Loco Moco

Loco Moco (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 whole white onions, diced

450g minced beef

225g minced pork

6 eggs

4 tsps of Worchestershire sauce

200g of white mushrooms, sliced

600ml of beef stock

4 tbsp of milk

3 tbsps of corn flour

2 tsp oregano

2 tsp of light soy sauce

Cooked Japanese white rice, 4 servings

Olive oil

Sea salt

Black pepper

Instructions:

Preparing the patties

1) In a large bowl, add the minced pork, minced beef, half the diced onion, 2 eggs, oregano, milk, 2 tsp of salt, 2 tsps of Worchestershire sauce, and black pepper. Mix it well.

2) From the patty mixture, make 4 patties. To release the air inside each patty, toss it from hand to hand several times. Leave the patties in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.

3) Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat, then place the patties inside. Make a slight dent on the centre of each patty, as it will expand later. 

4) Cover the pan and cook the patties for 5 to 6 minutes, then flip them and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes while covered.

Preparing the gravy

1) Heat some olive oil in a large pan, then saute the rest of the diced onion.

2) When the onions are soft, add the mushrooms in and saute again.

3) Add the beef stock, 2 tsps of Worchestershire sauce, and 2 tsps of soy sauce in. Season with some salt and black pepper.

4) In a small bowl, mix the corn flour with around 3 tbsps of water. Whisk the mixture, add it into the beef stock, and mix well again. Let it simmer until the gravy is a bit thicker, then turn off the heat and set aside.

Final steps

1) Heat up the gravy, cook the rice, fry 4 eggs.

2) Serve the Japanese white rice on each plate, place the patties at the side of the rice, pour the gravy over the patty and rice, and top with a fried egg.

Simmered Radish

 Simmered Radish

One radish can easily make several portions, so you can estimate how much you want. Typically, one to two discs should be enough for one person, depending on the thickness of the radish.

Ingredients:

1 medium radish

Vegetable broth or dashi

Soy sauce

Mirin

Salt

Wasabi

Instructions:

1) Slice the radish into discs, each around 2cm to 3cm thick. Trim the sides of each disc, such that there are no 'sharp' edges. This prevents the sides of the radish from breaking apart after it has been cooked for a long time.

2) Make two incisions (cross) on one side of the disc (the part that will be facing downwards in the pot). This will allow the radish to soak up more flavour. Each incision should be deep enough to cover around a third to half of the thickness of the radish.

3) Boil the radish in water for around 15 to 20 minutes. 

4) Now boil some vegetable broth or dashi, and add some soy sauce, salt and a bit of mirin. The amount can be determined by how strong the vegetable broth is, and how flavourful you want the radish to be. The amount of broth should be enough to just cover all the radish discs.

5) When it has boiled, place the radish in and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

6) Put a dab of wasabi on each radish disc, and serve.

Claypot Yee Mee

Claypot Yee Mee (one serving)

I don't have a claypot at home, so I used a small pot instead that was just nice for one portion.

Ingredients:

300ml of chicken stock

50g minced pork

2 meat balls, can be substituted with fish balls, sotong balls etc

1 serving of yee mee

3 stalks of bok choy

1 egg

Spring onion

Light soy sauce

Sesame oil

White pepper

Instructions:

1) Marinate the minced pork with some light soy sauce, sesame oil and white pepper. Leave it for around 30 minutes, or even overnight in the fridge.

2) Heat up the chicken stock in a claypot or small pot. Once it boils, add the yee mee, minced pork and meat balls in. Remember to scatter and mix the minced pork once it goes in so that it doesn't clump together. 

3) Add the bok choy around a minute later. Once everything is cooked, crack an egg in and turn off the fire.

4) Serve with some spring onion on top.