Tag: Shrimp

A Review of Kokoro Care Packages

I was thrilled when I heard about Kokoro Care Packages, who offers monthly and or seasonal Japanese care packages. I love that more companies are introducing Japanese foods and other products here in the U.S., and to other countries outside of Japan. So, I reached out to them and introduced them to Thanks for the Meal’s blog.

Kokoro Care Package Review

Here is what Kokoro says about their products:

“Every month and season, we curate unique care packages filled with premium-quality, all-natural Japanese food and deliver them straight from Japan to your home. Each item is carefully selected for its quality, purity, ease of use and of course, taste!”

In exchange for this review, I received the August Nourishing Essentials Care Package mailed directly from Japan. It was filled with seasonal summer foods and I invited my friend Nancy to come over for a taste test a few weeks ago on a very hot and sultry day.

Kokoro Care Package Recipes

First, I used the Izumo Soba and made Hiyashi Chuka. I used baby shrimp, simmered and sliced shiitake mushrooms, sliced Japanese cucumber, and tomato slices as our toppings. Sprinkled toasted sesame seeds over the top. These noodles were a big hit. Generous 2 person portion was included and we both loved the sprightly lemon soy sauce.

Izumo Soba

Hiyashi Chuka made with the Izumo Soba

Mixed Seaweed Salad

Next was the Mixed Seaweed Salad. I love seaweed salads, so was looking forward to tasting this mix which has five different seaweeds from Hokkaido. After soaking in water and rinsing, I added thinly sliced Japanese cucumbers, and mixed in Ponzu sauce and toasted sesame seeds. Another hit!

Japanese Summer Tonic

Japanese Summer Tonic using Yamanashi’s 5-year Aged Red Wine Vinegar

I’m a big fan of Japanese inspired cocktails, but even non-alcoholic drinks are a hit around my house! Because of the heat on our taste testing day, I made a summer tonic using Yamanashi’s 5 year Aged Red Wine Vinegar, sparkling water, and a touch of honey. Be sure to melt the honey before mixing in, otherwise you end up with a clump of it at the bottom of the drink which doesn’t dissolve.

We both loved this tangy, thirst-quenching and refreshing drink so much, that I made it again this week during the heat wave that the Bay area has been experiencing. It was wonderful!

Cooking with Furikake

I served freshly cooked Japanese white rice and we topped it with a sprinkling of Unagi Sansho Furikake. Of course Unagi (eel) is a summer favorite and I love it.

Nancy had never had Furikake, and we both really enjoyed this slightly sweet mixture with different textures, which included various seasonings such as sansho pepper and ginger along with unagi bits.

There were a few items that weren’t luminary, at least to us: The Blueberry Amazake, the Sweet Corn Rice Porridge, and the Ayu Furikake. We found them overall not as interesting or as tasty as the other products. But I have no doubt that Kokoro Cares, a company less than one year old will continue to improve and expand their offerings in terms of tastes and variety.

Would I try Kokoro’s Care Packages again? Absolutely. I am especially interested in The Seasonal Delights Care Package, which includes 7+ healthy and delicious Japanese foods. It also comes with a special artisanal gift made locally in Japan and is shipped once every three months to coincide with the four seasons.

Kokoro Care Package Discount

If you’re interested in trying a Kokoro care package, take advantage of a special offer! Use discount code THANKSFORTHEMEAL_10 and you’ll get 10% off your first order through the end of September. Order your care package today and be sure to comment below about which product you’re most excited to check out!

Description from the August 2019 Kokoro Care Package

Get FREE Japanese Recipes by Email! Sign Up Now!

Get Lucy’s ebook, “How to Make Traditional Japanese Salad Dressings” FREE when you subscribe.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
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.

Need books?

I’m buying mine from Abe Books now in an effort to support smaller businesses. They have new and used options and harder to find books, including all of my favorite Japanese cookbooks! You can support Thanks for the Meal by clicking on this banner to buy your books.

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

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.

Get FREE Japanese Recipes by Email! Sign Up Now!

Get Lucy’s ebook, “How to Make Traditional Japanese Salad Dressings” FREE when you subscribe.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

Leave a note in the comments section if you make this dish!
Uosuki: Fish Sukiyaki

Lucy Seligman

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

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.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Have you made any of the other regional Japanese recipes from our collection yet?
Delicious Tenpura Recipe (Tempura)
With a light, crispy, oil-free coating enveloping a perfectly cooked and succulent piece of seafood or vegetable, tenpura (also written tempura) is considered a quintessentially Japanese food. Both the word and the dish, however, are almost certainly of foreign origin. The source: Spanish and Portuguese missionaries called nanbanjin (southern barbarians) who came to Japan to convert the heathen masses toward the close of the sixteenth century. Prohibited from consuming meat on Fridays, they substituted batter-fried fish.

There are several theories on where the name came from. Templo, meaning temple or church in Spanish, and tempero, which in Portuguese means cooking, are two possible roots. The Chinese characters can also be read as follows: ten meaning up, pu for flour, and ra for thin silk, the latter most likely a reference to the thin coating of batter.

By the middle of the Edo era (1603-1867), tenpura, inexpensive and considered relatively low-class, was a popular offering at open-air food stalls. Only in recent years has the dish risen in both price and public esteem to its exalted culinary status in high-class establishments. With a little preparation and practice, it is surprisingly easy to make equally good tenpura at home. Keep the oil at a constant temperature; use ice-cold water to make the batter; and, perhaps most important of all, leave the batter lumpy.
Tenpura

Lucy Seligman

No ratings yet

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course Main Course
Cuisine Japanese

Servings 4

Ingredients

8 medium or 4 large shrimp washed, shelled, and deveined, with tails slightly trimmed
4 small kisu Japanese whiting fillets (or other small white-fleshed fish), washed and with tails left intact
4 fresh shiitake mushrooms trimmed
4 thick rounds of sweet potato peeled
4 shiso perilla leaves, washed and patted dry
2 Japanese eggplants trimmed and halved lengthwise, with skin lightly scored for quicker frying
4 string beans trimmed and halved lengthwise
Sesame oil and vegetable oil for deep-frying half and half is best
Dipping Sauce:
1 cup dashi fish stock
¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
¼ cup mirin sweet sake
¼ cup sake
Dash of salt
1 cup daikon radish peeled, grated, and drained
4 teaspoons fresh ginger peeled & grated
Lemon wedges & coarse salt optional
Batter: Double quantity if necessary
1 large egg
1 cup ice water
1 cup all-purpose white flour sifted

Instructions

Prepare the shrimp and other items as instructed above, then place them on a large plate. Bring the dipping sauce ingredients to a boil in a pan, stirring well; remove from heat and pour into four small serving bowls. Let cool. Put the daikon radish, ginger, and lemon (if used) in separate bowls. Prepare a rack for draining the tenpura, and line your serving plates with paper napkins.
While you are heating the oil in a wok or other large large, deep-sided pot, lightly mix the egg and ice water in a bowl. Add the flour all at once, stirring only briefly with chopsticks or a fork to create a lumpy, nonsticky batter. Place the bowl of batter in a large bowl filled with ice water near the stove. When a dab of batter is dropped into the oil and rises to the surface and sizzles, the oil is ready.
Fry the fish first. Dip them briefly in the batter and then drop into the oil, use
cooking chopsticks to turn them rapidly.
(To preserve their delicate flavor, the perilla leaves should be dipped on their "back" side only.) Then proceed with the other items. If space permits, fry all similar items together. The tenpura is ready when it turns golden brown and floats. I like to drain tenpura using a cooling rack placed over a cookie sheet for easy clean up.
Remove any excess fried batter with a slotted spoon.
Tenpura should be served immediately and eaten piping hot. It could also be made at the dining room table by the guests, using fondue pots. Dip into the sauce, add grated radish and ginger as desired, or sprinkle with lemon and dip lightly in salt.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Get FREE Japanese Recipes by Email! Sign Up Now!

Get Lucy’s ebook, “How to Make Traditional Japanese Salad Dressings” FREE when you subscribe.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.