Hakusai and tuna fish nimono
Japanese food has this image as fussy and sophisticated, but of course busy Japanese people need quick-and-easy recipes to feed hungry families just like anybody else.
This braised dish is one way my mother solved that perennial “so, what’s for dinner?” problem: unbelievably delicious, made from ingredients that cost next to nothing, healthy and ready in just a few minutes.
When you find you’ve bought a bit too much Napa Cabbage (hakusai) and you’re not sure how to finish it all, this is the solution.
Gomokuzushi: Sushi Rice with Vegetables
Hello everyone, long time no see!
Since I started this blog, a key goal has been to show that Japanese cooking is much more than sushi. For that reason, I’ve mostly avoided sushi recipes – the only exception being Inarizushi. Now, after a long break, I’m breaking my initial promise once more.
Last time I went back to Japan and visited my grandmother in Kyushu, she made a traditional dish, Gomokuzushi, for our family reunion. Gomokuzushi is Gomoku (a mix of many ingredients) Sushi. It was so delicious I wanted to share the recipe with you.
Gomokuzushi is often served for a special occasions, such as birthday parties, family reunions and Hinamatsuri (Girls’ Day celebration). It is a perfect dish for a party because it looks gorgeous but you don’t need special ingredients, such as super fresh fish, so it’s not too expensive to make, and it’s easy to scale it up to feed many people. You wouldn’t want to bring sushi with raw fish to a potluck or a picnic, but Gomokuzushi is perfect for these sorts of occasions.
It’s is one of those dishes where the exact recipe will vary from family to family. The main ingredient in my grandma’s Gomokuzushi is chicken. The process seems complicated, but that’s just because I’m writing all the “insider tips” you need to get it just right in full detail. So don’t be afraid. Once you get the knack, it’s quite simple.
My grandma’s original recipe is just 4 lines!
We had a baby!
She’s cute!
…but Kanako never finds time to add new recipes anymore.
😦
In the meantime, you can still enjoy the Recipe Photo Index, though!
It’s pretty much an online cookbook at this point…
Chilled Udon Noodles Sea Kelp Rice Topping Gobou fries Minced Chicken over Rice
Grilled Aubergine Mock Pork Roast with Tea Seasoned Rapini Ginger-flavored rice
Chilled Noodles Marinated Fried Vegetables Noddles with Salad Simmered Mackerel
Shrimp-Lettuce Stir-fry Braised Saury Fillets Lotus Root Dumplings Azuki pound cake
Inari Sushi Seasoned Okra Pickled Turnips Tofu Salad
Cabbage Pancakes Raw tuna on rice Salmon roe with daikon Fried Mackerel
Potato Salad Ginger flavored stir-fry Garlic-sprout stir fry Miso soup with tofu
Simple hot pot Vegetable tempura Bean sprout stir-fry Rice balls
Stuffed peppers Boiled taro roots Green onion miso salad Grilled Pacific Saury
Hijiki Seaweed Stew Clear egg-drop broth Rice with shiso leaves Miso soup with pork
Classic spring rolls Potato pancakes Chicken vegetable fritters Seasoned spinach
Chicken and egg on rice Japanese Curry Garnished Daikon Radish Chickory rice topping
Stir-fried udon noodles Konyaku scrambled eggs Dainty vegetable salad Rice with chestnuts
Gyoza Potstickers Fried tofu with sauce Boiled mixed vegetables Udon soup with egg
Vinegar based salad Beef stir fry Rice porridge with shrimp Basic white rice
Roasted sweet potato Clear broth with fish Boiled daikon with pork Korean pancakes
Japanese cutlet Miso soup with pumpkin Seasoned spinach Tempura
Braised Burdock Root Bitter Melon stir-fry Boiled tofu with vegetbles Savoury Rice
Kabocha Nimono: Simmered Squash
This is one of the most popular Japanese home cooked side-dishes. It’s not a complicated recipe, but you do need some tips and experience to make a really good one that blends the squash’s natural sweetness with just the right amount of salty soy sauce and umami dashi. In fact, this is one of those recipes where it really pays to measure things carefully before tossing them in!
Squash arrived in Japan in the middle of 16th century from Cambodia through the Portuguese. Originally, we got a kind of butternut squash, but today the green-on-the-outside variety, known as kabocha squash or Japanese pumpkin, is the most common in Japan.
Kabocha Nimono is the kind of old kitchen stand-by recipe most Japanese moms can make with their eyes closed. Cooked this way, you don’t even have to peel the squash: the skin becomes very soft through simmering. The big pitfall to watch out for here is using too much moisture and letting the pumpkin get all soggy. The goal is to get the squash soft and buttery, almost like a chestnut. You don’t want it waterlogged.
Ramen, Nabemono and more
Kanako is building up quite a little article trail on Menuism.com. Her new essay on Nabemono just came out today – another on Ramen came out last month. She’s really enjoying the research that goes into these, and I’m really enjoying the edit wars we get into before submitting!
Three Color Torisoboro Gohan: Minced Chicken and Garnish over Rice
Hello loyal readers! Sorry for disappearing but I’ve been really busy with my non-cooking life. I don’t want the blog to stay dormant forever, though, and my husband really wanted me to add this recipe for his new favorite way to eat chicken: minced!
When you think about it, it’s funny: ground beef and ground pork are common enough, but how often do you see ground chicken? Our local supermarket sure doesn’t sell it, so for this recipe, we mince it ourselves. It’s not the most pleasant of kitchen tasks, granted, but it’s not actually hard either…just chop some chicken thigh and breast meat into blocks and put it through a food processor. Takes a minute or two.
Torisoboro Gohan isn’t really a fancy dish, but it’s very flavorful and always seems to be a major hit when I’ve served it to Westerners. To make it really appealing, you want to pair it with brightly colored garnishings – usually green beens and silk-thread eggs – aiming for a tri-color effect at the end.
The Tofu Manifesto
Kanako’s breathless dithyramb to Tofu, Japanese style, is up on the Menuism.com blog today. Check it out.
Full disclosure: on our recent trip to Japan, we ate an outrageous amount of tofu.
All I can say is, she made a believer out of me. Or, maybe that’s soft-pedalling it a bit. A fanatic. Yes. She made a tofu fanatic out of me.
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