Deep-fried pork and onion skewer 豚肉とタマネギの串揚げ

Deep-fried pork and onion skewer 豚肉とタマネギの串揚げ (Mark's book p60)

This is also a very popular item either in Izakayas or restaurants specialized in "kushiage" 串揚げ.  Kushiage ("kushi" means a skewer and "age" means to deep fry) is skewered small pieces of meat, fish, or vegetables, breaded and then deep dried. My wife and I are getting too old to have an entire meal of deep dried food either kushiage or tempura. But we enjoy few deep fried items in Izakayas. This combination of pork and onion is very common and very good. We mentioned "Muroran"-style yakitori with this exact combination. Onion and pork cooked together impart some synergetic enhancements of each flavor.

Here, I used pieces of pork tenderloin and onion skewered alternately on bamboo skewers.  Some commercial establishments (not good Izakayas) may use a batter (water and flour) to coat the skewers before breading but this will usually make a very thick and oily crust. I use a more traditional method of dredging the skewered meat and onions in flour (AP flour), dipping it in an egg wash, and finally coating it in Japanese Panko crumbs (as described in the recipe in Mark's book). I deep fry using a low-meidum temperature since it will take some time to cook the pork through (15 minutes or more depending on the size of the pork). I sliced along the skewer to show the pork onion layering as it was done in the Mark's book illustration but, of course, you should just serve the skewers without cutting it. Serve this with a Japanese hot mustard and "tonkatsu sauce". The usual accompaniment is a thinly shredded cabbage but I lightly dressed the cabbage with my version of honey-musdard dressing as per my wife's request (she said she can not face a mound of a raw shredded cabbage). This dish can go with sake, beer, or red wine. We had this dish with a nice California Cabernet Sauvignon Flora Springs 2005.

Stewed Japanese pumpkin かぼちゃの煮物

Stewed Japanse pumpkin カボチャの煮物 

Although this vegetable is called Japanese pumpkin, "Kabocha" カボチャ, it is a type of winter squash. This dish is the most common way to serve kabocha. Again, like many Japanese dishes most of the work for this dish is in the preparation of the squash. It appears that kabocha is grown in North America especially in California and Florida and, reportedly, many are exported to Japan. You can sometimes get kabocha even in regular grocery stores. The quality of the kabocha can vary a lot and success of this dish depends on the quality of the kabocha.

Cut the kabocha in half using a heavy chef's knife or cleaver and remove the seeds and "guts". I cut the halves into 8th or to a large bite size pieces. I "shave off" the skin just leaving a hint of green behind (meaning the remaining layer of skin is extremely thin). I do this by securely placing the piece of kabocha on the cutting board and using a heavy chef's knife or vegetable cleaver "nakiri" 菜切り包丁. I use a paring knife and bevel all the sharp edges 面取り and soft parts (near where the seeds were). This is to prevent the kabocha from crumbling while cooking. Do not discard these scraps. I always use them to make a wonderful kabocha pottage (see below).

In a saute pan large enough, put all the kabocha pieces in a single layer with skin side down. Add "dashi" broth so the kabocha pieces are half submerged. Sprinkle sugar over the kabocha pieces (for the amount of kabocha which will fit in a 12 inch saute pan, I use about 2-3 tbs of sugar but but you can use more), and 2 tbs each of soy sauce (if you do not want the kabocha to color too dark, you could use "usukuchi" or light colored soy sauce) and sake. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until kabocha is cooked through.  Remove the lid and turn up the flame, gently shake the pan and reduce the liquid until it just coats the bottom of the pan and glazes the kobocha.  Let it cool down in the pan and serve at room temperature.

Kabocha Pottage カボチャのポタージュ

I make Kabocha pottage from the scraps when I make the above kabocha dish. The recipe is very standard for any type of pottages. I mince one medium onion and saute in melted butter in a deep pan until soft and semi-transparent, season with salt and pepper. Peel and cut up one small potato into small cubes. Add to the pan with the kabocha scraps, saute briefly and add chicken stock to cover (I used a commercial, 1/3 less salt, non-fat variety from Swanson which comes in a carton). Add two bay leaves and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all the ingredients are soft. Take off the pan from the burner and make sure to remove the bay leaves. Using an immersion blender (or food processor), process until smooth consistency is achieved and no solids remain (you may add more chicken stock to adjust the consistency). Add 1/3 cup (or whatever amount you prefer) of cream, mix and put the pan back on the burner, adjust the seasoning. I often add a small amount of white miso as a "hidden taste" 隠し味 for some Japanese touch but it is optional. I often serve this with the leftover stewed kabocha as seen above. Here, I garnished it with minced parsley.

Chicken tender with wasabi 鶏のささみのとりわさ

"Tori-wasa"とりわさ or "chicken and wasabi" is a popular dish in Japan especially  in a certain type of Izakayas specialized in chicken cuisines (different from Yakitori places), a good example of this type of Izakaya is "Torihachi" とり八 near Kyoto station which we went last time we were in Japan. Usually, the chicken tenders or breast meat are cooked very briefly in boiling water and then dipped into ice cold water to stop the cooking. Sometimes, this process is called "shimofuri" 霜降り meaning "frosted", since only surface of the meat turns white as though it is covered with frost or "yubiki" 湯引き meaning "dragging it through hot water". The chicken is then sliced on the bias and eaten with wasabi and soy sauce like "sashimi" or "tataki".

When chicken tenders are prepared as Yakitori, the are often grilled only on the surface with the center still raw. As long as you eat this type of dish in a reputable establishment in Japan, salmonella appears not to be a problem.  Unfortunately, it is too dangerous to do this using store bought chicken in the U.S. Instead of using the traditional technique described above, I have to poach the chicken tenders gently in salted water with a dash of sake (to remove any smell it may have) for 5-6 minutes or until the chicken meat is completely opaque. I then let it cool down, slice it on the bias and eat it with wasabi and soy sauce. It does not taste or look as good as real "tori-wasa" but it has to do.

Here is an image borrowed from the web for "tri-wasa". f.hatena.ne.jp/paraiso/20090615192014

Mmmmmm..this one looks good.

P.S. (2-27-10) I came across an article (in Japanese) which indicates a higher incidence of food poisoning among people who eat raw or under cooked chicken and other meat. Campylobacter and E. coli (O-157) are two major causes. They mention that among the population that eat raw chicken, there is 77 times more risk of food poisoning. So, even in Japan, eating raw chicken like this dish may not be wise.

Deep-fried tofu in tempura sauce 揚げ出し豆腐

Deep-fried tofu in tempura sauce 揚げ出し豆腐 (Mark's book p21)

This is a favorite Izakaya "teiban" 定番 or regular dish. It's called "agedashi-dofu" 揚げ出し豆腐 ("a-ge" means "deep fried", "dashi" means "broth"). Our good friends told us that they had this dish in a small Japanese restaurant located in a remote mountain town in the Western Canadian Rockies last summer (a very unexpected place to find good Japanese food). They liked it very much. So much so, they tried to make it at home. They said that the broth came out OK but the crunchy surface of the tofu was missing from their version. They said they coated the tofu with corn starch and pan fried it, instead of deep frying it. I have not made this dish for some time since we can have it at our Izakaya substitute in the U.S., "Tako Grill", which we frequent. They make a very good agedashi-dofu.

There are many versions of the recipe for this dish but the most important factor for its success appears to be the quality of tofu followed by the kind of flour used to coat it. I have traditionally used "potato starch" 片栗粉. That is also used in the the recipe in Mark's book. Potato starch is available in our Japanese grocery store. Other recipes suggest the use of regular AP (all purpose) flour or coating the tofu first with a beaten egg before dredging it in the flour. Most of the recipes call for deep frying the tofu but some home recipes suggest pan frying.

I decided to do a small experiment. After draining and removing the excess water (as described before) from a firm or "momen-goshi" tofu, I cut the tofu into 8 equal sized rectangles and remove any surface moisture using paper towels. Four rectangles were coated with potato flour. Two each were coated with corn starch or AP flour. I usually deep fry these but our friends appeared to want to avoid deep frying. I do not think pan frying can give a nice crunchy surface to all sides of the tofu. So, I decided to use a "shallow frying" technique. The amount of oil I used is somewhat more than pan frying but much less than deep frying. The depth of the oil came to just half the thickness of the tofu as you can see below. Probably, I can further experiment to see how much more I can reduce the amount of oil while still maintaing the crunchy crust.

I used a frying pan large enough that the tofu pieces do not touch each other (otherwise they will stick together especially if you coat them with potato starch). They were cooked together in the same pan for the same amount of time. (Actually, I did two runs. The potato starch coated tofu was included in each run as a reference). I turned over the tofu once half way through the cooking (4-5 minutes each side or until the bubbles become small).

In the picture below on the left, the ones in the front were coated with potato starch, the ones in the back with AP flour (all are same size but the ones in the back look smaller because of the perspective of the camera lens). In the picture on the right, the lighter one (left) is coated with potato starch and the darker one (right) is coated with corn starch. The results were very clear; the potato starch does not burn and forms a nice crunchy surface crust with a very unique inner layer of somewhat gelatinous texture. 

The corn starch is the second best. It does result in a darker color surface than does the potato starch but the crust in nicely crunchy. My wife also noticed that the corns starch imparts a subtle corn flavor to the tofu. The tofu coated in AP flour burned easily and did not form a good crust. So, my conclusion is that potato starch is the best and corn starch is OK but AP flour does not work. So for this dish 1) use potato starch but corn starch can also be used, 2) use either "deep" or "shallow" frying.

The broth is the usual mixture of dashi, soy sauce, and mirin but I took a short cut, and used a good quality bottled concentrated broth which I just diluted with hot water (to your desired taste). I added a small amount of soy sauce because it was a bit too sweet. For this dish, I make the broth stronger than I would if I were using the broth for a warm noodle dish. I just garnished it with grated ginger and chopped chives or scallions but you could also add any combination of julienned nori sheet, bonito flakes, graded daikon, prepared mushrooms, or even thicken the broth with potato starch (then, the dish is called "agedoufu no ankake" 揚げ豆腐の餡かけ, which is similar to "Deep-fried tofu with Mushroom sauce", Mark's book p120).

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.