Japanese Onion Soup

Ingredients

• 1/2 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 carrot, chopped
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root
• 1/4 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock
• 3 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
• 1 cup chopped fresh shiitake mushrooms
• 2 quarts water
• 1 cup baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives

Directions

1. In a large saucepan or stockpot, combine the celery, onion, carrot, ginger, garlic, and a few of the mushrooms. Add chicken stock, beef bouillon, and water. Place the pot over high heat, and bring to a rolling boil. When the mixture reaches boiling, cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook for 45 minutes.
2. Place all of the remaining mushrooms into a separate pot. When the boiling mixture is done, place a strainer over the pot with the mushrooms in it. Strain the cooked soup into the pot with the mushrooms. Discard strained materials.
3. Serve the broth with mushrooms in small porcelain bowls, and sprinkle fresh chives over the top. Use Asian soup spoons for an elegant effect.

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Posted in: Japanese,Soup

Steak Teriyaki

 

You can either pan-fry or grill this steak, either way you'll want to sear it on very high heat. If pan frying, I recommend using a large cast iron frying pan or griddle pan.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup mirin rice wine
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1/3 cup soy sauce (if cooking gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce)
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

• 1 1/2 to 2 lb flank steak or skirt steak
• Olive oil or grapeseed oil

Method

1 Combine the mirin, sake, soy sauce, sugar, and grated ginger in a large, shallow bowl. Place the steak in the marinade and let marinate for at least an hour, and up to 48 hours. If marinating for more than an hour, keep chilled until an hour before you plan to cook.

2 When ready to cook, remove steak from marinade, reserving the marinade. Place steak on a plate and set aside. Place marinade in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, or until the marinade has reduced to a thin glaze, becoming your teriyaki sauce.

Please note that if you are concerned by the idea of reusing the marinade after raw steak has been sitting in it, you will be boiling the heck out of this marinade, killing anything that may have decided to grow in it during the marinating process. Also steak isn't the same as chicken. People eat steak raw (beef carpaccio). Salmonella is not a problem with steak; it is with chicken. If you are still concerned, make twice as much marinade, and reserve half to boil down to make the sauce, using the other half as a marinade.

3 If grilling the steak, prepare your grill for high, direct heat. If pan frying, heat a large cast iron pan on high heat. If grilling oil the grill grates. Pat dry the steak. Rub a little olive oil or grapeseed oil all over it. Place the steak on the hot grill or pan. Sear for 3-5 minutes on one side, or until the side is well browned, and turn the steak over and sear the other side. Baste the steak with teriyaki sauce. When the steak is well seared on both sides, remove from the heat and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

4 Notice the direction of the grain of the steak. It should like like striations in the muscle fibers of the steak. Slice the steak in half, following the grain of the steak so that you are slicing along the grain. (This will make it easier to make cuts across the grain.) Then make thin slices (1/4-inch) against the grain and on a slight diagonal. Slicing this way will break up the muscle fibers, making this naturally tough cut of meat quite tender.

If there are juices that run out of the steak as you cut it, add the juices to the teriyaki sauce. There's lots of goodness in the steak "jus" that you don't want to waste.

Arrange on a serving plate and pour the remaining teriyaki sauce over it.

Serves 4.

Source : simplyrecipes.com

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Posted in: Beef,Japanese,Steak

Grilled Chicken & Mushroom Yakitori

Servings: Serves four

Total: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons  soy sauce
• 6 tablespoons  mirin (rice wine)
• 6 tablespoons  honey
• 1-1/2 tablespoons  unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1-1/2 tablespoons  finely minced fresh ginger
• 1-1/2 pounds  boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6)
• 3 to 4   scallions (white and green parts) trimmed
• 16 small  white mushrooms (about 6 ounces), wiped clean
• 8   bamboo skewers (8 to 12 inches), soaked in water for at least 20 minutes
•   Vegetable or olive oil for the grill

Directions

1. Heat a gas grill to medium or prepare a medium-hot charcoal fire.

2. Combine the soy sauce, mirin, honey, rice vinegar, ginger, and garlic in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and gently boil until the mixture is slightly syrupy and reduced to about 2/3 cup, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and divide the glaze into two containers.

3. While the glaze cooks, trim the chicken of excess fat. Cut the chicken thighs crosswise (across the grain) into 1/2-inch wide pieces (about 24 total). Cut the scallions into 2-inch pieces (you'll need 16 pieces). Fold each piece of chicken in half and thread three pieces of chicken onto the skewers, alternating with two scallions and two mushrooms (one of each between the chicken strips).

4. Brush oil on the grill grates and set the skewers on the hottest part of the grill. Grill until dark grill marks form on the first side, about 6 minutes. Flip the skewers and brush generously with half of the glaze. Continue to cook until the second side is well marked and the chicken is cooked through, another 5 to 6 minutes. Flip the skewers and brush the remaining glaze on the second side. Serve immediately.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve with vegetable fried rice or steamed white rice. 

Source

 

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Posted in: Chicken,Japanese

Chicken Teriyaki

 

for brine
1/2 C water
2 Tbs dark soy sauce
2 Tbs dark brown sugar
2 Tbs mirin
4-6 skin-on filleted (boneless) chicken thighs

for teriyaki sauce
2 Tbs mild flavored honey (or maltose)
2 Tbs dark soy sauce
2 Tbs mirin
2 Tbs sake

Directions:

Combine the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and mirin in large ziploc bag and add the chicken thighs. Press out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Let this sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
To make the teriyaki sauce, just add the honey, soy sauce, mirin and sake to a small sauce pan and boil over medium heat until the sauce is glossy and slightly viscous (it won’t get quite as thick as the jarred types). It should take on a caramelized taste but be careful not to burn it.
When you’re ready to grill the chicken, turn the broiler on and move the oven rack up to the upper position. Put a wire rack on a baking sheet (I use the rack out of my toaster oven), and put the chicken thighs skin side down onto the rack (the idea is to keep the meat elevated off the pan).
Grill until brown then flip so the skin side faces up. Baste the skin side with teriyaki sauce and continue to broil until the skin is golden brown with just a few charred spots. Give the chicken one final baste with the teriyaki sauce and serve.

Source

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Posted in: Chicken,Japanese