Rika's TOKYO CUISINE: Ginger, Pork and Walnut Rice

Dining with the Chef.

Hello, I'm Rika Yukimasa.

Do you have any go-to recipes when inviting close friends over for a party?

Today, I'm going to introduce some Japanese recipes that are perfect for a Japanese-themed party that both you and your friends will be able to enjoy.

Tokyo, an Asian city with the largest metropolitan population in the world, the boundaries between old Japan and futuristic Japan are blurred in this metropolis.

The food here is a fusion of cuisine, not just from around Asia, but around the globe.

In this program, Tokyo-based culinary artist Rika Yukimasa demonstrates the current trends from her own kitchen near Tokyo Bay.

Our co-host is Patrick Harlan, widely known in Japan as Pakkun.

Rika's Tokyo Cuisine.

Today, two dishes packed with health-enhancing ginger that are perfect for large parties and get togethers.

First, Rika's original chicken wings, with a touch of Japan.

And for our main dish, savory "taki-komi gohan," or mixed rice, full of ground pork, ginger and walnuts.

Both dishes look as good as they taste, and are popular with kids and adults alike.

First, the Japanese-style fried chicken wings.

They're incredibly light and crispy.

Rika will share her techniques for preparing perfect wings.

Americans love chicken wings.

Why do you think chicken wings are so wonderful?

Well, I think it's the part where the chicken, you know, it moves a lot.

- It has less fat, but it has a kind of "umami" flavor.
- Sure.

The kind of lean meat.

- I think... it has specific, like small bonds.
- Right.

- So, it gives the flavor to the meat.
- Right.

Chicken wings can be broken down into the drumette and the wingette.

The drumette is the part of the wing that's attached to the rest of the chicken.

It looks like a little drumstick with a thick bone in the middle.

The meat is relatively lean.

The rest of the wing is comprised of the wingette and tip.

It has more bones and less meat than the drumette, but it's rich in "umami" and is covered with a thick skin, making it ideal for Rika's chicken wing recipe.

This one. You enjoy the skin part.

- Right.
- Yes.

And it has a lot of gelatin, which is very good for your skin.

Mm-hmm. I can see the miracle for you.

First, let's make the marinade.

Grate ginger.

- About one tablespoon.
- Okay.

Grating allows you to mix it into the skin much easier.

Right.

And then you also grade garlic.

Okay.

- Careful with your fingertips.
- Yes.

Nice.

Okay.

Smells already nice.

You cannot go wrong freshly grated garlic and ginger.

It's good on anything.

- And for eight chicken wings, we use half a teaspoon of salt, and one teaspoon of soy sauce.
- All right.

- You don't want to add too much color when you're frying.
- Sure.

And one tablespoon of this.

- Sake.
- Sake? Really?

- Use sake for chicken wings.
- Mm-hmm.

- Interesting.
- Yes.

And then from here, it's very easy.

Just coat the chicken wings.

Just want to, sort of not marinate, almost coat the chicken wings.

Okay. How long do you want to let this sit?

Well, I think instead of marinating, I would say, I'm coating the seasoning.

- Okay.
- So, you don't have to wait that long.

You're not wanting the ingredients to seep into the chicken.

- Just coat the outside.
- Yes.

They need to be marinated for about half an hour but no longer than that.

You don't want them to become too salty.

So, let's coat the chicken wings with potato starch.

Right before you fry, you can use the flour, but it has... and the potato starch makes the frying very crispy.

- So, whenever you want a fried chicken or a chicken wings, I recommend using potato starch.
- Okay.

- And you want to do it immediately before frying, right?
- Right.

- So, it doesn't get soggy?
- Yes.

It's gluten free, too.

Yes, I've done a mini experiment.

- It's completely different.
- Really?

So, sometimes I mix half flour, half this potato starch.

- Sometimes I do 100% potato starch.
- Mm-hmm.

You know, it makes a big difference because it gets so crispy.

So, this is the only job you have to do.

Cook the rice. You can prepare in advance.

And then the only thing you have to do while your friends are waiting is to fry the chicken.

Nice.

And, you know, if you have a home party and someone rings the doorbell, it's just like, come on in.

And they come into the kitchen and you're cooking wings on the stove right there.

- They're going to fall over.
- Yes.

They're going to love it. That's great.

Okay. Seems good.

Quick and easy.

Okay, let's get frying.

There's a trick to frying chicken wings, so that they turn out light and crispy.

Do we want the oil really hot?

No, it can be medium to low.

Because if you want to really make crispy, I recommend double frying.

So, which we will do today.

Oh okay. So, we cook at one time on medium to low heat.

Right.

Heat the oil to about 160 degrees Celsius, and cook slowly over medium heat until the wings are cooked through, but not burnt.

This way, you can drain the excess moisture, while trapping the "umami" and juices inside.

You want to get rid of excess moisture out by frying.

Okay.

And in order to see if it's coming out, look at the bubbles.

When you see plenty of bubbles, that means moisture is still inside the ingredients.

And if the bubbles get smaller, which I already noticed, it's getting smaller, meaning excess water has been released.

Right.

Avoid poking the chicken around.

Leaving it alone helps the evaporation of excess moisture.

Once there's a noticeable reduction in the number and size of bubbles, flip over and fry for a minute and a half.

So now, I'm going to take this one out.

This is the first frying process.

Remove the chicken and let it cook through with residual heat.

Skim off any scraps on the surface and heat the oil up to 180 degrees Celsius, for a second fry.

Double frying gives you a crisp outer coating, while the inside is tender and moist.

Well, I want to double fry it.

This is a recommendation.

When you have your guests coming, maybe less than 20 people, You don't want to do everything on the spot.

Right.

When you have your chicken wings half ready right before your friends come over, then just finish up frying on high heat when they come.

So it comes fresh out of the oil. Hot and crispy and ready to go.

Smart.

Okay. Seems Ready.

So even now, it's not that dark brown?

No.

Interesting.

That's why I didn't use too much soy sauce.

When you use too much soy sauce, everything gets too dark.

So, I use the soy sauce as sort of, like, hidden taste.

I want to sprinkle a little bit of sugar.

- Really?
- Yes.

- You know, the teriyaki chicken tastes really good, right?
- Mm-hmm.

It's not really noticeable amount, but it brings out the "umami" flavor of chicken wings.

And on top, I'm going to place this.

Nice. Roasted sesame.

Just makes everything better.

- And if you like hot stuff...
- Which I do!

This is a Japanese "shichimi."

"Shichimi" is like, it's not really red pepper, it's combined with the gist of orange and several other spices.

Right. It's called "shichimi" because it has 7 herbs and spices in it.

Even just a little hint of red there on your chicken, makes it more celebratory.

It looks like party food now.

And as a chef, I get the privilege of trying first.

What?

Yes. Sorry.

Oh... wow...

Smells wonderful, too.

Yes, it does. I can smell it from here.

You hear that? Wow.

It's so crispy on the outside.

They're very juicy in the inside.

Meaning my frying tips was very successful.

Perfect.

The double fry. The twice fry.

That really makes a difference, doesn't it?

It does.

Lay "shiso" leaves on a small plate to add color and fragrance.

Stack the chicken wings, and they're ready to serve.

Okay.

- Ready for you.
- Mm-hmm.

Today, I'm going to show you how to make a perfect Japanese style party dish of savory rice- mixed with ground pork, ginger and walnut cooked and served in a pot.

- I call it Japanese paella.
- Woo, paella!

You can prepare it in advance so that you don't need to be rushing around the kitchen until your guests arrive.

- And it's really easy to serve, too.
- Right.

You can have different ingredients for "takikomi gohan."

Every time you try it, you can make it a little bit different.

I'm really looking forward to this recipe because I've got a party coming up myself.

Okay, this is the best recipe.

Now for the main dish: "taki-komi gohan," or savory mixed rice with ground pork and walnuts.

It's not a combination you often see in traditional Japanese cuisine, but it makes for a highly nutritious rice dish that is perfect even for large parties.

Let's start by prepping the rice.

Gently rinse the rice to remove the surface starch without crushing the grains.

Drain, and set aside for at least half an hour.

This allows the rice to soak up just the right amount of moisture and starch, so that it's plump, fluffy, and slightly chewy.

While we are waiting for the rice to soak, let's prep the other ingredients.

Great.

- Today, I'm going to use this ginger.
- Hmm.

It's a very plump and big, huge Japanese ginger.

And besides having this, ginger has tangy, refreshing flavor and has all kinds of health benefits.

Right.

It improves circulation and warms the body.

In China, it's long been used as a traditional herbal medicine to ward off all kinds of illnesses.

Sure.

But, you know, I like it for the taste.

I like the fact that it sort of wakes up your mouth and says, time to eat, you know, that tangy zip.

- That's what ginger gives you.
- Right.

When you buy ginger in Japan, it's huge and kind of fresh.

It contains a lot of moisture.

- So, you can coarsely cut the ginger.
- Okay.

But when I went to America, and I went to San Francisco, in chinatown, I think the ginger is different.

- A sort of drier, right?
- Drier and maybe smaller sometimes.

So, when you have smaller and drier ginger, it's better that you grade or cut into small pieces.

- So, either mince finely or grade.
- Right.

Okay.

Is there a reason you're removing the skin?

- Well, actually...
- Sometimes you leave it on, sometimes you take it off.

Today, I felt like taking off.

In Japanese, we say "kibun"; however you feel.

Yes.

All right.

You want to use a lot of ginger to get rid of odor of the pork.

Okay.

- Those are pretty coarse chunks.
- Yes.

Nice.

My kids didn't used to like ginger very much, but I kept adding it and kept adding it.

And now they request if I make meal, you know, like chicken without ginger, they are like, "Put some ginger!", which is great.

Yes.

So, let's start cooking the rice.

Okay.

- I see we're using this big cast iron pot today.
- Right.

Heavy lid.

I think when you cook the rice, it's very important that you have a thick pot.

Either you use earthen pots like "donabe," which really helps to kind of help the heat seep through.

From the side as well as the bottom.

Oh, okay. So, it cooks it all around, not just the bottom like a frying pan.

- Okay.
- Exactly.

So, when you have a cast iron like this, definitely, this is the one you have to use.

Great.

- Well, cast iron pots are pretty common around the world.
- Yeah.

- I think we can find one.
- Okay, great.

I love perfectly cooked rice.

Each grain is distinct. It has full flavor.

I love to hear how to do it properly.

Okay.

So, let's get started.

- First, this is the soaked rice.
- All right.

- And here, we have 360 milliliter amount of rice.
- Okay.

- And you want to have 400 millilitres of water.
- Okay.

Together with all the seasonings.

- So it's basically 110%.
- Yes.

- Water to rice, right?
- Exactly.

So that is something... that's the only important thing you have to remember.

Okay.

And that's why I have this major cup.

You want to add... first, 2 tablespoons of Sake.

- If you don't have sake, don't worry about it.
- Okay.

You can also use maybe sweet Riesling.

White wine? Okay.

White wine will do.

But definitely use sake if you can find it.

The sake gives it distinct flavor, makes it Japanese paella.

Okay.

And one teaspoon of soy sauce.

That's a teaspoon, not a tablespoon. Be careful.

- And one teaspoon of salt.
- All right.

And one teaspoon of honey.

Honey? Interesting.

This enzyme in honey, they help to make the rice fluffier.

- Really?
- Yes.

I did not know that.

And of course, honey has lots of "umami."

Yes.

If you're not fond of honey, you can add sugar instead.

A teaspoon of sesame oil.

Sesame oil is a strong flavor, but it has very nice fragrant to the rice because it really goes well with pork.

And now, I put some water to make it into about 200 millimeter.

- I want to have 400.
- Okay.

So, this is 200.

About half.

And another 200.

And I notice that you also mix the ingredients before you pour it.

- Because you wanted well dispersed, right?
- Right.

I want to have that taste evenly.

- Now, from here, it's extremely easy.
- I like easy.

My paella, try to use generous amount of ground pork.

Ground pork! What's good about ground pork?

Well, it's already divided, so it's easy to cook through.

And it enhances a great "umami" flavor to rice.

- It gives out a lot of juice, doesn't it?
- Yes.

And that cooks into the rice. So, it tastes wonderful.

Okay.

So, use ground pork.

If you don't have it, what else could use?

You can use chicken ground chicken, ground beef.

Or if you don't like meat, you can also use shrimp, scallops.

And I'm sure sliced pork or bacon is also good, right?

- Yes.
- Okay.

And then from here, you put this walnut.

This is something unusual for Japanese cooking.

I have never had walnuts in rice.

But, it tastes so good.

So, how much do we want to add?

- All of that? Or just...
- All of this.

Wow.

- So. that's quite a bit.
- Yes.

But, you know, like my kids, they love this.

- Really?
- Yeah, "takikomi gohan."

Add the minced ginger as well.

And I noticed you're adding it on top.

You don't want to mix it in?

- No.
- Okay.

Because it looks prettier when you kind of present to the audience, my family and friends.

Okay, so how do we cook it?

First, you put the lid and cook at high heat about 5 minutes.

And then once it starts to boil...

- When the steam is coming out?
- Yes.

You reduce the heat to low and cook for 13 minutes.

This is so easy because when you are trying to prepare pasta for your friend at the party, you have to think of timing all the time.

Whereas if you prepare this dish, only thing you do is turn the heat to high and wait.

- And when you serve it, it's ready to go in the pot.
- Right.

And, "Takikomi gohan" tastes good, too.

So, you can, you know, make it a couple of hours before.

- Exactly.
- Awesome. Okay.

It looks like Rika's original "takikomi gohan" is done.

Oh...

The start of the show.

Should I Open this?

Yes, please.

Wow.

It looks like main course, right?

- For sure.
- Yes.

The walnuts have turned a lovely golden brown.

Yes.

From here, I'm going to mix it.

Nice.

- Smells wonderful.
- Yes, it does.

We have a little bit "okoge" on the bottom.

"Okoge," by the way, is the sort of, well cooked rice, barely just lightly burnt rice on the outside or bottom of the pan.

And it's one of my favorite things about "takikomi gohan," paella.

The pork is also lovely, like, glistening, golden color.

Looks really good.

And for a finishing touch, sprinkle chopped scallions onto the umami-rich rice.

I have been waiting for this moment all my life.

Bon appétit.

Well, if you like pepper for the rice, please.

Well, thank you.

Just a little.

Perfect.

And I'll start with the rice.

Oh, it's amazing.

The pork seeped into every kernel of rice, just so much "umami."

It's amazing.

So you have this smooth and "umami" flavor, but then you've got the crunch of the ginger and the little zing of the ginger and the walnuts are also crunchy.

And they have this earthy nuttiness, which I've never tasted in "takikomi gohan" before.

Walnuts go so well with rice.

I had no idea!

Wow. Thank you.

You know, sometimes people prepare pasta when you want to serve wine.

But I definitely think rice goes well with red wine.

- And this goes really well with the Pinot Noir or Zinfandel.
- For sure.

So, I wanted to have the rice dish that goes really well with the red wine.

Now, I'll try the wings.

I can tell just by touching it how crispy it is, the moment I touched it.

Oh, amazing.

I've never had fried chicken with that little sparkling of sugar on top.

It's wonderful.

And it's so crispy, but I don't know if you can see it.

The juices have been trapped inside, and it's just perfect.

The little sinews here between the bone are my favorite thing.

And they're just right. They're still juicy, and they're not dry.

They're just right.

Those got plenty of ginger flavor, and in the "shichimi," which has a little bit of peppery tanginess, and I cannot believe how crispy it is.

- Yeah.
- That second frying really did it.

Using different types of starch and also double frying.

- That gives you extra crunchiness.
- Right.

All the flavors I like.

And it's perfectly fried.

It is the ideal dish, especially for a party.

If you're too busy preparing food until the very last moment, you'll feel stressed out and won't be able to enjoy the party.

So, be sure to plan ahead and think of a menu that will allow you to get most of the preparation done before the guests arrive.

After all, a happy host means happy guests, and a successful party.

Thank you all for joining us.

And we'll see you again soon right here on dining with the chef.

Bye bye.

Goodbye.

Okay, let's review today's recipes.

First, the deep-fried chicken wings.

Grate the ginger and garlic, add salt and soy sauce, and marinate the chicken wings for about 30 minutes.

Coat with potato starch and fry in oil, heated to 160 degrees Celsius to cook through.

Remove and drain.

Heat the oil up high to 180 degrees Celsius to fry again to achieve a light and crispy coating.

Once they turn a golden brown, remove, and sprinkle with sugar and sesame seeds for chicken wings that are crispy on the outside, but juicy and tender inside.

Next, the savory rice with ground pork and walnuts.

Mince the ginger.

Rinse the rice and set aside, add to the pot.

Mix the sake, soy sauce, salt, honey, and sesame oil with water and pour over the rice.

Top with umami-rich ground pork, chopped walnuts, and grated ginger.

Cover, bring to a boil and then simmer over low heat.

Once the rice is properly cooked, mix and fluff the rice.

Sprinkle with chopped scallions, and it's ready to serve.

These simple yet delicious recipes are waiting for you and your family to discover.