Last Friday when I went to Sushi Zushi, that was my first time eating udon noodles in two years!!! I had a heavy meat dish for lunch so I settled for something light and super healthy for dinner.

[100% organic & wild Gulf shrimp]

Ingredients:

• 4 cups water
• One 4-inch strip of dried kelp/kombu, soak in water for 10-20 minutes
• 4 TBS soy sauce
• 1 TBS mirin
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 0.5 cup beach mushrooms, separated
• 0.5 cup enoki mushrooms, separated
• Shrimp
• 1-2 green onions, sliced diagonally
• 1 raw egg
• 8 oz. udon noodles

Instructions:

1. To make the dashi (broth), heat pan with 4 cups of water, the dried kelp/kombu, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and salt
2. Once the dashi boils, kept it on low-medium heat and let it cook
3. In another pot, boil enough water to blanch the spinach and mushrooms then set aside
4. In the same pot, cook the udon noodles until al dente, depending on the thickness of the noodles, time varies
5. When the noodles are ready, rinse under cold water and set aside
6. In the same pot, boil the shrimp and set aside
7. In a bowl, place the noodles at the bottom, then add the vegetables, place the shrimp over the noodles, and sprinkle the green onions over everything
8. Turn on the heat to high for the dashi
9. Once it boils again, pour the hot soup into your bowl, without the kelp/kombu, and immediately break the raw egg into the hot broth with the noodles and everything else

[100% organic & wild Gulf shrimp]

Note: consuming raw or undercooked animal foods may increase your risk of contracting a food borne illness.

By Mark Dohle

Not too long ago headlines declared the climate debate was over, global warming was real and there will be catastrophic consequences if nothing was done to stop the warming.   In fact, global warming has occurred since the beginning of the industrial revolution.  Global temperatures increased by 0.6K. (IPCC)  The debate is not about this measured quantity.  Many other important questions remain unanswered.  What are the driving forces behind climate change?  How much and how fast is climate changing?  What will be the consequences?   What actions, if any, should individuals and governments take in order to direct the global climate.

As Francis Bacon eloquently stated, “nature to be commanded must be obeyed”.  It is impossible for anyone to direct the climate without knowing how the climate works.  Before individuals and governments can act in any meaningful way, they must understand the nature of global climate.  Only after figuring out how the climate works can one decide whether or not changing the climate is beneficial or even possible.   Small changes in climate, such as those observed since the start of the industrial revolution posed no new threat to human lives and were within the normal range of historical trends.  It was the authoritative prediction of accelerated warming that caused the alarm.   The following argument attempts to show that current methods of climate prediction, which used models based on various assumptions, did not and cannot predict climate change.  This is because the nature of global climate is not understood.  Also, any plans to direct the climate towards a constant temperature cannot work because the nature of global climate is not understood.

A 2004, University of California investigation titled, “Increase of carbon cycle feedback with climate sensitivity: results from a coupled climate and carbon cycle model”, performed under contract W-7405-Eng-48 of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) was used in this argument to show what the consensus determined and how the knowledge was formulated.  This investigation was contrasted with another (DOE) funded investigation titled, “On the determination of climate feedbacks from ERBE data” presented by Lindzen and Choi in July 2009.  The comparison revealed the contrasts between the methods and results obtained by climate modelers and climate observers.

The critical concept of climate feedback tied the two investigations together. Climate feedback is the rate at which radiation escapes the “blanket” of greenhouse gasses as temperature changes.  A positive feedback means less radiation escapes—accelerating warming— as temperature increases and a negative feedback means more radiation escapes—decelerating warming— as temperature increases.  An accurate account of feedback is vital to climate prediction because all the models used to predict climate change did so based on a climate sensitivity factor that was based on feedback.

The results from the University of California investigation as well as the results from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were based on climate model predictions.  The IPCC predicted 1.4-5.8K degrees of warming in the next century, (Govindasamy 154) and concluded that “[a]nthropogenic emissions of fossil fuels and change in land use are expected to lead to significant climate change in the future (IPCC, 2001).” (Govindasamy 153)

Our (University of California) results indicate that carbon cycle amplification of climate warming will be greater if there is higher climate sensitivity to increased atmospheric CO2 content; the carbon cycle feedback factor increases from 1.13 to 1.48 when global warming increases from 3.2 to 8 K.  (Govindasamy 153)

In the 2 × sensitivity case there is a decline of nearly 95% of ice volume. We find that the sea ice disappears completely in both hemispheres in their respective summers in that run. (Govindasamy 156-57)

In terms of area occupied by different vegetation types, tropical and temperate forests expand significantly with global warming (Fig. 5; Table 2). The area covered by these forests increases from about 40% in the control case to nearly 60% of the land area in the 2 × sensitivity case. In general there is a migration of tropical, temperate and boreal forests poleward with warming, leading to significant declines in the area occupied by tundra and polar deserts (land ice) in the 2 × sensitivity run. (Govindasamy 159)

It must be noted in the above paragraphs that the warming was driven by a relatively high climate sensitivity and the predictions of sea ice melting and vegetable migrations were dependent on those same models.  Through an analysis of the Lindzen and Choi report, “On Climate Feedbacks from ERBE Data”, it is possible to discover why computer modeling predictions for climate change must be wrong.  The models were wrong because they were using ungrounded assumptions in order to calculate results. Lindzen and Choi observed and compared the change in outgoing radiation with changes in temperature across the same space and time.  The results indicated that increases in temperature correlated to increased amounts of radiation escaping the “blanket” as lost heat. In other words, climate feedback was observed to be negative. Negative feedback results in relatively low climate sensitivity, (Lindzen 1), much lower than modelers had assumed.

The climate sensitivity numbers used in the University of California report and in the IPCC reports were based on the assumption that feedback was positive, not negative.   It should also be noted that the sensitivity factor used by the University of California was at the low end of sensitivity factors normally used in models, including IPCC models. (Govindasamy 154)

The climate model used here has equilibrium climate sensitivity to increased CO2 (2.1 K per doubling) that is at the lower end of the range of the general model population (IPCC, 2001). In order to address the dependence of carbon cycle feedback on climate sensitivity we investigated the sensitivity of this positive feedback for a range of equilibrium climate sensitivities to increased atmospheric CO2 content; nominally, 0, 2 and 4 K per doubling of atmospheric CO2 content. With the SRES A2 emission scenarios, this produces a simulated year 2100 global warming ranging from 0 to 8 K. (Govindasamy 159)

The climate model used by Thompson et al. (2004) has a climate sensitivity (∼2 K for a doubling of CO2) near the low end of the conventionally accepted range (1.5 to 4.5 K per CO2 doubling; IPCC, 2001). (Govindasamy 154)

The Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)  nonscanner data “appear to demonstrate a climate sensitivity of about 0.5°C.” (Lindzen 9)  That is more than four times less than the assumed value of climate sensitivity used by climate models.   Assuming the observations performed by the ERBE were accurate, the predictions of accelerated warming in the University of California report were meaningless because the models did not simulate the Earth’s climate properly.  The predictions for climate change were meaningless because they were based on meaningless temperature predictions.  Also, all models that developed climate sensitivity factors based on positive feedback were wrong.  That includes the models used by the IPCC.

In order maintain consistency with observation and also show results of significant global warming, all the models that used climate sensitivity factors must make corrections.  This amounts to nothing more than sophisticated guess and check work.   Judging from the development of the models used in the University of California report, “corrections” are commonplace in model generation when observations conflict with their assumptions.  Below is an example of a “correction” made during the 2004 study by the University of California.

Initial coupled simulations showed that when IBIS2 was coupled to the PCTM, precipitation biases typical of current climate models caused vegetation errors that, in turn, amplified precipitation biases in regions where surface–atmosphere moisture recycling is known to be important. This erroneous feedback resulted in unacceptable vegetation in some areas, particularly parts of the Amazon. To remedy this, a precipitation correction scheme was implemented. At every surface grid point, and every time step, the simulated precipitation field is multiplied by a constant that is a function of position but otherwise static and identical across all runs. The constant precipitation “correction field” acts to move the model’s simulated present-day annual mean precipitation towards an observed climatology…(Govindasamy 155)

In practice, the precipitation correction employed here is similar to the surface heat “flux corrections” used in early coupled ocean–atmosphere models. It would be better not to have to use it, but until model improvements obviate the need, a correction is required to generate a reasonable coupled control case. (Govindasamy 155)

The question remains, which report is true?  Climate feedback cannot be both positive and negative over the same space and time, so they both cannot be true.  The answer to this question lies in the realm of epistemology.  Where does truth come from?  How is knowledge and certainty gained?  Some typical answers are revelations from god, observation and reason, consensus, intuition, authority or a healthy mix.   In this case, a person that answers observation and reason would tend to agree with Lindzen and Choi and a person who holds that consensus or authority have more weight would tend to side with the University of California and IPCC model results.  A Person that holds god or intuition as the best means to knowledge could decide in favor of either position.

It is possible that the analysis performed by Lindzen and Choi was mistaken or that the data was no good.  It is possible that they fudged the numbers or are being deceitful in some way.  The same can be said about the University of California report or even the IPCC report.  It is important to remember however, that these studies are not performed in a vacuum.  There are real consequences for authors and they are held accountable to the institutions and people they serve.  The spotlight is on and their credibility and jobs are on the line.  The work is also easily checked by other scientists.  Neither party is fudging numbers, they simply reached different conclusions based on their respective methods.   Lindzen and Choi used observations, and then reason to form conclusions.  The modelers used a combination of observation and assumed factors to formulate models which mimicked past climate activity.  Based on this, the models were expected to make accurate predictions of future climate activity.

Observation of reality was the proof for Lindzen and Choi’s arguments.  The assumption of positive feedback used in the models was contradicted by observations of negative climate feedback.  The observations can be repeated and the analysis can be checked by any scientist.  Even the modelers agree that observation is the ultimate judge, seeing as how they “corrected” the models to match observations in the past.  So what?  Why does it matter that much anyway?  Wouldn’t it still be a good idea to reduce carbon emissions just in case? No, and here is why.

Copenhagen, December 2009

Many of the factors that affect global temperatures are known, including CO₂ concentrations.  On the other hand, observations, such as those from the ERBE, demonstrate that the influence of any of the factors has not yet been  established.  This means that the nature of global climate is unknown and therefore actions taken to drive climate change in one direction or another cannot accomplish the desired goal.  Yet, the political leaders of the world are meeting and attempting to create a governing body that will force every person on Earth into action.  The global government proposes to collect taxes, redistribute wealth, regulate new and old industry and enforce policy without anyone’s vote.  Below is a glimpse of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as it was drafted on September 15, 2009.

The scheme for the new institutional arrangement under the Convention will be based on three basic pillars: government; facilitative mechanism; and financial mechanism, and the basic organization of which will include the following…(UNFCCC Annex I par. 38)

“The government will be ruled by the (Conference of the Parties) COP.”(UNFCCC Annex 1 par.38)  Whatever the COP actually is, it is not a government by the people and for the people.  A word check was unable to find the words “freedom” or “vote” in the entire document.

The funds will be raised by the financial mechanism. “ The Convention’s financial mechanism will include a multilateral climate change fund including five windows…”(UFCCC Annex I par. 38)   “[Providing financial support shall be additional to developed countries’ ODA targets.] [Mandatory contributions from developed country Parties and other developed Parties included in Annex II should form the core revenue stream for meeting the cost of adaptation in conjunction with additional sources including share of proceeds from flexible mechanisms.]” (UNFCCC Annex II par. 41) What does that mean?

(c) [Levies on CO2 emissions [from Annex-I Parties [in a position to do so]];]

(d) [Taxes on carbon-intensive products and services from Annex I Parties;]

(e) [[Levies on] [Shares of proceeds from measures to limit or reduce emissions from] international [aviation] and maritime transport;]

(f) Shares of proceeds on the clean development mechanism (CDM), [extension of shares of proceeds to] joint implementation and emissions trading;

(g) [Levies on international transactions [among Annex I Parties];]

(h) [Fines for non-compliance [of Annex I Parties and] with commitments of Annex I Parties and Parties with commitments inscribed in Annex B to the Kyoto Protocol (Annex B Parties);] (UNFCCC Annex II par. 41)

Regulation and enforcement of the laws created by the COP will be handled by the “…facilitative mechanism which will include… an expert group on adaptation established by the subsidiary body… and an international registry for the monitoring, reporting and verification of compliance of emission reduction commitments, and the transfer of technical and financial resources from developed countries to developing countries.”(UNFCCC Annex I par 38)

People who do not understand the nature of global climate are attempting to direct global temperature.  Even worse, these political leaders, who disregard the idea that “nature to be commanded must be obeyed”, are apparently in a position to regulate global resources, production and wealth distribution.   If they think they can drive global climate without understanding it, how much effort are they expected to put into understanding human nature before they set up a world government to drive men’s actions.  They do not understand that humans require the freedom to act on their rational judgment in order to choose values, create wealth and prosper.  Man is the rational animal, not the obedient animal.  Do to a lack of respect for reality and reason based on reality; they are leading us into a pit of despair.  It will not randomly work out.

References

GOVINDASAMY, B., S. THOMPSON, A. MIRIN, M. WICKETT, K. CALDEIRA, and C. DELIRE. “Increase of carbon cycle feedback with climate.” TELLUS 57B (2005): 153-63. Blackwell Munksgaard.

LINDZEN, R. and CHOI, Y. “On the determination of climate feedbacks from ERBE data”  GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS (2009) Program in Atmospheres, Oceans, and Climate; Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

IPCC, Workgroup I: The Scientific Basis.   http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/tar/wg1/052.htm

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,  FCCC/ANGLCA/2009/INF.2, (September 15, 2009)  http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2009/awglca7/eng/inf02.pdf

Cooking at the dinner table

Eating meals together is a swell way to bond with family and friends. Sharing food from the same bowl is  said to create strong bonds between you and those you share the meal with.

Sukiyaki is easy to make; it’s a 鍋物 (nabemono) meal, nabe meaning ‘pot’ and mono meaning ‘things’. Everything gets cooked together in one pot right there at the table  – it’s great to make when you have friends and family over. You spend minimal time in the kitchen with prep, and most of the time sitting at the table, talking, cooking, and sharing food.

Nabemono are a wonderful winter food. When it’s cold outside, there’s few things better than to gather around a kotatsu (a special table that has a heater underneath and a blanket on it) and share food. There’s no getting up from the table to grab seconds, or to check if you turned off the stove. In Japan, where sukiyaki originates, it is said that the Japanese will have some kind of nabemono 5 times a month in winter! That’s more than once a week! I don’t think that future-hubby and I manage to eat it that often, but it is certainly a winter staple of ours. (now if only the weather would agree and stop being 68*F in the middle of November…)

To make this recipe, you’ll either need a special type of pot, called a nabe, or an electric pot. You can find them on Amazon by searching either ‘nabe pot‘ or ‘electric skillet‘. This one in particular is the one that I have. Personally, I feel much safer with an electric skillet than a traditional nabe pot.

So, let’s get started! For this sukiyaki, you’ll need:

Fry up the tofu on two sides

6 oz steak, sliced thin (if you get your steak from a butcher, ask to have it sliced bacon-thin)
1/2 package firm tofu
2 oz leek greens
2 oz bean sprouts
2 oz water chestnuts
4 oz napa cabbage
4 oz (dry) cellophane/glass noodles
2 oz mushrooms – OPTIONAL
2 eggs, beaten – OPTIONAL
2 TBSP vegetable or peanut oil
1/3 cup soy sauce
3/4 cup warm water
3 TBSP sake or mirin
3 TBSP sugar
2 cups cooked short-grain (sticky) rice

Fist, make your sukiyaki sauce. Combine soy sauce, water, sake, and sugar in a small bowl. Mix to disolve the sugar and set aside.

Prepare your glass noodles by following package instructions – it should be something simple like, ‘place in water for 10-15 minutes’.

Next, take your tofu and squeeze as much water out of it as possible. To do this, set it on a paper towel and lightly press down – but not too hard! You don’t want to end up with tofu crumbles! Then turn the tofu over and repeat the process. Continue this ‘flip-press’ method until very little is left.

Heat 1 TBSP of oil in a pan. Once it’s hot, place the tofu in the oil. You’re trying to fry a thin outer layer of the tofu. When it becomes golden brown, flip and fry the other side. When it’s done, set aside. Blot with a paper towel to remove any excess oil. Cut the tofu into 8 pieces.

Chop up your leek and cabbage into bite size pieces. If you need to slice your beef, do so now.

Now, you can do as we do and put each ingredient in it’s own little bowl, or you can put them all on one plate to bring to the dinner table. I find that putting each ingredient in it’s own bowl provides more control over adding it to the pot than a plate does. The only downside is that it creates more dishes.

Ready to cook! Ingredients (left to right): Chopped leek, sukiyaki sauce, water chestnuts, chopped napa cabbage, yaki-dofu (fried tofu), bean sprouts, oil for frying, beef

Turn on your portable burner or your electric skillet. Add the remaining 1 TBSP oil to your pot and wait for it to heat up. My nabe has a range of 300 – 450*F, and I usually set it to 350. For those using a portable burner, I’d use a medium setting.

Fry the beef in the pot with a bit of oil

Once the oil is hot enough, toss in the beef. Cover the nabe with a lid and let it cook the beef. If you’ve got yours bacon-thin this will take no time at all. For those with thicker slices, it’ll take about 3 minutes. You may have to flip the beef, depending on how thick your slices are. Once the beef is cooked through, lower the heat to 300*F. Push the beef over to one side of the pot, and slowly pour the sukiyaki sauce over the beef.

Once all the sauce is added, place the rest of the ingredients in the pot, keeping them relatively separated. Cover the nabe with a lid and let simmer 2 – 3 minutes. Remove the lid and turn the ingredients, so that all of them have been covered by the sauce. Return lid and simmer until vegetables have gone soft. Reduce the heat to low, or the ‘warm’ setting, and then dig in! Serve with a side of rice. Serves 2. (If you decide to scale this recipe up, cook 1/2 of the ingredients in one go, and then replenish the pot as necessary)

Traditionally, you would take from the pot and dip your food in a bowl with a bit of beaten egg – the thin layer of egg would cook upon contact due to the heat from the egg. Personally, I don’t find that the egg adds much, so we don’t have it. In place of that we just use tiny plate (like a teacup plate) to help move the food from the nabe to our mouths. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather though, so that’s why there’s the use of big plates and a separate pair of chopsticks to take food from the nabe to the plate – I don’t want to infect future-hubby with whatever I might have.

Mmm... comfort food!

November 2009 Exercise – Bradley Labarre CEC, Executive Chef, Cabarrus Country Club, Concord, NC

Mini egg-rolls filled with duck confit, dried cranberries, currants and pistachios seasoned with siracha, mirin and ponzu; served with a spicy fresh kimchi and crispy wonton strips for texture contrast; the plate is garnished with siracha and ponzu

Local venison three ways: Venison chop with peach apple chutney, venison roast with red onion jam and venison sausage with venison brown sauce

To participate in the next exercise, please send an e mail to: jeffrey@bauscherinc.com

See all your favorite chefs’ collections of past submissions at Deep Plate page on Facebook.  Please become a “Fan”. 

http://deepplate.wordpress.com and “Deep Plate” on Facebook

Shogayaki significa letteralmente Zenzero saltato. Per la precisione zenzero con maiale, in questo caso.
Economico, veloce, semplice, sostanzioso… Questo piatto ha il solo problema di non essere mai abbastanza.

Per due persone vi serviranno

• 200g di lonza o costolette di maiale
• 20g di zenzero fresco
• mezza cipolla
• 2 cucchiai di salsa di soia
• 2 cucchiai di Mirin
• 2 cucchiai di Sake
• 1 cucchiaio di miele (o uno di zucchero, se proprio il miele non l’avete)
• un cucchiaino di maizena

Abbiamo cucinato Shogayaki durante la quinta puntata della quarta stagione, andate a sentirla.

Per prima cosa tagliate la carne dopo averla pulita in striscioline di circa un centimetro, prendete una ciotola e mettete la carne a marinare con la salsa di soia, il Sake, il Mirin, il miele e la maizena, mescolando bene in modo che la maizena non faccia grumi.
Anche lo zenzero va aggiunto alla marinatura, ma per lasciargli diffondere la maggior parte del sapore aggiungetelo per ultimo, dopo averlo sbucciato e tagliato in sottili striscioline.
Quando l’avete fatto, lasciate riposare almeno mezz’ora.

In questa mezz’ora avete anche il tempo per preparare il riso bianco Gohan, dato che come la maggior parte dei piatti giapponesi, anche lo Shogayaki non può essere mangiato senza accompagnamento.

Quando la carne avrà riposato abbastanza prendete una padella, meglio se è un wok, e fate scaldare 2 cucchiai di olio di semi di sesamo.
Lasciate cuocere la carne per un paio di minuti, poi aggiungete la cipolla tagliata a fettine sottili in modo che rimanga abbastanza dura.
Fate saltare il tutto per altri 3 minuti e servite, magari insieme a del cavolo fresco appena tagliato.

I have recently been introduced to the amazing Harumi Kurihara, who is Japan’s answer to the UK’s Delia Smith or America’s Martha Stewart.  The lovely folks over at Octopus Books sent me a copy of her latest book “Everyday Harumi” to review and I can safely say I’m already hooked. If your a regular reader of the blog you’ll know that I have a thing for Asian recipes so it’s no suprise I am in love with this woman! Pssst….Don’t tell my girlfriend

From the sounds of things she is all set to make waves in the UK and Ireland and bring an authentic look at real Japanese homecooking. I think the beauty of the book is its simplicity and of course the brilliant recipes which inspire rather than alienate. Check out this delicious recipe from the book. Also stay tuned to the blog, there may be a new book competition coming your way this week!

I love using both white and black sesame seeds in my recipes, they add texture, aroma, taste and colour.  I use a lot of sesame when cooking, and preparing vegetables with a sesame dressing is very common in Japan.  I always prepare the dressing in advance and keep some in the refridgerator ready for use.  Sesame seeds should always be toasted before use, taking care not to burn them.  It gives them an extra special flavour and makes them easier to make into a paste.  If you cannot find sesame seeds or paste, you can use peanut butter or tahini as a substitute.  Please experiment with this dressing, try combining it with other ingrediens such as rice vinegar, miso paste or dashi stock to make new sauces and dressings.

Serves 4
200g green beans

For the sesame dressing
50g toasted sesame seeds
2 tablespoons of caster sugar
1/2 tablespoon of mirin
1/2-1 tablespoon of soy sauce
salt- to season

Prepare the green beans, lightly cook in a pan of boiling water with a little salt, then drain and rinse under cold running water and pat dry.
To make the seame dressing: Put the sesame seeds into a mortar preferably a Japanese mortar with a grooved interior.  Grind the seeds until they are almost a paste then add the sugar, mirin and soy sauce and mix well.  Add a little salt if needed.
Mix the sesame dressing in with the freen beans and serve.
The paste can also be made in a food processor but care should be taken not to overprocess.

1 lb Chicken thigh

Sake

1/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup potato starch

2 eggs

oil

Tare : 1 tsp Ground ginger

1/2 cup Vinegar

2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

2 tbsp Sugar

1 tbsp Mirin

Japanese mayonnaise

mixed ingredients of Tare in the small pan and heat it, then remove from the heat. let cook it down

medium heat oil

cut chicken bite size, mix flour and potato starch

coat chicken with mixed flour and potato starch

beat eggs and put chicken into it

put it into the oil and deep fry for 2-3 minutes

when it is cooked, remove from the oil

and then, soak it in Tare for 5 seconds

serve it on the plate and add Japanese Mayonnaise

This is called Chicken Nanban.

It is very popular in Japan.

I hope you enjoy it!

click please

1/2 Daikon (Japanese white radish)

1 Hanpen (fish cake)

1 cup Katsuo dashi

1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

1 tbsp Mirin

cut Daikon and boil

when Daikon is cooked, drain water

heat katsio dashi and add Japanese soy sauce and mirin

put Daikon back to it and boil for a while

cut Hanpen and put it into the pan

boil for 10-15 minutes

serve it into the small dish

This is very easy to cook and nice side dish.

I hope you enjoy it!

click please

2 packs Enoki mushrooms

5 Shiitake mushrooms

4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

4 tbsp Sake

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp Mirin

cut Enoki and Shiitake

heat Japanese soy sauce, Mirin, sugar and sake in the pan

put Enoki into it

add Shiitake

boil till it gets sticky(medium-low heat)

serve into the bowl and have with Japanese rice.

This is very good Japanese side dish.

I heard from my Mom how to make this when I was with her in Japan.

Everyone likes this!

I hope you enjoy!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary

Mirin and Soy Sauce. That is all you really need for authentic Japanese cooking. And you need it everywhere. Those two liquids are the foundation for almost all recipes, and are used in some quantity in every dish. I do a considerable amount of Japanese cooking, and running out of mirin sends me into panic mode and heading out to the store.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that “teriyaki sauce” has anything with Japanese cuisine. Purely an American invention, true teriyaki cooking is a combination of mirin and soy sauce, based on the meat or vegetables which are then slowly cooked, rotating sides until they become a delicious brown sticky mess. It is sooo much better than the fast food restaurants try to pass off as “Japanese teriyaki”.

When it comes to brands, it is hard to go wrong with Kikkoman. For both mirin and soy sauce, they put out a consistently good product that you can count on to enhance your cooking. There are probably more refined and expensive brands out there, but Kikkoman does me just fine, as it does for the millions of Japanese households where it sees daily use.

As a sweetened wine, mirin adds flavor as well as nutrients to a dish, and can even be used as a sugar substitute in some recipes for those trying to escape from refined white sugar. Check out Japanese Foods That Heal for an in-depth discussion on mirin’s health benefits and uses.

When I told Toby I was making this recipe for dinner, he wasn’t too thrilled. He didn’t think a salad would fill him up. He also didn’t think I could properly prepare a salad dressing. Well, wrong and wrong. This was surprisingly good! I looked for stupid miso for 3 weeks. I finally found it (in the refrigerated section of my grocery store- the employees didn’t even know where to look). Next time I WILL use 2 blocks of tofu (I only used 1 block, thinking it would be enough).

rating: 8

Pan-crisped Tofu with Greens and Peanut Dressing
(from the Sept. 2009 issue of Cooking Light magazine)

1/3 cup white miso (soybean paste)
1/3 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts, divided
2 14-ounce packages water-packed firm tofu, drained
8 cups gourmet salad greens
minced fresh chives (optional)

1. Combine first 4 ingredients, 1/4 cup peanuts, and 3 tbsp oil in a small bowl; stir with a whisk.
2. Cut each tofu block crosswise into 8 (1/2″ thick) slices. Arrange tofu on several layers of paper towels. Top with several more layers of paper towels; top with a cast-iron skillet or other heavy pan. Let stand 30 minutes. Remove tofu from paper towels.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 8 tofu slices to pan; saute 4 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden. Remove from pan, and drain tofu on paper towels. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 tbsp oil and remaining 8 tofu slices. Place 1 cup greens on each of 8 plates. Top each serving with 2 tofu slices, 3 tbsp miso mixture, and 1 1/2 tsp chopped peanuts. Garnish each serving with chives, if desired. Yield- 8 servings.

One of my favorite pieces of flesh to grill is a Kurobuta Pork Chop (aka Berkshire Pork). Those pigs are so tender and juicy, enough to make a fat man drool. About the only place I can regularly find Kurobuta is at Mitsuwa, so I almost always grab some when I’m up there.

This time I marinated it in the classic soy, sake, and mirin mix with some ginger, garlic, and stone ground mustard. Grill it up and it’s good to go.

The veggies are a saute of onion, enoki mushrooms, and bok choy in a little bit of olive oil. The other thing on the plate is a fish cake with peas and corn in it.

Round out the meal with some white rice and a simple salad of mixed greens with back porch tomatoes and you’ve got a well-rounded, fresh, tasty dinner.

3 inch Daikon (white radish)

4 Shiitake mushrooms

8 Fried bean cake

2 long small Takenoko (bamboo shoot)

1 cup Shiitake dashi (mushroom broth)

1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

1 tbsp mirin

cut Daikon, Shiitake and Bamboo shoot

boil Shiitake dashi in the pan and put Daikon into that

boil Daikon till it gets soft and add other things

boil it for a while, and then add Japanese soy sauce and Mirin

still boil it for 10 minutes, then remove from the heat

serve it into the small bowl

This is easy and very quick Nimono.

I hope you enjoy it!

click please

Here’s my first attempt at making Gyu-don, Japanese simmered thinly sliced beef with onions on rice. It’s surprisingly simple to make, yet full of flavor and easy on the wallet.

The trick is to get the beef sliced as thin as deli meat. You can get it at Mitsuwa, but I’m not sure where else to get good quality meat in this fashion. I’m sure it’s available. I do know that it’s near impossible to get such even thin slices at home with a knife no matter how sharp it is.

So, take put a little oil in a medium-sized pot and cook some ginger and garlic for a minute or two. Then add an onion thinly sliced and sweat it for a few minutes. Add a couple cups of water, a quarter cup each of soy sauce and mirin, a few pinches of sugar and let it come to a simmer. Then add your beef and let it cook until the liquid is reduced by 3/4’s.

All you have to do then is put some white rice in a bowl and top it with some Gyu-don.

I served it with a simple corn soup garnished with Thai basil and a salad that Yuki made. She tossed some mixed greens, julienned carrots, celery, and cucumber (I left the cucumber out of mine, vile phalis!) in a homemade hijiki vinaigrette. All washed down with a cold beer.

Seriously using up the Asian condiments with this one!

AKA – a recipe to use up a TON of Asian condiments sitting neglected in your fridge.

Lately, I’ve had a thing for green beans. Not sure why. I mean, they are so average. Predictable. Every day. I think there is something about their crunch that is winning me over (yeah, I’m one of those people who BARELY cooks vegetables. “Crisp tender” is probably overcooked to me. “Crisp crisp” is more like it).

So enter Szechuan Green Beans. I will readily admit to never having had them at a restaurant. Supposedly, they are normally deep fried – which seems a sorry fate for my beloved green beans. Then you mix in some ground pork, sauces, a little heat and some chopped peanuts for more crunch. Um, what’s not to love here folks?

I FLIPPING LOVE THESE THINGS.

I came across a super flavorful recipe from Guy Fieri. But he deep fries them and I just can’t bring myself to doing it. Plus, he doesn’t include any pork. So that’s two strikes.

Then I came across a Cook’s Illustrated recipe and they just stir fry the little guys on high heat till they get nice and shriveled and burnt. I thought that would do nicely. But I like Guy’s sauce. A LOT. So that stays, but I use the method (and the pork!) in the Cooks Illustrated recipe.

Give it a try. It comes together fast (we are talking 20 minutes tops including prep) – so it’s perfect for weeknight cooking. I usually serve over rice to make a full meal.

Szechuan Green Beans

Adapted from Guy Fieri and Cook’s Illustrated

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 lb ground pork
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 ounce hot chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon mirin or white wine
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1 pound green beans, cleaned
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley leaves (optional – I usually forget this part)

Steps:
1. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add beans and cook, stirring frequently, until crisp-tender and skins are shriveled and blackened in spots, 5 to 8 minutes (reduce heat to medium-high if beans darken too quickly). Transfer beans to large plate.

2.Reduce heat to medium-high and add pork to now-empty skillet. Cook, breaking pork into small pieces, until no pink remains, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds.

3. Quickly add soy sauce, chili sauce, rice wine vinegar, hoisin, mirin, sesame oil and cilantro. Return green beans to pan. Toss to combine.

4. Serve immediately. Garnish with chopped peanuts and parsley.

Enjoy!
Ms. Pantry Raid

3 long eggplant

1/2 lb chicken

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp Miso

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp mirin

1/2 tsp ground ginger

cut eggplant and chicken

medium to high heat the skillet and put sesame oil, then stir eggplant

add chicken and stir till enough cooked

add Miso, sugar, mirin and ginger

turn heat high and stir for 2-4 minutes

remove from the heat and serve it on the plate

I hope you enjoy it!

5 Large Satoimo (Taro potato)

8-10 fried bean cake(soft)

1/4 lb squid tenracles

4 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

3 tbsp Sake

3 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp Mirin

cut Satoimo and boil

when it becomes soft, remove from heat and drain

wash tentacles and cut tip a little bit and separate for 2-3 legs each

boil Japanese soy sauce, sake, mirin and sugar and then put fried bean cake, tentacles and satoimo

skim the white substance from the top while boiling and save it

boil for 10-20 minutes with low heat

serve into the bowl

Enjoy!

Here’s a simple grilled fish dish. I got some fantastic fresh Halibut at Isaacson’s for $12.50 a pound. My wife and I each eat about 6oz so that’s about $4.70 per person. I marinated it in soy, mirin, sake, garlic, ginger, and fresh thai basil from my porch. Also a touch of olive oil to keep it nice and moist when it’s grilled.

For veggies we got some mixed organic potatoes that almost taste like plantains when grilled with olive oil, salt, and pepper. I also olive oiled, salt, and peppered some fresh organic hericot verts, spanish onions, and carrots. All of the veggies came from the Farmer’s Market and Stanley’s.  In total, we each ate about $2.50 in veggies.

Some white rice with grated nori seaweed (the kind that wraps sushi rolls) and seasame and a glass of white wine completed the meal.

The best part is that there were no dishes to clean up since everything was cooked on the grill.

This is a really simple recipe, that can be made to look incredibly posh.

Ingredients (four servings)
One cake firm silken tofu (e.g. Mori-nu)

sesame sauce:
8 tsp white sesame seed
4 tsp soya sauce
4 tsp sake
8 tsp mirin (use an expensive one, like Clearspring’s Mikawa Mirin)

topping:
2 tsp white sesame seed
A sprinkle of nori flakes, or perilla if you can get it.

Blend the sauce ingredients together and divide between four small bowls.

Cut the tofu as shown below and place one piece of tofu in each bowl.

Toast the other sesame seed in a heavy pan and put approximately ½tsp on top of each piece of tofu. Sprinkle the nori or perilla on top of this. Serve as one element of a Japanese meal.

Variations:
This dish is made chilled. It could be heated in a microwave before the toppings are added, but I haven’t tried this. Adding brown rice syrup to the sauce would turn it into a dessert.

There I was, innocently doing a puzzle in Irasutorojikku (a Japanese puzzle monthly), when I noticed a recipe printed beneath. Closer investigation revealed that it was vegan, and I proceeded to impress my partner no end by translating the important bits there and then. Tonight I had a go at making it, and it was lovely. According to the blurb, it’s a Tokyo dish.

1 very large aubergine (originally three small, or two Japanese large)
A blend of sunflower and sesame oil, for frying the aubergine.

For the sauce:
2 tbl mirin
2 tbl water
1 tbl miso (type not specified – I used a dark, evil barley miso, which worked well)

To finish:
Soy sauce to taste
sugar to taste (I used rice syrup)

Cut the aubergine into (UK) chip shapes 5cm by 6mm square (about 2″ by ¼” – yes, it was that specific). Heat up the oils in a large frying pan, add the aubergine and fry until soft. Mix the sauce ingredients and add to the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes then add the soy sauce and sugar. And that’s it.

I served it with brown rice and grilled tofu. The omnivorous one ate it really quickly and urged me to post the recipe so that I have a record of it other than my pencilled notes in the puzzle book! One day, he will add up what he’s spent on Japanese lessons for me, and then he might be less impressed.

I’ve been bashing on at the cookbook in fits and starts, and today have added a couple more recipes. I’ve been experimenting with using parsnip to replace burdock, because the quality of burdock available here is awful. This recipe, based very loosely on a beef fried with burdock recipe, was particularly successful:

Saute shiitake and parsnip

1 small, ideally long and thin, parsnip
1 large shiitake mushroom
sesame oil
2 tsp mirin
2 tsp sake
2 tsp shōyu

Scrub parsnip. Cut off shavings, like sharpening a pencil with a knife (this is easier if you put the parsnip flat on your chopping board and, surprisingly, use a large knife). Alternatively cut into julienne strips.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan or frying pan, add the parsnips and fry them while you cut the mushroom up into julienne strips. Add the mushroom to the pan and continue to fry for a minute or so. Add the mirin, sake and shōyu mixture and simmer until the parsnip is just tender – probably only another minute at most, depending on the size of the pieces.

Notes: This recipe is based on one that originally featured burdock. If you are able to get hold of a nice, fresh burdock root, this will need about a 20cm length and will take slightly longer to cook. Either fresh or dried shiitake can be used, as can any mushroom with a strong flavour.

The recipe below is sort-of translated from 野菜ごはん (“Vegetable Meals”) by 月森紀子 (Noriko Tsukimori), published by Bunka last March. Ms. Tsukimori runs a macrobiotic restaurant in Tokyo, and her cookbook is entirely vegan.

4 cucumbers
1 red chili pepper
1 cup dashi

A
1 tbl brown rice miso
1 tbl white miso
2 tbl mirin
2 tsp shoyu
1 tbl sweetner

1 tbl sesame oil

Cut the cucumber into even bite-size pieces and place to one side.

Heat the sesame oil in a saucepan and add the chili pepper. When the aroma rises, take it out (if you must – I didn’t!). Add the dashi and cucumber to the pan. Mix the ingredients for A, and add to the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

If it didn’t thicken nicely, drain it!

Notes:
* Japanese cucumbers are very small. I used one Western one.
* There is recipe in the book for a konbu and shiitake dashi. I just used my faithful vegan instant konbu dashi. In future, when using western cucumber, I will halve the quantity of dashi.
* The recipe uses beet sugar for sweetening. I used brown rice syrup.
* My partner thinks this recipe turns cucumber into aubergine. It would work well with aubergine or courgette instead of cucumber. It should be quite nice cold, too.
* I’d also add half the miso at the end of cooking.
* A kanji meaning “strong” is used with the sesame oil. I take this to mean a nice, flavoursome one.

The veg box this week included an enormous cabbage, so I’m very interested in your cabbage recipes. Last night, I made a recipe from Japanese Vegetable Cooking by Asako Tohata, and I’ve added my notes to it:

4 large cabbage leaves (3 will be more than enough if your cabbage is the size of mine!)
2 sheets abura-age (deep fried tofu – obtainable in the freezer section of anywhere selling Japanese food)
40cm (16″) kanpyo (dried gourd strips) – (actually, twice as much is needed)
broth: ½ cup konbu dashi;
1-1/3 tbsp sake;
1-1/3 tbsp mirin (left out due to it hiding);
1-1/3 tbsp soy sauce; salt (omitted – there’s enough in the soy sauce!)

Put cabbage leaves in boiling water until tender, cut out stem portion of leaves and discard (put into soup or something).

Rinse abura-age in boiling water to get rid of excess oil. Slit around three sides opening the abura-age out into a single sheet. Rub kanpyo with salt until soft (not necessary; didn’t bother) and boil in water (just long enough to soften – a couple of minutes).

On a cutting board, place abura-age inside up and spread cabbage leaves on it. Roll together (so the abura-age is on the outside and the cabbage inside) and tie with kanpyo in two places (a quarter of the way along from each end).

Cook in broth slowly (about 15-20 mins, less if you like your cabbage crunchy). Cut into two (between the tied parts).

I served this with chestnut rice.