Takoyaki variation with tofu and nagaimo 長芋豆腐たこ焼き

This is a takoyaki たこ焼き ("tako grill") variation made without "tako" (octopus). This recipe is from "The real Japanese Izakaya Cookbook". We made takoyaki (octopus inclusive) using an electric ebelskiver maker before. An ebelskiver maker is the closest we could come to a traditional takoyaki grill.  This recipe deviates significantly from the traditional approach because it uses grated nagaimo 長芋 and tofu 豆腐 instead of flour. Instead of tako is uses hijiki ひじき sea weed and edamame 枝豆 . Continuing on the innovative theme, instead of the usual "Takoyaki sauce", this recipe used "Gin-an" 銀餡 which is a milder and "more sophisticated" sauce.

The surface was nicely brown and crunchy.

The inside was soft and hot showing hijiki (black stringy below) and edamame (green).

Ingredients: (I tried to halve the amount of the original recipe. I ended up making some changes inadvertently, since I just did not want to use "half egg" and I did not want to leave a small portion of nagaimo).

The original recipe is as follows;

1 firm silken tofu 12oz (350g)
Handful dried Hijiki seaweed
8 oz (225g) unshelled edamame pods (then, cooked and shelled)
1 egg
4oz (125g) yamaimo
1/2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The amount below are what I think I used. It made 6 balls using the Ebelskiver cooker (the balls were larger than regular takoyaki) as below.

1 small package of silken tofu, about 125gram, wrapped in paper towel with a weight (I used wooden cutting board) to drain for 1 hour.
Nagaimo, skin removed and grated, about 120g (I used up what I had left)
1 egg
Hijiki seaweed, hydrated, arbitrary amount
Edamame, frozen, cooked and shelled, arbitrary amount
Pinch of salt and sugar
"Katakuri-ko" potato Starch (because, proportionally I used more nagaimo and egg than the original recipe which made the batter runnier, I added potato starch to adjust the consistency of the batter).

For the dipping sauce; (this is the original, again, I halved the recipe when I made it)
2 tbs potato starch
2 cup (500ml) dashi
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 sugar
1/2 tbs mirin
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Using a small food processor, I mixed the tofu, grated nagaimo, egg, salt and sugar until the batter was smooth. I then added the potato starch in small increments to adjust the consistency (it was the consistency of a bit runny pancake batter).
I added the hijiki, edamame and mixed (#1)
I preheated my electric ebelskiver to medium high (#2)
I poured the batter filling 6 wells (#3)
After the bottom got set and browned (it took a few minutes, I was too inpatient and started flipping too early)
After several flipping, the surface started getting evenly brown (#4)
I kept flipping until the surface is all cooked and browned about 5-6 minutes (#5 and 6).

This version of takoyaki was good and the dipping sauce went well with it but this is not really takoyaki (I am sure people from Osaka would agree). It is a dish in-and-of its own just resembling the shape of takoyaki. Making  this requires some steps and effort and I would rather make  regular takoyaki which is much easier to make.

Olive brine marinated pork tenderloin with cuscus オリーブブライン漬け豚ヒレ

This is continuation of my search for another way to cook pork tenderloins. A few days ago I used the trimmings from two pork tenderloins, I prepared to make "Pork, potato, and green bean stir fry". The next day, I made "Seared Pork tenderloin with smoked paprika and oregano 焼き豚フィレ肉、薫製パプリカ、オレガノ味" from one of the tenderloins. That left one last tenderloin. I came across this recipe in "Food and Wine" magazine. It uses the brine from a jar of olives (I suppose it is made of water, vinegar and salt with added olive flavor from the marinated olives) as a marinade for pork tenderloin. We were inspired by this recipe so we made this dish and served it with couscous. The original recipe called for white beans as the side but we happened to have a box of couscous which recently passed its "best used by" date. (Actually that date was one year ago but in our household that is "recent"). The brining did make the pork more succulent but did not add much flavor despite the addition of ground sage and lemon zest to the brine.

We added all the juice, olives and roasted garlic from the roasted pork to the couscous which made it very flavorful and moist. (We tend to avoid dry flakey couscous which we found from experience can easily become uncomfortably air borne if you happen to inhale slightly at the wrong time while eating it). Although the color could have been a bit better, we will call this dish a sucess.

Since we do not believe in "searing" the surface of the meat before baking, I skipped the searing step.

Ingredients:
One trimmed and prepared pork tenderloin
Several green olives, pitted and smashed
Several cloves of garlic, skin on
1 tbs olive oil

For marinade:
1/4 cup of brine from a jar of olives (we had sweet red pepper stuffed green olives which I use when I have a martini).
1 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp ground sage
Lemon zest from one lemon using a micrograter.
1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Salt and pepper for seasning.

Directions:
Place the marinade and the tenderloin in a Ziploc bag. Removed the air, close the bag and marinate for 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven (I used our toaster oven in convection mode) to 375F.
Remove the pork from the marinade, blot with a paper towel, coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Coat the garlic cloves with olive oil.
Place the pork, olives, and garlic on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until the temperature in the thickest part of the pork registers 145F.
Let it rest for 5-10 minutes on the cutting board.

Meanwhile, we prepared a box of couscous according to the directions (we used chicken broth and pats of butter). When done, we fluffed up the couscous using a fork, added the roasted garlic by squeezing out the soft center of the clove leaving the skin behind. Then we added the olives and whatever juice from the meat that accumulated while it was resting.

Since we are not really into brining meats, this is a quick and easy way to do it. As far as we could tell the main impact of the brining was on the texture of the meat rather than its flavor. The meat was moist and nice. This is a new for us but we are not sure we will do this again.

Tomato and egg stir fry トマト炒り卵

This is the second dish I made using a recipe in  "The real Japanese Izakaya Cookbook". This is a rather simple dish but we like the result very much. Since we had pasteurized eggs and skinned Campari tomatoes on hand, this is an easy and quick dish.

Ingredients: One serving but we shared this dish.
2 eggs (since eggs are not cooked completely, I used two pasteurized eggs)
2 skinned Campari tomatoes, each quartered
1 tsp dark sesame oil (the recipe said 1 tbs but I thought that was too much).
1/8 tsp minced fresh ginger (I may have used more like 1/4 tsp).
pinch of salt

Directions:
Add the sesame oil to a non-stick frying pan on medium flame and stir fry the wedges of tomato for 2 minutes.
Add the ginger and stir.
Add well-beaten eggs and stir until softly set. Stop stirring and let the bottom cook for 10 seconds and slide onto a serving dish. Season with salt to taste.

The combination of fresh tomato, ginger, dark sesame oil and eggs works nicely. A bit of salt makes everything come together. This will go with any drinks you are having. We really like this dish.

P.S. Our plum tree which suffered the last couple of years due to a fungal disease and a transplant to a different location in the yard which required quite an extensive pruning. We were really worried that we would lose it. But it seems to be holding its own and we are glad it is surviving. This year, mid February, it started blossoming. It is nice to see the early sign that Spring is coming.

Bonito tataki teriyaki カツオたたきの照焼

This is just a left-over control dish and not really a recipe. I found I had quite a large package of frozen bonito tataki カツオのたたき in the freezer and decided it wasn't getting any better with age. So, I defrosted it. That evening, we finished 2/3 as a carpaccio-style rendition of bonito tataki . Since the piece was very large rather than forcing ourselves to finish it, I marinated the remainder in soy sauce, mirin and sake with grated ginger to use the next night. The next evening, I blotted the fish with a paper towel to remove the excess marinade, then I cooked it in a frying pan with a bit of oil. I cooked it for one minutes each side and removed it from the pan and set it aside. I added the marinade to the pan and reduced it. When it thickened I put the fish back in and coated it with the sauce. I served it with blanched green beans with sesame dressing, skinned Campari tomato and cucumber (American mini cuke) and wakame seaweed dressed in sumiso 酢味噌 dressing

Teriyaki 照り焼き, "teri" means "glistering" or "shiny" and "yaki" means "grilled". After the marinade is reduced, the coated surface of the fish becomes shiny because of the sugar content of the sauce .

For some reason, I automatically sprinkled on "sansho" powder 山椒.  For leftover control, this was quite a good small dish to start the evening.

Seared Pork tenderloin with smoked paprika and oregano 焼き豚フィレ肉、薫製パプリカ、オレガノ味

When I made "pork, potato, and green bean stir fry" from pork tenderloins trimmings, the two prepared pork tenderloins remained. I marinated them in sake (mostly to preserve the meat a bit longer). My default dishes for pork tenderloin are tonkatsu or hirekatsu ヒレカツ, baked in the toaster oven or scallopini. I happened to see this recipe in Milk Street magazine recently, I decided to try it for a change. It is called "seared pork tender loin with smoked paprika and oregano". My wife made PA dutch egg noodles with cream cheese and chopped chives as a accompaniment. This turned out quite good if not outstanding.

This came out just right and tender.

Ingredients: Since this was a sort of test, I only used one pork tenderloin.
One trimmed and prepared pork tenderloin, cut in half crosswise and then cut along the length of the segment leaving 1/4 inch intact (#1). Pound it lightly to flatten to 1/4 inch thick. Season with salt and pepper.
1 tbs neutral oil for searing (I used vegetable oil)

Sauce/marinade (mix all ingrediets):
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs smoked Paprika (powder).
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano

1tsp chopped fresh oregano (I did not have it so I didn't add it).

Directions:
Add the oil to a frying pan on medium high flame. When the oil is simmering/near smoking, add the pork and sear one side for 2-3 minutes without moving (#2), flip it over and sear the other side for 2 more minutes (#3), brush the sauce/marinade (I used a spoon to coat the surface with the sauce) (#4), flip again and repeat with the sauce.

I placed the pork on the plate. poured on any juice/sauce from the pan and covered with another identical pate as a lid to let the meat rest. (It could also be covered with aluminum foil for several minutes).

Although the smoked paprika flavor or oregano did not come through strongly (I am sure fresh oregano would have added good oregano flavor but I did not have it), the meat was done perfectly and was flavorful. The next day, I used the meat with avocado slices for sandwiches which was also very good. We may have to repeat this using fresh oregano. This was a different and good way to prepare pork tenderloins.

Japanese Izakaya Cookbook

I meant to post about this cookbook but somehow got waylaid. This is done by a Japanese chef, Wataru Yokota. The book covers quite many "teiban" 定番 or classic Izakaya dishes plus more innovative new Izakaya dishes. It is well illustrated including pictures of steps on how to make the dishes. The beginning section describes and illustrates basic techiniques of how to prepare vegetables and fish.

This book covers all classic authentic Izakaya dishes. It also suggests substitutes for the specific ingredients which may be difficult to get outside Japan. I only made one dish from the book because many of the recipes are already part of my regular repertoire.  The dish I made was quite unique called "Tofu namerou" which I already posted.  I would like to make some more of the innovative dishes this book offers sometime soon.

For somebody who started making Izakaya dishes, this is one of the best English Izakaya cookbooks and I highly recommend it.

Pork, potato and green bean stir fry 豚じゃがインゲン

This is a variation of Japanese style "meat and potato" dishes. Since I had baby red potatoes that were  getting old and some partly shriveled  up, one-week-old blanched green beans and vacuum packed pork tenderloin which had just passed its "best used by" date, I came up with this variation of pork, potato and green bean dish. My mother used to make a simple variation of this dish using braised potatoes and green beans seasoned with mirin, sugar and soy sauce. In this version I expanded on my mothers recipe by adding pork. As is often the case with Japanese braised dishes, this one was seasoned "ama-kara" 甘辛 or "sweet and salty" with "salty" coming from soy sauce.

I did a bit of pre-treatment/seasoning to the pork to prevent it from getting dry, since these were the trimmings from tenderloin which tends to get dry when cooked. For an impromptu dish, this turned out to be quite good.

Ingredients:
10-12 baby red potatoes, skinned.
1/2 package of green beans, blanched in salted water, cut into 2-3 inch long pieces.
1 lb thinly sliced pork tenderloin (or pork belly may work better).
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup dashi broth (I used bonito-dashi pack)
1-2 tbs soy sauce
1-2 tbs mirin

For the pork marinade
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sake
1 tbs mirin
1 tsp potato starch
1/2 tsp grated ginger (optional)

Directions:
Add the marinade and the pork into a ziploc bag, remove the air and close. Massage it well so that the marinade and potato starch permeates the meat (the potato starch keeps the moisture in the meat).  I marinaded the meat for 30 minutes.

In a wok on medium flame, add 1 tsp olive oil and the meat (marinade was totally absorbed). Stir and cook for a few minutes until done. Take out the meat and set aside. Wipe clean the wok, add 1 tsp of olive oil and add the potatoes. Stir for a few minutes until the surface of the potatoes are coated with oil. Add the dashi broth, the soy sauce and mirin, put on the lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked. Add the set-aside cooked pork and green beans, stir for several minutes until the liquid is reduced. Taste and add more soy sauce and/or mirin if needed.

Because of the marinade and potato starch, the meat came out moist tender and well seasoned. The green beans were still slightly crunchy. This is a really homey comfort dish.