Thursday, April 24, 2008

Jap Last Night: Gyudon

P1220274
L to R, back: seaweed miso soup, gyudon and fried mixed veg.
L to R, front: agedashi tofu, shishamo (pregnant smelts)

Speed is the key these days. Who knows if there'll be another power outage. Bento's salmon donburi reminded me how I used to cook gyudon (beef-rice bowl) if I wanted a presto meal. This is the easiest Japanese dish you'll ever make, believe me.

Hong Seng at Damai, round the corner from Coffee Bean, is where you can get your Australian frozen beef sliced for shabu-shabu and sukiyaki. Some of my friends have told me they avoid going there because the people are so snobby and they won't even let you get away with 5 sen. I know what they mean. I once was totally out of change, and the lady boss waited for me to fumble through my bag, then go to my car to get the money. On top of that the shop's policy is to look as sour face as their faces allow. If you do get your beef sliced there, do expect to pay an extra RM5 per kg. Cutting it at no. 04 on their machine gives the best thickness (thinness?). I had my sirloin cut using no. 5 and it was too thick. I don't like the beef cut too thin either, as in the Jap restaurants. When cut too thin, the beef will clump together when thawed and tear when you handle it, and worst, it tastes like paper. If money's no problem, use ribeye. You must have the beef cut by the machine. Cutting by hand will give uneven thickness.

Cook your soup and other dishes first, and the beef last because being thin, the beef cooks fast and needs to be eaten hot before it cools and toughen. You can even cook it while your good sons and daughters set the table.

Gyudon (serves 4)
400 to 500g sirloin, sliced thinly n cut roughtly into 5 x 10 cm pcs
a big bunch of spring onions or scallions, in 3 cm lengths*
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
3 cups hot water
1 t dashi granules
1 t sugar (1T if you like it sweeter)
*spring onions have a dark fuchsia sheath on the bulbs and stems and are more tender than scallions which are bigger and white near the bulbs and stems.

1. When all your other dishes are ready, scoop cooked plain rice into large rice bowls and place bowls near your hob.

2. Put the hot water into a pot, add the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar and when it boils, increase the heat to high and add all the beef, stirring well with a pair of chopsticks to separate them. Add the spring onions, remove from heat and stir to mix. The beef's best when there's still some red because if it goes beyond that, it will toughen. Mine was too done.

3. Put equal amount of beef and sauce on top of each bowl of rice and serve immediately.

14 comments:

Precious Pea said...

First it was Thai, now is Jap. Er..what's next?? *speechless*

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm really impressed with your theme meal everyday all by yourself. **salute** :)

~Li

a feast, everyday said...

tt's a feast again. can tumpang for dinner not?

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

hey I know we are ONLINE now!
next time pls download MSN
so we can chat
haha !
so what's meal tonite

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

denise: ha, how did u know?? i can use wey's msn. tonite's chinese-jiangxi food, cooked by lily who's finally got her thesis approved today (hehe, i was one of her proof-readers) n will go back 2mrw.

Anonymous said...

Hi, i find that your photos are very nice. can i know what camera are you using? 'cause i'm looking for a good camera. =)

Big Boys Oven said...

this look so awesome!what a feast! Hope to drop by KK soon!

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

aiks , Lily is goign back for good ??? I missed her!! she's a very sweet & cheerful lady

u better get permission from prince Wey b4 u add me into the MSN, otherwise, u create ur own lo, so u can add ppl like precious pea, mandy, hamster & so forth. ha!

Anonymous said...

Wow! Even your dinner set goes with the theme. I am amazed!

Raina

Moodie Foodie said...

i love japanese food!! i can eat it everyday, basically. but wow, sticking to the theme really creates that special ambience i reckon. i love how u have cooked up a whole meal with relatively easy dishes. and lucky for me, i just had japanese tonight, otherwise i'd be dying to fly over to ur house to get some nosh!

Bento Pet said...

Mmmmm.... Agedashi tofu!!! I can almost taste it...!

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

preciousp: tibetan yak milk tea...

anony: hm, Li. I wonder if i know u. but thanks for ur comment, come again :)

a feast: u know u r always welcome. just wash the dishes b4 u go ok.

anony: i use the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ50 which is great, easy to use n light despite its size. it also has a great zoom. however, for its price, u can get a Canon Rebel which is a DSLR. for me, the FZ50's drawback is it has a max aperture size of f/2.8 which doesn't blur out the background as much as i want. why do i want tt? not tt too 'bokeh' a background is nice all the time (it is overdone these days) but it sure makes it more convenient bc u don't have to bother dressing up the background for ur shot.so it really depends on what u want tp photograph. if u r serious, go for a full DSLR so u can play with lens. if not, this camera has updated versions tt r excellent.

BBO: do u want to teach baking here--say macarons--bc i can arrange a place for u.

denise: i'm resisting tt bc i am already spending too much time on blogging...

raina: i believe in enjoying every meal!

moodie: we ladies r suckers for ambience. the guys, they go hmm, nice setting n thereafter r so into the food they don't see the special fork or spoon rest or whatever tt u have specially bothered to set for the meal.so if girls think dressing up attracts a guy, think again. it's dressing off tt interests them.

bento: i researched ur recipe for tt!

LilyAnette said...

I stumbled upon your blog and I was so happy to see something from KK!!! Love your blog and a must see for me!

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

lily: i went over to ur blog n i ur photos r simply awesome--the colors and sharpness n composition n style. do keep in touch, i am always happy when i get feedback. it's a reminder tt i'm not talking to myself, n i like it when ppl give me constructive advice :)

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