Apr3
Gutsu Gutsu Gutsu Gutsu Gu!
Welcome to another edition of Otaku Café! This is a post series where dishes from anime are recreated so you (the reader) can make it yourself…or stare longingly at pictures of food. I’m being joined by my fellow food enthusiast skylion this time. Overcooled plus skylion plus a show entirely about cooking and food porn equals….well…this post! And hopefully that’s a good equation in your mind. I think it is.
The hallmark of Koufuku Graffiti was comfort. Good food to feed the soul. My soul, or more accurately my corporeal form, has been somewhat lacking the past two weeks. To make a personal and long story short, watching this show helped feed my brain, as I was on a soft/liquid diet. Today that changes and I’m able to eat more substantial items. But in those hungry times at least I could rely on dashi stock, and I still can…
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Dashi Stock and Udon Soup
skylion// Dashi stock is a staple of the Japanese diet. As a stock it is the basis of the ever popular miso soup, as well as become a fundamental part of many dishes. Adding different sauces, such as soy, or cooking alcohol, such as mirin, can broaden the flavor. But the dashi is the center and it’s really easy to make, only being composed of two parts. Now you can get pre-made stock, usually in those ever so convenient stock boxes, or as a powder to mix in with hot water. But the process is so simple…
Recipe: Show ▼
1 sheet of kombu
1 quart water
1/2 cup bonito flakes
1 package of udon noodles (for udon instead of plain dashi)
…and that’s it. Kombu is a dried sea weed, and if that term makes you queasy, just call it a sea vegetable, and if vegetable turns you off…please hit the back button on your browser LOL kidding.. Anyway, konbu is rich in calcium, and has a ton of helpful amino acids as well as other good properties. Bonito is a form of preserved tuna, and it’s packed with nutrition. Both items are available in specialty grocery stores, or online
Place the kombu and water in a saucepan, and allow it to soak for 30 minutes to become soft. Remove the kombu from the water, and cut several lengthwise slits into the leaf. Return the kombu to the water, and bring it to a boil. As soon as the water begins to boil, remove the kombu. Now, I don’t think we ever saw Ryou make this stock, but she had to have it on hand. You’ve probably seen characters in other anime make it. If it looks like someone is trying to boil what looks like a piece of leather….then that’s kombu, and they are making this stock.
Stir the bonito flakes into the water, bring back to a boil, and take the pan off the heat. Allow the water to cool. When the bonito flakes have settled to the bottom, strain the dashi through a strainer lined with filter. I usually use a large coffee filter.
And, again, that it. This should make 8 cups of soup stock, which you can store and use whenever you please. For this recipe it’s going to form a basis for the udon noodle soup.
At this point, I’m going to use a vegetable stock for the udon as that is what I have on hand. You can dilute that to suit your tastes, and add it into the dashi mix.
For the udon noodles, simply follow the directions on the package. You might want to discard any flavor pack that could come with the noodles, as you wont need it since you got the stock now, right?
Now this is a great start, and the soup is so versatile you can add nearly anything to it. Tempura shrimp? Yes. Roasted pork? You bet, that’s what I’m going for. Grated daikon? Well, I wasn’t able to get any recently, so I’ll just use spring onions as it gives it a nice taste. A dash or two of soy sauce will give the soup an added richness.
More Photos: Show ▼
Sadly I was not able to go out and get more kombu and bonito flakes. But, not so sadly, I still have stock on hand. Sadly, this is the last of it for awhile.
Some new veggie stock, and a plate of roasted and pulled pork. This is rather plain, but once the meat soaks up some soup stock, the sweetness of the pork and the umami of the stock tastes great together.
Not pictured: My foodgasm face. Some things you’ll just have to imagine.
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Bamboo Rice
Overcooled// Ryou was inspired to make bamboo rice because it’s the perfect spring dish and her parents sent her rice. I was inspired because it’s the perfect spring dish and I needed to make something cheap and filling for my hungry friends hanging out at my house. This dish is essentially just rice and bamboo, so I figured it would be easy. The only catch is that upon googling how to prepare bamboo, I found out it was poisonous if cooked incorrectly. The outer leaves contain cyanide, so you have to really boil it down so you don’t endanger yourself and your dinner guests. Anyways, long story short, I fed it to my 3 friends and none of them died so don’t feel discouraged about bamboo! It has a really nice, chewy texture that pairs perfectly with the soft rice.
Recipe: Show ▼
1 1/2 cups Japanese white rice
*1 package of bamboo shoots OR 3-4 fresh bamboo shoots
3-4 tablespoons cooking mirin
pinch of salt
2 green onions (diced)
*the packaged shoots taste a bit like preservatives if you don’t wash them enough, but are cheaper, easier to find, and already have most of the cyanide removed. The shoots however taste much, much better. I used packaged shoots for this dish but also tried out the actual shoots by themselves the next day and I really wish I had went with the real thing. The taste doesn’t even compare!
1. Soak the rice in ~4 cups of water for 15 minutes. Reserve this starchy water in another pot, because you’ll use it to boil the bamboo.
2. Cook the rice in 3 cups of water in either a pot or a rice cooker (I used a rice cooker)
3. If using the whole bamboo shoots, remove the outer layers by hand until there are no dark brown spots. Cut off the root/bottom of the shoot as well. Chop the remaining, pale shoot into small pieces. For packaged shoots, just wash them thoroughly before chopping them into small pieces. Packaged bamboo has a cool pattern if you cut it lengthwise first and cut it into large chunks, so I kept mine a bit chunkier. It’s all up to you!
4. While the rice cooks, boil the bamboo in the reserved starchy rice water for 15 minutes, adding more (regular) water if it’s needed to cover all of the bamboo. When the bamboo is ready, drain the water out of the pot and put it in a strainer.
5. Once the rice is cooked, mix it with a pinch of salt, cooking mirin, and the bamboo. More mirin can be added if you want it to be sweeter.
6. For garnish, chop up green onions and sprinkle them on top
7. Serve as a side dish or a main course if you’re cheap like me =w=
More Photos: Show ▼
The packaged shoots are more yellow and taste more processed, but man…they look cool. Plus, all this (and more) was only $2!
LEGIT BAMBOO FRESH OUTTA CHINA TOWN! The internet scared me a bit with the poison thing, but my friends said their parents never even knew about that and they cook bamboo all the time without a care in the world.
I hope you’ll agree that soup is good food. This was one very special show, and it was a shame that the slice-of-life nature of the program resists a weekly episodic blog. So really, this is probably both OC and myself riding to it’s rescue. While I might not be of the same cooking stripe that Ryou’s grandmother was, or even Ryou herself (pretty sure I can outcook Minori) it always fun to mess around in the kitchen. Thanks to everyone for reading, and I hope we were able to tease those Mind’s palettes..
If we can’t convince you to head to the kitchen and get cooking, maybe we can convince you to go to your couch and watch Koufuku Graffiti. It’s a fun show about friendship, caring for others, and making extremely sexual faces while eating omelets. That last one may sound odd, but the fanservice never makes the show skeevy. I was honestly moved to try out these dishes because they were presented on the show with such love and reverence. Ryou and Kirin truly love food and that really comes across strongly. I’m no Ryou, but I cooked for you guys with my heart!
I hope you enjoyed our tag team cooking post! I know I did. Let us know what you think and we’ll probably see you around for Shokugeki no Soma~
Related
We live, laugh, enjoy and strictly believe on "more the merrier". When together, we usually come up with very chatty, conversation-based episodics and interesting posts.
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Yes, thank you for the delicious
lolimeal!POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Lolis? We don’t serve that kind of food here!
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Hold it! Isn’t that kind of food blacklisted?
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
Skylolion would be to differ. 😛
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
LOLis are side dish, not so much main dish…
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I haven’t seen Koufuku Graffiti but will say there’s some good looking food thanks to the pictures. I’d easily take that Dashi Stock and Udon Soup.
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
…and it’s not that hard to make….
POWUH: Meta Team and The Mad Scientist with 5525 comments
Bonito dashi is sooooo good. Then you add the flavour of kombu and it gets even better.
POWUH: Meta Team and PreCure Mastah with 9203 comments
I keep licking my screen but I taste no flavor D:
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
I don’t want to think what other things you lick your screen for… x_x
POWUH: and LOLi Defender with 10998 comments
You are not thinking about pink elephants….
POWUH: Meta Team and Meta-Analyst with 3844 comments
-LALALALALA- *GOES TO HAPPY PLACE AND THINKS PURE THOUGHTS*