Soboro Donburi

Upon my return to Tokyo I decided it was time to indulge my inner-otaku (or geek). Having spent so much time luxuriating in the rich history of Japan I decided to spend some time focusing on the nerdier aspects of life in the Japanese capital. My first stop was Akihabara, a hub for all things technological, collectible and animated. Here, being a geek is acceptably mainstream. The area is immensley colourful and hums with the sounds of arcades and pachinko machines. On a sunday, the street is closed to traffic in the afternoon and the local cosplayers come out of the woodwork to show-off their latest intricate outfits. I had a ton of fun hanging out in Akihabara, but in reality my biggest geeky obsession is food.

So the very next day, I went to Tsukiji fish market. I wasnt quite enthusiastic enough to make it there by 4am for the legendary Tuna auction, but I did make it there early enough to enjoy my own sushi breakfast. From there I returned to Chuo to attend a fantastic cookery class with some fellow gaijin.

My favourite recipe was for Soboro Donburi, a simple Washoku (or home-style) dish comprising of very few ingredients – all of them cheap, nutritious, filling and deeply savoury. I have included the recipe below.

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Level: low
Methods: frying, boiling

Time: 20 minutes
Makes: serves 2

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Ingredients

100g rice
250ml water
200g minced chicken
2tbsp sake
1 1/2tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1tsp sugar
1/2tsp MSG (optional)

Chives, cucumber or spring onion for garnish (finely sliced)

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Method

1. Place the rice and water in a small saucepan. Stir once.

2. Cover with a tightly fitting lid and bring to the boil.

3. Boil for 8-10 minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to steam with the lid still attached.

4. Meanwhile mix together the sake, soy sauce and sugar.

5. Begin to sauté the chicken mince in a frying pan over a medium heat. Then pour in the sauce ingredients and cook until the liquids have evaporated and been absorbed into the meat.

6. Place in a bowl and sert aside.

7. Using the same pan, add the eggs, sugar and MSG. Whisk together briefly and cook, stirring occassionally, until scrambled.

8. To serve the donburi, place some rice into the bottom of a high sided bowl. Cover half with the chicken and half with the scrambled egg. Use your green vegetable garnish to create a line through the middle of the bowl.

Japanese-style Soft Bread Rolls

I departed south early one morning on the famous bullett train, headed for Kyoto. Steeped in history, the city itself was the Japanese capital for over a thousand years.

On my first full day I ventured out to explore the city and bumped into a befuddled looking English couple at the train station. Together we were able to work out how to get to the Fushimi Inari shrine, a vast meandering path up the side of a hill, annointed with hundreds of red gates, designed to honour the Shinto god of rice. As we had similar itineraries, my new friends and I also visited the Golden Pavillion and Nijo Castle together. On our way back to the city we settled on a cheap lunch at a small bakery. The food inside was a revelation. Almost every item was small, decorative and comprised of a ridiculously light, tender crumbed milk bread. The bread, which was shaped into any conceivable shape was baked with a filling inside, rather than being filled after baking like a sandwich. Fillings included: hot dogs, ham, cheese, chicken, curried vegetables, red bean paste, apples and luscious creme patisserie.

The tiny flavour packed morsels were a treat I returned to many times during my continued stay in Japan, but what I was really interested in was the super soft bread. I spoke to some fellow travellers, consulted the internet and spoke to a teacher at a cookery school and came to the conclusion that the dough was enriched with both milk and egg, as well as a water roux known as a tangzhong. The science behind this new baking technique, popularised in east asia, is a little murky – but essentially the water roux inhibits some gluten development resulting in a softer, less chewy crumb. However it still allows the same amount of water to be included in the recipe and this, in combination with the additional hygroscopic butter and milk, mean the bread stays fresh for longer. The method isn’t the easiest, and the proving of the dough is even more important than with a standard loaf, so be sure to follow the recipe precisely.

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Level: high
Methods: baking
Skills: water roux, enriched bread dough

Time: 4 hours minimum (including proving time)
Makes: 16 buns

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Ingredients

325g bread flour
150g plain flour
20g milk powder
50g caster sugar
1tsp salt
1 7g sachet fast action yeast
2 eggs, lightly beaten
100ml lukewarm water (approx.)
75g butter, cubed

For the Water-Roux Paste:
25g bread flour
125ml water

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Method

1. For the water roux, mix 25g bread flour and 125ml water in a small saucepan.

2. Cook over a medium low heat, stirring continuously until it reaches 65ºC. If you do not have a food probe the paste should be a semi-solid gel with a dropping consistency.

3. Remove from heat, cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming and allow to cool.

4. When ready to continue, sift the bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, caster sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast and mix well.

5. Add the lightly beaten eggs and lukewarm water roux. Stir with a table knife.

6. Gradually add just enough hand-hot water to form into a slightly sticky, soft dough.

7. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.

8. Knead in the butter until incorporated. Form the dough into a ball.

9. Lightly grease the mixing bowl and place the dough back inside to prove. Ther dough should double in size. This can take 1-2 hours.

10. After the first rise, knock back the dough and knead briefly once more.

11. Divide the dough into 16 equal portions and shape into buns.

12. Place the finished buns on a greased baking tray and lightly cover with cling film. Allow to rise for 1 hour more.

Tip – In order to produce a tender crumb the second prove is vital. Sometimes I like to place a bowl of water in the microwave and heat for about thirty seconds. I then turn off the microwave, and place the buns inside. The hot, steamy atmosphere helps the bread rise.

13. Preheat the oven to 190ºC.

14. Glaze the buns with some milk or water. Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Negima Yakitori

It has long been a dream of mine to go to Japan. In fact when planning this trip, Japan was one of only five “must-visit” countries on my list. Something about the country takes me back to my childhood, when I used to watch documentaries about miraculous robots, seemingly-impossible gadgetry and toilets with myriad bum-cleaning settings. Ostensibly, to my young eyes, it looked like a glimpse into the future. Sadly, times have changed and as technology companies have upped the stakes, that seemingly-impossible gadgetry I once saw on Blue Peter and the like, looks pretty mundane by comparison. 10 year old me would be more dazzled by the now ubiquitous iPhone than by a toilet with a built in bidet and heated seat. But there is still much to marvel at in Tokyo and nowadays I find myself more drawn to the ancient rituals, shrines and dazzling architecture.

To my suprise I was most struck, not by all the things that make Japan so different from the UK, but instead the overwhelming parallels. Depite the obvious geographical similarities (we’re both island nations etc.), I was amazed by how similar we are culturally. A country steeped in heritage and history, sitting merrily beside modern convenience. The importance of manners. How their seemingly controlled exteriors bely a wicked sense of humour and a prediliction for dirty jokes. They drive on the left hand side of the road. They queue. For everything. And they do so with grace and patience. Did you know most North Americans I’ve met don’t even know what the word queue means?

But one key difference was the food. To western palettes some of the things I tasted could be challenging. Even simple confections are turned on their head, with wasabi flavoured jellies, red bean flavoured kitkats and fish-shaped waffles (known as Taiyaki) filled with purple sweet potato among them. I did however seek out the more recognisable aspects of Japanese cuisine. In Shinjuku I visited a decades old restaurant that specialises in the art of tempura making. The chefs work in an open kitchen opposite a diner-like bench of seating. The tempura itself: feather light, with a melt-in-the-mouth quality that I have yet failed to reproduce. But in the district of Asakusa, I tasted one of the ultimate street foods – Yakitori. Nothing is more gloriously simple or simply portable than meat on a stick.

The term Yakitori sometimes gets misused here on restaurant menus. Yakitori is comprised of two characters, Yaki (焼き) meaning to grill and Tori (鳥) meaning chicken. Simple in concept but difficult to master, this style of cooking is extremely economical as it uses all the parts of the chicken, from typical cuts like breast and thigh, to more adventurous options like liver and heart. The cuts of meat are prepared, marinated and grilled on skewers over hardwood charcoal. When other foods are used, like beef, pork, fish or seafood, they are called Kushiyaki (串焼き) meaning “grilled skewers”. The marinade for Yakitori is often extremely simple, utilising fundamental Japanese condiments. Here I have used the marinade to create a glaze for basting, which is infused with some aromatics.

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Level: low
Methods: marinating, grilling

Time: 30 minutes (+ 2 hours marinating time minimum)
Makes: 12 skewers

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Ingredients
460g skinless, boneless chicken thighs
6tbsp soy sauce
4tbsp sake
4tbsp mirin
1tbsp caster sugar
6-8 spring onions, root and loose leaves removed
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed with the heel of your hand
1tsp black peppercorns

12 bamboo skewers soaked in water

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Method

1. Open out the chicken thigh fillets and cut into small cubes (around 1-inch/2cm). Place in a bowl.

2. Combine the soy sauce, sake and mirin in a jug. Pour the sauce over the chicken and allow to marinate for a few hours.

3. When ready, chop the spring onions into quarters.

4. Thread the skewers alternatively with pieces of chicken thigh and the spring onion.

5. Pour the remaining marinade into a small pan. Add the remaining spring onions, the sugar, garlic cloves and peppercorns. Bring to a boil and allow to reduce by half to make a shiny glaze.

6. Preheat the grill to medium and place the skewers under the heat for 5-6 minutes, turning frequently. Baste with the reduced glaze after each turn.

7. When the glaze has started to burnish and the chicken is cooked through, remove from the grill and serve.