I’m not a picky eater by any means, but for some reason I’ve never exclaimed, “Gee, I could really go for some goat tonight!” as I do with, say, lamb. Perhaps that’s because when I was twelve the farm that my parents moved us to came with a goat named Nanny. That shouldn’t have dissuaded me though – I also had a French Lop Ear rabbit named Nicholas, and I’ve eaten rabbit (albeit not too excitedly). We had chickens – I eat chicken. And I had a beloved horse named Pronto. You see where I’m going with this. In my defense, I had no idea I was eating horse. When I asked our waiter in Paris what kind of meat it was he made a sound I took more as a baaaa than a whinny. Sorry, Pronto, clearly I need tutelage in international animal sounds.

Back to the goat.

Barnaby finally convinced me to give it a try. I actually had tried goat once before and, though Nanny never won many points with me due to her frequent need to make hard contact with her horns and my rear end, I found it too gamey, a taste that always stayed with me. But he purchase some high-quality, grass fed goat from Thundering Hooves and I was won over. As with our other grass fed meats it was incredibly flavorful and tender.  We slow cooked a shank all day with white wine, rosemary, garlic and Alubia Criollo beans, a white Spanish runner bean with an amazing rich and creamy flavor. When we got home we were greeted with the heavenly aromas of wine, rosemary and garlic. The beans, a wonderful heirloom variety from Rancho Gordo (my new favorite bean purveyor), were perfectly cooked, the goat meat falling off the shank in delicate morsels.

A memorable meal indeed.

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Photo: Gaku

During the cold months when I lived in Japan I loved a nice hot bowl of nikujaga. In jest, I used to call this dish “Mick Jagger.” To me, when my students said “nikujaga” or “Mick Jagger” they both sounded almost the same, so it gave us many belly grabbing laughs.

Japanese Rolling Stones fan student: “I love Micku Jagga!”
English food loving teacher: “Me too, it’s so delicious!”
Japanese Rolling Stones fan student: “What!?”

Nikujaga literally means “meat (niku) potatoes (jaga),” and to most Japanese (as well as this Gaijin) it’s comfort food. It’s a simple dish of thinly sliced beef stewed in sweetened soy sauce with potatoes, shirataki noodles (also known as konnyaku noodles; a low carb, non-wheat noodle), carrots and onions.

In the late 19th century, while studying naval science in England, Japanese naval legend Tōgō Heihachirō was inspired by the hearty, nutritious beef stews of the British Royal Navy. Upon his return to Japan he commissioned the chefs of the Imperial Japanese Navy to create a version to serve their seamen.

And, thus, was born Mick Jagger…I mean, nikujaga <wink>.

Nikujaga

1/2 lb thinly sliced beef loin cut into 1 1/2 inch length pieces
4 potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 onion, cut into wedges
1/4 lb carrot, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 package shirataki noodles
2 1/2 cups dashi soup (*see below)
2 Tbsp mirin (sweet cooking rice wine)
2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp soy sauce

Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a deep pot and quickly saute beef. Add onion, carrot, potato, and shirataki in the pan and saute together. Pour dashi soup stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and skim off foam. Simmer until potatoes are softened. Add sugar and mirin; cover. Simmer for about 5 minutes and add soy sauce. Simmer until the liquid is almost gone.

Makes 4 servings.

*Dashi is a stock that is the base of many Japanese dishes. There are many variations, but a common variety is made from dried kelp and bonito (fish) flakes. Many people nowadays use instant dashi. You can purchase it in Asian (and some non-Aisan) markets as well as on Amazon.com.

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