Donabe cooking class report..."All About Shio-koji"

This week was another busy with two donabe cooking classes.  On Wednesday, I had a private class, and today was a larger class at Tortoise General Store in Venice.  The theme was "All About Shio-koji".  We had a full-house of 8 enthusiastic participants.

In this workshop, everyone made his/ her own shio-koji to take home and ferment.  Then, I did a cooking demonstration.  All the dishes are made with "Shio-koji", including two donabe dishes!

I was so happy to see and hear our guests' excitement when they tasted each dish.  They were pretty in shock to discover how the dishes taste so flavorful because of this "magic" seasoning, with very easy preparations.  On top of that, you get the health and beauty benefit from koji!

Here's the full menu...yes, every dish has Shio-koji!  

Making of Shio-koji from Scratch

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Shio-koji tofu

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Overnight-pickled Kabu with Shio-koji

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Roasted Beets with Shio-koji Yogurt Sauce

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Daikon radish salad with shio-koji vinaigrette

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Donabe steam-roasted shio-koji salmon

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Donabe chirashi-sushi with shio-koji mushrooms & kale

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Shio-koji cookies

Happy koji life. Happy donabe life.

Donabe rice recipe…Jako, Turnip leaves & Cheese “Onigiri” Rice Balls

Delightful dish with leftover ingredients…

I had leftover leaves of turnip, half package of “jako” (dry baby fish), and grated Parmigiano Reggiano, so I decided to make “onigiri” (rice balls) with these ingredients.

The recipe is extremely simple.  First, you make plain rice (2 rice cups) with double-lid donabe rice cooker, “Kamado-san”.  Meanwhile, you sauté about 1 oz “ jako” (dry baby fish) in 1T sesame oil for a couple of minutes.  Addd about 1.5C minced turnip leaves and continue to sauté until the leaves are wilted.  Add 1T sake, 1/2T mirin, and 1T soy sauce and simmer for a few minutes until there is very little liquid left.  Add 2T sesame seeds and stir.  Turn off the heat.

Once the rice is ready, add the above mixture and 1/4C grated Parmigiano Reggiano and quickly mix with the rice.  Make the rice mixture into triangle-shape “onigiri” (rice balls) and wrap each with nori.

The flavor is really great.  What a nice combination.

Happy donabe life.

Bento Catering Project Week...Crazy Busy but Fun

Last week, I was part of a summer trunk show titled, Handmade Market, at nanamina boutique with Japanese fashion creator friends in LA. In order to promote donabe & healthy Japanese cooking, I served Japanese Bento Boxes there. I made more than 50 bento servings in the 3-day event…yes, all by myself!


 The main “protein” of this bento box was Amazake Salmon. I had to wake up very early to pick up super-fresh salmon at Los Angeles Fish Market in Downtown. It was a beautiful 20-pound Scottish salmon, which I asked to be filleted in half. It was so large that a filet was more than 22-inch long! It was marinated in my home-fermented amazake (fermented koji paste) for overnight, then roasted in the oven. 


This dish was my whimsical creation and became a big hit. Caramelized endive, roasted pistachio and garlic were put in a food processor with Neufchâtel cheese (it’s lighter than light cream cheese), Greek yogurt, salt koji, lemon juice, and pepper. Then, this creamy paste was mixed with cooked Satsuma yam (Japanese sweet potato), Fuji apple, and dry cranberries.


 I also made Donabe steam-fry lotus root with “Jako” baby fish (calcium-rich!) in “amazu” (sweet vinegar) sauce, sautéed kale, haricot vert in sesame sauce, and lightly pickled radish in brown rice vinegar and honey. 


Rice dish was Yuzu-kosho pesto “onigiri” rice balls. This pesto sauce is much lighter than regular pesto sauce, because there is much less oil used in it, while the texture and flavor were enhanced with quality ingredients including both red and green yuzu-kosho! I cooked brown rice in the double-lid donabe rice cooker, “Kamado-san”, and tossed it with the pesto, some grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and roasted pine nuts.


Dessert was Amazake whole wheat Scones with wild blueberries.  There is NO sugar is used in this recipe, so the sweetness comes only from the home-fermented amazake and blueberries.  I love the mellow natural sweetness amazake and the lightly creamy texture.


Each day, I carefully packed each bento box (it's made of bamboo skin which is pressed to become a box shape - bamboo skin not only shows rustic beauty, but also has a anti-bacteria effect).  On Friday, I accepted more orders than the daily limit, so I made 21 servings.


It was so much work, but a lot of fun.  Here's the full menu of my bento box.

Menu

Yuzu-kosho Pesto “Onigiri” Rice Balls

-Green & Red Yuzu-kosho, Basil, and Pine Nuts, Tossed with Donabe-cooked Brown Rice-

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“Amazake” Salmon with Sautéed Kale

-Marinated in Home-fermented “Amazake”, and Oven-roasted-

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Lotus Root & “Jako” Dry Baby Fish in “Ama-zu” Sweet Vinegar Sauce

-with Yuzu Shichimi Pepper,Steam-fried in Tagine-style Donabe-

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Haricot Vert “Goma-ae”

-Tossed with Roasted Walnuts in Ground Sesame Sauce-

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Satsuma Sweet Potato & Fuji Apple in Creamy Endive & Pistachio

-Caramelized Endive, Roasted Pistachio, “Shio-koji”, and Neufchâtel Cheese-

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Dessert

Home-fermented “Amazake” Whole Wheat Scones

-No sugar added, very natural sweetness from “Amazake” and Dried Blueberries-

*”Amazake” is a thick creamy beverage, which is rich in health-beneficial live enzymes.  It’s made from cooked sweet rice, which is incubated with rice koji culture (same starter for miso, soy sauce, sake, mirin, etc.).  It’s traditionally diluted with water and drunk warm in Japan.

The event itself drew a big crowd each day and it was a great success.  I had a lot of fun!

Happy donabe life.

Donabe-Steamed Clams with Fennel

I love cooking and eating clams, and while I always love the simple sake-steamed clams, I also do different recipe variations.

This time, since I cooked them with fennel.  When fennel soaks the rich broth which is infused with clam juice, it tastes really good.  For this dish, my tagine-style donabe, "Fukkura-san", is the perfect cooking vessel.  It's a very simple recipe, yet it makes a beautiful presentation and tastes really great.  Here's how I make it.

Donabe-steamed Clams with Fennel

Saute thin-wedges of a fennel bulb with 1 clove garlic (thinly-sliced) in 1Tbsp olive oil in Fukkura-san for a minute.  Add 2T water, cover with lid, and steam-fry until the fennel is tender for 7-8 minutes.

Add 1.5 pounds of clams (rinsed) and 1tsp sliced dry chili.  Add 2T sake and cover again.  Cook until the clams are open.

Add 1/2T fish sauce (nan pla) and a small handful of basil leaves (torn by hand).  Squeeze some lemon.  Stir and turn off the heat.  Serve immediately.

So delicious.  Clams are so meaty, fennel is tender, and the broth is really flavorful.

Happy donabe life.

Bento week...with Donabe "onigiri" rice balls!

Both physically and mentally, my entire week has been spent on the bento project for the 3-day trunk show happening this week, and I haven't had a chance to update blog or even do casual email past days.

Nevertheless, I've been having a blast making bento boxes!  I will update all the photos once the event is over and I have a chance.


Past days, as I got new bamboo skin bento boxes, I've been trying to get a good feel of it by serving almost every meal in it.  This picture is not exactly the same menu as what I'm serving at the trunk show, but it's what I had a few days ago.  Roasted amazake-marinated salmon was superb.


One of the side dishes in the bento box was a salad of hijiki, sun-dried enoki mushrooms (they were simmered together in donabe and cooked down), tossed with avocado in my whimsical tofu "mayonnaise" (pureed tofu, roasted pistachio, amazake, brown rice vinegar, shio-koji, and avocado-blood orange oil).  I also made dashi-maki tamago (fluffy omelet), and roasted beets, topped with pureed roasted fennel.  The above picture on the right is the "deconstructed" version of hijiki, tofu "mayo", golden beets and pureed fennel, I quickly plated when I was just too busy.  These are very my kind of "shojin" (temple-style vegan) dishes.



A night before the actual bento service, I was so busy doing all the prep work.  I made a huge batch of Yuzu-kosho & basil pesto for onigiri (rice balls).  I also cut the salmon and marinated in my home-fermented amazake.

Actual bento photos will follow soon.

Happy healthy life.  Happy donabe life.