I am of the opinion that making your own tofu is incredibly time consuming with minimal payoff. That said, nothing beats fresh tofu. However, I am not going to write a tofu-making recipe, at least not right now. What I *am* going to do is show you a very quick, elegant way of serving tofu, either freshly made or right out of one of those aseptic packs.
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Karei (flat fish – a type of sole) is a popular, quick-cooking whitefish that is typically seen as a Winter dish, but since it’s so light in flavor and readily available, I like to cook it year-round. Karei should be served as soon as it is cooked, and if you can get fresh sole wherever you are, so much the better. I buy the Japanese import sole, but any flat fish variety will do. (more…)
Miso soup with sardine stock (Shiro miso no iriko dashijiru) is a simple, delicious dish with lots of flavor and texture. Traditionally served with soft cubes of silken tofu, wakame seaweed and finely chopped green onion, miso soup is one of my favorite breakfast foods. It seems to have the same waking effect as coffee for me. Even the act of preparing miso soup, or “misojiru”, is relaxing and beautiful, easing me into the morning and making the impending day a lot easier to face. Or perhaps maybe I’m an incurable foodie, addicted to the pleasures of taste and smell, and just a little bit crazy. Whatever. This is good food, people, and you’re going to learn how to make it, right now.
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Sunomono, or “vinegar marinated thing” is something I keep on hand all the time for bentos or just as a side dish. It is quick and easy to make and lasts for quite awhile in the fridge, being vinegared and all. There are variety of ways to make sunomono, but perhaps the most popular is the vinegared thin-sliced cucumber and tiny shrimp. I’m going to use cucumber for this recipe and omit the shrimp, to simplify things a bit. (more…)
First of all, what is nukazuke? Nukazuke (lit. rice bran pickle) is a pickle (tsukemono) made from burying vegetables in a salted pickling bed (nukadoko) of primarily toasted rice bran flavored with kombu, soybeans, chili peppers, ginger and any number of aromatic additions. A seasoned nukadoko is typically maintained for years, handed down from Mother to Daughter, much like a fine heirloom sourdough starter. Nukazuke is time consuming and fairly high-maintenance as these things go, requiring daily attention and tweaking to get the flavor and intensity just so. The payoff is delicious, salty pickles that are ready to eat after only a day or two. (more…)
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