Monday, March 4, 2013

Hayashi Rice

Hayashi Rice Recipe

Like Cream Stew and Corn Potage, Hayashi Rice is a Yoshoku dish, which means it is the Japanese adaptation of a Western-style dish.  You can buy blocks of Hayashi Rice Ru (ハヤシライス) for the sauce base, however, I prefer to make things from scratch - and if you're not living in Japan, it's certainly the more accessible and affordable option.
I like to find easy ways to do things, so like most of what I do, this recipe is super-easy, avoiding the annoying procedure of making the demi-gras (that's a french word) separately, but producing pretty much the same result.

300g beef, sliced
2 onions, sliced
2 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp red wine (or sake)

1-2 tsp beef stock powder and 300ml water
1 cup tomato juice or tomato-based vegetable juice OR 5 Tbsp tomato paste+2/3 cup water
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce, optional
Potatoes and carrots, optional

1.  Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a frypan, and stir-fry beef and onions until beef is browned and onions are tender, adding the other Tbsp butter half-way through.
2.  Sprinkle flour over, quickly stir to coat the beef and stir-fry for a minute longer.
3.  Pour wine(or sake) onto the beef, let the alcohol evaporate a little, then add all remaining ingredients, stir and simmer 20 min.

Serve with rice on a pasta bowl or plate and sprinkle with Ao-nori, if desired.  Eat with a fork and spoon (not chopsticks).