yomogi kitsune udon

Today is Tanabata, I wrote about this Japanese festivity last year, here. It is a dreary overcast day. In other parts of Japan (mainly in Kyushu) they are having heavy rains and major flooding. The day is so dreary that I haven't even changed out of my pj's yet.

For lunch, I made yomogi (mugwort)kitsune udon...from scratch. I got the recipe from "Soshoku no susume: Spring recipes".

The first batch was bad...really bad. I put the ingredients into a bowl and mixed it. Then put everything into a plastic bag and started kneading it with my feet. After letting the dough rest in the refrig for about 2 hours, we rolled it out and cooked it. All the yomogi was falling out from the noodles and it was salty in some places...bad. I guess it will be my lunch for the next couple of days.

The second batch was so-so. I put the flour into a bowl and mixed the yomogi with salt and water. I think I need to use yomogi powder for the next time, since this yomogi takes a REALLY long time to reconstitute. The dough was good and there were nice specks of yomogi throughout the dough, but it wasn't the green color that I imagined it to be. After letting the dough rest for 2 hours, we rolled it out and cooked it. It really puffed up and was a nice texture.

I also made some seasoned aburage. I've made this before for kitsune udon and posted a recipe here.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to try making this. Serves 4
500g flour
5 or 6 tablespoons of yomogi
salt water (2-1/3 tablespoons salt & 1-1/4 cup water)

Soup: 6 cups stock (fish/kelp)
2 tablespoons shoyu (soy sauce)
3/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl, mix the flour, yomogi and salt water.
When the dough starts to fall apart, put everything into a plastic bag and step on it to knead. Knead until the dough is quite smooth.
Put the dough into the refrig for about 2 hours.
After 2 hours, take out the dough and roll out to 3mm thin. Cut noodles to 5mm wide.
Boil for 10 minutes, rinse and serve with soup and your favorite toppings.

NOTES: use yomogi powder if you can, I didn't have any and the yomogi didn't reconstitute very nicely, so it was quite clumpy in some places. I would also cut back the amount of salt, as it tends to be quite salty after it is cooked. To get the noodles the same size and thickness takes practice, so be prepared for funny looking noodles on your first try, which is how ours turned out. They also puff up a bit, so cutting them thin is better. Still it tasted good and was a good experience.

grill nana

There is a little yoshoku-ya (restaurant which serves Western/European dishes) about 15 minutes from our place called Grill Nana. We've walked past this place several times and have wanted to try it, but never gotten around to it until last night. (The restaurant has apparently been in business for over 20 years!)

In the kitchen is just one man who cooks everything. We were seated near the kitchen so we could hear him and the waitress chatting endlessly (that was a bit annoying).

The food was good though, we had the combination salad--sliced cabbage, green salad and potato salad all in one bowl.

Hamburger steak--a moist hamburger patty smothered in demi-glace sauce comes sizzling to your table topped with a fried egg on top. (there is actually a nice sized patty under all that demi-glace sauce!)

I'm not sure what this was called but it was a deep fried shrimp that encased cream and tartar sauce, kind of like a cream croquette, but with a whole shrimp wrapped around the croquette filling also topped with demi-glace sauce.

Everything was good and very filling. Dinner was a bit pricey since everything was a la carte, so we want to try their lunch menu some time.

Since we don't have a car or bicycles, walking to and from the restaurant was a good thing since we ate so much! Hope you have a great weekend.

Grill Nana
1-1-4 Asahigaoka
Ikeda, Osaka
Phone: 072.762.1163
Closed every 1st and 3rd Monday and all holidays

arashiyama & uji

Satoshi had the day off today, so we went to check out the hasunohana (lotus flowers) in Arashiyama and Uji. The last time I went to Arashiyama was during cherry blossom season and the last time we went to Uji was last month to see the ajisai (hydrangea).

I got up at my regular time and made us a bento (boxed meal) for breakfast--tamagoyaki (omlette) with shiofukikonbu (seasoned dried kelp), asparagus with bacon, pickled veggies, ume (pickled plum), rakkyo (pickled shallots) and rice with tororokonbu (shaved kelp).

Our first stop was Arashiyama. I have often seen the empty pit at Tenryuji during Autumn and Spring, but never when the lotus flowers are in bloom.

Luckily, we were able to see them today. The lotus flowers are fenced in, so we had to use our zoom lens to get up close. There were lots of blooms and not many people so it was nice.

From Arashiyama, we caught the train to Uji and went to Mimurotoji. The lotus flowers were in pots in the courtyard of the temple so you could get pretty close to them.

Since it is a weekday, not too many people were out and about, so it was really nice and peaceful.

I was surprised at how tall they were!

After admiring the lotus flowers we headed back to Osaka for lunch and stopped at a cafe called Gokan. Gokan means 5-senses in Japanese. This cafe is located in an old bank building. I wrote about it (here).

Lunch was cold cuts, salad, brioche and croissant. There was also a nice matcha (green tea) dessert that came along with it.

It was a nice day (very humid), but nice in other ways.

trying to beat the heat

The one thing that I cannot get used to living in Japan is the humidity. In Hawaii, the only time it is humid is usually before it rains. In Japan, the humidity just lingers, before, during and after rain. For the past couple of days, the humidity has been really uncomfortable. One thing that you have to watch out for during the summer is natsubate (heat exhaustion). Some people lose their appetites during the summer and thus succumb to natsubate.

Luckily (or unluckily), my appetite is intact. Still, standing near the stove cooking is a chore during these months.

The dish that I prepared for dinner last night didn't require me to stand near the stove. I just put everything into a pot and left it to cook for the required time. Rainbow Drive Inn Shoyu Chicken served with sliced okra on rice.

Would you believe that I had never eaten okra until coming to Japan? Okra's sticky/slimy enzyme is supposed to help fight off natsubate and help keep your appetite intact, so load up on okra, it is in season here now! Hopefully, it is in season where you are too.

leftovers? quesadilla!

After making naan tacos, I had some black bean dip, ground beef, cheese and salsa leftover. So, I made quesadillas.

I've never made them before and just kind of winged it. I put the bean dip onto a tortilla with some ground beef, cheese and lettuce then put another tortilla on top.

Since everything was straight out of the refridge, I put the whole thing into a 150C oven for 10 minutes and then under the grill for 5 minutes. I cut the quesadilla into 4 pieces and ate it with salsa on top.

Fast, easy, yum!

coffee azuki gelatin

There was a dessert, coffee azuki gelatin, that I used to make in Hawaii for office parties and kind of forgot about. Then, last month, when we were going to entertain Satoshi's friends and I was trying to plan a menu, I remembered about the dessert. I asked my mom for the recipe since the books that I have, didn't have it.

By the time I got everything together it was too late for the dinner party, but I still wanted to try it. The recipe called for gelatin, but I wanted to try it with kanten (agar). The only thing with kanten is that it has to be heated for it to start to congeal and once it sets, you can't re-heat it again to get it soft.

I used the kanten, koshian (smooth sweet bean paste), condensed milk and instant espresso and regular coffee. I cut the recipe drastically, because I didn't have much koshian, I also don't have a 9x9 inch pan and it was only for Satoshi and I.

It came out so hard that the spoon could barely pierce it! Plus, there wasn't that nice layered look that it is supposed to have. See, when you mix everything together, the an (sweet bean paste), sinks to the bottom and the milk and coffee tend to make layers too. Oh, well, so much for trying to use kanten...guess I'll have to tweak the recipe more if I want to use kanten.

I hated the fact that I failed, so I decided to try it again with gelatin and cut the recipe in half....success! I used a coffee that is made on Miyako Island (Okinawa)--Banbo(previously Ruka Coffee), they have interesting flavors, like Pineapple, Hibiscus and Sugar cane flavors, and they also have a very nice flavored coffee called U-ji Caramel. If I remember correctly, u-ji means sugar cane. The aroma of this flavored coffee is very sweet and paired nicely with the condensed milk and tsubuan (chunky sweet bean paste).

This is what the coffee azuki gelatin is supposed to look like--a nice gradation of colors.

The consistency came out nicely too--not hard as rock! This dessert reminds me of the times I used to ask my father to drink some of his coffee. Of course, he would say that coffee is only for adults and then he would save the last sip of his coffee, pour in LOTS of milk and sugar in it and then give it to me.

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try yourself.
Coffee Azuki Gelatin from Favorite Island Cookery Book IV (Hongwanji)
3 packages unflavored gelatin (1 packet of gelatin that is about 7g)
1/2 cup cool coffee
2 cups hot strong coffee
1 (14 oz) can condensed milk (about 414 ml)
1 (12 oz) can tsubu or koshi an (chunky or smooth sweet bean paste) (about 355 ml)

Dissolve the gelatin in cool coffee. Add hot coffee and stir well. Add milk, an and stir well. Pour into a 9 x 9 inch pan. Chill.

NOTES: Follow the directions for your gelatin, the one I had said to dissolve it into hot water, so dissolved the gelatin in the hot coffee instead of the cooled coffee. Also, I didn't have enough condensed milk so I poured out what I had and added regular milk to it to make up the rest. I mixed the milk and an together to soften up the an, then added the coffee with gelatin and then poured into different dessert cups.

Enjoy!

baba ganoush & naan taco

Ever since having Baba Ganoush at the tea party last month, I've been wanting to make some. When I told Satoshi what I was making he said, "baba ga-what?" I think it is kind of fun to say, "baba ganoush", don't you?

Baba Ganoush adapted from The Leftover Queen
3 small eggplants
1 whole lemon, squeezed
2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons yogurt, plain
1/2 clove garlic
salt
parsley
toasted pine nuts

Wash and cut off tops, pierce eggplants. Put into a 400F(200C) oven for 30 minutes. Cool and peel off skin. Whiz everything in a food processor, garnish with nuts.

NOTES: this is really easy to make. Since I couldn't find "tahini", I substituted Japanese sesame paste. I served it with some tortilla chips and it was delicious. I think the next time, I might have it with naan or a pita.

Black bean dip adapted from Ellie Krieger
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 whole jalapeno, diced
1 (15 oz)can black beans, rinsed
1 whole lime, squeezed
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
cilantro
1 tablespoon water
salt and pepper

In a pan, saute the onions for 2 minutes and add the garlic and jalapeno. Add the beans to evaporate any excess water. Blend everything in a food processor.

NOTES: easy to make and this would be good with tortilla chips too.

Naan adapted from Video Jug
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon sugar
200g plain flour (about 1.6 cups)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon EVOO
2 tablespoon plain yogurt
2 tablespoon milk

Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix. When combined, knead for 5-6 minutes. Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 15 minutes in a warm place. After 15 minutes, divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll out to about half an inch thick. Bake in 275F (140C) oven for about 20 minutes.

NOTES:The naan dough didn't get as big as it should have, I don't think the yeast was that fresh (the last time I used the other half was making bagels)

I did try making naan taco, I forgot to buy lettuce, so I had to do without. I put a layer of the black bean dip, some ground beef that I sauteed with cumin, paprika, chili powder and cinnamon, cheese and salsa...delicious!

We're still having weird weather, hope you are keeping cool where you are. Have a great week.