No particular recipe here, but it’s a pretty picture! Barramundi is an Indian Ocean fish that’s often seen on menus here, but I don’t think that I’d had it before this. Very tasty. The fish was grilled with sesame oil and dressed with ponzu (citrus) sauce.
Permalink Comments off
Mmm, tasty pic. In this collaboration, I looked after sauteing white onions, mushrooms, and asparagus to fold into my dad’s expertly prepared thick, fluffy omelette.
Permalink Comments off
Shio-kōji is a popular item in Japanese kitchens of late, and hence in “western” ones as well. Yusuke and I had wanted to try it for a while, so he brought back a jar on a recent trip to Japan. We subsequently found it at a local Japanese grocery; restocking will not be too arduous!
So, what is shio-kōji? Short answer: kōji with salt.
So, what is kōji? Short answer: fungus.
Here is a longer answer from Makiko Itoh in the Japan Times. (Visit the rest of the article to read more.)
Kōji (Aspergillus oryzae) was probably domesticated at least 2,000 years ago. It is used to make sake, mirin, shōchū, awamori (an Okinawan beverage), rice vinegar, soy sauce and miso – all ingredients that define Japanese food. No wonder that it was declared the kokkin (national fungus) by the Brewing Society of Japan, and the genome was closely protected until 2005. Besides Japan, it is also used extensively in China and Korea to ferment and mature various foods.
To use kōji, spores are mixed into steamed rice (potatoes, wheat and soybeans are also used, depending on the purpose), then allowed to mature for a period of time in a warm environment, about 50 degrees Celsius. The kōji turns the starch in the rice into sugar (a process called saccharification) and releases a variety of fatty acids and amino acids including glutamate, the basis for the “fifth taste,” umami. This kōji-rice mixture is called kome-kōji.
When mixed with salt (shio, in Japanese), kōji is a very tasty cooking seasoning. It can be used for a variety of purposes, but among the most popular is marinating meat, fish, tofu, or veggies.
So far, we’ve used it to marinate salmon, as well as in a few veggie stir fries. Pictured above is the first attempt.
Yusuke began by stir frying the following in sesame oil:
When the veggies were nearly cooked, he stirred in about 2 tsp of shio-kōji and a sprinkling of black pepper. That’s it!
The concept of umami can be explained in many ways, but for me, it has to do with layers of taste and enhancing the natural flavours of the fresh veggies.
Permalink Comments off
Yup, this is another example of my work.
A few times recently, we’ve ended up with more tofu than we could consume in one sitting, so I stuck the leftovers in the freezer. This does interesting things to its texture, making it spongy (in a good way) when thawed. You can squeeze the water left from the ice right out without breaking the tofu. Then you can then cut it into cubes for use in stews or stir fries to soak up other flavours, or crumble it up for a stir fry or casserole. Tofu can be bought in dehydrated form (kouya dofu) to be used in these ways, but it’s fun to do it yourself.
Just Hungry and No Recipes have more interesting info and ideas for frozen tofu.
For my little dish here, I began by sauteing sliced red onions with lots of garlic and ginger.
I then added pieces of asparagus.
When it started to turn bright green, I added the aforementioned frozen-then-defrosted tofu, crumbled into a fine texture.
I also dumped in perhaps a teaspoon or two each of sake and rice vinegar.
As the tofu started to warm up, I added sweet soy sauce and sea salt.
Ketjap (or kecap) manis—sweet soy sauce—is something new to us here in Perth. It’s Indonesian in origin, and seems to be quite popular in Asian and general stores alike here. It’s more syrupy than Japanese soy sauce in consistency and is sweetened with palm sugar. Just a drizzle, then, was nice to flavour this dish.
Permalink Comments off
This is a really old one. For the recipe, see http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/02/vegetable-fried-quinoa.html
Permalink Comments off
タコライス. Translation: taco rice.
This is one of the many examples of the Japanese tendency to embrace foreign concepts and make them uniquely Japanese (see also: curry, pasta, omu-rice etc. etc.). Based on Mexican-style cuisine, this particular dish is especially popular in Okinawa, so much so that you can even read about it on wikipedia.
Yusuke has been on a salsa and tortilla kick…too bad he couldn’t join me in Guatemala! Hence the desire for this dish.
Rather than using the typical ground pork, Yusuke instead used firm tofu. He also omitted the cheese and used asparagus rather than lettuce.
He began the cooking procedure by chopping white onions (suffering through the tears!). Next, he crumbled firm tofu by hand and sauteed both with olive oil.
After the onions became translucent, he added carrots, chopped into tiny pieces.
Next came the seasoning:
Some recipes call for worchestershire sauce or that taco seasoning stuff that you can buy in a package. But since this is タコライス, you definitely need soy sauce!
The asparagus was boiled separately, chopped, and added to rest of the mix.
Everything was then arranged on rice, topped with an over-easy egg, and served with salsa.
おいしかった / ¡muy delicioso!
Permalink Comments off
We ate miso soup with konnyaku, carrots, daikon, white onions, and green onions.
We also had asparagus with balsamic vinegar.
It was good.
That’s all.
Permalink Comments off
This dish was rather a nifty creation, in my opinion.
Yusuke’s first task was to boil fresh bean sprouts: just a few minutes to retain a crunchy texture.
Next, he halved cherry tomatoes, removed the seeds, and sautéed them in a dry frying pan (they had enough liquid alone).
He set the tomatoes aside and repeated the sautéing with asparagus spears, again in a dry pan.
After the veggies were done, he boiled soba in plain water for about 4 minutes. Longer leads to mushiness!
He arranged the drained noodles on a plate, topping the pile with neatly placed bean sprouts, tomatoes, asparagus, and sliced avocado.
In the centre went glorious natto, sans the mustard sauce that comes in the package.
Last, we drizzled soba sauce over everything, sprinkled a bit of shichimi (spicy seasoning) and mixed it all up—after taking a picture, of course. The soba sauce had its usual components: water, dashi, mirin, sake, soy sauce, and a tiny bit of sugar.
Permalink Comments off
This delightful pottage was inspired by a fantastic meal that we had in Ireland.
The recipe that Yusuke found to work from advised not using the green part of the leeks, but that would be a terrible waste!
First, he chopped up the leeks into tiny pieces. He separated out the white parts and sautéed them in a bit of butter until soft. (N.B. olive oil would also work.)
Next, he added a few splashes of white wine and let it simmer for a while.
After a few minutes, he added the green leeks and white potatoes that were cut into tiny cubes. In addition, he threw in:
He let everything simmer until the potatoes were soft.
Next, the pot went into the fridge until it was cool, and then the contents transferred to the blender.
Once smooth, the mixture went back on stove over low heat. 1/2 cup of soymilk was stirred in. Last, the soup was seasoned with salt and pepper.
Gorgeous.
We also enjoyed grilled asparagus with balsamic vinegar alongside the pottage.
Appetizing as an appetizer, or delightful as a main dish (as we enjoyed it).
Yusuke heated olive oil in a frying pan and then added minced garlic, which was sautéed until aromatic.
Next, the asparagus spears were added to the pan, along with sea salt, 2 tbsp of white wine, 1 tbsp of mayonnaise, and 1 tbsp of rice wine vinegar. Cook all. That’s it!
Ah, asparagus. You make me think of spring. March, please hurry up with the lion bit. This girl is ready for lamb weather.
NB: the mayonnaise was Japanese, which apparently is quite different from North American style. I’m rather anti-mayonnaise myself, so I don’t know the details, but I’m assured the difference is substantial. The main brand is kewpie. Visit the website for too much mayonnaise-related cuteness.
Kewpie mayonnaise by rachelkillsemo. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Permalink Comments off
Chez Yusuke 