One Year Later...

Tomorrow marks one year since Japan was devastated by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which spawned the catastrophic Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. No doubt, this year has been long and hard for the survivors and the road to full recovery will be long. But, it seems to me the Japanese always find a way to recover and thrive with a unique strength that's been cultivated over many centuries.

Did you ever read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes as a child? It's a marvelous, moving, true story - also borne of a nuclear event - about a girl who's dying from leukemia after the bombing of her hometown, Hiroshima, during WWII. She tries to fold 1,000 origami cranes, which will make her wish for survival come true, according to legend. She only manages to make 644 cranes before she succumbs to her illness, but she has become a symbol of hope and peace that endures to this day.

I developed a fascination with origami because of Sadako's story but, after all these years, the crane is the only creature I remember how to make. So, here's a crane and my wish for continued peace and hope and healing for our Japanese friends and family.

Mabo Tofu

How fortuitous that I saved the spicy dishes for the end of the week! My sinus woes have not abated, although I did make it to work today. I had to leave a couple hours early, though, since the "daytime" version of my trusty medicine was not working. Now, having been properly dosed, my final Japanese dish is complete and consumed.

I found the recipe for mabo tofu in my "Extending the Table" cookbook, with an English-language title of "quick spicy tofu." It definitely is quick to make, and the flavors are wonderful! But, I'll admit, I played with the ingredients a little to better suit the items I had on hand and could afford. All told, I stayed pretty faithful to the original, and I'm thrilled we've got leftovers!

The original recipe calls for 1 Tbsp of red miso paste. The smallest container I could find at the Asian Supermarket held about a cup of miso and cost around $5, which I didn't think was too budget friendly for an ingredient that would spoil before I could use it all. I did some quick Internet research on my phone and learned there really is no substitute for miso, so I skipped it and added a little oyster sauce instead. I did find one person who suggested mixing tahini with anchovy paste, but...

The tofu, on the other hand, was incredibly affordable. Each one-pound container cost just $0.99 at the Asian Supermarket, whereas Price Chopper charges $2.99 - or more! That alone made it worth the visit!

There were no veggies in this recipe, but snow peas were cheap and we needed some for the soup, so we bought a "value-sized" bag and used some in this dish too. And, I've been snacking on them all week - feels like summer!

I also used ground turkey instead of pork, which the original recipe used, since we had that on hand and I only needed ¼ pound. Actually, we cooked up some turkey cutlets the other night and just set one aside (uncooked). I pulsed it a few times in our food processor today and...出来上がり! (According to Google Translate, that's Japanese for voila!)

My final modification had to do with the spice. Now, as I mentioned earlier in this post, these spicy foods have been doing wonders for me. My wife, however, isn't too partial. So, instead of mixing red pepper into the entire dish, I just sprinkled some on top of my portion.

But, enough nitpicking. Here's how I made it:

Two 1-lb. blocks firm tofu, drained and cut into ½" cubes (this is enough for 4 people)
Canola oil/butter/margarine
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, diced

¼ lb. ground turkey

⅓ cup hot water
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 Tbsp hot water

In a large saucepan, boil a few cups of water. Add the cubed tofu, and boil for just a minute or two. Remove the tofu, drain it well and set it aside.

In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the ginger, garlic and onion for a couple minutes till golden. Add the ground turkey and sauté till just cooked. Then, add the hot water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and dissolved cornstarch. When the sauce begins to thicken slightly, add the tofu and stir gently so each piece gets coated. Let it bubble away for a couple minutes so the flavors can blend, and serve it over rice. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper flake, to taste.

Kakitama-jiru & Chilled Soba Noodles

Annoyingly, I've got this sinus thing going on. But, what better remedy for a head cold than hot soup, right? Not to mention some fresh air, thanks to the gorgeously warm, sunny day we had today. (For you non-locals, our temp reached the 50s today and we're expecting the 60s tomorrow! That's practically shorts weather!) So, we threw open the windows and I brewed a pot of kakitama-jiru, with some chilled soba noodles on the side for good measure.

I used the last of my konbu dashi for these two recipes, which kept beautifully in the fridge since I made it Sunday night. As you'll see, the soup has only a few ingredients and the dashi complimented them perfectly. (One last nudge: I strongly recommend you make your own dashi; don't try to replace it with our typical broth.) I ended up with a light, oniony, delectable soup. I didn't create lovely ribbons of egg in my soup, as the picture shows, but that doesn't mean I sacrificed anything in terms of taste. I guess that's an acquired skill and I'll just have to keep practicing.

The chilled soba noodles are dipped in a sweet and salty sauce and some wasabi. Now, if you've never experienced the piercing nasal heat of wasabi, a root related to horseradish and mustard, you really should try it. To be honest, I don't find it to be a very pleasant experience, and much of wasabi's taste gets lost in that heat, but it gets top marks as a homeopathic treatment for ailing sinuses. Wooo!


Cook's Note: These noodles could easily be re-imagined into a cold pasta salad with some extra ingredients, perfect for a summer BBQ.


Each recipe serves up to 4. Here's how I made them:

Noodles:
9 oz (two bundles) soba noodles
¾ cup konbu dashi
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp mirin
2 tsp sugar

Prepare the noodles according to the package instructions. Mine took only 3-4 minutes till they were tender and ready to eat. Drain them well and rinse with cold water.

Combine the remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Set the sauce aside to cool. When you're ready to serve the noodles, if they're too warm you can dip them into ice water or run them under more cold water and drain again well. Serve the sauce in side dishes or drizzle over the noodles as desired. Grab a bit of wasabi with your chopsticks or fork before each bite of noodles.

Soup:
4 cups dashi
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 scallions, chopped
1-2 cups snow peas
2 eggs, beaten

In a large saucepan, bring the dashi to a boil over medium-high heat. Just as it's starting to bubble, add the soy sauce, scallions and snow peas. Once the soup comes to a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and stir it briskly so that the hot soup is spinning in the pan but no longer bubbling. Slowly pour the egg into the pot while the soup is spinning so that the egg (ideally) cooks in ribbons. Serve immediately.

Maru

Maru's Twitter Profile Pic

Well, I've caught a cold, but I'll be cooking again tomorrow. Meantime, I wanted to share my absolute favorite Japanese export.

His name is Maru, and he's a Scottish Fold who really loves boxes. Maru has his own Facebook page, blog, YouTube channel and Twitter account. (The latter is how I and his millions of other fans learned that Maru and his owner made it through the tsunami last spring.)

Please get to know Maru. He's truly a joy, and I guarantee he'll charm you, too.

Oyakodon

My first Japanese dish is one style of donburi, a popular "rice bowl dish" that has many iterations. It seems that most donburi feature some kind of protein and/or vegetable with scallions simmered in a dashi-based sauce (that broth/stock I mentioned in yesterday's post).

Allow me digress for a moment. Last night, I prepared enough konbu dashi (dried kelp broth) for two recipes I'll be making, including tonight's. To make 2 quarts of broth, I used a 9" length of konbu. Sensitive to the fact that Japanese cooking tends to be very high in sodium, I thoroughly rinsed the konbu to remove the dried salt that coated its surface. I submerged the konbu in the water for about 90 minutes, before beginning to heat it on low. Then, I promptly forgot all about it! Chores, spring training baseball and other diversions got in the way, and I remembered it was cooking about two hours later.

I was supposed to slowly bring it to a boil over low heat and cease cooking it then, but that never happened. It barely blipped away for that two hours, but I ended up with a nice broth nonetheless. I'm sure it could be stronger, but the mild, briny broth I ended up with suits me just fine. It really is delicious, so don't be afraid to make some for your own dishes.

Anyhoo, back to tonight's recipe. For my donburi, I chose to make oyakodon. Why? It's all in the name. Oyakodon translates to "parent and child" in Japanese, a playful moniker that's been given to this dish because it contains both chicken and eggs. When I then learned that a similar dish on a Chinese menu was reportedly the inspiration for the title of Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion," I was hooked! Turns out, it's an amazingly good dish that's a snap to make. I have a feeling the leftovers will just get better and better.

After putting some Japanese medium-grain white rice on to cook (enough to yield 4 cups, as this recipe serves 4-6), here's how I made the oyakodon:

1⅔ cups konbu dashi
5 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp turbinado sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1½ lb chicken breast, sliced into strips
10 scallions, chopped
6 eggs, whisked until frothy


Preheat the broiler. In a large, ovenproof skillet, bring the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once the sugar dissolves, add the cornstarch and stir to remove any lumps. Then, add the chicken pieces and continue to simmer for a few minutes, till the chicken pieces are opaque and the sauce begins to thicken. Then, add the scallions and begin to whisk the eggs. When the eggs are light and airy, pour them over the chicken mixture. Don't stir the eggs into the sauce; instead, allow them to "marble" the sauce.

Place the skillet under the broiler and cook until most of the liquid on top of the mixture is dry and the eggs are cooked through, about 6-8 minutes. Slide it out of the skillet onto the cooked rice that's been spread onto the bottom of a large, shallow bowl. Scoop and enjoy!

Week #7: Japan

こんにちは! (Kon'nichiwa!) (Hello!)

We went out to dinner this past week to celebrate a friend's birthday at a local Hibachi-style Japanese restaurant, and this blog came up in conversation. Amazingly, when we showed one of the friends at the party how the SpinGlobe iPhone app helps me choose each week's destination, the pin dropped on Japan. Incredibly, when I picked the country for this week, the pin again dropped on Japan! I guess it doesn't get clearer than that, so this week we're venturing to Russia's easternmost neighbor, the island nation of Japan.

In accordance with the indigenous polytheistic Shinto religion of Japan, the killing of animals and the consumption of meat as far back as the 1st century A.D. was not widely practiced. Beginning in the 12th century with the rise of the shogunates, de facto military dictators appointed by the emperor to help protect Japan from outside influence, meat eating and animal killing were strictly forbidden until 1853, when the country exited a long period of sakoku (literally, "locked country") or national seclusion from the Western world.

1245 Central Ave., Albany

Japan's most important crop for about 2,000 years and a staple at almost every meal (even breakfast) is rice. Alternatively, meals incorporate various noodles, like soba and udon.

Although chicken, beef and other animal proteins have become more common in Japanese cooking, seafood is still prevalent, both raw (sashimi) and cooked (grilled, fried, steamed, etc.).

A main ingredient in most Japanese recipes is a stock or broth called dashi. I'll be making konbu (dried kelp) dashi for the dishes I'm cooking this week. We had a great time shopping at the Asian Supermarket  on Central Ave. just east of Colonie Center for the kombu and other ingredients we'll need. Let me just say, that place was hopping! That grocery was jam packed with a very diverse mix of shoppers from many cultures and of all ages.

So, stay tuned - I'll probably make my first dish tomorrow.

ありがとう! (Arigatō!) (Thank you!)