Archive for May, 2012

Okayu

May 24, 2012 at 7:31 am · Filed under rice ·Tagged

Comfort food! Porridge/おかゆ (okayu).

The key to deliciousness with this dish is the stock. I wrote about another edition that used mushrooms as the base, while this one used seaweed.

So to make the おかゆ, Yusuke used the “porridge” setting on our rice cooker, with the appropriate amount of extra water. In addition, he added a big strip of kombu seaweed. This cooked along with the rice, giving it a rich, subtle flavour.

We ate the rice topped with chopped spinach that had been sauteed in sesame oil, along with chopped green onions, sesame seeds, and a pinch of sea salt.

Perfect for uneasy stomachs!

kombu

Photo courtesy of Flickr user kattebelletje. License:Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0)

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タコライス

May 19, 2012 at 10:40 am · Filed under general veggie dish, rice, tofu ·Tagged , , ,

タコライス. Translation: taco rice.

This is one of the many examples of the Japanese tendency to embrace foreign concepts and make them uniquely Japanese (see also: curry, pasta, omu-rice etc. etc.). Based on Mexican-style cuisine, this particular dish is especially popular in Okinawa, so much so that you can even read about it on wikipedia.

Yusuke has been on a salsa and tortilla kick…too bad he couldn’t join me in Guatemala! Hence the desire for this dish.

Rather than using the typical ground pork, Yusuke instead used firm tofu. He also omitted the cheese and used asparagus rather than lettuce.

He began the cooking procedure by chopping white onions (suffering through the tears!). Next, he crumbled firm tofu by hand and sauteed both with olive oil.

After the onions became translucent, he added carrots, chopped into tiny pieces.

Next came the seasoning:

  • pinch of sea salt
  • pinch of black pepper
  • 1 tsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp soy sauce

Some recipes call for worchestershire sauce or that taco seasoning stuff that you can buy in a package. But since this is タコライス, you definitely need soy sauce!

The asparagus was boiled separately, chopped, and added to rest of the mix.

Everything was then arranged on rice, topped with an over-easy egg, and served with salsa.

おいしかった　/ ¡muy delicioso!

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