So this is a dish completely made up, inspired by but not entirely like the one I had in Japan… I really need to taste that dish again to adjust my flavours (I only had it once unfortunately) but alas… I can’t. I think I nearly keeled over in my chair the first time I tasted this because it was so amazing (the one I had in Japan, not either of the versions I made!).
I tried this the first time using peanut butter (I have put the images in the “image gallery” – but can’t figure out how to view them… if you are having trouble, just head to my Facebook page – all the pictures are there; ie I used 6 tbs of peanut butter instead of 3 of tahini and 3 of almond butter)… but even though it was still really tasty… it was too similar to satay sauce to be a distinct other dish in my repertoire. So I tried again.
Here is what I did tonight. It was really yummy. It WASN’T as good as the one I ate in Tokyo a couple of months ago, but it was better than the peanut butter version (just different) AND it was pretty darned delicious (if I may say so myself). This recipe served 3 adults (and they were big servings).
Ingredients
- 2 tsp of finely chopped/minced garlic
- 1 tbs of microplaned ginger
- 2 tsp sake
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbs mirin
- 3 tbs of tahini
- 3 tbs of almond butter
- 5 tsp light soy sauce
- 5 tsp sugar
- 6 tbs of water, maybe a little more, to make the sauce a bit thinner
- White and black sesame seeds to sprinkle on top at the end
To serve with
- 3 vacuum packs of “wet” udon, cooked (in Japan these were then chilled and served cold – but I prefer them warm). You could easily substitute for soba noodles if you wanted to.
- 1 spring onion – finely sliced (garnish)
- 2 skinless chicken breasts – poached in stock (bring the pot to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 20 min, then turn off and sit for 30 min)
- 1 small head of broccoli cut into florets and blanched quickly in hot water
- 200g of snow peas – topped, tailed and destringed, then blanched quickly in hot water
- A boiled egg (cut into half lengthways) if you fancy
Instructions
- Pretty much just whisk all your ingredients together in a bowl, and use water to thin it out to desired consistency.
- I served my udon noodles with poached chicken breast and some left over roast pork, blanched snow peas and broccoli florets. But you really could use whatever vegetable or meat/fish you wanted.
Soooo delicious and so comforting. If you give it a try, be sure to let me know, and of course as always, give me a like and a SHARE to spread the love!
Till next time, STAY HOME!
xxDr Megs