Recipe: Apple compote with red wine and vanilla ice cream
How bout them apples?
Most people are familiar with the pear compote. A simple dish consisting of pears slow cooked in sugar, water, wine and spices, it’s a dessert which never goes out of date.
What people may not know, however, is that apples work just as well as pears. Here, we’ll be preparing a version which makes use of Japanese apples.
These come in many varieties: Fuji, Kogyoku, Tsugaru and Jona gold. For the purposes of this dish, use a Fuji apple. Its sour flavor will better compliment the sweetness of the syrup and whatever creamy goodness you serve alongside it.
Apple compote with red wine and vanilla ice cream
Ingredients (serves two people)
- 1 apple (400g)
- 100g sugar
- 250 ml water
- 100 ml red wine
- 1 clove
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 liter water
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ice cream/yogurt/marscapone
Method
Peel the apple and then slice it into 4 – 6 wedges, disposing of the core. Add the teaspoon of salt to the half-liter of water, then place the apple pieces into the liquid.
Pour the sugar into a pan together with 250 ml of water. Place the pan on a low heat so that the sugar dissolves. Next, put the apples into the pan, and gently cook for 15 – 20 minutes.
Add the clove, the cinnamon and the red wine and stir. Cook the mixture for a further 3 minutes.
Turn off the heat and allow the mixture to cool. After 12 to 24 hours, the apples should have absorbed the red wine and changed color. When you’re satisfied the apples are ready, take them out of the pan and slice them again (optional).
Place the an back onto a low heat and warm it slowly. Once it has thickened, it can be used as a sauce.
Plate the apples and serve with a dollop of ice cream, yogurt or marscapone. Pour a tablespoon of the sauce over the apples.
Recipe: Piman no jakoitame (stir-fried peppers with crispy young anchovies)
Vibrant color, crispy texture.
In many ways, this pepper and anchovy dish is the perfect otsumami (tapas-style dish). For starters there’s its vivid color – bold red, yellow and green. Then there’s the texture – the slightly crispy anchovies balancing the sauteed peppers. Finally, there’s the flavor of the mentsuyu (a dashi-based sauce usually used for soba and udon noodles).
Stir-fried peppers with crispy young anchovies
Ingredients (serves 2 people)
- 200g green pepper (4-5 green peppers)
- 50g red pepper (1/2 a red pepper)
- 50g yellow pepper (1/2 a yellow pepper)
- 20g dried young anchovies
- 2 tablespoons of sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons of mentsuyu
Method
Pour 2 tablespoons of sesame oil into a frying pan and place on a low heat. Add the dried young anchovies and slowly saute them for 3-4 minutes, so that they become crispy.
Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds, then slice them into strips. When the anchovies become crispy, add the peppers to the pan and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes over a high heat.
Finally, add two tablespoons of mentsuyu and coat the peppers. If you live in Japan, you should be able to find this at any supermarket or convenience store.
If you live overseas and have trouble finding the sauce, however, add the following to the fry pan:
- 2 tablespoons of dashi soup (or water)
- 1 tablespoon of sake
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of mirin
It’s also worth noting that were you to make 2-3 times the sauce, you would have the perfect soup for soba or udon noodles.
Recipe: Aona no norimaki (boiled greens wrapped in seaweed)
Norimaki needn’t always come as sushi.
So you’re looking for that perfect appetizer – something that looks great, is dead simple to make, and can be enjoyed by omnivores and vegetarians alike. Well look no further. This recipe for aona no norimaki (boiled greens wrapped in seaweed) is all of the above. Not only that, but its about as healthy an appetizer as you can get.
Aona is the Japanese word for green leaf vegetables, which includes such things as spinach, komatsuna and canola blossoms. Spinach and komatsuna were once winter vegetables, but are now available in Japan all year round. Canola blossoms are only found during springtime.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 200g spinach or other aona
- 1 sheet toasted nori seaweed
- A handful of bonito flakes (optional)
Method
First wash the spinach, especially the roots, and then drain. Bring 1 liter of water to the boil and add a teaspoon of salt.
Place the spinach into the boiling water, roots first, then boil for 30 seconds so that the leaves turn a bright green. Rinse under cold water. Next, separate the spinach into two equal portions and squeeze well to remove any moisture. Cut off the roots.
Slice a sheet of nori in half, placing it on the maki-su (bamboo mat). Place the first half of the spinach on the nori, leaving 2 cm uncovered at the bottom of the sheet. Now lift the nearest edges of both the maki-su and the nori, and roll away from you. To seal the nori, dip a finger in water and moisten the top edge. Repeat for the second nori roll.
Finally, cut into 2-3 cm portions and serve on a bed of bonito flakes (optional).
Recipe: Shiso juice
The perfect way to beat the summer heat
Tokyo is enjoying (some would say enduring) one of the hottest starts to summer in years. What better time to try out this refreshing Japanese drink? Made with red shiso (a relative of mint and basil) it’s sweet, doesn’t require refrigeration and looks wonderful.
Ingredients
1 l water
200 ml rice vinegar
300 – 400 g sugar
300 – 400 g aka shiso (red shiso)
Method
Place a saucepan containing the water and rice vinegar on the gas table and bring it to the boil.
Take the red shiso and lower it into the pan, boiling it for 5 minutes. Once done, pour the contents of the saucepan through a colander, into a large bowl. Allow the boiled shiso leaves to cool.
Once the leaves are cool enough to handle, squeeze them between your fingers extracting any remaining juice. Now discard the leaves themselves and pour the juice back into the saucepan. Add the sugar and then heat the pan on a medium flame for 15-20 minutes.
Once the juice has again cooled, pour it into a bottle or jar. Be sure that this container had previously been washed and dried thoroughly.
Try the juice before serving, adjusting the taste by adding fresh water and ice. I usually serve a mixture of 50 per cent juice to 50 per cent water.
Recipe: Hiyashi soumen
With the arrival of summer, Japanese are increasingly looking towards light meals at lunchtime. A bowl of soumen (cold noodles) is one of the most popular ways to relieve the summer heat.
Soumen is traditionally served with a large variety of yakumi, or condiments. While it may be tempting to cut back on the number of different garnishes, it’s worth trying all of the yakumi listed below at least once so that you can better judge which you prefer.
Serve the noodles on ice in a wooden bowl. Pour a little soup into each guest’s bowl and allow them to choose their own condiments, which they mix into the soup. Finally, guests add noodles which they should mix together with the yakumi.
Itadakimasu!!
Soumen
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 3 bunches of dried soumen
- 1-1.5l water
Yakumi (condiments)
- 1-2 mioga (mioga ginger)
- 10 asatsuki chives
- 4-5 green shiso (green perilla) leaves
- 1 package of kaiware daikon (radish sprouts)
- 1 deep-fried tofu pouch
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon of sake
- 1 teaspoon of shichimi togarashi (a mixture of red pepper and six other spices)
- 1 clove of ginger
Tsuyu soup
- 2 cups of dashi soup
- 1/2 a cup of soy sauce
- 1/2 a cup of mirin
Method
First prepare the tsuyu soup. Pour the mirin into a pan, place it onto the gas table and bring it to the boil. Add the dashi soup together with the soy sauce and bring it to the boil again. Once boiling, turn off the heat and allow it to cool.
Now for the yakumi (garnishes). Cut the mioga in half lengthwise and then again into thin strips. Rise in a bowl of cold water for a minute then drain.
Cut the asatsuki chives into thin round slices.
Slice the green shiso leaves into julienne strips, rinse them in a bowl of cold water and drain.
Peel the skin of the ginger grate it.
Cut off the root of the kaiware daikon, then cut into halves.
Toast one deep-fried tofu pouch for about one minute. Mix a tablespoon of soy sauce, a tablespoon of sake and a teaspoon of shichimi togarashi and spread onto one side of the tofu pouch. Toast it again for about one minute until it becomes crispy. Finally, cut the pouch into bite-sized rectangles (12-16).
Bring a bowl of water to the boil and cook the soumen noodles for roughly two minutes (refer to the cooking instructions on the package). If the water rolls up to the edge of the pot, add a half cup of cold water. Once the noodles are ready, rinse them in running fresh water.
Place water and ice in a wooden bowl and arrange the noodles so that they don’t stick together.
Serve the noodles with the tsuyu (soup) and condiments in individual plates or bowls.
Recipe: Suage yasai no okaka itame (deep fried vegetables)
Eggplant, peppers, pumpkin and string beans: a light vegetable dish fit for summer
Summer time is (almost) upon us. In Tokyo, the rainy season (June/July) gives way to days which are long, hot and humid – the perfect time for salads and light vegetable dishes.
Here is an extremely easy deep fried vegetable dish which would suit any summer menu. It only requires a handful of ingredients, and these can be adjusted according to taste. Vegetarians take note: simply skip the bonito flakes and add a little more flavor with a fresh sesame seed garnish.
Deep fried vegetables
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 1/4 pumpkin
- 1 red pepper
- 100 g string beans
- 300 – 400 g eggplant
- 600 ml vegetable oil for deep frying
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 6 – 10 g bonito flakes
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- fresh sesame seeds
Method
First remove the pumpkin seeds and cut the pumpkin into wedges 5 – 6 mm thick.
Cut away both ends of each string bean. Next, slice each pepper in half and remove the seeds together with the stems. Slice the peppers lengthways into wedges 1 cm thick.
Now remove the stems from the eggplant and cut into wedges 1 cm thick.
Heat the vegetable oil to 170 degrees centigrade. Deep fry all of the ingredients (without adding butter) until they have turned golden brown.
Remove the cooked ingredients from the deep fryer and drain away any remaining oil.
Now for the sauce. Pour the sesame oil and thinly chopped garlic into a fry pan. Place the pan on a very low heat. Once the garlic has become light brown, add the bonito flakes and soy sauce to the oil and garlic. Mix rapidly and turn off the heat.
Finally, place the deep fried vegetables into the pan and coat them with sauce. Serve with a garnish of fresh sesame seeds.
Recipe: Negitoro maki
An easy recipe for negitoro maki that can be adapted to suit your own taste.
Norimaki is the ever-popular type of sushi which comes wrapped in nori (seaweed). This particular recipe has tuna inside, but you could just as easily fill your norimaki with other ingredients. Indeed, the American California roll is essentially norimaki with avocado.
For this version you’ll need a makisu (bamboo rolling mat). Naturally, makisu are easy to come by in Japan (here they’re available from supermarkets and even 100 yen shops). Elsewhere, you should be able to buy one from any good Asian grocery store.
Negitoro maki combines the sweetness of maguro (tuna) with the sharpness of asatsuki chives.
Ingredients
- 2 go sushi rice (refer to the chirashizushi recipe)
- 5 to 6 sheets of nori (seaweed)
- 400g of (preferably fatty) tuna
- 10 asatsuki chives
Method (makes 5 -6 rolls)
First, prepare sushi rice according to the chirashizushi recipe. Next, mince the tuna with two kitchen knives until it becomes a rough paste and thinly chop the asatsuki chives.
Toast a sheet of nori by passing it over a high flame to make it crispy and dry.
Set the makisu (bamboo rolling mat) onto a flat space. Place the sheet of nori onto the mat and then gently spoon some of the sushi rice onto the seaweed. Spread it over the sheet, leaving 3 cm uncovered at the top and bottom.
Place some of the minced tuna and a pinch of the chopped asatsuki onto the rice (if you’re worrying about quantity, aim for roughly 1/5 to 1/6 of each ingredient per roll). Now dab your finger in water and run it along the edge of the seaweed (the area that isn’t covered). Lift the edge of the bamboo mat and the nori sheet together nearest you, and bring over to meet the far edge of the sheet. Gently press the bamboo mat around the roll to shape it.
Finally, slice the roll into 6 – 8 equal pieces. Use a moistened cloth to clean the knife after each use.
Repeat this process 5 – 6 times.
Recipe: Fresh Strawberries & Japanese Whiskey Sabayon
Rachael White explains how to prepare this delicious seasonal dessert.
As an expat in Tokyo, finding recipes that make one feel “at home” can be challenging. Many recipes westerners are familiar with require the use of an oven (not a common appliance in most Japanese kitchens). This recipe for fresh strawberries with whiskey sabayon fits the bill for a dessert that is: 1) simple to make with basic ingredients that can be found in Japanese grocery stores and 2) does not require an oven.
Strawberries & Whiskey Sabayon: All of the ingredients are commonly found on Japanese grocery store shelves. Photograph: Rachael White
If you have a stove, a whisk, and a little time, you are more than equipped to make this impressive French dessert with a little Japanese flair. Sabayon, or zabaglione in Italian, is a southern French dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, and wine. The ingredients are whipped like crazy to form a light, foamy, creamy topping for fruit, cake, etc. In this case, Japanese whiskey and a touch of vanilla extract replace the wine. Sake would be an excellent substitute as well.
This time of year is especially good for strawberries in Japan. Although they can be found year round in some grocery stores in Tokyo, spring time seems to be when these ruby-red jewels are perfectly sweet and delicious. If they are purchased outside of the season, the texture tends to be hard and the inside is white and nearly tasteless. So, carpe diem and seize the strawberries, friends!
Ingredients (Makes 4-6 servings)
- 8 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup Japanese Whiskey
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 pints strawberries, hulled and quartered
Method
Combine the whiskey, vanilla and sugar in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Put the egg yolks in a medium glass or aluminum bowl. Add the whiskey mixture to the egg yolks and whisk lightly until the egg yolks are just broken. Place the bowl over a double boiler over medium heat. *Note: If you do not have a double boiler it is OK! Just find a heatproof bowl that will fit in the top of a small/medium saucepan.
The most famous Japanese strawberries come from Tochigi and Fukuoka prefectures. Photo: Rachael White
Fill the saucepan/double boiler with about 2 inches/5 centimeters of water. (Make sure the bottom of the bowl is at least an inch away from the surface of the water. If it touches the water, the eggs will scramble.) Whisk constantly for 10-12 minutes until the egg mixture has almost doubled in volume and is light and foamy. The color should change from egg yolk yellow to a light, creamy, pale yellow color. Remove from the heat and the double boiler.
Divide the strawberries into 4 dessert bowls. Spoon the sabayon over the strawberries and garnish with mint leaves.
Recipe: Asian-style roast chicken salad
This Southeast Asian dish is incredibly simple to make. The salad employs one of the great flavor combinations – sesame and roast chicken.
It also contains nam pla, the aromatic Thai fish sauce, which adds depth to the flavor. If you don’t have any on hand, you can substitute nuoc man, the Vietnamese version of the same thing (although in Japan, nam pla tends to be easier to find than nuoc man – I buy mine at Seiyu supermarket).
Serve with with rice noodles such as pho.
Asian-style chicken salad
Ingredients (for 2-3 people)
- 250g chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons of roasted sesame seeds
- 1 teaspoon of fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc man)
- 2-3 fresh lettuce leaves
- 1 green pepper
- 1/4 of a red onion
Method
Break the lettuce into bite-sized pieces by hand. Thinly slice the onion (against the grain) and cut the green pepper in half and then into thin strips.
Place the vegetables into a bowl, then pour just enough water to cover them. Add 4-5 ice cubes to keep them crispy. Leave these in the water for about ten minutes, then drain.
Sprinkle a pinch of salt and 1 pinch of pepper over the chicken breast and let it sit for for 5 minutes. Next, dribble a teaspoon of Thai fish sauce over the chicken and let it sit for another 5 minutes.
Spread the sesame oil over the chicken breast with a cooking brush (or use the back side of a small spoon). Dust the roasted sesame seeds over both sides of the chicken.
Preheat the oven to 210 degrees Celsius (410 Fahrenheit) and place the chicken on a tray covered in baking paper. Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
When the chicken has finished cooking, take it out of the oven and let it cool. Once ready, tear the chicken into bite-sized pieces by hand. Plate the vegetables and then decorate with the pieces of chicken. Garnish with coriander (cilantro to those in North America) and a piece of lemon or lime.
May ’10 Magazine Roundup
What’s new in Japan’s food magazines? Marcus Lovitt conducts a whirlwind tour of Japan’s culinary rags. This month: dancyu, ELLE à table, Syokuraku and Ryori Tsushin.
May's ELLE à table
Foreign visitors to Japan frequently complain about the limited number of western breakfast options available. And let’s face it: pre-dawn sushi at Tsukiji or a bowl of soba at a train station aren’t for everyone, especially if you have young children in tow.
For those not enamored of chain coffee shops (Excelsior, Starbucks or the ever-smokey Dotour) the only options appear to be expensive hotel restaurants or to pick something up at a local bakery.
It’s an unfortunate fact that Tokyo lags behind other major cities when it comes to breakfast options. While there are plenty of great independently-owned cafes, few open before 10 or 11 am. Why? Most Japanese eat at home, or skip the meal altogether in the rush to catch that train to work.
Things may be changing, however. Much has been made of Australian chef Bill Granger’s latest venture, bills in Yokohama. Renowned for his Australian-style breakfasts, Granger has attracted a lot of attention for his focus on Aussie staples such as Eggs Benedict and buttery pancakes.
Acknowledging the western predilection for a morning dose of cholesterol, this month’s dancyu (860 yen) is all eggs, done every which way. The magazine introduces restaurants offering classic egg dishes (boiled, scrambled, fried) as well as some of their recipes (eggs Benedict, egg sandwiches, huevos a la flamenca and puddings).
Another of dancyu‘s themes is seasonal vegetables – spring cabbage, spring onion, asparagus, green peas, and tomato fruit. The magazine includes seven recipes which make the most of what’s now available in Japan’s grocery stores.
ELLE à table (720 yen), meanwhile, looks at the latest French restaurants to open in Tokyo. The editors write that since the end of 2009 Tokyoites have enjoyed an increasing number of reasonably-priced French establishments. Rents have decreased because of the recession and young chefs are finding it easier to open their own places. ELLE writes about eight casual French dining options. They also focus on 3 locations: Nishi Azabu; what ELLE calls the ‘Art East Area’ (the area around Bakurocho and Asakusabashi) and ‘Ura Ginza’ (Higashi Ginza and Shintomicho). Finally, the magazine profiles seven new restaurants renowned for the quality of their food.
Syokuraku (860 yen) fills much of its May edition with those delectable dumplings, gyoza. The editors recommend gyoza restaurants based on five categories: fried gyoza, large gyoza, crispy gyoza, boiled gyoza and gyoza served on a frying pan. The magazine also visits Utsunomiya and Hamamatsu, two Japanese cities which are famous for the dish.
Finally, this month’s Ryori tsushin (980 yen) examines ‘sake for wine lovers’. The magazine explains how to approach sake by showing a comparison between sake and wine. They also suggest restaurants which provide a high-quality sake line up as well as food. Elsewhere in the magazine is devoted to dashi. Based on the notion that dashi is one of the key elements of Japanese cooking, the editors explain how to cook this combination of konbu (kelp), katsuobushi and water. They also present six dashi-based recipes.
And also…
Otoriyose, the practice of ordering regional specialties online via sites such as Rakuten, is currently a major trend. All of this month’s magazines go out of their way to list websites where readers can purchase items such as gyoza (Syokuraku) and pâté (ELLE à table). The latter magazine even introduces a bar in Ginza (named chikappa) focused on otoriyose from Kyushu.
