Firstly, despite the title, we won't be cooking Asians, but, rather Asian foods. Sorry, this is not for cannibals. Per a fabulous request, shoutout [member="lisamc"] , I decided to make a cooking thread where I will share with you how I make some fabulously delicious Asian meals. You can also share how to make your Asian dishes too. Please be as descriptive as possible & include pics along the way if possible. Lastly, I want to mention I am a self-taught cook. I have never had any formal training or professional job which required me to cook, it is simply a passion I have pursued on my own through much trial & error & even learning new languages just to read cookbooks. I enjoy cooking for others. If I am cooking for myself, I tend not to eat because I get no satisfaction from my own food. The payback is watching people have a foodgasm when they taste your food. It is worth it at that point.
Okay, so I'm going to start with something simple, for which at this time I do not have pics for. Tofu. Many Americans or lets say, non-Asian people hate tofu. And why? Because 9 times out of 10 it gets prepared incorrectly. When you purchase tofu at the grocery store or Asian market, regardless of its packaging, you MUST drain it. To do this: You will need a clean terry towel, or a lot of paper towels A knife Two cutting boards Cans of stuff thats heavy, or a book. Open the package. Drain out the liquid. (You arent finished yet) Carefully remove the tofu & place on a cutting board. Gently dry the tofu with a towel. Loosely wrap the tofu with the towel & put the 2nd cutting board on top. Put the heavy cans on top of that or a heavy book. this will gently squeeze the water out if the tofu without creating mush Set a timer for 20 min & when it goes off, remove the towel, (it will be SOAKED) flip the tofu over, use a new towel, repeat previous step, but only 10 min this time. Once your 10 min timer goes off, remove the towels, and you may begin preparation of your tofu!!
Now you know how to drain tofu, but what now?? The best advice I have EVER received was: Treat tofu like ANY meat. If you do this, you will end up with DE LI CIOUS tofu! Here is a tofu steak I made on the grill.
What if you bought a ton of tofu because it was on sale but now it is fixing to go bad and you dont wanna eat tofu right now? You can freeze tofu!! Now, warning, it will LOSE its texture & look like a sponge once you thaw it out, but it will still taste the same, and I actually prefer previously frozen tofu because it soaks up flavours extremely well. You can have better luck if you drain the tofu first, like you already learned to do, then cut into desired shapes, and wrap well with freezer paper, then place in freezer bags. This means it wont have AS MUCH of a spongey texture when you thaw it because you are removing a lot of the water first. But it takes longer too.
Fried Rice Surprisingly, people fuck this easy dish up more than anything, thanks to terrible Chinese take-out. REAL fried rice has no, or very little soy sauce. The single MOST IMPORTANT THING to remember when making fried rice is to use old rice. The rice you have had sitting in the fridge for a week... That rice. Here is why. Fresh rice is sticky & moist. When you attempt to fry it it will only turn to mush. Then you will have baby food instead of fried rice. So get your old rice & lets get started. The best way to cook fried rice is in a wok. A wok is a large skillet which has slanted sides that go outward which allow for different cooking temperatures within the same skillet. You can use a large skillet if you dont have a wok. I prefer seasoned cast iron or carbon steel but again, thats a personal choice. Get your skillet hot. Throw in a little oil. (Just a little. Maybe 1tbsp?) I use sesame oil with veggie oil mixed in. The sesame oil will give everything an authentic taste. Let the oil get hot. If you wish to add onions to your rice, you need to start cooking them now. Cook in the oil until translucent, then dump in your old rice & stir, making sure the rice gets coated with the oil well. Move the rice around a bit, you gotta fry it. Keep the heat on medium-high. Add in salt & pepper & mix well Once you have fried the rice to the point where it is no longer sticking to other grains, it is time to add in other things. Real fried rice is just whatever you have as leftovers added to rice. Make a 'well' in the center of the rice in the skillet & add veggies or meats. I like to add sweet corn, cooked sausage, and carrots. Keep stirring the rice & now veggies/meats. You need to stir-fry this mixture for a couple minutes so keep stirring it. I like to use Japanese cooking chopsticks in the kitchen. Very versatile utensil. While this rice is cooking, go crack a couple eggs into a bowl or cup or whatever. Add a TINY bit of soy sauce to the egg. (You may also omit). Beat with chopsticks. (Or a whisk) Make another 'well' in your rice and pour in the egg mixture. When it begins to set up, start to fold in the rice into the egg. Keep folding until the egg has set and is mixed throughout the rice. Lastly, take 1 leaf of fresh basil and tear into strips. Put on top of the rice and mix lightly. Remove from heat. Congrats. You just made AUTHENTIC fried rice/chao fan/cha han. edit: if you wish to add meat which is not already cooked, add when you add the onions & cook until almost done before adding the rice.
Wanna learn how to make THE BEST tonkatsu? I have a secret to share! Many people, if you ask them how to make tonkatsu, they will definitely at some point, mention Panko bread crumbs. Well, my GC pals, I have discovered a different approach which has my hubby (a Japanese native) head over heels in love with my tonkatsu
mmmmm Very similar to how we make it, everyone has their little variation to call their own. The old rice is essential, I like corn, egg, prawns, capsicum and put honeysoy pork rashers on top. I have never added salt/pepper but will try it next time. Usually add a couple spices like oregano and parsley to flavour. Will pluck some basil leaves next time, got a fair few basil plants that I have been growing. So do you have any asian heritage/background or just the hubby? Im going to Bali in 2weeks so will be able to eat just a 'little' bit of indonesian/asain style food for the week I'm there.
Just hubby. I have been intrigued by Asian food for years before we met, though. My heritage is German & other 'unknown'. Haha.
Oyakodon For those of you not familiar with oyakodon -- I'll provide a short explanation. oyako simply means " parents and children " don means rice bowl --- you may have seen donburi which means something put over rice to eat. if you can't figure it out, the parents and children is because this is chicken with eggs. " Parents and Children " Lol -- I always thought the naming to be kind of *dark*. Anyways --- so oyako = chicken & eggs + don = rice oyakodon = chicken & eggs over rice ^^ Since pictures cannot be added later, I will add pics now, recipe later!
Ginger Karaage Ginger Fried Chicken Potato Starch (NOT corn starch or flour) is what really makes this unique! Instructions soon to be added. Serve with lemon wedges.
Wow this has got to be one of the most informative and productive threads the city has seen in a while. Now here's codswallop to take a shit on it. Fuck yo thread. Pretzels and peanut butter. Niggah!
Japanese Style Breakfast Sweet Tamagoyaki ( sweet egg omelet ) Misou Soup Spinach roll Fresh cucumber pickles Unlike other cultures, Japanese families take pride in collecting many different colours and styles of dishes to put food in. You will rarely see matching containers on the table in a Japanese home. Edit: although they are all supposed to coordinate. Mine do not. I just dont care lol.
Yes!!!!' Yay!!! Thank you! Imma do this! I'll be cooking Asians in no time!! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Nikujyaga There are MANY ways to cook this dish, but I am going to tell you how to make the easiest version. You are gonna need the following: An onion Red (new) potatoes dont ruin the potato by peeling it! Wash it really good!! You need about 7 new potatoes or 1lb. Ground beef you need 8oz or half a pound. FRESH ginger (i mean it. Do NOT use ground ginger!) break off a piece the length of your thumb. If you have long thumbs like me, go a little shorter. Peel the ginger. Soy Sauce 3tbsp or so. Sesame Oil Chinese cooking wine Dashi Granules Dashi looks like yeast but I assure you, it is not. Please do not put yeast in your nikujyaga!!! And lasltly, Sugar Water DIRECTIONS 1. Take a grater and grate the ginger which you peeled. 2. Put 1tbsp (just pour in the pan and say one-one-thousand, its about 1tbsp) of sesame oil in the pan. Heat it up on medium-high heat. 3. Peel the onion & slice it VERY VERY THIN!!! 4. Cut up your washed potatoes into 1-2" cubes. 5. Dump in your 8oz ground beef, thinly sliced onion, and grated ginger into the pan. 6. Sauté until the beef is browned. 7. Add the cut up potatoes & sauté 3 more minutes. 8. Add in the remaining ingredients, which are: 3tbsp soy sauce 2tbsp chinese cooking wine 1tbsp sugar 1tsp dashi granules 9. Now add enough water to completely cover the potatoes. You should not be able to see potatoes swimming on the water's surface. Drown those fuckers. 10. Turn the heat all the way up & wait for a rolling boil. 11. Let it boil 30 seconds, then turn the heat to medium & let simmer for 20 minutes (or until the potatoes are cooked through). pic after having simmered 15 minutes 12. Serve in a bowl with a side of rice. rice can be omitted for health-conscious individuals, but in an Asian household, rice is a staple regardless of how much starch is in the meal! When finished, your nikujyaga should resemble this: Enjoy!
Are you gluten-intolerant? Wanna eat more healthy? Don't give a shit but like the taste of crispy rice or Asian food? Great! You need to start making burger-esque foods using fried rice patties as buns! I got this idea from a Japanese burger joint called MosBurger. They make some good burgers & I'll post a pic of their menu. My burgers are way better tho. Making a rice burger: For starters, use OLD RICE. It shouldnt be so old that it is growing mold, but it should have been sitting a minimum of 2-3 days in the fridge or freezer (cooked). Let me explain why so you don't do the opposite of what I've just told you. New rice has absorbed a LOT of water! It will be impossible to fry it because it will just turn to mush & fall apart. The older rice gets, the more it sheds off the moisture & easier it is to fry. So take the rice, and form patties like u would for a burger. This is easy if you dip your hands in COLD water first, then shape the patties; the rice wont stick to ur hands then. Put a little sesame oil on a griddle ir skillet & get the heat hot/med-high. Put the patties on the griddle and flip once the bottom is browned; a couple minutes. Do the same on the other side. Yay! Its done! Now you can put whatever u like inbetween the 'buns'. I like to put kinpira between ours. I'll do a recipe for kinpira another day. Enjoy!
Life would be so much easier if you'd just come cook it for me, too! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum