Tag: dashi

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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Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger Recipe
I get a lot of potatoes in my bi-monthly CSA box, so I have been making Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger recipe quite a bit. It makes for a great and easy side dish.

Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger Recipe

And since I freely admit to being a history nerd, I also love collecting old books about cooking in Japan, both in Japanese and in English. They range from a volume in Japanese dating back to the late Meiji period (1868-1912) to a curious tome written in 1948, during the U.S. Occupation (1945-52). Its rather overblown title is The American Way of Housekeeping of the Women of the Occupation by the Women of the Occupation for the Women of the Occupation. No single writer is acknowledged, only groups such as the American Women’s Guild, Cavalry Officers’ Wives, and Navy Officers’ Wives. Another similar book, recently reprinted, is called simply American Recipes. First published in 1939 by the Yokohama chapter of the Daughters of America, it was meant to assist Japanese cooks in preparing both Western and Japanese dishes to suit the tastes of the foreigners living in Yokohama.

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Arigatou Gozaimasu / ありがとうございますいます –Lucy

Looking at these two books (both of which, incidentally, are bilingual), particularly The American Way, it is apparent that the Occupation forces really brought home cooking and housekeeping methods with them when they came to Japan. It is also apparent that ready access to U.S. base commissaries allowed them to maintain a standard of dining quite lavish for those times. Recipes in The American Way, for example, include baked ham with champagne, beef stroganoff, and a fine three-layer cake. The book’s opening chapters provide descriptions of a typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner in 1948, as well as instructions for the housekeeper and cook on how to set the breakfast tray, clean the house, do the laundry, store food, and polish silver!

For the vast majority of Japan’s inhabitants, however, the period during which these books were published was a time of acute food shortages. Rice was strictly regulated by the government via consumption allowances and price controls. Diners had to have a rice coupon to order rice at a restaurant, a practice that was continued for a time even after the war ended.

Sweet Spuds: A Good Potato Dish From Hard Times

By the close of World War II, in fact, there was virtually no rice to be had in the country. Vegetables were being grown outside the Diet (Parliament) building in Tokyo, and many Tokyoites were forced to scour the countryside for food on a regular basis. Sweet potatoes, pumpkins, and potatoes were some of the more accessible starch substitutes for the rice that serves as the mainstay of the Japanese diet. Several recipes, including the one below, adapted from a 1938 book called Nichi-nichi katsuyo ryori jiten (Encyclopedia of Practical Everyday Cooking), put out by the NHK television network, took advantage of that relative abundance.

If you make this recipe and love it, please come back and give it a 5-star rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It helps others find the recipe! ❤️ Above all, I love to hear from you. Then snap a photo and tag me on Instagram! I would love to see your creation.
Small Potatoes in Sweet Sauce with fresh Ginger

Lucy Seligman

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Course Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 tbsp salt
18 oz (500 grams) small or baby potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp distilled white vinegar
4 tbsp mirin (sweet sake)
1/2 cup hot dashi (fish stock)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1-1/2-2 tbsp white sugar, or to taste
Garnish
fresh ginger, peeled & grated or cut into slivers

Instructions

Pour the salt into a medium-sized bowl of cold water. Add the potatoes, lightly scrubbing them under the water with your hands to get rid of excess starch, then drain and rinse them in more cold water. If they are a bit large, cut them into chunks.
Place the potatoes in a saucepan, add enough water to cover, then add the vinegar. Bring to a boil and cook until done, about 8 to 10 minutes. Check for doneness. Drain the potatoes and lightly rinse them in cold water.
In another saucepan, boil the mirin for one minute. Add the potatoes and dashi stock, bring to a boil again, and add the soy sauce and sugar. Partially cover the pan, and cook until 80 percent of the stock has boiled off. Shake the pan occasionally to help color the potatoes with the sauce. Remove the potatoes from the heat, drizzle with leftover sauce, top with ginger, and serve at room temperature.

Notes
Try making the same recipe with sweet potatoes if that is all you have on hand or prefer to white potatoes.

Keyword potatoes

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Chicken and Vegetable Zosui (Rice Porridge)
The History of Rice in Japan

Wet-rice culture came to Japan during the dawn of the Yayoi period (300 B.C. – 300 A.D.), either directly from China or via the Korean Peninsula. It was a time characterized by people known as the Yayoi, new tools and farming techniques (such as growing rice in paddies), and a deep reverence for rice itself, typified by seasonal ceremonies and festivities that are observed to the present day.

Contrary to popular belief, however, white rice didn’t become Japan’s primary grain until after World War II.

Until then, grains like millet or barley were the dietary mainstays of most Japanese. Rice farmers didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labor very often, either. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), rice was primarily used to pay taxes to samurai landholders; a samurai’s wealth, in fact, was measured by the number of koku (a koku equaled to little over five bushels) of rice he collected. The only people who ate white rice in those days were samurai, the upper classes, and rich merchants, and they were prodigious consumers of the stuff. In 1859, for instance, members of the upper social strata ate an annual average of 228 kilograms of rice. In comparison, in 2017, the average rice consumption rate was around 82.1 kilograms per person.

Rice’s Importance in Japan

Another reflection of the continuing importance of rice in Japanese culture is that the word gohan means not only “cooked rice” but “meal” as well. When somebody says “Gohan desu!” it can be translated as “Soup’s on!” During a typical day in a Japanese household, rice is served in many guises-plain rice accompanying a steaming bowl of miso soup and pickles for breakfast; a box lunch filled mainly with rice and topped with a fat umeboshi (pickled plum); onigiri (rice balls) for a snack; and for dinner, often rice, served in any number of variations.

Zosui

Zosui (rice porridge) also known as ojiya is one such excellent way to utilize left-over rice and make it into a meal. Although my recipe uses chicken and vegetables, you could also do a simplified version just using flavored dashi stock of some sort, eggs, and minced green onions or trefoil as a garnish. It is also particularly tasty using left-over reserved soup stock from a nabemono (hot pot) meal such as Oden.

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Chicken and Vegetable Zosui (Rice Porridge)
Chicken and Vegetable Zosui (Rice Porridge)

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

5-1/2 cups dashi fish stock
3 tbsp sake, or to taste
3 tbsp soy sauce, or to taste
1 tsp salt, or to taste
5-1/4 ozs skinned and boned chicken breast (150g), cut into small cubes
1 ¾ ozs carrots (50g), peeled and cut into thin half-moons
2 small turnips, peeled and cut in two, then cut into thin half-moons
4-1/2 cups slightly undercooked short-grain Japanese rice (can also use pre-cooked leftover rice or even frozen rice)
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
Garnish
Use either minced green onions (to taste) or mitsuba (trefoil), trimmed and finely chopped with stems, to taste.

Instructions

In a deep pot (ideally an earthenware one you can bring to the table for easy serving), add the stock, sake, soy sauce, and salt. Bring to a boil, mix well, then add the chicken and vegetables and cook over medium heat until halfway done.
Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken and vegetables are completely cooked. Add the beaten eggs, stir once and turn the heat off. Cover the pot for a minute or two-the egg will still be undercooked and runny at this point-then sprinkle the top with either the green onions or trefoil, mixing it into the porridge if desired.
Serve immediately in soup bowls. A plate of tsukemono (pickles) would provide the perfect accompaniment to this dish.

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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.
Salmon and Vegetable Tonjiru Soup: A modern twist on an old classic
Although the weather has been unusually warm and sunny here in the Bay area for the past few weeks, I was craving Tonjiru (豚汁,とんじる), a classic hearty umami-flavored miso-based soul-satisfying pork soup, usually made in the winter. Ton is defined as pork, and jiru meaning soup. Depending on the region, this can also be called Butajiru (豚汁,ぶたじる).

Although my updated and more modern (or even California) version is so dense with a variety of yummies, that perhaps I should call it a rustic stew? Instead of using the more traditional pork and or pork belly, I replaced it with fresh salmon chunks and added in uncured bacon for an extra layer of flavor and to stay true to the original recipe of Tonjiru. But, you can delete the bacon, although technically it can’t then be called Tonjiru anymore! I even added in kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), a favorite of mine, along with lots of other root vegetables and tofu. You can play around with the ingredients and add in others that you may prefer, such as potatoes. That’s the fun, versatility and flexibility of making Tonjiru. I also used a milder white miso in this dish, which also helped to keep it light, so that it can be enjoyed year-round if you like. This is an easy and quick main course and or substantial soup that is a great addition to your Japanese cooking repertoire.

I have been asked by many of my Facebook readers recently to post the recipe, so here it is! Be sure to check out the basic miso soup recipe first!

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Salmon and Vegetable Tonjiru Soup

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course, Soup
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

6 cups dashi stock
1 tbsp Japanese sesame oil
3/4 pound salmon fillets*, cut into thick slices, skinned and deboned
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger, or to taste, optional
3 slices uncured bacon*, cut thickly, optional
1-2 tbsps cooking oil
1 white onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup peeled, seeded and cubed Japanese pumpkin (kabocha)
3/4 cup peeled daikon radish, cut into half moon slices
1/2 cup peeled and thinly sliced or shredded gobo (burdock root)
3 satoimo (Japanese taro), peeled and cut into half moon slices
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thick circles
1/2 block konnyaku (konjac), cut in half and thinly sliced
5-6 tbsps white miso**, to taste
shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced, optional
1 block firm tofu, drained and cut into medium-sized cubes
Garnish
1/4 cup minced green onions
Shichimitogarashi (7 spice pepper) optional

Instructions

Prep all of your ingredients. The goal is to cut all of your ingredients into uniform and similar sizes.
Make your dashi and set aside.
In a deep pot, saute the ginger and bacon (if using) in sesame oil until slightly browned. Remove the bacon from pot, leaving the ginger, and add in oil. Cook onion and other ingredients such as gobo, kabocha, daikon, taro, and carrot until slightly softened. Add in konnyaku, and mushrooms (if using).
Pour in hot dashi stock. Add in salmon and bacon, if using. Bring to a high simmer. If needed, skim off any scum from top of the soup. Cook until all the vegetables are tender.
Turn off heat and add in miso using a strainer. Taste. You may want to add in more miso at this point. Add in tofu and gently stir to heat up thoroughly. If you need to reheat do so gently but never boil as you will lessen the flavor of the miso.
To serve, ladle into deep soup bowls and top with green onions. Pass shichimitogarashi separately. Eat immediately.

Notes

*Replace the salmon with the more traditional thinly sliced pork and or pork belly (use up to 1/2 lb). If doing so, then saute with the ginger. Delete the bacon if doing this version.

**Don’t use Kyoto white miso in this dish. It would make it too sweet. Just use plain white miso.

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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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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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Bamboo Shoot, Chicken and Fried Tofu Mixed Rice Recipe
We know spring is here when fresh bamboo shoots start popping up from the ground. In keeping with the traditional Japanese concept of enjoying food during its peak season, why not try this tasty and easy version of bamboo rice to celebrate spring, the season of renewal. I know I am ready for spring….aren’t you?!

My very first blog posting two years ago was a bamboo shoot recipe, and so is today’s. This is one of my favorite mixed rice recipes. And if you can’t buy fresh bamboo shoots, this can still be delicious using precooked peeled and or canned bamboo shoots.
Bamboo Shoot, Chicken, and Fried Tofu Rice

Lucy Seligman

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Servings 4

Ingredients

1 piece of abura-age (fried tofu)
7 ozs. fresh*, precooked peeled or canned bamboo shoots, thinly sliced
3 ½ ozs. chicken breast, skinned and cubed
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ cup dashi (fish stock)
3 tablespoons low-salt soy sauce, or to taste
4 tablespoons sake
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups Japanese white rice, washed and drained
1 piece of kelp, wiped with a damp cloth
To garnish:
Dried seaweed, cut into thin strips

Instructions

Before starting, immerse the fried tofu in hot water for 10 minutes to get rid of the oil. Squeeze out excess water and slice into strips. If using canned bamboo shoots, boil for a minute or two and then rinse.
Sauté the cubed chicken and fried tofu in oil. Add the sliced bamboo shoots, dashi stock, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and 2 tablespoons of sake. Cook until all the liquid evaporates, roughly 10 minutes. Set aside.
Place the rice in an electric rice cooker or large saucepan. Add the remaining soy sauce and sake, and salt. Place the piece of kelp on top. Add water and cook according to rice cooker directions or, if using a saucepan, until the water is fully absorbed. When the rice is done, remove kelp, add the chicken and vegetables and stir well. Cover and let sit a further 10 minutes before serving.
Place in rice bowls and top with a generous amount of dried seaweed. Serve immediately. Clam soup makes a nice accompaniment.

Notes
*If using canned or precooked peeled bamboo shoots, drain and rinse them thoroughly in cold water before preparation. If the shoots are fresh, cut off the hard bottom part and boil them in their husks – water left over from washing rice or rice bran is best for this – with a dried red pepper for about one and a half hours to remove bitterness. Let cool, then peel off the husks. Wash well in cold water and continue with recipe preparation.

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Salad Dressing Recipes
I love salads and of course, Japanese salad dressings!

Salad dressings play a large role in any Japanese culinary repertoire. The composition of salads and dressings are an area of great versatility and creativity in Japanese cuisine. If your pantry is equipped with a couple of Japanese standards, you too can whip up or pound up in a mortar and pestle a tasty dressing very quickly.

Japanese Salad Dressing Recipes

Japanese dressings come in various guises – basic, aemono (dressed) and sunomono (vinegared). Generally, aemono dressings tend to be thicker, often including miso, egg yolks, pounded sesame seeds, nuts and even tofu. Have all ingredients cooled before combining for any Japanese style dressing.

Aemono – Dressed Salads can be used for raw or cooked, and then cooled vegetables, poultry or fish that are mixed with dressing and served in small individual portions. It is also good with parboiled green vegetables, including cabbage, green beans or spinach.

Goma-ae (Sesame Dressing) Recipe
Goma-ae (Sesame dressing)

Lucy Seligman

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Course Salad
Cuisine Japanese

Ingredients

4 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon white sugar or mirin (sweet sake)
1 to 2 tablespoons dashi fish stock, cooled*
Garnish: Optional, Choose one
toasted white sesame seeds, to taste
katsuobushi, to taste

Instructions

Grind sesame seeds until flaky.
Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Combine with preferred salad ingredients and serve in individual portions. If desired, garnish with additional toasted white sesame seeds and or katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes).

Notes
*Follow directions on dashi container for how to make stock.

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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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Leave a note in the comments section if you make this dish!
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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