How to make a perfect grilled rice ball with crispy crust all around. 完璧な焼きおにぎりの作り方

Grilled rice balls 焼きおにぎり are the most common "shime" 締め dish for us when we fire up the grill, either the Konro or Weber. My wife really likes the crispy brown crust and encourages me to maximize the crust around the entire rice ball. But it is difficult to get crispy crust on all sides since the rice ball usually does not stand on the side by itself. At my wife's suggestion, I made a rice ball that does, in fact, stand on its side. I did this by making triangular-shaped rice balls with wider and perfectly flat sides. I shape the rice ball by placing an amount of cooked rice in the middle of a piece of plastic wrap. I gather the ends of the wrap together and form a ball. Then I shape the ball into a triangle. Since the rice ball is wrapped in plastic, I flatten the sides and then test to see if the rice ball will remain standing on the counter top without any support. If it rolls over I flatten the sides and test again. I do this on all three sides). Here they are! Standing up on their sides very proudly without any support. We now have the perfect grilled rice ball, nicely crunchy and brown crust all around. Toward the end of the grilling, I brush all the surfaces with either yuzumiso 柚子味噌 or mirin-soy sauce mixture. This time, I used Yuzumiso. In most Izakayas, grilled rice balls are not grilled long or thoroughly enough and certainly do not have a crunchy crust on all sides. Hope other Izakayas will emulated this (not likely).

By the way, a small white half moon shaped item is a Japanese turnip (ko kabu こかぶ) which was grown by our friend. It turned out that this kabu is rather spicy (hot).

Natto soba 納豆蕎麦

Several things came together to inspire me to make this dish. First the cover picture on the cookbook "Takashi's Noodles" triggered the memory of a similar dish I occasionally had for lunch at a Soba restaurant in downtown Sapporo. Second, it has been really hot and muggy here--the kind of weather that calls for cold soba.  In Japan, soba is a very popular lunch item and there are many restaurants specializing in soba and they do a brisk business during lunch. The combination of cold soba topped with natto 納豆 is rather classic and called "Natto soba" 納豆蕎麦 which was one of my favorites. I made this as a "shime" dish one night and found out my wife never had this before.

This is not a recipe per se since this is just a plate of soba and various garnishes which happened to include natto. A raw egg yolk usually accompanies this dish. Raw or undercooked eggs here in the U.S. are always iffy because of the potential for Salmonella contamination. We use "free-ranging" and "organic" brown eggs for dishes that are not fully cooked or have runny yolks. We do not know, however, if there is scientific or statistical evidence that these eggs are indeed safer than regular supermarket white eggs. (P.S. I found an article indicating that there is a lower risk of salmonella contamination in organic and free ranging eggs, although the risk is not zero. I also found that pasteurized shell eggs* are going to be available more widely in very near future.) We have been eating soft boiled eggs, poached eggs, and sunny side ups for many years and so far, (knock on wood) we have not experienced any ill effects. This time I used egg yolks from  "Onsen tamago" 温泉卵, which I made from the brown eggs.  This is a very peculiar Japanese way of cooking eggs, which, I am sure, I can describe in more details in a separate post.

I cooked dried soba noodle as per package instructions and washed them in cold running water and drained. I diluted a bottled noodle (concentrated) sauce in cold water to my liking. Natto was prepared my usual way. Other garnishes include thinly sliced (on bias) scallion , dried bonito flakes, thin strips of nori and an egg yolk from the onsen tamago. Just before eating, I poured on the dipping sauce. I took a dab of  wasabi and worked it in by mixing all the items well. This is a perfect dish for hot summer days. By the way, my wife, who is not a card-carrying member of the Natto fan club, liked this dish.


* P.S. 2: We found Davidson's Pasteurized shell eggs in our neighborhood market (one we have not been before). I will have a separate post for the pasteurized shell eggs in the near future.

Grilled Capelin 焼き ししゃも

Shishamo ししゃも is a small salt sea fish endogenous to Hokkaido 北海道 and the name is derived from a native Ainu language meaning “willow leaf fish”. The name of this fish in Kanji 柳葉魚,  is a classic example of “ateji” 当て字 in which the meaning of the kanji letter is “willow 柳”+”leaf 葉”+ “fish 魚” but there is no way to pronounce this Kanji as “shishamo”. Although you can still get true shishamo in Hokkaido, unfortunately,  the vast majority of “shishamo” you buy and eat at an Izakaya nowadays is not true “shishamo” but its cousin “Karafuto Shishamo” or Capelin. (see P.S. below) That includes the one shown here which came from Canada. Although my memory of eating shishamo while bar-hopping in Susukino 薄野 is a bit foggy (whether because it was such a long time ago or because I was, in fact, bar-hopping), the shishamo tasted much better in Hokkaido. Whether it was “true” shishamo or “Karafuto shishamo” I was eating, like the rest of the memory, is somewhat unclear.

In any case, this fish is among the Izakaya favorites and the female with eggs or “Komochi Shishamo” 子持ちししゃも is much better to eat than the male fish without eggs. The  eggs of this fish “Capelin roe” are often seasoned and artificially colored (wasabi flavoured etc) and served as “Masago” or sometimes “Tobiko” at a sushibar. “Tobiko” should be  flying fish roe, so there are lots of substitutions and confusing naming when it comes to fish.

We get these fish frozen and I grilled them in a toaster oven unthawed and serve it with grated Daikon and soy sauce. This may not be the true “shishamo” but it goes well with a drink of sake.

P.S. Jon provided me with an eyewitness evidence that, indeed, some Izakayas serve true Hokkaido shishamo 北海道本ししゃも. I believe this is the menu from "Honoka". This is something I can look forward to next time we visit Japan. Thank you, Jon.

Myouga Harvest 茗荷の収穫

This may look like small bamboo but these are myouga (myoga) plants. Some years ago, Chef Kudo of Tako Grill gave a cutting (root) to us after he served us his home-grown myouga and learned that we both love myouga. We planted it in several spots in our backyard but it chose to grow in this one under the Japanese plum tree. It is good that this is confined to the raised bed, this plant keeps sending underground shoots and could overtake the entire yard under the right conditions.


This is a very strange plant (and I guess it could be said that those who grow, harvest and eat it may be also be considered somewhat eccentric--including us). In any case, the portion of the plant which we eat grows underground. Around this time of the year, the plants send out subterranean buds. These will produce a delicate white flower that eventually makes its appearance above ground. The flower looks like a white butterfly floating just above the soil in the dark shade under the foliage. While this flower is beautiful and indicates that the bud is just below the surface once it has made its appearance it is too late--the bud which is the part that we eat is "past its prime". Once the buds flower they become mushy and lose their flavor.

Because the edible buds of the plant are literally buried, they are extremely difficult to find. You have to literally dig down into the soil, scrabbling with your fingers to search for the hidden delicacy which frequently can only be found by feel.  If you use a tool, it is highly likely you will damage the buds. Add to this difficulty the fact that the myouga grows in the part of our back yard heavily under the domain of "dark friends" (mosquitoes). These small Asian mosquitoes are quite vicious to anyone entering the part of the yard they claim as their own. But never fear when it comes to purloining a Japanese delicacy for her husband, my intrepid wife fearlessly sallies forth. She dons a black "Ninja suit" consisting of a long sleeved hoodie (with hood pulled up and tied) balloon pants with cuffs tucked into black socks as protection against the mosquitoes--black because mosquitoes seem less attracted to dark colors. With head deeply buried in the foliage she scrabbles bare-handed in the hard dirt in search of the tasty little buds sometimes buried inches under the soil. (Harvesting myouga wrecks havoc on a manicure). As I said those who grow, harvest and eat myouga may be considered somewhat eccentric--including us


After some searching, my wife found one. (the picture shows the bud after it has been partially dug out). The buds are still very small and it will probably take another week for them to grow to a good size. But if you let it go too long, everything will bloom when you least expect it and its "game over" until next year. Oh, well, my wife will just have to go back out again.

Here are what we harvested today but maybe, next week we may have a better luck. Dishes using myouga will definitely be forthcoming.

Grilled potato with butter じゃがバタ

Hokkaido 北海道 where I am originally from is the Northernmost island of Japan and the climate is more like New England.  Many cold weather crops and non-traditional Japanese (i.e Western) crops are produced. Two of these are potatoes and corn. One potato cultivar "May Queen" is particularly famous in Hokkaido. We do not see this variety in North America. In addition, Hokkaido is also different from the rest of Japan in that dairy farming is a major agricultural activity. As such, both potatoes (called "jagaimo" ジャガイモ) and butter are speciality products in Hokkaido. The combination is simply called "jagabata" ジャガバタ in which the whole potato is cooked (boiled, steamed, microwaved) and eaten with butter. People in the U.S. may think 'nothing unusual about that' but in Japan, it is, at least it was, a rather exotic local food. In the downtown park in Sapporo 札幌, called "Odori koen" 大通公園, during the tourist season which starts in the early summer, you can buy "jagabata" and grilled corn on the cob or "yaki toukibi" 焼きとうきび from food carts. Since the crop is not harvested until July, the corn and potatoes available in the early tourist season are from the previous year. Besides being a favorite tourist snack, "Jagabata" has now become a popular Izakaya food in Hokkaido and elsewhere. In terms of salty seasonings for your potato, you usually have three choices; salt, soy sauce, or shiokara 塩 辛 (squid and guts), for which  "Hakodate" 函館, the Southernmost large port city of Hokkaido, is famous. Our version of "jagabata" is a cross between this and French fries and modeled after "jagabata" at Tako Grill and served with salt. Until you add butter, this is a much healthier food than French fries but you have to have the butter.

I first microwaved whole white potatoes (skin on, washed, with the "eyes" removed) in a microwave oven-proof vessel with a lid on until I can insert a bamboo skewer easily to the center. Be careful not to over zap it. I cut it into quarters. You could do this step a few hours or, maybe, a day ahead. Just grill the potato on the charcoal fire until all the surfaces are nicely brown/crunchy and heated through (about 5 minutes). Add pats of butter and let them melt, dip it in salt and enjoy. Extremely simple but satisfying dish.....!!MM!!!MmmmmmmmMMmmMMMM!!. (hope Jon did not trade mark this).

Miso grilled chicken thigh 鶏のももの味噌焼き

We had a few very nice days in June so we fired up our Konro grill on our deck. This time, I marinated chickens thigh in miso and grilled them. I did not follow any recipe but this is sort of the standard way (along with Teriyaki) to grill marinated chicken in a Japanese style.

Chicken thigh: In Japan, chicken parts are usually sold as whole legs--the thigh and drumstick are usually attached together 骨付きもも鶏肉 which is often grilled such as "Teriyaki" 照り焼き. Here I just used the thigh without the drumstick (4 for 2 servings). Debone and remove excess fat and excess skin. Butter fly one side of the thigh meat since it is thicker that the other side so that the entire thigh will have an uniform thickness. This preparation will shorten the cooking time significantly. It ensures even cooking and also prevents the surface from charring too much (which I managed to do despite these preparations).

Marinade: Mix red miso (4 tbs) and mirin (3-4 tbs) with splashes of Yuzu juice (from the bottle) to a saucy consistency. Add sake or mirin to adjust the consistency (more mirin will make it sweeter). Coat the surface of the thigh meat with the miso marinade and then put it in a Ziploc bag. Massage the meat in the bag to make sure the meat is evenly coated and let it marinate 2-3 hours in a refrigerator.

Take the meat out of the bag and, using your fingers, remove the excess marinade (see above image). I grill the skin side first. Because of the miso and mirin, it is easy to burn. (which is what I immediately did). It will take 3-4 minutes per side. The meat comes out very moist and flavorful. The skin gets crispy and despite the fact I got it a little too "high done" and it looked very dark it still tasted very good. For serving this in Izakaya style, I cut into strips and serve with a wedge of lemon. I could have done a better job of presenting this but it is too late.

Cold ramen noodle 冷やしラーメン

Regional name differences and variations of this and similar dishes and who invented this dish etc are quite complicated. In Hokkaido 北海道 where I grew up, this dish is called “hiyashi ra-men” 冷やしラーメン.  The rest of Japan including Tokyo, this dish is usually called “hiyashi chuka” 冷やし中華 which is short for “hiyashi chuka-soba” 冷やし中華そば. “Hiyashi” means cold and “chuka-soba” means Chinese “soba” or noodle. Although this is more of a summer lunch item and not an Izakaya food, Izakayas in Hokkaido often serve “ra-sara” ラーサラ which is short for “ramen salad” throughout the seasons. This is a variation with some more vegetable toppings resembling a salad more than a noodle dish. It is said to have been invented by the chef at the Sapporo Grand Hotel for their Beer Hall (Bierhalle) when it was opened for the first time in the 1980s. I have not made this dish for a long time. An intrepid Japanese food and culture explorer I know announced his intention to thoroughly explore cheap Chinese food and “hiyashi chuka” in the Kanda 神田 area during hot summer days in Tokyo. This combined with the unseasonably hot weather we are having here in the DC area made me think of this dish. In contrast to regular ramen, which appears to invoke profound emotions among “rameniacs" out there, this dish is very low-key and cool-as-a-cucumber--no high emotion required.



Ramen noodle: The dried ramen noodle I had in my pantry this time is made in Yamagata prefecture 山形県, which is located in a northern part of the mainland Japan. It is rather thin and straight but has a nice firm texture, I have no idea what style of a ramen noodle this is (Yamagata style??). I prepared it as per the package instruction and washed it in cold water and drained (Do not ask me how many times I have to shake a “spider” strainer or a flat “zaru” strainer, I just use a good American colander.)

Sauce: Again, there is no complicated preparation for the sauce (you need not to boil whole birds, pig heads, bones, and other secret ingredients for days and months in a cauldron while saying secret mantras). It is essentially a vinegar, soy sauce, mirin with some sesame oil; so I just used a bottled good quality ponzu (shoyu) sauce (this one specifically said “with Hokkaido kelp broth”--my kind of ponzu). I dressed the noodles with a small splash of dark roasted sesame oil before plating it and added the ponzu sauce over it (not too much). All the topping should be cut into thin match stick strips (or “julienned” as Julia[n] Child used to say) and top the noodle with the individual toppings arranged in a radial fashion rather than randomly scattering them (just a tradition). You can mix it up yourself before eating. I had a leftover miso-marinated grilled chicken thigh, so I used that. I also used cucumber, scallion, perilla, pickled ginger root, and golden thread egg (kinshiran 金糸卵). You could add strips of nori sheet, sprouts, carrot, corn, etc but now you are getting dangerously close to  the “ra-sara” territory.

I garnished it with Campari tomato and served it with a dab of Japaneses hot mustard. This was a lunch and we ate it on our back deck which is perfect especially in this rather hot and muggy weather.