Chicken Katsu

One of the most famous Japanese chicken recipes, is Chicken Katsu. Not surprisingly, you can order it many small restaurants and it is often put into bento boxes. During our last vacation to Shibu Onsen we ordered some chicken katsu at a small (little run-down) restaurant owned by an very friendly old man. Because the restaurant had a half-open kitchen we were able to see some of the cooking. And when he brought us our meals (really big), and we tasted it, it was really good! Definitely one of the best Chicken Katsu we had ever eaten. So, because we wanted to eat it again (and Nagano is a bit far for Tokyo) we decided to try and make it ourselves.

Ingredients (2p):

• 300 gr chicken breasts*
• pepper and salt
• 1 egg (beaten)
• bread crumbs
• frying oil

* you can also use pork or beef, then you will get respectively tonkatsu or beefkatsu, also very nice!


Preparation
First you need to pound the chicken breast until they are approximately 1 a 1,5 cm thick.

Then, you need to prepare to egg and bread crumbs. Beat the egg, and place it in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, place a handful of bread crumbs

beaten egg

bread crumbs

 Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper to taste, dip it briefly in the beaten egg , and press it in the bread crumbs so the chicken breast is covered (both sides) with crumbs. Repeat for the other chicken breasts.

Heat around 0,5 cm of oil in a fry-pan. Put the chicken in the fry-pan and let it cook in the hot oil until the outside has a nice brown colour. Turn the chicken halfway through the cooking.

Chicken Katsu with rice

Serve it as side dish, or serve it with rice (and lettuce) as Chicken Katsu-don. Tastes best when topped with tonkatsu sauce.

Mapo Tofu

Originally Mapo Tofu is not a Japanese recipe. It originates in China, but -as with many Japanese recipes that find there origin elsewhere in the world- it has been fully incorporated into the Japanese kitchen and adapted to the Japanese taste. It is served in many (Chinese) restaurant in Japan, and it is often made by people themselves at home. The fastest and easiest way to make Mapo Tofu is to use the instant packages, sold in much varieties at all Japanese supermarkets. We however find that it is much better tasting to make it completely yourself. It is not difficult or much time-consuming at all, so why settle for the taste of instant versions.

Mapo Tofu is a spicy dish that combines ground meat and tofu. The different textures of the meat and the tofu make this a delicious meal. If you want, you can easily adjust the spice level to you own liking, but traditionally it is served quite spicy.

Ingredients (2p):

•  200 gr ground meat
• 1 package of tofu
• rice for 2 persons

sauce:

• 2 tbsp miso paste
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 100 ml water
• 0,5 tbsp doubanjiang (adjust amount to you own desired level of spicyness)

 Fry the ground meat in the pan (no need to add oil).  Optionally add some salt and pepper for seasoning.

Mix the miso paste, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and water together and add in the pan, and bring to boil.

Lower the heat and add the tofu (cut into pieces)

Now add the doubanjiang. Start with small amounts, try the taste, and add more if desired.

Serve with rice, and enjoy!

Gyoza part II - cooking

In part I of the gyoza update, we shared how to make your own gyoza. Now, in part II, we will share the best way to prepare gyoza (home-made or store-bought), so you can enjoy them to the fullest.




 Ingredients:

• Gyoza
• oil for frying

Raw gyoza

 Heat some oil in a fry-pan, and add the gyoza. Fry them until the bottom turns brown(ish).

Add gyoza in the fry-pan

 Then add some water, so there will be a low layer of water in the water (around 1/3 of the height of the gyoza), and lower the heat till medium. Add a lid on the fry-pan, and let the gyoza simmer until all the water has evaporated.

Add some water, and let the gyoza simmer with lid on the fry-pan

When all the water has evaporated, remove the gyoza from the pan, and serve with some soy sauce dip. Enjoy!

Gyoza, ready to eat!

Gyoza part I - making your own

We love eating gyoza, but -we will admit- up until now we would just buy ready made packages in the supermarket so we only needed spend a little time preparing them. But, since we like gyoza so much, we figured we should also try making them completely ourselves. And it was a big success! They tasted sooo much better than the store-bought ones, we even got to love eating gyoza even more :)

Home made gyoza

 So, this time we want to share our favourite recipe for gyoza. And also, in part II of this update, we will share the best way to prepare gyoza (home-made or store-bought), so you can enjoy them to the fullest.

Ingredients (makes 30 gyoza):

• 200 gr ground pork
• 1/4 cabbage
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• clove of garlic
• grated fresh ginger
• pinch of salt
• 30 gyoza wrappers

(Optional) equipment:

• Gyoza mold (used to fold the gyoza)

Our gyoza mold

 We sometimes end up having to much filling to put in all in the gyoza. But, not to worry, it makes also for delicious meat balls you can enjoy the day after. On another note, you can make gyoza without the gyoza mold, just use your hands the fold the gyoza together en push to let it stick. Maybe it will not look perfectly, but it's the taste that counts of course!

Cut the cabbage in small pieces, boil for a couple of minutes, and make sure all excess water is removed.

boiling the cabbage

 Then, in a bowl, mix the ground pork together with the garlic, ginger, salt, soya sauce. At last add the cabbage to the mixture and mix. 

gyoza filling all mixed together

 Take the gyoza mold, and put a gyoza wrapper on top. Place a spoonful of filling in the wrapper, and close to mold to seal the gyoza.

spoonful of filling...

...put into the wrapper...

...and closed to seal the gyoza

Repeat this process 30 times, for 30 delicious gyoza

all 30 gyoza filled

For more clarification see our instructional-video:

Gyudon

Gyudon is a very popular dish in Japan. You can get a standard bowl  for about 380 yen at one of the big chains in almost every street in Japan. Since these restaurants are often open 24 hours, it is a dish not only popular for people seeking a fast an cheap meal, but also a popular midnight snack for those coming back from late work or drinking.

Gyu means 'cow', and 'don' means (rice) bowl, so it's a recipe for rice topped with (simmered) beef, served with a mildly sweet sauce and unions, and often topped with pickled ginger. Although the Gyudon shops will mostly be considered selling 'fastfood', it is actually a quite healthy meal. But, of course we do not always want to eat out when we feel like eating gyudon, so we searched for ways to prepare it ourselves. Very easy, and tastes just as good (or even better!) than the Gyudon served in the numerous gyudon-shops. And much cheaper too :).

Ingredients (2p):

• Rice for 2 persons
• around 250 gram thinly sliced beef
• 1 onion
• 200 ml water mixed with 1 tbsp dashi powder
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp mirin
• optional for topping: ginger and sesame seeds.
  Usually benishoga (pickled red ginger) is used, however, we prefer to use fresh grated ginger as topping.

First, cut the onion in wedges and cut the beef in thinly, slim slices. And cook the rice as usual.


Then, is a small fry-pan, mix the dashi-stock (200 ml water mixed with dashi powder) with the soy sauce and the mirin, while bringing it to simmer. Add the onion pieces and let them simmer for a couple of minutes. Lastly add also the beef, mix together with the onions and let the total simmer for a couple minutes until the beef has gained it's light-brown colour.

Simmering the onion wedges

Mixing in the beef

Divide the rice into two bowls, and add the beef-onion and sauce on top. Now for topping, grate fresh ginger (feel free to just use the more traditional pickled red benishoga) and add on top and spread some sesame seeds.

Home-made Gyudon

You have made your own bowl of gyudon, no need to visit the Gyudon restaurants anymore. Enjoy!

'How to' video: