Kakiagedon (Mixed Tempura Bowl)

Posted by Judy | Bebe Love Okazu on April 30, 2010 in Blog, Fish & Seafood, Japanese Cuisine Favorites, Rice & Sushi, Vegetables & Vegetarian | 2 comments

A quick meal made with leftovers is kakiage donburi or kakiagedon.  Mixed tempura rests over a bed of brown rice and is served in a donburi.  When possible, I like to use leftovers in a new dish because it’s usually easy to prepare and keeps the dinner menu exciting.

Earlier this week I made kakiage tempura and wrapped each leftover kakiage individually in plastic wrap and then placed them all in a ziplock bag.  I like storing them this way because I can whip-up a quick and easy meal by grabbing one or two out of the freezer when I don’t have a lot of time.

Since leftover tempura tends to be soggy, it’s best to use it in dishes where it won’t matter if it’s soggy.  My mom often made tempura udon with our leftover tempura, but since I made donburi sauce the other night, and I still had some brown rice warming in the rice cooker, I decided to make kakiagedon for bebe dada and I.

Kakiagedon

(Serves 2)

• 4 – 6 tablespoons donburi sauce
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 2 kakiage (mixed tempura)

1)  Make donburi sauce.  Click here for donburi sauce recipe.  It is a simple base made with soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar and sake.  I had some sauce in the fridge that I made the night before.  I reheated this in the microwave just before pouring it over the kakiagedon.

2)  Make kakiage tempura, or better yet just pull it out of the freezer.  :)  Click here for kakiage recipe.

An interesting lesson that I learned from a Japanese TV do-ra-ma or drama, was how to reheat tempura.  The drama is based upon a young woman who ran a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn typically found in the countryside of Japan.  The Japanese food served at the ryokan is traditional, multiple courses, and superb in quality and taste.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit Japan, I highly recommend spending the night at a ryokan and enjoying a delicious meal.

Anyway, I very rarely watch Japanese do-ra-ma, but my mom happened to be watching this and because the story was built around cooking, it immediately caught my attention and I borrowed her DVD.  In one of the episodes, the protagonists reheats tempura over a hibachi grill on low heat, turning the tempura over and over until it looked crispy.

Since I don’t have a hibachi grill I figured my trusty pan over my gas stove would suffice.  It works like a charm.  It might not get as crispy as it would had I used a grill, but it’s not half bad at all!

Place frozen kakiage directly into a warm pan on medium-low heat.  Let the kakiage heat through for about 5 minutes, then turn over and cook for another 5 minutes.  Then, increase heat to medium-high and cook kakiage on each side for an additional 4 – 5 minutes until crispy.  I like to get the tempura as crispy as possible and go for the really dark-brown to slightly burnt texture – this adds good flavor (that is if you like that burnt taste!)  :)

3) Place cooked brown rice in a donburi or large bowl.  I only used a bit of rice for myself but gave bebe dada a good-sized helping.

4)  Place kakiage, or reheated kakiage over the bed of rice.  Pour donburi sauce over the kakiage and rice.

Serve while hot and enoy!  You’ll find that leftover kakiage tempura served in a donburi dish is quite tasty and even if the tempura is not as crispy as the night that you made it, you’ll hardly even notice!

Itadakimasu!

Judy | bebe mama