Oysters with lotus root and garlic chives

Oysters with lotus root and garlic chives

Oysters are a common winter treat in Japan. They are enjoyed both raw (of course!) and cooked, and most supermarkets (in my part of Japan, at least)  have a stock of both kinds--ready shucked--during the season, which runs until around April.

I've been meaning to incorporate oysters into my winter menu for a few years, and have been collecting recipes for a while. This recipe, from Korean-Japanese food writer Koh Kentetsu, is a real find. Far from overwhelming the plump brininess of the oysters, the assertive ginger-garlic-garlic chive sauce and lotus root crunch really complement and enhance the tender mollusks.

This recipe appeared in the Orange Page column Koh Kentetsu's yasai de otsumami (vegetable dishes to enjoy with drinks). Koh recommends Shaoxing wine, beer or shochu with this dish. I say it is too good to save just for drinking parties. Why not have it for dinner tonight, while oysters are still to be had!

Renkon-iri kaki-nira itame: Oysters with lotus root and garlic chives

Serves 4

1 lotus root bulb (around 240 g)
1/2 bunch garlic chives (around 50 g)
16 shucked oysters

2 tsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tsp cooking sake

For the sauce
4 tbsp (60 ml) cooking sake
4 tsp Japanese soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp Japanese rice vinegar
1 tsp katakuriko potato starch

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
piece of ginger the size of 2 thumbs, chopped finely
2 tsp tobanjan (doubanjiang) or other chilli paste, or to taste (optional)
dribble of toasted sesame oil

1 Place shucked oysters in a sieve in a bowl. Wash gently to remove any grit in water to which you have added a little salt. Drain, pat dry with kitchen paper and place in a bowl with the Japanese soy sauce and cooking sake. Mix gently to coat and set aside. Wash lotus root well and peel with a vegetable peeler. Cut in half length-ways and cut each half cross-ways into slices 5 mm thick. Wash the garlic chives and cut into lengths 4-5 cm long. In a small bowl, mix the sauce ingredients.

2 Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan or wok over medium heat. Add the oysters and stir-fry quickly until plump. Remove and set aside. In the same frying pan or wok, heat the remaining 1 tbsp vegetable over medium heat. Add the garlic, ginger and tobanjan, if using, and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the lotus root and continue stir-frying until it becomes slightly transparent.

3 Return the oysters to the pan. Stir the sauce ingredients and pour into the pan in a circular motion. Mix and continue stir-frying until the sauce thickens. Dribble toasted sesame oil around the edge of the pan, stir once and place on a serving dish.

Recipe source: Orange Page

Meshiagare!

Grilled chicken marinated in garlic, ginger and basil



Grilled chicken marinated in garlic, ginger and basil

Here's a bright and snappy dish for a dull winter evening. The fresh tomato sauce is made with cherry (mini) tomatoes, which are flavoursome even in the winter months.
In Japan, chicken thighs are probably more popular than breast, and I have to admit the darker meat is all that I buy. They come ready boned and open up to about the size of a man's hand. You don't want to skin them--there's a lot of flavour in the skin--but remove any visible fat lurking under the skin.

The chicken is cooked in an uncovered frying pan, then covered and steam/fried on low heat until cooked through. This is a common method of cooking chicken in Japan, but you might just as easily  grill it and get crispy skin!


3 "vats"

I made an interesting discovery when doing some desk research for this post: Just about every kitchen in Japan has little rectangular stainless steel or aluminium pans that are used for marinating, draining deep-fried foods and keeping things together during food prepping. These pans are called batto in Japanese and written in a way that indicates the word is of foreign origin. Often such words are are loans from English, but since I couldn't think what that might be I assumed it was from another language. Surprisingly, it turns out the word is vat!


Recipe source: Orange Page, January 2, 2009 (no longer available for purchase). Batto photo source: http://marve.shop-pro.jp/


Toriniku no marine yaki: Grilled chicken marinated in garlic, ginger and basil

Serves 4

2 large boneless chicken thighs (around 600 g)
For the marinade
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 clove garlic, crushed (or to taste)
1 tsp garlic juice
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 parsley stalk (optional)

For the fresh tomato dressing
5 cherry tomatoes, hulled and chopped coarsely
1/6 white onion, chopped coarsely
1/2 clove garlic,  crushed (or to taste)
leaves from 1 stalk of parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

1 pack (about 25 g) mixed baby leaves or rocket

1 Remove any visible yellow fat from the chicken thighs and prick the skin side here and there with a fork. Halve the parsley stalk (if using). Mix the marinade ingredients in a container large enough to hold the meat and marinade. Add the meat and coat well. Cover with wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or overnight, turning the meat from time to time.

2 In a medium sized bowl, mix the chopped cherry tomatoes, onion, garlic, parsley leaves, Balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

3 Remove chicken from the marinade, shaking off the excess liquid. Season generously with salt an pepper. Place in a cold frying pan skin side down and turn the heat to medium. Turn once the skin browns nicely. Cook the other side until browned, then cover with a lid and steam/fry over low heat for 6-7 minutes or until the liquid runs clear when the meat is pricked with a skewer. Leave to cool slightly in the pan.

4 Arrange the baby leaves or rocket on a serving dish. Slice chicken and place on top of the leaves. top with the fresh tomato dressing and serve.

Meshiagare!

Osechi 2012 Tier 2: Kaki Namasu

The second Osechi tier traditionally contains grilled and fried seafood and meat, as well as pickles, basically fancier versions of everyday fare. My 2nd tier rather un-traditionally contained Date-maki, a sweet rolled omlette made with hampen, a fluffy steamed fish paste, and  Kaki Namasu, a "red-and-white" pickle of daikon, carrot and dried persimmon.

After having boring cylindrical date-maki two years ago, I bought a special onisudare date-maki rolling mat, like this one, in Kappabashi, Tokyo's kitchen and table ware mecca. The mat is made of triangular "dowels" of bamboo, and rolling the date-maki with this rather than a sushi rolling mat creates the traditional date-maki zig-zag. You could try to achieve a similar result by placing round bamboo disposable chopsticks at regular intervals on your sushi rolling mat before rolling but, honestly, its probably not worth the bother.

If you can't find hampen for the date-maki, you can use the same weight of white fish of your choice, chopped to a pulp.

Kaki Namasu: Pickled daikon and carrot with dried persimmon
Symbolizes progress, education and culture
Time/Effort: * Cost: * Flavour: ***

Dried persimmon adds a luscious sweetness to this pickle, but it is not something I've come across outside of Japan, although they are a common sight in winter here, when it's slim pickings for fresh fruit. If you don't have access to them, you could substitute soaked dried apricots instead, or just leave them out. Given all the other sweet Osechi fare, I think I will go with a yuzu citron-flavoured namasu next time.

Making this without a mandolin 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 ; ).

You want to make this a day in advance to let the flavours meld.

600 g daikon
80 g carrot
2 cups (400 ml) water
1 tbsp salt
50 g deseeded dried persimmon

For the pickling liquid
2/3 cup (66 ml) Japanese rice vinegar
6 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

1 Using a mandolin, shred the daikon and carrot along the grain into fine ribbons 4 cm long. 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.

3 Chop the dried persimmon fairly finely. Mix into the pickling liquid ingredients.

4 Add the daikon and carrot and mix gently.

Enjoy!

Osechi 2012: Tier 1 Subasu and Tatsukuri

The top tier of the 3-tiered box traditionally contains foods that represent wishes for the family's health and prosperity (e.g. tatsukuri (seasoned young anchovies) and kazunoko (preserved herring roe)), and celebratory red-and-white items (e.g. red & white kamaboko (steamed fish paste) and cooked prawns).

This year, I made (clockwise from the left) green-and-gold Matcha-iri Kurikinton (sweet potato and chestnut paste with matcha), Subasu (spicy pickled lotus root), Koh Kentetsu's Pirikara Tatsukuri (Korean-style spicy dried young anchovies in gochujang-sake dressing) and Kuromame  (black soy beans in soy sauce caramel).

Subasu:
I ventured into new culinary territory with lotus root. I don't know why, but I'd just never got round to cooking anything with this crunchy mid-winter staple. I'm very glad I did, and this super easy Osechi item is very satisfying. "Carving" petals into the root was a bit fiddly, but that step can be omitted if time is tight. This needs to be made at least a day in advance to ensure full flavour. (Note: I messed up! This pickle should have been in the 2nd tier. Live and learn ; ))

It is best to use Japanese rice vinegar, which is more mellow than other vinegars. You will need a small amount of dashi stock for this recipe.

Subasu (spicy pickled lotus root)
Symbolizes the ability to foresee the future
Time/Effort: ** Cost: * Flavour: ***

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. Keeps for around 1 week.

(Adapted from the recipe in Kihon no Osechi to Shogatsu no omotenashi 2010 (Basic Osechi and special occasion food for the New Year) (Gakken))

Tatsukuri:
I've made several versions of tatsukuri, dressed dried young anchovies, over the years, but was never quite satisfied that this was the one. I think I've finally found what I've been looking for with this recipe from Koh Kentetsu, the ever-smiling Korean-Japanese darling of Japanese food TV and publishing. The son of a renowned Korean cooking expert and sibling of another food personality, he is the real deal.

With spicy gojujang Korean miso, garlic and ginger, this moreish riff on tatsukuri fairly pops in the mouth. I'll be making this often as a nibble for drinks.

Dried young anchovies (niboshi) and kochujan/gojujang are available at Japanese and Korean grocers, respectively. Choose the smallest niboshi you can find.

Koh Kentetsu's Pirikara Tatsukuri
Symbolizes an abundant harvest
Time/Effort: * Cost: * Flavour: ***

30 g niboshi (dried young anchovies)
1/4 cup sake
1 tbsp kochujan (gojujang spicy Korean miso)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp honey (or to taste)
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
piece of ginger half the size of your thumb, pulped on a Japanese grater
1 tsp toasted white sesame seeds

1 Mix the sake, kochuujan, sugar, honey, garlic and ginger in a small bowl to make the dressing.

2 Toast the niboshi in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat, stirring gently,  for 2 min or until crispy and fragrant. Add the blended dressing and continue to cook, stirring gently, until thickened. Remove from the heat and cool. Keeps for around 1 week.

(Adapted from a recipe in http://www.orangepage.net/book/orp/new/090102_orp.html (no longer available for purchase))

Osechi 2012

Osechi is the traditional New Year cuisine of Japan. It is made over a number of days in the lead-up to the New Year and served to the family in a three-tiered  box. Previously in Japan, all shops were closed for the first 3-4 days of the New Year. Osechi, which keeps well, tided families over the break until fresh supplies could be bought. The preparation of Osechi is a quite time-consuming, and many these days buy it in, rather than take time out of the busy Year End period, with its socializing and spring cleaning demands, to make it from scratch.

I rather like a good cooking challenge, and managed to rustle up seven Osechi dishes this year, including a few that have become staples over the years (recipes on my other blog, Saffron and Lemons):

Tier 1 (Front box): Matcha-iri Kurikinton (sweet potato and chestnut paste with matcha), Subasu (spicy pickled lotus root), Pirikara Tatsukuri (Korean-style spicy dried young anchovies in gochujang-sake dressing) and Kuromame (black beans in soy sauce caramel. (The terrine on the left was store-bought)

Tier 2 (Middle box): Date-maki (sweet rolled fish paste omlette), Kaki Namasu (pickled daikon and carrot with dried persimmon)

Tier 3 (Back box): Matsukaze-yaki (gingered chicken meatloaf) (normally this box would contain simmered vegetables, but I've not yet found the right recipe for that one. Maybe next year...)

As usual, I served these with Gochiso Buri Daikon (Special Occasion Teriyaki Yellowtail on Pan-Seared Simmered Daikon) and Ozoni Soup.

My plan of attack was:

• December 26/27 Choose dishes and make shopping list; buy non perishables
• December 28 Dry-fry the anchovies for the Tatsukuri; soak black soy beans for Kuromame
• December 29 Start simmering the Kuromame; make the Tatsukuri, prepare the Subasu and Namasu pickles; peel sweet potatoes for Kurikinton and soak in water overnight
• December 30 Give Kuromame a second simmering; make Kurikinton; buy the perishables
• December 31 Make Date-maki and Matsukaze-yaki; prepare Ozoni and Gochiso Buri Daikon components other than the seafood

As it turned out, my dear friend H invited me to stay overnight on the 31st and join her and her family for their New Year's celebration. She'd just arrived back from the UK, so it was only fitting that I share my bounty with her. Half of everything I'd made up to that point travelled with me on the train to her place in Tokyo. There were a lot of young ladies carting overnight bags that night but, strangely, mine was the only one trailing pickled daikon odours (g).

Another dear friend Gh, who hails from Iran, joined the Young Man and I for our own celebration on the 2nd, when we learned that you can save grilled mochi rice cakes by scraping the burnt bit off. Oh, the fun we have in the kitchen!

Yuzu

Welcome!

Welcome to Miso and Yuzu, the Japanese food companion to my warm-climate food blog Saffron and Lemons (S&L). Without realizing it, I somehow managed to take a one-year hiatus from S&L. It wasn't just the trauma following the triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster last March. The truth is I had just been cooking more Japanese food and got out of the habit of posting on S&L (tut tut!).

So, Japanese food? I've often heard it said that Japanese food is so healthy! So delicate! So artistic!

Riiiight.

Sure, Japanese food can be all of those, but do we really think that the person cooking the evening meal, night after night, has three hours to make it all pretty on a raft-load of dishes (and do the washing up)? Or that Japanese people's palates are so refined that nary a spice crosses their lips? And can I be the only one that suspects that what Japanese typically eat today is often more laden in salt, sugar and fat than I'd really like to admit?

At the risk of ruining anyone's visions of the culinary purity and aesthetics of Japanese cuisine, that's just not the Japanese food that I know (and cook!).

I hope the recipes that will appear here will help to dispel some of the cliches that have grown up around Japanese food, and give you a better idea of what Japanese really cook at home for their families, with maybe a few special occasion recipes thrown in for good measure. After all, the cuisine of Japan is as wide and varied as any of the other classic cuisines of the world (and far wider and more varied than the one I grew up with in Scotland and Australia).

The recipes will come from Japanese language food magazines, primarily Orange Page, the most popular in the country, and occasionally others such as Haru-mi, the eponymous food magazine of Japan's "charisma housewife" (read "Martha Stewart"), Harumi Kurihara. They will, therefore, assume you have the basics of the Japanese pantry:

• Shoyu (regular Japanese soy sauce)
• Sake (rice wine for cooking)
• Mirin (sweetened rice wine for cooking
• Miso (fermented bean paste; I usually have a blended miso and a white one on the go)
• Dashi makings (I use "dashi pack", a big teabag of dashi ingredients, and, occasionally, dashinomoto, a granulated stock powder)
• Torigara soup (granulated chicken stock)
• Su (Japanese rice vinegar)
• Goma (sesame seeds, toasted whole white and black seeds and ground white seeds)
• Nerigoma (toasted sesame seed paste; tahini can be substituted but tastes slightly different as it is untoasted)
• Goma-abura (toasted sesame seed oil)
• Katakuriko (potato starch powder; cornflour/starch can be substituted at a pinch)
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Sugar

With these, you have the basic flavour building blocks of Japanese cuisine. Add one or two spicy extras as the need comes up, and you will be set for just about all the recipes that will appear here.

• Wasabi (the pungent green horseradish-like paste in sushi)
• Karashi (Japanese mustard; rarely used at my house)
• Togarashi/Taka-no-tsume ("falcon's talon," Japanese dried red chillies)
• Shichimi togarashi ("seven-flavour chilli", a blend of dried chillies, citrus peel, sesame and other spices)
• Yuzu kosho (a paste of yuzu (Japanese citron) zest and fresh green chillies)
• Kochuujan (Gochujang, a Korean chilli, glutinous rice and soy bean paste)
• Tobanjan (Dobanjiang, a Sichuanese chilli and soybean paste

If you plan on cooking Japanese food quite often, it is also worth having Japonica rice in the pantry. I've seen this marketed as "sushi rice" in Australia, but any short-grain rice will probably do. Long-grain rice is less desirable, as the grains do not stick together as well after cooking.

And just so you know, I'm a make-it-from-scratch kind of cook. I routinely cut the oil and sugar and salt in recipes. I don't often have time to make more than 2 dishes for a Japanese meal (though that would be on the low side for many Japanese), I'll sometimes forgo rice (which would really be sacrilegious to most Japanese) and, since I do all the washing up, I usually don't faff about with lots of little bowls and dishes. Lastly, I deliberately didn't include mayonnaise and tomato sauce/ketchup in my pantry list above, as more often than not, I don't bother with recipes that are overly reliant on these ingredients.

Sound like your kind of cooking? Then let's get on with it!

Yuzu