Sunday, October 24, 2004

Is My Tamagoyaki Burning?

* There was a mistake in the Niku-miso recipe. The correct amount of minced ginger is 1 teasp. It’s fixed now. Very Sorry. :(

Tamagoyaki

Here you go! Today is my personal "Is My Tamagoyaki Burning? (IMTB)" day, and I’m posting 2 Tamagoyaki recipes for pinkcocoa and those who might be interested.

First,
this is probably close to the way they do at most Japanese restaurants. When you use good amount of dashi soup stock like this recipe, the tamagoyaki will be softer and fluffier (and of course tastier!), which means more difficult to roll. You’d definitely want a tamagoyaki pan in this case. (The tamagoyaki pan can heat the bottom and sides of the tamagoyaki at the same time and shapes it into a nice box-like shape.)

There’s an easy way out, though, like most of the things in life. Here’s how we do it in my family. BTW, this was the very first time in my entire life that I used a measuring spoon when making tamagoyaki. I tried to measure some ingredients so that I can write a recipe out of what my mom taught me when I was in elementary school. Yeah, it’s my mom’s way, so I’m warning you: It IS a little “different.”

Tamagoyaki (Sweet)
3 eggs
2 1/2 or 3 teasp sugar
1 pinch salt
1/2 teasp dashi powder
1 1/2 teasp water
2 to 3 drops of soy sauce .... Do Not add too much!!
1 pinch Ajinomonto …optional)


Dashi powder … Maybe you can omit this if not available .....





How to cook: Basically follow the instruction in the page linked above. Just one thing to add: it helps to use kitchen towel soaked in veg. oil to apply the oil before pouring in the egg mixture 2nd and 3rd time.

(Sorry, I roll the other way around, so looks like the egg mixture is on the wrong side in my photo.)


Tamagoyaki with minced scallion and dried baby fish (Savory)
3 eggs
1 pinch salt
1/2 teasp soy sauce
1 to 2 Tblsp dried baby fish
2 to 3 Tblsp minced scallion
(dash Ajinomoto …. optional)

scallion and dried baby fish ..........................................

Instruction: same as above.
You can omit dried baby fish if not available, or substitute with something else.

You can actually play with tamagoyaki, adding whatever you like and inventing your own versions. I added some nori (dried, paper-like seaweed) to the savory one. See the ones in the photo on top with dark lines inside? Honestly, I didn’t like the taste of this nori in Tamagoyaki very much.

Another thing I tried:

Niku-miso (ground meat seasoned with sugar, soy sauce, ginger and miso) rolled in the sweet tamagoyaki.

And here’s the recipe for the Niku-miso, in case someone gets super-curious.

Nikumiso obachan’s version
100 to 150g ground meat (beef and pork)
3 shiitake mushrooms, minced
1/3 carrot, minced
1 pinch salt
2 to 3 teasp sugar
1 dash dashi powder
1 Tblsp mirin (rice wine)
1 1/2 Tblsp Sake
1 1/2 to 2 Tblsp Miso
>1 teasp minced ginger root
1 teasp soy sauce

In a frying pan, heat a little veg. oil. Sautee the meat and minced vegs. Add salt.
Add other seasonings. (When adding Miso, dissolve with Sake and Mirin in a bowl first and add into the frying pan.) Heat until the water evaporates.

This niku-miso really comes in handy when I’m too tired to cook. I can just spread some of it on warm, cooked rice and eat a bowl of rice without any side dishes. Pretty helpful on my lazy days.

So, Pinkcocoa, I guess the seasonings you have there are different from ours. Please make necessary adjustments and enjoy making this Japanese-style omelet!

(* I didn’t make all these tamagoyaki at one time today, so don’t worry. I can't use that many eggs at one time.)


13 comments:

pinkcocoa said...

*yay* obachan, you are the greatest! *smooch*

wow. A IMTB post written just for me *blush* (sorry, I am a little thick-faced! hehe) I am so touched. *sob*

Thanks so much for the post and recipes. I am going to make my own tamagoyaki from now on. hehehe. It's gonna be great in bento! *yippeee*

Alright, I will do a IMTB on my blog once I succeed in making tamayoyaki as beautiful as yours! It's not going to be that soon though. :-( I am moving houses this whole week, so no kitchen to use yet!

pinkcocoa said...

obachan,
I forgot to ask if you are alright from the earthquake!! I hope you are not affected in any way at all!!

obachan said...

Thanks for your concern, pinkcocoa.
The disaster site was far away from where I live now, so I wasn’t actually affected. But it brought back the memories of the Great Hanshin Earthquake (I lived near Kobe at that time), and made me feel almost sick all day. I’m OK now.

Unknown said...

Hi Obachan, it's a relief to know you're far from the epicenter...Also, I can now relax whenever I crack open a dashi-no-moto powder pack. It's ok, Obachan uses it too! It adds a very distinct flavor, I love it for dipping sauces. nice photos and looks easy to make.Thanks!

pinkcocoa said...

obachan
relief to know that you are alright *phew*
btw, I have almost all the ingredients you have listed except for sake and ajinomoto :p I do have a bottle of Japanese cooking wine though.

obachan said...

> drstel --- Oh? Do you feel hesitant to use dashi-no-moto powder? Don’t worry. A good many of us use it here in Japan, even the professional cooks at the Izakaya pub I work at.

> pinkcocoa --- I guess you can omit sake and ajinomoto. I’m not sure how it’d be if you used the cooking wine in place of sake, because I’ve never tried it myself. Anyway, Good luck! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Obachan,

I'm new to the blogsphere and found my way here through other foodies' sites. All I can say is this is a really mouth watering post! (so are all your other posts) I'll definately give your version of tamagoyaki a try. Wonderful pictures too. Thanks :) 

Posted by Kristi

Anonymous said...

Hi Kristi,
Thank YOU for visiting my blog and leaving a nice comment :D Hope you keep coming back.  

Posted by obachan

Anonymous said...

Wow, great recipe, I made them all at once for a party, Japanese themed party, and everyone LOVED them. Thank you so much! 

Posted by Jon

Anonymous said...

hey! awesome blog. You inspire me to make all kinds of food.

One of these days I'll try all your tamagoyaki recipies. And I'll probably get a tamagoyaki pan.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the recipe! This is my first time making it, & I don't have a tamagoyaki pan....

Anonymous said...

Hey,

great recipe. Actually, I came here searching for information about nikumiso (which I tried yesterday for the first time, at an izakaya), and was pleasantly surprised by your page. Of course, I already tried your "nikumiso tamagoyaki", and though it didn't look as nice as your version, it was delicious. Thanks again.

obachan said...

Thank you, Jon, 2ndmouse, Alan and Kai. Sorry I didn't respond to you guys in time. I'm terrible with taking care of my older posts -- I mean, comments to my older posts. But I just want you to know that I really appreciate your visits and comments.
:)