Tag Archive for 'Konnyaku'

One of my Favorite Japanese Foods! Sukiyaki!! Kansai Style! Mark’s Version

Published
by
mark
on May 28, 2008
in Cooking, Mark and Recipes
. 1 Comment

So yea. Back long time ago i went to Japan with my best friends. We had an awesome time there and one of the best meals we had was a really traditional style Sukiyaki. I was so nice and there was some lady that cooked it for you and everything. The beef was so good and everything was just great. Well i felt like i had to make it. Since no where in Ann Arbor which i have seen has a good sukiyaki it was my goal to make an awesome sukiyaki. This was my take at sukiyaki. I took a bunch of recipes all over the place and my memory of japan and did this. The ingredients might not be exactly what is in sukiyaki but it worked. Hopefully i can make it even better as i keep making it!

here are the pictures of my sukiyaki adventure

So the ingredients i used are

  • 5-7 large Sukiyaki sliced beef (Thin slices of really tender marbled beef)
  • Half a package of Shirataki (Konnyaku noodles does matter color)
  • Half a package of Firm Tofu
  • 2-3 Naganegi (Japanese Bunching Onions, they are in between a leek and a green onion)
  • Handful of Shungiku (Chrysanthemum Leafs)
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1/4 cup of soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup of mirin
  • Slice of Beef Suet (Fat from the kidney but any fat would really do)
  • White rice
  • 1 egg

You first want to start out by cooking the Shirataki.  First chill the shirataki (or take it right out of the fridge) and then boil it for about 5 minutes.  You should notice that it has gotten a little stiffer now.  After you cook it cool it really quickly to stop it from cooking and to chill the noodles.  Cut them into nice lengths so you don’t have to slurp it.  Next chop up all your other ingredients.  Slice the Naganegi ince long diagnol slices.  Wash the Shungiku and then slice the hard root part.  Usually it will come with a longer stem which is really hard to eat.  You want to cut that off.  Finally cut the firm tofu into nice 1-2 inch blocks or so.  The blocks should be big enough so they don’t fall apart when picked up with chopsticks but not too small.  Oil a pan on medium heat and fry it on all sides so you get a nice brown on all the sides.

Now it’s time to start the actual Sukiyaki cooking!  Start out by heating a nice pan on low-medium heat.  A iron sukiyaki pan would be the best but i didn’t have one at the time so i used a frying pan.  First melt some Beef Suet so there is enough oil to cook.  The Beef Suet provides a really nice flavor.  Then turn the heat up to medium heat.  Start cooking some of Naganegi in the pan.  You want to get the flavor of the Naganegi in the oil.  Turn it so both sides of the Naganegi get cooked.  Right before the Naganegi starts to brown slightly put the slices of beef on top of the Naganegi.  I moved the Naganegi around so that all the slices of beef would lay on top of it.  I let it cook till the meat was still red but also turning color.  Then i put the sugar on top of the beef and also the soy sauce and mirin.  I carefully mixed the sauce together in the pan, in order not to break apart the pieces of meat.  Then i added all the ingredients in except the Shungiku.  I positioned all the ingredients so they would each be in a region of the pan.  Right before the beef was just about done i put in the Shungiku because it cooks really fast.  Voila! the Sukiyaki part is done.  Eat it with a bowl of rice and 1 beaten egg.  You have to dip the Sukiyaki into the egg then eat it over the rice!  That’s the best way to eat it!!!!!!!  Don’t chicken out and not use the egg!  Bon app!

Lunch Today! Konnyaku, Leeks, Red Chili Peppers and Some Love

Published
by
mark
on November 4, 2007
in Cooking, Mark and Recipes
. 1 Comment

So here is what i made for lunch today. Konnyaku, Leeks and Red Chili Peppers is all there is to this. It’s really simple and easy and especially quick! But don’t expect any 5-star dish or anything. It has nice leek flavors and because i really like leeks it’s good for me! I used 2 Red Chili Peppers because i love hot food. I sometimes joke that my mom brought me up eating lava because of the super high tolerance to hot foods i have.

Here are pics i took of my little adventure of cooking for lunch.

So basically it’s just chopped up leeks, sliced and flipped konnyaku, red chili peppers and S&P. Really simple and took less than 15 minutes to make. The leeks were really good. I bought them last week at the farmer’s market. I used most of the leeks of the bunch i bought making a my version of the taiwanese daikon pork soup that my mom makes.

If you are interested in that recipe just ask. I’ll make it probably sometimes soon since it’s almost winter. I like making nice soups when it’s winter. Also you can make a good amount for a couple meals. A quick idea of the soup is Short Pork Ribs, Daikon Radish, Leeks, Cilantro, Sesame Oil, Dashi broth or chicken broth whatever i had left, and TIME! I usually let it slow cook for a good amount of time (like hours/overnight) so the broth and everythings gets really good.

Anyways, that’s all for lunch today! (I hope someone eventually reads this or at least i look back at it someday. Otherwise i’ll feel strange writing to myself)