Grilled Miso-Marinated Pork

It’s been beautiful days in Perth.  I only remember Perth’s summer as hot and dry, but this year is very different (last year too, maybe) – humid, rain, and sometime very cool.

Today  I visited my friend’s new house and enjoyed swimming in their yard.  It’s a sunny day with nice breaze – so perfect to just sit on the poolside and chat.

When I got home I felt like something grilled meat.  In Australia we happen to have bbq quite often, and I’m used to this type of food.  I love it.  Australia Day is approaching and I definitely think we are gonna have some bbq with family on the long weekend.

Today I made grilled pork.  The pork is marinated in miso-mixture so it’s got some Asian flavour.

This miso-marinated pork is great to have with steamed rice, and is best to make with pork belly.  The fat makes the meat juicy, soft and tasty.

But this time I had this with somen noodle.  Somen noodle is like a king of summer food in Japan.  Simply boil the noodle, cool down in cold water, then eat with soy sauce-based dipping sauce with some condiments.  Love it.

<Grilled Miso-Marinated Pork>

• Pork Belly 2 fillets (around 500g)
• Miso paste 3 tbs
• sake (cooking wine) 1 tbs
• Mirin 1 tbs
• Honey 1 tbs
• Soy Sauce 1 tsp
• Sesame Oil 1 tsp
• garlic 1 clove – minced
• ginger 1 small knob – minced

1. Mix everything except pork belly in a shallow plate or in a plastic bag.  Marinate pork belly in the mixture overnight.
2. Take out the pork, and slice in 1cm width.
3. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a skillet pan over high heat, and grill the pork.  The meat is easy to get burnt because of the miso marinade, so be careful.  Turn around the meat with tong often so it won’t go black.
4. When the meat is fully cooked, golden and crispy, take out from the pan.  Serve immediately with salad and rice/noodle.

Dry Curry Soboro – OmuRice Style

The title might have confused you….   the dish looks like this  ↑↑↑

Juicy dry pork curry over steamed rice with fluffy thin omelet.

Serve it on a large plate then people can dig in….   Great for kids party too.

Make omelet fluffy – not over-cook it.  Soft and runny egg goes well with curry

I used zucchini, but you can use broccoli, capsicum, peas, or eggplant instead.

<Dry Curry Soboro> serves 3~4 people

• Pork Mince 500g
• Onion 1/2
• Carrot 1
• Zucchini 1/4
• Ginger & Garlic, minced, 1 tsp each
• Soy Sauce 1 tsp
• Mild Indian Curry Powder 1/2 tsp  (adjust to  your liking)
• Oyster Sauce 1 tbs
• Tomato Sauce 1 tbs
• Salt & Pepper (optional)
• 3 Eggs
• Milk 1 tbs
• Steamed Rice (to serve)

a

1. Chop onion, carrot and zucchini.
2. Heat a frying pan and add oil.  Saute onion, carrot, ginger and garlic for a couple of minutes.  Add pork and zucchini.  Pour soy sauce over the meat, and cook until the colour of the meat starts to change.
3. Add curry powder, oyster sauce, tomato sauce and 1 tablespoon of water.  Simmer until the liquid is almost gone and all the juice is absorbed.  Set aside.
4. Heat a wide frying pan with oil.  Beat egg lightly with milk, and pour into the pan to make soft omelet.
5. To serve :  Scoop some steamed rice (hot) on a large serving plate.  Place the omelet on top of the rice, and scatter the dry curry over.  Serve immediately while hot.

a

Pork Gyoza

Gyoza – although it originally came from China, I believe gyoza has became one of the most eaten food in Japan.  It’s became part of “Japanese food” now.  You’ll find it on menu at most Japanese restaurants in Perth as well.  In Japan you’ll find it everywhere, even in convenience stores.

Packs of frozen gyoza are available at Asian grocery shops in Perth, but they are mostly from China.  I don’t see much difference, but I personally prefer making them by myself as it’s much cheaper and more safe – you know what’s inside.

I usually use store-bought gyoza skin, but this time I made everything from scratch.  Making gyoza skin is quite easy, though I found it hard if you have a child/children around you in the kitchen nagging to go outside to play.

<Gyoza Skin>  makes around 30 ~ 35

• plain flour 150g
• baker’s flour 50g
• boiling water 150cc
• corn flour to dust when kneading/shaping

1. Place flour in a bowl, and pour boiling water.  Stir with chopsticks until it’s cool enough to tough.  Knead for 5 minutes till smooth.  Shape into a ball, and cover with plastic wrap.  Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes.
2. Roll into a thin dough.  Cut into around 8g pieces, and roll into flat round wraps using a rolling pin.  Dust with corn flour whenever you feel the dough is sticky.

<Gyoza>

• Pork Mince 2oog
• Cabbage 6 leaves
• Onion 1/2
• Minced Ginger 1 tsp
• Minced Garlic 1 tsp
• Oyster Sauce 2 tbs
• Sake (cooking wine) 2 tbs
• Soy Sauce 2 tbs
• Sesame Oil 2 tbs
• Salt & Pepper

1. Chop up cabbage leaves and onion.  Place with other ingredients in a bowl, and mix well using fingers.
2. Take 1 wrapper in the palm of your hand.  Use a spoon to take a small amount of filling and put it in the center of the wrapper.  Dip a finger in the bowl of water and draw a circle around the outer 1/4” of the wrapper so it’s wet all around.  Fold the wrapper in half like a taco.  From the left edge, start sealing the wrapper by placing a pleat about once every ¼”.  Make sure the two sides are sealed by pressing folded pleat tightly against the flat edge.  (how to wrap a gyoza)
3. Heat up a frying pan.  Pour 1 tbs of oil, and place gyoza.  Add 100ml of hot water then place a lid.  Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

I eat with “soy sauce + dash of sesame oil” dipping sauce, but you can eat with anything such as Japanese mayonnaise, chilli oil, or ponzu

Rolled Cabbage

Japanese calle it “roll cabbage”, but this dish is basically a ball of hamburg wrapped with cabbage leaves.  This is usually cooked in soup until the cabbage is really soft and almost melts. Sometimes served with variety of sauces such as tomato sauce, teriyaki sauce, and savoury bechamel sauce.

One of the reason I don’t cook this roll-cabbage too often is that it’s bit troublesome to make.  First you need to sautee vegetables then mix with meat.  Cabbage leaves need to be blanched in boiling water first so that it doesn’t rip when wrapping the meat mixture inside.  After all the preparation you will need to then cook the rolled-cabbage in a pot for 2 hours.  (or you can use slow-cooker instead)

But I made them anyway.  I felt like eating rolled cabbage, and I thought Hiro could also eat one.  It takes time, so if you want to make this chose the day you have time to spend in the kitchen.

<Rolled Cabbage>  makes around 20

• cabbage 1 whole
• pork & beef mixed mince (or you can use just pork/beef mince) 400g
• onion 1, medium
• carrot 1/2, medium
• celery stalk 1/3
• unsalted butter 2 tbs
• tomato sauce 1 tbs
• salt 2/3 tsp
• pepper to taste

1. Chop up onion, carrot and celery.
2. Melt butter in a frying pan, and sautee the vegetables with a pinch of salt for 5 minutes over low-medium heat.  Remove from the pan and spread on a flat plate.  Let it cool. (or you can keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook rolled-cabbage)
3. Remove the core from a whole cabbage.  Boil water in a large, deep pan.  Add a pinch of salt into the water, and place a cabbage.  Cook until the cabbage is well-cooked and soft.  Cabbage leaves should be easily come off.  Place the cabbage leaves into a bowl of iced water.  Repeat with the remaining leaves.  Pat it dry.
4. Place mince meat in a bowl.  Add salt, and mix well.  Add pepper, tomato sauce, and sauteed vegetables.  Mix well.
5. Place a cabbage leaf on a kitchen bench or on a chopping board. Place 1 tablespoon of meat mixture on the cabbage leaf.  Roll up tightly.  You can push the one end towards inside to close up.

Chose a pot that is wide.  Place rolled-cabbage into the pan, ensuring that all of them are nicely and tightly fit inside the pan.  (photo above)  Make sure the end of cabbage leaves are facing bottom.  Pour water to just cover the rolls, and place a lid.  Cook over high-medium heat.

Once it starts to boil, turn down the heat, and simmer for 2 hours over low heat.

*Add more water if needed.

Enjoy while it’s hot!  The cabbage leaves melt and meat should be juicy

Teriyaki Spam Onigiri

Little onigiri (rice balls) with teriyaki spam.  I made them in nigiri-sushi style.

To be honest, spam is not my favorite meat.  But considering that it is a long-life food and can be always available at the pantry, I’d say it’s very easy snack to prepare anytime you want to eat.

Using spam is cheap too.  I’m saying this because it is actually nicer to use ham steak instead of spam.  Ham’s got better texture and juiciness (to me).  But, ham steak is more expensive than a tin of spam, and again, spam can be available in the pantry anytime.  So here is teriyaki spam onigiri.  If you like spam then this is a perfect snack for you (?!).

The key is the teriyaki sauce.  Caramelize the sauce until spam is shiny!

<Teriyaki Spam Onigiri>  makes around 10 – 12

• Spam 340g tin x 1/2
• Soy sauce 1 tbs
• Mirin 1 tbs
• Steamed rice (cooked & warm) 1.5 ~ 2 cups
• Nori sheet to decorate

1. Slice spam into 5mm thick squares.
2. Spray oil in a frying pan, and grill the spam both sides until coloured.  Remove excess oil with kitchen paper, if there is any.
3. Pour soy sauce & mirin into the pan.  Cook over low-medium heat until the sauce thicken and the spam is shiny.
4. Divide steamed rice into 10 – 12, and shape into flat balls.  Place spam on top of rice, then decorate with nori sheet.

Now they are ready to serve!

Onigiri always goes with Japanese tea.  I accompanied my spam onigiri with hot barley tea.

I served spam onigiri with seafood yakisoba.  D & I love yakisoba!  It’s not as oily as Chinese fried noodle (people say it’s rather dry though ) and sprinkle of bonito flake (katsuo-bushi) and ao-nori powder gives the final touch