Japanese Stock (Dashi)

Stock in Japan is usually made from katsuobushi (dried bonito fish shavings) and a piece of kombu (kelp) which are brought to the boil and then the mixture is strained and the resulting clear pale brown liquid is the stock. Most house wives in Japan do not make dashi from scratch these days, instead they use the powdered/granulated kind which dissolves readily in water. Use ½ teaspoon dashi granules to 1 cup water.
A good Japanese stock can also be made from dried shiitake mushrooms.


dashi だし packets, the bonito かつおぶし type on the left and konbu こんぶ on the right

 Dashi recipe

One piece konbu こんぶ (kelp) seaweed about 10cm by 10cm (4in by 4 in)

2 cups katsuobushi かつおぶし(bonito flakes) or kezuribushi けずりぶし

800ml water



refined katsobushi for serving with food

Cut a fringe in the edge of the konbu. Place konbu in the water in a saucepan, allow to it to soak in the cold water for 15 minutes. Then gradually heat until the water is almost boiling. Remove the konbu and add the bonito flakes and bring to the boil again. Remove from heat and strain, through a gauze cloth in a sieve.


 Note: a cheaper courser type of katsuo bushi is generally used for making dashi, than the refined kind used to serve with food

 

Somen and Soba noodles with a dipping sauce

 


Chilled somen noodles, perfect for summer

 Chilled noodles with a dipping sauce are very popular in Japan in the hot summer. Somen is always served this way, soba is usually served this way (in zaru soba), and udon can be served chilled or used in soups and hot pots. A good dipping sauce is essential. The dipping sauce is called tsuyu.
Somen

Nothing says "summer" in Japan like a bowl of somen noodles. They are my favourite.
Somen noodles

tsuyu dipping sauce, see recipe below

negi green onions, thinly sliced

1.       Bring a pot of water to the boil. Drop desired quantity of noodles into the water and cook, according to packet directions, being aware that they only take a minute or two. Have a sieve ready to drain them in. Remove from heat as soon as they are soft.

2.       Drain in sieve. Run them under the cold water tap (faucet), until all the noodles are cool to touch. Then place in a large bowl covered with ample water and some ice cubes, to keep noodles cool.

3.       Use your index finger and thumb to pick up a small bundle of noddles at the time and place into serving bowls (either one large one for the centre of the table or small individual bowls). Add a few ice cubes to keep it cool. In Japan a small freshly picked green maple leaf could be added as a seasonal decoration. Use a little shiso (perilla) or Italian parsley to garnish if desired (optional and not traditional).

4.       Serve with negi and tsuyu. Place tsuyu in individual dipping bowls, and use small dishes to provide negi for each diner to add the tsuyu as they eat the noodles.

Variations: Some cubed paw paw (papaya) can be added to the noodles.  For sesame tsuyu add ½ cup ground sesame seeds to the basic tsuyu recipe. For peanut tsuyu add ½ cup ground peanuts to the basic tsuyu recipe.

Udon noodles can also be served chilled in the same way as somen.

 

noodle cups for the dipping sauce

Tsuyu (Japanese dipping sauce for noodles)

Tsuyu つゆ, is a sweetened soy flavoured dashi (Japanese stock). Stock in Japan is usually made from dried bonito fish shavings and a piece of kelp, but a good stock can also be made from dried shiitake mushrooms (available at Asian food stores), see recipe below. It is best to make the tsuyu dipping sauce ahead of time as it needs to be heated and cooled before using.  In Japanese supermarkets you can buy bottles of tsuyu in concentrated form that you just add water to, which is very convenient.

Basic Tsuyu Recipe

1 cup dashi Japanese stock (1 cup boiling water and 1/2  teaspoon dashi granules, or real stock, see note about dashi below)

1/3 cup soy sauce
¼ cup mirin
Bring mirin and soy sauce to the boil. Add dashi and bring to the boil again. Refrigerate until using.

Shiitake Tsuyu  Recipe (mushroom flavoured dipping sauce for noodles)

½ cup loosely packed dried shiitake mushrooms
2 ¼ cups water
2 or 3 tablespoons mirin (or sugar)
100ml (3 fl oz) soy sauce

Place mushrooms in a saucepan, add water and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Add sugar and soy sauce and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, discard mushrooms, and chill (refrigerate) until using.

Zaru Soba

Zaru Soba are soba noodles that are served on a zaru (bamboo mat/tray), topped with nori seaweed and eaten with a tusyu dipping sauce and negi spring onions. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat, which confusingly isn’t a type of wheat.



Zaru soba

Dashi (Japanese Stock)
Stock in Japan is usually made from katsuobushi (dried bonito fish shavings) and a piece of kombu (kelp) which are boiled together and then the mixture is strained and the resulting clear pale brown liquid is the stock. Most housewives in Japan do not make dashi from scratch, they use the powdered/granulated kind which dissolves readily in water, ½  teaspoon dashi granules to 1 cup water. A good Japanese stock can also be made from dried shiitake mushrooms.
Dashi and dried mushrooms are available at Asian food shops. See my next post.

 

 

Children's Day Party menu

May 5^th is a special day and National Holiday to celebrate children in Japan. Before it became a National Holiday it was a special day for boys. Girl’s day being in March.
The festivities are still the same as they were for Boy’s Day. They include flying carp streamers (koi nobori), displaying dolls in samurai armour and making samurai helmet origami, which is one of the loveliest simple origami you can do. Also boys play mock sword fighting with iris leaves in samurai fashion. The flower for Children’s Day is therefore the iris, which is in bloom in Japan in May.


Teriyaki drumsticks

Special food is eaten, most famously Kashiwa-mochi, a rice dough and sweetened bean sweet wrapped in an oak leaf. I don’t know where you could get Kashiwa-mochi in Australia, so I suggest using any alternative sweet food. Pikelets, jam and cream or ice cream with berries, both have the red and white colours of mochi and bean paste (and the Japanese flag). You can buy origami paper and toy carp streamers from the “100 yen” shop in Australia, such as Daiso, for as little as $2.80.
Children’s Day Party Menu
I suggest the following recipes for a Children’s Day party:
Teriyaki drumsticks   and a rice dish such as;
Gomoku sushi (“special”sushi rice with a scattered topping)
Takikomi Gohan ( soy and vegetable flavoured rice)
Onigiri (rice balls)



Gomoku sushi




   

Takikomi Gohan

  


onigiri, rice balls



Add a salad and a sweet treat. Rice crackers would also be good in place of chips as party food.  
Another option would be Oyako Domburi (the parent and child- chicken and egg domburi)
Recipes to come in my next blog posts.

Onigiri (Rice Balls)

Classic onigiri,, with a small piece of nori wrapped around it

Great for picnics, lunch boxes or anytime as a snack.
Makes about 5 large rice balls, more if making them smaller

2 cups rice
2 cups water
1 can tuna (drained)  
2 tablespoons whole egg mayonnaise (Kewpie is a popular Japanese mild mayonnaise)
 salt

To serve:
furikake rice seasonings
nori seaweed sheets (optional)


variations: plain, with furikake, wrapped in nori



1.      Put rice on to cook while you prepare fillings. Mix together the tuna and mayonnaise. Get the nori and furikakae ready if using.
2.      Allow the cooked rice to cool a little.  Make rice balls while rice is still warm. Place a spatula full of rice on one hand (it helps to cover your hand with a piece of glad wrap). Make and indent in the rice then add any fillings you are using. Mould rice around the filling so that it is in the centre of the ball. Sprinkle with salt. Shape rice in cupped hands to form a triangle shape. Squeeze firmly to compress.
3.      Eat as is, or add a piece of nori (either a strip or ½ sheet), or press into furikake to add more flavour.
Note: once the nori has been added the rice balls they should be eaten soon. If travelling to a picnic, add the nori just before eating. Nori goes soggy when it comes into contact with the moist rice, which it is supposed to be to a degree but you don’t want it too soggy.

Variations: teriyaki chicken or cooked salmon for fillings

Teriyaki Chicken Drumsticks

1 kg (2 lbs) chicken drumsticks (legs)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, such as sunflower oil

¼ cup soy sauce,

¼ cup mirin (or sugar)

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

1.      Make teriyaki sauce by mixing the soy sauce and mirin (or sugar) together, set aside

2.      Choose a cooking method that suits you:

Frypan Heat oil and lightly brown the drumsticks 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 20 minutes, spooning juices over chicken from time to time, until cooked.

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

3.      Serve with sesame seeds and thinly sliced spring onions to sprinkled over if desired.

 

Gomoku sushi

Gomoku Sushi is another kind of “special rice” in Japan. Mrs Narita from Kashiwa, Japan gave me this recipe. She brought it to a pot lunch that we both were at, and kindly shared her recipe with me. Gomoku loosely translates as five flavours. Vegetables are added to the rice during cooking, and then the vinegared flavourings of sushi rice mixed in. Toppings are added decoratively, to serve.

3 cups rice

3 cups water

 

2 cups finely chopped vegetables; shiitake mushrooms, carrots, lotus root and burdock (gobo)*

100ml (3 fl oz) white vinegar (or rice vinegar)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt

toppings:

3 eggs, made into omelettes see recipe below
small handful snow peas, trimmed
nori seaweed sheets, snipped

*Any mushrooms can be used, and any hard vegetables. I used fresh flat mushrooms instead of shiitake, and parsnip and celery instead of lotus root and burdock (gobo), in the pictured recipe. Fresh or dried shitake can be used, but dried ones need to be soaked for ½ hour beforehand.

1.       Wash (rinse) rice and place in rice cooker with 2 cups water, add vegetables, stir, put lid on cooker and start.

2.       Meanwhile, combine vinegar, salt and sugar to make sushi vinegar. Set aside.

3.       Make egg omelettes.

4.       Boil, steam or microwave the snow peas until just cooked, and refreshed under cold water and slice diagonally.  

5.      When the rice is done, spread it out in a large bowl, pour over the vinegar mixture and mix in quickly, ideally fanning it to encourage evaporation and absorption of the vinegar into the rice. Place rice into a serving bowl or bento box.

6.       Add the topping of egg, snow peas and nori decoratively.

Japanese Style Thin Omelettes

3 eggs

1-2 teaspoons cornflour (corn starch)

1-2 tablespoons water

Beat two eggs well and add a pinch of salt. Mix together the cornflour* (corn starch) with 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 or swirl to ensure a thin layer spreads quickly over the base. Cook over a mediun-low heat, and when surface of egg mixture is dry, remove from pan and roll up on a dry chopping board to cool. Regrease pan and make another omelette. When cool slice thinly with a sharp knife. Use the cut egg “curls” to top the gomoku sushi.

*Note that the corn flour can be omitted, which is good for those on gluten-free diets.