Steam-fry Asparagus with Preserved Lemon

This is a quick donabe dish, looks pretty, and taste delicious. I sometimes make this dish for lunch to eat the whole thing myself, too. The asparagus stems are steam-roasted in tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san" for a short time. They become nicely crisp tender. The flavor of the preserved lemon and Parmesan cheese add the nice nuance. If you don't have preserved lemon, you can substitute with some shredded lemon rind and a sprinkle of salt.

Here's the recipe.

Roasted Asparagus with Preserved Lemon
(Tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san")

Ingredients: (2-3 as part of a multi-course meal)
10 oz asparagus, hard bottom trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 piece preserved lemon, minced (*each piece is 1/8 of medium-size lemon)
Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
Freshly ground black pepper

Procedure:

1. Peel about 1/3 end of each asparagus by using a peeler.
2. Place the asparagus in the skillet of "Fukkura-san" and add the olive oil. Toss the asparagus by hand so they are evenly coated with the oil, and arrange them in a single layer.
3. Cover with lid and set over medium heat. Cook for about 7 minutes or until the asparagus is crisp tender. Meanwhile, turn the asparagus 1-2 times.
4. Remove from the heat and uncover at the table. Garnish the asparagus with the preserved lemon and some Parmigiano Reggiano plus some pepper.

You can also find the recipe on toiro kitchen's website.

Happy donabe life.

Quick Donabe Recipe...Shio-koji Chicken in Preserved Lemon Sauce

Ever since I made my first batch of "Moshio" (seaweed salt) preserved lemon, I've been crazy about it. Here's how I make "moshio" preserved lemon.


I finished my first batch so fast last year, so the end of last year, I made more to fit in a large jar. The preserved lemon becomes ready to use after 1 month.


After over 6 months, the preserved lemon is at its beautiful stage. The lemons are very nicely fermented in salt and covered in salty syrup. It's like lemon marmalade with no sugar. I learned that preserved lemon should keep for a few years when stored at a dark and cool storage, but I'm sure I would finish this big jar much sooner. The other night, I made simple chicken and vegetables in preserved lemon and spice sauce in my tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san". I will post the recipe soon.


Last night, I made another chicken dish with "moshio" preserved lemon. This dish is super easy and so delicious. It's the collaboration of two fermented seasonings. Both shio-koji and preserved lemon add such nice depth and flavors to this extremely simple dish. It cooks really nicely in soup & stew donabe, "Miso-shiru" Nabe.


Shio-koji Chicken in Preserved Lemon Sauce
(for large-size soup & stew doanbe, "Miso-shiru Nabe")

Ingredients: 2-3 hearty servings

1 pound (450 g) boneless skinless chicken thigh, cut into large bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon shio-koji (can be substituted with 1 teaspoon salt)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium-small onion, minced
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 clove garlic, thinly-sliced
2 tablespoons sake or white wine
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) crushed tomato (or tomato sauce)
2 pieces preserved lemon, minced plus 1 teaspoon of its syrup (*each piece is 1/8 of medium-size lemon)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dry oregano
4 oz (120 g) green beans, cut in half
salt and pepper


Procedure:

1. In a Ziploc bag, combine the chicken and shio-koji and mix well by hand. Tightly close (with the air out) and let the chicken marinade in refrigerator for at least a few hours to overnight.
2. In Miso-shiru Nabe, sauté the onion and fennel seeds in 1 tablespoon olive oil over moderate heat until the onion is very soft (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic and sauté until aromatic.
3. Turn up the heat to medium-high and add the sake and simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the crushed tomato, preserved lemon and syrup, bay leaf, and oregano. Cover. As soon as it starts boiling, turn down the heat to simmer. 
4. Meanwhile, in a sauté pan, pan-fry the chicken in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat until lightly browned outside but not fully cooked to inside. Transfer the chicken (but leave the oil in a pan) to Miso-shiru Nabe and simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Clean the sauté pan after chicken was transferred. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and sauté the green beans over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Transfer the green beans to Miso-shiru Nabe (but leave the oil in a pan). Continue to simmer for additional 2-3 minutes. Add a pinch of pepper and adjust the seasoning with salt, if necessary. Turn off the heat and let it rest (with lid on) for 10 minutes. Serve into individual bowls at the table.

You can also find the recipe in toiro kitchen's website.
Happy Donabe Life.

Donabe Quinoa Pilaf...super fluffy

I like quinoa, in general, but when quinoa is cooked in my donabe, it becomes something so special and almost dangerously good (because I can't stop eating!).

The double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san" doesn't only make premium-quality rice, but it also does amazing job cooking different kinds of grain.

Here's a very quick and easy quinoa recipe with Kamado-san.
This time, I used my baby-size Kamado-san (1 rice-cup size) for a small amount.

Tomato-flavored Quinoa Pilaf in Donabe

1. Rinse 1 cup (240 ml) quinoa (I used mixed colors).
2. In Kamado-san, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and saute the quinoa for a couple of minutes over medium-heat.
3. Add 1 cup (240 ml) vegetable stock and 1/2 cup tomato sauce. Season with a little amount of salt and pepper. Stir. Add a bay leaf in the center.
4. Cover with both lids and cook over medium-heat for 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it rest (covered) for 15-20 minutes.



It tastes great on its own or you can serve it as a side dish for your protein. The texture of donabe-cooked quinoa is really great, as I can really taste each grain.

Happy donabe life.

Donabe Goulash...best kind I've had.

From Budapest, I brought home some ingredients for Goulash.


These were sold together as a "Goulash set". Hungarian paprika powder (hot), gulyas cream (paste of paprika, tomato, and some spices), and cumin seeds. If paprika is Hungary's national ingredient, Goulash is its national dish. Goulash is a stew of beef in paprika-based soup.

And, I made it with Japan's finest, Iga-yaki donabe! I used my medium-size classic-style donabe, "Hakeme", to make this dish.


Meat: 2 pounds of beef shank (I got very fine grass-fed organic beef shank). Cut the meat into large cubes, season with salt & pepper, dust with flour, and sear in olive oil in a pan, just until the meat is browned both sides. Set aside.


In the donabe, sauté 2 onions (minced) and 2 cloves of garlic (thinly-sliced) in 2T olive oil until the onion is very soft. Add 1/2 medium-size carrot (small-diced).


Add 1tsp cumin seeds, 2 bay leaves, 1/4C paprika powder, 1/4C gulyas cream, 2T tomate sauce, and browned beef. Stir. Deglaze with 1/4C white wine.


Add 2 potatoes (diced), 2.5C water, and a dry paprika (optional). Bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer.  Line the surface with a drip lid (or a piece of parchment paper). Cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour. Add half can of white beans and continue to simmer for 30 more minutes.


Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. The authentic donabe goulash is ready.


To serve, you can top the soup with sour cream, which Hungarian people love very much!
It became the best goulash I've made...the flavor was so deep and the meat was so tender. And, the best part was the bone marrow...my cheeks felt so perky the next morning (psychological? haha.) I used the gulyas cream for the first time and liked it very much. But, once I use it up, I think I can still make a very good goulash without it.

Happy donabe life.

Shio-koji Turkey Sausage

This dish tastes very nice at both hot and room temperatures.  I like to take it to picnic, too.  It's very easy, and again, shio-koji gives the nice flavor and also works as a binder for the meat.

Shio-koji Turkey Sausage


1.  To make the patty, combine 1 lb ground turkey, 1/2 small onion (minced), 1 clove garlic (minced), 1T minced almond, 1/2 jalapeno (minced), 2T oyster sauce, 1T shio-koji, 1/4 tsp ground pepper in a bowl.  Mix well by hand.  Cover and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour.


2.  Take it out of the fridge and make it into round-shape patties by hand.


3.  Pan-fry the patties in oiled saute pan until done (3-4 minutes per side).


4. Serve with the lime-nampla sauce, cilantro, scallion, and lime wedges.

(Lime-nampla sauce)
Combine 2T raw brown sugar, 2T lime juice, 1.5T nampla, 1.5T water, 1T minced almond, 1/2tsp minced ginger, 1/2tsp minced dry red chili.


On one night, we had a nice eclectic meal around the turkey sausages.  Shio-koji Salmon Rillettes with cheese and fruits, simmered devil's tongue yam jelly ("Tazuna Konnyaku"), and of course, donabe rice.  I will write recipes for these dishes soon.

Happy donabe life.

Donabe-steamed Shio-koji Salmon and Sun-dry Mushrooms in White Wine Butter Sauce

I got lots and lots of sun-dried mushrooms to cook. So, here we go again. This time, it's an easy dish with mixed mushrooms and salmon. Here's another stove-top cooking recipe for Donabe Steam-roaster, "Tochinsai". You basically just pile up ingredients, cook over stove-top, and it's ready in less than 10 minutes!

In the skillet of Tochinsai (with no grate), spread sun-dried mushrooms (or you can use fresh mushrooms - you would need less wine to cook with). Add 3-4 tablespoons of white wine and sprinkle some salt & pepper if you like. On top of the mushrooms, put shio-koji salmon (marinated in shio-koji overnight, and wipe off the marinade - or you can simply season salmon with salt).

Put a tablespoon of butter on top and cover with lid. Set Tochinsai over medium-heat gas stove. Cook for 7-8 minutes or until everything is cooked through (cooking time vary depending on the size of salmon). Let it rest for a couple of minutes and the dish is ready!

You can serve it simply with some lemon wedges. I wanted some green, so I topped the dish with some chopped seri leaves and mixed seaweed. So delicious.

Happy donabe life.

Ground pork, mushroom & okra curry in donabe

The weather was becoming hot again during last week, so it made me crave for a nice hot curry dish!

To make curry, my Soup & Stew Donabe, "Miso-shiru Nabe", is the best tool. This donabe does the best stewing/ braising job with its slow and steady heat distribution. Because of this effect, flavors of meat (protein) tends to be kept inside and develops umami flavor during cooking, while you tend not to need skim much.

This curry recipe is a variation of my original Pork and Okra Curry.

First, I sauteed cumin seeds with grated ginger and garlic in olive oil + butter until aromatic. Then, minced onions were added and sauteed until caramelized.

Ground pork was added. Once the pork was almost cooked through, chopped mushrooms were added.

Once everything was cooked through, curry powder, cayenne pepper, and chili powder were added and sauteed until aromatic. Then, my homemade shio-koji, fond de veau (you can substitute with beef or chicken stock) and tomato sauce were added.

The curry was simmered for about 25 minutes. Then, cut okra and garam masala were added and simmered for additional 10 minutes. The seasoning was adjusted by addition of some salt and pepper.

After turning off the heat, the curry was rested in the donabe for 10 minutes (meanwhile, carryover heat continued to simmer the curry). Then, the curry was ready! It was served with turmeric rice, boiled egg, lime wedge, and chopped cilantro and scallion.

So delicious and so deep! The "secret weapon" of shio-koji definitely added extra depth to the flavors.

Here's the recipe.

(Kheema-style) Ground Pork, mushroom & okra curry with hint of shio-koji

Ingredients

1.5 tablespoons each olive oil and butter

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 cloves garlic, grated

1/2 tablespoon grated ginger

2 medium-size onion, minced

1 pound ground pork

8 oz white mushrooms, cut into small cubes

1.5 to 2 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1.5 cups fond de veau (can be substituted with beef or chicken stock)

2 tablespoons shio-koji (can be substituted with 1 teaspoon sea salt)

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 bay leaves

12 okra, cut into 1/2" crosswise

1 teaspoon garam masala

salt and pepper to taste

(condiments)

mixture of chopped cilantro and sliced scallion

boiled egg

lime wedges

Procedure

1. Heat the olive oil and butter. Saute cumin seeds, ground garlic and ginger until aromatic.

2. Add the onions and saute in medium-low heat until mildly caramelized (about 30-45 minutes).

3. Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the ground pork and saute. Once the pork is almost cooked through, add the mushrooms.

4. Once everything is cooked through, add the curry, cayenne, and chili powder. Stir until aromatic.

5. Add fond de veau, shio-koji, tomato sauc, and bay leaves. As soon as the broth is almost boiling, turn the heat to simmer.

6. Line the surface with a piece of foil, cover the donabe with lid, and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

7. Add the okra and garam masala. Continue to simmer for additional 10 minutes. Adjust the flavor with salt and pepper, if necessary. Turn off the heat and let rest for 10-15 minutes.

8. Serve the curry over donabe turmeric rice and condiments.

Happy donabe life.

One-pot donabe meal...Hearty Chicken on Colorful Vegetables

I was going through different cooking magazines, and this dish with chicken and swiss chard caught my eyes. I thought they make a nice combination for one pot donabe dish. So, I was inspired to use these ingredients and made into my own donabe dish!

For this dish, I use my very versatile tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san".

First, I mixed together swiss chard, toasted bread, pine nuts, garlic, shallot, black currant, cranberries (both dry kinds), shiitake mushrooms, with oregano, cumin, green pepper flakes, olive oil, salt and pepper. The mixture was so beautiful that it looked like a salad! The mixture was spread in the skillet of Fukkura-san.

Then, I seared chicken legs until golden brown with some heirloom carrots in a pan. They were transferred to the skillet of Fukkura-san be arranged on top of the vegetables. After transferring the chicken and carrots, I used the same pan (with some chicken jus left) to make sauteed snow peas...which made a nice side dish!

Fukkura-san was covered and cooked over medium heat on gas stove for about 20 minutes. The dish was ready! It smelled so wonderful. Chicken was so juicy, and the vegetables were nicely tender, and they soaked up the flavors of the chicken nicely. Brilliant dish! I posted the recipe on toiro's website, so hope you will try it home.

Happy donabe life.