Have you heard of NIMONO(煮物) before??
NIMONO refers to any simmered dish, such as a simmered potato dish called NIKUJAGA. NIMONO is a very popular type of cooking method in Japanese food.
Today's GOMOKUNI (五目煮）is categorize as a NIMONO dish.
The direct translation of GOMOKUNI is simmering 5 different ingredients in one pot. Although, I’m simmering more than 5 ingredients to boost the protein content in this recipe. Haha.
GOMOKUNI is my kid's favorite dish. My older boy tends to avoid big chunks of meat, so I cook with lots of minced meat, tofu and beans. I make this in a large batch and sometimes put this recipe in a bento box.
If you liked my Hijiki seaweed seasoned with sweetened soy sauce recipe,
you are definitely going to love today's recipe!
Enjoy the very traditional taste of this protein packed Japanese NIMONO recipe.
＜GOMOKUNI/ JAPANESE NIMONO DISH>
＜Yield> 4 servings
<Prep time> 6 minutes
<Cook time> 20 minutes
<Ingredients>
10oz (300g) tofu
8.8oz (250g) chicken mince/ground chicken
5.2oz (150g) cooked soybeans
5g kombu
6 shiitake mushrooms
1 carrot
1/2 leek
Seasonings
1½ cups dashi stock (dashi packet )
¼ cup rice wine
3 tablespoons Mirin
3 tablespoons Soy sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
<Optional toppings>
finely chopped green onions
edamame
<Directions>
1. Soak kombu in the water for 30 mins to soften it. Chop the carrot, shiitake mushrooms, leek and rehydrated kombu into 1cm cubes.
2. In a large pan add in the chicken mince/ground chicken and cook one side over high heat. When the the bottom becomes nice and brown, flip the meat over and start breaking it into chunks with your spatula. Add in the chopped vegetables from step 1 and continue to cook for another 2 minutes.
3. To the pan, add in the dashi stock, rice wine, mirin and sugar. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes or until the liquid has reduced by half. Make sure to stir occasionally to prevent burning.
4. Add in the tofu by crumbling it by hand along with the cooked soybeans. Drizzle on the mirin and soy sauce. Let the liquid evaporate over high heat until there is almost none remaining. Transfer to your serving plate and garnish with some chopped green onions if you want to! Now it' ready to be enjoyed!
<Miwa’s tips>
・You can leave out the chicken mince/ground chicken and add in extra tofu and soybeans if you prefer to!
・Feel free to swap out the soybeans for any other type of pea or bean such as chickpeas.
・If you are using a dashi powder, the ratio will be 1½ cups water + 2 teaspoons of dashi powder.
・Quite a lot of liquid will come out of the tofu, so make sure to evaporate the excess liquid, otherwise the final taste will be a little bland.
・Ingredients are very forgiving. You can use all different kind of mushrooms. For me, this is a fridge clean-up recipe! Any root vegetables also go with this recipe.
・This is a great option for meal prep.
・Be sure to stir periodically.
<Storage time>
Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
<Did you try this recipe??>
Let me know by tagging me on Instagram
I love to see your creations!
<MIWA’s recommendations♡>
-Please check out beautiful Japanese tableware to decorate your table! Use my code MIWA to get 5% off from your purchase!
-If you need very sharp quality knife, I highly recommend this handmade Japanese knife made by 80 years old Japanese maker!
If you want to know more about DASHI (Japanese soup stock), please watch!
2020/ 07/10 MIWA