lavender scented "summer" fruit salad

I've had this recipe bookmarked for awhile now. The reason I put summer in quotes is because this salad uses summer fruits like stone fruits (peaches, nectarines, plums) and berries (well, depending where you are).

Well, by the time, the stone fruits are here, we won't have any berries in the markets, that is just how our fruits are sold here.

On top of that, the white peaches in Japan are something you'd want to eat "as is", no extra additions to them, they are THAT good.

So, anyway, the weather was summer-ish on Thursday, and I thought, it was a good chance to try this.

Here is the recipe if you'd like to try it this summer:

Lavender Scented Summer Fruit Salad : "Health" July/August 2009
Syrup:
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar
3/4 teaspoons dried lavender (culinary)
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
pinch salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

Salad:
1 peach, 1/2-inch thick wedges
1 nectarine, 1/2-inch thick wedges
1 plum, 1/2-inch thick wedges
1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
3/4 cup bluberries
1 tablespoon mint

Combine honey, 1/3 cup water, lavender, pepper & salt
Bring to a simmer until honey dissolves
Let steep 10-15 minutes
Strain lavender, add lime juice

Toss fruits with syrup
Chill 1 hour or longer

Serving size: 1.25 cup

NOTES: I used 1 grapefruit, a handful of strawberries, handful of dried cherries & handful of dried blueberries. I think the blueberries and cherries made the syrup turn dark in color.

I made the full recipe for the syrup using agave nectar. When I tossed my salad, I only used 3 tablespoons of the syrup for my salad. I didn't have lime on hand, only 3 tiny sudachi, so I used that.

I liked the flavors, the lavender was present but not overpowering.

I'd make this again.

p.s. so much for summer...we've hit a cold snap and our temps have dropped...brr!

sudachi marmalade

I received this jar of marmalade awhile back from my friend, Kazumi.(Thank you!) Actually the expiration date has come and gone already on it.

I think the expiration dates on most food items here are a bit too strict. Some are only 2 weeks after being manufactured. Though I do understand if something is "raw", it would need a short expiration period. But for the most part, most food things like canned or bottled items can go "years" without spoiling.

Sometimes I think the Japanese are controlled by the dates on their food. Me, I use my nose, if it doesn't smell bad, we eat it. As long as there isn't anything fuzzy growing on it or it isn't slimy, we eat it.

Anyway, after receiving this marmalade, I didn't know what to do with it. I thought it would be sour. But after reading the ingredients on the label, I realized, it may not be so sour after all.

There was honey, as well as kanten (agar-agar) in there. I opened the jar the other day and put some onto our toast with some cream cheese....delicious. Not sour at all. The lime is sliced so thinly that you don't even notice it.

p.s. there is something wrong with blogger...I can't upload photos how I've normally done so. Hopefully you can see this photo, I uploaded through Flickr. I'll try to re-do the photo after blogger fixes their server---fixed now, thanks blogger!

banbatei

About 3 minutes from the Hankyu Nishinomiya-Kitaguchi station, there is a tiny shop that serves curry soba.

The restaurant, Banbatei, was featured in a foodie magazine last year and I just came upon the article recently.

Since Satoshi had the day off, we decided to check out this place for lunch. When we got there, there was a line of people out in front.

There are only 24 seats--5 at the counter and 19 on tables. After about 10 or 15 minutes, we were seated.

If you are eating alone or as a pair be prepared to share your table with someone. This is called aiseki and it is quite normal in Japan. We too had to share our table with someone.

Since it was lunchtime, the table next to us were filled with salarymen (businessmen). They were busily eating their curry soba and perspiring buckets all the while. Several times they grabbed tissues to wipe their faces from the tissue box provided on the table.

I ordered the sudachi (lime) soba--750 yen (about US$7.50). I have a hard time eating hot foods, I usually end up burning my tongue (they call this nekojita (cat's tongue)) and then not being able to enjoy my food, so I usually prefer going for the cold stuff. This bowl of soba was served with grated ginger, tempura kasu (the bits from frying tempura) and sudachi. It was very refreshing and just enough for me to finish.

I'm glad that I didn't order the curry soba, the bowls were huge (about 10 or 12 inches in diameter)! Satoshi ordered the seafood curry soba--1180 yen (about US$11.80). When he ordered they asked him what level of spiciness he wanted and he chose normal. He was said it was good and he was perspiring from the heat of the dish more than the spices.

Banbatei
1-6-7 Koufuen
Nishinomiya, Hyogo
Phone: 0798.66.0995
Open 11:00-20:30 Closed on Sundays & Holidays

sudachi

It is sudachi (similar to limes) season here. When I buy sudachi, they only come with two or three in a bag. But what would you do when you receive a bag of 15 or more? Here are the ways that I used them...

You can usually find them with grilled sanma (saury). I saw some sanma in the market the other day, but it was a bit too scary looking--it had the head on and everything still inside. I don't know how to grill it or clean them, so I went with what I know...salmon. I served it with daikon oroshi (grated long white radish) and a splash of shoyu.

I drizzled some onto my yakitori (chicken skewers)...very refreshing.

And then one day I was craving for Mexican food, which isn't readily available here. I looked in "Barbecue Bible" by Steven Raichlen. And found a great recipe for fajita rub. I cut the recipe down and "marinated" sasami (chicken breasts) for about 3 hours. Then in a pan with some oil, I pan fried them.

Fajita rub adapted from "Barbecue Bible"
1 tablespoon paprika
2.25 teaspoon coarse salt
1.5 teaspoon dried chipotle
12 grinds fresh pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

But what has fajitas got to do with sudachi? Well, awhile back, Tea, introduced me to chirmol. (Thank you!) She called it chimol, but the recipe I found, also in "Barbecue Bible" called it chirmol. Anyway, since the recipe called for limes, it was a perfect opportunity for me to try chirmol and to use some sudachi. I was a bit bummed because the jalapenos I had in my fridge had gone slimey and moldy...eww. And I didn't have much cilantro. Check out Tea's photo of chirmol, it looks way more appetizing.

Chirmol adapted from "Barbecue Bible"
12 cherry tomatoes, cut into fourths
1/4 onion, diced
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon vinegar
2 sudachi (squeezed)
several shakes of salt
5 grinds of pepper

Still, on my chicken fajitas, the bursts of lime mixed with the bite from the onions, the heat from the chicken cooled by the ripe tomatoes really satisfied my craving for something Mexican.

And then I made ponzu. Ponzu is citrus flavored soy sauce condiment. The recipe that came with the sudachi mentioned soaking the sudachi with konbu (kelp), katsuo bushi (bonito flakes), shoyu (soy sauce), vinegar and mirin (sweet rice wine) for 2 weeks then straining everything and using the liquid. I found another recipe on the net in which you just boil everything and then strain it into jars and use right away. So, that is what I did. Instead of the 5 sudachi that the recipe called for, I used all 10 that were left. Talk about pucker your mouth sour! But I think it will be good on fish or tofu (soy bean curd) or on steak with daikon oroshi (grated white radish)--just a little ponzu will do.

Here's the recipe if you have some limes on hand and would like to try this. If your limes are big, you might want to put the juice of half a lime in first and add more. It should taste refreshing and not very salty.

250 cc koikuchi shoyu (dark shoyu) (about 1.5 cups)
250 cc usukuchi shoyu (light shoyu) (about 1.5 cups)
350 cc komesu rice vinegar (about 1.75 cups)
1 to 2 sheets of dashi konbu (thick pieces of kelp to make stock) each about 15 cm long.
1 small bag of katsuo bushi (bonito flakes)
5 sudachi (limes), juiced
100 cc mirin (sweet rice wine) (about .5 cups)

Bring everything to a boil and then turn off the heat. When cooled, strain and transfer to glass jars and store in refrig. Use on fish, chicken, meats, tofu (soy bean curd), actually anything that you would use regular shoyu (soy sauce) on. You can even mix it with some sesame oil or use it as is for a nice Asian dressing.

NOTE: I didn't have the two kinds of shoyu so I used what I had on hand, usukuchi shoyu. I also didn't use the sheets of konbu, I had the powdered version, so I used 1 stick of that.

Enjoy!