Salmon Shrimp Pâté with Shiitake 椎茸入り鮭とエビのパテ

About 3 years ago, at the recommendation of my wife’s sister who used to live in the Philadelphia area before moving to California, we stumbled across an old cookbook called “Frog Commissary Cookbook”. In its hey day, this cookbook was a “must-have” especially in the Philadelphia area.

We completely forgot about this cookbook until a few days ago when my wife was looking through our blog for an “Appetizer” to make and she came across “Salmon and scallop pâté”.  We realized the recipe came from this cookbook. My wife quickly located the book and we started looking through the recipes. My wife found a few she would like to try. (You may expect to see them here at some later date.) We remembered that the salmon scallop pâté was quite good. So, I decided to make the pâté again but realized we did not have any scallops and we did not have any spinach to make the center layer. But we did have shrimp which I could substitute for the scallops and a cooked shittake mushroom/shallot mixture which I could substitute for the spinach used in the center of the pâté (#1B).  Making the layers this way was much easier than the original recipe. I served the salmon shrimp pâté with a wedge of Myer lemon and leaf of arugula from our window sill veggie garden (#1).

In the original recipe, the center is spinach and scallop mousse (#1B). Although it looks nice it is more work than my current variation and the spinach didn’t really add much flavor. In terms of texture, the original salmon/scallop version was a bit softer. But the scallops basically only contributed to the texture not the taste; The main flavor was salmon. In my salmon/shrimp version, you definitely taste the shrimp.

Ingredients:
(The original recipe was essentially restaurant sized and too large for our home consumption. When I made it last time, I scaled it down to 1/4 of the original amount which made one small loaf of  pâté. This time I essentially halved the original amount and made two loaves of pâté).

175 grams salmon, skin removed and cut into small cubes.
175 grams shrimp, shell removed and cut into small cubes.
1 whole egg (Original recipe called for just the egg white.)
120 ml cream (I used light cream, the amount of cream depends on the consistency of the mousse. You want a consistency that is not quite “pourable” but not too loose.)
salt, pepper, cayenne pepper (to taste)
14 ml brandy

(for the center layer)
4 tbs of minced and sautéed shiitake mushrooms (mostly chopped up stems) and shallots*

*When we get fresh shiitake mushrooms from Weee, I remove the stems and small caps and chop them up into small pieces. I sauté them in olive oil with finely chopped shallots seasoned with salt and pepper. This can be used in many other dishes such as meat balls, risotto etc. I put the remaining whole caps into a Ziploc bag with a paper towel. This keeps them fresh much longer than if left in the original packages.

Directions:
Add the salmon, shrimp, egg, and about the half of  the cream into a food processor (I used a mini-food processor) and make a smooth mousse. Add more cream to get the right consistency and season the mixture.

(for the center layer)
Take 1/3 of the salmon shrimp mousse and add the shiitake-shallot mixture and blend well.

I made the pate in 2 small loaf pans (14x6.5x5cm) (I used a silicone pan. No need to oil or line it with a parchment paper). Fill the bottom of one of the the pans with 1/4 of the salmon-shrimp mousse and smooth the surface with a silicon spatula (#2 right) and top it with half of the mushroom mousse to form the center layer (#2 left). As was done with the bottom layer smooth the mushroom layer with the spatula. Add another 1/4 layer of the salmon-shrimp mousse to form the top layer and smooth the surface (#3). Repeat the process for the second pan. Cover the loaf pans with aluminum foil.

I preheated the oven (I used the toaster oven in a convection mode) to 350F.

I placed the loaf pans in a larger baking pan with a high rim. Poured hot water to the middle of the depth of the loaf pans (bain-marie) and cooked for 35 minutes (internal temperature of 135F).

Un-mould and let it cool (#4).

Slice (#5) showing the center mushroom layer.

As far as I was concerned, this was as good as the original salmon-scallop pate. (My wife said she liked it better because in the original version the spinach layer didn’t “bring much flavor to the show”. In contrast the mushrooms in this version added a lot of complexity to the flavor which was very good. This version was also a bit firmer in texture and had a lovely shrimp flavor. The only mistake I made was salt. I pre-salted the mushroom mixture and also shrimp after thawing. All this accumulated and the pate was a lightly salty side for our taste but still extremely good. We had this without sauce or just with lemon juice which was all it needed.

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.

Spanish Mackerel dumpling Soup topped with “Kinome” Japanese pepper leaves 鯖のつみれ汁

This is a variation of “Mackerel meat ball soup 鯖のつみれ汁”. When I made “Mackerel simmered in miso sauce 鯖の味噌煮” from two fairly large Spanish mackerels we got from Whole Foods, I made mackerel fish balls from the meat I scraped from the bones and tail ends. Since we had left-over cooked udon noodles, tofu, shiitake mushrooms and “kinome 木の芽”, (Japanese pepper tree leaves/sprouts), I combined these to make a soup I served for lunch.  The smell/flavor of the kinome made it something special. We removed the individual leaves from the stem before adding them to the soup. (But left them on the stem to garnish as shown in the next picture.)

Here is the mackerel meat ball clearly visible next to the kinome.

This was quite a filling lunch. The addtion of kinome made it something specail.

Oyster Mushroom and Chiku-wa Stir-fly with Yuzu-kosho 平茸と竹輪の柚子胡椒炒め

I realized I got a package of fresh “Hira-take 平茸” or oyster mushrooms from Weee a week ago and decided to use it up. I came across this recipe using chikuwa 竹輪 fish case and “Maitake 舞茸” hen-of-the-wood. Since I had a package of frozen chikuwa which was getting old, this seemed a perfect recipe except I had oyster mushrooms instead of hen-of-the-woods. Although we also got hen-of-the-woods mushroom at the same time as the oyster mushrooms, I used them in a dish with sage brown butter, and we finished it somedays ago. No problem, I figured the oyster mushrooms should work just as well for this recipe. We especially liked the idea of adding yuzu-kosho 柚子胡椒  (one of our favorites) into the seasoning. Although oyster mushrooms themselves don’t have a strong flavor, the combination of chikuwa and yuzu-kosho worked well. Depending on how strongly you season this dish, this can be a good drinking snack or an accompaniment for rice.

Ingredients:

1 package (6oz) of oyster mushrooms, the root-end removed and separated
6 small chikuwa fishcakes, thawed and cut on the slant into bite sized pieces
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tbs oil

Seasoning: (mix all ingredients below in a small bowl)
2 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
2 tbs mirin
1/2 tsp (or more) Yuzu kosho

Directions:
Add the oil to the frying pan on medium flame, add the mushrooms and the fish cake and stir for 1-2 minutes
Add the seasonings and stir for 1 minute
Add the scallions 

The chikuwa itself has some sweetness and the seasonings are a bit on the sweet side as well. Either using soy sauce instead of the noodle sauce and/or reducing the amount of mirin would be better next time. I would also add a dab of yuzu-kosho on the side in case additional seasoning to what is in the sauce is desired.

Mapo (sort of) Eggplant “麻婆風” 茄子

This is another one of the “use-up the eggplant dishes”. I have posted a similar dish “Mapo-eggplant 麻婆茄子” before. This is a variation. It is seasoned like “Mapo-tofu  麻婆豆腐” but uses eggplant instead of tofu. Although ground pork is usually used in both Mapo-tofu and Mapo-eggplant I used left-over roasted pork cut up into small pieces. I also added fresh shiitake and wood ear mushrooms since I had them. The appearance is similar to another eggplant dish I made (Eggplant stir-fry with oyster sauce), the seasoning however, is different. The hot smoked (in the Weber grill) pork roast adds a nice smoky flavor. I like this version better than the one using ground pork.

Ingredients:
1 Asian Eggplant (long skinny kind), skin peeled into two strips, cut into relatively large (1 inch) “rangiri 乱切り”
3 tbs + 1/2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp each finely chopped ginger and garlic
2 scallions, white parts finely chopped and green part thinly sliced
5-6 fresh shiitake mushroom caps, cut into quarters or halves, depending on the size
5-6 fresh wood ear mushrooms (previously blanched and washed), cut into small strips
5-6 slices of smoked and roasted pork, cut into small squares
1 tbs potato starch in 1 tbs water (for thickening)

Seasonings (mix in a small bowl):
1 tsp toubanjan 豆板醤, more if you like it spicy
1 tsp tenmenjan 甜麺醤
1 tsp Japanese “koji” miso 麹みそ
1 tbs Chinese cooking wine 紹興料理酒
1 tbs mirin
1-2 tsp soy sauce or concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
2-3 tbs water

Directions:
Add the 3 tbs oil into a frying pan on medium flame. Add the eggplant. Toss to coat all the surfaces of the eggplant.
Turn the eggplant pieces skin side down and cook a few minutes and then turn them over to the fresh sides to lightly brown (another 2-3 minutes).
Set aside.
In the same pan, add the remaining 1/2 tbs oil, sauté the scallion (white parts), ginger and garlic.
Add the shiitake and wood ear mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes.
Add back the eggplant and add in the pork, toss to mix.
Add the seasoning mixture and simmer for a few minutes.
Add the green part of the scallion.
Drizzle in the potato starch slurry in several batches and mix until thickened, let it come to a rapid boil before turning off the heat.

This was a very savory satisfying dish. It also used the last of the eggplants we got from Weee this time. 

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. 

Impromptu Eggplant Mushroom Stir-fry 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め

This is an eggplant dish I came up using what I had on hand (#1). I got some ideas from other recipes I saw but I did not base this dish on any one particular recipe. I made simmered pork or “Nibuta 煮豚” the other day. So instead of ground pork, I used finely chopped nibuta. Since we got groceries from Weee this week, I processed fresh shiitake mushrooms by removing the stems. Then I chopped up the stems into small pieces and sauted them with olive oil and finely chopped scallion. I seasoned them with salt and pepper. (This can be used to make other dishes). I placed the shiitake caps in a Ziploc bag with a paper towel to absorb any moisture which comes out of the mushrooms while they are in the fridge. I also washed and blanched fresh wood ear mushrooms and placed them in a Ziploc bag with paper towel too. I have found that processing the mushrooms this way makes them last much longer. Unfortunately, I have not come up with a way to make fresh eggplants last longer, so I have to use them up fairly quickly. So this is my impromptu eggplant stir-fly with shiitake and wood ear mushroom, finely chopped nibuta pork, ginger, scallion and seasoned with Chinese “Shoko-shu 紹興酒” cooking wine, mirin, concentrated noodle sauce and oyster sauce. This was not particularly special but certainly more than edible. All the ingredients I used gave it a lot of flavor

Ingredients:
One large Asian eggplant, stem end removed, and cut into long “ran-giri 乱切り” (#2).
3-4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut in half or quarters
4-6 fresh wood ear mushrooms (previously branched and washed), cut into strips
2 scallions, white and green parts, finely chopped
4-5 slices simmered pork “Nibuta 煮豚”, finely diced
1 tbs of finely chopped shiitake mushroom stems and shallot sautéed in olive oil (optional)
1 tbs finely chopped ginger
2 tbs + 1/2 tbs oil
1 tbs potato starch slurries for thickening the sauce

Seasonings (mix all seasonings in a small bowl)
6 tbs water
2 tbs Chinese “shoko 紹興料理酒” cooking wine
1 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce or soy sauce
1 tbs oyster sauce

Directions:
Add the oil into the frying pan on medium flame, add the eggplant, toss for a few minutes to coat with the oil. 
Turn the skins side down (#2) and cook until skin side browns, turn over and brown the fresh sides and set aside

Add 1/2 tbs oil in the same pan, add the shiitake stem mixture, ginger and stir for 30 seconds, add the mushrooms and sauté for a few minutes
Add back the eggplants and sauté for one minute.
Add the seasonings and cook for a few minutes
Taste and adjust the seasoning
Add the potato starch slurries and mix until thickened (#3)
Add the scallions and serve (#1)

Notes to self:  it was a bit too sweet for me. Next time I should consider reducing the mirin. The chopped simmered pork has almost disappeared. Probably, I should have added more. But overall, this is not too bad.

Nappa Cabbage Cream Stew 白菜のクリームシチュー

This is my effort to use up whatever we had on hand. The first item was nappa cabbage or “hakusai 白菜” I got from Weee. It was fairly big and it was time for me to start using it. We also had one link each of chicken and pork sausages which we got from a local gourmet grocery store fresh (uncooked). I boiled them few days ago. Several carrots started sprouting and needed to be used. After some thought, I decided to make “cream stew”. I did not follow any specific recipe. This was our lunch one day and it was quite good, very comforting dish. The chicken sausage flavors were apple and sage but in the stew, a subtle, pleasant spiciness which we hadn’t noticed before came out and was very pronounced. 

This is not really a recipe but notes to myself.

Ingredients: (makes about 6 servings)
6 leaves of nappa cabbage, the white stems and leaves separated. The stems halved lengthwise and then cut in an angle (“sogi-giri” or “shave-cut” 削ぎ切, see #1 in the composite on the right most side), the separated leaves (#2)  cut into about 1 inch wide
1 each chicken and pork sausages (previously boiled) cut into medallions (#3)
4 caps of fresh shiitake mushrooms, cut into small bite size
1 tbs olive oil
2-3 cups of chicken broth

For béchamel sauce** (#4)
One shallot, finely chopped (#1 on the left)
2 tbs finely chopped shiitake stems and shallot, sautéed in olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper* (optional)
4 tbs flour
2 tbs butter
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
about 100 ml or so milk

*When I receive fresh shiitake mushrooms (from Weee), I separate the caps and stems. The caps are packed in a ziploc bag with paper towels which makes the fresh shiitake last longer. For the remaining stems, I cut off the very ends, then shred and finely chop them. I saute this in olive oil with chopped shallots. This concoction is handy to have for making other dishes such as mushroom risotto. 

**The usual béchamel uses same amount of butter and flour but by adding finely chopped onion/shallot  in butter before adding the flour, you can reduce the butter in half. The flour clings to the surface of the onion/shallot which prevents the flour from clumping up. No need to add the milk gradually. Just dump all at once.

Directions:
For béchamel sauce
Melt the butter in the non-stick frying pan on medium-low flame, sauté the shallot until soft, add the shiitake stems and shallot mixture and sauté for one more minute. 
Add the flour and cook until no dry flour is visible, add the milk (at once) and start mixing (first with a whisk and then with a silicon spatula) until thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and set aside (#4)
In a pan on medium flame, add the olive oil.  When hot, add the sausages and lightly brown both sides, add the cabbage stems, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and sauté for few minutes (#5)
Add the chicken broth so that the vegetables and sausages are just covered and cook 20-30 minutes.
Add the béchamel sauce and mix. Simmer fro 5-10 minutes and add the nappa cabbage leaves (#6)
Season with salt and pepper if needed.

I made the stew several hours before serving. The green color was nicely vibrant right after I finished cooking the stew but the green color faded (the top serving picture) before I could serve it. This was a rich savory stew with a complex range of flavors. The creamy texture was luxurious. The combination of the precooked shitake mushrooms and shallots was an outstanding addition to the soup. The sausage was a nice meaty addition as well. This was a very comforting soup.     

Mock Tofu 擬制豆腐

I saw this recipe of “Mock tofu” or “Gisei-dofu 擬制豆腐” on Youtube by Chef. Kasahara 笠原. It looked interesting and I happened to have extra tofu and fresh shiitake mushroom which needed to be used up before going bad. Supposedly, this is a common form of “shojin-ryouri 精進料理” or vegetarian cooking done by Buddhist monks. The name “mock” or “gisei” reportedly comes from the fact that tofu was crumbed, other ingredients are added,  formed into an original rectangular shape of tofu and cooked. No eggs should be used in the original shojin-ryori but modern renditions use eggs as binder and some recipes even call for ground meat. 

While I was making this, I realized a U.S. block of tofu is larger than a Japanese block so I was afraid that the final loaf which had more tofu may not firm up but it did. The cut surface looked more like tofu than omelette (picture #1). I did not make it too sweet but this is a very good looking dish and tasted very gentle with nice texture.  Adding more tofu appeared to work. According to Chef Kasahara, this is his regular osechi “new year” dish. I may add this to my osechi next year. Since this could be a new year osechi dish, I served the slices on a small crane design plate we bought in Kyoto some years ago since the “crane” is very suitable motif for new year cerebration.

Ingredients: (made two loaves measuring 2 1/2 and 5 1/2 inch)

1 package (14oz or 400gram*) tofu (I used medium firm), drained, wrapped in paper towel with a weight on the top (I used two cutting boards as weights) for 20 minutes, crumble by hand

3 large eggs, beaten

4-5 caps of shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced

1 small carrot, julienned

3 scallions finely chopped

1 tbs vegetable oil

*Apparently Japanese one block of tofu is smaller. The original recipe used one block which was 300grams. 

Seasoning*:

1 tbs x 4 concentrated noodle sauce or soy sauce either light colored or regular

1 tbs mirin

* Original recipe calls for soy sauce and sugar. The above is not as sweet.

Directions:

Prepare loaf pans (I used two 2 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch silicon loaf pans) by lining with parchment paper and lightly oil for easy lifting (see “A” in the composite picture).  Preheat oven to 350F*.

In a frying pan on medium heat, add 1 tbs vegetable oil and sauté the carrot and mushroom. After few minutes, add the crumbled tofu and keep stirring for another 5 minutes or so until water is not seeping out from the tofu. Add the seasonings and cook until no liquid is visible on the bottom. Add the scallion, mix and shut off the flame.

Add the half of the eggs and mix. The residual heat will semi cook the eggs. Add the remaining eggs and mix.

Pour in the mixture to the loaf pans and press and flatten the surface with a silicon spatula.

Place the loaf pans in the 350F oven for 30 minutes (“A” in the composite picture) .

*Original recipe calls for 250C oven which is over 480F. I thought this was way too hot. Using my own discretion, I baked at 350F (about 180C) using the toaster oven in convection mode.

After cooling down for 10 minutes, I lifted the load out of the pan using both ends of the parchment paper (“B” in the composite picture). I sliced it after it cooled to near room temperature.

As I mentioned before, because of the larger proportion of tofu in my rendition (albeit by accident), the cut surface looks more like tofu than omelette. I do not think this dish should be omelette with tofu mixed in. More like tofu dish hiding the use of eggs like some Buddhist monks may have done. 

Obviously, you could alter the vegetables you can use in this dish. Renkon, wood ear mushroom, green beans, hijiki, ginnan, mitsuba etc were suggested. I also saw the recipes adding ground meat but I do not particularly like that idea.

In any case, we really like this dish as I made it (by accident??).

P.S. I made this dish again with few modifications. 

1. Seasonings: I used 2 tsp sugar and 2tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce making it sweeter thatn the first. This appears to have worked. Both of us liked the a bit sweeter taste better.

2. I used three silicon loaf pans without parchment paper lining but coating the inside with a small mount of oil. The giese-tofu came out without problem. I am not sure the oil is needed.

Grilled “Tai” Perch Seasoned Rice 鯛飯もどき

Among the items in the Sushi Taro osechi box, was a grilled small “Tai” perch 小鯛の姿焼き that looks very nice and makes the osechi box festive and special. In the past, I used it to make a bowl of rice (a type of donburi 丼) by removing the meat and making it into “Soboro そぼろ ‘or finely crumbled seasoned fish meat topping the rice along with “Braised small ice fish seasoned with Japanese pepper じゃこの有馬煮” from the box. This year, in the Japanese menu or “Oshinagaki お品書き” accompanying the osechi, Chef Kitayama suggested cooking the Tai over rice. I thought this was a great idea. It immediately reminded me of “Tai-meshi 鯛飯” we had in Matsuyama, Shikoku 松山、四国.

This worked very well. It was much easier to remove meat since it was sort of steamed while the rice cooked. The resulting rice was flavorful and, as far as we can tell, this is the best way to enjoy the grilled Tai perch fish from the osechi box (picture #1).

I did not follow any recipe but just made it like I make seasoned rice or “maze-gohan 混ぜご飯”. You may not like to add any other items or add more items to the rice beside the perch.

Ingredients:
1 grilled small Tai perch (from the Sushi Taro osechi box).
1 small carrot, peeled and julienned.
1 inch square of Dashi Kelp, surface cleaned with dump paper towel.
3-4 small fresh shiitake caps, thinly sliced
2 cups of Japanese short-grain rice. I used “Nanatsuboshi ななつぼしfrom Hokkaido” (a cup came with the rice cooker which is smaller than US cup)
2 cups or a bit more of water including 1 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (or light colored soy sauce) and 1 tbs mirin (see directions below how to determine the liquid amount).
Thin strips of nori or “Kizami-nori 刻み海苔” for garnish.

Directions:
Wash the rice and drain.
Add the washed rice to the rice cooker.
Add the noodle sauce and mirin.
Add water to the mark in the rice cooker for 2 cups of rice and gently mix to distribute the seasonings.
Top the rice with the kelp, carrot and mushroom and place the grilled fish on the top and start the rice cooker in the normal white rice mode (#1 in the composite).
Remove the fish and the kelp. Remove the meat from the bone. I did not remove the skin which has good flavor. Carefully inspect for the bone (#2 in the composite)

Mix and fluff up the rice (#3 in the composite). You could mix the fish meat at this time or just top the rice in the serving bowl (#4 in the composite).

Garnish with the nori strips (#1 picture).

Making this rice was a great suggestion. The flavor of the fish permeated the rice with a rich umami. the mushrooms added yet another umami dimension. Great end to the New Year’s osechi box. 

Sushi Taro New Year Soba 手打ち蕎麦

When we got the Sushi Taro osechi box, we also got two orders of hand-made soba or “teuchi-soba 手打ち蕎麦” (Chef Kitayama is into making soba—which is our gain). As usual, we did not eat it on New year’s eve as “Toshikoshi Soba” 年越し蕎麦 or “Good luck going-over-the-year soba”. Instead, we had the soba as a lunch January 2 as our good luck new year soba. We have had this either cold or warm depending on the year. Since it was cold outside, this year we chose to have warm soba.

The soba kit included the dipping sauce, condiments (thinly sliced scallion and fried tempura batter or “age-dama/ten-kasu” 揚げ玉・天かす), wasabi, and cumquat in syrup. The wasabi is for cold soba with dipping sauce. So I preserved it for other occasions.

I first diluted the dipping sauce with the kelp-bonito broth I made for the new year “ozouni” soup to taste (about the same amount as the sauce), added fresh shiitake mushrooms (caps only), wood ear and oyster mushroom (since I had all these mushrooms) and heated it up and gently simmered while I was preparing  the soba. I also “borrowed” two slices of duck breast from the osechi box. I placed them in the warm soup for just 30 seconds before serving.

As per the instructions, I boiled the soba for 1 and half minutes, drained and washed gently in running cold water. I added the soup through the sieve in a pot on low flame so that the toppings would be separated (for better presentation). I added the cold washed soba into the soup and warmed it up for 30 seconds or so.

I placed the noodles and soup in the individual bowls, arranged the duck breast, mushrooms and garnished it with the age-dama and scallion. I served the cumquats as a side.

This was a very satisfying warm soba bowl. It is an upgraded version of “kake-soba” かけ蕎麦 or “tanuki-soba” たぬき蕎麦.

Tofu in Warm Broth ミニ湯豆腐

It is getting cold. We decided to have a hot tofu dish called “Yu-dofu” 湯豆腐.  “Yu” means “hot water” and “dofu” is “tofu*. I am surprised to find out I never posted “Yu-doufu”. I deviated from a traditional “yu-dofu” a bit by seasoning the broth lightly and adding fresh shiitake mushrooms and scallion to the broth. I also served it with “Ponzu” ポン酢 as a dipping sauce. I served individual portions in mini-donabe  ミニ土鍋 (picture #1). This is the perfect dish for a cold night. 

*This is another example of “rendaku” 連濁, “yu+tofu”  becomes “yu+dofu” when making a compound word.

Ingredients (for 2 small mini-donabe servings)
2/3 block of medium firm (you can use silken or firm as well), cut into one inch cubes
450ml Japanese broth (I used a dish pack which contains kelp and bonito and re-enforced the flavoring by using additional squares of kelp)
1-2 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce
2 scallions, white parts chopped finely and the green parts cut into 1.5 inch segments
2 caps of fresh shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly

Directions:
Add the seasoned broth to individual mini-donabe on low flame.
When the broth is warm, add the cubes of tofu, shiitake mushrooms and chopped scallions.
Simmer gently for 5-10 minutes until the tofu cubes are throughly warmed. Add the green parts of scallions and simmer for another 2-3 minutes or until the greens are wilted.
Serve with the ponzu if desired.

I think using lightly seasoned broth and ponzu as a dipping sauce made the tofu a bit more flavorful. You can add more vegetables but then it may not be rightfully called “yu-dofu”. 

I realized I have a special perforated spoon and fork for serving yu-doufi as well as the container for dipping sauce which is used  half submerged  in the cooking broth in the center of the pot. We used them long time ago but almost forgot about it. I managed to find them (picture #2). 

In the traditional/classic “Yu-dofu”, add the water and kelp in the donabe pot, fill the dipping sauce container and place it in the center of the pot. Add the cubes of tofu in the kelp broth and let it simmer so that the tofu and the dipping sauce are both warmed up. The tofu is scooped up using the perforated spoon and fork and placed in the dipping sauce in the center and then moved to the your small bowl. The condiment is  usually chopped scallion. But bonito flakes, grated daikon and Japanese red pepper powder can be added. If you omit bonito flakes (in the broth and dipping sauce), then the dish is vegan.

We like the modification I made to this dish. The broth the tofu is cooked in has a nice “dashi” favors of kelp and bonito and seasoning it with the Japanese noodle sauce makes it nice to drink. Dipping the tofu in ponzu adds an additional dimension.

P.S. Merry Christmas

Braised daikon with carrot, wood ear, and fried tofu 大根と人参の炒め物

This is a slight variation from “ kinpira daikon” 金平大根 I posted before. I made this dish since I had  the tail end of a daikon from Weee that was a few weeks old and not getting any better with age. Besides adding the usual deep fried “ther-age” tofu 油揚げ, I also added wood ear mushroom. This is a good dish for a drinking snack or side dish for rice.

The close up. The wood ear adds a nice crunch and the daikon is fully cooked but still has some crunch left. The seasoning was rather gentle. This is better than my usual “Kinpira daikon”.

Ingredients:
5inch segment of small daikon, peeled, sliced and cut into julienne.
2 samll carrots, peeled, sliced and cut into julienne.
1 “abura-age” fried tofu, hot water poured over in a colander (called “abura-nuki” 油抜き or reducing the oiliness), squeezed dry and cut into julienne.
1/4 cup (amount arbitrary and optional) wood ear mushroom, blanched, drained and cut into julienne
1 tbs vegetable oil with as splash of sesame oil

Seasonings:
2 tbs mirin
1 tbs sake
2-3 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (or soy sauce)

Directions:
Add the oil to a frying pan on medium flame
When the oil is hot add the daikon and carrot, stir for several minutes until all pieces are coated with oil and the daikon looks slightly transparent.
Add the abura-age and wood ear and stir briefly.
Add the mirin and sake and stir until liquid reduce  for few minutes
Add the noodle sauce (or soy sauce) and stir until liquid is almost gone for few more minutes

I usually add flakes of red pepper when the oil is hot but I did not to preserve gentle sweet and salty flavors. Using the noodle sauce added a bit more sweetness and “umami” from “dashi” in the sauce.

“Imo-ni” Stew famous in Yamagata 芋煮庄内風

When we had “Hiya-oroshi” 冷やおろしsake this year, one of them was from Yamagata prefecture 山形県 and is called “Shounai-bijin 庄内美人” or Shounai beauty. The name is based on the geography of the area where it is brewed. This sake was  brewed by “Watarai Honten 渡會本店“ which is located in the central plane that extends to the coastal areas of Yamagata called “Shounai flat  庄内平野”, hence the name “Shounai Beauty 庄内美人” (see picture #4 for the sake label and area map). While I was checking the brewery’s website, it states that  the best dish that goes with this sake is “Imo-ni*” 芋煮 a stew characteristic of the area and referred to as “Shounai-style”. It is made from pork and seasoned with miso. Other areas of yamagata make imoni with beef and seasoned with soy sauce.  I had a bag of frozen taro or satoimo from Weee and just thawed thinly sliced beef. So I made “Shounai-style” with miso seasoning and beef.

*Digression alert: You can look up description in Wikipedia for “Imo-ni”. My understanding is that this is a stew in Tohoku 東北 northern main land Japan especially in Yamagata. It has more social aspect than just a dish. In autumn, they have a big social gathering/party often outdoor sometimes making a gigantic “nabe” 鍋 which has to be hoisted using a crane. No matter which variations, the-must-have ingredients are “imo” or “potato” specifically “Satoimo 里芋” or taro and beef or pork.

Besides “satoimo” and beef or pork, “kon-nyaku” こんにゃく, “negi” 葱 Tokyo scallion and “gobo” burdock root are the most common ingredients but it appears one can also use carrots and mushrooms. 
We really liked this dish and it naturally went very well with “Shounan-bijin hiyaoroshi” sake. 

I happened to get a fairly large (especially for us) cast iron pot with a cedar lid (picture #2) which is perfect for this dish. This is the first time we used this pot.

I sort of followed a recipe from a NHK cooking program called “Today’s dish” or  “Kyou-no-ryori 今日の料理” which is also available on-line.

Ingredients: (makes 6-7 servings)
1 lb satoimo 里芋 (I could have used fresh but I happened to have prepared frozen ones)
1/2 lb thinly sliced beef cut into small strips
1 cake of kon-nyaku コンニャク, hand torn into small bite size pieces, parboiled and drained
1/2 gobo burdock root, skin scraped off using the back of a knife and cut into small strips”sasagaki ささがき (you shave off the “gobo” into the small strips as though you are sharpening a pencil with a knife producing thin strips in the shape of small bamboo leaves). Soak in cold water and drain just before putting into the pot.
2 scallions, cut on the bias
2 large fresh shiitake, cut into a bite size (optional)

Seasonings
2 tbs miso
1 cup sake
2 tbs mirin
6 cups Japanese broth of kelp and bonito (or water)
1-2 tbs soy sauce

Directions:
Cook the beef in the pot (I used a small amount of vegetable oil to prevent sticking).
When the beef is cooked add the miso and cook for one minute until fragrant.
Take out the miso and beef and set aside
Add the satoimo, kon-nyaku, gobo, mushroom in the pot and add the sake to remove any fond on the bottom of the pot
Add the water (or broth) and simmer for 20 minutes or until the satoimo is cooked through.
Add back the beef (and miso), scallion, mirin and cook 10 more minutes (picture #3)
Add the soy sauce to adjust the seasoning.

We had Shounai-bijin Hiyaoroshi cold with the imo-ni dish. Among the two hiyaoroshi we tried this year, we like this one best. Just for your information, the pin is in the “shounai” region.

Crispy Enoki Mushroom エノキのパリパリ焼き

This is another dish made using enoki mushrooms. I have posted quite a few enoki dishes. Turns out this is one of our favorite enoki dishes. It is fairly easy and quick to make and works well as a drinking snack. It is pre-seasoned and has a nice crunchy crust and nice softer texture inside with lots of enoki flavor (#1)

The recipe came from the major soy sauce maker Kikkoman website (in Japanese).

Ingredients:
1 package (200grams) enoki mushroom エノキダケ, cut off the bottom (about 1/4)  but make sure the  mushrooms are still connected at the bottom end
1-2 tbs vegetable oil for frying
4 tbs “katakuriko” 片栗粉 potato starch

Marinade
2tbs soy sauce (I used x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce)
2tbs sake
1tsp grated ginger

Directions:
Make 7-8 portions of the enoki mushroom still connected at the bottom, flatten and marinade for 10-20 minutes at room temperature
Drain the marinade and dust the mushroom bunches with the potato starch
Using a non-stick frying pan on medium flame, add the vegetable oil and fry each bunch of the mushroom, flatten using a spatula
Turn over several times until both sides are brown and crispy for about 5 minutes (picture #2)

Since the enoki is long, I cut each bunch into two portions. No sauce is needed since it is pre-seasoned (marinated). This dish will go well with sake or wine.

P.S. This year, we planted both moon flower and morning glory seeds along our fence on the side yard. The moon flower started first and, for a while, both morning glory and moon flowers were blooming. The moon flowers are finished and now the morning glories are indeed putting on a glorious display. Only problem is that as the morning glory gets going in earnest, frost will come and it will be season over.

Enoki mushroom frittata エノキ オムレツ/フリッタータ

We like mushrooms. Our favorite is shiitake. Maitake 舞茸 or hen-of-the-woods is also great. Although it may not be one of our absolute favorites we also like enoki エノキ mushrooms and we have made many dishes using enoki mushrooms. Actually, many years ago, when we were dating, we went to a Robata-yaki restaurant in Japan town, San Francisco. One of the dishes we had was enoki wrapped in foil and grilled with miso and butter. My wife said it was first time she had enoki and later I recreated the dish many times. It was one of our favorites. In any case, this is a new enoki dish I saw on YouTube and made it for lunch one day. There appears to be some variations but it is essentially, an enoki omelet or frittata. It was really good. Since I had some roasted red pepper sauce, we added it on top and it went very well. On the side I served coleslaw and skinned Campari tomato (picture #1).

Ingredients:
1 package (200gram) fresh enoki mushroom, root ends cut and removed, separated and cut into one inch segments
3 large eggs
2 tbs “katakuri-ko” 片栗粉 potato starch
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs vegetable/olive oil

Directions:
In a bowl, add the enoki and the potato starch and mix to coat
Add the eggs and mix well
In a non-stick frying pan on medium low flame,  add the oil and when oil is hot, add the enoki/egg mixture, spread and flatten with spatula
Place the lid and cook for 5 minutes or longer until the bottom browns and the surface looks dry
Flip and cook the other side for another 3-4 minutes (picture#2) so that the mushroom is cooked and lighly brown
Remove from the pan and cut into wedges and serve

We had the remaining half later heated up in the microwave oven which came out very nicely. This is easy to make and we really like the texture and flavors of enoki with eggs. Interestingly the mushrooms loose their distinctive shape and meld into the egg mixture. They add a type of density to the mixture which has an unctuous mouth feel. We will make this again.

Hen-of-the-Woods Grilled Cheese 舞茸のチーズ焼き

We like “hen of the woods” or maitake 舞茸 mushrooms. They have a nice firm meat-like texture and flavor. We cooked maitke many different ways and posted them in the past. Currently, maitake cooked in sage brown butter seems to be our favorite. Recently I saw, this simple but very good recipe on YouTube  (in Japanese) and tried it. I forgot to take a serving picture but picture #1 shows how it looks when serving. The idea is very similar to “cheese mochi rice cake”. We really like this dish. It is easy to make with crispy cheese and mushrooms. We thought we really do not need any kind of sauce.

Ingredients:
One package (85grams) of hen of the woods “maitake”, torn and separated into small fronds
5-6 slices of low-moisture Mozzarella cheese

Directions:
In a non-stick frying pan on medium-low flame add a few slices of cheese and place the maitake on it (I made two as seen in picture #2)

As the cheese melts and the bottom browns for a few minutes, flip it over using a silicon spatula (picture #3) and brown the other side for a few more minutes (picture #1).

This is a really good dish. We will add this to our regular maitake dishes. It is full of umami and almost feels like eating a piece of meat.

Stir-fried Eggplant and Shiitake in Oyster Sauce 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め

This is another variation of stir-fried eggplant to which this version is very similar but I skipped a few steps to make it easier and quicker. Since we got very good fresh shiitake mushrooms which were very thick, I added to this to the stir-fry. It is difficult to see which is the eggplant and which is shiitake (Picture #1) visually but when tasting it, the differences becomes clear. The addition of the shiitake makes this dish more interesting than just eggplant. Thick, fresh shiitake almost tastes like meat. Perilla and ginger add their distinct flavors.

Ingredients: (about makes 8 small servings like seen in picture #1).
2 Japanese (Asian) eggplants (picture #2), each weighed about 110-115 grams, stem ends removed and cut into a large bite size by cutting on bias as you roll 45 degrees (“ran-giri” 乱切り)
2 fresh shiitake, large and thick, stems removed and cut into a similar size large chunks
1/2 tsp ginger root, peeled, and julienned, 
5-7 perilla leaves, finely chopped
1 tbs vegetable oil (I used peanut oil) with a splash or dark sesame oil

Seasonings:
1 tbs oyster sauce
1/2 tbs soy sauce (I used x4 Japanese noodle sauce)
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tbs Shiaoxing wine (optional)
1/3 cup chicken broth, low sodium

Directions:
In a wok, add the oil on medium high flame. When the oil is shimmering add the eggplants. Starting from the skin side cook/brown for several minutes turning as needed.
Add the shiitake and cook 2-3 minutes more.
Add the ginger and stir.
Add the wine and broth (careful it may ignite).
When the liquid starts boiling, turn down the flame to medium and add the oyster sauce, soy sauce and sugar.
Reduce the liquid a bit and add the perilla.
Check the seasoning and adjust

The combination of eggplant and shiitake work every well together with nice umami reminiscent of a meat dish. The addition of the perilla adds a nice bright taste which provides a good contrast. 

Vegetables in Cold Broth 冷製のトマトの煮浸し

Cold vegetables soaked in broth is the perfect dish for summer. I have posted cold simmered tomato and sugar snap soaked in salt broth before. I made a tomato dish similar to the one I made before but it differed because I did not simmer the tomato (Picture #1). I skinned the Campari tomato (by briefly blanching) and then soaking (but not cooking) it in the hot broth. I let it cool to room temperature and then refrigerated it. I blanched the Sugar snap then soaked it in the broth. I topped it with very briefly blanched “mitsuba ミツバ”. This preparation allows you to taste a fresher tomato flavor. The broth is also slightly sweet containing mirin and soy sauce in addition to kelp-bonito broth.

A few days later, I added simmered daikon and shiitake mushroom (picture #2, right). I also served salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き and seasoned egg or “ajitama 味玉” (left). The green is arugula sprouts which were growing in the window pot but needed to be thinned. I dressed with truffle oil.

Directions:

Vegetables I used are simmered daikon and fresh shiitake mushrooms, skinned Campari tomatoes and blanched sugar snaps. The daikon was first simmered in water with added one pinch of raw rice for 30 minutes. The seasoning broth is my usual kelp and bonito broth (I made it stronger with two dashi packs with 500ml of water) which was seasoned with mirin and soy sauce (not too strong to bring out the natural flavor of the vegetable). I did not cook the vegetable further, just placed in hot seasoned both and let it cool down and then refrigerated.

This is a very light refreshing dish to serve on a hot summer evening. The veggies have a very fresh flavor but a slightly cooked texture that make them a bit easier to eat. This is the essence of summer.

Tofu, Egg and Garlic Chives Stir Fry 豆腐ニラ玉、木耳入り

This is one of the left-over control dishes. I had a package of “medium firm” tofu 豆腐 which just reached “BUB” (Best Used By) date, the last of garlic chive ニラand wood ear mushroom 木耳. So, I made this dish for lunch one day. I sort of got an idea from some of the recipes I saw on the Web and YouTube. Based on my memory and CCK (Common Culinary Knowledge) I  winged it. The seasonings could be improved but overall this was a quite good satisfying dish and fairly healthy and nearly vegetarian (I am not sure if oyster sauce really contains oysters or their derivatives). Depending on how much seasoning you add, this could be a side dish for rice but I seasoned it lightly and we had it as a main dish for lunch.

Ingredients:
One package of tofu (I used medium firm but firm would be good), drained and cut into cubes (#1 in the composite picture).
Two eggs, beaten and seasoned with a pinch of salt (#2)
Wood ear mushroom (optional, this was leftover, I blanched, washed it previously and cut into small trips, the amount is arbitrary) (#4)
Garlic chive, washed and cut into short segments, the amount arbitrary (#4)
2 tbs vegetable oil or peanut oil and a splash of dark sesame oil

Seasonings (#2): (premix, #2)
2 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs Shaoxing wine (or dry sherry or mirin, which makes it sweeter, or sake)

1 tsp Ponzu sauce

Directions:
Add the oil to the non-stick frying pan on medium high flame and cook turning once or twice until the surface is lightly browned (2-3 minutes) (#1 in the composite picture)
Reduce the flame to medium and pour in the egg mixture (#3) cook until the edges are set and gently turn and coat the tofu cubes
Add the seasonings and cook for 30 seconds mixing gently
Add the garlic chive and wood ear mushroom (#4)
Mix and toss to combine for 30 seconds to 1 minute
Splash the ponzu sauce and a small amount of sesame oil and mix to finish

I felt a bit self righteous finishing up the tofu, garlic chive and wood ear mushrooms by making this dish and nothing wasted. But better yet it was pretty good. The tofu went extremely well with the egg coating. The tofu and egg had similar texture but each brought a slightly different taste which was interesting in the same bite. The wood ear mushroom brought its own element to the dish in the form of a slight crunchiness that offset the tofu/egg texture. The garlic chive contributed a distinctly but mild garlic taste. Not a bad left-over control dish which can bear repeating.