Beef and Ito Konnyaku

We had these for lunch and we enjoyed eating it.. super easy and yeah.. yummy..It's ground beef and konnyaku or konjac, we used ito konnyaku, meaning thread-konnyaku, really love the texture of it which gives the dish an excitement. Plus... there's sake on it.. yeah Japanese sake.. I still can't believe that these simple dish brings wonderful combination of flavor and texture in every bite..

We ate it with chili flakes and a bit of chili oil mixed into our rice.. and it was a good combination.. hubby and I couldn't resist ourselves to get another scoop of rice..it's that good..love the sake too..it was my first time to use sake in cooking.. and now.. I'd love to cook another dish with sake on it..and I mean.. later.. after blogging..

Ingredients:

200g ground beef

180g ito konnyaku, cut into 1 to 2 inches (why? see below for actual photo of ito konnyaku)

3 tbsp soysauce

4 tbsp sake

1/4 cup dashi (or use bouillon) 

2 tbsp sugar

dash of salt and pepper (optional)

scallions and chili flakes for topping

2 tbsp oil

Procedure:

1. Heat pan, add oil and ground beef when beef is almost cooked

2. Add soysauce, sugar, dashi, sake, and ito konnyaku.. add salt and pepper if you want (i did)

3. mix and let it simmer.. until the sauce/liquid is all gone..

4. serve with chopped scallions and chili flakes

hey.. here's a photo of ito konnyaku I used earlier.. sorry for the photo, Im on a hurry 'coz I'm starting to cook when I realized I need to take some photo of it..the pan and oil is ready, and I haven't cut these one..that's how hurry I am..

it's firmer than jelly..really you need to cut it! how long? about 12 inches per piece.. well, you can buy konnyaku its not yet noodle like, but I find these one easier to cut..looks slimy? yeah.. kinda..because it's packed with water, that smells fishy.. you can rinse it with water if it bothers you... but nonetheless.. the texture is really good... the taste? not much..a bit salty..it is used because of its texture more than its flavor..