Japanese Eggy Piggy Stew

One of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had was in an unassuming, traditional Japanese izakaya in Tokyo called Robata. While every dish we tried was awesome, the one which stuck out the most was a tender pork stew that came complete with a hard boiled egg. I’ve been hunting for a recipe that could reproduce that meal ever since, but sadly to no avail. So after a bit of experimentation, I’ve adapted one which came closest. Although it’s still no patch on the original, I think it’s a worthy alternative; and it’s a sinch to make. If you’re ever lucky enough to be in Tokyo you should definitely make the effort to hunt the place down, as it’s one of the tastiest things you can hope to eat.

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Saag Dal (Lentil curry with Spinach)

I use lentils as a base for most curries I make. This one is vegetarian (and can be made vegan with the right bouillon powder), but if I was using meat I’d add it before adding the lentils, and reduce the amount of lentils used overall. Either way, it’s full of good stuff, and is a fairly spicy curry – probably a ‘medium’ heat – but that can be adjusted with the amount of chilli used. The coriander seeds and cumin seeds can be replaced with their pre-ground equivalents, but the flavour is much better if you do it yourself.

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Chicken Mulligatawny Soup

I came up with this as a variation on a curry recipe. I think it’s worked pretty well.

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Hearty Chicken Stew with Dumplings

This is a bit of a hybrid recipe inspired from a bit of a Nigella and a bit of one of the anonymous cookbooks I’ve got hanging about. I’m proud to say that the dumplings were all my addition, although I didn’t have all the ingredients to make them so I had to settle for a pre-mixed packet.

• a pack of lardons
• two leeks, sliced into small rings
• an onion, roughly chopped
• 1/2 swede, peeled and roughly cubed
• a pack of about six good sized skinless, boneless chicken thighs, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• three cloves garlic, sliced
• handful of parsley, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• a bottle of white wine
• couple of handfuls of frozen peas
• couple of cups of chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6-8 dumplings made from packet mix

Brown off the lardons in a hot stock pot, before adding the leeks, onion, garlic and swede. You don’t need extra oil, just let them cook in the tasty bacon fat until they’ve softened up a bit, for about 5 minutes or so. Add the chicken, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, and turmeric, and stir about in the mix before adding in the bottle of white wine and frozen peas. Top up with the chicken stock until it looks like there will be enough liquid for about half an hour’s cooking, and sit the doughy dumplings made from the mix on the top.

Cook for half an hour and when almost done, throw in the chopped parsley and season. This can be served on it’s own in a bowl, or with a generous serving of mashed potatos should make enough for four people.

Watercress and Potato Soup

Yesterday, I made soup. The recipe I adapted is based around 100g of watercress, but Sainsbury’s sell it in 85g bags, so I’ve reworked it for two of those bags. This is a very tasty soup, and the recipe should make between 6-8 servings.

Chop 3 onions and fry off with a small splosh of olive oil in a large saucepan for 5ish minutes. Add 3 large potatoes, chopped (should be around 780g) and cook, covered for another 5 minutes. Chop the two 85g packs of watercress, and add with a litre of vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and cook until the potatoes are tender, which should take about 15 minutes.

Blend the mixture, while adding 500ml of semi-skimmed milk, a freshly grated nutmeg and some black pepper. Reheat to serve.