As an appatizer, I steamed 2 cups of edamame for about 5 minutes and sprinkled salt on them.
Gyoza
I picked up some dumpling wrappers, made by the "double happiness" company (each of two wrapper stacks are packaged seperately). For the filling, I mixed half a pound of regular ground pork with sesame sauce, soy sauce, and green onions. Filled each wrapper with about 1 TBSP, and sealed using water.
Tossed the gyoza into a hot pan with a few drops of oil, poured over a cup of dashi broth, and covered to steam for 5 minutes. Removed the cover and allowed them to get crunchy on 1 side, then ate them hot with a mixture of soy and rice vinegar.
Horofuki Daikon [Simmered Daikon with Grainy Mustard and Miso]
Here's the recipe from 'The Japanese Kitchen.'
- 10 inches daikon, peeled and cut into eight slices approx 1 inch thick
- 1 sheet konbu (dried kelp), postcard size
- 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon white miso paste
- 1 tablespoon virgin olive oil
Just before serving, put 2 tablespoons of the cooking liquid in a separate saucepan and heat. Add the mustard, mirin, and soy sauce before stirring in the miso paste. When the miso paste has dissolved, simmer the mixture for 5 minutes to reduce it, then turn off the heat. Meanwhile, re-heat the daikon. When it is warm, divide the chunks between four individual dishes. Put a tablespoon of sauce over each chunk of daikon, drizzle with olive oil, and serve."
I don't have grainy mustard, so I used regular mustard and added some mustard seeds.
Simmering the daikon really mellowed it out, and softened it to an almost buttery smooth texture. The sauce was a nice accompaniment (I forgot to drizzle it with olive oil), and I enjoyed this dish.
Clams in Garlic Butter Broth
I had this dish at Gyoza King last week, and it was fantastic... so I decided to try to make it myself.
When I got home from TnT, the Asian superstore, I put the clams into lightly salted cold water to remove some grit.
I started the pot off by sauteeing 4 large cloves of garlic, sliced, in 2 TBSP of butter. Once the garlic was lightly golden, 2 cups of dashi broth was added, and a pinch of salt to pull it together. Simmered for 5 to 10 minutes. Strained the broth into a medium-sized pot, over the clams. Brought it to a boil and simmered until the clams had popped open, 3 or 4 minutes. Removed from heat. Warmed up some frozen udon noodles in a small pot, placed them into the serving bowl, placed the clams on top, poured the broth over (through a strainer), and garnished with green onions.
It turned out ok. The biggest problem was grit. Next time I'll have to shake the cooked clams around to get all the grit out, then strain the broth through a paper towel-lined strainer. Next time I'll use even more garlic, but go easy on the green onion garnish.
Renkon No Kimpira [simmered lotus root]
I made this dish a few days ago, but had problems slicing up the lotus root. Then I came across pre-sliced bags of lotus root at TnT, and knew it would work out better.
As before, I sauteed the lotus root in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, and rice vinegar, this time adding a bit of dashi. Garnished with a blend of 3 types of toasted sesame seed.
Sitwell enjoyed this one the most.