Japanese Cooking at Home

[Hassouni]

I'm not Anna, but general procedure for misoshiru is to bring dashi to boil, add desired ingredients, then when done, kill the heat and use one of these to incorporate the miso into the soup: http://umamimart.com/collections/kitchen-tools/products/misokoshi

 

It helps to really mash the miso through the strainer.

 

Without that, the other way is to spoon some hot dash into a bowl, add miso with a spoon and dissolve, then add back to the soup taken off the heat. Miso is allegedly alive, and shouldn't be boiled, hence taking the soup off the heat. I do recommend the misokoshi though, because miso is kind of a pain to dissolve.

Edited March 19, 2015 by lesliec
Remedy technical glitch (spurious characters in link) (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

My reply to Hassouni above is not showing properly for some reason.

 

I know the general idea of miso soup starting with dashi, but I would not be starting with dashi, at least not ichiban dashi.  My results with leftovers so far have not been great.

[Anna N]

Not sure that my answer will be of any better help. Since you already know how to make dashi then it's just a matter of adding the miso and of which miso to add. Currently I am using awasi miso which is a commercial mixture of red and white misos. It is not especially salty as some can be. When the dashi is ready I scoop out about measuring tablespoon of miso for each US cup of dashi. I put this into a small, fine strainer over a small bowl and add a ladleful of the hot broth. With the small strainer submerged in the broth I work the miso through the strainer then stir it up and return the miso laden broth to the pan of dashi. Much depends on miso.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I was not being clear.  I am not starting with dashi,  I am starting with the spent leftovers from making dashi.  Here is what I did:

 

I brought to the boil the spent konbu and katsuobushi, adding a pinch or two of sansho after removing from the heat.  I let this keep warm while blending in some Japanese white miso by the straining technique.  I then removed the konbu pieces and strained the broth into a fresh pot.

 

Meanwhile I boiled soba noodles, rinsed them under cold water, and reheated them in the miso broth, to which I added a little shoyu.

 

A quite satisfactory late night meal.

[Anna N]

Chicken karaage.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Tonight I went looking for another of those wonderful Japanese style sweet potatoes.  The store still had them.  But what they had looked old, dry, and diseased.  I'm guessing it was a one time buy.  But in my opinion the Japanese style sweet potatoes are worth seeking out.

[Thanks for the Crepes]

Yes! 

 

I love these for sweet potato fries. Our North Carolina sweet potatoes (although I adore them baked) make poor fries with any method I've tried. They're too limp and moist.

 

The Asian ones available from my S-Mart, with red instead of orange skin and whiter flesh, are perfect for the application. Crispy, and very slightly sweet/savory.

 

Like your source, my Asian market must be watched very closely for freshness and quality. If you catch it when the stuff first comes in, you're golden, but they don't cull it like they do in more mainstream American markets. I've seen stuff in there (like kabocha and onions) that's releasing mold spores all through the environment.

 

Also they have shrink wrapped fried fish, sushi and other really questionable stuff on display at the entrance with NO refrigeration. I don't call the health department, because I want them to succeed, but I sure don't buy that stuff either.

 

I found fresh water chestnuts one time here. If you ever find them in good shape, they're worth the PITA to peel. I haven't eaten a canned one since. You just can't go back.

 

They have lemon grass, and lots of other hard to find things. I don't mean to rag on them, but their health standards are definitely alien to these parts.

 

They also have a dozen XL eggs for 99 cents sometimes. Can you say super cheap protein?  

[rotuts]

Ive never been able to make good ( ie crunchy ) SP fries

 

"""   The Asian ones available from my S-Mart, with red instead of orange skin and whiter flesh, are perfect for the application. Crispy, and very slightly sweet/savory.  ""

 

do you have a picture of this SP ?  they might have it at the large chinese grocery store I sometimes go to

 

thanks

[Thanks for the Crepes]

rotuts,

 

The asian sweet potatoes I can get that make good fries look like the first two images in this link: https://www.google.com/search?q=asian+sweet+potato&espv=2&biw=1097&bih=546&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=a90NVcKpBcqwggSyrICoDA&ved=0CEMQ7Ak

[rotuts]

thanks for that

 

as the snow is melting.

 

I might go to the AsianEmporium tomorrow to look for those

 

I also get 'baby bok choy'  the deep green ones

 

they go from 1.25 to 1.50 an LBS

 

my local WhiteBread emporium  for an odd reason had some in a bag

 

on ice

 

$ 5.99 an LBS

 

pays for the gas

Edited March 21, 2015 by rotuts (log)

[Thanks for the Crepes]

rotuts,

 

I hope you can find them and make good, crispy fries from them. They always work out for me. They have a drier consistency, and crisp up much better than the orange ones we grow right here in NC.

 

I think they give them a tempura treatment in some Asian countries, but I have good luck with them unbattered even as oven fries just coated with a little oil and roasted at high temp. I always peel them because the skin is a little thick and tough.

 

And, yeah, there are a lot of bargains and very interesting ingredients to be found at your local Asian market. It's one of my favorite places to explore.

[rotuts]

"""   oven fries just coated with a little oil and roasted at high temp.  """

 

this is my plan.  also thanks for the tip on the skin.   I usually try not to peel.

[Anna N]

Nikujaga (meat and potatoes).

Drop lid anyone?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

rotus,

 

Please let us know how your Asian sweet potato oven fry experiment turns out either way.

 

I know you have a steam oven, but I don't think that would enhance this project. You want to eliminate moisture, not add it.

[rotuts]

I plan to use the BV-XL

 

Ill let you know   didnt go to the ChinaMart yest.  perhaps next week.

 

I buy too many pork buns  ( refrigerated and frozen ) and gobble then up non-stop

 

[Duvel]

Thanks to Anna N I felt the urge to make significant amounts of Nikuman recently. Aside from my non-existing folding skills they turned out nice: dough was basically the same as Anna's while for the filling I used minced fatty pork, soy/mirin/sesame oil, tons of scallions and a couple of spoon full of grated ginger. Very satisfying on a sunday afternoon ...

[Anna N]

Thanks to Anna N I felt the urge to make significant amounts of Nikuman recently. Aside from my non-existing folding skills they turned out nice: dough was basically the same as Anna's while for the filling I used minced fatty pork, soy/mirin/sesame oil, tons of scallions and a couple of spoon full of grated ginger. Very satisfying on a sunday afternoon ...

Glad to see you attempted these. My main complaint with those I made was the thickness of the dough on the top. I researched various recipes and it seems that the more skilled makers somehow manage to thin out the edges of the circle of dough to overcome this. It will take much more practice on my part to figure that out. The pleating and twisting of those pleats naturally increases the amount of dough on the top.

[Anna N]

[Hassouni]

Question for those who've lived in Japan, or are Japanese, or are otherwise very knowledgeable about Japanese culture.

 

One of the things I like so much about Japanese food is the concept of ichiju sansai, which means lots of variety and vegetable intake. However, I live alone and three dishes + soup is really not feasible most of the time, unless I'm cooking for others. It seems to me that *most* Japanese dishes besides nabemono and some nimono are not mixed but rather focused on a single ingredient.

 

I'm curious how solo cooking in Japan generally goes: are there non-nabe dishes that feature a collection of ingredients? Do people tend to cook the full three dishes? 

 

I'm not cooking as much as I used to (especially not Japanese food) and really want to get back at it.

Edited March 29, 2015 by Hassouni (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Tonight was a clear soup prepared as above, rice, blanched broccolini (which I have to thank for getting my Baron shaker unstuck) with sesame dressing (Japanese Cooking a Simple Art, second edition, p 253).  I do love sesame dressing.  Sautéed eggplant, which was not so wonderful.  Daikon pickle and umeboshi.

[Anna N]

Two recent dishes.

Japanese fried rice enfolded in an omelette.

Braised chicken and vegetables.

[mkayahara]

Your omurice looks perfect, Anna! How did it taste?

[Anna N]

Your omurice looks perfect, Anna! How did it taste?

Thank you. I truly think it can be improved upon. Like fried rice in any cuisine there are likely as many different ingredients used as there are cooks. This needed something more. And strangely I am not a fan of ketchup and might've enjoyed it more with a tonkatsu-like sauce. But this is all new to me and I can enjoy the process even when the end result doesn't quite measure up. A fried rice filled omelette is so minimally more complicated than simple fried rice that I was intrigued by the very idea.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Not exactly Japanese but Japanese inspired leftovers:  first course was dashi from the other day.  Not quite as good as fresh although still quite refreshing.  Then some mashed potatoes that I intended to serve with daikon pickle but I forgot.  Followed by a seven spice powder omelet.  I confess a French style omelet but it turned out perfectly.

[Anna N]

I was thrilled when Kerry Beal spotted these shishito peppers at Trader Joe's in Buffalo this past Wednesday.

For those of you unfamiliar with them they are very mild for the most part but about 1 in 10 will pack some heat. In this small batch just one startled me. The heat is definitely there but by no means is it unpleasant, at least not for me. It adds a note of adventure to a small dish.

They are so simple to prepare. Give them a good wash, no need to trim them in any way, dry them on kitchen towels and saute in hot oil until they blister and char a little. Sprinkle with an interesting salt and serve with or without dipping sauce. I just had soy sauce. Eat them with your fingers or chopsticks leaving behind the stem and calyx.

Note to those who dislike green peppers. They have none of that taste of lawn grass.