Okonomi-yaki, Hiroshima style 広島風お好み焼き

We mentioned that the two major styles of okonomi-yaki are Osaka- 大阪風 and Hiroshima-style 広島風. We have been making variations of Osaka-style since Hiroshima-style appears more difficult to make at home. It is usually made on a grill and requires more technically difficult flipping traditionally done with a  special type of spatula. In addition because a type of fried egg and cooked noodles are added to the pancake, cooking these items to add to the okonomi-yaki requires additional cooking space. So it is more difficult to make Hiroshima-style at home especially if you do not have a fairly large grill and would have to make it in a frying pan.

We saw a few Youtube videos in which two frying pans were used to circumvent these difficulties. So, we decided to try it. The top layer of this version is a fried egg (yolk broken but not beaten before cooking) followed by the noodle, pork belly, tempura bits, scallion, cabbage and the bottom layer of the thin pancake/crepe. The picture shows the okonomi-yaki cut into serving pieces (by scissors), but before adding the topping and sauce.

The next picture is the cut surface showing the layers of the dish after toppings (julien of picked ginger, aonori) and sauces (okonomi-yaki sauce and Kewpie mayo) were added. This version is good with nice noodles but the crepe was basically non-existent. Compared to the Osaka-style in which the batter incorporated the cabbage, a thin crepe layer as used in the Hiroshima style made of the same batter has much less impact. We like this version with noodles but we prefer the Osaka-style especailly since it is much easier to make. There is also a variation of Osaka-style which includes noodles. It is usually called “Modan-yaki* モダン焼き. We may try that next.

*The origin of the name “modan” has two theories; one is that it was derived from the English word “modern” indicating this is new kind of okonomi-yaki, the other theory is it comes from a Japanese phrase “mori-dakusan 盛りだくさん” meaning “so many good things” which got abbreviated as “mo-da-n”.

This recipe, especially the directions, are mostly based on a YouTube episode by Koh Kentetsu using 8 and 10 inch frying pans (in Japanese).

Ingredients:
Batter (rather thin like crepe batter adjust the liquid amount)
50 grams Okonomi-yaki flour (or cake flour)
80 grams water or broth

3 scallions chopped (#3)
2 tbs tempura bits (#3)
2 strips of thin sliced pork belly
100 grams (more or less) shredded cabbage
1 package of  yakisoba noodle with seasoning (thawed or microwaved, see #5)
1 egg
2 tbs vegetable oil

Directions:
Add half of the batter to oiled small frying pan (8 inches) and make a thin crepe (#1) and set aside.
Add the pork belly to the larger frying pan (10 inches) on medium-low flame (#2). Place the shredded cabbage, scallion and tempura bits (#3) on top of the pork belly.  (The original instructions suggest putting more cabbage on top and drizzling the remaining batter on top of the new cabbage, which I forgot to do).
Cover the mound of cabbage with the crepe (#4), cook for 4-5 minutes. Place the noodles (#5) in the small frying pan with oil and cook for a few minutes, season and set aside. (The seasoning can be soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, or okonomi-yaki sauce but I used the seasoning that came with the noodle package). Then add the some oil and one egg, to the small frying pan. Break the yolk and spread it around with the egg white (#6). While the egg yolk is still runny place the noodles on top (#7). 

Slide the cabbage and crepe shown in #4 over the noodles and eggs shown in #7 using a spatula to form 4 layers; with the egg on the bottom covered with the noodles that are covered with the cabbage and topped with the crepe. 

Cook for about 1 minute. Place the now empty larger frying pan on the top of the small frying pan and flip the contents of the smaller pan into the larger pan. So the 4 layers are inverted with the egg layer now on top in the larger pan (#8). Cook 2 more minutes to make the crepe (which is now the bottom layer) slightly brown and crispy.

Easy-peesy, right? This is a pretty good okonomi-yaki but the bottom crepe was non-existent. We could have made the whole thing without okonomi-yaki batter crepe and never would have missed it. However, covering the cabbage with the crepe is important to steam/cook the cabbage under the crepe (#4). In addition, this is probably the style we ate in Japan which left us so under whelmed. It was good to try making this Hiroshima style but our recent liking of okonomi-yaki is probably based on our new found discovery of Osaka style.

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.

Mushrooms Udon Bowl きのこ沢山のかけうどん

“Udon” うどん are thick Japanese noodles made from wheat flour, salt and water. I’ve posted many udon dishes over the years. We usually use dried udon noodles because it is convenient. Udon appears to have many regioanl varieties. In Shikoku 四国 and Kansai 関西 (Osaka area),  Sanuki (-style) udon 讃岐風うどん is famous and is characteristically “chewy” as opposed to southern Kyushu 南九州 or Fukuoka 福岡 udon which is famous for its softness. The udon we usually get is somewhere in between. We tend to like thin udon such as “Inaniwa” 稲庭 udon or “Harima thread uson” 播磨糸うどん. I’m not sure what triggered it but we decided to get  frozen Sanuki-style  udon from Weee. The noodles are a bit on the thicker side with a square shape and straight edges (see 2nd picture below) which are characteristics of Sanuki udon or udon in the Kaisai region in general. For lunch, I made “kake-udon” かけうどん which is warm udon in broth. I used whatever was available for topping indluding three kinds of mushrooms (shiitake, maitake and simeji), soft boiled duck egg, simmered pork and edible chrysanthemum.

Underneath the toppings are the Sanuki-udon.

Ingredients: (2 small or half servings)
Mixed fresh mushrooms (I used shiitake sliced, mitake torn into small pices, and shimeji separated)
One package of frozen Sanuki udon, thawed and cooked in boiling water for 3-4 minutes
2 slices of simmered pork
Edible chrysanthemum, blanched
One soft boiled (pasteurized) duck egg, halved
Blanched sugar snaps
Dashi broth
X4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce

Directions:
Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes, add the broth (enough for two bowls) and simmer for a few minutes, add the noodle sauce to taste, place the pork, egg, chrysanthemum, and sugar snaps on the top to warm them up for few minutes
Divide the udon into two bowls, arrange the toppings and pour in the seasoned broth.
Add 7 flavored pepper flakes or “shichi-mi tougarashi 七味唐辛子 (optional)

The udon was really chewy. We like it but it requires a bit of effort (chewing). This type of udon may be perfect for “Nabeyaki udon” 鍋焼きうどん.

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. 

Udon and Shrimp Stir-fry エビ入り焼きうどん

This an impromptu stir fry of udon noodles or “Yaki-udon” 焼きうどん I made for a lunch one day since we had cooked udon noodles. We did not have a protein readily available (we had frozen chicken and pork but they would have required time to defrost). So, I decided to use frozen shrimp which can be thawed quickly. In addition, since we had home pasteurized eggs, I added a fried egg with a runny yolk. This was not based on any recipe but it came out OK.

The egg could have been a bit less cooked but it had a somewhat running yolk. I seasoned the dish with oyster sauce and soy sauce. The oyster sauce (Kikoman brand) was a bit on the sweet side but it tasted pretty good.

This is not really a recipe but just a record of what I did. I just used what ever vegetables were available in the fridge.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
One bundle of dry udon noodles, cooked according to the package instruction
6 shrimp, thawed, shelled, seasoned with salt and coated with potato starch
One medium onion, thinly sliced
Several leaves of cabbage, cut into small rectangles
5-6 green beans, blanched, cut into 1 inch segments
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chopped ginger
1 tbs peanut oil and 1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tbs oyster sauce
1 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs dried “aonori” 青のり powdered seaweed for garnish
Two pasteurized eggs, salt and pepper to taste and olive oil for frying

Directions:
Heat a wok and add the peanut and sesame oil, cook the shrimp, 30 seconds on each side, set aside
Add more oil and cook the ginger and garlic. Stir for a few seconds, add the onion and cabbage, cook 1-2 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.
Add the noodles (you may want to add a small amount of water), stir until warmed.
Add back the cooked shrimp
Add the oyster and soy sauce and stir for one more minute

In another frying pan on medium flame, add the olive oil and the eggs. Cook until the edges get slightly browned, place the lid on, cut the flame and let it steep for 1 minute.

Serve the noodles and shrimp and garnish with the aonori (You could also add pickled ginger and sesame seeds) and top with the fried egg.

Four Salad Lunch 4種類サラダランチ

I made 4 different salads (not all on the same day) and had the 4 salads for lunch with a cold asparagus soup. We also had a small piece of “Not no-knead bread made with dried fruit”. We feel good about the fact that all salads, soup and bread were home-made. In the center of the four salads, I served snap peas which were blanched and then soaked in Japanese salt broth.

The picture below shows Israeli couscous with artichoke hearts and garbanzo beans with a nice lemony and dill dressing.

The pic below shows a celery, mushroom, and navy bean salad with feta cheese. The mushrooms make the salad. They gave an almost meaty texture and flavor.

The next is a curry flavored sous vide chicken salad. Since we had a nice ripe Champagne mango, I added small cubes of mango which went very well with this salad.

I made this udon noodle salad since I had left-over cooked udon noodles.  The dressing is sesame-flavored. I do make several versions of the sesame dressing (for example, using Japanese “nerigoma” ねりごま sesame paste or peanut butter) but this time I used Tahini with dry roasted white sesame seeds which I ground in a Japanese “suribachi” すり鉢 mortar. Other seasonings included soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar.

This was a surprisingly filling lunch. Beans, udon noodles, and couscous all contribute to this and, at the same time, we enjoyed so many different flavors and textures. We just have to make sure we finish all these salads before they go bad.

Marinated Camembert Cheese カマンベールチーズのかえし漬け

I was browsing one of the Japanese food blogs I follow when my wife stopped me and asked what the picture on the screen was showing. It happened to be slices of Camembert cheese marinated in “Kaeshi” かえし*. Although the blog was about a “soba” Japanese noodle restaurant in Tuskiji 築地長生庵 their menu included a selection of sake and dishes that go with sake in addition to soba. (Judging from the blogs, it is a popular watering hole among sake drinkers).

*Kaeshi: Kaeshi is the concentrated soba noodle sauce made of soy sauce, mirin and sugar. It is transformed into soba noodle sauce by diluting the kaeshi with dashi broth. So since this was a soba noodle restaurant, good kaeshi must have been readily available.

Since we had just gotten a wheel of Camembert cheese and we also had a bottle of concentrated noodle sauce which is equivalent to Kaeshi, we decided to try to make the cheese dish shown in the blog. The original dish was topped with freshly grated horse radish. Although we had prepared horse radish in a jar, in general we find it too harsh in flavor. So my wife suggested the next best alternative; grated daikon. I thought that was a great idea since the spiciness of both daikon and horse radish comes from the same/similar chemical substance called “allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)”. Usually daikon is not as spicy as horse radish but sometimes grated daikon can be extremely hot (atomic) which we have experienced in the past.

Since Camembert cheese is fatty and does not easily absorb liquid marinade, we sliced the cheese and marinated it in x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce. We marinated it in the refrigerator for several hours. It came to be rather firm.

Fortunately, the grated daikon had a just right amount of spiciness and went very well with the marinated Camembert. This is an unusual West/East hybrid dish akin to miso-marinated cream cheese. We really like this. (And it does go very well with sake).

New Year Soba 2022 新年そば 2022

When we get Sushi Taro Osechi すし太郎お節, we also order  "toshi-koshi soba" 年越しそば or “going-over-the-year soba” every year. This soba is definitely very special since it is hand-made and hand-cut (or “Teuchi-soba” 手打ちそば)  by Chef Kitayama. We remember when we had an omakase counter dinner some years ago before Covid, he discussed making soba with us. He showed us some soba dough which was too dry and talked about how he was planning on getting special “soba flour”  蕎麦粉 or buckwheat flour from Japan.  We really appreciate this New Year soba because it's quality reflects Chef Kitayama's dedication. This year, the soba came as a complete kit with the dipping sauce and all the garnishes. It also included more precise instructions, from the chef, on how to prepare and serve the soba including the final directive; “slurp”.

I am repeating myself but when I was growing up, my family never had a tradition of "toshikoshi soba" or eating soba on New Year’s eve.  Now, we also tend not to eat soba New Year eve but rather we enjoy the soba in the New Year. We hope, despite the delay in consumption,  the same effects of bringing good luck and long life will be in effect. We've sometimes had the Sushi Taro soba as a warm soba but this time following the chef's instructions, we had the soba cold with dipping sauce (The way I served is called “mori-soba” 盛り蕎麦. If you are interested in different ways of serving and the respective names for soba dishes, please refer to Wikipedia). Although we rarely have cold soba, I remembered that we have a special soba serving plate/basket called “Soba-seiro” 蕎麦せいろ and a soba dipping bowl called “soba-choko” 蕎麦猪口 (which I use to make chawan-mishi). So this is the "Mori soba" set I served as a lunch on the 2nd day of the New Year.

A good dashi smell was perversive as soon as I opened the dipping sauce container. It was a gentle and great dipping sauce.

The condiments included (from left to right) finely chopped scallion or "kizami negi" 刻みネギ, tempura bits, "tenkasu" 天かす or "agedama" 揚げ玉. I added thin strips of nori called "Kizami nori" 刻みのり.

Other condiments included (from left to right), grated daikon or "daikon oroshi" 大根おろしand wasabi わさび (as soon as I opened a small container, a nice wasabi aroma wafted out. It was clearly freshly grated real wasabi).

I also served Russian marinated salmon with ikura. This year, I added mustard in the marinade which gave it a nice but a bit different flavor.

The soba had nice aroma and nice bite to it. The dipping sauce was very gentle and perfect. Adding the wasabi gave very fresh but not spicy hot flavor. The tenkasu was still crunchy and flavorful. Perfect soba dish for the New Year's lunch.

Three appetizers with two new ones 新しいお通し2種

 I served these three appetizers one evening. The dish shown on the left in the first picture is my stand-by fried salmon in sweet vinegar or “salmon nanban” 鮭の南蛮漬け. The new ones are the one in the center “dried persimmon and daikon in sweet vinegar” 干し柿の大根なます and the one on the right, “udon noodle salad with peanut butter dressing” うどんのピーナッツバター和え.

The second picture is a close up of the dried persimmon and daikon in sweet vinegar sauce. This is loosely based on my compiled version of various recipes. I actually used the leftover marinade and vegetables from the previous batch of salmon nanban. (If I made this from scratch, I would make it close to the traditional New Year dish “daikon namasu” 大根なます and just add strips of dried persimmon). For a change, I also added roasted and ground sesame (fine grind but not paste) and a small amount of dark sesame oil. The combined taste of sweet and sour with added sesame flavor and refreshing daikon went well with the soft and sweet dried persimmon. Over time the persimmon got softer in the marinade. This is a good refreshing dish.

These are the ingredients and directions to make this dish from scratch (not reusing the vegetable and marinade of the salmon nanban).

Ingredients: 
2 dried persimmon, stem end and seeds removed and cut into strips.
1 inch segment of daikon, peeled, and cut into buttons then julienned.
Carrot and/or celery julienned (optional)
1/2 cup sweet vinegar (1/2 rice vinegar, 1/4 cup sugar or 2:1 ratio, pinch of salt, heat until dissolved. Then let it cool)
1 Tbs roasted white sesame seeds, fine ground (I used a Japanese mortar and pestle or suribachi.
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil

Directions:
Salt the daikon pieces and knead, then let it stand for 5-10 minutes.
Add all the ingredients and the sweet vinegar.
Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

The next dish is a variation of sesame noodle salad. Since we had home-made peanut butter, instead of sesame paste or “neri-goma” ねりごま, I used the peanut butter. This was very similar but different because of the rather intense peanut flavor. I have not made the sesame noodle salad for sometime and never made it with peanut butter. This is a good salad as an appetizer, I should make it more often.

Ingredients: (amount is all arbitrary)
Cooked thin udon noodle
Carrot, julienned
Scallion, sliced thinly diagonally
Sesame seeds for garnish (or crushed peanuts)

For Dressing:
Peanut butter, soy sauce, and rice vinegar in 2:1:1 ratio
Dash of dark peanut oil
Sugar and sriracha to taste
Minced ginger and garlic to taste
Add warm water if the consistency is too thick

Directions:
Cut the noodles into 1-2 inch lengths (optional but for ease of eating)
Dress with the peanut dressing.
Garnish with sesame seeds or crush peanuts.

Kitsune Udon and Inari-sushi 狐うどんといなり寿司

When our refrigerator went kaput, some of the Japanese frozen items thawed almost completely. One of them was "Abura-age" 油揚げ or deep fried tofu pouches. These were rectanglar-shaped full sized ones called "Ganko-oyaji-no-abura-age" がんこおやじの油揚げ (meaning "stubborn old man's abura-age*"). I decided the best way to save them was to cook them in soy sauce and sugar or/or mirin which is called "Ama-Kara" 甘辛 meaning "sweet and salty". Once cooked, they would last longer and also could also be used to make "Inari-sushi" 稲荷寿司 (right below)  and "Kitsune udon" 狐うどん (left below) which I did a week or so later and served as a lunch one weekend. I served Inari-sushi (or more accurately, Inari-zushi) with cucumber "asazuke" 浅漬け and sweet vinegar-dressed ginger (store-bought).

*This is a Japanese way of saying that this product was made with a stubborn determination of an old man who upholds a tradition of making the best product without any compromises.

Classically, Kitsune Udon is simply topped with seasoned abura-age and chopped scallion (this is a famous dish in Osaka 大阪 and they typically used the green part of the scallion as opposed to Tokyoites who uses only the white part. Since I made home pasteurized eggs in that morning, I added a poached egg as well. That makes this as "Kitsune Tsukimi udon" キツネ月見うどん. "Tsukimi" 月見 means "moon gazing" and the egg yolk is equated with the moon.

Cooking and seasoning Abrura-age:
2 rectangular abura-age, thawed, intentionally (or otherwise), if frozen, cut in half (square).
Place the abura-age in a colander and pour boiling water over it to remove any excess oil (this process is called "abura-nuki" 油抜き).
Place four squares in a single layer in a pan and add the seasoning (Japanese broth 100ml, mirin 20ml, and 20ml, add sugar if you like it sweet).
Place a "otoshi-buta" on top and simmer for 15-20 minutes until only a small amount of seasoning liquid remains on the bottom. Then let it cool.

I did this some days prior to using them and kept them in a sealed container in the "back-up/emergency" fridge.

Making "Kitsune udon"
Soup: Heat Japanese broth made from a dashi pouch (kelp and bonito), seasoned with sake, mirin and light colored soy sauce. I seasoned  it lightly and added the seasoned abura-age pouch to warm. The seasoning from the pouches leak out into the soup and when I tasted it the soup was just right.

Udon noodle:
I had cooked dried thin udon noodle. I warmed them up in boiling water for 30 seconds, drained and put it into bowls.

I poured in the warm soup, topped it with the seasoned abura-age, poached egg and thinly sliced scallion.

Assembling Inari-zushi (four square pouches):

Filling the pouches with cooked rice: the simplest would be sushi rice, which is what I basically used,  but the rice can be mixed with other ingredients such as seasoned gourd peel or "kanpyo" カンピョウ and shiitake mushsooms 椎茸. The variations are endless. I used frozen white rice (this happened to be rather expensive Japanese grown "Koshihikari" コシヒカリ rice). I microwaved it to warm it up and dressed it with sushi vinegar. I did not mention it earlier but among the thawing victims of the refrigerator's demise were two small packages of small whitebait fish called "shirasu" しらす. (At the same time I rescued the abura-age I braised these fish in mirin, sake and  soy sauce until almost dry and placed them in a small sealed container in the "emergency" fridge.) I mixed this seasoned "shirasu" into the sushi rice mixture. I prepared the pouches to be filled with the rice by pressing the abura-age pouches between two identical plates to remove any excess liquid. I then stuffed them with the rice mixture. Since the seasoning of the pouches and "shirasu" were essentially similar, this combination worked very well.

I cut the stuffed pouches in half to serve. Here you can see small fishy mixed into the rice.

For impromptu lunch with "Inari" theme**, this was quite good.

** Digression alert!:
"Inari" 稲荷 is a Japanese deity (or one of many Japanese gods) who promotes industrial and agricultural prosperity. There are some 30,000 Inari shrines that exist throughout Japan. These Inari shrines are guarded by statues of foxes (wearing red bibs for some reason). Although the fox is often confused to be the God, it is not. It is simply the Inari god's messenger. In addition, these foxes are said to be very fond of "abura-age". So, any dish made with abura-age is called "Inari" or "Kitsune (fox)".

This picture was taken by my wife when we were traveling in Kyoto 京都 and visiting  "Fushimi Inari Taisha" 伏見稲荷大社 in 2015. This is famous for numerous red torii gates 赤鳥居. This is the main or "parent" Inari shrine among the many in Japan.

When we visited there, it was very crowded. Later, we learned that visiting there at night may be less crowded.

New Year Soba お正月蕎麦

Chef Kitayama of Sushi Taro is passionate about making hand-cut "teuchi" soba 手打ちそば. This year, "Toshikoshi soba" 年越し蕎麦 was an option with  the Osechi box and we got one order (for two people). It also included "Soba dare" 蕎麦だれ in a plastic botttle. We knew we could not eat the soba on New Year eve as "toshikoshi soba" since we would be too full. As in other years, we enjoyed it as "New Year soba" (if such a word exists, お正月蕎麦). We had this as a lunch on the second day of the New Year.

I asked my wife if she wanted the soba cold or warm. She chose warm. So I made "Kakesoba" かけそば.  I topped it with all "osechi" items to make it "New Year soba". Some came from the Sushi Taro osechi box some are what I made.

We used one portion in a plastic wrap for two of us.

How to cook "raw" 生そば or "teuchi" soba 手打ちそば:
Since most of us including me usually have commercially made dried soba, it may be worthwhile to mention how "teuchi soba" should be cooked (mostly for my own reminder).

1, Large amount of rapidly boiling water.
2. Add soba by separating and distributing in the water.
3. Gently move the soba in slow circular motion with a pair of long cooking chopsticks to prevent the soba from sticking to each other but not to break the soba. I cooked about 1 minute and half.
4. Scoop up the soba using a wire-meshed ladle, if you want "Sobayu" 蕎麦湯 (which is the water in which soba was cooked) to dilute the dipping sauce for drinking (applicable to cold soba).  Otherwise, just drain it in a colander and gently wash it in running cold water (this process is important to remove the cooked flour on the surface of the noodles (if left on, the flour would make it a bit slimy) and to cool down the soba to make it firm.
5. For warm soba, either you could warm it up again by dipping it in hot water or briefly warming it in the soup broth. Since my wife has a "cat's tongue" (her own words) she does not like very hot soup so I chose to just to put the cooled and washed noodles in the bowl directly (see below).

These are the toppings I used for the New Year soba. The sake-steamed shrimp, ume-fu (flower or more specifically plum blossom-shaped gluten cake), and white and red fish cakes are from the osechi box. Chopped chives (I could have used "Mitsu-ba" since I had it but I forgot), sugar snaps in salted broth, and the datemaki are what I prepared. I prepared bonito and kelp broth using a dashi pack and added Chef Kitayama's tare sauce to taste (not quite 1:1) and kept warm on a low flame.

I warmed these toppings (except for the chives) briefly in the simmering broth and assembled the final bowls (see the first and second pictures). I then poured in the hot soup. This was quite good. I could have gone with a "volcanic" hot soup but my wife was happy with this since it was safer to eat without burning your mouth. I do not know if soba eaten in the 2nd day of New Year will bring any luck and  longevity but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

Pork belly chasu and miso ramen 三枚肉チャーシュー と味噌ラーメン

Although we can get ”pork belly” or "Sanmai-niku" 三枚肉 (meaning "three layer meat" referring to alternating layers of fat and red meat) at  specialty grocery stores such as Whole Foods, it has not been available at our usual grocery store. But the other day, I found a large package of pork belly (probably 2-3 lb). I could not resist getting one. It was rather large and I made  "Kakuni" 角煮 from half and made pork belly chasu 三枚肉チャーシュー from the other half.  Since this is usually served as a ramen topping, I made miso ramen with pork belly chasu as a lunch one weekend.

I also made "ajitama" 味玉 or seasoned soft boiled egg. I also opened a jar of store-bought "Menma" メンマ seasoned bamboo shoot. I added nori seaweed and finely chopped chives as toppings.

As before, the ramen noodle is  American-made frozen  ones from "Sun Noodle". I also used "miso" seasoning that came with the noodles but instead of hot water, I used Japanese broth made from a "dashi pack" to make the soup.

Pork Belly chasu

Ingredients:
1 lb pork belly (half of the piece of pork I got), thinner portion (I assume this is  towards the front) which I rolled tightly and trussed.
3 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs mirin
1 tbs sake
1 scallion, bruised with back of the knife
2 cloves garlic, crushed and skin removed
5 black pepper corns
3 star anises (optional)
Water to cover

Directions:
Place the pork in a pot (in which the pork snuggly fits), add the soy sauce, mirin, sake, scallion, garlic, black pepper corns, and star anise. Marinate for a few hours at room temperature turning a few times.
Add water so that the pork is just barely covered. Cover the pork with either a silicon "otoshi buta" 落し蓋 or aluminum foil.
Put on the lid and simmer for several hours turning a few times.
Let it cool in the simmering liquid and then put into the refrigerator for overnight.
Skim off fat.

To serve:
Remove the pork from the now congealed marinade (#1 and #2).
Slice it to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick (#3)
Meanwhile, soft boiled egg was marinated in Japanese concentrated noodle sauce in a Ziploc bag for overnight or longer in the refrigerator (#4).
Cut the egg in half (#5).  After 24 hours, the yolk is still liquid but the more you marinate, the more yolks will jell.
I have "pork belly chasu", "menma" seasoned bamboo shoots, "ajitma" seasoned boiled egg and chopped chives for toppings (#6).

I boiled one serving of the ramen noodle as per the instructions and drained (this is half ramen 半ラーメンfor each of us).
Divide the miso seasoning package into two portions and place it in the bowls. Pour in hot dashi broth and dissolve the miso seasoning.
Add half of the package of noodles into each bowl.
Garnished it with the toppings above and the nori sheet.

This was rather decadent ramen. Compared to pork loin or even shoulder version of chasu, this is much more unctuous.  On other occasion, I made "chasu and egg" チャーシューエッグ using this which was also really good. We have to be careful that all this lovely pork belly will be "too much of a good thing"...Not likely!

Nori and butter fried noodles 海苔とバターの焼うどん

This was sort of our (mostly my wife's) invention. One evening, we needed something to finish the meal (shime〆). We found leftover precooked very thin udon noodles or "Ito udon" 播州糸うどん, which we happened to have since we had "cold pasta with fresh tomato sauce" earlier. My wife suggested that we simply fry it in butter and soy sauce (reminiscent of how she adds butter and soy sauce to her rice). The reasoning being 'if butter and soy sauce taste good on rice why not noodles?' I also added strips of seasoned nori. I added the nori as the noodles were cooking not as garnish.

The garnish I used was finely chopped chives.

The udon is extra thin and the nori is well incorporated into the noodles.

This is not a recipe. Just add a thin pat of unsalted butter to a non-stick frying pan on medium flame, add cooked udon noodle, fry for a few minutes, add strips or hand-crushed seasoned nori or "ajituske nori" 味つけのり and keep frying. then add a small amount of soy sauce to finish. The amount of the ingredients and seasoning is totally arbitrary.

This is a simple and very satisfying dish. Perfect for the shime at the end of the meal. This has become our "go-to" dish whenever we have left over udon. As a variation, I also used "nori tuskudani" 海苔佃 which was ok but did not particularly add much.

Meat ball and wonton soup 中華風肉団子ワンタンスープ

This what I made out of the remains of my failed attempt at making shumai. Since the meat fillings and the wonton skins came apart but the fillings were quite tasty, I immediately came up with the idea of making meat ball wonton soup and served it as a lunch the next day.

I cut the wonton skins into wide strips making it like a type of noodle. I added tofu, broccoli, and carrots.

I also used the stems of the broccoli.

Since this was re-purposing failed shumai, I just made this soup without any recipe and using mostly other leftovers and made it a sort of a Chinese soup.

Earlier in the day, I prepared blanched broccoli florets (which I often do for the week to have a supply of fresh vegetables) and the stems were left (I usually do not use them). But this time I sliced them and put into the soup. I also had half of a good sized carrot left over from another dish. I peeled and made large match sticks. For the soup, I used a mixture of leftover Japanese dashi (which I made earlier with a kelp and bonito dashi pack) and chicken broth (Swanson, I had leftover in the refrigerator). I also used a Japanese silken tofu meant for eating "raw" which was passed "best enjoyed by" date.

I put some peanut oil and a splash of dark roasted sesame oil in a sauce pan and I added finely chopped ginger root, garlic, the sliced broccoli stems and carrot. I  sautéed them a bit. I added the liquid and added the meat filling (or meat ball) and wonton skin cut into strips. I seasoned it with salt, light soy sauce, and a bit of mirin. I cooked it for 10-15 minutes and then added the blanched broccoli florets.

This was a quite good soup. Nice flavors from the meat filling and wonton noodles gave a nice texture. The broth was also quite good with nice ginger and sesame oil flavors. Although I will try making shumai again, this was a nice recovery dish.

Cold mackerel ball soup 冷製鯖のつみれ汁

We got a whole Spanish mackerel from the near-by Whole Foods and made our usual miso simmered mackerel 鯖の味噌煮. I also made mackerel fish ball soup 鯖のつみれ汁 from the meat scraped off the bone and tail tip portion of the fish. I just cooked the mackerel fish balls in dashi broth but did not season or finish the soup and placed it in the refrigerator. The next day, it was very hot and humid and my wife suggested we have this soup cold. Following her suggestion, I made this cold soup with mackerel balls, silken tofu and udon noodle as a light lunch.

I just seasoned the broth with concentrated noodle sauce from a bottle and garnished with sliced scallion and yuzu zest (frozen).

Ingredients: (this made 7 meat balls).

Scraped meat from one whole Spanish mackerel (scraped off the bone and also the thin tip of the tail portion)

Scallion, half stalk, finely chopped

Miso and potato starch 1 tbs each

Sake 1 tsp

Roasted sesame oil 1/2 tsp

Ginger root, finely chopped 1/2 tsp

Salt, scant pinch

Japanese broth, 300ml (I made this from a dashi pack with bonito and kelp).

Concentrated noodle sauce from the bottle to taste
Silken tofu and udon noodles (both cold, amount arbitrary)

For garnish

Scallion, 1/2, thinly sliced on bias
Yuzu zest

Directions:

Mince and mix the Spanish mackerel meat, scallion, miso, potato starch, sake, sesame oil, ginger root and salt.
Meanwhile heat-up the Japanese dashi broth and keep it simmering
Using two teaspoons, make a quenelle and drop it into the simmering broth
Cook it gently until all the fish balls float (4-5 minutes)
Let it cool to room temperature and place it in the refrigerator overnight.
In a small bowl, add the broth seasoned with the concentrated noodle sauce, add the fish balls, tofu and udon and garnish.

We liked the warm version but this cold one is also very good especially on a hot and humid summer day in August in Washington.

Cold "shippoku" udon noodle with simmered vegetables 冷製卓袱うどん

Since we had several hot and muggy days recently in the Washington DC area, I made this cold noodle dish from ingredients I had on hand. I had cold simmered vegetables and prepared udon noodles (which were leftover for making cold fresh tomato pasta dish). I call this cold "shippoku" udon 冷製卓袱うどん. This (warm version) is a popular dish in the Southern islands of Japan (Shikoku 四国 and Kyushu 九州). I do not know the exact definition of it but I take it as a noodle (either soba or udon) dish with lots of cooked veggies and other toppings. I made this all cold for a hot summer day.

Cold cooked vegetables included daikon, carrot, skinned Campari tomato and sugar snap. Since I had Chinese-style simmered pork or "Chashu" チャーシュー (this one is made from pork butt and has much more fat than meat made from pork loin), I cut it into batons and added it to the dish.

The original simmered vegetables included daikon, carrot, shiitake mushroom, Campari tomato (simmered in Japanese broth which was lightly seasoned with light colored soy sauce and mirin. After the veggies were soft/done, I let it cool and then refrigerated it). We ate the veggies by themselves for several days so by the time I made  this dish only a few pieces of daikon, carrot and tomato were remaining. The sugar snap was just blanched and cooled. For the broth, I added more concentrated noddle sauce from the bottle to the broth in which the veggies were cooked.

This was all leftover control but it was nice cold refreshing dish, perfect for our lunch over the weekend.