Still in Japan (at least in my head) after my post about the Kobe beef, I was strolling on the web and found an awesome Japanese cooking program called ‘Delicious Nippon’.

The presenter, Judy Ongg and the culinary specialist Naoyuki Yanagihora in tradional clothes are talking about an ingredient, its origin, where and how it’s produced. I love it. In addition of making me smile it is also very instructive. Amongst their ‘authentic Japanese mothers cooking’, I choose two recipes.

That reminds me that my friend Claudine is supposed to cook me a Japanese dish since she came back from Japan…When was it ? 1 year ago ? Something like that. Oh ! And it reminds me that my friend Justina wanted to cook me a speciality from her Lithuanian land but also burritos (she’s the kind of girl who is Lithuanian and can make perfect burritos!). And to finish, Kim who is Vietnamese and was supposed to make me a Pho ages ago…. Voila, voila, this is done. I know they will read me so it was just a quick reminder…

While I am waiting for my friends to cook for me, here is the ‘Beef and aubergine with miso spread’ serves 4.

It is normally Wagyu but my butcher doesn’t have any Japanese beef ! They said in the program that we can use rump or even chicken or pork.

Ingredients :

-400g of rump, cut in small cubes

-2 aubergines

-1 green pepper, seeded and finely chopped

-100g of miso paste

-50g of sugar

-30ml of sake

-½ clove of garlic chopped

-The white of a leek, very finely chopped

Method :

1. Remove the stems and cut the aubergines in half lengthwise. Cut some of the roundness away in order to make the aubergines stable. For easier cooking, round a knife around the inside of the skin and make a grid pattern in the fleshy part.

2. Heat some oil in a pan, check the temperature and when it’s very hot, plunge the aubergines. Fry the skin side first for 30 seconds and then the other side until nicely golden. When it is done remove the excess of oil by placing them on a tray with paper towel. Then with the same oil, fry the green pepper a few seconds and place it on the tray with the aubergines.

3. Put the miso paste in a pan and add the sugar, half of the sake, mix it out of the heat. Then put the pan on a strong heat, add the garlic and simmer while stirring till having a sheen appearance and add the rest of sake.

4. Cook the beef last. Season the cubes with salt and pepper, heat a frying pan with a bit of oil and cook very quickly on a strong heat.

5. When serving, place the aubergines on a plate, with the miso paste. Deep some of the meat cubes in the miso and place on the top of the aubergine. Garnish with green peppers, leek and serve straight away.

 

To go with your beef and aubergines dish, why not having a ‘Steamed rice freshly cooked’, Japanese style ? serves 4.

 

Take 500g of Japanese sushi rice and wash it in sieve a few times. Grind the rice to get rid of dust and any brown remaining on it. Rubbing would also make it more delicious. Do it around 30 times with the palm of your hand like kneading some dough. Rince the rice and repeat it 2 or 3 times till the water is no longer cloudy.

Put the rice in a heavy cooking pot with a heavy lid. Add 600ml of water and leave the rice to absorb it for around 30min. You can still skip this stage by buying ‘Musen-Mai’ rice which is an already washed rice.

Bring everything to the boil on a high heat. When it starts boiling turn the heat to medium and cook for 10-15min. Then check, if the water level is lower than the rice, turn the heat on low. When you hear a popping noise, turn it up again to high for 10 last seconds. Turn off the heat and let it steam with the lid on for 2min. The rice is sticky and yummy. Sparkle your rice with condiment rice, my friend brought me back a packet from Japan (yes Claudine still), don’t ask me what it is made with, it tastes nothing really but gives a nice blush to your rice.