Vegetable chips 野菜チップス

This is not something we made but we thought was rather unique and worth reporting. We also think (perhaps wishfully?), that it is also a rather healthy snack to have while imbibing wine. While vacationing in Hilton Head, we visited a gourmet grocery store there called "Fresh Market". It is a large grocery store chain and we learned one store recently open near our home. In any case, they have the largest selection of bulk "snacks" we have ever seen. These vegetables (whole and chips) were among the many snacks offered. I am not sure if they are deep fried or dried but judging from amount of fat and the taste, these are not simply deep fried as many vegetable chips are but tasted too good to be just air dried.



Being in the South, we should not have been surprised at seeing the dried okra--that southern stand-by and favorite (lower left). We just had to try it. It was pretty good as were the green beans (right). Both retained their shape and nice green color, although totally dry and desiccated. Both had a nice fresh green taste. Although the dried okura is not as slimy as the fresh ones, even dried, there is some residual sliminess particularly as it moistens with the saliva in your mouth. Other selections included regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrot, Kobacha pumpkin and some items we could not identify. We were kinda hoping that these snacks, eaten while drinking some wine, would count this a USDA recommended daily serving of vegetables (NOT!).

Poached starch-coated chicken breast 鶏水晶の刺身風

I saw this recipe on line and decided to try it. The idea of this dish is to coat pieces of chicken breast with potato starch before poaching it, which creates a transparent slippery surface and also keeps the meat moist. This type of preparation is apparently called “quartz crystal” 水晶 to be poetic.

This was served cold with sliced cucumber, hydrated sea weed (wakame 若布) and julienned daikon seasoned with ponzu ポン酢 sauce. I also added yuzu-koshou 柚子胡椒 and the meat of pickled plum or umeboshi 梅干, which was finely chopped into a paste or “bainiku” 梅肉.
I followed the original recipe closely.

Chicken breast: I used one bone-less, skin-less chicken breast for two small servings as seen above. It was cut along the long axis first and them sliced thin (1/4 inch). Using the back of my knife, I pounded the meat in one direction and then turned the meat 90 degrees and repeated the process. I did this on both sides of meat to tenderize. I placed the meat in a small bowl and added light-colored soy sauce (1 tsp), salt (1/4 tsp), grated ginger (1/4 tsp) and potato starch (1 tbs). Using my fingers, I mixed everything well.

Poaching: I deviated somewhat here. Instead of water, I used chicken broth (my usual reduced salt non-fat Swanson chicken broth). In a frying pan, I poured chicken broth about 1 inch deep. After it came to a boil, I turned the heat down and gently poached the seasoned chicken. I only poached it for 2-3 minutes or until the meat was cooked. I did not poach as long as the original recipe suggested (10 minutes). I immediately dunked the poached meat into ice water until it was completely cooled down. Then, I drained it.

I made a mound of sliced cucumber (as usual,thinly sliced, salted and the moisture squeezed out), hydrated wakame sea weed (excess moisture wrung out), finely julienned daikon. All were dressed in ponzu (soy) sauce. I then arranged the poached and cooled chicken around in a circle.

This is quite a nice small dish perfect for cold sake. The chicken was tender and moist. Some may not like the slippery (slimy) texture on the surface. We coated the pieces with plum meat or yuzu koshou and dipped it in additional ponzu sauce. Certainly this could be our “Teiban” 定番 or regular home Izakaya dish.

Cold Udon noodle salad 糸うどんのサラダ

This is another cold thin udon dish. In this case. This was a lunch.  We had more vegetables than noodles but although you can’t see them, they are there under the vegetables in this picture.

Vegetables: I used whatever was available. I used cucumber (American mini-cucumber, sliced into long ribbons for s change), carrot (likewise cut into thin ribbons), Vidalia onion, sake steamed chicken breast, hydrated wakame わかめ sea weed.

Dressing: I used ponzu shouyu ポン酢醤油 sauce (from the bottle) with a dash of dark sesame oil.

Especially if you already have cold udon, this is a very quick dish for lunch or ending or “shime” 締め dish. By cutting the veggies lengthwise they are similar in dimension to the noodles. And believe-it-or-not they have a slightly different consistency and taste than if they were cut the usual way.

Miso flavored salmon in a pouch 鮭の味噌味酒蒸し

This is a rather easy to make and yet quite tasty dish. I had shimeji しめじmushroom (clam shell mushrooms) and about 1 lb of salmon fillet. I did not have the energy or time to make anything complicated so I made this dish. I did not follow any particular recipe but the combination of butter, sake and miso cannot go wrong.

Salmon fillets: I divided a 1lb fillet into two equal pieces (scales and pin bones removed).
Scallion: I cut on bias into 1-2 inch pieces. I used one scallion per packet.
Mushrooms: I used a combination of hon-shimeji (brown clamshell) and white clam shell mushrooms but any mushroom such as shiitake or enoki will also do. I just used whatever amount I had. I cut off the root end and quickly washed and drained it.
I took a large sheet of aluminum foil, greased it with sweet butter. Next came the sliced scallion and the salmon fillet skin side down. I placed thin pats of butter(1/2 tbs) and miso (1tbs) (#1 below) on the fillets and topped with the mushrooms (#2 below). I closed the packet by folding and crimping the edges together (#3) but just before I closed it completely, I added sake (3-4 tbs). I placed the packets into a pre-heated 400F toaster oven (convection) for 30 minutes. When I opened the pouch (#4), I discovered the miso had not dissolved but got baked and darkened. I simply removed the miso and dissolved it into the juice/sake accumulated in the bottom of the pouch.

I served this with baby bok choi (quartered) which was boiled in water with splash of sake and salt (The first picture). Since I cooked this ahead of time, it lost its green color. Although I did not use sugar or mirin, the sauce was sweet enough. The salmon had a poached-like consistency that was nicely tender. The baked miso, added a very nice nutty flavor and richness.

Matsutake and chestnut Japanese Egg custard 松茸と栗の茶碗蒸し

Although I have posted several variations of chawan-mushi 茶碗蒸しbefore, this time, I had a convergence of North American chestnuts or “kuri” 栗 and matsutake 松茸 and decided to make this dish. To accommodate more items, I used larger bowls. For two servings like the one below, I used two eggs.

Egg mixture: As usual, I used “dashi pack” (bonito flakes ad kelp) and made dashi broth. After I measured two eggs, I added a bit less than 3 times of the volume of dashi broth and seasoned it with light colored soy sauce (1 tbs), mirin (2 tsp) and salt (1/2 tsp, kosher). I added more dashi to make it to exactly 3 times of the voluvme of the eggs.

I placed, slices of chicken breast (this time I used sakamushi 酒蒸し chicken breast), slices of matsutake and boiled and peeled chestnuts (see below). I poured the egg mixture through a fine mesh strainer into two bowls.


I used an electric wok and steamed the bowls for 5 minutes in medium-high continuous steam and then reduced it to low-continuous steam. After 6-7 minutes when the surface of the egg mixture was congealed enough, I placed shrimp, more sliced matsutake, and scallion slices (picture below). I continued steaming for another 7-8 minutes until the egg mixture became firm.

I served this with a dab of real wasabi and a wedge of lime.
Despite the large amount of matsutake slices, the matsutake flavor was very subtle (i.e. almost nonexistent). Next year, I will go back to Oregon mushrooms to get my matsutake. Otherwise, the chawan mushi was quite good with the nice sweet taste of the chestnuts and rather filling because of the size.