A Sense of Autumn
11 November 2008
Ok - this weeks recipe doesn’t actually have much to do with autumn, nor with the rest of this post. The curry flavoured meatballs were just one of the snacks I prepared for our party 2 weeks ago, and as our guests seemed to really like them, and I got a lot of inquiries about the ingredients, I decided to put the recipe online this week (there’s actually not much of a secret to it). Hot or cold, they can be enjoyed at any time of the year, of course.
So back to autumn, which is a really beautiful season in Japan. Everybody goes out to admire the fire-red leaves, and so did we. As if we hadn’t seen enough temples in China the weekend before, we took a day trip to Nikko, a 2-hour train ride north of Tokyo (on a tiny and really, really slow train - nothing to do with the high tech Shinkansen). The place accommodates an impressive complex of temples and shrines, beautifully bedded in the mountains, in an area that is particularly famous for viewing the autumn leaves. So no wonder Nikko was pretty crowded, but as we walked away from the most central sites the crowds dispersed and we found some calmer spots, too. Definitely worth the visit at this time of the year – the autumn leaves ARE beautiful (and this from two persons who are neither nature nor temple freaks).
Apart from that, we had a really nice restaurant experience last weekend. As days are getting colder, I am really getting into the mood for Izakaya food again. Originally a place to sample and buy sake, an Izakaya is now really what you could call a "Japanese style pub" – a cozy and popular place for drinks, accompanied by yummy home-style dishes.
At the one we went to on Saturday, "Chihana", we really had a particularly warm welcome – not only did the host very patiently help us to make our choice from the Japanese menu (my Japanese is making progress, but reading a menu with all the not-so-usual characters is still a bit of a challenge), he also suddenly came out with 5 bottles of sake, representing 5 different types of flavour, and gave us a sake tasting. It reconfirmed our so-far opinion (based on our very limited knowledge of sake): Simon and I both prefer the types which are between "smooth" and "fruity". As for the food, we had (among several other things) delicious seafood yakisoba (flat Japanese noodles stir-fried with a tasty sauce), a remarkably fluffy Japanese egg roll (you get this a lot, but not often as good as this one) and tasty little meatballs, which had an unmistakably Japanese flavour.
…which brings us back to my meatball recipe – the seasoning of course being very different from what we had in the Izakaya. This is admittedly a bit of an awkward transition. And sorry for the somewhat "messy" post anyway! ;-)
Curry-Spiced Meatballs
| yields 2 large plates full, as party snack |
| 600g minced beef |
| 120g dry white bread |
| 70ml milk |
| 2 eggs |
| 1 mid-sized to large onion |
| a big hand full of freshly chopped parsley |
| 3-4 teaspoons of café de paris spice mixture (or other mild curry mixture) |
| some garlic granulate |
| some olive oil for frying |
First of all, take some old white bread (or rolls, or toast), cut it into little cubes of 1cm max, and let it dry for another day or two until really crunchy. A hint for impatient persons like me: if you want to speed this process up, put the bread cubes in the oven for a while at moderate heat of 70°C or so, which will not bake them but just make them dry faster.
Once the bread cubes are really hard, powder them with the café de paris or curry mixture, soak them in milk, and let them soften up again. Finely chop the parsley as well as the onion and add to the soaked bread. Stir in the eggs, making sure they are well-spread (this will give the meatballs a firmer texture and prevent them from falling apart in the frying pan), and combine with the minced meat (I prefer beef for this). Season to taste with some garlic granulate and salt.
Once everything is well combined, shape the mixture into little balls (easiest using your hands). Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and add the meat balls, pressing them down a little with a turner when putting them in. Fry them at fairly high (but not too high) temperature on either side until they are nicely brown and crunchy. You can eat them warm or cold, and they are equally delicious the day after.