Okayu, rice porridge. An many pickles. It’s simple, colorful, feeling and very tasty.
I had a cold, not much appetite. That was perfect.
Umeboshi, salty plum, with the red shiso that comes together.
Aka kabu, red Kyoto turnip tsukemono.
Cornichons à l’estragon, with the onion from the same jar. Behind, a few capers.
Toasted abrura-age (fried tofu) and 2 sesames.
All the topping are ready.
And the rice. Just good brown rice, longly simmered in water.
Today, yakisoba, the Japanese version of Chinese fried noodles. Well, that’s my version of it… well, one of them. See others at the end of this post.
Yakisoba is fast-food normally. It’s often sold cheaply on street stalls, at festivals and the teppanyaki (hot plate) shops propose it too. The basic version is made mostly with :
-chuka soba (fresh Chinese noodles that are sold fresh and cooked, they look like thick spaghetti and if you have none, cooked thick spaghetti can be used)
-oil
That’s why we said it’s fried noodles, no mystery. And low amounts of :
-cabbage (cut in big squares)
-additional veggies (cut in thin slices), few and cheap ones (bean sprouts, onion, carrot, some kind of leeks…)
-a little raw meat (thin slices of pork), or cheap seafood, or ham…
-sauce (specific sauce or thickened Worcester sauce or a mix of Worcester + ketchup…), plus additional ketchup or mayo if you want
-pickled ginger, toppings…
My version uses what I have in my fridge, and it’s usually healthier.
So, I had abura age (fried tofu) as meat.
A few Eringi mushrooms as meat too.
I had a leftover of green papaya.
I first toasted the abura-age (fried tofu pockets), set aside. Then with a little garlic and ginger : onion, eringi mushrooms, green papaya, cabbage and shishito green peppers. To the veggies, I’ve added fresh Chinese noodles (chuka soba), sauce (Bulldog).
I’ve added the abura-age to the rest. I have about half of veggies, less than one third of noodles. That’s how I like it.
On top, a little more sauce, shichimi togarashi (7 spice mix) and cut green negi leeks.
Fresh fruity salad Spring rolls.
A green papaya from… the North. It’s produced in Aichi prefecture. Well, with these long hot Summers, they can easily grow tropical fruits.
As you can see, the fruit “sweats” a milky liquid. I was surprised to find so few grains in it.
Cress greens, cucumber sticks, the grated papaya (mixed with kabosu lime juice). The powder is sesame, goji berries and a little salt.
Wrapped in rice paper.
Served with sweet chili sauce.
As a side : abura age (fried tofu pockets) filled with kurigohan (chestnut rice), then toasted.
The inspiration is the Belgian dish carbonade flamande, a beef stew with dark beer. It’s hugely adapted to my local ingredients. I had that alcohol free beer to finish and some frozen beef meat leftover. And season’s produce waiting to be cooked. All that took us away from the rich original Winter dish, but that’s ideal for now as weather is hot (versus sooo hot before).
I’ve started by pan-frying a sliced onion till they get a golden color. Added beef thinly cut (2/3 defrost), a chunk of kurozato black sugar, thyme, a little fresh ginger, a piece of dry chili pepper and 2/3 of a can of beer (alcohol free). Covered. Let 15 minutes on low heat. The meat is so thin that it cuts very quickly.
I’ve added croutons made of toasted abura age (fried tofu pockets) with mustard spread on it, a little water, salt, pepper. Let 15 more minutes.
Served with more croutons and thyme on top. And I had veggies :
Small long satsuma imo sweet potatoes.
I steamed them with kabocha pumpkin and small potatoes.
Freshly boiled black edamame.
Second morning of okayu rice porridge with the leftover cooke for the umeboshi okayu
The base is the same : brown rice + cooked aka endomame red peas + a little salt.
Grilled salted salmon.
With the salmon, I’ve toasted a few abura age (fried tofu). To make croutons for a Fall salad, with figs :
The fish on top of the rice, with sesame seeds and shikwasa lime.
GOURMANDE in OSAKA 