  a paper towel if needed.

Breading Chicken Katsu

Breading Chicken Katsu

4. Dust the each chicken breast with flour, lightly dip in the egg, and apply the panko breading.

5. Deep fry in 350 degree soy bean oil until done. Cooking time is about 4 minutes, but slice them before serving and check to see that they are properly cooked.

6. That’s it.

 

 

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Do You Dulse?

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Dulse

Dulse

Seaweed, kelp and the many variations of sea vegetables are so common in Japanese cooking, I was pleasantly surprised to try this red kelp with a long history in European cooking. It’s savory, beaming with umami and a near certified super food. I sprinkled a little on my salad the other night, and it was delicious. It’s rich, savory taste makes it a versatile, flavor enhancer to many dishes. Go ahead. Do a little dulse.

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Fermented Cabbage , Beets & Ginger

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This one will take about two weeks for good fermentation. When finished it should it should be tart with a mild beet taste. You can vary the amount of freshly grated ginger to your liking.

Recipe for Fermented Cabbage, Beets and Ginger

Ingredients:

1-2 heads cabbage , shredded
1 medium beet , grated
2 tablespoons grated ginger
Diamond Crystal salt

Directions:

1. Grate cabbage, beet and ginger using a mandolin. Careful!
2. Using a digital scale, weigh the the cabbage, beets and ginger. For fermentation, I always weigh the ingredients by the gram and multiply the total amount .025 to get the proper amount of salt.
3. Now place the shredded cabbage, beets and ginger in a large bowl and sprinkle evenly with salt. Let this sit for about 30 minutes.
4. Compress the cabbage by gently squeezing the cabbage. I do this to reduce the volume and make it easier to get all the ingredients submersed in the brine.
5. Place all the ingredients into an air-lock container. Place a large plate or pickle weight on the top. For lacto fermentation, you want an anaerobic environment or the absence of oxygen. I once wrote lengthy HACCP plan for fermenting kimchi, so if you want more details about fermentation safety – send me a message.
6. Let this sit out for about 3-5 days. It should become noticeably acidic.  If you have a ph meter, 4.2 is ideal but anything below 4.6 is considered acidified.
7. Once you’ve reach the right acidity, transfer to mason jars and store in your refrigerator.
8. That’s it!

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Pickled Cucumbers with Shiso

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Pickled Cucumber with Shiso

 

This is the time of year for serious pickling and canning. The farmers markets are approaching their peak and it’s easy to get your hands on a large bucket of cucumbers for a modest price. If you can find Japanese cucumbers even better, but the small to medium sized cucumbers sold for dill pickles are great when in season.

Tsukemono Recipe: Pickled Cucumbers with Shiso

Ingredients:
1-2 pounds of pickling cucumbers washed and sliced
kosher salt
1-2 inch strip of konbu
Brine:
2/3 cup shiso vinegar
2/3 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Directions:
1. Weigh the cucumbers on a digital scale in grams. Multiply this number by .035. This is how much salt you will need. For example, 1000 grams of cucumbers will require 35 grams of kosher salt
2. Sprinkle the cucumbers evenly with salt and add konbu. Place the cucumbers in a large bowl and cover with a heavy plate. Store in the refrigerator overnight, and then gently squeeze and drain cucumbers of excess brine using a strainer.
3. Combine all brine ingredients in a sauce pan and heat up until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved. Let the brine cool.
4. Add brine to the cucumbers. You’ll need enough brine to cover the cucumbers. Let the pickles sit for a day in the refrigerator before serving.

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Red Shiso Vinegar

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Red Shiso Vinegar

Nice flavored vinegar for making pickled daikon and pickled cucumbers and more.

Shiso Vinegar Recipe

Ingredients:

3-4 cups rice vinegar
1 bunch red shiso leaves washed, trimmed and coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Combine vinegar and shiso in a clean glass jar. Allow to sit in the refrigerator for 3-4 days until it reaches desired strength.
2. Strain and store. I usually keep it in the refrigerator.

Sources/Inspirations: The pickles you find at a Japanese grocery store.

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