Looking for an appetizer? This Japanese recipe is sure to be a hit!
These Japanese Western-Style stuffed peppers are filled with a mixture of beef and pork plus onions, almost like Japanese hambaagu or dumplings or meatballs, encased in a pretty shell. Served with rice, they make a satisfying meal.
If you visit Hokkaido, the largest northernmost island of the Japanese archipelago, try a regional specialty: cream stew! But this yoshoku dish made with chicken, pork, or seafood, and onions, carrots, and potatoes is popular all over Japan. It is sometimes called white stew (白い野菜の白いシチュ) because the sauce is made with milk and the secret ingredient (cream cheese) thickened with a roux. Kurimu shitu is the Japanized English word for ‘cream stew’ (say each word fast: ku-ri-mu shi-tu).
Yoshoku recipes were developed during the Meiji period. The Emperor lifted the ban on red meat for commoners, and promoted Western cuisine, in hopes that the Japanese would become as large and strong as Westerners.
(examples of Japanese Western-style dishes)
Some time in the ’70s people began to experiment with Japanese flavors. Essentially, things that are usually eaten with white rice were mixed into or put on top of spaghetti. Until recently, wafuu pasuta or wafuu supagetti was unknown in the West, and not seen on menus of Japanese restaurants frequented by tourists. I read in many blogs that it’s popular in homes and small cafés (kissaten) and as Japanese food has become popular in the U.S. we can now enjoy some very interesting flavor combinations.
These burgers are wonderful! And I almost didn’t try them! Who wouldn’t like a burger seasoned with miso and onion, glazed with soy sauce. You will love these Japanese-style “American” burgers. Guaranteed!
Back in February, I posted about making a Japanese-style veal-tongue stew. One day, I was browsing Ms. Shimbo’s blog and she mentioned her mother’s beef tongue stew. Of course I had to ask!
I haven’t been doing my usual quota of blog surfing lately, but last week Ms. Shimbo posted a recipe from her mother and sister! I’m looking forward to preparing the recipe soon. And of course I very much thank Ms. Shimbo (and her mother and sister) for this recipe and for their efforts.
This dish is a decorative version of tonkatsu, deep-fried pork cutlet. Tonkatsu (ton=pig, and katsu=cutlet) is a poplular dish that came to Japan through the Dutch influence in the late nineteenth century. Tonkatsu is so popular in Japan that there are even restaurants that serve only tonkatsu and similar items such as kushikatsu (bite-sized fried bits of pork and other things on a skewer).
When I told Mr. Tess that we’d be eating “chikin raisu” he was skeptical. This Japanese dish is made with leftover rice, chicken, and ketchup. Chikin raisu was introduced to Japan at the turn of the 20th century, and though it is a meal without a long tradition, it is “comfort food” which appeals to children of all ages. And you know what? It was really nice, and tasty, and comforting.
This dish is easy enough to make after a day at work and it is delicious. It’s a fine example of Japanese home cooking flavored with the historical influences on the country over the past 150 years. This is the second curry recipe from my project-book and is much simpler. If you have sauce leftover from the recipe in the link above, add about 1/2 cup to this recipe for a richer flavor.
This Japanese sauce is a fine example of yoshoku food. “Western food” but transformed for a Japanese pallette. This sauce is served with such fusion dishes as fried pork or chicken cutlet, potato and beef croquette (korokke), fried shrimp (ebifurai sando), and fried oysters (kakifuai)
Tess's Japanese Kitchen 