SMILE #162 Japanese Dish

So for dinner tonight, I made an old favorite!  My Father served an LDS mission in Japan as a young man, and brought home a recipe that to this day is the family favorite!  I remember nights we would make this meal, and sit down together, and my dad would teach us how to say certain words or phrases in Japanese!  Great memories!  It made me smile to make it, and thought I would make all of you smile, by giving you all the recipe.  I took some pictures of the steps I made, but I forgot to take all of them, so you'll get bits and pieces.  :)

The first item to make is Gyoza's....

this is what the finished product looks like 

 Here is how you make them!  You need......

 1/2 lb. of both Ground pork and beef (to make a total of 1 lb. of meat)

1 egg

1 cup of finley shredded cabbage

1/2 c. finley shredded carrots (guessing on....all of the amounts... if you want more or less, it's up to you!)

2 TB of soysauce

~2 tsp. ginger (powder)

Mix these all together to look like this..... 

then you take wonton wraps

wet all 4 sides with water, and add a dolop of meat in the center.  Then you will fold it into a triangle, and seal it shut! 

Once you have all 40+ gyoza's made, then you fry them on each side till golden brown.  I like to keep the cooked ones in the warming oven to keep them all fresh and crispy!  (If you are making these ahead of time, which I suggest you do or can, put them in the fridge till you are ready to fry)

Next Item is the chikasoba!

This is a vegetable medley with chicken, and noodles on the side.  Very Yummy!

Cut up.......

Carrots (julienne style)

Celery.....on an angle

Brocolli chunks, Mushrooms (whatever size you like them), and throw in some snow peas....these make them especially yummy!

The amount is up to you and your stomach!

Ahead of time, you will have wanted to marinate chicken strips in a mixture of oil, soy sauce, garlic chunks, a little water, and a little sugar.  

Cook the chicken, once almost all the way cooked, take out of pan, and then fry your veggies in some oil.  Don't cook too long, you don't want your veggies dead.  Make sure the color stays nice and bright!  

Then add your cooked chicken.  I like to add a bit more soy sauce at this point.  Then using water and cornstarch, thicken up your juices a bit.

Take a couple packets of ramen noodles, and fry them till the outsides, are nice and brown, then cook the noodles according the package, but DO NOT add the season packets.  Drain the water, and serve the noodles with the veggies.  

Here is the whole dish!  It's a lot of work, but SOOOOO worth it!  Such a fun meal!  I also like to throw in a side of rice to the meal!

Hope that made you smile!

To smile= hohoemu 微笑む