Hiroko’s Kitchen | Blog

After my step-son, Gregory Beitchman, told me that the coffee at Stumptown tastes almost exactly as good as Japanese coffee served at kissaten (coffee shop) in Japan, I had to try it even though I am not today a coffee drinker. Stumptown is housed in a hip and cool NY hotel, ACE. When you enter the store from outside you will be mingling with cool and young New Yorker or cool visitors from all over the world. I wanted to taste the real coffee (no latte or fake coffee). A cool looking coffee-tender (I just made up from the word, bartender; by the way every coffee-tender at this store wears cute hat) suggested that I should choose ‘cheme’ (drip coffee) but not American which is already brewed (not in the machine, but hand-pressed) and stored in a pot. Cheme is the technique to brew coffee, and is named after a chemist who invented the method, I was told. After describing the type of flavor which I want in my coffee, coffee-tender recommended me BURUNDI KINYOVU because of its noted, pleasant acidity and rich flavor.

First coffee beans are carefully weighed (100g). (Electric scale is necessary in their operation.) Then, beans were carefully ground. The ground coffee was added to the paper filter in a glass corn which is set over a glass flask. Woman coffee-tender added enough boiled water to wet the ground coffee. With a spoon she gave a large stir in the coffee to make sure that all coffee particles are wet. She let the coffee stand for 1 minute to bloom. (Serious business!) Then, she added additional hot water (about 200g?) little by little in a thin and long stream. After 1 minutes of additional waiting she added the final water little by little. She used the electric scale all the time during brewing. Finally coffee was poured in a ceramic coffee cup and served to me. No milk, no sugar, no nonsense, of course. First sip – with good acidity and round and rich flavor – hit my taste bud and reminded me of Japanese coffee. As I continued sipping other flavors popped up in my mouth – molasses and black currant. I do not know how many people have time to order’cheme’ and appreciate it black. I was heaven to learn that serious coffee and wonderful coffee culture exists at this store.

When I moved to New York City the selection of fish at local fish monger disappointed me. I craved for extremely fresh fish (for cooking purpose), oily fish (sardine, mackerel, herring), locally caught fish and whole fish. In my second year in NYC at the beginning of May I was introduced to Shad. It was a flavorful fish with pleasant oiliness (but not as flavorful as my dear sardine or mackerel), and I quickly fell love with it. The season of Shad in the city lasted only few weeks, so Shad has become my May shun food item and enjoyed it in the next few years. Then, suddenly I stopped to see Shad at fishmongers. The reason was the ban of fishing for the species in the Hudson river. My love affair with Shad and Shad roe was short, so I forgot them completely until I spotted Shad and Shad roe this year at Citarella (caught in the south but not in the Hudson river, according to the fishmonger). I purchased it and cooked in half butter and half olive oil. The flavor of the fish was not the same as I remember. It did not have rich and sweet flavor. Responsible reason of poor flavor may be the time of catching fish. The same story is applied to skipjack tuna, katsuo, in Japan. The below is the second segment of the Shun story.

Shun: The Peak of Flavor – From Hiroko’s American Kitchen
“Our obsession with the concept of shun leads us to further divide the peak season itself into three subdivisions. They are hashiri, sakari, and nagori. Hashiri is the quality attributed to shun food products that have just come into season. These hashiri food items are usually smaller in size and less flavorful than later, at the height of the season. Despite these deficiencies, hashiri products fetch a high price because they have just come back onto the market after a full year’s absence. They are rare and exciting, and regardless of price, they attract ravenous “early adopters” who will pay any price to obtain these foods. An extreme example is recounted in “Katsuo Is Worth More Than My Wife” in my book The Sushi Experience. There I describe a famous story about a man back in the Edo period (1600–1868) who pawns his wife to savor the first catch of skipjack tuna.”

Suddenly in the past couple of days in NYC we are enjoying (with a big ?; we did not have a real cold usual winter) spring like weather. Some people are already switching sweater and coat to tank top and summer dress. Now I am eagerly waiting for lamps at our local Union Square farmers market. Lamps has become my shun favorite at early spring after moving to NYC 13 years ago. Here is a part of shun description, an excerpt from my upcoming book, Hiroko’s American Kitchen: Cooking with Japanese Flavors/ 6 easy sauces/125 modern recipes. I will post the excerpt of this story in several batches.

Shun: The Peak of Flavor – From Hiroko’s American Kitchen
“Shun is a Japanese word given to food items that are at the peak of their seasonal availability and quality. The word shun has no equivalent in the English language and shows our near religious obsession with what we eat in each season. Japan’s geography and climate surely helped to shape this unique food culture. For example, asparagus becomes shun in early summer. Shun asparagus is bursting with flavor and has a tender and moist texture. In order to enjoy shun asparagus, we apply the absolute minimum cooking time and minimal flavoring ingredients. The shun concept applies not only to fruits and vegetables, but to seasonal seafood as well.” continues to next blog.

While I lived in Japan I loved tender textured, sweet and earthy burdock which appears at the beginning of April. I always made kinpira gobo with these tender burdock. This Monday I had an urge to make it (I wanted to eat it), so went to the Japanese supermarket and bought two long, thick and sturdy-looking roots. I cooked it the way which I show it in The Japanese Kitchen (page 241-242), except one revision. By the way to make julienned burdock you have to have a julienne peeler. Go to my Product page and find the julienne peeler. This one is the best julienne peelers among many which I have tested. Here is the photo of Kinpira gobo which I made. Here is the revision of the recipe. Before adding julienned burdock to the wok or skillet to cook with oil, cook it in water (water should barely cover the burdock) for about 4-5 minutes. Drain them and add to the wok or skillet to stir-fry. By taking this step in advance, you can omit the water and reduce the oil used in the recipe to half. This version tastes less oily with the same great flavor and texture (crunchiness).

Here you can see the hoshiimo, dried Japanese sweet potato, product. Mr. Onizawa and Mr. Terunuma are chatting with and introducing to the event attendees. Nobody tasted the dried sweet potato before. They loved the texture and fragrant sweetness of the potato.

Sweet potatoes were originally came from Central and South America to Japan. Probably they were introduced by Spanish conquistadores to the Philippines, from whence they reached China. These potatoes were introduced to Japan from China in the seventeenth century. After years of improvements we have produced in Japan sweet potatoes which tastes very different from the American counterparts, which are often mislabeled yams. Japanese sweet potatoes, satsumaimo – are very sweet and its texture is smooth, creamy when they are cooked. Japanese sweet potatoes are also fragrant – reminds us of cooked chestnuts.

At the March 6th event Mr. Hiroyuki Onizawa and Katsuhiro Terunuma from Ibaraki Prefecture introduced us their proud dried sweet potato products, hoshi-imo. The practice of drying sweet potatoes and producing nutrient rich preserved food (according to Mr. Terunuma, dried sweet potatoes are rich in Vitamin B2, C and E, potassium and dietary fibers) was invented around the end of the 18th century. During the Japan-Russo War dried sweet potatoes became an important army snack. Ibaraki Prefecture today produces 80 percent of dried sweet potato which are consumed in Japan. Their cold and dry winter climate, fertile soil and passionate farmers help to produce the best sweet potato for drying in Japan.

The production of dried sweet potato is very simple and no chemical is involved. Harvested sweet potatoes are rinsed, steamed, peeled, sliced and dried in the sun during cold winter months for one week or so. The resulting product has intense sweetness (natural!), chestnuts like aroma and slight chewy texture.

On his trip to Sunrise Mart during his stay in NYC, Mr. Onizawa was excited to find one of his company’s products sold at the store. Try his ??????(Kakugiri hoshi-imo) on your next trip to Sunrise Mart. You will love it!

Yoshikubo Brewery was founded in 1790. Two hundred and twenty years ago. This is the year when the first State of the Union Address is given by first president, George Washington. The company’s long existence is impressive.

Today in Japan there are about 1500 brewers or could be less. Hundred years ago, the number of the brewers were sixteen times more. Sadly dramatically decreased number today continues to decrease.

Noriyuki Yoshikubo, younger brother of the twelfth generation of Yoshikubo Brewery, told us at the event at International Culinary Center that in Japan sake consumption has plummeted. Some responsible causes are 1) popularity of wine, 2) popularity of shochu and beer, 3) recent government’s tight regulation on drunken driving, and 4) consumers’ preference to low alcohol beverage.

In order to survive this difficult time Yoshikubo Brewery has recently introduced to a market a new low alcohol content beverage. They call it Usagi no Dance (dancing rabit). The production uses rice and wheat. The finished product has 6%alcohol content. The flavor of this sake is very noted – a touch of sweetness with refreshing lactic acid flavor. If you love nigori sake, this is for you. Yoshikubo Brewery produces over 20 varieties of traditional sake, including jumnai, ginjo and honjozo-shu. In order to survive and expand their production, Yoshikubo Brewery wants to sell their products in America. Send me a mail if you (distributors) are interested in their exclusivesake!

The day before the event Yoshiyuki san helped me in the kitchen at International Culinary Center to prepare ramen stock and chashu pork for the next day. He was a very focused, diligent and good cook. Thank you very much again for your great help!

Mr. Yoshio Suzuki of Saza Coffee Company introduced us at the event his unique coffee. The following note is from his company’s brochure. “The 15th and last Shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, is known to be the first Japanese to taste coffee. In 1867 he entertained the Western delegates at the Osaka castle with French banquet. It is said that the ingredients, including the coffee, used for the banquet all came from Marseille, France. At the end of the dinner a cup of delicious coffee was served.”

Yoshitomo Tokugawa, great grand son of Yoshinobu Tokugawa, was eager to recreate the flavorful coffee which was served at the banquet. He researched and found the type of beans used and how the were roasted from historical documents. The answer was the use of high-quality Indonesian Mandelin coffee beans and French style roasting method. Saza Coffee now packages and sells this historical coffee under the brand name of Tokugawa Shogun Coffee.

Here you see the individual serving portion of Tokugawa Shogun Coffee package. It comes with how-to-brew coffee instructions. The ready to use coffee paper bag contains 16g/0.6oz of ground coffee. I first wet the ground coffee with enough water as it is suggested (the temperature of the water has to be between 167 and 176 degree F) and let it steam for 30 seconds. Then, I poured hot water little by little. Something what I did was wrong. I did not get the fine foam which is shown in the instruction. I am going to e-mail Suzuki-san. The brewed coffee reminded me of the one which I enjoyed in Japan. It is strong but has round flavor with some sweetness, noted acidity and slight bitterness. No milk nor sugar is necessary. I really tasted the flavor of the coffee beans. This is how we enjoy a cup of coffee in Japan. Only a cup in a day is sufficient.

After exceptional shoyu, I want to introduce you to an exceptional miso which was introduced us on March 6th event. Thank you, Uchiyama san, for donating your delicious miso for the demonstration. Everyone loved the rich flavor of the miso in the miso ramen.

Here is the photo from the event. Mr. Uchiyama is standing on the right side of me; he is twice taller than I am.

Uchiyama Miso company was founded in 1872 (www.mizukinosho.com). The present 6th generation president thought that the only way to survive the fierce competition as a miso brewer is to produce very high quality miso. So he suggested to his father to abandon the popular automated production method and bring back the artisan production – his grandfather’s method. Since his grandfather already deceased and could not get the information, he traveled across the country to visit small old brewers and gather the how-to-produce miso in artisan method. Today his company produces one of the best artisan miso in Japan. The secret of producing good miso is the use of soybean koji (fermentation starter) along with rice koji in the production. Uchiyama-san told me that soybean koji shortens the fermentation period, at the same time, triples the flavor and aroma of miso in the finished miso.

In order to diversify his business, he build a restaurant, Cafe Mizukinosho, next to his factory, where healthy and delicious lunch and sweets are served. Everyone who visited the restaurant is crazy about their miso flavored pudding. I will definitely try it when I visit Japan.
Flavorful Shoyu Ramen Broth

For my ramen demonstration and tasting offering at March 6th event Kurosawa Shoyu (another visiting food manufacturer from Ibaraki Prefecture and founded in 1905) donated me one of his company’s exclusive shoyu (soy sauce), Niemon Shoyu. Niemon Shoyu is produced using Saishikomi method. Ordinary shoyu is made with toasted wheat, steamed soybeans and salt water. In the Saishikomi method salt water is replaced with high quality produced shoyu, therefore the resulting shoyu has doubled or tripled flavor and aroma. Saishikomi mehod costs money to the company, but Kurosama Shoyu (http://www.fujini-shouyu.co.jp/) commits to produce shoyu which are exceptional. I flavored pork belly in the mixture of Niemon Shoyu, mirin and sake, and used the cooking liquid to flavor the ramen stock. Look at the attendees (photo) who are enjoying the very special ramen. Mr. Kurosawa has a big dream. He wants to market his shoyu someday in the future in USA. Ganbatte-kudasai.

For my ramen demonstration and tasting offering at March 6th event Kurosawa Shoyu (another visiting food manufacturer from Ibaraki Prefecture and founded in 1905) donated me one of his company’s exclusive shoyu (soy sauce), Niemon Shoyu. Niemon Shoyu is produced using Saishikomi method. Ordinary shoyu is made with toasted wheat, steamed soybeans and salt water. In the Saishikomi method salt water is replaced with high quality produced shoyu, therefore the resulting shoyu has doubled or tripled flavor and aroma. Saishikomi mehod costs money to the company, but Kurosama Shoyu (http://www.fujini-shouyu.co.jp/) commits to produce shoyu which are exceptional. I flavored pork belly in the mixture of Niemon Shoyu, mirin and sake, and used the cooking liquid to flavor the ramen stock. Look at the attendees (photo) who are enjoying the very special ramen. Mr. Kurosawa has a big dream. He wants to market his shoyu someday in the future in USA. Ganbatte-kudasai.

Kiuchi Brewery (http://www.kodawari.cc/?jp_home/products/nestbeer.html) was one of the featured companies at International Culinary Center’s Japanese Food Producers from Ibaraki Prefecture and Ramen Event yesterday. Kiuchi Brewery? This is the brewery which produces in Japan one of the best selling beers for the US market – Hitachino Nest Beer. The logo is a little, cute owl which stands out among competitors at bars and food stores. The old sake brewery, Kiuchi Jozo, which was founded in 1823, began production of beer under the rein of the present president, Toshiyuki Kiuchi, 15 years ago. Today the company have ten popular products, including red rice ale, pale ale, weizen, sweet stout and amber ale. At this event Mr. Kiuchi brought with him a new beer from his brewery! It is Nipponia. This beer is brewed using almost disappeared strain of Japanese barley along with the historic Sorachi Ace hops. The color of this beer is deep brown. A hint of citrus is hidden in rich, round flavor. Oishii!