Kanpyo with checkered daikon and carrot カンピョウの市松

Kanpyo 干瓢, literally means "dried gourd", is a rather common item used in Japanese cuisines. The meat of the gourd (a certain edible kind, I suppose) is peeled like a narrow tape and then dried. You can buy it, in this dried form, in a Japanese grocery store. I do not think it has much flavor by itself but, certainly, it will absorb any flavors in which it is cooked. It is often used as an edible tie to tie off something. For example, when I stuff a deep fried tofu pouch or abraage with a rice cake or "mochi" in my version of the New Year Soup, I use kanpyo to tie the pouch closed. It is also a common item to be included in scattered sushi "chirashi-zushi" ちらし寿司 or sushi roll "norimaki" のり巻き. To prepare kanpyo, you first wash, rehydrate (30 minutes or longer), and briefly (5 minutes) boil in water. After this, you could cook further a few different ways. If you are going to use this to tie off something, I will just use it without further cooking. The dish I am describing here is one of the rare dishes in which kanpyo is used as the main ingredient. After using kanpyo as a string/tie for another dish, I had a lot of unused kanpyo and decided to make this dish.  It is very subtle in flavor and a bit of a chore to make but it looks more "professional" than "home made".

This dish is originally from a cookbook called (roughly translated into English) "Appetizers and a la carte small "idea" dishes for Izakaya" by Tadashi Shinojima. First, I make the center portion of the dish by cutting equally sized rectangular-shaped sticks of carrot and daikon measuring about 1/2 x 1/2 x 3 inches (2 each, total of 4) (for two small servings). Combining these sticks to make a checker board pattern on the end (this is called "Ichimatsu" 市松 pattern in Japanese which is named after a Kabuki actor in the late Edo period). I make sure the kanpyo ribbon is open and flat (not to be folded or twisted) and wrap this core of the carrot and daikon sticks, keep moving up and down so that the length of the carrot and dikon sticks are evenly wrapped. Use a butcher twine (or a more delicate thread if you prefer) to tie the end of kapyo. I simmer it gently with a "otoshibuta" 落とし蓋 in 2 cup of #2 or niban dashi, 3 tbs of mirin and (about) 2 tbs of light colored or "Usukuchi" 薄口 soy sauce for 30 minutes. Let it cool down in the broth to room temperature. For the sweet miso sauce, I mix 3 tbs of red miso, 3 tbs of mirin and 2 tsp of sugar in a small sauce pan on a low flame and stir until it reaches nice saucy consistency (for about 5 minutes). You should taste and, if needed, add more sugar. Cut the kanpyo roll into 4 equal disks and serve with the miso sauce. This is a rather classic Japanese dish; simple ingredients but lots of steps and time to prepare. It has a very subtle and pleasing flavors. Perfect accompaniment for sake.

Stewed rolled daikon and deep fried tofu 大根と油揚の砧の煮物

This is another high-labor simple ingredient dish (it is a value added item and "you can charge more for this dish than for a simple nimono or simmered dish" is what I remember it said in the cookbook from which I got this recipe). Although I cannot charge more for this dish, I decided to make it because my wife found several Ziploc bags of half used packages of deep fried tofu pouches or "obraage" 油揚げ in our freezer, apparently representing different vintages. Since these things do not improve with age, I tried to use up the older vintage aburaage.  I made this dish a few times before and I remember that it tastes pretty good. I made this at the same time I made "Kanpyo with checkered daikon and carrot" カンピョウの市松 and the original recipe came from the same cookbook ("Appetizers and a la carte small dishes for Izakaya" by Tadashi Shinojima.)

(This is the way I served it the day I made this dish)

First, I soaked 6 "Inari" 稲荷 or "koage" 小揚げ type (i.e. small) aburaage in boiling water to thaw and remove excess oil.  While taking care not to burn my hands, I squeezed out any water it may have absorbed by pressing it between my palms. I then cut three edges of the aburaage and opened it up into a flat rectangular sheet (about 3 by 5 inches). I repeated this process with the rest of the abraage and set aside.

(The next day, with sugar snap)

I happened to have a rather large good daikon. I cut about a 5 inch-long (corresponding to the width of the aburaage sheets) segment of daikon. Using "Katsura-muki" 桂剝き, after peeling off the skin, I made a long thin sheet of daikon (it should be thicker -about 3mm- than when you make a daikon garnish for sashimi).  I managed to make 3 sheets, each about 13-14 inch long. I blanched the diakon sheets for 5 minutes so that it would be more pliable. When it cooled enough to handle, I layered the aburage on top of the dakon sheet. You need two abuaage sheets to cover 80% of the diakon sheet leaving about 3-4 inches at the end (which makes the outer most layer). I rolled up both together and tied the upper and lower portions of the resulting cylinder with Kanpyo 干瓢 (I cut the width of the Kanpyo ribbon in half since this one happened to be rather wide). I made three rolls (each will be cut in half when served yielding 6 pieces). I placed the rolls on their ends in a small deep pot containing dashi broth (abut 2-3 cups--enough to just cover the daikon cylinder), mirin (3 tbs), "usukuchi" 薄口 soy sauce (3 tbs). The original recipe calls for dashi, mirin and sugar without any soy sauce but this does not make sense to me, so I omitted the sugar and added soy sauce. With "otoshibuta" 落とし蓋, gently simmer for 30-40 minutes. Before serving, I cut the cylinder in half between two Kanpyo ties to make two disks. Serve with the cut end up (looks much nicer) with a dab of Japanese hot mustard and a bit of the broth. The combination of texture (still slightly crunchy daikon and gentle softness of obraage), subtle and gentle sweetness from daikon and the broth, all produced a sublime experience punctuated by loud wake-up calls from the Japanese hot mustard. Sake is definitely called for.

Burdock Root Kelp Roll ごぼうの昆布巻き

We decided that salmon kelp rolls are not just for new year and started making it regularly.  We ususally get a half filet of a whole salmon which is much more economical per unit weight but you end up with a lot of salmon. The way I usually handle this is; 1. Scale the salmon skin, 2: Remove the belly portion (we have it as an appetizer, lightly salted and dried overnight in the refrigerator), 3. Remove flesh from the skin from the irregular pieces such as the both ends (From them I make salmon cakes), 4. Thinly slice and make Russian marinated salmon and 5. Cut into half inch buttons and make salmon kelp rolls, 6. When the salmon is particularly large, I also could make two small fillets.  This leaves a good amount of salmon skin. I cut the skin in a few inch rectangle and make them flat with a small sheet of parchment paper separating the each pieces and place them in a sealable plastic container stored in the fridge until I cook them

When I make salmon kelp rolls, I try to hydrate just the right amount of “Konbu” kelp and “Kanpyo” goard peel, but, often I have some extras. So, to use up the hydrated kelp and kanpyo, I made burdock root kelp rolls since I had burdock roots at hand.  I served this with slamon kelp roll, green beans with sesame dressing and crispy salmon skin as a starter one evening.

I did not follow any particular recipe. 

For burdock root, I just scrape the skin, cut into the length matching the width of the kelp.  Boil for 10 minutes, roll in the kelp and tie with the kanpyo. Then, I cooked them very similar to the salmon kelp rolls.

This is quite good. I seasoned it less sweet and a bit more salty than the salmon kelp rolls. It has a nice crunch.

Salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き

This is typically served as a New Year's day dish. The reason, I think, is that "kelp" in Japanese is "kobu" こぶ or "Konbu" 昆布 which sounds like a part of the phrase "yorokobu" よろこぶ meaning rejoice. In any case, I did not make kelp rolls until last year. Once I made them, we realized how much better they could be than the commercial ones (even compared to an expensive variety from Hokkaido that my friends sent me one year). Since I did not post how to make this last year, I decided to post it this year.

The picture above shows the salmon kelp roll served with my marinated salmon as a drinking snack; both were leftover from New Year's dishes. The kelp rolls are not too difficult to make and the effort is definitely worth it. I made this based on a recipe from e-recipe but I made the seasoning much lighter than they suggested.

Kelp: A good dried kelp--one that gets soft when cooked and is therefore good for eating. "Hidaka" 日高 kelp is especially desirable, since it gets softer more quickly than other types of kelp such as Rausu 羅臼 or Rishiri 利尻 kelp. I soaked a 5-6 inch long piece of dried "Hidaka" kelp in water until it returned to its "natural state" and became pliable (30 minutes to 1 hour). I used 4 strips to make 8 good sized rolls. I trimmed the ragged ends to make a nice rectangular piece. I reserved the soaking liquid.

Kanpyo: This is mostly to tie up the rolls so they don't unravel but it does have some texture and taste. I washed and then massaged several pieces of kanpyo with salt and washed again. I soaked it in water for 30 minutes to one hour but did not cook.

Salmon: I used fresh salmon. I cut the fillet into 1/2 inch wide strips with the skin left on. I trimmed the end to make it fit the width of the kelp.

I rolled the kelp around the salmon strip in the center and tied it off in two places using the kanpyou as shown below (this pictures is after cooking). I placed all 4 rolls in a shallow pan in which they fit snuggly (I used a square Pyrex baking pan with a glass lid). I then poured in the kelp soaking liquid. Since I also had a soaking liquid left over from rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms (used in another dish), and the mushrooms had imparted some good flavor to the liquid I also added that. I added sake (2-3 tbs) as well. The kelp rolls should be just covered with water. I simmered it with the lid on for 1 hour or until the kelp is soft.

Seasoning: The seasoning is essentially sweet and salty (soy sauce) which is a typical Japanese seasoning. As a rule, the "sweet" of the seasoning is added first. So I added sugar (1 tsp) over the rolls and let it simmer for 5 minutes with an otoshibuta 落 とし蓋. I then added more sugar (1 tsp) and soy sauce (1 tbs) and simmered it for 10-15 minutes. At the end of  cooking, the liquid was reduced in half. At the very end, I added mirin (2 tsp) and soy sauce (2 tsp) for a fresh taste. Again, the seasoning is up to your liking; you could add more sugar, mirin and soy sauce. I did not want to season it too strongly. I let it cool in the cooking liquid. The picture above shows it after it cooled and was ready to be cut.

The standard way is to cut the roll in half to make two rolls as seen above but that would have resulted in pieces that were too big to eat in one bite. For a drinking snack, I cut the individual rolls into three smaller pieces as seen in the first picture. 

The kelp is soft but not mushy. It has a lovely unctuous mouth feel. The salmon is lusciously tender with a slight sweetness and mild soy sauce flavor. It is hard to imagine how a dish this good could be transformed into the product sold commercially. While my wife did not dislike the commercial product it was not the first thing she chose from the New Year's box. She liked this one so much it could "star" as a drinking snack. Maybe this dish "isn't just for New Year anymore."

Happy New Year 2022 明けましておめでとう 2022.

Happy New Year 2022! The pandemic still persists with the Omicron variant making it debut and spreading so quickly just when we thought things were starting to come under control and using a quote from the movie Jaws "it was safe to go back in the water again".  In any case, both my wife and I took all the precautions; being vaccinated and boosted. We sincerely hope we can get past this soon.

This is the year of tiger according to Chinese/Japanese zodiac signs. We thought we had a larger tiger figurine but these are what we had. The two shown below look somewhat like cats rather than tigers.

The one shown here really looks like a tabby cat. It is made of carved wood and is one of a full set of the 12 zodiac figures we got in Kyoto on one of our trips to Japan. This year, I decided not to get "Kagami-mochi" 鏡餅 new years decoration since we generally do not finish the round mochi inside. 

When it comes to traditional Japanese New Year food, we look forward to and revel in the routine (or some may call it a rut) that we've developed over the years. First off is the expectation of the wonderful goodies contained in the Sushi Taro Osechi 寿司太郎お節 on 12/31/21 or "oomisoka" 大晦日 in Japanese.  Picking it up on New Year eve is an excursion we generally look forward to, although it is a bit of an arduous drive going into town and back. It was especially so this year when we discovered various parts of the route were closed to cars that day and only open to bike traffic. But it was worth it. We will be hitting the Osechi box this evening. We established the tradition of having our usual breakfast with cappuccino and the choice of various holiday breads such as stollen or panettone for the first day of the new year or "Gantan" 元旦. Then, for lunch, we have the more traditional Japanese New Year soup or "Ozouni" お雑煮 as well as some of the auspicious foods served for the New Year as shown in the next picture.

The next picture is a close-up assortment of "good luck" foods I served.

Some came from the Osechi box such as the fish cake 紅白蒲鉾 (#3) (since I did not get any red and white fish cakes this year), small fish じゃこの有馬煮 (#1), shrimp 小海老甘露煮 (#2) and black beans 黒豆 (#5). This year I was lucky to be able to get salted herring roe or Kazuniko 数の子 from the grocery section at Tako Grill. The amount was not too much and just right. I prepared kazunoko marinated in sake lee and miso かずのこの粕味噌漬け(#4). I also served salmon kelp rolls 鮭の昆布巻き and the datemaki 伊達巻 New Year's omelet roll (#7) I like to make based on my Mother's recipe. I also served salmon "Russian" marinade 鮭のロシア漬け which again was something special my mother used to make. I made it some days ago, so it had cured enough to eat. I also served simmered root vegetables including the symbolic "renkon" lotus root, "kobo" burdock root, bamboo shoot and carrot (#9).

Now the "ozouni" New Year soup. New Year is the rare occasion when I use this genuine Japanese lacquerware bowl that my mother gave us many many years ago.

Although you can not see it, the "mochi" 餅 rice cake is placed in a deep fried tofu or "abura-age" 油揚げpouch. I usually seal the pouch with a kanpyo 干瓢 (or gourd peel) tie. But in recent years I have not been able to find kanpyo and I used up what I had for the salmon kelp rolls. So this year, I had to improvise by blanching a whole scallion and using that to tie the tofu pouch. Other items in the soup included shrimp (from Great Alaska seafood), chicken tenderloin from some sous vide chicken breast I made, and vegetables including shiitake mushroom, daikon, gobo, and carrot. For the green, I used rapini flower buds. The shrimp was particularly good. I poached them gently in the broth with the shells on for a few minutes, took them out and shelled them before placing them on the top of the soup.

As usual, I served "daikon namasu" 大根なます with "ikra"  salmon roe いくら and a slice of boiled octopus leg 茹蛸.

Another salmon dish is sautéed salmon in sweet vinegar or 鮭の南蛮漬け.

Although this was lunch, no New Year feast is complete without the symbolic libation of sake (Koshi-no-homare hiyaoroshi 越の誉　冷やおろし). We toasted 2022 with one glass each to commemorate the New Year. This was a good New Year lunch covering many good luck foods. Let's hope it portends similar fortune for the rest of the year.

New Year "Osechi" dishes お節料理レセピ

Every year before New Year comes, I have to look through my recipes for the New Year's Osechi dishes that I usually make. For my own convenience, I decided to place my New Year's recipes in one place for easy reference. This is also posted in "Norio's New Year Dishes" tab in the heading.

Herring roe in two ways 数の子 #1 (dashi and soy sauce marinated)
I usually get salted herring roe and prepare it. Store-bought prepared herring tends to be too sweet for me.

Removing excess salt "Shionumi" 塩抜き
First, I have to remove the excess salt from the kazunoko (called “shionuki” 塩抜き) by soaking it in water or weak salted water (I taste the salted water; just a nice salty taste you can drink if you wanted to). Although you could start with water and then finish “shionuki” with salted water. I prefer to use salted water from the beginning and change it several times in 3-4 hour periods. The reason is that if you remove the salt completely, the  kazunoko will taste “bitter” (all the sodium chloride gets leached out leaving magnesium chloride behind which is bitter). So, I try to leave some saltiness behind. Using salted water prevents the complete removal of the salt even if I forget and soak it too long. While soaking, I removed the thin white membrane which covers the roe by rubbing the surface with my finger tips under water. After “shionuki” and removing the membrane, the herring roe is ready. I tasted a small piece from the edge to make sure it is not too salty. I sometimes thinly slice this and serve it like sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce but I usually marinate it.

Marinade つけ汁
For the marinade, I make dashi broth from a kelp and bonito flakes. I season with light colored soy sauce (to preserve the golden color), sake and mirin. The amount of sake (or mirin if you like it sweet) and soy sauce are up to your taste but I tend to make a strong dashi packed with “umami” and go light on soy sauce. I gently boiled the mixture for few minutes to make sure the alcohol has all evaporated and tastes amalgamated. I let it cool to the room temperature and then refrigerate. I marinated the prepared herring roe for, at least several hours or over night in the refrigerator (The right lower image shows the roe after marinading). This should be eat eaten in a few days.

Serving
I sliced it into small bite sized pieces and then mixed them with dried bonito flakes or kezuribushi 削り節 and served. It has a very interesting crunch and is an excellent drinking companion for cold sake. After eating it, my wife asked, “Why does it suddenly feel like New Year?”

Herring roe in two ways 数の子 #2 (miso and sake lee marinated)
One of the problems with more traditionally prepared herring roe (above) is that it does not last too long (may be 10 days in the refrigerator). Sometimes, we have to push ourselves to finish all the herring roe that I prepared. So, for 2017 New Year, I decided to make miso marinated herring roe as well.  I looked up the recipes and decided on the recipe using a mixture of miso and sake lee. I was particularly interested in this recipe since it said the herring roe would be best consumed between 10 days and 1 month.

Ingredients:
Sake lee, 300 grams, cut into small cubes
Miso, 300 grams
Sake 180 ml
Salt-preserved herring roe, 10 (salt removed, see above, #1 in the picture below).

Direction:
In the food processor, I mixed the first three ingredients (warming the sake may help softten the sake lee, #2 in the picture below)
In a sealable container, I put 1/3 of the marinade and placed a layer of cheese cloth (#3)
I then arrange the herring roe in one layer (#4).
I covered the herring roe with another cheese cloth and spread 1/3 of the marinade on top.
I made another identical layer and finished with the last 1/3 of the marinade.

Salmon kelp roll 鮭の昆布巻き
One New Year several years ago, we received commercial salmon kelp roll from Hokkaido as a gift from one of our Japanese friends. My wife, sort of, challenged me whether I could make it and I accepted the challenge.

Ingredients:
Kelp: A good dried kelp–one that gets soft when cooked and is therefore good for eating. “Hidaka” 日高 kelp is especially desirable, since it gets softer more quickly than other types of kelp such as Rausu 羅臼 or Rishiri 利尻 kelp. I soaked a 5-6 inch long piece of dried “Hidaka” kelp in water until it returned to its “natural state” and became pliable (30 minutes to 1 hour). I used 4 strips to make 8 good sized rolls. I trimmed the ragged ends to make a nice rectangular piece. I reserved the soaking liquid.

This is mostly to tie up the rolls so they don’t unravel but it does have some texture and taste. I washed and then massaged several pieces of kanpyo with salt and washed again. I soaked it in water for 30 minutes to one hour but did not cook it.

Salmon: I used fresh salmon. I cut the fillet into 1/2 inch wide strips with the skin left on. I trimmed the end to make it fit the width of the kelp.

Directions:
I rolled the kelp around the salmon strip in the center and tied it off in two places using the kanpyou as shown below (this pictures is after cooking).
To prevent it from sticking, I could have put dried bamboo leaves on the bottom of the pan (but darn I was fresh out). I just used additional hydrated kelp to line the bottom (it will stick to the bottom but the rolls do not).
I placed all 4 rolls in a shallow pan in which they fit snugly (I used a square Pyrex baking pan with a glass lid). I then poured in the kelp soaking liquid. Since I also had a soaking liquid left over from rehydrating dried shiitake mushrooms (used in another dish), and the mushrooms had imparted some good flavor to the liquid I also added that. I added sake (2-3 tbs) as well. The kelp rolls should be just covered with water.
I simmered it with the lid on for 1 hour or until the kelp is soft.

The seasoning is essentially sweet and salty (soy sauce) which is a typical Japanese seasoning. As a rule, the “sweet” of the seasoning is added first. So I added sugar (1 tsp) over the rolls and let it simmer for 5 minutes with an otoshibuta 落 とし蓋.
I then added more sugar (1 tsp) and soy sauce (1 tbs) and simmered it for 10-15 minutes.
At the end of  cooking, the liquid was reduced in half. At the very end, I added mirin (2 tsp) and soy sauce (2 tsp) for a fresh taste.
Again, the seasoning is up to your liking; you could add more sugar, mirin and soy sauce. I did not want to season it too strongly. I let it cool in the cooking liquid. The picture above (norio there is no picture above) shows it after it cooled and was ready to be cut.

Datemaki 伊達巻
I originally got this recipe from my mother. Using hanpen はんぺん fish cake instead of ground white fish flesh or "surimi" すり身 makes this recipe very easy.

Ingredients :

Hanpen fish cake, one (about 100grams) (I use previously frozen, see #1 below).

Mirin  1tbs
(Originally I used a food processor but I modified to use my immersion blender which make it easier - no need to beat eggs ahead of time and cleaning is also much easier)

Directions:

1. Cut thawed hanpen into small 1/4 inch cubes add to the mixing container and add the eggs and seasoning (#2 in the picture below).

2. Using an immersion blender process until smooth (#3).

3. In a Japanese Omelet pan (12cm x15cm) on low flame, add a small mount of vegetable oil to cover the bottom and add the egg mixture (#4).

4. Fold a piece of greased aluminum foil over the top of the pan. Then cover over the the aluminum cover pan (I also place a small baking pan, #5).

5. After 10-15 minutes, it is mostly cooked only leaving a center portion to be still somewhat underdone (#5).

6. Flip it over using a spatula and cook the other side for 2-3 minutes (#7).
7. Tip the omelet onto a bamboo sushi mat* as seen below (I am not sure which side should be down but I like the darker side up (which becomes the inside of the roll). I score the surface (#8).
8. Slowly roll and tie the mat with a kitchen twine or rubber bands (#9).
9. Let it cool down for 30-40 minutes and unroll the sushi mat (#10).
10. Cut off both the ragged ends (this is a snack for the chef) (#11).
11. I like the darker inner lines (#12) but sometime I did the light side in (the bottom picture)

*If you have it, for Datemaki one should use a special kind of rolling mat called "Oni-sudare" 鬼すだれ which will make deeper indentation on the surface of the roll.

Russian marinated Salmon 鮭のロシアずけ
I also served marinated salmon which is my mother’s recipe. This salmon dish is called “Russian marinated salmon” ロシア漬け and my mother does not know how the dish got the name or where she got the recipe*. Of course, I made my contribution (read modification) to the recipe since I think the pith of the lemon imparts a bitter taste to the dish.

Essentially, I slice fresh salmon (the original recipe uses salt preserved salmon “aramaki shake” 新巻鮭) fillet paper thin, layered with sliced onion, lemon zest (grated by a micrograter), lemon slices (without the rind and pith). As I lay on the new salmon layer I salt it. The marinade it in a mixture of sake, vegetable oil and rice vinegar (1:1:3) but I reduced the amount of oil. I tightly pack the salmon in a seal-able container and let it marinade for a few days. The picture below is this dish served stand alone on the next day.

*I googled (google.co.jp) “鮭のロシア漬け” the marinated salmon recipe and found this blog (in Japanese). The recipe is a very similar to my mother’s.  According to this blogger, her mother got the recipe from a Japanese magazine “Kurashi no techo” 暮らしの手帖. The recipe is reportedly published in the section called “Apron memo” quite a number of years ago, although the exact year is unclear. Even though the blogger mentioned the recipe was published some time ago, I was eating this as a kid and it is possible my mother’s recipe predates even that publication.

Daikon Namsu 大根なます
Ingredients:
Daikon, peeled, sliced across or on bias then julienned
Carrot, Peeled, sliced on bias and then julienned

Dressing:
Rice vinegar 1 part
Sugar 1/2 part
Salt a pinch
Japanese red pepper, hydrated then cut into thin rings (optional)
Yuzu juice (optional)
Mirin, Light colored soy sauce (small splash, optional)

Direction:
Place all the ingredients except for Yuzu juice in a pan on medium-low flame and mix and disolve the sugar completely. Let it cool to the room temperature.

Salt and kneed the daikon and carrot, separately, let it sit for 10-15 minutes and squeeze out excess moisture (it was said that if you mix the daikon and carrot before adding the dressing, vitamin C was destroyed, which I did not confirm).

Add the daikon and carrot in the vinegar mixture in a seal-able container and keep it in a refrigerator for at least one day before eating.

Chicken patty with pine nuts and miso or "Matsukaze" chicken patty 松風焼き
I do not know when I adapted this dish for our New Year cuisine, I have been making this this for some years. It is miso flavored chicken patty with pine nuts in it. The name "Matsu-kaze" 松風 means "wind over the pine tree" must be referring to the use of pine nuts. In the picture below, I cut this into the shape of "Hagoita"羽子板 (badminton-like game which was traditionally played by girls during the New Year celebration but the the racket or Hagoita is now totally decorative) and garnished it with dried "aonori" 青のり. Here I served this with salmon kelp roll and "Matsu-mae zuke" 松前漬け.

Ingredients:
Ground Chicken 250 grams
One egg beaten
Miso 2 tbs
Light colored soy sauce 1 tbs
Sugar 2 tsp
Bread crumbs (panko) 4 tbs
Flour 2 tbs
Mirin 1tbp
Pine nuts, roasted, 3tbs
White sesame seeds, aonori, and poppy seeds (optional).

Direction:
1. Mix all the ingredients except for pine nuts in a food processor (or mixing bowl) and mix well. Add and mix pine nuts.
2. In a small baking sheet, oil the bottom and place the parchment paper cut into size so that it will adherent to the bottom.
3. Using a spatula, spread out the chicken mixture in to 1/2 inch (1.5 cm) thick to fill the bottom of the baking sheet.
4. Cook for 20 minutes in a pre-heated toaster oven at 350F.
5. After its cooled, cut the patty into rectangles or in to a shape of "hagoita".
If so desired, brush the surface with mirin and press either the sesame, aonori or poppy seeds on the surface.

Chicken patty with dried fig and Gorgonzola いちじくとブルーチーズの松風焼き
I found this recipe on line which is a variation of "Matsukaze-yaki".

Ingredients:
Ground chicken: About 400grams.
Dried figs: We used dried mini mission figs. The amount is arbitrary but as far as I can tell, the more the better.
Gorgonzola cheese: we tried American made from goat cheese (mild) and one from whole cow’s milk (stronger). Both worked fine but we liked the stronger one, crumbled the amount arbitrary.
Eggs: two large
Olive oil: 2 tsp.

Directions:
Using a silicon spatula, I mixed the ground chicken, gorgonzola cheese, dried figs, and eggs and olive oil. I oiled the bottom of a small rectangular baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I spread the mixture to make about half an inch thick layer (see below).

I baked it in a toaster oven (in convection oven mode) preheated at 350F for 20 minutes or until done.*

Because of the parchment paper lining, it came out easily in one sheet. I cut it into  rectangles.  This is a totally new flavor for this dish. Sweet nutty dried figs and salty and a bit sharp Gorgonzola is indeed nice flavor combination and made this dish more Western than Japanese. It goes well with wine or Champagne.

*This was the second try. I made this in a rectangular frying pan covered with aluminum foil as the original recipe suggested. It became sort of steam/baked and produced a large amount of liquid and when I opened the lid, it was floating in the liquid. All the cheese appeared to have leached out and it was dry and did not taste good. My toaster over baking method worked much better. If I am going with a frying pan method, I will not cover it while it is cooking.

Kitsune Udon and Inari-sushi 狐うどんといなり寿司

When our refrigerator went kaput, some of the Japanese frozen items thawed almost completely. One of them was "Abura-age" 油揚げ or deep fried tofu pouches. These were rectanglar-shaped full sized ones called "Ganko-oyaji-no-abura-age" がんこおやじの油揚げ (meaning "stubborn old man's abura-age*"). I decided the best way to save them was to cook them in soy sauce and sugar or/or mirin which is called "Ama-Kara" 甘辛 meaning "sweet and salty". Once cooked, they would last longer and also could also be used to make "Inari-sushi" 稲荷寿司 (right below)  and "Kitsune udon" 狐うどん (left below) which I did a week or so later and served as a lunch one weekend. I served Inari-sushi (or more accurately, Inari-zushi) with cucumber "asazuke" 浅漬け and sweet vinegar-dressed ginger (store-bought).

*This is a Japanese way of saying that this product was made with a stubborn determination of an old man who upholds a tradition of making the best product without any compromises.

Classically, Kitsune Udon is simply topped with seasoned abura-age and chopped scallion (this is a famous dish in Osaka 大阪 and they typically used the green part of the scallion as opposed to Tokyoites who uses only the white part. Since I made home pasteurized eggs in that morning, I added a poached egg as well. That makes this as "Kitsune Tsukimi udon" キツネ月見うどん. "Tsukimi" 月見 means "moon gazing" and the egg yolk is equated with the moon.

Cooking and seasoning Abrura-age:
2 rectangular abura-age, thawed, intentionally (or otherwise), if frozen, cut in half (square).
Place the abura-age in a colander and pour boiling water over it to remove any excess oil (this process is called "abura-nuki" 油抜き).
Place four squares in a single layer in a pan and add the seasoning (Japanese broth 100ml, mirin 20ml, and 20ml, add sugar if you like it sweet).
Place a "otoshi-buta" on top and simmer for 15-20 minutes until only a small amount of seasoning liquid remains on the bottom. Then let it cool.

I did this some days prior to using them and kept them in a sealed container in the "back-up/emergency" fridge.

Making "Kitsune udon"
Soup: Heat Japanese broth made from a dashi pouch (kelp and bonito), seasoned with sake, mirin and light colored soy sauce. I seasoned  it lightly and added the seasoned abura-age pouch to warm. The seasoning from the pouches leak out into the soup and when I tasted it the soup was just right.

Udon noodle:
I had cooked dried thin udon noodle. I warmed them up in boiling water for 30 seconds, drained and put it into bowls.

I poured in the warm soup, topped it with the seasoned abura-age, poached egg and thinly sliced scallion.

Assembling Inari-zushi (four square pouches):

Filling the pouches with cooked rice: the simplest would be sushi rice, which is what I basically used,  but the rice can be mixed with other ingredients such as seasoned gourd peel or "kanpyo" カンピョウ and shiitake mushsooms 椎茸. The variations are endless. I used frozen white rice (this happened to be rather expensive Japanese grown "Koshihikari" コシヒカリ rice). I microwaved it to warm it up and dressed it with sushi vinegar. I did not mention it earlier but among the thawing victims of the refrigerator's demise were two small packages of small whitebait fish called "shirasu" しらす. (At the same time I rescued the abura-age I braised these fish in mirin, sake and  soy sauce until almost dry and placed them in a small sealed container in the "emergency" fridge.) I mixed this seasoned "shirasu" into the sushi rice mixture. I prepared the pouches to be filled with the rice by pressing the abura-age pouches between two identical plates to remove any excess liquid. I then stuffed them with the rice mixture. Since the seasoning of the pouches and "shirasu" were essentially similar, this combination worked very well.

I cut the stuffed pouches in half to serve. Here you can see small fishy mixed into the rice.

For impromptu lunch with "Inari" theme**, this was quite good.

** Digression alert!:
"Inari" 稲荷 is a Japanese deity (or one of many Japanese gods) who promotes industrial and agricultural prosperity. There are some 30,000 Inari shrines that exist throughout Japan. These Inari shrines are guarded by statues of foxes (wearing red bibs for some reason). Although the fox is often confused to be the God, it is not. It is simply the Inari god's messenger. In addition, these foxes are said to be very fond of "abura-age". So, any dish made with abura-age is called "Inari" or "Kitsune (fox)".

This picture was taken by my wife when we were traveling in Kyoto 京都 and visiting  "Fushimi Inari Taisha" 伏見稲荷大社 in 2015. This is famous for numerous red torii gates 赤鳥居. This is the main or "parent" Inari shrine among the many in Japan.

When we visited there, it was very crowded. Later, we learned that visiting there at night may be less crowded.

Happy New Year 2020 明けましておめでとうございます

Happy New Year 2020 which is also the end and beginning of a decade. 2019 was not a year we would like to repeat. Hope 2020 is a bit less "eventful". We started New Year 2020 as we would any other New Year. I put up the new "Kagami-mochi" 鏡餅 decoration in our Japanese "tea" room alcove or "Tokonoma" 床間 and displayed the zodiac mouse figurines子の年 from our collection of zodiac figures.

The largest mouse appears to be dressed in ”Kannushi" 神主 shinto priest attire. I am not sure what the smaller one is up to. It seems to be carrying a pouch and has on a backpack. (On closer inspection, this guy appears to be carrying a "Kome-dawara" 米俵; a traditional old fashioned woven-straw sac containing rice, no doubt a symbol of prosperity). It's cute.

We also displayed a small carved wooden mouse figure shown below which was not as anthropomorphized as the other two--he just looks cutely "mouse-ish".

Since we cannot start the day, even the first day of the year, without coffee, we gave up having a new year's "ozoni soup" お雑煮 for breakfast, instead, we had "ozoni" soup as a lunch as shown below. Not shown below, it was accompanied with a symbolic small cup of sake.

Nothing is  different from any other year but this year, I got fresh "mitsuba" 三つ葉. As usual, our mochi 餅 is wrapped in "abura-age" 油揚げ deep fried tofu pouch for easier handing/eating (especially for my wife).

I tried not to serve too much of food to make sure we can "adequately" hit the Sushitaro osechi box 寿司太郎のおせち重箱 and other goodies in the evening. All of the below are what I made. Two squares are "matsukaze yaki" 松風焼き (miso and pine nuts) and its variation (fig and bleu-cheese). I also served "kobu-maki" 昆布巻 kelp roll which was made from kelp and kanpyo 干瓢 "dried gourd peel") that were left over from when I made salmon kelp rolls 鮭昆布巻. I also made "datemaki" 伊達巻.

To help digestion (my father used to say "daikon" helps digestion), I also served  daikon namasu 大根なます topped with boiled octopus leg and ikura salmon "roe". This roe came from an Alaskan company. which we used for the first time. The ikura is much smaller than the ikura we usually get--it actually looks a bit more like trout roe but tasted the same as salmon roe.

So, this was how we started 2020 and more to come in the evening.

Vinegar Cured Mackerel Sushi with Shiro-ita Kelp バッテラ

“Battera バッテラ” is a type of molded sushi or “oshizushi 押し寿司” popular in the Osaka 大阪 region. It is made from vinegar cured mackerel or “shime-saba しめ鯖” and specially prepared kelp called “shiro-ita konbu 白板昆布” (more description later). I posted molded sushi using vinegar cured mackerel and smoked salmon but I did not have shiro-ita konbu, at that time. Later I found a product where the shime-saba was covered with shaven kelp. Using this, I made sushi similar to “oshizushi” called “bo-zushi 棒鮨” without using a mold. We were quite satisfied with this version. Then, I found “shiro-ita konbu” listed on the website called “Japanese Taste”. This company sells authentic Japanese items including groceries. So, I bought the konbu to make a more authentic battera but again I did not use the mold.  (I was just a bit lazy. I would have had to find the mold and then soak it in water before I could use it). In the serving picture, you see the mackerel is covered with a thin layer of kelp. On the left most side I included sushi rice wrapped with “shiro-ika konbu”. They were good but I am not sure the konbu made a big difference in taste. I served this with cucumber and nappa cabbage asazuke 浅漬け and vinegar cured lotus root “su-renkon 酢レンコン.

Ingredients:

1 package of vinegar cured mackerel or shime-saba, thawed

One strip of “shiro-ita konbu 白板昆布 (#4)” about the same size as the mackerel

About 1/2 cup (or enough to make one roll of sushi) of sushi rice

Directions:

Season the kelp as per the package instructions (simmer in the mixture of dashi broth, soy sauce, sake and sugar, but the more standard seasoning uses sweet vinegar)

Remove the thin skin from the mackerel (#1)

Place the mackerel, skin side down on a silicon sushi mat (or plastic wrap on the top of a bamboo sushi mat), make a cylinder of sushi rice on the top and form a tight cylinder using the sushi mat (#2)

Place the seasoned kelp and form again (#3)

Wrap it in plastic wrap to let it settle for 5-20 minutes before slicing

A bit about “Shiro-ita konbu (#4)” and “oboro konbu おぼろ昆布 (#5)”.

“Shiro-ita  konbu” is the center part of kelp after the surface has been removed as “oboro-konbu” by shaving off the surface of the kelp making very thin strands. The package shown in #5 states this is hand-shaven showing the illustration of a guy shaving the kelp. This shaven kelp can be added to soup or udon noodles with broth. It does add some umami flavor but the texture is a bit “slimy”. So, I don’t know which is the main product and which is the byproduct “shiro-ikta conbu” or “oboro konbu” or vise versa.

From “Japanese Taste” I also got dried gourd peel or “kanpyo 干瓢” (which I have not been able to get for some time. The only kind available was pre-seasoned and could not be used as a tie for kelp roll). I also got “Hidaka Kelp 日高昆布”.  “Hidaka” is a place in Hokkaido famous for producing a good quality eating (as opposed to broth making) kelp.

Scattered sushi ちらし寿司

Smoked salmon and salmon roe scattered sushi いくらとスモークサーモンちらし寿司

This is our variation on scattered sushi ちらし寿司. "Sushi" means "vinegared rice". So any dish which uses vinegared rice will fall into the category of "sushi". Scattered sushi is the easiest sushi to make and is a classic home style dish; made by adding any combination of toppings to a bed of sushi rice. Traditional styles use mostly simmered and seasoned vegetables. These could include, among other things, shiitake mushrooms, carrot, lotus root or "renkon", "kanpyo", thinly cut slightly sweet thin omlet ("kinshiran" 金糸卵, meaning golden thread egg), strips of "nori" sea weed, and pickled ginger root. You could add any kind of cooked or raw fish (sashimi), shrimp, uni (sea urchin), ikura (salmon roe) (if you add all kinds of raw fish, it is called "kaisen chirashi" 海鮮ちらし or "nama chirashi なまちらし).

In Hokkaido, the combination of sea urchin and salmon roe is very popular and called  "uni ikura donburi" うにいくらドンブリ.  To make this regional specialty, an obscenely large amount of uni and ikura are placed on a bed of sushi rice. My mother introduced my wife to this dish some years ago and it now happens to be my wife's favorite. She enjoyed a wonderful example of this dish in the port city of Otaru near Sapporo on our last visit to Japan. At home, we occasionally make our version of this dish but fresh uni is hard to come by most of the time. Salmon roe is easier to get since it freezes very well. So we make our variation using a combination of good quality cold-smoked salmon and salmon roe. Again, this dish would serve as the last rice dish of the meal in our home Izakaya.

1. Cooking sushi rice: Start with a good short grain Japanese rice. We use "Tamaki" rice from California which is "okabo" or non-paddy rice but it is not bad. You could get real "paddy" rice from California as well. Instead of using just plain water, the rice could be cooked with a small piece of kelp and small amount of sake added to the water. Make the rice with slightly less water than would be used to make regular rice. This is so that the rice will be slightly dryer than usual and will absorb enough sushi vinegar. We mostly use an electric rice cooker (my wife is actually in charge of cooking rice--having been coached in what constitutes good rice by my mother in the early days of our marriage). I acquired a special "Donabe" rice cooker recently and the "donabe" rice cooker does make slightly better rice.  Wash the rice and let it soak in the water for 30 minutes or more before cooking it. Then, let it stand for 15 minutes after it is finished cooking.

2. Preparing sushi rice: As you can see in this picture, I use a wooden tub (寿司桶) and paddle (へら) but, of course, a shallow bowl and spoon will also work. You could make your own sushi vinegar or use a commercial bottled one. You could get a more precise recipe for sushi vinegar and how to make sushi rice elsewhere. The amount of sugar and salt in sushi vinegar is a personal preference, some old traditional edomae 江戸前 (Tokyo style) sushi restaurants even omit the sugar. Most of the time, I am too lazy to make my own sushi vinegar so I use a commercial bottled variety. I microwave the sushi vinegar to make it warm before adding it to the rice. Sometimes, however, I even skip this step. The amount of sushi vinegar to rice is another question. I usually put as much as I can without making the rice too wet (warm sushi vinegar appears to be absorbed more). We like a rather strong vinegar taste in our sushi rice. Traditionally, while you are mixing the sushi rice, you fan the rice. My wife helps me by fanning the sushi rice using a Japanese "uchiwa" 団扇. The exact reasons for this process is not really clear but maybe it makes the additional moisture evaporate. The end result is that the rice grains are shinier than they would be otherwise. I cover the tub with wet tea towel and let it stand for few minutes before putting the dish together. My wife is more of a rice connoisseur than I am and she often complains about the poor quality of sushi rice at near-by sushi bars, which is unfortunately often the case.

3. To make the thin egg omelet ("Kinshiran" 金糸卵): For one large egg, I put 1-2 tsp of sugar and pinch of salt and mix. I often add a small amount (1 tbs) of "dashi" broth but this is optional. Use a Japanese style rectangular frying pan or use a 8 inch regular non-stick frying pan with a small amount of butter or oil. You need to make this omelet very thin. The secret is to pour the egg mixture after the pan is hot  (on medium flame) and once the bottom is set, to reduce flame very low and put the lid on. You do not want to brown it.  It may take more than 5-7 minutes before the egg is cooked. Take it out of the pan onto a cutting board. Cut into 4 elongated pieces, stack them and julienne thinly.

4. Put the sushi rice in the bottom of the bowl or plate and top it with bite sized pieces of smoked salmon, salmon roe, thinly sliced salted and vinegared cucumber (excess moisture squeezed out), "kinshiran" or golden egg threads, shredded "nori" seaweed, finely chopped perilla and/or scallion. You can make any variation as you like depending on the ingredients available.