Experimenting with Shrimp Tempura

Shrimp Tempura Test Run

First we made the dashi by soaking dried kelp in 1 liter of water on the burner. Just as we got to boiling we pulled the kelp out.

Kelp heating up in water.

Then we added in cold water to take the temperature down and added in the bonita flakes.

Bonito flakes settle in the dashi mixture.

It came back to a boil then we pulled it off the burner. Then we let the bonita settle to the bottom and sit for about 2 minutes. We strained the dashi mixture out to get it clear. Then the dashi was set aside for the tempura sauce.

Straining out the kelp and bonito flakes to get a clear dashi broth.

Then we used the kelp and bonita remnants to make a secondary dashi for use later.

Lee de-veined the shrimp and washed a few mushrooms, while the oil in the deep fryer was heating up to 340 degrees.

De-veining the shrimp.

I started to make the tempura sauce by mixing the dashi with mirin and light soy sauce.

Adding Mirin to the dashi and soy sauce to make the tempura dipping sauce.

Then I grated daikon and set it aside.

We set up the batter, and the oil was ready at 340 degreed.

Prepping the shrimp.

At Wakuriya, the shrimp tempura had a shiso leave and a piece of nori wrapped around it. We tried a few different ways to apply the shiso and nori, first wrapping them around the shrimp then dipping into the batter.

Shrimp wrapped in shiso and nori.

We found that the shiso didn't stick to the shrimp and sometimes peeled off during the deep frying. Then we tried dipping each shrimp into the batter first, then wrapping the shiso/nori around.

Shrimp dipped in batter.

This worked, but it didn't look like the Wakuriya one. Then next set, we applied batter to the shrimp, then wrapped it with the shiso/nori, and re-dipped it into the batter. This turned out to look the best. We also tried a thinner and thicker batter to see how the tempura would turn out. We liked the thicker batter as it gave us more "crunch."

Into the "deep."

However, I think a slightly lighter batter might look better as it would allow more of the black-green color to come through from the shiso/nori wrapper.

Tempura!

One thing I had missed in reading from the recipe, was that we needed to dredge the shrimp in flour prior to dipping into the batter. I think this would have given us a more crispy texture from the batter. Our first attempts came out a little soft. We tried to fix this initially by cooking our tempura longer in the deep fryer. This did help, but we would have liked more crunch if possible. For the cooking club meeting we won't forget to apply the flour before we dip.

Plated!

For a first attempt, the taste of the tempura came out pretty good. We could however, improve on the texture of our batter by achieving more "crunch." Dredging in flour might help. Maybe adding corn starch to the batter would work? I also heard double frying might do the trick. Also, making sure the water is very cold (ice water) might get us there. Until next time.

Shrimp tempura with daikon radish and scallions in dipping sauce.

Photos from Grilling-themed meeting

Here are photos from the Grilling-themed get-together:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnjoh/sets/72157624499428475/

Wakuriya-inspired Appetizer Trio

Recently, we went to Wakuriya in San Mateo, and had Kaiseki dinner. The appetizer course was a trio set. We were inspired by Wakuriya to do a similar set of assorted appetizers (Zensai).

We've combined a few dishes to re-create a version of this appetizer trio which will consist of a Chilled Pureed Corn Soup, Nigiri Sushi, and Battered Shrimp Tempura.

*****

PUREED CORN SOUP
(Tomorokoshi Surinagashi-jiru)

The freshly crushed corn lends an exotic flavor to this novel soup—a tasty meeting of East with West. Refreshing in summer served very cold, like vichyssoise, but serve it piping hot in winter.

4 servings;

1 cob fresh corn
5 cups dashi (or light chicken stock)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp light soy sauce
3 Tbsps white (or red) miso

¼ tsp mustard paste (see description below)
½ cake tofu (bean curd), cut in ½-inch cubes

To prepare: Cook the corn on the cob, covered, in lightly salted boiling water for 1 minute. Strip kernels from the cob and chop coarsely on a cutting board. Grind to a paste in a mortar or suribachi grinding bowl (or use a food processor), then press through a sieve with the back of a wooden spoon. Discard pulp in sieve.

To cook and assemble: Rapidly bring the dashi just to a boil, then simmer while seasoning to taste with the salt and light soy sauce. Soften the miso with a few Tbsps of dashi from the pot, then mix in and stir. Stir in the pureed corn and bring to a simmer. Add the mustard paste, stirring well. Add the bean curd cubes and cook just until tofu is heated (do not break cubes). Serve immediately.

Variations: Instead of using tofu, substitute either bite-sized pieces of grilled mocha or eggs. The chewy rice is a good combination with the corn. Dribble beaten egg into the simmering soup, or break eggs directly into the boiling soup and serve one such poached egg in each individual soup bowl, ladle the soup over, and serve immediately. To eat with poached egg, break the egg yolk (with your chopsticks), stir around vigorously in your bowl, then begin.

Mustard (karashi): The dry ground mustard used in Japan his very strong stuff, and a little goes a long way. It is prepared by mixing (Japanese) mustard powder with a bit of water to a very stiff paste and allowing it to ripen for about 10 minutes. A common practice is to mix the stiff paste in the bottom of a small bowl and invert it while the mustard flavor ripens. Mix only a small amount at a time, because the fullness of flavor fades quickly. Besides, you will not use very much at once.
Besides being sold in powdered form in 1-, 2-, and 5-ouince round spice tins, Japanese mustard paste is also available in tubes.
Karashi is used very sparingly as a condiment with Oden, and is a flavoring in some dressed salads. It may also be used to brighten soy-based dipping sauces—cautiously.
Japanese karashi is like some of the hotter European mustards, but without vinegar, and not as light or as mild as American mustard.

Primary Dashi (Ichiban Dashii)

Makes 1 quart (1 L);

Serves 6 as base for clear soup
1 quart (1 L) cold water
1 ounce (30 g) giant kelp (konbu)
1 ounce (30 g) dried bonito flakes (hana-katsuo)

To prepare: Fill a medium-sized soup pot with 1 quart cold water and put in the kelp. Heat, uncovered, so as to reach the boiling point in about 10 minutes.
IMPORTANT: Kelp emits a strong odor if it is boiled, so remove konbu just before water boils.
Insert your thumbnail into the fleshiest part of the kelp. If it is soft, sufficient flavor has been obtained. If tough, return it to the pot for 1 or 2 minutes. Keep from boiling by adding approximately ¼ cup cold water.
After removing the konbu bring the stock to a full boil. Add ¼ cup cold water to bring the temperature down quickly and immediately add the bonito flakes. No need to stir. Bring to a full boil and remove from the heat at once. If bonito flakes boil more than a few seconds, the stock becomes too strong, a bit bitter, and is not suitable for use in clear soups. If you make this mistake, all is not lost, use the stock as a base for thick soups, in simmered foods, and so on.
Allow the flakes to start to settle to the bottom of the pot (30 seconds to 1 minute). Remove foam, then filter through a cheesecloth-line sieve. Reserve the bonito flakes and kelp for secondary dashi.

Secondary Dashi (Niban Dashi)

While primary dashi is best suited for clear soups by virtue of its fragrance, subtle taste, and clarity, secondary dashi does noble service as a basic seasoning—for think soups, for noodle broths, as a cooking stock for vegetables, and in many other way.

Makes 3-4 cups;

Bonito flakes and giant kelp reserved from primary dashi
1 ½ quarts (1 ½ L) cold water
1/3-1/2 ounce (10-15 g) dried bonito flakes (hana-katsuo)

To prepare: Place the bonito flakes and giant kelp reserved from the primary dashi in 1 ½ quarts (1 ½ L) cold water in a medium-sized soup pot. Place over high heat just until the boiling point, then reduce heat and keep at a gentle simmer until the stock is reduced by 1/3 or ½, depending on the flavor desired. This reduction takes about 15-20 minutes.
Add the fresh hana-katsuo and immediately removed from heat. Allow the flakes to start to settle to the bottom of the pot (30 seconds to 1 minute), and remove foam from the surface. Filter liquid through a cheesecloth-lined sieve.
Discard the hana-katsu flakes and konba.


Tempura

The classic “Batter-fried” food in Japan is TEMPURA, which is no stranger to the West. What is not well known about this so-called typical Japanese dish is that in actual fact it was introduced, or at least devised, centuries ago by Europeans living in Japan—the Spanish and Portuguese who established missions in southern Japan in the late sixteenth century. The dish caught on with the Japanese, who added the thin, delicately seasoned dipping sauce with grated daikon mixed in. By now tempura has passed so thoroughly into native cooking that its origin is almost forgotten.
While tempura remains an exclusive domain of tempura specialty restaurants, it is also easy enough to make at home with very good results. In its higher forms it is a food reserved for special occasions, in its more pedestrian forms, simply a good meal. Whatever the purpose of the meal, to feast or to feed, in making tempura the cook should observe three points—fresh ingredients, oil at a constant temperature, and lumpy batter. The reasons behind using the freshest fish and vegetables available are self-evident. Keeping oil at a constant, proper temperature means even frying, and precise control, and light food, as discussed in detail above. But perhaps lumpy batter as a sine qua non for good tempura requires further explanation.
With tempura, the goal is to achieve a lacy, golden effect with the deep-fried coating, not a thick, armor-like pancake casing. To avoid a heavy, oily-tasting coating, do the opposite of all that you would do to make good pancakes. Make the tempura batter just before you are ready to begin deep-frying. Do not let the batter stand. In fine tempera restaurants, for instance, batter is made in small batches as orders come in. Tempura batter should never be mixed well. It should not be smooth and velvety. It should be only loosely folded together (with chopsticks, which are not an efficient tool for mixing and hence the perfect utensil for this job). The marks of good tempura batter are a powdery ring of flour at the sides of the mixing bowl and a mixture marked with lumps off dry flour.
Important. Make sure all foods to be coated are thoroughly dry (pat dry with toweling if necessary) and then dredge lightly in flour (except nori, shiso leaves, and knotted trefoil). This flour coat allows the batter to adhere well to the food.
Depending on how much lacy, golden coating you like on your tempura, you may adjust the coating technique and the consistency of the batter. If you like a thick coating, make a thick batter using slightly less ice water than in the recipe below. Much batter will adhere, and the coating will be thick. For the thinnest coating possible, make a thing batter by using more ice water than indicated below and gently shake dipped items over the batter bowl so excess batter returns to the batch.
Seasonal fish and vegetables are used in tempura. Chicken, beef, and pork, however, are not usually prepared as tempura because of their relatively heavier, identifiable taste.
Soup and pickles accompany tempura. Beverages should be sake, beer, or tea. Hot rice and more pickles conclude the repast.


TEMPURA SHRIMP

4 servings;

4-8 medium shrimp
Shiso leaves
Nori

Dipping sauce:
1 cup dashi
1/3 cup mirin
1/3 cup light soy sauce
1 cup grated giant white radish (daikon-oroshi)
Few tsps finely grated fresh ginger

Batter:
2 egg yolks
2 cups ice water
2 cups sifted flour

Oil for deep-frying

To prepare: Shell and devein shrimp, but leave tails attached. Chop off the tips of shrimp tails and gently press out moisture from the shrimp with the flat of knife tip. To prevent shrimp from curling as they are deep-fried, make a few deep incisions along the belly, as shown , and then lightly tap across each shrimp with the back of knife blade.
Prepare the dipping sauce by combining ingredients over heat and bringing just to a boil. Keep warm.
Grate radish and ginger.

To deep-fry: Make the batter in 2 batches, the first batch just before you are ready to begin deep-frying, as you are waiting for the oil to heat. In a mixing bowl, lightly beat 1 egg yolk, then pour in 1 cup of ice water and give this a few strokes. Add 1 cup sifted flour all at once. Stroke a few times with chopsticks or fork, just until ingredients are loosely combined. The batter should be very lumpy. If you over mix, the batter will be sticky and the coating will turn out oily and heavy. Mix the batter with the least amount of movement. Make the second batch of batter as the first is used up.
The oil should be fairly hot, about 340 F / 170 C. Test by dropping in a tiny bit of batter into the oil; it should descend slightly beneath the surface of the oil, then be buoyed up to the surface, the oil gently bubbling round its edges.
When you begin to deep-fry, set up the area around the heating unit like an assembly line: a tray or several trays of foods to be fried, a container of flour for dripping, and the batter bowl at your left; the hot oil pot at center; the rack for draining and skimmers and chopsticks and slotted spoons, at right. Try to arrange the physical layout and your timing to serve the tempura immediately after frying, but if you cannot, keep foods hot.
Each food item progresses through the assembly line in this way: use fingers to dip food in flour, shake off excess, then dip in batter; lay or slide coated material in hot oil and deep-fry until golden, around 3 minutes, turning in the oil for even cooking. Retrieve with slotted spoon or cooking chopsticks and briefly drain before transferring to serving plate. Skim the surface of the oil occasionally to keep it clean. Stir batter once or twice as you work, to keep it from separating.
[If you were doing other foods…] Begin with vegetables, then move on to shrimp and fish or other foods that need a higher oil temperature.
There are exceptions to this flour- and batter-coating process—shiso leaves, nori seaweed, and knotted trefoil are not dipped in flour and are batter-coated on the “back side” only. If these were completely covered with batter, their color or texture would be lost.

To serve: A bar-type arrangement that allows you to serve diners directly from the stove or from a deep-fryer at a sideboard is ideal for tempura. Diners should be provided with a plate or bamboo tray lined with absorbent paper on which tempura is placed as it is done. If, on the other hand, you have to bring the deep-fried food from kitchen to table, arrange 8 or 10 pieces of tempura on paper-lined plates or trays and serve that way.
At the table, pour hot dipping sauce into a small bowl, mix in grated daikon and a bit of gratted ginger, if desired. Dip tempura in this sauce and eat.


 
NIGIRI SUSHI

Although nigiri-zushi attempted at home cannot compare with that served in specialty sushi restaurants, it is a challenge, fun to make, and the results are rewarding. Sushi is good food, and there is a sense of accomplishment in making it, even if the professionals, obviously, will do better.
Nigiri-zushi make wonderful hors d’oeuvres or can be served as a first course. Sushi also makes an excellent one-course lunch. Until you have had practice making it a few times, it seems wisest to limit nigiri-zushi to one or two kinds of fish at one time or serve one type of fish-topped nigiri-zushi and a vegetable-filled rolled sushi (nor-maki) in combination. Nigiri-zushi cannot be prepared very much in advance; serve as soon as possible.

8 servings (about 4 dozen pieces);

4 cups sushi rice
2 pounds (1kg) fillet(s) of tuna, squid, or sea bream (one or all), without skin – SASHIMI grade
1Tbsp finely grated wasabi horseradish
Tezu (“hand-vinegar”)”
2 tsps rice vinegar
6 Tbsps water
Soy sauce
Thin-sliced vinegared ginger

To prepare: Make the sushi rice according to the recipe below.
With a sharp knife, cut fillets crosswise at a slight angle into slices about 1/8 inch thick (with tuna, ¼ inch thick is best). The sushi cut is very similar to cutting sashimi. Wrap in a kitchen towel, but do not refrigerate. Assemble with rice “fingers” as soon as possible.

To assemble: Mix the “hand-vinegar” in a cup or small bowl and use to moisten your hands to keep rice from sticking while you work. Dip fingers into “hand-vinegar” and rub palms together. Pick up about 1 ½ Tbsps vinegared rice and shape into a roughly rectangular from (or “finger”) about 1 ½ x ¾ inches.
Place rice across the first joint of the fingers of one hand (the right hand for right-handed people) and form roughly by clenching that hand. With index and middle fingers of right hand, press and form rice into a more defined and firm shape, as \shown, turning rice over so that all sides receive equal pressure. Do not squash or mash the rice; the pressure should be firm but gentle. Smear a dab of grated wasabi horseradish in the center of a slice of fish and press fish and rice “finger” together, as shown. The fish should cover the top of the “finger.” (No wasabi is used for egg sushi.)

Sushi Rice

(Sushi-meshi)

The flavor of sushi rice varies somewhat with the season. In summer a little more finegar is used. Adjust the flavor of the rice as you like.

3 1/3 cups short-grain rice, washed

4 cups water

3-inch (8-cm) square giant kelp (konbu)

Dressing:

5 Tbsps plus 1 tsp rice vinegar

5 Tbsps sugar

4 tsps sea salt

To prepare: Put rice in heavy-bottomed medium-sized pot or rice cooker and add the 4 cup water.

Wipe kelp (konbu) clean with a damp cloth. You may slash kelp with a knife in a few places to enable flavors to be released more completely. Place kelp on top of rice in water.

Cover and heat over medium heat just until the boiling point. When just boiling, remove kelp and discard. Cover tightly, boil over high heat for 2 minutes, then turn heat down to medium and boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to very low and cook for 15 minutes or until all water has been absorbed. Turn off heat and let stand (on burner), with pot lid wrapped in a kitchen towel, 10 to 15 minutes.

Have the vinegar dressing prepared. Dissolve the sugar and salt in vinegar over low heat. Force-cool to room temperature by placing hot vinegar mixture in a metal bowl and twirling the bowl in a bath of water and ice.

To toss rice: Using a flat wooden spoon or proper rice paddle, spread the hot rice in a thin layer in a wide and shallow wooden or plastic bowl--some convenient substitute for a hangiri tub. To keep the grains separate, toss rice with horizontal, cutting strokes. This lateral motion will also keep grains from being bruised or mashed. While tossing, sprinkle vinegar dressing generously over rice. You may not have to use all the vinegar dressing. Be careful not to add so much liquid that the rice becomes mushy.

At the same time that you are tossing the rice, cool it quickly and thoroughly with a hand-fan (or a folded newspaper). Get someone else to stand by and do this. A helper is more sensible than juggling the spoon and fan by yourself. The tossing and fanning takes about 10 minutes. Taste to test whether the rice is room temperature.

To keep vinegared rice from drying out, when it has cooled to room temperature, place in a container and cover with a damp cloth. Vinegared rice should be eaten the same day it is prepared; it does not keep more than 1 day. It should not be refrigerated.

(Source: Japanese Cooking - A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuju)

Instant Homework - Saikyo Yaki, Enoki No Miso-Jidate, Zakkoku Mai

While researching the Washoku theme, we decided to get our own copy of the Andoh cookbook and cook from it for Sunday dinner. Serendipity! We just happened to cook part of the menu from Kirk and Ei-Lun's post. Starting out at the Nijiya market, we got the ingredients for our dinner, which would consist of the Broiled fish, miso soup, and rice.The miso soup was pretty straight forward, and did not take long even with making the dashi. We used a medium colored, organic Nijiya brand miso for all the dishes, and it turned out well. The soup required no seasoning beyond the miso and tasted similar to restaurant soup. We used green onion as the garnish and it went well with the enoki mushrooms and tofu.The rice was even easier. Nijiya sold packets of mixed grains, pre-measured in small pouches, which you just mixed with the rice before putting in the rice cooker.
We used the "impatient" marinade for the fish, some salmon we got from the market. We couldn't find any sarashi cloth so used some stretchy gauze to cover the fish. We also put grated lemon peel in the marinade as suggested. In the end there wasn't a lot of marinade and we wondered if the fish would get any flavor at all through the thicker cloth. It turns out the fish had a nice mild flavor, but could probably use some more salt. Perhaps the sarashi cloth was the key for more intensity. Also we wondered why you wouldn't just put the marinade directly on the fish. Anyway it tasted pretty good nonetheless, and the crispy salmon skin was especially delicious. We baked the fish under the broiler for about 4 minutes on the skin side and about 1.5 minutes on the flip side. It probably cooked a bit more than needed, but was not too bad, although cutting the cooking time by a minute would probably be perfect. The fish turned out a bit blacker than ideal. We garnished the fish with some lemon wedges and shiso leaves (Yurah loves shiso leaves). All in all it was a pretty good and easy meal, and seasoning the fish more and cooking it less next time will probably make it even better.

Goma dofu (sesame tofu)

Goma dofu stands as a classic of Japanese shojin vegetarian cooking, but it is also on the menus of most fine restaurants. It is made with atari-goma, a paste very similar to tahini — the main flavoring agent in hummus. Atari-goma is ground from sesame seeds that have been roasted, while tahini is generally made from unroasted seeds. In this recipe, however, you may use either for similar results.

You may attempt to grind the sesame in a suribachi yourself, but to get the fine paste takes several hours. When using a ground sesame product, mix the oil in well that has separated and risen to the top before making your measurements.

There are many processed food starches used in Japanese kitchens, the most common is katakuri-ko (potato starch). Kuzu-ko, made from the kudzu vine, is higher quality but more expensive. Either will work, but kuzu-ko yields better results.

Soaking 20 grams of konbu (kelp) in 1 liter of water for three hours or more easily makes konbu dashi, a staple of vegetarian cooking.

100 grams atari goma
75 grams kuzu-ko
600 ml water
300 ml konbu dashi
45 ml sake
1 teaspoon salt uma-dashi* wasabi, freshly grated

1) Place the goma, kuzu-ko, water and dashi in a suribachi and mix well with the surikogi.

2) To completely incorporate and remove any lumps, pass the mixture through a fine sieve (uragoshi) into a clean, dry heavy-bottomed pan.

3) Dissolve the salt in the sake and set aside.

4) Set the pot over a medium flame and stir constantly with a rice paddle, preventing the sesame paste mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

5) When the mixture thickens — after five minutes or so — reduce the heat to low and continue stirring for 20 minutes. This is the 20 minutes that makes or breaks the recipe.

6) Stir in the salted sake and pour the mixture into a shallow cake pan — a 15-cm square pan is ideal — and cool completely by placing the pan in a larger pan and surrounding with ice water.

7) When cool, refrigerate and let the tofu set.

8) Cut and serve with uma-dashi and a dab of freshly grated wasabi. The tofu will keep refrigerated for up to one week. Makes 8-10 servings.

* Uma-dashi

Uma-dashi (literally, delicious stock) may be used on many tofu items and is very good on soft-boiled eggs (yude tamago).

70 ml dashi (shiitake if making vegetarian, katsuobushi if not) 10 ml mirin
5 ml koikuchi shoyu
5 ml usukuchi shoyu

1) Combine ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil.

2) Cool and refrigerate; will keep for one week or more.

Zensai Parfait

(Thanks Kirk & Ei-Lun for letting us consult the Washoku cookbook!)

Zensai Parfait

Nearly every traditional tea parlor in Japan will offer some variation on the warm, sweet adzuki bean concoction known as zensai. My updated version of this washoku classic is a multitextured, multilayered affair I pile into tall glasses and call a parfait. I top a scoop of green tea ice cream with a shower of crunchy corn flakes (trust me on this - it works) and a spoonful of warm, chunky bean jam (think hot fudge sauce), repeat the order, and then top the whole thing off with a dollop of whipped cream and a bright yellow chestnut.

Serves 4

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, icy cold
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 kuri no kanrō ni (chestnuts in syrup)
1 cup Chunky Red Bean Jam (see below)
1 pint Green Tea Ice Cream (see below)
1 cup unsweetened corn flakes or other whole-grain cereal

In a bowl, using a handheld electric mixer or a whisk, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the powdered sugar and continue to beat until the cream stiffens. Drizzle in the vanilla extract and beat until well mixed and stiff peaks hold their shape. Fit a pastry bag with a star tip and fill the bag with the whipped cream. Chill until ready to use.

Drain the chestnuts, returning any excess syrup to the glass jar in which they were packed.

Place the red bean jam in a small pan or in the top of a double boiler. Add 1 tablespoon of the chestnut syrup, place the pan over low heat, and heat, stirring to prevent scorching. When the sauce is glossy, thick, and slightly aromatic, after about 2 minutes, remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, or chill in the refrigerator.

In each of 4 tall glasses, assemble the parfaits. Being with a small scoop of ice cream. Next add some corn flakes, and then spoon in some of the bean jam. Repeat to make another layer each of the ice cream, corn flakes, and bean jam.

To finish each parfait, pipe out a swirling mound of whipped cream on top, and them set a single chestnut at a jaunty angle on the peak. Serve immediately with long-handled spoons.


Chunky Red Bean Jam
Tsubu An

Makes 2 cups

3/4 cup dried adzuki beans
About 7 cups cold water
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar, preferably kuro-zatō (also known as kokutō, literally "black sugar")
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon light-colored soy sauce

As with all dried bean cookery, the beans must be carefully washed to remove straw, pebbles, or other unwanted matter. Place the washed and drained beans in a 3-quart pot with 2 1/2 cups of the water and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to maintain a steady but not very vigorous simmer. Cook the beans for about 8 minutes, or until the water turns wine red. Drain the beans, discarding this first batch of cooking liquid (this procedure is referred to as shibumi kiri, or "removing astringency"). Rinse the pot to remove an aku (froth, scum, or film) that might be clinging to the sides.

Return the beans to the clean pot, add 3 more cups of the water, and place over medium heat. When the liquid comes to a boil, adjust the heat to maintain a steady but gentle simmer. Do not cover the pot. Cook until the water barely covers the beans, about 30 minutes. Add 1/2 cup more of the cold water (this is called bikkuri mizu, or "surprise water") and continue to cook over medium heat, skimming away froth and loose skins periodically. Repeat the "surprise water" treatment every 15-20 minutes for35-40 minutes, or until the beans are tender and give slightly when pinched.

Add the white sugar, stir, and simmer for 20 minutes (after the addition of the sugar, the sauce will darken and appear less cloudy). Add the brown sugar, stir, and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce becomes glossy and very thick (using a spoon or spatula, you should be able to draw a line that remains visible for several moments along the bottom of the pan). Add the salt and soy sauce (this will mellow the intense sweetness of the sauce and help "set" the consistency) and stir to mix well. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Transfer the cooled sauce to a glass jar, cover with a tight-fitting lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.


Green Tea Ice Cream
Matcha Aisu

Makes 1 pint

1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon mirin
2 teaspoon matcha
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup half-and-half

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Stir the mixture over low heat to melt the sugar and then continue to simmer for about 5 minutes, or until a bit syrupy. Add the mirin, stir, and remove the pan from the heat.

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the warm syrup and tne matcha and stir until dissolved. Return this sweet tea concentrate to the saucepan and stir until completely blended. To retain optimal aroma and ensure an intense jade color, do not reheat the mixture. Stir in the milk and half-and-half and mix thoroughly.


Source: Washoku, Elizabeth Andoh

Saikyo Yaki (Miso-Marinated Broiled Fish)

"Selecting ingredients at their peak of seasonal flavor, choosing locally available foods from both the land and the sea, appealing to and engaging all the senses, using a collage of color, employing a variety of food preparations, and assembling an assortment of flavors – a Washoku approach to cooking gives the creative and contemplative cook an opportunity to satisfy his or her own aesthetic hunger while providing sustenance and sensory pleasure to others."

— Elizabeth Andoh, Washoku

Suggested Pairing:
Wakatake Onikoroshi Daiginjo Sake

Optional Side Dishes (recipes in another post):

• Yuzu Fumi Hakusai (Citron-Pickled Chinese Cabbage)
• Hijiki No Nimono (Soy-Braised Hijiki and Carrots)
• Enoki No Miso-Jidate (Miso soup with Enoki Mushrooms)
• Zakkoku Mai (Rice with Mixed Grains)
  

Saikyo Yaki (Miso-Marinated Broiled Fish - 西京焼き)
Serving Size: 4-6 servings

• 1 1/2 pounds fish fillet with skin intact, cut into 4-6 pieces
• 2 1/2 - 3 cups sweet, light miso, preferably Saikyo miso
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1 tbsp. bits of freeze-dried yuzu peel or grated fresh lemon or orange zest (optional)
• Lemon or lime wedges (optional)
• Pink Ginger (optional)

Preparation:

• Rinse the fish pieces under cold running water, and pat them dry.
• To make the marinade, combine the miso, mirin, and yuzu peel, in a nonreactive container, and stir to mix well.
  
• Spread half of the marinade along the bottom of a wide, shallow gratin dish or other baking dish.
  
• Place a single thickness of sarashi cloth lightly into place over the marinade in the dish, so that about half of it is used to cover the marinade and you have enough extra material to enclose the fish in a single layer.
  
• Lay the pieces of the fish on the marinade-moistened cloth, being careful not to overlap the slices.
  
• Fold the extra cloth over the fish pieces to enclose them. Spread the remaining marinade over the top layer of cloth.
  
• Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the top of the marinating "sandwich" of sliced fish, pressing lightly to ensure even distribution of the marinade.
• Allow the fish to marinate at cool room temperature (no warmer than 75 degrees Fahrenheit) for at least 6 hours or in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days.
• After the fish has marinated, to cook, preheat the broiler.
  
• Scrape away the miso marinade and remove the fish from its cloth wrapping.
• Place the fish pieces skin side up on a shallow disposable aluminum pan or on the tray of a broiler pan and place in the broiler about three inches from the heat source.
• Broil for 3-5 minutes, or until the skin starts to bubble or char in places
• Then, flip the pieces and broil for another 3-5 minutes. Ideally, the fish will be slightly crusty or golden on the surface, and pink and succulent on the inside.
• Arrange the fish on individual serving plates, accompanied with lemon wedges. If you want a spicier accent, garnish with pink ginger.
  

Preparation Notes:

• Impatient Marinating Method. Place the fish on paper towels and sprinkle both sides liberally with salt. Let stand for 5 minutes or until they begin to sweat. Blot away any excess moisture with paper towels, and follow the directions above for covering the fish with cloth. After creating the marinade, use a pastry brush to paint both sides of the cloth-wrapped fish with the marinade. Allow the fish to marinate at a cool room temperature, no warmer than 75 degrees for at least 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for up to an hour - the fish will become slippery to touch. (Note: Eek! I didn't notice that there were different measurements for the impatient marinating method...here they are: 1 tsp. coarse salt, 1/3 cup sweet, light miso, preferably Saikyo miso, 2 tbsp. mirin, 1 tbsp. sake, 1 tbsp., freeze-dried yuzu peel, crushed to a powder, or grated fresh lemon or orange zest (optional))
  
• Marinating More Makes a Difference. After marinating, the fish will develop a heady, fermented aroma; turn a golden, translucent color, and become a bit slippery and sticky to the touch. The longer the fish marinates, the firmer and more intensely salty and sweet it will become.
• Sarashi Cloth Substitutions. A single layer of sarashi cloth can be substituted with a double thickness of cheesecloth or surgical gauze.
• Fish Flavor Enhancements. While we'll be using salmon (sake) to reap the benefits of Kirk's big catch up in Alaska, this recipe can be used for other types of fish such as scabbard fish (tachiuo), Spanish mackerel (sawara), and black cod (gindara). Yuzu is an optional ingredient for this recipe, and will make any oily fish more delicate in flavor.
• Grilling Again? If you haven't gotten enough of last month's Gourmet Grill theme, you can also utilize it for this recipe. Because the marinated fish scorches easily, it is best to place the fish skin side down on the grill - cooking times and directions are otherwise the same as the broiler directions above.
  

Recipe Source:
Washoku, by Elizabeth Andoh

Additional Resources:

• Zen and the Art of Cooking [video], Gourmet Magazine
  
• Five Pillars of Japanese Culinary Tradition, Savory Japan
• A Taste of Culture: Washoku Links, Elizabeth Andoh
  

K + E's Grilling Homework

Placeholder for our homework post, before our Washoku post!