Cook: Cousin Okazu (For Taylor & Brett)
Growing up, my cousins and I spent a lot of time next door at our grandparents house. There was always an abundance of food there regardless of the time of day, day of the week, or time of the year. One dish I remember so vividly was my Grandma Daisy’s hamburger, pea, and rice okazu. Okazu is basically the Japanese term for stir fry. It can really be a mixture of any meats and veggies that you have around.
Not all food has to be fancy and expensive to thrill your tastebuds. In the words of David Chang, I would definitely call this an ugly delicious meal. There is no fuss or frills when it comes to making this but it’s comfort food at it’s finest. Years later, when my aunt “hired” me to babysit my cousins, Taylor and Brett, this would be a go to dish that they both loved when we couldn’t think of anything else to eat. For me, it still evokes a feeling of being with my grandparents and my cousins and back to a simpler time in life.
This might be the easiest recipe of all time.
Ingredients:
1lb of ground beef
1 bag of frozen peas
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of low sodium shoyu
Red ginger
Directions:
Cook beef and brown it in a pan until it’s cooked through. Add some salt and pepper to season the meat.
2. Add a bag of frozen peas and mix. Yep, that’s really the whole recipe. Once it’s mostly done cooking, add a splash of low sodium soy sauce and give it one final stir.
3. Top the ozaku over hot rice. I always like to add furikake, red shoga (which is just pickled ginger and available at Asian markets) and any other pickled things you might have in your fridge. Japanese people like pickled things of all varieties and colors.
