Shimeji & beef pepper fried rice



Shimeji & beef pepper fried rice

We are finally getting some colder weather in Yokohama, so it is time to dust off a favourite autumnal rice recipe. With meat, veggies and rice, you could just about get away with calling this a one-dish meal, but we often have it with a soup of some sort. Either way, it comes together in about 30 minutes (less if you have already cooked the rice), so it's great for those nights when  you can't be bothered with too much faff and bother in the kitchen.
The pepper here is quite full-on, so adjust the amount to your family's liking. Shimeji mushrooms are one of many great varieties of mushroom in Japan. The most readily available variety here is buna shimeji, but other varieties, or even other mushrooms will work well, too. The beef should be the thickness of bacon, or slightly thinner.

The original recipe, from the October 17, 2008 edition of Orange Page, calls for shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), but any green will do really, so ring in the changes, as I have here with the komatsuna greens. The original recipe also calls for 200 g of rice per person, but I usually do 2 rice cooker cups of rice for 4 people, which comes out at around 700 g cooked.

Shimeji to gyuniku no pepper chahan: Shimeji & beef pepper fried rice

Serves 4

700 g of warm, cooked rice (enough for 4 domburi bowls)

40 ml toasted sesame oil, divided

4 packs shimeji mushrooms (about 400 g total)

200 g thinly sliced beef (kiriotoshi)

1 bag komatsuna greens (about 200 g), stalks only

2 tsp crushed black pepper

2 tsp Japanese soy sauce

1 Place the cooked rice in a bowl. Pour over 2 tsp of the sesame oil and 1 tsp salt and mix thoroughly. Remove the base from the shimeji and break the mushrooms apart. Cut the beef into bite-sized slices if large. Wash and slice the komatsuna stalks into 7 mm pieces.

2 Place the remaining sesame oil and black pepper into a wok or large frying pan and heat on a medium flame. Add the beef and shimeji and stir-fry for about 3 min. When the shimeji soften, add 1 tsp salt and the soy sauce and quickly mix through.

3 Push the beef and shimeji to the side of the wok and put the rice and komatsuna stalks in the middle. Using a wooden spoon to "cut" through the rice, stir-fry for about 2 min. Once the rice separates, mix the beef and shimeji through. Continue to stir-fry until the komatsuna stalks are done and the rice and other ingredients are well incorporated.

Enjoy!



Bulgogi-style beef and veggies

Bulgogi-style beef with veggies

Bulgogi, according to a CNN survey, is one of the world's top 25 most delicious foods. It's pretty popular here in Japan as well. This recipe uses ingredients found in almost every Japanese kitchen to approximate the Korean original. It might not be authentic, but it is very tasty, and the Young Man can't get enough of it.

The recipe uses a "bunching" technique, where the meat is placed in a hot pan in mounds and left to cook for a few minutes undisturbed. This keeps the meat juicy and stops it from becoming stiff. I am happy with the results, so I do it this way, but you could probably just stir-fry in the normal way.

The meat itself comes pre-sliced in Japan. There are two types: usu-gire (thin-sliced) and koma-gire (a-hem, thin-sliced). The difference between the two eludes me, but with koma-gire, the slices are not uniform in length. As koma-gire tends to be cheaper, my guess is that it's odds and ends left over from butchering other cuts. It has around 15-20% visible fat, cooks quickly, and when cooked with plenty of vegetables as it is here, allows you to reduce the amount of meat you eat without feeling cheated (g).

Once the veggies and sauce are prepped, this is on the table in under 10 minutes. However, if you need to slice the beef yourself, you will need more time. That sounds like madness-making work to me and is probably best left to your butcher, but if you insist, you are looking for shabu-shabu-thick slices.

Recipe source: Orange Page June 2, 2009 edition (no longer available for purchase)

Bulgogi-style beef and veggies

Serves 4

600 g koma-gire (thin-sliced) beef
1 small red pepper
1 onion
1 bunch (100 g) garlic chives
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp flour
For the sauce
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
1 tsp tobanjan (doubanjiang) chilli paste, or to taste

1 Peel and halve the onion lengthwise and slice thinly. Halve the red pepper lengthwise, remove the stalk, seeds and membranes, and slice lengthwise into 2-3 mm strips. Remove the root from the garlic chives and slice into 5 cm lengths. Mix the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.

2 In a large frying pan, heat the vegetable oil on medium heat for 2-3 min. Dust the beef with the flour, divide into 8 portions and place each mound in the hot frying pan. Cook, undisturbed, for 2-3 min.

3 When the meat has changed colour to about half way up the mounds, flip and layer the onion, red pepper and Chinese chives on top, then pour over the sauce. Turn the heat up a little and cook for around 3-4 minutes, breaking the mounds up as you go. When most of the liquid has gone, transfer to a serving dish.

Meshi-agare!