Three Eel Dishes うなぎの蒲焼料理3種類

Fresh water eel or “unagi 鰻” is a popular fish item in Japan and many restaurants specialize in eel dishes. At these specialized restaurants, eels are brought in live and prepared on site. “Kaba-yaki 蒲焼“ (eel grilled with sauce) is the most common dish with two variations of preparation and cooking* i.e., Kansai, Eastern Japan 関西 and Tokyo 東京 styles.  (Even in Japan, however, other types of restaurants may use previously prepared and frozen eel the majority of which comes from China (99 percent) and the rest from Taiwan.) Once eel kaba-yaki is prepared, two main ways of eating it is “Una-ju 鰻重” and “Una-don 鰻丼”. Both are eel kaba-yaki on rice but the former is served in a Ju-bako 重箱  (a square lacquered box) and the latter in a don-buri 丼bowl. Consequently, Una-ju is the more expensive and formal way of serving eel on rice. Una-don is the more informal way of serving eel.

In the U.S., although some eel is aqua-cultured in Maine and some restaurants may bring it in live and prepared it on site,  most of the eel is pre-packaged and frozen. The majority of this frozen eel comes from China, and Vietnam.

*For Tokyo style the filet of the eel comes from the eel’s back. It is then steamed, and grilled. For Kansai style the filet comes from the eel belly. It is then grilled without steaming. Please see here in more details.

We had a package of frozen eel kaba-yaki (11oz) in our freezer which came from Weee some time ago. We decided it was time to eat it. Since we are not big eaters and eel is quite rich, we ended up making three dishes over 3 days to finish the entire package. (Of course, we had some other small dishes along with the eel so we didn’t just eat eel for 3 days.)

The first dish I made (picture #1), is called “Wu-zaku 鰻ざく”. I posted a version of this some time ago. It is a combination of cold cucumber with julienned ginger and vinegar dressing and warmed slices of kaba-yaki eel. The cold cucumber slices counteract the rich flavor of the eel.

The next day, I made another standard or popular fail-proof eel dish called “wu-maki 鰻巻き” (picture #2). Again, I made and posted a version of this some years ago. I served this with sliced cucumber and grated daikon with soy sauce.

Finally, I made a mini una-ju ミニ鰻重 as a shime or ending dish the next evening (picture #3). I used a small square box which was a part of a larger ju-bako we used for Hanami. The traditional way of serving this is with white rice, some “unagi” sauce and the filet of kaba-yaki eel placed on top. My wife requested “sushi rice” so I used frozen rice we made some time ago when we cooked rice. After thawing and warming up the rice in a lidded silicon container in the microwave, I added some sushi vinegar (from the bottle). I mixed the vinegar into the rice and let it sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile I heated up the eel kabayaki in the toaster oven (on toast mode) until warm with the sauce bubbling. I added “sansho 山椒” Japanese  pepper powder on the top.

For us, this was the perfect ending to the meal. We spread the enjoyment of this eel over several days because too much eel is too much of a good thing. We were quite pleased with the  quality of this frozen eel kaba-yaki from China which we got from Weee.

Norwegian Lefse Flatbread ノルウェイのレフシイ フラットブレッド

Whenever we do barbecue/roast in the Weber grill, we cook potatoes and parsnips with the meat. When we roasted pork last time, we ended up with good amount of mashed potato-parsnip. Although making croquets from the left-over potatoes is the usual way to handle this, we had excess frozen croquets in the freezer.  So, my wife looked for a recipe on the internet  to use up the potatoes. She came up with this “Norwegian Lefse Flatbread”. We had these as “lefse” roll-ups with smoked salmon and cream cheese as a lunch. I happened to make cucumber and onion salad earlier which made a perfect side (picture #1).

We made just three (picture #3). The texture is more potato than bread. Not much flavor from the mashed potato/parsnips came through. This is certainly an interesting dish and the recipe is extremely simple (involving only potatoes and flour) but having tried it once we probably won’t repeat it.

Ingredients:
1 cup Mashed Potatoes (about 8.5 ounces/240 grams fresh potatoes)
1 cup all-purpose flour (Plain Flour + extra for dusting (about ½ cup))

Directions:
Place the flour and potato mash onto the work surface. Start bringing the ingredients together to form a sticky dough. Roll this into a sausage and cut into several pieces about 2 inches long. Form each piece into a round shape. Cook on medium to high heat in a dry frying pan for about 2 minutes (1 minute per side) or until done. Best served right away while still warm.

“Bento” Lunch Box 弁当

Since the occasion called for it, I made a bento box which is something I rarely do. As usual, I used an adult sized two tier bento box. I filled the layers with whatever we had on hand. I would have included cooked rice but since we had arancini, I used that instead.

#1: Simmered kabocha Japanese squash かぼちゃの煮物  and blanched green beans サヤインゲン. #2: Cucumber and nappa cabbage “asazuke” 胡瓜と白菜の浅漬け(nappa cabbage is hiding underneath). #3: boiled and marinated quail egg うずらの味玉 and skinned Campari tomato. #4: Carrot salad 人参サラダ. #5: Ricotta cheese meatballs in marinara sauce  トマトソースとミートボール. #6: Arancini made with shiitake mushroom risotto アランチーニ. #7: Japanese omelet seasoned with “Shiro-dashi” 白出汁味のオムレツ.

I made the omelet just for the lunch box (two eggs beaten and seasoned with shiro-dashi*). I made the meatballs shown here in the marinara sauce a few days ago. I combined the meatballs and marinara sauce by cutting the meatballs in half, adding them to the sauce in a frying pan and heating every thing until it was warmed up and the marinara sauce thickened. I finished this by adding grated parmesan cheese. I let these two dishes cool before adding them to the lunch box.

*Shiro-dashi 白出汁: A concentrated dashi soup base. Japanese dashi broth (made from kelp, bonito flakes etc) with added light colored soy sauce. This is most commonly used to make “Chawan mushi 茶碗蒸し. I used a commercial bottled one. It adds both nice flavors and saltiness without adding color like regular soy sauce or concentrated noodle sauce would do.

This was a quite filling and nice bento.

P.S. As a side light shown in the following picture, the Christmas amaryllis are in full bloom. What a treat on a gloomy winter’s day. 

Scallops and Shrimp with Yuzu Galic Butter Sauce ホタテとエビのソテー柚子ガーリックバーターソース

This is another inventory control dish. This time, frozen scallops and shell-on shrimp from “Great Alaska Seafood”. We had this as an ending “shime” dish for the evening. Since I had 4 scallops and 2 shrimp, vacuumed packed into two separate packages I could quickly thaw them by soaking the packages in ice water. Frozen items thaw much quicker using this method than leaving them in the refrigerator to thaw since water has much better heat transfer than air. Just before cooking, I patted them dry with paper towels and seasoned them with salt and pepper. I also decided to cook the shrimp with the shell on.

This is not a recipe per se but just for our record. Since I had some “ao-yuzu 青柚子” (from the Suzuki Farm) left, I used the zest and juice to make a Yuzu garlic butter sauce.  To mop up the sauce, we served several slices of mini-baguette I baked. The cucumber salad was dressed with strained home-made yogurt (Greek yogurt) seasoned with salt and olive oil. I also added finely chopped dill.

To sear and brown the scallops, I used a stainless steel frying pan with peanut oil (high smoking point) on medium high flame. I waited until the surface of the oil shimmered and I made sure the surface of the scallops was dry. I seasoned them with a generous amount of salt and pepper. I placed them in the pan for 1 minute until browned. Then turned them over and added the shrimp and cooked 1 more minute. I took out the scallops and set them aside (at this stage they were undercooked). I turned the shrimp over and cooked 30 more seconds then took them out. I added some butter (1-2 tbs) to the pan and when it melted added the finely chopped garlic and cooked for 30 seconds. I added a splash of white wine, scraped off the brown bits and stirred. I added the scallops and shrimp back into the pan and cooked for 30-40 seconds. Then I added the yuzu juice and zest and served.

As a quick impromptu dish, this was quite good. It is unfortunate I could not undercook the scallops since they were not sashimi quality but they were still quite ok.

Japanese Cucumber with “Sudachi” Miso 酢橘味噌胡瓜

This was the second  time we got fresh Japanese produce from Suzuki Farm. Last time, we got green yuzu or “ao-yuzu 青柚子” and made “yuzu miso 柚子味噌”. Japanese citrus for cooking include “Kabosu かぼす”, “Yuzu 柚子” and “Sudachi 酢橘” (the differences between these three citrus are  described in English in the linked website.) (They are also summarized below. **) This time we got “sudachi”.  “Sudachi” is the smallest of the aforementioned three Japanese citrus. I have not tasted “sudachi” before but I have seen it used with grilled “さんま” pacific saury” and “sudachi-soba 酢橘蕎麦”. In any case, I made “sudachi miso すだち味噌” and enjoyed with Japanese cucumber (chilled in ice water). I also served salmon belly with crispy  skin (dried over night in the refrigerator). Sudachi indeed has different flavor more complexed herbal flavor and more gentle acidity as compared with yuzu. We really liked the “sudachi miso”. Of course, well-chilled japanese cucumber is really great with this miso.

** Summary of the differences between the various Japanese citrus 
Sudachi 
Region: Tokushima Prefecture (accounts for 97% of Japan’s sudachi production) 
Season: August to October 
Flavor: Milder sourness, fragrant and less bitter than kabosu 
Best Uses: Topping grilled mackerel, soba noodles, matsutake mushrooms, and other fall dishes 

Kabosu
Region: Oita Prefecture (produces over 90% of Japan’s kabosu)
Season: August to October
Flavor: Well-balanced sourness with a juicy punch
Best Uses: Grilled fish, dipping sauces, hot pot, vinegared dishes, salad dressing

Yuzu
Region: Mainly Kochi Prefecture
Season: Green yuzu from August–October, yellow yuzu from November–December
Feature: Intense fragrance due to "yuzunone" aroma compounds
Best Uses: Zest for aroma, yuzu baths, yuzu marmalade, ponzu sauce

Prefer mild sourness for Japanese-style meals? → Sudachi
Want lots of juice and versatile sourness? → Kabosu 
Looking for a strong aroma with zest appeal? → Yuzu

The combination of chilled  Japanese cucumber with sudachi-miso served with crispy skin salmon belly is great.This is not a recipe but just a description of how I prepared the “sudachi-miso”.

Ingredients:
4 tbs of Saikyo miso 西京味噌 or other type of miso (I think sweet white miso like Saikyo-miso is the best)
2 tbs of sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
2 sudachi
2 tbs mirin (or more to make the desired consistency.

Directions:
Using a micro-grater, grate the zest of the sudachi (skin is thin so be gentle).
After the zest is grated, squeeze the juice of the sudachi into a small bowl and set aside.
In a small bowl, add the miso, sugar, sudachi zest and juice and mirin and mix well.
If too stiff, add more mirin

Although “yuzu-miso 柚子味噌” is most common, we really like “sudachi-miso 酢橘味噌. We would like to try this for other dishes such as topping simmered daikon or “furofuki-daikon ふろふき大根.

Julienned vegetable salad 刻み野菜サラダ

I got the idea for this salad of julienned vegetables from two separate sources. One was a segment on a food blog I follow about a tempura restaurant in the Ginza called “Ten-Asa 天あさ” which serves a julienned vegetable salad. The other was a YouTube episode by Chef Kasahara describing a similar salad. I am not sure how the salad dressing was made at Ten-Asa but from the description, it must contain  “shio-kombu 塩昆布” julienned “salted kelp”. In addition, this kelp was also used in Kasahara’s recipe.

Since I was planing to make “smelt fry ししゃものフライ” and “arancini”, I thought this type of salad, made without any oil in the dressing, would be a perfect salad accompaniment (#1). I think any vegetable can be used. Ten-Asa clearly included cabbage. I used what I had on hand which included carrot, cucumber and wood ear mushroom. Besides the salted kelp, I also used re-roasted and coarsely ground white sesame seeds for seasoning following chef Kasahara’s example. This turned out to be a very refreshing salad. We felt it was a healthy offset to the fried food we were eating .

Ingredients (for two servings) (see picture #2)
2 American mini cucumbers, “Katsura-muki 桂剥き” roll-cut making thin sheets and then finely julienned or using a mandolin with a julienne attachment.
2 scallions, white parts, cut lengthwise on one side (not through), opened like a book and then finely julienned called “shirakami-negi 白髪ネギ or white-hair scallion”*
4-5 fresh wood ear mushrooms, blanched and washed, cut into thin julienne (optional, I happened to have them on hand. They added a nice crunch)

(I am not sure if the two ingredients listed below would be considered seasoning or salad ingredients. They impart a very unique flavor and aroma)
4-5 green perilla “aojiso 青紫蘇” leaves, stacked, rolled and cut into thin julienne.
1 “Hojiso 穂紫蘇” flower and seed pods (optional**)

Dressing (seasoning)
2 tbs “shio-konbu 塩昆布” salted kelp
1 tbs coarsely ground white sesame

*This is easier if using a Tokyo “Negi” scallion which is much thicker than spring onion/scallion.
** This is the top of the plant in autum developing flower/seed pods. Our perilla started blooming so “hojiso” was available. But this is totally optional.

Directions:
Soak the julienned vegetables in ice water for a few hours and drain (#2). Let them dry on a paper towel. Just before serving, add the shio konbu and the sesame and toss. Taste and if not salty enough, add more shio-konbu or add “Konbu-cha 昆布茶” powder.

Besides the taste, the major factor of this salad is texture or “shokkan 食感”. For crunch, Chef kasahara suggested pickled young gobo or pickled “takuwan 沢庵” daikon.

Cucumber with Miso Sauces 味噌胡瓜

As far as we are concerned the best way to enjoy the fresh Japanese cucumbers we got from Suzuki Farm (see picture), is to eat the chilled fresh Japanese cucumber sticks with miso 味噌. Typically, the special miso called “Moromi-miso* もろみ味噌” is used and the entire dish is called “Moromi-kyuri もろみ胡瓜 or often abbreviated as “Moro-kyu” もろきゅう which I posted previously.

*Moromi-miso is meant to be eaten as a condiment rather than to be used for cooking or making soup. It has a liquid component mixed with ingredients such as soybeans and barley which are still visible in it.

I had some moromi-miso but it was fairly old. Upon tasting, I found it had oxidized so I couldn’t use it. Since I had already made two kinds of flavored miso from other ingredients we got from the Suzuki Farm, I used those flavored miso instead. On the left side I served “Yuzu” miso (dark) and “Kinome” miso (light). Although many Izakaya cut the cucumber into fancy shaped pieces for this dish (to justify the higher charges?), I just made it into sticks. One of the secrets to making this dish great is to chill the cucumber throughly in ice water before serving.

I served one cucumber between the two of us. It was extremely good and quite filling. The two kinds of miso I prepared were a great accompaniment. I thought the flavored miso tasted a bit better than the traditional moromi miso.

By the way, you can tell if a cucumber is fresh if the skin still has small prickles.

Although American mini-cucumber is a good substitute for Japanese cucumber, it is no comparison to a genuine Japanese cucumber. We were so happy to get these fresh Japanese cucumbers from Suzuki farm.

Cold Udon with Sesame Sauce 胡麻ソース和え冷製うどん

Cold noodles especially cold ramen noodles or “Hiyashi ramen 冷やしラーメン” and “Somen 素麺” are very popular summer lunches. Surprisingly I have not posted about cold somen noodles. I am sure I made them before but it could have been before we started the blog. Recently I made “cold pasta with tomatoes”トマトの冷製パスタusing thin udon noodles which we like a lot. Whenever we cook udon noodles, we make enough intentionally to have left-overs which we can use to make other dishes.  I decided to make a cold udon noodle dish. I have posted cold udon noodles with home-made ponzu and myoga  and cold udon with dipping sauce. This time, I made cold udon with sesame sauce. We happened to have simmered pork or “nibuta 煮豚” and marinated soft boiled eggs (from home-pasteurized eggs) or “ajitama 味玉”. So these became the toppings. The sesame sauce was made using roasted sesame seeds. (I re-roast store-bought “roasted” white sesame seeds) which adds a nice strong sesame flavor. I added a dab of Japanese mustard from a tube to my dish which gave the it a nice zing which I liked but my wife passed on the mustard (#1). 

Ingredients: (two small servings seen in #1)
1 servings of thin dried udon noodles, cooked as per the package instruction. Wash in cold running water after cooking (divided into two servings)

Toppings (anything you like but some protein, egg, and veggies such as cucumber. The ingredients listed below are what I used. Amounts are all arbitrary)
Simmered “nibuta 煮豚” pork, julienne
Cucumber, seeds removed,  julienned (I used American mini-cucumber)
“Gari ガリ” ginger slices in sweet vinegar, excess marinade squeezed out, julienned
Fresh “kikurage 木耳 wood ear mushroom (previously blanched, washed, and patted dry), julienned (I dressed it with home-made sweet vinegar)
Scallions, finely chopped
Ajitama 味玉, marinated soft boiled egg
Roasted white sesame seeds

Sesame sauce:
1 tbs white sesame, re-roasted in a dry pan (I used a special sesame roasting pan),
1 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
1 tbs ponzu
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbs mirin
1 or more tbs water

Directions:
Grind the sesame seeds in a Japanese “suri-bachi 摺鉢” mortar until oil comes out but stop before it becomes paste.
Add the ponzu, noodle sauce, mirin and vinegar. Taste and add the water to adjust the strength of the seasoning
Add the noodles to the sauce and mix so that the sauce will coat the surface of the noodles evenly (#2).

Add the toppings and garnish with sesame (#1). 

The sesame flavor really worked. I did not add any additional oil. I could have added Japanese hot mustard to the sauce but since my wife is not keen on really spicy food, I only added it to my serving. This turned out to be a very nice lunch on a hot and muggy day such as what we have been having  recently. 

Cucumber in soy sauce 胡瓜の醤油漬け

I would like to have fresh cucumbers (if available Japanese cucumber but American mini-cucumber is a great substitute). Usually American min-cucumbers come in a pack of 6. If not used within 2-3 days, they go bad (white specks, either bacteria or fungus, develop on the surface).  I make several kinds of cucumber salads and pickles in an attempt to use up the cucumbers.  Currently our favorite pickled cucumber is using leftover pickling liquid after making the daikon pickles. In addition, I also try to preserve fresh cucumbers by placing them in a Ziploc bag and pouring enough Vodka to coat all the surface plus a bit more and then I squeeze out as much air from the bag as I can. With this treatment, the fresh cucumber last about one week or a bit more. I am always looking for other recipes to use cucumbers. I saw this recipe in one of the Ko Kentetsu You Tube episodes. It is easy enough and looks interesting. This is marinated about 3 days. It is still crunchy. Soy sauce and vinegar make the foundation but the addition of ginger and a small slash of dark sesame oil really make it.

Ingredients:
3 American mini-cucumbers or 2 Japanese cucumbers. 
Fine julienne of ginger root

Marinade:
1 tbs sugar
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs rice vinegar
Small splash of dark sesame oil

Directions:
Cut the cucumbers length wise in half
Remove the seeds using a small spoon
Cut the cucumber on a bias in bite sized pieces

Add the cucumber, ginger and the marinade to a sealable container. Close the container and refrigerate. 

You can enjoy this immediately or in few days.

We like this. It is very easy to make and slight sweetness combided with the sesame oil and ginger really make this a good side dish or “Hashi-yasume” 箸休め meaning “chopsticks rest” so that the chopsticks take a brief rest after heavy lifting of main dishes.

Nine “Otoshi” Appetizers お通し九種類

This is another installment of 9 “otoshi” appetizers. I managed to fill all 9 spots with small dishes I made. Three fish dishes and 6 vegetable dishes but no meat.

A1: Wood ear mushroom dressed in Japanese hot mustard soy sauce 木耳の芥子醤油和え.  Blanched fresh wood ear cut into strips and dressed in a mixture of Japanese hot mustard, sugar and soy sauce. I also added small amount of roasted sesame oil and garnished with white sesame seeds..
A2: Cucumber and sweet onion salad 胡瓜と玉ねぎのサラダ
A3: Pickled daikon and cucumber. 大根と胡瓜の漬物 with Campari tomato.
B1: Salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き. I started making this not just for New Year. This one was particularly good because of the good quality kelp.
B2: Pickled herring (from a jar in wine sauce) in sour cream dill sauce, ニシンのサワークリームソース, which makes it much better.
B3: Marinated “ Russian ” Salmon “ 鮭のロシア漬け.
C1: Blanched asparagus dressed in sesame mayonnaise アスパラのスリゴママヨあえ. The dressing is a mixture of roasted and  ground white sesame, mayonnaise and soy sauce.
C2: Garlic chive in broth (“Ohitashi” お浸し) topped with golden thread egg (“Kinshi-ran” 錦糸卵), ニラのお浸し金糸卵のせ. The broth is half and half mixture of Japanese “dashi” broth and x4 Japanese noodle sauce. The golden thread egg is thin omelet julienned.
C3: Braised daikon, carrot, daikon green, fried tofu pouch or “abura-age” 油揚げ. 大根, 大根葉と油揚げの炒め煮. This is my impromptu dish since we got daikon with some green top attached.

Although each dish is small after having 9 of those filled us up considerably. It takes some efforts but we like many small dishes with many different textures and tastes rather than one or two large dishes.

Miso-marinated Firefly Squid ホタルイカの味噌焼き

Firefly squid or “hotaru-ika” ホタルイカ is one of our favorites. Spring (April-June) is the season for it and we realized we have some from last year vacuum packed and frozen (the squid we received was pre-boiled). Since the new season started for some time ago I decided it was time to eat the batch we had been storing. I quickly checked and defrosted the batch. Although enjoying with sumiso 酢味噌 is the classic way, to eat the squid we like it re-cooked. We had some sautéd in butter and soy sauce with asparagus and really enjoyed it. I am always on the look out for other ways to serve it and came up with this miso marinated grilled hotaru-ika (I “grilled” them using a dry frying pan). I served this with cucumber and wakame わかめ in sumiso dressing (picture #1).

The reheating process plumps up the squid (picture #2) and miso marinade added nice flavor and some saltiness. This was a very good starter indeed.

I got a hint from “saikyo-miso marinated grilled hotaru-ika recipe I saw on line. Since I did not have “saikyo-miso” 西京味噌, I made with white miso, mirin and sugar. Again, this is not a recipe but a note for myself.

Ingredients:
Firefly squid, eyes and beak removed, if previously frozen, thaw and remove the excess moisture using paper towel.

Marinade
2 tbs miso
1 tbs (or more ro make the miso soft enough) mirin
1tsp sugar

Directions:
Marinade the firefly squid for 1-2 hours
Remove the miso as much as possible using a spatula
“Grill” using dry non-stick (or parchment lined) frying pan on low flame until the squid plumps up and fragrant but burned.

Cooking makes the squid plump and the marinade adds nutty and salty and slightly sweet flavor. I added 
cucumber and wakame with sumiso  dressing which went well.

Ice Breaker “Summer” Sake 玉川アイスブレイカー酒

Some days ago when we did our usual take-out sashimi and sushi from Tako Grill, I spotted a sake called “Ice Breaker”. I immediately recognized the distinct blue label with the penguins on it. This is the sake we had at Kyoto Izakaya “Kura-Kura” 蔵倉 in 2015. At that time, this is what we posted:

“ Although I never tasted this sake, I remember reading about it on the Internet. I remember reading that it was brewed by the first and only foreigner (British) sake master Philp Harper at Kinoshita Shuzou 玉川木下酒造 in Kyoto. Seeing the distinctive blue label with the Penguin on it, I had to taste this one as the next sake. The sommelier/wife (?) commented "Oh, you like summer sake". This is junmai ginjou genshu, non-filtered 純米吟醸無濾過生原酒 made from Nihonbare 日本晴 sake rice. I think this was a new sake just released. We tried it first like regular cold sake. It was OK but not great. Then I remembered that the idea behind this sake is that it can be drunk on the rocks which would be particularly refreshing in the hot Kyoto summer. Since it is genshu (not diluted and of high alcohol content), it would withstand the ice. (And how could anyone be hot after seeing that label?) My wife provided some ice cubes from her oolong tea to test my theory. We thought it actually tasted much better so we requested more ice and drank it frosty cold. This was a rather clean sake and we did not notice the high alcohol.”

Since the weather was getting a bit warmer I decided the time had come to open the bottle. Out of curiosity I went to the Japanese Tamagawa brewery web site which interestingly is in English (which makes sense given the brew master is British). I noticed several differences between the description on the web site and the bottle I had in the refridgerator. According to the website the sake is available in both the 500 ML and the usual 1.6L size (1 shou-bin 一升瓶) bottles in Japan. As far as I know, only the 500ml size is available in the U.S. which is a rather unusual size (usual size is 720ml). In addition, while the sake in the fridge and described on the web site were both summer sakes; available between May and August, the brew years were different. The brew year for the sake sold in Japan was advertised as 2023 which means it was brewed from the winter of 2023 to spring 2024 making it a newly released sake. In contrast, the brew year for the bottle we had was listed as 2022 meaning it was brewed from winter 2022 to spring 2023 making it one year older than the ones advertised on the Japanese web site (see addendum below).  I do not know how this sake was aged; whether cold aged like “Hiyaoroshi” ひやおろし or room temperature aged. However it was aged, when we opened the year old bottle, the sake was clear and very fresh tasting (Not like “ko-shu” 古酒 which can be darker colored and funky tasting). We had it first chilled and then on-the-rocks. Chilled it tasted dry but not bone dry. It had nice assertive flavors but was not yeasty or too fruity. On-the-rocks, many of the assertive forward flavors became muted but interestingly more flavors appeared to emerge making the overall flavor much more complex. This characteristic moved this sake straight to the top of our list of favorite sakes. This is the sake we will serve for those “special occasions” which require something extra. Ice cold sake is perfect for hot humid summer (we have our share of those kind of days in Washington DC area but nothing comparable to a Kyoto summer.) In any case, we really enjoyed this sake.

The night we tasted the sake we had a small amount of toro トロ and tai 鯛 (sea bream) sashimi. I also served Russian marinate salmon ロシア漬け and salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き along with pickled daikon, cucumber and blanched sugar snap.

The next time, I went to Tako Grill, this sake was not available any longer. It was available from our trusty “Tippsy sake” so we ordered a few bottles for coming summer.

Addendum: While I was looking at Japanese food blogs, I came across the description and picture of “Ice Breaker” sake. The picture clearly shows “2022BY” in the label (the blog post is dated as “5/18/2024). So, it is likely that all Ice Breaker sake, either in Japan and US, available this year is “2022BY”. One year aging may be attributable for the flavors of this sake.

Pickeld Micro Cucumber and Daikon 小さなキュウリと大根のピクルス

The other day while we were shopping at the near-by Whole Foods, my wife found a new item which is called “Teeny Tiny Cucumber” (picture #3). They are much smaller than “American Mini-cucumbers” and about the size of cornichons. I decide to use them to make a Japanese style pickle along with a daikon pickle. I would have used Japanese citrus “Yuzu” but we do not have any access to fresh yuzu so instead, I used Myer lemons (#1). The cucumbers were not crunchy but the daikon was nicely crunchy. It was a bit too sour/acidic for my wife so next time, I will dilute the marinade with some water.

The marinade is a standard Japanese sweet vinegar (one part rice vinegar,1/2 part sugar, small amount of salt). This is essentially a variation of “Daikon Namasu” 大根なます.

Ingredients:
1 package (9oz) teeny tiny cucumbers (picture #3)*
1/3 medium daikon, peeled, cut into 3-4 mm thick rounds and then cut into tick match sticks
1 Meyer lemon, sliced (or yuzu if available).
1 tsp of salt to “sweat” the cucumber and daikon to remove some internal moisture. 

Marinade:
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup water (optional)*

Directions:
Mix the marinade ingredients in a sauce pan and heat on medium flame until sugar and salt melt and start the liquid starts simmering. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a bowl add the cucues, daikon and salt, mix well and let it stand for 10-15 minutes until water comes out.
Drain the excess moisture that came out, add half of  the lemon slices to the bottom of a mason jar, add the cucues and daikon and top with slices of the lemon (picture #2). Pour in the marinade. Once cooled to room temperature, place the jar in the refrigerator. The pickles will be ready in 2-3 days.

* Picture #3 is the package of this tiny cucues. I am not sure if this is a special kind of cucumber or just a young and small cucumber. It is grown in Canada.

We like this pickles. The cucumbers are a bit soft and not crunchy but the daikon was nicely crunchy. Over all, this was nice refreshing dish. May be we should have eaten it raw with a dip as suggested in the package. Next time.

Pickled Cucumber キュウリの漬物

We really like the pickled daikon which I posted before. I am making it regularly. As I mentioned in the previous post, the marinade contains a good amount of sugar and when I placed the daikon in the marinade, the marinade was basically a slurry i.e. not liquid. It weighed a total of 170 grams (120g sugar 25 gram vinegar, 12 gram sake, 15 gram salt, and 10 gram sake). But after 1-2 days, the moisture extracted from the daikon made the slurry into a liquid. Previously I discarded the marinade after the pickled daikon was finished. But this time I decided to experiment and added several whole American mini-cucumbers into the leftover marinade to see what would happen. After two days, the cucumber looked wrinkled. Nonetheless the result was surprisingly good. The cucumber tasted fresh and had some crunch left but was not raw. Initially I thought it was too sweet but the next day, the sweetness dissipated and just complemented the fresh taste of the cucumber. 

I wanted to see how the marinade changed after I used it for both the diakon and the cucumber. I did this by weighing it. I weighed the marinade both before and after the daikon and cucumbers were done. Before I put in the diakon, the marinade weighed 170 grams. After the diakon had been in the marinade for 2-3 weeks I removed it and weighed the marinade. It was 343 grams; meaning that 173 grams of liquid were extracted from the daikon and replaced in the diakon by the salt and flavoring of the marinade. In essence the moisture extracted from the diakon doubled the total volume of the liquid.  I then added 4 American mini-cucumbers to the 343 grams of marinade and after 1week I removed the cucumber and weighed the marinade. It had increased to 398 grams. (An additional 55 grams of liquid from the cucumbers were added to the marinade). I am not sure how many times I can reuse the marinade like this but it is good to know that I can use it for at least one batch of cucumbers after marinating the diakon and the cucumbers come out nicely. 

Sweet Potato and Chestnut Rice サツマイモ、栗ご飯

My wife got three relatively small Japanese sweet potatoes or “Satsuma-imo” さつまいも from Whole Foods.  She was vaguely thinking of making sweet potato muffins but the amount was not really enough. I suggested making sweet potato rice instead (I ended up using all three potatoes for three different dishes). Since we also had prepared chestnuts, I made sweet potato chestnut rice. To extend the autumnal theme, I also made miso soup with mushrooms and lily bulb. Since I also made new batches of pickled daikon and “asazuke” 浅漬け cucumber, I served those on the side.

This is a close-up of sweet potato chestnut rice. I sprinkled “goma-shio” ごま塩, a mixture of black sesame and salt.

For the miso soup, I added shimeji しめじand shiitake mushroom along with lily bulb 百合根 which sank to the bottom. We picked the lily bulb up with the chopsticks so they got their place in the photo op.

Ingredients:
2 cups (using the cup came with out rice cooker) of short grain rice (we used “Yumepirica” ゆめぴりかHokkaido rice we got form NY rice factory).
1 inch square kelp
1 Japanese sweet potato, peeled, diced and soaked in cold water
10 prepared chestnuts
1 tbs x4 concentrated “Mentsuyu” Japanese noodle sauce

Directions:
Wash the rice, place it in the rice cooker, add the specified amount of water, add the seasoning, sweet potato and chestnuts and turn on the switch.
When it is done (see below), remove the kelp and gently mix.

This is a very autumnal and nice rice. Nice sweetness from both the sweet potato and the chestnuts with contrasting texture of soft and somewhat crunchy. I just sprinkled the “goma-shio” and my wife, as usual, added butter and soy sauce. The soup also went very well. The nice sweetness and crunchy texture of the lily bulb and mushrooms worked well together. We were also pleased with the daikon tsukemono.

Cucumber and Wood Ear in Mustard Sauce キュウリとキクラゲの辛子和え

We got fresh wood ear mushrooms “Kikurage” 木耳 from Weee. In an effort make the mushroom last longer I go through several steps. I wash the mushrooms, blanch them, then wash them again in cold water. I let them dry on a dish towel. I then place them in a Ziploc bag with some pieces of paper towel to absorb excess moisture. The texture does not change by blanching and wood ear does not have much flavor. Never-the-less, I am trying to use it up and look for new recipes. I found this recipe at e-recipe. I deviated from the original by adding roasted/barbecued pork instead of ham and also some changes in the dressing.

Ingredients:
One American mini-cucumber, ends trimmed, cut into half length-wise, then sliced on bias
Wood ear mushroom (fresh or hydrate dry), cut into julienne (amount arbitrary)
Slices of roasted pork (or ham) cut into julienne (amount arbitrary)

For dressing:
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 tsp sweet vinegar (I used homemade which I keep in a bottle; the ratio of vinegar to sugar is 2:1 with a dash of salt)
1 tsp ponzu-shouyu
Japanese mustard (prepared from the tube) (amount to taste or for your liking)

Directions:
Knead the cucumber slices with small amount of salt, let them stand for 5 minutes and squeeze out excess moisture
Dress all the ingredients with the dressing. You could add more mustard. Adjust the taste to your liking
Refrigerate before serving.

This is a good small dish as an “otoshi” おとうし drinking snack. The wood ear adds nice crunch, the pork adds great flavor and the cucumber is refreshing. Spicy Japanese mustard also makes this dish. Best with cold sake but even goes with red wine.

Matsutake 松茸

This year, we were fortunate enough not to miss having some fresh matsutake 松茸 offered by Oregon mushrooms to celebrate the start of the fall season. In the past we have tried several other sources but the #1 grade matsutake from the Oregon mushrooms is our favorite choice. In any case we received 1lb. I have tried many matsutake dishes but I think the simpler the better.  Three dishes I make are Toubanyaki 陶版焼き, chawan-mushi 茶碗蒸し and matsutake rice. 松茸ご飯. Another dish I usually make is clear soup with matustake; either matsutake “osuimono” 松茸のお吸い物 clear soup or dobin-mushi 土瓶蒸し. This time, I made Touban-yaki for the evening we received Matsutake. The next evening I made another touban-yaki, chawan-mushi and Matsutake-rice.  The day following that I made Matsutake clear soup and served it with left-over matsutake rice.

Classically, the soup contains a small filet of conger eel or “hamo” 鱧 or other white fish filet but, since we did not have any, I used “Hanpen“ ハンペン fish cake. Other items included tofu, carrot, “Hana-fu” 花麩 gluten cake shaped like a flower. Since I wanted a bit of green, I added small florets of blanched broccoli. I also topped this with frozen “yuzu” 柚子 Japanese citrus rind. I only cooked the soup a few minutes after I added the matsutake. The broth was made from my usual dashi packets, seasoned with mirin, salt and soy sauce.

Since I had old asazuke 浅漬け (3-4 week old) and one I just made the previous day, I served both side-by-side for comparison (the one on the left is 1 day old the one on the right is 1 month old).  The old asazuke developed slightly sour but more complex flavors and the young asazuke is fresh tasting but a bit simpler taste. I adjusted the original recipe by adding a bit more salt (instead of standard 3% I add 5% salt) as well as a small amount of Vodka. This makes the asazuke last much longer so 1 month old asazuke is even possible.

We are glad we had matsutake to commemorate the start of the fall.

Cold Thin Udon Noodle with Home-made Ponzu 自家製ポン酢、冷やし糸うどん

Cold noodle dishes using somen 素麺, soba 蕎麦 and ramen noodle “Hiyashi chuka” 冷やし中華 or “Hiyashi ramen” 冷やしラーメン are common especially on hot summer days in Japan. Cold udon うどん dishes are less common, except, as I understand it, in Osaka where you can have many combinations of cold/hot soup and cold/hot udon noodles. I made this cold udon dish just like cold ramen or “hiyashi ra-men” just substituting the ramen noodles with thin udon.

Since I made two kinds of pork a few days ago; Simmered pork and Barbecued pork, I cut some julienne pieces off of both kinds. We have a profusion of perilla in our herb garden and I added a chiffonade of perilla. My wife just harvested myouga 茗荷 and I made myouga picked in sweet vinegar. I included both fresh and pickled myouga as a topping (in the center). Other toppings included “Gari” ガリ pickled shouga ginger, cucumber and golden thread omelet or “Kinshi-ran” 金糸卵. For the sauce, I used my home-made ponzu-shouyu mixed with dark sesame oil (just a few splashes). I also added Japanese hot mustard and yuzu kosho shown on the rim of the plate (upper right).

Our myouga patch was doing well in terms of the foliage but the underground buds were slow to mature this year. But finally we had a good harvest. Myouga is such a unique herb/vegetable. We like to enjoy fresh as a topping or type of salad but pickled in sweet vinegar is also a very good way to prepare the myouga. At least for one or two weeks, the color of myouga becomes very red and sweet vinegar adds to the flavor. Then eventually the color fades to white.

I did not post about the home-made ponzu. This is just for my convenience. Since it is difficult to get fresh yuzu, I used bottled yuzu juice plus lime juice.

Ingredients:
100 ml yuzu juice (Either freshly squeezed or bottled) plus freshly squeezed lime of lemon juice to make 100ml
150 ml soy sauce
I small square of “konbu” kelp
I small package of bonito flakes

Directions:
Just mix the yuzu juice and soy sauce. In a clean sealable container (I used a clean and empty rakyo pickles plastic container) and added the kelp and bonito flakes.
Place in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks (I kept it for 2 weeks)
Strain the kelp and bonito flakes and transfer the ponzu in clear sealable container and keep it in the refrigerator.

I think my home-made ponzu is slightly better but not much better than the commercial one since I could not use freshly squeezed Japanese citrus such as yuzu. This was a cool refreshing dish for a hot day. 

Quail egg fry and Scotch eggs うずらの卵の串揚げとスコッチエッグ

We started using quail eggs ウズラの卵 from fresh eggs that we boil rather than using canned ones since the quality is much better. We can get fresh quail eggs from three sources; Weee on-line Asian grocery delivery service, our local Japanese grocery store (not always) and Whole Foods. Fresh quail eggs have their own problems, however. 1. It is difficult to judge if any eggs are cracked unless it is leaking the white or otherwise quite obviously damaged, 2. while boiling some quail eggs develop the cracks and 3. It is not easy to peel the shell without taking off some of the white. So the yield is 70-80% on good days. In any case, we got a dozen eggs and ended up with 10 boiled quail eggs (that is 83%!). I made mini Scotch eggs with the quail eggs and ground chicken. I also made “fried boiled eggs” (i.e. boiled quail eggs that are breaded and then deep fried). As a starter for one evening, I served half a Scotch egg, fried boiled quail eggs, fried shrimp heads from our Tako Grill take out and marinated or “zuke” tuna and hamachi sashimi. As a vegetable, I served “asazuke” 浅漬け of cucumber, nappa, daikon and carrot. I initially served with green tea salt and wedge of lemon. My wife requested “Tonkastu-sauce” as well.

I skewered two fried quail eggs with a tooth picks (shown under the shrimp head) emulating “Kushi-age” 串揚げ, Japanese breaded fried items on skewer, which is a classic Izakaya item.

How to prepare boiled quail eggs:
Add quail eggs to a pan of cold water on medium flame, as the water gets warmer, gently start stirring the water which helps to center the egg yolks. Once the water starts boiling turn down the flame and boil for 3 minutes. Immediately cool in ice water

Quaril egg Scotch egg:
Ingredients: Made 5
8 oz ground chicken (or beef or pork)
5 boiled quail eggs
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2-3 shiitake mushrooms, finely chopped
freshly grated nutmeg, black pepper and salt to taste
1 tbs olive oil
2 tbs Panko bread crumbs

For breading
Flour or potato starch
1 egg beaten mixed with 2-3 tbs water
Panko bread crumbs
Peanut oil for deep frying

Directions:
Sauté the onion and mushrooms in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, let it cool to the room temperature
Add ground chicken, panko and the seasonings, mix well and knead by hand (if too loose add more panko and/or potato starch).
Coat each quail egg in potato starch
Divide the meat mixture into 5 parts and make an oval 1/3 inch thick on your palm.
Place the egg in the center and encase it with the meat mixture to make an oval sphere (or ellipsoid)
Bread the sphere by coating in the potato starch (or flour), the egg water and the panko bread crumbs
Deep fry at 180F for about 5 minutes or until the bubbles become small
Cut in half and serve

This was quite good. The fried quail egg had a nice crunchy outside and the inside yolk was velvety smooth. The overall flavor was very nice too. It would have been easy to eat many more. The little Scotch egg was just the right amount as an appetizer for us. (We find the Scotch eggs made with regular hens eggs are too big.

Fresh Wood Ear Mushroom and Chicken Salad キクラゲと鶏肉の酢味噌あえ

I am always on the look out for places where we can get good and specialized (especially Japanese) groceries. I have known about the on line service called “Weee” which does not have a brick-and-mortar location but does deliver Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Latino grocery items. I also recently found out they deliver to our area. So, I finally took the plunge and ordered mostly vegetables, (daikon, and fresh lotus root) but especially indulged in the extensive selection of mushrooms (oyster, shimeji, enjoki and  wood ear). I was surprised that the wood ear mushroom 木耳 or “kikurage” キクラゲ I received was fresh. Until now, I’ve only had dried ones. From the label, this was produced by Guan’s mushroom which seems to be a large nation-wide operation.

In any case, this is what fresh wood ear mushroom looks like.

In the past I usually used dried wood ear mushroom re-hydrated in Chinese-style stir-fry. I looked for new recipes on-line and, because of the other ingredients I had available, I ended up combining two recipes to make this woodear and chicken salad.

I served this as a appetizer one evening. It was good but fresh wood ear is not as crunchy as the dried ones.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup or more, Wood ear mushroom, washed, blanched, and cooled. Remove the hard attachment part if present and cut into strips. If using dried, rehydrate first.
1 American mini cucumber, both ends trimmed and the seeds scooped out. Cut into quarters length-wise and then obliquely
1/2 cooked chicken breast (we used breast meat from a whole chicken which was barbecued in a Weber grill, cut into similar sized pieces as the cucumber.

Karashi sumiso からし酢味噌 dressing (japanese hot mustard, miso, sugar and rice vinegar)

Directions:
Just dress all the ingredients and serve. Because of the acidity of the dressing, sake goes best.

Wood ear does not have much flavor but does have a nice crunch. Actually, the Japanese name “Ki-kurage” キクラゲ means “tree (ki) jelly fish (kurage)” because of the similar crunchy texture. The fresh one is nice but not as crunchy as re-hydrated dried ones. I may prefer the dried also because keep for a long time.