Recipe: Kimchi-Chicken-Okara Nuggets (Patreon)

Hello, Everyone~, 

I sold another story! I'm not allowed to spill on the details yet, they're still reading through submissions. But I'm happy and even happier because it was a really weird piece that I thought only I would like and I'd have to hide in a drawer somewhere. As it turns out, the editor said he thought it was fantastic. So weird = good? I'll say more when I can. 

Also, speaking of weird = good. I wanted to share a recipe Richard found and made that we both liked. It's also a little odd and fun, and was so good, we had it two nights in a row. From Richard:Soy powder AKA okara powder (not okra powder) is something I hadn’t paid attention to before. Okara is an abundant byproduct of making tofu or soy milk. Because it has a short shelf life and there’s so much of it, it’s mostly used for animal feed and fertilizer. But it can be made into a powder that doesn’t go bad as quickly and is still packed with fiber to help keep your bowels squeaky clean and cancer-free.

Powder on the left, fresh on the right. I read that if you buy it fresh, you can freeze it.

This recipe uses a lot of okara powder, and it’s pretty darn tasty.

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 boneless chicken breasts (500)1 bag of enoki mushrooms (100g)120g kimchi2 eggs2 tablespoons mayonnaise1/2 teaspoon salt20g okara powder4 tablespoons cake flour (薄力粉, はくりきこ)Pinch of black pepper (1 pinch = 70 turns of the pepper mill)

oil for frying

To finish:1 pack of micro-greens (250g)

Instructions:

Cut off the root of the enoki mushrooms and slice into 1cm pieces. They also add fiber.

Chop the kimchi. (If I tried to take photos as pretty as Just One Cookbook does, we would have eaten dinner at 2 a.m.)

Remove the skin, give it a quick chop, then grind the chicken in a food processor.

Don’t overdo it. We’re not making baby food.

In a bowl, add all the ingredients and seasonings.

Hand mix with your fat little dominant hand while trying to take a picture with the other, I dare you.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat and drop the mixture into the pan by the tablespoonful. I used enough oil to cover the nuggets halfway.

I use a thermometer to make sure they’re at least 164F in the middle. It’s probably not necessary, I just like playing with gadgets.

Mine is a souvenir from America. I bought it at Lowe’s Home Improvement. Sometimes I like measuring in Fahrenheit.

Flatten into nugget shapes and cook until golden brown, flipping occasionally. Scoop the floating bits out of the oil now and then.

I could have taken these out of the oil a little earlier if I was trying to get perfect photos.

Serve on a plate and top with bean sprouts. I covered mine with a mixture of mayo and habanero sauce. I think Terrie made her dipping mayo with either Chinese or Korean something or other, probably gochujang.

Terrie here: I mixed some Kewpie mayo, a drizzle of sesame oil, some tobanjan and gojujang. Since I made it twice, I just experimented. It probably could have been more spicy. 

Terrie again: I want to try this without the chicken and maybe using atsuage tofu (or momen dofu?) chopped up instead. Maybe some more different kinds of mushrooms. I think it would be really good that way, too.