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.

Early Hanami 早めの花見

We presently have four cherry trees in our backyard; 3 Japanese style trees and one native choke cherry tree. (The choke cherry tree blooms in late spring with lovely veils of white flowers). There was already one mature cherry tree on the property when we moved in over 30 years ago but we planted two additional cherry trees, so we could have spectacular Hanami celebrations in our own yard. While they provided beautiful flowers and shade for many years neither of them survive today. One never did well and remained stunted for the 20 years of its life. While doing some construction in 2010 we discovered the reason. The poor thing was planted over a giant cement jersey wall such as those used to block traffic on a highway. Unbeknownst to us, and to our utter surprise and horror, the builders had used objects such as that as land fill in our backyard. The poor tree had nowhere to plant its feet so it could thrive. After seeing its circumstances we were amazed it even survived as long as it did. The other cherry tree was more fortunate. We apparently planted it in a more favorable spot and it did very well. It formed a large canopy over our deck and was our main cherry tree for hanami but, it reached its demise in 2018 at the hands of a severe Nor’easter wind. So in the face of this cherry tree devastation, we planted a new cherry tree to replace it. This tree is getting taller but does not yet quite match the grandeur of the destroyed old tree it replaced. Meanwhile, 30 some years ago soon after we moved into the house, I was cleaning out a patch of our backyard heavily overgrown with weeds and thick vines when I came across tiny twig of a tree and recognized it was a very young very small volunteer (i.e. not planted but rooted naturally) cherry tree.  I carefully saved it and nurtured it. Now it is over 2 stories tall. (Shown in the pictures below.)  This cherry tree is perfectly positioned to get full sun in the morning and full sun in the evening this time of year. As a result, it is the first of our cherry trees to bloom in the spring. This year spring came early and this cherry tree is in full bloom in Mid March. To celebrate, we had an early Hanami. Because of the location of the tree, it is most visible from the one of the rooms on the second floor. So despite the cold weather and strong winds of the last few days, we were still able enjoy an early Hanami in the comfort of the warm house. 

We will post more details later but we had five dishes for our early Hanami. Three were made from some newly acquired edible lily bulbs, as well as dishes of edible chrysanthemum and lotus root. Luckily daylight saving time kicked in just last Sunday, so sunset comes later than before increasing the time we have to enjoy the cherry blossoms. Even at sunset, however, the cherry blossoms characteristically glow in the ambient light which is always beautiful to see.

Soda Bread with Raisin, Craisin, and Caraway (Soda Bread V4)

Over the years my wife has baked various versions of Irish soda bread. This year my wife initially baked version #3 of Irish soda bread, which was by far our favorite, in preparation for the upcoming St. Paddy’s day. This bread was really great especially with the honey butter she spread on it after a light toasting. I, then, found a recipe called “Americanized Irish soda bread” in the Washington Post which looked interesting and told her about it. She baked this as Irish soda bread (Americanized) version #4. This bread was very good—on a par with version #3 but with a subtly different taste. It had great texture and was slightly sweet from the inclusion of raisins and craisins (dried cranberries).

As usual, my wife modified the recipe mainly due to ingredients we did not have.

Ingredients:
2 cups mixture of raisin and craisins, (substituted for currents called for in the original recipe.)
6 cups (750 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
2 cups (480 milliliters) whole buttermilk
8 tablespoons (4 ounces/113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup (120 milliliters) heavy cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions:
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a very large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, caraway seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Scatter the dried fruits into the flour and fold them in with a flexible spatula until evenly distributed.
Whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, cream, egg and the oil until combined. Pour into the flour mixture.
First using a spatula and then hands, stir and mix the dough together. (The original recipe says, “do not use a mixer”.) The dough should be slightly wet but not gloppy. Add a bit more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the dough feels too wet and is spreading. Re-flour your hands and gently knead the dough, turning and folding it over itself, just until it is somewhat firmer, sprinkling more flour on your hands or the work surface as needed. Try not to add too much more flour to the dough.
Divide the dough in half, shaping each portion into a round loaf 5½ to 6 inches in diameter, positioning any seams on the bottom. Do not flatten the loaves, making sure they are shaped more like mounds.
Place the loaves several inches apart on the prepared baking sheet (they will spread a little) but not up against the rim. Use a lame to gently score an X no more than ¼- to ½-inch deep into the top of each loaf (see picture below).

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the baking sheet from front to back halfway through, until the loaves are nicely browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The loaves should also sound hollow when tapped on the bottom (see picture below). Cool completely on a wire rack

Among the 4 versions of soda breads, we like the version 3 and 4 the best.

Pork Curry Quesadilla ポークカレー ケサディア

This was a lunch of impromptu quesadilla made using left-over pork “Vindaloo” curry. My wife’s recent modifications to this curry included the addition of navy beans which makes a richer creamer sauce. We had the curry with rice for lunch several times and only a small amount of curry was left—not enough to make two servings of curry and rice for lunch. My wife suggested we make curry quesadilla. I had one over-ripe avocado which I had to use before it went bad so I made a sort of guacamole. The resulting lunch, consisted of a pork curry and three cheese quesadilla topped with avocado and sour cream. This was really great.

Traditional quesadilla is made from one corn tortilla which is folded in half. We like to use two wheat tortillas which is more convenient for us.

I did not have fresh cilantro but made something resembling guacamole. I also served sesame (udon) noodle salad and celery salad with mushrooms, white beans and feta salad.

We keep tortillas frozen. I removed two and layered them with paper towels to absorb any water from the ice crystals which usually form on their surface.  I microwaved them for 10 seconds. I then heated some oil in the frying pan on medium heat until hot and shimmering then briefly fried both sides of the tortillas. Again using paper towels I blotted off any excess oil.  I turned down the heat, placed one warm tortilla in the pan, and spread the curry on top; it was just the right amount.

I scattered shredded (actually hand chopped) cheeses on top. They included two kinds of cheddar (“sharp” and one actually called “Seriously Sharp”) and smoked gouda. I placed the other tortilla on the top. I cooked this with lid on for several minutes until the cheese melted. I removed the lid and turned the tortilla over and cooked an additional 1-2 minutes. This was a nice quesadilla if not authentic. The flavor of the curry blended perfectly with the guacamole. The tortilla was nice and crunchy. Also, you can’t go wrong with 3 melted cheese flavors and a topping of sour cream. This was a mighty fine lunch.

Celery Salad with Mushrooms, White Beans and Feta きのこ、白インゲン豆、フェタチーズ入りセロリサラダ

We keep celery on hand most of the time. I use it as a part of mirepoix for soup, stew etc. I also use it for salad. Our favorite is thinly sliced celery dressed in powdered kelp and salt called “Konbu-cha” 昆布茶. My wife told me that she came across 5 different celery recipes recently in the Washington Post. We decide to try this celery with mushrooms, white beans and feta. Not intentional but I made some modifications due to available ingredients as well as time constraints. We had this for lunch.

We added a half open-face pumpernickel sandwich using leftover slices of Weber grill roasted pork. I added omelet from an egg I had left over from another dish. This made a really good lunch.

Ingredients:
4-5 stalks of celery, strings removed and cut thinly on bias
1 (15.5 oz) can of white (navy) beans, drained and rinsed (the original recipe calls for 1 cup or 8oz but we used the whole can)
Mushrooms (I used fresh shiitake and oyster mushrooms, the original calls for 12 oz cremini mushrooms), the shiitake (this was quite thick and meaty), cut into quarters, the oyster mushrooms torn into bite sized pieces.
Feta cheese crumbled and to taste

Dressing:
2tbs minced shallot (one small)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (or winevinegar)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
3⁄4 teaspoon sugar
1⁄4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Marinate the celery and the beans in the dressing for 30 minutes (Picture below)

Sauté the mushrooms in a small amount of olive oil in a frying pan seasoned with salt and pepper until cooked with brown spots about 4-5 minutes (using medium high flame so that no moisture comes out and the mushrooms nicely brown instead of steam). (The original recipe calls for roasting them in the oven at 375 for 40 minutes but browning in the pan goes a lot faster).

Assembly:
Chopped fresh herbs (mint, dill and parsley) (we did not have any of fresh herbs so did not use it) mixed into the marinading celery and beans.
Top the salad with the mushrooms and crumbled feta.

We would not ever have thought of this combination of the ingredients for a salad. For the dressing, the taste profile is very similar to the house dressing I make with Dijon mustard, honey, rice vinegar and olive oil. In future we may used my house dressing instead; the mustard makes the dressing emulsify beside adding flavors and honey is better than sugar to add sweetness. We think cooking the  mushrooms in a frying pan is better than roasting them. Roasting takes much longer and often produces charred bits which we do not like but sautéing in a frying pan produces better browned and crispy mushrooms. Although we did not have fresh herbs, this was a good salad. The mushrooms gave a meaty flavor and texture and this is good dish for our vegetarian friends.

Creamy Tomato Soup クリーミィトマトスープ

I get Campari tomatoes almost every week and prepare them by removing the skin. Then I keep them in the refrigerator which is very convenient to make a quick cucumber tomato salad or just add as a side. Often, we can’t use up all the tomatoes and my default is to make them into marinara sauce. This time since we already had a batch of marinara sauce which had been re-heated several times, I decided to make the excess tomatoes into a creamy tomato soup. I served the soup with macaroni salad (for the salad dressing I used mayo, Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard) and couscous salad, Campari tomato and a slice of baguette I made few days ago. I made this bread using biga made of rye flour and buttermilk (My wife prepared this for me). As a result, this baguette had a slightly different flavor which we really liked.

Ingredients:
5 Campari tomatoes, skinned, cut into small chunks
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small stalk of celery, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp tomato paste
1 cup water/chicken broth (I used whey from the cheese curd my wife made recently)
1 tsp butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) (to reduce the acidity of the soup, optional*)
1/2 c heavy cream

*Digression alert: If tomato sauce or soup is too acidic, the most common suggestion is to add a small amount of sugar. This may mask the acidic taste but does not reduce the acidity (or does not raise pH). Adding sodium bicarbonate does reduce the acidity. My understanding is that tomato’s acidity mainly come from oxalic acid. So, the addition of bi-carbonate will produce carbon dioxide (CO2 gas), water (H20) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). Reportedly, the resulting sodium carbonate may give rise to a “bitter” and “soapy” taste but I have not experienced this. I have found that adding a small amount of sodium bicarbonate definitely makes these tomato containing dishes less acidic without negative effects in taste. The sodium ion from sodium carbonate in water may add some “saltiness” so the salt seasoning may have to be adjusted. It should be noted that when you add bicarbonate, the soup bubbles up for several minutes.

Directions:
Add the olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the butter and sauté the onion, celery, and garlic for a few minutes. Set the vegetables aside and add the tomato paste and sauté for 30 seconds (I use the type of tomato paste that comes in a tube, Cento tomato paste. It is much easier to use tomato paste from a tube when a small amount is needed compared to opening a whole can). Add the tomato and the liquid (I used whey). Cook 10-15 minutes until all the vegetables are cooked and soft. Using an immersion blender, make smooth soup. Season with salt and pepper.

(Optional) This process is to reduce the acidity. While it is simmering, add the sodium bicarbonate and mix (lots of bubbles come out, keep stirring for serval minutes until the bubbles subside.) I tasted the soup at this stage and it was very good without cream.

Since I was not planning to serve this immediately, I quickly chilled the soup by putting the pan in a large bowl with running water while stirring. Then I put it in sealable container in the refrigerator.

The next day, I served this for lunch. I warmed up the soup and added the cream. With an the addition of the cream, this became quite a luxurious soup.

Surf-and-turf Valentine’s Day Dinner ロブスターとステーキ（サーフアンドターフ）

We rarely have a surf-and-turf dinner but since it was Valentine’s  day, we decided to have a steak and lobster dinner. The filet mignon came from Omaha steak and we got frozen lobster tail from Whole Food.  I cooked both in sous vide. I also made “Mac-and-cheese”. The temperatures I used in the past for lobster tail and steak were slightly different but this time I used 135F for both so that I could sous vide both in the same setting which worked.  The steaks were cooked for 4 hours and the lobster 45 minutes. I timed it so they both came out around 7pm.

I seasoned the lobster tails with salt and tarragon (I only had dried) and vacuum packed with several pats of cold butter. After it was cooked I removed the lobster from the vacuum pack, and drained the liquid inside and added a squeeze of lemon juice to make a lobster-butter dipping sauce. It was perfectly cooked.

I thawed the previously frozen steak and patted it dry. I then further dried it on sheets of paper towel, uncovered for a few hours in the refrigerator.  I seasoned it with salt and pepper before vacuum packing it for sous vide. After it was cooked I removed the steak from the vacuum bag, and quickly seared both sides in a frying pan with melted butter. I set the steak aside and added the juice accumulated in the vacuum bag to the pan and scraped off the brown bits left from searing the steak. I added 2-3 tbs of red wine and reduce the mixture in half. I finished the pan sauce with pats of butter and seasoned with salt and pepper. The steak was nice medium rare.

I have made and  posted several variations of “Mac and cheese”. This time I went with a classic with Béchamel sauce but I also added finely chopped fresh shiitake mushroom which added nice flavors. The cheeses I used as per my wife’s selection were fresh goat, sharp cheddar and smoke Gouda. The seasonings were salt and freshly grated black pepper and nutmeg. We really liked this version.

We had this with one of our favorites; Caymus Napa valley Cabernet  Sauvignon 2020. We really enjoyed this special dinner and wine.

Crispy Roasted Porcelet Belly パリパリ皮のロースト(子)豚バラ

Some time ago, we bought a special pork belly called “Porcelet” from D’Artagnan. It is from a milk-fed piglet and arrived with the skin on. The quantity was quite large so we divided it into 3 pieces one of which we used right away and froze the other two. Since the pieces in the freezer generally will not improve the longer we keep them frozen, we decided to make something out of one of the pieces. We thawed a portion of about 2 lbs. After consulting many recipes on the Internet, I decided to use the recipe from “America’s test kitchen (ATK)” on YouTube. It is a modification of a Chinese dish called “脆皮燒肉”. Actually ATK has two versions of video posted; one by  “The Pangs”, a father and son (Kevin Pang) Chinese cook duo and the other by Dan Souza. After watching both (which are mostly the same recipe), I cooked this porcelet with crispy skin. I made two sauces; one by Dan Souza which is inspired by North Carolina BBQ sauce with mustard and vinegar and the other by the Pangs which is Hoisin sauce based. We had this with oven fried potato which my wife made (using white potato and a bicarb treatment but using olive oil instead of duck fat) served with ketchup (picture below). OMG! This is an excellent pork dish with very crispy skin, juicy and tender meat/fat.

Here is the appearance of the pork belly after it was finished. The skin is golden brown and has multiple bubbles and extremely crispy.

Ingredients (This made three large portions providing servings for both of us for several meals over several days):
2lb skin on pork belly (in our case, porcelet belly)
Salt (for salting the skin)
Vegetable oil (to add to the rendered pork fat to make it 1 cup of fat)

For dry rub
Brown sugar and salt (1:1) ratio, we used regular sugar with one tsp dark molasses and kosher salt (#2)
Chinese 5 spice powder, optional, but makes it closer to the authentic flavors).
We found this rub a bit too salty so we will change the ration when we make it again.

Sauces (the amounts are from the original recipe, I made a much smaller amount keeping the ratios of the ingredients the same)

For the Chinese sauce
1/2 cup Hoisin sauce
4 tbs rice vinegar
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tbs scallion, chopped

For the Mustard sauce
1 cup Dijon mustard

1/3 cup wine vinegar (I used rice vinegar)
1/4 cup brown sugar (I used dark buckwheat honey)
1 tbs Worcestershire sauce
Hot sauce (as much as you like, I used 1tsp Sriracha)

Directions:
Cut the pork belly into three equal portions (#1)
Cut the skin and underlying fat (but not the meat) every 1/2 inch interval (#1)
Put the dry rub (#2) on the meat side including the ends and sides but not on the skin (the sugar will make the skin burn while baking)
Salt the skin surface (about 1/2 tbs for each piece) (#3)
Refrigerate without covering for 12-24 hours  (To dry the skin surface) in a glass baking pan (liquid will come out while in the refrigerator)
Some juice accumulated in the bottom of the baking dish and the skin surface looks dry without residual salt visible
Place the pork in a baking pan with the metal rack
Bake at 250F for 2 and half to 3 hours (to the internal temperature of 195F, in my case the temp went over 200F) (#4)
Set the pork aside and pour out the rendered fat to the 1 cup measuring cup. Add more vegetable oil to make it 1 cup.
Pour the fat into a 12 inch frying pan and place the pork skin side down in the cold oil and then turn on the heat to medium (#5)
Fry for 5-8 minutes or until the skin is golden brown and develops multiple bubbles and crispy (#6)
Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing using the slits on the skin as a guide.

This pork was fabulous; probably one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. The meat was tender and the skin was wonderfully crunchy. It had a delicate pork flavor. We tried both sauces but we probably like the hoisin-based sauce best with this wonderful pork. The mustard sauce is good but a bit too vinegary for our teste. In any case, this is an amazing dish and the skin was crispy beyond belief. We are glad we made this dish. Our only concern is that it tasted a bit too salty for us. I may reduce the salt and/or increased the drying time in the refrigerator.

Addendum:
For us, knowing how best to reheat the left-overs is often important (since this is something we often do.) Particularly for this dish when re-heating, we would like to have the skin crispy and the underlying meat juicy. So, I sliced two each for a small appetizer one evening. I wrapped the slices together, standing up and wrapped all sides and bottom with aluminum foil but exposed the top (skin). I placed this package skin side up in the toaster oven and toasted at 7 (darkest setting for toasting bread). This heating method worked very well. The skin was crispy and the meat/fat underneath is soft and juicy and nicely warmed up. The picture below shows how I served it with the two sauces; The dark one on the left is the hoisin-based and the one on the right is mustard and vinegar. We both agree that the hoisin-based sauce is much better. The next batch I may add Chinese 5 spice powder in the rub.

Sukiyaki Made with Beef and Edible Chrysanthemum from Weee すき焼き

We have not had “sukiyaki” すき焼き for a long time. One of the reasons is that two of the main ingredients “shungiku” 春菊 edible chrysanthemum (edible mum)*  and thinly sliced beef for sukiyaki or sukiyaki-meat すき焼肉 are generally not readily available. Although frozen sukiyaki meat is available at our Japanese grocery store, it is rather expensive and appears to be just thinly sliced rib eye steak. I considered getting a meat slicer which could slice a frozen block of beef so I could make my own sukiyaki beef but decided it was not worth it. Every-now-and-then, our Japanese grocery store has shungiku but it is “ hit or miss” with mostly miss.

Recently, we started getting Asian groceries from Weee, and found a leafy green vegetable called “Tang Ho 茼蒿, chrysanthemum green”. In addition, I also found they had a product called “Little Sheep Marbled Beef Sliced for Hot Pot”. So we got both to try them for sukiyaki. The package indicated the beef was sold by a company called Little Sheep Company (子羊). We learned that this company runs Mongolian hot pot chain restaurants and also sells meat like the one we just got. The Chinese writing on the package indicated the meat was “Wagyu 和牛” or Japanese beef but did not indicate what country the meat actually came from. Nonetheless it was just the right thickness for sukiyaki and had some marbling, (although not as much marbling as shown in the Weee website picture).

*Although spinach can be substituted for edible chrysanthemum it does not have the unique flavor which characterizes shungiku and is such an integral component of the sukiyaki taste experience. Shungiku is relatively easy to grow from seeds and we were able to raise it for some years in our herb garden. Then the rabbits discovered they liked it too. They ate not only all the edible mum out of the herb garden but every other chrysanthemum related plant we had in the yard edible (for us) or not. As a result we have not been able to raise mums of any kind.

The below are the ingredients I prepared for the sukiyaki. From 12 O’Clock clockwise are sliced onion, Tofu, “fu” 麩 gluten cake (flower-shaped), shira-taki*, shimeji and shiitake mushrooms and the center is enoki mushroom, beef and the green is chrysanthemum.

*Thread form of  konnyaku, washed and blanched and cut into shorter segments.

The picture below shows a detail of the meat. It is frozen in rolls. I served half of the package (about half a pound).

For the chrysanthemum green, I removed the leaves from the stem, washed and blanched them. Although the plant looked slightly different it tasted exactly like Japanese “shungiku”.

Using these ingredients we had sukiyaki using a cast-iron sukiyaki pot and our new table-top induction cooker. The seasonings were  my usual sugar, soy sauce, and sake (Kansai style 関西風) as opposed to using the premixed seasoning liquid “warishita” 割下  (Kanto style 関東風).

We really enjoyed this sukiyaki. The meat was not the best but certainly much better than what we had been previously getting. In addition, the price was very reasonable. Although the shungiku looked different, it tasted the same as the Japanese version and was very good. The assorted mushrooms (all came from Weee) are also very good. So, we are happy that the ingredients essential for making good sukiyaki can be bought at Weee.

Black (Pumpernickel) Bread 黒パン

This is my wife’s baking project. This one is called “black bread” but it is a type of pumpernickel bread. The recipe came from the cookbook “Beard on Bread”. One of the reasons she decided to bake this is that she discovered that both the rye and pumpernickel flours she kept in the freezer had a best use by date of 2013 (We are now in 2023, 10 years past the best use date). Even kept frozen all this time, she decided they were past their prime and we ordered rye and pumpernickel* flours from King-Arthur. Once the new bags of flour arrived she couldn’t resist making some rye/pumpernickel bread. (Also, to assure she made something with them before they passed the “best used by” date.) This is a great and robust bread. She added raisins since she likes raisins in a bread.

*I was not sure about the difference between rye and pumpernickel flours. My wife explained it to me that it was equivalent to the difference between white wheat and whole wheat flour, i.e., pumpernickel flour include the husks and germs.

Ingredients (makes two loaves)
3/8 cup cornmeal
1 3/4 cup water (I used whey because I had it. Buttermilk could also be used)
1 tbs. Butter
2 tsp. Salt
3 tbs brown sugar
2 tsp. Caraway seeds
1 tbs. Unsweetened cocoa
1 tbs. Instant coffee
2 packages active dry yeast
2 cups rye (dark) flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups AP flour
1 cup raisins (optional)
Additional flour for kneading
1 egg white beaten

Directions:
Add the cornmeal to 3/4 cup cold water and mix well. Meanwhile heat the rest of the water to boiling, add the cornmeal mixture and stir until it thickens. Then, add the butter through instant coffee. Cool to room temperature. Add the dry ingredients (yeast through AP flour) to the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the cooled cornmeal mixture. Mix until a smooth dough forms. (We found we had to add more liquid because the dough was very dry. Even with the addition of the extra liquid in the end did not use all the flour.)
Form into a ball and put in a bowl with a little vegetable oil. Coat the ball with the oil. Put in the proofing box until doubled in size. Punch down the dough and form into two loaves and put them in well buttered bread pans. Put back in proofer until they almost double in size. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until bread taps hollow. (Original recipe says, ‘if you have doubts about whether it is done, let it bake longer. This loaf is better a little overdone than underdone.’) The next picture shows the loafs just as they came out of the oven.

This is a very dense bread. Nonetheless the texture is very moist and soft. It has a very complex flavor. Despite all the ingredients that went into it no one stands out; they all meld together for a richly flavored result. My wife served a slice lightly toasted with honey butter and it was very good. This is a great pumpernickel bread.

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.

Fastnacht Cake Version 3 ファストナハトケーキ V3

Since “Fastnacht” day (“Fat Tuesday”) is approaching, my wife made a new and improved version of “Fastnacht” cake. This one is made with Japanese sweet potato (satsuma imo サツマイモ), is double layered with “rivels” between the layers and on the top and as an additional innovation my wife added; a medley of dried fruit.

The “rivel” layer is difficult to see but it is there as is the dried fruit.

Ingredients: My wife will tell what she did to make the cake (makes two round 8 inch cake/bread)
1/2 cup warm mashed sweet potato (please note the original recipe specifies HOT)
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water if blooming the yeast
4 cups of AP flour to start, adding more as needed to make velvety dough.
1 cup of dried fruit cut into small pieces

Ingredients and directions for rivels (Crumb topping)
Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup flour and 4 tbs. butter softened until the ingredients are completely combined and look like fine crumbs. (I added the ingredients to a small food processor and processed it until small clumps formed. These rivals were much finer than the ones made by hand.)

Directions:
Put the mashed potatoes into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using a mixing paddle beat in the butter, then the egg and a mixture of sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat until fluffy. Bloom the yeast in warm water.
Beat the yeast into the potato mixture. Switch to a dough hook and alternately add the flour and milk beating well after each addition. If necessary add more flour to make a soft dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface until smooth and satiny. Spread the dough into a flat square and cover the square with the dried fruit then fold the dough over the fruit and knead until the fruit is well distributed. Put the dough into a greased bowl. Grease the top of the dough, cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled.

Punch down the dough. Since the recipe makes two cakes split the dough into quarters so the rivals can be put into the middle of each cake. Then put 1/4 of the dough in the bottom of the 8 inch pan (#1). Sprinkle on 1/4 of the rivels (#2) and top that layer with another quarter of dough (#3). Do this for both cakes. Brush the tops with melted butter and cover both with the remaining rivels. Let the cakes rise in a warm place for about 30 to 40 minutes while the oven preheats. (This is a variation from the original PA Dutch recipe. It does not call for the second rise; the cakes are cooked immediately after they are put in the pan. I’ve made fastnacht cakes both ways and think the cake made with a second rise is much better. It comes out much thicker and has a lovely tender texture.) Cook in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Picture (#4) shows the cake as it came out of the oven.

This is a good moist “cake” with a pleasing tender texture. (Although it is known as a cake, that might not be the most accurate nomenclature. It is not a cake in the traditional sense. It is more a mix of a cake and a very soft bread). It is only very slightly sweet. The sweet potato flavor is very subtle but does come through. The middle layer of rivels made with the food processor were much finer than those made by hand and maybe as a result almost disappeared. Nonetheless they added a layer of moist texture. The dried fruit really added and provided a little additional burst of flavor and sweetness. The cooks who wrote the original recipe that appeared in the 1940’s cookbook my wife uses, may not recognize this as the fastnacht cake they knew but as far as I am concerned this is the best version my wife has made yet.

Bran and Raisin Muffin ブラン、レイズン マフィン

This is another my wife’s baking projects. She’s made almost all the muffins from Nancy Silverton’s “Pastries from La Brea bakery” but somehow missed this bran muffin. Although it appears to be a very healthy muffin high in fibers, don’t let appearances fool you; it is also extremely good. My wife keeps some speciality and whole wheat flours in the freezer (since whole wheat contains oil from the germ which can go rancid if left out).  These frozen flours included bran and whole wheat pastry flour. Although  the bran flour was good, the wheat pastry flour had a best used by date of  2017 (some 6 years past). My wife decided even frozen this flour was too old and did not use it. (She substituted AP flour) in this batch but promptly ordered new bag of the pastry flour from Amazon (#1 in the composite picture below).

Ingredients (made 12 muffins):
2 cups unprocessed bran
1 1/2 cups raisins (one cup rehydrated, the remaining 1/2 cup added to the batter)
1 1/2 cup water (1 cup to rehydrate the raisins, 1/2 cup to go into the batter).
1/2 cup buttermilk
The zest from one orange plus 1 tsp orange flavoring
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 large egg
1 large egg white (or just 2 eggs, optional)
1/2 cup pastry flour (or AP flour)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
1 Tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

Directions:
Toast the bran until it is fragrant. Pour the bran into a bowl add the buttermilk and remaining 1/2 cup of water and stir to combine (#3). Hydrate the raisins in 1 cup of water on the stove until the water has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Add to a food processor and puree (#2). Add the oil, brown sugar, eggs, and continue pureeing. Put the two flours, baking powder, soda and salt in a bowl. Mix to combine. Add the bran mixture to the flour mixture then add the raisin mixture. Stir until completely blended. Add the remaining raisins. Scoop the batter into muffin tins (#4). Bake in a 350 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the muffins are well browned and firm to the touch.

These muffins are quite moist (thanks to the raisin paste) with a gentle sweetness and has a nice orange flavor (thanks to orange zest). Regardless of the high-fiber or otherwise, this is a darn good muffin perfect for a breakfast. Probably one of our favorites from this cookbook.

Shrimp and Avocado Croquette エビとアボカドのコロッケ

This is another variation of Japanese potato croquette. I have already posted quite a few variations on this potato theme previously. I got the idea of adding shrimp and avocado to a croquette from watching one of the YouTube episodes. Since my wife had made mashed potatoes when we cooked chicken in the Weber grill a few days ago and we also had a ripe avocado which had to be used quickly, this was a no-brainer. I served this as an appetizer one evening with a side of Tonkatsu sauce. On the cut-surface, you can see pieces of the shrimp and avocado.

Ingredients (this made 9 small croquettes):
6 large shrimp, thawed, shell and vein removed, cut into bite size, salted and sprinkled with sake (#1).
1 ripe avocado, skin and stone removed and cut into bite-size cubes, tossed in juice of a half lemon (#2)
Mashed potatoes (I used the mashed potatoes my wife made (#3). (The amount is uncertain but they were made from 2 russet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil cooked in the Weber grill when we cooked two small chickens. We ate a small amount of the potatoes with some of the chicken for dinner the night of the barbecue. My wife added butter, cream cheese with onion and chive, and seasoned with salt).
Flour, egg and panko bread crumbs for dredging and breading

Oil (I used peanut oil) for frying.

Directions:
Mix the mashed potatoes, avocado and shrimp (#4)
Portion out the mixture (I used an ice cream scoop) (#5)
With hands wet with water, press and form an oval-shaped disk.
Coat with the flour, egg-water and Panko bread crumbs for frying.
Refrigerate for a few hours before frying (or freeze)* to prevent the croquets from exploding while frying.
Fry for 2-3 minutes each side (#6)
Drain and serve immediately or heat up in a toaster oven after placed in the refrigerator for later consumption.

*I made this twice. The first time, I just refrigerated the mixture for one hour before shallow frying. It was mostly OK but some of the croquettes crust did not remain completely intact. The second time, I froze the breaded croquettes overnight and deep fried them without thawing which produced a much better result.

The contrast of the shrimp’s firm and avocado’s soft and creamy textures makes this croquette very nice. The potatoes served as a nice creamy background for the shrimp and avocado. The breading provided a very satisfying crunch juxtapose to the creamy filling. We really like this croquette.

Tomato and Egg Stir-fry with Wood Ear Mushroom トマトと卵炒め丼 キクラゲ入り

This is another version of “tomato and egg stir-fry”.  I made a few changes to improve this dish. Least of those is the inclusion of fresh wood ear mushrooms we got from “Weee”.  Another change I made was to add potato starch to better coat the tomato with ketchup. I served this on rice for lunch.

Ingredients (for 2 servings): 2-3  Campari tomato, skinned and quartered
1 tbs ketchup
Dash of Sriracha or other hot sauce, optional and to taste
1 tsp “katakuriko” potato starch
1/4 cup fresh or dry rehydrated wood ear mushroom, washed and patted dry using a paper towel, cut into strips and if needed hard attachment part removed
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp ginger root, finely chopped
salt and pepper for seasoning
Olive or vegetable oil

Directions:
Coat the tomato quarters with the ketchup, sriracha, and potato starch.
Heat the oil in frying pan and sauté the ginger and then tomato for 1-2 minutes
Add the wood ear and sauté another minute (despite being patted dry, it does splatter)
Add the egg and let it sit for a few seconds until the bottom is set. Mix and repeat until all eggs are just cooked
Season it with salt and pepper
Serve by itself or over the rice.

We think this version is better. Because of the potato starch, the tomato does not exude too much liquid. The wood ear adds nice crunch and went well with the cooked egg.

New Induction Cooker Compatible Do-nabe IH 対応、銀宝花三島万古焼土鍋

Japanese “Nabe” 鍋 hot pot is a dish that is cooked at the table while you eat.  Classically, a portable butane-canister gas cooker is used with a “Do-nabe”  土鍋 earthen-ware pot. We used to have a butane table top cooker for nabe and sukiyaki すき焼き but because of safety concerns, which mainly stemmed from the age of our canisters and cooker, we looked for an alternative which turned out to be a table-top induction cooker (or the Japanese term is “IH”, short  for induction heater). For this to work, you have to use IH compatible pots and pans. Traditional Japanese nabe earthen-ware pots are certainly not IH compatible. We eventually found an IH compatible nabe from Kinto which worked great. Only complaint (which may not be important to many) is that while the pot worked well it is a very modern-appearing ceramic and does not have the traditional look of nabe. (I missed the homey nostalgic feel of a nabe which just the sight of the traditional design pot can evoke for me.)

Recently, I found an IH compatible nabe which is made of traditional “Banko-ware” 万古焼 pot called “Gipo Hanamishima Banko-yaki pot” 銀宝花三島万古焼土鍋 in an on-line store called “Japanese taste”. This is where we got dried persimmon or “hoshigaki” 干し柿. The “Japanese taste” ships items directly from Japan but it comes relatively quickly*. In any case, we got this “IH compatible do-nabe” pot last year but did not have a chance to use it until now. In the picture below, the left is “Kakomi” IH donabe from Kinto and the right is new Ginpo IH compatible donabe.

*We later learned that this pot is available at Amazon USA.

To make a donabe IH compatible, a magnetic metal disk needs to be present between the induction cooker surface and donabe.  Both these induction compatible donabes took a bit of a different approach.

Kinto donabe has a metal disk embedded into the bottom of pot as seen below. It can be used on gas, induction, and or halogen (electric heating element) cook tops. But not in a microwave oven.

Gipo comes with a stainless steel perforated disk which snaps into the inside bottom of the pot (apparently Ginpo has a patent). There are metal hooks and the inside bottom of the pot is formed to accept and secure this disk. It can be removed for cleaning and using the pot in a microwave. We initially tried it on our old induction cooktop (at least 18 years old which works with our cast iron sukiyaki pot and  Kinto donabe). The Gipo donabe, however, did not work with the old induction cooker. The cooker issued an error message which essentially read “NO-CAN-DO”. I read the instructions that came with the Gipo donabe and found out that it may not be compatible with older IH cookers. Great. Which meant we would be getting a new table top induction cooker to complete the set. It was not too expensive.

The new one is much better; the surface is completely covered with glass and easy to clean and the controls are more advanced. The new cooker worked with the Ginpo donabe. Actually, it boiled the liquid inside much quicker. I assume that because the metal disk is in contact with the liquid.

We enjoyed our nabe dish.  The main protein was cod and oyster. The cod was great. The oysters, however, were a different story. Digression alert: We are having a difficult time getting good oysters, especially Pacific oysters. For this dish we got small (eastern) frozen oyster but they tasted terrible. Luckily they did not ruin the flavor of the rest of the nabe. We ended up throwing out the remainder of the oysters in the package.

The other items in the nabe included nappa cabbage, tofu, diakon, mushrooms (enoki, oyster, shiitake and shimeji). I also added “fu” 麩 gluten cake. I made a broth with dried kelp and a dashi pack and, and for a change, seasoned the simmering liquid with miso (miso, mirin and sake).

Somehow, this new do-nabe is esthetically more pleasing (at least for me) and works great. Since this is a genuine earthen ware pot, you should not keep the contents in the pot over night.

Marinated Camembert Cheese カマンベールチーズのかえし漬け

I was browsing one of the Japanese food blogs I follow when my wife stopped me and asked what the picture on the screen was showing. It happened to be slices of Camembert cheese marinated in “Kaeshi” かえし*. Although the blog was about a “soba” Japanese noodle restaurant in Tuskiji 築地長生庵 their menu included a selection of sake and dishes that go with sake in addition to soba. (Judging from the blogs, it is a popular watering hole among sake drinkers).

*Kaeshi: Kaeshi is the concentrated soba noodle sauce made of soy sauce, mirin and sugar. It is transformed into soba noodle sauce by diluting the kaeshi with dashi broth. So since this was a soba noodle restaurant, good kaeshi must have been readily available.

Since we had just gotten a wheel of Camembert cheese and we also had a bottle of concentrated noodle sauce which is equivalent to Kaeshi, we decided to try to make the cheese dish shown in the blog. The original dish was topped with freshly grated horse radish. Although we had prepared horse radish in a jar, in general we find it too harsh in flavor. So my wife suggested the next best alternative; grated daikon. I thought that was a great idea since the spiciness of both daikon and horse radish comes from the same/similar chemical substance called “allyl isothiocyanate (AITC)”. Usually daikon is not as spicy as horse radish but sometimes grated daikon can be extremely hot (atomic) which we have experienced in the past.

Since Camembert cheese is fatty and does not easily absorb liquid marinade, we sliced the cheese and marinated it in x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce. We marinated it in the refrigerator for several hours. It came to be rather firm.

Fortunately, the grated daikon had a just right amount of spiciness and went very well with the marinated Camembert. This is an unusual West/East hybrid dish akin to miso-marinated cream cheese. We really like this. (And it does go very well with sake).

New Fitz and Floyd Japanese Crane Plates 鶴と松模様のお皿

My wife has been getting decorative figurines and china from a Fitz and Floyd overstock website (I call it Frick and Frack) for some time. In addition, since both our china and flatware patterns have been discontinued, she discovered that she could fill in missing pieces from a place called “Replacments, Ltd”. She really hit the “jackpot” when she learned that old discontinued Fitz and Floyd pieces are also available at Replacements. The convergence of these two sites materialized in the form of the beautiful Japanese plates with a crane pattern which were originally produced by Fitz and Floyd, have since been discontinued but were available at Replacements (shown in the picture below.) Since we are particularly fond of the crane motif and have several plates with crane pattern, she got them. We got “bread and butter” size since we tend to use smaller plates more often. They are beautiful; with a crane and pine pattern (both of which are auspicious symbols in Japan).

Immediately after we received them we used them for a lunch (as shown in the picture below). We made Mozzarella cheese mochiマツレラチーズ餅 served on this plate with side of couscous salad クスクスサラダ and “hoshigaki” persimmon daikon namasu 干し柿入り大根なます.

This is close up of this plate. They are labeled “made in Japan” but the exact manufacturer was not specified. They are very well made and we are delighted with them.

My wife found out that Replacements. Ltd also had three larger salad plates available (quantities at Replacements tend to be limited) in the same crane pattern. She bought them out. They are heading our way.