Easy Yakitori

Yakitori is one of my favorite snacks which I also sometimes eat with rice as a heavier meal for lunch or dinner. Making yakitori is easy enough, but this recipe makes it even easier! You'll just need the following:
Ingredients

• Your choice of the meat - boneless and skinless chicken breast/thigh, chicken skin (you can use the one you've pulled off the chicken breast/thigh), pork belly, bacon
• Vegetables like leek, green bell pepper, asparagus, shiitake or button mushrooms **
• Wooden skewers (shorter ones are better; yakitori is not usually served on very long skewers)
• Ready-made Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce*
• Powdered ginger (for marinating) **
• Half a lemon **
• Container for marinating
• Grill (coal or gas grill is best for a smokier taste)

*I used ready-made teriyaki sauce because based on my research on yakitori recipes, the components of teriyaki sauce is very similar to yakitori marinade
** optional

Directions

1. You first cut your meat into bite-sized pcs, about an inch wide. For chicken skin, you can just put the skewer through it right away, as if the skewer were a needle and the chicken skin, cloth.
2. If you're using vegetables, you can cut them into bite-sized pcs as well and alternate it with the meat, much like in the photo (chicken and leek). For asparagus, it tastes bests when you wrap it with bacon and then put it on the skewers.
3. Put the meat skewers in a container, dash some ginger powder on 'em, and pour some Teriyaki sauce on it. About a teaspoon per skewer would do the trick; make sure not to drown the skewers but have the meat damp enough to soak in the flavor.
4. Squeeze half a lemon over the skewers.
5. Close container and leave to marinate for 30minutes to an hour or two. Don't leave them too long or they might get too salty.
6. Prepare the grill
7. When the grill is hot (enough that a drop of the marinade would sizzle), place the skewers on it.
8. Grill until the meat is cooked, turning it and basting it with left over marinade/teriyaki sauce to make sure it would meat would not dry out.
9. Serve with a tablespoon of teriyaki sauce drizzled on the meat skewers.
10. Eat as is or with rice. Enjoy! :)

Spicy Tuna Sashimi Salad

My friends and I always order this when we're at Japanese restaurants, so earlier today, I figured I'll try and make it myself... and I can proudly say that it tastes just as good! :D

This is a great appetizer or side dish. Here's how to make it:

Ingredients
Fresh tuna (sashimi grade) cut into small cubes
Japanese mayonaisse (Kewpie brand is good)
Togarashi (japanese chili powder)
Fresh cabbage leaves
Crushed crunchy tempura flakes*

Directions
Mix mayonaisse and togarishi together first. (Base amount on how spicy you want your dressing to be, and also never use too much mayonaisse that it will overpower the sashimi already.)
Mix the dressing with the sashimi and some of the crunchy tempura
Serve on a bed of fresh cabbage leaves, garnish with more crunchy tempura
Best served chilled!
Enjoy! :D

*To make crunchy tempura flakes, refer to this video.

Beef Teriyaki

Instructions (for 4)
0.5kg Sirloin/Tenderloin cut thinly and in strips
Teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp Garlic powder
2 tbsp Ginger powder
Dash of Ground pepper
Sesame seeds (for garnish)
A griddle

Directions

1. Marinate beef in teriyaki sauce (just enough to cover beef, but don't let beef swim in the sauce), garlic powder, ginger powder, ground pepper for 1-2 hours
2. Heat griddle
3. When griddle is very hot, place the beef (it should sizzle a bit) until cooked. Place rest of marinade on the beef and lower heat. Wait for about 3-5 minutes and transfer to a plate.
4. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds, serve with hot rice.

Gyoza

Ingredients (makes about 25+)
250g ground pork
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 small red onion minced
1/2 tbsp ginger powder
2 tbsp spring onion or chives, chopped into small pieces
1/4 cabbage cut into small pieces
gyoza wrappers
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soysauce
1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together very well with spoons or your hands
2. Using a spoon, get a bit of the mixture and place in the middle of a gyoza wrapper
3. Using your fingertips, wet the edges of the gyoza wrapper a bit and fold it in half, with the mixture in the middle. Seal the wrapper by making small pleats at the edges or the tip of a fork.
4. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.
5. Place the gyoza dumplings in a large NON STICK frying pan (don't crowd the pan too much; leave some space between the dumplings) on medium high heat.
6. After about 2 minutes, pour some hot water in the pan; just enough to cover half of the dumplings.
7. Put heat on high and cover the pan with a lid until water evaporates
8. Put a bit of oil on the dumplings before it sticks too much on the pan
9. When one side of the gyoza becomes brown, transfer to a plate, brown side up.
10. Serve with gyoza dipping sauce or plain soysauce + a bit of hot water
11. Enjoy!!!

*Storage
If you can't finish all the pieces of gyoza, you can place some of the uncooked ones in a tupperware, seperating each layer of dumplings with wax paper. Place in freezer and it will last for a few days up to a week or so. :)

Grilled Teriyaki Fish

For this recipe, you'll need the following (serves 3-4):

1. 3-4 pieces of good quality fish like Salmon or Gindara cut ala steak or steak fillet. (It's better to use fish with the skin on, so there will be a less chance of the fish breaking into pieces while being cooked or transferred from grill to plate.)
2. a small grill or griddle
3. rock salt and ground black pepper
4. 5.5 tbsp of teriyaki sauce
5. 1 tbsp of powdered ginger
6. 2 tbsp of lemon/lime juice

Directions
1. In a small bowl or tupperware, sprinkle the fish with a dash of rock salt and ground pepper, followed by the powdered ginger, lemon/lime juice, and 3 tbsp of teriyaki sauce. Cover container and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes. Make sure to turn over the fish in the middle of the marinating time.
2. Heat grill and brush with oil
3. When grill is very hot, lay down the fish steaks side by side. Grill only 5-8 minutes/side, so that the inside of the steak is still a little slippery and pink (if salmon is used). While grilling, baste using teriyaki sauce left in marinade container.
4. Transfer to a plate (be careful while doing so, if using skinless, boneless steak fillet, or else fish might break!)
5. Pour the 2.5 tbsp left of teriyaki sauce onto fish while it is hot.
6. Serve with a bowl or plate of hot rice, and maybe even a side of vegetables!

Enjoy! :)

Katsudon

First of all, I would like to thank the 1000+ people who have visited my food blog! Knowing my blog has been visited by so many people makes me very happy. Thank you!

Here is a recipe to celebrate! It's very simple, but I read online that Katsudon is usually eaten before a big test as "katsu" is a homophone of the verb 勝つ katsu, meaning "to win" or "to be victorious". And well, I don't have any tests or anything (my 1st term in senior year of college has just ended actually), but I hope to continue to feel victorious in the sense that people will continue to visit my blog.

Anyway, enough of me blabbing! Here is the recipe for one serving of Katsudon:

Ingredients:
1 Tonkatsu cooked and ready! A chicken fillet can also be used as substitute instead of pork (chicken katsu is called Torikatsu, if I'm not mistaken).
1 egg
1/4 leek sliced diagonally
1/2 onion sliced
50ml water
1/5 tsp powdered dashi (I use Ajinomoto brand dashi found in most Japanese sections of the grocery. Market Market in the Fort has many varieties of powdered dashi)
1 tbsp kikkoman soysauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp brown sugar
1.5 cup of rice put in a rice bowl big enough to fit your Tonkatsu

Directions:

1. Mix water, dashi, soysauce, mirin, and brown sugar and put in heated pan
2. When mixture begins to be hot, add onion
3. When the mixture is boiling and onion has begun to be transluscent, add your Tonkatsu
4. Beat egg lightly and pour over mixture and tonkatsu
5. Put some of the leeks on the Tonkatsu
6. Cover the pan for about a minute, or until your egg has reached your desired consistency.
7. Slide everything onto a bowl of rice.
8. Serve and eat while hot! :)

*Thanks to the Cooking with Dog show for some tips!

Tonkatsu

Hi guys! It's been a while since my last update; I've been enjoying my summer vacation way too much! I hope you enjoy this post though, it's a recipe on how to make Tonkatsu.

Tonkatsu is a Japanese dish; "ton" meaning pork, and "katsu" for cutlet. It's one of the easiest dishes to make and here is how:

Ingredients:
Pork cutlets or pork chops de-boned
Flour
Beaten egg
Panko (Japanese bread crumbs) with a pinch of salt and pepper
Salt and Pepper
Tonkatsu sauce*

Directions:

1. Season the pork cutlets with salt and pepper
2. Put the flour, beaten egg, and panko in separate bowls
3. Coat the pork cutlets by dipping it into the flour, egg, and panko (in that order)
4. Heat some oil in a fryer to medium high heat (you'll know it's hot enough when you put some panko in, it floats to the surface, and makes a slight sizzling sound)
5. Fry both sides of the pork until it is golden brown
6. Cut each cutlet into about an inch thick strips (as seen in the photo)
   

! Remember not to get the oil TOO hot (smoking) because you'll burn the panko and the pork will either get burned too or won't be cooked thoroughly. You can do this by lowering the heat to medium when you notice that the pork is almost done.

*Tonkatsu sauce - my favorite tonkatsu sauce is the Bulldog brand. It can be bought in most supermarkets in the Japanese food section or Asian groceries. You can also make your own by mixing the following:
Ketchup, Worcestire sauce (ratio 2:1),
a pinch of sugar,
and a pinch of chili garlic (more if you like it sweeter or spicier)

Chicken Teriyaki

Finally, here is my recipe for chicken teriyaki, as inspired by the many cooking websites I visit frequently, the Japanese food(my favorite cuisine) I've eaten, and what I've seen on TV.



Ingredients:
4-5 chicken breast fillets or boneless chicken thighs cut into about an inch thick strips
1/2 cup teriyaki sauce*
some vegetable oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch (or more depends on how thick you want your sauce to be)
salt and pepper
water

Directions:
1. First mix your sugar and teriyaki sauce.
2. Pour some of it on your chicken; just enough to coat the chicken well. Don't drown it. Then add a pinch of salt and about 2 tsp pepper. Massage it all into the chicken and let it marinade for about 20 minutes to an hour.
3. Meanwhile mix what's left of the teriyaki sauce + sugar mixture, cornstarch, and about 1/4 cup of water. The cornstarch will help the sauce thicken and the water makes the teriyaki sauce less strong.
AFTER MARINATING...
4. Drizzle some oil on the pan and let it go to medium heat.
5. Put in the pieces of chicken and cook until all sides are opaque and even a little brownish (about 4-5 minutes)
6. Then add the teriyaki mixture sauce. Leave it there, stirring the contents of the pan together until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble. It will do this faster, as well as cook the chicken more thoroughly if you put a lid on the pan. Just make sure to check every now and then and stir. Your sauce and chicken then would look a like this:



7. It will be done when the sauce is thick enough and the chicken is thoroughly cooked.
8. Serve chicken on plate with the sauce drizzled on top, or on top of rice with some sauce drizzled on top. Or if you're a little obsessive compulsive, put your sauce on the
side and that'll be fine too! Enjoy! :)

*TERIYAKI SAUCE
Teriyaki sauce can be bought at any local supermarket. I recommend the Kikkoman brand. If you can't find any ready made sauce you can also make it yourself by mixing together the following ingredients:
1/2 cup light soysauce
1/2 cup mirin
2 tbsp sugar