Nanban sauce glazed onions

Whenever I am working in a particular vein or train of thought foodwise, I tend to try to come up with as many riffs and variations as I can. Last year, I spent a few days experimenting with nanban sauce recipes, including coming up with an alcohol-free version that I’m quite proud of. (Classic nanban sauce always has alcohol in it.) After that, I had a ton of nanban sauce, and tried many ways of using it.

One such experiment that turned out well were these pan-glazed onions. They have since become a firm household favorite, but for some reason I haven’t posted the recipe before. We just made a batch the other day, when I was reminded anew why I love this so much. It’s salty, sweet and sour all at once. Interesting on its own, it’s a rather eye-catching sidekick to a roast. It goes wonderfully with plain rice, so it’s good as part of a Japanese meal too. It’s also very nice instead of lettuce or raw onion slices on a roast pork or beef sandwich. Try it as a sandwich filling all on its own too, on a nice crusty loaf.

This is a very simple recipe, but you do need to be gentle with the onions to ensure they look their best.

Regular yellow onions work best for this. Slice in half crosswise and cut out nice, even slices from the center parts, about 1/2 cm / 1/4 inch thick. I can usually get 2-3 slices out of one onion. Save the end bits of onion for other dishes.

Pour a little oil into a large frying pan, then wipe around with a wadded up paper towel so that you just have a thin coating of oil. (You can use a non-stick cooking spray instead if you prefer.) Put the onion slice in a single layer in the pan, and turn the heat on to medium-low. (Note: if the heat is too high, the sauce will burn before the onions can get tender and sweet all the way through.) Pour the nanban sauce over the onions, tilting the pan a bit to distribute it evenly. The more sauce you add, the more intense the flavors will be.

Cook with a tight fitting lid on for the first 3 to 4 minutes, then take the lid off. The liquid will slowly cook down. When the sauce has reduced by about half, take a peek under one onion slice by lifting it up with a spatula. It should look well on its way to becoming golden brown. Flip the onion slices over carefully with the spatula, and continue cooking until the liquid is getting sticky. Flip the onion slices over once more, rubbing them around the pan a bit until they pick up the residual sticky sauce.

For show, serve good-looking side up, preferably in a single layer.

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Japanese basics: Nanban sauce or vinegar (Nanbansu)

I’ve been craving sour flavors recently for some reason (no I’m not pregnant ^^;), which means that I’ve been making nanban foods quite a bit. The word nanban uses the kanji characters for ‘south’ and ‘savage’, meaning foreign savages who come from the south. It was originally used to refer to the Portuguese, the first non-Asian foreigners to land on Japanese soil. Later it came to refer all foreigners except for long-time neighbors China and Korea - or in other words, the Europeans. I guess to the Japanese of the 16th century or so, those white people looked like otherworldly savages! In any case, it seems that the Portuguese had some kind of dish that had sour flavors (I haven’t been able to pin down what that dish might have been - if anyone has a clue let me know), and so the term ‘nanban’ came to be used for any dish had a combination of sweet/sour/salty and often spicy-hot flavors.

Nanban sauce or vinegar is most commonly used for nanban dishes. For instance Chicken nanban is a dish that originated at a popular restaurant in Miyazaki prefecture in the southern island of Kyuushuu back in the 1950s, and is basically battered deep fried chicken that’s been doused in this sauce and served with a ton of of tartare sauce. It was popular in Kyuushuu for decades, but only became well known nationwide in the last decade or so when it became a popular item on famiresu (family restaurant) menus, as well as in convenience store bentos. Wakasaki no nanban zuke is another popular dish, consisting of small, whole ice fish (which are a bit like little sardines) that are deep fried and doused in nanban sauce with lots of shredded vegetables. Nanban sauce can also be used on noodles, or with either cooked or raw vegetables. It makes an unusual salad dressing.

I’ll have specific recipes that use nanban sauce later on, but I wanted to write down the basic recipes so I can point to them instead of repeating them over and over. There are almost as many nanban sauce recipes as there are households and restaurants that make nanban dishes, but here I have three variations. Just pick the one that looks the most appealing to you. Any one of them can be kept for at least week or two in the refrigerator.

This version uses mirin.

1/2 cup (120ml) rice vinegar1/2 cup (120ml) mirin1/4 cup (60ml) dark soy sauce4 tablespoons sugar1 piece konbu seaweed (about 4 inches / 10cm long) 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (optional) 2-3 small red (Thai) chili peppers, cut into rounds (remove seeds if you don’t want it too spicy) 1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a small pan, Heat and stir until the sugar is melted; heating it also takes the edge off the vinega and makes it milder. Cool and put in a screwtop jar. Store in the refrigerator, where it will keep more or less indefinitely. If you want to keep it in your pantry instead, just strain it off and pack into clean, sterile jars.

Omits the mirin, for everyone who wants to avoid alcohol in cooking. (Since the nanban sauce is not cooked long, it still has some of that alcohol in it.) The honey adds an interesting dimension.

1/2 cup (120ml) rice vinegar1/4 cup (60ml) dark soy sauce1/4 cup (60ml) runny honey 1 piece konbu seaweed (about 4 inches / 10cm long) 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons ketchup 2-3 small red (Thai) chili peppers, cut into rounds (remove seeds if you don’t want it too spicy) 1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a small pan, Heat and stir until the sugar is melted; heating it also takes the edge off the vinega and makes it milder. Cool and put in a screwtop jar. Store in the refrigerator, where it will keep more or less indefinitely. If you want to keep it in your pantry instead, just strain it off and pack into clean, sterile jars.

This is a bit more elaborate than the other two, but really good. It also has less sugar, since the leeks are quite sweet anyway.

the white park of a leek, chopped a flavorless oil for cooking sprinkle of salt 1/2 cup (120ml) rice vinegar1/2 cup (120ml) mirin1/4 cup (60ml) dark soy sauce1/4 cup water 2 tablespoons sugar 1 piece konbu seaweed (about 4 inches / 10cm long) 1 handful bonito flakes (katsuobushi)

Heat a frying pan over medium heat, and add just a bit of oil. Sauté the chopped leek until soft and lightly browned. Combine all the ingredients in a small pan, Heat and stir until the sugar is melted. Cool and put in a screwtop jar. Store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 2-3 weeks. To keep longer, strain it off and pack into clean, sterile jars.

If you have kids or people who don’t like spicy food, omit the chili peppers. If you like extra heat, add more.

While you wait for me to post some nanban recipes, try out this non-recipe: Heat up some leftover fried chicken until hot in the oven - even KFC will do. Douse the hot chicken in some nanban sauce, and let cool again. Cut into smaller pieces. This is really nice for bentos and picnics, and for some reason, the sourness of the sauce makes even KFC fried chicken taste lighter and better-for-you. Not that it is of course!

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