Wakame Udon/Soba

It's been a long time since I had the time for blogging, let alone blogwalking :P
But I've been asked a few time to share my recipe for Japanese style udon or soba in soup, so tonight, I tried to steal some time to blog this. The most important ingredient for this recipe is the 'dashi', which is actually the fish stock. There are varieties of fish stock used, but after trying a few, I think 'katsuodashi' is the most suitable for this dish. Next is also the 'shoyu' or soy sauce, and here I advise you to use Japanese brand Kikkoman instead of local Chinese or Malaysia soy sauce as it taste different, hence will give a strange taste to your soup.

Here are examples of katsuodashi sold in Jusco around Malaysia. These fish stock usually packed in small packets. All these things you could easily get from any Jusco stores.

These are wakame. The dried wakame packet is the exact one I bought at Jusco, but there are others as well. Since wakame is a type of seaweed, this is how it looks like when cooked (right):

Next is the shoyu:

It is also sold in small bottle in certain stores so if you rarely cook Japanese food, it is advisable to buy the small bottle, about 250-300ml if I'm not mistaken.

So here's the recipe for 3 persons:

3 cups of water
2 small packets of katsuodashi
3 packets of fresh udon
1-2 tablespoon of dried wakame
Shoyu
1 stalk of leek


First, rinse the udon under cold water before cooking it for 1-2 minutes in hot-boiled water, set aside. For the soup, boil 3 cups of water, then add in the 2 small packets of katsuodashi. Keep on stirring till all mixed, before adding in shoyu. I don't actually measure how much, as this is according to your own taste, whether you'd like it mild or salty. Last, add in the wakame and boil for 1-2 minutes, adding in half a cup of water if necessary. To serve, put in the udon in the bowl first before pouring in the soup. Chop the leek as garnishing, and you could also add in tempura or aburaage (sweetened deep fried tofu), or even fish cakes.

You could also use soba for this recipe, but my kids prefer udon. Itadakimasu!

Salmon Soup

The whole family just love salmon, as steak or any type of cooking, and this soup is well loved by my kids. It's actually my husband's recipe, mind you, and he never wanted to share it till he had to work further than us, in KL to be exact, and becoming weekend-husband a.k.a weekend-papa to the kids *grin* So, like it or not, he had to teach me, since my kids sometimes request for this soup on weekday, so that's how I got this well-guarded recipe of his :P It's a Japanese food, again, and this time, you need to use a special Japanese ingredient to make it - dashi. You can easily get Dashi in Jusco, and I prefer to use those pack with small packets inside, as you'll need 1 small packet in each soup pot, so easier to measure. Also, you can use any part of salmon, prerably the head with bone parts, which you can get very cheap at either Jusco or Carrefour whenever available. I usually got questions from curious eyes when I buy this, why do you buy the bones? My answer is to make fish soup and they looked surprised at first but curious enough to buy one to try *grin* You can also add in some flesh parts, it'll be yummier!

400g of salmon
200g daikon cut into cubes
1 potato cut into cubes
4-5 leaves of Chinese cabbage also cut
1 carrot sliced thickly about 1/2cm each
2 Japanese negi/spring onion sliced 2-3cm each
1 block of soft tofu cut into cubes
1 packet of enoki mushrooms
3 cups of water
1 small packet of dashi

Boil daikon, potato and carrot till tender. Then, add in dashi and stir well to mix. Add in salmon, other vegetables but avoid much stirring, make it very minimal. Finally, add in tofu. If necessary, add in salt and pepper to taste..usually I don't. Very simple and fast!

Cream Stew

This is another recipe which you can use the white sauce from the Macaroni Gratin. It's simple and nutricious, also something I learnt from Japan. In Japan, mothers will cook this during winter as it kinda warm you up. It's also good to make your kids eat up their vegetables without even realizing it :)

I use US or russet potatoes as they are softer once cooked, but you can still use other potatoes but may need to boil longer.

1 cup of white sauce (refer to Macaroni Gratin's recipe)
3 cups of water (use more if needed to)
2-3 spoon of butter
2-3 pieces of chicken fillet cut into bite-size cubes
1 green onion cut into 8 cubes
1-2 US or russet potatoes cut into bite-size cubes
1 carrot cut into bite-size cubes
1 stick of celery cut into bite-size cubes
5-6 medium size button mushrooms cut into 4 each (you can use fresh or canned ones)
Some broccoli cut into bite-size
2 cups of milk
1 cup of whipped cream (optional, you can always replace it back with milk if you don't like this to be so creamy)
Chicken stock (1 cup of broth or 1 cube of instant one)
Salt, pepper and dried parsley to taste

First, boil carrots and potatoes till tender and remove half of the vegetable stock (you can keep it to be used for other cooking). In another pot, melt butter and fry the chicken cubes with celery and onion. Once half cooked, add in mushrooms and broccoli, stir-fry a bit before adding in the carrots and potatoes together with the remaining vegetable stock. Stir in everything till all quite cooked. Add in the white sauce and stir well, you may use a whipper as the sauce tends to clump. Once set, add in milk and chicken stock. You can add in more milk or replace with whipped cream or cream cheese, according to your preference. If the stew is not thick enough, you can mix 1-2 tablespoon of flour with half a cup of warm water, then add in and keep on stirring. Finally, add in salt, pepper and dried parsley for taste. Serve hot!