Chawanmushi (Japanese egg custard)

Chawan Mushi

Recipe by Caroline Phelps

This light and delicate egg custard is a wonderful appetizer to prepare if you're looking to wow your partner or dinner guests. It's both beautiful and fun to eat, is extremely simple and easy to make, and require few ingredients. This Japanese dish is often served in omakase meals and in traditional Japanese restaurants. The flavors are mild, eggy and earthy, with a texture very similar to silken tofu.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup low sodium chicken or beef broth (room temperature)
• 4 large eggs
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups chopped mushrooms
• 3 scallions, finely chopped
• Sauce:
• 4 tbsp low sodium chicken or beef broth
• 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Cooking Directions:

Bring the water in your  steamer to boil, cover and lower the heat to simmer.

In a large pan, add the oil and cook the mushroom for a few minutes until they become slightly caramelized. Set aside and let them cool down to room temperature.Your chicken or beef broth should also be room temperature. 

Whisk the eggs and add broth. In 4 small separate bowls, equally divide the mushrooms and pour the egg stock on top. Add a few scallions in each cup and briefly stir. Put the cups in the  steamer, cover and steam for 12-14 minutes. 

Meanwhile mix all the ingredients of the sauce together and set aside. When the custard cups are ready, take them out of the steamer, pour a little sauce on top and garnish with scallions.

Agedashi Tofu

Agedashi Tofu (Deep-Fried Tofu with Bonito Soy Broth)

Recipe by Caroline Phelps

When prepared properly, agedashi tofu is one of the best things you can have. The outside is lightly fried while the the tofu inside almost melts in your mouth. The warm broth added to the dish is full of umami and a little sweet, while the grated ginger on top brings freshness, rounding up all the flavors beautifully. This recipe is taken from Harumi Kurihara's Harumi's Japanese cooking. 

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 2 - 12.3 oz boxes soft silken tofu
• potato starch or cornstarch for dusting the tofu pieces
• oil - enough to deep-fry the tofu
• 1 cup dashi stock or fish stock
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• a little superfine sugar (about 1/2 tsp)
• a little salt (1/4 tsp)
• grated daikon
• grated ginger to taste
• shiso leaves, chopped into thin strips or a mix of fresh basil and mint (optional)
• myoga (optional) minced
• green onion or chives, minced

Cooking Directions

Drain the tofu and then wrap it in paper towels and place in a strainer for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture. Cut the tofu into four pieces, dry again with paper towels, the coat with the potato starch. 

Heat the oil to a suitable temperature for deep-frying (around 340 degrees). Carefully put the tofu pieces in to fry and when they turn golden, remove and drain on paper towels to remove excess oil. In a small pan heat up the dashi stock, mirin, soy sauce, sugar and salt. Bring to the boil, ensuring that the sugar has dissolved. 

Divide the tofu among four bowls. Pour a little of the hot sauce into each bowl and garnish with the grated daikon, a dab of grated ginger, shiso, myoga, and green onion to taste.

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Korokke (Japanese Beef Croquettes)

Japanese Beef and Potato Croquettes (koroke)

Recipe by Caroline Phelps

My husband calls them 'the Japanese version of shepherd's pie' and it's easy to see why as the croquettes are made of beef and mashed potatoes. Coated in panko and deep-fried, these fluffy balls are usually served with tonkatsu sauce and a side of shredded cabbage. Not only are they fun to make, they're also a crowd pleaser for children and adults! This is an easy recipe your family will ask for again and again!

Ingredients

• 2 large potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs), peeled and roughly chopped
• 300 grams (a little less than 2/3 lb) ground beef (I use ground chuck)
• 1 medium size onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp butter
• Vegetable oil, or other neutral oil for frying
• 1 large egg
• panko breadcrumbs
• all-purpose flour
• shredded cabbage
• Tonkatsu sauce

Cooking Directions

Bring a medium size pot of water to boil. Add potatoes and boil until they are cooked through. Drain and put them into a mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes and set aside. In a large pan on high heat, melt the butter then add onions and garlic. Cook for about 2-3 minutes, add ground beef and cook until beef is fully cooked. Add the beef mixture to the potatoes and mix well. Season well with salt and pepper.You can now begin to heat up the oil to 340F (cooking thermometers are easy to find and very useful).

Meanwhile shape the mixture into balls, mine are usually about the size of my palm. Dust them in flour, dip in egg and coat with panko breadcrumbs. Fry until golden brown and crispy (be careful not to overcrowd the pot as this will decrease the oil temperature). Serve with tonkatsu sauce and shredded cabbage.

Yasai Itame (Vegetable Stir-Fry)

Vegetable Stir-Fry (Yasai Itame)

Recipe by Caroline Phelps

Yasai itame is Japanese for vegetable stir fry. It's a relatively healthy dish that's simple and quick to prepare. Yasai itame is usually made with thinly sliced pork but since my husband loves spicy sausages, I made this one using small Berkshire links. There's very little cooking and seasoning involved other than chopping, stir frying the veggies and adding a little soy, and black pepper. This easy recipe pairs really well with a hot bowl of freshly cooked Japanese rice.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4-6 servings


Ingredients

• 1 medium size carrot, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 small cabbage, chopped bite size
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• about 2 cups, sprouts
• 2 Berkshire sausages (optional. The traditional recipe is usually made with pork), thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (or other neutral oil)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Ajinomoto (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Directions

1. In a large pan over high heat, add the sausages and cook for 2 minutes. Add cabbage, carrots and both green and red bell peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes, until cabbage has soften and charred just a little bit. Add sprouts and cook for a minute. 
2. Add soy, a sprinkle of Ajinomoto and cook for another minute. 
3. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Tori no Kara Age - Japanese Fried Chicken

JFC (Japanese fried chicken) or Tori no Kara Age

Recipe by Caroline Phelps

Japanese fried chicken (also known as JFC :) ) is saltier than its American relative. Using a marinade of soy and sake, and dusting the nuggets with potato starch or corn starch puts this fried chicken recipe in a league of its own. It's VERY juicy and the light and crispy batter doesn't disappoint. (Makes 10 to 12 pieces)

Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless chicken thighs with skin, cut bite size
• 1 thumb size ginger, grated
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1/2 Potato starch (katakuriko) or cornstarch (if you have both, potato starch is better)
• 1 tsp kosher salt (or 1/2 tsp regular salt)
• 1/4 tsp chili powder (for a little kick) *optional*
• Vegetable oil (for frying)

Cooking Directions

Combine grated ginger, soy sauce and sake in a bowl. Add chicken and toss well to coat. Marinate for at least an hour (no longer than 4 hours otherwise the chicken may lose moisture because of the salt in the soy sauce). 

In a medium size bowl, mix the potato starch, salt and chili powder. Heat the oil to 350 degrees using a temperature-controlled fryer or a thermometer. If you don't have one, test with a small piece of chicken. Coat each piece very well, shake off excess and fry in batches (don't put too many at once as doing so lowers the temperature of the oil). Cook for a few minutes, until golden brown. 

Lay chicken on paper towel and serve with lemon wedges, yuzusco or shichimi.

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Japanese Potato Salada

Potato Salad (Japanese)

Recipe by Caroline Phelps

Japanese potato salads are a little sweet and tangy, which I love since every bite seems to taste different. I've pickled the cucumber for this recipe with a little salt and sugar. This softens the texture and gives it zing. The flavors blend really well together, making this a personal favorite. Serve as a side to chicken katsu and you have yourself and very traditional and homely Japanese meal.

Ingredients

• 2 medium size potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 medium size carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 thumb size ginger, peeled and grated
• 1/2 English cucumber, cut in 1/4 lengthwise, finely chopped
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Cooking Directions

1. Boil potatoes and carrots until tender but still a little firm. 
2. In a bowl, pour a little salt and sugar over the cucumbers (about 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, 1/2 tsp sugar), mix with your fingers and leave to marinate for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and squeeze the excess water from the cucumber, rinse quickly under cold water and squeeze again. 
3. In a large bowl, combine the potatoes, carrots and ginger. 
4. With a potato masher, mash about 1/2 of the mixture, add cucumber, mayonnaise, sake, sugar, salt and pepper and mix well with a spoon or spatula. 
5. Adjust taste and texture (by adding more mayo) to your liking. Serve.

Vegetables 'oden' style

When I am in Japan in the fall or winter,

I often go to a convenience store for Oden. Oden is a very

simple dish consisting of vegetables, eggs, 'konyaku', cooked

in a light soy based or kombu based broth. I've added some

garlic and ginger to mine to give it a bit of a twist.

(serves 2)

Ingredients:

- 4 carrots, roughly chopped

- 1/2 lb daikon, roughly chopped

- 1 onion, roughly chopped

- 1 shallot, finely chopped

- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

- 1 tbsp ginger, finely grated

- 2 cup water

- 2 tsp granulated sugar

- 5 tbsp soy

- 1 tsp powdered dashi

- 1 tbsp cooking sake 

- 2 tbsp mirin

- 2 tbsp neutral oil (canola, grapeseed)

Directions:

Do your prep first, have all of your vegetables ready.In a pot over medium heat, add oil, ginger, garlic and shallot. Cook for 2 minutes and add onions. Cook for about 5 minutes, until onions are translucent.

Add carrots and daikon, and cook for 2 minutes. Add water, stir, add dashi, sake, mirin, sugar and soy, stir well. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes (until daikon and carrots are soft). 

Serve in small bowls with rice.