inari eggplant

Saw this on IG and had to try

Inari Eggplant seen on IG : suntory japan & tanoshoku megumi, serves 2

2 small eggplant, peeled then  cut in half

2 aburaage, cut in half

hot water

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon powdered dashi

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon shoyu

After peeling eggplant, wrap in plastic wrap and nuke for 1 minute

With hot water pour over aburaage to take off some of the oil

Open the aburaage pocket and put in one half of the eggplant in

Put the filled aburaage in a shallow pan/pot

Add the powdered dashi, water and sugar

Bring up to a boil, turn down the heat to low, use drop lid, cook for 5 minutes

After 5 minutes, add mirin and shoyu

Cook for another 5 minutes

NOTES: The first time I tried this, the aburaage wouldn’t open up, so I couldn’t put the eggplant in (photo of 1st try)

Also I think the person who created this recipe used way smaller sized eggplant (or had larger aburaage) because half could not fit in one pocket

(The eggplant that I bought was small about 4 inches long)

Instead of powdered dashi and water, I just used 1 cup of cold brew dashi*

*(put 1 dashi packet (tea bag like thingy) into 4 cups of water and "cold brew" overnight in fridge)

I had not noticed using a drop lid when I scribbled this down, but used it the second time

Both times, I ended up cooking this longer because the eggplant was still firm, even after heating in the microwave

Taste wise it is like the aburaage in kitsune udon or inarizushi

Even though this didn’t come out exactly as the video on IG, I like the idea and would make this again.

"black" eggplant curry and carrot achaar

The typhoon is taking its sweet time passing over us.

Yesterday, the winds were high but overall just cloudy with some off and on showers. The building face-lift people came to take down their net-like "curtain" around their scaffolding, I think this is to prevent the winds from blowing everything down.

Today, it looks like we're gonna have rain all day. If you look at a map of Japan, the eye is around Okayama, and the circumference of the typhoon stretches to the left-side of Honshu all the way to the middle of Kyushu and stretches to the right-side of Honshu touching East Japan....HUGE!

The weather guy said that typhoons spin in a counter-clockwise pattern, so anything to the right-side of the typhoon usually gets the heavy rain and winds...interesting, yeah?!

Tomorrow is forecast for more rain as the typhoon is still making its way to "wherever"...Hopefully we'll be able to ride this out without any excitement.

I recently tried two recipes from Jinsuke Mizuno's "Hajimete no Spice Curry #2".

The "black" eggplant curry didn't turn out like the photo in the book because I made a couple of mistakes along the way.

The carrot achaar on the other hand was super easy to put together.

"Black" Eggplant Curry, adapted from "Hajimete no Spice Curry #2", makes 4 servings
2 tablespoons oil
1/2 large onion. sliced thin
1 clove garlic, grated
1 nub ginger, grated
1 can (200 grams) diced tomato (original says 100 grams)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (original says to add 1 teaspoon)
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt (omitted)
1 teaspoon ground black sesame seed
15 milliliter shoyu (1 tablespoon)
400 milliliter chicken bouillon
200 grams minced beef
10 small eggplant

Cut the eggplant into 2 centimeter wide rounds and fry in oil until they get a little color, put on the side
In a pan, put some oil and on medium heat, saute the onions until they become a dark brown, but not burnt
Add the garlic and ginger and cook until the moisture evaporates
Add the tomato and cook until the moisture evaporates
Add the turmeric, cayenne, cumin and salt and cook until the spices are fragrant
Next add the ground sesame seed, shoyu and chicken bouillon
Bring everything to a boil
Turn the heat down to a simmer and add the ground beef, cook for about 10 minutes
Add the eggplant and cook for another 5 minutes

NOTES: I didn't read carefully and didn't fry the eggplant so when it came time to add the eggplant they weren't even cooked, so I needed to cook everything longer than the 5 minutes. As I was getting things together for this recipe, I ran out of cayenne pepper, so I only put the amount I had. I also didn't have ground black sesame seed, so I added ground white sesame seed instead.

The market I had bought the eggplants from, sold me duds, most were black-ish when I cut them open. I think they were partially frozen...boo! Anyway, not wanting to run out to the store, I salvaged what I could and made the curry with what was left.

Carrot Achaar adapted from "Hajimete no Spice Curry #2": makes 4 servings
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1 carrot, 1 centimeter cubes
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
some salt
1 teaspoon ground black sesame seed
squeeze lemon juice (original recipe says 2 tablespoons)

Boil the carrot, cook until soft
In a pan, heat the oil and cumin seed
Add the carrots and stir-fry
Add the turmeric, cayenne, salt and sesame seed
At the end squeeze the lemon juice over everythng

NOTES: not wanting to boil the carrots, I just added the raw carrots to the heated oil and cumin seed. I used ground white sesame seed because I didn't have black. I only had a little nub of lemon in my fridge, so I just used what I had.

I love the heat from this and the lemon gives it a little brightness.

Even though I had some problems with the curry, I enjoyed the flavors of both dishes. I'm making both again.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

furin

Satoshi and I recently tried a Japanese restaurant in Umeda Sanbangai called Furin.

I ordered their Nasu-ju, grilled eggplant is put onto rice with thinly sliced omelette and then topped with a delicious minced meat that is seasoned with sansho (Japanese pepper), shoyu and other seasonings.

This really reminded me of the Nasu Kabayaki Donburi I made before, but I really liked their addition of the meat sauce.

Satoshi had their kaisendon.

Rice topped with lots of seafood.

It is a tiny place but the food is good, we'll be back.

Furin
Umeda Sanbangai　B2
Umeda, Osaka
Phone: 06.6372.5700
Hours: 11:00-22:00, Closed when Sanbangai is

nasu kabayaki donburi

On a recent television show, which showcases the odd & mysterious cuisines from different prefectures in Japan, there was nasu kabayaki.

When one hears the word "kabayaki", most often one would think of unagi kabayaki (grilled eel).

Nasu Kabayaki is popular in Gunma prefecture. It is served just like unagi in a lacquered box, at the bottom is rice, next come slices of teriyaki chicken, on top, the grilled eggplant.

The texture is sort of similar to unagi, but has less calories.

Kabayaki Sauce: adapted from the internet : makes 3/4 cup
75 mililiters mirin (sweet rice wine)
25 mililiters sake (rice wine)
62 grams brown sugar
90 mililiters shoyu (soy sauce)

In a pot, bring the mirin and sake to a boil
Add the sugar and shoyu
Bring mixture back to a boil then turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Transfer to a glass container and cool before putting into the refrige.

Veggies
2-inch piece zucchini, thinly sliced
2-inch piece carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 package maitake, torn apart with fingers
1/4 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

Sautee veggies in a non-stick pan until they are cooked through, set aside.

Nasu Kabayaki (grilled eggplant): serves two
2 eggplants, peeled
2 tablespoons kabayaki sauce (see above)
sauteed veggies
sansho (Japanese pepper)
200 grams cooked rice

Cut the eggplant in half, lengthwise then make another cut in the middle lengthwise but not cutting all the way through.

Put it into a heated non-stick pan and drizzle some of the kabayaki sauce on it.

(Reserve about 1 teaspoon of sauce)

Flip eggplant over and drizzle a little more sauce.

When everything has caramelized a little, add a little water and cover.

Flip the eggplant and add a little more water. Cover the eggplant and cook. It should be soft but not too mushy.

Before serving, drizzle 1/2 a teaspoon onto the rice and top with eggplant and other veggies.

Sprinkle some sansho.

NOTES: this was good! Actually the original version uses a pastry "blow torch" to char the side not on your pan, but I thought that was a bit over the top to do in my kitchen, so I just kept flipping it over.

I served it with some tomato & onion miso soup. I'm definitely making this again.

miso-ae

One of my mom's friends gave us some eggplant recently, so my mom suggested that we make miso-ae with it.

Miso-ae (mee-so-ah-ay) "ae" means to "coat it" in a miso sauce.

After washing and slicing the eggplant, I sauteed it in a non-stick pan, added a little water and covered it until it was tender.

Next time though, I will peel the eggplant because the skins were tough and bitter.

With the okra we received from another of my mom's friends, I used half of the miso-ae sauce on some okra and red bell pepper.

After washing and slicing the okra and red bell pepper, I also cooked this in a non-stick pan until it was tender.

Okra's slimy/sticky quality (especially when heated) is believed to help fight off heat exhaustion in Japan, which I've written about here.

Here's the recipe I used for the miso-ae sauce: makes about 1 cup
adapted from "The Legacy of the Japanese in Hawaii: Cuisine" by HJCC (Hawaii Japanese Cultural Center)

3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2.5 tablespoons miso (soy bean paste)
1.5 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ground toasted sesame seeds

Combine and pour over cooled veggies.

NOTES: I really liked the okra version. I think this would be good with other types of veggies, maybe even as a dipping sauce for vegetable sticks.

I'm making this again.

meatless

Made taco rice the other night. I made it meatless this time, but to make it have some substance, I used eggplant and eringi as the "meat".

Meatless Taco Rice : 2 servings

"Meat"
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 eggplant, diced
2 eringi, diced
1/4 onion, diced
1 tablespoon taco mix
*Cook until onion is transparent and eggplant cooked through
Add taco mix and stir to coat well

Black Bean Dip
1 clove garlic
1 jalapeno
1 can black bean, rinsed
1/2 yuzu, juiced　(about 2 teaspoons)
*Whizz

Avocado Dip
1 avocado, mashed
1 yuzu, juiced (a little over a tablespoon)
*Mix well

Salsa
3 scoops of canned chopped tomato
2 jalapeno
*Whizz

Lettuce, sliced or torn into bite sized pieces.
2 slices cheese
Rice, cooked

Put some hot rice into two bowls and add a slice of cheese on top of each.
Then put some lettuce, salsa, black bean dip and avocado dip on each.
Top with the "meat"
Enjoy with a fork or spoon!

NOTES: I thought doing this meatless would leave me feeling hungry, but it was delicious and filling too.

I'd definitely make this again.

from parsley comes...

The weather has been gradually getting cooler. Not humid as much and bearable. The plants apparently appreciate the cooler weather too because my Italian parsley got really bushy.

After the downpour on Friday morning, I decided to seek out lunch and go grocery shopping.

Since I had potatoes, I thought I would use part of the parsley for potato salad.

Cooked 3 small potatoes until tender then peeled them and cut them kind of chunky. Cut a bit of onion and grated it.
Sliced some cucumber thin and added salt and let them sit for 5 minutes then rinsed and squeezed them.
Added 2 slices of crispy bacon, broken up into bits.
Added 1 tablespoon of sweet pickle juice, 2 teaspoons mayo and several tablespoons of Penzey's Green Goddess dressing*
Chopped up a little handful of parsley.
Mixed well and chilled until dinner.

*I got part of the Penzey's Green Goddess dressing mix from my mom when I was home earlier this year. The mix is easy to put together, just some vinegar, water and yogurt or mayo. I used yogurt. We've been enjoying this dressing with cucumber and carrot sticks.

From my rice connection, I also received some eggplants (thank you!), so I decided to use them and some carrots in this recipe. My food processor is really teeny so it took me several batches to blend the soup, and there were some chunks that missed out on the food processing, but it was great, especially with some toasted sesame bread.

For dessert, I melted some dark chocolate to drizzle pour over some haupia...whew! that was a lot of food, but it was all good.

Satoshi is at work today, so it is just another day at home for me, hope you are enjoying your weekend.

aramaki (part 3)

Friday, it rained ALL day long. Waking up to a sunny day on Saturday, we decided to do some gallivanting.

It is rose season here. We made our way to the Aramaki Rose Garden in Yamamoto (about four stations away from ours). Last year, we visited this garden three times, two times in Spring and once in Fall.

The rain from the day before combined with the heat of Saturday made the roses seem a bit droopy and tired. So there wasn't that vibrant spark.

Still, you could smell the light rose fragrance and the bees were happy. (That bee in the photo was two times the size of a normal honeybee! Yipes!)



Besides roses, I also found some interesting flowers. (sorry, I don't know the names of them.)

For lunch, we walked to a restaurant near the Yamamoto station and had noodles. Satoshi had a curry udon, they were nice enough to give him a bib so that he wouldn't splatter himself with the curry sauce/soup.

After lunch we did more galivanting, like go to the airport to check out their interior shop's renovation and going to the neighborhood library to donate some books.

Dinner was a new recipe. Since I still had some veggies leftover from making ratatouille (I really bought a lot!), they were perfect for this dish.
Nasu to butaniku no kotterini (eggplant & pork in a rich sauce) translated from "Orange Page's Obaachan no Aji--Book 5" Serves 4

4 nasu (eggplant)
150g butakomagire (chopped pork)
200g shirataki* (thinly sliced devil's tongue jelly)
8 okra
oil for frying

Soup
2 cups Dashi (stock)
1.5 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)
1.5 tablespoons sake (rice wine)
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
ginger juice

1. In a pot, put the shirataki in and cover with water, boil for 6-7 minutes. Drain well and tie about 10 strands in a knot. Repeat until all shirataki are tied. *Shirataki (Kanto) is also called Itokonnyaku (Kansai). You can also find it already tied, in this case, just boil for the 6-7 minutes.
2.Cut the top off the eggplant and split the eggplant lengthwise in half. Wipe well. Make slanted cuts in the skin like a lattice but not enough to cut through the eggplant.
3. Fry the eggplant in some oil for about 1 minute turning frequently. Take out and drain on a paper towel. Next, fry the okra until the color turns vibrant green and put out onto a paper towel.
4. In a pot, put the shirataki in and heat to evaporate any water. Add the pork and cook until it turns color.
5. Add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the rest of the soup ingredients and cover with an oshibuta (drop lid), if you don't have one, make one with foil. Be sure to make it one size smaller than the pot and put two holes in the center, it should look like a pig's snout. Cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes.
6. Move the shirataki to the side of the pot and add the eggplant and okra. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the ginger juice.

NOTES: I read somewhere that shirataki when cooked next to meat makes the meat tough. Following this recipe, the meat became quite tough. For step #4 after the shirataki's water is evaporated, take it out and then cook the pork. Add the shirataki back in before cooking for the 7-8 minutes.

This dish is great with lots of rice and beer :)

It was a great Saturday.

chanpi beef salad + extras...

Last night, I re-tried making nasudengaku. This time, I cut the eggplant, soaked it in water and then "pan fried" it in a non-stick pan. Then I drizzled the dengaku miso sauce onto the eggplant and put it into the oven for 10 minutes. It was good and at least the eggplant was juicy this time.

Satoshi's mom gave us this umaki (unagi (eel) wrapped (maki) around gobo (burdock)). I don't particularly like unagi, but it is one of Satoshi's favorite foods. I was quite surprised that it didn't taste too much like eel, I think the smoky flavor helped.

Tonight's dinner was a recipe that I've been wanting to try called "chanpinyurou" or beef salad flavored with orange peel. There is a Szechuan restaurant in Tokyo called Tenyu that makes this dish. The owner/chef, Shima Norio has a cookbook, it shows how to make most Szechuan sauces from scratch. I have never eaten here, but the photos in the book sure look delicious! I didn't have a lot of the Chinese ingredients, so I used what I had and tried it. I think it came out pretty good. Although the sesame flavor is quite strong, you can also taste some orange and there is a little kick from the chilies.

Beef salad flavored with orange peel from "Tenyu" by Shima Norio
Serves 2 or 3
100g thinly sliced beef roast cut
1/4 lettuce
20g mizuna (potherb mustard greens)
10g carrot

Sauce
2 T chanpijan *
100cc soup or hot water
2 chili peppers
1 T Shao Hsing (chinese cooking wine)
1 T sugar
1 T vinegar
1.5 T shoyu (soy sauce)
1 grind of pepper
1 T cornstarch

1. Cut the lettuce to 1 cm pieces, mizuna to 5 cm pieces and julienne the carrots.
Place all veggies into cold water to crispen them up.
2. Put all the sauce ingredients into the pan and heat.
3. Add the beef and cook for about 3-4 minutes.
4. Lastly, add the cornstarch mixed with some water to thicken sauce.
5. Put veggies onto a plate and then the beef onto the veggies.

* to make Chanpijan
50g chanpi (orange peel)
100cc white sesame oil

Soak the dried orange peel in water for 6 hours to rehydrate.
Scrape the white part of the peel so that there is hardly any (this is to take away the bitterness), julienne the peel.
Add the peel to the sesame oil and steam for 30 minutes.
This sauce makes 120g and will last for 2 weeks in an airtight container.

foodie new year!

It is the New Year here in Japan. I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! This year's Chinese astrological sign is the inoshishi (wild boar).

Unfortunately, Satoshi had to work today. It's not that he wanted to work on the first day of the New Year, but it is his turn to...plus, if you were on a trip and ran into some kind of trouble, you'd want someone to answer your call, right?

This morning we had ozoni. It is a traditional soup that most families have on the first morning of the New Year. I wrote more about this last year, if you'd like a re-cap, check it out here.

For lunch, I didn't feel much like cooking, especially since it was only for myself. But because many of the shops aren't open today, I decided to see what was in my freezer...I came up with croque monsieur--a very fancy name for a ham and cheese sandwich. I sliced some red onion and sauteed them in some butter, then put some butter into the frying pan and toasted both sides of the sandwich. Then I sprinkled cheese on top with some pepper and oregano and put the whole thing under the grill for 5 minutes. Having it with a bowl of cafe au lait made me feel like I was in Paris...


Dinner was our o-sechi (traditional dishes for the New Year). Our rice was a kamameshi type (rice cooked in an iron pot called a kama), with kuri (chestnut), kuromame (black beans) & gomoku (usually five ingredients--carrot, konnyaku (devil tongue jelly), sansai (wild mountain plants--warabi (fern shoots), zenmai (flowering royal fern)), takenoko (bamboo shoots). The rice is cooked with a shoyu (soy sauce) base which is put into the pot along with all these ingredients. Nowadays instead of having a kama (iron pot), you can cook this dish in your rice cooker.

We also had kohaku namasu (carrots and white turnip soaked in vinegar, sugar and mirin).



Kobumaki (rolled kelp), this dish is to bring yorokobu (happiness).

Tazukuri (dried anchovies), which prays for a good harvest.

Hinode cut kamaboko (fish cake cut to look like the sunrise). The fish cake is made in the celebratory colors of white and red.

Nasudengaku-roasted eggplant with a dengaku miso sauce. The miso sauce is a little sweet. I made the miso sauce with 80g red miso (soy bean paste), 1.5 T sugar, 2 T mirin (sweet rice wine) and 1/3 cup of kombu dashi (kelp stock). Since I roasted the eggplant and shiitakes in the oven, they came out a bit dry. I'll try cooking them in the frying pan again soon. This dish isn't part of the New Year celebratory foods, but I thought it would be a good dish to accompany all of our other dishes.

We toasted with a cup of sake (rice wine)--a limited edition ginjo (highly milled rice with or without alcohol added) called Manotsuru Tokimeki made by Obata brewery, from the island of Sado in Niigata prefecture.

During this time of year, you are supposed to warm up the sake, but I couldn't find my tokkuri (bottle to warm up the sake). So I decided to use my reishu (cold sake) ochoko (cups).

Cheers! Here's to a great start of a foodie new year!