Casual Cooking
21 October 2008
After all the weekend trips in the past few weeks I have at last spent a whole weekend at home again (no travel break for Simon, though - he is currently on business in Chicago). For me these quiet days have been a good opportunity to catch up with some friends, to study a lot (I’m getting increasingly nervous about the Japanese proficiency test in December, which still seems way above my current level…), and to do some trial cooking for Simon’s birthday party we have planned for next week. But as Simon is a loyal reader of my posts, I cannot write about this yet, or I would spoil the surprise ;-) .
So I have decided to write about the kind of food I cook for myself when I’m on my own. Yes, I also cook just for myself – enjoying a decent dinner is always an important part of my day, no matter if I am alone or surrounded by 100 people. Obviously I also take pleasure in the cooking process itself, and being alone I sometimes become more experimental with flavours and spices, as not much damage can be done (although I do get really frustrated if every once in a while I don’t like the result and have to settle for a bad dinner).
Sometimes it can get a bit more elaborate, too, but usually I go for the quick-and-easy solutions which still result in a fresh and tasty dish. While living in Japan I am happily taking advantage of all the fantastic fish, and although it is of course best right fresh out of the water, I always keep a good stock of fish and seafood in the freezer for my casual cooking sessions (I buy it really fresh, carry it home with ice in the bag, freeze it immediately and let it defrost in the fridge – like this the quality loss is minimal).The following recipe is one of my typical Tokyo dishes - I cook it quite often, always in slightly different variations, with whatever vegetable and seafood I have in the fridge/freezer, sometimes with Japanese rice or sometimes with soba noodles on the side (the amounts given should hence really be considered as loose guidelines rather than strict rules). It is really simple in making, and adding the remainders of frying the seafood to the vegetable stew gives it the special touch. I also added some of the (moderately spicy) chili mixture I had bought on our recent trip to Seoul, but any similar spice will of course do as well (for example shichimi).
Spicy Vegetable Stew with Seared Scallops
| serves 4 |
| 12-20 scallops (depending on your hunger) |
| 4 small Japanese aubergine (or about 2 large ones) |
| 8 small Japanese red peppers (or about 2 large ones) |
| 300g shiitake mushrooms |
| 1 dent of garlic |
| about 100ml tomato purée |
| soy sauce to taste |
| 4 teaspoons of fine white sugar |
| about 3 teaspoons (moderately spicy) dried chili mixture (to taste) |
| a little dash of dark sesame oil |
| some oil for frying |
Wash the aubergines, the peppers and the mushrooms and slice everything into bite-sized pieces. Heat a few drops of oil in a sauce pan, add the mashed dent of garlic and briefly roast in the oil. Before it gets brown, add the vegetables. Sauté briefly, then pour in some water to just about cover the vegetables, add the tomato purée as well as a few tablespoons of fine white sugar and season to taste with soy sauce and the dried chili mixture. Cover with a lid, leaving a tiny gap open so the sauce can thicken, and let it simmer lightly for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, very slightly salt the scallops and sear them in a frying pan for about a minute on each side. They should have a nice brown colour on the outside but still be soft and juicy on the inside. As soon as they are done, take them out of the frying pan and set them aside for a moment. Add a little dash of water to the frying pan, scratch off what is left from frying the scallops and combine with the vegetable stew. Finish with a few drops of dark sesame oil.
Serve the stew in little bowls with the seared scallops on top. Japanese rice or soba noodles will both make a good side dish!