To get over your Turkey hangover, here’s a recipe from Japanese Soul Cooking(Ten Speed Press, November 2013) by Tadashi Ono who recently opened Maison O in New York and Harris Salat of comfort food restaurant Ganso in Brooklyn and The Japanese Food Report…
KANI ANKAKE (CRAB FRIED RICE)
With this dish, the fried rice is cooked very simply, with just eggs and scallions. The mojo here comes in the form of the ankake, which is a sauce thickened with potato starch, in this case, one made with ginger-infused crabmeat. Glorious. To eat, spoon up some ankake with the fried rice.
Serves 4
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
4 eggs, beaten
2 scallions (about 2 ounces), trimmed and chopped
4 cups cooked rice, warm, clumps broken up
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch ground black pepper
ANKAKE
8 ounces crabmeat (canned is fine, about 1 cup)
1 cup torigara stock (page 25)
4 ounces iceberg lettuce leaves, cut into bite-size pieces
1 (1⁄2-inch) piece ginger (about 0.3 ounce), peeled and julienned
1 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons katakuriko (potato starch) dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
Heat 1 teaspoon of the sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the eggs and gently scramble until set, about 10 seconds. Remove the eggs and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the sesame oil in a wok over high heat. Add the scallions and cook, stirring constantly, for about 30 seconds, until they give off an oniony smell. Add the rice, and cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds more. Add the soy sauce, salt, pepper, and cooked eggs. Cook, stirring constantly, for 30 seconds. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil, and cook, stirring constantly, for 10 more seconds. Turn off the heat.
Arrange 4 plates on a work surface, and ready 4 small bowls to serve as molds (rice bowls are ideal). Spoon one-fourth of the cooked rice into a bowl, then quickly flip the bowl over, and rest it on top of the plate rice side down. Do not remove the bowl for now; it will keep the rice warm. Repeat with the remaining 3 bowls. Set aside.
To prepare the ankake, add the crab, torigara stock, lettuce, ginger, salt, and pepper to a saucepan and bring to a boil over heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 2 minutes, mixing occasionally. Add the katakuriko mixture, and cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 seconds. Turn off the heat.
Unmold the rice by removing the bowls covering it. Pour about one-fourth of the ankake either alongside each serving of rice or over it, as you desire. Serve immediately.
(*Reprinted with permission from Japanese Soul Cooking by Tadashi Ono & Harris Salat, copyright © 2013. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Food Photography: Todd Coleman © 2013″)