Tori Soboro Tamago Toji Don (Ground Chicken with Egg Over Rice)

This is a great variation of Tori Soboro Gohan (seasoned ground chicken topping over rice).  I had the leftover tori soboro in the fridge, so I heated it in a small pan and finished with whisked eggs, then served on the rice cooked with donabe ("Kamado-san").

The recipe for Tori Soboro can be found on toiro's website.  It's so easy to make and so satisfying.

Wines and Truffle Risotto

One of my friends hosted a dinner on Friday night. He got a real premium quality black truffle from France. In fact, he said it's brought by a winemaker in France, who visited him just a day before. There were just 5 of us, but he sliced and divided the whole truffle to put over the risotto he made.

My friend said this truffle was a black truffle but a summer version which are not quite as powerful as the winter blacks...and its pale color causes the locals in the Drome/Vaucluse to call them ‘white truffles’ to the despair of all italian gastros.

I must say, it was among the best quality black truffles I've had. It was also still fresh and the interior was still quite moist, too. It was just unbelievable!! And it was just an appetizer dish.

We opened some really wonderful wines tonight, too. Here are some of the wines we had.

1999 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils, Champagne, 1er Cru Brut...Aroma of yogurt, brioche, earth, very fine mousse.

2003 Domaine Michel Niellon, Chassagne-Montrachet, Les Champgains 1er Cru...Candied fruit, apricot, honey, spice, rich texture. Although from the hot vintage, the wine maintained the good amount of acidity and minerality.

2003 Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Meursault, Desiree...This was very rich, too. Dense texture.

2001 Domaine des Comtes Lafon, Meursault, Desiree...This vintage tasted more complete and structured, compared to its 2003. Serious quality.

2001 Domaine de Courcel, Pommard, Grand Clos des Epenots, 1er Cru...Dry herb, spice, dark berries. Complex with dry tannins.

2003 Domaine Michel Lafarge, Volnay, Vendanges Selectionnes...We had it side by side with Courcel's Pommard, and it tasted more wet and fresh. Very aromatic and rosy, like Vosne-Romanee.

1998 Lucien Camus-Bruchon, Pommard les Arvelets, 1er Cru...Dry berries, earth, spices. Very smooth palate and well-structured.

1990 Chateau Le Bon Pasteur, Pomerol...Michel Rolland's own winery.  When I tasted this blind, I first thought it was from left bank.  The initial impression was the cassis and a hint of bell pepper with the mild oak.  Then, on the palate, there was the very elegant round texture with minerality (like iron) and a hint of pencil led.  The palate was more Pomerol than the nose.  Really elegant and beautiful.

Wonderful lineup.

Tagine Donabe...Chicken Meat Balls in Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

With one extra step of deep-frying the potatoes and chicken meat balls before adding them to the donabe (tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san"), the flavor of this dish become so extraordinary.

*Don't use the donabe for deep-frying.

This big-flavor dish is also very fun to make. I posted the recipe on toiro's website.


Once the lid of "Fukkura-san" is opened, the dish was prettied up with the garnish (chopped scallions and mitsuba). The dish is well-balanced with different kinds of vegetables.


The side dish I made was deep-fried green beans and garlic.

Today's wines

I had dinner with a few friends at Bottega Louie tonight. I really love this place, because the space is so gorgeous and the food is really good and very reasonable! We brought wines to the dinner.


2003 Domaine Leflaive, Puligny-Montrachet...Aromas of butter, ripe peach, dry apricot, and spice. The palate is so rich, yet it has the serious minerality. I wish I could've tasted this wine somewhere so quiet, so that I could indulge myself in this wine by using all my senses. The noise level was sooo high at this restaurant. The wine opened-up even better after 30 minutes in the glass.

1994 Au Bon Climat, Pinot Noir, Arroyo Grande Valley, Rincon and Rosemary's...I was so impressed by the balance and youth of this 15-year-old wine. The color was still deep and the aroma was like raspberry, earth, and tea smoke. The palate had the fresh quality and very smooth.

2005 Domaine La Barroche, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Reserve...Old-vine Grenache based. Average 60 years old and some are 100 years old vines. Although the wine was still very young, it was very ready and the body was rather light on the palate. The balance was very nice and it didn't taste like it has such a high alcohol (15%!). Light spices of cinnamon, and white pepper on the nose. After 15-20 minutes in the glass, the wine's rich structure showed up. Interesting!

My Donabe Collection

The new shelves are finished. So, here it is again...

(From top)

Soup and Stew Donabe, "Miso-shiru Nabe"

Double-lid Donabe Rice Cooker, "Kamado-san"

Classic-style Donabe, "Hakeme" ("brush")

Donabe Steamer

Tagine-style Donabe, "Fukkura-san"

All except Donabe Steamer are available on toiro's website; http://www.toirokitchen.com/

Hopefully, the donabe steamer will be available this summer.

Happy Donabe Life!

The best brisket meat I've had was cooked with donabe

My lovely donabe...

I made Bison Brisket Curry and Rice. The brown rice was made with Kamado-san (double-lidded donabe rice cooker), and the curry with Miso-shiru Nabe (donabe for soup and stew).

When it comes to slow cooking, this soup and stew donabe especially does the magic. I braised the bison brisked with this donabe for 3+ hours in the oven. The meat turned amazingly fork-tender and the flavor was just oooooh so rich and wonderful. This was definitely the best brisket I've ever had. The curry and the shiny donabe rice were the perfect match, too. I will post the recipe soon.

Donabe Bouillabaisse and Rose Wine

I made a quick bouillabaisse with the tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san", and served with the brown rice cooked with the double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san" tonight. It took less than 30 minutes to prepare the Bouillabaisse. The actual cooking time was less than 15 minutes! All you need is the high quality ingredients and the right tools. This tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san" is such an amazing pot. The ingredients were sauteed, steamed, and stewed in this one pot to make the complete dish and the flavor was really brilliant.

The broth had such a complexity and it tasted as if it's been cooked for a long time. I posted the recipe on toiro's website. So, please check it out!

With this dish, I had the perfect wine to complement the fresh seafood flavors with the tomato-saffron sauce. We opened 2007 Prieure de Montezargues, Tavel. This was the best still rose wine I have had in a long time! Tavel, in Southern Rhone, is known for the bright-flavored rose wine. The winemaking of Prieure is overseen by Guillaume Dugas, who is a son of the winemaker Alain Dugas of Chateau La Nerthe in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The nose had the raspberry, dry apricot, orange zest, and spice. The palate was fresh and spicy. It had the similar sensation as the sansho pepper (mountain pepper) on the palate.

I can't wait to repeat the same dinner soon.

Nikomi Hamburg (Quick Braised Hamburger Steak)

Yes, Hamburg! (We pronounce it "Hanbaagu".) It's a Japanese-style hamburger steak and is one of the most popular localized "Western" dishes in the country. While the most classic style of hamburg is served with the sauce, "Nikomi Hamburg" (Quick Braised Hamburger Steak) is like a quick stew of the hamburger meat.

I made it with my Tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san". This tagine-style donabe is such a perfect tool for this dish. I can sear the meat, make the stew, and with the cute dome-shape lid, it steams the meat to finish and the result is such a fluffy meat! I posted the recipe on toiro's website.


Once you shape the meat, it takes less than 15 minutes to finish! First I seared the meat and transferred to a plate. Then, I make a sauce in the same skillet, bring the meat back in, and finish with the lid.


My stomach was so happy!

Donabe for Soup and Stew...Miso-shiru Donabe

The weather in LA has been unseasonably cool and cloudy (with occasional rain) past few weeks. To take advantage (?) of this weather, I've been cooking a variety of steamy soup and stew dishes to keep my body warm lately.

Tonjiru

Tonjiru means "Pork Soup". It's a very rustic-style traditional miso soup with thinly sliced pork and vegetables. It's a very easy dish to make and you can use different kinds of vegetables. This time, I just made it with the ingredients I found in my fridge. Kids love tonjiru. I always remember my childhood when I drink tonjiru. I posted the recipe on toiro's website.

Tonjiru (made with the soup and stew donabe, "Miso-shiru Nabe"), and brown rice (made with the donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san"), made a perfect meal.

Sesame and Soy Milk Miso Soup

This is an untraditional dish with traditional Japanese ingredients. The main ingredients for the broth are the sesame paste, soy milk (pure kind), and miso, with the dashi stock. The flavor is so good and really irresistible. I put some thicker slices of pork and vegetables in the soup and it made the wonderful meal of its own. The recipe is found on toiro's website.

The procedure is very simple. I first sauteed the meat and vegetables before adding the broth. The soy milk makes the soft curdles, which not only look pretty (like the snow flakes), but also tastes like the fresh tofu!

Tagine-style Donabe Recipe: Bison Steak

We've been buying the bison meat from this great vendor at Farmers' Market a lot lately. Recently, we got the flat iron cut of bison. So, we made the simple steak dish with the tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san".


The meat was seasoned with just salt and pepper and let rest for overnight. Then, seared in the skillet of the donabe tagine before finishing with the lid on. I posted the full recipe on toiro's website.

With the wasabi and soy sauce, the meat was so juicy and flavorful. It was really amazing.