Tag Archives: rice

anime, Asian food, geek corner, main dish, meat & fish

Food Envy

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Katsudon

A bad and all the same wonderful thing about watching anime is all the food. You agree? Just think about all the delicious looking pictures: Simplified just enough so you will recognise the dish, but the colours beautiful and bright, every little detail a perfect masterpiece, and you can nearly smell the rising steam. Equally awful is watching the characters indulge in said dish with their beaming eyes and an excited “oishii!“ that in bad times nearly makes me swoon.

Yes, whilst watching anime it’s easy catch food envy. The praised Katsudon (pork cutlet rice bowl) in the latest hype “Yuri!!! on Ice“ is another example out of many. Luckily you can make it yourself at home. Easy and good. It might not look quite picture-perfect as on TV, but the flavour will make up for it. 

Katsudon

Katsudon — Pork Cutlet Bowl

Ingredients for 2 generous portions

  • 2 pork cutlets without bone
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbsp potato starch or flour
  • panko or bread crumbs
  • 1 tbsp oil for frying
  • 1 onion, cut into rings
  • 1 spring onion, peeled and cut into rings
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 2 servings of freshly steamed rice

Crack one egg onto a plate and mix it thoroughly. Put the starch on a second plate and the panko on a third. Mix the soy sauce and mirin in a bowl. Wash the pork cutlets, pat dry them dry with kitchen paper and crumb it. For that turn it first in the starch, then in the egg mixture and finally in the panko.

Heat the oil in a pan. Put in the cutlets and fry them on medium heat for 5 minutes. Flip them over and fry for another 5 minutes.

Get the pork out of the pan, and get in the onion and the white part of the spring onion. Fry for about one minute then add the soy sauce and mirin mixture. Cook for another 3 minutes.

Cut the pork into bite-sized stripes. Roughly mix the remaining two eggs. Put the cutlets back into the pan and pour the eggs over it. Cover the pan with a lid and let it cook for about two more minutes until the egg just has solidified.

Divide the rice onto two bowls, cover with the pork and finish with the remaining, green part of the spring onions and some sesame if you like. Enjoy.

Asian food, main dish, meat & fish

Let’s celebrate!

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It is time for a party. And we truly need it. The year is almost over, the cosy winter solstice is right ahead and with the brighter days afterwards it just seems likely to dedicate a feast to life itself. To sitting together, to laughing, and – because what would a good party be without it, eh? – a lovely and highly enjoyable meal.

Today a little less traditional and far from goose and Christmas duck; these delicious roasts I want to attend to without traditions implying it to me, even if they may ask for it all so quietly. Let’s just have a look at the rest of the culinary season and discover venison. Beautiful and gorgeous in its dark, and almost purplish-coloured, red tone and spicy in its very own and special way it is quite a good fit for such a feast. And it even goes well with the Southeast Asian flavours, that I adore so much.

Reh Teriyaki

Simply marinated, sizzled in a generous amount of good butter (because especially on Christmas we please do not want to start skimping on that one!) and finally served on perfumy, steaming rice along some gari, spring onions, sesame and a fine sauce it truly is a delight. And it is my contribution to Zorra’s eleventh culinary Advent calendar.

Venison Teriyaki on Rice

Kulinarischer Adventskalender 2015 - Tuerchen 20Ingredients for 2 portions

  • 250 g venison
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 3 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp sake
  • 2 tbsp mirin
  • some wasabi paste
  • 1 additional tbsp butter
  • 1-2 spring onions
  • 2 portions freshly steamed Japanese short grain rice
  • some gari
  • some sesame

Let the venison adapt to room temperature first, then wash it and pat it dry. Heat up the tbsp butter in an pan on medium to high heat. As soon as it foams and starts to turn brown, add the meat and fry it shortly on each side, all the way around. Let it fry for 1-3 more minutes so it still will be at least medium rare in the middle.

Mix soy sauce, sake, mirin and wasabi and pour in into the pan. Switch heat down to medium and let it cook down a bit. Add the rest of the butter and let it melt in the sauce. Turn over the meat in the pan so it will be covered with the sauce, that should have thickened by now, and put the pan off the stove. Get out the meat and let it rest for a minute.

Meanwhile chop the spring onions into rings and divide the freshly steamed rice onto two bowls.

Cut the venison into thin slices and arrange them on the rice, adding the gari, the onions and some sesame for garnish. Pour the sauce over it and enjoy.

Reh Teriyaki

anime, Asian food, geek corner, main dish, meat & fish

Fried Mackerel with Egg on Rice

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Saba Tamagoyaki Don

Under water the world is silent. The sun casts its beams through the ever changing surface that cheerfully dance on the ground. They call out to us, wanting us to join them. The blue of the water, sometimes grey as steel and hazy, sometimes turquoise and bright, allures us to dive in. Sometimes I dream about the lively roaring sea with its waves. But tamed, I have to admit, I prefer it for swimming: In the pool, with solid ground under my feet and an envious eye on the well-trained swimmers around me. I swim my laps, duck under and feel connected to the water – a place where I’ve always felt at home. No wonder, that I fell in love with an anime series about swimming a while ago. And in honor of Free! I’ll be cooking mackerel today – the main character Haruka Nanase’s most favourite food.

The mackerel is a somewhat inconspicuous fish, but actually with a gorgeous patterning in all shades of blue and silvery grey. We should eat it much more often and stay away from creamy salmon and firm tuna from time to time. Mackerel has a much more “fish-like” taste and a very unique flavor that is easily tamed by spring onions and ginger. And it is so easily prepared, that it is almost too simple: Just cut in chunks, marinated and fried it is a delight and perfect for another one of my beloved “donburi” – bowls of rice with “stuff on top”.

Saba Tamagoyaki Don

“Saba Tamagoyaki Don” – Fried Mackerel with Egg on Rice

Inspired by Free! and Free! Eternal Summer

Ingredients for 2 portions

For the fried mackerel:

  • 2-3 mackerel filets
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sake or sherry
  • 1/2 tbsp mirin
  • 2 tbsp potato starch
  • 500-1000 ml oil for frying

For the tamagoyaki:

  • 3 medium sized eggs
  • 1-2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp mirin
  • some oil

Additionally:

  • freshly steamed sushi rice
  • chopped spring onion, gari, lime juice and/or sesame for garnish

Wash the mackerel filets and remove remaining bones. You might probably find them running alongside the middle of the filets and some might also stick in the top part. Cut the fish into bite-sized chunks and mix them with the soy sauce, sake, and mirin. Let them rest in the frigde for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare the tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette): Mix up the eggs with the soy sauce and the mirin. Put a tamagoyaki pan on high heat (any regular pan will work too, but it is best with a rectangular pan), add a thin layer of oil and pour in about one quarter of the egg mixture. As soon as the top surface of the egg starts to turn solid, roll up the omelette by flapping it over for 3 times or so. Push it to one side of the pan, add another thin layer of oil and pour in the second quarter of egg. Shortly lift up the egg roll from before so egg can spread under that too and as soon as the surface starts to turn solid again flip and roll up the roll again. Repeat until all the egg mixture is used up and you have a nice egg roll in the pan. Making tamagoyaki is a very quick process – you shouldn’t need more than 10 minutes for everything. Remove the pan from the stove and flip the tamagoyaki onto a bamboo mat. Roll it up to wrap the egg roll in it and set aside.

Get the fish out of the fridge and let it drain. Roll the fish chinks in the potato starch so that they are covered all around and let them reach room temperature. Pour the frying oil in a pot and heat up to 170°C. Carefully let the fish chunks slip into the hot oil and fry them for 2-3 minutes until they are golden-brown and crunchy. Don’t crowd the fish pieces in the oil. If necessary work in batches. Let them drain on a kitchen towel.

Fill two serving bowls with rice and top it with the mackerel. Unwrap the tamagoyaki, cut in into short pieces and divide them onto the bowls. Quickly serve it with some gari, chopped spring onions, sesame and lime juice.

Saba Tamagoyaki Don

main dish, meat & fish

The Regard of Simple Things

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Rice with Salmon and Eggs

Life is precious. And if we don’t keep an eye on it it will flash by. How often do we let annoyances stop us in our doings and end up not observing the small but good things in life. But aren’t those small things the best? A cup of tea in the morning, a bitter-sweet soundtrack at work, a vespertine stroll in the woods that are glowing in their autumnal dress right now. A kind word, an embrace, a meeting with dear friends… or a simple bowl of rice with salmon and egg. Actually a food out of leftovers from yesterday, but still so good today – so comforting and delicious – that it would be a shame not to respect them.

I made this dish out of leftover rice and leftover butter-fried salmon from the previous day. But you also can use freshly steamed rice and just fry the salmon freshly as well. You can use raw and finely chopped salmon too, if you like… or you can even use smoked fish just as well.

Rice with Salmon and Eggs

„Not Really a Recipe“ Bowl of Rice with Salmon and Scrambled Eggs

Ingredients for 2 portions

  • 150 g salmon, fried in butter (or finely diced raw salmon or a few slices of smoked salmon)
  • 2 portions steamed sticky rice, fresh or from the previous day
  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2-3 eggs
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

Use a fork or a pair of chopsticks to break the salmon filet into small pieces. Loosen up the rice with a spoon and mix it with the vinegar. Crack the eggs into a bowl and roughly mix them with the soy sauce. Heat up the sesame oil in a pan, add the egg mixture an stir while you let the eggs set. As soon as that happens add the rice, quickly stir and then add the salmon. Mix gently and divide into two bowls. Best served warm with a Japanese green tea.

Rice with Salmon and Eggs

main dish

The Comfort of the Simple Things: Roasted Mushroom Risotto

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Autumn

The Octobre sun shines on the world and bathes the nature in the most beautiful way we can imagine: bright and colourful! Golden shades of orange, luminous red and somewhere in between the cool green of the conifers delight the eyes and tempt even couch potatoes like me to go outside. So I take my multicoloured scarf and a warm jacket, take my man by the hand and go into the woods to spy on nut-hunting squirrels (and to happily cheer out of joy if we happen to spot one).

Pilz

The mushrooms are busily growing already, huddled against moss-overgrown logs or nestled down in rustling autumn foliage… ready to be picked up by skilfull strollers to be sizzled in good butter back home. We don’t really know about mushrooms so we let them grow and rather pick them at the farmer’s market. These days the selection is wonderfully huge and so I choose a variety of those small-grown ones I adore to take them home with us. Those are packed with the same flavour as their big fellows but can just be tossed into the pan without having to be cut in pieces beforehand.

Today we’ll cook risotto; something we usually prepare together. One stirs in the big, steaming pot, the other one takes care of the necessary glass of wine and the mushrooms. We just love to cook them in a simple way: In lots of butter and today with a little bit of crispy bacon, sweet honey and a generous gulp of warming Cognac with perfumy thyme and garlic on top. Added to the creamy risotto they are just perfect this way and again a proof for the comfort that comes with the simple things. Life is good!

mushroom risotto

mushroom risotto

Roasted Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients for 2 portions 

For the risotto:

  • 150-200 g risotto rice
  • 1 glass dry white wine
  • 1/2 liter broth
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 onion or shallot
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 generous tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 small hand full freshly grated Parmesan

For the mushroom:

  • 100 g mixed mushrooms of your choice
  • 4 slices of bacon
  • 1/2 tbsp butter
  • 50 ml Cognac
  • 1-2 tsp honey
  • 4 branches of thyme
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 generous pinch of salz
  • some chili powder

Heat up the broth for the risotto in a pot. Peel the garlic and the onions and chop them finely. Gently heat up the olive oil in a pot over medium temperature and add the garlic and onion. Let them cook gently for about 5 minutes and stir occasionally. Meanwhile prepare the mushrooms: Also peel and chop the garlic, cut the bacon in stripes, clean the mushrooms, and cut larger ones in half or in quarters.  But the bacon into a pan and let it sizzle on medium temperature until it gets crisp.

Add the rice to the garlic and onion pieces in to pot, let it fry a second than pour the white wine over it. Add one ladle of broth and let the rice cook on medium temperature while stirring from time to time. As soon as the broth has almost fully been absorbed by the rice add another ladle of broth and keep on cooking and stirring from time to time. Repeat for about 15 minutes or until the broth is used up.

Meanwhile the bacon should be done: Fish it out of the pan and let it drain on a kitchen towel. Turn the temperature up a little bit and add the butter to the bacon fat. As soon as the fat start to smoke slightly add the mushrooms and fry them. After 2 mintutes they should already have browned a bit and after 5 minutes they should let go a bit of the fat that they have soaked up earlier. Deglaze them with the Cognac now, add honey, garlic, thyme and condiments, stir one more time and set the pan aside.

Try the rice and check if it is done or needs a bit more cooking time. It should still be just a little bit al dente and should make “creamy waves” in the pot, when you stir. If it needs a little bit more time or fluids add one more ladle of broth or water if the broth is used up. Is the risotto done switch off the stove, add butter, Parmesan and half of the mushrooms to it, stir shortly. Put the lid onto the pot and let the risotto rest für 2 minutes.

Divide it onto two plates, top it with the rest of the mushrooms, the crunchy bacon and some more freshly grated Parmesan. Serve quickly with a glass of wine.

mushroom risotto

main dish, meat & fish

Daydreams in the Grass…

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Do you remember? Back in the old days our world was so simple. Our real problems seemed so small to us and our little worries were so meaningful. We used to lie in the grass, giggling, arms and legs outstretched, and holding hands. And we stared into the sky, carefree. We counted the fluffy clouds that passed by and lovingly bickered about if that one looked more like a rabbit or like a unicorn. On that day our biggest concern was if there still was some ice cream in the freezer and that we had to leave for home eventually. We made plans for our future that should never happen this way, built castles in the air out of dreams and wishes whilst understanding each other without words. Continue reading Daydreams in the Grass… →

Asian food, how-to, pantry

Stocking up the pantry: Japanese basic ingredients, part 1

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„Miss Zuckerwatte, I want to start cooking Japanese. What do I need for that?“. A good question. When I started to work myself into the Japanese kitchen a few years back, I was overwhelmed by all the possibilities –  and simultaneous desperate by the fact that German sources on this kitchen are quite rare.  By now I am surprised over and over how few different ingredients I really cook with, when I am cooking Japanese. Every time I use the same sauces and spices – the variation of the different dishes come from the fresh ingredients and the cooking method I choose. Continue reading Stocking up the pantry: Japanese basic ingredients, part 1 →