Shiso Pesto with Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Back in 2006 and 2007, I was thrilled about growing Shiso in my home garden as it was the early years of my home-gardening, and I liked having herbs handy in the backyard to try different recipes.

A decade later, looks like Shiso is quite readily available in the market when in season and has become a fairly popular and mainstream herb much like cilantro and mint.

A member of the mint family, Shiso leaves can be mostly green to greenish reddish/purplish. Much like my favorite pesto and chutney, I make shiso as pesto or chutney when the mood calls for it, using whatever ingredients I feel like throwing together at that time.

In this recipe, shiso pesto comes together with a confluence of complementary Asian flavors.

Tossed in with some buckwheat soba noodles, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, and a side of roasted eggplant and home-garden scallions, shiso certainly takes center stage in this dish.

Shiso pesto as a dip, served with roasted eggplant slices and bell peppers makes a fantastic appetizer.

Shiso Pesto:
½ Tbsp sesame oil
½ Tbsp red miso
½ Tbsp mirin
½ Tbsp rice vinegar
½ Tbsp lime juice
¼ to ½ cup packed shiso leaves
2 to 3 Tbsp sunflower seeds

Grind the ingredients together and adjust to taste.

Citrus Fresh Buckwheat Soba Salad

The crisp freshness of lemon and lime are perfect for cold summer salads. This recipe is inspired by a Japanese friend of mine with whom I exchange cooking tips on and off, among other things.

Dashi is sold in most Asian stores - either made from kombu or different types of fish. Salty Dashi, with some sesame oil, plus the tartness from lime juice and lemon zest makes this salad quite addictive.

Get the dressing ready, mix in the salad vegetables and let it sit while the soba cooks. The recipe here makes enough starter salad for two, or a huge meal for one.

Ingredients for the vinaigrette:
½ cup Seaweed Dashi or strong vegetable stock
½ tsp sesame oil
1 lime - freshly squeeze for lime juice
zest of one lemon
juice of ½ lemon, for additional tang

2 cups Salad Vegetables: For a quick meal, I use packaged kale salad mix plus scallions. Otherwise, whatever is handy -- radish, julienned carrots, sauteed cremini, slivered broccoli stems or other stems like I use for kinpira, ribboned greens, radicchio, purple cabbage...

Cook one bundle of the buckwheat soba per package directions, drain, and rinse in cold water, drain well. Toss in with the dressed vegetables, adjust the dressing as needed.

Served with some vegetable spring rolls and vegetable dumplings, this makes a filling weeknight meal.

Teriyaki Halibut with Sauteed Garlic Gai Lan

Asian grocery store nearby had fresh Gai Lan (aka Gailon aka Chinese Broccoli) which is immensely tasty when sautéed with ginger and garlic and Asian flavors, particularly the stalk which gets tender in texture like steamed asparagus.

A small chunk of halibut caught by the other adult over last summer was handy as well. This time, the other adult requested for teriyaki-flavored fish. The home-made teriyaki sauce is customized with what was handy and what the mood called for.

Ingredients
Halibut 4 to 6 small portioned pieces
some sesame oil

For the teriyaki sauce:
2 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp white wine (I had some Sauvignon Blanc handy)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp low sodium vegetarian oyster sauce (aka mushroom sauce)
½ tsp brown sugar
4 Tbsp water

For the stir-fried gai lan:
1 lb of Gai Lan, washed and patted dry
a bunch of baby bok choy, washed
5 cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp grated ginger
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce (aka mushroom sauce)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
¼ tsp brown sugar or agave nectar

Preparation

1. Gai lan stir fry: Heat the sesame oil in a wok; add the garlic and allow to brown a bit then add the ginger; stir well then add gai lan, the rest of the flavoring ingredients, cover and allow to wilt and cook till the stalks are tender
2. Teriyaki sauce: combine the sauce ingredients and simmer over low heat and keep handy
3. Halibut: Brush the halibut with some oil and cook in a cast iron skillet, flipping it over till the fish is mostly cooked; then brush generously with teriyaki sauce and broil till fish is fully cooked and the teriyaki sauce forms a rich coating
4. Serve with a drizzling of the remainder of the teriyaki sauce

Slow Cooker Teriyaki-style Chicken

Chop up a couple of organic free-range chicken breasts and throw them in a slow cooker with just enough marinade/liquids and allow to cook for  about 3 hours.

Marinade this time: tamarind concentrate, Bragg liquid aminos, plus a touch of honey

Then, stir in just the right amount of the warm Teriyaki sauce, top with Hemp Hearts and/or toasted sesame seeds, serve on a bed of kale ribbons, and garnish with julienned baby cucumbers, spring onions, and pickled ginger, if handy.


Teriyaki-ish Sauce:
2 Tbsp cup Bragg Liquid Aminos
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup Mirin
¼ cup Rice vinegar
2 Tbsp Fresh orange juice
1 tsp Honey
¼ cup water

Combine the liquids, simmer and reduce to thicker consistency, store any remainder in fridge.

Stems, Stems, Stems: Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Kale Stem Kinpira

After the Burdock Kinpira not too long ago, I've been itching for more of that special Japanese sauté and simmer style plate of wholesome goodies.

Since I don't usually throw away edible stems and stalks of greens and veggies knowing I can find a nice way to incorporate them in my cooking, I had this huge pile of kohlrabi stems, kale stems, broccoli stems, chard stems, even bok choy stems. To a casual observer, it is just a pile of compost, but to me, it was heaven beckoning.

Simply chop into uniform size to facilitate even cooking. In a cast iron skillet, heat some sesame oil and sauté the stems; add in the chosen flavoring condiments, some braising liquid, cook till all the liquid is absorbed and the stems are cooked to satisfaction.

For flavoring, I went with Ponzu, apple cider vinegar, mirin, a touch of sambal oelek, and a generous sprinkling of smoked paprika for that bright color and cozy warmth. Just a splash of water as needed, enough to get the veggies softened and juices flowing. That's it.

Another batch got a slightly different flavoring: Worcestershire sauce, white vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, adjusted to taste. Since I make this kinpira-style dish often enough -- whenever there is a pile of stems to use up -- it's nice to change up the flavors to see if there is a new favorite in the horizon.

A bunch of mustard greens are growing in the garden. Tender baby mustard greens are a fantastic addition to salads. I love to pop a leaf in my mouth and wait for the sharp wasabi-like burst when munching it down. It starts off surprisingly sweet and then just explodes. Delicious!

Topped with some caramelized sweet onions and green chilies, garnished with some fresh baby mustard greens, this plate of stems got a boost from some carrot sticks I threw in for contrast while sautéing. Not a super-fancy dish or anything, but, quite satisfying to use up edible stems and stalks.

To make a feast of it, I serve some veggie pot stickers and a cleansing cucumber salad along with the kinpira.

Burdock Kinpira

Burdock root is a recent addiction with me and my eleven year old, especially when pan-cooked as in this recipe, along with carrots and broccoli stems. Although intended as a side, we seem to make a meal of it every time.

Not quite the traditional flavoring here:

Braggs Liquid Aminos

Balsamic Vinegar

Sesame oil

Zhen Jiang Vinegar

Heat oil in a pan. Add the julienned or slivered burdock and carrots and broccoli stems. Sauté a bit, then add just enough of the flavoring ingredients to suit your taste, plus quarter cup water. Cover and cook till liquid is completely absorbed and the burdock root is tender enough.

I like a adding Balsamic vinegar for mildly sweet flavor and caramelization. 

Serve warm or chilled, garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions.

Buckwheat Soba, Teriyaki Chicken and Blanched Green Beans

This Buckwheat Soba, Teriyaki Chicken and Blanched Green Beans is a simple meal combination, another one of D's favorites.

Soba and the green beans are flavored with a dash of Ponzu sauce after cooking and draining. Teriyaki chicken is very much like the usual recipe I follow, nothing new.

Ingredients
for the Teriyaki sauce and glaze:
¼ cup shoyu, or dark soy sauce
¼ cup mirin (or, sherry, if mirin is not handy)
¼ cup sake
1 Tbsp brown sugar (or, superfine caster sugar, if handy)

2 medium frozen skinless boneless chicken breasts, thawed
1 Tbsp sesame oil, or canola oil

Garnish: strips of nori, toasted sesame seeds

Preparation

1. Heat the teriyaki sauce ingredients gradually till sugar dissolves; off heat, let it cool
2. Cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces and marinate in some of the cooled teriyaki sauce, for about 15-20 minutes
3. Heat the oil in the pan to high heat, drain the marinated chicken pieces, toss them into the hot pan and stir them around; alternately, pre-heat grill or broiler and grill or broil the chicken; I prefer to pan-fry
4. Toss around, turning all sides, over medium high heat, adding teriyaki sauce a little at a time to glaze the chicken pieces; cook till chicken is done, still juicy and tender; usually close to 170°F

Tsukemono: Nasu Age-bitashi

Simply put, Tsukemono is Japanese Pickled Vegetables. When I got my very own copy of Quick & Easy Tsukemono as an early birthday present, I couldn't wait to try out a few right away.

Author's note in the Preface struck a chord with me, when he says, ...Japanese enjoy plain, hot rice with tsukemono. Coming from India, where pickles are of a different sort, yet enjoyed very much with plain rice and hot ghee, I could relate very well to the experience the author shared about the Japanese way of eating.

While Indian pickles typically involve using spices and oil, Japanese pickles are simple delicacies with mild rice vinegar, sake, miso, soy sauce and maybe some ginger root, karashi (hot mustard, japanese), Yuzu citron, ginger root and chilli peppers for extra flavoring.

Of the many recipes, I was attracted to this Nasu Age-bitashi (marinated eggplant) tsukemono as it was quick, (ready in 30 mins), delicate and light, and used one of my favorite vegetables - i.e., eggplant :)

Now, I have this chronic inability to follow recipe to the letter and like to substitute ingredients if I can't find the exotic ones listed. In that sense, this Nasu Age-bitashi is not exactly as given in the book... I tweaked it a bit as my recipes lean towards being fusion cuisine, not quite authentic, yet tailored to my tastes.

Also, many times, I wonder if authors would be charitable if their recipes are taken verbatim and pasted across the web for free - so, I refrain from posting them. I like to use recipes in books for ideas, for directions in which I can flex my culinary muscles, and try to take away the principles and methods and apply it for my tastes... in this case, I was glad to take away the fact that miso and rice vinegar make such an interesting clean-tasting pickle within a short time.

Ingredients
6 Japanese style eggplants
2 bell peppers -or- 3 jalapeños cored/seeded
1 medium tomato -or- 5 small grape or cherry tomatoes
1 small white onion
1 clove garlic
vegetable oil for frying
dressing/flavoring:
1 tsp red miso
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp freshly cracked peppercorns

Preparation

1. Get the dressing ingredients together, stir well and keep handy
2. Cut the eggplant into wedges, bell peppers into rings, deep fry, drain and add to the marinade
3. Slice onions and separate into rings, chop tomatoes and toss into the marinade with the eggplant and bell peppers
4. Let it stand for 30 minutes and serve with hot plain rice

Simple pan-fried gyoza packets

I was sifting through my photos and remembered this crisp and hot snack we had a few months back, before my summer trip to India.

Nothing extraordinary about it except the memory associated with it - it was an overcast weekend and I wanted something quick and fried, but fairly "healthy", so this was just pan-fried, not deep-fried.

I wasn't in the mood for pot-stickers, although that was the intention when I bought these wrappers. Spring rolls or samosa was on my mind that day but spring roll wrappers weren't handy...

Anyway, at some point, I wanted to teach myself how to make gyoza wrappers at home, but, store-bought wrappers are what make this snack appealing to me - easy to make and they have a slightly different texture compared to deep-fried spring roll wrappers.

Ingredients
Gyoza wrappers
some veggies for filling
some oil for pan frying

Preparation

1. Shred cabbage, carrots, onions; grate some ginger, crush some cloves of garlic
2. Sauté them with a touch of salt, keep this filling handy
3. Prepare the gyoza: add just enough filling to the wrappers (I tend to overfill and create a mess), fold as preferred - I just make a packet, nothing fancy, just like a gift-wrap, then, seal with some water
4. Heat about 1 Tbsp of oil in a pan, place the packets carefully, allow to brown on both sides evenly
5. Serve warm with dipping sauces, as appetizers or an afternoon snack

California Sushi Rolls

D loves sushi. I don't mind California rolls once in a while. So, we end up making a few for him with seafood, and a few for me and Ana with avocado, cucumber, and carrots.

The process is really simple, but takes a bit of practice. Five years ago, a library book I borrowed helped me learn the technique, but, there are quite a few good websites with pictures and videos that show the process nowadays.

Urumaki is a reverse sushi roll where the rice is on the outside and Nori on the inside. I like Hosomaki, which is a thin roll of just a few ingredients, with Nori on the outside. And, since I am not really a seafood fan, I skip all the traditional fillings and go with a few trusted veggies like cucumber, avocado, carrot, red bell pepper, daikon radish, small round red radish and such.

Uwajimaya is one of my favorite stores from where we get nori, sushi rice, wasabi and other Asian ingredients when possible. But, most Asian stores these days seem to carry the basic sushi necessities like bamboo sushi mat, nori, sushi rice, sushi vinegar etc.



Ingredients
2 cups sushi rice cooked per directions
2-4 Nori (seaweed) sheets
sushi vinegar
lemon juice
soy sauce
pickled ginger
wasabi (optional)
salt to taste
toasted sesame seeds for garnish
bamboo sushi mat
some plastic wrap

filling:
1 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced thin
1 medium carrot cut into thin sticks
pickled ginger (optional)
imitation crab, if using

Preparation

1. Mix just enough sushi vinegar to cooked sushi rice, hot off the stove, till just wet but not soggy; then lay the rice out on a cookie sheet or large plate to cool; this helps develop a nice sheen on the rice as well; keep it covered till ready to use
2. Drizzle some lemon juice and sprinkle some salt on the veggies and have them handy before starting to roll
3. Many websites show clearly how to roll sushi, so, am deferring to them for good pictures and explanation
4. Lay the bamboo sushi mat on a flat surface, lay a plastic wrap on the mat, then a sheet of Nori, then spread some sushi rice, arrange the veggies at the end closest to you, taking care not to pile on too much
5. Start rolling it tight into a log, pulling the mat towards you as you roll away
6. Take it out of the mat, keep the rolled sushi log in the plastic wrap till ready to cut and serve
7. sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds before serving the sushi

Serve with wasabi, pickled ginger, Tsukuri Jyouyu - soy sauce with mirin and kombu, or other dipping sauces to suit your taste.

Tamago Omelette

D thinks it is not easy to give me presents for anniversaries and birthdays. There might be some truth to it. Not because I am difficult to please, just that I never feel I deserve anything special, so, it overwhelms me when I get something I didn't really need, and it shows...

But, to get around this, we had established a wish-list system at home when we got married, where we could list things that would be nice to have, but, life can go on fine without it... practical things, usually, but, sometimes some intangible stuff as well...

Anyway, for Christmas 2007, D gave me a rectangular Tamago Pan since I had written some kitchen things on my wish-list. I do like getting kitchen items or any household items as presents as they are practical and usable.

It came with instructions for making Tamagoyaki, Japanese rolled omelette. It seemed a bit intricate and would need some practice to get it right. I decided to try a simple version anyway a few weeks ago...

Basically, it involves making thin layers of omelette and rolling them back, and making more layers and rolling them back and so on, and then assembling them all together, cut into thick slices/slabs, and served with Donburi, or with some sushi rolls, or just enjoyed it as-is for breakfast.

Ingredients
4-6 eggs
1 Tbsp mirin OR 1 tsp castor sugar, or powdered sugar
2 Tbsp shoyu or soy sauce
1 Tbsp dashi stock, or a pinch of dashi-no-moto (optional)
vegetable oil for frying

optional: spring onions, bell peppers

Preparation

1. Beat the eggs, and combine the rest of the ingredients, mix well
2. Pour a quarter of the mixture on the tamago pan, or any regular pan, allow it to set but not cook through
3. Then roll or fold (I couldn't roll neatly using chopsticks as suggested, so, I used a spatula and sort of roughly folded it back) the partially set omelette farther away from you, and add another quarter of the mixture and repeat till all the egg mixture is used up and a big roll/slab is formed, and is cooked through
4. Cut into blocks as desired and serve with Donburi, or with some sushi rolls, or just enjoy it as-is for breakfast

soba, tempeh and miso soup

It has been a while since I made Soba noodles. Somehow, Summer went by without much fuss. Not too many hot days. Fairly mild. We had salads and such simple meals for the most part.

Yesterday I came home with a nasty headache. D had many other things to do, so, I volunteered to cook something simple. Soba with Miso Soup sounded just like what the doctor ordered. To add some nutritional value so we can have a rounded meal, I threw in some Tempeh.

For the miso soup: recipe is the same as my usual one posted here. I used red miso paste.

For the soba: cook per package directions and steep in favorite flavoring or dipping sauce. Combined ponzu and a hint of mirin and let the soba steep in it till ready to serve - say about 10-15 minutes, while tempeh is getting ready.

For the tempeh: it is basically fermented soyabeans and adapts well to many flavorings. I carried the theme of ponzu and mirin, plus some cayenne pepper sauce to flavor the tempeh. Sautéed some onions and tomatoes, added the tempeh and flavoring, cooked for about 15-20 minutes.

Ana seemed to enjoy this meal, especially the soba. She doesn't care much for miso soup. That's OK. Studies have shown that soy inhibits absorption of iron (and maybe zinc), but, it has other health benefits that I am convinced it is safe in reasonable amounts, provided there are no other health concerns - soy has been shown to interfere with thyroid function...

Anyway, clearly, one has to evaluate one's health and diet and do what seems best, so I'll refrain from further discourse on the subject.

Eggplant and Summer Squash

Ichiban and Neon eggplants in the garden are fruiting about half-a-dozen or so every few days and am frantically trying to use them up. If the sun decides to blaze down this weekend, I would like to slice and dry some of them and make what are called "vatthal" in Tamil - sun dried anything is a vatthal,I believe - and eggplant vatthal would make a wonderful vatthal kuzhambu, I am sure... we'll see... it has been quite cloudy and mild here for the last several days.

Meanwhile, I decided to use the current yield and make a favorite: Eggplant in Miso Sauce. This recipe is pretty much the same as my older recipe, but, I used home grown summer squash in addition to eggplant. Also, this time I made a little more sauce so it doesn't just coat the vegetables lightly, but, sort of lets the vegetables float in it :-)

Eggplant recipes happen to dominate my recipe index... possibly because I have a variety of eggplant handy in my backyard, I suppose...

Vegetable Tempura

Tempura is a wonderful snack on a lazy weekend afternoon. With a few simple dipping sauces, and served with some tea, they make a filling meal. I like to fry up green beans, carrots, squash, eggplant, zucchini, tofu and onions usually.

While I do like the packaged tempura batter, when I try to make tempura these days, I meddle around with the batter to see if I can get a light and crispy batter from scratch. This tempura batter here was all right, not too bad - easy to make, light, not lumpy. The oil temperature needs to be quite high so it crisps up right away.

Ingredients
Tempura Batter:
½ cup fine rice flour
¼ cup cornstarch (plus some more, separately to dredge the tofu)
½ tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp soy sauce
½ cup water (more or less)

plus, oil for frying

Vegetables for frying: carrots, green beans, squash, onion, eggplant, zucchini, tofu

Preparation

cut the vegetables into slices or cubes as desired, keep handy

heat canola oil, or peanut oil (peanut oil gets to a higher temperature than canola) in a pan for frying; keep some paper towel-lined plate handy

mix the batter just before ready to fry: combine the dry batter ingredients and add a little water at a time, beat lightly till the batter is fairly thin and runny, no lumps; keep a plate with some cornstarch handy to dredge the tofu before coating with batter - this helps remove excess moisture that tofu usually has

deep fry till golden brown and transfer to the paper towel lined plate

Serve warm with sweet chili sauce, or soy sauce or a few spicy dipping sauces.

simple bento

Bento "lunch box" is amazingly simple and flexible in concept that I love it. While this is a great lunch, I like it for dinner too...

Bento typically consists of rice, maybe fish or chicken, some marinated vegetables and maybe some steamed vegetables with some sauces on the side. Typically ratio is 4:3:2:1 of rice: main meat or fish: vegetables: sauce. But, anything is fine as long as you like it... It is hard to go wrong with this kind of flexibility :)

If packing for lunch, allow to cool, pack and leave in fridge overnight. In this presentation, I simply assemble and serve it on a dinner plate. It is very easy and quick to throw together - about the time it takes rice to finish cooking. Or, if leftover rice is handy, then it takes just about 10 minutes for the vegetables to marinate or steam a bit. Any vegetable (or meat) is good - sometimes I throw in some steamed broccoli, or home-made pickled eggs, or some peppers, or lettuce...

Ingredients
marinade:
1 tsp white or red miso
4 Tbsp regular plain white vinegar
2 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
vegetables:
red onions, thinly sliced
ginger, julienned
cucumber, thinly sliced
spinach, roughly chopped, steamed, and squeezed dry
pickled asparagus (optional)
plus any other veggies you have handy and like to thrown in...
rice:
1 cup jasmine rice (or sushi rice, if preferred)
2 cups water

Preparation:

combine the marinade ingredients, stir well; pour over the sliced onions, ginger, cucumber, and spinach; preferably, keep the veggies separate, even if they are marinating in the same bowl; allow to marinate till rice is cooked

combine the rice and water and cook till well done; spread the rice on a cookie sheet to cool

Dish up the rice on a plate. I used a pancake heart mould just for fun. Arrange the marinated vegetables on top of the rice, serve cool or at room temperature.

The last time I made bento, I made up a smiley face for my wee one, using a round pancake mould, cucumber and spinach for eyes, ginger for nose, red onions for a smiley mouth and pickled asparagus spears for mustache :)

Bok Choy Bites

Many of the cookbooks I have are presents from D, to inspire me as well as to subtly hint at what he'd like to eat:) One such book is The Traditions, Techniques, Ingredients and Recipes of Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko (recipes by Yasuko Fukuoka). I have a few popular favorites from this book that I make often like Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Aubergine in Miso Sauce, Cucumber Broccoli Miso Pickle.

Whenever D is in the mood for sushi, he likes these bok choy bites as well, so I just make them on request. It is an acquired taste for me and am not terribly fond of it. But it is growing on me.

Ingredients

1 bunch Shanghai bok choy (not baby bok choy), stalks cut off, whole leaves washed - about 8 large leaves

flavoring for bok choy bites:
1 Tbsp low sodium/light soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake (optional)
1 tsp sushi vinegar
1 tsp sherry or cider vinegar
1 tsp mirin
½ tsp cayenne pepper powder or red pepper flakes

Preparation

1. Bok choy bites:bring a big pot of water to boil, add the whole bok choy leaves (don't tear them or chop them); cover and cook till leaves are soft and change color and are cooked; drain, run under cold water, drain well
2. combine the flavoring for bok choy bites, stir well, keep handy
3. in a shallow dish, layer one cooked bok choy leaf at the bottom, add some flavoring sauce, another leaf, more flavoring sauce and so on till all the leaves are stacked on top of each other and drenched in the flavoring sauce; set aside for 10 minutes or so till chicken is done
4. then, carefully gather the layered leaves, squeeze out excess liquid, and roll them into longish "logs"
5. trim ends if they are uneven, and cut into 2" pieces, top with toasted sesame seeds

Japanese-style cucumber, broccoli miso pickle

I use a lot of broccoli florets for my vegetable dishes and end up collecting a lot of unused stalk. I never throw them away. I just remove the outer woody skin, trim the stalks to remove any branches and throw them in a zipper lock bag and keep it handy to use in sambar, or sometimes just sauté them with the veggies, or sometimes, make this Japanese-style miso pickle.


This recipe is from Emi Kazuko's book, with slight modification.
Ingredients:
1 cup miso
1 Tbsp sake (or, plain white vinegar for its tang)
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
3-4 Serrano chilies, sliced or diced fine
3-4 broccoli stalk/stem (use florets in another recipe)
1 large cucumber
¼ tsp sesame oil (optional)
¼ tsp dry red chili flakes
1 tsp sushi vinegar (or, just plain rice vinegar and some sugar to desired sweetness) - optional

Preparation:

1. peel the cucumber every few centimeters or so to get a striped exterior; cut in half lengthwise and remove the inner pulp and seeds, cut into about 3-4" pieces; set aside
2. remove the outer skin of broccoli stem, trim the branches if any, and cut them into longish strips about 3"4" long; set aside
3. mix the miso, garlic, sake and chilies, keep handy
4. in a container, spread some of the miso mixture, lay the cucumber and broccoli stems in a single layer, add another layer of miso, and layer some more cucumber and broccoli stems; keep layering in this manner, top with miso mixture, cover and refrigerate for 5-7 days
5. remove from fridge, wash off the miso from the cucumber and broccoli stems thoroughly, pat dry
6. cut the cucumber into half-moon slices; arrange the pickled broccoli sticks and cucumber in a serving plate
7. whisk the dry red chili flakes, sesame oil and sushi vinegar, pour over the veggies and toss lightly; serve cold

Alternately, I sometimes skip step 7 above, sprinkle some dry red chili flakes and enjoy with some Indian style plain yogurt rice. The saltiness and tang and the bite from the chilies complement the plain yogurt rice really well.

teriyaki chicken and vegetables

Japanese Cooking traditions, techniques, ingredients, recipes by Emi Kazuko (with recipes by Yasuko Fukuoka) is my first and so far my favorite cookbook for Japanese foods.

I don't follow the recipes closely as I haven't developed the taste for some of the ingredients, but, the general techniques and introduction to ingredients in this book is pretty good. This chicken teriyaki recipe was inspired by salmon teriyaki recipe in Kazuko's book.

Ingredients
2 medium frozen skinless boneless chicken breasts, thawed
veggies of your choice: green beans, carrots, baby corn, broccoli florets etc.
1 Tbsp sesame oil, or canola oil

for the Teriyaki sauce and glaze:
¼ cup shoyu, or dark soy sauce
¼ cup mirin (or, sherry, if mirin is not handy)
¼ cup sake
1 Tbsp brown sugar (or, superfine caster sugar, if handy)

Preparation:

1. heat the teriyaki sauce ingredients gradually till sugar dissolves; off heat, let it cool
2. cut the chicken breast into bite size pieces and marinate in some of the cooled teriyaki sauce, for about 15-20 minutes
3. blanch the veggies with some salted water, drain and keep warm
4. heat the oil in the pan to high heat, drain the marinated chicken pieces, toss them into the hot pan and stir them around; alternately, pre-heat grill or broiler and grill or broil the chicken; i prefer to pan-fry
5. toss around, turning all sides, over medium high heat, adding teriyaki sauce a little at a time to glaze the chicken pieces; cook till chicken is done, still juicy and tender; usually, i check the temperature of the thickest piece by taking it off-heat and sticking a meat thermometer in the center - if it is close to 170°F I am happy, it is done
6. in a serving platter, arrange some of the veggies, some rice and some chicken pieces

The amount here roughly serves two adults and one toddler for one wonderful supper:-)

Save any remaining teriyaki sauce in the fridge. It usually lasts months.

Alternately, serve with cooked Japanese white rice (uruchimai), or brown rice (genmai): dish up some rice in a serving bowl, top with veggies and chicken, serve warm.

soba with eggplant and tofu

Buckwheat soba, served warm or cold, is a meal we relish at home. Sometimes, it is Japanese style, served cold, with dipping sauce on the side; sometimes, it is warm/hot with thai-inspired flavoring sauce and veggies stirred in. This soba recipe is sort of in-between - served at about room temperature:-)

I love eggplant, and try to incorporate it many dishes I make.

As I am a bit sensitive to fish paste, shrimp paste, bonito flakes, kezuri-bushi and such, my asian recipes are not quite authentic. My miso soup barely has a touch of dashi-no-moto. But, I do enjoy a lot of the other non-sea-food-based asian flavors.

Ingredients
½ pkt extra firm tofu, diced (or pan-fried tofu, if handy)
1 medium eggplant, diced
1 bunch spring onions, chopped, for garnish (optional)
1-2 bundles soba noodles
1 Tbsp canola oil (or sesame oil)
flavoring:
1 tsp shichimi togarashi, if handy, or, sambal oelek, or just red pepper flakes
¼ cup mirin
½ cup shoyu, or light soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp sushi vinegar (or rice vinegar, if you like the pungency)

Preparation:

1. combine the flavoring ingredients, stir well, set aside
2. cook soba per package directions to al-dente, drain, run under cold water, drain well
   
3. in a shallow bowl, add the cooked soba and pour just enough of the flavoring sauce to coat it well; set aside
   
4. heat oil in a pan, add the diced tofu and some flavoring sauce and pan-fry the tofu turning often to brown all sides; remove from pan, set aside
5. in the same pan, add the eggplant and more flavoring sauce and cook the eggplant till done
   
6. with chopsticks or fork, gather some soba that has been soaking in the flavor sauce and make a bed of it on a serving plate
7. top with tofu and eggplant; garnish with spring onions; serve any remaining sauce on the side
   

Nigiri-zushi: Sushi mini logs

Not liking raw fish or much of sea food, I feel constantly challenged about making Sushi. I guess I love the combination of rice and vinegar, and the whole idea of putting together a quick and filling meal, with fresh ingredients for the toppings.


Ingredients
for the rice balls/logs:
1 cup raw sushi rice
1-2 Tbsp sushi vinegar

for the marinated toppings
1/2 medium cucumber seeded and diced
1 medium firm tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 medium red onion diced finely
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp sushi vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil

for garnish:
1-2 cups pan-fried tofu cubes, the more the better:-)

Preparation

1. cook the sushi rice per package directions, remove from heat, stir in the sushi vinegar and spread it out on a flat plate or cookie sheet to cool, preferably in front of a fan
2. marinate the diced vegetables in the mirin+sushi vinegar+sesame oil 'vinaigrette' for about 5 to 10 mins ;dicing and marinating the veggies can be done right after starting to cook the rice; you can add tomatoes, yellow bell peppers or any other veggies you like for the topping
   
3. to pan fry the tofu: dice the required amount of tofu into smallish cubes; heat about 1 Tbsp oil in a non-stick pan, add the tofu cubes and let them sit on medium heat; add some flavoring like black bean and garlic paste, or just soy sauce to the pan and toss the tofu cubes well; keep turning the tofu cubes till all sides seem coated with flavoring condiments and fried
   
4. when sushi rice is cool enough to handle, hand shape them into oblong clumps (nigiri-zushi) or use a mold for the same
5. lay the nigiri-zushi on a serving platter, top with marinated vegetables, and garnish with pan-fried tofu cubes
6. serve warm or cold; i usually like hot miso soup as a starter when serving this dish warm
7. if you have avacado handy, sushi tower should be fun to do as well :-)