Breaded in panko and deep fried, this tender menchi katsu recipe uses a combination of beef and pork and is super crunchy on the outside.

Menchi katsu is very similar to Japanese hambagu, also known as hamburger steak.  Both recipes use a mixture of beef, pork and other ingredients that are formed into round cutlets.

The difference with menchi katsu is that it’s then breaded and deep fried.  

So menchi katsu is essentially a breaded and deep fried burger.  And what could be better than that?

What is menchi katsu?

Menchi katsu is a Japanese dish consisting of ground beef and pork cutlets that have been breaded and deep-fried. 

Besides meat, the cutlets typically contain eggs, panko, and flavorings like nutmeg, ketchup, and worcestershire sauce. 

The meat cutlets are breaded in a three step process. First they’re dipped in flour, then in eggs, and then in crispy panko.

Menchi katsu, like all other katsus, is a yōshoku (Western-inspired Japanese food) recipe.  For other classic yōshoku recipes, check out this Spaghetti Napolitan, this creamy Corn Soup, or this Omurice recipe. 

The word “menchi” comes from the English word “mince” in a reference to the minced meat used to form the cutlets.  And the word “katsu” comes from the English word “cutlet”. 

Ingredients in menchi katsu

Oil.  A neutral oil such as canola is used for deep frying the cutlets. 

Mixture for the meat cutlets

Ground beef.  Beef gives the katsu a strong, hamburger-like flavor. 

Ground pork.  This recipe uses a mixture of half pork and half beef.  The pork helps keep the katsu super moist. 

Onion.  Onion is sautéed before being added to the patties.  It adds depth to the katsu. 

Butter.  We’ll sauté the onion in butter to make the dish even more rich and give it a luxurious feel. 

Panko.  Panko is added to the meat mixture.  It helps prevent the katsus from becoming dry by absorbing some of the juice from the meat and keeping it inside the cutlet during the deep frying process. 

Milk. Two tablespoons of milk is used to rehydrate the panko before it’s mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. 

Egg.  Egg is used to bind the meat together. 

Ketchup.  Ketchup is mixed in with the meat to add a bit of sweetness and umami to the mix. 

Worcestershire sauce.  Worcestershire is added to the meat mixture to bring more depth and a bit of funkiness to the katsu. 

Nutmeg.  Really betraying its western roots, a bit of nutmeg adds a tiny bit of warmth to the flavor profile. 

Salt & black pepper.  Adequately seasoning the meat mixture before frying it is important.  Use one full teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of ground black pepper. 

Breading

Flour – Egg – Panko.  A three step breading of flour, egg, and then panko creates a shattering crunch on the outside of the katsus.  Good quality Japanese panko will really make a difference in achieving a great crunch. 

Why do you use a mixture of ground beef and pork?

Ground pork typically has a higher fat content than ground beef.  The higher fat content in the pork helps to prevent the katsu from drying out white it’s deep frying, keeping it super moist.

What kind of panko do I need?

Many American brands of panko aren’t actually panko and are more similar to traditional breadcrumbs.  These American brands won’t give you the crunch you’re looking for in a katsu.

If you can find a Japanese brand of panko, it’s definitely worth it.  Seek out Japanese brands of panko have jagged pieces of breadcrumbs that aren’t uniform in shape.  They’ll look a bit more spiky and irregular than other types of breadcrumbs.

How to make menchi katsu

Prep onions and panko

1. Prepare the onions. Chop the onions and sauté them in butter on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until starting to brown.  Then remove the onions from the pan and let them cool to room temperature. 
2. Prepare the panko. Soak the panko bread crumbs in milk for a few minutes.

Make the katsu cutlets

1. Mix the ingredients.  In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, pork, onions, panko in milk, egg, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, salt, and black pepper.  Mix the ingredients with your hand very thoroughly until fully combined.  Separate the meat into six equal-sized portions.  
2. Form the cutlets.  First oil your hands with about a half tablespoon of oil to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands while you make the cutlets.  Take a single portion of the meat in one of your hands and gently toss it to your other hand.  And then toss it back to your first hand, and then the other.  Repeat this process about 15-20 times until you form an oval-shaped cutlet.  Now place the cutlet on a plate that’s been lined with slightly oiled parchment paper.  Repeat for the other five cutlets.  This process removes air bubbles from the meat to prevent the katsus from breaking apart while deep frying.  Rest the cutlets in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so that they meld together.

Bread the cutlet & deep fry

1. Bread the cutlets.  Once the cutlets have finished resting, begin the breading process.  Place the flour in one plate, the beaten egg in a medium bowl, and the panko in another plate.  Dip each cutlet in the flour first and coat the outside of the cutlet with the flour.  Tap off the excess flour.  Now dip the cutlet in the egg and let the excess egg drain off.  Finally, dip the cutlet in the panko.  Gently press the panko into the cutlet and get a good amount of the breadcrumbs to stick.  Don’t worry if you break or crush some of the panko while you’re pressing it into the cutlet.  Repeat for all cutlets.

1.  Deep fry the katsu.  Heat 3 inches of oil in a pan to 350°.  Once the oil is hot, place the cutlets in the oil and fry for three minutes on each side, for a total of six minutes.  Fry the cutlets in batches so that you don’t overcrowd the pan.  When the katsu are finished frying, place them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain some of the oil.  Let them rest for 3-5 minutes and then enjoy.

How to reheat menchi katsu

Remove the menchi katsu from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature. 

Now bake the katsu for 10-15 minutes at 400°.  The katsu won’t be quite as crispy as when they’re fresh, but the oven is still your best bet to maintain some crunch.

What to serve with menchi katsu

Cabbage salad.  A simple salad of thinly sliced cabbage is an absolute must for any katsu.  The fresh, crisp cabbage balances out the heaviness of the fried katsu really well.  It also helps aid the digestion process of the oily katsu.  

Top the cabbage with Kewpie mayo or sesame dressing and some kernels of corn, if you have them.

Japanese-style potato salad.  Potato salad is another classic side dish for katsu.  Try out this super creamy recipe with carrots and cucumbers.

Tonkatsu sauce, mayonnaise, karashi for dipping.  Dip the katsu in either (or a combination of) tonkatsu sauce, Kewpie mayo, or karashi (Japanese mustard).

Print

Menchi Katsu

Breaded in panko and deep fried, this tender menchi katsu recipe uses a combination of beef and pork and is super crunchy on the outside.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword Beef, Katsu, Panko, Pork

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 50 minutes minutes

Rest in fridge time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 6 cutlets

Ingredients

• neutral oil such as canola, for deep frying

For the cutlets

• ½ onion minced
• 1½ tbsp butter unsalted
• ½ lb ground beef
• ½ lb ground pork
• ¼ cup panko
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp ketchup
• 1 tsp worcestershire
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper

For the breading

• ¾ cup flour
• 2 eggs beaten
• 1½ cup panko

For serving

• tonkatsu sauce, Kewpie mayo, and/or karashi for dipping the katsu

Instructions

Make the cutlets

• Heat the butter in a saute pan on medium heat. Once the butter is hot, add the onions, and cook them for 3-5 minutes until just starting to brown, stirring frequently. Once the onions are finished, remove them from the heat and let them come to room temperature.
  
• Add ¼ cup panko and 2 tbsp milk to a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Let the panko sit for five minutes to absorb the milk.
• Add the cooked onions, the soaked panko, the beef, pork, one egg, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper to a medium bowl.
  
• Mix thoroughly with your hands until the mixture becomes sticky and turns to a lighter pink color.
  
• Now form the cutlets. First oil your hands with about ½ tbsp of oil to prevent the mixture from sticking and separate the mixture into six equal portions.
• Take a single portion of the meat in one of your hands and gently toss it to your other hand.  And then toss it back to your first hand, and then the other.  Repeat this process about 15-20 times until you form an oval-shaped cutlet.  Now place the cutlet on a plate that’s been lined with slightly oiled parchment paper.  Repeat for the other five cutlets. 

  This process removes air bubbles from the meat to prevent the katsus from breaking apart while deep frying.  Rest the cutlets in the refrigerator for 30 minutes so that they meld together.
  

Bread the cutlets and deep fry them

• Once the cutlets have finished resting, begin the breading process.  Place the flour in one plate, the beaten eggs in a medium bowl, and the panko in another plate. 

  Dip each cutlet in the flour first and coat the outside of the cutlet with the flour.  Tap off the excess flour. 

  Now dip the cutlet in the egg and let the excess egg drain off. 

  Finally, dip the cutlet in the panko.  Gently press the panko into the cutlet and get a good amount of the breadcrumbs to stick.  Don’t worry if you break or crush some of the panko while you’re pressing it into the cutlet.  Repeat for all cutlets.
  
• Heat 3 inches of oil in a pan to 350°.
• Once the oil is hot, place the cutlets in the oil and fry for three minutes on each side, for a total of six minutes. You should fry the cutlets in batches of 2 to 3 at a time.

  When the katsu are finished frying, place them on a paper towel-lined plate to drain some of the oil.  Let them rest for 3-5 minutes.
  

Serve

• Serve the menchi katsu while they're still hot with tonkatsu sauce, Kewpie mayo, and/or karashi mustard for dipping.

The post Menchi Katsu appeared first on Eats All Day.

Like so many other local Hawaiian dishes, meat jun is packed with a ton of flavor.  The beef is marinated in a sweet, salty mixture of soy, sesame oil, sugar, and other ingredients.  And since the beef is thinly sliced, the marinade really digs into the meat giving it a deep flavor.

It’s fried in a flour and egg batter that protects the beef from drying out and keeps it super moist.

Finally, to add even more flavor, it’s served with a sweet, spicy dipping sauce that perfectly compliments the crispy, oily meat.

Be sure to serve meat jun with white rice to soak up some of the extra dipping sauce!

What is meat jun?

Meat jun is a Hawaiian dish that consists of thinly-sliced beef marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and mirin, breaded in a batter of flour and eggs, and then pan-fried.

Meat jun is often served with a spicy dipping sauce of soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, gochugaru, garlic and scallion.

You’ll find meat jun across Hawaii and it’s often part of plate lunches.

Where does meat jun originate from?

Meat jun is a fusion dish that originates from Korea.  It’s based on Korean jeon, fritters that are made with meat, vegetables, or fish dredged in a flour and egg batter, and then fried.

There are many different types of Korean jeon, such as cabbage, kimchi, seafood and more.  Here are some of the different variations:

Cabbage jeon

Napa cabbage leaves are lightly battered and fried in this recipe.

Kimchi jeon

The main ingredient in this jeon is kimchi.

Seafood (shrimp, clams, and squid) jeon

This recipe batters and fries a mix of seafood into pancakes.

Meat jun is Hawaii’s take on Korean jeon and it’s unique to the islands.  It first appeared in Hawaii in the 1970s, when a restaurant named Kim Chee #1 in Kaneohe, Oahu added it to its menu.

Since then, meat jun has become widespread on the Hawaiian islands and is often one of the components of plate lunches, served with rice, mac salad and kimchi.

How to make local style meat jun

Meat jun is a simple dish that comes together in three steps.  

First, you marinate the thinly-sliced beef in a soy-based marinade for one hour. 

Second, you batter the meat by first dredging it in flour and then coating it in an egg wash. 

And third, you pan-fry the meat in oil for 1-2 minutes on each side.

You can also make an optional dipping sauce that comes together in just a few minutes.

Meat jun marinade

The marinade consists of soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, sugar, minced garlic and minced scallion.

To make the marinade, first finely mince two cloves of garlic and one full scallion (both the green and white parts).

Add the minced garlic and scallion along with ¼ cup soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon mirin, and 2 teaspoons sugar.  Stir the marinade until the sugar dissolves.

Now add the meat to the marinade and massage the meat to ensure that the sauce begins to permeate the meat.

Place the meat in the fridge for one hour to allow the flavors to soak into the meat.

How to make meat jun batter

Meat jun uses a simple batter containing only two ingredients: flour and scrambled eggs.  

The meat is battered in two steps.

To start, place the flour on a plate and the eggs in a bowl.

First, dredge the meat in the flour.  Coat all sections of the meat with a thin layer of flour.  Then shake off the meat to remove all the excess flour.  You only need a very thin layer of flour to remain on the meat.  The flour layer helps the eggs stick to the meat.

Second, dredge the meat in the scrambled eggs.  Place the beef in the eggs and coat all portions of the meat with egg.  Once fully coated, lift the meat out of the eggs and let the excess eggs run off of the meat.  You only need a thin layer of eggs and don’t want too much remaining on the meat.

Place the battered meat on a separate plate, and repeat the dredging process for the other slices.

How to make meat jun dipping sauce

There are typically two types of meat jun dipping sauces.  The first is a soy-based sauce and the second is a red gochujang-based sauce.

This recipe uses the soy-based dipping sauce consisting of soy, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, minced garlic, minced scallion, and gochugaru (the spicy Korean chili flakes).

The red gochujang-based dipping sauce includes some of the same ingredients as the soy-based sauce, with the addition of gochujang.

What kind of meat do I need?

Meat jun uses thinly sliced beef.  The specific cut of beef that you use can be flexible.  You’ll find recipes that use ribeye, sirloin, cross rib, filet minion, and others.

It’s important that the meat is sliced thinly, but not too thinly.  The ideal thickness is about ⅛ of an inch.  This thickness allows the marinade to fully penetrate the meat, giving it a super savory and salty flavor.  

If the meat is any thinner than ⅛ of an inch, it could be difficult to batter and fry and will likely fall apart during the process.

How to reheat leftovers

It’s best to serve meat jun while it’s fresh, and can become soggy if left out for too long.

However, you can store leftovers in the fridge for 2-3 days and reheat them.  For the best results, follow the process below to reheat the meat jun.

1. Remove the meat jun from the fridge and let it warm up to room temperature. 
2. Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil to a frying pan over medium-high heat and fry the meat jun for around 30 seconds on each side, for a total of one minute.

This frying process will help to crisp up the outsides of the meat jun.

What to serve with meat jun

Meat jun is usually part of a Hawaiian plate lunch with two scoops of white rice and one scoop of Hawaiian mac salad.  

Other Korean inspired sides like kimchi, cucumber salad, or moochae (spicy Korean radish salad) go well with meat jun.

Print

Meat Jun – Local Hawaiian Style

Hawaiian-style meat jun is a revelation in flavor, with tender marinated beef coated in a simple batter and then quickly fried

Course Main Course

Cuisine Hawaiian

Keyword Beef, Fried

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Marinate in fridge 1 hour hour

Total Time 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

• ½ lb ribeye beef thinly sliced to ⅛"
• neutral oil such as canola, for frying

For the marinade

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 scallion minced

For the batter

• ¾ cup flour
• 2 eggs scrambled

For the dipping sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 scallion sliced
• 1 tsp gochugaru

For serving

• 1 scallion sliced, for garnish

Instructions

Marinate the meat

• Add all ingredients for the marinade (soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, sugar, minced garlic, and minced scallion) to a medium bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
• Place the meat and marinade into a shallow rectangular container and massage the marinade into all nooks of the meat.
  
• Cover the meat with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for one hour to marinate.

Make the dipping sauce

• While the meat is marinating, make the dipping sauce. Add all ingredients (soy, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, sugar, minced garlic, sliced scallion, and gochugaru) to a small bowl and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

Batter the meat

• Once the meat is finished marinating, prepare the ingredients for battering. Place the flour in a plate and the eggs in a bowl.
• First coat the meat in a thin layer of flour. Shake off the excess flour.
• Then coat the meat in eggs. Let the excess egg drain off the meat and place the battered meat on a clean plate. Repeat the process for all slices of meat.
  

Fry the meat

• Add ½ inch of neutral oil to a frying pan and heat over medium-high heat.
• Once the oil is hot, fry the meat slices one at a time. Fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, for a total of 2-4 minutes. When the meat is finished, place it on a paper-towel lined plate to absorb the excess oil.
  

Serve

• Serve the meat jun right away with the dipping sauce and more scallions on top for garnish.

The post Meat Jun – Local Hawaiian Style appeared first on Eats All Day.

Ebi Chili is all about the flavorful sauce.  This sauce is fragrant from the ginger and garlic.  It’s spicy from the Sichuanese doubanjiang.  The ketchup takes the sauce over the top by adding layers of umami and sweetness. 

And the best thing about this recipe is that it’s a quick, weeknight friendly meal that’s ready in just 20 minutes.

What is Ebi Chili

Ebi Chili is a Chinese-style Japanese dish of crispy pan-fried shrimp in a spicy sauce of ginger, garlic, doubanjiang, ketchup, and other seasonings.   

The sauce’s flavor is fragrant and slightly spicy.  Since ketchup is a primary ingredient, the sauce has a sweet and acidic tomato flavor.

Ebi Chili is a traditional chuka (Japanese-Chinese) recipe.  Chuka cuisine is Japan’s version of Chinese food, adapted by Chinese restaurants in Japan to match the Japanese palette.

Ebi Chili is based on a Sichuanese shrimp recipe. It was first created in the 1950s by Chen Kenmin, an emigrant from Sichuan, who’s regarded as the grandfather of Sichuan cuisine in Japan.  He introduced the dish in his Yokohama-based restaurant, Shisen Hanten. 

Ingredients

Shrimp.  Tender shrimp are marinated in a mixture of sake and cornstarch, and then lightly pan-fried until crisp.

Ginger.  A healthy amount of ginger gives the dish a strong fragrance.

Garlic.  We’ll use two whole cloves of garlic, giving the sauce a strong garlicky kick.

Scallion.  Scallions are fried along with the ginger and garlic to give the sauce an oniony kick.

Ketchup.  Ketchup is the primary ingredient of the sauce, giving it a sweet, acidic taste of tomato.

Doubanjiang.  The fermented chili bean paste from Sichuan gives the sauce spiciness and depth.

Sugar.  Sugar works to tame the heat and round out the flavor with some sweetness.

Sesame oil.  Sesame oil gives the sauce a nutty fragrance.

Chicken broth.  A half cup of chicken broth gives the sauce more volume.

Sake.  Sake has two uses.  First, for marinating the shrimp to enhance their flavor and to allow the other ingredients to work their way into the shrimp.  Second, we’ll add it directly to the sauce for some additional sweetness and umami.

Cornstarch.  We’ll use cornstarch in three ways.  First, we’ll use it along with water to wash the shrimp and firm up their texture. Second, it’s used in the marinade to coat the shrimp and help them crisp up when fried.  And third, we’ll add it at the end of the stir frying process to thicken up the sauce.

What is doubanjiang?

Doubanjiang is a Chinese condiment from Sichuan province made of fermented broad beans, chilis, soybeans, salt, and flour.  Doubanjiang goes by other names such as toban-djan, tobanjiang, or others.

It has a complex flavor profile that’s entirely unique.  It’s spicy, slightly sweet, and has a very strong depth of umami.  

This ingredient is an absolutely essential part of the Sichuanese pantry, and perhaps the one most important ingredient in Sichuan cooking.  It’s what makes Sichuanese food taste Sichuanese.

An important thing to realize about doubanjiang is that there are different levels of quality that highly affect its taste. 

A cheap, lower quality doubanjiang won’t taste great and it won’t impact your meal too much.  But a higher quality doubanjiang is a thing of beauty.  The best doubanjiang comes from Pixian, China.  Pixian doubanjiang is a geographical indication protected product, just like Champagne is protected in Champagne, France.

It’s really worth seeking out a high quality doubanjiang and spending a bit more money on it.  I promise that the high quality stuff will make a huge difference in your recipes, including in this Ebi Chili. 

Ketchup in Japanese food

Ebi Chili, like many other Japanese recipes, uses ketchup. 

While ketchup has a bit of a stigma in the West and is seen as just a low quality condiment used to dip your fries, it’s considered a legitimate ingredient in Japan. 

Many Japanese recipes incorporate ketchup, and especially recipes from yōshoku cuisine (Western-inspired Japanese food).  Spaghetti Napolitan is an example of a Japanese-style pasta that uses a ketchup sauce.  Other classics like omurice, tonkatsu sauce, and more also use ketchup.

How to make Ebi Chili

1. Prepare the shrimp.  Remove the tails from the shrimp and devein them if necessary.  Next rub the shrimp in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and then rinse them under cool water to remove all of the cornstarch.  This washing process helps improve the texture of the shrimp, firming them up.
2. Marinate the shrimp.  Marinate the shrimp for 10 minutes in a mixture of salt, white pepper, sake, and cornstarch.
3. Fry the shrimp.  Heat oil in a wok or frying pan on medium-high heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the shrimp to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side (for a total of 2-4 minutes) until the outsides of the shrimp begin to brown and crisp. Once finished, remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside.  The insides of the shrimp do not need to be fully cooked through at this point. 
4. Make the stir fry.  Clean the same wok or pan, return it to medium-high heat, and add fresh oil.  Once the oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic, and white parts of the scallion and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly browned.  Lower the heat to medium and add the ketchup and doubanjiang.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the ketchup and doubanjiang become fragrant.  Add the chicken broth, sake, and sugar, and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Now add the shrimp and the green parts of the scallions, and simmer until the shrimp cook through, about 1-2 minutes. Now add the cornstarch slurry and stir.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly. Now add the sesame oil, stir, and remove from the heat.
5. Serve. Once finished, place the shrimp and sauce on a serving plate and serve. 

Tips for making the shrimp

Measure and set aside all the ingredients before you start cooking.  Stir frying moves really quickly.  You’ll need to add a few ingredients, stir them for a minute, and some more ingredients, stir again, and then add some more, and so on.  The cooking process will run much more smoothly if you have all the ingredients measured out and set aside before cooking them.

Wash the shrimp with cornstarch.  This step is important because it helps to firm up the shrimp and give them a great texture.  It takes just a minute of time but does make a difference.  You might have noticed that shrimp in Chinese restaurants sometimes have a different, firmer texture than you’re used to.  This firmer texture that they’re able to achieve is due to the washing process.

What to serve with Ebi Chili

Serve Ebi Chili with white rice to soak up the extra sauce and a side vegetable or two, such as these sweet and salty Kyoto Style Sweet Potatoes. 

Print

Ebi Chili – Shrimp in Spicy Sauce

A fragrant sauce with ginger, garlic, ketchup and spicy doubanjiang coats crispy pan-fried shrimp in this Ebi Chili recipe.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword Doubanjiang, Ketchup, Shrimp

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 12-15 shrimp shells and tails removed, deveined
• 1 tbsp cornstarch for washing the shrimp

For the marinade

• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

For the cornstarch slurry

• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp water

For the stir fry

• 2 tbsp neutral oil such as canola
• 1 inch piece ginger skin removed, minced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 scallion minced, white and green parts separated
• 3 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp doubanjiang
• ½ cup chicken broth
• 1 tbsp sake
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Instructions

Prepare the shrimp

• Remove the tails from the shrimp and devein them if necessary.
• Next wash the shrimp. Rub the shrimp in 1 tablespoon of cornstarch and then rinse them under cool water to remove all of the cornstarch.

  Washing the shrimp in cornstarch helps improve their texture and firm them up.

Marinate the shrimp

• Mix all ingredients for the marinade (salt, white pepper, sake, and cornstarch) in a medium bowl. Add the shrimp and massage the marinade into the shrimp. Set the shrimp aside, in the fridge, for 10 minutes to marinate.
  

Fry the shrimp

• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or frying pan on medium-high heat. 
• Once the oil is hot, add the shrimp to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side (for a total of 2-4 minutes) until the outsides of the shrimp are browned and crisp.
  
• Once finished, remove the shrimp from the pan and set aside. 

  The insides of the shrimp do not need to be fully cooked through at this point.

Make the cornstarch slurry

• Mix 1 tbsp cornstarch with 1 tbsp of water and set aside.

Make the stir fry

• Clean the same wok or pan, return it to medium-high heat, and add 1 tablespoon of fresh oil. 
• Once the oil is hot, add the ginger, garlic, and white parts of the scallion and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly browned. 
  
• Lower the heat to medium and add the ketchup and doubanjiang.  Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the ketchup and doubanjiang become fragrant.
  
• Add the chicken broth, sake, and sugar, and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
  
• Add the partially-cooked shrimp and the green parts of the scallions, and simmer until the shrimp are cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. 
  
• The cornstarch slurry may have separated, so use a spoon to stir it again. Then add the cornstarch slurry to the pan and stir.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until the sauce is thickened, stirring constantly.
  
• Add the sesame oil and stir. Remove the pan from the heat.

Serve

• Once finished, place the shrimp and sauce on a serving plate and enjoy.

The post Ebi Chili – Shrimp in Spicy Sauce appeared first on Eats All Day.

Tuna salad can seem a bit boring.  Honestly, I don’t personally eat it too often.

But the addition of one simple ingredient – gochujang – really transforms the classic sandwich spread into something more complex, more spicy, and all around more tasty.

What is gochujang tuna salad?

Gochujang tuna salad is similar to classic tuna salad, but with the addition of Korean gochujang paste. 

The ingredients include gochujang, canned tuna, kewpie mayo, scallions, celery and optionally some shichimi togarashi sprinkled on top.

The gochujang adds complexity in flavor to otherwise bland tuna salad. Its flavor is sweet, spicy, a bit pungent, and dripping with umami.  It really transforms tuna salad into something with a lot more flavor. 

The tuna salad can be served like any ordinary tuna salad: on sandwiches, on crackers or flatbread, or with vegetables. 

What is gochujang?

Gochujang is a Korean condiment made of fermented soybeans, red chili, glutinous rice, and salt.

It has a complex flavor profile of deep sweetness, spiciness, a bit of pungency, and a ton of umami.  The flavor is really unique and difficult to compare to any other ingredient.  There’s not a good substitute. 

The spiciness of gochujang can vary, with some being super spicy and others not spicy at all.  There’s often an indication of the spiciness level on the package of the gochujang. 

Gochujang is an absolutely essential staple in Korean cooking.  It gives so many Korean dishes their unmistakable Korean taste. 

It has many different uses such as a marinade for meat, to flavor stews (such as Korean Army Stew) or as a base for sauces (like in the creamy, cheesy Rose Tteokbokki), or as a dipping or topping sauce (for example in bibimbap). 

If you want to cook Korean food, you’ll definitely need a tub of gochujang.  Luckily it’s now pretty popular in the US and you can likely find it in the Asian section of your grocery store.  If not, Amazon also sells it. 

Gochujang paste vs gochujang sauce

When a recipe calls for “gochujang”, it refers to gochujang paste rather than gochujang sauce. The paste is what’s used in cooking and contains only the core ingredients of gochujang.  The paste is sold in small, usually red tubs.  This recipe for tuna salad uses the paste.

Gochujang sauce, on the other hand, is a diluted version of gochujang that’s mixed with other ingredients.  It can be used tableside as a dipping sauce and is generally sold in squeeze bottles. 

How to make gochujang tuna salad

1. Prepare the vegetables.  Slice the scallion into thin rounds and mince the celery into small pieces. 
2. Mix the ingredients.  Add the vegetables along with the canned tuna, gochujang, mayo,  and salt and pepper to a medium bowl. Mix thoroughly with a spoon until well combined, with few chunks of tuna remaining.

1. Serve. Enjoy the tuna salad in a sandwich, with crackers, or with vegetables. 

Ingredients

Gochujang.  The Korean fermented paste adds amazing flavors of sweetness, spiciness and umami to classic tuna salad.  Gochujang is now popular in the United States and most grocery stores sell it.  Amazon also carries it.

Canned tuna.  Can’t have tuna salad without the tuna. 

Kewpie mayo.  I love Kewpie mayo because it has more tanginess and deeper umami than North American mayonnaise.  It uses only egg yolks, rather than whole eggs, giving the mayonnaise a much richer flavor.  It’s an iconic Japanese ingredient and definitely worth seeking out!  But if you can’t find Kewpie, you can easily use a North American mayo such as Hellmann’s in this recipe. 

Scallions. Finely sliced scallions add a bit of peppery bite to the salad. 

Celery. Finely minced celery provides crunch and some freshness. 

Shichimi togarashi. A sprinkle of the Japanese spice mix gives the final tuna salad some extra heat.  This ingredient is completely optional, so feel free to skip it if you don’t have it. 

Salt and pepper.  For seasoning.

How to serve gochujang tuna salad

There are a few ways to serve this salad. 

As a sandwich.  Wrap the tuna between two slices of bread and add lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles. 

With crackers or flat bread.  Top some carbs with the tuna salad and eat. 

As a dip with vegetables.  Use celery and carrot sticks to scoop up the tuna. 

Wrapped in nori seaweed snacks with rice.  Wrap some tuna salad and a bit of rice in nori seaweed snacks for a quick take on sushi.  Sushi rolls made with canned tuna and nori are actually quite popular in Japan and can be found at almost any konbini (Japanese-style convenience stores such as 7-11).  This combination would be similar to those rolls. 

Or better yet, as a gochujang tuna melt!  Spread room temperature butter on two slices or bread.  Place the tuna between the two slices, with the buttered sides of the bread on the outside of the sandwich.  Add some cheese inside the bread.  Now add more butter to a nonstick pan on low heat and cook the sandwich on both sides until browned and crisp. 

Print

Gochujang Tuna Salad

Gochujang tuna salad takes your average tuna salad and makes it special with the addition of sweet, spicy and complex Korean gochujang.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Korean

Keyword Gochujang, Kewpie Mayo, tuna

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 5-oz cans water-packed tuna drained of water
• 1 tbsp gochujang
• ⅓ cup Kewpie mayo or substitute any other mayo
• 2 scallions
• ½ large stick celery
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• pinch shichimi togarashi for sprinkling on top, optional

Instructions

Prepare the vegetables

• Slice the scallion into thin rounds.
• Mince the celery into small pieces.

Mix the ingredients

• Add all of the ingredients except the shichimi togarashi to a medium bowl.
  
• Mix thoroughly with a spoon until well combined, with few chunks of tuna remaining.

Garnish and serve

• Place the tuna salad in a serving bowl and garnish with shichimi togarashi.
• Enjoy the tuna salad in a sandwich, on top of crackers, or as a dip with vegetables and pieces of nori.

The post Gochujang Tuna Salad appeared first on Eats All Day.

This is a hamburger like you haven’t had before. The juicy beef and pork hamburger steaks are pan fried until crisp and then doused in a sweet, spicy, citrusy ponzu sauce with a ton of flavor. 

They’re topped off with oroshi, a Japanese condiment of grated daikon, giving the final dish a nice peppery bite. 

This dish is hearty and filling. But it’s also surprisingly refreshing because of the bright, citrusy ponzu sauce. 

What is wafu hambagu?

Wafu hambagu is a Japanese-style hamburger steak made from ground beef and pork and topped with daikon oroshi and ponzu sauce.

It’s a typical yōshoku (Japanese-style western food) dish popular throughout Japan.  For other classic yōshoku recipes, check out this Spaghetti Napolitan or this creamy Corn Soup. 

The ground beef and pork are mixed with panko, eggs, onions, garlic and other seasonings like worcestershire, sesame oil and nutmeg.  The meat is made into hamburger size steaks and then pan-fried until crisped on the outside.  A ponzu sauce is added to the burgers while they cook, letting the meat soak up the sweet and spicy flavors of the sauce. 

To finish the dish, the hambagu is topped with daikon oroshi, a simple condiment of grated daikon.

Wafu hambagu is typically served with a green salad and sometimes other roasted vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, or green beans.

What does wafu mean?

“Wafu” means Japanese-style and it often refers to “wafu” salad dressing.  There are all different kinds of wafu dressings, but they all use some combination of traditionally Japanese ingredients such as soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame or ponzu.  

Since this recipe has a ponzu sauce resembling wafu dressing and is often served with a side of green salad, it’s referred to as “wafu hambagu”.

How to make wafu hambagu

Prepare the onions & panko

1. Prepare the onions.  Chop the onions and sauté them in butter on medium heat for 3-5 minutes until lightly browned.  Once finished, set them aside and let them cool to room temperature. 
2. Prepare the panko. Soak the panko bread crumbs in milk for a few minutes.

Make the hambagu steaks

1. Mix the ingredients.  In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef, pork, onions, panko in milk, egg, sesame oil, worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, black pepper, and salt.  Mix and knead the ingredients very thoroughly until fully combined.  Separate the meat into four equal-sized portions.  
2. Form the hambagu steaks.  First oil your hands with about a half tablespoon of oil so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands while forming the steaks. To form the hambagu steaks, take one portion of the meat in one of your hands.  Now gently, but firmly, toss it to your other hand.  And then toss it back to your first hand.  And now toss it again.  Toss the meat from hand-to-hand about 15-20 times until you form an oval-shaped steak.  Repeat for the other three steaks.  This process removes air bubbles from the meat to prevent the steaks from cracking into pieces while cooking.  Place the hambagu steaks on a parchment paper lined plate and let them rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Make the oroshi

1. Make the oroshi.  Meanwhile, as the hambagu steaks are resting in the fridge, make the oroshi.  Peel the daikon and grate it with a fine cheese grater.  In Japan they use special graters to get the perfect texture.  I didn’t have one, so I just used a normal cheese grater and it turned out great.  Once grated, squeeze out the liquid from the daikon and set the oroshi aside.

Make the ponzu sauce

1. Make the ponzu sauce.  Combine the ponzu, sugar, and yuzu kosho in a small bowl.  Mix thoroughly until the sugar and yuzu kosho dissolve.

Cook the hambagu

1. Cook the hambagu.  Once the hamburger steaks are done resting, heat oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan.  Once the oil is hot, gently place the hamburger steaks in the pan.  Use your thumb to make an indentation in the middle of each steak.  Cook for four minutes until browned.  Flip the hambagus, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for five minutes.  Now remove the cover and add the ponzu sauce.  Cook for two more minutes, spooning the ponzu sauce over the steaks while they cook.  When fully cooked, remove the hamburger steaks from the pan.  Continue to cook the sauce for 1-2 minutes to slightly reduce it.  Remove from the heat once reduced.
2. Top with oroshi and ponzu sauce.  Place the hamburger steaks on a serving plate and top each with 2-3 tablespoons of the daikon oroshi.  Pour the ponzu sauce over the hamburger steaks.  
3. Serve. Enjoy wafu hambagu with a side of green salad and roasted vegetables.  Use the ponzu sauce for dressing for the salad.

Tips for making wafu hambagu

1. Use beef and pork. American burgers usually use just beef. But Japanese hambagu uses a combination of beef and pork, which adds flavor and keeps the steaks juicy. 
2. Remove trapped air from the hamburger steaks.  When forming the steaks, make sure to remove all the air bubbles from them. To do this, gently but firmly toss each steak from one hand to your other hand 15-20 times until the steaks are formed and all air bubbles are removed. 
3. Indent the center of each hambagu when cooking. When you place the hamburger steaks in the sauté pan to cook them, use your thumb to gently make an indentation of about a half inch in the center of each steak. When the steaks are cooking, the centers will rise, and this indentation will keep them flat and from turning into round balls. 

How to make daikon oroshi

Daikon oroshi is a super simple Japanese condiment of peppery shredded radish.  It’s used to give bite to various Japanese dishes such as grilled meats, fish and this wafu hambagu.

To make oroshi, peel the daikon and grate it.  Once grated, use a cheesecloth or your hands to squeeze out most of the liquid.  And that’s it, your oroshi is done.

What if I don’t have a Japanese grater (oroshigane)

In Japan, a special grater called oroshigane is used to grate the daikon.  I didn’t have an oroshigane, and so I just used the finest cheese grater that I had.  The texture was slightly different than oroshi made with an oroshigane but the taste was exactly the same.

How to serve wafu hambagu

Serve wafu hambagu with a side of green salad and roasted vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, or green beans.  Use the ponzu sauce as a dressing for the salad.  Enjoy with a glass of red wine such as cabernet.

Print

Wafu Hambagu with Oroshi

Japan takes on the hamburger with this juicy Wafu Hambagu topped with grated daikon and a sweet, spicy ponzu sauce. 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword Beef, Hamburger Steak, Oroshi, Pork

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Rest in fridge time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 15 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

For the hambagu

• ½ onion chopped
• 1½ tbsp butter
• ½ lb ground beef
• ½ lb ground pork
• ¼ cup panko
• 2 tbsp milk
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1½ tbsp neutral oil such as canola

For the ponzu sauce

• ½ cup ponzu
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp yuzu kosho

For the oroshi

• 4 inch piece of daikon skin peeled with a vegetable peeler

Instructions

Prepare the onions and panko

• Heat the butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the onions and cook them for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.  Once finished, set them aside and let them cool to room temperature.
  
• Soak the panko bread crumbs in milk for a few minutes.

Make the hambagu steaks

• In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients for the hambagu (the ground beef, pork, cooked onions, panko in milk, egg, sesame oil, worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, black pepper, and salt.
  
• Mix and knead the ingredients very thoroughly until fully combined.
  
• Separate the mixture into four equal-sized portions.
• To form the hamburger steaks, first oil your hands with about a half tablespoon of oil so that the mixture doesn’t stick to your hands while forming the steaks. Take one portion of the meat in one of your hands.  Now gently, but firmly, toss it to your other hand.  And then toss it back to your first hand.  And now toss it again.  Toss the meat from hand-to-hand about 15-20 times until you form an oval-shaped steak.  Repeat for the other three steaks. 

  This process removes air bubbles from the meat to prevent the steaks from cracking into pieces while cooking.
• Place the hambagu steaks on a parchment paper lined plate and let them rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
  

Make the oroshi

• Meanwhile, as the hambagu steaks are resting in the fridge, make the oroshi. Grate the daikon with a fine cheese grater.  In Japan they use special graters to get the perfect texture.  I didn’t have one, so I just used a normal cheese grater and it turned out great. 
  
• Once grated, squeeze out the liquid from the daikon and set the oroshi aside. You can use your hands to squeeze out the liquid or a cheesecloth.
  

Make the ponzu sauce

• Combine the ponzu, sugar, and yuzu kosho in a small bowl.  Mix thoroughly until the sugar and yuzu kosho dissolve.

Cook the hambagu

• Once the hamburger steaks are done resting, heat the oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. 
• Once the oil is hot, gently place the hamburger steaks in the pan.  Use your thumb to make an indentation of about ½ inch deep in the middle of each steak. 
  
• Cook for four minutes until browned. Do not move or disturb the steaks so that they form a nice crust.
• Flip the hamburger steaks, cover the pan with a lid, and cook for five minutes. 
• Now remove the cover and add the ponzu sauce directly on top of the steaks.  Cook for two more minutes, spooning the sauce over the steaks while they cook. 
• When fully cooked, remove the hamburger steaks from the pan. 
• Continue to cook the sauce for 1-2 minutes to slightly reduce it.  Remove from the heat once reduced.

Serve

• Place the wafu hambagu on a serving plate and top each hambagu with 2-3 tablespoons of the daikon oroshi.  Pour the ponzu sauce over the hamburger steaks. 
  
• Serve with a side of green salad and roasted vegetables.  Use the ponzu sauce for dressing for the salad.

The post Wafu Hambagu with Oroshi appeared first on Eats All Day.

These simple pantry ingredients create a sauce that has surprising depth and a ton of umami.  The sauce is combined with hot dogs and vegetables like mushrooms, bell peppers, and onions. It’s then tossed with Italian-style spaghetti and served with parmesan cheese and tabasco sauce.

This dish is one of Japan’s original riffs on Italian food and has evolved over time to become a uniquely Japanese recipe celebrated across the country.  

Ketchup in spaghetti?!

I’ll admit something. 

I love ketchup.  Like, a lot. 

Ketchup gets a bad rap.  It’s considered unrefined and uncultured. As just a low quality condiment to dip your fries in.   Most chefs wouldn’t even consider using ketchup as an ingredient in a recipe.

Well I disagree.  Over the years I’ve had many, many different kinds of food.  Truffles?  Caviar?  Iberian ham?  Yeah, those are pretty good.  But honestly, so is ketchup.  And that’s why I always come back to it.

Japan also loves ketchup.  Ketchup doesn’t have the same stigma in Japan that it does here in the US.  It’s a legitimate ingredient there that’s used in a number of recipes, like this Spaghetti Napolitan.  Other classics like omurice, tonkatsu sauce, ebi chili, and more also use ketchup.

To make this sauce, you’ll cook down ketchup with worcestershire, onions, and other vegetables, revealing an addicting sauce that has deep flavors of umami.  Don’t knock this sauce before you try it.  You’ll be surprised.

What is Spaghetti Napolitan?

Spaghetti Napolitan is a popular yōshoku (Western-inspired Japanese food) pasta dish.  It has a ketchup-based sauce that’s typically mixed with other ingredients such as button mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, and some kind of cured meat (this recipe uses hot dogs).  The whole thing is topped off with shaved parmesan and tabasco sauce.

The dish was first created by the head chef at the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama during the 1950s. He took his inspiration from the tomato sauce pasta that the American military was serving for troops stationed there.  At the time, tomato sauce was an expensive ingredient, so the chef experimented with using ketchup for a sauce instead.  He named the dish “Napolitan” in a nod to the Italian city of Naples.  

Spaghetti Napolitan has since become a Japanese classic and is today the most popular yōshoku pasta in Japan.  Other yōshoku pastas, like mentaiko pasta and meat-sauce pasta, are also popular.

Ingredients

Spaghetti.  Italian-style dried spaghetti is traditional for this recipe.

Ketchup.  Ketchup is the defining ingredient of this recipe.  Any substitutions like tomato sauce or paste would probably make a great pasta, but it wouldn’t be Napolitan.  I’m sticking with the classic for this recipe and using Heinz.

Worcestershire sauce.  A full 2 teaspoons of worcestershire sauce adds a punch of umami, saltiness, and tanginess to the sauce.

Hot dogs.  The type of meat used in Spaghetti Napolitan is flexible.  This recipe uses sliced hot dogs.  But bacon, Japanese-style sausage, or Italian-style sausage are also great choices.

Green bell pepper.  Sliced green bell peppers give some vegetal freshness to the dish.

Button mushrooms.  Sliced button mushrooms add earthiness and even more umami to an already umami-packed sauce.

Onions.  Like many Western sauces, onions provide the backbone to the dish.

Garlic.  This is an Italian-inspired dish after all, and so garlic is a must.

Milk.  Just a bit of milk adds a subtle creaminess to the sauce.

Olive oil and butter.  Sauté the vegetables and brown the hot dogs in a combination of olive oil and butter.

Parsley.  A bit of the fresh herb is a typical garnish to the final dish.

Grated parmesan cheese.  Like many Italian-style pastas, you’ll add parmesan cheese on top.

Tabasco sauce.  Unlike many Italian-style pastas, tabasco is used to give a bit of spice and acidity.

What kind of spaghetti do I need?

Any kind of dried Italian spaghetti works well in this pasta.  Fettuccine would also be fine.  I’m using the Japanese brand “Mama” in this spaghetti, but you can use any Italian-style brand you find in your grocery store.

How to make Spaghetti Napolitan

Prepare the ingredients.  The cooking process moves quickly once you start, so it’s best to have all of your ingredients prepared and set aside beforehand.  Slice the onions, bell peppers, button mushrooms, and hot dogs.  Mince the garlic.

Boil the spaghetti.  Boil a large pot of thoroughly salted water.  Once boiling, add the spaghetti.  Cook the pasta 1-2 minutes less than the package states, to get to an al dente texture.  Once finished, strain the pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta-cooking water.

Sauté the ingredients.  Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion, and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Next add the sliced hot dogs and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring often.  And now add the bell pepper and mushrooms and cook for 4 more minutes, still stirring occasionally.  Add the minced garlic, stir, and cook for 30 seconds.  Now add the ketchup and worcestershire and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens.  Now add ⅔ cup of the pasta-cooking water and the milk and stir.

Toss the spaghetti with the sauce.  With the saucepan still on medium heat, add the cooked pasta to the saucepan, and toss the pasta with the sauce to combine.  Cook it for 1 minute, tossing constantly.

Serve.  Place the pasta on a serving dish and garnish with shaved parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and tabasco sauce.

What to serve with Spaghetti Napolitan

Serve Spaghetti Napolitan with other yōshoku dishes for an authentic Western-inspired Japanese meal.

Western-style soup.  Napolitan and corn potage, the creamy corn soup that’s so popular in Japan that you’ll find it in vending machines, is a classic combination in Japan.

Green salad.  Make a simple green salad with a sesame salad dressing.

Bread and butter.  Use some Italian bread to dunk in the corn potage.

Print

Spaghetti Napolitan

Spaghetti Napolitan, Japan's favorite yōshoku pasta dish, throws caution to the wind and uses ketchup, worcestershire and tabasco for its sauce.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword Ketchup, Noodle

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 7 oz spaghetti
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• ½ onion sliced
• 2 hot dogs sliced at an angle
• 1 green bell pepper sliced
• 4 button mushrooms sliced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 5 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp whole milk
• parsley chopped, for garnish
• grated parmesan for serving
• tabasco sauce for serving

Instructions

Prepare the ingredients

• Slice the bell peppers, button mushrooms, and hot dogs. Mince the garlic.
  

Make the spaghetti

• Boil a large pot of thoroughly salted water.  Once boiling, add the spaghetti.  Cook the pasta 1-2 minutes less than the package states to get to an al dente texture.  Once finished, strain the pasta and save one cup of the pasta-cooking water.
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. 
• Once the oil and butter are hot, add the onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
• Add the sliced hot dogs and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring often, until the hot dogs are slightly browned. 
• Add the bell pepper and mushrooms and cook for 4 more minutes, still stirring occasionally. 
• Add the minced garlic, stir, and cook for 30 seconds. 
• Add the ketchup and worcestershire and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. 
• Add ⅔ cup of the pasta-cooking water and the milk and stir.
• With the saucepan still on medium heat, add the cooked spaghetti to the saucepan, and toss the pasta with the sauce to combine.  Cook it for 1 minute, tossing constantly.

Serve

• Place the pasta on a serving dish and garnish with shaved parmesan cheese, chopped parsley, and tabasco sauce.

The post Spaghetti Napolitan (Japanese Ketchup Pasta) appeared first on Eats All Day.

Mentaiko pasta is one of the most popular ways to enjoy wafu pasta, the legendary Japanese-style Western pasta dishes that originated in Japan during the 1940s.  

If you’re not familiar with wafu pastas, then mentaiko pasta is a good place to start.

And as a bonus, it’s so easy to make that it’ll be done in just about the time it takes to boil spaghetti.

What is mentaiko pasta?

Mentaiko pasta is a type of wafu pasta (Japanese-style Western pasta dishes) that uses Japanese ingredients like salted cod roe, soy sauce, shiso, and nori with Western ingredients like spaghetti, heavy cream, milk and butter.

This dish was invented in Shibuya, Tokyo during the 1960s.  Since then, it’s become quite popular throughout Japan and is one of the defining recipes of the wafu pasta tradition.

Though the dish uses salted cod roe, it doesn’t have a very fishy taste.  The tiny fish eggs add more of a salty, slightly spicy flavor to the dish.  Because of their salty flavor and slightly crunchy texture, they’re reminiscent of the grated parmesan you’ll find in traditional Italian recipes.

And where Italian pastas are garnished with herbs like basil and parsley, you’ll find wafu pastas usually topped with shiso and shredded nori.  Shiso adds an aromatic, peppery flavor to the pasta that’s similar to basil.  Nori adds a whole new dimension of deep, umami-laden ocean flavor.

Mentaiko pasta is just one of the many types of wafu pasta. Ketchup-based Spaghetti Napolitan, and fungi-packed wafu mushroom pasta are other popular choices.

Mentaiko FAQs

The salty, spiced cod roe isn’t used very often outside of Japan and you may not be very familiar with this ingredient.  Here are some of the popular questions people have about these tiny fish eggs.

What is mentaiko?

Mentaiko is a type of cod roe that’s marinated in salt, chili flakes, and other spices.  You’ll find it in Japanese grocery stores in either the fresh seafood section or in the freezer aisle.  

The roe are sealed in small membrane sacs, which are totally edible, but I’ll admit don’t sound very appetizing.  In this recipe, you’ll use just the eggs and discard the sacs.

The taste is salty, slightly spicy, and packed with umami.  It’s not very fishy tasting at all.

Is mentaiko different from tarako?

Mentaiko is similar to another Japanese seafood ingredient called tarako.  

Both mentaiko and tarako are salted cod roes.  The only difference is that mentaiko has added chili flakes and spices, while tarako is just plainly salted.  Because of the chili flakes, mentaiko has a red color.  And since tarako has just salt, it’ll be a more plain, beige color.

If you can only find tarako, you can use the tarako as a substitute for mentaiko in this recipe. Your end dish won’t have quite as much flavor or spice, but it’ll still taste fine.

Do you eat mentaiko raw?

You can safely eat Mentaiko raw, like in this pasta dish.  

The raw version is used throughout Japanese cuisine.  Onigiri, temaki, and rice bowls are just a few of the ways to enjoy the raw fish eggs.

Mentaiko is also cooked and eaten alone as a side dish or even used as a topping for pizza.

Where can I buy mentaiko?

Mentaiko is a bit difficult to find if you don’t have access to any Japanese grocery stores, and I haven’t seen it sold elsewhere.  

If you don’t have a local Japanese grocery store, you can purchase frozen mentaiko online.

How long does mentaiko last?

Once thawed, mentaiko can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 14 days if packed well enough.

Can you freeze mentaiko?

Mentaiko freezes well.  Pack the mentaiko tightly in plastic wrap and then a freezer bag before storing in your freezer.

How to defrost mentaiko?

Because of its delicate texture, mentaiko should not be thawed in the microwave.  Thaw mentaiko overnight in the fridge.

How to make mentaiko pasta

1. Boil the pasta.  Cook the spaghetti according to the package’s instructions.
2. Make the sauce.  While the spaghetti is boiling, add the mentaiko, heavy cream, milk, melted butter, light soy sauce, pepper and a pinch of salt to a large bowl and mix well.  The sauce doesn’t need to be cooked and will warm up once tossed with the spaghetti.
3. Toss the pasta with the sauce.  Drain the spaghetti once it’s done and add it directly to the large bowl with the sauce.  Toss the spaghetti with the sauce to evenly distribute.
4. Garnish and serve.  Place the pasta in individual serving dishes and garnish with shredded nori and shiso.  Serve right away.

Ingredients

Spaghetti.  Mentaiko pasta is traditionally made with Italian-style spaghetti.  I used the Japanese brand called “Mama”, but any type of spaghetti would work perfectly.

Mentaiko.  The Japanese salted cod roe provides this recipe’s trademark salty, slightly spicy flavor.  If you can’t find mentaiko, you can use tarako, which is another type of salted cod roe that’s identical to mentaiko except without the chili flakes and spices.  Your dish will have a bit less flavor and spice, but will still turn out fine.  Besides tarako, there’s no other good substitute for this recipe.

Heavy cream, milk and butter.  Three different types of dairy make up the foundation of this sauce.

Light soy sauce.  I prefer to use a light soy sauce rather than regular soy sauce, to help keep the sauce light and balanced.  It’ll prevent the final dish from having too much of a salty, soy flavor.  If you don’t have light soy sauce, regular soy sauce would totally work.

Shiso.  Aromatic shiso subs in for the Italian basil, providing a peppery bite to your pasta.

Nori.  Deep, umami-laden nori adds more flavors of the sea to this dish.  Don’t skip the nori.  Without it, this dish will lack real wafu flavor.

What to serve with mentaiko pasta

Round out your mentaiko pasta with other Western-inspired dishes for a true wafu style meal.

Japanese corn potage (creamy corn soup).  Mentaiko pasta is often eaten with Japanese corn potage.  Both corn potage and mentaiko pasta are seen as nostalgic dishes in Japan and combine together to make a classic, comforting meal.

Bread.  A nice, crusty Italian bread or baguette is a classic with pasta.  Serve the bread with butter.  And if you want to go all out, make a nori compound butter.  Just soften the butter slightly and mix it with crushed nori and a pinch of salt.

Pickles.  Add some acid to cut through the salty, buttery pasta with this quick pickled celery or this pickled cabbage with shio kombu.

Print

Easy Mentaiko Pasta

This easy mentaiko pasta adds bursts of salty cod roe and pops of aromatic shiso to typically Western ingredients like spaghetti, cream and butter.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Japanese

Keyword Noodle

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 8 oz spaghetti
• 2 sacs mentaiko
• 3 T heavy cream
• 2 T whole milk
• 2 T butter melted
• 1 T light soy sauce substitute regular soy sauce if needed
• 8 turns black pepper

Instructions

Boil the pasta

• Cook the spaghetti in thoroughly salted water according to the package’s instructions.

Make the sauce

• While the spaghetti is boiling, gently slice open the mentaiko membrane and scrape out the eggs. Discard the membrane.
• Add the mentaiko along with the heavy cream, milk, melted butter, light soy sauce, pepper, and a pinch of kosher salt to a large bowl and mix well.

Assemble the pasta

• Once it's done cooking, drain the spaghetti.
• While still hot, add the spaghetti to the large bowl with the sauce. Toss the spaghetti with the sauce to evenly distribute.

Garnish and serve

• Place the pasta in individual serving dishes and garnish with shredded nori and shiso.  Serve right away.

The post Easy Mentaiko Pasta appeared first on Eats All Day.

Rich kimchi-flavored broth.  Salty spam, hot dog, and bacon.  Healthyish tofu and mushrooms.  Bouncy, chewy noodles and rice cakes (Yes, two kinds of carbs).  

And finally, for even more indulgence, it’s all topped off with melty American cheese.

There’s definitely a lot going on in this dish.  And that’s what makes it such an epic meal. 

What is Korean Army Stew

Korean Army Stew, or Budae Jjigae, was invented in Korea sometime shortly after the armistice of the 1950s Korean war. 

The name “Army Stew” refers to the American ingredients of spam, hot dog, bacon and cheese that were brought to Korea by the American military.  There was a surplus of these ingredients after the war ended, and they found their way into Korean recipes.

Korean Army Stew is considered to be one of the first Korean-Western fusion dishes made.  It’s still popular today, along with many other Korean-Western fusion recipes (such as Rose Tteokbokki and Bulgogi Kimchi Pasta). 

A collision of flavors and textures

The best part about Korean Army Stew is that it has so many different toppings with so many contrasting textures and flavors.  No bite is ever the same.  

I personally loved combining some of the toppings into one single bite!

Try a bite with mushroom, bacon, and rice cakes.  

Next try out tofu, kimchi, and some scallions.  

And next try noodles and spam.

And on and on.  It all makes for a really fun eating experience that never gets old.

Ingredients in Korean Army Stew with Spam and Cheese

Toppings

Spam, hot dogs, and bacon.  Salty, savory processed meats are the defining ingredients of this stew and can’t be skipped.

Tofu.  Tofu absorbs the flavor of the broth and provides a soft texture that contrasts against the other ingredients. 

Shimeji Mushrooms.  This recipe uses shimeji mushrooms.  If you have trouble finding them, almost any other kind of mushroom would work.  Get creative and add a mix of enoki, shiitake, king oyster, or even button mushrooms.

Instant ramen noodles.  Fast-cooking instant ramen noodles soak up the delicious broth and add to the kitchy nostalgia of the dish.

Rice cakes.  Add even more carbs with bouncy, chewy rice cakes. 

American cheese.  The best part about using American cheese is that it dissolves into the broth, adding creaminess and saltiness.

Broth

Dashi.  Using dashi powder to create a quick broth speeds up the cooking process and adds an instant punch of umami.

Gochugaru.  Gochugaru adds a spicy, slightly fruity flavor to the broth and gives it a deep red color.  It isn’t as spicy as it looks.  

Rice wine.  This recipe uses Chinese rice wine, but any kind of rice wine would work.  If you don’t have a rice wine on hand, it can be skipped.  Avoid using rice wine vinegar.

Soy sauce.  Soy sauce adds saltiness to the broth.

Sugar.  Sugar adds some sweetness.

Garlic.  Garlic is the only aromatic used in the broth.  No onions or ginger here.

Gochujang.  The Korean fermented paste adds an amazing undertone of sweetness, spiciness and savoriness.  Gochujang is now popular in the United States and can be found in most grocery stores.  Amazon also carries it.

Spam and cheese in Korean food?

Yes!

Cheese has become incredibly popular in Korea, especially among typical bar food.  

And spam, while no longer used very often in most of the US, remains popular throughout many countries in Asia and the Pacific.

How to make Korean Army Stew

Prepare the toppings by chopping them into bite-sized pieces.  Chop the bacon into 1.5” slices.  Chop the miniature hot dogs in half.  Slice spam and tofu into 1 ½” pieces.  Chop the rice cakes in half.  Chop the root ends off of the shimeji mushrooms and discard.  Slice the scallions.

Make the sauce.  Mix gochugaru, rice wine, soy sauce, minced garlic, sugar, gochujang, and black pepper in a small bowl until combined.

Make the dashi.  Mix dashi powder and 3 cups water into a medium bowl, and stir until dissolved.

Add toppings to the pot.  Add all ingredients except for the sauce, dashi, rice cakes, noodles, cheese, and scallions to the pot.  

Next add the sauce and dashi.  First add the sauce to the middle of the pot.  Then add the dashi to the side of the pot, without disturbing the sauce.

Cook.  Cover the pot and cook on the stove for 8 minutes over medium heat.

Add the noodles, rice cakes and cheese.  Add the instant ramen noodles and rice cakes to the stew.  Lay the American cheese slices directly on top of the noodles.  Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes.

Garnish and serve.  Garnish the stew with the sliced scallions and serve right away.

Tips for making Korean Army Stew

1. Cut all the ingredients into bite-sized pieces.  Cut all the ingredients into smaller, bite-sized pieces so they can be easily eaten.  If you cut the ingredients into smaller pieces, you can also eat a few different things in one bite, creating nice flavor and texture combinations. 
2. Don’t overcook the ramen noodles.  Overcooking the noodles will make them soggy.  Cook the noodles for just 2-3 minutes, until they’re beginning to soften.  Once you take the stew off the heat, the noodles will continue to cook and will begin to soak up the broth.  
3. Use refrigerated rice cakes, rather than frozen ones.  Refrigerated rice cakes cook quicker than frozen ones and don’t splinter while they cook.  

What else can I add into Korean Army Stew?

Korean Army Stew is very easily customized to your liking.

It was originally made with whatever was on hand, even using pineapple at some point.  Here are some other ideas:

• Canned baked beans
• Napa cabbage 
• Red bell pepper
• Ground pork
• Frozen dumplings or wontons
• Frozen corn

Spam, hot dogs, and bacon is a lot of meat.  Do I need to use all of these?

This recipe is really flexible and can be customized however you like.  

Want to skip the bacon?  No problem.

But try to use at least one of these meats, or it won’t be a true Army Stew. 

Why American cheese?

Some Army Stew recipes call for using more high quality cheeses like cheddar.  

But I completely recommend using American cheese for this recipe.

American cheese dissolves super quickly into the broth, creating even more flavor.  You’ll end up with a richer, creamier, saltier both.

Resist the urge to go fancy and stick with the classic!

How to serve Korean Army Stew with Spam and Cheese?

If you have a countertop burner, you can use it right at the table, hot pot-style, to keep the stew warm and bubbling.

If you don’t have one, just serve the stew in individual bowls like any other soup. 

What to serve with Korean Army Stew

Since Korean Army Stew already has so many different ingredients and flavors, it’s best to serve it alongside lighter sides.

Rice.  Korean Army Stew is usually served with white steamed rice.

Moochae.  The Korean radish salad dish adds a fresh, crunchy contrast against the rich stew.

Pickle.  Round out your meal with the brightness of a pickle, such as this quick pickled celery.

Print

Korean Army Stew with Spam and Cheese

Korean Army Stew is the Korean-American classic that combines a rich & spicy broth with salty spam, sour kimchi, earthy mushrooms, bouncy noodles, chewy rice cakes, and more.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Korean

Keyword Noodle, Soup

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

For the sauce

• 1 ½ tbsp gochugaru
• 1 ½ tbsp rice wine
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 ½ tsp gochujang
• 10-12 grinds black pepper

For the stew

• 1 tbsp dashi powder
• 2 oz spam
• 6 miniature hot dogs
• 1 strip bacon
• ¼ cup kimchi
• 1 handful shimeji mushrooms about 10-15 mushrooms
• 1 package instant ramen noodles
• 1/2 cup Korean rice cakes
• 2 slices American cheese
• 2 scallions sliced on a bias, to garnish

Instructions

Prepare the stew toppings

• Slice the spam into 1 ½” pieces. 
• Chop the bacon crosswise into 1" pieces.
• Chop the miniature hot dogs in half.
• Slice the tofu into 1 ½” pieces. 
• Roughly chop the kimchi.
• Chop the rice cakes in half.
• Chop off the root ends of the shimeji mushrooms and discard.

Make the sauce

• Mix the gochugaru, rice wine, soy sauce, minced garlic, sugar, gochujang, and black pepper in a small bowl until combined.

Make the dashi

• Combine the dashi powder with 3 cups water in a medium bowl, and stir until dissolved.

Cook the stew

• Add all ingredients except for the sauce, dashi, rice cakes, noodles, cheese, and scallions to the pot. 
• Add the sauce to the middle of the pot.
• Add the dashi to the side of the pot, without disturbing the sauce.
• Cover the pot and cook on the stove for 8 minutes over medium heat. The stew will begin to boil.
• Add the instant ramen noodles and rice cakes to the pot.  Lay the American cheese slices directly on top of the noodles. 
• Cook uncovered for 2-3 minutes.

Garnish and serve

• Garnish the stew with the sliced scallions and serve right away.

The post Korean Army Stew with Spam and Cheese appeared first on Eats All Day.

Rose Tteokbokki starts with the traditional tteokbokki ingredients of rice cakes, gochujang and gochugaru.  

After that, you’ll layer in cream, milk, bacon, smoked sausage, and cheese for a truly unique combination of flavors that’s unlike any Korean dish you’ve had before.

What is Rose Tteokbokki without Fish Cakes

When first hearing the word “rose”, you might think that this is a delicate dish that tastes like flowers.  But there aren’t actually any flowers in this recipe.  Instead, “rosé” describes the color of the sauce.  

By mixing brick red gochujang with milky white cream, you’ll end up with a lighter-colored sauce that’s reminiscent of a rosé wine.

And let me tell you that the final sauce is anything but delicate.  Rose Tteokbokki is an out-of-this-world collision of spicy, creamy, smoky, and cheesy flavors.  This is comfort food at its best.

Is Rose sauce traditional?

Nope, it’s not.

Rose sauces are one of the latest food crazes to hit Korea, and are part of a larger trend of Korean-Western mashups.  

The sauce is most popularly used with this Rose Tteokbokki, but it also finds its way into a variety of pasta dishes, like this Shrimp Rose Pasta.

What makes it different?

It’s a modern Korean and Italian fusion.  Rose Tteokbokki is a combination of Korean and Italian foods, bringing Korean rice cakes, gochujang and gochugaru together with Italian mozzarella, parmesan and heavy cream.

It uses heavy cream & milk.  If you haven’t tried a creamy Korean dish yet, you’re in for a surprise.  Dairy works shockingly well with the spicy and pungent flavors of gochujang and gochugaru.  

No fishcakes.  Most Rose Tteokbokki recipes call for fishcakes, but this recipe leaves them out.  Instead, we’ll focus on bringing smoky flavors to the dish by adding bacon and smoked miniature cocktail sausages.  

Why is this recipe without fish cakes?

While most Rose Tteokbokki recipes call for fish cakes, this recipe leaves them out.  The fishy, spongy cakes are great in tteokbokki, but I find that they clash with all the meat we’ll be adding to this dish.

This recipe really leans on smokiness as a defining taste.  Leaving out the fish cakes lets the smoky, meaty goodness of the bacon and sausages shine through.

How to make Rose Tteokbokki

1. Cook the bacon.  Saute the bacon over medium-high heat in a pan for about 4-6 minutes, until golden.  Once finished, remove the bacon but leave in the fat.
2. Fry the onions, miniature sausages, and garlic.  Add the onions and miniature sausages to the bacon fat and fry for 4-6 minutes.  Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.
3. Pour in the cream, milk, and dashi.  Pour in the liquids and stir well.
4. Add the gochujang, gochugaru and salt.  Add in the gochujang, gochugaru and salt and stir well.
5. Bring to a boil.  Bring the sauce to a boil.  Turn down the heat to medium and simmer for around five minutes.
6. Add the rice cakes.  Add the rice cakes and simmer for around 3-4 minutes.  Stir often so that the rice cakes don’t stick to the pan.
7. Top with cheese and broil.  Top with both cheeses and then broil in the oven for 2-3 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
8. Garnish with scallions and serve.  Remove from the oven, garnish with scallions, and serve right away.

Ingredients for Rose Tteokbokki

Korean rice cakes (Garaetteok).  Chewy, bouncy rice cakes provide the foundation of this recipe and the vessel for that spicy, creamy, smoky sauce.

Gochujang.  The traditional fermented paste is an essential part of this recipe, providing those unmistakable Korean flavors of sweetness, spiciness, and savoriness.  Gochujang has become popular in the United States, and you’ll likely be able to find it in the Asian section of your local grocery shop. Check out some other recipes that use gochujang like this spicy army stew with spam and cheese or this easy gochujang tuna salad.

Gochugaru.  The ground Korean chili ups the spiciness.  Rose tteokbokki is less spicy than traditional tteokbokki, so we’ll only use two teaspoons.  Want it to be more spicy?  Feel free to add some more in. 

Heavy cream & milk.  The addition of heavy cream and milk are what makes this dish “rose”.  Creaminess brings the dish over the top and will absolutely surprise you if you haven’t tried Korean rose sauce yet.  

Dashi.  Dashi rounds out the sauce with added umami.

Bacon.  To build smokiness, we’ll use bacon and alllll of its fat in this dish.

Miniature smoked cocktail sausages.  For even more smokiness, we’ll add the miniature cocktail sausages.  And fry those in bacon fat for good measure.

Mozzarella & parmesan.  Top the dish with two kinds of cheese.  Low moisture, shredded Mozzarella provides melty stringiness.  And parmesan provides a sharp end to the dish.

What kind of miniature sausages do I need?

This recipe uses “Lil smokies”, which are miniature smoked cocktail sausages that are available in most grocery stores.  You might have had them in pigs-in-the-blanket before.  

This type of sausage works best, since we want our end dish to be super smoky.  But you can substitute any kind of small sausage, or even chopped hot dogs, and it’ll turn out great.

What to serve with Rose Tteokbokki

Since Rose Tteokbokki is so rich, you’ll want to round out your meal with fresh or acidic sides that cut through the creaminess.

Pickles.  A crisp, acidic pickle, like this Quick Pickled Celery, provides much needed freshness between bites of creamy, spicy rice cakes.

Sauteed greens.  Sauteeing some greens like spinach or gai lan and adding toasted sesame oil make this meal healthy.  Kind of.

Beer.  Add crisp, hoppy beer.  An IPA would be a great choice.

Print

Rose Tteokbokki without Fish Cakes

Korea meets Italy in this uber-creamy, smoky, spicy and cheesy Rose Tteokbokki without Fish Cakes recipe.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Korean

Keyword Korean rice cakes

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 slices bacon sliced crosswise in 1/2" pieces
• 1/2 medium onion thinly sliced
• 8-10 miniature smoked cocktail sausages such as "Lil smokies"
• 3 cloves garlic smashed, thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cup dashi
• 3 tbsp gochujang
• 2 tsp gochugaru
• 2 1/2 cups refrigerated Korean rice cakes
• 1/2 cup low-moisture mozzarella shredded
• 1/4 cup parmesan shredded
• 2-3 scallions sliced, to garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven

• Preheat your oven's broiler to high temperature.

Cook the bacon

• Add the sliced bacon to a cool pan on the stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Saute the bacon for about 4-6 minutes, until golden. 
• Once finished, remove the bacon but leave its fat in the pan.

Fry the onions, miniature sausages, and garlic. 

• Add the onions and miniature sausages to the same pan with the bacon fat. Fry, stirring occasionally, for 4-6 minutes, until the onions are translucent and the sausages begin to char.
• Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds.

Make the sauce

• To the same pan with the onions, pour in the cream, milk, and dashi.
• Next add the gochujang, gochugaru and 1/2 tsp kosher salt. Stir well.
• Bring the sauce to a boil.
• Once boiling, turn down the heat to medium and simmer for around 5 minutes, until very slightly reduced.
• Add the rice cakes and simmer for around 3-4 minutes.  Stir often so that the rice cakes don’t stick to the pan.

Top with cheese and broil

• Top with both cheeses, starting with the mozzarella and finishing with the parmesan.
• Put your pan in the oven, around 3 inches from the flame, and broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese it melted. Check the cheese often to ensure it doesn't burn.

Garnish and serve

• Remove from the oven, garnish with scallions, and serve right away.

The post Rose Tteokbokki without Fish Cakes appeared first on Eats All Day.

To make the dish, just layer some warm sushi rice as the base of your casserole.  Top it with some furikake, imitation crab, Kewpie mayo, cream cheese, and sriracha.  Throw it in the oven for just 10-15 minutes and then serve it with some cool, crunchy vegetables and umami-packed seaweed.

What Is Sushi Bake?

Sushi bake takes everything you love about a California roll, deconstructs it, and puts it into a warm and melty casserole.  It’s the easy and lazy way to make sushi on a Wednesday night.

The dish is not traditional by any means.  But it tastes good.  And that’s what matters.

Sushi bake comes from the Philippines, when recipes started to pop up online back in 2015.  The dish started trending during the pandemic, after a Filipino celebrity nail artist reportedly sent some sushi bake casseroles to local celebrities.

Fast forward to today, and just check out Tiktok to see the craze.

What Makes It Special?

1. It’s easy to make. Most people don’t make sushi at home since it’s time-consuming.  Sushi bake makes sushi easy.  There’s no bamboo mat to be found and no tedious rolling involved.  And the ingredients are super forgiving.  Feel free to switch it up.  Tuna instead of crab?  Three times more mayo?  Go for it 🙂 

2. It’s fun. Serve sushi bake at your next party and just see the reaction.  People will talk.  People will love it.

3. It’s nostalgic and modern at the same time. Casseroles are vintage Americana and always seem to remind me of childhood.  But this one has sushi.  So yeah.  2020s all the way.

How to make Sushi Bake

1. Make the rice.  Prepare sushi rice according to the rice’s instructions.  After the rice is finished (and while it’s still warm) add on a mixture of rice vinegar and sugar.  Mix the rice to evenly distribute the vinegar mixture.  Be super gentle with your rice to ensure that you’re not mashing it up, and use a rice paddle for the mixing process if you have one. 
2. Spread in a casserole.  Add your cooked rice to the bottom of a casserole dish.  Spread it around in an even layer.
3. Mix crab with other ingredients.  Shred and chop your imitation crab into bite sized pieces.  Mix the crab with room temperature cream cheese, Kewpie mayo, and a bit of sriracha.
4. Top your casserole.  Add half the furikake on top of the rice.  Then add all of the crab mixture in an even layer.  And finally top the crab mixture with the other half of your furikake.
5. Bake.  Bake in a 450° oven for 10-15 minutes.
6. Eat.  Serve alongside seaweed snacks, cucumber, avocado, and more sriracha.  Just scoop a bit of the casserole on top of a seaweed snack, top with slices of cucumber and avocado, add a bit of sriracha, and pop it in your mouth.

Three tips for making great sushi bake

1. Rinse your rice before cooking.  Rinsing your rice before cooking removes the starch, resulting in more toothsome rice grains that don’t stick together.  This step takes just a bit more time, and I promise that it’s a key to making great, restaurant-style sushi rice.
2. Kewpie mayo is key.  Kewpie mayo is highly, highly recommended.  If you can’t find it, I have an easy, two-minute substitute recipe provided later in this post.
3. Eat your sushi bake right away.  Embrace warm sushi and enjoy your creation right after it’s done baking.  If you allow the casserole to sit for too long, you’ll lose that melty goodness.  If It’s starting to get cold while you’re eating, just pop it in the oven again for a few minutes.

Ingredients

Sushi rice.  You can’t have sushi bake without rice.  Eats All Day recommends Nishiki Premium Medium Grain Rice as the de facto classic.  But any sushi rice will do.

Furikake.  Furikake is typically a mixture of sesame seeds, seaweed, herbs, fish flakes, and salt.  It’s hugely popular in Japan, and has started to make its way to the United States. You’ll likely be able to find it in the Asian section of your local grocery store.  Even Trader Joe’s carries it, so you know it must be good.

Kewpie mayo.  The iconic Japanese mayonnaise brand that adds depths of richness, tanginess, sweetness, and umami to any dish.  Kewpie is different from North American mayonnaise in a few ways.  First, it uses only egg yolks (rather than whole eggs), adding fat and richness.  Second, it uses rice vinegar in addition to other types of vinegars, giving it that trademark zing.  And finally, it uses MSG, providing that unmistakable umami flavor.

Imitation crab.  You know what?  I’m not afraid to admit that I LOVE imitation crab.  I don’t care that it’s not really crab and I don’t care that it’s imitation.  It’s actually made from real fish, so it counts as a seafood.  It has a fresh, slightly “seafoody” taste that works so well against creamy flavors like mayo, cream cheese, and other dairy products.  You can also just eat it plain as a snack. 

Cream cheese.  Cream cheese is an essential part of this recipe.  It adds an absolutely necessary creaminess to the dish that melts down into the rice, creating a truly melty situation.  You may find some recipes for sushi bake that don’t call for cream cheese.  But trust me, it absolutely improves the taste and texture.  

Seaweed snacks.  Yep.  Another thing you can find at Trader Joe’s.  You can substitute the larger nori wraps by cutting them into smaller rectangles, but I recommend the seaweed snacks here as they’re a bit crispier than nori.

What kind of rice do I need?

Eats All Day recommends Nishiki Premium Medium Grain Rice as the standard for all our Japanese recipes.  This rice is so good that I use it for most other types of East Asian recipes like Chinese, Korean, and so on.

However, any kind of sushi rice will do for this recipe.  Make sure your rice is labeled “sushi rice”, “medium grain”, or “short grain” and you’re good to go.  

Do look for Asian brands and avoid rice styles from the Americas, Europe and so on.

Should I rinse my rice?

The short answer is… YES!

Rinsing rice is such a simple and quick step that you can take to create restaurant-style sushi rice.

The rinsing process removes excess starch from the rice grains, which prevents your cooked rice from sticking together and becoming a mushy mess.  Rinsed rice is more toothsome and the individual grains will maintain their consistency.

To rinse rice, put it in a bowl, add cold water, stir it around, and drain the water.  Do this a few times until the water runs clear.  Clear water = no starch.  No starch = quality rice.  

Do I need Kewpie mayo?

You don’t need Kewpie, but it definitely adds more tang and umami to the recipe. 

I’d highly recommend getting some Kewpie and trying some other recipes with it like this Japanese Potato Salad or these Japanese inspired brussel sprouts.

If you can’t find Kewpie and want to get real fancy, you can make a substitute.  Here’s a quick recipe:

• ½ cup North American mayo
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients in a bowl until well-combined and smooth.

And if you don’t want to make this substitute, feel free to just use any other mayonnaise.  Don’t let it hold you back from making this recipe and enjoying the glory of sushi bake.

How to serve sushi bake

Serve your casserole alongside seaweed snacks, cucumber, avocado and more sriracha.

Think of them as mini-tacos that you can put together right at the table.  Just scoop some sushi bake from the casserole dish, dollop it on your seaweed snack, and top it with fresh vegetables and some more sriracha.

You can get creative with your toppings if you’d like.  Scallions, eel sauce, sesame seeds, and even bacon all come to mind.

Sushi bake variations

Sushi bake can be endlessly customized.

Spicy salmon 

Substitute imitation crab with diced salmon.  Bake the casserole for about 15 minutes to ensure that the salmon gets cooked through.

Crab, bacon and honey

Add some cooked and crisped bacon with the imitation crab mixture.  And then add a bit of honey for contrasting sweetness.  Up the sriracha.  I think bacon + imitation crab is an epic combination, on par with peanut butter and jelly.

Tuna melt (with cheese)

Believe it or not, sushi rolls with cooked, canned tuna are quite popular in Japan.  You can find this quick snack at almost any konbini (Japanese-style convenience stores such as 7-11).  Lean into this classic and substitute canned tuna for the imitation crab. Top it with shredded mozzarella cheese to add some tuna melt vibes.

What to serve with sushi bake

• A vegetable, such as these sweet and salty Kyoto Style Sweet Potatoes or this classic Japanese Potato Salad.
• Japanese Pickled Celery. A simple, 10-minute pickle adds needed acidity to your meal.

Print

Easy Sushi Bake

This super easy sushi bake is essentially a deconstructed California roll in casserole form. Sushi Bake is a creamy, crunchy, melty, and steamy way to enjoy sushi any night of the week.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Hawaiian

Keyword Casserole, Imitation Crab, Kewpie Mayo

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Equipment

• 9"x13" casserole dish

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup uncooked sushi rice
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup furikake
• 8 ounces imitation crab meat
• 4 tbsp Kewpie mayo plus more for drizzling on top
• 1/2 cup cream cheese warmed to room temperature
• 1 tsp sriracha plus more for drizzling on top
• 1/2 English cucumber peeled and sliced, to serve
• 1 avocado sliced, to serve
• sesame seeds (optional) to serve
• seaweed snacks to serve

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 450°.
• Make the sushi rice according to your rice package's directions (or your preferred method).
• Add the rice vinegar and sugar to a small, microwave-safe bowl and mix until the sugar is dissolved. You can microwave the mixture for 30 seconds to help dissolve the sugar.

While the rice is cooking, make the crab mixture

• While the rice is cooking, shred the imitation crab and then chop it into bite-sized pieces.
• Add the chopped imitation crab to a medium bowl along with Kewpie mayo, room temperature cream cheese, and sriracha. Mix the ingredients until smooth.

Assemble the casserole

• Once the rice is done and while it's still hot, pour the rice vinegar mixture over the rice. Gently fold the rice to evenly distribute the vinegar mixture.
• Spread the cooked rice in an even layer on the bottom of the casserole dish.
• Top the rice with half of the furikake (1/8 cup).
• Top the furikake with the imitation crab mixture and evenly spread it across the casserole.
• Top the crab mixture with the other half of the furikake (another 1/8 cup).
• Drizzle more Kewpie mayo on top, in a zig-zag pattern. Then drizzle more sriracha on top, in the opposite zig-zag pattern.
  

Bake the casserole

• Bake the casserole in a 450° oven for 10-15 minutes, until warm and melty.

To serve

• Serve the sushi bake immediately alongside seaweed snacks, cucumber, avocado, more sriracha, and sesame seeds.

  To eat, scoop some sushi bake from the casserole dish, place it on a seaweed snack, and top it with cucumber, avocado, sesame seeds and sriracha.

The post Easy Sushi Bake appeared first on Eats All Day.