October 22, 2011

Shirataki vs. Ito Konnyaku/白滝(しらたき)vs.糸こんにゃく

Sissi's post related to shirataki made me want to make a single dish using both shirataki and ito konnyaku. After much thought, however, I decided to make two separate dishes.
Sissiさんの白滝に関する投稿を読んで、私も白滝と糸こんにゃくの両方を使って一つの料理を作りたいと思いました。色々と考えた結果、別々の料理を2つ作ることにしました。

Top: Shirataki
Buttom: Ito konnyaku
上: 白滝
下: 糸こんにゃく
I can't speak for other areas of Japan, but at least in my area (Snow Country), ito konnyaku is thicker than shirataki. I was born and bred in Tokyo; I was familiar with shirataki, and I had never heard of ito konnyaku until I came to the Snow Country.
日本の他の地域のことは知りませんが、少なくとも私が住む地域(雪国)では、糸こんにゃくのほうが白滝より太いです。私は生まれも育ちも東京なので、白滝はよく知ってましたが、雪国に来るまでは「糸こんにゃく」は聞いたことがありませんでした。

The back of the pack of shirataki says that it has 6 kcal per 100 g.
白滝のパックの裏側には、カロリーは100 g当たり6 kcalと書かれています。
Shirataki, rinsed and drained:
洗って、水切りした白滝:
I made chuka sarada (Chinese-style salad), replacing harusame with shirataki.
春雨を白滝に代えて、中華サラダを作りました。
It was as good as normal chuka sarada!
Ingredients:
1 pack (300 g) shirataki
2 cucumbers
1 pack kani kama (fake crab meat)

60 ml soy sauce
60 ml vinegar
20 ml sugar
(3:1:1 ratio)
Correction: 3:3:1 ratio!
Edited to add: I also added some sesame oil and some white sesame seeds.

Shirataki (and ito konnyaku) must be boiled in water for a few minutes to remove odor.

普通の中華サラダと同じく美味しかったです!
材料:
白滝 1パック(300 g)
きゅうり 2本
かにかま 1パック

しょう油 60 ml
お酢 60 ml
砂糖 20 ml
(割合は3:1:1)
訂正: 3:3:1の割合です

追記: ごま油も少し、白ごまも少し入れました。

白滝は(糸こんにゃくも)、お湯で数分茹でて、臭みを取る必要があります。

Ito konnyaku, rinsed and drained:
洗って、水切りした糸こんにゃく:
I made tondon (pork donburi), to be more precise, tondon topping, using the ito konnyaku.
糸こんにゃくを使って、豚丼、正確に言えば、豚丼の具を作りました。
Ingredients:
250 g pork, thinly sliced
1 onion
1 pack (320 g) ito konnyaku
Ginger, grated
Garlic (I used dried garlic)

200 ml dashi (200 ml water + 1/3 tsp instant dashi)
50 ml soy sauce
50 ml mirin
(4:1:1 ratio)

Simmer all ingredients for 10 min.

材料:
薄切り豚肉 250 g
玉ねぎ 1個
糸こんにゃく 1パック(320 g)
おろし生姜
にんにく(私は乾燥にんにくを使いました)

出汁 200 ml(水200 mlに出汁の素小さじ1/3)
しょう油 50 ml
みりん 50 ml
(割合は4:1:1)

材料をすべて10分煮ます。

I like beni shoga (red pickled ginger) very much, so I always put a lot of it!
私は紅しょうがが大好きなので、いつもいっぱい載せます!

7 comments:

Arthur3030 said...

Hmm. It all looks good. I use konnyaku, but i've never really known what to do with shirataki. Maybe now I'll give it a try.

Hiroyuki said...

Arthur3030: It's good to see you again!

Shirataki and ito konnyaku are versatile. You can get some ideas from COOKPAD, for example:
http://cookpad.com/category/1438

I first thought I would make something unusual, but I ended up using them in common dishes...

muskratbyte said...

Both look absolutely delicious! Now I have two new dishes to make! I love shirataki and konnyaku. I bought a couple of packages of shirataki recently. Then the next day, my mother gave me two more packages! I've mostly used it in Japanese soups, but recently I've been eating shirataki in a cold salad. I simply rinse the noodles, then marinade in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar and sesame seed. Sometimes I top is with shichimi togarashi - DELICIOUS!

Hiroyuki said...

muskrat: Shirataki/ito konnyaku is often used in nabe (one-pot dishes), especially sukiyaki. It is also often used in gyudon (beef bowl), as a sort of extender.

I hope you find more interesting uses of shirataki/ito konnyaku.

Sissi said...

Hiroyki, thank you this perfect comparison of shirataki and ito konnyaku and for the link to my blog!
Frankly, for me both look practically the same! I wish my grocer imorted ito konnyaku once so that I could look at both closely.
Both dishes look excellent and I have already memorised them to broaden my list of konnyaku noodles dishes. Thank you for the ideas.
I am happy to see you also like sesame seeds (I add them to most of the salads I make).

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Thank *you* for inspiring me to make these dishes!

I like to add sesame seeds to Japanese-style salads, and like many Japanese, I like to add canned corn to potato and other salads. (Do you know that the Japanese like to add canned corn to pizzas?)

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, I am very flattered I can inspire any of your culinary creations!
I didn't know it, but I have already seen corn on pizzas somewhere... It is certainly a better idea than adding pineapple (I hate pizza with pineapples). I sometimes add canned corn or frozen peas to rice (this way I cheat my eyes and eat less rice, which is one of my addictions...) and whenever I make a salad without green salad I almost always add corn too! (But I didn't know it was a Japanese habit). Canned tuna, canned corn, rice, pickles and mayonnaise make an excellent quick salad!