Happy New Year 2022 明けましておめでとう 2022.

Happy New Year 2022! The pandemic still persists with the Omicron variant making it debut and spreading so quickly just when we thought things were starting to come under control and using a quote from the movie Jaws "it was safe to go back in the water again".  In any case, both my wife and I took all the precautions; being vaccinated and boosted. We sincerely hope we can get past this soon.

This is the year of tiger according to Chinese/Japanese zodiac signs. We thought we had a larger tiger figurine but these are what we had. The two shown below look somewhat like cats rather than tigers.

The one shown here really looks like a tabby cat. It is made of carved wood and is one of a full set of the 12 zodiac figures we got in Kyoto on one of our trips to Japan. This year, I decided not to get "Kagami-mochi" 鏡餅 new years decoration since we generally do not finish the round mochi inside. 

When it comes to traditional Japanese New Year food, we look forward to and revel in the routine (or some may call it a rut) that we've developed over the years. First off is the expectation of the wonderful goodies contained in the Sushi Taro Osechi 寿司太郎お節 on 12/31/21 or "oomisoka" 大晦日 in Japanese.  Picking it up on New Year eve is an excursion we generally look forward to, although it is a bit of an arduous drive going into town and back. It was especially so this year when we discovered various parts of the route were closed to cars that day and only open to bike traffic. But it was worth it. We will be hitting the Osechi box this evening. We established the tradition of having our usual breakfast with cappuccino and the choice of various holiday breads such as stollen or panettone for the first day of the new year or "Gantan" 元旦. Then, for lunch, we have the more traditional Japanese New Year soup or "Ozouni" お雑煮 as well as some of the auspicious foods served for the New Year as shown in the next picture.

The next picture is a close-up assortment of "good luck" foods I served.

Some came from the Osechi box such as the fish cake 紅白蒲鉾 (#3) (since I did not get any red and white fish cakes this year), small fish じゃこの有馬煮 (#1), shrimp 小海老甘露煮 (#2) and black beans 黒豆 (#5). This year I was lucky to be able to get salted herring roe or Kazuniko 数の子 from the grocery section at Tako Grill. The amount was not too much and just right. I prepared kazunoko marinated in sake lee and miso かずのこの粕味噌漬け(#4). I also served salmon kelp rolls 鮭の昆布巻き and the datemaki 伊達巻 New Year's omelet roll (#7) I like to make based on my Mother's recipe. I also served salmon "Russian" marinade 鮭のロシア漬け which again was something special my mother used to make. I made it some days ago, so it had cured enough to eat. I also served simmered root vegetables including the symbolic "renkon" lotus root, "kobo" burdock root, bamboo shoot and carrot (#9).

Now the "ozouni" New Year soup. New Year is the rare occasion when I use this genuine Japanese lacquerware bowl that my mother gave us many many years ago.

Although you can not see it, the "mochi" 餅 rice cake is placed in a deep fried tofu or "abura-age" 油揚げpouch. I usually seal the pouch with a kanpyo 干瓢 (or gourd peel) tie. But in recent years I have not been able to find kanpyo and I used up what I had for the salmon kelp rolls. So this year, I had to improvise by blanching a whole scallion and using that to tie the tofu pouch. Other items in the soup included shrimp (from Great Alaska seafood), chicken tenderloin from some sous vide chicken breast I made, and vegetables including shiitake mushroom, daikon, gobo, and carrot. For the green, I used rapini flower buds. The shrimp was particularly good. I poached them gently in the broth with the shells on for a few minutes, took them out and shelled them before placing them on the top of the soup.

As usual, I served "daikon namasu" 大根なます with "ikra"  salmon roe いくら and a slice of boiled octopus leg 茹蛸.

Another salmon dish is sautéed salmon in sweet vinegar or 鮭の南蛮漬け.

Although this was lunch, no New Year feast is complete without the symbolic libation of sake (Koshi-no-homare hiyaoroshi 越の誉　冷やおろし). We toasted 2022 with one glass each to commemorate the New Year. This was a good New Year lunch covering many good luck foods. Let's hope it portends similar fortune for the rest of the year.

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. 

Happy New Year 2021 あけましておめでとう2021

The year 2020 was a quite taxing year. We hope things will get better in 2021, although we are, by no means, out of woods. Because of Covid, we stopped going to our Japanese grocery store (or many other stores for that matter). Having home delivery was a God-send. Nonetheless, however, we were not able to get all of our usual New Year food items or decorations including "Kagami-mochi" 鏡餅. (There may be a silver lining in this since we almost never eat all the small round mochi contained in it). So, this year our New Year's display was absent the Kagami-mochi. We only displayed the zodiac animal figurines representing the year--which in this case was the Ox.  The pictures below show our collection of zodiac oxen. The smallest guy, in front, looks like a holstein cow and is made of painted wood. The one standing behind and looking at him is made from "do-rei" 土鈴 or earthenware and is actually a bell.

The largest one is a red ox made of a paper mache with a bobbing head. He sports a yellow sticker stating "Ushi" or ox in kanji letter 丑. This kanji letter, as far as I know, is used only referring to the ox zodiac year and, come to think of it, it was also an old (edo-era) designation of time representing 2-3 AM. In addition, the sticker saids "invite happiness" 招福 and "open good luck" 開運. The gold letter on the back of the figurine shows the kanji character indicating "festivity" or "celebratory" 壽. This is an awesome red ox perfect for the New Year.

We generally start our New Year's day with our usual breakfast of coffee and bread. (Morning is far too early to deal with sticky rice mochi and its inherent potential choking factor).  So, we have our year's "ozouni" お雑煮 soup, including its customary ingredient mochi, as a lunch. This year, since I already had it, I made the soup using duck breast instead of the customary chicken. 

As usual, I encased the mochi in a deep fried tofu or "abura-age" 油揚げ pouch (which was boiled in the soup broth and cut into three pieces just before serving for my wife's convenience--to make it easier for her to eat). Other items in the soup included shrimp, snow pea, daikon, carrot, shiitake mushroom, boiled spinach, cooked freeze dried tofu or  "Kouya-doufu" 高野豆腐. I also included chopped scallion, yuzu zest and cooked seasoned kelp ,which was by product from when I made salmon kelp rolls　鮭の昆布巻き. I made the broth using a special dashi pack and concentrated white dashi from the rice factory ニューヨーク精米所. I also added light colored soy sauce and mirin.

As side dishes I served salmon kelp roll, Russian marinated salmon, date-maki 伊達巻 and new year omelet.

Another side was daikon namasu 大根なます,  with thinly sliced boiled octopus leg たこ and Ikura いくら salmon roe (The ikura and octopus leg are from Catalina offshore products).

Although this was a lunch, no New Year's celebration would be complete without a libation in the form of a glass of Sake for good luck (or whatever other reason we can think of). This was a nice mellow start of the New Year. Upcoming tonight, we are busting into Sushi Taro Osechi box 寿司太郎の御節!

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.

Happy New Year 2020 明けましておめでとうございます

Happy New Year 2020 which is also the end and beginning of a decade. 2019 was not a year we would like to repeat. Hope 2020 is a bit less "eventful". We started New Year 2020 as we would any other New Year. I put up the new "Kagami-mochi" 鏡餅 decoration in our Japanese "tea" room alcove or "Tokonoma" 床間 and displayed the zodiac mouse figurines子の年 from our collection of zodiac figures.

The largest mouse appears to be dressed in ”Kannushi" 神主 shinto priest attire. I am not sure what the smaller one is up to. It seems to be carrying a pouch and has on a backpack. (On closer inspection, this guy appears to be carrying a "Kome-dawara" 米俵; a traditional old fashioned woven-straw sac containing rice, no doubt a symbol of prosperity). It's cute.

We also displayed a small carved wooden mouse figure shown below which was not as anthropomorphized as the other two--he just looks cutely "mouse-ish".

Since we cannot start the day, even the first day of the year, without coffee, we gave up having a new year's "ozoni soup" お雑煮 for breakfast, instead, we had "ozoni" soup as a lunch as shown below. Not shown below, it was accompanied with a symbolic small cup of sake.

Nothing is  different from any other year but this year, I got fresh "mitsuba" 三つ葉. As usual, our mochi 餅 is wrapped in "abura-age" 油揚げ deep fried tofu pouch for easier handing/eating (especially for my wife).

I tried not to serve too much of food to make sure we can "adequately" hit the Sushitaro osechi box 寿司太郎のおせち重箱 and other goodies in the evening. All of the below are what I made. Two squares are "matsukaze yaki" 松風焼き (miso and pine nuts) and its variation (fig and bleu-cheese). I also served "kobu-maki" 昆布巻 kelp roll which was made from kelp and kanpyo 干瓢 "dried gourd peel") that were left over from when I made salmon kelp rolls 鮭昆布巻. I also made "datemaki" 伊達巻.

To help digestion (my father used to say "daikon" helps digestion), I also served  daikon namasu 大根なます topped with boiled octopus leg and ikura salmon "roe". This roe came from an Alaskan company. which we used for the first time. The ikura is much smaller than the ikura we usually get--it actually looks a bit more like trout roe but tasted the same as salmon roe.

So, this was how we started 2020 and more to come in the evening.

Miso soup made with previously frozen Maitake and tobanjan 舞茸のピリ辛味噌汁

This was a lunch one weekend.  Since we still had extra maitake which I bought when I bought the matsutake and I saw this very interesting recipe for maitake miso soup, I  decided to make it. The mushrooms in and of themselves were very filling and combined with the other vegetables in the soup plus the freshly cooked rice and  simmered "kabocha" かぼちゃの煮物 and blanched broccolini I served along side, this turned out to be a very good but very big lunch. (as a result, my wife and I couldn't eat dinner that day.)

The bowls I used were much larger than regular miso soup bowls. The picture doesn't show the ingredients in the soup very well. The unique thing about this recipe, and the thing that caught my attention, was that it called for freezing the maitake (to enhance its flavor) and the addition of tobanjan 豆板醤. This, I just had to try because if it was possible to freeze the mushroom resulting in improved flavor that technique could come in handy for other recipes. I had to make some variations to the recipe, for example, since I did not have Japanese "Kabu" turnip which was suggested in the original recipe, I used daikon, carrot, wakame seaweed, and scallion.

The picture below shows the kabocha and broccolini. To make a typical "teishoku" 定食  i.e. dinner or a lunch set, we would have needed stukemono 漬物 or pickled/salted vegetables which we did not have.

Ingredients:
One package of maitake (1/4 lb), hand torn into bit sized pieces, quickly rinsed in water with the moisture removed using a salad spinner. Place mushrooms in a Ziploc bag and freeze overnight. (the recipe indicates that this process enhances the flavor of the maitake).

Daikon, peeled and sliced  in 1/4 inch thick rounds and cut in half (amount arbitrary)
Carrot, peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch thick diagonally (amount arbitrary)
Salt preserved  (or dry) "wakame" seaweed, salt washed and hydrated, cut into bite sized pieces (amount arbitrary)

Scallion, finely chopped

2 cups dashi broth (I used a dashi pack which included small dried fish called "iriko", which is more appropriate for miso soup)

1 tbs of miso
1/2 tsp of tobanjan (or more if you like it spicy)

Directions:
I added the broth, maitake (not thawed), daikon and carrot into a pan. I simmered it until the vegetables were cooked (for 10-15 minutes).
I added the wakame and dissolved the miso and tobanjan. I tasted and add more miso or tobanjan.
Add the scallion and when it comes back to a boil, shut off the flame and serve.

Although I added just a small amount of tobanjan, the soup was still rather spicy. It was ok with me but my wife thought it was too hot. She added yogurt to the soup. She said it calmed it down and tasted good. We are not sure freezing made any difference. I was afraid ice crystals would form in the maitake and make it spongy when it was frozen but that did not happen. It maintained a nice firm texture. This is a good soup and the freezing technique will be useful for making the maitake last longer. However, my wife said maitake is best if it was cooked with some oil.

Matsutake feast 2019 松茸尽くし ２０１９

Oregon mushrooms just started shipping North American fresh matsutake. Although North American matsutake is no comparison to the Japanese or even Mexican variety, we usually get them just to commemorate the season. As I posted before, this matsutake requires more aggressive cleaning since the dirt is embedded into the skin of the mushroom and just rubbing with a moist towel does not do the job. I have posted everything posted here and some more.  But this is a once a year matsutake feast.

Since I do not have an appropriate set of "dobin-mushi" 土瓶蒸し vessels,  I used mini-donabes to serve Matsutake soup 松茸のお吸い物.

For color, I added blanched broccolini, thinly shaved carrot and chives. I also added cubes of cod and shrimp.

The soup base is bonito-kelp broth (using a dashi pack) and seasoned with mirin and light colored "usukuchi" soy sauce 薄口醤油. The cod and shrimp (Venezuelan red shrimp), both were previously frozen, stored in our freezer and thawed the morning I made the dish. I salted and marinated them in sake before adding to the soup. Upon opening the lids of the soup containers, the lovely matsutake aroma wafted up. (This initial whiff of  matsutake fragrance is one of the traditional "enjoyments" of this dish.)  This is the first time I used cod for this type of soup (any gentle tasting white meat fish will do). The cod was thick fleshed and tender and really good. The shrimp was sweet and excellent as well.

I was planning to have a chawanmushi 松茸の茶碗蒸し next but it took longer than I planned for it to finish cooking so I served matustake touban yaki 松茸の陶板焼き next. We enjoyed it simply with salt and lemon.

Finally, the chawanmush was done. For this batch, I added the cod, shrimp, kyo-bu 京麩 (dried gluten cake, rehydrated),  a cube of dashimaki だし巻き Japanese omelet (egg-in-egg idea). As usual, I made six so that we could enjoy the "leftovers" later.

I garnished it with finely chopped fresh chives. The soft egg custard was infused with matsutake aroma/flavor.

#1. This is the amount of matsutake I used for 6 small chawanmushi (about three matsutake).
#2. The first layer of the chawanmush is, of course, the matsutake.
#3. Kyo-bu is a small decorative gluten cake from Kyoto. It does not have any taste by itself. Just texture and whatever it  absorbed.
#4. Shrimp.
#5. Cod.
#6. Cube of dashimaki.

This was a sort-of treasure hunt. We love chawanmushi of any kind but this was a bit special. I used to add ginko nuts which, in the past, were readily available in a can (boiled) but not anymore for some reason. They just disappeared and we have not seen them anywhere. Finally we finished our feast with matsutake-gohan 松茸ご飯. This time I think I made it perfectly. The rice was slightly firm but well cooked.

For this occasion, I wheeled out my special "Kamado-san" earthenware rice cooking pot (#1).  As per the instructions, I  set the inner lid with its steam holes arranged perpendicular to the outer lid steam hole; necessary for the rice to cook properly(#2). As usual, I used bonito-kelp broth seasoned with mirin and light colored soy sauce which I enhanced by adding rehydrated strips of kelp and soaking liquid. When the lid was lifted, the smell the matsutake and freshly cooked rice (good combination) wafted up (#3). I mixed the rice and the matsutake before serving (#4).

Besides, the matsutake dishes, we had a few more of our  usual appetizers and cold sake. Once a year, this is worth doing.

Gazpacho with pumpernickel bread ガスパチョ

One hot day my wife decided she wanted a cold soup such as gazpacho but she wasn't in the mood for the acidity of tomatoes. Then she remember that there was a white gazpacho made with nuts. So she looked at several recipes on the internet and put together this one by combining the ingredients from the ones she reviewed. Most of the recipes called for stale white bread (french bread) but she didn't have any french bread so she decided to use what she had which was sliced pumpernickel. The bottom line is that apparently any type of bread will work just fine.

As a result of using pumpernickel the soup is coffee brown in color. If she had used white bread, it would have been white. Toasted pumpernickel bread added toasted and additional flavors besides the color.

Ingredients:
1 cup toasted almonds
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or roasted garlic cloves to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 to 3 cucumbers peeled and chopped
1 1/2 chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tbs. sushi vinegar
4 slices of pumpernickel bread toasted, crusts removed and torn into pieces (about 2 1/2 cups of pieces)

Directions:
Put some of the cucumbers, nuts and bread into a food processor and puree. Add some of the liquid as needed to get the puree going. Once it is a smooth thick consistency add the garlic, salt, vinegar, the rest of the cucumbers and the rest of the chicken broth. Puree until creamy and smooth. Then with the machine on puree, gradually add the olive oil in a steady stream to make a smooth almost mayonnaise like emulsion.

Serve garnished with sliced cucumber and remaining roasted almonds. If it is too thick dilute with milk, cream, buttermilk or chicken broth. (We found that we like the chicken broth best because it lets the combined flavors shine through. )

This soup is great for a hot summer day. It is rich and creamy. It has a pleasant nuttiness from the almonds and pumpernickel but the cucumbers give is a light freshness. The flavors get better over time. Next time we may try making this kind of soup using other nuts such as walnuts or pecans.

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.