Category: Cooking

La Rou from Taste of Hunan and Recently Consumed

Chinese Restaurants, Cooking, Online Food Suppliers

I had to smile when “FOY” Dereck just commented on my revisit to Taste of Hunan which I did almost a month ago. We have already revisited yet again! But, since I’d recently done a post, I didn’t take any photos of that visit. There was one item on the menu that we noticed for the first time. ToH actually sells La Rou, the Hunan cured and smoked pork by weight! The Missus asked the always friendly Server about that and She was told that it is shipped to ToH from Hunan Province! They don’t always have it for sale, but she went to check and said they had one piece. So, here’s where it gets interesting…..you have to purchase the entire piece, they will not portion it for you. The price is $25.95 per pound. Not cheap, but you really don’t use a lot of La Rou per dish. We really like the La Rou ToH uses, so we decided to get it. The piece came in at 2 pounds! The woman was so nice, instructing us to freeze what we don’t use.

In case you’re wondering what 2 pounds of La Rou looks like.

And that my friends is a full sized cleaver!

What I did is divide up the LA Rou into four, almost equal sized portions, let’s just say a half pound or so.

I kept one portion for current use and the other three went into the freezer. There’s a hard “rind” at the bottom of the piece. When first using the piece, I’ll remove the rind, which also had a good fat layer. This comes in handy later….. We found that one piece can make about 4 dishes…so let’s say about a quarter pound of la rou….and that’s a generous amount!

So, of course first up was what we’ve been making a lot of recently, Clay Pot Rice. Instead of using duck fat or drippings to coat the nabe, we use the pork rind and melt the fat off the piece to lube the baby up!

In addition to the La Rou, we used Lup Cheong and slices of the Garlic Sausage from Wang La Ya in this.

The Missus loves La Rou with Celtuce (i.e. Chinese Lettuce – Wōsǔn/Wōjù).

So, I cut some fairly thin slices along with the Celtuce.

Adding some dried chilies, garlic, etc….. A very simple dish. No photo of the final product, because as soon as it hit the table, the Missus set out to devour it!

I’ve made a couple of other dishes since then, the Missus loves La Rou with Chinese Celery. Here’s a photo of the La Rou stir fried with Chinese Cauliflower (which I mentioned in the post).

I used Fresno Chilies, dried chili de arbol, and fermented chilies for this. I did a low heat stir fry of the cauliflower first, removing it from the wok, then going for it with the other ingredients and adding the cauliflower back in later.

Anyway….it’s been fun, since the frozen La Rou you get at 99 Ranch Market is horrible!

Some other stuffs……

I needed to use up the last of my beans from Rancho Gordo and only had those huge Royal Corona Beans left. So, I made up a pot of it.

I took half of the beans and made a dish with Merguez, Harissa, and chard from the yard! The Missus took most of it with Cous Cous for lunch and we also had some on toast, which was quite good!

When the weather recently warmed up, I went and made marinated beans with the remainder.

The beans mainly with lemon juice/zest, EVOO, sun dried tomatoes, red onion, garlic, and Italian Parsley. Nice and refreshing!

And just for the fun of it, I recently made this as well.

You know what it is, right? Took me back to small kid time!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Recently Consumed

Cooking

Just some odd and ends from the last couple of weeks.

After having the “special” hot pot rice at Eastern Dynasty; the Missus became certain that we could do better at home. So guess what we’ve been having weekly these days?

Along with the usual; lup cheong and stuff, we’ve been using left over roast duck from our visits to Eastern Dynasty, Hong Kong Kitchen, and other places, along with more importantly the duck drippings. Duck fat is used to coat the nabe to help build a nice crust. And a 3:1 soy sauce to dark soy sauce mixture to help flavor.

The Missus has been into gardening this year. I’m waiting until warmer weather to start growing peppers again and maybe evening making some hot sauce again! Meanwhile, as you might have noticed, I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with some of the items the Missus is growing, like the Keru Kurogomae. We’ve had a good amount of chard, which is great for my Pesto Chard dish. But the stems were huge and even though I use stems in that recipe….I developed it to actually use stems, there was just too much. So, I decided to do some pickling; which turned out quite well.

The Missus also enjoys the onions I have in the pickle as well.

And then I decided to pickled some okra….which was quite good as well.

This one uses dried dill, which was a first for me.

These come in handy when the Missus says She wants something, ahem, “easy and light” for dinner on one of our warmer evenings….

The Missus always seems to get “sucked in” when She goes shopping with me at Nijiya or Tokyo Central. For instance; She saw this Hokkaido Mushroom Curry and just had to try it.

So, of course I had to go ahead and make Chicken Katsu, etc…..

Sadly; it was really bland, and quite thin, almost watery……

Well nothing ventured, nothing gained….or something like that!

Hope everyone has a great weekend now that the rain has passed!

Goya Tsukemomo (Pickled Bitter Melon – with some daikon too)

Cookbooks, Cooking, Recipes

As you get older, do you find yourself eating more and more like your parents/grandparents? It came to me as I made us lunch the other day…..and no…sigh, the Missus cannot just eat Niku Doufu…She needs all those side dishes.

And while the takana (mustard greens) and kyuri (cucumber) asazuke are from the market. The one other item was not.

My grandparents loved bitter melon, at the age I was exposed to it….well, I hated it. When we lived in Kaimuki, our neighbors, the wife was Okinawan loved goya, and would give us goya and my mom, and later me; would make goya champuru…basically bitter melon and eggs. Being raised on a low income, it was a treat to have some Spam in it. They also gave us pickled bitter melon as well. Eventually, as I got older, I enjoyed it more, but still never really developed a taste for it until I was in my 30’s. Still, it wasn’t something I craved. And then we had our last trip “home”. My friends recommended a restaurant located on the second floor of McCully Shopping Center named Bozu. Yes, I know…waaaay behind on those posts!

Anyway, one of the dishes we ordered was the Pickled Bitter Melon.

And the Missus was smitten! We ended up have three orders of this!

Anyway, recently I’d been doing a bunch of pickling…mainly of stuff from the garden and I decided to try my hand at making Goya Tsukemono. I looked online and thru several of my cookbooks and after several tries found one that interested me in Machiki Tateno’s Japanese Pickled Vegetables. In the end, I used the recipe as an outline ingredient wise totally changing proportion and quantity. Not wanting to waste excess pickling liquid I fill the excess space with slices of daikon, which does well in this pickling solution as well as a few cloves of garlic.

Anyway, it’s a current favorite of the Missus. And now it seems to be getting a bit of play since it’s considered an important ingredient of “Blue Zone” diets. I dunno about that….we just think this tastes mighty good!

A couple of notes – I use the daikon and garlic to fill space after adding the bitter melon. I’ve cut down on the amount of dark brown sugar since the Missus enjoys more salty/bitter to sweet.

Goya Tsukemono (With daikon and garlic too)
1 – 7-8 oz Bitter Melon
Boiling Water
Slices of daikon (optional)
5-6 Cloves peeled garlic (optional)

2 dried chilies
1/2 Cup Rice Wine Vinegar
1/2 Cup Light Soy Sauce – I used Aloha Shoyu
1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
2 Slices of Ginger

  • Heat a pot of water to a boil
  • Slice bitter melon in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and scrape off as much white fibers and matter as possible. Slice into 1/3 inch slices cross wise.
  • Use boiling water to sterilize pickle jar and also pour over bitter melon and drain.
  • Add pickling ingredients to a small pot and bring to a boil.
  • Add bitter melon slices to pickle jar. Fill excess with slices of daikon and garlic.
  • Add boiling pickling liquid to jar, let cool until warm. Then cover and refrigerate.
  • Wait 2-3 days before serving

If you try this recipe; let me know how it turns out!

Side Dish Sunday – Keru (Kale) Kurogomae

Cooking, Recipes

Recently, the Missus has been wanting all those “comfort” type dishes. Like Niku Dofu.

Of course, it can’t be “JUST” xxxx dish. There has to be some “side dishes” as well. Which ends up looking like this.

And yes, the Okra Kurogamae are still in the game so to speak. But recently, the Missus who has been on a gardening thing got some kale seeds from the library and they’ve been growing like crazy. It’s surprisngly tender…thing is; we’re not quite sure what type of kale it is…maybe Brazilian or perhaps Portuguese Kale?

Not sure; but it’s quite tender. So, at one point I wondered how it would do using at Kurogomae type sauce and served like a fukusai? It’s a bit of a pain, but after a couple of tries, I got the ratio down.

Of course, you need to squeeze out all that liquid from the kale.

Though 5-6 ounces of kale will make only that serving you see above. And so; this ain’t no cheapie dish…but the Missus really enjoys it…for now… You can do this with spinach as well.

The main difference between this and the okra version is it does well with some acidic and pungent notes. Anyway, here goes….

Keru Kurogomae
5-6 ounces Tender Kale or Spinach
1 Tb Kosher Salt
8 Cups water
Ice water

Sauce
4-5 Tb Black Sesame Powder
2 Tsp Sugar
2-3 Tsp Soy Sauce
2 Tsp Apple Cider or Rice Vinegar
1 Tb Sesame Oil
1-2 Tb Avocado or other neutral oil (optional)
1 clove garlic grated
Fresh Ground Black Pepper to taste

  • Rinse Greens
  • Add Kosher Salt to Water and bring to boil
  • Add greens and blanch quickly
  • Drain and place greens into ice water
    – Mix together sesame powder and sugar – combine well.
  • Add soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.
    – Check consistency. Add neutral flavored oil as needed to create an acceptable texture.
  • Add garlic
  • Taste and add fresh ground black pepper as desired.
  • Drain greens well and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
  • Chop kale into three pieces, then squeeze out excess liquid.
  • Separate kale leaves and mix into sauce. Coat well.
  • Refrigerate at least an hour before serving. And mix again before plating.
  • Top with sesame seeds (optional)

Funny thing. Just as this is kind of a mash-up; so is another dish that I’ve been making as well, using my base recipe for Niku Dofu and another traditional “old school” recipe I grew up eating. I’ll get that one done soon!

Recently Consumed

Cooking, yoso-silly

I haven’t done one of these in a while….so, here we go….just a couple of “stuffs” we’ve been eating.

There’s a thing we used to do when I worked in a restaurant like over 4 decades ago. We used to boil potatoes, smash them, then fry. The exterior would be crisp; the interior creamy…so ono! So, what I’ve been doing the last couple of years is to get those baby potatoes from the market. I then score and put into the microwave. Once soft, I smash and brush with olive oil, smoked salt, fresh ground pepper, and granulated garlic, then put into the air fryer.

I did manage to take a photo of when I did this recently, using mini baby potatoes. The Missus loves them with eggs.

Roasted broccolini and roasted honeynut squash made for a nice lunch.

It’s getting to be Pozole time in our household. I should post my recipe one of these days….

With prices being so crazy, I’ve started making ramen at home these days. We like the Sun Noodle brand. I also liven it up with some truffle soy sauce and even add in some shiitake mushrooms. And….I always make sure my tamago is at least warm!

And on warmer days….I venture into “neba-neba” land.

Love that combo of tororo and natto…..

I really don’t take much photos of the food I make these days….but for some reason here’s some beans-collards-pancetta.

Which tasted really good on toast with microplaned Parmesan Reggiano.

And lastly….some lamb chops, with beans and Cous Cous…..

So, what have you all been making lately?

Thanks for indulging me!

Local Kine Char Siu Chicken

Cooking, Recipes

Several folks have been asking me if I still cook and stuffs….and yes I do; though it’s mostly about technique and doing stuff on the fly these days. Though I do have several recipes/”formulas” and I guess it’s past the time I should do posts on these.

Anyway, here’s an actual recipe that I created during Covid after working thru it several times. It’s become a favorite of the Missus’s coworkers (thus the trip to June Lake – which I did again this year to cook for them), our neighbor who is from the Islands, and several other folks. When I grill it at home, most of it is given away.

It’s a riff on classic flavors of my youth….like local kine teriyaki-char siu. It is kind of a pain in the butt to make; which is why I put off doing this for so long….I’m not sure folks would like to make this.

First off; the basic recipe is for about a pound-and-a-half of boneless/skinless chicken thighs. Second, I tenderize each piece of chicken with a mallet. Third, I portion out and divide the sauce…for marinating, basting, and on the side….cause people like to use it for all kines of stuffs.

The Missus likes it in salads….and also on grilled tofu, which I coat with olive oil and duck fat; then season with salt-pepper-soy sauce-five spice.

Most folks get something like this from me.

Anyway….dis’ not one tightwad recipe.

Also, it uses bottled hoisin sauce. Though it’s important to look at the ingredient list. For example.

Two Hoisin Sauces….made by the same company….turn the bottles around and check the ingredients.

I know, both get so much modified stuffs….but the one on the left uses Fermented Soybean Paste, which provides a deeper-richer flavor.

Anyway…..too much talkin’…..

Local Kine Char Siu Chicken – I usually make a double recipe of the sauce:

3/4 Cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce – yes, I still use Aloha Shoyu
1/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
1/4 Cup Agave Syrup
3 Tb Ketchup
3 Tb Shaoxing Wine
2-3 Cloves Garlic – minced or grated
1 Tsp Ginger Juice
1/2 – 1 Tsp Five Spice
1 1/2 Pounds Boneless-Skinless Chicken Thighs

  • Trim excess fat and connective tissue off chicken thighs
  • Tenderize with a mallet until uniform in thickness.
  • In a bowl, mix together Soy Sauce, Dark Brown Sugar, Ketchup, Shaoxing. Combine.
  • Add Hoisin Sauce and half the Agave Syrup mix well.
  • Add Garlic, Five Spice, and Ginger Juice – combine.
  • Taste with the tip of a chopstick – add the rest of Agave Syrup if necessary. Add more Five Spice and adjust other ingredients to taste (i.e. more garlic).
  • Once sauce is combined divide into two half portions.
  • Use one half of the sauce to coat and marinate the chicken.
    Make sure to coat well.
  • Divide the other half of the sauce into two equal portions.
  • Marinate at least 6 hours or overnight.
  • Grill the chicken. I use hardwood charcoal for a layer of flavor. I also use oak wood chips in a foil packet for an additional layer of flavor.
  • Use half of the reserved sauce for final basting.
  • The other half of the reserved sauce is placed into containers for dipping, pouring, or whatever the person wants

I know, kind of a lot of work but folks seem to like it!

Odds and Ends – Cumin Chinese Cauliflower (Caulilini), Pliny the Elder at Bay Hill Tavern, and Other “Stuffs”

Beer, Cooking, Pubs and Pub Grub, Recipes, yoso-silly

Just a couple of quick things for today…..

I don't know if you've noticed. Many times, when we're having Chinese food whether at a restaurant or for takeout, we don't order vegetables. The reason for this is that the Missus has a hard time spending maybe over $15 for stir fried veggies. On most occasions we'll have leftovers and then I'll go ahead and stir fry veggies at home. I still have a Big Kahuna, my second one since 2005, this one goes to 65,000 BTU and is great for wok stir fries. 

Or, as in the case of the item below, I'll go ahead and roast something in the air fryer…..sometimes I'll do both at the same time as doing the stir fry can take less than 2 minutes!

Anyway, the latest item was something I just kinda made up. The Missus really likes Caulilini, which is known here as Chinese Cauliflower. It's the type of cauliflower She grew up eating in China. Also known as Baby Cauliflower, it features thin green stems, is a bit sweeter, the florets are more loosely arranged. The Missus grew up eating cauliflower stir fried with tomato. I thought I'd try something interesting, knowing that She enjoys the flavor of cumin in dishes like BO Zi Ran Yang Rou (Cumin Lamb). I thought the P-Cresol-ish cumin would go nicely with cauliflower and it did.

Cumin Cauliflower 01

Because the quantity of cauliflower varies, I'll just give you a photo of the ingredients (minus the cauliflower).

Cumin Cauliflower 02

There's a certain sequence that I've been using for making this.

Air Fryer Cumin Cauliflower
1 – After rinsing, prepping, and draining the cauliflower pour a few tablespoons of avocado, or any other neutral oil into a mixing bowl. Add cauliflower and combine.
2 – Add Sichuan Peppercorn oil to coat and White Pepper
3 – Add Cumin, Chinese Five Spice, and Granulated Garlic – I used to use fresh shopped garlic but it burned too easy. Mix well.
4 – Taste to make sure the cumin flavor comes thru clearly
5 – Add about a tablespoon of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of chili crisp, I found that Lau Gan Ma works the best.
6 – Stir and mix well to coat.
7 – Taste and adjust seasonings and add smoked salt.
8 – Roast in 450° Air Fryer for 12-14 minutes.

The time the Missus said She wanted me to grill some Shishamo:

So, I went to grill some veggies and also some of my Local Kine Chashu Chicken for the Missus when She asked me to grill some Shishamo for Her. I thought this kind of strange, since we'd sometimes do it on the Konro, but She wanted it grilled….

So, I prepped some.

Shishamo JJ 01

When I finished, I found out who it was actually for. Guess who got Shishamo?

Shishamo JJ 02b

I actually posted about it on Instagram and some folks found it funny…..

Pliny the Elder at Bay Hill Tavern:

Earlier in the week, the Missus wanted some tacos from the Tacos La Chorreada Truck. So JJ and I walked on over, placed my order and decided to head on over to Bay Hill Tavern for a cerveza until my tacos were ready.

I was given the "specials" menu to look over and was pleasantly surprised.

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Man, they had Pliny the Elder on tap! When was the last time I had that?

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My goodness….it was so good. I'm hoping they still have it the next time I visit. If you plan on dropping by specifically for a PtE, perhaps you may want to call first as I'm sure they'll soon run out – 619-326-8828.

Bay Hill Tavern
3010 Clairemont Drive
San Diego, CA 92117
Current Hours:
Mon – Thurs 11am – 9pm
Friday            11am – 10pm
Saturday        10am – 10pm
Sunday          10am – 9pm

And finally……

My latest "ear worm":

I'm sure this might be before your time, but someone mentioned the late Wili Moku to me recently. He was the DJ I always listened to on KKUA in the 80's (before they became Public Radio – hey you rememba the Home Grown album?)

But for some reason, Da' Mokkettes song Palolo Valley Girls, a parody (of a parody) of Frank & Moon Unit Zappa's "Valley Girl" started playing in my head. Arrgh…..I just can't clear it out!

So, just to share the wealth.

"Shoot la dat, no act, no act……" "Make a all the way!"

Hope you're having a wonderful week!

Juewei Revisited and 20 Minute Zhou/Jook/Congee

Chinese Restaurants, Cooking, Recipes

Juewei has become a semi-regular stop for us since they opened last November. What we've found is that they make the smoked chicken we enjoy on weekends, so we'll drop by and pick one up ($17.99) with some side dishes.

Juewei Rev 01

Juewei Rev 02

Along with usually some quail eggs and yuba….in fact, the woman who runs the place just starts packing the yuba when I walk in the door!

Juewei Rev 04

And recently, we saw that they added a spicy braised beef….I dunno the name because the Missus orders it in Mandarin.

Juewei Rev 05

And of course the chicken.

Juewei Rev 03

Now, you may ask if we just eat everything as is…..well, sometimes. The yuba is a great side dish as is the beef. Though that chicken can be up to four meals. Here's what we do.

We make baos with the meatier parts of the chicken and also with the beef. I have a microwave tortilla warmer pouch that I found does a good job of warming up the baos! I also will crisp up some of the skin in the air fryer for textural contrast.

For some reason, this winter – early spring we've been eating a lot of Zhou…which is what the Missus calls it. I have always called the dish using the Cantonese name; jook. The Missus had found the quite popular 20 minute congee recipes posted on Instagram and TikTok where you freeze the rinsed rice for 8 hours. After working thru the recipe a few times, I found an approach that we prefer. The porridge seems to come out a bit creamier and it only takes a couple of hours to freeze.

I rinse one-third cup of rice. I tend to prefer Koshihikari rice….yes, it's a bit more expensive, but to me, based on the starch content worth using. Plus, we tend to use higher quality rice when cooking at home anyway. I then place the rice in a small metal mixing bowl and cover with one cup of water and freeze.

Juewei Rev 06

When I'm ready to make the porridge, I take out a donabe; a Japanese clay pot which I have. I place the metal mixing bowl on the stove and heat briefly to melt the edges of the ice. I then place the donabe on the stove, move the rice-ice and melted water into the donabe and add three more cups of water, heat, and bring to a simmer.

Juewei Rev 07

I then get my kitchen shears and slice the chicken carcass in half. I can make two portions of the porridge. I trim excess meat off the bones; usually from the thighs and drumstick…the breast and some of the thigh meat has already been used to make the baos we had previously. I chop the meat up into pieces. I separate the bones and place that in the porridge. While the Missus grew up eating plain boiled Zhou in QingDao, my mom used to make jook using turkey bones after Thanksgiving. Turkey Jook is very popular "back home". Kathy from Onolicious Hawaii has a page and recipe on Turkey Jook here. 

Because of flavor of the smoked chicken is quite strong, the flavor transfer is done fairly quickly. I then add in the meat, usually some green onions, white pepper.

Juewei Rev 08

The rice gets creamy in about 20 minutes, 30 minutes max.

The Missus likes some minced bitter greens along with the quail eggs in Hers. I like to add a little shoyu, yuba (of course), takana (pickled mustard greens), and kimchi garlic shoots, if I have them.

Juewei Rev 00

If there's any chicken skin left; I'll crisp up in the air fryer and top off the porridge with that.

Juewei has indeed become a regular stop for us because it provides us with additional options and ingredients for comfort food meals.

Juewei Food
4690 Convoy St. #103
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Hours:
Sun – Thurs 11am – 11pm
Fri – Sat        11am – Midnight

Odds and Ends

Cooking, yoso-silly

Just a bunch of "little stuffs" for a pretty chilly Friday! Yes, I know, it's San Diego……

It's the Sukiyaki time of the year:

Yes, the Missus has been requesting Sukiyaki again. These days I use two grades of meat.

IMG_4214

I use a basic sukiyaki grade – from Nijiya for cooking with the veggies and stuffs. It adds the requisite beefiness to the dish. And then I get about a quarter pound of prime or wagyu (when it's "Meat Day") for dipping.

IMG_4216

IMG_4212a

I have a feeling I'll be making this again this weekend…..

Salad in December?:

Yep, the Missus said She wanted a salad…. But, of course it wasn't just a simple salad. After all the requested ingredients it looked like this.

IMG_4453

Everything from roasted cauliflower and sweet potatoes, boiled eggs, etc…..

And then I had to come up with an "appropriate" dressing. I settled on making a Bacon Vinaigrette.

IMG_4500

So, the Missus has been wanting a version of this salad like four days in a row…….

Meat Jun?:

In my post on making Okra Kurogomae, I mentioned serving it with some Meat Jun I made. "FOY" Kimo emailed me asking me for a recipe. Well, I'm not it's ready for prime time. The biggest issue is finding the precise cut of meat I want. Both Zion and H Mart cuts their rib eye quite thin. Though I've made due with marinating the meat a specific way. As for the recipe; it's a cross between an old recipe from Wanda A. Adams wonderful cookbook, the Island Plate and of course, the Kathy has a version on Onolicioushawaii as well. With a couple of adjustments and personal touches as well.

It ain't the prettiest thing.

IMG_4422a

But our neighbor, who is originally from Manoa liked it as did the Missus, who specifically requested that I make this after having it twice during our last trip "back home". Strange thing, this stuff keeps ok and actually heats up well in the Air Fryer? Anyway, maybe I need to make this a couple more times, right?

Yep, so that's what's been cookin' here.

Hope everyone is keeping warm during our cold spell!

Okra Kurogomae

Cooking, Recipes

Hope you don't mind a quick and easy recipe for this Thursday!

A few months back, I noticed a new side dish at Nijiya; okra gomae. Knowing how much the Missus loves what the Japanese call "neba-neba"…that slimy-slippery stuff like natto…and okra. The Missus instantly enjoyed it. So, for the next couple of weeks, I'd get some when available.

Okra Kurogomae 01

But, you know how it goes….after getting this few times, the Missus started noticing how She would prefer this dish be made. More sesame flavor….not as sweet, etc. So, I was commissioned to create a version to Her taste.

I did mention not wanting to toast and grind sesame seeds. The Missus quickly came up with a solution to that. We had an unopened container of Black Sesame; the stuff you'd top desserts with in the cabinet.

Okra Kurogomae 03

Okay, we were off to the races. And this is what I've made a half dozen times since.

Okra Kurogomae 02a

Not the prettiest dish in the world, huh?

Anyway, there were a couple of things I've noticed when trying to make this. First, younger, thinner okra works best. Second, the "sauce" can be a bit too thick, so I thin out the sauce with a neutral oil, like avocado oil as necessary. To get the right texture, I blanch the okra for a minute in boiling salt water, then stop the cooking by placing the okra into ice water. Doing this also brings out the nice green color of the okra and also makes it more "neba-neba".

I call it Kurogomae because I'm using the black sesame for this. Anyway, this recipe is to the Missus's taste, less sweet, more sesame flavor. It's easy to adjust.

Okra Kurogomae:

1/2 lb Okra – Younger/thinner preferred
1 Tb Kosher Salt
8 Cups water
Ice water

Sauce
3 Tb Black Sesame Powder or 4 Tb Toasted Black Sesame Seeds Ground
2 Tsp Sugar
2 Tsp Soy Sauce
1 Tb Sesame Oil
1-2 Tb Avocado or other neutral oil (optional) Okra Kurogomae 04

– Rinse off okra
– Add kosher salt to water and bring to a boil
– Add okra. Blanch for 1 minute
– Drain and put okra into ice water to stop cooking
– Once okra has cooled remove form ice water and dry

– Mix together sesame powder (or ground sesame), sugar, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
– Check consistency. Add neutral flavored oil as needed to create an acceptable texture. Okra Kurogomae 05
– Taste and adjust.

– Slice okra into bite sized pieces
– Mix sauce and okra together and chill for a half hour
– Give the okra a mix before serving. Yes, it's going to be neba-neba, but that's one of the reasons you like this, right?

Okra Kurogomae 07

It makes a nice side dish.

Okra Kurogomae 06

Just had some today with some Meat Jun I made.

Okra Kurogomae 00