【Our standard】A little moisture and softy! How to make pork meat and potatoes “Nikujaga”

Do you know the history of “meat and potatoes”?
It seems that there are various theories about the birth confidential, but I will talk about the most famous theory of “Heihachiro Togo”.

I really like “battleships” when I’m convinced, especially “battleship Yamato”.
There is a memory that is fascinated by the world’s largest turret, front and rear weight balance, and that modeling beauty.
It is a nostalgic memory that I often asked my parents to buy books and materials on Japanese warships during World War II.
I’m a little off track, so let’s get back to it.
Well, given that background, I also examined Heihachiro Togo, who played an active part in the Russo-Japanese War.
Heihachiro Togo is a famous commander who defeated the Baltic Fleet in the obvious Russo-Japanese War. Thanks to this, Japan has won the Russo-Japanese War. As a result of the victory, he became the only non-white country to join the ranks of powers and join the “Five Powers”.

Togo Heihachiro remembered the beef stew he had tasted during his studies in England, and ordered the chef to order the beef stew.
However, at that time, there were few cooks who could go abroad freely, much less knowing about overseas cuisine, and of course this chef would not know how to make beef stew demiglace sauce.
As expected, he is the chef on the side of Togo, and is said to have known how to make it. So why did he make “beef and potatoes” without making “beef stew”?
The answer is simple and apparently due to the fact that the old Japanese Navy did not have access to the demiglace sauce material. It seems that “meat and potatoes” was made using beef stew ingredients (beef, carrot, onion, potato), sugar and soy sauce.
Now and in the past, I was convinced that the Navy was “curry”. Beef, carrots, onions, potatoes. Here’s something in common with “nikujaga”.

Anyway, I like “nikujaga” very much.
By the way, how about “nikujaga” for today’s menu with this much chat?

Pork loin thinly sliced（about 150g）
2 Potatoes（about 250g）
1 Carrot（about 120g）
1 Onion（about 180g）
Konnyaku noodles “shirataki”　(about 200g)
6-8 Snow peas “kinusaya”

Sesame oil (1 tbsp)

Dashi stock　(about 1cup)
Sake (Cooking sake) (1 tbsp) 
Sugar　(2 tbsp)
Mirin　(1 tbsp)
Soy sauce　(2 tbsp) 

YIELD:
Serves 2

TOTAL TIME:
50 minutes

COST:
Middle

DIFFICULTY：
★★☆☆☆

1 Pull off the strings of Snow peas “kinusaya”.

2 Boil konnyaku noodles(shirataki) for about 1 minute.
Drain the water and cut to a length that is easy to eat.

3 Cut the vegetables.
Cut potatoes into 4-6 pieces, carrots into chopped pieces, onions into comb pieces.

4 Pork loin is cut into 3-4cm widths.
* There are many recipes that use beef, but the classic at home is pork.Pork finishes lighter than beef ♪

5 Put sesame oil (1 tablespoon) to a pan and fry the pork over medium heat.
When the meat changes color, add vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions) and fry over low heat.
* If the meat is 80-90% burned, it is OK. (Because it is cooked in a later process, there is no problem even if it is not completely cooked.)

6 Everything in the pot is coated with oil and the surface of the vegetables is shining and clear, add konnyaku noodles(shirataki).

7 Add dashi soup (1 cup) and sake (1 tbsp) and bring to a boil over medium heat.
If there is the scum, remove it.

8 Add sugar (2 tbsp) and mirin (1 tbsp) and simmer over medium heat for 3 minutes.

9 Add soy sauce (2 tbsp), cover and cook over medium heat for another 15 minutes.
If you open the lid on the way and turn it upside down with a spatula, the taste will be familiar ♪
After 15 minutes, when the lid is removed, it will be ready if the water flies.

10 Boil snow peas in hot water with a little salt. About 30 seconds is a guide.
* Over time, the color will become dull, so let’s do it soon.

11Serve it neatly on the bowl, and finally sprinkle with snow peas to complete!
* This time also scattered the chili pepper as an accent ♪