cook

I have been working in the bay area since the beginnning of the year, teaching soba and doing events at Google to introduce Japanese rice.  I have also preparing for a koji event at Bar Tartine, one of my friend restaurants in the Bay area. The koji themed dinner is happening on May 28.  Here is a story that came out about Koji. 

http://www.sfchronicle.com/recipes/article/Traditional-Japanese-koji-turns-into-versatile-4526837.php#src=fb

The story of Kenji Tsukamoto was something that I found out of the blue.  I was visiting Sado. Hirahara-san, my guide, mentioned that there was a Koji-ya, a mold-maker, that lived in this town.  Until then, I had never met anyone who made mold for a living.  I was curious.  I asked Hirahara-san to take me to Tsukamoto's shop.  Tsukamoto was not there at first. He had gone to the beach with his grandchildren.  So I went out for a little bite of sushi (delicious by the way).  When I came back later, Tsukamoto  showed me the factory where the miso was made. Tsukamoto  was a"larger than life" person, passionate about  making miso the artisanal way.  He is a fourth generation miso maker.  I  was totally inspired.  I wrote about Tsukamoto and his miso-making for the Los Angeles Times (here is the link) food section.  You will also find recipes and instructions on How to Make Miso.  I even started making my own.   

Sea of Japan

DASHI 

My Japanese staples on the butcher table.

Dried chili peppers, dried shitake mushrooms,

dried kombu seaweed, dried bonito flakes,

brown rice and white rice. 

I am feeling good about myself because I made a big batch of Dashi last night. That's what I do on Sundays or Mondays to start the week right.  I bought a lovely block of Meiji Tofu from Granada Market in West LA so with that and the fresh dashi, I am in good shape to cook.  Miso soup, definitely.

Dashi is the foundation of Japanese cooking.  No matter how simple it can be to make dashi, if you don't pay attention or if you rush, you can mess it up and ruin the rest of your dishes.  

I hate to admit but many Japanese people are getting a bit lazy these days and relying more on prepared dashi powders and dashi bags.  I have some organic dashi bags in the pantry myself.  However, small,  it's not ecological to use these broth one-time use bags when it is easy to make Dashi from scratch. The flavor of a freshly made dashi is far superior than the commercially prepared dashi stocks. It only takes three ingredients to make the classic seafood based dashi - water, dried konbu seaweed and dried bonito flakes.  These ingredients are easy to find at the Japanese markets.

Making Dashi is similar to the practice of brewing green tea. Be gentle with the ingredients. If you pour boiling hot water over green tea, you can ruin the flavor. Same with Dashi stock

The thing to remember most is timing  - to pluck the kombu seaweed out of the water before it reaches the boiling point. This way, the stock doesn't get fishy.  Similar step with the Bonito flakes. Let the boiling water cool down for a minute  or two before you add the flakes into the liquid. The idea is to brew these ingredients slowly, in temperature that are below the boiling point, especially the Bonito flakes, which likes it lower. What you strive for is a clear amber like color broth that smells like sea breeze.

I keep my dried Bonito Flakes in a Glass jar with a lid.The 100 gram bag will make three or four batches of soup. Bonito Flakes are sensitive to moisture so if they start to look gray and flat, throw ithem out. If the reject is not too old, give them to your cat as I do. My cat comes up to me and meows and purrs when I am making Dashi stock. She also loves Nori seaweed. I think she was Japanese in her previous life.

Here is the first key ingredient for making Dashi stock.  

Cut Kombu seaweed.

This one measures 6-inches long

Use the widest, thickest piece of kombu seaweed you can find. The Kombu seaweed from Hokkaido is the king of Kombu seaweed. When you reconstitute the dried seaweed in water, it could expand to about four or five times in width. The reconstituted seaweed is maginificent to look at but slippery to handle.  So what I do is take the long dried piece and cut them up into smaller 6-inch pieces and store them in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid and keep them handy. Notice with Kombu that there is often a thin film of white dust on top. Don't wash that off. It's what gives it Umami, the flavor. But there could be dust too so take a cotton cloth and wipe it dry before you use it. 

The second key ingredient for Dashi is Dried Bonito flakes.  Dried Bonito Flakes or Katsuo-bushi are made from shaven dried Bonito fish. My grandmother used to sit down in front of the television and patiently spend a good hour running the block of dried Bonito back and forth across the blade of the shaving tool (sort of looks like a plane) to make her own shavings. A Samurai saga would be a good show to watch if you wanted to get a box full. I own a plane myself but all I produce is saw dust. The plane is a piece of decoration at the moment.

Dried bonito flakes are sold in little 5 gram packets or big 100 grams (3.5 oz) bags. Get the big bag. The shavings are larger and shinier than the ones in the little packets.

Here is the second key ingredient:

Dried Bonito Flakes -Katsuo-bushi out of the package

BASIC DASHI RECIPE

To make Miso Soup, Suimono, Ohitashi  and other dashi based sauces, follow this recipe.  

Active Work Time: 5 minutes.   Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes

This will keep five days in the refrigerator, so you can make it the night before and just add miso paste and vegetables for quick breakfast of miso soup. You can find bonito flakes and dashi kombu at Japanese markets.   

1 piece dashi kombu (6 to 8 inches long)

 4 cups water

 2 cups dried bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)

Using scissors, make several crosswise cuts in the konbu. This helps to extract the flavor during cooking. 

Place konbu and water in medium saucepan and let it stand 15 minutes. Cook on medium heat until water almost boils. Remove kombu just before water boils to avoid fishy odor.

When the water boils, turn off the heat. Add a 1/2 cup of cold water.  Let liquid cool down for a couple of minutes. Then gently add bonito flakes.  Do not sitr.   When bonito flakes have settled near the bottom, about 3 minutes, strain them through a very fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth and discard them. Don't stir the stock because it will cloud the dashi, which should have a light golden color.

Remove the kombu before the liquid comes to a boil.

  Do not stir the dried bonito flakes. Let the flakes steep in the

liquid.

A lovely  amber color dashi

Kitchen note: You can make a second batch of dashi by combing the used Bonito flakes and kombu seaweed in a saucepan with 4 cups of water.  Bring it to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for about 5 mintues.  Strain and discard bonito flakes and konbu seaweed.  Use the dashi for soups, seasoning, etc.  It will not be as flavorful as the first batch but it is good.  Also, you can eat the left over kombu.  It might feel a little rubbery but it good fiber.  You can slice it up thinly, pour some soysauce and eat it with rice.  

DRIED BONITO FLAKES AND KOMBU DASHI

Makes 3/12 cups 

This is an all purpose seafood stock that is used to make miso soups  Suimono soup, Nabe, Ohitashi and other dashi based sauces. (Same recipe as Dashi 101)

Active Work Time: 5 minutes. Total Preparation Time: 20 minutes

This will keep five days in the refrigerator, so you can make it the night before and just add miso paste and vegetables for quick breakfast of miso soup. You can find bonito flakes and dashi kombu at Japanese markets. 

1 piece dashi kombu (6 to 8 inches long)

4 cups water

2 generous handfuls of dried bonito flakes (katsuo-bushi)  

Using scissors, make several crosswise cuts in the konbu. This helps to extract the flavor during cooking.

Place konbu and water in medium saucepan and let it stand 15 minutes. Cook on medium heat until water almost boils. Remove kombu just before water boils to avoid fishy odor, and let the water come to a boil. Turn off the heat.

Add 1/2 cup of cold water. Let liquid cool down for a couple of minutes. Then gently add bonito flakes, making sure that you distribute the flakes evenly in the pot. Do not sitr. When bonito flakes have settled near the bottom, about 3 minutes, strain them through a very fine-mesh sieve or a sieve lined with cheesecloth and discard them. Don't stir the stock because it will cloud the dashi, which should have a light golden color.

  The Dashi has a nice amber color.

Kitchen note: You can make a second batch of dashi by combing the used Bonito flakes and kombu seaweed in a saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring it to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for about 5 mintues. Strain and discard bonito flakes and konbu seaweed. Use the dashi for soups, seasoning, etc. It will not be as flavorful as the first batch but it is good. Also, you can eat the left over kombu. It might feel a little rubbery but it good fiber. You can slice it up thinly, pour some soysauce and eat it with rice.

DRIED SHITAKE MUSHROOMS AND KOMBU DASHI

Makes 8 cups

This will keep five days in the refrigerator, so you can make it the night before. This Dashi can be used to miso soup, nabe, chawanmushi, and to season a variety of dishes.

Dashi stays fresh for 3-4 days in the fridge.

2 pieces dashi kombu (6 inches long)

8 cups water

8 dried shitake mushrooms (Donko)

In a large bowl, combine the dried shitake mushrooms and water. Let it stand in the refrigerator overnight. Add the kombu seaweed to the mushroom liquid thirty minutes, or until ithe Kombu hydrates. Remove the mushrooms and the kombu. Discard or use for other puposes. 

Optional method: For a stronger flavor, put the soaking ingredients into a saucepan.  Cook the ingredients over medium heat.  Just before the water boils, remove the kombu.  Let the mushrooms cook for another 3 minutes over simmering heat.   Strain liquid.

Note: The hydrated kombu and mushrooms can be sliced and eaten with soysauce or

made into a pickle (Tsukudani).

We are still having good beach weather in Southern California, with temperatures in the high 80s, even 90s.  My neighbor Ellen had a big party last night that went late but she didn't  miss her Sunday walk with me on the Santa Monica boardwalk. People were on the beach, soaking in the sun, playing volleyball, jogging,rollerblading, etc. When I got home, I had lots of things I wanted to do; one of them was dehydrating mushrooms.

Dehydrating vegetables intensifies their flavor, alter, and often improve their texture. Like dried Shitake mushrooms, dried Maitake mushrooms make a great vegan broth. I decided to make some for my breakfast miso soup.  More miso soup?  You bet.  I am on a breakfast miso soup roll.

Maitake means Dancing Mushrooms in Japanese.  They are as beautiful and elegant as its name and prized in Japan and China for its medicinal properties.  I love their earthy fragrance, and the nutty and smoky flavors.  I use fresh Maitake mushrooms in my mushroom donabe rice recipe but for my vegan miso soup, I infuse the dried mushrooms to make the broth.

I am leaving these Maitake mushrooms in the sun for 2-3 days, until they are completely dry and flakey. I hope to get another sunny day, otherwise, these guys will go moldy on me and I will have to wait until next summer.  But who knows, LA might be in for an endless summer.

Day 2

This recipe is very easy, especially when you have no Kaeshi (dipping sauce concentrate) around.  

Recipe:

Serves 4

4 cups water

2 cups bonito flakes (Katsuobushi)

2 Tbls sugar

1/3 cup Mirin (Hon-Mirin) sweet sake

1 cup soysauce

Bring the sugar, mirin, soy sauce and water in a medium size pot and bring

to a boil.  Reduce heat, and add the bonito flakes.  Simmer for a couple of minutes.  Turn off heat. Strain in a paper towel or cheese cloth lined strainer.

The broth is ready for use.

Cook the noodles and serve the broth hot.  

How to make Morizuyu (Dipping sauce for cold soba noodles)

[Summary] by Akila Inouye

To make morizuyu, prepare the Hongaeshi (dipping sauce base) first.

Add the hongaeshi to dashi stock to finalize it.

Hongaeshi will keep for a month in a cool and dry place

but dashi should be prepared each time.

[How to prepare Hon-gaeshi  (Dipping sauce base)

60 servings

1.0L Soy sauce (Koikuchi/regular type)

200ml Hon Mirin (Must use a real thing made from rice, rice sprit and rice malt)

133g Sugar (Reccommend Japanese white coarse sugar but generic granulated sugar

in US should be okay)

Put the sugar and mirin in a pot.

Dissolve the sugar completely with medium heat.

Add the soy sauce and heat until 70 degrees (centigrade).

Cover the pot with a clean cloth or other material instead of using the hard lid.

Set aside the pot until the viporated steam will completely escaped

and the liquid cools to room temperature.

Store the liquid in a cool and dry place.

You can keep it for a month.

[How to finish Morizuyu]

17 servings

1200 ml Clear water (soft type should be great)

70 g Dried Bonito flakes (Katsuobushi)

350 ml Hongaeshi

Dash of Mirin (Optional)

Dash of Sake (Optional)

Boil the water for making dashi.

Put bonito flakes into the boiling hot water.

Lower heat to a simmer and cook the dashi liquid for a minute.

Strain the dashi liquid with kitchen paper into another pot.

(The dashi liquid comes to about 1,000 ml;

10 percent of the water is evaporated during cooking, and the dried bonito will

absorb another 10 percent).

Add the Hongaeshi to the dashi.  Heat the liquid to 70 degrees (centigrade).

Add a dash of Mirin and Sake ( optional).

Cool down the pot with plenty of ice. To do this, have a big bowl of ice water with ice.

Rest the pot containing the dipping sauce on top to cool down.

Serve 80 ml for each serving.

This Morizuyu will keep in the refrdgerator for 3 days.

As I was browsing the internet, I came across the food blog THE WEDNESDAY CHEF.

A few years ago, the blogger of this site, Luisa Weiss reviewed and tested my soba noodles and dipping sauce recipe, which I wrote for the Los Angeles Times Food Section. I thought it would be nice to post it on my food blog for keepsakes, as Luis initially made me realize there is a world of food bloggers who test recipes and write about them.  My old recipe is simpler than the one Akila Inouye taught us at the soba workshop.   Akila Inouye's version is denser, more refined and tastier than my simple recipe, but if you don't have any Hongaeshi. dipping sauce base at hand, and want to whip some dipping sauce quickly, try this recipe.  It's good. Most Japanese homecooks don't bother with the extra step of making Hongaeshi. The Wednesday Chef loved it.

This is an all purpose basic dipping sauce that I use for dipping Tempura, Soba, Somen noodles. You can use this recipe as a starting point, and make some adjustments with the seasonings to suit your palate. The sauce is sweetened with Mirin, sweet sake, which unlike sugar has more depth in flavor.  It is not as dense or rich as the Dipping Sauce for Soba but easier to make.

RECIPE:

  1 cup of Dashi-broth (see Basics for Dashi Recipe

1/8 cup - light color soy sauce (Usukuchi-shoyu) or regular soysauce. (I prefer light color soysauce

1/8 cup - Mirin, sweet sak

1/2 cup - bonito flakes

1. Bring the Dashi broth, soysauce and Mirin, sweet sake in a medium size pot and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Add the bonito flakes and let stand for 2 minutes. Do not stir.
2. Strain broth. Discard bonito flakes. Let the broth cool down to room temperature.
3. Makes about 1.1/4 cups of dipping sauce.
4. Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.

NOTE: To make the sauce a little stronger in flavor, do 1/6 cup of soy sauce and sweet sake each instead of 1/8 cup. Use koikuchi soy sauce for soba.

Miso Sake Marinade

This is a marinade that can be used for marinating firm white fish. Black cod works best but also link and rock cod. The marinade can also be used for marinating beef and pork.

You can adjust the sweetness of the marinade by adding more or less sweet sake and sugar.

2 cups White miso (Saikyo is preferred) or light brown miso

1.5 oz sake

1.5 oz mirin

1 Tbls sugar (optional)

In a non-reactive container, mix miso, sake, mirin and sugar. The marinade should be smooth enough to be able to spread easily. (The consistency is softer than peanut butter). If you need to make it softer, add more mirin or sake.

Keeps in the fridge for about a month and can be re-used, especially if you use a cheese cloth to line the fish.  I double lined the cheese cloth.  Use enough cheesecloth so you have enough cloth to envelope the fish.  With the cheese cloth lining, the fish is easier

to lift out of the marinade.  When ready to use the fish, wipe or wash off the marinade

with a paper towel or clean cloth to wipe.  Now you are ready to grill the fish.

See the recipe for Cod in Miso Marinade.

Most salad dressings I find have an over powering flavor of vinegar, mustard, oil, sugar or salt. Since I am one who believes in eating something vinegary everyday, I much prefer a mild vinegar dressing. Something so mild that you can drink it straight like a broth. This dressing for Sunomono is drinkable and oil-free.

This dressing will keep in the fridge for about a week. You can use it over cucumbers, lettuce, tomato, wakame seaweed, cooked vegetables such as brocolli, cauliflower. I can't think of a vegetable that doesn't work with this dressing.

• 1 cup of Dashi-broth (see Basics for Dashi recipe)
• 1/8 cup - light color soy sauce (Usukuchi-shoyu) or regular soysauce. (I prefer light color soysauce)
• 1/8 cup - Rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup - bonito flakes

1. Bring the Dashi broth, soysauce and rice vinegar in a medium size pot and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. Add the bonito flakes and let the flakes sink to the bottom. Strain broth. Discard bonito flakes. Let the broth cool down to room temperature.
2. Makes about 11/4 cups of Sunomono rice vinegar -dashi dressing.
3. Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.

This very mild dipping sauce is used for Ohitashi - a simple cooked salad, which can be anything from steamed asparagus, fresh peas, spinach, Mizuna. It is a variation of the Sunomono dressing and the Basic Dashi dipping sauce. Keep the cooked vegetables in the Ohitashi dressing for at least 20 minutes before serving.

• 1 cup of Dashi-broth (see Basics for Dashi recipe)
• 1/8 cup - Usukuchi soy sauce (light color soy sauce)
• 1/8 cup - sake
• 1/2 cup - bonito flakes

1. Bring the Dashi broth, soysauce and sake in a medium size pot and bring to a boil. Turn off heat. 
2.  Add the bonito flakes and let the flakes sink to the bottom. Strain broth. Discard bonito flakes. Let the broth cool down to room temperature.
3. Makes about 11/4 cups of dipping sauce.
4. Keeps in the fridge for 3-4 days.