apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sake works great as a deglazer, too...instead of wine, fabulous with mushrooms!

A timely post from the Japanese Food Report: http://www.japanesefoodreport.com/2010/02/sake-steamed-whole-chicken.html

oh - i have one! most amazing miso cod!

mix together 1/4 cup sake, 1/4 cup mirin, approx 4 tablespoons white miso paste, and 3 tablespoons sugar. marinate cod, sea bass, or any flaky fish in this for at least 24h up to 3 days. when ready to cook, lightly wipe off (with fingers) any excess miso on the fish fillets but don’t rinse off. Place the fish in the broiler and lightly broil until surface browns. then pop in the oven at 400 and bake for 10-15 minutes. delicious!

I throw a Tablespoon on Mirin (sweet cooking sake) in all my stir fries, along with soy sauce and chili paste. Probably not authentic, but really good.

You can use sake to tenderize meat. Before cooking chicken, beef, or pork sprinkle a little over your meat and let it sit for 10-30 minutes. The recipe that I most often use sake for is oyako donburi. It was my favorite growing up so my grandma would always make it when I came home from college and wrote a recipe for me to make at school, per chicken breast.

Chicken Breast (or chicken katsu), sliced or pork
1/2 small Round Onion, thinly sliced
1 egg
1/8 c Water (or mix with half sake)
1/8 c Shoyu
1/8 c Sugar
Red Pepper

Optional: Peas, Mushrooms, green onions

In a shallow pan, bring sauce to a boil. Add onions and cook through. Add sliced chicken and cook until done (if using leftover katsu, till hot). Drizzle (scrambled) egg over and cover, reduce heat until cooked. Sprinkle with red pepper. Serve over hot rice.

I use sake all the time in my cooking. I use it in place of dry white wine because I don't always have white wine in my pantry.

But when a recipe calls for sake specifically, I've used it to marinate pork in this amazing Pork Rice Bowl dish.

And I also love this Bacon Fried Rice and Tuna Avocado Bowl.

SO EXCITED for the oyako-don recipe up there~! I LOVED when I ate meat, and I've been wanting to figure out what's the next-best meatless version...

In case it isn't general knowledge, shoyu is soy sauce.

Sake mirin soy sauce some sugar a little water, maybe = anything tastes vaguely Japanese. Make up the proportions. I always use more mirin than soy sauce. Cook down to thicken, if you like. Cook meats in it, thicken it to drizzle over vegetables, and on and on. It's great for when you feel like "Asian" but not takeout, or don't have the wherewithall or ingredients for a full-fledged Meal.

I, too , am excited for such a simple oyako donburi recipe. It's been one of my favorite comfort foods for decades. Thank you!