Category Archives: Japanese

Konnyaku “Skwid” with Peas

 

We found a package of konnyaku “skwid” at the Asian grocery store. Konnyaku is a yam that is ground into flour and made into a jelly. It is high in fiber but low in calories. It is usually sold in blocks or as shirataki noodles, but this is another application – a vegan alternative to squid.

Stir-fried the “skwid” over high heat until they were almost blistered. Then stir-fry some peas with garlic and tossed it all togther.

The “skwid” had a nice crunch; not tough or chewy at all.

Aloha, Nate

Gyoza

We hadn’t had gyoza in a while so Annie bought some ingredients last night and made them for dinner tonight. The filling includes ground pork, minced shrimp, garlic, ginger, won bok, chives, salt, white pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil. We bought swei gow wrappers for the gyoza skins. I wish I had a video of how she pleats the gyozas – she’s quite skilled with that.

How long do you boil them until they’re done? We use the thrice boiled method: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the gyozas. When the water starts to boil again, pour in a little bit of tap water. Wait for it to come to a boil again. Pour in a little more tap water. When it boils for a third time, remove the gyozas.

My dipping sauce contains soy sauce, Chinkiang Chinese black vinegar, salt, white pepper, sugar, and sesame oil.

Annie made 111 gyozas but we only cooked 45 of them…and ate them all!

Aloha, Nate

Leftover Turkey Omurice

I diced up some leftover turkey and pan-fried it in some turkey shmaltz until browned. Then I added some white rice and more shmaltz, plus a touch of sesame oil and fried it all up. Added a couple of spoonfuls of gravy and mixed it in to heat through, then plated it up.

In another pan I made a quick omelette, rolled it out on top of the rice, and laid some ketchup and a little bit of sriracha chili sauce on top the egg.

It was wonderful.

Aloha,

Nate

Omurice

One of my favorite movies is “Tampopo”. It is a Japanese film about food. A great movie to watch if you can get your hands on it. There is a central story about a truck driver helping a ramen shop owner improve her ramen, but there are many substories revolving around it. One of my favorite scenes from the movie is of a hobo making “omurice” (Omurice is simply fried rice with an omelette on top) for a young boy:

Annie made some fried rice last night so I quickly cooked and omelette, plated it up, and squirted on a little ketchup. It was great!

Aloha, Nate