Chirashi-zushi
Yields: 4 Servings
For the Dashi (stock):
1 piece of konbu (4-6 inches long)
2 cups katsuo bushi (bonito fish flakes)
Rinse or wipe the konbu and place in a pot with 7 cups of cold water. Add the katsuo bushi (Place a large wire mesh strainer into the pot and put the katsuo bushi in that, so you don’t need to strain the stock later). Simmer for 20-30 minutes, but do not bring to a boil as the konbu will go bitter if you do. When the stock has developed a full flavor, remove the konbu and katsuo bushi.
For the Renkon (lotus root)
1 small to medium piece of renkon, peeled and sliced into 1/8 inch slices.
6 tbsp rice wine vinegar
6 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp dashi
1 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients for the marinade in a small pot and put to simmer so they dissolve. Add the sliced renkon and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the starchiness of the renkon disappears, but there is still a crunch to the root (taste it as it goes along to make sure). This can be prepared a day before and stored in the marinade (though take the renkon out until the marinade cools down so the cooking process doesn’t continue).
For the Shiitake, Kampyo (gourd), and Carrots
6-7 shiitake mushrooms, dried
1 carrot (julienned into tiny matchsticks or cut into flower shapes with a cutter)
1/2 cup dried kampyo
3 cups dashi
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
Put dashi, soy sauce, and sugar in a heavy pot and bring to a simmer. Add shiitake mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes, until fully reconstituted. Add kampyo and simmer for an additional five minutes. Add carrots and simmer for another five minutes, until slightly softened but still firm. Remove the veggies from the broth and slice the shiitake into thin ribbons, cut the kampyo into 1/2 inch strips.
For the Tamago-yaki (grilled egg)
2 eggs
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp mirin, sweet rice wine
1/4 tsp soy sauce
Scramble the eggs in a bowl and add other ingredients. Mix together and pour into a small pan which you have already oiled and set on medium high heat. Rotate the pan so that the egg mixture spreads and cooks evenly. Cook on each side until the eggs have fully set. Remove from pan, let cool, and slice into ribbons.
For the Rice:
3 cups short grain rice
3 1/2 cups water
pinch of salt
6 tbsp rice vinegar
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Wash the rice in cold water, scrubbing it vigorously until the water runs clear. Put water and rice in a heavy bottomed pot with a tight fitting lid and let soak at least 30 minutes. Add salt, bring water to a boil uncovered, then wrap pot lid in a towel and cover pot (careful not to let the ends near the heat element). Simmer until the rice is just beyond al dente, remove from heat, and let steam for about 10 minutes. For this dish you want the rice just this side of fully cooked.
Mix the vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and heat until dissolved and set aside (this can be done in the microwave).
Additional ingredients, as desired:
Sesame seeds
Pickled ginger (beni shoga), add at the last minute as it will gradually color the rice.
Green snow peas, shocked briefly in simmering water and cut into strips
Roasted sheets of nori, cut into thin strips
To Assemble the Chirashi-sushi:
Be careful with mixing the rice, use a cutting motion across at a diagonal and fold over—somewhat like folding whipped eggs whites into a batter. Be gentle, you don’t want to break the rice. Drizzle a little bit of the vinegar mixture over it, fan quickly, and fold carefully. Wait a bit, fanning and folding slowly, and repeat until all the vinegar mixture has been added.
Once all the marinade has been absorbed you should hopefully have rice that is moist and slightly sticky but not gummy and definitely not broken. The grains should be glossy but individuated and the flavor should be tangy sweet with a hint of salt.
Begin to slowly fold in your ingredients, careful not to overwork the rice or break your add-ins (the renkon and peas are the most fragile). Leave the ginger on the top only as it will turn the rice pink where it touches it (add this last, or just before serving).
Yaki-soba
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
Yaki-soba Noodles-8 oz.
Light Soy sauce-1/4 cup
Tonkatsu Sauce-1 tbsp
Sambal Oelek/other chili garlic paste-2 tsp
sugar -1/4 tbsp
dark sesame oil-2 tsp
Canola/other vegetable oil-1 tbsp
medium sized yellow onion-1, peeled and sliced thinly
garlic cloves-2, minced
carrots-2, julienned
cabbage-1/2 head, shredded/ sliced thinly
scallion tops-4, sliced thinly, crosslength
toasted sesame seeds-1 tbsp
Steps:
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Cook the soba noodles in the boiling water for about 2 minutes or until they are al dente.(cooking any longer will cause the noodles to clump together). Drain the noodles, rinse lightly with cold water and drain again.
Combine the soy sauce, Tonkatsu sauce, chili paste, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. When hot, add the onions, garlic, carrots, and cabbage. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the vegetables begin to soften and brown slightly. Add the soba noodles and the soy sauce mixture and cook just long enough to reheat the noodles and thoroughly coat them in the sauce. Serve garnished with the chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds.
Miso-shiru, Kansai style
Yields: 4 servings
Ingredients:
For the Dashi:
10 cm square (abt. 10gm) of konbu+ 5 cm square konbu
10-20 gm dried katsuobushi (bonito fish flakes)+5 gm katsuobushi
5 cups of water+ 3 cups of water
Wipe the surface of the konbu, removing dirt and sand with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Place the first amounts of water and konbu into pot, heat on medium flame. Remove the konbu when it comes up on surface. Do NOT boil. Add the first amount of katsuobushi at once, and after 10 seconds, turn off the flame. Prepare a strainer covered with a thin cloth on top. When the katsuobushi begins to sink, strain.
Recycle the konbu and katsuobushi. Repeat the previous steps with second amounts of each ingredient. The products are called Ichiban and Niban (first and second) Dashi.
For the Miso-shiru:
7 gm hoshi wakame (dried kelp)
1/2 block of medium-firm tofu, cut into small cubes
4 cups dashi
80-90 gm shiro (white) Miso
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
Steps:
Soak the wakame) in warm water, remove its hard stems and rinse, strain and cut into bite size pieces. Heat dashi without bringing it to a boil. Strain miso through a tea strainer into the dashi, and when it is about to boil, remove the foam that will rise to the top. Add the wakame. Slide the tofu into the soup. Turn off the heat when the tofu floats to the top and serve hot garnished with scallions.
9. Spicy Soba Noodle Salad with Edamame
Yields: 6 servings
8 ounces uncooked soba
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 cup diced English cucumber
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp white miso
1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek)
1 tsp dark sesame oil
Cook soba in boiling water 2 minutes; add edamame. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes. Drain; rinse with cold water. Drain; cool. Place soba mixture in a bowl. Add cucumber and onions.Combine mayonnaise and next 5 ingredients (through oil); stir with a whisk. Pour over the soba mixture; toss well.
Chigae-Nabe
Serves2-4
Stock ingredients:
8 cups/1600 ml water
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp ginger juice*
3 Tbsp red miso (or regular miso)
1 Tbsp toubanjan (Spicy Chinese Chili Bean paste)
2 Tbsp kochujan (Spicy sweet Korean bean paste)
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp soy sauce
200 ml/1 cup kimchee
Nabe ingredients:
1 block momen-tofu (firm tofu)
Vegetables- choose two to four of: 1/2 – 1 pack mame-moyashi (soybean sprouts); 1/2 bunch shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves); 1 – 2 bunches chingensai (bok choy); 1/2 bunch spinach; 4- 8 shiitake; 1/4 head hakusai (Chinese cabbage); 1 bunch nira (Chinese chives); 1 small onion; 1 bell pepper; 1 stalk negi
100 g ttok (Korean rice cake) or mochi (Japanese rice cake)
100 g dang myun or harusame (cellophane noodles)
100 g kuzukiri
To finish: 100 g udon ; 1 egg per person; thinly sliced negi
Directions:
Add all stock ingredients to the water, taking care to fully dissolve the miso, toubanjan and kochujan. Taste stock and add more seasonings if necessary, keeping in mind the the stock will become richer during cooking.
Prepare the ingredients: Cut tofu into 6 to 8 cubes. Cut vegetables into large bite-sized pieces. Soak cellophane noodles in hot (not boiling) water for five minutes, drain, rinse with cold water and drain again; cut into shorter lengths if desired. If udon noodles are not pre-cooked, boil briefly until barely soft. Arrange all ingredients on platters at the table, along with a ladle and saibashi (long cooking chopsticks) or tongs. Set a small bowl and chopsticks at each place setting.
Fill a donabe (earthenware pot) with half of the stock, reserving the remaining. Bring the stock to a simmer on the stove top, then carry to the table and place on the konro. With heat on medium-high, start adding ingredients. Add ingredients that need a lot of time to cook, like tofu and mochi, first; then diners can add a little of whatever they like, taking care not to crowd the pot. Ladle a little bit of the stock into each bowl and pluck items from the pot as they finish cooking. Continue to replace ingredients in nabe, being careful to handle them with the saibashi or tongs. When the stock gets low, carefully pour in some of the reserved stock.
After all ingredients are used up, the stock will be richly flavored. Finish the meal by cooking udon noodles in the stock.
Home-made Furikakes:
Carrot & Sesame Seed:
- 4 medium carrots, grated
- 4 tbsp sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tbsp raw cane sugar or light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Shichimi-tohgarashi (or red pepper flakes)
- Salt
Peel and finely grate or chop the carrots.
Heat up the non-stick pan over low-medium heat. Put in the carrots, and let dry-cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until it’s dried out quite a bit and has reduced to about 1/4th of its original volume. This takes about 15-20 min.
Add the soy sauce and stir rapidly until the liquid is evaporated. Add sugar.
Make a hole in the middle of the pan. Pour the sesame seeds in and stir until a couple start to ‘pop’. Rapidly stir around and remove from heat.
Add the Shichimi tohgarashi.
Makes about 1/2 cup. Store (after it’s completely cooled) in an airtight container in the refrigerator, and try to use up within a week.
Gomashio
- 100 g / 3.5 oz. raw sesame seeds
- 10g / .35 oz good quality, coarse salt salt (such as Grey sea salt)
- About 1/2 cup water
Dissolve the salt in the water.
Spread the sesame seeds out in the frying pan. Over medium-low heat, stir around until the seeds start to ‘pop’. Take off the heat and keep stirring until the popping stops.
Return the pan to the heat, and add the salt water. Stir around to distribute evenly. The seeds will clump up. Keep stirring over a medium-low heat – scrape off any salt that sticks to the pan. Keep stirring and scraping, until the water evaporates. The seeds will coated with fine salt crystals so that they look greyish in color, and will no longer be clumpy.
Take the pan off the heat and let the seeds cool in the pan – they’ll dry off better in the warm pan. Once they have cooled down completely and are totally dry, they can be packed in an air-tight container. They will keep for about a month in a cool, dry place.
