Friday, April 6, 2012

Busy week...donabe cooking class and donabe dinner catering


Last Saturday was another donabe cooking class.

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"Power of Koji"! We had a lot of fun.

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A few days after, I did a dinner catering at a private home in Venice Beach. The theme was spring donabe dishes, and I cooked for 6 people. I was so busy in the kitchen that I didn't get to take pictures of all the dishes, but here are a few of them...

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Yuzu-kosho Ceviche...with shrimp, large scallops, wild-caught tai snapper, and octopus.

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Donabe tomato rice with English peas and hijiki seaweed was cooked in a jumbo-size double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". Instead of Japanese rice, I used new-crop hand-picked Carolina Gold (long grain rice) from Anson Mills. This rice is so delicate and fluffy, and has almost no "stickiness". It came out so beautiful.

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Donabe-braised shio-koji marinated Kurobuta pork butt was a dynamic main course. I cooked 4 pounds, so I used a large-size donabe steamer, "Mushi Nabe" as a classic donabe (without steam grate). I was really happy with how the meat came out (so tender and juicy).

I truly enjoyed cooking for the wonderful people.

Here's the menu...



Spring Donabe Dinner
April 4, 2012


Menu


Shio-koji Tofu, marinated for Seven Days
-Served Sashimi-style with Wasabi-

Daikon & Chrysanthemum Leaves Salad with “Shio-koji” Vinaigrette
-with Radish, Roasted Jako, and Tofu Croutons-

Yuzu-kosho Ceviche
-Naoko’s Homage to Riviera Maya-

Kabocha & Satsuma-yam Potage

Donabe-braised Shio-koji Kurobuta pork “Ni-buta”,
served with “Aji-tama” Marinated Eggs

Donabe “Tomato Gohan” with English Peas & Hijiki Seaweed
-Hand-picked new-crop Carolina Gold rice from Anson Mills-

Dessert
Home-brew “Sake-kasu” (sake lees) Pound Cake
-Served with Home-fermented Ama-zake Crème Chantilly-

Happy donabe spring...