Apologies, this cook book has been reviewed previously but due to brain fog or very bad planning (or both) it accidentally was reviewed again. To make up for this there is a bonus recipe for Butter Rice included.
This book was purchased the first time Lindsay and I went to Japan which is a number of years ago. Eating in Japan was a challenge due to allergies to fish and seafood (and seaweed), pork and other ingredients commonly used in Japanese food but I did fall in love with the egg sandwiches found in most 7 11, Lawson and Family Marts.
One thing which attracted me to the book was it provides an explanation about commonly used ingredients for example burdock with which I was not familiar. However it does label umeboshi as pickled apricots when in fact they are usually pickled plums and an acquired taste.
For this Random Recipe, it was decided to choose two recipes so the book could immediately know its fate, rather than be on tenterhooks of whether it retained a place on the book shelf or not. (No discussion on whether books have feelings will be entertained. You can have your own beliefs and I can have mine.)
To accompany the two recipes chosen, Butter Rice was chosen as the ingredients were available and it takes little time to prepare. A quick recipe of the butter rice is included. (Thank you Midnight Diner.)
Beef and Asparagus Skewers and Grilled Leeks with Miso and Sesame were chosen as the recipes are simple and looked appealing. Vegetable stock was substituted for the dashi stock.
In the usual tradition of Clean the Plate the recipes were not completely followed: first the dashi stock substitution and the beef and asparagus where not placed on skewers. The asparagus was very thin, due to the season and Oyster Blade steak was purchased from a local Korean Supermarket.
After brushing the rolls with the sesame oil and soy sauce, the steak was wrapped around the asparagus and placed under the grill. Due to their size they took little time to cook.
The leeks were grilled at the same time but took a little longer because of their size. The preparation of the Miso and sesame sauce to accompany the leeks was also simple.
Butter Rice Recipe
30-50 grams butter
1 cup cooked rice
¼ cup frozen peas
¼ cup frozen corn
1-2 cloves garlic
Splash of mirin
Shallot/spring onion if desired
Soy sauce to taste (and if desired)
Method
Melt butter in frypan.
Add peas and corn. Cook until no longer frozen. (If shallots/spring onion is used add them at the same time.)
Add garlic and rice and mix thoroughly.
When heated through add a splash of mirin and mix thoroughly before serving.
The Eating
Usually with butter rice I place the soy sauce on the table rather than add it while cooking so each person can make their own adjustment.
The leeks were pleasantly charred on the outside and the sauce was tasty and judged to be a good mixture of flavours and textures.
It was felt that the asparagus should be larger if prepared in future but the mixed flavour of the beef, asparagus, sesame and soy sauce was very good and the simple tastes were very pleasing when combined. I decided that in future sandwich steak should be used as the local butcher makes one without fat or gristle which needs to be removed as was the case here.
Harper happily ate as much as possible but leftovers remained, which tasted pleasant when later consumed.
Verdict
“Whose Cuisine reigns supreme?” (Iron Chef Japan)
The book will remain, not only because it provides pleasant memories but it also contains other recipes including Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Chicken Braised in Sweet Soy which sound interesting.
Japanese Favourites while you may not reign supreme, because the other cookbooks will become jealous and no infighting is permitted on the bookshelves in my kitchen, you have earned you place.
Further apologies. Currently I am not well acquainted with the latest iteration of WordPress and find the constant changes to picture files, blocks etc confusing. With furt
Clean the Plate 