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Oyster and Fava Bean Stew

Published

on October 5, 2008

. 7 Comments

I’ve once again fallen delinquent in my posting. It’s not so much that I haven’t been cooking as much as the fact that I’ve been cooking without recipes, or more precisely that I’ve been cooking and not documenting the recipes. Part of it has been because it takes more time to measure out and document stuff, and part of it has been because the things I’ve been making (mostly Japanese) involve ingredients that most people probably don’t have lying around. I know that there’s nothing worse than seeing something that looks good and then realizing you’ll need to plunk down $50 in “exotic” ingredients to make it, or worse yet, that the ingredients aren’t even available in your area.

So I’ll leave it up to you. Leave a comment if you think I should blog about dishes that I make even if it means it doesn’t come with an exact recipe. I’ll post photos, maybe even talk about what went into it, but there won’t be any proportions or recipe to speak of. If enough people want it I’ll bring it;-)

Today’s recipe came together from random items in the fridge and some oysters I picked up today. It has a lot more vegetables than a traditional oyster stew, but I like the variety of texture and the sweetness the veggies impart. If you want it to be more about the oysters, you could omit the butternut squash and strain the stew before you add the roux.

I also used soymilk because that’s what was in the fridge (and it was surprisingly creamy), but if you feel like this is sacrilege, by all means, swap out the soy milk for real milk. If you wanna go for the full coronary, you could even add a bit of cream at the end.

This would also work well with some diced fennel in the moir poix, or with a splash of Pernod at the end. You could also add other seafood, like clams, shrimp or fish if you wanted to. I was also thinking that it would make a great filling for a pot pie, but you’d probably have to refrigerate the filling and put the oysters into the pie raw before going into the oven to prevent them from overcooking.

This one’s getting entered in the Marx Foods contest for the month. If you have a great oyster recipe, enter for a chance to win 4 dozen oysters (and tell them who sent you ;-).
Continue for full recipe

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Buta Udon (Udon with braised pork)

Published

marc

on May 19, 2008

in Japanese, Pork and Soups & Stews

. 10 Comments

Amy from We Are Never Full (one of my favourite blogs) mentioned in her last post how she hates it when idiots ruin a dish then try to call it “authentic”. I’d have to say I’m totally on-board with her on that, but at the same time I do enjoy coming up with my own ways of making things.

For most of these creative endeavors I caveat the post with something along the lines of “inspired by”. This dish however has its roots firmly planted in my New York apartment, yet I could totally picture it being served in an Okinawan noodle bar. Okinawa is the southern-most island of Japan, just a stones-throw from Taiwan and their food takes cues from their neighbors, using a lot of pork and fish.

Rather than using a traditional dashi based soup stock for udon, I’ve combined some braising liquid from the pork belly kakuni I made the other night with dashi to create a tasty, though unconventional broth for the noodles. If you’re a ramen maniac or an udon fanatic (or better yet, both), this may be your perfect bowl of noodle soup as it falls somewhere in between the two while tasting entirely different from either

I used Sanuki Udon noodles which are much thinner than other types of udon, yet they have a pleasantly firm texture when cooked al dente. The soup has a deep almost indescribable savory flavor met right in the middle by a subtle sweetness and a mellow zing coming from the long-cooked ginger. It’s inexplicably light, yet rich at the same time. The slices of pork on top start melting like butter on contact with the hot soup. Putting a slice in your mouth gives it just the nudge it needs to sublimate into a pool of rich meaty goodness.

I know it’s not every day you have Japanese braised pork laying around, but to be honest, I actually made the pork last night with the intent to make this udon today (yes, it’s THAT good).

2 C dashi
1 C braising liquid from buta kakuni (fat skimmed)
1-2 Tbs soy sauce (depending on how salty the braising liquid is)
2 bundles udon noodles
8 slices of buta kakuni
scallions finely chopped

Put the dashi and braising liquid in a pot and simmer. Taste the soup adding up to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce if needed. If after adding 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, it’s still not salty enough, supplement with salt until you’re happy.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Following the package instructions, boil the udon until about 1 minute before they are done. For example, if the directions say to cook for 6 minutes, boil them for 5. This is because the noodles continue to cook once you add them to the soup.

Drain the udon and give it a quick rinse to get rid of any extra starch. Put the noodles in 2 bowls, top with 4 slices of pork belly each, scatter some scallions on top then laddle the hot soup over everything. Other great toppings include baby mizuna greens (pictured), enoki mushrooms (pictured), or a poached egg. Serve with a little white pepper to sprinkle on top.

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Shiso wrapped bass dumplings in dashi

Published

marc

on March 29, 2008

in Japanese, Seafood and Soups & Stews

. 3 Comments

While dumplings can be a little labor intensive, they don’t have to be hard. Using whole pieces of marinated bass make this very simple to prepare and the results are definitely worth the effort. Since the fish is well marinated I go light on the salt in the broth and it makes for a light refreshing 1 bowl meal.

Shiso has a fresh flavor that compliments the bass nicely covering any fishiness (which it shouldn’t have if it’s fresh). You should be able to find it at any Japanese grocery, or if you don’t have one near by, try asking your local sushi restaurant as it’s commonly used as a garnish. If you still have no luck, you could try using something else such as mint, a little shredded ginger or a little lemon zest.

I served this with a bowl of quinoa (pronounced keen-wah), which is a healthy, gluten free alternative to rice. It’s somewhere between brown rice and cous cous and has a slightly poppy crunch similar to tobiko.

for dumplings
stripped bass or other white meat fish cut into 20 small pieces (1/4″ x 3/4″ x 1/2″)
Japanese marinade
10 green shiso leaves cut in half lengthwise
gyoza or wonton wrappers

for soup
3 cups dashi
1 Tbs mirin
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
2 shitake mushrooms
1 scallion sliced thin

Marinate the bass in the Japanese marinade for 15 minutes.

Combine the dashi, mirin, soy sauce, salt and mushrooms in a small saucepan and keep at a low simmer until ready to serve.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Fill a small bowl with water. Wrap each piece of bass in a piece of shiso and then place it in the middle of a gyoza wrapper. Dip your fingers in the bowl of water and get the outer edge of half the wrapper wet. Fold the wrapper in half over the bass and seal the edges well while trying to make sure you don’t trap too much air. Repeat with the rest of the bass.

Place the dumplings in the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes.

When the dumplings are done, add the scallions to the soup, plate the dumplings then pour the broth over the dumplings. Garnish with a little lemon zest.

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Red miso soup

Published

marc

on March 15, 2008

in Japanese and Soups & Stews

. 1 Comment

Miso soup is a staple of the Japanese table eaten with meals from breakfast to dinner. Depending on the region of Japan you’re in, you might find yourself starring down at a steaming bowl of white miso soup with okra and taro, or a heady bowl of dark miso soup with deep fried tofu, bamboo and wild mushrooms. Growing up in California, I always looked forward to Saturday morning breakfasts because it meant my mom was making Japanese food for the two of us and western food for my sister and step-father.

As I mentioned in my last post, the dashi (stock) that you use to make miso soup is what makes or breaks the soup. There’s a recipe below for the dashi, or you can opt to use one of the 2 kinds of instant dashi.

I vary the ingredients based on what I have in my fridge, but you can put just about any veggie into this soup from carrots, to potatoes, to cabbage to bean sprouts.

For Dashi
2 C water
10 niboshi with heads removed
1 3″ long piece of dried konbu

For Soup
1 Tbs + 1 Tsp red miso paste
1 Tsp Mirin
Handful of Nameko mushrooms (or Enoki)
2″ x 2″ piece of Abura Age (deep fried tofu) cut into small squares
1 scallion sliced thin

mitsuba (optional garnish)

For the dashi, simmer the ingredients over low heat for 10-15 minutes. If you have a teaball, or disposable tea bags, I like putting the niboshi in one so they’re easier to retrieve when the stock is done. Make sure it does not boil as this could make the soup cloudy or bitter. Taste it… it should be deep, slightly smoky and full of umami. Now just fetch all the floaties and your done with the dashi (you might need to run it through a strainer).

To make the soup, put the miso and mirin in a bowl and add some dashi to help disolve the miso. Put this mixture into the pot and bring it to a light simmer. Make sure it does not boil as this will make the miso separate.

Add the Aburaage (pronounced Abura-a-ge the middle “a” sounds like the “a” in “amish” and the “ge” sounds like the “ga” in “Gary”) and mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Sprinkle the scallions in at the very end just before you serve the soup.

Once it’s in the bowls you can add some Mitsuba. It’s a bit hard to find (you’ll have to go to a japanese grocery store), and there isn’t really a suitable replacement, but it adds a wonderful cedar aroma to the soup that carries you away to a misty evergreen forest.

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Dashi (Japanese stock)

Published

marc

on March 15, 2008

in Ingredients and Japanese

. 2 Comments

clockwise from top: dried shiitake mushrooms, konbu (dried kelp), niboshi (dried baby sardines), katsuo (dried bonito flakes).

Dashi (along with soy sauce, miso, and mirin) is one of the 4 cornerstones of Japanese cooking. Given the simple, understated nature of many Japanese dishes, good dashi is what sets apart bland salty water from a deeply nuanced miso soup.

Most people (both here an in Japan) tend to reach for the instant packets of powdered dashi out of convenience, but a quick look at the list of ingredients will reveal that most of these have loads of salt and MSG. While I’ll admit I do keep some of this stuff around to use in a pinch, I try to avoid it whenever possible.

Another alternative is to use dashi “teabags” that you can find in most japanese grocery stores. These are basically satchels that have been filled with ground up dried fish, kelp and mushrooms that you just drop in a pot of water and steep. These are actually pretty handy when you’re pressed for time and provide a nice well rounded broth, but like packaged salads, there no replacement for sourcing the ingredients yourself.

Unlike making a good chicken stock, dashi can be made with a few ingredients in just a few minutes. Typically dashi is made with some combination of dashi konbu, katsuobushi, niboshi, and sometimes shiitake. The proportions, ingredients and cooking time determine what kind of dashi you’ll end up with. Try varying combinations to see what suits the dish you’re preparing as well as your tastes.

Typically I find that konbu and katsubushi based dashi work better with lighter fare like white miso soups and light soy sauce based stews, while dashi made with niboshi is better suited for dark miso soups, dark soy sauce stews and as a soup stock for Udon noodles.

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