STREET FOOD JAPAN

Apr, Aug, Dec *all menus are subject to seasonal change

Inarizushi- Tofu Pockets with Salmon 
Okonomiyaki- Savoury Bacon and Cabbage Pancake
Enoki-Niku Maki- Beef Rolls with Enoki Mushrooms
Age-Dash Tofu- Fried Tofu With Bonito Stock 

🐟 Dashi Stock - Bonito and Kelp Stock 

Dashi stock is a fundamental component of Japanese cuisine. It has a light, smokey flavour from a mixture of deep-sea kelp, and katsuobushi, or dried and smoked skipjack tuna flakes. 

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Execution time: 15 minutes 

INGREDIENTS 

• 1L water

• 15g katsuobushi (bonito flakes) 

• 10g kombu 

METHOD 

1. Place the water and kombu in a large sauce pot and set it over medium-low heat. 

2. Heat the water slowly over the course of 5-10 minutes until small bubbles appear around the side of the pot, or when the water reaches around 80C. 

3. Steep the kombu for 40-60minutes.

4. Remove to kombu from the pot and discard. 

5. Bring the liquid to a just before a boil and immediately shut off the heat. 

6. Add in the katsuobushi and steep for 10 minutes off the heat. 

7. Strain out the katsuobushi through a cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer.

🍶Tare Sauce- Soy Sauce Glaze 

This deep and rich sauce is ideal for grilling or pan-frying, it glazes fish, meat or hearty vegetables with a mirror sheen of sweet and savouriness.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Execution time: 5 minutes

Serves: Makes 150ml

INGREDIENTS

• 6 tbsp (90g) tamari 

• 2 tbsp (30g) soy sauce 

• 4 tbsp (60g) mirin

• 4 tbsp (60g) sake 

• 4 tsp (24g) raw sugar

METHOD

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Using a barbecue lighter, ignite the sauce. When the flame is extinguished, turn the heat immediately off. 

🥩Enoki-Niku Maki - Enoki Mushroom and Beef Rolls 

This dish makes a great appetiser and works well for casual gatherings. The enoki mushrooms provide a satisfying little crunch accompanying rich slices of beef, glazed in tare sauce. These are great skewered and grilled or pan-fried. 

Serves: Makes 10 rolls 

Active time: 15 minutes 

Total time: 25 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

• 230g rump steak or eye of round, thinly sliced 

• 180g enoki mushrooms, bottom stem removed 

• 100ml tare sauce 

• ½ tbsp vegetable oil for frying

METHOD

1. Place the rump steak on a tray lined with baking paper into the freezer for 45 minutes- 1 hours. This will allow the steak to half-freeze which will make it much easier to slice. Once the rump steak has hardened substantially, but not become frozen solid, slice it with a very sharp knife as thinly as possible. You’re aiming for 2cmx8cm slices. Next, place a small bundle of about 12 enoki mushrooms into the centre of the steak slice and use the steak slice to roll it into a tight bundle. 

2. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Place the vegetable oil inside. Fry the rolls for 3-4 minutes, flipping halfway through, until they are golden brown on both sides. Place 100ml of tare sauce into the pan and continue cooking until the sauce evaporates and glazes the rolls evenly in a viscous sauce. Be careful not to let it burn. 

🍘 Inarizushi - Tofu Pockets with Salmon 

This form of sushi makes a convenient vessel for picnics, school lunches or cocktail parties. Experiment with using different proteins and vegetables to fill your tofu pouches.

Serves: makes 6-8

Active Time: 20 minutes 

Total Time: 30 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

• 8 inari pouches 

• 280g shari (sushi rice) 

Filling:

• 150g salmon, sushi grade, diced 

• 6 chives, sliced thinly

• 3 leaves of shiso, sliced thinly 

• 1 tsp of yuzu juice

• 1 tsp soy sauce 

• 1 tsp sesame seeds

• 1 tbsp kewpie- Japanese mayo 

• ¼ tsp yuzu kosho 

• ⅓ cucumber, diced 

METHOD:

1. Place all of the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and mix thoroughly. 

2. Prepare a bowl of water for moistening your hands. With moist hands, grab about 22g of the seasoned sushi rice. Roll it into an oblong “egg shape” and place it inside of the inari pouch. Fill the remaining pouch with the salmon mixture and garnish with a few chives, and the thinly sliced nori, if you like.

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🍶Sushi Su- Rice Vinegar Seasoning

Preparation time: 2 minutes

Execution time: 5 minutes 

Serves: makes 1 batch of sushi rice 

INGREDIENTS 

• 100g rice wine vinegar

• 50g sugar

• 25g mirin

• 16g salt 

• 4g kombu

METHOD

1. In a small saucepot, heat all ingredients except the kombu, stirring constantly until all the sugar and salt dissolve.

1. Add in the kombu and let steep for 1 hour. Discard the kombu. 

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🍚 Shari- Sushi Rice

Preparation time: 30 minutes 

Execution time: 10 minutes 

Makes: 12 rolls 

INGREDIENTS 

• 600g koshihikari- Japanese short grain rice 

• 675g water

METHOD

1. Place the rice in a mixing bowl and rinse it under cold water, swishing it around with your hands. Dump out the cloudy, starchy water and fill the bowl up again. Rinse and repeat 2 times until the water runs semi-clear. 

2. Pour enough cold water over the rice to submerge it by at least 4cm and let it rest for 30 minutes. Drain the rice in a colander suspended above a bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes.4.) 

3. Place the rice in a rice cooker with 650g of water or place it into a covered sauce pot with 675g of water. 

4. Cook the rice in the rice cooker for 35 minutes. Alternatively, place a saucepan over medium heat and bring it up to a boil. When the liquid starts to boil, place the lid on, turn down the heat to low and simmer the rice for 13-14 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to rest for 10 minutes with the heat off. 

5. Remove the rice cooker pot from the rice cooker and turn the rice out into a large mixing bowl. Season the rice with the sushi su, pouring it over the rice and using a wooden spatula to disperse it, by sprinkling it all over. Mix the sushi rice, using the side of the wooden spatula to ‘cut’ the rice. Once the rice has cooled to around 40c. Cover it with a damp towel and keep it in an insulated container like an esky. 

6. Prepare a bowl of water for dipping your hands. To form the maki sushi, place 1 sheet of the nori seaweed on a cutting board, rough side facing up. Wet your hands in the water and grab 85g of the seasoned sushi rice. Spread the rice all over the surface of the the nori, leaving a 1cm gap at the top. 

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🍘 Age-Dashi Tofu- Fried Tofu with Bonito Stock 

This entree is an Izakaya, Japanese pub classic. Soft, and fried cubes of tofu with a rich dashi stock. 

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Execution time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS 

• 250g momen (semi soft) tofu, cut into 2cm cubes 

• 2 tbsp potato starch

• 30g daikon radish, grated

• 1 spring onion, sliced

• 5g katsuobushi

• 600ml vegetable oil 

Age-Dashi: 

• 120ml dashi stock 

• 2.5 tbsp shouyu

• 1 tbsp sugar 

METHOD

1. To make the age-dashi, mix together all ingredients in a mixing bowl until the sugar dissolves.

2.  Preheat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan to 180C. Line a tray with some paper towel. 

3. Place the potato starch in a small mixing bowl. Gently place a few tofu cubes into the potato starch, and mix them around carefully, until they are evenly coated. Fry the tofu for 2-3 minutes or until the outside feels a little crispy, feeling it with chopsticks as it fries. Drain the tofu on some paper towel, and season it lightly with salt. 

4. Pour a little bit of the dashi stock into a shallow bowl. Place the hot tofu into the bowl. Garnish the tofu with the grated daikon radish, sliced spring onion, and the katsuobushi flakes. 

🍘 Okonomiyaki - Bacon and Cabbage Pancake

Okonomiyaki means ‘however you like it, grilled’ in Japanese which means that in Japan you can find okonomiyaki in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and with every imaginable garnish and topping underneath the sun. We use a little bacon and cabbage as a base for this recipe but feel free to experiment with different combinations of vegetables, and try substitution other protein for the bacon: thin slices of tofu, beef or seafood, for instance. 

Serves: 2

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Execution time: 7 minutes 

INGREDIENTS

• 30g flour 

• 50g dashi stock

• 1 egg 

• 2 slices thinly sliced pork belly (50g)

• 50g wombok or cabbage, cut into small chunks

• 1 tbsp tenkatsu (substitute rice bubbles)

• 1 tsp vegetable oil 

• ½ tbsp beni shoga (red pickled ginger)

• ¼ tsp baking powder

•  1 pinch salt

Garnishes:

• 2 tbsp katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

• 1 spring onion, sliced thinly

• 1.5 tbsp kewpie  (Japanese mayonnaise)

• 1.5 tbsp Okonomi sauce 

• 1 tsp ao noriko (green seaweed powder) 

METHOD

1. Heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. 

2. To make the batter, combine the sliced cabbage, egg, dashi stock, salt, baking powder, beni shoga, rice bubbles, and flour in a mixing bowl and lightly stir to combine. 

3. Add in 1 tsp of vegetable oil and one slice of bacon. 

4. Gently fry the bacon on both sides until it is lightly golden brown. Be careful not to over fry it. 

5. Pour the batter on top of the bacon. Gently shape the batter into a pancake that’s about 12cm in diameter and a little less than a centimetre in height. 

6. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the pancake starts to feel firm enough to flip, and has a light brown colour on the surface. Flip the pancake and cook it for 1-2 minutes on the other side. 

7. Transfer the pancake to a serving dish. Drizzle an even zig-zag of okonomi sauce over the surface of the pancake. Follow the same with the okonomi sauce. Sprinkle an even layer of the ao noriko over the surface of the pancake, then with the katsuobushi and thinly sliced spring onion. Finally, place a tuft of the kizami nori in the centre of the pancake.