Squashes at the Atwater Market. Bright and beautiful despite the rain. Also, Oktoberfest beer was consumed, but no pictures taken.
Archive for September, 2012
Oyakodon with a tomato twist
I’m surprised to discover that I’ve never written about おやこどん (oyakodon) on this blog. The name means “parent-and-child,” meaning chicken and egg…served over rice!
You can see traditional oyakodon being made in this video. It’s definitely a classic dish, and best cooked in a special copper pot.
Yusuke, though, took a tomato twist with fresh specimens from our CSA basket.
He began by sautéing white onions, pork, fresh chili pepper (from the basket)—about 5 cm worth—in a bit of oil. [He had to opt for pig-meat instead of chicken since we didn’t have any, so it wasn’t technically おやこどん. I, of course, picked it out.]
After it was cooked, he added chopped fresh tomatoes and glorious sweet tomatillos. After about 30 seconds, he added めんつゆ (mentsuyu) aka soba sauce and some water.
Next, he poured eggs on top in a circular pattern. He covered it to simmer until lightly cooked. The consistency is supposed to be a bit runny.
Served over rice!
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Spicy harusame
Now this was a good one. I’m totally a fan of harusame, with its noodley lightness. Here, Yusuke incorporated it in a stir fry.
The veggies were cooked first, sautéed in with ginger, fresh garlic, and canola oil:
- string beans (rather more yellow than green
- carrots
- green peppers
All from the CSA basket, naturally.
The pre-boiled harusame was added next, plus a “soup” of:
- 1 cup of (weak) chicken broth
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp tenmenjan (sweet bean paste)
- 1 tsp tobanjan (spicy chili paste)
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Tomato-egg scramble
Executive summary: this was light, sweet-ish, and overall delicious.
Yusuke started by sauteing in olive oil the bulbs of rich, purple onions and their green tops along with one clove of garlic.
Next, he added some chopped parsley (frozen from another basket). It came out lovely and fragrant.
Chopped fresh tomatoes were added next.
Meanwhile, in a bowl on the side, he beat a couple of eggs with a pinch of sea salt and dashi (to add a Japanese taste). He dumped this into the pan with the veggies and let everything cook.
The salt and dashi gently highlighted the tomatoes and onions’ fresh sweetness. [I love how in CSA basket season, my posts have the word “fresh” about a million times each.]
Since the dish was a bit liquidy, it could be served over rice or noodles or other veggies.
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Pork stir fry
Yusuke made this pork and bok choy stir fry when I wasn’t around. No further comment!
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Vegetable Fried Quinoa
This is a really old one. For the recipe, see http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/02/vegetable-fried-quinoa.html
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Harusame salad
Perfect salad for summer. The base is lettuce, although I’m not sure of the variety. Is it just “leaf lettuce”?
The salad also includes fresh tomatoes and cucumbers. The star of the night, though, was harusame. I blogged about these lovely noodles before. And for your convenience, I’ve copied over my past description!
So what are harusame noodles, one might ask?
The wikipedia article offers the translation “cellophane noodles,” which sounds pretty much unappetizing to me. But other descriptions are better: glass noodles, bean thread noodles, or vermicelli.
According to Wise Geek, they’re Japanese noodles made from potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, or mung bean starch.
The noodles are extremely thin and become translucent when cooked. Since they’re less dense or “doughy” than other types of noodles, they’re delightful in soup!
Harusame (春雨) means spring rain, and you can google for more pics.
Harusame can be found in most Japanese or Korean grocery stories, but my mum-in-law sent our stock. Very light to ship!
The dressing for the salad was sesame oil, soy sauce, and vinegar (well, possibly…notes lost). Yusuke also mixed mayonnaise into his serving.
Definitely a CSA basket highlight.
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Chez Yusuke 