Japanese Donabe Home Cooking...I did dinner catering.

I was asked to cook at a Japanese-theme dinner party, which was hosted by a friend of my friend. So, I catered dinner for the group of 8 people at the host's house in Hollywood the other night.

It was such a pleasure to introduce healthy home-style Japanese dishes including donabe dishes to American people.

The evening started with two kinds of tofu dishes. Tofu "Shira-ae" (creamy tofu salad), and my homemade rectangular tofu.

"Shojin" (Buddhist-style vegan) Kabocha soup was served cold.

I made the young "shin-shoga" ginger and edamame rice with the double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san".

With my donabe steamer, "Mushi Nabe", I left the steam grate and used it as a classic-style all-purpose donabe to make the chicken sukiyaki!

Two kinds of dessert...azuki filled dumpling cookies, and houji-cha cake.

I had a lot of fun, and I was also very happy that everyone told me how much they enjoyed the dinner!

Happy donabe life.

Slow roasted "umami" tomato with donabe rice

In a Japanese gourmet magazine, there was a recipe for roasted tomato rice bowl from Ivan Ramen. It looked so good. So, I was inspired by it and made my own version.

And, it was insanely delicious!!

Large tomatoes were halved and seasoned with salt and pepper. Some olive oil was drizzled over the tomatoes and they were roasted in the 300F degrees oven for about 3 hours. The aroma was incredible when I took them out of the oven.

Then, I made the donabe rice with my double-lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". I cooked it with chicken stock with a little amount of salt. Once the rice was ready, I tossed it with shelled edamame. To finish, I topped the rice with the slow roasted tomatoes and let rest for additional 10 minutes, so that the flavors of the tomatoes sink into the rice.

To serve I put the rice and tomato in a bowl and topped the tomato with some thinly sliced scallion, ground roasted sesame seeds, and drizzled some la-yu (hot sesame oil). The combination of all the flavors was so fantastic. After slow roasting the tomatoes, the fresh flavors turned into the deep umami flavor and coated the fluffy donabe rice so well.

I have to make this again. So good.

More Homemade Tofu

I can't stop making tofu! I just love the "art" of it, and of course the flavors of my own homemade tofu. It's really, really special.

From real tofu fans who have ordered Homemade Tofu Kit from us, I received several inquires about where to get the quality soybeans to make the best tofu. The kind I recommend is from Signature Soy. Their soybeans are organic and non GMO. The flavor is mildly nutty and very nice.

Once again, here's the process of tofu making at home.

10 oz soybeans (rinsed and soaked in 1,200 ml water overnight) were pureed with the soaking water in VitaMix until smooth.

Wooden tofu box and lid are soaked in cold water. Cotton bag is wet and wrung before use. Pureed soybeans are added to 1,300 ml boiling water. Any remaining puree in the VitaMix is rinsed with additional 200 ml water and drained to the boiling water, too.

After heating the mixture for 5-8 minutes (when the mixture smells like soymilk, rather than raw soybeans), the mixture is strained through the cotton bag and strainer into a large bowl. The remaining solid is "okara" (soy pulp), which is still filled with protein and vitamins, so I save it for cooking!

The strained liquid is the pure soymilk. It's transferred to a classic all-purpose donabe over medium+ heat. Once the soymilk is almost boiling, turn off the heat, and nigari solution (2.5 teaspoons of nigari liquid and 3 tablespoons hot water) is stirred in. Donabe is covered, and let rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the soymilk is now curdled. To me, using donabe in this process is essential, because donabe distribute the heat gently, and also have the great heat retention after turning off the heat. So, the soymilk gets curdled evenly.

The curd is gently transferred to the wooden box with a perforated ladle. After transferring most of the curd, the remaining in the donabe is just the clear separated water.

With the weight, the soymilk curd is shaped into tofu. In 15 minutes, tofu is ready!

It's quite huge. I keep the fresh tofu in the cold water bath to keep the texture and freshness.

Homemade tofu is the best.

Donabe cooking class report...Summer "Shojin" Dishes

I was excited to host another "Shojin" (Buddhist-style vegan) class last Saturday. This time, we did summer-style shojin dishes.

We had the wonderful time with the wonderful guests.

Here's the menu...Happy donabe life.

Menu

Broccolini “karashi-ae” (marinated in a light Japanese mustard broth)

~

Tofu “shira-ae” salad

~

Steam-fry tofu steak with mushroom sauce

~

Young “shin-shoga” ginger and edamame rice

~

Kabocha and shiitake miso soup

Wine Selection

2009 Jean-François Mérieau, L’Arpent des Vaudons (AOC Touraine)

Donabe cooking class on DailyCandy

Our Donabe & Japanese Cooking Class was introduced on "The Weekend Guide" of DailyCandy. Yay!

You can check out our class schedule on toiro's website. Our next class is "Summer Izakaya" on August 21 (Sat). We also plan to announce our September class schedule soon, so please check back our website often, or sign up with our newsletter from our website.

Happy donabe life.

Naoko (a.k.a. Mrs. Donabe)

Goya Chanpuru (Okinawa-style stir-fry of bitter melon etc.)

Goya Chanpuru is a very popular dish in Japan. It's a traditional Okinawan dish of stir-fry bitter melon, tofu, pork, and egg. It's one of the dishes I like to make in the summertime (when bittermelon is in season). The refreshing bitter flavor of the bittermelon is so nice.

Goya Chanpuru

Ingredients

1/2 pound thinly sliced pork butt

1 tablespoons each sake and soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 medium-size bitter melon, halved lengthwise. Remove seeds by spoon. Sliced into (a little thinner than) 1/4" thickness.

9-10 oz firm tofu, drained

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 tablespoon ginger, sliced into thin shreds

1/2 teaspoon soy sauce

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

some thinly sliced scallion and bonito flakes as garnish

Procedure

1. Marinate the pork in 1 tablespoon of each sake and soy sauce for 15 minutes.

2. Heat the sesame oil in a skillet. Stir-fry the bitter melon over medium-high heat for 3 minutes.

3. Break the tofu by hand and add to the skillet. Continue to stir-fry with the bitter melon until both are lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl. Set aside.

4. Add the garlic, ginger, and marinated pork to the skillet and stir-fry.

5. Return the bitter melon and tofu back to the skillet. Stir-fry together with the pork.

6. Add the soy sauce and stir.

7. Drizzle in the beaten egg. Once the egg is almost cooked, stir lightly.

8. Season with salt and pepper and stir again.

9. Serve in a large serving bowl. Garnish with sliced scallion and bonito flakes.

With the goya chanpuru, I served summer vegetables "Nanban-zuke", and donabe rice (half white and half brown), cooked in the double lid donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". Goya chanbpuru was so delicious with the shiny donabe rice!

Happy donabe life.

Donabe steamed fish...variations

I simply just don't get tired of donabe steamed fish...It's so easy, delicious, healthy, and I love the dish so much.

Donabe steamer makes wonderful steamed dishes. Really. These are some variations...

I got the really fresh (sashimi grade) wild-caught yellow tail and steamed it with vegetables and konnyaku.

The other night, I did sanma (mackerel pike) from Japan. I cleaned and beheaded the fish and inserted some young ginger slices into each of them.

Then, the fish was steamed with vegetables and mushrooms. For steamed fish, my favorite sauce is definitely ponzu (either soy-base or salt ponzu) with sometimes grated daikon. You can find the basic recipe in my previous blog post here.