Fried tofu stuffed with Raclette cheese きつねラクレット

Fried tofu stuffed with Raclette cheese きつねラクレット (Mark's book P80)

This is the recipe from Mark's book (p80) and is a variation of a classic dish. In the classic, tofu pouches "abrura-age"  油揚げ are stuffed with "natto" 納豆, which I posted previously. This version use Raclette cheese. It is remarkably good and simple to make. I did not have prunes in our pantry, so I could not make the "prunes cooked in wine" which was the suggested accompaniment for this dish in the recipe.

Just briefly reiterate the recipe from the book, stuff a tofu pouch (small "inari" 稲荷 version works best) with slices of Raclette cheese and finely chopped white parts of scallions. Toast it in a toaster oven until the tofu pouch becomes nicely brown and crunchy and the cheese has melted. Garnish with finely chopped green parts of scallions and serve while it is hot. I used bit of a soy sauce, in addition.  Althouhg we like the classic version with "natto", this one is very very good. It is amazing how well melted Raclett cheese and toasted tofu pouch go together. This will be great with wine either white or red.

Mock Eel 擬製うなぎ

This dish is probably not a common dish in Izakayas. Probably real eel is much more popular. I make this dish for our vegitarian friends but we also like it. Obviously, this is different from real eel but looks similar to and tastes slightly like real eel used in Japanese dishes. It also has a pleasing texture. It is made of tofu, miso, and sesame paste and is completely vegetarian.

Use one block of firm or "momen-goshi" tofu, drain, and crumble into small pieces. In a food processor or a Japanses "suribachi" add, 3 tbs of red miso, 3 tsp sugar or honey, 1 tbs of sesame paste or tahini (or make your own from roasted sesame seeds), 3 tbs of flour (all purpose), 1/2 tsp grated ginger root, and mix, add the crumbled tofu and mix or process until smooth consistency is reached. Additional flour and/or water may be needed to make the consistency like spreadable soft cream cheese. Cut a whole nori sheet into half and then cut the half into 4 small rectangular sheets. Spread the tofu mixture on the sheet of nori in a 1/3 inch thick layer. Make sure all the nori surface is covered. Take a fork and make indentations like seen above to emulate a real eel dish. Deep fry it in medium hot oil with the nori side down for several minutes. (Later addition: you can cook this dish with slightly more oil than used in regular sauteing - "shallow frying" - with good results.)

Meanwhile make an eel "kabayaki" 蒲焼 sauce. Add 1/3 cup of soy sauce in a small sauce pan and add up to equal amount of sugar (I use much less) and heat through and dissolve the sugar but do not boil. Brush the sauce on the "tofu" side of the surface, sprinkle "sansho" powders and serve.  Here I served this as a mock "eel donburi" or "unadon" 鰻丼 with a bed of rice and added chopped chives. I used the sauce sparingly but my wife used more sauce which she drizzled on rice as well.

Grilled Tofu with miso 豆腐の味噌田楽

This is also a classic small dish perfect for Home Izakaya. I am not going to get into a lengthy discussion of how this type of dish came to be called "dengaku" 田楽. The name reportedly came from the appearance of the dish (square with skewers) which resembles a small stage on stilts set up in a rice paddy. Music and dance were performed on this stage for a rustic rice planting cerebration in old Japan which is called "dengaku", translated as "enjoyment in a rice paddy". Small portions of tofu, potato, egg plant, "kon-nyaku" or other vegetable are placed on a skewer and grilled with some type of sauce (miso-based is most common). Some items such as potato may need to be pre-cooked before it is grilled. This dish is a sort of snack on a stick, Japanese style.

 Here, I used a "firm" or "momen-goshi" tofu. I drained it and placed it between paper towels with some weight on it, not too heavy, for 5-10 minutes to remove additional water. I then cut it into small rectangles. I broiled it (without the skewer because the skewer might burn) in an oven with high heat--placing it very close to the heating elements so that the surface browns as the tofu is warmed through. Turn over once. You can also cook it on a grill or in a toaster oven. Take it out and coat the upper surface with a generous amount of a miso sauce which I described before. This one was made with sugar, sake, dashi, sesame paste, lime juice and grated lime and lemon zests (additional lime zest was added later as garnish as shown above). Put it back under the broiler for a few minutes until the sauce bubbles and gets nicely brown. If you use a grill, you could use a kitchen torch to brown the miso sauce.  Browning the miso sauce is important as it will make the miso fragrant. Put the skewer in as shown above.  The skewer is a sort of decoration here but to qualify for a "dengaku" dish you will need a skewer for the reason described above. Besides, it also allows you to pick it up by hand. Serve immediately while hot.

Classically,"kinome" should be used as a garnish--it looks very nice and has a distinctive flavor. But "kinome" is very difficult to come by in the U.S., unless you have a "sansho" or "Sichuan or Japanese pepper" tree in your backyard. "kinome" is the young shoot of this tree. As long as you do not add any meat or egg yolk to the miso sauce (which are common variations of this type of miso sauce) and use kelp or vegetable dashi broth, this dish is strictly vegetarian.

I served this with a American mini cucumber cut in "jabara" or a snake belly style with a sweet miso sauce.

Raclett Cheese and Potato

Raclett Cheese and Potato  ジャガイモとラクレットチーズ

We recently had this in a restaurant in Zurich. It is supposedly a typical Swiss dish. You can not go wrong with the combination of potato and melted Raclett cheese. We think this is a good dish for Izakaya. It is so simple and there is no real recipe (I just recreated what we had). I used a Russet potato but the dish we had in the restaurant appears to be made using a different kind of potato. (When asked the waitress couldn't identify the type of potato). The dish may work better with something like Yukon Gold. I microwaved the potato in a covered dish for 6-7 minutes or until cooked through (depends on the size of the potato and the wattage of the microwave). I grabbed it using a towel and removed the skin while it is hot (I am sure you could leave the skin if you like). I scooped out the top of the potato to make a groove in the depth of  1/3 of the thickness of the potato and stuffed it with chopped Raclett cheese and placed a few slices to cover the top of the potato. I then put it in a 450F oven for a few minutes. You could also place it under a broiler until the cheese melts. The original we had at the restaurant did not have any garnish but I added chopped chive mostly for color. This is an especially satisfying dish particularly with a little salt on the side to enhance the flavor of those parts of the potato not covered with cheese.

Similar potato dish we also like is "potato and butter" or "jaga-bata" ジャガバタ. You start with a boiled or microwaved whole potato (you could do this step ahead of time). Cut into quoters along the long axis and put them on the grill to make char marks on the cut surfaces and to warm it thoroughly. Then cut in a crosswise fashion in half inch thick slices. Put buttons of butter on it and let it melt. Eat with some salt or with soy sauce. When we go to a near-by Robatakaki/sushi bar called Tako Grill (this is not "taco" and "tako"means "octopus" in Japanese), this is the one we always order.

Fried meat ball メンチカツ

This dish brings back the memories from my childhood. This type of deep fried minced meat dish is considered a very "homey" dish in Japan.  These type of dishes, however, are now widely available freshly prepared in many stores including the basement gourmet food floors of department stores in Japan. Any breaded and fried dish which uses "minced" meat is called "minchi or menchi katsu" ミンチカツ or メンチカツ which is short for a "minced meat cutlet". More detailed discussion of this subject can be found here, although the discussion is in Japanese.

Another variation is Japanese potato croquets コロッケ made of mashed potatoes with minced pork and onion, breaded and deep fried. In the "old days", it was said that, depending on your economic condition at any given time, the ratio of the meat and potato varied. For example, just before payday, many housewives would get by making croquettes made of 100% potatoes and onions. In any case, this is what my mother used make. It is a cross between "menchi-katsu" and "croquets". Now this is a perfect dish in Home Izakaya.

I usually use the raw trimmings and scraps left over from preparing pork tenderloins for other dishes. A more fatty portion of meat like pork shoulder may make this dish better. I mince the pork with my knife but, of course, you could use a food processor or buy ground pork, beef or a mixture of ground meat. Sauté minced onion, garlic and chopped Shiitake mushroom (optional) in a small amount of vegetable oil until soft. Season with salt and pepper and let it cool to room temperature and mix in the minced pork and chopped parsley.  I add a splash of Worcestershire sauce, freshly ground nutmeg, egg, Japanese "Panko" bread crumbs. Mix well and make golf-ball size balls. Dredge it in flour, egg water, then panko. Deep fry until golden brown. I like to serve this with "tonkatsu sauce" and hot Japanese mustard.

For the accompaniment, I made a type of coleslaw. Although, finely shredded raw cabbage will be the traditional side for this dish, my wife does not particularly like it. So I made this coleslaw. Shred or finely julienne cabbage, salt it lightly and let it stand for 5-10 minute. Ring out moisture from the cabbage. I added julienned carrot and cucumber for color. This time, I dressed it with my version of honey mustard dressing. The dressing is made of Dijon mustard, honey, rice vinegar and olive oil with salt and pepper to taste. You could use other dressings such as mayonnaise or sesame oil and soy sauce vinaigrette dressing instead.

Sauteed squid and celery イカとセロリの炒めのも

Sauteed small squid and celery イカとセロリの炒めもの (Mark's Book p64)

Here I followed the recipe in Marks' book. The result was extremely good and it is very simple to make. I mostly used the body of cleaned small squid but I am sure legs will also be good. To reiterate the recipe in the book, just cut up the squid into thin rings, slice celery stalks, and cut up center portion of the celery with leaves. In a large frying pan with small amount of vegetable oil (I used light olive oil) on high heat, sauté the squid and then celery stalk (1 minutes each) and add salt and pepper. Just at the last moment add, celery leaves. Top with the garlic butter (make a paste of garlic using the classic French technique of mashing the garlic with the back of a knife using salt as an abrasive. Mix the mashed garlic into softened butter. Shape and refrigerate the butter before use). I used a torch to melt the butter as instructed in the Mark's book (the lower picture) but it appears the heat of the dish will melt the butter anyway. Enjoy with a squeeze of lemon. The garlic butter is a must.

We love this dish. I also make a similar squid dish with sliced fennel bulb and white vermouth, which is also good but has a different flavor all together because of the anise-like taste of fennel. Another one I make often is based on a tapas recipe, in which squid sauteed with garlic are simmered in beer and tomatoes. If I make these dishes in the future I will definitely post them. This recipe definitely joined our line-up of home Izakaya dishes.

Poached Chicken Breast with black vinegar

Poached Chicken Breast with black vinegar sauce 鶏胸肉の黒酢煮

This recipe was given to me by my niece, when we visited Japan last time. It is so easy to make and it is so good. I use boneless breast meat with the skin on. In the U.S., you may have to get bone-in split breast. In that case, remove the bones, excess skin and fat. I also remove the tenders and use them for another dish. For two breasts, I add 3 tbs each of black vinegar (Chinese or Japanese variety, more about this later), sake, soy sauce and sugar (I use less sugar but it is up to your preference) in an 10 inch frying pan on a medium flame. The liquid covers the bottom of pan in a rather thin layer (about 1/4 inch).  Dissolve the sugar and add the chicken breasts skin side down, tightly cover with a lid and poach/steam for 15 minutes. Remove the breast, set aside on a plate, covered with an aluminum foil and let it rest at least 5 minutes while the sauce reduces (This step is important. If you skip this step, the center of the thickest part of the breast may not be completely done). Meanwhile, increase the heat and reduce the marinade to one third of the original volume or until large bubbles cover the surface (another 5 minutes). Slice the breast on the bias.

This time, I served the sliced chicken on a bed of sliced cucumber (mini cucumber or Japanese), thinly sliced onion (soak in water for 10 minutes and ring out moisture if too strong). Arrange the chicken slices and top with small tomato slices (the vegetables are all optional). Drizzle the sauce.

Compared to other types of vinegar, "kuro-su" 黒酢 or black vinegar is much milder and has a more nutty taste which is a key to this dish. I also made this dish by substituting the black vinegar with balsamic vinegar with a very good result.