Tag: salt

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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Do you love Zosui?

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A New Year’s Salad: Kohaku Namasu Recipe
I have been thinking a lot about end of the year culinary rituals and traditions while writing this blog posting. I keep pondering why when I first experienced Osechi as a young bride (literally only married for 2 weeks) in Tokyo all those years ago, it so captivated me to this day? In a way, it was a culinary bridge to getting to know my new Japanese family through the endless hours of preparing Osechi with my new mother-in-law and sisters-in-law. I love Osechi as a our special year-end ritual and annual tradition. I love to celebrate it as a seasonal festive Japanese event.

A New Year’s Salad: Kohaku Namasu Recipe

My osechi of today is stream-lined and simplified, but no less significant to my daughter and me, and still filled with osechi classics that we love. I bring out the special over-sized ozoni soup bowls, and jubako that I have, and we will pick out new and special chopsticks to use during our celebration. I have been saving some from our last trip to Japan for just this occasion.

I have decided we will do our end of the year shopping on December 29th. What will we find or not? That, of course, is the big question. I know food shipments from Japan have been delayed a lot due to COVID. So, although we will have a big shopping list for December 31st-January 3rd meals, we will make adjustments if needed, and go early and follow best COVID practices. I am pondering which nabemono to enjoy as well over the holidays as it is fun to cook at the table. So many choices!

On December 31st, I will prepare Tokyo-style Toshikoshi Soba. She adores this Hokkaido-style Ozoni with salmon, so I think we will enjoy this one on January 1st. Of course, fresh mochi will be enjoyed in many different guises, as well as lots of green tea, including our beloved matcha, and every year I add in something different or new for her to try. I love salads, and this is one of my favorites for the New Year.

For more than a decade, many Japanese have bought Osechi in department stores. Time has passed and things have changed a lot. Recently Osechi from Japanese restaurants and Sushi shops have also become popular. Even Chinese restaurants and French restaurants prepare Osechi to be ordered in advance. Theirs are not like a traditional Japanese Osechi, but people find them tasty and different. Most likely the younger generation who live independently and who do not visit their parents during Oshogatsu will not bother to eat Osechi. Which is a pity in my opinion. Making Osechi isn’t particularly difficult, just takes some planning and time.

Namasu: Vinegared Foods

Namasu is the old term for any type of vinegared food, or Japanese salad. Some are made only with vegetables and others include fish. Kohaku (meaning red and white–typically associated colors of happiness and celebration in Japan) Namasu is a traditional standard for New Year’s (Osechi) celebrations; it combines daikon and carrots. There are really red carrots that sell around the Oshogatsu season. It is really red, not orange like ordinary carrots. These red ones are strong, so you do not need to put in a lot.

The red and white color combination is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. When we see red and white, we recognize it automatically as something auspicious. Weddings, inauguration ceremonies, the first day of education in schools, or the beginning of a joint venture, town festivals etc., are just some of the many events that red and white are used in celebration. Envelopes with red and white strings to celebrate somebody, too, is often used.

Kohaku Namasu salad is so easy to make and of course, can be enjoyed year-round if desired.
Kohaku Namasu Salad

Lucy Seligman

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Course Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups daikon radish, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1/3 cup carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 tsp salt
To make the dressing:
3 tbsp rice vinegar, or to taste
1 tsp white sugar, or to taste
salt to taste
Dashes of soy sauce and mirin (sweet sake), optional
Optional Garnishes:
toasted white sesame seeds to taste
slivers of fragrant yuzu and or lemon peel

Instructions

Combine daikon radish and carrot and knead lightly with salt. Let drain in a colander for 15 minutes. Rinse in water and squeeze out excess water.
Combine with dressing and taste for seasoning. If you prefer a sweeter version, cut down on the vinegar and increase the sugar. When ready to serve, drain off most of the dressing. It can be garnished with slivers of fragrant yuzu and or lemon peel, toasted white sesame seeds and served in hollowed out yuzu or lemon halves. This salad actually tastes better after ripening in the refrigerator (in a closed container) for a day or two.

Notes
The carrot can be replaced with peeled fresh persimmon strips and or dried apricot strips as a variation.
You can also use yuzu juice (or lemon juice) with vinegar, which gives it a slightly different and refreshing flavor as another variation.
In Japan, there is Hoshigaki dried persimmon, so you can use dried persimmon strips, too. However dried persimmon is sweet, so cut down on the sugar when using.

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Happy New Year! あけましておめでとうございます。

Snap a pic and hashtag it #thanksforthemeal — I would love to see a photo of your Kohaku Namasu salad on Instagram and or Facebook, or leave a note in the comments section (see below) and let me know!
A Poetic Treat Called Ohagi (aka Botamochi)
Though many of them would deny it, the Japanese are notorious sweet-eaters who indulge in a multitude of cakes, most often during teatime. This penchant for snacking dates back to the early Edo period (1603-1867), when eating two large meals a day was the norm – repasts punctuated by endless sweets and cups of green tea.

Two distinct categories of sweets in Japan

There are two distinct categories of sweets in Japan: wagashi, traditional handmade Japanese confections that are usually steamed or uncooked, and yogashi, or Western-style confections.

Traditional Wagashi

Wagashi have historically deep-rooted celebratory and often seasonal connotations, typified by the use of bird and flower names as well as other natural themes, such as uguisumochi (nightingale mochi [pounded rice] cake), sakuramochi (cherry mochi cake), noshiume (pressed plum cake); and rakugan (“falling geese” cake). The poetic nature of these appellations appealed greatly to monks, samurai, high-class merchants, and others of the intelligentsia. And I will admit, I love Japanese treats (especially wagashi), which I can definitely trace back to my many years of studying the Tea Ceremony when I lived in Japan.

Wagashi uses three primary ingredients

Most wagashi uses three primary ingredients: glutinous rice, sugar, and azuki beans. Glutinous rice was first used in confections back in the Yayoi period (300 B.C.-A.D. 300). Sugar brought in from China during the eighth century, was most popular during the Edo period. Azuki beans, mashed, and sweetened, were introduced from China during the Kamakura period (1185-1333).

Ohagi in the Autumn and Botamochi in the Spring

One of the most popular types of wagashi, called ohagi in the autumn, also referred to as botamochi in the spring (bush clover mochi), depending on season and region, can be traced to the Heian era (794-1185).

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Ohagi (Botamochi)

Lucy Seligman

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Ingredients

Chunky bean paste mixture*:
7 oz. 200g dried azuki beans (soaked in cold water for up to 12 hours prior to cooking, then drained and rinsed)
6 cups water
¾ cup white sugar, or to taste
Dash of salt
Rice ball mixture:
5 ¾ oz. (170g) mochigome (glutinous rice)
5 ¾ oz. (170g) short-grain Japanese rice
2 1/3 cups water
¼ teaspoon salt
Garnishes:
¼ cup toasted black sesame seeds
3 tablespoons kinako, (soybean flour mixed with 1 tablespoon white sugar or to taste and a pinch of salt)

Instructions

Place the beans in a mortar and crush them roughly with a pestle, adding the sugar and the pinch of salt a little at a time. Place the bean mixture in a clean pot and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 5 to 10minutes. The mixture will thicken slightly. Pour into a clean bowl and let cool to room temperature.
Wash and drain the rice. Add the water and salt and cook in an electric rice cooker. (The aim is to make slightly firmer rice, which is why less water than usual is used.) When the rice is cooked, let it rest for up to10 minutes. Sprinkle the salt on top, then semi-mash the rice using a mortarand pestle or a small wooden spoon. Divide into 14 to 16 portions and mold intoballs.
To assemble the ohagi, first wet your hands with salted water. Shape the still-warm rice balls into ovals, cylinders or rounds. (The shape and size of ohagi, by the way, are up to you.) Cover each ball with a thin film ofchunky bean paste. Roll the balls in the sesame seeds or soybean flour mixture,covering them thoroughly, or leave them as is. You can also make a small holein the bottom of the rice balls, add a small core of red bean paste, and thenproceed with the above method for covering the ohagi. Serve within 12 hours,with plenty of hot green tea as accompaniment.

Notes
*If you prefer to use ready-made chunky and or smooth red bean paste called anko, that works too!

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Enjoying A Cherry Blossom Picnic Bento (Ohanami) At Home
A favorite Japanese past time is Hanami, or Japanese flower viewing celebrations. In this case, Sarah B. Hodge is back to talk about the viewing of Cherry Blossoms (sakura); needless to say, delicious foods and drinks are always a part of this!

It’s Cherry Blossom Season in Japan

2020 has proven to be a strange year indeed…

Normally at this time, the Japanese are excitedly packing up the equivalent of picnic hampers full of beer, sake, and springtime delicacies to be enjoyed communally under the delicate, fleeting cherry blossoms. But with COVID-19 ravaging the globe and Japan currently under a state of emergency, some of Japan’s best-known cherry blossom festivals such as Hirosaki and Nakameguro have been canceled, and parks placed off-limits to would-be picnickers.

However, hanami bento can still be enjoyed from the comfort (and safety!) of home.

Enjoying Hanami Bento

The key to a successful hanami bento is a combination of flavors, textures, and foods that will hold up well without refrigeration (less an issue if you’re having a hanami party from home). Ideally, you’ll want items that make good finger foods and that taste good at room temperature.

Foods I make regularly that travel well include:
- Inarizushi with salt-preserved cherry blossoms
- Cherry blossom onigiri
- Cherry blossom tofu
- Tricolor quail eggs made to look like festive hanami dango (marinate cooked, peeled quail eggs in a solution of matcha or spinach furikake for green / mentaiko furikake sprinkles mixed with water for pink; the longer you let the eggs marinate, the more pronounced the color will be)
For a Western-inspired treat, consider mozzarella caprese on bamboo skewers traditionally used for yakitori: simply layer bocconcini, fresh basil, and cherry tomatoes. Just before serving, drizzle with a balsamic glaze.

Caprese Skewers

Strawberries and Sakura Mochi

Hanami-themed desserts can range from the simple (succulent fresh strawberries) to traditional hanami dango and sakura mochi, or if you’re in a baking mood, these divine sweet-with-a-hint-of-salt sakura cookies or sakura madeleines.

My recipes may include affiliate links, so without costing you anything extra, I’ll earn a small percentage of the sales if you purchase these items through these links. Thank you for your support!

Not sure where to get ingredients? I like NIHON ICHIBAN (a shop for authentic Japanese products run by the same family for 5 generations) and they have CHINRIU Salt Pickled Sakura Cherry Blossoms.

Sakura Tofu Recipe
Sakura Tofu

Masami Asao

Sakura Tofu recipe courtesy of dietician and shojin ryori instructor Masami Asao of Akasaka Teran

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Course Side Dish
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

500 grams firm tofu
50 grams Japanese yam (yamaimo), peeled and grated
30 grams salted cherry blossoms soaked in several changes of cold water to remove excess salt (reserve around four of the nicest-looking blossoms to decorate the top)
1 tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sake

Instructions

Wrap the tofu in cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel.
The starting weight of the tofu is 500 grams
Press and squeeze the tofu and turn it, removing excess water.
After squeezing the water out, the tofu should weigh 350 grams.
Put the tofu in a mortar.
Grind the tofu into a fine paste.
Add the grated Japanese yam, sugar, salt, and sake and continue to grind and mix well until evenly distributed. Add the cherry blossoms and mix well.
Put the tofu in a greased silicone baking mold or a metal kanten mold with removable sides and decorate with the cherry blossoms. You can also use a small rectangular tray or dish as an alternative. You can also use a greased silicone pancake ring to make individual tofu blossoms! Steam for 15 minutes.
To serve, take out the tofu and cut it into 4 pieces (or unmold if using a silicone mold).

Keyword Tofu

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Want more Sakura Tofu Guidance?

Here is a step-by-step instructional video that may be helpful. The narration is in Japanese but there are English subtitles provided.

https://youtu.be/eN9ZozyhonY

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Bento Designs

There are also several tips and tricks to make your bento seasonally themed: the cheapest and most eye-catching is investing in a set of metal cutters in the shape of cherry blossoms or individual petals. These work best with firm raw vegetables like carrots, rainbow radishes, and bell peppers (if you want to cook the vegetables, such as carrots, cut first then cook just until al dente or they will fall apart on toothpicks). You can also use these cutters to make cute, three-dimensional cherry blossom garnishes of pressed ham layered on top of white cheese slices or kamaboko (fish sausage).

Another useful tool is a wooden or metal sakura rice mold. I purchase mine from revered knife shop Aritsugu, which has been in business since the 16^th century.

If you’re lucky enough to live near a Japanese grocery store or 100-yen shop like Daiso, you’ll find loads of seasonal bento items specifically designed for hanami, including waxed paper cups for individual portions and cute wooden toothpicks topped with cherry blossoms and other seasonal shapes. If you’ll be having your hanami picnic indoors, use a colorful floral tablecloth or furoshiki as a mat and decorate with fresh flowers.

Hanami bento supplies

Many Japanese sake and beer breweries produce springtime releases; Kanagawa-based Sankt Gallen takes it one step further with its sakura beer. Each 2,340-liter (618.2-gallon) batch of Sankt Gallen Sakura is made with 60 kilograms of (132.2 pounds) of petals from Nagano Prefecture’s Koen no Sakura variety of cherry blossoms.

So no matter how or where you choose to enjoy your hanami bento, take a moment to breathe deeply and appreciate the fleeting beauty of the cherry blossoms and the renewal of spring.

Sarah B. Hodge (www.bundtlust.com) is a food and travel writer for several publications in Japan including JNTO’s Tokyo and Beyond: 2020 Tokyo Olympics tourism website, Tokyo Weekender and Stars and Stripes Japan. She also is a recipe tester, proofreader, and cookbook reviewer for a wide range of international cookbook releases.All Photographs by Sarah B. Hodge.

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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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Yuzu-Meyer Lemon Poundcake
I love all things citrus, and for the past year or so, I have been very captivated (okay obsessed) by yuzu (Japanese citron), which has such a delectable and aromatic citrus bouquet. Both the peel (fresh or dried) and juice can be used. It is used as a condiment in savory dishes such as nabemonos, or zoni soups at New Year’s. Grated yuzu peel can be added to miso to make sauces, and as you can see in this posting, can also be used in baking.

I had the urge recently to bake this Yuzu-Meyer Lemon Poundcake, an old recipe of mine that I updated to fit my more citrus-based taste buds!

My recipes may include affiliate links, so without costing you anything extra, I’ll earn a small percentage of the sales if you purchase these items through these links. Thank you for your support!

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Yuzu-Meyer Lemon Poundcake

Lucy Seligman

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Servings 1 loaf

Ingredients

2-3 tbsps grated fresh yuzu (Japanese citron) peel or meyer lemon peel
1 cup + 5 tbsps white sugar
5 tbsps Yuzu juice
2-1/4 cups all-purpose white flour
1-1/2 tsps baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup raw walnuts, coarsely chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Blend in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in 1 cup sugar. Stir in fresh yuzu or meyer lemon peel.
Blend beaten eggs with milk, add sour cream and combine with dry ingredients until just mixed. Combine lightly with walnuts.
Pour into a buttered and floured loaf pan. Bake until a toothpick placed in the center comes out clean–roughly 1-1/4 hours.
Boil yuzu juice and 5 tablespoons sugar for 5 minutes, or until thickened. Pour this mixture evenly over the hot cake, then cool thoroughly.

Notes
I replaced the grated yuzu peel with Meyer lemon peel as I couldn’t find fresh yuzu, and used pure Yuzu juice. Yuzu juice is readily available online and at local Japanese markets. If you are lucky enough to find both fresh yuzu and juice, by all means use them!

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Leave a note in the comments section if you make this dish or use yuzu in any dish!
Falling for the Subtle Taste of Chestnut Rice (Kurigohan)
Making rice the proper way is an art in Japan, one that often takes many years to perfect. The importance of this is reflected by the overwhelming number of Japanese meals that end with a bowl of pearlescent, impeccably cooked short-grain white rice, pickles, and miso soup. Rice’s versatility doesn’t stop there, of course. One common variation is the vinegared rice used for sushi; another is the glutinous rice used to make sekihan (red rice) for celebrations.

Then there is the whole spectrum of mixed rice dishes. In Japan, the idea of mixing or cooking rice with other ingredients dates from the Heian era (794-1185). Rice in those days was so scarce and expensive that even for aristocrats combining rice with other foods was commonplace. Until the 1950s, people continued to prepare these kinds of dishes to supplement their rice – still a costly commodity – and to use up leftovers. Now it has become practically a fad to mix rice with such diverse ingredients as bamboo shoots, beans, chestnuts, and so on.

There are two main categories of mixed rice dishes: takikomi-gohan, which is rice cooked with something else; and maze-gohan, which is rice mixed with something else. The differences between the two involve how and when the other ingredients are added to the rice. To make takikomi-gohan, for instance, uncooked or precooked ingredients are either combined with the raw rice or added during the cooking process. Maze-gohan dishes involve blending in precooked and often flavored ingredients with cooked rice during the interval just before serving. The flavoring for both these forms of mixed rice is either salt or soy sauce-based.

Mixed rice dishes are known by many different names according to their region of origin and their ingredients. Further complicating the situation is the frequent substitution of the word “meshi” for “gohan” to mean rice. Some are popular nationwide and in all seasons. There are also special mixes with a seasonal connection, including bamboo-shoot rice (takenoko-gohan) in the spring and broad-bean rice (soramame-gohan) in the summer.

Kurigohan (chestnut rice) is another of these seasonal treats, a beloved favorite during the autumn months, and one of my favorites. There are two rice dishes, in fact, that typify autumn in Japan. One is made using matsutake mushrooms, often called “the truffles of the East”, real specimens of which are almost prohibitively expensive and virtually impossible to obtain outside of Japan. The other, of course, is chestnut rice, which uses inexpensive ingredients and can be enjoyed and savored almost everywhere.
Chestnut Rice

Lucy Seligman

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Servings 4

Ingredients

1 ¾ cups short-grain white rice washed and drained
½ cup mochi-gome glutinous rice, washed and drained
10 oz. 300g peeled fresh chestnuts*, whole, halved, or quartered
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons sake
2 ¾ cups water
3- inch square of dried konbu kelp, wiped with a damp cloth and lightly slashed to release its flavour

Instructions

Put the washed rice in an electric rice cooker or large saucepan. Blend the salt, soy sauce, sake, and water until the salt dissolves. Pour over the rice and stir lightly. Top with the kelp and cook. For the last 15 minutes of cooking, remove the kelp and place the chestnuts on top of the rice. When the rice is done, let it rest for 15 minutes, then gently mix in the chestnuts. Serve hot.

Notes
*Soak the chestnuts overnight in cold water (or soak in boiling water for 5 to 10 minutes) to make them easier to peel. Cut off the rounded end with a sharp paring knife, then remove the hard outer shell and the thin inner skin. Wash the peeled chestnuts lightly in cold water to get rid of their starch. To prevent discoloration, keep the chestnuts in a bowl of cold water until it is time to add them to the rice, then drain them and proceed with the recipe.

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Real Eel: An Electrifying Dish from Nagoya
Once tasted, the delicate flavor of eel (unagi), prepared according to the special ways of Japanese cuisine, will linger in your memory forever. Since the Edo period (1603-1867), eel has traditionally been eaten in the height of midsummer on the Day of the Ox (July 23); popular custom has it that anyone who eats eel on this day will have extra stamina to cope with the summer heat. This is a custom I follow to this day! But the true gourmet’s season for eel consumption is late fall to winter (the time of spawning), when eel are at their best, even tastier than usual.

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There are many ways to serve unagi: the most popular is kabayaki, eel grilled in sauce, served separately from rice; if served on rice, it is called unaju. Or there is shirayaki, eel grilled without sauce, served with wasabi (horseradish) and soy sauce. A more unusual dish, unagi kamameshi, is the creation of Torisuzu, a chain of restaurants in Nagoya, where I lived for a number of years. It combines flavored rice and grilled eel with a tasty stock poured over the top, and wasabi and chopped green onions for an extra flourish. After tasting this dish just once, you’ll be a convert for life.

Be warned, this recipe needs constant attention – no running away from the stove while it’s cooking.

Buy the unagi sauce from a Japanese supermarket or supplier as it is virtually impossible for the home cook to make – in the kitchen at Torisuzu, a large vat of unagi bones, soy sauce, sugar, and mirin (sweet sake) is kept specially heated and cooking for a full three months before use. It’s also advisable to buy ready-grilled kabayaki eel (frozen if necessary), as grilling fresh eel is an intricate art unto itself.
Unagi Kamameshi

Lucy Seligman

5 from 1 vote

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

3 cups short-grain Japanese white rice
4 ½ cups water
¾ cup unagi sauce
14 oz. kabayaki (grilled eel, thickly sliced), Look in Japanese supermarkets, they are usually sold in vacuumed sealed packages in the frozen section.
For the stock:
3 cups water
1 ½ teaspoons dashi (fish stock granules)
1 ½ teaspoons low-salt soy sauce
1 ½ teaspoons sake
A pinch of salt
To garnish:
½ cup minced or finely chopped green onions
Wasabi horseradish to taste

Instructions

Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Drain and let sit for 30 minutes prior to cooking.
Place the rice and water in a heavy, deep, medium-sized saucepan with a well-fitting lid. Boil vigorously, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. To keep from boiling over, tap the top of the pan a number of times with a spoon. Most of the water should disappear – if it evaporates too quickly, turn down the heat during the last few minutes of cooking to avoid burning.
Pour in the unagi sauce and mix well, then turn heat down to medium-simmer, cover the pan, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the eel slices, cover again, and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit, covered, for 5 to 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the stock. Heat water and stir in the dashi until dissolved. Add soy sauce and sake and adjust seasoning.
To serve, mix the eel into the rice and serve in individual bowls. Pass the stock, green onion, and wasabi separately, allowing each person to mix in as they desire.

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Not only can you find a number of recipes from Nagoya on Thanks For the Meal, but we have a whole collection of regional Japanese recipes from across the country.

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Here’s the one I purchased at my local Asian mall. Leave a note in the comments section (see below) if you make this dish!
Oden: Japanese Hodgepodge Stew
When I was a college student in Tokyo, I would often pass mobile food stalls, called yatai, late on blustery winter nights and be completely overwhelmed by the powerful aroma of oden, or Japanese hodgepodge stew. Oden’s pungent smell and taste have made it a perennial favorite with drinkers, no matter the season. It is definitely a comfort food in Japan and can be enjoyed anytime by everyone.

The oden is derived from dengaku–grilled, skewered tofu topped with miso. The dish got its start in the late Edo era (1603-1867) when the people of old Edo (now Tokyo) began cooking many ingredients stuck on bamboo skewers in one pot. They used soy sauce as a base, which accounts for the murky darkness of the stock and the uniformly brownish color of the ingredients. Called Kanto-daki (Kanto-style oden), this dish was passed down to the Kansai area. There the people of Osaka changed the stock, taking out the soy sauce and substituting salt and kelp, or sometimes chicken stock or even white soy sauce, to create a clearer, more delicate broth. The variation, known as Kansai-daki, reached Tokyo and influenced the original oden. In fact, traditional soy sauce-based oden has become a rarity, even in Tokyo.

My version of Kanto-style Oden is slightly unorthodox, as it includes a relatively small amount of processed fish paste products. You are welcome to add as much as you like. The secret to making a great oden? Time (it definitely improves with age), a variety of ingredients, and the all-important condiment, karashi, spicy Japanese mustard. This Kanto-style recipe is just one of the collection of regional dishes featured on Thanks for the Meal.
Kanto-Style Oden

Lucy Seligman

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Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4 persons

Ingredients

24 ounces (685 grams) daikon radish, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch (2-1/2 cm) rounds, simmered over low heat in water for one hour
5-1/4 ounces (150 grams) fresh shiitake mushrooms, washed, stemmed, and placed on bamboo skewers (three per skewer)
1-1/4 lb. (600 grams) white potato, peeled, and cut in half, simmered in water for 30 minutes and drained
To make Fukuro (stuffed, deep-fried tofu):
5 large pieces abura-age (deep-fried tofu), dipped in boiling water for 2 minutes to get rid of excess oil, squeezed to remove excess water, cut in half, then opened to create little sacks
3-1/2 ounces (100 grams) mochi (pounded rice cakes, cut into 3/4 ounce (approx. 20g) slices
8 ounces (225 grams) shirataki (devil’s tongue noodles), cut in half, parboiled, and drained
3 raw eggs
10 8-inch (20cm) long kampyo (dried gourd strips), washed and drained, to tie up the sacks
8 ounces (225 grams) konnyaku (devil’s tongue jelly) cut into triangles, parboiled, and drained
2 chikuwa (fish paste rolls) cut on the bias into thick slices
1 cake tofu, drained and cut into 8 thick squares
4-6 chicken drumsticks
Assorted cut-up fish paste products such as kamaboko and satsuma-age, optional
Dashi Fish Stock:
1 ounce (30 grams) konbu (kelp) wiped with a damp cloth and lightly slashed
8 cups water to soak the kelp in for 30 minutes; retain the water
2 small packets (1/5 ounce or 6g) katsuobushi (dried bonito shavings)
Prepared Dashi Stock:
2 tbsps sake
1/4 cup light soy sauce or to taste
2 tbsps mirin (sweet sake) or to taste
2 tsps salt or to taste
Condiment:
spicy Japanese mustard (karashi) to taste

Instructions

Place the kelp and water into a soup pot over medium heat. Just before it boils, take out the kelp (which can be cut up and added to the oden) and add the bonito shavings. Boil for a minute or two, then strain. Return the stock to a clean soup pot. Add the remaining stock ingredients, adding salt little by little until the flavor is to your liking. Keep the pot simmering.
To make fukuro, carefully stuff each pocket with either shirataki, pounded rice cake, or a shelled raw egg. Tie each pocket up with a dried gourd strip.
To make oden, place all the ingredients into the simmering prepared stock and cook for at least one hour. Bring the pot to the table and serve communally. Place a selection of the cooked ingredients in shallow bowls, serving the fiery mustard separately. If refrigerated, oden will be even tastier the second day. Reheat, adding more ingredients if desired, and serve.

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Photo © Pelican

My recipes may include affiliate links, so without costing you anything extra, I’ll earn a small percentage of the sales if you purchase these items through these links. Thank you for your support!

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