Until I lived in Nagoya, I thought I only preferred less salty, lighter-colored misos, on the sweeter side. But the first time I had Misonikomi, another Nagoyan specialty, and tasted the deeply red and pungent hatcho (red) miso, my miso taste preferences widened and expanded. I loved making my kishimen noodle recipe from earlier this month, but this one might be even better!
While testing this recipe, I was thrilled to find hatcho miso in the Bay area to use. If you are looking for a deeply satisfying, savory, umami-filled hearty noodle dish, Misonikomi is for you! Make sure you not only have chopsticks, but a soup spoon as you will want to spoon and slurp up every drop of the addictively tantalizing, comforting and delicious soup broth.
5oz.chicken breastboned, skinned, and cut into small bite-sized pieces
4sliceskamaboko, steamed fishcakeoptional
3 ½oz.Japanese leeksroughly chopped
3 ½oz.carrotscut into rounds
5cupsstrong dashi
2-3tablespoonshatcho misosoybean paste, or a mixture of 70% red miso and 30% brown miso
4eggs
3 ½oz.fresh spinachstemmed, washed, and parboiled, with excess water squeezed out
To garnish:
Shichimitogarashi“seven tastes” pepper
Instructions
Boil the chicken, kamaboko, leeks, and carrots in the dashi stock until half-way cooked. Remove.
Next, add the udon to the stock and boil until it reaches a chewy consistency. Then add the hatcho miso and continue to cook. As soon as the stock returns to the boil, remove the udon and place in four deep soup bowls.
Break the eggs into the stock (perhaps in two batches), and poach until half-way done. While the eggs are cooking, distribute the chicken, kamaboko, spinach, and other vegetables over the udon.
Place one egg in the center of each serving, and ladle soup over it – the heat of the soup will finish cooking the chicken, vegetables, and egg. Serve shichimi pepper separately.
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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2lbto 2 ¼ lb assorted white-meat fish fillets, such as sea bream, yellowtail, or cod, cut into 1-inch pieces
4medium or large shrimp,shelled and deveined, with tail left intact
4hamaguri clams,soaked in cold water for about an hour to cleanse them, then drained and rinsed
3cupscold dashi fish stock
1/2 teaspoonsansho pepper
1 ½blocks grilled tofu,cut into 1-inch cubes
4fresh shiitake mushrooms,stems removed and a crisscross incision made on the caps
7oz. negi (Japanese leeks), cut diagonally into 1-inch slices*Use white part only
1large bunch of mitsuba,trefoil, slightly stemmed, washed, and cut into 2-inch pieces
½lb shirataki (noodles made from devil’s tongue jelly), parboiled for 2 to 3 minutes, then drained and cut into thirds
10 ½ozdried udon noodles, slightly undercooked, drained and then rinsed in cold water
Cold water as needed
Sauce:
¾cuplow-sodium soy sauce
¼cupwhite sugar
½cupsake
½cupmirin(sweet sake)
¾cupcold dashi stock
Dipping sauce:
4 to 8eggs
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.