This time, my interest got reignited by picking up a cooking magazine. Well, it's probably more akin to a "woman's" magazine--the first 15 pages or so are filled with recipes, while the rest of the magazine shows the latest in (comfortable, down-to-earth) women's fashion and laundry tips. (Not to mention all the ads for feminine hygiene products.) But you can't go wrong with ¥290 for some recipes, even if they're all in Japanese!
Actually, what I really love about these recipes is that they're often straight-forward, tasty home-style Japanese meals: quick stir-fries, noodle dishes, seasonal veggies--even desserts and fusion-type dishes.
This recipe for yakisoba (fried noodles) comes from a magazine I was looking at while at the pharmacy today, waiting for my daughter's medicine to be prepared. I secretly snapped a pic with my phone, but the resulting image was nearly unreadable. Still, I could make out the ingredients list, and that's about all I need to test-drive a new recipe!
MISO YAKISOBA
1 180g pack of fresh yakisoba noodles (I use the ones marked 中華 [chuuka], Japanese style Chinese)
1 spring onion, sliced on the diagonal
50g ground pork
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp of sesame oil
Miso Sauce
1-1/2 tbsp miso
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
1/2 tsp sugar
Combine the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside for now.
Place the cold noodles in a bowl and toss with about a small amount of sake. Pull the noodles apart as you get the noodles slightly wet with the alcohol, and then heat quickly (about 30 seconds) in the microwave. [I'm not too sure what this step is supposed to do, but tossing the noodles with the alcohol is a nice way to get them separated.]
Heat a medium-sized frying pan over medium heat and add the sesame oil. Toss in the minced garlic and fry quickly, just enough to bring out the aroma. Take the pan off the heat and add the miso sauce--be careful, it may spit at you. Cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn or stick, and then add the meat. Keep stirring to break up the meat, and cook until no longer pink.
Toss the heated noodles into the pan and stir aggressively to coat the noodles in the sauce. Fry for a few minutes to heat through, and then add the sliced onions.
Serve immediately.
