Japanese Mexican Fusion–Alpha Version of the Yakisoburrito!

A second day of posting in a row? Crazy? Maybe so, but I’m just trying to make up for lost time.

But on a more exciting note, today’s post is another Cast Iron Therapy Original! Well, an alpha version of one anyway, there are definite improvements that can be made.

Now, prepare yourself for some stream of consciousness style meandering narrative, or just skip to after the picture if that’s not your thing.

I wanted to make something regional initially, and a few ideas bounced around in my head as to what regional things were good in the area. Were I a lot further south in California, I could do a California Burrito, so there was that bouncing in my head.

At the same time, I wanted to try using some things from the farmer’s market as well, as that is pretty regional.

Going back to the idea of California however, there’s California Cuisine, which is “marked by an interest in fusion cuisine.” So, how about a fusion dish that uses local goods, and is partly inspired by the California Burrito. And… oh let’s fuse it with yakisoba while we’re at it.

In the end, this is regional from a very broad interpretation. It’s from the region of my brain.

I truly hope that I am not doing something horrific that the Japan and Mexico will hate me for doing in working on this recipe.

Ok, thanks for bearing with me in that really long introduction! Now for the recipe.

Week 10–Book Inspired: Ja-Pan #16! Mt. Fuji Like Bread AKA Yakitate!! Ja-Pan’s Take on Naan!

Thanks for coming to check out the blog again. Something a bit different this time. This time the challenge on Reddit was to make a dish that was movie or book inspired.

So I went and made something. So what the hell is it some of you may be asking? I might actually be cheating here since rather than a novel kind of book it’s from the manga/anime Yakitate!! Ja-Pan, which follows the story of some baker in the pursuit of bread, with the focus being on protagonist Azuma Kazuma, both something of a bumpkin and baking genius who has come up with several classic bread recipes out of his own head, and having no idea of the original recipe, refers to them as Ja-pan, a pun on being Japanese and pan, or bread.

So what the hell is this you thing I have presented here you might ask? Why it is Ja-pan #16 obviously!

Japanese Christmas Cake! Week Zero of 52 Weeks of Cooking!

First of all, hi to reddit and those taking part in the 52 weeks of cooking challenge. This is indeed my first entry for week zero, with this “week’s” theme being holiday food. After perusing the very helpful wiki link on Christmas dishes around the world posted by rach11, I settled on Japan, because Japan is awesome, and the Japanese Christmas Cake seemed very appealing. On that note, I send my holiday wishes to r/japanesefood and r/asianeats!

As an admittedly big time anime fan, I find great humor in the trope of the Christmas cake as a metaphor for women in their mid twenties fearing becoming one. No matter how delicious a Christmas cake is, no one wants it after the 25th. If you still don’t get it, the saying means that women won’t be able to marry if they haven’t married by the time they are 25. It is an utterly ludicrous and highly old fashioned sentiment, but still pretty funny in anime format. Ok, on to the Japanese Christmas Cake!

The Third Day of Seven Days of Alton Brown: Miso Soup!

Yesterday we made some Dashi. Now to put it to good use by using it to make some miso soup. If you’ve ever eaten at a Japanese restaurant, you’ve probably had a serving of this lovely soup, with it’s light cloudiness filled of goodness, with a wonderful warming quality to it. And apparently good for dealing with radiation sickness according to various sources (two links!)

Lots of healthy stuff in this application for sure. Two quarts of Dashi, 1 12 oz. block of tofu for protein, red and white miso, and some scallions for color and texture.

Tofu will need some preparation before getting started on the other stuff, because everything after this goes really fast.

Double wrap it in paper towels.

Then cover with a plate and weight down with one 28 ounce can. These two fourteen ounce cans had to do for me.

After twenty minutes of pressing take it out and slice into quarter inch cubes.

Now for the fun part. This will be really fast if you’ve freshly made some Dashi. Put it on medium heat, medium high if cold. At 100 F, reserve a cup for the next step.

I halved the recipe so this is just a half cup by the by.

Now add some miso. Six tablespoons of dark.

Two tablespoons of white.

Whisk it together thoroughly.

Once your Dashi hits a simmer, add in the cup of miso mixture and mix thoroughly!

Then add the tofu and scallions and heat through, about a minute or so.

Then serve and enjoy!

A great application, warm, earthy and delicious. If you’re in the mood for some meatless umami that you can slurp, this is the AB application for you!

Thanks for joining me and stay tuned for tomorrow’s post.