今日の夕食は、珍しく和食でした。少し前にポークノフィレ肉を買ったときに少し余ったので、パン粉をつけて冷凍していました。不味くなる前に食べてしまわないとと気になっていたのでメインはトンカツ、トンカツだけでは量が足りなかったので他のおかずを２品作りました。レンコンのキンピラ（キンピラと呼ぶには分厚くスライスしすぎたので、レンコンの甘辛煮みたいになりましたが）と、ブロッコリーのごま和え。お友達に日本の練りごまをいただいたので。お友達からいただいた、珍しい山椒のおつけものも出しました。
Today’s dinner was Japanese, which is quite unusual for us. A few weeks ago, I bought pork fillet but it was too large to finish in one go so I sliced the left-over and covered it with breadcrumbs and froze it so I could cook Tonkatsu at a later date. I wanted to use it before it deteriorates in the freezer. There wasn’t enough Tonkatsu for 2 so I also cooked a couple of other Japanese dishes. One is Kinpira of lotus root (although I sliced them too thick to call it Kinpira, the taste is the same) and Broccoli with sesame sauce because a friend of mine gave me a jar of Japanese sesame paste. I also served Sansho pickles, which another friend of mine gave me.
I really like lotus root but I’m not entirely sure how to prepare it myself as a side dish. What do you do to make it flavoursome?
You can make pickles with it, you just blanch it after slicing and marinate it in usual pickles liquid.
This one I made today was a typical Japanese side dish. I sliced it, soaked it in a water with a little vinegar for a few minutes. Then I sauteed it in sesame oil until it’s cooked half way, then poured a seasoning mixture (sugar tsp 2, soy sayce Tpsp 1.5, Sake Tbsp 2, Mirin Tbsp2) and cooked it until the liquid mostly evaporates. It’s still crunchy when it’s done, goes with rice well.
You can also add it as a vegetable in a pork or beef casserole, for example. If yo search online I’m sure you get a lot of recipes.
Thank you for taking your time to give me some suggestions. I appreciate it.
You are welcome!