Christine and the Big Scary Kitchen

When I worked at a Japanese restaurant, not many people realize that Japanese food isn’t all miso soup, teriyaki, tempura, and sushi.  Though they are some of my favorite parts of Japanese cuisine, there is so much more.  Yakisoba, agedashi tofu, tamago, and whole baked eel with decadent sauce spread over beds of rice are just a few of the delicious inventions the Japanese have bestowed on us.  Within a couple weeks, I had to know menu, many of the dishes foreign to me at the time, down to the type of broth and/or oil the chef used to prepare.  By the last of my two years, though I had the information at the top of my head, I found myself leaning on a favorite dish.  Many conversations with customers intimidated by the raw fish would go as follows:

Customer: “I don’t want raw fish.”

Christine: “Ok, well, what are you in the mood for?  Have you had Japanese before?”

Customer: “Yeah, I was going to go for teriyaki, but I always get teriyaki.”

Christine: “Well, do you want to try one of the best kept secrets of Japanese cuisines?”

Then I would introduce the customer to udon.  It was served in a small, cast iron bowl, steaming and pungent.  The thick flour noodles, if cooked right are perfect for slurping.  The slightly salty and sweet broth fills up the coldest day or add a nice end to a cool summer night.  At Mobo, we often served it with tempura.

The other day I was tired from a long week at work and feeling slightly homesick for Colorado.  On my way home I picked up three ingredients, coming to less than five dollars and made a make shift Udon.  I’d like to note that Rasa Malaysia and La Fuji Mama have great recipes for dashi from scratch.  I didn’t make the broth from scratch simply because I have limited freezer space (keep in mind I share my house with three people) and adding to my broth collection is silly at this point.

Udon

Four cups of dashi
2 T of soy sauce
1 T of mirin
2 tsp sugar
2 scallions, chopped
2 cups of fresh udon (anything less than fresh can be a little too floury and dry)
1 T of dried seaweed

Bring dashi soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and scallions to a boil.  Add fresh udon and seaweed until floppy and warm.

Pan-Fried Tofu

1 block of extra firm tofu
1/2 cup of panko flakes
1-2 eggs (start with one, but have another just in case you need more)

1.  Take the tofu from the container and cut into one inch cubes and dry off as best as you can.
2.  One at a time, coat the tofu cubes with egg then roll in panko flakes.  Put to side.
3.  Once all the cubes are coated, heat pan  with oil in it until nice and hot.
4.  Fry each side of the tofu for 30 seconds or until golden brown.  Once all sides are golden brown take from heat.  Put the tofu on a paper towel to absorb any extra oil.

Now do the noodle dance.