Country-Style Simmered Potatoes
じゃがいものカントリー煮（乳なし） · Jagaimo no Kantorī-ni
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese preschool lunch menu
"Country-style" simmered potatoes are a school-lunch dish where chunky potatoes, carrot, onion and thin slices of pork are braised in a gentle broth seasoned with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce. It eats a little like a Japanese take on a Western stew, but it is made without any butter, milk or flour, so it is naturally dairy-free. The sweet, tangy sauce is one children recognize right away, and the potatoes soak it up as they turn soft and fluffy. I add the sugar first and the sauces last - there is a reason for that, which I explain in the memo below.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese preschool, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 75 gpotato
- 25.5 gthinly sliced pork (komagire)Small, thin offcuts of pork sold in Japan for quick stir-fries and simmered dishes. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin cut into bite-size pieces.
- 22.5 gcarrot
- 22.5 gonion
Seasonings
- 3 gvegetable oil
- 45 gwater
- 2 gsugar
- 0.5 gconsommé bouillon (allergen-free)Japanese-style consommé stock granules or cubes, used as a Western-style soup base. This kind is made without egg and milk, but most recipes on this site that use it list wheat in their allergens, so check the label if you avoid wheat. Substitute: A chicken or vegetable bouillon powder or cube made without egg, milk or wheat (check the label).
- 7.5 gketchup
- 3 gWorcestershire sauce
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- thinly sliced pork (komagire) (豚こま切れ肉)
- Small, thin offcuts of pork sold in Japan for quick stir-fries and simmered dishes. Substitute: Thinly sliced pork shoulder or loin cut into bite-size pieces.
- consommé bouillon (allergen-free) (コンソメ（アレルゲン不使用）)
- Japanese-style consommé stock granules or cubes, used as a Western-style soup base. This kind is made without egg and milk, but most recipes on this site that use it list wheat in their allergens, so check the label if you avoid wheat. Substitute: A chicken or vegetable bouillon powder or cube made without egg, milk or wheat (check the label).
- Worcestershire sauce (ウスターソース)
- Read the guide: Bull-Dog Worcestershire Sauce: Japan's Everyday Brown Sauce → Guide: japanese-school-lunch.com/articles/bull-dog-worcestershire-sauce/
Directions
- 1
Cut the potatoes into thick quarter-rounds (ichō-giri), the carrots into small irregular chunks (rangiri), and the onion into thin slices, halved lengthwise so they are shorter. Cut the pork into 1 to 2 cm wide pieces.
- 2
Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the carrots and onion thoroughly until they soften.
- 3
Add the pork and stir-fry. Once it changes color, add the potatoes and stir-fry them too.
- 4
Add the water and sugar, cover with a drop lid (otoshibuta) and simmer. When the vegetables are tender, add the consommé, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, cover with the drop lid again and simmer until the sharp, tangy edge has cooked off.
Sugar takes time to soak into the ingredients, and it also helps soften them. That is why the sugar goes in first: it lets the sweetness penetrate and makes the vegetables tender before the other seasonings are added.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 150 kcal | 300 kcal | 150 kcal |
| Protein | 7.2 g | 14.4 g | 7.2 g |
| Fat | 5.7 g | 11.4 g | 5.7 g |
| Carbohydrates | 22 g | 44.1 g | 22 g |
| Fiber | 7.8 g | 15.6 g | 7.8 g |
| Salt equivalent | 0.8 g | 1.5 g | 0.8 g |
| Calcium | 18 mg | 36 mg | 18 mg |
| Iron | 0.5 mg | 0.9 mg | 0.5 mg |
| Potassium | 535.5 mg | 1071 mg | 535.5 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 150 kcal | 7.2 g | 5.7 g | 22 g | 7.8 g | 0.8 g | 18 mg | 0.5 mg | 535.5 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 300 kcal | 14.4 g | 11.4 g | 44.1 g | 15.6 g | 1.5 g | 36 mg | 0.9 mg | 1071 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese preschool portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
