japanese series part 3

Ah, the farmer's market. I love walking around with my family and being inspired by what's available each week. Most weeks I buy some shiitake mushrooms and eggplant first, and then wander. And when it comes to eggplant, I'm generally drawn to Japanese eggplant. But this week I was inspired by this beautiful variety of baby eggplant.

With such beautiful, delicate little eggplant, I wanted to showcase their texture and flavor by keeping it simple. My favorite way to eat eggplant is with a simple ginger and soy sauce dressing. Because this recipe only has 3 ingredients, it's really important to start with quality ingredients. Avoid soy sauce with added ingredients like sugar, and don't use dried ginger. Ginger is a lot easier to grate if it's frozen, and because it spoils quickly, I keep mine in the freezer all the time. And if you can find Japanese eggplant, do a little happy dance and buy it. You'll probably have to go to an Asian market to find it, unless you have an impressively stocked grocery store. Your typical globe eggplant is a little too bitter for this recipe.

When it comes to cooking it through, there really aren't any short cuts. A properly cooked eggplant is buttery and rich, an undercooked eggplant is spongy and bitter. Don't be impatient. Trust me, I've made this mistake;)

fresh ginger eggplant
serves 4 as a side dish

8~12 small eggplant
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 tablespoon good quality soy sauce
neutral tasting oil for frying

1. Clean eggplant, cut off the tops, and cut each eggplant in half lengthwise. In a small bowl, combine the ginger and soy sauce.
2. Heave a large skillet, grill pan, or on a grill, to medium heat. Brush the cut side of the eggplant with the oil. Arrange the eggplant, cut side down, in a single layer on the skillet. If it doesn't fit, do it in batches. Cover, and let it cook through. The skin will wrinkle a little and the flesh will be tender all the way through.
3. Place the eggplant cut side up on a serving platter, and drizzle the soy sauce/ginger mixture over the top and serve.

japanese series part 2

As promised, I'm writing about Japanese food again. And since I started with the basic dashi, we're going to make the dish I use dashi for the most, miso shiru--or miso soup. There are so many ways you can alter this soup, but the basic of the basic miso soup has 5 ingredients: dashi, miso, scallions, wakame, and tofu.

Don't let the exotic ingredient list scare you too much. Dashi you know how to make, miso is easy to find in the refrigerated section of any Asian market, and tofu you can find at any grocery store these days. Though I do prefer the silken tofu (House is my favorite brand you can buy in the US) you find at Asian markets to the kind you can buy at grocery stores. And I'm not saying that to be snobby. It really is just my personal preference. But when I'm too lazy to make my own tofu or to head to the Asian market, medium or firm tofu at the grocery store works great.

miso

Miso is a prepared soy bean paste. It's earthy and salty, and when diluted in dashi, makes ... heaven. It's rich and light at the same time. I don't know how else to explain it. It comes in a variety of styles, but the most common are red and white. And you can buy them mixed together, which I find more versitile. But it's personal preference so get whichever you like and fits into your budget and palate.

Miso wasn't a flavor I was fond of as a kid. I know, you're thinking I'm so not Japanese, right? I've learned to love it as an adult, and I rarely go a week without it. It's my favorite.

wakame

Wakame is a specific type of seaweed. It's sold dried, sometimes in long strands and sometimes cut. I prefer the cut kind. I just reconstitute it right in the serving bowl. It happens really fast, so it's just easier for me that way. If you let it sit too long in liquid it can get slimy, which is probably what most people who don't like it have experieneced. When newly reconstituted, it's slippery but not slimy, and tastes like the ocean. A clean ocean. Not a stinky, fishy-smelling one.

This might be the hardest ingredient for you to find. It's with all of the other seaweeds, and you might just have to ask for help or go to an online source. If seaweed isn't your thing (though eventually I think you should give it a shot), substitute baby spinach.

miso soup
serves 4

1/4 block of tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 teaspoons dried, cut wakame
2 scallions, sliced very thin
6 cups dashi
1.5 tablespoons red or white miso (or a combination of both)

1. In a small sauce pan, heat the dashi. Add the miso, and stir in to combine until completely dissolved. Add the tofu just to heat it through.
2. In the small serving bowls, equally distribute the wakame. Pour the hot miso broth over the wakame, and equally distribute the tofu. Garnish with the scallion. Serve hot along side rice.

let's start with the basics

I've had a lot of people ask me about Japanese food lately. And I wish I could have all of you meet my family in Japan. It'll change your life. Healthy food is their cultural lifestyle, not something they're deliberately doing. And guess what! It's delicious! So I want to do a series for you. And we're starting with the basic of basics in Japanese cooking. Dashi. (pronounced "dah-shee" ... sort of. That's the best I can do without actually saying it for you)

 Dashi is a Japanese stock made with dried bonito flakes, kombu kelp, and water. And really, don't let the ingredient list scare you. You can find these ingredients really easily in any Asian market, and I promise they aren't fishy or scary or as unappetizing as you might think. In fact, the term "umami" was created because of this very basic Japanese dish. It was delicious enough to earn a 5th taste:)

I use dashi as a base for soup or just to simmer something in--every time we have Japanese food for dinner. So I thought it was a good place to start.

There are 2 stages of dashi you can get out of one set of ingredients. You can make the "first" dashi, which is more pure and has the best flavor. I set that aside for more delicate dishes like clear soups and simple simmered dishes that rely heavily on the clean flavor of the dashi. The "second" dashi is when you use the same amount of water with the already used, strained bonito flakes and kombu. This is what I use for miso soup and less delicate dishes.

basic dashi
makes about 4 cups (8 cups if you make second dashi)

4 1/2 cups water (another 4 1/2 cups for second dashi)

2 cups dried bonito flakes

1 4x4 inch (or smaller, if you like a lighter flavor) sheet of kombu

1. for first dashi: Fill a medium saucepan with 4 1/2 cups water. Add the kombu. (do not wipe off or rinse off the white powder, this is where all the extra nutrition is!) Heat over high heat until the water almost reaches a boil. remove the kombu and add the bonito flakes. Bring the liquid to a boil and immediately strain the bonito flakes with a fine mesh sieve. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze in small portions.
2. for second dashi: Add the bonito flakes and kombu back into the saucepan. Add 4 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes. Strain and discard the solids. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or freeze in small portions.