Japanese Culture in New York - Chopsticks NY

-vol. 6-

In this corner, Japanese chefs from restaurants in the Tri-State area share their secret recipes of home-style Japanese dishes with you.

Yakiniku Izakaya Riki is one of the few restaurants where you can enjoy both yakiniku (Japanese style BBQ) and sushi at the same time. Sushi chef Tomo creates what he calls “sushi that complements yakiniku.” Tomo understands the essence of each cuisine, and with his magic touch sushi and yakiniku become inseparable. Here, he introduces a dish that is full of hometown flavor. “In my hometown of Hokkaido, we eat pork more often than other types of meat, so we have lots of pork recipes. This one especially represents the taste of the region,” says Tomo. The main seasonings are only sugar and soy sauce, but caramelized sugar, scorched soy sauce, and browned scallions give it an extremely appetizing flavor. This dish makes you absolutely gluttonous!

Yakiniku Izakaya Riki
250 E. 52nd St. (bet. 2nd & 3rd Aves.), New York, NY 10022
TEL: 212-826-4255

Ingredients (Serve 1 person)1/4 lb thinly sliced pork
1 oz sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 stalk scallion
1.5 –2 cups steamed rice
1 teaspoon salad oil
salt and pepper to season
sesame seeds, shichimi (Japanese mixed spices), etc. as garnishe

Steps

1. Sprinkle salt and pepper over thinly sliced pork.
2. Preheat frying pan, add salad oil, and heat to medium-high.

3. Stir-fry pork until surface becomes crisp.

4. Add sugar and soy sauce and keep stir-frying until sauce simmers.*
5. Add shredded scallion and stir a little. Once scallion is cooked through, remove heat.

6. Place cooked pork on steamed rice and sprinkle sesame seeds and shichimi as garnish.**
*You can play with the amount of sugar and soy sauce and create your own flavor.
**Shichimi adds a kick and gives a summertime flavor.