I've seen a few of this channel's videos and some of the recipes they make are just so incredibly strange to me. They're usually something that's slightly familiar to me and then they add...
I've seen a few of this channel's videos and some of the recipes they make are just so incredibly strange to me. They're usually something that's slightly familiar to me and then they add something that's completely out of left field that I wouldn't expect.
I just looked on their website to find an example and this one is actually a pretty good example. I love okonomiyaki. I make it at home occasionally. And the thing about okonomiyaki is that there's tons of variations so you can get away with just about anything. And yet what they've come up with is strange. It's far too green colored, and it's served with some of the raw vegetable "for garnish". The sauces they have you mix for it throw red flags for me (though with these flavors, it might actually work). And most peculiar is how they serve this with a "cucumber salad", which is actually just pickled cucumber - something that could be served with this dish, but isn't really a deal breaker IMHO.
I don't know if they make things this way because they're going after a gourmet aesthetic or if it's just because of the kinds of food that are easier to get in the UK.
On the other hand, I do love how most of their recipes focus on fresh vegetables. I feel like if I were to buy a cookbook I'd want those kinds of recipes. To be honest, they make a lot of food that I'd love to eat more often but don't have the amount of time it takes to prep those dishes. But on the other, other hand, they also tend to use ingredients that, in the US, are difficult to find or are very expensive. Particularly when it comes to imported cheeses and creme fraiche.
I'm sure that modifying their recipes to the UK palate and ingredient availability is a major factor. But AFAIK they design their recipes that way primarily because of their Sidekick app, which...
I don't know if they make things this way because they're going after a gourmet aesthetic or if it's just because of the kinds of food that are easier to get in the UK.
I'm sure that modifying their recipes to the UK palate and ingredient availability is a major factor. But AFAIK they design their recipes that way primarily because of their Sidekick app, which has the goal of ensuring minimal food waste, and focuses on using in-season produce. And the way they go about accomplishing that is by creating their seasonal meal recipes in "packs" of 3, with each sharing the same set of fresh ingredients (with only slight variations in them), so that everyone using the app only needs to go grocery shopping once per week, then can make the 3/6/9/12 dishes they have selected. Which is likely why they do so many "strange" substitutions and cross-cultural food pairings, in order to make that system work. So if you're after totally authentic cuisine they're probably not the ones you should be looking to for recipes.
For that recipe, honestly that's the more authentic way to do it? While I'm not Japanese, I do hail from East Asia. Using the tips of spring onion for garnish is absurdly common in all manor of...
For that recipe, honestly that's the more authentic way to do it? While I'm not Japanese, I do hail from East Asia.
Using the tips of spring onion for garnish is absurdly common in all manor of Asian cuisine. It's almost omni-present.
Yeah, Japanese people eat pickled vegitables all the time (and I love most of them), it's just weird that they call it a salad. The ketchup and also the fact that they mixed miso in with the...
Yeah, Japanese people eat pickled vegitables all the time (and I love most of them), it's just weird that they call it a salad.
The ketchup and also the fact that they mixed miso in with the mayonaise. And I would guess that both of them are odd because they're trying to reproduce things that they can't get locally - the miso can add sweetness to the mayo to make it taste more like Japanese style mayo. I can imagine that the ketchup one is supposed to be something like bulldog sauce but the ketchup makes it seem more like a barbecue sauce. Maybe it comes together differently than I'm imagining, but the way I am imagining it doesn't seem appealing.
Just in case it isn't clear, I don't think this is a bad recipe (nor are any of their others), it just seems to be put together in a way that is kind of unusual to me
That was awesome. I really want to try that Mac and cheese
I've seen a few of this channel's videos and some of the recipes they make are just so incredibly strange to me. They're usually something that's slightly familiar to me and then they add something that's completely out of left field that I wouldn't expect.
I just looked on their website to find an example and this one is actually a pretty good example. I love okonomiyaki. I make it at home occasionally. And the thing about okonomiyaki is that there's tons of variations so you can get away with just about anything. And yet what they've come up with is strange. It's far too green colored, and it's served with some of the raw vegetable "for garnish". The sauces they have you mix for it throw red flags for me (though with these flavors, it might actually work). And most peculiar is how they serve this with a "cucumber salad", which is actually just pickled cucumber - something that could be served with this dish, but isn't really a deal breaker IMHO.
I don't know if they make things this way because they're going after a gourmet aesthetic or if it's just because of the kinds of food that are easier to get in the UK.
On the other hand, I do love how most of their recipes focus on fresh vegetables. I feel like if I were to buy a cookbook I'd want those kinds of recipes. To be honest, they make a lot of food that I'd love to eat more often but don't have the amount of time it takes to prep those dishes. But on the other, other hand, they also tend to use ingredients that, in the US, are difficult to find or are very expensive. Particularly when it comes to imported cheeses and creme fraiche.
I'm sure that modifying their recipes to the UK palate and ingredient availability is a major factor. But AFAIK they design their recipes that way primarily because of their Sidekick app, which has the goal of ensuring minimal food waste, and focuses on using in-season produce. And the way they go about accomplishing that is by creating their seasonal meal recipes in "packs" of 3, with each sharing the same set of fresh ingredients (with only slight variations in them), so that everyone using the app only needs to go grocery shopping once per week, then can make the 3/6/9/12 dishes they have selected. Which is likely why they do so many "strange" substitutions and cross-cultural food pairings, in order to make that system work. So if you're after totally authentic cuisine they're probably not the ones you should be looking to for recipes.
For that recipe, honestly that's the more authentic way to do it? While I'm not Japanese, I do hail from East Asia.
Using the tips of spring onion for garnish is absurdly common in all manor of Asian cuisine. It's almost omni-present.
The pickled cucumber is also a pretty common side dish: https://www.feastingathome.com/asian-cucumber-salad/
For the sauce, the only thing that seems a bit weird is the ketchup.
Yeah, Japanese people eat pickled vegitables all the time (and I love most of them), it's just weird that they call it a salad.
The ketchup and also the fact that they mixed miso in with the mayonaise. And I would guess that both of them are odd because they're trying to reproduce things that they can't get locally - the miso can add sweetness to the mayo to make it taste more like Japanese style mayo. I can imagine that the ketchup one is supposed to be something like bulldog sauce but the ketchup makes it seem more like a barbecue sauce. Maybe it comes together differently than I'm imagining, but the way I am imagining it doesn't seem appealing.
Just in case it isn't clear, I don't think this is a bad recipe (nor are any of their others), it just seems to be put together in a way that is kind of unusual to me