April 10, 2020

Soft Dinner Buns with your Home Bakery

Serving Size

8 buns (breads)

Prep Time

1 hour

Cook Time

1 hour

Total Time

2 hours

Ingredients

For 8 buns :

260g bread flour (or 255g/T65 and 5g/gluten flour)
20g white sugar
4g kosher salt
23g unsalted butter
65ml whole milk
130ml water
1/2 tsp mayonnaise
4g dry yeast

For 6 buns :

200g bread flour (or 196g/T65 and 4g/gluten flour)
15g white sugar
3g kosher salt
18g unsalted butter
50ml whole milk
100ml water
1/2 tsp mayonnaise
3g dry yeast

Instructions

1. Add bread flour, (or T65 + gluten flour), sugar, salt, butter, milk, water and mayonnaise in the pan of your bread machine. Add yeast in your machine's yeast compartment. Select dough cycle and press start as per manufacturer's instructions.
2. When the dough cycle is complete, remove it from the machine and place on a floured surface.
3. Punch the dough down and divide it in 8 (or 6 pieces) pieces. Cover it with a damp cloth. Let it rest for 10 to 15min.
4. Shape each piece into a round ball. Arrange on lined baking trays. Cover and let rise for 40~60min in a warm place or until the dough has doubled in volume.
5. Bake in a preheated 180℃ oven for about 15min. Remove from the oven and let it cool down on a wire rack.

April 10, 2020

Beef Udon – Japanese Niku Udon

Beef "Japanese Niku" Udon

Persons

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

15 minutes

Total Time

45 minutes

Ingredients

For the udon soup

2L water
1 katsuo dashi pack - optional
3 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp fine salt
2 tbsp hondashi powder

For the beef topping

500g beef - shaved or sliced as thinly as possible, and cut into bite sizes
Seasoning for the beef
20g fresh ginger - cut into thin match sticks
4 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp cooking sake or white cooking wine
2 tbsp mirin
5 tbsp water
2 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp hondashi powder
Some scallion - finely chopped or sliced
Udon noodles for 5 people
NOTE : When I don't have mirin in stock at home, I use "apple syrup". Dilute it five times with water.

Instructions

1. Making the beef topping
In a cooking pot, add all the seasoning ingredients for the beef, and start to cook over medium-high heat. Just before it boils, add the beef. Cook the beef, stirring occasionally. Once it has boiled, turn the heat to low and simmer for 5 min. Set aside.
2. Making the udon soup
In a big cooking pot, add 2L water and katsuo dashi pack (optional, if manage to get some). Turn the heat to high. Just before it boils, add all the soup ingredients (soy sauce, mirin, sugar, salt and dashi powder) and bring it to a boil. Remove the dashi pack powder from the soup. Set aside.
3. In another large pot, bring water to a boil over high heat. Add the udon and cook until just softish (or the hardness you like of course). Drain and split the udon noodles in each large serving bowl. Pour the hot udon soup form #2 over the noodles.
4. Top with the cooked beef and sprinkle some of sliced scallions over the beef. Serve immediately!
If you like it spicy, I suggest you use "Ichimi Togarashi" or "Yuzu Kosho"

Notes

In Europe it is a bit difficult to find thinly sliced beef. So I usually purchase a whole cut of beef, then I freeze it and slice it myself. These days I love to use "Basse Cote à Braiser" for this dish.

March 11, 2020

Eggplant and tomato sauce pasta

Persons

Prep Time

20 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

50 minutes

Ingredients

2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1 shallot - finely chopped
1 eggplant - cut into small size square pieces (about 1cm)
50ml cooking sake or cooking white wine
1 canned tomatoes - diced
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 tbsp tomato paste
400g of your favorite pasta
1 tsp fine salt
2 tbsp olive oil
pepper and salt

Instructions

1. In a frying-pan, heat 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil and fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the shallot and stir fry for a few minutes.
2. Add the eggplants and cook until wilted.
3. Add the cooking sake, canned tomatoes, sugar, salt and tomato paste. Bring it to a boil. Once it boils, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 20min (no need to cover).
4. Add another 2 tbsp olive oil. Add salt and pepper to your taste.
5. Meanwhile boil the pasta according to the packet instructions until al dente, and drain.
6. Add the boiled pasta to the sauce and toss until well coated.
7. Serve into bowls immediately. Top with grated cheese (your choice) as much as you want. Enjoy!

February 6, 2020

Zaru Soba – Cold Soba Noodles – buckwheat noodles

Zaru Soba - Cold Soba Noodles - buckwheat noodles

Persons

Zaru Soba - Cold Soba Noodles - buckwheat noodles

Ingredients

For the soba tsuyu (dipping sauce)

250 ml water
1 tbsp dashi powder
50ml mirin
30ml soy sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 or 2 nori seaweed sheets
1 leek - thinly sliced
Soba noodles for 5 people
wasabi (optional)

Instructions

1. In a small cooking pot, add all the soba tsuyu ingredients and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 1 min. Remove from the heat and set aside until it cools down. Then keep the sauce in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator until soba is ready.
2. In a large cooking pot, boil a potfull of water. Cook the soba noodles according to the package instructions (they depend on which kind of soba or brand you use). Or until your favorite tenderness.
3. Rinse the soba noodles in the cold water to get rid of starch before you serve.
4. Drain completely and divide soba among the serving plates. Garnish with shredded nori sheet on top.
5. Pour enough "soba tsuyu" from the fridge into a small bowl for dipping the soba and serve with a side of sliced leek and wasabi.

February 4, 2020

Soba in hot soup

Persons

Prep Time

10 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

40 minutes

Ingredients

For the soup

2L water
1 pack of katsuobushi powder (optional)
2 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp hondashi powder
2 tsp kosher salt

For the tenkasu

60g cake flour (T45)
100ml water
1/4 tsp salt

For the topping

2 leek - finely sliced
Soba for 5 people

Instructions

1. In a large cooking pot, add water (2L) and bring it to a boil, add "katsuodashi pack" if you have and simmer for about 5 min. Remove it from the water.
2. Add all the soup ingredients and bring it to a boil. Set aside.
3. Make the tenkasu In a small bowl, add flour, salt and water. Mix well. In a small cooking pot, add about 2 to 3 cm of oil and when the temperature reaches about 160℃, sprinkle the tenkasu batter, using a egg whisk.
4. Deep-fry until they are lightly browned. Transfer onto the paper towl to remove excess oil.
5. In a big cooking pot, add water and bring it to a boil. Add the soba noodles, and stir gently, so they don’t stick together. Cook until al dente or how hard you like your soba.
6. Drain the soba noodles and wash the noodles in cold water to get rid of any slimy texture.
7. Then put the soba noodles into the boiling water to warm up again. Once they are warm, drain well and place them into a serving bowl.
8. Pour the soup and sprinkle sliced leek as much as you want and then "Tenkasu".
Serve hot!

October 21, 2019

Milk Curry Udon

Persons

Prep Time

30 minutes

Cook Time

30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
20g fresh ginger - cut into julienne
400g pork belly or beef - sliced or cut into bite sizes
1 to 1.5 carrot - cut into julienne
1 onion - cut into julienne or sliced
1.7L water
2 tsp hondashi
1 tbsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
200g (about) (7 to 8 blocks - depends on how thick you like it) curry roux (Japanese) - choose mild or medium hot as you like.
300ml milk
a dash of salt to taste
Udon noodle for 5 people

Instructions

1. In a cooking pot, heat vegetable oil until hot. Cook garlic and ginger until fragrant, then add the pork (or beef) and fry for a few minutes.
(Optional) Remove from the heat and roast with your cooking torch if you like roasted taste :)
2. Add carrot and onion and fry for a few more minutes.
3. Add the water (1.7L) and stir to combine. Cook over high heat and bring it to a boil. Once boiled, then simmer for about 10 minutes, adding the seasoning (hondashi powder, mirin, sugar and curry roux). Dissolve the roux completely. Make sure you stir once in a while so the curry will not get burnt on the bottom. Then pour the milk (or 300ml water, if you prefer just curry udon) and bring it to a boil. A dash of salt to taste if necessary.
5. Meanwhile bring a big pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, cook the udon until cooked through. Set aside.
6. Add cooked udon into the cooking pot and cook for about 5 minutes together with the curry soup. (Or you just serve the udon in a bowl and pour milk curry over.) Top with green onion (chopped) if you like.