Category Archives: Beef

Kimchi Soup (Kimchiguk) with Chicken and Potatoes

kimchisouppp

Kimchi (Korean fermented spicy vegetables) is known by us, foreigners, almost exclusively in its raw form, served as a cold side dish. Its use in warm dishes is less popular abroad and is not very tempting for some people. The first time I prepared Kimchi Fried Rice I realised that this kimchi has much more to offer than I had thought and its addition to leftover rice has become my regular trick to make this humble dish delicious and complex in just one gesture. With this soup I feel I have discovered a big new chapter of the kimchi possibilities. Just like in the case of fried rice, kimchi has released here complex flavours and aromas, giving a certain illusion of robustness to this evidently light and healthy dish. Unlike in fried rice, here kimchi mellows and loses some of its power, just enough to enchant even those who find raw kimchi too violent. It may sound strange, but there is something evidently comforting and homely about this soup, so exotic in appearance.

The original recipe comes from Growing Up In a Korean Kitchen by Hi Soo Shin Hepinstall, a fascinating book full of food-related childhood memories and homely Korean recipes, some of which are all but “tourist pleasers”. Apart from the famous dishes, I was glad to discover some interesting recipes most Korean cooking sources don’t mention. My first choice went to kimchi soup mainly because I had all the ingredients and because I have been tempted by the concept of a kimchi soup for quite a long time.

I have slightly modified the recipe. First of all, I jumped on the author’s suggestion and used chicken instead of pork. Apart from minor changes in ingredients’ amounts and procedures, my boldest step was to transform this soup into a one-pot meal, substituting tofu with potatoes. I can only hope my Korean visitors will forgive me and still allow me to call it “kimchi soup”. For the real kimchi soup recipe, I encourage you to buy the very special Growing Up In a Korean Kitchen.

If you wish to try kimchi in fried rice, here is a very simple adjustable recipe:

kimchifriedricep

Kimchi Fried Rice

If you feel like making kimchi yourself, here are some options, all very easy to prepare:

cucumberkimchip

Easy Cucumber Kimchi (Oi Kimchi)

daikonkimchip

Kkakdugi (White Radish Kimchi)

makkimchip

Mak Kimchi (Easy Chinese Cabbage Kimchi)

celerykimchip

Celery Kimchi (this is a short-term kimchi)

TIPS: The best kimchi to use here (or in kimchi fried rice) is well matured, strong kimchi, so it’s also a good way to use up kimchi leftovers.

I strongly advise here home-made chicken stock or at least good quality, natural stock (no taste enhancers, etc.).

If you wish a stronger, hotter soup, add 5-6 tablespoons of kimchi liquid.

Freshly squeezed ginger juice can be obtained by grating ginger and then squeezing the grated pulp (the below 1/2 teaspoon required about 1 cm fresh ginger).

Preparation: about 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves 2-3 as a main dish):

1 chicken breast

2 big potatoes peeled and cut into 2 cm/0,8 in cubes

7 heaped tablespoons Napa cabbage kimchi (cut into 1cm/about 1/2 inch pieces)

(5-6 tablespoons kimchi juice, if you want to obtain a stronger soup)

1 litre chicken stock

5 big shiitake mushrooms (fresh), sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

white part of 1 green onion, chopped

3 oz/ 85 g soybean sprouts (I have skipped them in the batch you see above, but they were marked as optional in the book)

Chicken marinade:

1/2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 tablespoon rice wine (I used sake)

1 small clove garlic, crushed

a white part of green onion, very finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger juice (see above)

1/2 teaspoon sugar or syrup

1/2 tablespoon sesame oil

salt, freshly ground pepper

Cut the chicken breast into thin, short ribbons.

Combine the marinade ingredients and mix them with chicken pieces.

Put aside.
In the meantime heat one tablespoon oil in a big pan.

Fry the garlic cloves and mushrooms for a couple of minutes.

Add the stock, the chicken, the potatoes, the kimchi (and kimchi juice if you opt for a stronger soup) and cook at medium heat until the potatoes are soft.

Add the chopped white onion, salt, pepper and cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve with fresh green onion or chives, or just the way it is.

Rendang with Beef Cheeks

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rendangpj

Rendang is one of the dishes I wrote about a long time ago when I hardly had any visitors. I have been meaning to repost it for quite a long time because it has a special place in my heart (and my palate!). If I mention it twice on my blog it’s obviously because it’s one of the most extraordinary Asian dishes I know, but, most of all, because, apart from steak tartare, this is actually the only beef dish I am fond of and the only one where I wouldn’t substitute beef with any other meat.

For those of you who have never heard about it, rendang is a very famous Indonesian meat stew from Padang, a city on the Sumatra Island, and is sometimes called Padang Style Spicy Beef. It consists of the meat slowly simmered in a mixture of coconut milk and spices and herbs. The most frequent version found in Indonesian restaurants is prepared with beef. I still remember the first time I tasted rendang in a restaurant and was amazed how excellent a beef dish can taste.

My first home experiments with rendang were good but I the crucial moment was when a butcher advised me beef cheeks instead of the usual “simmering” beef cuts. The difference in taste and texture was so huge that since then I have been preparing rendang exclusively with beef cheeks and am still convinced this is the best cut for this dish.

Beef cheeks, one of the most delicious and unjustly ignored part are quite lean (if the butcher removes the fat, but it’s possible to do at home), they are obviously very dense and literally all muscles (everyone knows what the cows are doing with their jaws all day long…), they contain a lot of gelatin and are cheap. When raw, they are very tough, ugly and if you can’t ask the butcher to cut them up into pieces, they require a very good big knife and a certain dexterity. In my kitchen the only utensils able to deal with them is a Chinese cleaver and a ceramic knife… However, these unattractive bits, when simmered for three – four hours, miraculously get transformed into a mouth-melting delight… Needless to say, since I discovered this marvellous beef cut, I have abandoned all the remaining “good for simmering” parts.

Even though the preparation takes several hours and includes quite a long list of ingredients, it is really worth trying. Even the pickiest and least adventurous eaters enjoy it (unless you tell them these are beef cheeks BEFORE they ask for a second serving ). Moreover, rendang’s preparation can easily be divided in two or even three stages. I usually start simmering the beef at night, then leave it overnight and start again the night I intend to serve it. Obviously this is the kind of dish, which gains on flavour when reheated.

I found my recipe in the Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian Cuisine by Christina Sjahir Hwang. I have slightly adapted the spicy mixture’s amount to be used only in this dish and reduced the coconut milk amount (see TIPS).

TIPS: As I have already mentioned beef cheeks are very difficult to cut, so either ask your butcher to cut them into 5 cm/about 2 in cubes or make sure you have a cleaver or a very sharp big knife (and make sure you cut them carefully).

This recipe (like many Indonesian recipes) calls for candlenuts. I found these here twice and twice, according to my Chinese friend, they were rancid. She advised using macadamia nuts instead, which I used to use until last week when I discovered that almonds are a great (though tasteless) substitute here. I always have ground almonds, so it’s very convenient, especially since the recipe calls for so many ingredients.

Coconut milk evaporates at the end of the simmering process and the sauce becomes really greasy and very rich. I prefer it lighter, but still creamy, hence the radical reduction of coconut milk (200 ml instead of 500ml). I dilute it with water which will evaporate anyway and the thickened sauce at the end is much lighter.

Rendang tastes great sprinkled with coriander, but I have accidentally discovered another plant, perfect for this dish: Vietnamese mint (on the photo above). It’s a pungent plant, somewhere between mint and coriander and I have only discovered it a couple of weeks ago.

Before I pass to the recipe I wanted to say that telepathy does exist in the blogging world and this post is the best example. I haven’t prepared rendang for long months and as soon as I did, I took some photos, prepared today’s post and… only last night I saw beef rendang as Shu Han’s most recent post! And guess which beef cut did she use in her dish? Beef cheeks! I hope you might hop to Mummy, I can cook! and find interesting to compare her original version which also includes venison…

Special equipment:

a very good big, sharp knife or a cleaver

a food processor or a mortar

Preparation: 4 – 6 hours (depends on the animal)

Ingredients (serves 3-4):

3 teaspoons salt

600g-700g/about 1,5 lb beef cheeks, without fat and cut into chunks

500 ml/about 2 cups coconut milk (I use 200 ml coconut milk diluted with water; this makes the dish lighter, but of course depends on your preferences)

Spicy mixture:

3 tablespoons chili

2 big garlic cloves

1 small shallot

1 tablespoon candlenuts or macadamia nuts or almonds

1 tablespoon mixed or chopped fresh galangal

1 stalk lemon grass, crushed with the knife handle

1 teaspoon fresh chopped ginger

6 kafir leaves

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon tamarind juice (or 1 tablespoon tamarind seeds and flesh mixture diluted in water and strained)

Cut up the kafir leaves, the lemon grass, the galangal and the shallot very finely (this is important; otherwise you might end up with big threads or unpleasant chunks if you mix bigger pieces in some types of food processors…).

Mix the spicy mixture ingredients in a food processor or in a mortar into a homogenous paste.

Put the mixture into a big pan with coconut milk and bring to boil.

Lower the heat, add the beef cheeks and salt. Cover and simmer for 4-6 hours, adding water if necessary.

Take off the lid and let it simmer until the sauce thickens and the meat falls into pieces when “cut” with a teaspoon.

Serve with rice.

Mapo Dofu (Ma pou do fu) for One

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mapodofupj

Mapo Dofu is certainly the most famous Sichuan dish, so obviously it was the first one I have bookmarked in my Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop. Before discovering Ms Dunlop’s book I had prepared Mapo Dofu from another source. It was good, but this one really feels genuine and tastes much better than I had imagined. According to Fuchsia Dunlop this is “the real thing” she was taught in the Sichuan provincial cooking school and exactly what she was regularly served in local restaurants. Given my previous experience with her Sichuan recipes, I believe her. After cooking several of her dishes I am convinced that the mixture of right seasonings and spices is what makes the biggest difference between real Sichuan meals and their imitations. I only hope that in spite of my small modifications this dish still merits its famous name.

As Fuchsia Dunlop’s explains, Mapo Dofu (or Ma po dou fu) means “Pock-marked Mother Chen’s Beancurd”. It was named after a restaurant owner’s wife who had smallpox scars and who apparently invented this dish as a lunch for manual workers. As you can guess, it is a hearty, filling comfort dish, but unless you use lots of oil (the way it is served in Sichuan), it is surprisingly healthy and low-calorie. You can also see below that the meat amounts are scarce and tofu is the main protein supply here.

For me this dish is unique. First of all, maybe thanks to the colours and the Sichuan pepper’s numbing effect, it is one of these rare cold days meals which bring the sun and lift the spirits, instead of making one feel heavy. Moreover, I strongly believe this is THE dish that could convert tofu haters. As long as they are not psychologically blocked (oh, yes… I know many of these) and agree to taste it, they might start liking the previously despised ingredient. If they don’t appreciate the tofu chunks soaked with thick, red spicy sauce, covered with bits of ground meat, then I think the hope is lost. As an avowed carnivore, I really cannot think of any other food product that could taste equally good here. I recommend having this dish with good crunchy bread which, once dipped into the sauce brings even more joy for the palate (it’s not an elegant dish and you will probably not serve it at a party anyway). The only modification I have allowed myself is cutting down the oil amount and adapting this recipe to a meal for one.

If you are interested in the Sichuanese cuisine, I strongly recommend the above-mentioned book or/and the following recipes I have found there and greatly enjoyed:

Bang Bang Chicken, or Strange-Flavour Chicken

Gong Bao/Kung Pao Chicken

Steamed Aubergine with Chili Sauce

TIPS: Sichuan pepper is one of the key elements of the Sichuanese cuisine. It is not hot, but it has a numbing effect which is very surprising for the first time. Some people love it (like me), some hate it, so if you use it for the first time, crush one corn in your mouth to taste it before you add it to your dish. In general it should be used sparingly because it can quickly overwhelm the whole dish.

The Sichuanese chili bean paste is very important here (thank you, Shu Han, for convincing me to invest in it; the difference is huge), but it can quite easily be bought in Asian shops. The most popular brand is Lee Kum Kee (this is the one I have used).

Sichuan peppers scattered at the and of the cooking process have to be roasted and ground before. Heat a pan or a wok and place a small amount of Sichuan peppercorns. Roast them for about 5 minutes (or less) without burning them. Grind them in a mortar or a small food processor (a baby food processor is good here). They can be kept in a closed jar for several weeks at least.

Preparation: 15 – 20 minutes

Ingredients (serves one):

100 – 150 g firm tofu cut into 2 cm pieces

salt

40 – 50 g ground meat (the traditional meat used here is beef, but I prefer half beef half pork)

1 spring onion (or 1 Chinese leek, suan miao, the traditional ingredient)

100 ml chicken stock

1 tablespoon Sichuanese chili bean paste

1 teaspoon black fermented beans

1 teaspoon ground dried chilies (not obligatory)

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon potato flour

2 tablespoons oil (groundnut or other type of oil which supports well very high temperatures) or 40 – 50 ml if you want the dish as oily as it is originally served

1/4 teaspoon (or less) roasted and ground Sichuan pepper (see the TIPS above)

Pour boiling water into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and place there tofu cubes for about 5 minutes. Drain it.

In the meantime slice the spring onion or leek diagonally.

Combine the potato flour with 1 tablespoon cold water and put aside.

Heat the oil on high heat in a wok until it smokes. Stir fry the ground meat until it’s crispy and browned.

Here you can either leave it in the wok or put it aside and add only at the end. I prefer the latter method which leaves the meat slightly crunchy.

Take out the meat from the wok.

Pour another tablespoon of oil and when it’s hot, add the chili bean paste, the fermented black beans, ground dried chilies and stir-fry for about 30 seconds.

Pour the stock and add the drained tofu.

Stir the tofu delicately until it is coated in the sauce.

Add the sugar, the soy sauce, salt to taste and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the leek or spring onion, the fried meat and half of the potato flour mixture.

Stir the dish gently until it thickens. Add more potato flour mixture if needed.

Serve in a bowl scattered with Sichuan pepper.

Spring Rolls with Leftover Roast, Carrot and Mint

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What do you do with leftover roast? For many years I used to put it into salads, sandwiches or stir-fries and then one day I simply wrapped them in rice paper with some vegetables and glass noodles, making very unorthodox version of spring rolls. Since then this is the first thing I think about when I take out the leftover roast from the fridge. Spring rolls with leftover meat proved not only easy, quick and healthy, but most of all extremely versatile and convenient. They can be made with any vegetable found in the fridge, while rice paper and glass noodles can be stocked for long months or even years. If you have ever made spring rolls you probably know that they can be served for any meal of the day, as a starter, a snack or a main dish. They are also an excellent choice for a picnic, for packed lunch at work and I often prepare them for long car journeys instead of traditional sandwiches. (If you are not the one who drives, you can even dip them in a bowl of sauce!). Last but not least, they can be made well in advance and kept in the fridge for several days (as long as they are tightly wrapped in cling film).

The rolls can be served with any sauce of your choice, but my absolute favourite now is a mixture of soy sauce, chili oil and vinegar. It’s hot and slightly acid thank to the vinegar.

Preparation: 30 minutes

Ingredients (serves two):

2 big slices of roast chicken, turkey, pork, beef, lamb…

6-8 (22 cm or 8 3/4 in) rice paper sheets

1 small individual package of glass noodles (40 g)

2 big carrots

mint leaves

(roast sesame seeds)

Dipping sauce:

5 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce (or less if using standard soy sauce)
1 tablespoon chili oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar

Cover the noodles with boiling water. Put aside for 15 minutes.

In the meantime cut up the carrots into matchsticks and cut the roast slices into rectangular pieces.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl.

Fill a big wide bowl with warm (not hot) water.

Dip rice paper sheets one by one in the water, immersing them delicately so that you don’t break them.

As soon as the sheet softens ( after about ten seconds), put it onto a chopping board.

Rinse the noodles.

Place horizontally a stack of the carrot and roast pieces, a bit of the noodles and the mint leaves close the the rice paper edge (the
one which is closest to you).

Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you like them and roll tightly starting from the edge which is closest to you.

Proceed in the same way with the remaining rolls.

Serve them immediately as they are or cut in two horizontally.

If you wish to serve them later, wrap them individually in cling film because they dry out very quickly.

Pork Bulgogi Rice Bowl (Dwaeji Bulgogi Deopbap)

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Bulgogi was the first dish I tasted during my very first visit to a Korean restaurant and I still remember how much I enjoyed its unique taste. This famous dish is composed of thinly sliced, marinated and grilled meat. Described like this, bulgogi doesn’t sound particularly original, but I assure you both the marinade and the grilling process with a sauce poured regularly on the meat made my first experience with Korean food unforgettable.

I don’t know about other countries, but here bulgogi is prepared by the client on a very unusual tabletop grill I have never seen elsewhere. Since I don’t have even a standard grill, I assumed I could never reproduce this dish at home. I was wrong! When I saw Bulgogi Deopbap recipe (rice bowl topped with bulgogi) on Hyosun Ro’s blog (Eating and Living) and realised all I needed was a simple pan, I was so happy, I made it practically the day I saw it.

Hyosun Ro’s bulgogi was made with beef, but since I had thinly sliced pork in my freezer (I am a big pork fan), I changed the meat without changing the cooking process. I have prepared at least five bulgogi deopbap dinners in recent weeks and I feel I could have much more often. I never get bored with the delicate, slightly sweet taste of the meat, coated in a delicious sauce, which is partly absorbed by the rice. The marinating time is not long, the cooking time even shorter and I always have the basic ingredients, I find it an excellent easy and relatively quick dinner option. Thank you, Hyosun, for one more easy and delicious Korean recipe!

TIPS: The only modification I allowed myself here was cutting the meat slices into thinner strips. I found it easier to eat when cut this way. I have also used agave syrup instead of honey and sugar.

Asian pear is luckily optional here (I have never managed to buy it).

Preparation: 50 minutes – 1h 30 (including the marinating time)

Ingredients (serves two):

250 g thinly sliced pork (I used pork loin, but fatty cuts will be more tender)

2 spring onions cut into 5 cm (2 inch) pieces

1 medium carrot, julienned or other vegetables of your choice

Marinade:

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon each sugar and honey (I used agave syrup)

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon rice wine (I used sake)
1 teaspoon grated/crushed garlic

1 teaspoon white sesame seeds

ground pepper
(2 tablespoons grated Asian pear)

Sauce:

100-150 ml anchovy/beef stock or water

1 teaspoon soy sauce (more if using water)

1 teaspoon sugar

In a bowl combine the meat and the spring onions. Add the marinade and let to stand for 30-60 minutes in the fridge.

Heat some oil in a pan. Fry the meat together with the marinade and spring onions.

After about a minute, add the vegetables of your choice and a bit of the sauce.

Stir-fry until the meat is cooked, adding more sauce if necessary and more soy sauce if you find it is not salty enough.

Serve over a bowl of rice.

Ragù alla bolognese, My Way

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If you ask Italian friends or family how they prepare their ragù alla bolognese, everyone will give a slightly different list of ingredients, the cooking stages, and, of course, everyone will claim his or her ragù is the authentic one. When one looks at different recipes from “prestigious” sources, carrot, celery, onion, meat, wine and a long simmering process seem to be the only recurrent elements. As for the rest… Some use white wine, some swear by red only. Some fry in butter, some don’t. Some add milk, others skip it… I quickly realised it’s safer to add “my way” when talking about this ragù and thus avoid quarrels with other passionate cooks.

Apart from the basic obligatory ingredients, there are however certain rules to follow. The first ones are the already mentioned long simmering process and respect of the cooking stages. If you try making it in 30 minutes, putting everything at the same time, you will obtain an edible sauce, but never an excellent one (I have made this experiment, but only once). Moreover, since this dish comes from Emilia Romagna (Bologna is its capital) and since spaghetti is not part of the regional traditions, this type of pasta is the big faux-pas. For me, regardless the traditional approach, this ragù’s texture simply doesn’t fit spaghetti. It tastes much better with shorter pasta or in lasagna.

The recipe I have been making for several years is based on the one from “Ma Little Italy” by Laura Zavan. The dried mushrooms it calls for enrich the flavours, while cloves are the hardly perceptible, magic touch I particularly adore. Thanks to them the dish gains in complexity and elegance. I must confess I have modified the original recipe, or rather impoverished it in what comes to the meat used. I only use ground beef and pork, while Laura Zavan also adds dried ham and ground veal. There is also an atrocity I commit: I always season it with soy sauce. Some Italian readers might have a heart attack reading it, but in my opinion soy sauce incredibly improves the taste. Maybe if I add “my way”, I could be forgiven…

TIPS: Do not try shortcuts or changing the ingredients’ cooking order! This ragù has to be simmered for at least three hours. It can be made in two stages, during two days.

Remember how many cloves you put. You should take them out before serving (unfortunately putting them in a special bag or wrapping in gauze doesn’t work here: ragù is not liquid enough and cloves have to be scattered).

Preparation: 3 hours

Ingredients (serves four):

450 g – 500 g ground meat (half pork, half beef)

1 big carrot

2 long celery sprigs

1 big or two medium onions

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons oil

100 ml red wine

500 ml chicken, meat or vegetable stock

a big handful dried mushrooms (the more aromatic varieties you use, the better, but even dried button mushrooms will be a better option here than the fresh ones)

1 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

2 bay leaves

5 cloves

1 can (400g canned tomatoes)

4 flat tablespoons tomato paste

salt, pepper

soy sauce

Chop the mushrooms and soak them in boiling water (500 ml).

In the meantime chop finely the onion, the carrot and the celery.

Heat the oil and the butter. Fry together the vegetables and the meat until the meat changes the colour.

Pour the wine, stir and wait until it evaporates (the meat will start sticking to the pan).

Season with salt, pepper, add the herbs, the cloves the stock and the mushrooms with their soaking water.

Give a stir, cover and let the dish simmer for one hour.

After one hour add the tomatoes and the tomato paste and let the ragù simmer for one more hour.

At the end adjust the taste and, if you dare, add 3-4 tablespoons soy sauce.

Before serving take out the bay leaves and cloves. (Biting into a clove is a very unpleasant experience).

Korokke (コロッケ) with a Spicy Twist, or Potato, Meat and Mushroom Croquettes

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“Comfort food” usually means uncomplicated, nostalgic home dishes, often bringing back childhood memories. Sometimes, however, a new culinary discovery feels instantly homely and comforting, almost like a regular meal from a previous life. This is exactly what happened when I tasted these croquettes. They are simple, contain almost exclusively Western ingredients (apart from the Japanese panko, which in my opinion is at the top in the world of bread crumbs) and are so universally enjoyable, I cannot imagine anyone hating them. Even their cute shape somehow makes me smile and feel relaxed.

The name “korokke” (コロッケ) comes from the French word “croquette” and this dish first appeared in the Japanese cuisine at the beginning of the XXth century. Korokke are based either on white sauce or potatoes and contain such additional ingredients as ground meat, mushrooms, vegetables or shrimps. My first potato korokke bought in a Japanese fast food shop was bland and completely uninteresting. I didn’t think for a second of preparing anything similar at home. This was before I saw the version made by Nami (Just One Cookbook), the never-ending source of marvellous Japanese dishes. Nami’s appealing photos didn’t lie: her korokke have absolutely nothing in common with the bland pretenders I remembered. Thank you, Nami, for the umpteenth delight you have made me discover!

Since I have a very annoying habit of modifying even the perfect dishes, I did something I have been doing for years with mushroom and beef dishes: I added a bit of ground cumin. Its taste is not recognisable, but like in the case of my Mushroom Soup, it adds a certain je-ne-sais-quoi I am very proud of. I have also added more mushrooms and vegetables, so that they make at least half of the korokke mixture. As I have already mentioned, I often prepared korokke with button mushrooms instead of shiitake. The result was different, but by no means worse. I have skipped the raw egg since, surprisingly, my patties kept perfectly well together without any “gluing” agent. Click here to see Nami’s original recipe.

TIPS: Korokke can be prepared one or two days in advance, kept in the fridge and then taken out one hour before breading and frying process. If you use button mushrooms, double the amounts, since they are not as aromatic as shiitake.

Preparation: 1 h 30 – 2 h

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 kg potatoes

400 g ground beef

100 g shiitake or 200 g button mushrooms

2 carrots

1 big onion

salt, pepper

1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin

1 egg

10 tablespoons flour

20 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

oil for deep frying

Chop finely the carrots and the onion.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan, add the onions, fry them for a couple of minutes and then add the carrots together with the mushrooms.

When mushrooms start changing their colour, add the beef, salt, pepper and cumin.

Cook until the carrot pieces are soft.

In the meantime cook the potatoes. Peel them and mash them with a fork or with a potato masher, leaving some chunks.

Combine the potatoes with the vegetables. Taste the mixture and season once more if needed.

Shape flat round patties (mine had a 6 cm diameter), coat them first in flour, then in the raw egg and then in panko.

Deep fry in small batches (they should be able to “swim” easily) until golden brown. (I put some panko in the oil and if it starts making bubbles and fried immediately, it means the oil is hot enough).

They are very good served with the Japanese tonkatsu sauce (Bull Dog).

Ground Beef Maki Sushi

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Since I realised clumsy, but delicious maki sushi is very easy to make at home, I have been preparing it quite often. In the summer refreshing, light rolls become a staple. Even though I never put raw fish inside (I am not sure if the fish I buy and cook has the required freshness or/and quality for a raw use), I play with different ingredients and often add what I happen to find in my fridge.

A couple of days ago I craved maki sushi and, apart from the cucumber, I didn’t have any of my usual filling ingredients (I often use canned tuna, avocado and cucumber). I spotted however a tiny amount of ground beef, left over from the previous night’s hamburger dinner. This is how I had this risky idea to fry it and put into my rolls. The experiment was a big success and even the presence of cumin, dried coriander and chili didn’t spoil the surprising flavours’ harmony. I added lots of cucumber for a refreshing and crunchy touch (and also because I love cucumber). Now I know nori can resist even the weirdest pairings!

You might also like these maki sushi versions:

Asparagus Maki Sushi

Shrimp, Avocado and Cucumber Maki Sushi

TIP: I always put much less rice than most people do (I tend to eat too much rice…), so if you prefer standard rolls with a normal amount of rice, cook 500g (about 2 2/3 cups) instead of 300g.

Special equipment:

rice cooker (unless you know how to cook the rice in a “normal” pan)

maki rolling mat or a special futomaki roller

Preparation: 20 minutes (+ 1 hour for rice cooking and cooling)

Ingredients (serves 2 – 3):

5 nori seaweed sheets

300g (about 1 1/2 cup) sushi rice (or 500g/about 2 2/3 cups if you prefer “standard” rolls)

Rice mixture:

4 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

100 g ground beef

1 teaspoon ground cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 big cucumber

grilled white sesame seeds

soy sauce+wasabi

marinated ginger

a bowl of rice vinegar

Cook the rice in the rice cooker (or in a pan if you know how to do it!). Put the hot rice into a bowl and add the rice mixture ingredients. Stir well and leave to cool down.

In the meantime heat some oil in a frying pan, add the ground beef, the coriander, the cumin, the chili and some soy sauce. Fry until the beef is well cooked. Put aside and let it cool down.

Cut the cucumber into thin, long pieces.

When the rice has cooled down to the room temperature (it can’t be completely cold! otherwise it won’t be sticky enough), put a nori sheet vertically on the rolling mat, shiny side down.

With fingers dipped in a bowl of rice vinegar spread 1/5th of the rice evenly, leaving a 1 cm gap on the top, far edge.

Arrange the beef and the cucumber on the rice, in a horizontal line, close to the bottom edge.

Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Roll the maki starting from the bottom edge, gently pressing after each turn.

Moist with rice vinegar the upper edge before doing the last turn.

Press gently the roll and put it aside.

In order to obtain more or less similarly sized pieces, cut the roll first in two parts, then put them in a row and cut them in two parts, etc.

(It is easier to cut these rolls with a moist knife blade.)

Arrange them on a plate and serve with wasabi, soy sauce and marinated ginger.

Mandu 만두, or Korean Dumplings