Wednesday 26 September 2007

Little Foodies Japan - Ginger pork and Sushi

Buta no shogayaki with Kimpira - Ginger pork with sauteed green beans (we had broccoli too). This was absolutely delicious and as Hubby had to come home early to take the cat to the vet (long story) we were all able to have dinner together. We all had seconds!

There are a few versions of these dishes, but we decided to do our own take on these two from The World Cook Book Collection - Japan. It's part of a collection of books sold in conjunction with The Times newspaper back in 2005. I never saw the series then but found it in a discount bookshop a month or so ago, and knew we would be doing Japan at some stage. It cost me the grand sum of £1.00 and for the above meal alone it was worth it.

Ginger Pork
1 large pork loin, very, very thinly sliced (I must get some new knives!)
1 thumb size piece of fresh ginger, finely grated (I used a microplane)
4 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and bashed about a little (This wasn't in the recipe but we wanted garlic!)

Mix the soy sauce, ginger and garlic - pour over the sliced pork. Mix it up and let is sit for 15 minutes. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and then tip the pork and the juices into the frying pan. Lay the pork pieces out flat and turn after a few minutes. Cook through. Because it is so finely sliced it shouldn't take long to cook. Serve with rice (we used sushi rice, prepare and cook as per instructions on the packet) and the green beans and broccoli below.

Sauteed green beans and broccoli
1 large bag of green beans, cleaned and trimmed
We also used broccoli spears
2 tablespoons of sunflower or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sake
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar

Mix the sake, soy sauce and sugar, stir until the sugar dissolves.
Gently saute the green beans and broccoli for 2-3 minutes.
Turn the heat up and add the sake and soy mix. Let it bubble for a minute then add half a cup of water. Put a lid on and let it bubble away for approximately 4-5 minutes.

Children can make sushi...

Our first attempt at making sushi wasn't as adventurous or neat as the shop bought supermarket variety - see below. But it was fun!The boys have both tried sushi before. Little will eat it sometimes, Small has never liked it! They seem to like the rice and the other bits but they don't like the seaweed wrapper. It was fun to try and make our own but I was the only one who liked the taste. In the end we only did the fish sticks sort as they didn't want to waste the smoked salmon. Little struggled with rolling it so I didn't get Small to attempt it (you have to manage expectations when cooking with children). I let him play with some sticky rice and bits and pieces though - I'm still finding bits of rice all over the house this morning. We might attempt making some more but with the egg wrappers or toasted sesame seeds around the outside.

27 comments:

KellytheCulinarian said...

I've never made sushi, but I think I'd like to have a sushi party with some of my friends to give it a whirl.

Deborah said...

That pork dish looks delicious! And what a fun activity - learning to roll sushi!

FH said...

Little man in training, he has done a great job with Sushi.Ginger Pork sounds yum!:))

Angel said...

Its wonderful how you have your kids involved. We have little asian night dinners sometimes with friends. I always make the sushi, and someone else will make wantons, or miso soup etc... I find the hardest part for me is remembering not to overstuff the rolls. Lol I always want to many tasty things in them.

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Hi Kelly, that sounds like a great idea.

Hi Deborah, the pork was really good. I could eat it often and will do now.

Hi Asha, he did do a great job! Don't think he was overly impressed with the taste though - LOL

Hi Angelica, thank you for visiting my blog. Your little dinners sound very cool and great that everyone brings something.

Thank you for your comments.
Amanda x

Kelly-Jane said...

Hope your cat is ok now.

Little did a great job! Everything looks so good, and lots of veggies too :) Your last picture of the sushi is especially good.

Karen Baking Soda said...

Love his hands rolling away.
The entree I'm sure everyone would love to eat here, for the sushi son nr 2 would politely decline but nr 1 and 3 would love.

Nora B. said...

Hi Amanda,
The ginger dish sounds so quick and simple, yet so delicious. I would have added garlic too.

Little did a great job with the sushi. When my partner makes sushi, I also find bits of rice around the kitchen the next day. ;-)

Aimée said...

You're such a fun mom to make sushi with your kids. I hope Noah will like it-my sister's 4 year old eats it!
Dinner looks yummy!

Cynthia said...

I'm going to make that ginger pork real soon. I'm salivating at the thought of it.

Meeta K. Wolff said...

I love it I love it! The idea of rolling sushi with the kids is awesome. Amanda you are a genius. I have never dared to make sushi at home yet but I think we could do this as a family evening in the kitchen. Brilliant!

Anonymous said...

Sushi is one of my favorite things to have...always puts me in a good place :) And that pork sounds delicious! How cool that you guys are doing Japan now!

Your kids are such great little helpers :)

I know that Time series of cookbooks...my mom used to have them and she sold them all...now I have to hunt down copies again in 2nd hand sales!

Anonymous said...

This sounds fabulous! I'm making the pork and the veggies tonight [no kids at home now to make the sushi].

Regarding your knives, before giving up on them try this. Keep your sharpening steel handy and every time you reach for a knife, give it a quick sharpening first--just a dozen or so passes over the steel. You won't notice a huge difference at first, but if you do this faithfully every time [in practice, I manage about three out of four times], you will suddenly see your knives are much sharper. I took a one-day knife skills class once, and this is by far the most valuable thing I learned.

Pat said...

Amanda It is sooooo cool that your boys are eating all different foods from different places!!!The recipe looks yummy!!!!

Chef Jeena said...

Hi thankyou so much for visiting my blog and leaving such a lovely comment. I think your blog is great I would love to exchange links with you, I have already added your link to my blog :) could you add me to yours? Can't wait to see more of your recipes. :)

Jeena xx

(Jeena's Kitchen)

Anonymous said...

This kind of dish makes me glad I don't eat kosher anymore.

Belinda said...

Your ginger pork recipe sounds very tasty...I love the blend of ingredients, and the sauteed green beans and broccoli is a side dish recipe I can't wait to try...very good idea to combine those two veggies. :-)

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Hi Kelly-Jane, the cat's okay thank you.

Hi Baking Soda, get yourselves on the shuttle and we could all make some together.

Hi Nora, please get Q to send tips. We ended up in a right old mess!

Hi Aimee, it was fun! One of them eats sushi if it's bought but didn't like what we'd made. It was the seaweed wrapper.

Hi Cynthia, I'll be making it again soon too. It was so easy and yet so tasty.

Hi Meeta, I think you'd all love it! We're going to do it again but without the seaweed, probably at the weekend so hubby can join in.

Hi Joey, I'm loving Japan!

Hi Terry, thanks for the tips. I do have a steel but never use it. I might ask my butcher to give me a lesson.

Hi Pat, thank you! I think this is going to be one of my favourites.

Hi Jeena, thanks, why not.

Hi Rhea, I think that's why when you're on a diet - chocolate and cake always taste so much better. Along with chips, pie, steamed pudding... The list is non-exhaustive.

Hi Belinda, it was so quick, easy and very worth doing.

Thank you all for your comments.
Amanda x

Hi Belinda,

Pig in the Kitchen said...

The sushi rolling does look great...i'm just not sure about the seaweed. but the pix are nice!
Pigx

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Hi Pig, the boys weren't sure either so we'll leave that bit out at the weekend when we try making it again.
Amanda x

Marie Rayner said...

Lovely looking meal. I have long wanted to make my own sushi. You have inspired me to try. I think I shall go out and buy the ingredients soon! (well veggie ones anyways, not sure I could get decent quality raw fish for the other here!)
Marie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/mariealicejoan/MariesMuses/

Maggie said...

Great looking sushi. I have never eaten sushi or indeed made it. I may well be tempted now after looking at your photographs.

Cottage Smallholder said...

Ohh, that looks delicious Amanda. The picture of your son rolling sushi is so cute!

I've never considered making sushi, I must give it a whirl.

David Hall said...

Thats a great post. GBVC did something similar to this, it is great to get the kids involved isn't it? Make it fun, make it something worth praising them for, makes for a happy healthy child. Hooray!

Cheers
David

Anonymous said...

We tried making sushi a few years ago and got so annoyed at the way it wouldn't come together we ended up eating very messy rolls indeed. I think we over filled the nori, which I suppose was a beginner's mistake!

I love pork, when it's cooked properly it's such a delightful meat, it has more character than chicken and works wonderfully in all kinds of things. I especially like the Chinese version of Char Siu pork - heaven!

Caffienated Cowgirl said...

At least they are making the sushi...they may come around to it yet :o) (I adore sushi...just need to let Little Man try it now)

Jann said...

New chefs in the making~ I can see it now!

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