Crispy Mochi with cheese and nuts ナッツとチーズ入り餅せんべい

After New Year, it is always a challenge to finish the mochi. Although I bought the smallest bag of mochi available at the Japanese grocery store, we had several pieces leftover. We are probably not the only ones ending up in this condition because there are many recipes for leftover mochi. This is a variation of mochi and cheese I posted before. This one developed a more crispy crust than the previous recipe. This may be because I used too much heat. It may look better and a little less burnt if I used a very low flame and was more patient.  I served it with kinpira gobo きんぴらごぼう, my potato salad  ポテトサラダand datemaki 伊達巻 for a weekend lunch.

This one adds crushed nuts (the original called for peanuts but we used roasted pecan as per my wife's suggestion).

I made my datemaki again after the New Year. This time, I put the darker side inside the roll which looks better to me rather than the other way around.

The original recipe came from the Internet.

Ingredients (for 4):
Mochi cakes, 2
Melting cheese (I used smoke mozzarella), several slices, finely chopped (grating may work better).
Crushed nuts (original recipe calls for peanuts, we used roasted pecans), amount arbitrary.
Soy sauce and Japanese hot pepper flakes or ichimi tougarashi 一味唐辛子.

Directions:
1. Soften the mochi by microwaving for 20 seconds in the plastic wrapping.
2. Cut each mochi into small cubes (I cut one mochi into 8 cubes, wetting the knife blade to prevent the mochi from sticking).
3.  Place 4 cubes together in the pan on low flame (I used a small amount of olive oil, the original recipe does not use oil). Put on a tight lid.
4. When the cheese is melted and the bottom becomes brown, turn the pieces over (#1).
5. Put the lid back on and keep cooking for several more minutes (#2).
6.  pour a small amount of soy sauce mixed with Japanese hot pepper flakes over the mochi (#3).
7. I served two (one mochi cake equivalent) per serving (#4).

The visual could have been better. I should have used a lower flame. In any case, this was good. Very crunchy crust on both sides and soft and chewy center with the taste of cheese, soy sauce and nuts. This might be a reason to make left over mochi on purpose.

Coleslaw with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing ランチドレッシング コールスロー

This is a variation of coleslaw. Since my wife discovered a high octane buttermilk, she wanted to make salad dressing using it. She found a Ranch dressing recipe on line. This is not our usual or favorite dressing but with this buttermilk, it may be worth it. We simplified/modified it (removing fresh herbs so that the coleslaw would last longer) and made this coleslaw. This post is mostly to document our modification for the dressing.

Using this buttermilk and home-made Greek yogurt, the Ranch dressing came out rather thick and creamy (and hopefully more healthy than if we had used the sour cream called for in the recipe).

First I prepared the cabbage and carrot.

Ingredients:
1/4 head of cabbage
2 medium carrots, skin peeled, sliced thinly on bias and then cut into thin julienne.
Raisin

Directions:
I hand chopped the cabbage and then soaked it in cold water for 10-20 minutes and drained.
I salted and massaged the cabbage and let it sit in a bowl until slightly wilted and some juice came out.
I pressed the cabbage and discarded the any juice accumulated. I mixed in the carrot and raisin.

Dressing:

(1/2 the original recipe)
1/2 - 3/4 cup well-shaken buttermilk
2-3 tablespoons home made Greek yogurt (the original calls for sour cream)
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red onion, finely minced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded deveined and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Few dashes Sriracha sauce
(1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce and optional suggestion from my wife based on her previous coleslaw recipe)

(Original recipe) 

1 cup well-shaken buttermilk
4 tablespoons home made Greek yogurt (the original calls for sour cream)
4 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red onion, finely minced
1 Jalapeno pepper, seeded deveined and finely chopped
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Few dashes Sriracha sauce
(1tsp Worcestershire sauce and optional suggestion from my wife based on her previous coleslaw recipe)

This represented 1/2 of the original recipe. The original recipe also called for 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon, dill, parsley, chives or celery leaves (or a combination) but we omitted it since we thought these fresh herbs may make the dressing more perishable. Instead, we added finely chopped Jalapeno pepper. The original called for Tabasco. One of the things my wife said is important is to premix the buttermilk in a bowl with a whisk since it tends to separate. Just shaking the bottle, in her opinion, will not do it.

We dressed the cabbage misture generously and seasoned it with salt and pepper after we tasted it.

My wife's original coleslaw dressing had Worcestershire sauce which gave some zing to the dressing. This ranch dressing version is milder and creamer and I sort of like it but my wife said she likes the original.

Japanese yam simmered with grated apple リンゴとサツマイモのみぞれ煮

I saw this recipe for Japanese yam and grated apple. This is one of a series of vegan cooking or shoujin ryouri 精進料理 by a Buddhist monk in Kyoto which appeared in Japanese news paper on line.  Since we got Japanese yams and it is a very simple dish, I decided to make it. It is called "Mizore-ni" みぞれ煮 or "simmered in sleet". Usually "sleet" is grated daikon but in this dish, it is grated apple.

The grated apple looks like sleet accumulating on the surface.

This is very simple to make.

Ingredients:
1 Japanese sweet yam, satsuma-imo, cut into 1/3 inch half round.
1 apple, peeled, cored and grated (I used a fuji apple).
1 tsp sugar
water to cover the yam.
a pinch of salt.

Directions:
Melt the butter and sautee the yam until coated
Add the grated apple, sugar and salt
Add water to cover and cook until the yam is done (10 minutes)



This is a simple but nice dish. The mild sweetness of the potato and the apple went well together. In addition to sweetness the apple added a light acidity that made the dish taste refreshing. The butter flavor also went well with this. The red skin adds to the color but the consistency of the skin and the flesh of the yam are so different it is probably better to remove the skin next time.

Spicy Japanese sweet potato and burdock root さつまいもとごぼうの甘辛炒め

Since there were extra Japanese yams left over after we made yaki-imo 焼き芋, I decided to make something different with them. There is a classic candied Japanese yam called "Daigaku-imo" 大学芋 which is deep fried yam coated with a layer of candy (or melted sugar). I decided that is not something I would like to cook or eat. So, instead, I decided to make this dish which I saw the recipe on line, especially since I also had half a burdock root left over. I substantially changed the way this was cooked. I thought it would be difficult to cook the vegetable through just sautéing it as suggested in the on-line recipe.

I garnished it with white sesame. The spicy and sweet sauce clings to the surface.

Ingredients:
One Japanese "satsuma-imo" Japanese yam (#1), washed skin left on, cut into irregular bite sized pieces.
Half a gobo burdock root, skin scraped off and cut into bite sized pieces (cut on the bias as I turned it 45 degrees. This method is called "Ran-giri" 乱切り.
Garlic and ginger, skin removed and finely chopped, the amount is to your liking.
Potato starch for dredging the vegetables.
Oil for deep frying.

For the sauce:
1 tbs Sriracha (or more if you like spicy)
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sake

Directions:
1. Soak the gobo in water with a splash of vinegar for 20-30 minutes, drain and wash.
2. Cook the gobo in water for 20 minutes. Drain and pat dry.
3. Soak the yam in water for 20-30 minutes and pad dry.
4. Dredge the gobo and yam in potato starch and deep fry for 5-8 minutes until the yam is cooked (#3),
5. Add 2 tbs of water to the pan and then add the sauce mixture.
6. Keep tossing the vegetables until, a thick sauce develops and coats the vegetables (#4).

The original recipe said to sauté all the vegetables dredged in potato starch. Gobo is rather hard, however, so I didn't think it would get cooked through if I just sauteed it, so I decided to precook it in water. In addition, instead of sautéing the vegetables in a small amount of oil, I deep fried them. I did not think just sautéing would work well especially if the vegetables are coated in potato starch, I also thought the yam would not cook easily that way. By deep frying, the potato starch made a nice crust (We enjoyed snacking on the deep dried yam which was very good as is.)  I added the sauce mixture and the crust added to the nice clinging sauce.

When we tasted it immediately after it was cooked and still hot (temperature wise), it was spicy but once cooled down it became much milder. This dish has a very good texture contrast between the yam and gobo. The salty, sweet and spicy combination of flavors really worked well. Although we had this as a drinking snack, this is perfect starch side dish.

Japanese yam (Yaki imo) 焼き芋

While we were in the near-by gourmet grocery store, my wife spotted "Japanese yam" from California. It is called satsuma-imo 薩摩芋 in Japan. The name "Satsuma" came from the old local jurisdiction which is now a part of Kagoshima prefecture 鹿児島県 where this type of yam was widely grown.  Satsuma-imo, which supposedly originated from South America, is not endogenous to Japan and is said to have come to Southern Japan in 17th century from the Philippines via China. Compared to the more popular yam we usually get, Satsuma-imo has a redder skin and white/yellow flesh.

Satsuma-imo is associated with a fond nostalgic memory for my wife. Many years ago, we went to Sapporo 札幌 in the winter. It was very cold as most winters are in Sapporo and there was deep snow on the ground. We were visiting one of my colleagues, who was considerably older than we were. We were all sitting around the gas space heater which was the characteristic source of heat in Hokkaido houses at that time when my colleague's wife hopped up and said she had the perfect snack for us. She produced two large Satsuma-imo and wrapped them in aluminium foil. Then she popped them into a contraption on the heating stove (although details how she cooked the potato are foggy). She explained that this (yaki-imo 焼き芋 or grilled yam) was a favorite snack for young girls of her generation. According to her, they cooked them in the coals of the heat stove and ate them after school on cold days. We sat together in companionable conversation while they cooked and the air became filled with the sweet smell of potato. After some time she fished them out of the heat and opened the foil. She broke open the red skins. The white/yellow flesh was soft and exuded sweet smelling clouds of steam. We all fell on them; devouring the hot pieces we broke off with our fingers laughing as we popped them in our mouths puffing out breath to keep them from scalding our tongues. She was 100 percent correct they were the perfect snack for that day, weather and company. That was the first time my wife ever tasted yaki-imo so now whenever my wife sees or tastes a yaki-imo, she remembers that experience with nostalgia.

Since we never really compared how Japanese and regular yam taste, we cooked them identically and had a "yam tasting". Both yams were wrapped in aluminium foil and placed in our Weber grill  next to the chicken we were cooking using indirect heat. The temperature was kept around 360F (I monitor both the grill temperature and the food temperature). In about the last 20 minutes, it went up to 380F. In the picture below (the second picture), the one on the left (red skin) is the Japanese yam and the one on the right is the regular yam both after cooking.

As you can see the Japanese yam has yellow flesh and the regular yam has red/orange flesh.

Upon tasting, the Japanese yam has a nice slightly firmer texture (or "hokkori" ほっこり in Japanese parlance) and it is sweeter than the regular yam. Both my wife and I ate at least half of the Japanese yam before she had time to make mashed yam with butter and soy sauce as a side for our chicken dinner.

The regular yam is a bit softer and wetter and not as sweet as compared to the Japanese yam.

My memory of  Yaki-imo is that, on cold winter days in Sapporo, we often saw a man (usually fairly old) drawing a cart down the street selling grilled yams. In the cart, the yams were cooked over charcoal in a large earthen pot lined with small round stones. Thus, this type of yaki-imo  is called  "Ishiyaki-imo" 石焼き芋 or "ishi" means "stone"  i.e. "stone grilled" yam.  I remember the vendor simply calling "Ishiyaaaaaa-ki imooooo" as he pulled his cart along. In addition, I do remember the cart also had a steam powered whistle which made a continuous shrill whistling noise.  Apparently, now ishiyaki-imo is being sold on the street in a similar manner but, the hand-drawn cart has been replaced by a truck. Jon has posted a video of this. Ishiyaki-imo is, of course, cherished in Japan by women of all ages.  I found a comprehensive comparative study using different cooking techniques by a group of young women. I also found that special Yaki-imo aluminum foil is being sold in Japan, which absorbs heat efficiently shortening cooking time and enhancing the  flavors of yaki-imo.

Kabocha dressed in garlic sauce with bacon かぼちゃのガーリックマリネ

When my wife spotted Japanese yams in the gourmet grocery store, she also found Japanese pumpkin (or squash) or kabocha かぼちゃ. We usually get kabocha at our Japanese grocery store but have not seen it in the regular grocery stores for some time. I made my usual simmered dish which we love from half the kabocha. For the other half, I decided to make a new dish. I described several dishes I found on Japanese websites to my wife. When she heard "bacon" as one of the ingredients, she asked 'what's the question that's the one'. I followed the recipe except for some minor changes in the dressing.

Bacon and garlic are a fail safe combination.

Besides lemon juice which was called for in the recipe, I added lemon zest (using a micro-grater) which added a nice citris flavor and acidity.

Ingredients:
Japanese "kabocha" pumpkin (#1). I used half for this dish, The seeds cleaned out, cut into half inch thick and 1-2 inch long pieces. I sliced off most of the skin using a heavy chef's knife.
Bacon, two nice smoky and rather thickly cut strips.

For dressing: 1 tbs olive oil, 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed, 1 tsp lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper to taste.

Directions:
1. I microwaved the kabocha in a silicon container. I checked it several times until soft or cooked through (it took a total of 5 minutes) (#2).
2. Meanwhile, I fried the bacon until crispy and rendered the bacon drippings (#3). I left the bacon drippings in the pan and set aside the bacon strips on a paper towel lined plate.
3. I browned the kabocha pieces on both sides (#4).
4. I transferred the kabocha to a bowl and added the dressing and gently mixed (#5 and 6). I tasted it and added more lemon juice.

This was quite good. The bacon added nice porky and smoky flavors. The garlic with acidic lemon flavors combined with the sweetness of the kaboch are good match. We will definitely add this to our regular kabocha dishes.

Lobster omelet ロブスターのだし巻き

This year, we had lobsters from Maine for Thanksgiving. They arrived live in a Styrofoam box. We prepared the lobsters early in the day so that at Thanksgiving dinner, we would not have to struggle extracting the meat from the shell. We decided to steam the claws and bodies and then butter poach the tails in sous vide. I cut the head/body portion in half with a heavy chef's knife sending the lobsters off quickly. I then removed the claws. I steamed the claws (for 12 to 14 minutes) and the halved body sections (7 to 8 minutes) in a Dutch oven with a steamer basket. I also steamed the tails briefly (3-4 minutes) and then removed the tail meat. I discovered that it was almost impossible to remove the tail meat from the shell if I did not either quickly boil or steam them. I found that the meat would not come off from the shell cleanly and a lot of it otherwise got left behind. My wife and I then worked together to remove all the claw meat, even from the legs (my wife did this using a small wooden roller). I kept the body sections in the refrigerator until dinner (two had roe or corals). I stuffed the sections with crab meat in Bechamel sauce and baked/grilled them (a modification of what I posted before).  I also made lobster bisque from the shells of the lobsters as usual. 

We did not take any pictures at Thanksgiving dinner.  We had champagne (H. Blin Champagne Brut NV, which was just OK).  We served cucumber and the lobster meat (mostly claws)  dressed in a Japanese "Kimisu" 黄身酢. Then, we had the lobster bodies stuffed with the crab meat and Bechamel sauce.  Finally, we had the sous vide butter poached lobster tails with sautéed asparagus. This time I used a lower temperatures (55C) for the sous vide. The lobster came out better than when it was cooked at  60C.

Since we had a good amount of left over lobster claw meat, at my wife's suggestion, the next day, I made this crab stuffed Japanese omelet.

Instead of using the regular Japanese broth, I used my lobster bisque to season the eggs (I used three eggs and 3 tbs of lobster bisque). I also made an emulsified butter sauce of reduced lobster bisque, soy sauce, finished with pats of cold butter. We had this omelet for lunch the next day. Since we were still within the Thanksgiving holiday, we had a glass of chardonnay (Foley 2012).

Ingredients (for one omelet):
3 eggs
Lobster meat, Whatever amount you can roll in (#2)
Lobster bisque (#1).

Directions:
Like "U-maki" or other stuffed Japanese omelets, I used a rectangular Japanese omelet pan. I poured the egg mixture in thin layers and lined-up the lobster meat about half inch below the top (farther end). When the egg mixture was almost set, I started rolling the omelet. I repeated the process of pouring the egg mixture (to make sure it flowed under the omelet) and rolling until all the egg mixture was used (#3).  When you cut it you can see the lobster meat (#4).

We knew lobster and eggs go well. Since I flavored the eggs with lobster bisque and made a sauce with reduced lobster bisque and butter, everything tied together with a wonderful lobster flavor. This was a good use of leftover lobster and much better than having leftover turkey. It was also a good way to enjoy the afternoon rather than try to go out a fight "black Friday" traffic.