POSTS

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Nikujaga with Cabbage


Nikujaga is a Japanese meat and potato stew. I saw the recipe on Honest Vanilla a couple of months back and saved it for when the weather cooled down. Well the weather is definitely cooled down here in Sydney!

The recipe also suggests you make your own homemade dashi stock as the base for the stew. I easily found bonito flakes (dried fish flakes) in the asian grocery but I was unable to find a piece of kelp. So I substituted with these dried seavegetables.


 I soaked about a cup of the dry seavegetables in about 3 cups of water for a couple of hours, I then strained the water into a saucepan. I brought this to a simmer and then added 6g of bonito flakes. I was expecting to gag when I opened the packet but actually they smelt really nice, like smoky fish. I turned the heat off and let this sit for 5 minutes before straining out the flakes, this then became my dashi.


To make the stew I sauteed the onion and ginger before browning the meat (I used pork) and then adding in the potatoes. This is then covered with the dashi as well as some sugar (I only added 2 tbsp rather then 3), soy sauce, sake, mirin and sesame oil. I left this to cook uncovered for 20 minutes at which point the potatoes were cooked and the sauce mostly reduced. Before serving I mixed in some sliced fresh savoy cabbage.



This dish was so delicious and an excellent comfort food. I have not cooked much Japanese food and it was different to what I have tried before, I was really pleasantly surprised. The stock offered such an interesting background flavour from the sea vegetables and the bonito. I will be cooking it again.


13 comments:

  1. I have never tried japanese food!This dish looks really yummy!A kiss from Greece,dear!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Koreans have similar soup like this. It looks so yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh this is perfect for our cold weather right now! Looks so warm and comforting.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Healthy! Definitely good for winter... is it getting cold there? Here in NZ is getting pretty chilly now!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Japanese comfort food is the best, simple and nourishing.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I didn't know Japan had comfort food like this! You're going into winter now, right? This is perfectly hearty and warming!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks interesting - my boys are heading to Japan later this year - I better try it and get them accustomed to this kind of food!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I remember eating this when I lived in Japan! It was great for Winter :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is one of the staples in our home too. My half Jap partner loves it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This sounds delicious! I really love asian cabbage (wombok). You have reminded me about a gorgeous Japanese cookbook I got given for my birthday two years ago that I have yet to cook from! I'm going to go and dig it out :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. What a wonderful dish. It looks like warm and comforting food. My family would love it. I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am a fan of Japanese food! this will be a a great experiment for me!

    ReplyDelete
  13. It looks and sound comforting and delicious.

    ReplyDelete

I would love for you to comment