We have a Japanese girl, Tomoko, living with us, and tonight she and I cooked a Japanese dinner for us and her friends. She phoned her mum,Toshiko, in Japan for this, as it’s her favourite recipe, and I wanted to share it here. It’s simple and so good, and Tomoko, who is only 16, did such a good job of cooking this, then translating the recipe to English for me. *The liquid will thicken to a glaze if you are patient. It just takes a bit of time. If you feel your chicken is cooked (and going to overcook) remove it before going on to reduce the liquid. Same thing, if you must use breast meat, remove it (so it doesn’t dry out) and continue reducing the liquid . If you do it this way rather than thickening with cornstarch you will get a richer glaze and not need to add stock or broth instead of the water. It just takes patience. AND NOTE: A glaze is sticky and coats the meat, this is NOT a sauce.
A classic, but simple take on curry rice that is famous in Japan and is enjoyed world-wide. I got this recipe from one of my Japanese friends when we were little. Her mom used to make it for us as a special treat, and also made us each a small cookbook with our favorite dishes she would make us in it. I came across the book the other day and tried out a few recipes. This was one of them. I hope you guys all enjoy it! ^_^
This recipe comes from Saveur magazine, and it tastes just like the curry we had in Japan. It seems to be a forgiving recipe: I used a sprinkle of dry ginger instead of fresh, left out the bay leaf, used 1/2 cup of apple sauce instead of a grated apple, used chicken bullion instead of stock and used ketchup instead of crushed tomatoes. Serve with freshly steamed rice. It doesn’t take a long time to make, and isn’t complicated although it has a long list of ingredients. Edit – A few reviewers think that 1/2 cup of applesauce makes it too sweet, so please adjust to your tastes if you decide to substitute it for the apple 🙂
