Media - Harumi Kurihara interview for JETAANY Magazine JQ

Scroll down to page seven to see my interview (done via e-mail) with Harumi Kurihara on her new cookbook, Everyday Harumi.

http://jetaany.org/magazine_files/JQ_JanFeb2010.pdf

Grilled Nishin (Herring) にしん塩焼き

Herring is a very fishy fish. The flesh is very oily and intense in flavor. Shinji loves having it as sashimi. I tried it one day simply grilled with salt. Back in the states Shinji was surprised to find it pickled in jars.

Herring

Recipe - Karashisumiso Octopus からし酢みそ

Karashisumiso is a great dressing to have on hand in the kitchen. It is based on sweet white miso made from rice that is thinned out with rice wine vinegar and Japanese karashi mustard. It is particularly great in the summertime as it is refreshing on the palate. In this dish the dressing is tossed with tender boiled octopus, thinly sliced Japanese cucumbers, and wakame.

When purchasing the miso look for either Saikyo miso or komemiso (rice miso). It will be very light in color and on the palate slightly sweet.

2 Tbsp. sweet white miso
1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
karashi mustard (to taste)

Mix the miso, vinegar, and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add karashi mustard to taste. Toss with octopus, cucumbers, and wakame.

Miso

Wakame

Marukame Eki Miso in a Pet Bottle

Marukome miso has a great product that is very easy to use. It is miso in a bottle that has dashi in it. For a quick and easy miso soup, just cook up some vegetables in hot water and then add some of this miso. I also use it to add umami to salad dressing. Or, for a simple dressing for steamed greens (broccoli, green beans, or spinach) add some of this liquid miso with sugar and crushed sesame seeds.

Miso

Japanese Culinary Forum at the FCI

This article from The Japan Times is regarding the Japanese Culinary Forum at the French Culinary Institute from the fall of 2007.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fg20071109a2.html

Recipe - Takikomigohan

Takikomigohan spice up our dining at home from the usual white rice that most often is what our meals are based around. Takikomigohan is rice that is cooked up with whatever you are keen on throwing into the pot. It is an efficient way to use up small bits and pieces that are leftover in the fridge. Scraps of vegetables like carrots, mushrooms, and burdock root. Meat can be thrown in (chicken or pork) or grilled bits of fish if you like.

Rinse the rice as you normally would. Put it into the pot and add your vegetables and protein. Then add the liquid as you normally would. To add depth to the rice, add dashi or some sake, soy sauce, and mirin to the water.

Once the rice is cooked toss it. The takikomigohan here has mushrooms, chicken, kombu and burdock root. After it was cooked I added some toasted sesame seeds.

Here you see the rice served for breakfast with miso soup and in Shinji's bento for his lunch.

Himono - Japanese fish butterflied, salted, and air-dried

One of my favorite ways of preparing fish is to do it himono-style. When we have fresh fish at home, the first thing we do is eat it sashimi-style. Rare and seasoned often with only soy sauce and wasabi. But after a day or two when we can no longer eat it raw, Shinji likes to make himono. The fish is gutted, marinated in salt water (or salted directly) and left to air-dry overnight. Then it is simply grilled.

This process brings out the umami in the fish. It also changes the texture. I love having himono for breakfast with rice, miso soup, and some pickles. Or, in the evening with a glass of shochu or sake.

These photos were taken at a market near Fukuoka's main train terminal. Shinji was so impressed with the quality and variety of seafood.

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi and Zuke 鮪サーモン漬け

Shinji brought home some salmon and tuna the other day. We have a bowl of sashimi, where he just rough chopped the fish, and the leftover fish he marinated in soy sauce and mirin, a dish called zuke. The next day for breakfast, after marinating overnight, Shinji put rice in a bowl, layered it with nori, and then topped it with the marinated fish and garnished with sesame seeds and freshly ground wasabi.

The wasabi was purchased at Mitsuwa. Shinji's company is importing it from Canada. It was pretty reasonable in price, compared to what is imported from Japan. The wasabi was very powerful and strong, too strong for me, but Shinji liked it.

Green Tea Shochu 抹茶焼酎

Shochu, the wonderful distilled spirit of Japan, is a great tipple. The premium shochu "honkaku shochu" that is single distilled, is best enjoyed straight, on the rocks, or with hot water. But sometimes I get the craving for a cocktail and mattcha shochu is a nice switch up to the normal routine.

These mattcha packs are sold in Japan. These are convenient for making mattcha shochu cocktails at home. Simply open up one of these small packets of mattcha into a glass, dissolve in water, and add shochu and ice and voila.

This was made with Jougo, a kokutojochu, or brown sugar shochu.

Recipe - Kinpira Gobo and Carrots きんぴら牛蒡

The recipe for this is in the next posting.

Recipe - Kinpira Gobo and Carrots きんぴら牛蒡

My first attempt at uploading video of cooking Japanese food. This is kinpira gobo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXF_o99HsNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Vez77CN8o

Kinpira gobo is a great dish to master. Julienned burdock root and carrots are sauteed in a soy, mirin, sake, and sugar mixture. After it is cooked it is season with dried red chili pepper (ichimi) or seven spice chili pepper (shichimi).

1 burdock root, julienned
2 carrots, julienned
3 Tablespoons sake
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
1 Tablespoon mirin
1 Tablespoon sugar
ichimi (or shichimi) to taste
vegetable oil

Carefully scrub the burdock root. If it is very dirty then peel it, if not, a thorough scrub will do fine. Cut into about 3 inch slices and then julienne these. Burdock root oxidizes quickly so place julienned burdock root in a large bowl of water.

Peel the carrots, cut into 3 inch slices and julienne.

Rinse the burdock root and pat dry.

In a saute pan with a little bit of oil saute the burdock root and carrots. After the vegetables start to soften add the sake, soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Cook until most of the liquid has dissipated. The vegetables should be soft. Add ichimi (chili powder) to taste.

This will hold for about five days in the fridge. This is great at room temperature, so perfect for a bento.

Recipe - Buri Daikon ぶり大根

Buri, or yellowtail, is a fatty, rich fish. In Japan in the wintertime it is often simmered with daikon, a root vegetable that is in season in the winter. This recipe is easy, just put the fish and daikon in a pot, add broth, and let simmer until everything is cooked. The yellowtail is very tender, as is the daikon, which, depending on the daikon, can add a little bit of bitterness to the dish, which cuts through the fattiness of the fish.

yellowtail (about 2 cups)
1/2 daikon (about 2 cups)

4 cups sake
1 cup water
4 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 Tablespoons julienned ginger

Cut the yellowtail into bite size pieces. Blanch in hot water and set aside. Peel the daikon and cut into bite size pieces.

In a soup pot combine the sake, water, sugar, mirin, soy sauce and ginger and bring to heat until the sugar dissolves. Add the daikon and yellowtail and cook until tender.

Recipe - Sauteed Kabocha

Here in Shinji's bento we have from left to right:
shishito peppers with katsuobushi
sauteed kabocha
beef and gobo sukiyaki style
chrysanthemum leaves with sesame dressing
salted and grilled salmon

The second from the left dish is a breeze, will keep for several days in the fridge, and adds a nice color to the bento. Kabocha squash is vitamin C, iron, potassium, and notably beta carotene.

1/4 kabocha squash
vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons mirin
1 Tablespoon sake
1 Tablespoon sugar

Trim any rough parts of the skin of the kabocha squash. Remove the seeds. Then cut into thin slices.

In a saute pan add a little bit of oil and over medium high heat saute the sliced kabocha squash. When the color starts to change add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, and sugar. Cook until the kabocha is tender.

Recipe - Miso Soup みそ汁

I love starting my mornings with a bowl of miso soup. The savory, salty, and warm soup changes depending on the type of miso and what ingredients we put in the soup pot. Some of my favorites are asari (clams), aonori (a type of sea vegetable), and slippery, slimy nameko mushrooms as seen here.

There are many types of miso. The sweet white miso, that is often used to marinate fish in, is based on rice and is called komemiso. There is a dense, almost fudge like in color miso that is made from soybeans called mamemiso. There is a chunky, earthy miso made from barley called mugimiso.

Miso will keep for a long time in the freezer. Put the miso into a tupperware. Don't worry, it won't freeze, you do not need to defrost it, just spoon out, it will be like ice cream. Once you have a collection of miso, it is fun to start blending the misos.

3 cups dashi
1/2 cup nameko mushrooms
1/2 tofu cake (I prefer the silken tofu for miso soup), cut into bite-size pieces
1/4 cup wakame (this amount is the rehydrated amount if you are starting with dried wakame), chopped
2 stalks green onions, sliced thinly
4 Tablespoons miso
shichimi (seven spice) optional

In a pot combine the dashi, mushrooms, tofu, and wakame. Heat until everything is cooked through. Add miso, it is easiest if you can incorporate the miso in a strainer into the soup. Cook until the miso is warmed up. Do not allow to boil once the miso is added.

Serve in bowls. Garnish with green onions and shichimi.