Bonsai Edition
08 April 2008
Although this country offers enormous cities and impressive mountains, everything food-related just seems to come in significantly smaller size here than back in Europe. Not only are Japanese meals typically composed of a number of different small dishes rather than one large one, but also many ingredients I know from home actually appear in miniature versions here. With the exception of tuna, tofu and miso most products are packaged in much smaller batches; but what has caught my attention most are all those tiny little peppers, aubergines, cucumbers or spring onions, which I have lovingly given the name “bonsai edition”.
The best thing about them though is their strong aroma – even cucumbers actually taste of something. I am particularly fond of the bonsai-sized peppers – they are extremely tasty and have a much finer skin than the large ones back home.
I have also quickly adapted to the Japanese way of cooking, preparing several small dishes in different little bowls for just one dinner. I very much enjoy experimenting with a variety of new tastes and flavours and combinations thereof. For this reason the portion sizes I recommend in most of my recipes for the “Japanese-style cooking” section are also a bit smaller, so you would probably need at least 2 of such dishes plus some rice or noodles to provide for a full meal (btw - a note on Japanese rice to come soon).
This also applies to the following recipe, featuring my new favourite, the mini-peppers, as well as some chicken breast filet marinated in a fusion-style dressing, in which I included elements of both European cooking (such as coarse mustard) and Japanese cuisine (essential for the typical Japanese flavour: mirin, the sweet cooking rice wine).
Marinated Chicken Sauté
| serves 4 (small portions) |
| 300g chicken breast filet |
| 4 red mini-peppers (or 1 large one) |
| 2 green mini-peppers (or 1/2 large one) |
| 3 tablespoons of soy sauce |
| 3 tablespoons of mirin
(sweet cooking rice wine) |
| 4 tablespoons of honey |
| 2 teaspoons of coarse mustard |
| 1 tablespoon of sesame oil |
| 1 tablespoon of pine seeds |
| some garlic powder |
| some ginger powder |
| some shichimi
(Japanese assorted chili powder) |
| some (sesame) oil for frying |
Prepare a marinade by mixing the soy sauce, the mirin, the honey, the coarse mustard, the sesame oil, a pinch of powdered ginger and season to taste with some chili powder (if you get it, the Japanese assorted mixture). Stir well until the honey and the mustard have dissolved.
Chop the chicken breast filet(s) into bite-sized bits and season with some garlic powder, then marinate it with the soy sauce mixture. Add the pine seeds and allow to rest for at least 30 minutes.
Cut the peppers into 1cm pieces (after removing the stems and seeds) and sauté them for about 5 minutes or so in a little bit of (sesame) oil. Once they start getting a little bit browned, add the marinated chicken (including any excess marinade it has not absorbed) and stir-fry at medium heat until the chicken is done.
I suggest some rice to accompany this dish.