Showing posts with label Mushroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mushroom. Show all posts

Friday, March 1, 2024

“Maitake” Hen of Woods Mushroom in Brown Butter and Sage 焦がしバーターとセージ風味舞茸

We like mushrooms. We used to get fresh mushrooms from Oregon mushrooms (on-line order) and Whole Foods but recently, we have been getting many different kinds of fresh mushrooms from Weee. Besides the usual kinds of mushrooms, we can get from any grocery store, we can get shiitake 椎茸 (Good quality), enoki エノキ, kikurage 木耳 (wood ear), shimeji しめじ, king trumpet, and maitake 舞茸 (hen of woods), and hiratake 平茸  (oyster).We usually get several kinds of mushrooms when we order groceries from them. This time beside the usual shiitake and shimeji, we got maitake. When we had shad roe, I served maitake cooked in brown sage butter as a side which was really great. (My wife may have liked the mushroom more than the shad roe.)



This recipe came from “Foragerchef.com”. The original recipe calls for a large amount of mushrooms. I scaled it down.

Ingredients
One package (35g)  fresh hen of the woods (This was the size of the package I got), separated into a few fronds each in thin, long pieces
2 tbs (or about 40grams) unsalted butter
1 garlic clove finely chopped 
5-6 fresh sage leaves (from our herb garden, I used whole leaves, since they would be easier to remove from the browned butter later)
2 tbs dry white wine (I used sake)
2 tbs chicken stock (our usual Swanson low salt no fat)
1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
A few turns of the pepper mill to taste
A squeeze of fresh lemon juice to taste

Directions
In a frying pan with high sides, add the butter and the sage. Heat the butter on medium heat until melted and sizzling and brown bits appear (usual brown butter process). When the butter has reached the desired level of brown, remove the sage leaves. Then add the stock or water, salt, a few turns of fresh pepper from the pepper mill and the mushrooms. Cover with a lid, increase the heat to medium high and cook, stirring occasionally to coat the hens with the pan juices for about 10-15 minutes.

Finishing and serving
Continue cooking the mushrooms until the liquid is gone and there’s only butter. Stir the mushroom to coat with the juices, then taste a piece and adjust the salt as necessary until it tastes good to you.
Cook until the mushrooms have just started to brown lightly on the edges. Turn the heat down a bit. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two more. Add the wine and the squeeze of lemon, simmer for a minute to cook off the alcohol.

This maitake is very good with sage and brown butter and garlic flavors are nice with the almost meaty texture and flavor of the mushroom. 

Thursday, February 15, 2024

Shad Roe from South Carolina 南キャロライナからのシャド魚卵

Although fish roe are very popular in Japan, it is not common in U.S.. Few exceptions are, of course caviar, bottargo, and shad roe. We posted a shad roe dish in 2012 but since then we have not had it until now. Turns out my wife’s sister loves shad roe. (According to my wife when she was a kid shad was considered a “trash” fish but the roe were considered a delicacy. Her grandfather particularly liked shad roe and shad roe season was an eagerly anticipated event. He particularly like the roe sautéed with bacon and served with eggs for breakfast. Due to her grandfather’s enthusiasm my wife ate a fair amount of shad roe in her childhood.) My wife’s sister apparently inherited Grandad’s appreciation for shad roe and had an arrangement with a company called “Charleston Sea Food” in South Carolina. They call her every year to let her know when the season opened and she would immediately sign up for a delivery.  Although she would relay the information to my wife, my wife had not inherited Grandad’s level of appreciation and previously never pursued purchasing some. But this year we decided to try it. We got 4 sets meaning 4 pairs of egg sacs (minimum you could buy). It comes fresh vacuum packed and can be easily frozen for later use. It arrived in ice packs (picture #3). As before, we cooked in the very traditional way; pan fried in bacon drippings (#1). I fried blanched broccoli in the same frying pan as well as sage brown butter maitake 舞茸 “hen of woods” mushroom (subject to a separate post) as sides.



You can see the grain of the roe on the cut surface (picture #2). This is much coarser than “tarako” たらこ cod roe or “kazunoko” 数の子 herring roe. The texture and flavor are difficult to describe but we like it. To me this reminded me of the roe of a Japanese fish called “Hatahata” ハタハタ but the Japanese fish has a different texture (a bit slippery texture).



We cooked exactly the same as before (in the previous post) but I did not finish it in the oven. I repeat this again for my convenience.

Ingredients: (small servings for two of us, this will be one serving for most)
One sac (half of one set, picture #3 g one set, came fresh and vacuum packed ) of shad roe, removing attached vessels etc but keep membrane intact
2 strips of bacon
6 florets of blanched broccoli (optional)
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Fry the bacon until crispy and fat rendered, remove the bacon and set aside on paper towel lined plate leaving the bacon drippings in the pan.
Add the shad roe and adjust the flame to medium.
After one side is browned (5 minutes) turn it over cook for another 5 minutes (picture #4). Place the lid and cook 5-10 minutes until fully cooked (no pink inside)
Add the broccoli 5 minutes before the roe is finished and season with salt and pepper
Season it with salt and pepper
I cut into short segments and served.





This was not bad at all. I served it with sides of the broccoli and hen of woods mushrooms which went well. I will try cooking it Japanese style to see how that works. I have to say shad roe fits seamlessly into my Japanese fish roe palette…also, I have to appreciate that my wife’s Grandad was a man of fine taste.

Friday, January 5, 2024

Tomato and Egg Stir-fry with Wood Ear and Natto 納豆、トマト、木耳の卵炒め

This is on the theme of “stir-fried tomato and egg”. We also added fresh wood ear mushroom which made the crunchiness of wood ear quite a nice contrast to the soft scrambled egg and tomato. The current dish came about because I found several small packages of natto 納豆 (dreaded Japanese fermented soybean) in the freezer. I have posted quite a few dishes using natto. Mixing well (400 stirs) using a special natto mixing contraption is the key to making it less pungent and (as far as my wife is concerned ) edible. For a number of years or until my mother discovered and introduced us to the “400 stirs” method my wife would not even consider eating natto.  But now she certainly can eat it, although this is not her most favorite. Upon the news of finding natto in the freezer, I proposed several dishes I made previously including “natto omelet”. She then suggested adding the natto to the stir-fried egg dish with wood ear and tomato. So, I complied willingly. Since the natto was seasoned with the sauce and hot mustard that came with the package, I omitted the ginger I usually use for this dish. This was an unqualified success. The natto gave a nice nutty flavor but no pungent smell or sliminess. We had this as a drinking snack for cold sake and it was perfect.



On close-up, you could see the natto among the tomato and wood ear mushroom.



There is no recipe per-se but this is how I made it (just a note for myself)

Ingredients:
2 large eggs, beaten
3 skinned Campari tomato, quartered
1 package of natto, prepared with the season packets  (tare sauce and hot mustard came with the natto), mix well (I used the special the “400 stir” natto mixing contraption)
Wood ear mushroom, cut into smaller size (amount arbitrary)
2 scallions, finely chopped
1 tbs peanut oil plus 1 more tsp for frying the tomato
1/4 tsp dark sesame oil

Directions:
Mix the prepared natto, eggs and wood ear mushroom
Heat up the peanut and sesame oil in a frying pan on medium heat
Make loose scrambled eggs and set aside
Add the sesame oil in the same pan and fry the tomato for 1 minutes and add back the cooked egg mixture and cook another 1 minute.

In addition to the “400 stir” method, cooking the natto, further reduces its pungency and stickiness. The combination worked well. We had this as a snack but it would also be good over rice.

Saturday, December 23, 2023

Arancini and Mini-Scotch Egg アランチーニとミニスコッチエッグ

My wife ordered some small appetizers from Harry and David. We were already going to order dried fruit medley from them to make fruit cakes and bread. So she added an assortment of small frozen appetizers to the order which included “arancini” among the other items. I told her that arancini is typically made from left-over risotto and I could make it very easily as long as we had left-over risotto. We tried the arancini we had ordered. During the heating, the cheese came out and it was ok but not great. Since we had made shiitake risotto a few days earlier, my wife took me up on my boast about how easily I could make arancini as long as we had left-over risotto and challenged me to make some. So with my feet accordingly held to the fire by this challenge I made arancini from the risotto. Since I would need hot oil for frying to make the arancini, I decided to also make mini-Scotch eggs from quail eggs and ground chicken. The picture below is not a great presentation—the arancini with the melted mozzarella in the center is shown on the left and the scotch egg with the quail egg in the center is shown on the right. We ate this immediately hot out of the oil with some Tonkatus sauce. Both the arancini and Scotch eggs had fresh shiitake in them and both were great.  The arancini had the melted mozzarella cheese in the center, a crunchy outer shell and soft risotto with a strong shiitake flavor.



For arancini

Ingredients: (made 8 arancini as seen below, the round ones are arancini and oval ones are mini-Scotch eggs)
Shiitake risotto (left-over) about 2 cups
Mozzarella cheese, 10 small cubes, low-moisture
Flour, egg, and Panko bread crumbs for breading
Oil for deep frying (I used peanut oil)

Directions:
Moisten your hands and make a ball about 1 and half inches in diameter and insert the cheese and encase it completely. If needed lightly squeeze to make sure the cheese is completely encased.
Bread the balls as usual; first coat with flour, then egg water and then with Panko bread crumbs (see picture below).



Deep fry in 180C (350F) oil for 2-3 minutes or until the surface is golden (everything is already cooked inside). See below picture.



The arancini I made were great straight out of the hot oil but they also warmed up nicely in the toaster oven. I would say the ones I made were much better than the store-bought and accordingly my wife has conceded that I met her challenge and has now commissioned me to make arancini whenever we have left over risotto.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Burdock Root and Mushrooms 牛蒡とキノコの煮物

This is another dish I made to use up the mushrooms (Shimeji and shiitake しめじ、椎茸). I also had “gobou” 牛蒡  burdock root. I got the idea of cooking burdock root and mushroom together from a recipe I saw on line but I just made it in my own way. Burdock root can be very fibrous but this was a good one and the the combination of simmered burdock root and mushrooms worked very well. The shimeji was good but the shiitake caps worked well imparting very meaty texture and nice flavor.



The gobou gave a very distinctive flavor and nice crunchy texture but not fibrous. I seasoned it on the light and slightly sweeter side (than I usually do) and is a perfect drinking snack. As a side dish for rice, I would season it more strongly.



Ingredients: (The amount is arbitrary, I just used up all the mushrooms I had left)
10 inch long, medium-sized (diameter wise) “gobou” burdock root, skin scraped off using the back. of the knife, slice on angle 1/4 inch thick and immediately soak in acidulated water for 5- 10 minutes.
I package (100 gram) of shimeji mushrooms
4 caps of fresh shiitake mushrooms, quartered
300-400 ml Japanese dashi broth
2 Tbs. mirin
3 tbs x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce (or soy sauce with 1 tbs mirin)

Directions:
Drain the gobou and cook in a fresh water for 10 minutes and drain again
In a pan on medium low flame, add the broth, seasonings, the gobou, mushrooms and with a silicon otoshibuta, simmer for 20-30 minutes
Let it cool to the room temperature in the simmering broth
Serve at room temperature or warmed in a microwave oven especially after the refrigeration.

This is quite a robust dish. The mushrooms give it an almost meaty context. Especially the shitake mushroom which were very thick but tender and well seasoned. They tasted like a tender piece of meat. The burdock root was very tender and its distinctive flavor really came through. This is perfect for a cold evening with a warm cup sake.

Sunday, December 10, 2023

Eggplant, Avocado and Nagaimo Gratin ナスとアボカドの長芋グラタン

I made this dish for lunch one day from what we had on hand and what we need to finish before it went bad. I just winged it without any particular recipe. As a result I was not sure how it would come out but it was certainly edible and quite interesting (in a good way).



The main items are Asian eggplant, avocado and grated nagaimo mixed with an egg (in leu of Béchamel sauce). I also added tomato and shiitake mushroom sautéed with shallot, just because I had them.



Ingredients:
One Asian eggplant (pale purple and long), cut into a bite size by cutting at 45 degree angle as I turned the egg plant (“Rangiri” 乱切り)
One avocado, cut into a bite size pieces similar to the eggplant (I only had half of a leftover avocado).
Nagaimo, about 200grams, peeled and grated
One large egg
3 skinned Campari tomatoes, seeds removed and cut into small cubes
1 tbs of chopped shiitake mushroom and shallot sautéed in olive oil (I made this few says ago mostly from the stems of the shiitake mushrooms)
Cheeses (I used sharp cheddar and parmesan but any melting cheese will do), the amount is arbitrary
2-3 tbs olive oil

Directions:
Sauté the eggplant in 2 tbs of olive oil the skin side down first then brown all other sides (4-5 minutes)
Place the eggplant and the avocado in the bottom of a small Pyrex baking dish.  Add the remaining 1tbs olive oil.
Mix the grated nagaimo and the egg and pour over (see below)



Top with the mushroom mixture, the tomatoes, and the  cheeses and bake for 30 minutes at 350F (I used the toaster oven in convection mode) (see below).



Let it stand for 5 minutes and serve (the first picture).

I was not sure the grated nagaimo and egg ratio but it came out ok. This is a sort of healthy Béchamel sauce substitute. The eggplant and avocado went well together. The next day, we placed the remaining dish in smaller individual ramekins and added a bit more cheese and toasted it in the highest setting. It heated up very nicely.

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Sweet Potato and Chestnut Rice サツマイモ、栗ご飯

My wife got three relatively small Japanese sweet potatoes or “Satsuma-imo” さつまいも from Whole Foods.  She was vaguely thinking of making sweet potato muffins but the amount was not really enough. I suggested making sweet potato rice instead (I ended up using all three potatoes for three different dishes). Since we also had prepared chestnuts, I made sweet potato chestnut rice. To extend the autumnal theme, I also made miso soup with mushrooms and lily bulb. Since I also made new batches of pickled daikon and “asazuke” 浅漬け cucumber, I served those on the side.



This is a close-up of sweet potato chestnut rice. I sprinkled “goma-shio” ごま塩, a mixture of black sesame and salt.



For the miso soup, I added shimeji しめじand shiitake mushroom along with lily bulb 百合根 which sank to the bottom. We picked the lily bulb up with the chopsticks so they got their place in the photo op.



Ingredients:
2 cups (using the cup came with out rice cooker) of short grain rice (we used “Yumepirica” ゆめぴりかHokkaido rice we got form NY rice factory).
1 inch square kelp
1 Japanese sweet potato, peeled, diced and soaked in cold water
10 prepared chestnuts
1 tbs x4 concentrated “Mentsuyu” Japanese noodle sauce

Directions:
Wash the rice, place it in the rice cooker, add the specified amount of water, add the seasoning, sweet potato and chestnuts and turn on the switch.
When it is done (see below), remove the kelp and gently mix.



This is a very autumnal and nice rice. Nice sweetness from both the sweet potato and the chestnuts with contrasting texture of soft and somewhat crunchy. I just sprinkled the “goma-shio” and my wife, as usual, added butter and soy sauce. The soup also went very well. The nice sweetness and crunchy texture of the lily bulb and mushrooms worked well together. We were also pleased with the daikon tsukemono.

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Tofu and Shimeji Mushroom with Oyster Sauce 豆腐としめじのオイスターソース

We had two packages of tofu 豆腐 and one package of shimeji mushroom しめじ which I needed to use fairly soon. I remembered seeing a YouTube episode of a tofu and shimeji dish.  I winged it from my memory so this may not be exactly the same dish. In any case, it was a good dish. It could be on rice but I seasoned it lightly and it is perfect as a drinking snack.



Ingredients:
1 package of tofu (I used house-brand semi-firm tofu which is currently our favorite tofu), cut into small rectangles, blanched, and drained well.
1 package (150gram) of brown shimeji mushrooms, bottom cut off and tops separated
2 tbs finely chopped shallot or onion
1 tbs finely chopped ginger
1 tbs finely chopped garlic
2 scallion, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbs vegetable oil with 1/4 tsp dark sesame oil
1tbs oyster sauce
2 tsp soy sauce (I used x4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce)
2 tbs sake
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp potato starch mixed with 1tbs sake or broth or water (slurry)

Directions:
Add half of the oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat. Add the tofu and brown one side (3-4 minutes) and turn over and brown the other side for 2-3 minutes, set aside
Add the remaining oil to the same pan, add the shallot, ginger and garlic. Sauté for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the shimeji mushroom and sauté until the mushroom become soft (a few minutes), season with salt and pepper. Add back the browned tofu and mix gently.
Add the sake, oyster sauce, soy sauce and mix.
Add the chicken broth and simmer. Taste and adjust the seasoning (more oyster sauce or soy sauce)
Stir in the potato starch slurry and mix well until it starts boiling.
Add more sesame oil if so desired (optional)
Add the scallion

I prefer the seasoning for Mapo tofu. I can make the same dish with the seasoning of Mapo tofu. As to the browning the tofu, I am not sure it is a great improvement. The time and effort to brown the tofu, this process may not be worth it. But this is a good dish in its own right.

Saturday, November 18, 2023

11 (or 12) Appetizers 11種類の酒のつまみ

This is another version of multiple small appetizers dishes. I used the divided plate with space for 9 dishes. But I had more than nine to serve so I doubled up in the divided space.  But I still needed to add two more small bowls for a total of 11 small dishes. If you count each part of the doubled up item (lotus root tsukune 蓮根つくね was divided and served with quail eggs and ginko nuts) (bottom row left and center), it would be 12 appetizers. None of them are new recipes. Even though the single portion is small, we were quite full after working our way through 12 of them.



To highlight a few the one shown below is Name-take mushroom なめ茸 (top row right),



simmered taro “satoimo” 里芋 potato and carrot with “Kouya-dofu” 高野豆腐* and sugar snap スナップ豌豆の塩びたし (middle row right)



and two small bowls; tofu and shimeji with oyster sauce 豆腐としめじのオイスターソース(top),



simmered shirataki and deep fried tofu 白滝と油揚の煮物 (bottom).



*Kouya-dofu is freeze dried tofu (for preservation I suppose) which creates unique texture and absorbs whatever liquid it is cooked in.

These appetizers are mostly comprised of vegetables and provide so many different textures and tastes. We really like this type of classic Japanese multiple appetizers.

Sunday, November 12, 2023

“Name-take” as a part of 9 Appetizers 自家製なめたけ

This is another installment of 9 appetizers served on 9 divided plate. There are a few repeats but no store-bought items.  Among these 9 items, the new ones are home-made “name-take” なめ茸* (in the center) and seasoned and grilled quail eggs 味付けうずらの卵 (in the bottom row, center). 

The top row from left to right are fig and edible chrysanthemum イチジクと春菊の和物 (I added sesame dressing this time), sugar snaps in salt broth スナップ豌豆の塩びたし,  simmered mushrooms “tsukudda-ni” キノコの佃煮.  The he middle row left to right are “hoshigaki” dried persimmon with daikon namasu 干し柿大根なます, nametake なめ茸, “kinpira gobo” burdock root 金平牛蒡.  The bottom row left to right are grilled “ginnan” ginko-nuts with salt 銀杏**, grilled seasoned quail eggs 味付けうずらの卵   lilly bulb with ikura salmon roe 百合根のイクラ載せ.



*I thought I have not posted home-made Name-take but when I searched my blog I found two enoki mushroom dishes one is home-made name-take in 2011. I will list the recipe again for my own convenience. Nametake is most commonly available as a rice condiment in a jar.

** It may be spelled as “gingko”. We used to be able to get a small can of boiled ginko nuts but in recent years, it has disappeared. This may be due to the fact that ginko nuts contain a small amount of toxin called MPN, or 4'-methoxypyridoxin. If consumed in a large quantity, especially among children, could produce intoxication. We could harvest ginko nuts since ginko trees are around, the preparation (to remove the meat of the fruit) is messy and smelly which I am hesitant to do). Very recently, however, we could get boiled and packaged ginko nuts (China product) from Weee.

Nametake:

Ingredients: (the seasoning can be more stringer/salty (more soy sauce)
I package (200 gram) Enoki mushroom
2 tbs sake
1 tbs mirin
2 tbs soy sauce (or x4 concentrated Japanese “mentsuyu” noodle sauce

Directions:
Cut off the end of the enoki, cut in half, separate the bottom parts
Place it in a small pot and add sake on low heat with a lid on. After 5 minutes, stir to mix. The consistency changes and thickens. Add the seasoning and increase the heat, stir until no free liquid remains.

Imitating the commercial products, I put  the home-made nametake in a jar (below) after sterilizing the inside of the jar with 50 proof Vodka.

The way this is cooked and seasoned are identical to mushroom tsukuda-ni but the difference is that “Enoki mushroom” cooked this way produced unique texture on the surface of the mushroom (somewhat slippery coating).



Seasoned quail eggs: (I think we figured out how to boil and peel)

How to boil and peel the quail eggs
I
n a pan add enough water and boil. When the water started boiling, add small mount of cold water to stop rapid boiling and add the cold (refrigerated) quail eggs using a slotted spoon. Gently stir in first 1-2 minutes so that the egg yolks center. Cook in gentle boil for 4 minutes then soak the eggs in ice water (mixture of ice cubes and cold water).
After 10-15 minutes, make multiple cracks on the shell (I used the back of the knife) and put them back to the ice water for 10-15 more minutes.
Peel the shells using a thin stream of cold water could help peel the shells.

Marinading the eggs:
I simple marinate the eggs in x4 Japanese concentrated “Mentsuyu” 麺つゆ noodle soup. Alternetively mix equal amount of mirin and soy sauce as a marinade.

Before serving, I toaster oven for 5-6 minutes.

We like these small dishes. The quail eggs have delicate seasoning from the marinade and creamy yolk. The grilled ginko nuts with salt is unique texture and taste for autumn and a quintessential drinking snack in Japan.

Monday, November 6, 2023

Chestnut Soup 栗ときのこのスープ

We used to get fresh chestnuts from California every fall. The preparation, especially removing the inner brown membrane is time consuming and difficult. So we decided to try commercially prepared chestnuts sold either in a jar or a plastic pouch. As a test to see if the prepared chestnut tasted any different from the fresh, I made chestnut rice 栗ごはん with it. The final dish came out similar to using fresh chestnuts with the added advantage of much less effort of preparation required. (Since we posted  making chestnut rice with fresh chestnuts and this preparation tasted exactly the same we did not post it again.) But this exercise proved to us that fresh and commercially prepared chestnuts are interchangeable.  After making the rice we were left with one and half bags of prepared/roasted chestnuts (about 7-8 oz or about 200 grams.) My wife came up with this chestnut soup recipe which she found on-line. Again I had to modify the recipe because of the ingredients we had. The original calls for dried porcini and fresh button mushrooms but I only had fresh shiitake mushrooms.



Ingredients
5-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps sliced.
2 tbs. unsalted butter and 2 tbs. olive oil
1 large leek, white and tender green parts only, finely chopped
1 carrot, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced rosemary (from our herb garden)
7 oz. (200 grams) peeled roasted vacuum-packed chestnuts (see picture below)
3 cups chicken stock
Salt
Freshly ground pepper

For garnish
1 tbs each of olive oil and unsalted butter
5-6 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stem removed and caps thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped up



Directions
In a saucepan on medium heat, add the olive oil and butter. Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms, leeks, carrot, celery and rosemary and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are cooked; about 15 minutes. Add the chestnuts and stock, season with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth.

For garnish
In a frying pan, heat the oil and butter. Add the sliced shiitake mushrooms, cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned (6 minutes). Season with salt and pepper. I served the soup warm and garnished with the sautéed shiitake and the chopped rosemary.

This is an excellent soup/potage. The chestnuts and leeks imparted a nice sweetness and distinctive chestnut flavor. Although the original recipe calls for heavy cream, I served this warm without any cream. It really didn’t need it. We had this as a lunch with slices of my home baked baguette. I am sure certain chestnut dishes cannot be made using these kinds of prepared chestnuts but I will try to use them in more of our favorite chestnut dishes

Friday, November 3, 2023

Braised “Tsukuda-ni” Mushrooms きのこの佃煮

We like mushrooms especially shiitake mushrooms 椎茸. Since Weee offers a wide variety of mushrooms we tend to go “over board” and order too many when we get groceries from them. This time we ordered shiitake, wood ear 木耳, and brown shimeji mushrooms しめじ. Among these mushrooms, shimeji last the longest (about 2 weeks) in the original package in the refrigerator without doing anything. For  shiitake, I removed the stems. (I tear them lengthwise, then chop them finely and sauté with finely chopped onion. I use this mixture in meat balls or other dishes. It adds a lovely umami flavor). I place the caps in a ziploc bag with a small sheet paper towel which absorbs moisture and keeps the mushrooms dry. The wood ear, I wash and blanch, wash it again and dry spreading them out over a dish towel for a few hours. I then pack them in a Ziploc bag like I do for shiitake. Even with these preparations, we need to use up the mushrooms within 1-2 weeks. So at the end, I need to cook them in some way. For the shiitake, I slice the caps thinly and sauté them with finely chopped shallots. We can used this for making “shiitake risotto” or other dishes. This time we had left-over shiitake, shimeji and wood ear. So I made this simmered dish which is similar to “Tsukuda-ni” 佃煮.



Ingredients:
Any mushrooms (Here I used shiitake, shimeji and wood ear), amounts arbitrary, cut into bite size pieces,
small amount of  water
Mirin and soy sauce (I used x4 concentrated Japanese “Mentsuyu” noodle sauce),

Directions:
Add the mushrooms to a small pan with a lid. Place the pan on low heat and add a small amount of water (more water will come out from the mushrooms, so just a small amount is needed so that the bottom will not scorch) and place on a tight lid.
After 10-15 minutes, the volume of the mushrooms reduces.
Add mirin and soy sauce in about equal amount (You could add more later if needed, so start with a small amount)
Without a lid, simmer and stir occasionally until the liquid almost all evaporated (see picture below)
Taste and if not seasoned enough add more seasonings and repeat the process*



* the name “Tsukuda-ni” 佃煮 derived from a small island called “Tsukuda-jima” 佃島 in  Sumida river 隅田川 in tokyo. In edo-era 江戸時代, it was famous for simmered and seasoned (sweet and salty or “ama-kara” 甘辛) seafood mostly small fish and “nori” seaweed or other items such as meat.)  This was good for “preserving” fish and meat and mainly consumed as condiments for rice.

I made this dish as a drinking snack but it was bit too weakly seasoned. So I added more seasoning and re-cooked it a few days later. If this is to be used as a condiment for rice or over a block of tofu, I would have seasoned it a bit more. This is a good dish to use up left-over mushrooms and works well as a snack with either red wine or sake.

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Mushrooms Udon Bowl きのこ沢山のかけうどん

“Udon” うどん are thick Japanese noodles made from wheat flour, salt and water. I’ve posted many udon dishes over the years. We usually use dried udon noodles because it is convenient. Udon appears to have many regioanl varieties. In Shikoku 四国 and Kansai 関西 (Osaka area),  Sanuki (-style) udon 讃岐風うどん is famous and is characteristically “chewy” as opposed to southern Kyushu 南九州 or Fukuoka 福岡 udon which is famous for its softness. The udon we usually get is somewhere in between. We tend to like thin udon such as “Inaniwa” 稲庭 udon or “Harima thread uson” 播磨糸うどん. I’m not sure what triggered it but we decided to get  frozen Sanuki-style  udon from Weee. The noodles are a bit on the thicker side with a square shape and straight edges (see 2nd picture below) which are characteristics of Sanuki udon or udon in the Kaisai region in general. For lunch, I made “kake-udon” かけうどん which is warm udon in broth. I used whatever was available for topping indluding three kinds of mushrooms (shiitake, maitake and simeji), soft boiled duck egg, simmered pork and edible chrysanthemum.



Underneath the toppings are the Sanuki-udon.



Ingredients: (2 small or half servings)
Mixed fresh mushrooms (I used shiitake sliced, mitake torn into small pices, and shimeji separated)
One package of frozen Sanuki udon, thawed and cooked in boiling water for 3-4 minutes
2 slices of simmered pork
Edible chrysanthemum, blanched
One soft boiled (pasteurized) duck egg, halved
Blanched sugar snaps
Dashi broth
X4 concentrated Japanese noodle sauce

Directions:
Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil for a few minutes, add the broth (enough for two bowls) and simmer for a few minutes, add the noodle sauce to taste, place the pork, egg, chrysanthemum, and sugar snaps on the top to warm them up for few minutes
Divide the udon into two bowls, arrange the toppings and pour in the seasoned broth.
Add 7 flavored pepper flakes or “shichi-mi tougarashi 七味唐辛子 (optional)

The udon was really chewy. We like it but it requires a bit of effort (chewing). This type of udon may be perfect for “Nabeyaki udon” 鍋焼きうどん.

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Cucumber and Wood Ear in Mustard Sauce キュウリとキクラゲの辛子和え

We got fresh wood ear mushrooms “Kikurage” 木耳 from Weee. In an effort make the mushroom last longer I go through several steps. I wash the mushrooms, blanch them, then wash them again in cold water. I let them dry on a dish towel. I then place them in a Ziploc bag with some pieces of paper towel to absorb excess moisture. The texture does not change by blanching and wood ear does not have much flavor. Never-the-less, I am trying to use it up and look for new recipes. I found this recipe at e-recipe. I deviated from the original by adding roasted/barbecued pork instead of ham and also some changes in the dressing.



Ingredients:
One American mini-cucumber, ends trimmed, cut into half length-wise, then sliced on bias
Wood ear mushroom (fresh or hydrate dry), cut into julienne (amount arbitrary)
Slices of roasted pork (or ham) cut into julienne (amount arbitrary)

For dressing:
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
2 tsp sweet vinegar (I used homemade which I keep in a bottle; the ratio of vinegar to sugar is 2:1 with a dash of salt)
1 tsp ponzu-shouyu
Japanese mustard (prepared from the tube) (amount to taste or for your liking)

Directions:
Knead the cucumber slices with small amount of salt, let them stand for 5 minutes and squeeze out excess moisture
Dress all the ingredients with the dressing. You could add more mustard. Adjust the taste to your liking
Refrigerate before serving.

This is a good small dish as an “otoshi” おとうし drinking snack. The wood ear adds nice crunch, the pork adds great flavor and the cucumber is refreshing. Spicy Japanese mustard also makes this dish. Best with cold sake but even goes with red wine.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Simmered Pork and Nappa Cabbage 豚肉と白菜の煮物

When we get a large bone-in skin-on piece of pork (either fore- or hind-quarter), I do secondary butchering to remove the skin and bone. With the meat I usually make one large roast for barbecuing in our Weber grill, and one smaller roast for making simmered pork or “Nibuta” 煮豚 in the Instant pot. I usually hand-chop the remaining trimmings into ground pork which I use to make “mapo tofu” 麻婆豆腐, “niku-miso” 肉味噌 or other dishes.  This time the pork came from the fore-quarter and after I did all my usual preparations additional small blocks of pork remained. So I sliced them very thinly and made two dishes; one was a classic homey dish of meat and potato stew or “nikujaga” 肉じゃが and the other was this nappa cabbage dish. I made this dish since I had quite a good amount of left-over nappa cabbage or “hakusai” 白菜 and also brown shimeji mushroom or “bunashimeji” ぶなしめじ.


I added sugar snaps スナップ豌豆の塩びたし for color.



This is based on a recipe I saw on-line but because of the ingredients I had (or didn’t have), I had to make some modifications.

Ingredients:
4 leaves of nappa cabbage, bottom trimmed, cut in half lengthwise. I cut the bottom half thick portion on a slant (45 degree against the cutting board surface) 1 inch long (called “sogi-giri” 削ぎ切). This makes a slightly thin segment). The leafy tops were cut into 1 inch long pieces.
120 grams of thinly sliced pork (the amount is arbitrary. More the better?)
1 package (150 grams) of brown shimeji mushroom, bottoms removed and separated
400ml Japanese dashi broth
1 tbs each of sake and soy sauce (to marinade the pork)

Seasoning
2 tbs sake
2 tbs x4 Japanese noodle sauce (or 1 tbs each of mirin and soy sauce)
1/2 tsp ginger juice (from grated ginger root)

Direction:
Marinate the pork in the mixture of sake and soy sauce for 5-10 minutes.
Put the dashi broth in a pan on medium heat. When it boils add the marinated pork. When the meat changes color, add the nappa cabbage and mushrooms. Cook for a few minutes and add the seasoning. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the hard part of the nappa cabbage is cooked through.
Serve warm with topping of blanched green beans or sugar snap or chopped scallion (optional).

Although this dish uses the combination of seasoning similar to “niku-jaga”, this dish came out much more mildly flavored and gentle. This is a good dish for drinking snack or the accompaniment for rice.

Wednesday, August 16, 2023

Lily Bulb and Wood Ear Scrambled Egg 百合根とキクラゲの卵炒め

I made this dish to use up some left over lily bulb and fresh wood ear mushrooms I had. I did not follow any recipe but wood ear and eggs is a common combination in Japanese Chinese dishes. I just added the lily bulb.  This turned out to be a quite good combination. Wood ear does not have much flavor but has a nice crunchy texture. Lily bulb has nice sweetness and softer texture.



Ingredients (two small servings)
2 eggs, beaten
Wood ear mushroom, cut into bite size (I used fresh), amount arbitrary
lily bulb, separated and blanched, amount arbitrary
Vegetable (or light olive) oil and dark sesame oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Add the oil with a splash of dark sesame oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium heat
Add the wood ear and lily bulb, stir for 1 minute
Add the egg and mix
Season it with salt and pepper

This is a simple quick dish and perfect if you have wood ear mushroom and lily bulb (which may not be usual items one may have often).

Thursday, August 10, 2023

Lily Bulb with Ikura; Eggplants and Wood Ear in Mustard Dressing 百合根とキクラゲの辛子和え

This is on the theme of multiple small appetizers served in a multi- divided  plate. We got delivery of some Japanese vegetables which included eggplant, lily bulb and wood ear mushroom among other things. I served five appetizers. Two of them are new and are the ones I am presenting here.

Lilly bulb with ikura. This is a very simple but good dish. I separated the lily bulb into individual pieces and briefly boiled them. After they cooled I refrigerated them. I served them as shown below. I just topped each lily bulb cup shaped piece with marinated ikura salmon roe. Due to its simplicity I did not include a formal ingredients and directions section for this dish below. The slightly sweet and mildly crunchy texture of the lily bulb went well with the taste of the marinated ikura.



The picture below shows the eggplant and wood ear mushroom dish. I dressed it in mustard sauce which was slightly spicy, vinegary and sweet. The sauce gave an unexpected but nice bright note to the dish while the texture contrast between the thinly sliced eggplant and crunchy wood ear mushroom was a nice combination.



As mentioned, these were two among the 5 appetizers I served. I made two 5 dish appetizer plates one evening as shown below. (One for myself and one for my wife). The picture shows the two dishes discussed above along with the other three that made up the 5 dish plate.  From left to right are; store bought fish cake warmed in the toaster oven, the eggplant and wood ear dressed in mustard sauce, lily bulb with ikura, eggplant “agebitashi” with mushrooms, and hijiki and fried tofu stir fry.



The eggplant and wood ear dish in mustard sauce (recipe came from eRecipe - in Japanese)

Ingredients:
One Japanese (Asian) eggplant (long slender kind)
Wood ear (I used fresh which was blanched and cooled) if using dried, hydrate and removed the hard parts and blanch it, amount arbitrary

For dressing: (amount all to taste)
Japanese (hot) prepared mustard, amount arbitrary, from tube
Sweet vinegar (this was home-made) or sushi vinegar
Soy sauce

Directions:
Cut the eggplant with stem end removed, in half length-wise and then cut thinly across on the bias
Soak the pieces in cold water for 5-10 minutes, squeeze out water and add salt and knead. Let it stand until some moisture comes out and the slice of the eggplant has wilted
Wash in water and squeeze out the excess water
Cut wood ear into bite sized pieces. If attachment ends are hard, remove them.
In a small bowl, add the eggplants, wood ear and the dressing and mix well

Monday, August 7, 2023

Nine appetizers served in nine divided plate version 2

This is the second version of nine small appetizers served on the nine space divided plate. Although it was not intentional it turned out that I did not have even one repeat of the items I presented in the previously posted nine appetizers. But this time I did include two store-bought items that I got from our Japanese grocery store; Chinese-style octopus salad and fish cakes. But I made the remaining 7.



The top row left is blanched edible chrysanthemum or “shun-giku” 春菊 shown in detail below, dressed with x4 Japanese noodle sauce and mixed with generous amount of dried bonito flakes or “kezuri-bushi”  削り節. It has very distinct flavors which we really like.



The 1st row, middle is my ususal “dashi-maki” だし巻き Japanese omelet. This time I added dried green nori or “aonori” 青のり. I garnished it with julienne of green perila or “aoziso” 青紫蘇.



The next dish is a Chinese-style octopus salad or 中華風タコサラダ. It is pretty good and we like it.



The center row, left is hijiki seaweed, deep fried tofu and carrot stir fry or ひじきと油揚の炒め物.



The 2nd row center is one I just made this morning. Fried egg plant and mushroom simmered in broth or ナスと椎茸の揚げ浸し. The mushrooms include fresh shiitake and brown shimeji. This is served cold with garnish of blanched green beans.



The 2nd row left is my usual burdock root stir fry ゴボウのきんぴら.



The 3rd row left is a cold skinned Campari tomato. I cross cut the top halfway-through and poured on some Irizake  煎り酒 and special sushi vinegar (both from the Rice Factory). Irizake is boiled down sake seasoned with “umeboshi” picked plum 梅干し, kelp and bonito flakes. The sushi vinegar is a special kind from “Echizen 越前” or present day Fukui 福井.  It tastes milder and better than our usual (Mizkan brand). I topped this with fine julienne of  “Gari” がりsweet vinegar marinated thinly sliced ginger root (usually use to accompany sushi) and perilla. I got this idea from one of the food blogs I follow but I did not follow the recipe exactly.



The 3rd row center is store-bought fish cake which I heated up in the toaster oven and dressed in x4 Japanese noodle sauce and yuzukosho.



The 3rd row right is my usual “asazuke” 浅漬け picked (salted) vegetable which includes cucumber, carrot, nappa cabbage and daikon radish. I also added “shio konbu” 塩昆布, and ginger. The asazuke is about two weeks old but still tasted fresh (I attribute this to the fact I added a bit more salt - more than the usual 3% - and added a small amount of Vodka when I made it. While it didn’t alter the overall taste, I think this makes the asazuke last longer without becoming sour).



After enjoying these 9 small dishes both of us were quite full and did not eat anything else. All the wonderful different flavors and textures made a really enjoyable dinner.