Teriyaki Beef Stir-Fry
Yield: 4 servings
1 (3/4 pound) flank steak
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons honey
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cups chopped broccoli
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
Trim fat from beef. Cut into strips. (It is easiest to partially freeze the beef before slicing. It makes it so much easier - or thaw just to the point where it can be cut easily.)
Combine soy sauce, water, honey, ,ginger and garlic in a shallow dish. Add meat and turn to coat. Cover, and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Add oil to a wok or stir fry pan at medium high heat. Add steak and vegetables, except for tomato, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Add tomato and cook for an additional 3 minutes or until done.
Per serving: 414 calories; 20% fat; 9.2 gm fat
Peanut Butter Mochi
3 cups water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 (16 ounce) box mochiko (sweet rice flour)
Katakuriko (potato starch), for dusting
Filling
1 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup honey
To make filling, combine peanut butter and honey; refrigerate until firm, a few hours or overnight.
Bring water to a boil; add sugar and stir until dissolved. Add mochiko a little at a time, stirring constantly. Continue stirring over medium heat until lumps are dissolved.
Place dough on a surface dusted with katakuriko. Allow to cool slightly. Sprinkle with more katakuriko and knead a few times until smooth. Form into a log.
Pinch off a 1 1/2-inch piece of dough and flatten into a circle. Place a teaspoon of filling in the center. Fold edges around filling and pinch to seal.
Makes about 2 dozen mochi.
Variations: For strawberry mochi, coat strawberries in koshi-an (sweet bean paste), then wrap in mochi dough. Add red food coloring to the boiling water if desired to turn the dough pink. For chocolate-peanut butter mochi, substitute chocolate sauce for the honey in the filling, or wrap a chocolate Kiss in the filling.
Japanese Shrimp Sauce
From the kitchen of GrannyB
This is the shrimp sauce found in Japanese steakhouses. It is sweet and pinkish-orangish in color. You can substitute fat-free mayo, butter, and 0-calorie sugar, and it still tastes great.
Makes 1 1/4 cups (12 servings).
1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 teaspoon paprika
3/8 teaspoon garlic powder
In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, granulated sugar, rice vinegar, melted butter, paprika and garlic powder. Mix well, cover and refrigerate.
Japanese Rice Crackers
Source: Another Taste of Aloha - the Junior League of Honolulu, Hawaii - 1994
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups mochiko (sweet rice flour)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 cup water
Vegetable oil for frying
Glaze
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
Combine flour, mochiko, sugar, sesame seeds, baking powder and water. Add more water if needed to make dough stick together. Divide dough into 4 parts and roll each paper thin on floured board. Cut into 1-inch squares.
Heat the oil to 375 degrees F. Fry crackers in batches, turning once, until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels.
Glaze: Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
Combine corn syrup, sugar and soy sauce and bring to boil. Cook glaze until it falls thick from spoon. Pour on cooled rice crackers and mix. Place crackers in a single layer on cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until dry.
Japanese Chicken over Rice (Yakitori Domburi)
Yakitori is a sauce usually made with poultry, and it requires no marinating time. Domburi means that the dish is served over rice.
6 large chicken breast halves
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin or sake
1 teaspoon minced gingerroot
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 scallions (with tops), cut diagonally
into 1/4-inch slices
3 cups hot cooked rice
Remove bones and skin from chicken breast halves. Mix soy sauce, mirin, gingerroot and garlic in medium glass or plastic bowl. Place chicken in soy mixture. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Drain chicken, reserving soy mixture. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet until hot. Cook chicken over medium heat until brown on both sides and done, about 15 minutes.
Heat water, sugar and reserved soy mixture to boiling in 3-quart saucepan; boil and stir 2 minutes. Stir in scallions.
Cut each chicken breast half into 6 diagonal slices by holding the knife or cleaver at a 45 degree angle to the cutting surface. Place 6 slices on rice in soup bowl. Spoon hot liquid over chicken.
Yields 6 servings.
Cold Noodles with Dipping Sauce (Soba)
1 (8 1/2 ounce) package soba granules (buckwheat noodles)
1 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon hon-dashi (dashi granules)
1 scallion (with top), thinly sliced
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
1 tablespoon wasabi powder
1 tablespoon water
Cook noodles as directed on package; drain. Cover and refrigerate until chilled. Heat water, soy sauce, sugar and hon-dashi to boiling; remove from heat. Cool; stir in onion and gingerroot. Mix wasabi powder and water to a paste. Divide noodles among 8 small bowls. Pour soy mixture into 8 small dipping bowls.
Serve with wasabi paste. Stir small amounts of wasabi paste into soy mixture to taste.
Sukiyaki
Serve hot from the skillet, with separate bowls for hot cooked rice.
1 teaspoon instant beef bouillon
1/2 cup hot water
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pound beef tenderloin or boneless sirloin, 1 inch thick
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 stalks celery, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
2 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/8-inch slices
1 bunch scallions, cut diagonally into 2-inch pieces
8 ounces mushrooms, thinly sliced (4 cups)
1 (8 1/2 ounce) can bamboo shoots, drained
4 cups packed spinach, stems removed
Hot cooked rice
Dissolve bouillon in hot water; stir in soy sauce and sugar. Reserve. Cut beef into 1/8-inch slices. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet until hot. Place half each of the celery, carrots, scallions, mushrooms and bamboo shoots in separate areas in skillet. Pour half the reserved soy sauce mixture into skillet. Simmer uncovered until vegetables are crisp-tender, turning vegetables gently, 8 to 10 minutes. Push vegetables to side of skillet; add half each of the beef and spinach. Cook beef to desired doneness, about 3 minutes. Repeat with remaining vegetables and beef.
Yields 4 servings.
Suimono (Clear Japanese Soup)
3 cups water
1 tablespoon instant chicken bouillon
1 teaspoon soy sauce
Garnishes
Heat water, bouillon and soy sauce to boiling, stirring occasionally. Serve in small bowls; top with 1 to 3 garnishes.
For garnishes, use thinly sliced mushrooms, scallion strips, celery leaves, thinly sliced lemon or lime, thinly sliced carrot, strips of lemon (without pith) or lime peel (without pith).