;)Our wonderful friends Revis Meeks, Quyen Tran and Mike Tarantino put this video together. 

It was recorded during our first soba workshop in October of 2009.

How time flies!   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBZa9Z

I am in Japan to bring back some fresh buckwheat flour for our upcoming Pop up soba event and soba workshop at Breadbar, West Hollywood.  Here is the link to Breadbar. 

Sado, Japan

(This recipe works for both donabe rice cooker and electric rice cooker)

2 cups medium grain rice plus 1/4 cup sweet rice (equals 3 cups Donabe 180 ml cup)

15 oz water

3 Tbls Sake

3 Tbls Light color soy sauce (Usukuchi shoyu)

1 package of shimeji mushrooms, 3 medium size shitake mushrooms and 1/2 package of Maitake mushrooms

Garnish options:

1 Tbls yuzu or lime rind  

Roasted sesame seeds, shichimi pepper, sansho pepper, chopped Mitsuba leaves, Cut Nori seaweed

Rinse rice and sweet and let stand in the strainer for 15 minutes.

Trim ends of mushrooms and separate them into individual pieces. If using shitake mushrooms, slice them into 1/4 inch pieces. Set aside.

Put the rinsed rice, light color soysauce and sake in the donabe or electric rice cooker. Mix the sauce and sake into the rice. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Cook donabe over medium high heat for 15-17 minutes or until the steam comes out "vigorously" from the ventilation hole. Turn off heat and let stand for 15 minutes.

Open the donabe, using pot holders so you don't burn your hands. Add the sliced mushroom and close both the inner and upper lids. Let stand for another 5 minutes.

Open the donabe and gently toss the rice with the mushrooms. You may have some toasted rice on the bottom which is good.

Garnish with yuzu rind and/or other recommended garnishes.

The rice tastes best when served right away.

Serves 2

1/4 (1/2 stick) cup butter or vegetable oil

3/4 cups buckwheat flour, preferably stone milled soba flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

Maple Syrup or powdered sugar

If you tilt the pan while the batter is runny, you can achieve a

nice round galette shape.

Preparation:

If using butter, melt the butter in a small saucepan and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Make a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and the milk, and gradually add it into the flour to make a smooth batter.

Add half of the melted butter or oil, an d mix well. Allow to stand in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Just before cooking, stir and check the consistency of the batter. It should be like thin cream. If necessary, add more milk to achieve the right consistency. Use the remaining butter or oil to coat the pan.

Heat a cast iron skillet or non-stick pan over med-high heat. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the pan.

Brush with melted butter or oil.  Lower heat to a medium.

Using a ladle, pour enough batter into the skillet to make a gallete, about 5-6 inches in diameter.

Loosen the edges of the crepe with a metal spatula. Turn the galette over when one side is cooked, and brown on the edges. Unlike pancakes, galettes will not rise and will remain thin.

Cook the other side until lightly brown, about a minute and slide it out onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.

Serve like you would pancakes, with maple syrup or powdered sugar.

Breton Galettes

I can eat soba everyday, but there are other ways to enjoy buckwheat flour.  The French make a delicious buckwheat pancake called galettes.  A few years ago, I spent the whole summer at my friend Caroline Forbes' farm in Becavin, which is a small village in Brittany not far from the walled city of St. Malo.  This region is known for their galettes.  Galettes are much larger in size than crepes, and usually served with some type of filling, such as ham, cheese, onions, mushrooms or a sweet filling like honey, chocolate, etc.  Caroline made me this dish on the day I arrived to Becavin; we also tasted gallettes in the nearby villages.  I got hooked. Galletes are delicious with a cold glass of cidre, a sparkling apple cider; it's a typical Breton beverage.  

My galette in this picture is made with stone milled Japanese soba flour. I made them for my friend Mimi who was visiting from Kansas city. I served these galettes like pancakes, with hot maple syrup. They are also nice with powdered sugar. Mimi also wanted to try my soba noodles, so I cooked those, too.  Our breakfast turned into a brunch.

Recipe:

Serves 3

1/4 (1/2 stick) cup butter or vegetable oil

3/4 cups buckwheat flour, preferably stone milled soba flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

Preparation

If using butter, melt the butter in a small saucepan and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, sift together the buckwheat flour, all-purpose flour and salt. Make a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg and the milk, and gradually add it into the flour to make a smooth batter.

Add half of the melted butter or oil, an d mix well.  Allow to stand in the fridge for 1 hour.

Just before cooking, stir and check the consistency of the batter. It should be like thin cream. If necessary, add more milk to achieve the right consistency. Use the remaining butter or oil to coat the pan.

Heat a cast iron skillet or non-stick pan over med-high heat. Sprinkle a few drops of water on the pan.

Brush with melted butter or oil.

Using a ladle, pour enough batter into the skillet to make a crepe, about 5-6 inches in diameter.   

Loosen the edges of the crepe with a metal spatula. Turn the crepe over when one side is cooked, and brown on the edges.  Unlike pancakes, buckwheat crepes will not rise and will remain thin.

Cook the other side until lightly brown, about a minute and slide it out onto a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter.

To serve:

Serve like you would serve pancakes.  I had butter and maple syrup on the table.  Also, some mixed fruit and yogurt. 

Recipe:

3 1/2 cups Dashi or Dried shitake and konbu seaweed Dashi

3 1/2 to 4 tablespoons Mugi, Koji, white or red miso

1/4 cup, shelled peas

1 age-tofu, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces, crosswise

6 small pearl onions, peeled and quartered

1 baby turnip, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

Bring the Dashi and the turnip o a boil in a medium saucepan, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for a couple of minutes.  

In a small bowl, dissolve 3 1/2 tablespoons of the miso paste in a few tablespoons of the warm Dashi. Add the mixture to the saucepan. Taste and add more miso paste, Dashi or water, depending on how strong the soup tastes.

Add the Age tofu and peas and simmer  for 1 minute. Turn off heat.

Pour the soup into individual bowls.

Serve immediately.

You can also make the rice in a pressure or donabe rice cooker. Follow manufacturer’s instructions for cooking brown rice. The amount of water will vary depending on the cooker you use.

3 1/2 cups Dashi or Dried shitake and konbu seaweed Dashi 

3 1/2 to 4 tablespoons Mugi, Koji, white or red miso

1/4 kabocha pumkin, peeled and sliced thinly, 1/4 inch thick bite size pieces

1/2 of tofu, soft or firm.

1/4 green pepper, chopped

1/2  negi, sliced thinly or 1 scallion sliced thinly

Bring the Dashi and the kabocha to a boil in a medium saucepan, then reduce the heat to maintain a simmer until kabocha is tender and can be mashed into a puree. You should be able to mash the pumkin with a fork.

In a small bowl, dissolve 3 1/2 tablespoons of the miso paste in a few tablespoons of the warm Dashi. Add the mixture to the saucepan. Taste and add more miso paste, Dashi or water, depending on how strong the soup tastes.

Add the tofu and green pepper, and simmer 1 minute. Turn off heat.

Pour the soup into individual bowls.

Sprinkle each bowl with negi.  Serve immediately.

When it comes to tempura, everyone loves it but some people don't want to bother making it at home because it looks too complicated.  But it really isn't it.  I wrote a story for the Los Angeles Times Food Section today that will give you further insight into the art of making Tempura. Enjoy! (here is the link to the LA Times story and recipes) 

Shishito peppers have pockets full of seeds. Make a slit and

remove the seeds before frying to keep them from popping

in the oil and creating unpleasant oil spills.

Asparagus is a good vegetable to practice making tempura.

For more, please read my story in the LA Times.