Kinako and other soy products

[Hiroyuki]

Kinako (soy bean flour) and other soy products

My kinako recipes are rather limited:

1) Kinako milk: Add kinako and sugar to milk and shake well.

2) Kinako paste: Add sugar and a small amount of milk to kinako and mix well. My family use it instead of peanut butter. (My children dislike peanut butter.)

Do you know of any recipes for kinako that you can recommend?

For those of you who don't know what kinako is, click the following:

http://www.eat-japan.com/food/glossary/beans.html

(Scroll down)

http://eat.epicurious.com/dictionary/food/...ID=3976&ISWINE=

Other soy products:

Let me introduce u-chi-ma-me (打ち豆), literally, "beaten beans". Uchimame are made by first soaking soy beans in water to make them soft and then beating them flat with a machine (in olden times, with a wooden mallet, one bean at a time). One of the advantages of uchimame is that they boil in a very short time, say, five minutes.

Photo of uchimame:

http://www.misoya.com/shop/uchimameorder.html

They have a variety of uses. You can boil them with kiriboshi daikon

Photos of kiriboshi daikon

http://www.kiriboshi.com/syurui/syurui.htm

and with hijiki

http://www5d.biglobe.ne.jp/~jf-iwai/hijiki.htm

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/m-kan/476109/476802/#440431

You can put them in miso soup, curry, stew, etc., etc.

I'm sure you will find them very useful. BUT, I wonder if they are available in the Tokyo area. I knew uchimame after I came to Niigata prefecture.

Edited April 14, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

I have never heard of uchimame....

I wonder how available they are in the Tokyo area.

kinako I love!

It is wonderful with almost any kind of mochi and I like to mix it with honey and spread it onto bread...

[Norio]

Mmmm... kinako. My favorite is fried mochi coated with a mix of kinako, sugar, and a pinch of salt.

[Hiroyuki]

I searched for kinako recipes myself:

Kinako pound cake, kinako cookies, kinako scone,　kinako cup cake, ...

All are confections.

http://www.cookpad.com/main.cfm?Go=recipe&...eme&ThemeID=118

(in Japanese)

I have a feeling that kinako can have other uses... Don't you think so?

[Hiroyuki]

Even a website specializing in soy beans, apparently run by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan,

http://www.maff.go.jp/soshiki/nousan/hatashin/daizu/#mokuji

seems to have no description of uchimame.

http://www.maff.go.jp/soshiki/nousan/hatas...siki/kakou.html

(Scroll down, and you'll see a chart showing soy products. Uchimame is not included in the chart.)

So, today, I sent the website manager an email message asking to include uchimame in the chart although it may be a local soy product.

[torakris]

A quick look at the website of one of my favorite stores, Tomizawa, shows them for sale:

http://shop.tomizawa.co.jp/category/data_d...05&ID=4501&pg=2

I will check the store close to my house sometime next week and see if they stock them in the stores in this area.....

[Hiroyuki]

A quick look at the website of one of my favorite stores, Tomizawa, shows them for sale:

http://shop.tomizawa.co.jp/category/data_d...05&ID=4501&pg=2

I will check the store close to my house sometime  next week and see if they stock them in the stores in this area.....

Oh, thanks, Torakris. That makes me feel better.

This particular product seems to contain some 青大豆 (literally blue (actually, green) soy beans.

I'm sure you'll like them!

[torakris]

look what I found on my trip to the supermarket this morning

[Hiroyuki]

You did it!! That's an 青大豆 (blue (green) soy bean) type, isn't it. That's wonderfull. Now, use your imagination!! Rinse them in water, drain, and put them in whatever you like. Boil for five minutes. They will open up your eyes!!

Edited April 15, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

You did it!! That's an 青大豆 (blue (green) soy bean) type, isn't. That's wonderfull. Now, use your imagination!! Rinse them in water, drain, and put them in whatever you like. Boil for five minutes. They will open up your eyes!!

yep! it was the only kind they had. I might try them in a miso soup tomorrow.....

[Hiroyuki]

Today, I'd like to introduce another soy product (farm product) peculiar to Niigata prefecture:

1) Cha-ma-me (literally, brown beans) 茶豆

I guess many of you already know edamame (young soy beans). Chamame are a variety of edamame, and more delicious than other varieties of edamame, and they have a good flavor. Their pods are green like other varieties but their thin skins are brown. That's how they got their name. I didn't know chamame until I came to Niigata. I think frozen chamame are available even at supermarkets in the Tokyo area.

http://www.rakuten.co.jp/ysf/528737/507134/

http://food.digicata.com/data/pn0043224/20031225155550.htm

(Sorry, I searched for a closeup photo of chamame, but failed.)

[torakris]

chamame are wonderful!

They started appearing in the frozen form a couple years ago and then I started seeing them in the fresh form as well. To me they seem "plumper" with a slightly more earthy taste, I would describe edamame as sweeter. They are both great and I have started to eat a lot more of the chamame.

[Hiroyuki]

What I like the best of all soy products next to Tofu and Natto is atsuage.

For those of you who don't know what atsuage is:

http://store.yahoo.co.jp/oisix/00019928.html

http://www.recipe.nestle.co.jp/from1/cook/word/atuage.html

[Hiroyuki]

This morning, I ate plain cooked white rice, natto (fermented soy beans), miso soup with tofu and wakame, diced tofu with men tsuyu (noodle sauce), and some leftovers.

I have a feeling that I can live on rice and soy products alone for days, without complaining.

Can you?

Edited April 21, 2004 by Hiroyuki (log)

[torakris]

I could!!

I don't eat much at breakfast (more of a coffee and toast person) but a cold block of tofu topped with whatever I have in the house at the moment is a wonderful lunch, current favorites are cucumber and/or scallions with either sweet chile sauce or kimchi.

Sometimes I look at a meal I prepared (similar to what you have just eaten for breakfast) and I am always amazed at all the different things that all come from the same little bean.

[melonpan]

I'd like to know some astonishing uses of kinako.  Nobody knows any??

mmm, this may not be astonishing, but next summer try to sprinkle some on top of kakigori.

[JumblyJu]

In addition to coating fried mochi with kinako, my other favorite use for kinako is as an addition to Oatmeal, about a teaspoon (or to taste) mixed with quick oatmeal.

Also, Trader Joe's (in the US) sells a yummy Soybean butter. Just like peanut butter but out of soybeans, it taste just like kinako (as it should )!

[Hiroyuki]

In addition to coating fried mochi with kinako, my other favorite use for kinako is as an addition to Oatmeal, about a teaspoon (or to taste) mixed with quick oatmeal.

Also, Trader Joe's (in the US) sells a yummy Soybean butter.  Just like peanut butter but out of soybeans, it taste just like kinako (as it should  )!

←

Norio's reply (post #4)

Mmmm... kinako. My favorite is fried mochi coated with a mix of kinako, sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Two people say that they fry mochi and eat it with kinako...

Is it common practice in your country/area to fry mochi and eat it with kinako??

In Japan, we usually boil mochi in a pot or put it in a microwave until soft to eat it with kinako.

[MomOfLittleFoodies]

The only way of using kinako that I'm familiar with is with freshly made mochi. My husband likes it that way, because that's one of the ways his grandma serves it. I've never tried it before... I prefer to eat my fresh mochi plain.

My favorite way to eat soybeans are the roasted kind, mixed with M&M's like trail mix.

[JumblyJu]

Two people say that they fry mochi and eat it with kinako...

Is it common practice in your country/area to fry mochi and eat it with kinako??

In Japan, we usually boil mochi in a pot or put it in a microwave until soft to eat it with kinako.

←

In Hawaii plain fresh mochi are usually only available around the New Year, so to make it last for the rest of the year my mom would freeze it and when we wanted to eat some she would defrost it in a jar of water. After a day or so she would cut up the mochi into chunks then slowly "fry" it in some butter in a non-stick pan. When the mochi "melted" and formed one goop it was ready to be coated with kinako (mixed with a little sugar and a pinch of salt).

My favorite way to eat mochi is when it's fresh, to heat it on a rack over the stove until it's crispy on the outside, then dip it in a shoyu/sugar mixture. Yummy!

[torakris]

I just picked up this new kinako

it is a blend of kinako (roasted soy bean powder), black sesame seeds, almonds and kurozato (raw black sugar)

I softened some mochi cakes (in very gently simmering water) and topped them with it.

It was great! I can't wait to try more things with it.

[helenjp]

I have a feeling that I can live on rice and soy products alone for days, without complaining.

Can you?

Definitely not, since I'm slightly allergic to rice and soy , but I can eat natto and miso much more easily than kinako or soy milk.

My favorite non-fermented soy product is probably age (the thin slices of fried tofu). If you buy a good brand and wash oil off before you cook it, it makes a wonderful addition to any type of slightly bitter green, such as daikon leaves.

[Alex]

Does anyone have a brand of kinako they've used and can recommend?