I've been kinda bored with things lately, so over the last week I decided to play with my food a bit. My pantry is a bit too heavily stocked so I picked an item or two to liquidate, a would pick up some ingredients on the way home....often with little idea of what I was going to do. This is what I ended up making.
Cha Soba Tororo:
I enjoy Cha Soba, basically soba with green tea powder added. I enjoy the flavor; it seems to have some inherent saltiness with hint of green tea in the background.
A little actually goes a long way. I only made half of the bundle which was enough for two small servings. I know you can't see it but there's a bed of grated yamaimo(mountain yam) adding some refreshing.... well, snottiness to the whole dish. I picked up some ikura and benishoga on the way home. Both were on sale at Mitsuwa.
A bit of mustard and a drizzle of Chiba Shoyu and this was good to go.... the Missus didn't think much of it at first, but really enjoyed it.
I finished up my smoked duck legs, added some hiyakko tofu and konnyaku sashimi, and I had a nice refreshing summer meal.
I had also picked up some quail eggs, but really didn't know what to do with them. So I decided to take the easy way out and made some:
SPAM® Katsu Curry......something that I've posted on before. A while back Marukai had SPAM® Singles on Sale. And while the internal me cringes at how expensive this stuff actually is compared to a can of SPAM®, at least I won't feel obligated to eat the whole can of SPAM® after I open it...... wait a minute, I'm going back to cans after this!
Anyway, 1 package of singles cut in half made two panko breaded "cutlets" if you will. Two packages of Japanese Curry from the pantry, benishoga, and four quail eggs later..... You got crunchy breaded and fried SPAM® over rice appropriately formed by my musubi mold on a bed of curry, topped by some fried quail eggs.
Not something I'm particularly proud of........ but it was tasty..... and one of my favorites. Hey maybe if Curry House had served this, they might still be open in San Diego? Nah.....
I hope everyone is having a great week!
hi kirk,
your spam katsu curry is awesome! i like the cute quail eggs too, so tiny...
for some reason, the spam singles don't taste quite the same (or as good) as the big block from the can.
my husband's SPAM shirt got a lot of comments during our road trip. one girl asked if he was from hawaii (because she was)! :)
Posted by: caninecologne | Wednesday, 22 June 2011 at 07:38 PM
Spam Katsu Curry. I think you're my hero, Kirk.
Posted by: Michelle | Wednesday, 22 June 2011 at 08:19 PM
do you have a recipe for your duck legs? i have a couple in the freezer and was not sure what i wanted to do with them.
Posted by: brookstar | Thursday, 23 June 2011 at 02:29 AM
Hi CC - You know; as a whole, I think they've changed the recipe for Spam over the years. It's not qutie as salty or fatty as I recalled. The singles are kinda weak....so that's why breading and frying was a good option I think!
LOL Michelle!
Hi Brookstar - For this version of the duck legs, I seasoned with a generous amount of salt and smoked salt, black pepper, and five spice. I smoked over oak using my stove-top smoker. The last step was a deep fry to crisp up the legs. You can also thaw, marinate, season then steam. I'd recommend a deep fry or high heat saute to crisp up the skin at the end.
Posted by: Kirk | Thursday, 23 June 2011 at 06:38 AM
I've never had Spam in my life, but... breaded, fried, and crispy Spam? I'm in!
Posted by: falsenostalgia | Thursday, 23 June 2011 at 11:15 AM
wow panko crusted Spam w quail eggs. Should consider entering yourself on Master Chef
Posted by: Mikew | Thursday, 23 June 2011 at 02:50 PM
spam katsu sounds good!
Posted by: kat | Thursday, 23 June 2011 at 07:23 PM
Hi FN - Just about anything made the way you describe is bound to be a winna!
LOL MikeW! I'm not so sure about that......
Hi Kat - It was.
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 06:40 AM
I love the way the SPAM katsu curry looks. Must have been delicious!
Posted by: Carol | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 08:19 AM
That's look delicious, Kirk.
Posted by: bill | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 10:17 AM
Wow, that looks crazy good! Wish places had it on the menu. :)
Posted by: Dennis | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 08:01 PM
Hi Carol - It sure hit the spot.....
Hey Billy - It's so nice to hear from you!
Hi Dennis - There used to be places in Honolulu that served it.... too bad Curry House didn't! ;o)
Posted by: Kirk | Friday, 24 June 2011 at 08:30 PM