All posts filed under: Japanese

Quick Pickled Cucumber With Umeboshi

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“Fortunately, canning is not a prerequisite for pickling. In fact, as long as you can commit to eating them within a week or two, there are countless pickles that you can make quickly and store in your fridge.” — Mark Bittman Quick pickles, also called refrigerator pickles, are unfermented pickles made by marinating vegetables or fruits in a vinegar or salt solution for a short period of time, usually several minutes to a few days. They don’t require canning if they won’t be stored for more than a few weeks, though they should be refrigerated. Usually recipes for quick pickles are simple and require minimal effort — often just cutting, mixing, and waiting. Slightly more complicated recipes may require blanching or may require the brine to be heated to dissolve sugar or salt, infuse flavorings, or lightly cook the vegetables. Examples of quick pickle recipes can be seen here (Mark Bittman), here (Food52), here (Smitten Kitchen), or here (The Awl). This quick pickle is recipe is one of the simplest types; it requires only cutting and mixing ingredients. These pickles …

Okonomiyaki

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Okonomiyaki is a Japanese savory pancake. The word okonomiyaki means “what you like, cooked”. Accordingly there are many types and variations — most have cabbage and some sort of batter; often pork is included, though sometimes seafood is used. The recipe below is for a type invented in Osaka which is the most commonly found type throughout Japan. Lots of toppings are added, most commonly: a sweet-salty sauce (okonomiyaki sauce or tonkatsu sauce), mayonnaise, bonito flakes, and aonori (seaweed powder). You can draw designs with themayonnaise or marble the sauces with a toothpick . When the tissue-thin bonito flakes are put on top of the hot pancake, they appear to “dance” — they move about from the hot air rising. The version below uses thinly sliced pork belly (available at Japanese markets) — the notes at the end of the recipe explain how to substitute ground pork or minced shrimp. My favorites are the pork belly and the ground pork versions. I don’t recommend substituting bacon because its flavor is very strong; it overwhelms the pancake and tends to make the entire …

Japanese Black Sesame Sauce (Goma-ae)

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There are very few sauces which are black-colored. Squid ink is one of the few well known ones. Japanese black sesame sauce (goma-ae) should be another; its shiny black color is mysterious and dramatic. Since the sauce is nutty and slightly sweet, it complements many types of blanched or cooked vegetables such as: fava beans, green peas, spinach (shown above), broccoli, broiled and peeled eggplant, edamame, and string beans. This sauce is made from just a few ingredients: raw (untoasted) black sesame seeds, soy sauce, sugar, and dashi. The first step is to toast and then grind the sesame seeds. The recipe starts with raw sesame seeds because once they are toasted, the oil can quickly become rancid. Raw sesame seeds stay fresh for much longer, so sesame seeds should be bought raw and toasted as needed. Japanese cooking almost always uses unhulled sesame seeds; thus tahini can’t be substituted for the sesame seed paste made by this recipe since it is made from hulled sesame seeds. The hulls give the sesame paste a coarser texture, a richer flavor, and a darker …

Shiso Tobiko (Flying Fish Roe) Spaghetti

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This summer, I ate at Basta Pasta in NYC, which is a restaurant that makes pasta the way that it is made by Italian restaurants in Japan. Although many of their dishes are classic Italian, there are a few surprising dishes that top Italian pasta noodles with a mixture of Japanese and Italian ingredients. In other words, it is Japanese-style spaghetti; in Japan this is called wafu pasta or wafu spaghetti since wafu (sometimes also spelled wafuu) means “Japanese-style”. As JustHungry.com explains, this style emerged in the 1970s when “essentially, things that are usually eaten with white rice were mixed into or put on top of spaghetti and other [Italian] pastas”. The resulting flavor combinations are a fun and unexpected mix, which strangely go well together.

Onigiri Burger

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Mos burger is a Japanese fast food chain which offers Asian-style fast food. Instead of hamburger buns, several of their “hamburgers” are enclosed by rice pressed into a bun shape. When I was in Taiwan, I went a to baseball game; Mos burger was one of the stands in the stadium so I got to try them. I was disappointed in the taste of their fillings, but I was captivated by the idea of a rice bun for a hamburger, so I wanted to make my own version. My “onigiri burger” or “rice burger” is loosely inspired by Mos burger; however the flavorings are quite different than what Mos burger offers and I chose to season my rice with furikake, which is a Japanese condiment that is often sprinkled on top of rice. These onigiri burgers are a messy but fun and satisfying dish. The recipe below offers two variations: one made with a hamburger patty and one made with thinly sliced leftover roast pork. You could also experiment with other meats or fillings–Mos burger offers several …

Salmon, Salmon Eggs, and Scallop Chirashi

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Chirashi means “scattered sushi”. It is usually presented as sushi rice and other ingredients mixed together or as sushi rice topped with a decorative arrangement of ingredients. Displayed here is sliced raw salmon, raw scallops, salted salmon eggs, and shiso (full leaves and julienned). To make ikura: Gently rinse salmon eggs (0.15 lbs) in cold water (be careful to not break the eggs). Mix with 1 tsp sake and 1 tsp usukuchi soy sauce with the drained salmon eggs (normally the soy sauce and sake would be heated until simmering to reduce the alcohol and then let to cool before mixing with the eggs, but since this is such a small quantity of sauce this small this isn’t necessary). The salmon eggs can be eaten right away but they will be better if you let them marinate for half a day. If you are luckily enough to find a sack of salmon eggs instead of pre-separated salted salmon eggs, you can prepare them like this. To make this chirashi bowl, rinse sashimi-quality fish and sashimi-quality scallops briefly in cold water …

California Roll

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From about December to April, it is Dungeness crab season in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. I usually eat my first boiled crab of the year simply cracked at the table and plain except for quick dip in apple cider vinegar or brown rice vinegar. It’s hard to resist–when it is in season the seafood section of supermarkets in this region feature large displays of freshly cooked crab on ice, ready to eat. It makes an effortless meal. Later in the season, I like to make dishes that feature crab. One of my favorites is California rolls since it is comfort food for me; they were the first type of sushi that I tried, and I ate them often when I was a teenager before I would try raw fish. Source: “Classic California Roll”, “Master Recipe for Sushi Rice”, and “Sushi Vinegar Dressing” from “The Sushi Experience” by Hiroko Shimbo. I think these rolls are best when Sriracha mayonnaise is included in the roll. The sauce brings out the flavor of the crab, similar …

Japanese Pickled Ginger (Gari)

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Pickled ginger is well-known as an accompaniment to sushi. It is it known in sushi shop jargon as “gari” (otherwise it is called “beni-shōga). It refreshes the palate, has antiseptic properties, and goes well with grilled items, such as grilled fish (especially oily fish since ginger helps to cut the oiliness) or grilled beef. It is easy to make at home if you can find young ginger. Young ginger can be found sometimes at Asian farmer’s market stands in the spring through early fall and sometimes at Asian markets. It is distinguishable from the brown-skinned mature ginger by its pinkish stems and tips, very thin translucent skin, and creamy white color. Often it still has all or part of the green stem still attached. The best young ginger has tender bright green sprouting leaves and long slender stalks with a pink blush at the bottom. My recipe below is for a very small quantity of pickled ginger, about 1/2 cup (1 small jar) made from 1 large clump of ginger (2.75 oz, measured with the stalks …

How to Toast Sesame Seeds

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Sesame seeds will have the best flavor if you buy untoasted sesame seeds and roast them yourself, because once they are toasted their flavor deteriorates. The Japanese markets that I have checked only had pre-toasted sesame seeds.  Organic and naturel food stores have been a better source for me to find raw sesame seeds.  If you live in San Francisco, then Rainbow Grocery is a good place to look for raw black sesame seeds (see Sources for Ingredients).  However, even if you are not able to find untoasted sesame seeds, retoasting will help to perk up their flavor. According to Hiroko Shimbo in “The Japanese Kitchen,” Japanese preparations always use unhulled sesame seeds.  If it isn’t marked, you may be able to guess at the type by color: hulled sesame seeds are usually white and uniform in color; unhulled raw white sesame seeds will contain many different off-white shades, varying from white to off-white to beige to tan.  Black sesame seeds always have the hull on, since the hull is what makes them black (the inside seed is …

Salmon Chirashi with Ponzu Daikon Radish Sprout Salad

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  Sushi for a weeknight: Sushi doesn’t have to be complicated or time consuming. There are many types of sushi that are so quick, easy, and affordable that they can be made for a weeknight meal. One example is chirashi, which literally means “scattered sushi”; it is usually presented either as sushi rice topped with a decorative arrangement of ingredients or as sushi rice and other ingredients mixed together. This style of sushi is quick to make since there is no need to roll sushi or shape the rice for nigiri. If you set out nori with this dish, then handrolls can also be made at the table, which is something that William and I enjoy greatly; it is fun because everyone gets to make their own sushi. The handrolls look especially pretty with some daikon radish sprouts in them. My recipe for salmon chirashi has three components: sushi rice, salmon sashimi, and a salad of daikon radish sprouts dressed with ponzu sauce. Sushi rice is quick to make, especially if you have a rice cooker, since you just …