Japanese Recipes

Here are some recipes for you to try at home as a tasty, exotic treat or to whet your appetite in preparation of your visit to a Japanese restaurant.

Tori No Mizutaki (chicken stew)
Ingredients:
1 lb chicken drumsticks chopped into 1-inch pieces (Use cleaver or heavy knife)
1 lb tofu, pressed and drained, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 bundle watercress
1 Chinese cabbage, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 cups shirataki (or substitute bean vermicelli, available at your nearest Chinese grocery store)
2 cups spring onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 cup carrots, thinly sliced diagonally
8 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water (Keep this water.)
1 2 inch x 6 inch kombu seaweed, or
2 tsp. dashi powder (not for purists)
Dipping Sauce:
1 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 lemon

Add 1 inch of water to a 12-inch table-top skillet (electric or gas, whatever is available). Add the kombu and boil. Just before it starts to actually boil, remove the kombu. If you are using dashi powder, add it now (tsk, tsk...). If you soaked the shiitake mushrooms, dump that water in here, too. Anyway, just put whatever you want to eat in the water to cook it until ready. Serve with dipping sauce (just mix what's shown above) and lots of steamed rice. It will make you very warm.

If you have the luxury of obtaining shichimi togarashi, sprinkle in a bit for added flavour.

When you are finished, dump some rice into the remaining water and cook gently to make congee. It forms a fine dish the following morning.

Sushi Rice (Sushi-Meshi)
Ingredients:
175g / 6 oz uncooked, matured short-grain rice
225ml / 8 fl oz cold water
2.5- to 5-cm /1- to 2-in strip dried kelp, wiped clean
For The Sushi Vinegar:
1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon caster sugar [superfine granulated sugar]
1/2 teaspoon salt

This is the basic technique for producing the glutinous, vinegar-flavoured rice that forms the basis of all types of sushi. Matured, Japanese or Californian short-grain rice is essential. To vary the quantity of cooked rice, remember that the ratio of uncooked rice to water should be 1 part rice to 1 1/4 parts water.

Start by washing the rice thoroughly until the water comes clear. Let the rice drain for 30 to 60 minutes. This will allow the grains to absorb moisture and start to swell.

Put the rice, water and kelp in a pan with a tight-fitting lid. Bring the mixture to the boil over a medium heat, removing the kelp just before the boiling point. Cover the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes. (Simmering time will vary depending on the quantity of rice.) Resist the temptation to lift the lid while the rice is cooking.

Turn off the heat, remove the lid and cover the pan with a teatowel. Leave to cool for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for sushi vinegar in a pan. Heat until the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and pour the sushi vinegar into a cool bowl. To stop the vinegar distilling off, sit the bowl in cold water to speed cooling.

Using a wooden rice paddle, spoon the rice into a rice tub or bowl. Spread it out evenly, then run the paddle briefly through the rice cutting it first from side to side, then from top to bottom.

Continue cutting - never mashing or stirring - the rice, adding the sushi vinegar a little at a time. At the same time, ask someone to fan the rice to cool it. It should take about 10 minutes to mix in the sushi vinegar thoroughly and bring the rice to room temperature.

Crispy Vegetable Tempura
Ingredients:
2 zucchinis
4 small red or brown onions
1 red capsicum
125 g(41⁄2 oz) snow peas
125 g(41⁄2 oz) baby corn
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
125 g(41⁄2 oz) cornflour
75 g(3 oz) plain flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon mustard powder
2 teaspoons semolina
1 teaspoon salt

Cut zucchinis into 1 cm(1⁄2 inch) slices. Peel and quarter onions. De-seed and slice capsicum into 2.5 cm(1 inch) pieces. Leave snow peas and corn whole. Drain vegetables on paper towel to absorb the moisture.

In a pan or wok, preheat oil for deep-frying to 190 degrees C(375 degrees F). In a bowl, sift together cornflour, flour, baking powder, mustard powder, semolina and salt. Beat in 300-450ml(one half to three quarters of a pint) iced water, to make a thick batter.

Dip vegetable pieces in batter until evenly coated. Deep-fry in preheated oil for 4-5 minutes, until crisp and golden. Drain on paper towel. Serve.


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