Nizakana with Japanese-Style Pumpkin

 

Nizakana is literally boiled fish. It is fish boiled in a flavoured broth. This recipe is a boiled version of teriyaki fish. It is very easy to make, and makes a quick easy meal with the rice and pumpkin. A side salad and miso soup could be added.

Nizakana served on a Mashikoyaki plate on aizome indigo-dyed cloth

 

500g (1 lb) white meat fish fillets with or without skin

½ cup water

¼ cup soy sauce

 ¼ cup sake mirin*

2 tablespoons sugar

Place water, soy sauce, mirin and sugar into a frying pan. Bring to the boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Add fish fillets in a single layer (skin side up), cook for 5 minutes on medium high. Use a drop lid (if you have one) or piece of foil to with a hole in the centre, to ensure fish stay submerged in the liquid, or press down with a fish slice. Reduce heat as cooking juices decreases and spoon juices over the fish.

Arrange the fish with sauce on individual plates to serve in true Japanese style, or with rice and a vegetable on the same plate as I have done. I used a little furikaki, rice seasoning to sprinkle over the rice, seasame seeds could also be used.

Note: in Japan the rice, fish and pumpkin would all be served on separate plates. I added the parsley for the photo, but it is not traditional in this recipe. 

*mirin is a sweet Japanese rice wine that is used in cooking, it can be omitted from this recipe and replaced with a little more sugar.

There are many variations of what exactly is in the cooking liquid for nizakana, so feel free to adjust to taste, with more of less of the various flavours. Freshly grated ginger can be added.
 

Japanese-Style Pumpkin

close up of the Japanese-Style pumpkin

500g (1 lb) pumpkin, peeled seeded and cut into 3cm (1¼ in) cubes.

3 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons butter (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Place pumpkin in base of a large saucepan and just cover with water. Bring to the boil and boil for a few minutes then gradually reduce the heat as the pumpkin cooks and softens. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed.



Pumpkin served as a side dish

Mashikoyaki  is earthy looking pottery from Mashiko, a pottery town near Tokyo.

 

Fresh Fruit

 

Fresh fruit is a lovely and healthy way to end a meal. Here I present pawpaw (papaya) in the way that Japanese people present melons. Pawpaw and rock melons are abundant in sub-tropical Queensland. I used a frangipani (which are in many gardens in Queensland) as my “seasonal touch”. I love the way the skin is cut 2/3’s of the way along so that it is easy to pick up and eat.

The glass plate looks like a slab of ice evoking coolness. Japanese people use a lot of glassware and blue and white china serving ware in summer to create a summery look.

 

I restyled the pawpaw onto a black octagonal lacquer ware style plate to give a more formal look, perhaps for a dinner party. I then added some purple perilla (a Japanese herb with a mild fresh minty flavour) that is available at major supermarkets in Australia.

The pawpaw (or other fruit) could also be served with tooth picks or lovely handcrafted bamboo sticks as pictured here on the vintage imari Japanese plate.

Pineapple on skewers is something I have seen at street stalls in Japan.  A good way to pass around some pineapple after a BBQ.

 

 

 

Fruit is always “served” in Japan. You don’t see people walking around biting into an apple. It is eaten at breakfast time, lunch and dinner and for snacks. A bowl of mandarins is often on the table in winter. Many places in Japan sell direct to the public as the grapes pictured here were.

Grapes in Hiroshima prefecture

 

 

 

 

 

Coffee Jelly

Coffee Jelly

Everybody knows that the Japanese drink green tea, but coffee is very, very popular in Japan. Coffee jelly is a refreshing dessert on a hot day. The ones I tried in Japan do not have sugar in them, rather a syrup is poured over the jelly when it is served, to taste. Also an artificial tasting white substance is also served with the jelly, I suggest using fresh pouring cream or ice cream.

4 tablespoons sugar

1 cup water

2 teaspoons (10g) powdered gelatine

¼ cup (60ml/2 fl oz) boiling water

2 cups (500ml/16 fl oz) strong black coffee

Ice cream or cream to serve, optional

1.       Make syrup. Place sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil without stirring to make a syrup. When boiling turn off the heat.  Allow to cool. Chill until using.

2.       Boil water in a kettle, and pour into a measuring jug. Sprinkle the gelatine over the boiling water and stir briskly to dissolve it. Continue stirring until it is all dissolved. Add dissolved gelatine to the coffee and stir through. Divide between serving glasses, sundae glasses or teacups. Alternatively set jelly in a shallow tin and cut into cubes to serve. Refrigerate for several hours or until set.

3.       Serve coffee jelly with the syrup and cream. 

Variations: Make fruit juice jellies using good quality fruit juices, or fruit tea jellies.

#CoffeeJelly #Coffeejello #JapaneseDesserts #JapaneseCoffeeJelly #SummerDesserts #JapaneseFood

 

White Peach Jelly

White peach jelly

White peaches are delicious in Japan in summer. You can use golden peaches instead or a combination of both as I did in the pictured jelly.

4-5 white peaches (about 500g, or 1lb)

4 tablespoons sugar

a strip of lemon rind (or ½ teaspoon lemon juice)

3 teaspoons (15g) powdered gelatine

¼ cup boiling water

1.       Place peaches in a bowl, cover with boiling water and allow to stand for 10 minutes or so. Rinse with cold water and gently rub to remove skins. Cut into segments and remove seeds.

2.       Place sugar in a small saucepan and pour in water to cover the sugar with about 5cm (2in) water. Bring to the boil without stirring to make a syrup. When boiling add the fruit and lemon rind. Simmer for 1 or 2 minutes to just soften and remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly.

3.       Sprinkle the gelatine over the boiling water and stir briskly to dissolve it. Continue stirring until it is all dissolved. Add dissolved gelatine to the fruit and syrup mixture and stir through.

4.       Spoon peaches into moulds, sundae glasses, teacups, or a shallow tin. Refrigerate for several hours or until set. Serve by itself or with a scoop of green tea ice cream or your favourite flavour.

I used cups as moulds and unmoulded onto small serving plates. To encourage unmoulding place some warm towels on the outside of the cups.

 #WhitePeachJelly #JapaneseDessert #JapaneseJelly #JapaneseWhitePeachDessert #WhitePeach

 

Desserts in Japan

A traditional style dessert with maple leaves to suggest autumn and served in autumn colours.
 

Most commonly in Japan fresh fruit, beautifully but simply presented, is served as a dessert in Japan. Fresh fruit is served in  a similar manner to the dessert pictured above. Seasonal touches from nature are often present, as with the maple leaves here, and the colour and style of dishes change to match the changing seasons. In this way the Japanese enjoy each season as it passes. The fruits that I remember having for dessert were pale green coloured musk melons, Japanese nashi (pears), grapes and kaki (persimmon). 

A tea ceremony  "cake" served on a pottery serving dish

There is a whole range of sweet food in Japan, but it is usually eaten as a snack through the day, perhaps for afternoon tea, on a special occasion or as part of the tea ceremony. However, having a dessert after the evening meal is becoming more widespread in Japan. Many of the very traditional desserts in Japan feature ingredients not available or familiar to Australians, things like sweet red bean paste and jelly-like youkan based sweets.

Traditionally the Japanese did not have ovens and did not bake, so there is no long tradition of baked desserts or puddings. Dairy foods have only been a part of the Japanese diet for just over 100 years. Nowadays baked or steamed custards such as crème caramel are popular. There are many Japanese cake shops these days, and a visit to the food hall of a major department store is a must see in Japan.

a window display at a café in Tokyo

Green tea ice cream is popular in Japan as are a variety of other familiar flavours and some unusual ones such as wasabi ice cream. Fancy looking parfaits and sundaes made from fruit and ice cream feature in menus at restaurants and cafes. Japanese people are fond of jelly (as in jello to any readers from the States, not what you spread on bread) as a dessert. See my next 2 blog posts for recipes.

 

Icecream in Tokyo, flavours include tomato, fig, apple ginger and blueberry milk

 

 

Classic Miso Soup



Tofu, negi and wakame miso soup

2 ¼ cups water

I teaspoon dashi* (dashi no moto, dried Japanese soup stock)

4 tablespoons white miso*

1 tablespoon dried wakame* (type of seaweed), reconstituted by soaking in 1 cup water

300g (10 oz) block soft tofu (kinugoshi doufu)“silk” tofu*

3 green onions (negi), thinly sliced (use the white part and discard fibrous outer skin)

*Wakame, miso, dashi and tofu are available at Asian food stores.

1.      Place the water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil.

2.      Gently stir in dashi and simmer for a minute or two.

3.      Drain wakame add to the stock together with the spring onions, cook for a few minutes on a low simmer.

4.      Add the miso and stir to dissolve into the soup.

5.      Place tofu on your hand and gently rinse with water. While it is still on your hand cut it into cubes with a not too sharp knife taking care not to cut yourself. Add the tofu to the soup.

6.      Divide the soup between 4 miso soup bowls. Garnish with additional green onions if desired. Serves 4



Miso soup with tofu, pumpkin, negi and wakame

Note: If the wakame is omitted you will have a simple but delicious tofu and negi miso soup.

Variations:  You can add and combine ingredients as you like. Any ingredients requiring boiling to cook and soften (eg potato) need to be added at step 3. Add delicate ingredients like tofu at the end. Avoid boiling the miso, keep it just simmering.

Other ingredients to try: pumpkin and fried tofu (use small cubes of diced pumpkin), mushrooms; any Japanese mushrooms, such as fresh shiitake sliced, enoki or shimeji, alternatively brown or mushrooms, sliced or button mushrooms, potato (jagaimo not Japanese potatoes) and wakame, shell fish or small prawns and negi (green onions). Other vegetables such as carrots, turnips and parsnips.

Note: miso comes in red, white and mixed red/white types. Personally I like the white better as it is milder, but it is a matter of taste. They are interchangeable but flavour of the soup will reflect the miso type chosen.

 

 

Chilled Tofu

Tofu with grated fresh ginger, katsuobushi and soysauce

Known as Hiya-yakko in Japan this is a favourite dish for Japanese people on a hot summers’ day. Hiya means “chilled”, and yakko I don’t know. The tofu is served chilled with toppings and soy sauce. So simple and so healthy. Add some rice, a salad, a clear soup and some pickles to make a complete meal of it, or just a salad for a light lunch.

 

Note about tofu: Tofu blocks in Japan come in two textures, silk (soft) and cotton (firm), try to get good quality tofu as it will make a big difference. You can also purchase fried tofu, which is the firmer tofu, that has been fried.

I thank Yoko Nakano for showing me how to make this and sharing this meal with me.

toppings and soy sauce ready to serve

Ingredients:

2 x 300g blocks soft tofu (kinugoshi doufu) “silk” tofu, chilled 

for toppings: 5g dried bonito shaving (katsuobushi)
2 green onions or shallots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root

To serve:
good quality natural soy sauce (such as Kikkoman)

 

Method:

1.      Place tofu on your hand, rinse under the tap (faucet) then cut directly the tofu into squares while still on your hand.

2.      Place tofu on serving dishes, top with desired toppings, pour over a little soy sauce and eat at once.

Tip: add a little water to the soy sauce as it can be too concentrated straight from the bottle.

Variations: Use “momen” cotton (firm) tofu if you prefer. For the toppings, you like it hot try some finely chopped chilli. A little mustard can also be used as a topping. Combine toppings as you like.

Serves 4



ready to eat

Girls Day Party for March 3rd (Hina Matsuri)

Girl’s Day in Japan is on March 3^rd. It is a special day for girls. Parents pray for their daughter’s health, happiness and well-being. Hina dolls, featuring a Prince and Princess are displayed and special food is eaten. The girls may dress up and wear kimono. I was fortunate to be invited to my friends the Masuda's, a family of 3 girls, to have a Girl’s Day lunch with them, when it was my daughter’s first Girl’s Day. I remember the whole occasion fondly, and still remember the chirashi zushi that we ate for lunch. It was topped with egg like my recipe but had salmon roe rather than smoked salmon on it.

Here is my suggestion for a Girl’s Day party menu for lunch or dinner:

 

 Girl's Day Party food
 

·         Sushi Rice topped with Egg and Smoked Salmon (chirashi zushi)

·         Teriyaki Meatballs

·         Teriyaki Chicken Wings

·         Red Cabbage Salad

·         Pastel coloured lollies (candy/sweets) or mini fruit salads (for a healthier option)

·         Coconut Ice (or any diamond shaped sweets to imitate “hishi mochi”), other suggestions include sponge cake with jam and cream cut into diamond shapes, or even jam sandwiches, or red jelly topped cheesecake.

To be really authentic a soup and Japanese pickles should be added.

 

Table setting ideas for Girl’s Day (Hina Matsuri)

Set the scene by displaying some flowers. Peach blossoms are used in Japan, (Girl’s Day is before the cherry blossoms come out), but use whatever you have. I used gum blossoms as they were blooming in my garden even though it is autumn in Australia.

Then for some extra colour and prettiness I used a piece of Japanese silk fabric with a blossom print on it, however a few pieces of patterned origami would also look good. Alternatively cut flat fan shapes from pastel coloured paper, or concertina fold some fans to decorate the table. Hexagons instead of fans would lend a more contemporary Japanese look.  Blossom and butterfly shapes cut from paper scattered over the table would be pretty and have the springtime look.

The colours are soft pastels, particularly pale pink and green (the colours of blossoms and new green foliage in spring) with perhaps the addition of some hot pink and red.

It is a good chance to use any Japanese style dishes you may have but if you don’t have any just use whatever you have. It doesn’t have to be fancy, the main thing is that girls are honoured and the food enjoyed.

Sushi Rice with Egg and Smoked Salmon (Chirashi zushi)

Chirashi zushi is simply sushi rice with toppings scattered over it and is traditionally eaten on girl’s day as well as at other times. I like this simple combination of egg and smoked salmon.    

1 quantity of sushi rice (see recipe below)

2 egg omelettes, sliced (see recipe below)

100g (3½ oz) smoked salmon, torn into strips

 1 nori sheet for garnish

 

Make sushi rice, mix in about half of the smoked salmon, and place in a serving dish. Top with a layer of sliced egg omelettes, and add salmon either piled up in the centre or scattered more evenly. Cut a few thin strips of nori using scissors to garnish.

Variations: Small cooked prawns or canned pink salmon could be used in place of smoked salmon. Green vegetables such as blanched snow peas finely cut on the diagonal or peas can be scattered over the egg or mixed into the rice.  

 

 



Sushi rice with egg and smoked salmon



 

Sushi rice

3 cups uncooked rice

100ml (3 fl oz) rice wine or white vinegar (ordinary white vinegar is fine)

2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1.      Wash rice and cook in rice cooker, or by absorption method on stove top.

2.      Mix together the salt, sugar and vinegar and leave to dissolve together while cooking the rice. 

3.      When rice is cooked and still hot, transfer it to a large bowl and pour the vinegar mixture over the rice. Stir in the vinegar mixture as you fan the rice. Have someone fan for you with a hand held fan or stand in front of an electric fan if that is easier. The goal is to encourage the excess liquid to evaporate off the rice as the flavours soak in.

Japanese Style Thin Omelettes

Beat two eggs well and add a pinch of salt. Mix together 1 teaspoon cornflour* (corn starch) with 1 tablespoon of water and mix it with the eggs. Lightly grease and heat a fry pan. Test by dropping a little egg in the centre. It should sizzle. Pour ½ of the egg mixture into the pan and tilt to ensure a thin layer spreads quickly over the base. Cook over low heat, and when surface of egg mixture is dry, remove from pan and lay on a dry chopping board to cool. Regrease pan and make another omelette. When cool roll up and slice thinly with a sharp knife. Use the cut egg “curls” to top the chirashi zushi.

*Note that the corn flour can be omitted with pleasing results, which is good for those on a gluten free diet.

Teriyaki Meatballs

Chicken meat balls are popular in Japan, but I decided to make beef ones. Use chicken mincemeat if you prefer.

500g (1 lb) minced beef (hamburger)

½ onion

1 tablespoon soy sauce (use a Japanese one such as Kikkoman)

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon corn flour (corn starch)

1/3 cup panko* breadcrumbs or any dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon oil to cook the meatballs

1 cup teriyaki sauce (see recipe below or purchase it ready-made)

To serve: sesame seeds, spring onions or shallots finely chopped to sprinkle over the meatballs

1.      Make meat balls by combining meat, onion, soy sauce, egg yolk, cornflour and panko in a bowl. Mix well together and then roll small balls, placing them on a plate or chopping board.

2.      Heat oil to medium high in a large frypan. Add meat balls but don’t over crowd the pan so that it will be easier to turn them over. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes on each side and using 2 forks to turn them over.

3.      Pour over the teriyaki sauce and watch until it bubbles. Then turn heat down to medium low, so that it is just simmering nicely. Cook for another 10 to 20 minutes during which time the sauce will reduce and thicken slightly. If you want a thicker sauce, add some cornflour mixed with water and stir it through until it boils and thickens.

4.      Serve with sauce poured over the meatballs. Add garnishes as desired.

*panko are Japanese breadcrumbs, the word panko means breadcrumbs in Japanese.

Teriyaki chicken wings and beef meatballs

 Teriyaki Chicken Wings

500g (1 lb) chicken wings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup teriyaki sauce (use ¼ cup for a milder flavour)

To serve: sesame seeds and thinly sliced spring onions or shallots to sprinkle over (optional)

Method: Traditionally the wings would be glazed (brushed) with the teriyaki sauce while being cooked over a charcoal brazier or grilled under a griller. 

Choose a cooking method that suits you:

Grill Heat griller to medium high. Line with foil for easier clean up. Grill chicken pieces turning regularly and brushing with the teriyaki sauce.

Frypan Heat oil and lightly brown the wings a few minutes on each side, then add the teriyaki sauce to combine. Turn down heat so that it is just bubbling nicely and leave to cook through for 10 to 20 minutes.

Oven Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).  Grease baking dish, add chicken and teriyaki sauce. Stir together. Place in oven, stir once or twice during cooking. Cook for 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Slow Cooker Place ingredients in your slow cooker, follow manufactures directions.

You could even microwave it.

Teriyaki Sauce
Teri means shiny and yaki means to cook, broil or grill, the teriyaki glaze/marinade is shiny thanks to the sugar content.

A Japanese friend gave me the following recipe for teriyaki sauce:

4 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sake, 2 tablespoons mirin, 2 tablespoons sugar

To make teriyaki sauce place ingredients in a saucepan. Heat together stirring to dissolve sugar but do not boil it.

To make a larger quantity:

1 cup soy sauce, ½ cup sake, ½ cup mirin, ½  cup sugar

(this quantity is enough for both the meatballs and chicken wings recipes)

Alternatively just soy sauce, mirin and sugar can be used, in which case you would use equal parts of soy sauce and mirin (eg ½ cup of each) in a saucepan and add a tablespoon or two of brown or white sugar. Heat together stirring to dissolve sugar but do not boil it.

If you don’t have mirin use equal amounts of soy sauce and sugar. Using mirin will result in a shinier sauce. Using honey and soy sauce is another option.

Mirin is a sweet sake low in alcohol for cooking available at most supermarkets.

Note that Japanese teriyaki sauce is thin (watery). If you wish to thicken it add a tablespoon of corn flour (corn starch) mixed with water in the final stages of cooking.

Red Cabbage Salad

The use of red cabbage looks strikingly pretty in this salad and contrasts well with the yellow of the egg in the chirashi zushi.

½ oak lettuce

8 cucumber slices

4 cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 cup shredded (finely chopped) red cabbage

Make one large salad to share or small individual salads by topping lettuce leaves with the cucumber, tomatoes and red cabbage. Use your preferred salad dressing.

Coconut Ice

This confectionary is not at all Japanese but has the right look to imitate “hishi mochi”, the traditional cakes eaten for Girl’s Day in Japan.  Hishi means diamond and mochi is a kind of soft glutinous rice dough, used for traditional sweets in Japan, make by pounding glutinous rice.

125g (4 oz) cohpa

500g (1 lb) icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar)

250g (1/2 lb) desiccated coconut

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg whites

2 drops pink food colouring

 

1.      Line a 16 x 26 cm (10 ½ in x 7 in) baking tin with baking paper (parchment).

2.      Melt copha in a saucepan over gentle heat.

3.      Mix together the icing sugar, coconut, vanilla and egg whites in a bowl.

4.      Pour over the melted copha, mix well.

5.      Press half of the mixture into baking tin pressing down firmly.

6.      Add pink food colouring to the remaining mixture. Mix well then spread over the white layer pressing down well and smoothing the top. Allow to cool to set.

7.      Cut into diamond shapes using a sharp knife.

Coconut ice cut into diamond shapes for Girl's Day

 #GirlsDay

# GirlsDayFood

# GirlsDayParty

#HinaMatsuri

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy and Relaxed Japanese Food

I wish to share recipes that I learnt to make when I lived in Japan with my fellow Australians. I am particularly interested in recipes that are relatively easy to make and healthy. Hence I won’t be including any deep fried foods, even though they are becoming more and more popular in Japan.  My aim is to capture the spirit of Japanese food using only ingredients that are available in Australia. I figure that similar ingredients would also be available in New Zealand, Canada, USA and the UK, so I have added the British or American terms (that I am aware of) in brackets to avoid confusion eg what Australians call corn flour is corn starch in the USA.

Note too, that an Australian tablespoon is 20ml (4 teaspoons) but the rest of the world it is 15ml (3 teaspoons). Perhaps Australians are more generous?  Anyway it will not make much difference to the most recipes since items such as sugar are “to taste”.

Traditionally Japanese people did not use recipes. They were taught to cook by their mothers and things like soy sauce, salt and sugar were added to taste. When I spoke with Japanese women about their delicious cooking they’d tell me the ingredients and I’d ask, “how much?” and they’d say, “to taste”. I found this difficult until I had more idea of what it was supposed to taste like. While some foods are popular throughout Japan there are also many regional dishes specific to certain areas focusing on local ingredients.

I hope you will enjoy experiencing Japanese culture through these recipes.