Mizugashi (Dessert)

水菓子Mizugashi (Dessert) - 小夏の淡雪かん Gelatin dessert made from Konatsu oranges Mizugashi literally meant “fruits” in ancient time when sugar was a luxuary thing and most of the “sweets” people had were fruits. Now, I don’t really know how I should translate Awayuki-kan into English. When I googled, I got some hits with “Awayuki-kan (Nieve ligera),” so there seems to be something similar in other countries. To make this, I whipped egg whites with sugar, mixed in dissolved gelatin and sweetened konatsu juice (set a little amount of konatsu-juice mixed gelatin aside), whipped some more and poured into a square container. When the meringue part got firm enough, I poured the remaining gelatin all over the make tne 2nd layer on top. After being cooled in the fridge, it came out like this. I guess I can call this a success. It was so amazingly light, fluffy and refreshing! It just melted in my mouth.

Tome-Wan (Rice, Miso Soup and Pickles)

止め椀 Tome-Wan (Rice, miso soup and pickles) "Tome" means "to stop," so when the rice and miso soup are served, it means that's the end of the kaiseki main course and only dessert is left to come. - 十穀米ごはん Rice with 10 kinds of grains No, I didn’t buy 10 different kinds of grains just for this…I happened to have some packages of “10-grain mix” that you just need to throw in when cooking white rice with an electric rice cooker. Instant stuff again ;P - みそ汁と香の物　Miso Soup and pickles If you take a close look at the miso soup photo, you can tell where the ingredients came from…

Sunomono (Vinegared Dish)

酢の物Sunomono (Vinegared Dish) - ウドとワカメの酢の物 Udo and Seaweed with vinegar dressing Shredded udo needs to be placed in water for a while to remove the bitter taste. I used a little bit of yomogi leaf and konatsu rind to garnish. This tiny bowl caught my eyes at the 100-yen shop the other day and I couldn’t resist the temptation. Cute, isn’t it? Sunomono dish is served before rice in order to refresh your tounge and make you ready for rice and miso soup.

Nimono (Simmered Dish)

煮物Nimono (Simmered Dish) - 筍の土佐煮 Bamboo shoots simmered with dried bonito flakes - しいたけ Shiitake mushroom - そらまめ Fava beans Bamboo shoots were simmered with and topped with dried bonito flakes. Since Kochi prefecture, called "Tosa" in ancient time, is famous for producing dried bonito, this simmered dish is called “Tosa-ni.” I simmered shiitake and beans in another pot because I didn’t want to have bonito flakes all over them.

Agemono (Deep-fried Dish)

揚物Agemono (Deep-fried Dish) - 天麩羅　きす・さつまいも・サヤマメ・ウドの芽 Deep-fried sand borer, sweet potatoes, snap beans and udo shoots The picture looks a bit dull because I didn’t use colorful ingredients for tempura this time, but I was so satisfied with the taste. Udo grows wild in northan part of Japan (I think?). Its shoots and young stems are edible, with fragrance and slight bitterness. I LOVE the crunchy udo tempura more than anything…it’s a real delicacy of spring in Japan. Kisu (sand borer) is small, light-tasting fish, said to be especially tasty in early summer before its egg-laying season.

Yakimono (Broiled Dish)

焼物Yakimono (Broiled Fish) - 鮭の木の芽味噌焼き Broiled salmon with kinome-miso I seasoned salmon fillets with sake and a little salt, broiled them, and coated the top with some kinome-miso and broiled some more. The color combination of pink and green is lovely, isn’t it?

Sashimi (Sliced Raw Fish)

刺身Sashimi (Sliced Raw Fish) - 帆立の刺身Raw Scallop As I posted before, I don’t like eating sashimi without rice, especially when it's fatty fish. This was what I could handle without rice. BTW, it doesn’t show well, but behind the shiso leaf, there’s a heap of shredded daikon and cucumber. For that, first you need to make real thin, paper-like strips of daikon (called katsura-muki). I know my katsura-muki is so laughable, especially using this kind of knife is stupid...;P

Wan (Soup Dish)

椀/吸い物Wan/Suimono (Soup Dish) - えびと枝豆のしんじょ Shrimp dumpling with green soybeans I made shrimp paste using suribachi, mixed a little egg white and grated yam to make it fluffy, seasoned with dashi and soy sauce and added some chopped green soybeans. Then boiled the dumpling in soy-sauce based stock. - 羅臼昆布 Kelp The kelp was the one I used to make dashi-stock ;P

Zensai/Sakizuke (Appetizers)

前菜/先付けZensai/Sakizuke (Appetizers) - きゅうりモロミ味噌付け Cucumber with Moromi-miso Awfully simple and maybe too casual to be in Kaiseki? - 大根の明太子マヨネーズはさみ Mayonnaise-seasoned mentaiko between daikon radish slices This is very good with sake. You might want to use Japanese yam instead of daikon for extra crunchiness. - 焼き厚揚げ田楽 -- ゆず味噌・明太マヨネーズ・木の芽味噌 Broiled Atsuage (deep-fried tofu) with yuzu-miso, Mayonnaise-seasoned mentaiko and Kinome-miso I toasted atsuage slices in toaster oven and topped them with the pastes. I got this idea from a Japanese website.

Warning...

Obachan’s another ill-thought project is quietly going on…. The result will probably be posted on Sunday (hopefully). Watch out!

Konatsu Orange from My Dad's Orchard

Konatsu Oranges (Shaved) Konatsu oranges, widely (?) grown in Southern part of Japan, are in season now. Actually, in my hometown where the climate is warmer, the konatsu season is almost over. These are the ones left at my parents’ house after dad gave/sold all the good ones. Konatsu is a rather unique kind of orange, so to speak. What’s unique is the way you eat them. No, you don’t eat konatsu oranges like you eat Sunkist oranges or tangerines. OK, here’s the official konatsu eating maneuver. 1. Peel konatsu with a knife the same way as you peel an apple. Try to leave the white pulp as much as possible. 2. Shave the peeled konatsu with a knife. 3. Eat each shaved piece WITH the white pulp. Yes. You HAVE TO eat the white pulp with the flesh of the konatsu orange. That’s the most important thing. Never ever eat the flesh only and throw away the white pulp. You may not believe this, but the white pulp is not bitter at all. Instead, it tastes sweet. The flesh of konatsu is very juicy with refreshing sourness, so when eaten with the white pulp, the combination makes the overall taste way better. I mean it. Though I love eating konatsu in the official way, the one I tried today didn’t taste very good... it was too sour. No wonder dad didn’t sell these… I guess I need to come up with some other ways to consume these sour ones…. One inevitable choice is marmalade. I’m definitely going for that. Other ideas I have now are: cookies, cocktail, jello, mousse, bavarois and … Wow! Can’t wait!!

I Felt Like Something Really Japanese Tonight

My colleague at the Izakaya wanted to take a day off this coming Thursday. So she and I made a deal that I cover for her on Thursday and instead take a night off tonight. Having a plenty of time for preparing supper triggered me to make something really Japanese tonight. Here’s my supper: Tamagoyaki & Grilled Dolphinfish with Kinome-miso (miso seasoned with fragrant leaf buds paste) Simmered green peas...Imagine eating these with chopsticks Cucumber with Moromi-miso Moromi-miso on white rice I guess I can give myself a credit for making the kinome-miso from scratch ;) OK! I lied!! I didn’t make it from scratch --- but at least I didn’t buy a ready-made kinome-miso like this. And you know what? If you're interested, it IS possible to make miso at home, literally "from scratch"... some stores in Japan do sell this kind of "make-your-own-home-made-miso kit." Anyway, here's a few more kinome-miso related pics. I didn't add egg to my kinome-miso today, but I'm going to next time.

I Found It! - Chicken Marsala -

Jeniffer, I found it!! "Marsala Superiore Dolce." I tried 3 or 4 liquor shops that seemed to have good range of wines but with no success. None of them had Marsala wine, and sales clerks have never heard of it. So I was almost ready to give up. Then today, after my daytime work, an idea just popped up in my mind. How about the small liquor shop where my friends went last month to buy numerous kinds of foreign beers? I rode my bicycle to that liquor shop on my way home, and BINGO!! They had Marsala wine!!! The moment I asked the clerk there, she instantly replyed, “Oh, Marsala wine? Sure we have one…somewhere… Wait. I gotta call my son and ask where it is…” and she took out her cell phone. A few minutes later, this Marsala Superiore Dolce was in my hands. Thanks to Jeniffer who kindly taught me how to make Chicken Marsala, I had a great dinner tonight! Yes, I gave it a try. Now I understand what she mentioned about Marsala wine. Yes, it IS different from other wines, and it is GREAT with mushrooms!!! Chicken Marsala ... a close-up I used butter this time, and when the smell of the butter, mushrooms and the Marsala wine filled my kitchen, it was just heavenly. Yes, it would taste totally different if used any other kind of wine. I finished it in the oven like she wrote, and it worked better for me, too. For chicken Marsala, I guess I prefer more dry type of Marsala to “Dolce,” because it is so sweet. If using Dolce, parsley and lemon are the “must have” for me. But this Dolce must be REALLY great for desserts! Well, now I can picture myself making tiramisu… or pouring Marsala over a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Ahhhhh…dangerous temptation….

Coconut Macaroons

Coconut Macaroons As some of you might have guessed, I had to use up the egg whites I had left from making the custard cream the other day. Going into the oven... This was by no means a great success, but at least these macaroons tasted better than the strawberry tart :) ----- My mom is in town this weekend for some kind of tea ceremony teachers’ meeting. We went dinner together tonight and I just got back. (Sorry, no photos.) It was one of the Kaiseki restaurants that my mom chose to go for dinner. I’m no expert so I might be wrong, but there seem to be 2 kinds of cuisine that are called "Kaiseki" here in Japan: One is the dishes that are served in tea ceremony, and the other is traditional Japanese -style full-course menu. What we eat at restaurants is the latter…..I suppose (I could be wrong). Anyway, the restaurant was a very nice, cozy place. An unfortunate fact is, however, that I’m not too crazy about Kaiseki course in the first place. Oh, I do love those Japanese traditional delicacies, but it’s the way they are served that I’m not too crazy about. Usually, our typical meals consist of the combination of bread or cooked white rice, meat/fish & vegetable dishes and a bowl of soup (pickles optional). They are served together at one time. But in Kaiseki, they start with appetizers, then go on to soup dish, sashimi (sliced raw fish), grilled fish, deep-fried dish, simmered dish etc. one by one, and finish with a bowl of rice with miso soup and pickles. Well, I have nothing against Kaiseki. I think it represents the wisdom and thoughtfulness of ancient Japanese people in their efforts to have customers enjoy delicacies to the fullest. But eating meat/fish & vegetable dishes without cooked white rice isn’t really my style, and eating sashimi without rice is almost painful for me. I’m so used to eating fresh sashimi from my childhood in our typical meal style, i.e. with cooked rice, and that eating habit cannot be changed easily. So tonight, I have to confess that I couldn’t fully enjoy the dishes served after sashimi. My mom and I had a good time at the restaurant after all, though. She told me about how she and my dad spent the holiday week with my sister and her kids + husband visiting them. Oh, BTW, mom said that vegetables in her veg. garden didn’t sprout until just recently and she was wondering why. On the other hand, the fishermen in my hometown had an irregular big catch of amberjack recently, she said. Hmmm…abnormal climate? I hope something extraordinary isn’t going to happen…

They Heard Me? Garden Report May 2005 -2-

It's amazing! Right after I posted about my balcony garden and complained about them not sprouting like in regular years... they started sprouting one after another! I haven't mentioned anything about this one before, because this is actually not grown in my balcony garden but in the corner of my kitchen, but this is myoga (Japanese ginger). I thought this was dead, but obviously not :D This thyme was all brown and looked completely dead last week, but look at these young green leaves! These parsley were seeded only 4 days ago. Look! It was so easy, just like that! Why didn’t they sprout before and made me try over and over? Basil also sprouted. See the ones with tiny round leaves? I can't understand why this happened. Looks like they were all waiting until the irregular hot weather in April to pass and nice appropreate weather to come. I can't think of any other reason... Well, I was just so happy that I had to post about it :D

Biggest Disappointment Ever - Strawberry Tart -

Strawberry Tart Yes, the strawberries were so tart…! It was unbelievable because they looked so ripe and beautiful in the pack, and they were quite expensive, too. Being inspired by the strawberry waffle cone ice cream I bought the other day, I decided to make a dessert myself using plenty of strawberries before the end of this holiday week. I wanted it to be special, so I chose the expensive strawberries. Imagine how furious I was when I tasted one and found it sour! Another disappointment was the custard cream. It was baked in the shell, and when cooled, its texture turned out to be like rubber. Did I put too much flour? I only used the required amount, but yes, I did use all-purpose when the recipe called for cake flour... The whipped cream didn’t really help much. What helped the most was probably the photo-retouch software I downloaded today. It compensates for the limited functions of my very old-fashioned digital camera and makes my food photos look much better. These 2 photos were originally much darker, but some retouches gave them a better look. My conclusion: it must have been much easier and tastier if I simply ate those strawberries with loads of condensed milk :(

A Little Disappointment ... Is It Me? Or...

This used to be my favorite. Or I should say, it was more than just “favorite.” This was a special bento (lunchbox-style to-go menu) I used to buy when I felt like giving myself a reward for working hard or going through extra B.S. etc. because this was expensive but definitely worth the price. It is one of the “to-go” menu of a small unagi (eel) restaurant in my neighborhood where they serve nothing but unagi dishes. The place is run by a middle-aged couple. The husband, the cook, looks pretty unfriendly to me but he does a very thorough job when it comes to cooking. Looks like he doesn’t store pre-filleted or pre-cooked eels in the fridge. He seems to start filleting eel after an order is made and grills it over charcoal heat in a good old-fashioned way. (I didn't see the whole procedure so I'm not 100% sure, but considering how long it takes for cooking, I guess that's what he's doing.) I always thought it was the secret of their eel dishes that are not greasy or fishy at all but just wonderfully tasty. With no special reason, I haven’t been to this unagi restaurant for more than a year. I don't know why.... I just didn’t go. Then today I suddenly felt like it, and bought this special bento. Well, it wouldn't hurt to have something special for this holiday week. This bento is a little different from their regular unagi bento. The almost scary looking black thing on top is thin strips of dried seaweed. The seaweed, minced scallion and wasabi cancel out the fishiness and bring out the good taste of the eel, and that's why I liked this more than their regular unagi bento. I was soooo excited to taste my favorite bento again. And …. after taking one bite, I noticed that something has changed. It didn’t taste the way I expected. The eel didn’t taste the same as before, the skin of the eel was harder, and rather unpleasant aftertaste of the seaweed and the scallion remained in my mouth for quite a while. At the restaurant, the cooking took as long as it used to take, so I don't think he changed the way he cooks. … Then, why the difference? Or is it just me? Did my taste buds somewhat deteriorate in the past year or something? I don’t know… It was a kind of sad experience, to be honest. I guess I’m not going to buy this bento for a while.

AT THE FAIR

"Strawberry Waffle Cone" with Shiratama dango At Kochi castle, whitch is just 7 min. by bicycle from my apartment, a “historical fair” is being held from May 1 to May 5. I visited there today and posted some photos here. There were some, not too many, food stalls there and this was what I bought at a stall selling Japanese sweets. Well, actually they had some traditional Japanese sweets and some Western sweets with a Japanese touch. They called this “Strawberry waffle cone.” As some of you may have guessed, these small white balls are “shiratama dango (rice flour dumplings),” so that was supposed to be the “Japanese touch” added to the totally Western strawberry ice cream. Warabi-mochi and Mitarashi dango I didn’t buy any of these, but they looked very nice so I just took a picture. The transparent jelly-like balls are “warabi mochi (bracken-starch dumplings).” They put these little bunny-shaped white jelly (I guess) on top, because this stall was run by a Japanese-style café in town and the name of the cafe is related to bunny. Those dumplings on wooden skewers are “mitarashi dango (rice flour dumplings with salty-sweet, soy-sauce based sauce).” It was such a nice day, not too cold, not too hot, with nice gentle breeze. Perfect day for enjoying a fair. Hope this weather lasts for the rest of the week.

Garden Report - May 2005-

Talking of my balcony garden… Dill sprouts? These look like dill sprouts resulted from my second attempt this spring. It took more than 3 weeks for them to sprout. So unusual! Well, it’s been very disappointing this year, to be honest. Last year I didn’t plan well ahead of time, so I ended up sowing some seeds quite late. When it got very hot in July, most of my herbs were still young and weak, and they died one after another because of the heat and disease. I didn’t want to repeat the same thing again, so I seeded herbs in late March this year, which I thought to be the perfect timing. What went wrong? Well, we did have a strange weather this spring… we had a cold snap in March, then it got unusually hot in April for about a week… But I don’t think that should be the reason why all the herbs I seeded this year–-- parsley, sage, dill and basil --- didn’t sprout at all. Especially, the basil seeds were usually like fail-safe…there was no year that they didn’t sprout, as far as I remember. Lemongrass Look at the lemongrass… I bought the young plant in late March and planted it here. It’s just turning brown now instead of growing. Right next to it, where covered by a piece of newspaper, I sowed parsley seeds again today. This is my 3rd attempt this year! Sigh. Now on a brighter side: Blueberry "sunshine blue" Good thing is that my blueberry is doing fine, except that right now it’s growing more leaves rather than blooming. This blueberry plant is a strange one actually. When I bought it last November, it went into almost full bloom right away. Someone told me that those flowers just die in winter and would not bear fruit, so I took them off to give the plant a rest during winter. I guess my biggest mistake was that I still kept taking off flower buds in late February and early March because I thought it was still a bit too early for the normal blooming time for blueberries. But maybe for this particular kind, sunshine blue, it WAS the normal blooming time. I expected my blueberry to be in full bloom in April, but it didn't happen and instead, my pretty sunshine blue started growing more leaves and forgot about flowers. Ahhhh… ! I guess I can’t expect many berries this summer… Dog Rose This is definitely doing good. This plant was just like this in early spring. Now see how much it has grown. 　 Apple mint and spearmint...can't tell which is which. They’re always fine, no matter what. Rhubarb My crazy attempt of growing rhubarb in this warm part of Japan is still going on. I don’t expect my little rhubarb to grow much bigger than this in this planter, though… I might bring this planter to my parents house again sometime soon and ask them to plant this rhubarb somewhere in a shade in my dad’s orchard. Well, things don’t look too exciting right now, but we’ll see…