Okonomi-yaki, Osaka-style Summary 大阪風お好み焼き総括

Here is a summary of the various “Osaka-style” okonomi-yaki we have experimented making recently. The picture shows an approximately 8 inch okonomi-yaki made with pork belly and all the toppings. I just wanted to post a summary of where we were able to get all the Japanese ingredients for an okonomi-yaki as well as the standard way to cook and top it.

Ingredients (basic or essential):
Cabbage キャベツ: Japanese or Taiwanese cabbage work best. Japanese cabbage is available from Suzuki Farm and Taiwanese from Weee. Compared to the American variety, the cabbage heads are flatter and not as round. We also think the leaves are more tender, sweeter and easier to separate than the american variety.

Scallion ねぎ: Chopped scallion either mixed into the batter, added as a topping or included both ways. 

Batter: There are two main ways to prepare the batter
Using either “Okonomiyaki” flour (#1 in the composite) or regular cake flour. The main difference is that the Okonomi-yaki flour already has kelp powder in it (which is one of the primary flavor elements, in addition to bonito, in Japanese dashi broth). So the batter can be made just using water instead of Japanese broth.  In addition because it does not include bonito, it is vegetarian. Cake flour can also be used as the base for the batter. While just plain water can be used as the moisture element in batter made with cake flour, it does not have any additional flavoring, either kelp or bonito, the resulting batter will not taste the same as one made with the Okonomi-yaki flour. So Japanese broth (made traditional style with kelp and bonito, or vegetarian style with kelp and dried shiitake mushroom) is generally used to achieve a similar flavor profile when using cake flour. The Okonomiyaki flour is available either from “Otafuku” US web site or “Weee”. Also vegetarian Japanese broth can be made with kelp and dried shiitake instead of bonito. In addition, (to make things even more complicated) both flour versions can also include grated “nagaimo” Japanese mountain yam which, while not adding additional flavoring, makes the texture more moist. (But I only used it in the cake flour version)

“Tenkasu” 天かす Tempura bits (#2). These bits can be either vegetarian or flavored with dried squid or shrimp.  Otafuku offers only vegetarian while Weee offers both. Although this can be omitted it is a standard ingredient. We like putting this on the pancake rather than mixing it in the batter because when you flip it, the tenkasu gets browned and crispy. Otherwise if you mix it in the batter, it sort of disappears

Toppings:(we got these toppings from Weee. Some are also available from Amazon)
1. Kizami shouga 刻み生姜. Julienne of pickled  ginger. This gives a nice ginger taste (#6)
2. Aonori 青海苔. Dried green laver. 
3. Katsuo-bushi flakes 鰹節 or kezuri-bush 削り節 which is thinly shaved fermented dried bonito and is the main ingredient of Japanese dashi broth. (Since it is made from dried fish, it is not used in the vegetarian version of okonomi-yaki).
4. Mayonnaise, specifically Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise (#5) which we got from Weee. Since we have never used Kewpie mayo, we were interested in how it compared to our standard American Hellman’s mayo. We found Kewpie mayo is smoother, slightly tangier and sweeter than Hellmann’s. Hellmann’s can be made to emulate Kewpie by adding rice vinegar and sugar. Conversely, we read, there is an American Kewpie, (which we have not tried). It is made differently from the Japanese variety. but was reported to taste like any other American mayo.

Sauce:
The mayo can be omitted but the okonomi-yaki sauces are a must. As far as we are concerned they make the dish. In general, regular okonomi-yaki sauce is available at Otafuku, Weee or any Japanese grocery store. However the Otafuku website also offers a spicy version (#4) in addition to the regular (#3) both of which are vegan. I also saw a “deluxe” version of the sauce at Otafuku which is not vegan and much more expensive. 

I suppose it is easy to make “regular” sauce into “spicy” sauce by adding your favorite hot sauce to the regular okonomi-yaki sauce.

Basic Directions to make okonomi-yaki

Directions for batter I made:
1) with water:
56g “Otafuku” okonomiyaki flour

92g water
1 egg

2) with Japanese broth and grated nagaimo:
50 grams cake flour 
40 grams Japanese broth (either vegetarian or traditional)
1 egg
40 grams grated Nagaimo 長芋 (which is available from Weee or a Japanese grocery store)

Directions for assembling the pancake:

1. Mix the batter, egg, cabbage, and scallion
2. Add the oil to an 8 inch frying pan on medium-low heat and pour in the batter to form a round disk about 2 cm by pressing the batter lightly with a spatula. 
3. Add the tempura bits and spread the pork belly on top if using. (#1 in the composite below)
4. Cook uncovered for 4 minutes
5. Flip and cook for 4 more minutes (you can either put on the lid or not as your preference.) We did not think the lid made much difference to the final product but most of the instructions include placing the lid (#2) in the composite below. We also found that when cooked with the lid on the pork belly was less crispy and more chewy. 
6. Flip the pancake again. The meat and tempura bits should be brown and crispy. (#3 in the composite below) Cook uncovered (if used the lid in the step 5) for 2-3 minutes
7. Remove the pancake to a plate or cutting board. Spread the mayo and sauce and top with the ginger, aonori, and bonito flakes (#4 in the composite below).

After making several version of okonomi-yaki, we learned;

1. Cake flour with graded nagaimo and broth (either vegetarian or bonito and kelp) vs. Okomoni-yaki flour mix (from Otafuku which is vegan containing just powdered kelp) did not make a big difference. Actually we may slightly prefer using the Otafuku flour mix which is also much easier to prepare. 

2. Rather than mixing tempura bits into the batter, it is better to layer them on the top. Otherwise, they totally disappear where as they become nicely crunchy when layered on the top.

3. We found whether or not a lid should be used after the first flipping is debatable.  Although, some recipes indicate placing the lid will make it more tender and fluffy, we found that it may also make the pork meat (if using) less crispy and more chewy. We did not see any significant difference in the okonomi-yaki itself.

4. Using Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise may be authentic but not essential

5. In terns of proteins, thinly sliced pork belly is the standard. We also tried substituting smoked bacon for the pork belly. (We call an okonomi-yaki made with smoked bacon “Bethesda Maryland style” which we like better than one made with pork belly). Seafood versions can be made with shrimp, scallops etc. A vegetarian version can be made with the addition of mushrooms such as shiitake, carrot etc and/or abura-age deep fried tofu as vegetarian simulation of the traditional pork belly

In any case, this dish is quite forgiving and you can make it with less or more ingredients once the base of the batter and shredded cabbage has been made. 

Okonomi-yaki Vegetarian Version ベジタリアンお好み焼き

Okomoni-yaki お好み焼きis a type of a Japanese savory pancake. It is especially popular in the cities of western Japan such as Osaka 大阪 and Hiroshima 広島 where many restaurants specialize in okonomi-yaki. Many years ago we had okonomi-yaki for lunch when we visited Himeji castle 姫路城. We went to a  local  okonomi-yaki restaurant we happened to see on our way to the station. The okonomi-yaki we had there must have been “Hiroshima-style”. We don’t remember the details of the dish we ate but we were both seriously under-whelmed. So, we have not tried it since then even on subsequent visits to Japan.

Recently, we got together with some good friends, who had recently visited Japan. They mentioned that they really liked okonomi-yaki. The wife is a vegetarian and, apparently, she had vegetarian okonomi-yaki in Japan and really liked it.  When they got back home they tried to recreate their enjoyable Japanese experience. Her husband called around to various Japanese restaurants in the area and while okonomi-yaki was on the menu of several of them none of them offered “vegetarian” okonomi-yaki.  They were extremely disappointed. Seeing how disappointed they were, my wife suggested that even though we were not particularly wild about the okonomi-yaki we had in Japan, maybe, given our access to Japanese ingredients and our experience in using those ingredients, we could make a vegetarian okonomi-yaki for our friends. Since we have never made one before, we had to study and experiment with this a bit.

We learned that there are two basic styles; Osaka and Hiroshima-styles. In both, two essential ingredients are a batter made of dashi broth and flour and shredded cabbage. In the Osaka style, the ingredients are mixed into the batter and cooked like a pancake. Hiroshima-style makes a thin pancake and layers it with the cabbage, noodles, and fried eggs. To make this at home, Osaka-style is easier, so that’s what we decided to make.

In terms of getting the sauce and premixed flour for okonomi-yaki, “Otafuku” U.S. web site is the best place. The “Otafuku” Japanese web site has instructions (in Japanese) and videos on how to make either Hiroshima or Osaka-style okonomi-yaki at home. It appears most of the items such as vegetarian sauces, and tempura bits are available from the US Otafuku site. We got their okonomi-yaki kit (which included a vegetarian “Otafuku” pre-mixed flour and two vegetarian sauces; one the traditional sauce and one a spicy sauce) as well as a bag of vegetarian tempura bits. (Traditionally the tempura bits have dried squid or shrimp in them so it required some effort of make sure the tempura bits I got were vegetarian.)

As a test, we first made an okonomi-yaki in the non-vegetarian traditional style with thin strips of pork belly. Although the “Otafuku” pre-mixed flour I bought was vegetarian this was the first okonomi-yaki I ever made and I wanted to see how something made with the correct mixture of ingredients would turn out. The resulting okonomi-yaki was pretty good. So, I got adventurous and decided to make a vegetarian version from scratch using a recipe I found on the internet. I made the pancake batter with cake flour, grated nagaimo 長芋 (Japanese mountain yam) and homemade vegetarian broth. We topped this with mayo, spicy “otafuku” sauce, “aonori” 青のり dried laver, and “kizami shoga 刻み生姜” julienned pickled ginger. The “spicy” sauce was not too spicy but gradually the heat creeps up on you. Although, the pancake we made was the size usually served to one person, we divided the pancake between the two of us and it was more than enough. This was quite a decent okomomi-yaki. (Infinately better than the one we remembered). The difference between using the “Otafuku” pre-mixed flour vs homemade vegetarian batter was subtle but the homemade one was a bit more moist maybe due to the grated “nagaimo”.

Ingredients (makes one 7-8 inch pancake)
50 grams cake flour
40 grams vegetarian broth*
1 egg
40 grams grated Nagaimo 長芋
100 grams shredded cabbage (I basically eyeballed the amount)
4-5 fresh shiitake mushroom caps, thinly sliced
Abura-age 油揚げ, half (optional, I used it to suggest the flavor of pork meat in a vegetarian version)
finely chopped scallions (3-4 tbs but the amount is arbitrary)
1 tbs vegetable oil

Tenkasu 天かす tempura bits (3-4 tbs but the amount is arbitrary)

Topping
Mayonnaise (the authentic Japanese mayo is Kewpie)
Okonomi-yaki sauce (I used the ones I got from Otafuku; one regular and the other spicy, both are vegetarian)

Julienned ginger in sweet vinegar (Kizami-shouga 刻み生姜), store bought
Dried “Aomori 青のり” laver 

* I made this from kelp and dried shiitake mushrooms. Add dried kelp (3x2inch) and 3-4 small dried shiitake mushrooms to cold water and let hydrate for 30 minutes. Then place the pot on a low flame. When it starts boiling, turn off the heat and let it steep for 1-2 hours until the broth cools to room temperature. Remove the kelp and shiitake mushrooms.  

Directions:
Mix the flour, broth, and egg to make a batter, add the cabbage and mushroom and cook in an 8 inch non-stick flying pan with vegetable oil on medium low flame, Top with the tempura bits and, (if using) place the fried tofu on the top (#1 in the composite picture) and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes. and then flip the pancake (#2). Place the lid on the pan and continue cooking for 3 more minutes then flip it again (#3). Let it cook for 3 more minutes with the lid off . 

Smear on the mayo, scatter the ginger (#4). Smear on the sauces and sprinkle on the aonori. Serve hot (the first picture).

The two versions of okonomi-yaki we made (the non-vegetarian version is the subject for a separate post) were much better than what we remembered. The pickled ginger and a combination of the traditional and spicy sauce are a “must have” really making the entire enterprise. 

Appetizers; one with Shad Roe 酒のつまみ

Those are two sets of appetizers I made on different evening. One unusual one is a variation of the nagaimo-tarako gellee 長芋とたらこのジェル寄せ. Instead of “tarako” cod roe, I used shad roe since it was in the freezer and getting old. I made several dishes from shad roe including American classic of cooked with bacon.  In the picture #1, from left to right; 1. nagaimo-shad roe gelee 長芋とシャドロウのジェル寄せ, 2. Wakame and cucumber in miso dressing 和布と胡瓜の酢味噌あえ, 3. picked herring (from a jar) topped with yogurt dip, 4. daikon “namasu”  in sweet vinegar 大根なます, and 5. daikon kimpira 大根の金平.

Nothing particulary new but two may deserve some notes:

1. Nagaimo-shad roe gelee: 
Japanese tarako is slat marinated but not cooked. I used tarako without further cooking for this dish. 
Since Shad roe is not slated or cooked, i modified my recipe. I first removed the roe from the sacs and  marinated in  the equal mixture of x4 concentrated Japanese noodle soup and mirin for several hours in the refrigerator (good amount of the marinade get absorbed). 
After draining the excess marinade, I cooked the roe in the frying pan with melted butter in low heat until the color changes (or cooked). Let it cooled down and use it like tarako. 

I used 1 cup of Japanese broth with 3/4 envelope of unflavored gelatin. Seasoned with splashes of dark sesame oil and tabasco or sriracha. For the nagaimo layer,  I seasoned with small amount of sushi vinegar.

2. Daikon Kimpira:
I had the last of a good daikon from Suzuki Farm. I peeled (a bit thickly) and cooked with a pinch of raw rice grains (which can be used in simmered dishes such as oden. I cut the peels with skin in match stick and made kimpira with daikon green (from daikon from Weee we just got) and fried “abura-age” tofu.

In the picture #2, i served the nagaimo-shad roe gelee (top center), kelp salmon roll 鮭の昆布巻き (left lower) and salmon nanban 鮭の南蛮漬け (right lower). 

Chickpea fries ひよこ豆フライ

My wife saw this recipe for chickpea fries in the Washington Post. She then realized she had bought chickpea flour some time ago, to make an Indian dish but she never made the dish. The flour had been sitting in the freezer for some time. So, she thought this would be a good way to use the chickpea flour. She figured, the most arduous  part of making this dish was that it had to be deep fried.  But, turns out that was not a problem for her since I am the one who does the deep frying in our kitchen. In any case, this was our collaborative effort. As with any fried starch, this was very good. The outside was light but crispy and the center was creamy. These are very similar in texture to the fries we make with nagaimo (but have not posted). We did not make a dipping sauce. We did not even need salt. 

Ingredients(We halved the recipe which made about 20 fries)
1 teaspoons olive oil, plus more for greasing the parchment
2 cups water
1 cups (120 grams) chickpea flour
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Cut two pieces of parchment paper to fit a 9-by-13-inch sheet pan or casserole dish. Use a little olive oil to lightly grease one side of each piece of parchment. Place one parchment piece on the bottom of the baking sheet (oil side up) and reserve the other.

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the olive oil and water. Just before it starts to boil, slowly sprinkle in the chickpea flour while whisking to remove many (if not all) of the clumps and form a smooth batter. Whisk in the salt and pepper and reduce the heat to low. Switch to a wooden spoon and cook, stirring constantly, until the batter stiffens and starts to pull away from the sides and/or bottom of the pan, 10 minutes.

Scoop the batter onto the greased parchment in the pan and spread it out evenly as quickly as you can (it will start to firm up as it cools). Place the second piece of paper, greased side down, on the batter and gently press to smooth it out evenly. Transfer the pan to the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, until it has cooled and set. (we kept it in the fridge for three days before frying).

When the batter has set, remove the top paper and use a butter knife to cut the chickpea block into 20 sticks.

In our Tempura pot, heat the cirsco oil until it reaches 350F (or 180C) on an instant-read thermometer. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, gently add the chickpea sticks to the oil and cook, turning with tongs when needed, until golden on both sides, about 3 to 5 minutes per side. Using the tongs, transfer to the rack to drain.

These were very good—crunchy on the outside silky smooth on the inside with a very subtle grainy taste. Initially they were extremely greasy but over time the excess grease got absorbed and added to the outside crispiness. We subsequently read that instead of frying they should be sautéed in a frying pan with a small amount of oil which would significantly reduce the greasiness. These crisped up very nicely in the toaster oven. 

Grated Lotus Root and Tofu Ball レンコンと豆腐まんじゅう

This is a variation of “renkon ball” (renkon manju レンコン饅頭) I posted before.  Besides grated renkon lotus root, it also uses tofu. Since I had the last of the lotus root and half of the tofu, this was a perfect dish to make. I got the idea watching one of the YouTube cook shows. This is a basic version but I could add more items to make it more interesting. I could have made some kind of broth or sauce but this was pretty good as is. Picture #1 shows the cut surface with small chunks of tofu. This has nice soft interior and crunchy crust. When I made this dish I also made “nagaimo” fries which turned out really good and will be the subject of separate post (picture #1 right lower).

Ingredients:
200 grams lotus root, peeled and grated, moisture drained out naturally
300 grams tofu, moisture drained
3 tbs Potato starch
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1 tsp miso (original recipe calls for 1/2 tbs soy sauce, I used miso since the dough was bit runny)
Flour for dredging.
Oil for deep frying.

Directions:
Add the grated lotus root, tofu, potato starch, ginger and miso and mix well until smooth. Add more starch if too watery/soft.
Using the ice cream scoop, make equal sized balls, dredge in the flour and deep fry at 160-180F oil for 3-4 minutes turning a few times until the outside is nicely brown (picture #2).

Initially, I served these hot but it can be heated up nicely in the toaster oven. It is seasoned but you could add soy sauce with grated ginger or some type of hot broth. If I make this again I could add chopped scallion, cut up shrimp, ginko nuts, mushrooms etc to make it more interesting.

A few days later, I tried to make a dish (soup) with the leftover renkon balls (picture #3). I made this for lunch. I made it a few hours ahead and re-heated just before serving. The idea was good but the execution was not so great. While the renkon balls were sitting in the broth they absorbed the broth and mostly disintegrated as you can see in the picture #3. It still tasted good.

This is mostly leftover control and there is no recipe but this is how I made it.

Ingredients: (for the soup)
4 Renkon balls, cut in half
Half package of brown shimeji mushroom, root end removed and separated
1 inch daikon, peeled and drained
1 spring onion, finely chopped
Cooked udon noodle, amount arbitrary, this was leftover

For broth:
2 cup Japanese broth (from dashi pack)
1 tbs each of  sake and mirin
1/4 cup of x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (or taste)

Directions:
Add the ingredients for the broth in sauce pan and heat to simmer
Add the grated daikon, renkon balls and mushroom and simmer.
Add the noodles and scallion
Serve while hot*

* as I mentioned, I made this ahead of time and reheated before lunch. That was a mistake, the renkon balls absorbed the broth and mostly disintegrated. Nonetheless it tasted good and the addition of grated daikon added flavor and cut the oily taste from the renkon ball.

Eggplant, Avocado and Nagaimo Gratin ナスとアボカドの長芋グラタン

I made this dish for lunch one day from what we had on hand and what we need to finish before it went bad. I just winged it without any particular recipe. As a result I was not sure how it would come out but it was certainly edible and quite interesting (in a good way).

The main items are Asian eggplant, avocado and grated nagaimo mixed with an egg (in leu of Béchamel sauce). I also added tomato and shiitake mushroom sautéed with shallot, just because I had them.

Ingredients:
One Asian eggplant (pale purple and long), cut into a bite size by cutting at 45 degree angle as I turned the egg plant (“Rangiri” 乱切り)
One avocado, cut into a bite size pieces similar to the eggplant (I only had half of a leftover avocado).
Nagaimo, about 200grams, peeled and grated
One large egg
3 skinned Campari tomatoes, seeds removed and cut into small cubes
1 tbs of chopped shiitake mushroom and shallot sautéed in olive oil (I made this few says ago mostly from the stems of the shiitake mushrooms)
Cheeses (I used sharp cheddar and parmesan but any melting cheese will do), the amount is arbitrary
2-3 tbs olive oil

Directions:
Sauté the eggplant in 2 tbs of olive oil the skin side down first then brown all other sides (4-5 minutes)
Place the eggplant and the avocado in the bottom of a small Pyrex baking dish.  Add the remaining 1tbs olive oil.
Mix the grated nagaimo and the egg and pour over (see below)

Top with the mushroom mixture, the tomatoes, and the  cheeses and bake for 30 minutes at 350F (I used the toaster oven in convection mode) (see below).

Let it stand for 5 minutes and serve (the first picture).

I was not sure the grated nagaimo and egg ratio but it came out ok. This is a sort of healthy Béchamel sauce substitute. The eggplant and avocado went well together. The next day, we placed the remaining dish in smaller individual ramekins and added a bit more cheese and toasted it in the highest setting. It heated up very nicely.

Firefly Squid Scallion Pancake ホタルイカ入りネギ焼き

Firefly squid season is upon us and we got some from Regalis. I am repeating myself  here but when we visited Kanazawa 金沢 in early summer many years ago, we were introduced  to firefly squid or “hotaru-ika” ホタルイカ. Our favorite way to enjoy firefly squid is “okizuke” 沖漬け but that is difficult to get here in the U.S. The ones from Regalis are boiled. We got two trays, froze one tray and enjoyed the rest. We had this with sumiso 酢味噌 dressing which is the most common and simplest way to enjoy this. The texture of the small squid and very rich flavor from the liver really makes this squid special. This evening I made two dishes; one was our favorite stir-fry of the firefly squid and asparagus shown on the right and another, (new one), was scallion pancake with nagaimo and firefly squid ホタルイカ入りネギ焼き shown on the left. This recipe came from E-recipe

Ingredients (make 4 pancakes)
12 firefly squids (3 per pancake) or more if you like
50 grams grated nagaimo (mine was near 80 grams)
9 tbs chopped scallion (I used 5 stalks)
1 egg (I used 2 eggs)
2 tbs AP flour
1 tsp granulated bonito dashi (I used “Hondashi”ほんだし)
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbs vegetable oil

Directions:
Since I was using more grated nagaimo than the amount called for in the original recipe, I changed the amount of eggs as a binder. I did not add the firefly squid into the batter initially. I divided the batter into 4 portions and added 3 squid to each batch.

I heated up a non-stick frying pan on medium heat and added the oil. I poured in 4 potions as seen below.

After a few minutes or when the bottoms are set and brown, I flipped the pancakes and lowered the heat and continued cooking for another 2-3 minutes or until the center was done.

I served this pancake with firefly squid and asparagus stir-fly (the first picture). The pancake was very good but we did not see the point of adding the firefly squid. We did not think it did justice to the firefly delicacy since its flavor was somewhat lost in the pancake. We thought adding shrimp would have been more appropriate and that is what we may do next time. In any case, it is nice to enjoy the firefly squid which symbolze spring to early summer.

Tuna, avocado and nagaimo cubes まぐろ、アボカドと長芋の角切り

One evening, we defrosted Chutoto bluefin tuna まぐろの中トロ from Great-Alaska-Seafood. I divided it into 4 parts thinking that I will make 4 different dishes. I served one part of it as straight sashimi, and second part as imitation negitoro 擬制ネギトロ. I made the third part as “zuke” marinated slices of tuna 漬けマグロ.  I planned to make the 4th part to our usual Yamakake 山かけ but we had freshly cooked rice, so instead, we went for a small tuna donburi using the marinated tuna sashimi or “Zuke”  漬け鮪丼. This was quite filling and we decided to keep the tuna prepared for Yamakake for the next day. This was cubes of tuna marinated in x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (short-cut version of “Zuke”).  Next day, instead of making Yamakake, I came up with this hybrid of Yamakake and tuna avocado cubes マグロとアボカドの角切. This turned out to be quite good with similar soft consistency of tuna and ripe avocado and crunchy refreshing cubes of nagaimo 長芋.

Ingredients:
Tuna Sashimi, 1/4 block, cut into small cubes and marinated in x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (few hours but in this case 24 hours).
Half ripe avocado, cut into similar sized small cubes and dressed with lemon juice to prevent discoloration.
I inch nagaimo, peeled and cut into small cubes
One clove of garlic finely chopped
two scallion, finely chopped

Dressing:
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
1 tbs soy sauce with dissolved wasabi
I topped with dried nori strips.

This was a quite good appetizer with cold sake.

Big eye tuna sashimi 4 ways めばち鮪刺身 四通り

When we got firefly squid from Regalis food, we also got 3 lbs. of fresh bigeye tuna sashimi メバチマグロ (akami 赤身). Since this was too much tuna sashimi for us to finish in one sitting, I divided it into 4 portions. We finished one portion fresh. The remaining three portions were vacuum packed and frozen.  Over time we have been enjoying the frozen portions and finally we came to the last one. Although this tuna tasted fairly good, certain portions, including this last one, were very “sinewy”.  So I had to tailor the dishes I made to make the sinew less noticeable. The dishes I made are shown in the next picture. The upper row from left to right are “yamakake” やまかけ, “sashimi” 赤身刺身, tuna with avocado cubes マグロとアボカドの角切りand the lower row is imitation “negitoro” 擬制ネギトロ. I did a similar combination of dishes using frozen yellowtail tuna but these made with big eye tuna were much better.

 

For the yamakake, I marinated  cubes of tuna for several hours in concentrated (x4) Japanese noodle sauce and also added soy sauce with dissolved wasabi to the grated nagaimo. I topped it with thin strips of nori. This is a classic and also sort of filling because of the grated nagaimo.

I chose the portion with the least sinew and made a small serving of straight sashimi. It was quite good.

This is another dish I make often. The dressing contains chopped garlic, soy sauce, sake, and dark sesame oil. The similarity of textures of tuna sashimi cubes and avocado works well. Since I did not have fresh chives, I used the green part of scallion for garnish.

Finally, imitaion negitoro. The combination of mayonise and tuna cannot go wrong. As usual, I left a half portion of tuna in small cubes and mixed it with the more finely chopped tuna with mayo, Japanese noodle sauce and chopped scallion. I served this with slices of cucumber (American minicucues) and small rectangular  sheets of Korean nori 韓国海苔. We made small nori rolls with the cucumber and negitoro. This is really great and also filling.

After finishing these 4 tuna sashimi dishes, we enjoyed  “edamame” 枝豆 and assortment of Japanese rice crackers and few more cups of cold sake and we were quite full.

Nagaimo dressed in cod roe 長芋の鱈子和え

I started going back to our Japanese grocery store again. The last time, I got a fairly good hamachi sashimi. This time, I hit the jack pot! I knew that the Japanese grocery store gets sashimi bluefin tuna or “hon-maguro” or “kuro-maguro” once a month but I did not try to find out when and never went specifically to get sashimi maguro. Just by happenstance I went just a day after they got the maguro. So I had a choice of chu-toro or akami maguro sashimi. I chose a package of “akami” with two good sized portions and also, as an added benefit, some hamachi. That evening, we had a combination sashimi feast of tuna 鮪, hamachi はまち, vinegar cured mackerel しめ鯖 (frozen). I also made imitation “negitoro” 擬制ねぎとろ from this tuna sashimi because the tuna portions were not regular “saku” 柵 blocks for sashimi and I ended up with some odd pieces after slicing the sashimi pieces.  Compared to our usual imitation negitoro which I make from a frozen block of yellofin tuna, this was much much better.  I did not take any pictures, however. Next evening, I served the remaining sashimi, deep fried fish cake or “satsuma-age” さつま揚げ which I also got at the Japanese grocery store (heated in the toaster oven served with soy sauce and grated ginger). I also made a sort of new dish from cod-roe and nagaimo.

Here is the close up of the sashimi dish which I served with dashimaki だし巻き Japanese omelet and sugar snap in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし.

The next picture shows the “new” nagaimo dish I made. I did this because I had thawed “tarako” たらこ cod roe and found out the membrane in the back was already broken. So, I removed the roe from the remaining sac, mixed it with a small amount of sake, although I did not have a firm idea at the time of what I would make from it. I then remembered that we had a small segment of  nagaimo 長芋 in the refrigerator which had to be used soon. So I just combined the two.  I garnished it with a chiffonade  of perilla and nori. This was a good dish. This tarako was a bit on the salty side but the addition of sake in combination of the crunchy refreshing nagaimo, really worked.

Ingredients:
1 inch segment of nagaimo, skinned, sliced and cut into fat match sticks.
1 tsp sake
One sac of salted tarako, cod roe
Perilla leaves and nori chiffonade for garnish

Direction:
Soak the nagaimo sticks in water with a splash of rice vinegar and gently wash to remove surface sliminess. Blot dry using a sheet of paper towel.
Remove the roe from the sac using the back of the knife and mix it with 1 tsp of sake. Taste and if not salty enough, add soy sauce (mine was salty enough).
Dress the nagaimo and garnish it with the perilla.

So every time I go to our Japanese grocery store, we have a number of  “goodies” for dinner that evening.

Marinated tuna sashimi with grated Daikon 鮪のおろし和え

This is a continuation of the “using up yellowfin tuna sashimi block”. We started with “Tuna caprese” and proceeded with the cold chawan-mushi. This was the third appetizer and second tuna sashimi dish. Without knowing specifically what I would make, I marinated 1/3 block of tuna sashimi “saku” block sliced in concentrated Japanese noodle sauce or “mentsuyu” 麺つゆ to make “Zuke tuna” 漬けマグロ. I could have served as it is or as “yama-kake” 山かけ but I did not have any nagaimo 長芋. I did have daikon 大根, however, so I made this dish.

Beside mixing in chopped scallion, I garnished it with the green part of the scallion thinly sliced. 

This is not really a recipe. I grated the daikon and let it sit in a fine meshed strainer to remove any excess moisture. I cut the marinated tuna into small cubes. I chopped one small scallion finely then mixed the tuna, grated daikon, scallion and added “Ponzu” ポン酢 (from the bottle).

This could have been a good refreshing dish but this daikon, as sometimes happens, was extremely hot (spicy) which made it difficult to enjoy. It was like eating straight wasabi or more like horse radish. We ended up scraping as much of the grated daikon as we could off the tuna. Oh well, I should have tasted the daikon before adding to the tuna. 

The last tuna appetizer was  tuna “cutlet”  マグロカツ (I did not take pictures this time but here is the previous tuna cutlet).

 We switched to red wine. Previously, I made the red wine miso sauce and had it with the tuna cutlet. We felt the sauce needed more miso flavor. I reheated the remaining sauce and added more miso. This time, the sauce was better but we think we could have even more miso in this sauce. But we finished the entire saku of yellowfin tuna.

Takoyaki variation with tofu and nagaimo 長芋豆腐たこ焼き

This is a takoyaki たこ焼き ("tako grill") variation made without "tako" (octopus). This recipe is from "The real Japanese Izakaya Cookbook". We made takoyaki (octopus inclusive) using an electric ebelskiver maker before. An ebelskiver maker is the closest we could come to a traditional takoyaki grill.  This recipe deviates significantly from the traditional approach because it uses grated nagaimo 長芋 and tofu 豆腐 instead of flour. Instead of tako is uses hijiki ひじき sea weed and edamame 枝豆 . Continuing on the innovative theme, instead of the usual "Takoyaki sauce", this recipe used "Gin-an" 銀餡 which is a milder and "more sophisticated" sauce.

The surface was nicely brown and crunchy.

The inside was soft and hot showing hijiki (black stringy below) and edamame (green).

Ingredients: (I tried to halve the amount of the original recipe. I ended up making some changes inadvertently, since I just did not want to use "half egg" and I did not want to leave a small portion of nagaimo).

The original recipe is as follows;

1 firm silken tofu 12oz (350g)
Handful dried Hijiki seaweed
8 oz (225g) unshelled edamame pods (then, cooked and shelled)
1 egg
4oz (125g) yamaimo
1/2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt

The amount below are what I think I used. It made 6 balls using the Ebelskiver cooker (the balls were larger than regular takoyaki) as below.

1 small package of silken tofu, about 125gram, wrapped in paper towel with a weight (I used wooden cutting board) to drain for 1 hour.
Nagaimo, skin removed and grated, about 120g (I used up what I had left)
1 egg
Hijiki seaweed, hydrated, arbitrary amount
Edamame, frozen, cooked and shelled, arbitrary amount
Pinch of salt and sugar
"Katakuri-ko" potato Starch (because, proportionally I used more nagaimo and egg than the original recipe which made the batter runnier, I added potato starch to adjust the consistency of the batter).

For the dipping sauce; (this is the original, again, I halved the recipe when I made it)
2 tbs potato starch
2 cup (500ml) dashi
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 sugar
1/2 tbs mirin
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Using a small food processor, I mixed the tofu, grated nagaimo, egg, salt and sugar until the batter was smooth. I then added the potato starch in small increments to adjust the consistency (it was the consistency of a bit runny pancake batter).
I added the hijiki, edamame and mixed (#1)
I preheated my electric ebelskiver to medium high (#2)
I poured the batter filling 6 wells (#3)
After the bottom got set and browned (it took a few minutes, I was too inpatient and started flipping too early)
After several flipping, the surface started getting evenly brown (#4)
I kept flipping until the surface is all cooked and browned about 5-6 minutes (#5 and 6).

This version of takoyaki was good and the dipping sauce went well with it but this is not really takoyaki (I am sure people from Osaka would agree). It is a dish in-and-of its own just resembling the shape of takoyaki. Making  this requires some steps and effort and I would rather make  regular takoyaki which is much easier to make.

Yamakake variation 山かけバリエーション

This is a variation of "Yamakake" 山かけ. Since the frozen block of yellowfin tuna キハダマグロの冷凍冊 I had in the freezer was getting old, I decided to use it. I divided the block into three portions and tried to make three different dishes. Since frozen yellowfin tuna is not the best quality tuna, I made thick slices and marinated all of them in concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (from the bottle) or "mentsuyu" 麺つゆ. I used to make the marinade myself but I am getting lazy. Grated nagaimo 長芋 (or yamaimo if you can get it) with tuna sashimi "Yamakake" is a "golden" combination.  This variation is based on a recipe I saw on line. I made a sauce (dissolving wasabi in soy sauce) separately and placed it in a small squeeze bottle so that I could add any amount I liked after the dish was assembled.

For greenery, the recipe called for "Daikon" sprouts which I did not have so I just used thinly sliced American mini-cucumber.

Instead of grating nagaimo, I made small chunks by crushing it in a Ziploc bag using a meat pounder. This is called "Tataku". Most frequently, this is done to cucumber called "tataki kyuri" 叩き胡瓜 so that the seasoning will cling better to the irregular surface. For nagaimo, this process gives a nice crunchy texture (chunks) with a grated texture along the edges of the chunks.  We like this combination of the textures very much.

One more additional step was called for in preparing the tuna. After a few hours of marinading, I sandwiched it between hydrated kelp which is called "Kobujime" 昆布締め. This is usually done for white meat fish but as per the recipe I added this step.  I did this for 1 hour. Before cutting the tuna in into smaller cubes.

We really liked this version of yamakake. We are not sure "kobujime" process really added much though. In any case, this was definitely wroth trying again (hopefully with better quality tuna sashimi).

Salmon and avocado cubes and Yamahai sake 鮭とアボカドの角切と山廃純米酒

Most of the mid-West and Eastern U.S. are having very hot and humid summer days. One of these very hot weekends, I decided to go grocery shopping early in the day to avoid the mid-day heat. At our gourmet grocery store, which opened up just before I arrived, the sushi case had only a few items prepared. One of them was tuna and salmon sashimi. So I got a package intending to serve it for the evening. Both sashimi were rather thickly sliced. Since I happened to have Japanese nagaimo 長芋, I decided make "Yamakake" 山かけ from the tuna (left in the picture below)  and make  a variation of tuna and avocado cubes using salmon cubes (which would make it salmon and avocado cubes) (right in the picture below).

Since the tuna was yellowfin tuna キハダマグロ, I marinated it after I cut it into  small cubes in concentrated Japanese "men-tsuyu" noodle sauce 麺つゆ for several hours in the refrigerator to make it taste better.  I seasoned grated nagaimo or "tororo" とろろ with wasabi dissolved in soy sauce,  and placed the tuna on top after draining the excess marinade. I garnished it with strips of nori (I served more nori on the side). This is, of course, is a very common way to serve tuna and nagaimo and we both really like it. We added more nori as we enjoyed this dish.

Since I had limes, after I cut avocado into small cubes, I dressed the cubes with lime juice to prevent discoloration. Cubes of salmon were also marinated in Japanese concentrated noodle sauce in exactly same way as the tuna. I dressed them with finely chopped garlic, dark sesame oil and soy sauce and garnished it with chiffonade of perilla and finely chopped scallion. Since the salmon was much fattier than the tuna, it did not absorb the marinade as much but, over all, this dish really worked. Both the salmon and avocado had a similar oily texture.

As a third dish, I served  4 items on the small plate. Only one that is slightly new is the chicken tenderloin dressed in soy sauce, yuzu-kosho 柚子胡椒 and finely chopped edible chrysanthemum 春菊 (blanched, which I happened to have). The chicken tenderloin was removed from sous vide chicken breast. This was very good. The chrysanthemum gave a slightly bitter taste and went well with the moist tenderloin and yuzu-kosho flavor.

The remaining three items are "our usual suspects", Japanese dashi-maki omelet 青海苔入りだし巻きwith aonori, sugar snap blanched and soaked in salt-seasoned Japanese dashi broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし, and simmered taro 里芋の煮付け.

This evening, we tried a new sake (although we had it before in Japan). It is Tengumai but not "daiginjo". This is Yamahai Junmai 山廃純米天狗舞. The label has a formal name of this old way of making sake 山卸廃止酛仕込(やまおろしはいしもとしこみ). Compared to our new house sake Tengumai daiginjo 天狗舞大吟醸, this is a quite different sake. I think we had this for the first time when we visited Kanazawa 4 years ago. This sake is savory/rich and dry and has earthy/mushroomy background flavor. Some sake expert suggested that this sake should not be served refrigerator cold but at room temperature and suggested the taste will change as it warms up. I took this bottle out a few hours prior to tasting for that reason. It has a nice golden hue (as opposed to clear as in daiginjo). In general, we prefer clean, fruity and dry sake (daiginjo profile), but we liked this sake. It has much more characters and is not too yeasty like other jumai sake can be. We got this sake from a new sake-specialized internet merchant called "Tippsy sake". I will post more about this place in more details in the near future.

”Otsumami” appetizer snacks 酒の肴（おつまみ）

This is another rendition of the appetizer snacks we had. I went to our Japanese grocery store the day before which made serving many small dishes easy. I used small lidded bowls and small crane plate we got from Nishiki marker 錦市場 in Kyoto 京都 sometime ago.

We both get filled up quickly so I try to serve small portions. In small bowls from left to right are cold tofu or hiyayakko 冷や奴, grated "Tororo" nagaimo とろろ with "ikura" salmon roe and "Chinese -style" squid salad 中華風イカサラダ

On the black rectangular plate are boiled octopus leg thinly sliced with sumiso sauce タコの酢味噌, my usual dashi-maki Japanese omelet with aonori sea weed 青海苔だし巻き玉子, store bought small fish cake re-heated in the toaster oven.

The gyoza 餃子 I made a few days ago heated up in the toaster oven (skin becomes really crispy) cut in half with a small amount of Ponzu sauce ポン酢 poured into them. This replaces the separate dipping sauce and makes it a bit easier to eat the gyoza.

This store-bought boiled squid salad with Chinese flavors.

This is grated nagaimo (which is called "Tororo"とろろ). I dissolved wasabi into soy sauce and mixed into tororo and topped it with ikura and chiffonade of perilla.

 This is cold silken tofu. I added blanched edible chrysanthemum 春菊. Instead of straight soy sauce I dressed it with concentrated noddle sauce and topped it with bonito flakes かつお節.

We had these small dishes with our house cold sake "tengumai" daiginjo 天狗舞大吟醸. Nothing really new here but very enjoyable.