Mackerel meatball soup 鯖のつみれ汁

My wife really likes mackerel simmered in miso sauce or "Saba-no-misoni" 鯖の味噌煮. So,  every time we see fresh whole Spanish mackerel for sale at the near-by Whole Foods store, we get it to make this dish. This time we got two good sized mackerels. I had them gutted with heads off. I filleted them myself. If I do this myself, I can save more fish meat and I can scrape any remaining meat from the bone using a spoon. I also removed the meat from the tip of the tails since it is too narrow to make into "misoni". Using these scraps, I made fish meatball soup or "saba-no-tsumire-jiru" 鯖のつみれ汁. This was a lunch on one weekend. In addition to the fish meatball soup (lower left), I served blanched rapini with scrambled eggs (upper left), mackerel simmered in miso sauce with broccoli (upper right), and butter and soy sauce rice (lower right).

I made clear soup with mackerel meatballs, silken tofu and sliced scallion and added (frozen) yuzu zests just before serving.

Ingredients: (the amount is for two servings from the recipe I saw on line as a reference. The amount of mackerel I used was less than indicated in the recipe and, as usual, I did not precisely measure quantities. I also made minor modification.)
For the meatballs:
Mackerel, skimmed from backbone or filet with skin removed (160 gram or 5.6oz)
Salt, scant pinch
Sake or water 1 tbs
Miso and potato starch, 1/2 tbs each
Sesame oil, 1 tsp
Scallion, 1/2 finely chopped
Ginger root, skin removed and finely chopped, 1/2 tsp

For broth:
Japanese dashi broth, 3 cups (I used my usual "dashi pack" with bonito and kelp).
Light colored soy sauce, 1 tbs
Scallion, 1 stalk, thinly sliced on bias.
Silken tofu 1/4 block, cut into bite-size cubes
Yuzu zest (I used frozen ones)

Directions:
Using a chef's knife, mince the fish meat and mix in all the ingredients for the meatballs.
Mix well (see below). Adjust the liquid (either sake or water, I used sake) to make the consistency (not too firm and no too soft, it has to stay together when cooked in broth but you want it to make soft tender meatball).

Bring the broth to a gentle simmer and using two teaspoons first dipped in the broth to prevent sticking, make small balls (or quenelles) and gently drop it into the broth (below) and let it cook through (a few minutes).

When the meatballs are cooked, season the broth with light colored soy sauce. Taste and if you need more saltiness, either add more soy sauce or add salt if you do not want the broth to become too dark.
Add the tofu and the scallion. When the tofu warms up, serve in a bowl and garnish with the Yuzu zest.

For a starch side, I served a variation of butter and soy sauce rice. Since I only had cold leftover rice, I first melted butter in a non-stick frying pan, added the cold rice and fried it to warm it up. Then I added a small amount of soy sauce to finish. I garnished with nori.

I have posted that the substitute for "Nanohana" 菜の花 in the U.S. is either rapini or broccolini. I like rapini since it has a slight bitterness similar to Nanohana. To complete the spring theme (color-wise) I added the bright yellow of scrambled eggs seasoned with sugar and salt. The rapini was blanched, cooled in cold water, drained and dressed with a mixture of Japanese mustard, sugar and soy sauce or "Karashi-jouyu" 辛子醤油.

Of course, we had to test some of the mackerel in miso. I served it with blanched broccoli for color.

Although I served this with only a small amount of rice, this was quite filling for us. The soup and fish balls were really good with ginger and yuzu flavors coming through but not at all "fishy".

Cornmeal bread コーンミールブレッド

This is another baking project by my wife. This recipe is from the "Beard on bread" cookbook. "Beard on bread" sounds funny. I imagined a beard growing from the surface of the bread but of course "Beard" is the name of the late, famous "cook, cookbook author and TV personality" James Beard. The annual  James Beard Foundation Award is considered the "Oscar" of the culinary world. In any case, my wife looked through the book and decided to make this bread.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 cup boiling water
1 Tsp salt
2 packages of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (100 to 115 degrees)
1 Tbs. granulated sugar
1 cup warm milk
1-2 Tsp salt
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
4 to 4 1/2 All purpose flour

Directions:
Pour the cornmeal and salt into the boiling water. Stir vigorously until it cooks and becomes thick. (You are basically making polenta). Before the cornmeal completely cools and solidifies, add the cooked cornmeal, warmed milk, salt and brown sugar to a stand mixer with a dough hook. Stir to make a creamy mixture with no lumps. Let cool until slightly warm. Bloom the yeast in the 1/2 cup warm water and 1 tbs. granulated sugar. Add to the milk mixture. Add the flour one cup at a time. Stir until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Add more flour if necessary). Knead in the mixer for 7-10 minutes.

Put the dough in a bowl with a small amount of vegetable oil. Coat the dough in the oil. Cover and let rise until doubled in a warm place. When doubled punch the dough down and make two loaves. Put in a well greased loaf pan (the more butter used to grease the crunchier the crust because the dough is basically frying). Let rise again until almost doubled. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes then lower the temperature to 350 and continue baking another 20 to 25 minutes or until the loaves are nicely browned and sound hollow when tapped. The original recipe said to take the loaves out of the pan and put on the rack of the oven for a few minutes to crisp the crust. We didn't do that.

This bread reminds of us of English muffin bread my wife makes. Both have a nice crunchy texture. This one has a pleasant faint corn flavor, of course, from the cornmeal. This bread can be used in any dishes where English muffin bread is called for and also good every day bread.

Pork chops Japanese style ポークチョップ

Pork chops are a rather popular cut in the US. Most popular are loin chops with rib attached (rib chops). One weekend, I bought a rather large pork loin without bones. Since it was large, I decided to cut off 4 loin chops before I trussed and seasoned the remaining loin for our usual  hot smoked pork on our Weber grill.  I wondered how I should cook the chops and decide to use a Japanese recipe. I grew up with simply sautéed pork chops in Japan but I wanted to do something a bit different. After reading through a few recipes, I made modified Japanese pork chops. I served them with sautéed pencil green asparagus and  corn shuffle my wife made unmolded and cut in half.

The sauce also included onion and shiitake mushroom.

I probably over cooked it and it came out a bit dry but the sauce helped.

Ingredients: (for 4 servings).
Four Pork loin chops (or rib chops).
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Flour for dredging
Olive oil

For sauce
One medium onion, halved and sliced
4 tbs ketchup
4 tbs worchestershire sauce
1/3 cup dry red wine
3 fresh shiitake mushroom, stem removed and sliced
2 tbs butter (or olive oil).

Directions:
Season both sides of the chops with salt and pepper, dredge them in flour.
Cook in a small amount of butter or olive oil until nicely browned (see below), turn them over and repeat.
Set the chops aside on a plate
Add the onion in the same pan and sauté until cooked and add the shiitake mushroom and continue cooking for several more minutes,
Put the vegetables in on the side of the pan, add the ketchup and cook it while stirring until the ketchup becomes caramelized and dark.
Add the red wine and Worcestershire sauce and mix and cook for a few minutes until the sauce lightly thickens.

Put back the chops and coat them with sauce (see below) to complete cooking the chops.

Serve hot with the sauce on the top. In Japan, the chops are served precut into bite sized pieces for ease of eating with chopsticks. This was not bad but the chops were a bit on the dry side.

Salmon "Zuke" bowl サーモンのずけ丼

The day after our hanami was cold and rainy so we could not do another day of hanami outside. Since we had to finish up our sashimi salmon, I made a salmon "Zuke" bowl for lunch.

I first sliced the salmon sashimi a bit thinner than I would if I was serving it as sashimi. I then marinated the pieces in a concentrated noodle sauce (from the bottle. I was a bit too lazy to prepare a "Zuke" sauce myself) for 2 hours in the refrigerator. Since salmon is rather oily, it did not absorb the marinade as much as tuna would. I warmed up some frozen rice from our stash in the freezer and dressed it with sushi vinegar for an instant sushi rice. I added the rice to a bowl (this was a baby size), topped it with the marinated slices of salmon. I garnished with sugar snaps (boiled and then cooled in seasoned broth. The recipe is from "Otsumami Yokocho" おつまみ横町 cookbook), thinly sliced green part of scallion and dried nori strips.

As a side, I served cucumber and radish "sunomono" 酢の物 salad.

I also served miso soup (julienne of daikon, "abura-age" deep fried tofu pouch, and scallion). This was a good light lunch for us. Now only half of the salmon sashimi is left.

World's best cookie 世界一のクッキー

This is probably the very first cookie my wife made after we got married. She sent this cookie to my family in Japan and it was a hit. My mother and niece make this cookie using my wife's recipe. My wife has not made these cookies for a long time but she started to make cookies again recently and decide to go back to where she started. This cookie is called World's Best Cookie.

This is a type of crunchy and crumbly cookie and deserves a name like the "World's Best". Since one of the ingredients is "corn flakes", I was sent to the grocery store to get a box. We have not bought or eaten corn flakes for many years and I was surprised to find that the smallest box I could find was quite large.

Ingredients (#1 picture below, makes over three dozen cookies):
1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 egg
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup rolled oats, toasted in the toaster oven
1 cup cornflakes, crushed
1⁄2 cup shredded coconut
1⁄2 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted. If walnuts use cloth to rub off brown outer skin, chopped
3 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy
Stir in egg, oil, vanilla.
Combine flour, baking soda and salt.
Combine with egg mixture until well blended.
Stir in the rest of the ingredients.Place on a parchment paper on ungreased cookie sheet into balls the size of walnuts using an ice cream scoop (#2) and flatten with a fork in criss cross pattern (#3).
Bake for 12 to 18 minutes.
Cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing (#4).

I am sure over indulging on cookies these days but with coffee or tea, this cookie really hits the spot. I am taking a few to work with me so that I can have a snack in the afternoon.

Hanami 2018 花見 2018

Because of a recent Nor'easter, the 30 year old cherry tree  which was the main focus of hanami celebrations in our backyard because it formed a wide canopy of blossoms over the deck, was totally destroyed just when the buds were getting ready to bloom. Although some of the cuttings we brought inside did bloom the tree itself was a "goner". We had to replace it but the replacement was a young "Yoshino" 染井吉野 cherry tree only 6 feet tall. Luckily further back in the yard we have a cherry tree that we estimate must be over 50 years old. Even though it suffered some minor injuries from the nor'easter it rescued Hanami with its full bloom on a Saturday in April. It was very warm, even hot in mid-day on our deck particularly because we lost the shading canopy of the destroyed cherry tree. Nonetheless thanks to the old tree we still enjoyed "Hanami" 花見.

We decide to defrost a package of salmon for sashimi which we bought for the New Year but did not eat. It was a rather large piece of salmon. Since this was Hanami, I served salmon sashimi in a colorful way with ripe avocado garnished with thin slices of radish and cucumber.

The salmon was quit good and went well with the slices of avocado. Both had a nice melt-in-your-mouth texture. We had this with regular wasabi and soysauce.

This was followed with Japanese "dashimaki" 出汁巻 omelet with dried "aonori" 青のりseaweed (upper left), blanched baby "Bok Choi" "ohitashi" お浸しwith dried bonito flakes (upper right) and cold simmered daikon round with ginger miso with Yuzu zest.

We have been making variations of dashimaki using cooked and chopped baby kale and chicken broth but this time, I went traditional with a Japanese broth and dried "aonori" seaweed.

Since it was rather hot, I served the simmered daikon  cold.  It was first boiled with grains of rice and then simmered in kelp broth) with a ginger Yuzu miso sauce (finely chopped ginger, mirin, sake and sesame oil and Yuzu zest). I should have done a better job cutting the chives I used for garnish.

You cannot see well but blanched baby bok choi with dried bonito "Katsuo bush" flakes and soy sauce.

We were glad we could still do hanami in our back yard. The Grand Daddy old tree, while not as spectacular as the one we lost, went a long way to filling the void. Unfortunately, the next day was rainy, windy and cold so it was an only one day hanami this year except for the mini-hanami or the unexpected early hanami we had when the cuttings of now-demised cherry tree bloomed.

Nabe cooked on an induction cooker, IH 適応土鍋で鱈ちり

Some years ago, when we remodeled our kitchen, and were exiled to cook in the basement for the duration of the construction, we got a tabletop induction cooker.  We also had a butane canister gas table top cooker from our days in California. Although we used it for Nabe and Sukiyaki dishes, the gas cooker and the canisters were almost 30 years old and we were worried about their integrity.  Despite their age, they seemed to work fine but we did not buy extra gas canisters after we used them up.  Although our Sukiyaki pot was cast iron and compatible with induction cooking, we could not use our Japanese "Donabe 土鍋" earthen pots. So I just cooked our nabe dishes on the regular gas range and served them at the table which is not as much fun as tabletop cooking.

Induction cookers are much more popular in Japan than in the U.S. and are called "induction heaters" or "IH" for short.  As a result,  IH-compatible "donabes" have been available in Japan for some time.  Although I wanted to purchase one, as far as I know,  it is expensive to ship to the U.S. even if the Japanese companies would be willing to ship it.  Then, I came across Kinto store where they sell rather modern design Japanese table- and kitchenware. One of these items is an IH compatible Nabe (it came in two colors - black or white and two sizes - 40 and 82oz).

Instead of traditional earthenware, this is made of a much less porous heat-resistant porcelain with a special induction compatible plate embedded on the bottom. It comes with a steamer insert as well. It was reasonably priced and above a certain price break-point, shipping was free. I bought a small nabe (40oz) with some other items (so shipping was free). It is not a traditional design but we like the modern and clean line. This nabe can be used on gas, electric heating element, induction or in the oven. So, I took out our old induction cooker and decided to make "Cod and vegetable nabe" or "Tarachiri" 鱈ちり鍋 on the table. I would have used edible chrysanthemum or shun-giku 春菊  as a green if it had been available but I could not get it.  So, I used a small bunch of whole spinach. I also added scallion, fresh shiitake 椎茸 and hen-of-the-wood 舞茸 mushrooms, nappa cabbage 白菜 and tofu 豆腐.

 I got some black cod filets with the skin removed.  If the skin had not been removed (but hopefully cleaned and scaled, which is not always the case, here, when the skin is left on the fish) it would have helped hold the the fish meat together better and added a different texture and flavor. I salted the filets a few hours prior to cooking and kept them in the refrigerator uncovered before cutting them into chunks.

As condiments, I prepared thinly sliced scallions and grated daikon with Japanese red pepper (the daikon turned out to be too spicy for us).

For a change, we cooked and ate this in our sunroom. The pictures were not really good since it was getting dark and the lighting was quite dim by the time we had this.

Traditionally, the cooking liquid is just kelp broth without seasoning and the cooked food is served with "ponzu" dipping sauce and the garnish.  I made a minor deviation and made the broth with kelp and dried bonito flakes and added sake, mirin and a small amount of "usukuchi" light colored soy sauce. I first put in the vegetables and tofu and when they were almost done, I added the cod.

We used Ponzu sauce (from the bottle). As I mentioned the grated daikon was too spicy even without the red pepper flakes. We really enjoyed the tabletop cooking. There is something very comforting about the steam rising from the pot, the soft sound of the the liquid bubbling and lovely cooking smells. We ate much more than we thought we would. In Japan, the end of this nabe dish would include adding noodles or rice to the remaining broth, which, by the end of the dinner, would have built up some very nice flavors from the vegetables and fish or whatever ingredients were cooked in the pot. This broth was exquisite; very complex and slightly sweet from the veggies. Although it was really good we were too full for more than a few sips to taste let alone adding noodles or rice. Instead, the next day, we added rice to the leftover broth and whatever was left in the pot and made rice porridge with the addition of eggs as a lunch. With that we felt we had done justice to the nabe.