Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **AUTHOR SPECIAL**

Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!!  Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors.

Introducing author, LARISSA REINHART, and her favorite Japanese recipe for OYAKODON!

BOOK PEEK ~ Portrait of a Dead Guy by Larissa Reinhart

In Halo, Georgia, folks know Cherry Tucker as big in mouth, small in stature, and able to sketch a portrait faster than buckshot rips from a ten gauge — but commissions are scarce. So when the well-heeled Branson family wants to memorialize their murdered son in a coffin portrait, Cherry scrambles to win their patronage from her small town rival.

As the clock ticks toward the deadline, Cherry faces more trouble than just a controversial subject. Between ex-boyfriends, her flaky family, an illegal gambling ring, and outwitting a killer on a spree, Cherry finds herself painted into a corner she’ll be lucky to survive.

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  About the author, Larissa Reinhart….

Larissa Reinhart began her writing career in second grade when she sold her first publication to her neighbor for a nickel. After moving around the Midwest, South, and Japan, she now lives in Georgia with her husband, young daughters, and Biscuit, a Cairn terrier. Although she speaks without an accent, her writing is known to have a Southern drawl. Her debut novel, PORTRAIT OF A DEAD GUY, is a 2011 Dixie Kane Memorial winner, a 2012 The Emily finalist, and a 2012 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist.

Connect with Larissa….

Portrait Of A Dead Guy by Larissa Reinhart is available AUGUST 28, 2012!!

I hope you enjoy today’s Killer Fixin’s.  Happy eating!

Karen

P.S.  We’re at 39 recipes and counting with this posting.  Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.

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ABOUT OYAKODON

I’ve lived in Japan three different times in three different cities over the last fifteen years. We returned from our last stint a year ago where we lived in Nagoya for two years. That trip was especially memorable because it was the first time our children experienced Japan with us. After we returned, my kids and I were homesick for Japan. Not that we don’t like living back in Georgia (which we love), but reverse culture shock can be harder than regular ol’ culture shock.

One way I dealt with our reverse homesickness was to create a blog — The ExPat Returneth ( http://theexpatreturneth.blogspot.com/ )– to share what I missed with other expats. What proved most popular was when I shared the Japanese recipes I cook at home. I’ve been cooking Japanese food regularly for many years. I don’t cook Japanese food because I’m a foodie. I’m a lazy cook and find it easier than meals. It’s fast, the prep is easy, and the ingredients are usually cheap. Plus we miss eating out in Japan, so there’s the nostalgia factor. And we just like it. If you have 5 key ingredients in your cupboard — soy sauce, mirin, cooking sake, vinegar, and sugar — you can make most dishes.

Oyakodon literally translates as parent and child (oyoko) rice bowl (don), but the basic translation is chicken and egg on rice. A very traditional meal that you can find in many restaurants and homes in Japan, this is a simple and delicious Japanese dish that’s easy to make anywhere. This is my go-to meal when I don’t feel like cooking (which is a lot of the time), but have to anyway. (These kids and their constant need to be fed!)

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Photos, LEFT TO RIGHT

1.  Adding beaten egg
2.  Cooking the chicken & onion in the sauce
3.  Letting the egg set
4.  Oyakodon

[[These pictures are from my blog post on oyakodon: http://theexpatreturneth.blogspot.com/search/label/Oyakodon]]

OYAKODON
[Serves 4]

Ratios are easy to double.

*3-4 chicken thighs: deboned, deskinned and cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, sliced thin
4 T. soy sauce
4 T. mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine, easy to find now in major supermarkets)
3 tsp. sugar
1 cup water
3 beaten eggs

Hot cooked rice (3-4 cups). Japanese rice is short grain, stickier and less dry than long grain. But use what you’ve got. That’s my motto.

Combine all ingredients in a skillet except the egg and rice. Boil for about 4 minutes (until chicken no longer looks pink).  Add the beaten egg in a thin stream, turning the pan, so that it covers the cooked mixture.  Continue to cook until eggs are almost firm.  Scoop rice into individual bowls and ladle chicken and egg mixture on top of the rice.

You can’t get much easier than that!

*To make it healthier, you could use chicken breast meat. Japanese people generally use thigh meat, but we’ve cooked with breast. Just be sure not to over cook it.