Pork and Cabbage Stir Fry

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 onion sliced
1 tsp minced ginger
500g thinly sliced pork
1/4 cabbage, roughly chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
3/4 cup sake
1/4 cup mirin
4 tbsp soy sauce
Fry meat in oil with ginger until browned. Remove from pan. Add onion and garlic and fry until soft. Add cabbage and coat in oil. Add Sake, mirin, soy sauce to pan, cover and simmer until softened a little. Return meat to the pan and simmer for a further 3-4 mins.

Steak Stir-fry

Beef is very expensive in Japan so I don't often cook with it. Sometimes I can find a block of Rump steak at a reasonable price, so it is always a treat. I often just cut it up and fry it if I am in a hurry, but I sometimes like to add some flavour.
500g Rump steak block
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
3 green peppers
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
3 stalks spring onion
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup sake or dry white wine
3 tbsps soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
Salt and pepper
2 tsp Sesame oil
Slice steak into strips and soak in 1/4 cup of sake. Meanwhile, slice onion and green peppers into thin strips. Chop green onion into 3 cm stalks.
Drain off remaining sake from meat and coat in cornflour. Fry in olive oil on a high heat. Remove from pan once browned. Add onions, green pepper, garlic, ginger, and fry over a medium heat for 3-4 mins. Add remaining sake, soy sauce, 1/2 cup water and salt and pepper. Bring to the boil. Return meat to the pan and add spring onions. Simmer for 2 mins. Add mirin and sesame oil.

Tofu Frittata

This is one of my favourite lunchtime dishes. It is easy and very quick. The original recipe calls for Ricotta cheese, but this is very hard to find in Japan, so I use a block of Tofu instead. It works really well and tastes great!
Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp butter
1/2 onion chopped finely
1 clove garlic
250g asparagus (I substitute green beans, spinach, green peppers, whatever I have in the fridge)
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 slices of ham or bacon (optional)
1/4 tsp salt and pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1 block of tofu
4 eggs
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
Melt butter and olive oil in a pan. Fry onions, garlic and asparagus. Add salt and pepper, thyme until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
In a bowl, whisk eggs, salt and pepper, then add tofu and whisk together until smooth. Stir in Parmesan and half a cup of cheddar cheese. Add vegetables from the pan and mix.
Pour into a greased pie dish. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese. Bake in 200 degrees Celsius oven for 20 minutes, or until golden.


This pie dish is wonderful for this dish! It is only 2cm high, but the pottery makes the egg bake beautifully and it never sticks! I was given this plate as a wedding present and hope it lasts a long time!

Chicken & Bean Rolls

Tonight was 'nothing in the fridge...' night! Slice up some cabbage and saute in olive oil and salt and pepper briefly. Set aside. Fry chopped onion and red & yellow capsicum in olive oil until softened. Add 300g chicken mince. Season. Add a can of baked beans, 2 tbsps ketchup, 1 tbsp worcheshire sauce, 3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce. Simmer until liquid has gone. Heat a tortilla in the microwave, place cabbage, bean mix and grated cheese along the middle and roll up. The kids loved them.

Rolled Cabbage

This is one of my favourite winter dishes. I got this recipe from a Japanese recipe book I have. The dish seems to have originated from Hungary, Poland, Lithuania or Slovakia, and is also listed as a Jewish dish. It is sometimes referred to as Halupki.
Ingredients:
12 Cabbage leaves
Plain flour
4 rashers bacon
1 onion
1 can of cut tomatoes
3 cups chicken stock
15g butter
Salt and Pepper
Filling:
500g mince
1 onion
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp butter
Salt and Pepper
Remove the leaves from the cabbage, being careful not to tear them. Boil in salted water for 2-3 mins. Remove and cool. Lay flat on a board and slice the top part of the core with a knife to make it even.
Filling: Chop the onion finely and fry in butter until softened. Cool. In a bowl mix the filling ingredients and knead with your hand. Add onion and mix again. Divide into 12.
Lay out a cabbage leaf and sprinkle flour on it, then roll one part of the mince filling in your hand and place on leaf. Roll up tucking the sides in as you roll. Secure with a toothpick.
In a large pot melt the butter and fry the onion and bacon until softened. Add can of tomato, salt and pepper, bring to the boil.





Place rolled cabbage in the pot and pour chicken stock over it.
Simmer gently for 30-40 minutes.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top if desired.