Flavours of Japan

Passport & Plate - Ginger Beef and Chahan

Japan | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
CHAHAN:

2 cups (250 grams) of white rice
1 carrot, cooked and sliced
2 spring onions, sliced
2 eggs
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons yakitori sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
pinch of pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

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GINGER BEEF:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound beef tenderloin, cut into strips
1/3 cup mirin
3 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons grated ginger
1 green onion, minced
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
4 slices of fresh daikon
scallions, to taste
1 tablespoon of pickled ginger
soy powder
dried basil, to taste

 

How to prepare this recipe
You will be cooking the fried rice (chahan) alongside the ginger beef. Rice is an essential part of most any Japanese meal, and cooking both together means you'll be able to enjoy them hot off the pan!

Begin with the ginger beef. Cut your beef into strips, and cook over a low flame in a pan combined with vegetable oil. While it cooks, combine your mirin, soy sauce, ginger, green onion, and lemon juice in a small bowl, then transfer to a large resealable bag. When the beef has browned, let it cool and then transfer it to a baggie, and place in the fridge. Allow it to marinate in the fridge for about two hours. With about twenty minutes to go, pre-heat your oven to 65°C/150°F.

Once you are ready to remove it from the fridge (more than two hours of marinating is also fine!), pour the entire contents into a baking dish. Apply lemon, salt, and pepper over the top, then set it into the oven to heat up for about 30 minutes.

While it is heating, begin your Chahan. Use a rice cooker or a boiling pot of water to cook your rice. Then, in a bowl, combine your sliced carrots, onion, and egg and whisk until the yolk is even throughout. Heat up a pan with vegetable oil, then add the mixture of eggs and vegetables, scrambling it as you go. When the eggs are cooked, add the finished rice to the pan, along with the yakitori sauce, soy sauce, pepper and (if you like, and I do!) cayenne pepper. Stir fry until the rice has browned lightly, about five minutes.

Place a heaping portion of rice into a bowl. Then, chop your daikon and set the fresh slices onto a plate (dusting a bit of soy powder on top, to cut the bitterness). Beside them, place your beef strips when they are ready. Slice scallion to put on top, add cold pickled ginger, and dried basil, to taste.

You're all ready! Eat the meat over the rice, and clear your palette between strips with the fresh daikon. Itadakimasu!!!

 

The story behind this recipe
As a child, culture fascinated me. I wanted to learn everything there was to know about other countries, and how other peoples expressed themselves through their languages, customs, and yes- through their foods. Japanese was one of the languages I decided to undertake the study of when I was thirteen, and after a year of learning, I was touched when my Japanese teacher invited me to have a cooking lesson with her. She explained to me that Japanese people show a lot of their love through food, and that cooking together forms strong bonds. The first recipe she ever taught me was for ginger beef. Ginger, not a common ingredient in Western cooking, had a strong and pungent flavour that appealed to me even as it surprised me. It felt grainy, smelled amazing, and tasted so differently when it was cooked versus raw or pickled. Cooking the ginger beef over three hours was also a treat, as it allowed for me to spend time with my teacher, since food at its heart is about connecting people. While the beef marinated, I learned to plate in the Japanese way, and what all the names for the ingredients were in that language. Unfortunately, the rice in the West is not as plump and soft as it is in the East, due to long import routes. Wishing to serve the Ginger Beef over rice, but wanting the rice to be an equal treat, we decided to make Chahan: Japanese fried rice. Chahan is usually eaten on its own, not served with meat dishes in Japan. However, we were making due with the local ingredients, and fusing ideas in an exciting way. To that end, we also added cayenne pepper and basil to the recipes. Though not customarily Japanese ingredients, we saw an opportunity to make something really special with what was locally grown. As food is about fellowship and trying new things, we felt excited about the idea of adding new spice, colour, and tang to the dish, combining cultural inputs, and really creating something both meaningful and delicious.