December 1, 2011

Japanese-Style, An Kake Mapo Tofu/和風餡かけマーボー豆腐

As part of supper tonight, I made Japanese-style (not spicy), an kake mapo tofu.
An has two meanings: sweet bean jam and thickened sauce. In an kake, an means the latter.
Kake < kakeru = to pour

Ingredients (4 servings)
1 tofu (silken or momen), diced
I used silken this time.
150 g ground pork
1/2 naga negi, finely chopped
1 knob ginger, grated

200 ml water
20 ml soy sauce
20 ml mirin
15 ml sake

30 ml potato starch
30 ml water to dissolve starch

今日の夕飯には、和風(辛くない)餡かけマーボー豆腐を作りました。
餡(あん)には意味が二つあります。甘い豆のジャムと、とろみをつけたソース。餡かけの「餡」は後者の意味です。
かけ < かける(pour)

材料(4人分)
豆腐(絹または木綿) 一丁 さいの目
今回は絹を使いました。
豚の挽き肉 150 g
長ねぎ 1/2本 みじん切り
しょうが 1かけ おろす

水 200 ml
しょう油 20 ml
みりん 20 ml
お酒 15 ml

片栗粉 30 ml
片栗粉を溶かす水 30 ml

An:
餡:



Diced tofu in four individual bowls:
4つの器に入れた、さいの目の豆腐:
I first microwaved the tofu and then poured some an.
まずは電子レンジで豆腐を加熱してから、餡をかけました。
Mapo tofu, together with two other dishes and a bowl of miso soup:
マーボー豆腐、他の料理2品、味噌汁一杯:

Later, my wife came home and served this:
後で、妻が帰って来て、これを出してくれました。
Ama ebi (sweet shrimp) sold at half the price!
半額で売っていた甘エビ!

I can't complain. I myself is a half-price item getter!
文句は言いません。私も半額ゲッターです!

16 comments:

  1. HIroyuki, your mapo tofu sounds really good. It makes me want to make mapo tofu, but the very hot one :-)
    Thank you for the short Japanese lesson.
    I also am constantly hunting for special prices...

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  2. Sissi: Mapo tofu tastes good, but it looks like... vomit. The an kake style looks better, doesn't it?

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  3. Sissi: Hot as in black hot bean sauce: chinese mapo dofu?

    The sweet ebi are looking good too. I often try to buy price reduzed products but it is a question of time and distance and appetite. I managed to buy pretty cheap persimmons: 1.79 Euros / 1 kg at a turkish supermarket in the red light district of the big city. The surrounding is not so nice (laugh), a little bit exotic, but these supermarkets are really cheap.

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  4. Kiki: Red light district? In Japan, there are officially no such districts (laugh). Shinjuku Golden Gai
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinjuku_Golden_Gai
    the locale of the TV drama, Shinya Shokudo, used to be such a district.

    So, you mean you bought persimmons that are still astringent? Or, do they already have their astringency removed? Anyway, I hope you succeed in making hoshi gaki. (Well, I know you can, considering your culinary and other skills!)

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  5. I love Mapo Tofu, but I prefer mine spicy as well. (Your picture is making me crave it!) I would like to try sweet shrimp. I've only seen it at sushi restaurants, and it was quite expensive, $8 for 2 pieces! Also, I appreciate the explanation of Japanese terms. ;O)

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  6. No red light districts in Japan - where are the soaplands - my son told me some stories... Yes we have, all legal and fine even the whores have to pay taxes and health insurance. That's were you can find everything form gambling parlour to table dance, brothels and good night clubs or not so good, cinemas for a very certain kind of films, restaurants, diners, bars, hotels (low prices but only 1 hour stay), "ladies" in fancy dresses showing nearly everything while waiting for some customers at the roadside (or if the customers are more into guys that too) and turkish supermarkets and asia markets and cheap stores with trashy oriental products (dresses for belly dancers and such) or lingerie (for certain occasions - I think most if this laced or leather or rubber stuff will heart some parts of the body quite a lot).

    Persimmons: They are still a bit astringent but I am sure not as much as the japanese persimmons.

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  7. muskrat: You can always add some doubanjiang to my recipe to make it spicy.

    I told my children that they could add some gochujang to their portions if they liked them spicy, but they didn't add any.

    I prefer seasoning a dish lightly so that each diner can make modifications to their own portions.

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  8. Kiki: Prostitution is illegal in Japan, but we have the so-called Fuuei Hou (風営法), short for Fuuzoku Eigyou Hou (風俗営業法).

    Do you remember that in Episode 11 (first episode of Shinya Shokudo 2), the detective replied to the customers in Shinya Shokudo, "I'm not in the Fuuei section (風営課じゃないよ、俺は)?

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  9. Hiroyuki, I never judge food by its looks (ajo no hiraki looks scary and it's one of the best fish dishes!).
    Kiki: I mean the mapo dofu with black beans and the wonderful Sichuan pepper that pleasantly paralyses my tongue... I love it. Maybe I'll make it this weekend.
    I also buy many vegetables from Turkish vendors, but on the standard farmers market (especially chilies and long peppers that I stuff Hungarian way). The also have persimmons, but somehow I feel they are very sweet...
    Hiroyuki and Kiki: Prostitution is also legal in Switzerland. I prefer it this way. At least most prostitutes (I hope) are not in such danger and they don't live at the margin of the society... However there are cases of some illegal immigrants who are badly treated.
    The red light district is simply next to the train station: very convienient for travellers (just joking!).

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  10. Oddly enough, about the time I started to thaw some pork and get ingredients together for Sichuan-style mapo tofu... the local police were chasing a suspected pimp through the neighborhood.

    The recipe looks amazing, and I can't wait to try it (somehow I had frozen a bad package of pork). Prostitution is illegal here in Texas, though that of course doesn't stop anything (especially abuse or diseases).

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  11. Ruminating Roy: Enjoy your mapo tofu, whether it be spicy or not and whether it be "an kake" or not!

    Obviously, banning prostitition causes it to go underground, providing yakuza with good sources of income.

    In Japan, we have another problem: Enjo kosai
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enjo_k%C5%8Dsai

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  12. Hiroyuki, thank you for the link. Apparently a similar thing exists among female students in some Western countries. I have recently seen a French tv program about students (French) who become prostitutes (part-time of course).

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  13. 私も半額ゲッターですよ!
    A little off topic that I've been meaning to ask you. I bought a jar of 練り黒ゴマ、black sesame paste, but I don't know what to do with it. I use the 練り白ゴマ often for salad dressing and shabu shabu dipping sauce. よろしくおねがいします!

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  14. okasan: Unfortunately, I have never bought or used neri goma (white or black).

    Obviously, it can be used to make goma ae.

    This site
    http://item.rakuten.co.jp/gomayamada/y0109/
    says it can be used in/with/for:
    nimono (simmered dishes), noodle dipping sauce, miso soup, ponzu, ice cream, cream puff, dipping sauce, yogurt, etc.

    This site
    http://erecipe.woman.excite.co.jp/search/?word=%E7%B7%B4%E3%82%8A%E9%BB%92%E3%82%B4%E3%83%9E&_token=0893b56e3cfe111
    lists a large number of dishes made with goma paste.

    I think this soy milk black sesame smoothie sounds delicious:
    http://cookpad.com/recipe/371734

    If you find any particular recipes you are interested in, I can help you with the translation.

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  15. ひろゆきさん、ほんとうにありがとうございました。
    リンクはたくさん美味しそうなレシピです。
    黒ジャージャー麺、ニンジンパスタ、団子、全部が作りたいです。
    I am surprised that you've never used nerigoma, you probably make your own nerigoma!Do you use nerigoma dare for your shabu shabu? I just love the sauce, it goes so well with tofu.
    I know you like yuzu koshou and kanzuri. Ever since you introduced me to yuzu koshou 柚子胡椒 it has become a staple item in my kitchen. I have to hunt down a jar of kanzuri to try.

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  16. okasan: Pre-made nerigoma is too expensive for me to buy! I always keep a large (1 kg) bag of white sesame seeds in the storage space, as well as a smaller bag of black sesame seeds, and I have a Milser (small blender) in the kitchen!

    I like nerigoma dare, too! I like to have salad with home-made nerigoma sauce. My son is a huge fan of spinach goma ae.

    Yes, I like Kanzuri, but it's rather expensive (more expensive than yuzu kosho), so I don't have one in the fridge at the moment. I frequently use yuzu kosho!

    If you have any problems translating a recipe, feel free to ask.

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