Sukiyaki, Japanese big dinner

As Christmas is approaching, I wish you a nice holiday season. So let’s have a sukiyaki party !
It’s a party meal designed to showcase delicious premium Japanese beef and season produce. A hot pot to cook and share on the table.

The ingredients are cut, cleaned, prepared and presented on big trays on the table.
First tray : fungi, konnyaku noodles and grilled tofu.
There were 4 types of mushrooms : shimeji, enoki, dry and soaked maitake and fresh kikurage.

Second tray : negi leeks, onions, soaked yakifu (gluten croutons) and kikuna (chrysanthemum greens).

Third tray : the beef. Wagyu, Japanese traditionally raised cows. Beside you can see cubes of beef fat.

Each eater is given a bowl with a good fresh egg. Whisk your egg with the chopsticks and get ready to dip you ingredients in this sauce.

First step : greasing the pot with fat and roasting the first slices. They can be enjoyed this way as the beef is delicious, just on its own.

That’s the technique : melt some fat, add some meat, pour a little sugar, then a little shoyu (sauce sauce), a little sake. Mix and cook.

All the other ingredients are added in small batches…

For dessert… well, there are no desserts for Japanese meal. So that’s a French tarte Tatin, made with Japanese apples.

Cumin lamb chop and kujo negi, Chinese style

Another way to serve a lamb chop. A fun quick lunch.

Pan-fried with sesame oil and cumin seeds.

I had a few fresh Kujo negi, Kyoto leeks.

The tender part of greens.

The white part is cut into angel’s hair.

The sauce : Chinese black miso, a little gochujang and powdered cumin.

I didn’t make them. I bought ready to use Chinese Spring roll wraps, warmed them in the steamer.

That’s served : Take a crepe, put veggies, meat and sauce on it, roll and eat immediately.

Spahis ? Kaki sfeeha.

Japanese-Lebanese-Gourmande fusion : Lebanese sfiha (sfeeha, small meat pies) with Japanese kaki, and coconut tzatziki.

Cut thinly lamb meat, season with salt. Cut a little kaki persimmon. Cut onion and kabocha pumpkin in small cubes, garlic thinly, stir-fry with lamb fat. Season with a little salt, cumin, cinnamon, nutgmeg, black pepper. Add the meat and fruit to the onions. Shred a few leaves of mint and some fresh thyme, add them.

Dough : flour, cumin seeds, a little baking powder, a drizzle of olive oil. Mix. Add just enough hot water to form a ball.

Take a ball of dough, spread in a circle, put filling in the middle and pinch the squares to form a basket.

Paint with olive oil and bake.

Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil, chili flakes and mint leaves. Serve hot.

Tzatziki : cucumbers and a little goya (bitter squash), the sauce is made with coconut cream, garlic, mint and thyme.

The perfect pair.

Brochettes et marrons

Brochette is the French for skewer, and it’s usually meat and veggie ones. Then the season of kuri (Japanese chestnut)is open…

Small steak cuts of lean Japanese beef.

On skewers with onion and red sweet pepper. I’ve passed olive oil, salt, black pepper and thyme. Let one hour.

Then grilled.

The chestnuts roasted with a few small sweet potatoes.

This fiery soup is made in the blender with the cut outs of onion, red pepper, a glass of white wine, 2 tbs of sesame, 1 ts of miso. Then simmered a few minutes.

Easy little carbonade, with early Autumn market’s basket…

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.