“Renkon” Lotus Root in sweet vinegar 酢れんこん

We received fresh “renkon” lotus root from Weee. Since it was quite a large amount of renkon, as usual I cleaned, washed, dried the surface, and wrapped each segment in paper towel and vacuum packed it. This treatment makes renkon last for a longer time in the refrigerator.  Although I made quite a variety of renkon dishes, I have not posted this rather basic renkon dish called “su-renkon 酢蓮根”. Actually more elegant version called “hana-renkon 花レンコン” or “hanawa-renkon 花輪レンコン” is always included in Sushi Taro osechi box. In this rendition, I did not bother to make a decorative cut and also added seasoned strips of kelp called “shio-konbu 塩昆布” which added flavor/umami but colored the renkon a bit. I served it with salt-broth soaked snap peas スナップ豌豆の塩浸し”.

Sweet vinegar 甘酢
There are many variations. The basic is rice vinegar, sugar and salt but this combination can be made milder by adding broth or water. The recipe shown below is the current sweet vinegar recipe we like. Not too strong but not too watery.

Ingredients:
For sweet vinegar
75 ml rice vinegar
75 ml water
20 gram sugar
1/4 tsp salt

2 inch segment of fresh renkon, 2 inch, peeled, sliced in 1/5 inch (3mm) thick, immediately soak in cold water (I sliced it a bit thickly for a nice crunch).
1 dried japanese red  pepper, seeds removed, cut into small rounds, optional
1/2 tsp Japanese salted kelp strips (shio konbu 塩昆布), optional

Directions:
Boil the renkon 3-4 minutes (you want to leave some crunch), drain, salt lighly while hot, set aside
In a bowl, add the renkon, red pepper and salt kelp and add the sweet vinegar so that all is just covered.
Marindate 2-3 days in the refregerator.

It came out really nice. The renkon is crunchy and fresh tasting but not too harsh. I removed the visible red pepper flakes especially for my wife but it was not spicy at all.

Assorted Japanese Mini-pans 日本のミニ菓子パン各種

When I was browsing the Weee site, I came across an item called “assorted Japanese mini pan”. This category of Japanese “pan” bread is called “Kahi-pan” 菓子パン or sweet bread. “Kahi” 菓子 is a rather inclusive Japanese word which may mean candies, cake, sweets, or snacks. When this word is applied to bread, it is sweet bread and/or bread with sweet filling. The most classic is “anpan” アンパン in which sweet red bean paste or “an” 餡 is inside a round bun. While I was growing up in Japan, for whatever reason, my parents would not allow my brother and I to have “kashi-pan” in general. So my memories of having these sweet breads are non-existent. This changed when my wife discovered these Japanese sweet breads on one of our trips to Japan.  Thereafter, whenever we were in Japan, she had to have some for breakfast so we would stop at one of the  Japanese bakeries and buy some. She first found “melon-pan” followed by other Japanese sweet and savories. So when I told her an assortment of Japanese sweet bread was available at Weee she asked me to get it. Apparently, this comes from a small bakery in New Jersey called “Parisienne bakery” (#1 in the composite picture). Despite its name, this bakery appears to specialize in Japanese breads and pastries. In any case, the box came with 7 mini-pan.  We split one at a time as a part of our breakfast.

We can easily recognize a mini melon-pan (A). It tasted exactly same as a full sized.

“B” is, I think, “kuri-kinton” 栗きんとん filled. “kuri-kinton” is a classic “Osechi” 御節 new year’s dish made of mashed sweet potato and chestnuts (#6 in the composite). “C” is almond flavored custard cream filled (#5 in the composite). “D” is “an-pan” filled with smooth sweet red bean paste or “koshi-an” 漉餡 (completely smooth without any remnant of red beans). “E” is another “an-pan” filled with sweets red bean paste with some remnant of red beans or “tsubu-an” 粒餡 (#3 in the composite). “F” is a “kri-mu pan” クリームパン and filled with custard cream (#5 in the composite). “G” is, I believe, another classic  called “Chocolate corona or チョコレートコロナ” which is shaped like a whelk shell and filled with chocolate cream. I did not take a picture of the cut surface but the filling was almost solid milk chocolate (probably because we ket this bread in the refrigerator).

As far as I am concerned these Japanese sweet breads are pretty good and enjoyable, but in small doses. My wife, was absolutely delighted with the treat and has asked me get them again when we order groceries from Weee.

Mock Tofu 擬制豆腐

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

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

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

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

3 large eggs, beaten

4-5 caps of shiitake mushroom, thinly sliced

1 small carrot, julienned

3 scallions finely chopped

1 tbs vegetable oil

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

Seasoning*:

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

1 tbs mirin

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

Directions:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Karasumi” Japanese Bottarga from Maruhide 丸秀の唐墨

Our source of quality sea urchins “Maruhide” 丸秀 has made some changes after the original founder’s daughter took over some time ago. I noticed “karasumi” Japanese bottarga is available. We decided to get our usual fresh uni (both in salt water 塩水うに and regular alum-treated in a metal case), uni shutou ウニ酒盗 and karasumi* 唐墨. They arrived on Christmas eve and we had a tasting of two kinds of uni and karasumi. In the serving picture, the left is uni in salt water and the right is regular alum-treated. The center is slices of karasumi lightly toasted. we had these with “Tengumai Kimoto Junmai” 天狗舞生酛純米 hot since it was a very cold outside. Both the uni were very good. The salt water uni is softer in texture and alum-treated one keeps its shape but we did not taste the “bitterness” sometimes associated with alum-treated. Karasumi is wonderful with almost uni-like after taste or more like preserved uni (or neriuni ねりうに) flavor which is more concentrated.

*Digression alert: I already pontificated about “Karasimi” that it is originally from Sardinia which came into southern Japan during the edo-period and that the shape of bottarga to Japanese was reminiscent  of “sumi” ink block from China hence the name  “kara-sumi” in which “kara” 唐 means “China” (more precisely Tang-dynasty) and “sumi” means “ink”. We really like karasumi which is a regular part of the “osechi” box from Sushi taro. Karasumi is also associated with a fond memory of when we were in Japan last time in fall. Because of the approaching typhoon we left Sapporo one day earlier and stayed in a hotel near Narita airport. We went to a sushi bar in the hotel for dinner and a drink. It was not crowded. We tried to sit at the sushi bar where an old couple was already seated.  Although the rest of the restaurant was empty there was a “reserved” sign on the sushi bar. When we indicated we would like to sit at the bar, a waitress told us the bar was a “no set menu order,  a la carte only” in English. To that I reply in Japanese that it was fine with us. After a quick look of surprise the waitress ushered up to our seat at the sushi bar. So we sat and a very friendly sushi chef came greeted us and asked where we were from. Once he found we were from Washington, DC areas, he beamed and said “The Nationals!” (he was a big baseball fan). I asked for “otsumami” drinking snacks of his choice (i.e. omakase) first. Several sashimi were served and he said they had “karasumi” so we ordered it. It was very nice and served slightly toasted. The old couple appeared “surprised” at our ordering karasumi (in such close quarters with only two customers we were all aware of what each other was eating) and that my wife enjoyed it. So they also ordered some too.

The karasumi we got was from Hyogo prefecture (#1 below). It was very small (especially for the price). I sliced it and tasted a small piece. It tasted very good but I wanted to compare this with Sardinian bottarga so I ordered some on-line. Stay tuned karasumi tasting coming up. 

Grilled “Tai” Perch Seasoned Rice 鯛飯もどき

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

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

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

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

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

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

Garnish with the nori strips (#1 picture).

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

Sushi Taro New Year Soba 手打ち蕎麦

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sushi Taro Osechi box 2025

So, in the evening of January 1, we opened the osechi box. Picture #4 is the first layer. We quickly spotted our favorites; karasumi 唐墨 (right upper corner), kazunoko 数の子 herring roe and steamed uni 蒸しウニ.

Picture #5 is the second layer. We spotted  monk fish liver terrine or “ankimo tofu” あん肝豆腐 in the upper center. Another of our favorites.

The first serving of the evening is shown in picture #6. From right to left are cured Spanish mackerel 鰆喜鮨, caramelized crispy baby shrimp 小海老の甘露煮, steamed sea urchin 蒸しウニ, miso cured herring roe 数の子味噌ずけ, burdock root 叩きごぼう, behind the vegetables is steamed ground shrimp wrapped in “yuba” tofu skin 海老真蒸湯葉巻き, monk fish liver terrine あん肝豆腐, and karasumi 唐墨. Two small ones are bottarga for comparison. Everything was excellent. The karasumi is wonderful. By comparison, Sushi Taro karasumi was slightly saltier (not in a bad way) but we enjoyed both the karasumi and bottarga

Since we had cold sake with our ozouni お雑煮 (picture #3), for a change, we had scotch and bourbon (picture #7, Ballantine’s 17 year old and Maker’s Mark). We have not drunk hard liquor in ages. (We generally go for wine or sake). So, we added a lot of water and ice to make the drink not too strong. I had the Scotch and my wife had the bourbon.

The second serving of the evening (picture #8) included sake steamed shrimp 長寿海老, red and white fish cake 紅白蒲鉾 (we had it with wasabi and soy sauce), beef and duck (I warmed them up in the toaster oven, which made them fantastic) and other things.

This was a wonderful start of 2025. We will be enjoying and indulging for a few more days until we finish the osechi box.

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.

Table of Contents 2025

January 2025
January 2     Happy New Year 2025 謹賀新年2025
January 5     Sushi Taro Osechi box 2025
January 8     Sushi Taro New Year Soba 手打ち蕎麦
January 11    Grilled “Tai” Perch Seasoned Rice 鯛飯もどき
January 14     “Karasumi” Japanese Bottarga from Maruhide 丸秀の唐墨
January 17    Bottarga/Karasumi Taste Test 日本の唐墨とサルジニアのボタルガの味比べ
January 20    Apple Pie Muffin and Pan Cake アップルパイ　マフィン
January 23    “Endless” Konnyaku 無限コンニャク
January 26    Mock Tofu 擬制豆腐
January 29    Apple Fritter アップルフリッター

February 2025
February 1    Braised Eggplant with Ground Chicken 茄子のそぼろ煮
February 4    Sashimi Daikon Garnish 刺身の大根つま/けん
February 7    Wild Rice Salad ワイルドライスサラダ
February 10    Apple Pie Muffin Made with Juiced Apple アップルパイマフィン
February 13    Chocolate Milk Bread チョコレートミルクパン
February 19    Ricotta Lemon Cookie リコッタチーズ　レモンクッキー
February 21    Assorted Japanese Mini-pans 日本のミニ菓子パン各種
February 24    Quesadilla with Mini-corn Tortilla and Browned Cheese
February 27    Burdock Root Kelp Roll ごぼうの昆布巻き

March 2025
March 2    Anchovy Onion Cocktail Biscuit アンチョビイと玉ねぎカクテルビスケット
March 6    Shrimp Chicken Gyouza エビと鶏肉の餃子
March 9    Chickpea fries ひよこ豆フライ
March 19    Babka Cookie Muffin バブカ　クッキー　マフィン
March 22    Nappa Cabbage Cream Stew 白菜のクリームシチュー
March 30    Jubako for “hanami” cherry blossom gazing 花見用市松模様の重箱

April 2025
April 2    Hanami 2025 花見2025
April 5    Hanami #2 花見＃2
April 8    “Cotton Candy Grape Muffin” “わたあめブドウ” のマフィン
April 11    “Cotton Candy Grape” Panna Cotta “わたあめブドウ“ パンナコッタ
April 14    Carrot Salad Muffin 人参サラダ入りマフィン
June 2025

June 12    Tokyo Kyobashi Areas Izakayas (part 1) 東京の居酒屋　東京駅八...
June 15    Cream Cheese with Pickled Daikon クリームチーズ　沢庵入り
June 18    Tokyo Kyobashi Areas Izakayas (part 2) 東京の居酒屋　東京駅八...
June 21    “Renkon” Lotus Root in sweet vinegar 酢れんこん
June 24    Tokyo Kyobashi Areas Izakayas (part 3) 東京の居酒屋　東京駅八...
June 27    Lemon Crumb Bar レモンクラムバー
June 30    Tokyo Kyobashi Areas Izakayas (part 4) 東京の居酒屋　東京駅八...


July 2025
July 3    Matcha Almond Pancake (again) 抹茶アーモンドパンケーキ
July 6    Izakaya in Kanazawa 金沢の居酒屋
July 9    Topping of Katsu-Don カツ丼のあたま
July 12    Kyoto Izakaya in Kyoto Station area part 1 京都駅付近の居...
July 15    Vinegar Cured Mackerel Sushi with Shiro-ita Kelp バッテラ
July 18    Kyoto Izakaya in Kyoto Station Area Part 2 京都駅駅付近付...
July 21    Pea, Ricotta ad Mint Gazpacho えんどう豆、リコッタチーズとミントのガス...
July 24    Tottori Izakaya and Shinkansen “Izakaya” 鳥取の居酒屋と新幹...
July 27    Pea, Avocado and Mint Blini グリーンピー、アボカド、ミント　ガスパッチョ
July 30    Izakaya in Sapporo Part 1 札幌の居酒屋パート1

August 2025
August 2    Chilean Sea Bass in Sweet “Saikyo” Miso メロの西京味噌焼き
August 5    Izakaya in Sapporo Part2 札幌の居酒屋パート2
August 8    Cream Cheese Muffin クリームチーズマフィン
August 11    Sapporo Lunch Places Part 1札幌の昼ごはん パート1
August 14    Pork Vindaloo with Baby Corn and Edamame ポーク “ビンダル...
August 17    Izakaya in Sapporo Part3 札幌の居酒屋パート3
August 20    Impromptu Eggplant Mushroom Stir-fry 茄子と椎茸のオイスターソース炒め
August 23    Sapporo Lunch places part2 札幌の昼ごはん　パート2
August 26    Cold Udon with Sesame Sauce 胡麻ソース和え冷製うどん
August 29    Izakaya in Sapporo Part 4 札幌の居酒屋パート4

September 2025
September 1    Savory Breakfast Mini Cheesecakes ミニチーズケーキ
September 4    Izakaya in Sapporo Part 5 札幌の居酒屋パート5
September 7    Mapo (sort of) Eggplant “麻婆風” 茄子
September 10    Izakaya in Sapporo Part 6 札幌の居酒屋パート6
September 13    Oyster Mushroom and Chiku-wa Stir-fly with Yuzu-ko...
September 16    Cheese Straws チーズツイスト
September 19    Small Dishes or “Sake-no-sakana” 酒の肴
September 21    Prosciutto, dates, and goat cheese bites
September 24    Cabbage and pork belly stir-fry キャベツと豚バラの炒め物
September 27    Scallop fry ホタテのフライ
September 30    Yellow Squash Garlic Bites イエロースクワシュ、ガーリックバイツ

October 2025
October 3    Green Yuzu, “Kinome” Japanse pepper leaves 青柚子と木の芽
October 6    Japanese “Mizu” eggplant Asazuke 水茄子の浅漬け
October 9    Spanish Mackerel dumpling Soup topped with “Kinome...
October 12    Cucumber with Miso Sauces 味噌胡瓜
October 15    Moon gazing 10/6/2025 月見
October 18    Dishes from Yellowfin Tuna Sashimi Block キハダマグロ刺身の柵

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!!

Small Rice Bowl using the last of Osechi お節残り物丼

We had a lunch yesterday of mochi rice cake and cheese 焼きチーズ餅 and some side dishes. Today is the end of the first week of the new year called “Matusno-uchi” 松の内, I made a small “donburi” rice bowl topped with three of the last items from Sushi taro osechi box. (It would appear that I make a similar dish almost every new year). This time, I added a scrambled  egg with blanched broccoli florets. This was just a perfect size dish for us.

The small fish shown at 12 O’Clock is “Jako-no-arima-ni” 雑魚の有馬煮.  At 9 O’Clock is “soboro” そぼろ which I made using  the meat removed from a grilled small “tai” snapper 小鯛の姿焼き included in the osechi box and cooked in “mirin” sweet Japanese cooking wine and soy sauce until almost dry. I also garnished with ““ikura-no-shouyu-zuke いくらの醤油漬けor marinated “ikura” salmon roe.

With a side of  salted cucumber and nappa cabbage  胡瓜と白菜の浅漬け, this was a perfect lunch.

New Year’s day Evening 元旦の夕べ

So finally, we busted into the osechi box for the New Year’s day evening feast. Like we did before, I decided to use “Tsugaru-muri” 津軽塗り lacquerware two-tier lunch box (one tier for each of us) to serve the goodies. As a side, I also served the diakon-namasu 大根なます I made topped with slices of boiled Spanish octopus leg we got from D’Artagnan  and Ikura salmon roe.

I picked up most of the key items here including our favorites like “kazunoko” herring roe marinated in miso かずのこの味噌漬け, “karasumi” 唐墨 botargo and “ankimo tofu” あん肝豆腐 monkfish liver terrine. I lightly toasted karasumi, duck breast and “sawara saikyo-yaki” 鰆の西京焼き before serving.

These small items were such a treat. We enjoyed every bite along with a sip of our house sake “Tengumai daiginjo” 天狗舞大吟醸.

Happy New Year 2023 新年おめでとう御座います2023

It is morning of the first day of 2023. The past year was marked by many events; not the least of which is the still lingering COVID-19. In any case, here is the “Kagami-mochi” 鏡餅 New Year’s decoration. It is  accompanied by various rabbit figurines because this is the year of the rabbit according to the Chinese zodiac. We usually place the new year’s decoration in the tokonoma 床間 alcove  of  our “tearoom” in the basement but this year, we decided to place it in the room where we spend most of our time to maximize our enjoyment of the collection.

As usual, the highlight of our new year is the Sushi taro osechi box 寿司太郎お節箱. We drove down to Dupont circle and picked up the Osechi box and hand-cut soba noodles “toshikoshi soba” 年越しそば (which we usually enjoy the 2nd day of the new year). For many years, we traditionally have our regular breakfast of Cafe Latte with yogurt and breads and have the New Year’s “Ozouni” お雑煮 soup for lunch. I also served a few items I made. As always, we wheeled out the real Japanese laquer ware bowls my mother gave us a long time ago.

As usual, we encased the mochi in a fried tofu pouch or “abura-age” 油揚げ (in an effort to make the eating experience a bit more manageable). It is at the bottom of the bowl so you can’t see it in the picture. I cut the carrot into a flower-shape and the daikon into a ginko leaf-shape. I also added burdock root ごぼう (the white rectangular object in the picture), shiitake mushroom, shrimp, flower-shape gluten cakes or “fu” 麩, snow pea, scallion and yuzu zest (frozen). I made the broth from dashi packs, a bit of mirin and x4 Japanese noodle sauce.

The accompanying dishes (from left to right) are all listed in “Norio’s New year dishes”. They are: chicken squares with gorgonzola cheese and dried fig, salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き, datemaki omelet 伊達巻, and salmon Russian marinade. (This year I made some modifications to the marinade by adding Dijon mustard and dill). Of course it wouldn’t be an adequate celebration of the first day of the New Year without at least a token glass of sake. This year it was our house favorite Tengumai Daiginjo 天狗舞大吟醸. The soup and these items were pretty good if I do say so myself.

Although we did not tap into the osechi box, here is a preview of what to expect when we eagerly dive in this evening. The picture below shows the first tier. Although many goodies are hidden below the items we can see, we can spot our favorites like “karasumi” 唐墨,  “mushi uni” 蒸し雲丹 and “Kazunoko” 数の子.

The second tier also has our favorites such as “Ankimo tofu”, “Ikura” and duck breast.

We are repeating ourselves but it is so wonderful that we are able to get this incredible osechi from Sushi Taro. We will be enjoying these delicacies over the next few days.

New Year 2022 Jan 3 Salmon three ways 一月三日鮭尽し

We have been enjoying the items from the Sushi Taro osechi box. After indulging in a serving of wonderful dishes from the box which go perfectly with sake,  I served this plate as the “second course”.  The red and white fish cake or "kouhaku kamaboko" 紅白蒲鉾 (upper left in the picture) came from the osechi box (they were the last four slices). I made a deep pocket in each and stuffed the pink one with the leftover Maruhide sea urchin shutou 丸秀雲丹の酒盗 topped with a dab of wasabi. I topped the white one with Ikura marinated in soy sauce イクラの醤油ずけ topped with strips of nori.

The remaining items were all different salmon dishes which I prepared for New Year. Starting from right upper, clock wise, is salmon nanban 鮭の南蛮漬け、Russian marinated salmon 鮭のロシア漬け, and finally salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き. These three salmon dishes all have different textures and flavors. For the salmon nanban, the salmon was dredged in flour and fried before being marinaded in sweet vinegar which gave it a bit firmer texture. The Russian marinated salmon started out as thin strips of raw salmon marinated in sake, vinegar and oil without any sweetness. This year I something different. I added dijon mustard to the marinade and emulsified it with the “motor boat” emersion blender. As a result the oil didn’t separate or solidify. Also, the salmon did not “over cook”  and had a lovely soft texture. Finally the salmon kelp roll was simmered for sometime in seasoning broth, producing a yet different soft and moist texture. These are wonderful to enjoy with sips of sake.

Sushitaro Osechi 2022 寿司太郎お節 2020

As always, we are so spoiled to have Sushitaro osechi.

This is a picture of the upper box.  I am not going into the details but its all good stuff. Many items are hidden behind and under the items on the top.

This is the lower box.

This was what we ate from the box the evening of January 2. I just served whatever caught my eye. This round was mainly items that go well  with sake.

The next picture shows is an assortment of goodies. I lightly heated (toasted) “Karasumi” 唐墨 mullet roe or botargo, and wagyu roast beef 和牛ローストビーフ, which makes the beef unctuous melting in you mouth and the karasumi soft with enhanced flavor. Of course, “ankimo tofu” あん肝豆腐　or Monkfish liver terrine is one of our favorites.

In this three compartment plate, I served (from left to right) “Mushi uni” 蒸し雲丹 or steamed sea urchin, “Uni shutou with yuzu-chilli” ウニ酒盗 柚子胡椒 from Maruhide 丸秀 and  “ikura shouyu-zuke”  いくら醤油ずけ soy marinated salmon roe.  I added wasabi-soy sauce to the steamed uni and made a cucumber boat to contain the ikura. All perfect for sake.

After these, we had simmered vegetables (again lightly warmed in the microwave) and finished with a mayo-biscuit my wife made that afternoon (subject of another post).

P.S. In the January 1, 2022 post, I mentioned that we thought we had some better zodiac figurines for the year of tiger but the ones we displayed in the blog were the only ones we had. My wife quickly remedied the situation by ordering two figurines from Japan, one (the first picture) perfectly matches the style we have for the other zodiac animals (it is made from earthenware as a bell called "Do-rei" 土鈴).

The fellows below came from the same kiln as the one above. But they have more accoutrements. Aren't they cute?

Hope we can used these figurines again.