Flour days

1 cup dried hijiki, hydrated

3 -4  dried shiitake mushrooms, hydrated

1 large or 2 small pieces Age (deep fried tofu pouches) optional

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks, 1/8 thick

1 tsp peeled and thinly sliced ginger

2 tbls roasted sesame oil or vegetable oil

1 cup dashi, dried shitake mushrooms stock or chicken stock of your choice

2 tbs mirin

1 tbs sake

1 tsp sugar or honey (optional)

1/4 cup soy sauce, or to taste

Salt if needed

Garnish: 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds (optional)

Soak hijiki in cold water to cover for at least one hour. Drain.  Rinse a couple more times to remove impurities.

Hydrate shitakes in cold water to cover, about 20 minutes.  Slice shitakes into 1/8 inch pieces. Reserve soaking liquid for the stock if you like.

Put oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Stir fry the carrots, age, mushrooms and ginger first for 2-3 mintues. 

Add the hydrated and drained hijiki.  Stir a couple times; add the stock or shiitake soaking liquid, mirin, sake, sugar and soy sauce. Stir, turn heat to simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes until most of the liquid is evaporated. Mixture should not be soupy or dry. Taste, and make adjustments with soy sauce, sugar and salt, if needed.

Serve as a salad or appetizer, about 1/3 cup servings per person.  Garnish with roasted sesame seeds.

Kimpira Ninjin - Kinpira gobo

I found some rare heirloom carrots at the Farmer's market. This maroon carrot in particular was a beauty.  It happened to even match what I was wearing- my hand knit sweater from Uruguay.  I wanted to wear the carrot around my neck!

I knew these carrots would be delicious cooked with a little butter but then I was thinking, how about stir-fried Kinpira-style, with a little red chili pepper to spice it up?  Usually, Kinpira is made with carrots and burdock but I wanted to try it with just carrots. 

A little too thick but what the heck.

The carrots came in odd shapes, so it wasn't easy to peel them but I did the best I could. Then came the slicing. Even worse.  With Kimpira, I should have sliced them more thinly but I relaxed and some came out rather thick. The maroon carrots had a beautiful yellow interior. I sauteed the sliced carrots in sesame oil for a few minutes until they became tender, and then seasoned them with soysauce, mirin and sugar. The maroon carrots lost their bright red color in the cooking and turned beige. The yellow carrots were nutty and the most flavorful of the three. The cracked red pepper gave the dish a nice spice, the roasted sesame seeds another layer of texture and toasty flavor.  It was a nice dish.

Recipe:

5 cups of carrots, peeled and sliced into matchsticks, 1/8 inch thick.  (mine were thicker

because the carrots had odd shapes)

2 Tbls of soysauce or more to taste

1 Tbls mirin

1 Tbls sugar or less, depending on the natural sweetness of the carrots

1 Tbls sake

3 Tbls Roasted sesame oil

Garnish:

Red cracked pepper 

Roasted ground sesame seeds

Over mediumm heat, saute the carrots for 3 minutes, until they are tender. Add the seasonings and cook for another 3-5 mintues, until the carrots absorb most of the liquid. Taste to see if it needs more seasoning. Adjust sparingly with soysauce, and other seasonings.   

As a garnish, the cracked red pepper will give it a zing!  It's nice too with roasted sesame seeds.

  

Mix the flour into the egg mixture, and not the egg mixture into

the flour. This makes a crispier batter.

The Burdock root can grow to 3 feet (1 meter) long.   

Burdock tastes like a cross between a potato and an artichoke. It is particularly enjoyed for its crunchy texture. Burdock has a naturally brown color like a potato and the good earthy flavor is all in the skin, so don't shave or peel the skin all off. Gently scrub to remove the dirt and hairy roots.

These Burdock roots, GOBO, in the picture measure nearly 3 feet long. How can they grow so long? And for me the frequently raised question is how do I get these home from the market? It's always a challenge with the longer ones. You can buy water packed, peeled and shaven burdock but the flavor is inferior to fresh burdock, and contain additives, so I don't recommend them. When I get home, I cut the Burdock root in half, wrap it in a wet day old newspaper (Not the FOOD section!)  and plastic to keep them fresh in the fridge. When Burdock roots are old, they get pulpy, shriveled, and tough.  Make sure you find one that feels thick, firm and flexible. The fresher they are, the crispier the texture. You can eat them raw when they are very very fresh.  Burdock improves digestion and is full of fiber.

A whimsical display

It's good to have a reason to leave the city once in awhile, even if it is to deliver some boxes to put in storage.  Our storage is out in Oxnard, an one hour drive on the Ventura Freeway from Santa Monica.  We've made the trip countless times.  It is a long drive just to go and store things but today, I am enjoying this trip.  Who knows, I might find something I want to take out.

Open sesame. Lots of stuff in there.  As the old Japanese saying goes, dust collects and turns into a mountain.  But among the dust, there are some interesting things.  Boxes of Sakae's toys and baby kimonos, my grandmother's tea table that needs repair, an old mosquito net.  Half of the space is taken up by family stuff, the other half is Sakai's sculptures and paintings from another time, which I'd like to see out in the open air.  But where do we put them?  It's good to look through old things.  I found a box marked "Old Cookbooks."  I decided to take that back with me.  I wanted to see what cookbooks I put away. 

Before leaving Oxnard, we looked for a farmstand to buy some fresh produce.  Oxnard is mostly known for their strawberries fields.  Shortly after my family moved to LA from Tokyo in the early seventies, my parents took us to visit a strawberry farm that was owned by a Japanese American family in this area.  I could not believe the sheer size of the farm. They let us pick as many strawberries as we wanted.  Where we came from, strawberries were very expensive.  We only got strawberries on top of our birthday cake when we were lucky. Most of the time, we had canned peaches instead.  But here in America, it was strawberry fields forever.  That seemed incredibly promising.

We found several farm stands, selling the last strawberry crop of the season. The berries were still sweet and juicy. I bought a boxful for $15. The box was marked Fraises de Californie but these strawberries aren't going to France.

Besides strawberries, they had some beautiful pumpkins.  The owner had her foot in a cast but she got up to help me pick out a pumpkin.

When we got home, I opened the box of old cookbooks and found a couple that belonged to my mother. That made me happy.  I am cooking out of one tonight.   

The Oxnard pumpkin now sits at our doorstep.  Soon it will get a face.

Okay so it's October 1.  Opening day of Sakai's art Exhibition.  Eddie, Sakai's assistant arrived at 730am to wash the last stone sculpture and stone bases for the show.  I drove out to rent-a-wreck to return the truck. Sakai has been burning the midnight oil for the last three days.  The brochures and posters have been printed.  Having an art show is exciting and nerve racking at the same time. Sakae calls from Portland to wish his Dad good luck.  I can only hope for the best turn out and response. 

Last night was fast food night and this morning is the same too. That means rice balls for most Japanese people.  You can grab it like a sandwhich and run.  The stuffing can be anything from grilled salmon such left overs from last night to seasoned ground meat or grilled tarako- cod roe.  There is a little rice left over to make one rice ball this morning so I decide to make one and stuff it with a pickled plum -umeboshi.  There is an old Japanese saying - A pickled plum a day keeps the doctor away.  

There isn't much of a recipe for making Onigiri.  You just need steamed rice.  Use short or medium grain rice.  The fresher the rice, the tastier. The rice balls I made last night were great because the rice was steaming hot and fresh. This morning I am working with day old rice but it is still good.  You will need some salt, a pickled plum and a crispy sheet of nori seaweed to wrap the rice ball. Use about 3/4 cup of rice for each rice ball.

Fresh steamed rice tastess the best but mine is the leftover from

last night.  I want to use it up.  Have also a bowl of salt water, using

about a teaspoon of salt to 3 cups of water.  This is for wetting

your hands while you make the rice ball.

First wash your hands.  Dip you hands in the bowl of salted

water to keep it a little wet so the rice doesn't stick to your

hands while molding the rice ball.  Put a dab of salt to season

the rice ball (about 1/4 tsp).  Too much water on your hands

will make the rice ball soggy so don't over do it.

I put a pickled plum in the center of the rice ball.

Make sure you remove the pit from the pickled plum.

Using both palms and fingers, hold the rice and mold it into a

triangle. You can make a round rice ball if the triangle is too

difficult. But it really isn't.  Cup the pointed corners with your fingers

and press down to make the mountain shape.  Then turn the 

rice ball and repeat until all three corners have a nice peak.

A snow covered Mt. Fuji.

This is a small Onigiri.  I used 1/4 sheet of the nori and

cut it into smaller pieces to wrap it. You can sprinkle

the Onigiri with roasted sesame seeds or Furikake, if you like.

This onigiri is too small for the sculptors. 

So I eat it.  So good!  

Sakai has been going back and forth between Santa Monica and downtown LA, making art deliveries to the gallery. There are four more days left to the show.  We are passed the intense period. Last week it felt like a volcano was erupting right in our backyard.  This week it feels more like the calm before the storm. One more sculpture to go. Sakai is finishing up a huge wall piece.

I make lunch - just for myself.  I go for plain steamed broccolinis. Sometimes it is nice to eat vegetables with nothing on it.  Nothing can be everything.  

I always keep a jar of dried shitake mushrooms around.  Braised, they make a nice condiment for noodles, Inari (here is the link) and Chirashi -sushi.  You can slice them up or use whole.

RECIPE

6 Dried Shitake mushrooms, reconstituted in water

6 Tbls Shitake mushroom water (from soaking)

2 Tbls Sugar

1 1/2 Tbls Soy Suace

Reconstitute the dried shitake mushrooms in a bowl of water.  After 30 minutes, the mushrooms will hydrate and look full. They look gorgeous.   Trim stems and discard.  

In a small saucepan, combine Shitake mushrooms, shitake mushroom water, sugar, soysauce and cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.  Turn off heat.  

Keeps in the fridge for about a week. 

Finely chopped braised shitake mushrooms on the

left side of the dish.  The right side is braised burdock and

carrots.  They will be used for making inari  

or chirahsi sushi.

I found some old dishes that were tucked away in the back of my china cabinet. I had not used them in awhile.  They are Made in Japan, probably from the Art Deco period or a little later. I got them in a thrift shop.  Paid less then $10 for the set of five.  They are not fine china by any means but I like the bold design and black and dark persimmon colors. I try to figure out what I can serve in them.  It's fun to give the plate a priority over the food for a change.  I look at the wavy lines on the plate and I think about possibilities. Then Burdock comes to mind. Taking burdock shavings and deep frying them in sesame oil makes beautiful crispy chips with soft curves.  You serve the chips while they are piping hot otherwise they will go limp.  I season them with salt and pepper and with red cracked chili pepper when I want them to be hot.  It's delicious and a perfect match for this beautiful dish.

Asazuke

  Cucumber, turnip and carrots take a plunge into the ice water

It's been just too hot and dry in Southern California. I miss the rain and pray for clouds everyday.  Even my vegetables in the garden could use a little cooler weather.  In the late afternoons, the cucumbers look a bit limp from the heat.  So today, I decided to give them an ice break.  They went for a plunge in a bowl of ice water.  I'd like to take a plunge myself.

I made quick pickles, Asazuke, (it is the Japanese word for lightly pickled) with basically what I found in the fridge and garden - one carrot, 3 turnips and 2 Japanese cucumbers. You can also use cabbage, radishes, celery and peppers too.  I thought these pickles will last over two or three days.  But we ate most of  it  in one evening. They were good.  I have to make some more.

You can use the leaves of the turnips, too.

There is no need to peel the turnips.

Cut the turnip and cucumbers thin but not too thin.  

The carrots are cut in match sticks.

Sprinkle some chopped shiso as a garnish for extra flavor.

Quick Cucumber, Carrots and Turnip Pickles

3 turnips

2 Japanese cucumbers

1 medium size carrot

2 shiso leaves, sliced thinly (optional)

2 tsp salt

Brine:

1 tsp salt

2 inch piece konbu seaweed, sliced, 1/4-inch wide

1 cup water (250 cc)

Don't peel the turnips.  Slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick pieces.

Peel the cucumbers and slice them crosswise, 1/4-inch thick pieces.

Peel the carrot and make 2-inch matchsticks.

Soak the sliced konbu and salt in one cup of water. Put the mixture in a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn off heat. Cool broth and set aside.

Sprinkle measured salt over sliced cucumbers, turnips and carrots. Let stand for 5 minutes to let the salt settle.  Then gently mix (massage) the vegetables with your hand until water is extracted from the vegetables.  

Put the vegetables in a zip log back.  Make sure there are no air pockets. Press the vegetables by putting some weight on top for about 30 minutes. You can put a plate or cutting board on top and then a large can of tomatoes or something even heavier like a stone.  That's what my grandmother used.  The modern Japanese way to press vegetables is with a pickling device (see picture below). I've had mine for more than 20 years but it's as good as new.  It comes with a lid so I can put it right in the fridge.  You can find pickling devices at a Japanese market.  They are great to have if you plan on making pickles, which I do regularly.   

Japanese pickling device.  It has a handle so you can also use

it  to build some triceps if you like.  

Prepare a bowl of water with ice and set aside.  

In a saucepan, boil 3 cups of  water. We will dump the hot water on the vegetables first, and then give them the ice bath.  So go ahead and take the vegetables out of the zip lock bag or pickling container and put them in a strainer.  Pour the hot water over the vegetables. Let stand for 5 to 10 seconds. This step will make the vegetables slightly limp. Then transfer the vegetables into the ice water with ice cubes and cool the vegetables quickly. This is to get them crispy and cold. Keep the vegetables in the ice bath for 10 seconds.  Drain. Return them to the pickling device or zip log back along with the brine and press for additional 30 minutes or longer.  Keep refreigerated.

To serve, lightly squeeze the water out of the pickles and sprinkle some chopped shiso leaves.  

SHIRA AE is a tofu based dressing that goes well with vegetables and seafood. It is one of my favorite ways to eat tofu since I was a child.  My grandmother would sometimes make it just for me.  That meant a lot because I had four other siblings and many cousins to compete with.  I would help her grind the sesame seeds in the mortar. The grinding of sesame seeds took time but that was okay, we talked stories while we worked.   

Traditional Japanese mortar and pestle -suribachi and

surigoki

The ridged interior of a Japanese mortar works efficiently to grind

sesame seeds and nuts.  

This pestle which is made from the branch of a pepper tree

is more than 20 years old.   

My grandmother made Shira Ae to dress a variety of vegetables - spinach, green beans, eggplant, taro potatoes, carrots.  I still remember the day she suggested making Shira Ae with Taro potatoes.  I thought it was a bizzare idea but I loved it.  Shira ae is very mild in flavor.  It is pureed tofu with a little soy sauce and sugar. You can add ground nuts or roasted sesame seeds and even add a tablespoon of heavy cream, if you want a richer and creamier sauce.  Today, I wasn't really thinking about putting any nuts in the sauce but I remembered that I had some fresh trail mix, which I got at the farmers market.  Okay, so why not throw a few pieces in to make it a little nutty?  I picked out the fresh walnuts and pecans, enough to make a 1/3 cup. The amount of nuts will depend on how nutty you want the sauce to be.  I tried this sauce on shimeji mushrooms, broccoli and banana, yes, fruit too.  

Broccoli with Walnut and Pecan Tofu Sauce

Strawberries, kiwi, apples, kaki work well but not the citrusy kind. I could be wrong but I think the general rule is to leave out the watery and citrusy fruit because it will make the tofu sauce watery.  Don't combine the sauce with the vegetables or fruit until the last minute because that will also make it watery.  You can serve fruit with tofu dressing at the end as a dessert.

What's a Banana doing here?

Banana with Walnut and Pecan Sauce - a good dessert

TOFU DRESSING - Shira Ae

1/2 Firm (Mengoshi-type Tofu)

1 Tbls sugar or maple sugar

1 Tsp Light color soy sauce (Usu-kuchi shoyu)

1 tsp white miso (such as Saikyo miso) (optional)

1/3 cup unsalted mixed nuts (roasted, unsalted) - pecan and walnuts * (optional)

1 Tbls heavy cream (optional) 

Grind the nuts in a blender or mortar until it is as fine as you can get them to be. You want to extract the oil out of the nut.  Aadd the tofu, sugar, heavy cream and soy sauce to the ground nuts and blend well to make a smooth sauce.  You can also do the whole thing in the mortar if you have one.  It will be more textural.  If you want a creamy finish, you can press it through a strainer.  That will mean more work though.  It's good either way.

BROCCOLI WITH TOFU DRESSING 

Make the tofu dressing that contains miso.

Makes 4 servings

1/4 broccoli, cut into florets

Tofu Dressing

Salt

Make the Tofu Dressing (See recipe above)

In a medium size saucepan, cook the broccoli with a pinch of salt until its cooked but still firm. Drain.  Chill in ice cold water for a couple of minutes.  Drain again. 

Serve with the Tofu dressing.  Either put the sauce on top or serve it on the side like a dip.

You can make the broccoli in advance but do not combine it with the dressing until you are ready to serve.

SHIMEJI MUSHROOMS WITH TOFU DRESSING

Make the tofu dressing that contains the miso.

Makes 4 servings

1 package of shimeji mushrooms, ends removed and mushrooms separated

into small mouth-size bunches

Tofu dressing

Salt

In a medium size saucepan, blanch the mushrooms with a pinch of salt in boiling water for about 10 seconds. The mushrooms should hold their shape after cooking so be careful not to over cook them.  Gently drain.  Set aside and cool.

Combine with tofu dressing or serve it on top of the mushrooms.  Serve immediately.

BANANA WITH TOFU DRESSING

Makes 4 servings

1 banana 

Tofu dressing

Make Tofu dressing.

Slice the banana into 1/2-inch thick pieces.  Each person should get 3-4 pieces.

Combine the pieces with the tofu sauce and serve immediately.

* You can use other seeds and nuts such as walnuts, peanuts and sesame seeds.

When I visit the Santa Monica Farmers Market I am always amazed at the variety of food farmers are growing and fishermen are catching locally. Just today, I found live spotted sprimp from Santa Barbara, which is in season until November, Korean Shiso, Japanese shiso -both green and purple types, dehydrated kaki, Japanese Koho white peaches and these gorgeous eggplants . Italian, American, Japanese eggplants - all one happy purple family.

Sun drying eggplant

Drying eggplant in the sun brings out the vegetable's natural sweetness and adds texture. Just a couple of hours will make a difference. You can do this with other vegetables such as daikon radish, zuchinni, and carrots. To accompany this eggplant dish, I made some Neri-miso - a thick all purpose sauce that goes well with grilled eggplant and grilled tofu. The classic Neri Miso can be much sweeter than my neri miso recipe. The eggplant itself can be sweet. Also the miso, sugar, sake and mirin. In other words, all the ingredients in this recipe contribute to the sweetness but sugar in particular. The amount of sugar you use depends on how salty the miso paste is and how keen you are about using sugar. The sweetness of mirin may just be enough. The saltiness differs from miso to miso, so taste the Neri miso and make adjustments accordingly. You can also add a half a teaspoon of grated yuzu or roasted sesame seeds, which are both wonderfully fragrant. Neri Miso can be used with both the sun dried eggplants and regular eggplants. Both recipes are listed below.                        

SUN DRIED EGGPLANT WITH NERI MISO  

Pan fried Eggplant with Neri Miso

Makes 4 servings

Recipe:

• 3 Japanese eggplants
• 3-4 Tbls olive oil

• 3 Tbls Miso paste (red or white miso - I like to use mild miso, which is not too salty)  
• 1 Tbls sugar  (as needed)
• 2 Tbls Mirin (sweet sake)
• 1 Tbls Sake
• 1/2 Tsp grated ginger juice

• Chopped chives 
• Crushed red chili peppers or shichimi pepper
  
• Red chili peppers or shichimi pepper
• Grated Yuzu (optional)
• Roasted sesame seeds

1. Cut the eggplants into 1/2 inch pieces crosswise.  Sun dry for 2-3 hours.  
2. In a non stick frying pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Grill or Pan fry the sun-dried eggplant until it is toasted on both sides and cooked inside but not too soft, about 4-5 minutes.  Make sure there are no dry spots.  If you find any, brush surface of eggplant with olive oil.  Remove from heat.  Keep warm.
3. In a small bowl, mix miso, sugar, sake, ginger jurice and mirin.  Cook the mixture in a small pan over low heat. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the miso mixture is no longer runny. Be careful not to burn the neri miso. 
4. Serve the eggplant in a bowl. Garnish with chopped chives and and red chili pepper and serve the Neri Miso on the side.

Omit sugar if you are doing Macrobiotic.