Beef Okazu

It's only 3 days until the most anticipated food holiday of the year. Yet here i am. Giving you a Japanese ground beef dish.

So, why no tips on brining your turkey, top ten recipes for yams, or creative ways to re-use leftovers? Well, I decided that I hate pre-Thanksgiving dinners. Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving dinner. All year I look forward to a big plateful of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and cranberry sauce, followed by days and days of turkey & cran sandwiches, pulled BBQ turkey with coleslaw, and all kinds of pies. And that's exactly why I'm not making and testing and eating and blogging Thanksgiving dishes before the big day—I don't want to ruin it! That moment each year when the first forkful of turkey dipped in potatoes and gravy (a little smear of cranberry from where they touched on the plate) reaches my mouth... that's what the anticipation is all about. I mean sure, thanksgiving is also about family and friends (and boozing and Black Friday), but it's those things combined with the meal that make Thanksgiving food taste so great. Mom getting up at the crack of dawn to put the turkey in the oven, Amanda trying to sneak extra mustard in the deviled eggs, Dad stealing little bites of pecan pie when no one's looking. The food just wouldn't be as special or taste as good without that whole package.

So, no early-November pumpkin pie in this house… today you get okazu. Which is actually a great pre-Thanks recipe: quick and fuss-free, perfect for a busy weeknight, great for pre-holiday company. My friend Ben told me about okazu about a year ago, and I've been thinking about it ever since. Ground beef cooked in sweet soy sauce with green beans, served over rice. So easy, and so good. What's not easy is finding recipes for okazu. After scouring the internet, I really only found a couple recipes or mentions of this version of the dish (turns out that okazu means "side dish"). Luckily, Ben gave me a pretty good visual of how his okazu turns out (literally, he texted me a picture last time he made it). I went ahead and added some extra goodies to mine—mushrooms, onions, ginger—so I'm not sure if this is what okazu is supposed to taste like. But…I don't care, because this, my friends, is delicious. 

Do you have an okazu recipe? Let me know!

Beef Okazu with Green Beans and Mushrooms

Olive oil (enough to coat bottom of pan)

1/2 onion, diced

2 cups sliced mushrooms

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1.5 lbs ground beef

2 cups green beans, trimmed and halved

1/3 cup soy sauce

1.5 tablespoons sugar (everything I saw called for white granulated sugar, I used brown)

Pinch of ground ginger 

Water 

salt and pepper to taste

Green onion, sriracha, and brown rice, to serve

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium. Add onion and cook several minutes, until translucent and just starting to brown. Add mushrooms, and continue cooking, until mushrooms are soft and desired stage of sautéed (I like mine near caramelized, but it's up to you). Add garlic, cook for a minute or so, and add ground beef. Stir to break up mean, and cook until browned. Add green beans and about a cup of water, cover, and cook about 10-15 minutes. Add soy sauce, sugar, and ginger, and cook uncovered until it thickens up a bit. Final product should be saucy, but not super watery. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over brown rice, with green onion and sriracha to garnish. 

Once You Go Crispy, You Never Go Back

A few weeks ago, my coworker McK arranged a little workday-lunchtime field trip to his favorite Thai restaurant in West Seattle- Buddha Ruksa. Sure, we can get Thai a block away from the office, but McK assured us that Buddha Ruksa was well worth drive, and that their Crispy Garlic Chicken would change our lives forever. I believe his actual words were "once you go crispy, you never go back." Dreamy thoughts of an afternoon away from the office and life-changing chicken swirled in our heads, pushing out the ever-exciting images of technology case studies and white papers that usually take precedence on a weekday afternoon.

When Friday rolled around, a group of 8 ravenous office dwellers entered the midday sun, mouths watering and stomachs growling, blinded by the natural light that was replacing the comfortable glare of our computer screens. We loaded into two cars, and took off in a frenzy for what Buddha Ruksa regulars have coined "Crack Chicken," for its addictive qualities. McK warned us in advance that the life-changing crack chicken wasn't going to be on the lunch menu, but he assured us that he had the hookups.

I was in a daze, waiting to get my hands on the goods, so I'm not sure how it all went down. I think McK might have whispered something in the waiter's ear, and slipped some money in his hand via a nonchalant-but suspicious handshake. Or maybe we just sat down and asked for the Crispy Garlic Chicken, I can't be sure. As a first time user, I proceeded with caution, asking for only one star. Other coworkers were wreckless with abandon, throwing caution to the wind and diving headfirst into a seedy underworld of fiery chicken fiends, asking for 3... no 4 stars! As we waited for our 'stuff' to arrive, my palms sweated, and I giggled nervously, trying not to look like a newbie.

When my plate of Crack Chicken came to the table, I pushed it around on the plate a little, not wanting to look overly-ambitious. I also knew that there was a risk of getting hooked from the first bite, the gateway bite, if you will. My plate was really a huge serving bowl (all for me!) filled with crispy chicken pieces, chewy little chunks of garlic, and crisp fried basil leaves. It looked and smelled amazing. I went in for the first bite. It was... good. But nothing to get addicted to or anything. Sheesh. The chicken was crispy without being breaded or overly oily, with a gooey garlicky glaze, dotted with chewy, crispy pieces of garlic and crispy basil- fried to bring out a whole new flavor, unlike any other basil flavor. I ate a few more bites- I mean, it was pretty delicious. After eating over half of my Crispy Chicken platter, I was in a food coma, licking the spicy garlic sauce off my lips and wishing I had room for more.

I packed up my leftovers and headed back to work- crack schmack. I wasn't addicted. After an hour, I was still full, but I couldn't stop thinking about that takeout container of crispy goodness in the fridge. My mouth started watering, yearning and aching for a bite of the chicken with its caramelized garlic and crispy basil. I couldn't concentrate on work. After two hours, the Crispy Chicken was all I could think about. No longer able to focus, I packed up, grabbed my chicken, and ran for home. Must. Get home. To eat. Chicken. Need. Chicken.

Evan walked in and found me huddled in the corner, licking garlicky sauce off my fingers... just one little morsel left for his tasting. He ate it. He snatched the box from my hand as I frothed at the mouth and nipped at his fingers. He tilted it back to his mouth, pouring in the last bits of garlic. He licked the edges of the carton. He was hooked. It got us both.

We sat there, fiending for more Crispy. Unable to escape from its grasp, we did the only thing we could think of to get our fix. We made our own.

We cooked cubes of chicken up in spicy oil with little chunks of garlic until it was crisp and chewy, we topped it with quick fried basil and sesame seeds. We mixed it with Chinese long beans from Mel and John's garden.

The beans were fantastic. The chicken was a little too oily. I burned the basil. It wasn't Buddha Ruksa's Crispy Garlic Chicken, but it was good enough to hold us over.... until next time.