More Power of Miso...Miso Marinated Tofu and Eggs

Miso is one of the staple ingredients in Japan and we use miso in our cooking almost everyday. We try different types of miso for different types of cooking, too. We love the taste of miso, and on top of that, miso gives the remarkable health benefits to us. How lucky, aren't we?!

Miso also makes a good marinade. This time, I marinated tofu and eggs with an easy miso marinade. It's a kind of dish sake-lovers' like to eat at a izakaya (Japanese pub).

I made the marinade by mixing together 1C of dark miso, 3Tbsps of kefir (or yogurt is fine, too), and 3Tbsps of honey. Tofu was cut into half and simmerd for 5-7 minutes, then cooled down. Eggs were boiled and peeled. Excess moisture of tofu and eggs were wiped off. Then, they were marinated (I use a Tupperware for the tofu and Ziplock bag for the eggs) in the miso mixture. Eggs can be ready after overnight. Tofu is ready in 2 nights.

They are very good with wasabi. Tofu can be marinated for up to 1 week easily. The longer it's marinated with the miso, the creamier the texture gets. It eventually becomes lie the cream cheese and you can use it as a spread, too. Just writing about these tofu and eggs makes me thirsty for the nice cold sake.

Donabe Trio Dinner...Power of Miso

Another quick and delicious donabe dinner...

Three dishes with three donabes in 45 minutes.

Rice was made with our donabe rice cooker, "Kamado-san". It's 50/50 white and brown rice, cooked with a piece of dashi konbu.

Soup was winter-style grated daikon and silky tofu miso soup. It was made with the soup & stew donabe, "Miso-shiru Nabe". The soup was thickened with kuzuko (arrowroot powder), so it created the wonderful texture combined with the grated daikon. When the soup was served, I topped it with thinly sliced yuzu rind. It made the soup so elegant.

Main course was sakura smoked salmon with the donabe smoker, "Ibushi Gin". I served it with my quick miso sauce. Donabe smoking is always so exciting. The aroma jumped out of the donabe as soon as the lid was lifted. The fish was so smoky tender. You can find the basic smoking recipe on toiro's website.

Very happy donabe life.

Magical Drink...Amazake

The new shipment of Amazake has arrived from Fukui, Japan.

Amazake is literally translated as "Sweet Sake", but there is no alcohol or added sugar in the drink. It's a Japanese traditional drink made from fermented rice called "rice koji", which is the steamed rice cultivated with koji mold. Because the enzyme of koji breaks down the carbohydrates of the rice into sugar, it has the natural sweetness. Rice koji is also used as a starter for miso and sake making. Fantastic stuff.

The taste of amazake is very comforting and so nice. We drink a lot of amazake in the cold winter. It's also very nutritious and said to have basically the same nutrients as intravenous injection!

I'm very excited about sharing this special amazake in my upcoming Miso Making Workshop also.

After the nice aperitif of amazake, we had more comfort food for dinner. With the donabe steamer, Mushi Nabe, I made the shumai again (you can find the recipe here).

Shumai was followed by the light udon with mushrooms and cabbage.

My body was feeling very warm and happy in the cold night.

Amazake

Making Miso...4 months development

It's been already 4 months since we made the miso (back in September 09), so it was time to check its development once again.

We opened the lid and first checked the surface of the miso in the bucket.

This time, there was no mold (yes!). Instead, we saw the chalky white spots. They are the good stuff, which is a type of matured umami component (comprised of amino acids). There was also some liquid, which is also part of the development of the miso. We mixed throughly so that the top and the bottom of the miso were inverted to provide the even fermentation.

After 4 months, the miso was definitely so much more developed than 2 month ago. The texture was smoother, and the taste was...to be honest...already AMAZING!! I actually couldn't stop tasting it. I could only imagine how it is going to be even more amazing in 4-5 more months. Wow. This is the real deal.

We smoothed the surface again and put the bucket back in our basement.

At this weekend's Miso Making Workshop, I would love to share this developing miso with the guests. I am very excited about this upcoming workshop. We will learn and enjoy everything about miso!

Miso

Donabe cooking class report...Steam dinner

This past weekend, I hosted my first "Donabe and Japanese Cooking Class". The theme was "Donabe steam dinner".

We cooked all the courses in the donabe steamer, "Mushi Nabe", at the dining table and we enjoyed tasting different steam dishes as we cooked. Both dates were the great success and I had the most wonderful time thanks to the most wonderful people who came to the classes!!

I am reminded how lucky I was for having the opportunity to connect with those people through cooking.

This weekend's cooking class theme will be "Miso Making". There are still a few seats available. It's going to be a very special class, because we will make the traditional miso from scratch by using the premium ingredients brought from Japan. We will also taste some delicious miso-themed dishes, including "Ishikari Nabe" (Hokkaido-style salmon and vegetables hot pot) cooked in our donabe.

Please visit toiro's website to sign up for the class. I will also announce February cooking class schedule soon (hopefully this week). So, please check back the site regularly.

Here's the menu from the donabe steaming classes, and some of the photos from the classes.

Menu

Steamed vegetables with miso-mayo dipping

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Steamed tofu with black sesame sauce

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Pork shumai with black vinegar - soy sauce

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Steamed pork belly and cabbage with yuzu dashi ponzu sauce

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“Shime” udon with donabe

Wine

2008 Mas Grand Plagniol, Costieres de Nimes (AOC) (Languedoc, France)

Thank you, and happy donabe life.

Donabe Smoked Hot Dog

Since the article on Tasting Table came out, I've been extremely busy with all the orders and inquiries for our donabe products and cooking classes. Thank you so much to everyone for all the kind support!

Because of the crazy "busy" schedule I've been having last days, I had no choice but going "lazy" with my cooking. I just didn't have any time to stand in the kitchen for longer than 5 minutes to prepare the dinner! But luckily, I got some ingredients stocked up in the fridge. For the time like this, my lovely donabe smoker, "Ibushi Gin", can do the magic for me.

One night, I simply seasoned the organic chicken wings with salt and pepper, and set them in the donabe smoker. Then, I just let my donabe do the rest of the work. The most succulent smoked chicken wings were ready!

In another meal, I smoked the gourmet uncooked sausages and made hotdogs! They turned out to be the best hotdogs I've ever had.

Thanks to my donabe, even when I don't have time, I can still prepare delicious meals at home.

Happy donabe life.