ikanago kugini

Our stash of ikanago kugini arrived yesterday.

Another sign for me that Spring is coming...

Will divvy it up and put most into the freezer so we can enjoy it throughout the year.

koshu-ni

"Koshu" refers to the north-eastern part of Yamanashi prefecture.

It is also where wine is produced.

On our recent trip to "see" Mt Fuji, we spent a lot of time checking out different omiyage (souvenirs).

One thing we picked up were these scallops that were cooked in wine..."koshu-ni"

For most tsukudani, it is food that is seasoned with shoyu, sugar and mirin. In this case, they use wine in place of mirin and call it "koshu-ni".

You can't taste any alcohol, which is a good thing.

And this is very good with rice. And with beer.

If you visit this part of Japan, you might want to give this a try.

konbu & okaka tsukudani

Yesterday was rainy all day long.

Perfect for cooking projects.

I've always wanted to find a recipe to use the konbu (kelp) and katsuobushi (shaved bonito) after making dashi (stock)--instead of just throwing it out.

Well, I found a recipe in Masakichi's book.

Super easy and relatively fast too.

Konbu & Okaka Tsukudani adapted from "Bento no hon by Yorino Masami"

Kelp after making dashi, cut into 1 centimeter squares (.39 inches)
Katsuobushi after making dashi
2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons shoyu (soy sauce)
1 tablespoon mirin (sweet rice wine)
1 teaspoon honey

Put everything into a pot and heat on low and cook for 20-30 minutes
When most of the liquid has evaporated, turn the heat up to high for just a moment to get rid of any liquid*
*be careful as this is when everything can be scorched (burnt) easily

NOTES: this recipe actually calls for 2 teaspoons of kakijyoyu (kah-key-joe-you: oyster soy sauce), but I didn't have this so I just used all shoyu.

For your info, kakijyoyu is a soy sauce that is infused with oyster essence.

This recipe also asks that you use kelp & katsuobushi that has been used 3 times for making dashi.

When making dashi, I usually don't use my konbu/katsuobushi this many times, so I just made this with kelp & katsuobushi that was used once to make dashi.

The konbu was a little tough but still delicious with rice. Next time I think I'll cut the konbu into thin strips.

goya

The temperature is supposed to drop to the lower 10s Celsius (50s Fahrenheit), so I picked the one and only goya that grew this year.

It got bigger than a week or two ago...from around 10 centimeters to 17 centimeters!

With part of it, I sauteed it with some lup cheong. It was delicious, the sweetness from the lup cheong helped to cut the bitterness.

And with the rest I made goya tsukudani.

I really wanted to make stuffed goya, but I didn't have any cilantro growing and the goya was a little too teeny to stuff.

I saved the seeds from this goya...hopefully next year I'll have more goya to show you.

It is Friday here, the temps have dropped quite a bit over here, though they are talking about summery weather in a couple of days, WT?! Hope you have a nice weekend.

shinonome

I have had this shop on my "to try" list for at least 8 years.

I have never got the chance to try them because they are always closed when we visit this part of Kyoto.

This shop is actually up the street from MIL's house.

When I first saw this shop on television, a little old lady would make these tsukudani (salt-sweet seasoned preserves) from scratch.

I'm not sure if that lady is still alive (when I saw it she was already in her 70's or 80's), but I'm glad we got to try these.

MIL bought some for us and gave it to us when we visited her.

The top photo is of Shinonome's Jako Sansho (Japanese pepper with dried young sardines).

A great topping for rice or on an omlette.

Another item she got from Shinonome was their Shiokonbu. Kelp seasoned with shiitake, dried young anchovies and Japanese pepper.

Great in musubi or with rice.

I tried these one evening for dinner with some miso soup filled with veggies.

I'm glad I got to try these tsukudani, I hope to go back and buy more soon.

Shinonome
53 Koyama Motomachi
Kita-ku, Kyoto
Phone: 075.491.9359
Closed Sundays, Holidays and the 2nd Saturday

foodie wednesday in kyoto

Ummm....My little blog which only had a little over 300 visitors per day...had over 5,000 hits yesterday....thanks again blogs of note!

So, onto the foodie adventure...Apparently, it is 50 years that Paris and Kyoto have been sister cities. To commemorate this (I think), the Kyoto National Museum is having an exhibition of the art of Paris from 1830 to 1930 which runs until November 3rd.

I had never been to the Kyoto National Museum, and am not too familiar with French art, so I was interested in checking this out.

The museum is located in a part of Kyoto called Okazaki. It is semi-next door to the Heian Shrine. (I didn't realize it but they were preparing for the Jidai Matsuri Parade (one of three big parades in Kyoto) to be held later that day.

The weather was overcast and there was rain forcasted for the afternoon, but I went anyway.

When I got there, there were already several groups of older ladies looking at pieces. I didn't see this, but apparently no pens were allowed, as I was jotting something down I was given a pencil (you know the kind that you get when you fill out an entry form?) As I didn't know many of the artists, I walked through quite quickly. I guess the most interesting part for me was to see photos of the building of the Eiffel Tower. Of course at the end of any exhibit or tourist attraction in Japan, there is the gift shop...there were cafe au lait bowls, postcards and other items, unfortunately nothing was made in France :(

So after checking out the gift shop, I walked across the street to Au Temps Perdu for lunch. I had seen this cafe on a local television show and was interested in eating lunch there. I ate on the terrace though it would have been better if the weather were nicer.

For 1500 yen (about US$15), the lunch plate came with Quiche Lorraine, Pate de Campagne, a green salad, Ratatouille, carrot rape (grated carrot salad), part of a baguette & a madeleine. The lunch also came with a drink. You could choose from a set list--various teas, juices or alcohol. I chose tilleul (linden flower) and verveine (verbena) herb tea.

There were many housewives lunching and chattering, some were turned away when all the seats inside and outside were filled. Everything was delicious and filling. I loved the flaky crust of the quiche and was happy that the dressing for the salad was a vinaigrette and not Japanese-y.

Feeling quite full after lunch, I walked around a bit and picked up some wagashi (Japanese confection) at Heianden.

The kurikinton was a whole kuri (chestnut) covered with chestnut paste---360 yen (about US$3.60). Not too sweet, good with green tea or coffee.

A little way down from the wagashi shop, I went into a tsukudani shop, Sanmikouan. They had all kinds, I thought that the ko-dako (tiny octopus) 840 yen (about US$8.40) looked interesting as well as the tenjinume. The octopus was tasty and good on rice and since Satoshi liked tako, he enjoyed this too. The ume (apricot) was huge (315 yen about US$3.15 for one ume) not too sweet or too sour.

After buying the Japanese sweets and tsukudani, I decided to walk to the Hankyu Kawaramachi station via Sanjo. On the way, I went into my favorite gamaguchi shop and window shopped then I went to my favorite Kyoto macaron shop, Patisserie Kanae.

Since my theme for the day seemed to be French (well, besides the wagashi and tsukudani), I picked up her Paris set--citron (lemon), lavande (lavender) & caramel sale (salted caramel)--though there were some autumn flavors like sweet potato and mont blanc that I was interested in. Each were 200 yen (about US$2). I was pleasantly surprised as each one had a chocolate flavored ganache, all were nicely flavored not overpowering or fake....just delicious. It was a great day and I made it home just before the rain.

Au Temps Perdu
64 Okazakienshoji-cho
Kyoto
Phone: 075.762.1299

Heianden
Heianjingumichi, Horiike-machi, Sanjo-agaru
Higashiyama, Kyoto
Phone: 075.761.3355

Sanmikouan
Jingumichi Sanjo agaru
Higashiyama, Kyoto
Phone: 075.771.0952

Matsuhiro Shoten
3-12 Sanjo Ohashi Higashi hairu
Higashiyama, Kyoto
Phone: 075.761.5469

Patisserie Kanae
Kawaramachi Takoyakushi Higashi hairu
Kyoto
Phone: 075.212.4771 (UPDATE: closed 8/2011)