Meat n' potatoes - Nikujaga



315 g thinly sliced beef
5 small potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 medium sized carrot, peeled and cut into half moons
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 6 wedges
150 g ito konnyaku, cut in half
1 1/2 tbsp. canola oil
2 cups water
5 tbsp. sugar
4 tbsp. sake
4 tbsp. mirin
2 tsp. powdered dashi
3 tbsp. liquid dashi
3 tbsp. soy sauce
100 g snap peas, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal
2 sprigs chives, finely chopped to garnish

Serves 4
Time: 1 hour

1. Peel and cut the potatoes and soak them in a bowl of water for 10 minutes.

2. Rinse the ito konnyaku and bring to a boil in a small pot. Drain and set aside.

3. Prepare a small pot of salted boiling water. Add snap peas and leave for about one minute. Remove snap peas from the pot and transfer to a bowl of chilled water. Drain and set aside.

4. Heat the oil in a medium to large pot. Add the beef. When the beef has cooked through, add the onions, potatoes, carrots and ito konnyaku. Stir until the ingredients are coated with oil.

5. Add water and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil and skim the foam that forms at the surface. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Add sugar and sake. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the mirin, powdered dashi, liquid dashi and soy sauce.

6. Cover the pot with a drop lid and continue to simmer until the vegetables are tender and the liquid has reduced to about half. This should take about 25 minutes.

7. Add the snap peas and let simmer for another 5 minutes.

8. Ladle into bowls and garnish with chives. Serve with rice. For authenticity, the rice would be served in separate bowls.





What ha' happened wuz...

Flo:  Look bleaders, we saw the recipe in a book (written by Japanese people for the non-Japanese cook, we might add), got all the stuff we needed...

Lou:  ...plus a few flare ingredients to doll up the dish.

Flo:  Right. We needed the colour.

Lou:  It was too brown, and we like to add our own creative touch to whatever we do.

Flo:  So we bumped up the measurements and waited for what seemed like forever.

Lou: Like all good chefs, we were tasting but there was something missing.

Flo:  So we adjusted again. Taste. Adjust. Taste. Adjust.

Lou:  What the hell's wrong with this? It was like tasty water.

Flo:  No depth! Thank God So (aka. my husband) was there.

Lou:  He tasted it and he knew right away what was missing-- no dashi.

Flo:  Lou, that book was trying to sabbotage us. How can you have nikujaga with no dashi?

Lou:  You can't. That's crazy talk! After living here for a few years, you learn that dashi-less Japanese food is like tomato sauce without the garlic. Guacamole without the cilantro.

Flo:  Exactly. Why bother making the dish at all? Dashi is the cornerstone of Japanese cuisine.

Lou:  Note to bleaders: heads up with these recipes cuz they can really trip you up. Anyway, once we added (as Emeril would say) a few "bams" of the dashi, it kicked it up a notch, and Flo and I didn't look back.

The verdict...

Flo:  So gave us a 10, and not to toot our own horns but...

Lou:   Toot, toot, girlfriend! We gave ourselves two snaps and a circle!

Flo:  Cuz it was delish.