Japanese – Westchester Supper Club

March 7, 2018 » by Michael » Theme: Japanese

A Trio of Japanese Vegetable Side Dishes

Loren made these…

Daikon-Carrot Salad

Am easy recipe from FoodNetwork.com

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds daikon, peeled

Kosher salt

1 pound carrots

1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger

1/8 of a Napa cabbage (optional)

3 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil 1 3/4 teaspoons black sesame seeds

Directions:

Shave the daikon into ribbons with a vegetable peeler. Toss with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a colander; let drain in the sink, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, shave the carrots into ribbons with the peeler and slice cabbage into thin pieces.

Make the dressing: Whisk the ginger, vinegar, lime juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the vegetable oil and sesame oil until blended. Toast the sesame seeds in a skillet over medium heat, tossing occasionally, until the white seeds are golden, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon seeds to the dressing. Toss the daikon, cabbage and carrots with the dressing and season with salt. Top with the remaining sesame seeds.

Cucumber Sunomono

Ingredients

2 large cucumbers, peeled

1/3 cup rice vinegar

4 teaspoons white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger root

Directions

Cut cucumbers in half lengthwise and scoop out any large seeds. Slice crosswise into very thin slices.
In a small bowl combine vinegar, sugar, salt and ginger. Mix well. Place cucumbers inside of the bowl, stir so that cucumbers are coated with the mixture. Refrigerate the bowl of cucumbers for at least 1 hour before serving.

SPINACH WITH SESAME SEED DRESSING #2 (HORENSO NO GOMA AE)

PREP TIME: 10 mins TOTAL TIME: 12 mins

SERVES: 4

ABOUT THIS RECIPE

“The first version of this salad that I ever made, from “The Japanese Cooking Class Cookbook”. I think it’s still my favorite version. If you don’t have 2 tbsp. of dashi on hand (and who does?), or want a vegan version, use vegetable stock or water instead. NOTE: Sesame seeds love to pop right out of the skillet; I’d recommend using one with high sides or even a medium saucepan for toasting them.”

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 tablespoons white sesame seeds

1/2 teaspoon white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons dashi

1 quart water

1/4 teaspoon salt

12 ounces spinach

DIRECTIONS

Heat sesame seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat, stirring or shaking pan constantly, until seeds are light brown and first popping sound occurs, about 2 minutes.

Reserve 1 teaspoons (5 ml.) of the toasted sesame seeds. Grind remaining seeds in a mortar and pestle or grinder until smooth. Combine ground seeds, sugar, soy sauce, and dashi in a small bowl to make dressing. Set aside.

Heat 1 quart (1 liter) water and the salt to boiling in a 2-quart saucepan; add spinach. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until spinach is tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain spinach. Rinse undeer cold running water; drain. Squeeze spinach to remove excess moisture. Cut into 1-inch pieces.

Combine spinach and dressing in a medium bowl and toss lightly until thoroughly mixed. Divide evenly into 4 small bowls and garnish with reserved sesame seeds.

February 1, 2018 » by Michael » Theme: Japanese

Oyakodon (Chicken & Egg Bowl)

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 15 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course: Main Course

Servings: 2

Ingredients

2 boneless skinless chicken thighs
½ onion
2 large eggs

Seasonings (ample amount – do not need to use all): (I used all)

2/3 cup dashi
1 ½ Tbsp mirin
1 ½ Tbsp sake
1 ½ Tbsp soy sauce
1 ½ tsp granulated sugar

To serve:

3 cups cooked Japanese short grain rice
small bunch Mitsuba (Japanese parsley) (or green onion/scallion)
Shichimi Togarashi (Japanese seven spice)

Instructions

Gather all the ingredients.
Combine dashi, mirin, sake, soy sauce in a bowl or a liquid measuring cup.
Add sugar and mix all together until sugar is dissolved.
Thinly slice the onion and chop mitsuba (or green onion). Beat one egg in a small bowl (you will need to beat another egg when you work on the second batch).
Slice the chicken thigh diagonally and cut into 1.5″ (4 cm) pieces. I recommend using “sogigiri” cutting technique so the chicken will be equal thickness and create more surface area for fast cooking.
We make one serving at a time using a small frying pan. Divide all the ingredients in half. Add half of the onion in a single layer. Pour roughly 1/3 to ½ of the seasonings mixture (depending on the size of your frying pan, the amount may vary). You will need just enough sauce to cover the onion and chicken.
Add half of the chicken on top of the onion. Make sure the onion and chicken are evenly distributed. Turn on the heat to medium heat and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, lower the heat to medium low heat. Skim off any foam or scum if you see any. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink.
Slowly and evenly drizzle the beaten egg over the chicken and onion. Cook covered on medium low heat until the egg is done to your liking. Usually Oyakdon in Japan is served with almost set but runny egg.
Add the mitsuba (or green onion) right before removing from the heat. Pour the chicken and egg on top of steamed rice and drizzle desired amount of remaining sauce.

January 24, 2018 » by Dino » Theme: Japanese

Soba-Cha Pudding (Roasted-Buckwheat Custard)

These egg custards are rich and dense, with a silky-smooth texture. The secret ingredient is Japanese roasted-buckwheat tea (called soba-cha). Somewhat similar to chestnuts, the buckwheat adds a deeply nutty, toasted flavor that pairs beautifully with the lightly sweet dairy in the custards.

Recipe courtesy of Serious Eats.

Yield: Serves 4
Active time: 30 minutes
Total time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

12 ounces heavy cream (1 ½ cups; 355ml), plus more as needed
1 ½ ounces soba-cha, or roasted-buckwheat tea (¼cup; 45g), plus more for garnish (see note)
Pinch kosher salt
6 large egg yolks (about 4 ounces; 115g)
3 ounces sugar (7 tablespoons; 85g)
Whipped cream, for garnish

Special Tools

4 (4- or 6-ounce) ramekins
fine-mesh strainer
flexible rubber or silicone spatula
instant-read thermometer

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C). Bring a kettle of water to a boil. In a medium saucier or saucepan, combine cream with soba-cha and bring to a bare simmer over medium heat, stirring and scraping the bottom and sides frequently with a rubber or silicone spatula to prevent scorching. Remove from heat and let steep for 5 minutes.
Fine-strain infused cream into a heatproof measuring cup, pressing down on soba-cha to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard soba-cha. Add enough fresh cream to infused cream to top it up to 1 1/2 cups total. Season with a scant pinch of salt.
In a clean medium saucier or saucepan (you can also use the same one from step 1, as long as it has cooled sufficiently that it won’t cook the yolks), whisk egg yolks with sugar, then pour hot infused cream into egg yolk mixture while whisking constantly. Set over medium-low heat and cook, stirring and scraping bottom and sides of pot with a rubber or silicone spatula, until custard registers 140°F (60°C) on an instant-read thermometer. Remove from heat.
Fine-strain custard, then divide into ramekins and set ramekins in a baking dish. Cover baking dish with aluminum foil, leaving a small opening in the foil, and transfer to oven. Pour prepared boiling water into baking dish, being careful not to splash it into ramekins, until water comes about 3/4 of the way up the ramekin sides. Seal foil and bake custards until just set, 30 to 45 minutes.
Carefully remove baking dish from oven, making sure not to slosh water, and let custards cool in water bath for about 1 hour. Remove ramekins from water bath, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until fully chilled, at least 3 hours.
Custards can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. To serve, top with whipped cream and garnish with a few stray roasted buckwheat seeds.