Hiroko’s Kitchen | Blog

I am very pleased to write that I am now hard at work completing my next book. It will appear next year, 2012. As often happens in such projects, one of the last things to be decided is the title, so I can’t actually tell you that now.  But I would like to tell you what I am planning and hear any suggestions that you may have.

My first two books, The Japanese Kitchen and The Sushi Experience were devoted to telling my readers about the history, culture of Japanese cuisine and preparation of authentic, traditional Japanese dishes in an American kitchen using locally available ingredients and techniques familiar to American home and professional kitchens.   But there is another side of Japanese cooking that my first books did not directly address. That is the continually evolving and adapting nature of Japanese cuisine and its ready adoption of materials, techniques and recipes for other cuisines. This is an integral feature of our cooking. We took tempura from the Portuguese, kabocha squash, tomatoes and potatoes from South and Central America;  our beloved ton-katsu is easily recognized as German/Austrian wienerschnitzel; as my book relates, sushi found its way to Japan from its roots in Thailand. Of course, many of our classical noodle dishes and the art of stir frying came from China. These are NOT examples of “fusion” cooking; they are representative of the orderly growth and evolution of Japanese cuisine.  Regardless of their “foreignness” the fundamental “rules” of Japanese cooking are always strictly obeyed.  The goal of my book is to do the same thing with influences from the American way of dining and the American kitchen on the extension of Japanese cooking.

When I moved to this country in 1999, I found myself confronted with a whole new array of unfamiliar vegetables, type of fish and cuts of meat.  For a while I tried to ignore them and stuck with what I knew.  But gradually, I have incorporated these elements in to my Japanese cooking, and I have developed dishes that are much more harmonious with the American way of dining.  This includes not only the recipes, but extends to portion size (modest!) and plating. And now, in my third book, I want to share these ideas with you. So we have shortribs braised in the Japanese way, chilled smooth zucchini and celeriac miso soup; salmon, fennel and dill rice and 122 more. But I want to stress again that these are dishes that extend Japanese cuisine; they do not defile or confuse it. 

Another important feature of the book is that the nearly all of the preparations rely on one or more stocks or sauces that are presented in the book. The merit of this approach is that these materials can be prepared in advance, in quantity, stored and be ready for immediate use in cooking. Thus, preparation time and complexity for each of the individual dishes is significantly reduced. The book is, in fact, arranged by chapters that feature each of the stocks or sauces. Thus, for a start one can simply prepare one or two of the stocks and sauces and with that beginning, immediately be able to execute many of the recipes in the book.

I hope you find my idea for my third book interesting and exciting. I would be very pleased to receive any comments, questions or criticisms from my readers.  Let me hear from you.

I will post some of the photos of the dishes which were taken during the recipe tasting sessions in the past months.

First of all I would like to let all of you know that the problem of accessing to archives was solved.  Thank you very much for your patience.

Yesterday Linda Pelaccio invited me to her show,  A Taste of the Past.   Linda discussed the tradition of “good luck round food” for the new year.  One of the topic was Japanese mochitsuki (rice pounding ceremony at the end of the year)..that’s why I was there and chatting over it.

Tuneinwww.heritageradionetwork.com/archives?tag=Hiroko…  (type Hiroko Shimbo in search box) and learn the conversation between Linda and I about mochitsuki and Japanese cuisine and food culture.

The radio studio of A Taste of the Past is located in the compound of Roberta’s restaurant.  Roberta’s is a casual and charming pizza restaurant which is equipped with a real wood burning oven.  When I asked the chef what is the temperature he can get inside the oven, the answer was 800F….very hot; pizza stays inside the oven only 50 seconds. After the interview we enjoyed the pizza – thin yet slightly chewy crust and delicious toppings.  Roberta’s restaurant is a stone thrown distance from the Morgan Avenue on L train.

Reminder: I am teaching a fun and delicious Ramen and Gyoza classes at International Culinary Center http://www.internationalculinarycenter.comon January 14th and additional fun, sticky and great Basic Sushi Class on January 28th.  See you there!!!

Happy New Year!!!  Here is New Year’s Feast, Osechi-ryori,which was prepared by my sister, Keiko Arakawa in Tokyo.  Keiko, unlike her two sisters, diligently prepares traditional elaborate New Year’s meals for her family every year.  Keiko shared with us her favorites recipes and here are some of them.  Thank you, Keiko.

Recipes by Keiko Arakawa;

Tazukuri (candied baby sardine): the name of the recipe sounds a bit scary, but this is a “must” dish, which in the past promised a good harvest of rice…today it leads to to prosperity.   Tazukuri  is a dish in which baby sardines are toasted until crisp, then, cooked with sugar, shoyu, mirin and sake.  Toasting baby fish crisp in a skillet (our Mother’s way) requires patience and time, so Keiko uses modern approach – she microwaves them. 

1 1/2 ounces tazukuri (dried baby sardine)

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon shoyu

1 tablespoon sake

1/3 tablespoon mirin

Place a paper towel on a microwave oven-safe plate.  Arrange half of the baby anchovie on top of the paper towel-lined plate without overlapping them.  Microwave for 1  1/2 to 2 minutes.  Check the doness by breaking it up – it should feel crisp.  Repeat the same process for the second batch of sardine.

In a skillet add the sugar, shoyu, sake and mirin and put it over medium heat.  When the mixture starts to sizzle, add the fish and turn off the heat.  Gently toss the fish wit the sauce. 

Lightly grease another plate and transfer the cooked fish onto it.  Let it stand to cool.

Nishiki Tamago (steamed layered egg cake): Nishiki means golden brocade.  This gorgeous looking egg dish reminds people of that.  I always fought with my sisters to get many portions of my mother’s Nishiki tamago.   You need a square cake mold to prepare this dish.

4 large eggs

1 1/5 ounces sugar

Pinch salt

Make hard boiled eggs.  While the eggs are hot separate the yolks and whites.  Press the egg white first through a fine sieve and transfer it to a bowl.  After finishing the egg white, press the yolk through the sieve and transfer it to another bowl.  Add 1 ounce sugar to the bowl of egg yolk, and the remaining, to the bowl of egg white.  Add pinch salt to each bowls.  With a spatula, gently fold the egg, salt and sugar. 

Cut out and pace a parchment paper on the bottom of the mold.  Place additional parchment paper on the sides of the mold.  Transfer and fill the egg white in the mold.  Press the white gently to level the surface.  Place the egg yolk on top of the egg white and, again, gently level the surface (do not press hard).

In a heated steamer cook the egg for 5 minutes.  Remove the mold from the steamer and let it stand to cool.  Remove the egg cake from the mold and cut it into bite sized squares.

Kurikinton (Sweet Chestnuts): This is a quite sweet dish.  Sweet cooked chestnuts which holds thier shape during cooking are tossed with sweet cooked and mashed Japanese sweet potato.

12 pounds Japanese sweet potato

1 jar Chestnut kanroni (cooked chestnut in syrup)

Remove thick skin of Japanese sweet potato and soak it in a cold water overnight.  Steam the sweet potato in a high steaming steamer.  Press the cooked potato through a fine sieve while it is hot.  Transfer the pressed potato to a pot and add the generous amount of chestnut syrup until the potato is lightly loosened.  Put the pot over medium heat and cook it, stirring all the time, for 2 to 3 minutes.  Transfer the potato to a bowl and add the drained chestnut kanroni.  Let the mixture stand to cool.