Request: Muramasa: The Demon Blade – Fish Udon (???)

People always send in requests for Muramasa: The Demon Blade, a game which I had never heard of, and that even after lengthy investigation remains completely enigmatic to me. There’s very little information available about this game, for example the Wikia only has 13 pages. Thirteen! If half the people who asked for Muramasa related food had taken the time to perhaps contribute to that Wikia then I might know what the hell I’m cooking. Truth be told here, the recipe below is based solely on the most common image used to represent the (apparently) wide variety of dishes available at noodle houses through the game – so in a sense it’s the purest Gourmet Gaming dish; it only has its in-game representation influencing it and nothing else. If you happen to know what this is, or could provide more information than the few people I passed the picture around, please let me know!

This recipe serves 2.

What you will need: A Large wok and a frying pan.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Toasted Sesame Oil

2 Tablespoons Chinese Five Spice

1 Medium White Onion (Sliced)

½ Medium Red Chilli (Sliced)

75g / 1 Cup Button Mushrooms (Quatered)

150g / 1 ½ Cup Pak Choi (Roughly Chopped)

500ml / 2 Cups Vegetable Stock

Dark Soy Sauce

150g / 1 Cup Udon Noodles

2 Seabass Fillets

2 Spring Onions/Scallions (Sliced)

Making the Fish Udon (???):

1. On a medium heat, warm a tablespoon of olive oil and sesame oil in a wok. Next add the Chinese five spice, white onion and red chilli and fry for about a minute.
2. Add the mushrooms and pak choi and cook until soft. Pour in the vegetable stock, add a dash of soy sauce and allow the liquid to simmer gently on a low heat.
3. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan on a low heat and warm through the udon noodles; once warm serve them in the bowls.
4. Turn the heat on the frying pan up high, add a little more oil if required then add the seabass fillets skin side down. Allow the fish to fry for about 2 minutes, then flip it over and cook for another 2.
5. Pour the broth and vegetables over the noodles, then layer with the seabass. Garnish the dish with sliced chillies and spring onions.

I’m not sure what I just made, but it was seriously delicious. The great thing about Asian style cuisine is how fast and simple it can be, and it leaves a wondering feelings of being well fed, almost cleansed. During my searching I discovered that food was actually a great influence in Muramasa and that recreating the “pleasure of eating” was an important aspect of its design. With an ethos like that, and after tasting this dish, I think it’s a game I would most definitely like to experience.

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Catherine – Pepperoni Pizza (Vincent)

My Valentine’s present this year was, somewhat ‘controversially’, the ‘Stray Sheep’ edition of Catherine. So to celebrate what’s quickly becoming one of my favourite games, I’ll be posting three recipes dedicated to the games three main characters; Vincent, Catherine and Katherine. Catherine is a marvel as a story-driven puzzle game that actually works; it’s practically an ideal combination for me! Vincent is a protagonist I have quite a soft spot for too - he’s my kind of guy, whether he’s a sheep or not (I think I just find fluffiness attractive). Vincent spends most of his time at The Stray Sheep where he enjoys a few drinks and, more often than not, a pepperoni pizza.

This recipe makes enough for 3 - 4 pizzas.

What you will need: A large mixing bowl, a sieve, a measuring jug, a rolling pin and a pizza tray or stone.

For the Pizza Dough:

500g / 3 ¾ Cups ‘00’ Flour

½ Teaspoon Salt

1 Tablespoon Fast Action Dried Yeast

½ Tablespoon Sugar

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

325ml / 1 ⅓ Cup Warm Water

Pizza Toppings:

250ml / 1 Cup Tomato Passata

Salt & Pepper

Dried Oregano

Hard Mozzarella

Sweetcorn

Pepperoni Slices

Making the Pizza Dough:

1. Sieve the flour and salt together into a large bowl. Meanwhile, take the warm water and add the yeast, sugar and olive oil. Mix it, and allow it to stand for a few minutes.
2. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the water and yeast mixture into it. Using a fork, scrape the flour in from the outside and mix well until a dough begins to form.
3. Flour a surface and turn the dough out, knead it well for about 5 minutes. Once it’s smooth, place it in a clean bowl, cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for about an hour. After an hour, or once it’s risen it’s ready to be made into pizzas.

Making the Pepperoni Pizza:

1. Preheat the oven to the maximum temperature. Flour a surface and roll out the dough to fit your pizza stone or pan.
2. Spread a few spoons of the passata on top of the rolled out dough and spread it out. Season the passata to taste with salt, pepper and oregano. Next add the mozarella, sweet corn, and finally the pepperoni. Put it in the oven to cook until golden then serve hot.

You can’t ever go wrong with pizza. I think Vincent and his friends know this which is why there’s rarely a scene at the Stray Sheep without it. When I was researching the dish, I had thought about making a Japanese version of the Italian food foundation. There were some interesting combinations; noodle bases and tofu toppings to name a few. But there was one consistent ingredient that is apparently very popular on Japanese pizzas and that’s sweetcorn. I love sweetcorn (though in my travels I came across many people who felt it was too sweet to be anywhere near the top of a pizza), and to be honest with you in the past 2 weeks, between moving house and making this dish, I think I’ve eaten about 7 pizzas, most of which had sweetcorn. Am I a pizza yet? I hope so.

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Pokémon – Poffins

Oh, Pokémon. How many times can you essentially release the exact same game over and over and how many times will I relive the experience, just to be bitterly disappointed by any new species that isn’t the original 150 (or 151 depending on who you ask). I mean, apart from Girafarig who is the best Pokémon of the new generations. Shut up. Anyway, Pokémon love Poffins. They can make them smarter, better, faster, stronger… As a combination of the words Pokémon and muffin I figured this had to be something soft and slightly sweet (just like the Pokémon themselves). I did a lot of research into cakes and breads and came across the delightful anpan from Japan - a type of sweet, milky bun. The classic anpan recipe was the perfect base to create the well known light and fluffy Poffin.

This recipe makes 6 Poffins.

What you will need: A large mixing bowl, a sieve, a baking tray and tin/aluminium foil.

Ingredients:

75ml / ⅓ Cup Milk

1 ½ Tablespoons Butter

2 Tablespoons Sugar

½ Teaspoon Salt

190g / 1 ½ Cups Strong White Bread Flour

1 Egg (Beaten)

½ Teaspoon Fast-Action Dried Yeast

Variety of Food Colourings (Optional)

For the Filling:

High Quality Berry Jam/Jelly

Use any variety of berry or berries you like; cherry, strawberry, blueberry, raspberry etc.

To Garnish:

Icing/Confectioners Sugar

Water

Sprinkles

Preparing the Poffins:

1. In a pot on a low heat warm the milk, butter, sugar and salt together until the butter melts.
2. Pour the liquid into a large bowl, sieve in half the flour and mix well. Sprinkle in the yeast and stir until well combined.
3. Add the remainder of the flour and ¾ of the egg, continue to mix with a spoon until the dough comes together then use your hands to form it into a ball. (At this point you can split the dough up if you’d like to add any colouring. Do this by adding a few drops and following the next step.)
4. On a lightly floured surface tip the dough out and knead for about 10 minutes. This will warm the dough and make it firmer and smoother.
5. Split the dough up into evenly shaped portions, these will become your Poffins. Place them in a large, clean bowl and cover with cling-film/saran-wrap to rise for about 50 minutes, they should double in size.

Filling the Poffins:

Feel free to leave your Poffins plain but if you’d like to add a filling follow these steps;

1. Take one ball of dough at a time and gently flatten it out a little. Spoon some jam/jelly into the middle.
2. ‘Pinch’ the dough around it, making sure it’s completely sealed. Turn it over and gently shape the dough into a Poffin shape, which is similar to an American football, and place on a baking tray.
3. Repeat this step for each of the potion of dough and feel free to fill each one with a different berry jam/jelly filling.

Making the Poffins:

1. Whether or not you’ve added a filling, leave the prepared Poffins somewhere warm to rest for about 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Gently brush them with a little of the remainder of egg on top then place in the oven to bake for around 10-15 minutes. (If your Poffins are coloured, you might want to cover them in tin/aluminium foil to stop them from browning after a few minutes).
3. Once cooked remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely. Make some icing by mixing the icing/confectioners sugar with a little water, this will act as a glue.
4. Dip the sprinkles of your choosing in the prepared icing and carefully stick them to the Poffin for the finishing touch.

There’s no need to invite 4 of your friends over to help you stir these Poffins, I assure you. Feel free to create your own mini-game though. Maybe get your mom to shout “Left! Right! Slower!” at you while you make them, it’s totally up to you. These Poffins remind me of doughnuts but with all the pleasure of freshly baked bread; they’re certainly lighter and healthier. If Poffins can make a Pokémon more beautiful, I see no reason why this isn’t true for humans - I’m expecting to see Z-list celebrities selling these on shopping networks in the coming months. 

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Request: Persona 4 - Steak Skewers

Megatenn began following me in the early days of Gourmet Gaming and sent through a request forever ago for some Persona based foods (I believe Mystery Burger and Steak Skewers were on the list). After what seems like an eternal winter, this weekend there was some fabulous weather and I felt a fresh and light Asian inspired meal might be in order - so Steak Skewers were the ideal choice. I’ve never played any of the Persona games but I remember an old housemate having Persona 4 and I spent quite a few hours watching him play - I am however a big fan of many Atlus titles so I must annoy him during the week and see if I can borrow his copy. Speaking of Atlus I am VERY excited for Catherine! I watched the review last night and.. Wow. Cara (who wrote about me on Feed The Gamer several weeks ago) and Ben came over to help demolish the meal; I was rather nervous cooking something I had never made before for other people. In order to eat the food, however, they were forced to watch the Catherine review - it seemed like a fair trade. 

This recipe serves 4.

What you will need:

Wooden Skewers, griddle pan, grater

Ingredients:

300g of Sirloin Steak

300g of Chicken Breast

Or 

200g of Tofu

For the Steak/Tofu Marinade:

150ml Dark Soy Sauce

3 Stalks Spring Onion (chopped)

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

1 ½  Tablespoons Flour

1 Clove Garlic (grated)

1 Teaspoon Ginger (grated)

1 Teaspoon Red Chilli (deseeded, chopped)

For the Chicken Marinade:

2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil

1 Teaspoons Chilli Flakes

1 Teaspoons Ginger (grated)

1 Teaspoon Garlic (grated)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice

For the Satay Dipping Sauce:

3 Tablespoons Crunchy Peanut Butter

1 Teaspoons Sesame Oil

1 Teaspoons Soy Sauce

1 Clove Garlic (grated)

1 Teaspoon Ginger (grated)

1 Tablespoons Sugar

1 Teaspoon Chilli Flakes

2 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice

Milk/Coconut Milk

Optional Serving Vegetables:

Asparagus Spears

Red Onions

Chestnut Mushrooms

Preparing the Steak/Tofu:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.
2. Cube the steak into 1 inch pieces and store in a separate bowl.
3. Pour half of the marinade over the steak, mix well, cover and place in the fridge for several hours.
4. Store the rest of the marinade in the fridge for later - as you will use this as extra sauce for serving/dipping.

Preparing the Chicken:

1. Cube the chicken into 1 inch pieces and place in a bowl.
2. Add the marinade ingredients to the chicken and mix well.
3. Cover and store the chicken in the fridge for several hours.

Preparing the Satay Dip:

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl.
2. Slowly add the milk/coconut milk a tablespoon at a time until a creamy but firm consistency is reached. 
3. Cover and set aside for later.

Preparing the Skewers:

1. Skewer the steak and chicken onto skewers - 4 pieces on each.
2. Heat a griddle pan to a medium heat and cook.
3. If you are making the tofu version - cook the skewers in a frying pan with some olive oil.

I served the skewers with thin egg noodles, ribboned  carrot and cucumber salad and skewered asparagus, mushroom and red onion that was roasted in the oven.

I was so hungry I inhaled my tofu version, which from what I can recall was really tasty, but I’ve since been told the food was actually delicious. I’ve amended the Satay recipe slightly to reduce the amount of Soy Sauce as I found it slightly salty so it should be more balanced now. Although that Satay was piled precariously high on the steak at one point in the meal! I sadly couldn’t find a good enough image of the Steak Skewer in the game to compare, but I did find this lovely drawing of it (if you have an in-game shot, please send it!). After eating those Skewers I am now even more intrigued to play Persona 4 - it will definitely be making an appearance at our gaming night, Warp Zone, in the near future!

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