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Japanese cooking shortcuts, tips

Hiroyuki

By Hiroyuki
in Japan: Cooking & Baking

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
Posted

TV shows are good sources of cooking tips. I guess you have heard the show, Itouke no Shokutaku, which offers urawaza (tricks or tips) for various matters.

Website of Itouke no Shokutaku

http://www.ntv.co.jp/ito-ke/

(Japanese only)

Cooking tips culled from Itouke no Shokutaku

http://olive.zero.ad.jp/~zbd86454/Cooking.html

(Japanese only)

Some tips are good and practicable while others are quite silly. I once tried the tip for making lean tuna taste like fatty tuna using mayonnaise that I learned from the show, but it was a failure.

I think I'll try those cooking tips from this and other shows that I find interesting and report on my findings here.

Of course, anyone who can read Japanese is welcome to do the same.

Here is another interesting webpage:

http://www.ntv.co.jp/FERC/research/20040125/f0166.html

(Japanese only)

And, do you know of any other good sources of cooking tips?

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I haven't tried this urawaza (trick) yet, but my wife has. She says it worked.

Making whipped cream quickly

Add 3 tablespoons of jam (any type of jam) to 200 ml of fresh cream and beat. This way, you can make whipped cream very quickly, in about 45 seconds.

My blog
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Making onion paste more quickly

http://www.ntv.co.jp/ito-ke/new2/urawaza/20041109/01_02.html

(Japanese only)

3 onions

1 tsp (= 5 cc) salt

Thinly cut onions and put them in a bowl.

Add salt and mix well.

Pan-fry.

This way, you can make onion paste in 15 minutes. Without salt, it takes 38 minutes to make it.

I tried this urawaza (trick) once, but I didn't measure the amount of salt and I pan-fried for 5 or 6 minutes only. I made Japanese curry with the onion paste and store-bought curry roux. The resulting curry was rather salty. I should have added the right amount of salt.

If you make onion soup, you will find this trick very useful.

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torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted
I haven't tried this urawaza (trick) yet, but my wife has.  She says it worked.

Making whipped cream quickly

Add 3 tablespoons of jam (any type of jam) to 200 ml of fresh cream and beat.  This way, you can make whipped cream very quickly, in about 45 seconds.

but wouldn't the cream taste like jam?

The kids that I often baby sat for last year used to love this show so we watched it when they were over. Some of their hints/tricks were interesting, unfortunately I can't remember any of them.....

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
I haven't tried this urawaza (trick) yet, but my wife has.  She says it worked.

Making whipped cream quickly

Add 3 tablespoons of jam (any type of jam) to 200 ml of fresh cream and beat.  This way, you can make whipped cream very quickly, in about 45 seconds.

but wouldn't the cream taste like jam?

The kids that I often baby sat for last year used to love this show so we watched it when they were over. Some of their hints/tricks were interesting, unfortunately I can't remember any of them.....

No, no need to worry. The flavor of jam is so subtle you wouldn't notice it.

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dougery

dougery

Posted
Posted

Please forgive me for going slightly off topic.

Believe it or not, one of the most interesting cooking episodes I have seen was "The Iron Chef" when the food of choice was natto. The chef's were doing some amazing things with natto... I wasn't so sure If I could stomach the dessert though. If my memory serves me, I think one of the chefs made a deep fried natto cookie with ice cream?

I can't remember the specifics of this program, but I do remember watching this episode with a focussed intensity!

This definitely helped me think more "outside of the box" when it comes to particular types of food.

"Live every moment as if your hair were on fire" Zen Proverb

  • 7 months later...
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
I haven't tried this urawaza (trick) yet, but my wife has.  She says it worked.

Making whipped cream quickly

Add 3 tablespoons of jam (any type of jam) to 200 ml of fresh cream and beat.  This way, you can make whipped cream very quickly, in about 45 seconds.

I tried this urawaza the other day to make my daughter's birthday cake with my children.

It did work for me, taking much less time to make whipped cream.

gallery_16375_5_51900.jpg

Peach slices on top. Strawberries are not available now. :sad:

Decoration was done entirely by my children.

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Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
beautiful!

So how did the cream taste? could you taste the jam?

I did notice a hint of strawberry jam when I licked the whipped cream, but I didn't when I ate the cake (because of all the other flavors, I think).

My blog
  • 6 months later...
Tim Hayward

Tim Hayward

Posted
Posted

Via the nerdily useful Lifehacker blog, here's a video clip from a Japanese TV programme on how to peel a potato in one go.

Utterly brilliant. The secret is obviously iced water.

Video link here

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

Megan Blocker

Megan Blocker

Posted
Posted

That is a great idea...though the video in itself is pretty hilarious...I love the Batman-esque callouts at the bottom of the screen, and the fast-action 10-second countdown. :laugh:

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

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mizducky

mizducky

Posted
Posted

That was a neat trick, though ... not only useful, but if I ever wind up teaching a kids' cooking class, I must remember to haul this trick out to show them.

Oh, and the video on how to peel shrimp shell easily and neatly is pretty cute 'n' useful too.

Hiroyuki, are they saying anything especially amusing in the voice-overs or captions on these videos? (One of these centuries, I need to try to learn some Japanese...)

Ellen Terris Brenner

Examiner.com: San Diego Budget Meals Examiner

eG Foodblogs: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Hiroyuki, are they saying anything especially amusing in the voice-overs or captions on these videos? (One of these centuries, I need to try to learn some Japanese...)

OK, I watched the videos again. Well, none in particular.

For those of you who want to try those tricks:

As for the potato trick, just make a 1-mm deep cut all around the potato, boil it, and put it in iced water in ten seconds.

As for the shrimp one, just make three cuts as illustrated.

I don't think I'll ever use those tricks. :biggrin:

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maggiethecat

maggiethecat

Posted
Posted
Hiroyuki, are they saying anything especially amusing in the voice-overs or captions on these videos? (One of these centuries, I need to try to learn some Japanese...)

OK, I watched the videos again. Well, none in particular.

For those of you who want to try those tricks:

As for the potato trick, just make a 1-mm deep cut all around the potato, boil it, and put it in iced water in ten seconds.

As for the shrimp one, just make three cuts as illustrated.

I don't think I'll ever use those tricks. :biggrin:

I just adored the makeshift corkscrew that was used to strip crab legs, and the "How to get potatoes to retain their shape " video. Cool. (Even cooler, the "How to fold a Tshirt in Split Seconds.) But , dear Hiroyuki, were they really spitting ice water on those adorable babies to make them stop crying? And could you please translate the "How to Cook Dumplings" video? I want to know!

And Tim, thanks for sharing.

Margaret McArthur

"Take it easy, but take it."

Studs Terkel

1912-2008

A sensational tennis blog from freakyfrites

margaretmcarthur.com

Joe Blowe

Joe Blowe

Posted
Posted (edited)

I saw this at Digg yesterday. And then I thought to myself, didn't I see Jeff Smith (a/k/a Frugal Gourmet) do this a dozen or so years ago...

Edited to add the MotherLink: http://crazyjapan.blogspot.com/2006/02/sec...poneses-al.html

Edited by Joe Blowe (log)

So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money. But when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."

So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
But , dear Hiroyuki, were they really spitting ice water on those adorable babies to make them stop crying?  And could you please translate the "How to Cook Dumplings" video? I want to know!

No, it's just what a sommelier does to taste wine. The video says that the tasting sound is at about 7000 Hz, and the sound that a baby finds pleasant is in the range of 6000 to 8000 Hz. That's why the tasting sound makes a baby stop crying.

The dumpling video does not explain how to do that trick :angry: , so I had to find another site that does.

from here (never mind, it's in Japanese)

http://aruaru-supasupa.seesaa.net/article/2324249.html#more

1. Arrange dumplings in a frying pan.

2. Put cold water to half the height of the dumplings.

3. Turn on the heat. When the water boils, discard it.

4. Add 1 tbsp oil.

5. Cook for 2 minutes on high heat.

This way, you can make crispy dumplings in about 5 minutes.

This trick sounds good. :biggrin:

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snowangel

snowangel

Posted
Posted

It could be important to make the cut ahead of time so that some water can work it's magic while it's cooking to make it easier.

Susan Fahning aka "snowangel"
Tim Hayward

Tim Hayward

Posted
Posted

Well if you thought that was weird try this one...

Sausage Sushi

How to carve wieners into amusing shapes...

I'm stunned

Tim Hayward

"Anyone who wants to write about food would do well to stay away from

similes and metaphors, because if you're not careful, expressions like

'light as a feather' make their way into your sentences and then where are you?"

Nora Ephron

  • 2 weeks later...
tejon

tejon

Posted
Posted

It really does work! The next time I make potato salad for a crowd, it'll go a lot more quickly.

I tried the dumpling trick recently and was amazed at how well it worked. The dumplings were perfectly cooked, nicely browned on the bottom, and all came apart easily. I'll be making them this way from now on.

gallery_9138_54_25059.jpg

Kathy

Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. - Harriet Van Horne

torakris

torakris

Posted
Posted
It really does work! The next time I make potato salad for a crowd, it'll go a lot more quickly.

I tried the dumpling trick recently and was amazed at how well it worked. The dumplings were perfectly cooked, nicely browned on the bottom, and all came apart easily. I'll be making them this way from now on.

gallery_9138_54_25059.jpg

Those are some of the prettiest gyoza I have ever seen!

I ran across that trick a while ago but I always forget to try it out...

Kristin Wagner, aka "torakris"

 

Raquel

Raquel

Posted
Posted

"How to refresh 5 hours old sour taste coffee" - Did anyone see this video? What is the white, granular substance used to take away the sour... Is it salt?

raquel

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe -Roy Batty

Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
"How to refresh 5 hours old sour taste coffee" - Did anyone see this video?  What is the white, granular substance used to take away the sour... Is it salt?

Right, salt. But remember, just a pinch of salt! 0.3 g per cup and no more; otherwise, the coffee would become salty.

My blog
Hiroyuki

Hiroyuki

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Talking of dumplings (gyoza), if you get tired of the same old ones, I recommend making hanetsuki gyoza.

From here

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=887700

Today, I have made hanetsuki gyoza for the first time.

I looked for ways to create hane (wings) and found this:

http://www.nhk.or.jp/hot/onair_old/20050307/20050307a.html

(Japanese only)

1. Add a small amount of water to 2 teaspoons of kyoriki ko (bread flour) and mix well.

2. Add 100 ml of hot water and dissolve well.

Put some oil in a pan, place gyoza, and pour the liquid over them.

Put a lid on and cook for about 4 minutes until the hane (wing) are browned.

Pour oil over and cook for another 30 seconds until the hane become crispy.

You can see the photo here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=895571

You will be amazed at how such a common ingredient as flour can make a difference to the same old gyoza.

My blog
liv4fud

liv4fud

Posted
Posted (edited)

request help in the onion paste video:

the white substance that was added ('shuha'?) is it salt or sugar or something else

don't know Japanese but love that video as its something that Indian cooking can use too.

Also the gyoza trick, is it to drain the water? I watched it a few times but am not able to translate the visualization.

thank you in advance

(edited to use gyoza instead of potsticker)

Edited by liv4fud (log)
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