Nikujaga (Japanese Beef and Potato Stew)

I don't remember where I found the book on slow cooker dishes that contained this recipe - it was collecting dust in someone's house, and I was bored and flipping through to pass the time.  While looking at soggy chicken stews, and "stir-fries" that you cooked 8 hours, I was despondent.  But somewhere in the back, buried way beyond the potato soups and the poached fish with mustard dishes, and just before the wine-soaked pears, I found this gem, which is most definitely authentic, and which does very nicely in the slow cooker.

Nikujaga is an interesting dish if you know Japanese food, mostly because it's got a lot of western influence.  I can't name too many Japanese dishes that have whole potato chunks - possibly golden curry, and some kind of croquette called a korokke, which I may now have to make after having looked it up.  But I assure you, mention Japanese beef and potato stew to someone from Japan and they will say "NIKUJAGA!!", which I have tried a couple of times with great results.

I really like the flavors in this dish, which is slightly sweet, very rich, and incredibly filling and warming.  And there's very little to this process - you chop everything, throw it in the slow cooker for the day, and come back later to eat a delicious meal.  I first tried this in the pressure cooker, which took an hour, and then tried it in the slow cooker, which took 6-8 hours, and which I thought tasted nearly identical but was ready when I walked in the door.  Your call.  Also, if you really want to get fancy, brown the meat first in a bit of olive oil, and then continue.  It will be notably better, although totally non-essential.

Seared Salmon with Jalapeño Ponzu

In an unprecedented bout of productivity, I'm going to post a recipe for something I just cooked tonight, because it was so good and easy that I have to tell the world as soon as possible.  The dish was pretty straightforward - seared salmon in a jalapeno ponzu sauce - but since it was made from scratch and came together in about 15 minutes total, I was totally floored with the quality-to-effort ratio.  I've had ponzu sauce before, but not fresh from home, and I couldn't identify it while out at Japanese restaurants.  Well, now I know.  A sweeter, almost drinkable adaptation of soy sauce, made with citrus juice and one other sweetener.  If you've ever had oyster shooters from a sushi place, this is the sauce they come in.  And with only four ingredients, this is about to become a staple in my fridge, since you could basically lick it off the floor and it would still be good.  Whatever you do, don't skimp out on those four ingredients and buy the pre-made stuff, because you will be disappointed, and I don't want you coming back and blaming me.

This is the second version of the dish, without the jalapeno slices but probably even better than the first

Seared Salmon with Jalapeño Ponzu
Cooking Light, May 2010

• 1/4 cup less-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• 1 large jalapeño pepper, cut crosswise into thin slices

Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; mix well.  This is the ponzu sauce, and it's the best part of the whole dish.  Use fresh squeezed juices if you can.

The full ingredient list - no mysteries here, you might even just have these lying around.  Except the fish, I hope.

  

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add salmon, skin side down; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

Sear the salmon skin side down first to cook most of the way through.  The skin can take more abuse than the flesh, and will help bring the pan back down to a moderate temperature for when you flip.

Sear for 4 minutes, then flip and cook another 4 minutes.  Don't worry if you cook the skin a bit too long, it can handle it.

Arrange 1 fillet on each of 4 plates. Top fillets evenly with jalapeño slices. Spoon about 2 tablespoons soy sauce mixture over each serving; let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Here's a weird step - after cooking, let the salmon sit with the ponzu sauce drizzled over for a good 5-10 minutes.  This lets the fish cool down a bit, and absorb the flavor of the sauce through the skin and flesh.

Oyako-Don (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)

I first tried this Japanese rice bowl in upstate NY - the birthplace of Japanese food - and decided that it was interesting enough that I should sort out the backstory.   Having heard the word 'don' before in conjunction with sushi (unagi don, tekka don, etc.), I figured out that this meant 'rice bowl', or something similar.  It's shortened from the word 'donburi', which means bowl.  Now, the interesting part comes from the word 'oyako', which translates as 'parent and child'.  That's because the dish is served with both chicken and egg, meaning that you can consume a whole family with every bite.  And if that's not an ego trip, I don't know what is.  The other thought I had about this dish is that, if people who keep kosher can't have milk and meat, does that mean they shouldn't have egg and chicken in the same bowl?  If anyone has insight here, let me know; all I know is that this is easy and delicious.

Oyako-Don: anti-kosher mystery, or savory bachelor chow masterpiece?

Oyako-Don is made by first brewing a batch of dashi, which is a multi-purpose Japanese broth made from seaweed and fish flakes.  They use it for everything - miso soup, flavoring sauces, polishing leather, you name it.  I will provide a recipe for it at the end, it's incredibly easy and gives the dish body.  Consider that one of the two ingredients was the grandfather of MSG, and you'll understand why people like this stuff so much.  It's like Japanese cocaine.

Oyako-Don

• 4 cups cooked rice, kept warm
• 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs
• 1/4 onion, sliced
• 1 cup dashi stock (could be konbu/bonito or shiitake)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1.5 tablespoons mirin
• 1.5 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tbsp sake (optional)
• 1 large or 2 small eggs
• Green onion, chopped into 1-2 inch lengths
• 4-6 snow peas, julienned (optional)

The ingredient list is short and sweet.  Note the homemade dashi in the measuring cup - don't use the powdered stuff if you can avoid it

Cut chicken into small chunks, and slice onion.  Put the stock, soy, mushrooms, mirin and sugar in a small saucepan and simmer for a few minutes.  Put the chicken chunks and green onion in the pan and simmer on low heat for a few minutes.  Add the onion to the pan and simmer a few minutes more.

Whisk the eggs in a bowl.  Bring the soup back to a boil, and pour the eggs over chicken and onion.  Sprinkle on julienned snow peas if using.  Turn the heat to low and cover with a lid.  Turn the heat off after 1 minute.  You want to cook the egg without disturbing it much, so it forms loose, puffy scrambled eggs right in the broth.

Let the eggs cook in the broth without disturbing.  I'm going for a smaller batch next time - the recipe is already halved from what I used, so no adjustments necessary.

Divide the hot cooked rice between 4 bowls, then place the chicken mixture over the 4 bowls of rice.

Dashi

• 1 4"x4" square of konbu kelp, wiped clean with a damp cloth
• 1/3 cup shaved bonito flakes
• 4 cups cold water

The key ingredients to dashi.  At left, konbu, a type of kelp high in glutamic acid which led to the discovery of MSG (monosodium glutamate) and literally dripping with everyone's favorite new word, umami.  At right, bonito flakes, shaved from a very unhappy fish and bagged in individual packets perfect for one batch of soup base

Place the water in a medium saucepan.  Add the konbu.  Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat and discard konbu.  Add the bonito flakes and stir.  Turn off the heat and let stand for 2 minutes to allow the bonito flakes to settle.  Skim off any foam.

Line a large colander or strainer with cheesecloth and set it over a large bowl; carefully pour the dashi through to strain it.  Discard the bonito flakes.  The stock is ready for use and can be refrigerated for up to 3 days, but is best used the day it is made.  Called ichiban-dashi, this dashi is often used for clear soup.