Tag: Japanese
Kabocha Pumpkin Fried Rice
Kabocha Pumpkin Fried Rice
This Japanese-style fried rice uses one of my favorite ingredients: kabocha pumpkin. This pumpkin has the flavor between a butternut squash and a sweet potato. The skin is edible and adds a slight sweetness to the fried rice.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 2 cups kabocha pumpkin diced
- 5 strips bacon diced
- 1/4 cup shallots sliced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 green onions chopped
- black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat. Pour in the eggs.
- Scramble and remove from the wok.
- Add in the other tbsp of vegetable oil. Stir fry the kabocha pumpkin for 3 minutes.
- Add in the diced bacon. Cook for 7 minutes until crispy.
- Add in the shallots and garlic. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Break up the clumps of cooked rice and stir into the wok. Fry for 3 minutes.
- Pour in the soy sauce. Stir in the scrambled eggs. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the green onions. Season with black pepper to taste.
Kitsune Udon
Kitsune Udon
While you will rarely ever see kitsune udon in the U.S., it is a staple in Japan and is considered their soul food. The soup consists of udon noodles in a dashi stock base. The soup is topped with kitsune. Kitsune starts out as thin sheets of pressed tofu. The sheets are fried until crispy. At this point, the fried tofu sheets are now called aburaage. If you are pressed for time, you can buy already prepared aburaage at just about every Asian market. The aburaage are then simmered in soy, mirin, sake, and sugar until they soak up the sweet and salty liquid. The soup gets garnished with lots of green onions and togarashi pepper.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
Kitsune
- vegetable oil for frying
- 3 tofu sheets pat dry with paper towel
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp mirin
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup water
Udon Soup
- 4 cups dashi stock
- 3 tbsp mirin
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp sake
- 16 oz frozen udon noodles
- 4 green onions chopped
- togarashi pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat up 4 tbsp of cooking oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add in the tofu sheets.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes a side until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
- Mix together the soy sauce, mirin, sake, sugar, and water. Bring to a simmer in a sauté pan. Add the fried tofu sheets. Simmer until they soak up all of the liquid. Set aside.
- Bring the dashi stock, soy sauce, mirin, and sake to a boil in a pot.
- Add in the udon noodles. Simmer for 5 minutes until the noodles are cooked through.
Kabocha Korokke (Japanese Pumpkin Croquettes)
Kabocha Korokke (Japanese Pumpkin Croquettes)
Korokke are the Japanese equivalent of a potato croquet. You can use kabocha pumpkin, sweet potatoes, ir just regular potatoes when preparing this savory appetizer. The korroke can be shaped into oval sized patties or into smaller ping pong sized balls. Once formed, place on a parchment paper lined baking pan in the freezer to firm up. Then dredge them in flour, egg, then panko breadcrumbs. The korroke fry for a couple of minutes a side u til golden brown and crispy. Serve the korroke with tonkatsu sauce.
Equipment
- potato masher
Ingredients
- 1 lb kabocha squash seeded and cut into cubes
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 large egg beaten
- panko breadcrumbs
- vegetable oil for frying
- tonkatsu sauce
Instructions
- Place the kabocha in a steamer. Steam for 10 minutes.
- Place the kabocha in a bowl and mash with a potato masher.
- Brown the ground beef in a small sauté pan over medium high heat for 5 minutes.
- Add in the onions and cook for 2 minutes. Drain any excess oil.
- Mix in the ground beef and onions, salt, pepper, and nutmeg to the mashed kabocha. Let cool.
- Form the dough into 6-8 oval shaped patties. Place on a baking sheet lined in parchment paper. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
- Dredge the croquettes in flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs.
- Heat up 1” of vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Place some of the croquettes into the oil, frying in two batches.
- Fry for 3-4 minutes a side until crispy and golden brown.
- Drain the drain the grease on a wire rack.
