Japanese Stir Fry

We are in Japan now!  My husband and I are serving a mission in Tsuruoka, Japan.  We are so happy to be here.  We are having so much fun experiencing the culture and cuisine of this land.  So my posts may be less frequent and the foods may reflect my new surroundings.  We are having amazing culinary experiences.  Every week, the members of the branch gather together on Tuesday evening and cook and eat.  It is a thrill to watch these ladies cook the foods of their land.  I take notes, but until I do it, I’m not sure if I’m getting it all. 

A dish I’ve already made several times is Japanese Stir Fry.  A rice cooker is an essential piece of kitchen equipment here.  In fact, it’s the main piece.  The rice cooker is very heavy duty and it cooks a lot of things besides rice (including our glazed Christmas ham slices)  You put the rice in and it cooks and then it keeps it warm and moist and ready to eat for literally days.  Since Japanese people often eat rice three meals a day, this is very convenient.  So, that’s where this recipe starts.  Cook some sticky, white rice (or you can do as we do and mix it with brown rice.)

Japanese Stir Fry

Cooked meat, cut up, any kind: ham, chicken, beef, pork  (opt.)  amount to taste  You can start by cooking the meat, which is what I usually do.

Vegetables of your choice:

Dikon (big Japanese radish- a staple in Japan.  It tastes like a radish when raw, but when cooked, is more like a potato), cut up

Cabbage, shredded

Green onion, sliced

Mushrooms (they have many more varieties here), sliced

Carrots, sliced

Broccoli, cut up

Cauliflower, cut up

Sauce:

Soy Sauce

Sugar, (a couple of Tablespoons)

Garlic granules or you can use fresh garlic in with the vegetables

2 eggs

Heat some oil in a large skillet or wok. Add the meat and cook (if not already cooked- like ham)  Stir fry the vegetables until tender.  Add the cooked meat and stir fry together for a minute, then add 2 eggs in the hot pan and scramble and stir in with veggies and meat.  Pour the sauce over and cook until hot and bubbly.  Serve over hot rice, sprinkled with sesame seeds.  Serve with sesame seed dressing (it’s the most popular salad dressing here- called Goma Dressing) and sprinkled with sesame seeds.