Read Japanese Cooking - Contemporary & Traditional Online
Authors: Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner
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Japanese Cooking - Contemporary & Traditional (7 page)
BOOK: Japanese Cooking - Contemporary & Traditional
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Japanese oyster mushrooms-lend a woodsy flavor to this rice.
Yield: 6 servings
Rice with Matsutake Mushrooms3 cups short-grain white rice
2 pieces
abura-age
(fired tofu pouches), page 21
abura-age
(fired tofu pouches), page 21
Approximately 5 ounces matsutake mushrooms
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon usu-kuchi shoyu, if available (otherwise, increase soy sauce by 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons sake
Additional water for cooking rice
Wash the rice until the water runs clear, then place in a colander and allow to dry completely. Bring a pot of water to boil, place the pieces of abura-age in it, and boil for 30 seconds. Remove the abura-age and squeeze out the water and oil. Slice very thinly and set aside.
Clean the mushrooms by wiping gently with a damp towel. To preserve their flavor, do not rub and do not rinse under water. Slice them very thinly. Place in a bowl and pour the soy sauce, usu-kuchi shoyu, and sake over them. Allow to soak for 30 minutes. Wring the slices in your hands, squeezing as much of the mushroom liquid out as possible. Reserve the liquid.
Here is an autumnal specialty featuring one of the most expensive mushrooms in the world—the matsutake. This savory mushroom with a woodsy flavor is most aromatic and just a few of them will flavor an entire pot of rice.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Place the rice in a heavy-bottomed pot or electric rice cooker. Add the mushroom soaking liquid and enough additional water to make 3½ cups liquid.
To cook on the stove top, cover and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to low and continue cooking for about 15 minutes; or follow the directions for your rice cooker. When finished, add the matsutake slices to the pot, cover, and let set for 15 minutes. With a
shamoji
(flat, wide wooden rice spatula) or wooden spoon, mix and fluff up the rice, and serve immediately.
shamoji
(flat, wide wooden rice spatula) or wooden spoon, mix and fluff up the rice, and serve immediately.
12 ounces chestnuts
3 cups white or brown rice
3½ cups water for white rice, or 5 cups water for brown rice
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons mirin
Spread the chestnuts on a cookie sheet, and roast in a 350°F oven for about 40 minutes. With a sharp knife, remove the chestnut shells, peeling off the brown skins if necessary. (They are very bitter.)
Wash the rice and add the water, sea salt, and mirin in a pot or rice cooker. Add the shelled chestnuts, cover, and cook 15 minutes for white rice or 45 to 50 minutes for brown rice. Let set for 10 to 15 minutes. With a
shamoji
(flat, wide wooden rice spatula) or wooden spoon, mix and fluff up the rice, and serve immediately.
shamoji
(flat, wide wooden rice spatula) or wooden spoon, mix and fluff up the rice, and serve immediately.
Chestnuts are beloved by the Japanese and make an appearance in this unusual dish—a fall specialty.
Yield: 6 servings
Rice with TeaTraditionally in Japan, one never puts anything on his rice—no soy sauce, butter, or gravy—with the exception of tea. Served with the proper condiments, ocha-zuke is delicious and a wonderful late night snack with leftover rice. There are many condiments possible, and today even instant ocha-zuke tea-condiment combos are available. (All you add is rice and hot water.) After trying these suggestions, you will not think that tea on rice is such a strange concept.
Per serving in a rice bowl:
Cooked rice, white or brown, preferably warm Prepared green tea
One or more of the following condiments:
Very thin strips of nori
Finely chopped tsuke-mono (Japanese pickled vegetables—many varieties are available)
Slivered leaves of shiso
Slivered
myoga
(baby ginger shoots)
myoga
(baby ginger shoots)
Toasted or blackened sesame seeds
Thin strips of cooked konbu from making stock Wakame
Sansai
(Japanese mountain vegetables, available in packets or frozen)
(Japanese mountain vegetables, available in packets or frozen)
Place the condiments on top of the rice, and pour hot green tea to cover. If necessary, add a dash of sea salt.
I recall as a child coming to the United States and discovering that Americans put butter on their rice. I was appalled and sickened. I felt
even more
disgusted when a friend told me she enjoyed pouring sugar and milk on her rice. (Since then, of course, I have adapted well to Western cuisine and now enjoy hot rice cereal with vanilla soy. milk!) But here is a simple way of eating rice beloved by Japanese
that
has made American jaws drop upon hearing it described
—
pouring green tea over rice.
8 cups white rice
8 cups water
1 cup sugar, rice syrup, or FruitSource
1
cups rice vinegar
cups rice vinegar2 tablespoons mirin
3½ tablespoons sea salt
Cook the rice in the water as instructed in the basic recipe on pages 38 and 39. It will be slightly firm. Combine the sweetener, vinegar, mirin, and sea salt in a pot, and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.
Transfer the cooked rice to a large bowl or vat. With a large wooden spoon or
shamoji
(wide, flat wooden rice spatula), stir and fold the rice as you add the sushi vinegar a little at a time. The rice will absorb the liquid. If the rice stops absorbing the liquid, do not add any more. It should be moist but not wet or gummy. Traditionally, the rice is fanned to cool it and prevent it from becoming gummy as the vinegar is added; this is a great job for a youngster!
shamoji
(wide, flat wooden rice spatula), stir and fold the rice as you add the sushi vinegar a little at a time. The rice will absorb the liquid. If the rice stops absorbing the liquid, do not add any more. It should be moist but not wet or gummy. Traditionally, the rice is fanned to cool it and prevent it from becoming gummy as the vinegar is added; this is a great job for a youngster!
Sushi is a practically a national pastime in Japan. Delicate fish served in the raw coupled with a slightly sweet, vinegared rice is almost a raison d’être for many Japanese. This is a dish that does not offer as many alternatives for the vegetarian, although some good ones do exist. This is also the one rice dish where I usually make a concession to white rice, although I have made and served brown rice sushi. (Somehow, it lacks the delicacy I associate with sushi.)
BOOK: Japanese Cooking - Contemporary & Traditional
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