Japanese Meatloaf

I tried a WONDERFUL meatloaf recipe from the blog I follow called Japanese Cooking Lovers. It is listed on the right of this blog. You MUST try this! This is a pic of my Hubby's lunch today. I made smaller meatloaves so they'd fit nicely into a container with other stuff. Green beans to the top left; meatloaf to the top right; baked potato on the bottom.

I can't tell you how yummy this was. It cooked up in a matter of minutes. It was SO juicy and had SO much flavor that I didn't even use the sauce given in the recipe. The best part is it cooks in a frying pan so you don't have to wait for hours to eat it.

There was a tip on the site to make the meatloaf very tender. It was a little hard to figure, but I asked Yuri about it. When you put all of the meat ingredients together, whip the meat until your arms get tired. Then whip it some more. And then whip it some more. This breaks down the fibers in the meat and incorporates all of the ingredients well. The meat should be creamy and loose when you are done.

Please check out the Japanese Cooking Lovers blog! You will not be sorry!

Happy cooking!

Okonomiyaki!

Anyone know what this delicious thing is?

OKONOMIYAKI!!! That's what.

If you never EVER try any other kind of Japanese cuisine, you MUST try this. This has to be my all-time favorite Japanese food. It is very filling and it is very tasty. The best part of it is, it is a rather healthy food.

What it is...a cabbage and veggie pancake smothered with Tonkatsu Sauce (brown stuff) and mayo (white stuff).

It is very easy to make.

Okonomiyaki Recipe

Mix 3/4 cup COLD water with about a teaspoon of Hon-Dashi fish boullion. If you don't have Hon-Dashi, leave it out. It doesn't make much of a difference in taste. It is important to use COLD water or you'll make a noodle dough, which you don't want.

Then add 1 cup of regular flour and 1 egg. Beat this together to make a very loose batter. Set aside.

Slice about 4 cups raw cabbage very fine. You want either hair-like strings or you can chop it in half so it is manageable. Add to the flour mixture and stir together.

Chop some onions, carrots, green peppers and meat or fish into very fine dice. Mix them together and set this aside. You can use almost any vegetable or any meat, except for celery. Celery is not a Japanese flavor.

This is a trick to keep the veggies and meat together. Beat one egg in a cup and set aside.

Heat up a skillet - non-stick works best. I use an electric skillet set to 225 degrees F.

Add a little oil to the skillet. If you use a small skillet, put about 1/4 of the veggie/meat mixture into the oil. If you use an electric skillet, use about half the veggie meat mixture and divide into two. Some on one side of the skillet and some on the other.

Put a little bit of the beaten egg in a cup over each pile of veggies and meat. Just enough so it all kind of looks like a very sparse omelet.

On top of this, put about 1/4 of the cabbage mixture, after you've stirred it to coat the cabbage. Make sure it covers all of the veggie/meat mixture and goes a little over the edge of it. Flatten a bit so it is one thickness the whole way across.

Cook it slowly. When the bottom gets a bit browned and holds together, flip it over. You may want to cover and cook it the rest of the way at this time. This will help the middle get done.

Put the finished pancake on a plate. Lightly schmeer with mayonnaise...the real stuff. Drizzle the bulldog sauce over top. Eat and enjoy!

This takes a little time to make, but, in my opinion, it is totally worth it!

Happy eating!