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.

Print this recipe!

Japanese pasta with mushrooms and watercress in soy and butter sauce

I love Japanese pasta because it's so easy to make

and has so much depth of flavor. This one is an earthy and savory 

mushroom pasta with some fresh watercress 

to add a little something peppery and interesting.

Ingredients:

- 3/4 lb dry spaghetti

- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

- 1/4 lb shiitake mushrooms

- 1/4 lb beech mushrooms (bunashimeji) or other Japanese mushroom

- 1 tbsp sake

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 3 tbsp butter

- 2 tbsp neutral oil

- 2 shallots, finely chopped

- a handful of fresh watercress, roughly chopped

- 1/2 cup pasta water

- fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to the boil.

In a large pan over high heat, add oil, 1 tbsp butter and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes and add mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes. Add shallots and cook for 2 minutes. Add half of the watercress and mix well. Turn heat off and wait until the pasta is cooked.

While the pasta is boiling, reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain your pasta and add to the pan of cooked mushrooms. Turn the heat to low and add what's left of the watercress. Mix well and add soy sauce and sake. Mix well again, making sure all the pasta is coated with all the ingredients. Add a good amount of fresh ground black pepper and a little bit of the pasta water to make the sauce more unctuous. 

Serve with fresh parmesan.