Tofu Beer Stew Food

KIMCHI SOONDUBU JJIGAE

Steps:

• Cut the meat and kimchi into small thin strips. Add the kimchi, meat, red chili pepper flakes, garlic and sesame oil to a small pot, and place it over medium heat.
• Stir-fry until the meat is almost cooked, 3 - 4 minutes.
• Pour in water (or broth) and the juice from the kimchi. Bring it to a boil, and continue to boil for 3 - 4 minutes. Skim off the scum.
• Add the soft tofu in big chunks. Stir in the salted shrimp or salt to taste (start with 1/4 teaspoon) and black pepper. Cook for 4 -5 minutes. Add the chopped scallion just before removing the pot from the heat. If desired, crack an egg into the stew to serve while it's still boiling hot.

CHANKO NABE (SUMO STEW)

Steps:

• Gather all the ingredients for the Chanko Nabe broth. This 6-inch grater works great for grating ginger and collecting the juice from grating it. In this recipe, we use only the juice of the ginger.
• In a donabe clay pot, Dutch oven, or large pot, combine the chicken broth, sake, mirin, ginger juice, and garlic. Bring it all to a simmer over medium heat.
• Once simmering, transfer several spoonfuls of the broth into a measuring cup or small bowl. Then, add the miso to the measuring cup and stir until smooth and combined.
• Gradually add the miso mixture back into the broth in the pot, stirring to dissolve any lumps. Once you've incorporated the miso, do not let the broth boil. Turn off the heat as soon as the broth starts to simmer and small bubbles appear around the edges of the pot.
• Gather all the meatball ingredients.
• In a large bowl, combine the chicken, ginger juice, soy sauce, cornstarch, panko, green onion, and half of the beaten egg (reserving the remaining half for another use). Using your hands, mix it all together.
• Once the mixture becomes pale and well combined, shape it into 1-inch (2.5 cm) meatballs. If the mixture is too loose to form meatballs, sprinkle in additional panko, as needed.
• Cut the cod fillet into 2-inch (5 cm) chunks. Peel and devein the shrimp. Cut the sliced pork belly into 2-inch pieces. Trim the visible fat from the chicken thighs and cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Cut the tofu into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes. Separate the napa cabbage leaves and cut them into smaller pieces. Finally, slice the carrot and make flower-shaped cutouts with a vegetable cutter.
• Cut the negi (long green onions) diagonally into 1-inch-thick pieces, cut the green onions into 2-inch (5 cm) lengths, and remove the stems of the shiitake mushrooms, making a decorative cut on the caps if desired.
• Place all the stew ingredients-the meatballs, seafood, pork belly, chicken, tofu, carrot slices, napa cabbage, negi, green onions, and mushrooms-on platters. Set the platters on the table.
• Pour the ponzu sauce and sesame sauce (goma dare) into individual dipping bowls at each place setting along with chopsticks, a soup spoon (optional), and a soup bowl.
• Set a portable gas burner on the table next to the platters of ingredients. Place the donabe or pot filled with the Chanko Nabe broth on top of the burner. If you don't have a portable gas stove, you can cook the stew on the stovetop, transfer it to a large bowl, and serve it family style. Or, you can bring the pot to the table and enjoy each batch, then return it to the stove to start a new batch.
• Bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat. Once simmering, add the fish, tofu, tough parts of napa cabbage, negi, carrots, and some mushrooms. You don't have to put all the ingredients in at once; you may cook in batches if you prefer. Cover to cook for 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the fish is cooked. Transfer the cooked food to individual soup bowls. Then, add the meatballs, meat (or more fish), and vegetables to the broth, and cook covered for 10 minutes. Be aware that the vegetables and tofu cook more quickly than the meatballs, seafood, and chicken.
• Keep the broth at a simmer the entire time. If the liquid gets low, add a little water or chicken broth to have enough liquid to heat the noodles or rice at the end. Even though you are thinning the broth, the flavorful ingredients you are cooking continue to enrich it.
• When diners are ready for the final course, remove any solids in the broth and add the rice or precooked udon noodles. Simmer until heated through, then ladle into the soup bowls and serve.
• You can keep the leftovers in the pot or in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 24-36 hours. Reheat to enjoy.

BEEF AND BEER STEW

Steps:

• Coat the beef cubes with the flour and add them along with the onions and cooking oil into the pot.
• Cook this over a medium heat until the onions are softer (almost see-through) and don't worry about the flour turnig into a paste on the bottom of the pot the next step will see to that- just don't burn it.
• Add the beer, beef/lamb stock and vegetable stock and stir until the bottom of the pot is clean.
• Add the tomato paste/sauce, the nutmeg and some salt and pepper to taste. The more pepper you add to the stew the hotter it will be.It is actually quite good at a medium spicy level. You can also add some dried herbs if you like.
• Bring the mixture to a boil.
• Turn the heat down and simmer at a low heat, stirring occasionally, for at least 1 hour.\ (You can't really overcook a stew.)
• Add the vegetables (green beans, carrots and potatoes) and bring it all back to a boil- you can add as many vegetables as you like just use water to cover them if they stick out of the liquid in the pot. The more potatoes you add, the better the stew will be on it's own.
• Simmer on a low heat for at least another hour (remember, you can't overcook a stew), stirring occasionally.
• If, after an hour you find that your stew is too juicy, you can take the lid off and try to steam away some of the liquid or, for a quick fix, add a little cornstarch mixed with water to thicken it up (the directions for how to do this should be on the pack.)
• Serve with rice, or as is if you have added a lot of potatoes.