Kakuni – Japanese Braised Pork

This is a braised pork dish which literally means “square simmered" – cubes of pork are simmered for a long time with dashi, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and sake. This is a classic served at izakaya which are local pubs, taverns or the fancy new word - "gastropubs" in Japan.

Although the eating of meat was forbidden in Japan until the Meiji restoration era - one of the recorded historical recipes is very similar to this and that was made from wild boar on occasion. The wild boar are now extinct in Japan, which were hunted by the feudal lords for sport and leisure, and at times desperate and hungry samurai and ronin of the Warring States Era, and its pretty easy to assume that hungry peasants or villagers wouldn't be averse to a little forbidden treat now and again.
Its very versatile - you could add some crushed star anise or some fresh chiles into the braising liquid to add a hint of heat to the pork.

2 lbs. pork belly, or country-style loin ribs cut into cubes
1 piece of kombu seaweed
1 medium sized daikon, grated with liquid, approx 3 cups
1.5 inch piece of ginger, grated
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sake
3 tbsp. mirin
1/4 cup shoyu such as Kikkoman or Yamasa, you could also use tamari.
2 cups dashi stock
Salt

Put piece of kombu in a pot of cold water. Soak the kombu for 30 minutes.
Add pork cubes into the pot of water with kombu and slowly bring to boil over medium/low heat. Once it reaches boil, take the piece of kombu out and discard. Allow the pork to simmer for another 2-3 minutes, then drain the pork and rinse.

Mix the grated daikon and ginger together. In a heatproof dish, place a third of the grated daikon/ginger mixture over the bottom of the dish. Place the pork cubes on top of the grated daikon/ginger and cover with the remaining daikon/ginger.
Place the dish over a steamer and steam for 2-3 hours (replenish the steaming water as necessary). The steaming flavors and tenderizes the pork.
Once the pork can be easily pierced with a skewer, remove the dish from the steamer. Place the pork cubes in a bowl of lukewarm water, gently rinse the pork cubes and let cool.

Refrigerate the pork cubes for a few hours or overnight.
Add sugar, sake, mirin and soy sauce to a large heavy bottomed pot/dutch oven. Add cool, steamed pork cubes and toss the pork around so it gets coated with the sauce, then add in 2 cups of dashi stock and simmer for 2-3 hours, turning the pork occasionally for even flavoring and coloring. The pork pieces should all fit in one layer.
Add a little salt to round off the flavors and simmered for a few more minutes. After all the simmering, the pork should be very tender and be covered with a thick dark glaze (a reduction of the braising liquid). Serve with hot steamed rice.

Oyabun "Boss" Japanese Ribs

Of course ribs aren't a common item in Japan, but they are here. This is a recipe I have been working on, fiddling with, adjusting. The basic Japanese cooking philosophy with these is to braise them, then finish - "nimono" or simmered style. Kakuni or Japanese braised pork is a common offering in this regard.

Part of the challenge here is if you wanted traditionally slow-smoked ribs, the wood smoke flavor either overpowers the miso and shoyu flavors, or the final product is too strongly flavored, and it is not balanced or entirely complementary flavors.

A fast cooking as with yakitori - and shoyu marinades works because the heat caramelizes the shoyu, slow cooking and smoke can give shoyu and miso a bitter off flavor if you aren't careful. I know because I have conducted many experiments trying different methods. One idea I have thought of trying is to add Sapporo beer to the braising liquid.

At the same time I am aiming for a bold dish. I want it to have traditional flavors, with a certain signature. Something unique. One of the flavors I am wanting to incorporate is "Shichi-mi tōgarashi" or seven-flavor chili pepper. These will be made for this year's spring "hana-kai".

2 racks baby back ribs
1 whole unpeeled bulb garlic, halved horizontally across the mid-section
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup tomato puree
1 cup sake
2 tbsp. rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. red miso
1 tbsp. tobanjan
1 tsp. whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp. sesame seeds, for accent
Shichi-mi tōgarashi, optional

Cut each rack of baby back ribs in half, which will yield 4 portions of 5 to 6 ribs each. To a large stockpot, add the ribs, 6 cups water, garlic, onion, carrot, tomato puree, sake, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sugar, miso, tobanjan, and peppercorns and bring to a boil over high heat. Decrease the heat so the liquid gently simmers. Remove any scum or oil that floats to the surface. Cover the pot and cook until the ribs become tender, about 1 hour.

Remove the ribs from the pot and set aside, reserving the cooking liquid. To make the marinade, bring the cooking liquid to a boil over high heat and boil until it reduces by half and becomes syrupy. Remove from the heat and allow the liquid to come to room temperature. Transfer the liquid to the jar of a blender, cover, and pulse until smooth, about 1 minute. Pass the liquid through a fine-meshed strainer suspended over a large bowl and discard any solids caught in the strainer. Set the marinade aside.

Preheat a grill to hot. Grill the ribs for about 4 minutes, flipping once. Sprinkle with generous amount of Shichi-mi tōgarashi. When the ribs are browned and sizzling, brush the marinade on top. Grill for about 2 more minutes, flipping 2 or 3 times, and brushing on more marinade after each turn. Let the ribs rest for 2 minutes. Garnish with sesame seed and serve.

Hayashi Raisu - this can be complicated by using a demiglaze, if you have some already prepared, or using a hayashi mix but it is just as good simply made.
You can add, peas, mushrooms..whatever.

1/2 lb beef, sliced
2 onions, sliced
2 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 tbsp. red wine or sake
1-2 tsp. beef stock powder and a little more than a cup of water
1 cup tomato juice or tomato-based vegetable juice OR
5 tbsp. tomato paste+2/3 cup water
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
Potatoes and carrots, optional

Melt butter in a frypan, and stir-fry beef and onions until beef is browned and onions are tender, adding the other extra butter half-way through.
Sprinkle flour over, quickly stir to coat the beef and stir-fry for a minute longer.
Pour wine or sake onto the beef, let the alcohol evaporate a little, then add all remaining ingredients, stir and simmer 20 min.
Serve with rice on a pasta bowl or plate and sprinkle with Ao-nori, if desired. 

Kenchinjiru - Buddhist Soup

This recipe for vegetable soup comes from Kenchoji-ji Temple
There is a story behind the soup. It would appear that a temple acolyte dropped a block of tofu, shattering it to pieces. Instead of wasting it, he cooked it with some vegetables and the monks seemed to like it.

4-6 dried shiitake mushrooms (fresh are okay too)
5.5 oz gobo or Burdock root
2.5 cups water
10.5 oz daikon, peeled and cut to bite sized wedges.
1 block of konyaku, cut into bite sized pieces
7 oz carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 tablespoons sesame oil
3.5 oz lotus root, peeled and cut to bite sized pieces.
2 tablespoons shoyu for sautéing
2.5 cups konbu stock
4 tablespoons saké
1 block firm tofu
4 tablespoons shoyu for soup
2 tablespoons red miso or 3-4 tablespoons white miso, optional but recommended!
Handful of greens - baby spinach, collard greens, etc.
Small amount of ginger juice

Soak the shiitake in the water for 10 minutes. Drain. Soak for another 30 minutes in the 2.5 cups of water. Remove the mushrooms but keep the water as you will use it later. Remove the stalk and cut into bite-sized slices. Peel the gobo and cut into thin bite-sized slices. Soak them in cold water for 5 minutes to remove bitterness. Drain and put aside. Cut the daikon into bite sized pieces and soak in cold water for 10 minutes to remove bitterness.
Cut the konyaku into bite sized pieces and boil for a couple of minutes. Drain and remove.
Heat up the sesame oil in your soup pot (or in a separate pan) and stir fry the gobo, shiitake, konyaku, daikon, carrot, lotus root, and shoyu for around five minutes.
Add the shiitake water, konbu stock, and sake. Bring to a boil. Cook on low heat until vegetables are tender (30-45 minutes). If there’s any froth forming on the top, remove it with a spoon.
Crumble the tofu block into the pot and mix it in. Add the shoyu and miso. Stir gently for a while until you think the miso is dissolved. Add your greens and cook them lightly. Add a small amount of ginger juice to taste.
When you serve this, you can add a little more shoyu to individual bowls as well to taste.
Goes really well with a side of freshly cooked rice.
A lot of ingredients here, but the important thing to know is that you can substitute many of them.

Tampopo Special Ramen

"Lacking neither substance nor profundity".
This is not college dorm ramen. This, is the real deal. The recipe is from the movie Tampopo. If you haven't seen it you should. Very entertaining. I don't want to give spoilers. I have made this broth many times and it is as the old ramen master says in the movie..."Lacking neither substance nor profundity", meaning it is excellent and well balanced.
There is also sort of a "zen" to eating ramen the old master imparts. Most of the ingredients are easy to find, with duck wing and menma being the exception. Chicken wings work just as well, and menma is a bit of an acquired taste.

Broth:
2 pounds of pork bones
2 pounds chicken or duck wings, each bone cut in 2 or so pieces
3 Japanese long onions, a bunch of spring onions or a leek or 2, roughly chopped
Half a head of garlic, each clove cut in half
Konbu
1 Knob ginger, cut in 2-3 pieces
Salt
Enough water to cover all ingredients with a generous clearance

Pork:
3 pounds pork shoulder
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sake
1/2 cup mirin
1 knob ginger, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 bunch green onion, chopped

Other:
Negi (Japanese onion), sliced diagonally
Menma, this is fermented bamboo shoots (available at Asian markets)
Nori
Chuka soba (Chinese-style noodles)
Sesame oil
Soy sauce

Broth:
Place bones in a pot of water, bring to a boil and cook for 1-2 minutes. Drain and discard the water before rinsing bones under a cold tap. Combine bones with other ingredients and bring to a light simmer - never a boil, or the soup will cloud, keeping going, uncovered, for about seven hours. You will probably need to add a little water to keep your 1-2 inch buffer of water above the bones and other ingredients. Once it's done, strain it as much as possible, and either use it, keep it on the low fire for a day of running your ramen shop, or cool and refrigerate or freeze it.

Pork:
Brown the pork all over before simmering it over medium-low heat in a mixture of all the other ingredients for 1.5 hours. Let it cool. For classic ramen chashu, all you have to do is let it cool a bit and thinly slice it (about 4mm).
The braising liquid is great reserved.


Boil some water.
Heat bowls and put a few tablespoons of soy sauce (and a dash of the pork braising liquid if you have it) in the bottom of them.
Dice the pork and quickly stir-fry it with the sliced negi.
Meanwhile put the noodles into the boiling water for about 2 minutes and drain.
Ladle the broth into the bowls, followed by noodles and the negi/pork mixture. Add menma on the side and finish off with a drop of sesame oil over the pork. Done.

For more classic shoyu ramen, combine the soy in the bowls with broth, add noodles, serve with a strip of nori, thinly sliced pork, negi, menma and any other toppings you desire.

Baked Tonkatsu

A good and lower fat iteration of tonkatsu. You can also use pork chops.

3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 pieces pork loin approximately 1/2 lb
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 large egg
Tonkatsu Sauce
1 tbsp. black and/or white sesame seeds

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 400
Combine the panko and oil in a frying pan and toast over medium heat until golden brown. Transfer panko into a shallow dish and allow to cool.
Get rid of the extra fat and make a couple of slits on the connective tissue between the meat and fat to prevent the tonkatsu from curling up.
Pound the meat with a meat pounder, or if you don’t have one then just use the back of knife to pound. Mold the extended meat back into original shape with your hands.
Sprinkle salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Dredge each pork piece in the flour to coat completely and pat off the excess flour. Then dip into the beaten egg and finally coat with the toasted panko. Press on the panko flakes to make sure they adhere to the pork.
Place the pork on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the pork is no longer pink inside, about 20 minutes.
Cut tonkatsu into 1 inch pieces by pressing the knife directly down instead of moving back and forth. This way the panko will not come off. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately. To make special sesame tonkatsu sauce, grind black and white sesame seeds in a suribachi or mortar and add tonkatsu sauce. Mix all together.