Japanese Night

The last dinner party at our house had a Japanese theme.  I used The Quick and Easy Japanese Cookbook by Katsuyo Kobayashi and made the following two recipes.  They were awesome and a huge hit.

Stir-Fried Beef and Lettuce with Kimchi

7 oz beef loin, thinly sliced
1/2 cup kimchi spicy Korean pickled cabbage
1/2 head lettuce
1tbsp sesame oil
2 pinches of salt [I used Kosher salt]

• Cut beef into strips about 1 1/2 inces long.  Cut kimchi into bite-sized pieces.  Mix beef and kimchi, let marinade.
• Tear lettuce leaves roughly into bite-sized pieces.
• Heat the sesame oil in a wok until quite hot. Add beef and kimchi, and saute over high heat until the meat turns color.
• Add the lettuce, season with salt, and stir-fry briefly, until lettuce leaves just begin to wilt.
• Remove from wok and serve immediately.

I served over a bed of udon noodles.

Tofu With Sweet Miso Sauce

1 cake firm tofu
3 tbsp miso paste [red, if possible]
3 tbsp sake
1 tbsp mirin [or honey]
1 tbsp sugar
a small piece of Japanese yuzu citron peel [or lemon peel washed]
1 block konnyaku
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
4 to 5 shiso perilla leaves, or lettuce or other greens [optional]

• Place the tofu in a pan with just enough water to cover and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Simmer 5 minutes, until the tofu is firm.  Use a spatula to carefully remove it, and place it on a cutting board.  Pat dry with paper towels.
• Moisten a small pan with water [to prevent sticking], add miso paste, sake, mirin, and sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat.  When the mixture begins to bubble, turn heat to low and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it becomes thick and glazed.  Turn off heat and add a few gratings of citron peel.
• Cut tofu and konnyaku into slices 3/4 inch thick [working from one end, as if you were cutting off pats of butter].  Make a series of crosshatches on one side of each konnyaku slice, to allow flavor to penetrate.  If you have wooden skewers, insert a skewer through the center of each slice of tofu and konnyaku to make it easy to pick up and eat.
• Heat the oil in a fry pan and saute tofu and konnyaku over medium-high heat until golden-brown on the outside and warm on the inside.
• spread a little of the miso mixture over each slice, and serve on a bed of perilla leaves.

If you don't have skewers, eat with chopsticks or a knife and fork.  Much to my surprise, even my kids liked these.  The miso paste was very sweet and gave the tofu and konnyaku a nice flavor.  No one had ever had konnyaku before so it was fun to introduce it. I was able to easily find all the ingredients at an Asian Market that my friend Shannon recommended.

I found the cook book itself to be easy to follow, with some helpful pictures and illustrations throughout.  If you're looking for a good Asian cookbook to experiment with, I'd say this is a good one.