Tag: main course
Lion’s Head Soup
Lion’s Head Soup
Lion’s head soup is the perfect comfort food for cold winter months. Not only is this soup super tasty, but it comes together in about 30 minutes. The soup is simply sautéed cabbage in chicken stock with lion’s head meatballs. These particular meatballs for the soup are dryer in preparation than the lion’s head meatballs you steam and eat as a main course. There is no water in the meatball mix and 1 less egg.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
Lion’s Head Meatballs
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 tbsp shaoxing cooking wine
- 3 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 3 green onions
- 1 cup water chestnuts finely chopped
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Soup
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 small green cabbage roughly chopped
- 6 cups chicken stock
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
Garnish
- green onions chopped
- chili oil optional
Instructions
- Mix together the meatball ingredients. Set aside.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large stock pot over medium high heat. Sauté the cabbage for 5 minutes until it is slightly wilted.
- Pour in the chicken stock and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
- Using a cookie dropper, drop the meatballs into the soup. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Drizzle in the sesame oil.
Sushi Hand Roll, 4 ways
Sushi Hand Roll, 4 ways
Japanese hand rolls are a great introduction to making sushi at home. All you need is sushi rice and sheets of nori, plus whatever you want in your hand roll. I included 4 different hand rolls that just about anyone can make: tuna salad(believe it or not, a popular flavor in Japan), smoked salmon and cream cheese, crab and mango, and tobiko(flying fish roe). I highly recommend doing research on sanitation and using raw fish before venturing any further into the sushi world.
Ingredients
- nori sheets
Sushi Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice washed 6-8 times
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar
- 3/4 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Tuna Salad Hand Roll
- 1 can yellowfin tuna drained
- 2 tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 avocado sliced
Smoked Salmon Hand Roll
- 1/4 lb cold smoked salmon
- 2 oz cream cheese
- cucumber julienned
Crab and Mango Hand Roll
- imitation crab sticks
- mango sliced
- cucumber julienned
Tobiko Hand Roll
- tobiko roe
- mango sliced
- cucumber sliced
Instructions
Sushi Rice
- Place the washed sushi rice and water into a pot. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes until cooked through. Add more water if needed.
- Mix together the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Pour that into the sushi rice and mix. Set aside.
Prepping the Ingredients
- To make your life easier, have all of the ingredients prepped and ready to go. You can either quarter the sheets of nori to make small hand rolls or trim off 2” of a full nori sheet for larger hand rolls.
Tuna Salad Hand Roll
- Mix the mayo and lemon juice together. Stir into the tuna. Season with salt. Place a couple tbsp of the sushi rice down the center of a sheet of nori. Place a couple of spoonfuls of the tuna salad on top of the rice down the center. Placd a couple of slices of avocado next to the tuna salad.
- Roll it up into a cone shape.
Smoked Salmon Hand Roll
- Place a couple of tbsp of sushi rice down the center of a nori sheet. Place the cream cheese down the center. Place a few pieces of smoked salmon on one side of the cream cheese and a couple of pieces of cucumber on the other side.
- Roll it up into a cone shape.
Crab and Mango Hand Roll
- Place a couple of tbsp of sushi rice down the center of a nori sheet. Place a crab stick down the center of the rice. Place a couple of slices of mango on one side of the crab stick with a few pieces of cucumber on the other side.
- Roll it up into a cone shape.
Tobiko Hand Roll
- Placd a couple of tbsp of sushi rice down the center of a nori sheet. Arrange a couple pieces each of the cucumber, mango, and avocado on top of the rice. Spread a tbsp of tobiko on top of veggies.
- Roll it up into a cone shape. Place a tsp more of tobiko in the cones opening.
Oyakodon
Oyakodon
Oyakodon is a popular lunchtime dish that you won’t really find outside of Japan. Oyako means parents and children, don meaning rice. Chicken thigh and onions are simmered in a dashi stock with soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar. Once the chicken is cooked through, a beaten egg is poured over the dish and cooked for a minute. All of that is placed on top of a bowl of steamed rice. While the upperclass look at this as a peasant dish, oyakodon is nothing short of flavor and tastiness.
Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup dashi stock
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp sake
- 1/2 tbsp mirin
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 small onion thinly sliced
- 1 large boneless skinless chicken thigh thinly sliced
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 green onion chopped
- steamed rice for serving
Instructions
- Bring the dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar to a simmer in a small sauté pan over medium heat.
- Add in the onion. Simmer for a minute.
- Add in the chicken. Simmer for 8 minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Pour in the egg.
- Place a cover on the pan. Cook for 1 minute.
