Category: Regional

Hoto: Udon Stew Recipe
A long and mysterious history lies behind hoto, an udon noodle-based stew from Yamanashi Prefecture, near Tokyo. It appears to be mentioned in the Pillow Book, a collection of essays of the Heian era (794-1185), but its precise origins are unknown. Many intriguing stories have grown up around it, however, all likely containing an element of truth.

Some say that “hoto” comes from an old Chinese cake called hakutaku. It’s believed that the dish described in the Pillow Book was actually this dumpling-like cake, made of wheat flour, and for some time many dishes made from wheat were called hoto.

Other theories grow out of the constraints imposed on farmers during the Edo era (1603-1867). Although they belonged to the second-highest social caste, farmers were forbidden to eat rice, wheat, or soba (buckwheat noodles), all of which were taken as tax, to be eaten by the aristocratic class. It’s hard to believe nowadays, when Japanese farmers wield so much political influence and power, but the samurai government bled them dry. “Don’t let the farmers live or die,” ran a common motto.

Thus, according to one story, all over Japan farmers hid wheat from the eyes of government officials and disguised wheat dishes by calling them hatto or hattoh – meaning “prohibition” – instead of hoto. Such dishes were usually dumpling or wide soba soups.

Alternatively, the ban on wheat is said to have been effective, so that hoto didn’t become generally popular until the Taisho era (1912-1926), well after the lifting of restrictions. From then until the 1950s, Yamanashi folk habitually ate a type of hoto for their evening meal, and scooped hardened hoto onto rice for breakfast the next day.

Hoto Recipe

An essential element of Yamanashi hoto is pumpkin (I love kabocha and use that), used as a sweetener in the old days when there was no sugar. It was gourmet food in mountainous Yamanashi.

Real hoto uses handmade udon noodles, which are made without salt and not left to rest, resulting in a chewy texture. Store-bought fresh udon noodles will do, however. Just don’t overcook them, aim for al dente. My umami-packed version contains pork, but chicken or wild boar can be added and even tofu, as well as assorted mushrooms, daikon radish, carrots, burdock root, taro, and aburaage (fried tofu pockets) just to give you a few other ingredient ideas. Modern recipes may even include curry or butter as flavoring. I like the extra richness of butter for this dish, but a neutral oil will do. With the weather starting to cool down in the Bay area, this is one of my favorite fall treats. It is hearty, filling, easy to make, versatile and above all delicious! I call it my Japanese comfort food for the fall. And making and serving a one-pot dish can’t be beat!
Hoto

Lucy Seligman

5 from 1 vote

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

1/2 lb lean, thinly sliced pork
3/4 lb kabocha, Japanese pumpkin (leave skin on), washed, seeded, and thinly sliced into half-moon shapes
1 package enoki mushrooms, washed and stemmed
1 Japanese leek (white part only), well-washed and coarsely chopped
2 tbsp butter (may replace with a neutral oil)
5 cups homemade dashi (fish) stock or water
4 tbsp miso paste (2 tablespoons red and 2 tablespoons white), or to taste
10-1/2 ounces fresh udon noodles
Garnish
2-3 tbsp peeled fresh ginger, cut into slivers

Instructions

Briefly saute the pork, pumpkin, mushrooms, and leek in butter in a deep medium-sized pot. Add dashi or water. Bring to a boil and add miso (for best consistency, first combine the misos and some broth in a small bowl), then add into the pot. Turn heat down to a high simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes or until all the vegetables can be easily pierced with a fork.
Add in the udon and continue to cook for 5 minutes, or until the udon has reached desired doneness: It should still be slightly chewy.
Serve immediately in large soup bowls, garnished with fresh ginger.

Notes
You can really add in a wide variety of complimentary vegetables that you may have around in your kitchen. What would complement your hoto? Onions, potatoes are just a few, etc.
Some other options to try:
Aburaage (fried tofu pockets): Pour boiling water over first to get rid of excess oil. Slice thickly into fours.
Your favorite mushrooms: I used shimeji, shiitake and enoki, but any mushroom will work.
Satoimo (Taro): Peel, rinse, cut into halves or quarters and add with the other ingredients when sauteeing.
Burdock Root (Gobo): My friend, Naomi, suggested it. Peel the gobo, and slice on the bias into thin slices. I sauteed the gobo in a little oil in the deep pot until it browned and released its sweetness. Then I continued with the rest of the recipe as noted above. Delicious!

Keyword noodles

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Jibuni: Kanazawa-style simmered duck stew
Kanazawa boasts a special regional cuisine called Kaga no aji. In general the taste is mildly sweet, like most Japanese country cooking. Visually, it is not as sophisticated or ornate as Kyoto’s kaiseki haute cuisine, since it’s based on the food of the samurai – substantial and hearty, with taste, not looks, being paramount.

Jibuni is one tasty example, a special regional recipe of duck (or chicken) and vegetable stew eaten not only as a seasonal daily dish in Kanazawa but also served on many special occasions. We don’t know the precise origins of jibu, but ni means “to simmer.” Some people say that jibu jibu is the sound the stew makes while cooking. Others believe that the stew was invented by a samurai named Jibu. Since it is one of the few dishes that uses flour as a thickener, many suspect that it has Portuguese origins from the early days of the Edo period (1603-1867).

Jibuni: Kanazawa-style Duck Stew Recipe

Jibuni is one of my favorite Japanese winter comfort dishes, but please don’t limit yourself to consuming it only during that time of year. Based on the season, there are many variations around. It’s fun to play with the basic recipe, replacing ingredients according to your tastes or what’s available at the market. For example, you can try fresh spinach; dried, reconstituted shiitake mushrooms or other Japanese mushrooms; Japanese parsley (seri); or Japanese leeks (negi).

My variation of jibuni is based on a recipe from Tsubajin, one of Kanazawa’s oldest (two hundred seventy years plus) and most famous restaurants.

The ancient castle town of Kanazawa, located on the Japan Sea side of Honshu in Ishikawa Prefecture, was ruled peacefully for over three centuries by one of the country’s richest daimyo families, the Maedas. It retains a rich cultural heritage and old-world charm, and also remains one of the true gourmet meccas of Japan.

Other Delicacies from Kanazawa

Many of Kanazawa’s delicacies, such as gori (singing bird fish), come from the Saigawa and the Asanogawa – two large rivers running through the center of town.

The Omicho Market, which is at least two hundred and fifty years old and is often referred to as “Kanazawa’s Kitchen”, continues to be one of the most notable food markets in Japan. The market is filled with more than two hundred open stalls selling a variety of fresh seafood and local produce, including game and a small, sweet coldwater shrimp called ama-ebi.

And since Kanazawa produces nearly all of Japan’s gold leaf, it shouldn’t be surprising that a local custom involves drinking green tea, coffee, or sake with edible gold leaf floating on the surface. It remains one of my favorite towns to revisit over and over.

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Jibuni: Kanazawa-style simmered duck stew

Lucy Seligman

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Servings 4

Ingredients

6 cups dashi fish stock
8 tbsp soy sauce
9-10 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
4 slices bamboo shoot, 2 inches by 1 inch
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed
8 snow peas, trimmed
4 4 Kanazawa-style sudarebu (fresh wheat gluten – may be replaced by broiled tofu or dried wheat gluten) cut into 1-inch squares
4 slices boned & skinless duck breast*, 2 inches by 1 inch each,
All-purpose white flour as needed
Garnish
Freshly grated wasabi horseradish

Instructions

Heat the dashi stock and season it with the soy sauce and mirin. Boil the vegetables until crisp but tender. Turn down the heat to a high simmer and add in the sudarebu or tofu. Add in the duck (or chicken), which should be generously coated in the flour, at the last moment. This flour coating creates a thicker dashi broth and is a key element to the success and tastiness of this dish. It will take less than three minutes to cook each ingredient.

To serve, pile the vegetables and duck (or chicken) separately in small mounds in a shallow bowl, pour a little of the remaining sauce over them, and place a dab of wasabi in the center. Serve immediately.

Notes
Notes:
If you’re using tofu, first press some of the water out by putting it between two plates for 10 minutes. Drain.
You may replaced the duck with boneless, skinless chicken breast.

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Regional Recipe Corner: Tai Meshi from Shikoku Island
Shikoku Island (the smallest island in Japan) may have only four prefectures, but when it comes to regional cuisine, it is very wealthy. I had the chance to eat my way through the whole island when living in Japan. What struck me the most, was that, although most of the cuisine is fish-based, I never got bored eating fish every day. Each dish was a new adventure in tastes and textures.

Tai Meshi Recipe

One day, we stopped at a restaurant in, Uwajima, Kochi Prefecture, called Gansui. One dish was Tai Meshi. It was a simply crafted dish that was wonderful. I’ll include my version of it in my Shikoku Island tribute.

Chazuke is either hot or cold cooked rice, topped with a variety of ingredients, and usually immersed in hot green tea or stock. The practice of mixing rice with a liquid began back in the Heian era (794-1185). This recipe is an exception, a chakuze variation called shiru-kake meshi.

Various regional versions of chakuze can be sampled around Japan. On Shikoku Island, another local chakuze is bokkake. Bokkake’s main ingredient varies from place to place–rabbit and mackerel are just two that come to mind. The main ingredient is cooked together with lots of different vegetables, almost like a stew, then everything is poured over hot rice.

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Tai Meshi

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

9 ounces (or 250g) sliced fresh tai (sea bream), cut sashimi-style
3+ cups hot, firmly cooked Japanese white rice
Cold Dashi Stock: Fast Version*
2 cups water
1 teaspoon dashi stock granules
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Condiments:
4 fresh raw eggs
Toasted sesame seeds to taste
Shredded Yakinori (seaweed) to taste

Instructions

Make the dashi stock by placing all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir to combine well. Cool to room temperature, then chill well in the refrigerator until ready to use.
To serve, divide the cold dashi stock into four 1/2 cup servings. Place into four bowls and top with a freshly cracked egg. Divide the sea bream into four servings, and place attractively onto four small plates. Place the garnishes in small bowls on the table. Each person mixes the egg into the stock and adds the sea bream. Let sit to marinate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Divide the hot rice into four rice bowls and bring them to the table. Pour the fish/stock mixture over the hot rice, and top with the condiments. Stir lightly and eat.

Notes
*Of course you can make your own from scratch as well.

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Some Other Shikoku Specialties: A mini-survey

Sanuki Udon: From Kawaga Prefecture. Firmly textured and chewy udon noodles (thickly cut) are dipped into a strongly flavored soy-based sauce, with sesame seeds and minced green onions as condiments.

Sobagome Zosui: Soba (buckwheat) grains are cooked in a flavored dashi/soy sauce stock, with bits of chicken, fishcake, and vegetables. Chopped trefoil (mitsuba) or green onions are sprinkled over the top and the dish is eaten like a thick soup.

Tai Men (Men Kake): A whole sea bream is boiled. It is then dipped into cold somen (Japanese vermicelli) sauce, with the cold noodles (usually five different colors of somen are used.) Garnishes for the fish include thinly sliced boiled egg, sweetened cooked shiitake mushrooms, all dramatically presented on one big platter, with the whole fish in the center.

Another Type of Tai Meshi: A whole sea bream is cooked in rice. Considered a Japanese classic.

Sawachi Ryori: A culinary masterpiece of Tosa cooking, a traditional dish of Kochi Prefecture. Gorgeous platters, usually with diameters of 40 to 60 centimeters, offer a selection of every imaginable food; from local sashimi to katsuo no tataki, grilled fish, lightly flavored boiled vegetables, and many others.

Local Products from Shikoku Prefectures

Local products from Kagawa Prefecture:

Onions, melons, grapes, winter persimmons, sea bream, shrimp, conger eel and udon noodles. In the old days, it was essential for a bride to arrive in her new home with a rolling pin and a cutting board to make homemade udon. Produces the largest amount of olives in Japan. 和三盆WASANBON（a special sugar produced in Kagawa or Tokushima Prefecture) used to make Wagashi (tea ceremony sweets).

Local products from Tokushima Prefecture:

Lotus root, spinach, carrots, yuzu (a fragrant citrus fruit), Sudachi (すだち) is a sour green Japanese citron fruit and sora-mame (a broad bean). Narutokintoki is a well-known sweet potato in this area. Narutowakame (なるとわかめ) is also famous.

Local Products from Kochi Prefecture:

Yuzu (Japanese citron) is also grown here for yuzu jam, miso, juice, and vinegar. Local fish includes top-quality skipjack and tuna.

Aonori (fresh green nori) from Shimanto River is famous. Aonori is used for sprinkling over Okonomiyaki.

Buntan (Tosa Buntan), is a large Kochi orange with a taste that is very refreshing (さっぱり).

Local Products from Ehime Prefecture:

The most famous product is mikan oranges and other varieties of Japanese oranges. The largest chestnut harvest in Japan is located here, and the best katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings). There are also salt fields in Ehime.
Misonikomi Noodles from Nagoya
Until I lived in Nagoya, I thought I only preferred less salty, lighter-colored misos, on the sweeter side. But the first time I had Misonikomi, another Nagoyan specialty, and tasted the deeply red and pungent hatcho (red) miso, my miso taste preferences widened and expanded. I loved making my kishimen noodle recipe from earlier this month, but this one might be even better!

While testing this recipe, I was thrilled to find hatcho miso in the Bay area to use. If you are looking for a deeply satisfying, savory, umami-filled hearty noodle dish, Misonikomi is for you! Make sure you not only have chopsticks, but a soup spoon as you will want to spoon and slurp up every drop of the addictively tantalizing, comforting and delicious soup broth.

If you like this, check out Kishimen Noodles from Nagoya too.

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Misonikomi Noodles from Nagoya

Lucy Seligman

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Ingredients

14 oz. handmade or dried thick udon noodles
5 oz. chicken breast boned, skinned, and cut into small bite-sized pieces
4 slices kamaboko, steamed fishcake optional
3 ½ oz. Japanese leeks roughly chopped
3 ½ oz. carrots cut into rounds
5 cups strong dashi
2-3 tablespoons hatcho miso soybean paste, or a mixture of 70% red miso and 30% brown miso
4 eggs
3 ½ oz. fresh spinach stemmed, washed, and parboiled, with excess water squeezed out
To garnish:
Shichimitogarashi “seven tastes” pepper

Instructions

Boil the chicken, kamaboko, leeks, and carrots in the dashi stock until half-way cooked. Remove.
Next, add the udon to the stock and boil until it reaches a chewy consistency. Then add the hatcho miso and continue to cook. As soon as the stock returns to the boil, remove the udon and place in four deep soup bowls.
Break the eggs into the stock (perhaps in two batches), and poach until half-way done. While the eggs are cooking, distribute the chicken, kamaboko, spinach, and other vegetables over the udon.
Place one egg in the center of each serving, and ladle soup over it – the heat of the soup will finish cooking the chicken, vegetables, and egg. Serve shichimi pepper separately.

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Kishimen Noodles from Nagoya
This month’s recipes are typical Nagoya fare: kishimen, a flat, wide quick-cooking udon noodle called hirauchi; and misonikomi (in next blog post), a dish of thicker handmade udon noodles in a hearty hatcho (red miso) broth.

If you don’t like noodles, you could never be happy in Nagoya. Happily, I love noodles, and loved my years of living in Nagoya and sampling and cooking many of their regional dishes. If you can’t get the right sort of noodles. Western-type pasta such as fettuccine can be used instead.

Although there are few ingredients in this classic Kishimen recipe, don’t be deceived. It packs an intense wallop of flavors and taste sensations, especially the abundant topping of katsuobushi.

A Nagoyan friend recently told me that Fried Ebi (shrimp) Curry Kishimen is a modern twist to this traditional kishimen recipe I am posting about and becoming popular. Of course, fried shrimp is a favorite Nagoyan dish too!

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Kishimen Noodles from Nagoya

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

14 oz. fresh or dried kishimen noodles
3 ½ oz. fried tofu (abura-age) cut into triangles or squares
5 tablespoons mirin, sweet rice wine
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ cup water
For the broth:
5 cups strong dashi, fish stock
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sake rice wine
1 ½ teaspoons mirin
¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
To garnish:
2 cups lightly packed dried bonito shavings, katsuobushi

Instructions

First, make the broth: in a large saucepan, combine the dashi, soy sauce, sake, mirin, and salt. Heat through and set aside.
Place the fried tofu in a separate shallow saucepan with the mirin, soy sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then cover and simmer, turning occasionally, until the tofu has softened, plumbed up, and takes on a deeper brownish color – roughly ten minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the tofu in the saucepan to keep it warm.
Cook the kishimen according to the directions on the package, but take them out while still chewy. Add to the dashi broth and mix for a minute or two.
Pour the kishimen broth mixture evenly into four large soup bowls, distribute the abura-age between them, and top with generous mounds of bonito shavings. Eat at once.

Keyword noodles

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Tebasaki: Nagoya-style Fried Chicken Wings
This recipe is a favorite in beer gardens and beer halls in Nagoya, where I happily lived for a number of years.

Beer halls and beer gardens are popular summer retreats in japan. Just like overseas drinkers, the Japanese enjoy a variety of highly addictive and tasty snacks that inevitably inspired thirst for another draught. One typical favorite is tebasaki – flavored fried chicken wings.

But first, a bit about beer. As far as we know, beer was introduced to Japan during the mid-Edo era (1603-1867) by Dutch merchants. The Dutch were allowed to land at Dejima island near Nagasaki during the long period of Japan’s national isolation, and among their wares was lager beer. The first Japanese to actually make beer for personal consumption was Dr. Komin Kawamoto, who acted as an interpreter for the Tokugawa military government in 1853 and was served beer while on Commodore Perry’s ship. Dr. Kawamoto became so enthusiastic about this new beverage that he obtained the recipe from Commodore Perry himself and then went home and started brewing. The first non-Japanese brewery was started in 1870 by an American named William Copeland, who built the Spring Valley Brewery in Yokohama to satisfy the thirsts of an increasing number of foreigners who converged on Japan after it opened its doors to the rest of world. We also have Copeland to thank for the first beer hall in Japan, situated right next to his brewery. Although these beers were not produced on a large scale, they were popular enough to be called maho mizu (magic water) by the Japanese.

In 1872, the first Japanese brewery opened in Osaka and began producing Shibuya beer. In March 1875, the first advertisement about beer appeared in Tokyo Nichi Shimbun (now the Mainichi Shimbun). It was a simple newspaper ad, but since beer was somewhat unknown, it caused a big commotion. Kiyobe Nakagawa, often called the father of beer, started what would later become Sapporo Beer in Sapporo the following year. By the mid-Meiji era (1868-1912) there more than 100 breweries scattered around Japan, including Kirin, which also had its origin in Yokohama.

Beer gardens first opened in 1896. Asahi Beer, based in Osaka, put up a tent and served a draft brew called Sakura Beer. In 1899, Ebisu Beer Hall was opened in Tokyo by Nihon Beer Corporation. Beer was sold by the glass with Western snacks such as sandwiches. After this, many popular beer halls opened in the city. Shimbashi Beer Hall, for example, catered to people waiting for trains and to foreigners. It was a large, typically noisy place. On opening day, it sold 225 liters of beer-due in no small part to the American navy men who had heard of it.

For the sake of recipe testing, I won’t mention how many chicken wings and mini-drumsticks were consumed, along with various bottles of Japanese beer……..in pursuit of the perfect recipe!
Tebasaki: Nagoya-style Fried Chicken Wings

Lucy Seligman

4 from 1 vote

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Course Appetizer
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

8-12 chicken wings or mini-drum sticks
vegetable oil for frying
1/2+ cup unagi-tare sauce, a thick, sweet, soy-based sauce often used for grilled eel
ground white pepper to taste
sansho pepper to taste
Garnish:
shredded cabbage

Instructions

Deep-fry the wings and or drumsticks in the oil until golden brown and fully cooked. Drain briefly.
Generously brush both sides of the chicken with the unagi sauce and dust generously all over with both of the peppers.
Place the chicken against a mound of cabbage and serve immediately.

Notes
There are endless seasoning variations to try and taste, and that’s part of the fun. Everyone has their own favorite. Remember to balance out a sweet base with a spicy topping as my recipe does.
Here are some other flavor ideas to try:
Make your own favorite soy-based marinade for the chicken: Some ingredients to add in could be minced garlic, wasabi, mustard, curry powder, sesame oil, paprika, white sesame seeds, vinegar, and so on.
Sprinkle cooked chicken with white sesame seeds, shichimi togarashi (7 taste pepper including red pepper), or coarsely cracked black pepper.

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If you like this, check out other regional Japanese recipes >>

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Rafutei: Okinawa’s Slow-Simmered Pork
I was lucky enough to visit Okinawa once and loved it! Here is one of my favorite recipes from there.

Modern Okinawa cuisine is based on dishes enjoyed by the rulers of the Ryukyu dynasty, which controlled Okinawa from 1372 to 1879, and traditional island homecooking.

Originally, royal Ryukyuan cuisine was served only during special events and ceremonial occasions. It was gorgeous fare, richly laid out in the style of a Chinese banquet, and dramatically presented on exotic black and red lacquerware. When the dynasty eventually collapsed, and Okinawa became a prefecture of Japan, most of this sumptuous formal cuisine disappeared with it. But some dishes were adapted to fit the budgets and tastes of ordinary folk. The passage of time has made it difficult to find the culinary seam between royal and traditional cooking.

Okinawa’s proximity to China and the Ryukyu’s dynasty’s close ties with the Middle Kingdom are reflected in Okinawa’s overwhelming preference for pork – it’s estimated that there are over 150 pork dishes in Ryukyuan cooking. Other similarities include an abundance of dishes stir-fried in the Chinese fashion, the often heavy-handed use of oil and salt, and the pungent presence of plenty of garlic. Because of its hot, humid climate, many of Okinawa’s dishes are also preserved, using such techniques as slow boiling and braising in sweetened soy sauce. One of these is rafutei, which is also one of Okinawa’s most popular pork dishes. Rafutei’s origins are uncertain, but written records give the original name for the dish as rafutai-ni, so it is likely that it came from China.

Rafutei can be cooked in either a soy or miso-based sauce. My recipe is soy-based. The important thing is that the meat is boiled for a long time, the aim of which is to create a meltingly tender mixture of meat and fat, but without the fattiness. In Nagasaki, they make a similar pork dish called kaku-ni. Kaku-ni is also braised in sweetened soy sauce, but it is cooked for an even longer period than rafutei, resulting in even greater tenderness.

If you like this, check out the other regional Japanese recipes >>>
Rafutei

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 6

Ingredients

2-1/4-2-1/2 lbs boneless pork belly, ideally with three layers each of meat and fat
1-1/4 cups Awamori, an Okinawan liquor distilled from rice, or good quality sake
1-1/4 cups dashi fish stock
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup Japanese soy sauce
1 small knob of fresh ginger, peeled and thickly sliced, optional
Garnish:
Bok choy, spinach, choc (sometimes also called choy) sum or fresh nigauri* (bitter melon/bitter gourd)

Instructions

Place the port in a deep, thick-bottomed soup pot, fill the pot three-quarters full with water, and bring to a boil. Cover, and continue boiling over medium heat for one hour, occassionally skimming off any scum. (If too much water boils off and the pork is not completely covered, add more boiling water.) Remove pork from heat, and cool down enough to cut into 1-1/2 inch chunks.
Prepare the seasoning stock by combining all ingredients and putting them in the cleaned soup pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, add the pork, and simmer for two and a half hours, turning the pork chunks over about once every 30 minutes. Halve the bok choy and boil briefly.
Lay the bok choy (or other green garnish) in a serving dish. Place the pork chunks next to it and drizzle the remaining sauce over. Serve hot or at room tempurature.
*If fresh nigauri is available, by all means use it! It can replace the bok choy and or other greens. To prepare nigauri, scrape the skin, slice thinly, remove the seeds, and blanch to
remove the bitterness. It can also be lightly stir-fried.

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Katsuo no Tataki: Seared Bonito Sashimi with Garlic
Katsuo (Bonito) is a seasonal Japanese delicacy of early summer. The most popular way to eat it is as katsuo no tataki (“pounded bonito sashimi”), a traditional dish from Kochi Prefecture on Shikoku Island. (Part of Thanks for the Meal’s regional Japanese recipe collection.)

This is a unique type of sashimi, the only kind to be eaten with garlic or seared before eating. In the past the bonito was pounded to soften the flesh, but nowadays condiments are rubbed into it and it is left to marinate so that it softens and absorbs their flavor. It is a perfect dish to make when the weather is hot and sultry, and when you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.

The origins of the dish are lost in the mists of time. One Edo-era (1603-1867) story holds that a European merchant tried to make smoked katsuo no tataki. According to another story, also of the Edo era, a European priest, homesick for beefsteak and garlic, used bonito as the closest red meat substitute.

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Whatever the origins of the recipe, during the Edo era katsuo was so cherished that the Edokko – the people of Edo – used to say that in order to be able to afford hatsu-gatsuo, the first bonito of the season, they would willingly pawn their wives. Bonito first became popular with the samurai, since the word “katsuo” can also mean “winning man,” but it later spread to the common people.

There are many ways to enjoy bonito in Japan, but perhaps the most traditional, besides katsuo no tataki, is as dried shavings. Known as katsuobushi, these are a basic ingredient in Japanese fish stock, dashi.

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Katsuo no Tataki: Seared Bonito Sashimi with Garlic

Lucy Seligman

5 from 1 vote

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 lb fresh bonito fillets with skin intact*, may replace with yellowtail or tuna
Salt
Large bowl of ice water
Homemade or bottled Ponzu dipping sauce, a vinegary mixture of soy sauce and sudachi or yuzu, types of Japanese citron
Condiments**:
5 tbsps or more minced or chopped garlic
5 tbsps or more minced scallion
3 tbsps or more grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup fresh shiso (perilla) leaves, cut into slivers
Garnishes (optional)
Whole shiso leaves
Kaiware (radish sprouts)
Edible flowers

Instructions

Combine the condiments in a small bowl and set aside.
If using unseared bonito: Cut away any very dark parts of the bonito. Wash and pat dry. Spread out the fish and insert skewers–long metal ones are easiest to remove–parallel or fanning out to support the whole fillet. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Omit this step if you have bought seared bonito.
Quickly sear both sides of the fillets evenly over a very high heat. The outside of the bonito should turn white; the inside should look like rare steak. Omit this step if you have bought seared bonito.
Remove from the heat and plunge immediately into ice water. Gently remove the skewers by twisting them. Pat dry. Place the fillets on a cutting board, skin side up, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices.
Decorate a serving platter with the bonito slices, overlapping them in rows. Add a thick layer of the condiment mixture, patting down firmly, and drizzle liberally with ponzu sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.
Just before serving, remove from the refrigerator and take off the plastic wrap. Garnish if desired. Serve additional ponzu sauce in individual bowls, adding extra condiments if you like.

Notes
*I was able to buy already seared bonito at my local Japanese market here in the Bay area. It made for a faster preparation for this dish.
**If desired, make additional condiment mixture to mix into ponzu sauce at the table while dining.

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Uosuki: Fish Sukiyaki
Ask anyone about sukiyaki, and most will nod knowledgeably and say, “Ah, yes, a famous Japanese dish.” Mention Uosuki, though, and even most Japanese will react with a blank look. Uosuki is a form of fish sukiyaki, a famous regional dish from the Osaka area that originated on fishing boats in the Inland Sea. Fresh catch was quickly cut up and added to a nabe (iron pot) of simmering stock that was sweet and salty (amakara); the stock was said to hide the fishy smell. Vegetables were also thrown in the pot, and a beaten egg was used as a dipping sauce. At the very end, udon noodles were added instead of rice.

Maruman Honke, an Osaka restaurant that opened in 1862, claims to be the only establishment to offer authentic uosuki. Located in the theater district until World War II, Maruman Honke became a favorite post-performance hangout for theatergoers. The restaurant’s huge communal room was raucous, convivial place where friends and strangers alike shared the large tables.

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Today the restaurant is in a different area, and has the standard setup of a counter, tables, and small rooms for private parties. The uosuki hasn’t changed, though.

Here is my version of uosuki. I use a variety of ultrafresh fish and other seafood – oysters and squid, for example – for a more complex taste. Vary the vegetables as desired: Chinese cabbage, shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves), daikon radish, and various Japanese mushrooms all blend in well. The addition of sansho pepper into the marinade for the fish also adds an elegant and additional subtle layer of flavor to this dish.

For extra authenticity, try making Uosuki or Beef Sukiyaki (recipe) in a cast-iron sukiyaki pan.

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Uosuki: Fish Sukiyaki

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

2 lb to 2 ¼ lb assorted white-meat fish fillets, such as sea bream, yellowtail, or cod, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 medium or large shrimp, shelled and deveined, with tail left intact
4 hamaguri clams, soaked in cold water for about an hour to cleanse them, then drained and rinsed
3 cups cold dashi fish stock
1/2 teaspoon sansho pepper
1 ½ blocks grilled tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and a crisscross incision made on the caps
7 oz. negi (Japanese leeks), cut diagonally into 1-inch slices* Use white part only
1 large bunch of mitsuba, trefoil, slightly stemmed, washed, and cut into 2-inch pieces
½ lb shirataki (noodles made from devil’s tongue jelly), parboiled for 2 to 3 minutes, then drained and cut into thirds
10 ½ oz dried udon noodles, slightly undercooked, drained and then rinsed in cold water
Cold water as needed
Sauce:
¾ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup white sugar
½ cup sake
½ cup mirin (sweet sake)
¾ cup cold dashi stock
Dipping sauce:
4 to 8 eggs

Instructions

Marinate the fish and shellfish in the cold dashi-sansho mixture in a shallow container for one hour in the refrigerator before cooking. Drain and place the marinated seafood in a serving bowl.
Arrange the rest of the ingredients on a serving platter and place the platter on the dining table. Put all the sauce ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the sugar dissolves and it’s hot. Adjust the taste as desired, adding more sugar or mirin for a sweeter taste, or more soy sauce for a saltier taste.
Pour half the sauce into the sukiyaki pan (or cast-iron pan), and then place the pan over a heating source and bring to a boil. Start adding a little of each ingredient to the pot and let cook over high heat until done. Dip each morsel into beaten egg and eat immediately. Continue adding the ingredients and sauce as needed. Add noodles to the pot toward the end of the meal, cooking only to reheat and eat.
If the sauce becomes too thick, add cold water as needed to thin it out.

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Nanbanzuke: Marinated Fried Fish from Nagasaki
Portuguese and Spanish missionaries started trickling into Japan to spread the teachings of Christianity near the end of the Muromachi era (1392-1567), and their first foothold in Japan was Nagasaki. The Japanese took to referring to all Europeans as Nanbanjin or “Southern barbarians,” and gradually the term “nanban” came to mean anything related to European civilization; even the ship that brought the missionaries to the shores of Japan was referred to as nanbansen.

In addition to importing a different religion and culture, the priests also sparked a culinary revolution of sorts. Nanban ryori (“Southern barbarian cuisine”) was a style of cooking characterized by deep-frying and the use of dried hot red peppers and onions, both of which the newcomers employed liberally in their cuisine. However, since the onion didn’t come to Japan until the seventeenth century and wasn’t popular until the Meiji era (1868-1912), Western cooks took to using Japanese leeks instead. The Japanese liked what they tasted and began creating dishes that used these two ingredients.

One example is kamo nanban – soba with wild duck and leeks. By the Edo era (1603-1867) many cookbooks referred to any dish using leeks as nanban-style cooking. The preferred method of cooking in this Nagasaki regional cuisine was deep-frying. The frying of food, including tempura, can be traced back to the meatless Fridays the devoutly Catholic Europeans observed for religious reasons.

Nanbanzuke (aka Nanban-zuke) is one facet of Nagasaki’s regional cooking style, and among its most enduring variations is Aji no Nanbanzuke. To make this dish, small horse mackerel are deep-fried and then marinated in a vinegar-based sauce that includes red peppers and leeks. Summer is considered the best season for horse mackerel, which is often served as sashimi, salt-grilled, boiled, or deep-fried. Many people think the latter is the best of all.

During a recent trip back to Japan this summer, I not only enjoyed Aji no Nanbanzuke, but I helped cook a home-style version of this style of cooking using chicken and assorted vegetables. (I will post that recipe in the future.) What I like is that this is a pretty forgiving dish; an easy and delectable way to eat a lot of vegetables during hot and humid summer days, not to mention succulent fish and or chicken, and surprisingly light despite it being a fried dish!

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Aji no Nanbanzuke

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

8 small whole fresh aji (horse mackerel or sardines), cleaned, scaled, gutted, and deboned
1 ½ teaspoons coarse sea salt
All-purpose white flour as needed
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Nanbansu (vinegar sauce)
7 tablespoons cold water
1 ½ tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons sake
2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
1 or 2 small dried red peppers, seeded & sliced thinly
3 ½ tablespoons rice vinegar, or to taste
½ Japanese leek, white part only, charred & quartered or replace with 1 small onion, peeled & thinly sliced
Garnish
Minced green onion to taste
Optional Additional Vegetables if desired:
1 or 2 piman (Japanese green pepper), seeded, cored and thinly sliced into strips
1 small carrot, peeled and thinly sliced into strips

Instructions

Wash the cleaned fish and sprinkle them with the sea salt. Let sit for 15 to 20 minutes, then wash the salt off in cold water and dry the fish well with paper towels. Dredge in flour. Deep-fry in the vegetable oil until the fish start to float and turn golden-brown. Drain quickly on paper towels, then place the still-hot fish in a shallow, nonaluminum container.
While the fish are being salted, make the sauce. Bring the water, sugar, sake, soy sauce, and red peppers to a boil. Turn the heat off and add the vinegar, leeks, and any other vegetables if using. Pour the sauce over the fish, let cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to two days, turning occasionally.
To server: Drain the fish and vegetables, and place on a serving plate. Sprinkle the fish generously with the minced green onions and drizzle a little of the sauce over them. Serve cold.

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Photo copyright: kandki / 123RF Stock Photo

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