Mom's Sukiyaki

Wow, it's been over 3 months since my last post. And so much has happened since! I had planned on finishing my posts about my US/Canada road trip but haven't even gotten halfway through that. (I do plan to finish that series someday soon!) Well, as John Lennon said, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Anyway, here I am, another effort to revive this blog. And I'm pretty excited, albeit more than a little overwhelmed, to tackle all the backlog of posts in my head. One tiny step at a time and I'lll get there somehow. To celebrate a new year of blogging, I'm starting with one of my all-time favorite meals, my mom's sukiyaki. It's a family favorite and for good reason. It's usually made on the weekends when everyone is home and it's one of those meals that actually has the power to make you change your lunch or dinner plans, should you have made any, in favor of a meal at home with a big (big!) bowl or three of mom's sukiyaki.

It's absolutely delicious! I usually like to add more mushrooms and tofu then the recipe calls for because they're my favorite ingredients in this dish. And if your family is like ours, you'll need to make 2 batches of the broth to keep everyone happy. We just can't get enough of it!

Mom's Sukiyaki

Ingredients:

1/4 kilo tenderloin sliced very thinly
3/4 Tbsp. Kikkoman soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar

4 cups beef broth

3/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce

3/4 cup mirin or Japanese sweet rice wine

about 8 pcs. shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water and cut in half

2-3 cakes of firm tofu - cubed

2 large onions quartered

1 pc. carrot sliced into thin rounds

2 stalks leeks chopped

5-6 Chinese cabbage (or Baguio pechay) cut into bite size pieces. Separate the stalks from the leaves

50 grams glass noodles or sotanghon, soaked, and drained and cut but not too short.

1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp. olive oil

Procedure:

Marinade beef in 1 tbsp. of soy sauce 1 tbsp. of sugar.

Pour the beef broth into a bowl then mix in the remaining soy sauce, sugar and rice wine.

Heat butter with a little oil in a wok. Stir-fry the onions until transparent and push aside. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry then push aside.

Stir-fry the beef slices until barely pink. Then pour in the beef broth and add the tofu.

When broth starts to boil, add the carrots, the cabbage stalks and leeks and let cook for about a minute. Lower the heat then drop the noodles and cabbage leaves and simmer for 5 mins.

Sweet potato stew

When I read that Alanna from A Veggie Venture had dubbed February the Month of Soup and invited everyone to post their favorite soup recipes, I knew exactly what I was going to share. Let me tell you why...

I was born and raised in a tropical country where the only seasons we have are hot and hotter, with the occasional wet season when the heavens open up and the rains come pounding for days on end. In January 2002 however, I moved to London. In the dead of winter. When darkness fell at 4:00 in the afternoon. I had to acclimatize overnight and as would be expected of any warm-blooded girl from the islands, I despised it.

Those first couple of months were my most lonely and trying. I was a long way from home and living alone for the first time in my life. I couldn't properly deal with personal issues such as homesickness, which was the most prevalent, because there were business matters to take care of. It was after all, the reason for the move. So I hit the ground running, temporarily neglecting my inner fears and emotions. Sooner than later, it was starting to take it's toll on me and the pressures of doing everything single-handedly was almost too much to handle.

I needed some serious nurturing and comforting! And while I had friends and relatives there who were extremely supportive, I had to start taking care of myself. One of the things that needed a drastic change was my diet. One could subsist on those pre-packed convenience-store sandwiches only for so long. Yes, folks, that was my epiphany. I couldn't stomach another one of those egg-salad sandwich wedges so I had to learn to cook. It was learn to cook or starve. So I bought cookbooks (I found myself frequenting Books for Cooks which was conveniently located across my favorite bookstore in Notting Hill, the Travel Bookshop) and waded through pages and pages online bookmarking recipes as I went. That was when I found this recipe for sweet potato stew. It sounded perfect!


Not only is the sweet potato (locally known as kamote) one of my most favorite vegetables, it reminded me of home where it was practically a staple on our table. It sounded easy enough to make but I was a little nervous, this being one of my first times to ever cook anything on my own and all. To my surprise and delight it turned out wonderful! It was hearty, flavorful and had just the right amount of heat. Oh and healthy too! Did you know the sweet potato is chock-ful of goodness? In fact, it was ranked the #1 most nutritional vegetable, by the CSPI. Proof that not everything good is bad for you! ;)

With each spoonful came a flood of warmth and memories. It was just the thing this tired and lonely soul needed on that cold winter night. :) And even back home where the mercury rises, it still makes for a very satisfying and delicious meal.


Sweet Potato Stew
adapted from a recipe site online (sorry, it's been so long I don't remember which site)

1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ yellow bell pepper, chopped
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cups water
½ can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes
2 cups diced peeled sweet potatoes
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed & drained
1 tbsp chilli powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
fresh oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Heat some extra-virgin olive oil in large saucepan. Cook the onions and garlic until lightly browned. Add bell peppers and saute for 5 minutes.

Stir in water, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, chilis, sauce, chili powder and cumin.Cook over medium heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until thickened and potatoes are cooked through.
Season with salt and cracked black pepper, and serve hot with some crusty bread.

If you're in need of some soothing nourishment or just simply looking for new soup ideas, head on over to A Veggie Venture and check out all the delicious-sounding recipes posted there.

Thank you, Alanna, for letting me play. :)