Matsutake (from Weee) Touban-yaki 松茸の陶盤焼き

In past years we have gotten fresh California chestnuts 栗 and matsutake 松茸 mushrooms to celebrate the tastes of autumn.  But trying to get these items from various sources was a bit of a hassle and several times the quality of the items left a lot to be desired. So this year we sort gave up on enjoying these delicacies. Then we discovered that Weee had fresh matsutake. I was not sure of the “grade” of this matsutake or place it originated (I assumed somewhere in North America). The amount of just right (8oz or 226grams). We used to get 1lb which was a bit too much for us to finish before it went bad. Knowing that Weee’s grocery quality is quite good, we decided to get it. It turned out this was better than what we had been getting before. We had this fresh matustake grilled on “tou-ban” 陶盤 or shallow earthen ware disk with half dome lid. I also added ginko nuts to complete the autumnal theme (picture #1). We really like this and the quality was excellent.

This is how it came (picture #2). It is from “Pacific Northwest” (assume to be Oregon and Washington states).

Upon opening, this is so-called “grade 1-2”.  Caps are not open or very slightly open and compared to ones we used to get the surface is not all dried out and much cleaner.

These matsutake could be cleaned just using a wet paper towel (picture #4). In the past, I had to use a knife to removed the surface to clean it since dirt was embedded and surface was very dry. So this is much better. The cut surface was clean with no “worm holes”.

We wanted to have this in the simplest way and decided to “tou-ban” grill. We had this served with a “spritz” of Meyer lemon juice. The matsutake had its usual subtle but distinctive smell and the texture was better than others we had before. This was quite a treat. Weee came through again!

11 (or 12) Appetizers 11種類の酒のつまみ

This is another version of multiple small appetizers dishes. I used the divided plate with space for 9 dishes. But I had more than nine to serve so I doubled up in the divided space.  But I still needed to add two more small bowls for a total of 11 small dishes. If you count each part of the doubled up item (lotus root tsukune 蓮根つくね was divided and served with quail eggs and ginko nuts) (bottom row left and center), it would be 12 appetizers. None of them are new recipes. Even though the single portion is small, we were quite full after working our way through 12 of them.

To highlight a few the one shown below is Name-take mushroom なめ茸 (top row right),

simmered taro “satoimo” 里芋 potato and carrot with “Kouya-dofu” 高野豆腐* and sugar snap スナップ豌豆の塩びたし (middle row right)

and two small bowls; tofu and shimeji with oyster sauce 豆腐としめじのオイスターソース(top),

simmered shirataki and deep fried tofu 白滝と油揚の煮物 (bottom).

*Kouya-dofu is freeze dried tofu (for preservation I suppose) which creates unique texture and absorbs whatever liquid it is cooked in.

These appetizers are mostly comprised of vegetables and provide so many different textures and tastes. We really like this type of classic Japanese multiple appetizers.

“Name-take” as a part of 9 Appetizers 自家製なめたけ

This is another installment of 9 appetizers served on 9 divided plate. There are a few repeats but no store-bought items.  Among these 9 items, the new ones are home-made “name-take” なめ茸* (in the center) and seasoned and grilled quail eggs 味付けうずらの卵 (in the bottom row, center). 

The top row from left to right are fig and edible chrysanthemum イチジクと春菊の和物 (I added sesame dressing this time), sugar snaps in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし,  simmered mushrooms “tsukudda-ni” キノコの佃煮.  The he middle row left to right are “hoshigaki” dried persimmon with daikon namasu 干し柿大根なます, nametake なめ茸, “kinpira gobo” burdock root 金平牛蒡.  The bottom row left to right are grilled “ginnan” ginko-nuts with salt 銀杏**, grilled seasoned quail eggs 味付けうずらの卵   lilly bulb with ikura salmon roe 百合根のイクラ載せ.

*I thought I have not posted home-made Name-take but when I searched my blog I found two enoki mushroom dishes one is home-made name-take in 2011. I will list the recipe again for my own convenience. Nametake is most commonly available as a rice condiment in a jar.

** It may be spelled as “gingko”. We used to be able to get a small can of boiled ginko nuts but in recent years, it has disappeared. This may be due to the fact that ginko nuts contain a small amount of toxin called MPN, or 4'-methoxypyridoxin. If consumed in a large quantity, especially among children, could produce intoxication. We could harvest ginko nuts since ginko trees are around, the preparation (to remove the meat of the fruit) is messy and smelly which I am hesitant to do). Very recently, however, we could get boiled and packaged ginko nuts (China product) from Weee.

Nametake:

Ingredients: (the seasoning can be more stringer/salty (more soy sauce)
I package (200 gram) Enoki mushroom
2 tbs sake
1 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce (or x4 concentrated Japanese “mentsuyu” noodle sauce

Directions:
Cut off the end of the enoki, cut in half, separate the bottom parts
Place it in a small pot and add sake on low heat with a lid on. After 5 minutes, stir to mix. The consistency changes and thickens. Add the seasoning and increase the heat, stir until no free liquid remains.

Imitating the commercial products, I put  the home-made nametake in a jar (below) after sterilizing the inside of the jar with 50 proof Vodka.

The way this is cooked and seasoned are identical to mushroom tsukuda-ni but the difference is that “Enoki mushroom” cooked this way produced unique texture on the surface of the mushroom (somewhat slippery coating).

Seasoned quail eggs: (I think we figured out how to boil and peel)

How to boil and peel the quail eggs
In a pan add enough water and boil. When the water started boiling, add small mount of cold water to stop rapid boiling and add the cold (refrigerated) quail eggs using a slotted spoon. Gently stir in first 1-2 minutes so that the egg yolks center. Cook in gentle boil for 4 minutes then soak the eggs in ice water (mixture of ice cubes and cold water).
After 10-15 minutes, make multiple cracks on the shell (I used the back of the knife) and put them back to the ice water for 10-15 more minutes.
Peel the shells using a thin stream of cold water could help peel the shells.

Marinading the eggs:
I simple marinate the eggs in x4 Japanese concentrated “Mentsuyu” 麺つゆ noodle soup. Alternetively mix equal amount of mirin and soy sauce as a marinade.

Before serving, I toaster oven for 5-6 minutes.

We like these small dishes. The quail eggs have delicate seasoning from the marinade and creamy yolk. The grilled ginko nuts with salt is unique texture and taste for autumn and a quintessential drinking snack in Japan.

Matsutake from Maine メイン州からの松茸

We have been getting fresh Matsutake from the Oregon mushroom for many years and I have made all the dishes I can think of. This year when I looked on their web site matsutake was listed “out of stock”. So I decided to look into alternatives sources. I found fresh matsutake available from Maine at a site called  “Foraged”. It appears this is the web hub for individual foragers. I ordered some matsutake from the site and ours came from a forager in Bangor, ME. One of the forager’s ad even states “Picked to order”. I did not know Maine has matsutake (I know Oregon and Colorado produced North American Matsutake). Oregon mushroom has different grades for matustake and I have been getting “grade #1” which has unopened caps. “The Foraged” did not have different grades.  As shown in the picture below what arrived were large with opened caps (These are after I cleaned). 

Because of the open caps and gills, it is a bit more difficult to clean and also had more “worm holes” than the ones from the Oregon mushroom.

I had posted all matsutake dishes I can think of as I mentioned earlier. I prepared the classic dishes from the Maine matsutake such as “Matsutake rice” and “Grilled matustake on a toban yaki grill”.

This Maine matutake had good flavor and we had a "Matsutake feast" one evening which included  "Matsutake toban-grill” 松茸の陶板焼き, "chawan-mushi" 松茸の茶碗蒸し, "Dobinmushi-like soup" 松茸の土瓶蒸しもどき and ended with "Matsutake rice" 松茸ご飯 . 

The below are the first group of matsutake dishes. Since I could not get a Japanese citrus called “Sudachi” スダチ, which is typically used with matsutake dishes, I used wedges of lime which is closest among the readily available citrus.

I cooked touban-yaki on the stove with the lid on so the matsutake grilled and steamed at the same time keeping the aroma in. I happended to get shell-on ginko nuts or “ginnan” 銀杏 from Tako Grill, which I prepared a few days before, I coated the nuts with salt and grilled them with the matsutake. 

This chawan-mushi is mostly matsutake and a few ginko nuts and shelled edamame, and small chunks of shrimp. I also added chopped chives since I had it.

I also served edamame.

Then, I served the matsutake soup somewhat like a traditional “dobin-mishi” but since I do not have proper "dobin" 土瓶 I made dobin-mushi -like soup in a mini-donabe.

For the broth, I made #1 broth or "ichiban dashi" using kelp and bonito flakes. I also added steamed renkon ball, shrimp, daikon, carrot, shelled edamame and ginko nuts.

The matsutake-rice was prepared the night before. So I just microwave but it came back really nicely. So we think this feast did justice to the celebration of autumnal dishes ushering in the new season. 

Shelled ginko nuts 殻付き銀杏

Because of Covid, it is not possible to go to a restaurant for a “sit down” meal so, instead, we are doing “take-out” sashimi and sushi from Tako Grill regularly. Since Mr. Segawa’s restaurant is essentially closed for  sit down customers, he expanded his business into groceries by adding frozen and refrigerated cabinets stocked with many Japanese grocery items. Every time I go there, I get some of  these in addition to the take-out. One such time, Mr. Segawa was kind enough to include some matsutake soup that he made. It was really good. Besides all the lovely ingredients such as matsutake  松茸,  chicken,  "edamame"  it also included "ginnan" ginko nuts. We love ginko nuts! Having them in the soup reminded us that we used to get canned  boiled "gin-nan" 銀杏 ginko nuts. For some reason they have totally disappeared and we have not had ginko nuts for quite some time. I asked Mr. Segawa, if we could buy ginko nuts as groceries from him. He was good enough to provide some with the shells on (see below). We were delighted but, to be honest, I have never dealt with ginko nuts in the shell.

So I quickly searched on-line and found three ways to prepare them: 1. Place the ginko nuts in a paper envelope and microwave it until the shell cracks. 2. Dry roast them in a frying pan until the shell cracks, 3. Crack the shell remove the nuts and gently boil for few minutes making sure the nuts are submerged all the time and then remove the brown inner skin while hot. I tried the 2nd method on some of the nuts, i.e. dry roasting them in a frying pan.  The shells did not crack (although one did "explode"—quite impressive). I cracked open the remaining un-cracked nuts but they were over cooked, dry, with burned spots and taste. So, I decided to try the third method.

I cracked the shells using the kitchen scissors which has a nut cracking device near the handles. It was not too difficult but I had to be careful not to damage the nuts inside. Some of the brown inner skin came off when the shell was remove but, for many, the brown skin remained (picture below).

I then placed the nuts in salted gently boiling water. They stayed submerged without much intervention.

After few minutes, I drained the nuts and using a sheet of paper towel, removed the inner brown skin.

This was a success. Here I used them to top cold chawanmushi 茶碗蒸し along with edamame 枝豆 and ikura.

 We really enjoyed this. Definitely the taste of autumn.