I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.

[livewareissue]

So, for anyone who’s interested, I’ve been experimenting with Japanese home cooking (as opposed to Japanese restaurant cooking).

One Pot Fish Dish (serves 2)

• Fillet of skinned and boned white fish of your choice
• 200ml dashi
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 50g carrot, sliced diagonally into very small pieces
• 50g spring onions, sliced
• 150g tofu, drained of liquid and cut into small cubes *
• 50g string beans, sliced diagonally into very small pieces

1. Place fish on a tray, slice into small pieces, and sprinkle with half the sake
2. Combine dashi, soy sauce and the remainder of the sake in a pot and add the carrot. Simmer for 3 minutes on a medium flame.
3. Add the tofu, string beans, fish and spring onions and simmer for 5 minutes until the fish is cooked. Don’t be afraid to add more water to cover the food if there isn’t enough - you can always boil it off later.
4. Lay out 2 bowls and ladle even portions of the fish, tofu & vegetable mixture into them. Boil the liquid on a high flame until there is just enough to cover the mixture then pour into the bowls. Serve with rice.

* As an alternative, you can also use the smallest tub of tofu you can find. Tofu doesn’t keep well once opened so either use a tub for two dishes consecutively or be prepared to use the entire tub in a single dish. I’ve made this with up to 250g tofu and it was still fine for 2 people)

Soba Noodles with Mushrooms (serves 2 for lunch. You may wish to increase the portion size for dinner. Or not.)

• 100g dry soba noodles
• Cooking oil (canola for preference but I don’t think it matters that much)
• 1 onion
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 100g Japanese mushrooms
• 10 dehydrated shitake mushroom caps
• 1 tablespoons sake
• ¼ teaspoon soy sauce

1. Add the mushrooms to a pan of water. Bring to the boil then turn off the flame. Let the mushrooms sit in the water for 15 minutes while you chop up all the vegetables. Alternatively, bring a pot of water to the boil and pour over the mushrooms. Leave them to soak for 15 minutes while you chop up all the vegetables.
2. Cut off the stems of the re-hydrated mushrooms and cut the caps into thin slices. Pour away the liquid, reserving about 100ml.
3. Boil the soba according to packet instructions. In case the instructions are in Japanese, my soba noodles took about 6-8 minutes to cook.
4. Drain the soba and save 100ml of the cooking water. Rinse the soba in cold water to remove any residual starch.
5. Heat the wok/pan over a high heat. Add the oil, garlic and onions and fry until the onions are soft and turning transparent. Add the reserved shitake liquid, shitake slices, soba cooking liquid, sake and soy sauce. Mix well and simmer on a low flame until the broth has almost evaporated.
6. Add the soba and toss well to coat with the broth. Spoon into bowls and serve immediately.

Teriyaki Fish (serves 2)

• 2 fish fillets
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1.5 tablespoons water
• Sliced spring onions for garnish

1. Lay the fish in the saucepan. Add the sake, mirin and soy sauce and water to the pan and simmer over a medium flame for 4 minutes. Turn and simmer for 2 minutes or until you feel the fish is cooked.
2. Transfer the fish to serving bowls and spoon the sauce over the fish. Garnish with spring onions.

Beef, Potato and Onion in a Pot (serves 2)

• 1 tablespoon oil for frying
• 250g minced beef
• 250g sweet potato, cut into bite size pieces
• 250g onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 200ml cold water
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Heat the oil and sauté the beef for 3 minutes on a medium to high flame. Remove the beef and set aside.
2. In the same pot, place the sweet potatoes and the onions and sauté for 5 minutes on a medium to high flame.
3. Add the beef, water, sake, soy sauce to the pot and mix well.
4. Stuff a sheet of baking paper into the pot so it touches the food, covering the entire surface, thus slowing the rate of evaporation. Simmer for 15 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.
5. Serve.