Lunch! What'd ya have? (2018)

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, Duvel said:

heap full of fish powder for some extra Umami ...

I am definitely not familiar with fish powder. Can you elaborate for me, please?

[Anna N]

6 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

But I can't make dashi till I freeze up a couple trays of deionized water for the kombu broth

 You are so much more dedicated than I. I am led to believe that most Japanese do what I do which is turn to a package of instant dashi.   But I admire you and others who try to keep traditional ways alive. After all if you have access to the ingredients,  dashi is not particularly difficult nor time-consuming to make.   Colour me lazy.

[Duvel]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

I am definitely not familiar with fish powder. Can you elaborate for me, please?

 

It’s (sun-)dried fish (maybe mackerel, or smaller sea fish, even squid), ground to a fine powder. It has a very strong umami effect; think mushroom powder or - if the would exist - freeze-dried fish sauce ...

[HungryChris]

The last of my mortadella, some thick cut marinated zucchini ribbons, baby Swiss cheese, roasted peppers on Tuscan bread with mayo and Dijon mustard. This basic combination in a sandwich remains one of my high flyers and I have come to realize that the marinated zucchini really helps keep it in the air, for me.

HC

Edited July 30, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

[Duvel]

2 hours ago, Anna N said:

 You are so much more dedicated than I. I am led to believe that most Japanese do what I do which is turn to a package of instant dashi.   But I admire you and others who try to keep traditional ways alive. After all if you have access to the ingredients,  dashi is not particularly difficult nor time-consuming to make.   Colour me lazy.

 

I admire that as well @JoNorvelleWalker, very much so. And while I believe that freshly made dashi is far superior, I’d think that in Tsuyu the subtleties in flavour might get overpowered by the other ingredients. For me Tsuyu has very robust qualities, so instant dashi should do the trick. I’ll ask at work tomorrow, but I would assume most households use regularly one of the myriads of readily made and bottled versions of Tsuyu available here ...

[Anna N]

14 minutes ago, Duvel said:

bottled versions of Tsuyu available here 

Also available here in Canada in the Asian grocery stores. I actually have a bottle in my refrigerator down south.

[blue_dolphin]

This started out as some new potatoes dressed with tonnato and lemon, as suggested by Joshua McFadden in Six Seasons.  Then I threw some green and yellow wax beans into the pot when the potatoes were just about cooked, cut up some red bell pepper and small tomatoes for color, added some flaked, oil-packed tuna, a few capers and an egg and it became lunch.

Edited July 29, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin

 

those look like perfect eggs to me !

 

how did you cook them ?

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@blue_dolphin

 

those look like perfect eggs to me !

 

how did you cook them ?

Thanks!  The nicely colored yolks are probably due to whatever my nice farmers market people feed their hens.   They pasture them in an organic orange grove so I suspect they are happy chickens!

 

I have found  these 2 methods give comparable results with large eggs.  

Boiling: Direct from the fridge into boiling water for 6.5 minutes, then into ice water.

Steaming: Direct from the fridge into a steamer insert (~1 inch of water already boiling) and steam for 8 min, then into ice water.

Steaming is quicker because I only need to boil a little water vs a whole pot.

 

[rotuts]

@blue_dolphin

 

thank you.

 

if you have an iPot , have you tried pressure-steam , in a basket above the initial cup of water ?

 

direct from the frig ?

 

I like the low-pressure for this  , a timed release , then right into cold tap water

 

but what works , works !

 

Im guessing HB eggs as you've pic'd are relatively new  compared to FannyFarmer etc.

 

now new for me might be 20 years , but Im not counting 

[blue_dolphin]

17 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@blue_dolphin

 

thank you.

 

if you have an iPot , have you tried pressure-steam , in a basket above the initial cup of water ?

 

direct from the frig ?

 

I like the low-pressure for this  , a timed release , then right into cold tap water

 

but what works , works !

 

Im guessing HB eggs as you've pic'd are relatively new  compared to FannyFarmer etc.

 

now new for me might be 20 years , but Im not counting 

 

When I want an egg like this to plop on top of something, the idea often comes to me at the last minute (like after everything else is ready to go 🙃) so grabbing a pan and getting that inch of water boiling is the quickest means to my end.  

I know everyone loves the IP for hard boiled eggs. I haven't had the best of luck but I should probably give it another try someday.

 

Edited to add that somewhere or other, someone said they used the IP to cook eggs for egg salad by just cracking the eggs into a bowl and cooking them pot-in-pot.  No peeling necessary, just break it all up.  I do plan to try that one of these days.

Edited July 29, 2018 by blue_dolphin (log)

[scubadoo97]

42 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

Thanks!  The nicely colored yolks are probably due to whatever my nice farmers market people feed their hens.   They pasture them in an organic orange grove so I suspect they are happy chickens!

 

I have found  these 2 methods give comparable results with large eggs.  

Boiling: Direct from the fridge into boiling water for 6.5 minutes, then into ice water.

Steaming: Direct from the fridge into a steamer insert (~1 inch of water already boiling) and steam for 8 min, then into ice water.

Steaming is quicker because I only need to boil a little water vs a whole pot.

 

Not just the color which is gorgeous but the texture of the yolks looks amazing

 

 

edited to add I like your whole though process for the dish.   I do similar things.   "This looks good and would work, toss it in".  

Edited July 29, 2018 by scubadoo97 (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

Also available here in Canada in the Asian grocery stores. I actually have a bottle in my refrigerator down south.

 

I am not adverse to bottled sauce!  It's probably available down here.

 

[MRE]

Yesterday curried chicken salad sandwiches on multigrain bread. Today, the farmer's market had some broccolini which I never resist buying. The sandwiches with fresh mozzarela and garden sweet tomatoes had to be made. Ham for some and meatless for others.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

This afternoon I looked for tsuyu at Shoprite.  I did not find it so I ordered from amazon:

Kiku tsuyu

 

Fortunately I found some soba noodles in my kitchen...odd place to store food.  Though I noted Shoprite has a couple brands of soba should I need more.

 

Now the question is, if one has a bottle of tsuyu, how does one prepare it for a soup or dipping sauce?  I assume it must be diluted with something besides walnuts?

 

And should it be tsuyu or Tsuyu?

 

Edited July 30, 2018 by Smithy
Adjusted link to be eG-friendly (log)

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

And should it be tsuyu or Tsuyu? 

 

  

1

 

つゆ   tsuyu

It isn't a brand name so no need for capitalisation.

[MRE]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

This afternoon I looked for tsuyu at Shoprite.  I did not find it so I ordered from amazon:

Kiku tsuyu

 

Fortunately I found some soba noodles in my kitchen...odd place to store food.  Though I noted Shoprite has a couple brands of soba should I need more.

 

Now the question is, if one has a bottle of tsuyu, how does one prepare it for a soup or dipping sauce?  I assume it must be diluted with something besides walnuts?

 

And should it be tsuyu or Tsuyu?

 

We use a Kikkoman version. It's a go to snack for my daughter. For a soba dipping sauce, Kikkoman recommends on the back of the bottle 3 parts water to 1 tsuyu. Your bottle will likely have similar instructions too. We just eyeball it to taste.

 

Kikkoman Japanese Noodle Soup Base(Hon Tsuyu)

Edited July 30, 2018 by Smithy
Adjusted links to be eG-friendly (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

35 minutes ago, MRE said:

For a soba dipping sauce, Kikkoman recommends on the back of the bottle 3 parts water to 1 tsuyu. Your bottle will likely have similar instructions too.

 

 

It may, but I'm not sure in what language.  When using soy based sauces I tend to overdo it.

 

I saw the Kikkoman on amazon.  I considered it.  Kikkoman is much cheaper.  But the ingredient list is not as nice.

 

[MRE]

18 minutes ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

It may, but I'm not sure in what language.  When using soy based sauces I tend to overdo it.

 

I saw the Kikkoman on amazon.  I considered it.  Kikkoman is much cheaper.  But the ingredient list is not as nice.

 

If they don't offer any English instructions, I'd just taste it straight, and then start adding water until I'm happy with the dilution.

 

Agreed on the Kikkoman ingredient list. I have the fixings to make it from scratch, but the girl child wants simple, and wants it now. Usually at 2 in the morning when she's hanging with friends and her personal chef is unavailable.

 

Your product looks pretty nice, I'd like to try it sometime, but that's a pretty premium price. I'll check a couple of local Japanese markets and see if they have it. I buy the Kikkoman stuff for $5.99 on sale compared to the $10.99 on Amazon.

[HungryChris]

Since the Aldi nearest me is closed for expansion, and I have become dependent on them for quite a few items, I made the modest road trip up the highway to another of their stores, and planned my subsequent shopping in that same area. I scored half gallon canning jars at a new place called Runnings and will process the abundance of cukes I find myself with using them. Once I got home, and put the car away, lunch (with a beer) was the order of business, and ramen was it's name'o.

HC

 

[Duvel]

On 7/30/2018 at 9:41 AM, liuzhou said:

 

つゆ   tsuyu

It isn't a brand name so no need for capitalisation.

Germans are creatures of habit ...

[liuzhou]

2 hours ago, Duvel said:

Germans are creatures of habit ...

 

Shouldn't that be Habit?

[MRE]

I love tacos. They qualify as a food group in my book. These as grilled swordfish with shredded cabbage & pineapple salsa.

[BeeZee]

Salad...baby arugula and spinach blend, some of my homemade pickled zucchini chips, tahini dressing, tuna (from a pouch, it's what I had in the work fridge). I'm enjoying the refrigerator pickles, they are going to be repeated when I finish this batch. Dessert was a chopped up white nectarine with some cottage cheese.

[CantCookStillTry]

Freezer find Al Desko. 

I can identify chicken, kale, capsicum and the sort lack of any real taste that has me coming to the conclusion these were meals stashed in the freezer in the hope we would loose power for days! 

 

I had expected it to be a Thai style curry in its frozen state. Noone to blame but myself. 🙃