Hanami #2 花見＃2

After our first hanami 花見, we were expecting bad weather and rain.  However,  luckily, we had a second nice day of hanami and I made another attempt at a hanami bento 花見弁当. This time, I filled the smaller lidded box with scattered sushi or “chirashi-zushi” ちらし寿司 made of smoked salmon, marinated “ikura” salmon roe いくらの醤油漬け(#1).

Opening the lid of the smaller box revealed scattered sushi (#2 left upper). I also served Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシアずけ topped with ikura (#2 upper right) and herring marinated in wine sauce (store-bought) topped with sour cream mixed with the brine from the herring jar and chopped dill (#2, lower left). The smaller box without a lid, I served salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き, “kinpira gobo” 金平牛蒡 braised burdock root, mock tofu 擬制豆腐, braised spicy marinated tofu ピリカラ豆腐, braised crunchy cauliflower モンパルナスのカリフラワー and crispy marinated  enoki mushroom エノキのパリパリ焼き, skinned Campari tomato, and chicken liver simmered in red wine 鶏肝の赤ワイン煮.

I used frozen rice to make sushi rice. I just microwaved the rice until warm, added the sushi vinegar (from the bottle) mixed and microwaved a bit more to warm up. I mixed it again and let it sit for 5 minutes. It was not the best sushi rice but certainly good enough for the purpose. I marinated ikura with x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce overnight in the refrigerator. I first placed the sushi rice on the bottom of the small covered box then distributed ikura over half of the rice surface followed by smoked salmon (#3). I topped this with a julienne of cucumber and golden thread egg or “kinshi-ran” 金糸卵 and nori threads or “kizami-nori” 刻み海苔(#4). Since we were not expecting to have the second hanami this was a bonus and what I put together for the occasion was pretty satisfying.

Now, our main cherry tree (“somei-yoshino” 染井吉野 which has a bottle brush appearance of numerous blossoms covering the branches (foreground) and the more traditional one like depicted in “ukiyoe” painting of edo time 江戸時代の浮世絵  which is in the background are both in full bloom displaying their individual personalities in the shape and characteristics of their petals. 

Hanami 2025 花見2025

Because it got warm quickly, three of our cherry trees blossomed one after the other. The first one is dropping petals already, our main tree is in full bloom and our old tree has just started. So it was hanami 花見 time. I filled the new jubako box 重箱 with goodies for the occasion. I used the smaller box without a lid, the smaller box with a lid and two small porcelain bowls to fill each tier. One tier served one person.  I served quite a few sashimi items accompanied by soy sauce, wasabi and yuzu kosho 柚子胡椒 (#1).

The sashimi I served (#2) was bluefin tuna クロマグロ (was called “akami” 赤身 but it was more like “chutoro” 中トロ), kanpachi カンパチ” amberjack, and salmon. All came from Riviera Seafood Club. The tuna was good but kanpachi and salmon could have been better. The meat was abit too lean and could have used a bit more fat. 

In one of the bowls, I served the remaining tuna and Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬け in the shape of roses and topped it with “ikura” いくら salmon roe (#3).

I also served scallop sashimi ホタテの刺身 which was really good as always (#4).

In the covered small box (#5), I served an assortment of dishes I made as well as “uni suhto” which I did not make  ウニの酒盗 shown in a very small square bowl. Lower bottom is a salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻 and mock tofu 擬制豆腐. Left upper are dashimaki egg omelet with dried nori powder or “aonori” 青海苔入りだし巻 topped with cruchy braised cauliflower.

Our second generation cherry tree blossomed nicely. The tree has grown quite a bit. It was planted after we lost the original tree in a nor’easter 7 years ago.

We started our hanami while it was still light but the fun extended into the evening and we turned on the flood lights as shown in the picture below. Even thought the sun was down It was still very warm and pleasant.

Bottarga/Karasumi Taste Test 日本の唐墨とサルジニアのボタルガの味比べ

We enjoyed the fresh uni and karasumi 唐墨 from Maruhide 丸秀 a few days ago. We decided that while we still had some of the karasumi left, we would get some Sardinian bottarga and have a taste test. The last time we tried Sardinian bottarga was 11 years ago. The brand we bought back then was called bottarga Di Muggine from L’Oro di Cabras, Sardinia, Italy. We tried another one this time. The one we got is called “Sardinian Gold” from “Bottarga Brothers” through Amazon market place (picture #1, right). In terms of the price, the karasumi is 3.5 times more expensive than the bottarga. The color of this bottarga is about the same as the karasumi. I remembered that the bottarga we previously bought was darker in color and stronger in taste compared to Japanese karasumi I had eaten back then. The information brochure that came with the bottarga we just bought stated that when bottarga is exposed to air, the color it becomes darker and the taste becomes stronger.  So, to prevent that from happening, I separated the sacs and vacuum packed one for later use.

I sliced both and slightly toasted them. We had them with cold sake. In the picture #2, the left is karasumi and the right is bottarga. As you can see the bottarga is larger in size but the color is exactly the same. Both tasted good and about the same. We like this “Sardinian bottarga gold”.

Of course we needed some more items to go with the sake. In the picture #3, from left to right are karasumi/bottarga, squid shiokara イカの塩辛, Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬 with pickled cucumber topped with ikura, and daikon namasu 大根なます with slices of boiled octopus leg and also topped with ikura. The boiled octopus legs came from Weee (originated from China). This is excellent and as close as I can think of to a Japanese prepared boiled octopus leg. All these small dishes went so well with cold sake.

*Digression Alert: Although Sardinian bottarga is most well known, other cultures also make similar fish roe (usually gray mullet roe), salt cured and then dried under the sun. A small pamphlet came with our bottarga included the other types of bottarga the company sells which included Greek, Egyptian, French (two kinds) and Brazilian.  Japan, Korea and Chinese also make their versions.

Happy New Year 2025 謹賀新年2025

Happy New Year! This is the year of  the snake 巳年. We put out a small Japanese “Kagami-mochi” 鏡餅 decoration with three snake figurines. The center is actually a “netsuke” 根付 we purchased some years ago from a shop in Nakamise, Asakusa 仲見世、浅草.  They specialize in miniatures (the shop is also very small almost a miniature itself.)

As usual, we started the day with our regular breakfast of Cafe Latte and some bread/muffins. We have our new year’s soup or “Ozouni” お雑煮 for lunch with a few side dishes I made. (We will wait until evening to open up the Sushi Taro Osetchi Juubako 寿司太郎の御節重箱). The picture below, shows the dishes I served for lunch. They include ‘datemaki” 伊達巻, salmon kelp rolls 鮭の昆布巻き, “kazunoko” 数の子 herring roe (store bought*), wakasaki わかさぎ (store bought), Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシアずけ folded into the shape of a rose with marinated ikura on top, and daikon namasu 大根なます with slices of octopus leg.

The “ozouni” お雑煮 “new year soup” is our usual. I added daikon, carrot, shrimp, shiitake mushroom and gluten cake or “fu”. In addition, I added chopped renkon to the tsukune balls 蓮根つくねだんご　 which worked well. We like this better than pieces of chicken meat.  It goes without saying that we had a ceremonial glass or two of sake to celebrate the new year 2025! Nice beginning of the new year.  We will open up Sushi Taro Osechi Box this evening.

Five appetizers お通し５品

This is a plate of 5 appetizers to start the evening. Nothing particularly new but several good small dishes with quite a variety. Because of the ponzu in the eggplant dish and “ikura” salmon roe with qual eggs, we chose cold sake.

#1 Spicy (not really) marinated firm tofu ピリ辛豆腐. I usually do not get firm tofu but they did not have any other kind at the grocery store this week. I used the same marinade (soy sauce, sriracha, grated ginger and garlic, sesame oil, rice vinegar and mirin). The only variation is I coated the tofu with a mixture of AP flour and potato starch before frying. This worked well producing a crunchy crust and well seasoned center which was not too firm.

#2 Salmon kelp roll  鮭の昆布巻き. I started making this not just for New Years. This is a great appetizer We can keep it for some time in the refrigerator. It can also be reheated to last longer and with a good quality kelp (Hodaka kelp 日高昆布) which I recently got, this tastes better than before.

$3 Cold marinated eggplant 冷製レンジ茄子のポン酢漬け. This is an easier eggplant dish to make since the egg plant is cooked in the microwave oven. The bonito flakes 鰹節 topping is a must.

#4 Eggplant and shiitake stir fry with oyster sauce 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め. The addition of chopped fresh perilla leaves really makes this dish. Enjoying with a small perilla leaf adds to it.

#5 Marinated boiled quail eggs with pickled cucumber and ikura salmon roe 味付けウズラの茹卵. The quail eggs are served warm (skewered and heated up in the toaster oven). We boil fresh quail eggs rather than use canned eggs. Quail eggs have large yolks relative to the overall size of the egg. In addition the yolks have a very creamy texture even when the egg is completely cooked which we really like.

Even though these dishes are quite small they add up and are fairly filling. They are a great way to start the evening meal. 

Happy New Year 2024 明けましておめでとう2024

Like the last year, we put the New Year’s decoration including “Kagami-mochi” 鏡餅 and dragon or “tatsu 辰” zodiac figurines shown in the picture #1 in the room we spend most of our time rather than in the tokonoma 床間 in the “tea-room”.  Upon waking New Year’s day, we learned of the magnitude 7.6 earthquake that hit Ishikwa prefecture 石川県. We hope for the wellbeing of the people affected.

On New Year’s eve, we started the evening with a plate of assorted sashimi, most of the sashimi came from “Riviera Seafood Club”, our most recent favorite source of “home freezer” sashimi or sashimi that we can store in the freezer here at home and thaw at any time we want sashimi. Since the portions are smaller than sashimi we can get from other sources, we can eat more than one kind of sashimi at a time. On the New Year’s plate (picture #2) we had chutoro tuna 中トロ, hamachi はまち, scollop ホタテ, and octopus leg タコの足 (which was from D’artagnan). I added wasabi with chopped wasabi plant stalk (from tube) and yuzu kocho 柚子胡椒 (from tube).

On New Year’s day, we had only coffee (cafe latte and macchiato with a bit of steamed cream) rather than our usual breakfast so we wouldn’t be too full for the large lunch we planned of “Ozhoni” お雑煮 New Year’s soup. As usual, I served the soup in real lacquer ware bowls (gift from my mother many many years ago) with a side of some New Year’s dishes I made (picture #3).

This year, I precooked all the vegetables and proteins that went into the soup. This included “gobo” burdock root 牛蒡, shiitake 椎茸, shimeji しめじ and wood ear 木耳 mushrooms, carrot 人参, daikon 大根, and “kinu-saya” 絹さや snow peas. The protein included sous vide chicken breast (a few slices) and poached shrimp. As usual, I encased the “mochi” 餅 rice cake in “abra-age” 油揚 deep fried tofu pouch (peaking out of the bottom right of the soup bowl). I made the broth from the dashi packs I usually use as well as by poaching the shrimp in the dashi broth. I seasoned it with x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce. By precooking the vegetables and the proteins, I had better control over cooking everything just right. It also made it possible for me to make a better arrangement of the ingredients in the final soup bowl serving. Just before serving, I added frozen yuzu zest which added a nice yuzu 柚子 citrus favor (picture #4).

The side dishes (picture #5) included the usual New Year’s dishes I like to make including: salmon kelp roll 酒の昆布巻き, salmon “Russian” marinade 鮭のロシア漬 garnished with “ikura” イクラsalmon roe, daikon namasu  大根なますand poached shrimp.

We also had a few small glasses of  sake with this as a libation to the New Year. Now, this evening we will be hitting the Sushi Taro Osechi box すし太郎お節箱. The below is a preview (pictures #6 and 7).

We expect some good New Year’s feast to come with the osechi box. Already salivating!!

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

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

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

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

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

Nametake:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Soft Boiled Duck Eggs 半熟アヒルの卵

This is continuation of the duck eggs we got from Weee. Since we do not want to worry about a potential Salmonella problem, I pasteurized the duck eggs. I managed to make soft boiled duck eggs with runny yolk (see below). I somehow cut across the egg rather than usual halving the egg length-wise. In any case, the yolk was very rich and creamy. Interestingly, egg white clearly (more pronounced as compared to hen egg) showed two layers; an inner layer that did not congeal as firmly as the outer layer egg white.

I topped this with “ikura” salmon roe and a bit of soy sauce. This is a very luxurious appetizer.

Actually, this was part of the evening offerings. I made “bo-zushi” 棒鮨 of pickled mackerel with kelp. a very small sashimi assortment.

1. How to pasteurize duck eggs: Since duck eggs are larger than hen eggs (in our case no more than 30%), I used 57C for 2 hours instead of 75 minutes for hen’s eggs. As before, when the 2 hours were up, I immediately soaked the eggs in ice water for 30 minutes or more and placed them in the refrigerator.

2. How to make soft-boiled duck eggs with runny yolk: According to the on-line instructions I found, place the duck eggs in cold water and when the water starts simmering, cook another 6-7 minutes. I was not sure if I should pierce the shell on the air cell side (bland end) to prevent the egg from cracking. In the end, I did. One of the eggs extruded a thin thread of yolk. Next time, I will not pierce the shell and see what happens. After 7 minutes, I soaked the eggs in ice cold water. We peeled the shell after 30 minutes and the eggs were cooled down. It was difficult to peel. My wife did a better job.

We are quite satisfied with the soft-boiled duck eggs only if we can peel it more easily.

Lily Bulb with Ikura; Eggplants and Wood Ear in Mustard Dressing 百合根とキクラゲの辛子和え

This is on the theme of multiple small appetizers served in a multi- divided  plate. We got delivery of some Japanese vegetables which included eggplant, lily bulb and wood ear mushroom among other things. I served five appetizers. Two of them are new and are the ones I am presenting here.

Lilly bulb with ikura. This is a very simple but good dish. I separated the lily bulb into individual pieces and briefly boiled them. After they cooled I refrigerated them. I served them as shown below. I just topped each lily bulb cup shaped piece with marinated ikura salmon roe. Due to its simplicity I did not include a formal ingredients and directions section for this dish below. The slightly sweet and mildly crunchy texture of the lily bulb went well with the taste of the marinated ikura.

The picture below shows the eggplant and wood ear mushroom dish. I dressed it in mustard sauce which was slightly spicy, vinegary and sweet. The sauce gave an unexpected but nice bright note to the dish while the texture contrast between the thinly sliced eggplant and crunchy wood ear mushroom was a nice combination.

As mentioned, these were two among the 5 appetizers I served. I made two 5 dish appetizer plates one evening as shown below. (One for myself and one for my wife). The picture shows the two dishes discussed above along with the other three that made up the 5 dish plate.  From left to right are; store bought fish cake warmed in the toaster oven, the eggplant and wood ear dressed in mustard sauce, lily bulb with ikura, eggplant “agebitashi” with mushrooms, and hijiki and fried tofu stir fry.

The eggplant and wood ear dish in mustard sauce (recipe came from eRecipe - in Japanese)

Ingredients:
One Japanese (Asian) eggplant (long slender kind)
Wood ear (I used fresh which was blanched and cooled) if using dried, hydrate and removed the hard parts and blanch it, amount arbitrary

For dressing: (amount all to taste)
Japanese (hot) prepared mustard, amount arbitrary, from tube
Sweet vinegar (this was home-made) or sushi vinegar
Soy sauce

Directions:
Cut the eggplant with stem end removed, in half length-wise and then cut thinly across on the bias
Soak the pieces in cold water for 5-10 minutes, squeeze out water and add salt and knead. Let it stand until some moisture comes out and the slice of the eggplant has wilted
Wash in water and squeeze out the excess water
Cut wood ear into bite sized pieces. If attachment ends are hard, remove them.
In a small bowl, add the eggplants, wood ear and the dressing and mix well

Roasted pepper blini ローストパプリカビリニ

We recently got a bag of assorted bell peppers from Whole Food. This time, the bag contained 2 red, 2 yellow and 1 orange peppers. As before, I roasted/baked them in our toaster oven (450F for 30 minutes turning occasionally and then placed them in a Ziploc bag for 20-30 minutes or until cool enough to handle). I removed the stem ends, skin, seeds and ribs. We were pondering how to use this when my wife found an interesting “blini” recipe using roasted pepper. (The original recipe calls for red peppers in a jar while we were using fresh peppers.) We had both yellow-orange and red peppers but we decided to use the yellow. The flavors appear to be the same regardless of the color. The resulting blini has a nice roasted pepper smell. We ate this for breakfast, and it does have a distinctive roasted pepper flavor.

For the evening, we used the roasted pepper blini with onion and chive cream cheese spread, smoked salmon and ikura salmon roe garnished with dill. We did not taste much of the roasted pepper flavors since the other items have such strong flavors. For the smoked salmon and salmon roe combination, in the future we will use our regular buck-wheat blini.

I asked my wife to take over as ususal.

Ingredients: (makes 7 blini)
4 oz. roasted yellow (or red) bell pepper, stem end, seeds, ribs and skin removed
2 tbs melted butter
1/4 cup cream
2 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Ingredients (X2) makes 14 blini
8 oz. roasted yellow (or red) bell pepper, stem end, seeds, ribs and skin removed
4 tbs melted butter
1/2 cup cream
4 large eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt

Ingredients(X2.5) makes 17 blini
10 oz. roasted yellow (or red) bell pepper, stem end, seeds, ribs and skin removed
5 tbs melted butter
1/2 +1/8 cup cream
5 large eggs, beaten
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
3 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4  tsp salt

Ingredients(X3) makes 21 blini
12 oz. 1 1/3 cup roasted yellow (or red) bell pepper, stem end, seeds, ribs and skin removed
6 tbs melted butter
3/4 cup cream
6 large eggs, beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
In a food processor, puree the bell pepper until smooth; scrape into a medium bowl. Add the egg, the melted butter and cream, then add the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk until well blended. (You may need to add more liquid so the batter is the consistency of pancake batter.)

In a cast iron platar, melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Use the melted butter to grease each of the platar cups before adding the batter . Pour the batter into the cups until they are 1/2 full. Cook over moderately low heat, turning once, until set, about 3 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining butter and batter.

This is a good blini but we like it best for breakfast as though it is crumpet.

Lily Bulb 百合根

I keep finding Japanese groceries at Weee  which previously were just not available or difficult to get. This time, it was “edible lily bulb”*. The package states “this is a product of China”. So, initially, I was not sure this item would be the same as Japanese “Yuri-ne” 百合根 but decided to try it anyway. Growing up in Hokkaido 北海道, Japan, which is the major producer of edible lily bulbs in Japan, my family enjoyed “yuri-ne” often. Most commonly, my mother made chawan-mushi 茶碗蒸し or Japanese steamed savory egg custard with yuri-ne lily bulb. I remember the nice texture and sweet flavor of yuri-ne. So it is a very nostalgic flavor for me that I have not tasted in a very long time. It arrived fresh in a vacuum packed container. It looked exactly like Japanese “yuri-ne and (better yet) tasted the same.

Although the package indicated “slices”, the lily bulbs are made of petal-like multiple layers which can come apart especially after blanching (see below). I would have preferred a whole intact bulb since that would have given me more choices in how to prepare it but this will do for sure.

*Digression alert: There is a myth that all lily bulbs are toxic which apparently may be based on the fact that any part of lily is highly toxic to cats (inducing renal failure). Also, the name “lily” is attached to many plants/flowers which are not “true” lily.  Some of these certainly would be toxic to humans. In any case, Japanese and Chinese (reportedly also native American Indians) enjoy eating lily bulbs.

I made three dishes; “chawan-mushi” 百合根入り茶碗蒸し(center bottom), bainiku-ae 百合根の梅肉和え (dressed in pickled plum sauce, upper left) and goma-ae 百合根の胡麻和え (dressed in sesame sauce, upper right). I also served lotus root kimpira “renkon-no-kimpira 蓮根のきんぴら(left bottom) and “ohitashi” edible chrysanthemum or “shungiku-no-ohitashi” 春菊のお浸し (right bottom). The fresh lotus root and edible chrysanthemum both came from Weee.

The picture below shows the chawan-mushi made with yuri-ne, topped with ikura salmon roe and blanched sugar snap. You cannot see the yuri-ne well but two are peaking out on either side of the ikura.

The next picture shows the chawan-mushi before the toppings were put on. I put the yuri-ne on the bottom as well as on the top. Other items included fresh shiitake mushroom, and shrimp as usual. The egg and dashi mixture was my usual 1 to 3 ratio. There is no difference in how to make it from standard other chawan-mushi.

For next two dishes, I quickly blanched the yuri-ne, drained it and let it cool before proceeding.

One pickled “umeboshi” plum, meat removed and then chopped fine with  a knife, then placed in a Japanese “suri-bachi” mortal, 1/2 tsp mirin added, 1/2 soy sauce and ground to make a smooth paste. I added “kezuri bushi” bonito flakes (the amount arbitrary). I added more bonito flakes on the top.

The below picture shows yuri-ne with sesame dressing.

For sesame dressing:
1tsp white roasted sesame, dry roasted in a dry frying pan and then ground in a suri-bachi
2 tsp white sesame paste or “shiro neri-goma” 白ねりごま
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar

I garnished it with blanched sugar snap

These small dishes were nice and Weee made it possible for me to make these. These were quite filling but we also had a small serving of blue-fine tuna sashimi (frozen Australian from Great Alaska Seafood). The chawan-mushi was particularly special since it brought back good memories of the chawan-mushi my mother used to make.

Chawanmushi with Wood Ear and Enoki Mushroom 新鮮キクラゲとエノキ茶碗蒸し

This is not a new dish just a variation on an established one but the variation came out rather nicely. Since we received fresh wood ear and enoki mushrooms 木耳、榎茸 some days ago when we got some groceries delivered from the Asian grocery store “weee”, that we tried for the first time,  I needed to use up the mushrooms. I decide to try this combination in chawanmushi 茶碗蒸し. I served this cold and topped it with ikura slamon roe and strips of nori seaweed.

The picture below is before I put on the topping. You can see a piece of shrimp, as well as the wood ear and enoki mushrooms.

I made this exactly as before (3 eggs which is about 150ml and 450ml seasoned dashi broth). Steamed on high for 3 minutes and low for 30 minutes. It came out perfectly. This is not spectacular but the combination of wood ear and enoki gave contrasting texture and subtle flavors. The best thing is that I used up both sets of mushrooms.

“Hoshigaki” Dried Persimmon “ Daikon-namasu 干し柿入り大根なます

Last year, we got “Hoshigaki” 干し柿 or dried persimmon from “Japanese taste”.  Since “kaki” 柿 persimmon is harvested in the fall and processed during the cold winter to make “Hoshigaki”, it usually becomes available in January. I requested that they notify me when it became available and they did recently. I ordered it immediately and (surprisingly) it came directly from Japan within only 4-5 days. This is again one of the best quality hishigaki called “Ichidagaki” 市田柿 from Nagano 長野 or “Shinshu” 信州 (old name of Nagano). It came in a nice box containing 24 or 2 dozen.

The surface is all coated with what appears to be powdered sugar but I am sure this is a natural sugar from the hoshigaki.

You can pull the fruit apart by hand revealing the pudding-like very sweet inside with concentrated persimmon flavors. Some have almost no seeds but others have large seeds like this one below. (See arrow). We enjoyed them straight out of the box at first then my wife suggested it may make them even better to warm them up a little bit. She microwaved one for 10 seconds. I agree it was much better. It got a bit softer and the flavors were enhanced.

I made “daikon-namsu” 大根なます with hoshigaki. I was thinking of using the left-over daikon-namsu from the new year’s dishes I made but by the time, I got around to it, we had finished all the daikon-namasu. So, I made a small new batch with finely cut strips of hoshigaki. I did not add any carrots. The sweet hoshigaki and crunchy daikon with sweet vinegar all worked well.

I served this dish with two other dishes to start the evening. The left side is dashi-maki だし巻きomelet I made. As an innovation I added small pieces of pre-seasoned herring roe or kazunoko 数の子 which I got from our Japanese grocery store for the new year. It happened to be rather too spicy to eat “as-is”. So I added some to the omelet which really toned it down and made it much more gentle and palatable. The center is left-over Russian salmon marinade 鮭のロシアずけ topped with ikura.

Although “hoshigaki” is excellent as is as a snack or dessert, I may explore other ways to incorporate it into other dishes. (That is if any are left by that time.)