miso soup

Simple miso soup with chicken stock in lieu of dashi makes for a very satisfying dinner on a cold day.

simplicity.

Finally secured some miso and bonito flakes. Then, of course, dashi with kelp and bonito. I poached some julienned carrots in the dashi, removed them to a bowl and poached two eggs in the dashi. I removed the eggs, placed them atop the carrots and topped them with some greens whose name I forgot (some mild cruciferous green from the Korean market). I brought the dashi to a quick boil, added garlic-chili paste and turned off the heat; into that miso was whisked and then poured over the eggs and vegetables. Finish with sesame oil. So satisfying on a snowy day. Ate with cold rice wrapped in nori.

ume boshi noodles

I bought some incredible, pink ume boshi noodles at Uwajimaya in Seattle and was waiting for the perfect use for them (my beau and I love those pickled plums). I boiled them as I would soba, tossed them with sesame oil, (freshly!) toasted sesame seeds, garlic-infused rice vinegar (leftover from garlic tsukeomono), ginger pickled with shiso, mirin and finely julienned asparagus (save those tips, though!).

This I served with the reserved asparagus tips, quartered harukei turnips, halved radishes and a spread made from tahini, homemade miso and leeks (puree in a 3-2-1 ratio or so, to taste).

tsukemono

A variety of recent tsukemono that I've made. Mostly inspired by Ikuko Hisamatsu's book, Quick & Easy Tsukemono.

• First, local ginger so fresh that it doesn't keep like cured ginger and also so fresh that it can be eaten on its own. I covered it in rice vinegar, added salt and lots of purple shiso. Two weeks later, it's pink, sweet and fragrant. The vinegar is amazing.
• Then Ninniku Hachimitsu-suke, or garlic preserved in honey. Just garlic and honey. A few weeks later the cloves are sweet yet still quite strong and the honey is delicious. Also, it's traditional cold remedy.
• Ninniku Miso-zuke: garlic in miso. Equal parts garlic and miso (homemade 1 year old miso) plus some mirin. The garlic loses its bite but gets very crisp after a week or two at room temperature (then store in the fridge). This is really amazing. And I'm guessing the miso will make great soup.
• And Gobo Miso-zuke, or burdock in miso. This was so active that I could hear the miso going. I quartered burdock and packed it with miso so the pieces didn't touch each other. Two weeks later the burdock is crisp, salty and mild.

miso

This is why miso age is counted in summers: at 6 months — a winter — it doesn't look like much. I re-packed it and I'll re-check it on it's first birthday (my 28th, this was started on my 27th). This miso is mostly soy, and some brown rice. It has a nice aroma, but a mild flavor.

breakfast

I made one of the most satisfying (and surprisingly simple) breakfasts in a long time today.


I made a simple miso soup (dashi, tamari, miso, julienned carrots) and ate that with Japanese white rice, nattō, and a steamed egg (and tea, of course, being that smallest bowl).

So I was steaming the rice... which, this being the first time I've tried that, I must say is ridicuously good. I took Sho-Chiku-Bai sweet rice, soaked it for 20 minutes, placed it in a bowl in a steamer with an equal volume of water and steamed it for 20 minutes. It came out perfect. And then my nattō needed something. So I greased a small bowl with sesame oil and steamed the egg, beaten, for maybe 6-8 minutes. It was stirred three or four times during that period. And it was moist, creamy and the ultimate topping for rice mixed with nattō (or at least on par with a raw quail egg).