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| Osechi tier 2: Savoury and pickled delicacies |
I rang the changes with the second tier this year, with new-to-me recipes for namasu, the celebratory red-and-white pickle and date-maki, the easiest of all Osechi dishes to make.
1. Apurikotto namasu pickled carrot and daikon with dried apricots and mint
Symbolizes the wish for peace
Time/Effort: ** Cost: ** Flavour: ***
Flicking through the January 2012 edition of the women's glossy Katei Gaho, I couldn't help but get excited by this riff on namasu, with its almost Mediterranean vibe. The mint and nuts added texture and freshness and made this quite addictive. I think I'll go with this version again next time.
Making this without a mandoline is possible, but I really wouldn't recommend it unless you have chef-level knife skills. A LOT of liquid comes out of the daikon. Some effort is required to squeeze it all out. You should think of it as stress relief ; ).
There is a particularly red variety of carrot in Japan called kindoki ninjin, which will make your pickle more vibrant if you can find it. These carrots are also great for making plum-blossom-shaped carrots to decorate your third Osechi tier.
You want to make this a day or two in advance to let the flavours meld. Keeps for 10 days in the fridge.
600 g daikon
80 g carrot
2 cups (400 ml) water
1 tbsp salt
For the pickling liquid
2/3 cup (66 ml) Japanese rice vinegar
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
small handful of dried apricots, sliced
small handful of almonds, sliced
small handful of mint leaves, torn roughly, and a few whole sprigs to garnish
1 Using a mandoline, shred the daikon along the grain into fine ribbons 4 cm long. Repeat with the carrot. Place in separate bowls.
2 Mix salt and water and pour 2/3 of the amount over the daikon and the remaining amount over the carrot. Soak until the vegetables become pliant. Squeeze the vegetables in the water a few times with your hands, drain and squeeze until very dry. A great deal of liquid will come out of the daikon. Keep squeezing until no more liquid comes out to prevent your pickle from becoming watery.
3 Mix the pickling liquid ingredients together and add the dried apricots
4 Add the daikon and carrot and mix gently. Place in a zip-topped bag to marinate in the fridge for a day or two, turning once or twice.
5 When ready to serve, mix some mint and almonds into the portion to be served, reserving the rest for the remainder. Garnish with a whole sprig of mint.
2. Matsukaze-yaki chicken terrine
Time/Effort: * Cost: * Flavour: ***
This item does not symbolize anything in particular, but has its place in the New Year spread due to the "matsu" (pine) in its name. Matsu (=sho) is one part of the auspicious sho-chiku-bai (pine-bamboo-plum) triumvirate of trees that bring good fortune.
This recipe is basically the one I learned a few years ago at ABC Cooking Studio. I like to ramp up the ginger and to sneak in a little of the exotic by using dried dill instead of nori powder as a sprinkle.
This is another relatively easy Osechi fix. You will need either a 10 cm x 15 cm nagashi-bako, a two-part square tin used in Japanese sweet-making, or a square cake tin the same size. If white poppy seeds and nori flakes are hard to come by, regular and black sesame seeds can be substituted. Matsuba-gushi skewers (seen in the photos here) are used on happy occasions, such as weddings, as they symbolize two as an inseparable one. Unfortunately, they are a little hard to come by. I used regular dango skewers to make the suehiro folding fan shape that symbolizes gradually increasing prosperity and is a common presentation for matsukaze-yaki (as in these photos).
Makes 8 fan-shaped slices. Keeps for 5 days in the fridge.
250 g chicken mince
4 tsp sugar
16 g white miso paste
2 tsp cooking sake
1 tsp Japanese soy sauce
1.5 tsp ginger juice squeezed from grated fresh ginger
1 large egg, beaten
8 tsp panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp white poppy seeds (or sesame seeds)
1 tsp nori flakes (or dried dill)
Equipment
15 cm x 12 cm nagashi-bako or similar sized square cake tin, with or without removable bottom
30 cm x 30 cm square of baking paper
8 matsuba-gushi bamboo skewers or other small skewers, about 5 cm in length
1 Create a liner for the nagashi-bako or cake tin by placing it at the center of the baking paper. Make 4 cuts in the paper from the edge of the baking paper to the left hand corner of each side of the tin. Make folds along the base line, line the tin neatly and set aside.
2 Preheat oven to 220 C if using gas, 230 C if using electric. Meanwhile, thoroughly mix the chicken mince, sugar, miso paste, sake, Japanese soy sauce and ginger juice in a bowl, using your hand like a whisk. Add the egg and panko breadcrumbs and briefly mix again. Pour into the prepared nagashi-bako or cake tin and flatten the surface. Remove the air by gently tapping the bottom of the nagashi-bako or cake tin against a flat surface a few times. Sprinkle one half of the chicken mixture all over with the poppy seeds.
3 Bake for 15 min, or until a skewer comes out clean. Cover with aluminium foil and return to the oven with the heat off to steam for a further 5 min. Remove the chicken loaf from the tin and cut in half along the poppy seed line. Sprinkle the plain half all over with the nori flakes. Cut each half into 4 long "fan" shapes by cutting across the width of the halves on the diagonal. Push a matsuba-gushi or other small skewer into the short side of each triangle to make fan shapes. This is also the shape of a hagoita, or battledore, used in Japanese New Year "badminton".
3. Date-maki fish and egg roll
Time/Effort: * Cost: * Flavour: ***
Symbolizes culture and learning, due to its scroll shape
This is super easy, delicious and quite dramatic in the jubako. Unlike regular sweet egg rolls, this one contains the fluffy white fish cake hanpen. This makes it lusciously spongy. Date-maki rolling mats, called onisudare, are not readily available, even in Japanese department stores. I got mine at the Kappa-bashi cooking supplies town in Tokyo. A regular sushi rolling mat will do fine, even if it does not produce the customary zig-zag pattern.
I was again invited to a dear friend's for a NYE party/sleepover and took half of the Osechi I had made to that point to give her a hand with her New Year spread. That meant I made two date-maki again this year. To ring in the changes, I made a version with dashi stock in it for the second one, and enjoyed that even more than the first. But I am even more excited about trying a version containing yuzu and scallops that I found in this book on plating techniques next time!
Version 1
Make a day in advance is using an date-maki rolling mat to allow the zig-zag pattern to set. Keeps for 1 week in the fridge.
4 eggs
1 cake hanpen (pounded white-fleshed fish) (approx. 110 g)
32 g cane sugar or other brown sugar
1 tbsp mirin
1/4 tsp Japanese soy sauce
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
Equipment
Date-maki rolling mat or sushi rolling mat
2 elastic bands
1 Break hanpen up and place in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add eggs, cane sugar, mirin and Japanese soy sauce and process or blend for 30 sec.
2 Heat oil in a medium frying pan. Pour in the hanpen-egg mixture and cover with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for 1 min, then reduce the heat to low and cook a further 15-20 min, or until the "omlette" is cooked through when pierced with a skewer and the top is dry. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to steam for a further 3 min.
3 Remove omlette from the pan onto a chopping board. Form into a "rectangle" by cutting off a 1.5 cm strip of omlette from the left and right sides and the edge furthest from you. Keep the uncut side closest to you. You will now have three long semi-ovals of cutout omlette. Cut the left and right semi-ovals in half across the middle.
4 Place the date-maki or sushi rolling mat on your work surface with the narrow side closest to you. Cover with cling film. Now place your omlette on top, dark side down, with the uncut side closest to you. Keeping close to this edge, place the omlette cutouts on top of the omlette "rectangle" so that they form a neat rectangle at the "bottom" of your roll.
5 Firmly roll the omlette from bottom to top, keeping the wrap out of the way as you go. You should end up with a tight egg roll. Fold the ends of the wrap in at the sides. Secure the egg in the mat with a rubber band at each end, and leave to cool. If making ahead, refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, remove rubber bands, mat and wrap, and slice roll into eighths.
(Adapted from ABC Cooking Studio recipe)
Version 2
Make a day in advance is using an date-maki rolling mat to allow the zig-zag pattern to set. Keeps for 1 week in the fridge.
1 cake hanpen (pounded white-fleshed fish) (approx. 110 g)
5 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp mirin
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp usukuchi (light) Japanese soy sauce
50 ml dashi stock
1/2 tsp vegetable oil
Equipment
Date-maki rolling mat or sushi rolling mat
2 elastic bands
1 Break hanpen up and place in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add eggs, mirin, sugar, soy sauce and dashi and process or blend for 30 sec.
2 Heat oil in a medium frying pan. Pour in the hanpen-egg mixture and cover with a lid. Cook on a medium flame for 1 min, then reduce the heat to low and cook a further 15-20 min, or until the "omlette" is cooked through when pierced with a skewer and the top is dry. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to steam for a further 3 min.
3 Remove omlette from the pan onto a chopping board. Form into a "rectangle" by cutting off a 1.5 cm strip of omlette from the left and right sides and the edge furthest from you. Keep the uncut side closest to you. You will now have three long semi-ovals of cutout omlette. Cut the left and right semi-ovals in half across the middle.
4 Place the date-maki or sushi rolling mat on your work surface with the narrow side closest to you. Cover with cling film. Now place your omlette on top, dark side down, with the uncut side closest to you. Keeping close to this edge, place the omlette cutouts on top of the omlette "rectangle" so that they form a neat rectangle at the "bottom" of your roll.
5 Firmly roll the omlette from bottom to top, keeping the wrap out of the way as you go. You should end up with a tight egg roll. Fold the ends of the wrap in at the sides. Secure the egg in the mat with a rubber band at each end, and leave to cool. If making ahead, refrigerate until ready to serve. To serve, remove rubber bands, mat and wrap, and slice roll into eighths.
(Adapted from a recipe in 12-gatsu 31-nichi dake de dekiru Osechi (Make-in-a-day Osechi))
4. Subasu spicy pickled lotus root
Symbolizes good prospects for the future
Time/Effort: ** Cost: * Flavour: ***
This is a really pretty pickle, with the lotus roots carved into flower shapes before slicing. If I'm honest, I've struggled a bit carving the lotus root, but it seems there is a technique to it, demonstrated in this video, that I will be employing from next time!
Make 2 days in advance. Keeps for 3 weeks in the fridge.
1 section of lotus root (approx. 15 cm long)
splash of Japanese rice vinegar
For the amazu sweet vinegar pickling liquid
5 tbsp dashi stock
3 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
pinch of salt
1 dried Japanese red chilli, sliced finely
2 cups boiling water
3 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
pinch of salt
1 Peel lotus root with a vegetable peeler. Cut away sections of flesh between the holes of the root to create a flower shape (it may be easier to cut the lotus root in half around the middle and repeat this process on the two halves). Slice the root into rounds 5-6 mm thick. Soak in water with a splash of Japanese rice vinegar added to it.
2 Make the amazu pickling liquid. In a small pot, heat the dashi stock, rice vinegar, sugar and salt. When the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat, add the sliced dried chilli and allow to cool.
3 Bring the water to the boil, add the rice vinegar and salt. Boil the lotus root for 1-2 min, or until slightly transparent, and drain immediately. Take care not to overcook or the texture will become unpleasant.
4 Place the cooked lotus root and the pickling liquid in a zip-topped bag and leave to marinate for a day.
(Adapted from the recipe in Kihon no Osechi to Shogatsu no omotenashi 2010 (Basic Osechi and special occasion food for the New Year))
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