Soboro Don

Japanese people have a thing for naming things for the vessel they come in (see nabe), and this is no exception. Donburi literally means “bowl”, but it typically refers to a bowl of rice topped with something. Japanese people also like abbreviating things, so donburi becomes “don” in common parlance.This is the ultimate weeknight meal as it takes almost no time to make. It’s also fantastic in bento boxes for lunch. I usually make a batch of onsen tamago (slow cooked egg) over a weekend as it takes a bit of time to make, if you haven’t make any ahead of time, this also great topped with a sunny side up egg, or scrambled egg, or even no egg at all.The chicken is quickly cooked in a sweet soy sauce (think teriyaki sauce), and sandwiches a thin layer of green onions over rice. The onsen tamago, permeates the entire dish with a custardy creaminess that you just can’t beaten.You could do a lot with this basic recipe too. Try using beef or pork, or even crumbled firm tofu. You could also add veggies. For seasoning, it’s great with a little sesame oil, garlic, or if you want to give it a little kick, add some gochujang (Korean hot sauce).

Yield:

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

1. 1/2 lbs ground chicken
2. 1/2 tsp ginger
3. 1 tsp sugar
4. 2tbs mirin
5. 1tbs soysauce
6. freshly cooked rice
7. 1 green onion thinly sliced
8. 2 onsen tamago
9. Shichimi pepper powder (optional for garnish)

Directions

1. Put a bit of oil in a pan over medium heat and add the ginger. Saute until it’s fragrant then add the chicken, using a spatula to break it up into little crumbles until it is no longer pink.
2. Add the sugar and mirin and stir to coat the chicken bits. Add the soy sauce and cook until the liquid is mostly evaporated (careful not to dry the chicken out).
3. Put your hot rice in a bowl and top with a layer of green onions, then cover with the cooked chicken. Top with an onsen tamago and garnish with some Shichimi pepper powder.

Notes

Chicken Tsukune

Izakayas are bars that in addition to the usual lineup of sakes, shochus and beers, have an eclectic menu of bar foods. They’re the kind of places Japanese salary-men hit up après-work to get hammered and fed. The menus are generally large and run the gamut from questionable “fusion” offerings involving mayonnaise, to hardcore Japanese dishes like grilled beef tongue and chicken intestine.Chicken tsukune is a common dish you’ll find on the menu of almost any yakitori joint. Aside from the fact they’re made with minced chicken thighs and fat, the seasonings, shapes, and cooking methods vary from place to place. Depending on what region of Japan you’re in, you might find a skewer of tsukune shellaced in a thick layer of caramelized terriyaki sauce while elsewhere your tsukune might come on a paddle lightly sprinkled with kombu salt.Made with good ingredients and the right meat to fat ratio, tsukune is tender and juicy, bursting with flavour with each bite. Because the meat is minced, rather than ground it retains some of its texture, avoiding the rubbery mystery meat problem that ground meats can have. This preparation also allows the chicken to absorb the seasonings better, giving it a depth of flavour that’s quite unexpected from the humble meat that tastes like everything.

Yield:

Serves 2

Ingredients

1. 1 small dried shiitake mushroom
2. 1 tsp grated ginger
3. 1 scallion minced
4. 4 skin on chicken thighs (about 1.5 lbs)
5. 1 Tbs mirin
6. 2 tsp sugar
7. 1 tsp soy sauce
8. 1 tsp kosher salt (less if you use table salt)
9. smoked sea salt and lime wedges for serving

Directions

1. Use a Microplane to grate the shiitake mushroom into a mixing bowl. Grate the ginger into the bowl. Then mince the scallion and add it to the bowl.
2. Wash and thoroughly dry the chicken thighs. If they have bones remove them along with any tough connective tissue, but leave the skin and fat intact. Remove the skins of 2 of the thighs and put them in a bowl along with a little vegetable oil and set aside. Using a sharp chef’s knife or clever, mince the chicken meat by hand. You could use a food processor or meat grinder to save time, but the texture will be suffer. You want to get the meat, fat and skin minced into pieces that are roughly 1/16″ to 1/8″.
3. Add the chicken to the bowl along with the rest of the seasonings and mix thoroughly to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to a day. Pre-soak thick wooden skewers or wooden paddles in water to prevent them from burning.
4. When you’re ready to cook the chicken, move the oven rack to the top position and turn on the broiler. If you are using wooden paddles, shape the chicken mixture onto the top of the paddles in an even layer about 3/4″ thick, then cover any exposed part of the handle with foil. If you’re using skewers, shape a cylinder of meat around each skewer. Slice the reserved chicken skin and smooth it onto the surface of the ground chicken meat. Place the chicken to the right and left of the heating element, then swap sides when one side is brown.
5. You can either slice one open or use a thermometer to test for doness. Sprinkle with a little smoked sea salt and serve with a wedge of lime. You can also serve with a slow cooked or soft poached egg to dip the meat in.

Notes

鳥照り焼き - Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken Teriyaki (鳥照り焼き) is a lunchtime staple in Japan, filling bento boxes being carted off to offices and schools alike. Teri refers to the lacquered sheen that teriyaki sauce develops on the surface of the chicken, while yaki means grilled. Almost any cut of chicken can be used, but chicken teriyaki is most commonly prepared with the leg meat (thighs or drumsticks) which is filleted to ensure it cooks evenly. The skin is left on the chicken to keep the meat moist and it takes on a wonderful caramelized hue while getting slightly crispy as it grills.So what makes for an authentic teriyaki sauce?It’s simple… equal parts soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar.It’s not that I have anything against those fancy sweet soy marinades with ginger, garlic, chili, green onions, sesame seeds, and or fruit puree in them, but sauces with these ingredients aren’t teriyaki sauce since they cloud the teri. Ginger, sesame seeds, green onions and chili are garnishes that are occasionally added after the chicken has been cooked.Traditionally, the unseasoned chicken is grilled over coals then basted with teriyaki sauce. To tenderize and season the chicken all the way through, I brine it first in soy sauce and sugar, grill it, then shellac a few coats of teriyaki sauce on to finish. This seems to get the best balance of color, texture and flavour. I’ve written the directions for a broiler, but just reverse the cooking order (skin up, then down) if you are using a grill.By using maltose or honey in the teriyaki sauce, the sauce gets thick without having to add any cornstarch. If you do use honey, make sure you use one without a strong flavour of its own.Serve this chicken teriyaki whole or chopped up on a bowl of steaming hot rice with some extra sauce.

Yield:

Serves 2

Ingredients

1. For the Brine:
2. =================
3. 1/2 C water
4. 2 Tbs dark soy sauce
5. 2 Tbs dark brown sugar
6. 2 Tbs mirin
7. 4-6 skin-on filleted (boneless) chicken thighs
8. .
9. for teriyaki sauce
10. =================
11. 2 Tbs mild flavored honey (or maltose)
12. 2 Tbs dark soy sauce
13. 2 Tbs mirin
14. 2 Tbs sake

Directions

1. Combine the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and mirin in large ziploc bag and add the chicken thighs. Press out as much air as you can and seal the bag. Let this sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
2. To make the teriyaki sauce, just add the honey, soy sauce, mirin and sake to a small sauce pan and boil over medium heat until the sauce is glossy and slightly viscous (it won’t get quite as thick as the jarred types). It should take on a caramelized taste but be careful not to burn it.
3. When you’re ready to grill the chicken, turn the broiler on and move the oven rack up to the upper position. Put a wire rack on a baking sheet (I use the rack out of my toaster oven), and put the chicken thighs skin side down onto the rack (the idea is to keep the meat elevated off the pan).
4. Grill until brown then flip so the skin side faces up. Baste the skin side with teriyaki sauce and continue to broil until the skin is golden brown with just a few charred spots. Give the chicken one final baste with the teriyaki sauce and serve.

Notes

Whole Wheat Quesadillas With Chicken, Jalapeño Jack And Mango Salsa

Tortillas and wraps come in dozens of variations. Look for whole wheat flour tortillas in the refrigerated section of your supermarket.Pick the freshest fruits possible. Look for a good color with no obvious bruises, scars, nicks or gouges. Most ripe fruits have a good aroma.Visit a local market and ask to taste the fruit in its freshest state. In some cases looks aren't always the best indicator of taste. In fact, some imperfections are fine—peaches are a good example. At the peak of the season, peaches can appear to be misshapen, a little bruised and fuzzy. Pick up the fruit and instead of just using your eyes, let your nose be the judge.

Yield:

8

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2. 3 pounds chicken breasts, boneless, skinless
3. 2 tsp salt, or to taste
4. 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
5. 4 mangoes, diced
6. 1 papaya, diced
7. 1 chipotle pepper, canned, minced
8. ¼ cup orange juice
9. ¼ cup lime juice
10. 4 cups Jalapeño Jack cheese, grated
11. 6 cups scallions, thinly sliced
12. 1 cup peanuts, toasted, roughly chopped
13. 16 whole wheat flour tortillas
14. 3 tablespoons peanut oil

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Heat the vegetable oil over high heat in a large sauté pan. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Cook the chicken breasts until golden brown on all sides, about 8-10 minutes. Place the chicken in the oven until cooked through, about 10-12 minutes total.
3. Allow the chicken to cool for 5 minutes. Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
4. While the chicken is cooking, combine the mango, papaya, chipotle pepper, orange juice and lime juice. Reserve under refrigeration until needed.
5. To assemble the quesadillas, place ¾ cup chicken, ½ cup Jalapeño Jack cheese, ¾ cup scallions and 2 tablespoons peanuts on a tortilla. Top with another tortilla. Repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 8 quesadillas.
6. Heat about 1 tsp peanut oil in a large sauté pan. Place 1 quesadilla in the pan and lightly brown on both sides, making certain that the cheese is melted in the middle before removing from the heat. Repeat with remaining quesadillas, adding more peanut oil when necessary.
7. Cut each quesadilla into fourths and serve with the mango salsa.

Notes

Chicken Tostadas

Once a way to make use of stale tortillas (by toasting and/or frying them), tostadas are so good that it wasn’t long before people simply started using fresh tortillas. After biting into these layers of flavor—crunchy, creamy, luscious—you’ll see why.

Yield:

Serves 6 (Main Course)

Ingredients

1. 1 medium white onion
2. 1 tomatoes, quartered
3. 2 large garlic cloves
4. 1 or 2 fresh serrano chiles, stemmed
5. 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
6. 3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
7. 6 large radishes, halved and sliced
8. 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, divided
9. 1 rotisserie chicken, meat coarsely shredded (4 cups)
10. 6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
11. 1 (1-lb) can refried beans, heated
12. 1 avocado, halved, pitted, and peeled
13. 1/2 cup Mexican crema or sour cream
14. 1/4 cup crumbled queso añejo (aged white cheese, also called cotija) or ricotta salata
15. .
16. ACCOMPANIMENTS: sliced serranos; lime wedges

Directions

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Cut half of onion into 3/4-inch wedges, then chop remainder. Toss onion wedges, tomatoes, garlic, and whole chiles with 2 Tbsp oil in a 4-sided sheet pan, spreading in 1 layer.
3. Broil about 4 inches from heat until softened and charred, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, toss together lettuce, radishes, chopped onion, and half of cilantro.
5. Purée tomato mixture in a blender along with one or both roasted serranos (to taste) and 1 tsp salt until smooth (use caution when blending hot foods). Transfer purée to a bowl and stir in chicken, remaining cilantro, and salt to taste.
6. Heat remaining 1/2 cup oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Fry tortillas, 1 at a time, turning once or twice and pressing with tongs to immerse, until golden brown, 45 to 60 seconds per tortilla. Drain briefly on paper towels, then transfer to plates.
7. Spread tortillas thickly with heated refried beans, then top with chicken mixture. Slice avocado over tostadas and dollop with crema.
8. Mound lettuce mixture on top and sprinkle with cheese.

Notes