Itadakimasu Part One

We recently spent two weeks in Japan mostly eating traditional Japanese food in ryokan and minshuku.  As you know I love food and I especially love food from the sea which is the mainstay of the Japanese table.  However I was a little anxious because I was not fond of noodles, tofu or miso soup which I knew would also be on the table.  It was with some trepidation that I approached our initial meals however I found the food absolutely wonderful.  I am not really any fonder of noodles but made so many new food friends and I have even been experimenting with Japanese food at home.   But that is another story.  First I want to tell you about eating in Japan - traditional and modern.
The first two meals we ate in Tokyo were sushi.  We then didn't really come across sushi again until our last day in Arashiyama, a short train journey from Kyoto.
When we arrived in Tokyo early evening, tired and overwhelmed by the heat and humidity we found our way to Tsukiji Tama Sushi a few minutes from our hotel.  We could not have made a better choice.  We ordered a dinner sushi set which came with a bowl of miso soup and a mysterious dish of something which I later discovered was chawanmushi.  The chawanmushi became my new favourite food and all my anxieties evaporated.  I knew I was going to enjoy this culinary adventure.

Then breakfast.  We didn't want to eat meals at inflated prices in a hotel restaurant so we set out to find out what Japanese eat for breakfast.  Well they don't eat out.  There was nothing open that appeared to serve any kind of food or beverage.  But there was a 711 (convenience store) with a huge array of packaged sandwiches.  Delicious egg club sandwiches and salad became our go-to option for on the move dining.

We had lunch with Harriet's school friend Hiromi, who some of you will remember, and her mother, Ikuko. They took us to an amazing sushi bar, Umegaoka Sushi no Midori in Shibuya.  If you are planning to eat sushi in Japan, go here.  You have to be prepared to wait for a long time but you can put your name down and they will text you when a table is coming up.  They had an ipad at the table and you just send your order straight to the kitchen.

We ate so much sushi along with fresh pickles, miso soup and that delicious chawanmushi, I didn't think I would be able to move from the table. I felt I could eat like this forever. However after that sushi extravaganza I did not want to eat again that day.

In the Tokyu department store foodhall in Shibuya we found dorayaki which featured in one of our favourite Japanese movies, An. These were delicious. 

We made a day excursion from Tokyo to Kamakura, again inspired by a favourite movie, Umimachi Diary. 

There were some pretty interesting sweet food options available at street stalls. I wasn't sure what to make of a combination waffle-ice cream-chesecake?

The most popular flavour for sweet treats seems to be matcha followed closely in popularity by purple sweet potato, which more closely resembles kumara than any sweet potato I have ever seen outside NZ.  But sweet potato and matcha ice cream?  Just no!
We took an electric train to Enoshima, a seaside village where there were amazing seafood stalls and even more disturbing culinary offerings.  I can assure you that none of these alarming concoctions were consumed by me.

We travelled from Tokyo to Hakone via Mt Fuji.  Hakone was my first taste of village Japan and I was captivated from the moment we set off from the station to our hotel, Pax Yoshino.  From the outside Pax Yoshino looked like a regular hotel but on the inside it was most definitely Japanese. Tatami mats, cedar bathtub, low beds. We were provided with yakuta and Japanese socks, indoor slippers and outdoor sandals. We also had very stylish jackets to wear over the yakuta in case we ventured out in the cool night air.

We ate our first washoku meal.  Some of the food items were unfamiliar and sometimes surprising.
There was something called "favored cooked spirally coiled shell"  which may or may not have been a snail but turned out to be delicious.
I was bewildered by the item in the soup which appeared to be crisp stalks coated in a gelatinous
substance.  Research revealed this to be the braseniaschreberi, a type of water shield plant whose "young curled leaf tips, which are coated with a thick transparent mucilage, are eaten as a salad with vinegar, sake and soy sauce, or they added to soups as a thickener"  Also delicious.

We had to take an early train to get to Magome to start our walk.  I say train, but this journey involved a train from Hakone to Odewara, then a bullet train to Nagoya, another train to Nakatsugawa and finally a bus to Magome.  We had to leave before breakfast was served and our hostess offered to make us a bento breakfast to eat enroute. This was waiting for us when we checked out at reception.  Rice and pickles she said, so imagine our surprise and delight at Odewara station when we tucked into rice balls stuffed with sour plums, salmon, fried potato, sausage, tonkatsu pork and a piece of rolled omelette.

Rhubarb and Patience

I have never been a fan of rhubarb.  Stringy and bitter with poisonous leaves.  How did it ever end up on anyone's table?  However, Peter loves it and we grow it in the garden.  Every Sunday during the season I stew a few stalks and he has a spoonful every day for breakfast.  This summer we planted an all-year round variety so now we have twice as much.  I don't like to not eat the food we produce so I did a little investigation.  I can tell you now that rhubarb is a vegetable, not a fruit and if you eat it as dinner rather than pudding it is actually very palatable [=delicious (ed.)].
Start with a simple rhubarb and chard dish. I served this with pork sausages.  If you cook the sausages first in a pan and set aside,  you can cook the chard and rhubarb in the same pan. Add 1 finely chopped shallot to the pan and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add a little olive oil if required. Stir in 1 1/2 tsp black mustard seeds and 2 finely chopped garlic cloves. Cook 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup thinly sliced rhubarb and 500g rainbow chard leaves, a handful at a time, with a large pinch of salt. You can thinly slice the chard stalks and add some with the rhubarb, but I don't think you want them all.  I always save the stalks if I don't use them straight away and use them up during the week.  Cook until the greens wilt and become tender, about 10 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper. Serve sausages on top of greens.

What about a chicken tagine with rhubarb?  Start by poaching some rhubarb. Combine 1 1/4 cups water and 1 cup sugar in a medium saucepan. Add vanilla seeds and pod. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir until sugar dissolves and add 2 cups diced rhubarb. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer rhubarb for 5 minutes, or until it can be easily pierced with the tip of a knife but remains intact. Do not overcook or else rhubarb will fall apart. Strain rhubarb over a bowl. Put the syrup aside to use another day.

Now on to the chicken.  I used bone-in leg quarters - what used to be called a Maryland - but you could use boneless thighs if you are delicate about bones. Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil. When oil is hot, brown chicken pieces, in batches, on both sides until golden, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.

Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the Dutch oven and add 1 finely chopped onion. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to deglaze, until onion begins to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 each of finely chopped carrot and leek. Cook, stirring often, for 3 to 4 minutes until vegetables are tender. Add a clove of crushed garlic and cook, stirring, about a minute. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1 tsp sweet paprika and stir.

Return chicken to Dutch oven and add 1 cup chicken stock, 1 cinnamon stick, 1/2 tsp sugar and salt to taste. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 35 minutes. Add 4-6 pitted green olives then cover and simmer another 15 to 20 minutes, or until chicken is falling off the bones. Stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons  of the rhubarb syrup. Season to taste.

Before serving, stir in parsley and 1 cup of the poached rhubarb and heat through over low heat.  Serve with rice or couscous.

You can make a delicate jelly with the leftover poaching liquid.  You need 4 leaves of gelatin for 2 1/4 cups of liquid.  Soften the gelatin in a bowl of cold water.  Make the rhubarb syrup up to the 2 1/4 cups by topping up with soda or prosecco.  Add a tsp of lemon juice.  Bring the liquid to the boil and take off the heat.  Squeeze out the gelatin leaves and stir into the hot liquid.  Pour into a dish and refrigerate to set.  I had made mine too late in the day and it was not quite firm enough so I just spooned into a glass with lemon jelly and lemon sorbet.  If you are prepared, your jelly will have set so that you can cut it into cubes and decoratively arrange on a plate.

Now that I am on a bit of a rhubarb roll, I made another rhubarby pudding.

First I made a rhubarb spoom.  Yes that is a thing. Cut about 4 stalks of rhubarb into 2 cm lengths and put in a saucepan with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar (or less according to your taste).  Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved, bring to the boil and simmer covered until the rhubarb is tender about 5 minutes.  Cool and puree until very smooth then chill completely.  Stir in 1 tbsp rosewater. Beat two egg whites until they form soft peaks.  Add 2 tbsp sugar and beat until you have stiff peaks.  Now this is the magic.  Fold the egg white into the puree making sure they are completely mixed.  Transfer to a freezer-proof container and freeze for four hours.  You now have a smooth creamy mixture that contains no fat and has not required churning.

Finally, I roasted some rhubarb. Cut about 8 stalks of  rhubarb into 6 cm pieces and place in a medium bowl. Finely grate the zest of half an orange over the rhubarb and then squeeze the juice of the whole orange into the bowl. Split 2 vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds and place both in the bowl. Add 2 tbsp liquid honey and stir to combine. Pour the rhubarb into a baking dish and arrange the pieces so that they lie flat. Bake at 175 for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the vanilla pods. Serve the rhubarb and the spoom with the syllabub from October 2014.

Welcome 2017

Happy New Year.  2016 was a fairly hectic year and although we did eat many delicious and healthy meals, I didn't find the time to write about any of them.  But I'm back and ready to share what goes on our table in 2017.
Having welcomed in the year with some home-baked shortbread and a fine single malt, courtesy of our house guests, we celebrated New Year with a festive dinner of beef fillet with a pomegranate salsa, accompanied by freshly dug potatoes and a tomato and pomegranate salad.  This meal was low on effort and high on impact.
For six people you will need a 1kg fillet of beef - or you might want a bit more because they will definitely want seconds. Tie up the fillet so that it is an even thickness ensuring it will cook evenly or ask your butcher to do this for you. Heat the oven to 250. Combine 1 tbsp mustard with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp each cumin and smoked paprika. Put the beef on a lined baking tray and spread all over with the mustard mix and season with sea salt flakes and a good grind of pepper.  Put in the oven and roast about 25 mins for medium rare. These days we use a meat thermometer to guide the cooking time.  I bought one back when I made the Beef Wellington because you can't judge a Wellington by looking or touching. Turn the fillet over half way through cooking. Rest for 15 mins and slice thickly.
While the beef is cooking prepare the accompaniments. For the salsa whisk 3 tbsp olive oil with 1 tbsp sherry vinegar and 2 cloves garlic.  Add 1/2 cup toasted pinenuts and the seeds of half a pomegranate and season to taste.  If you don't make the tomato salad use the whole pomegranate but I reserved half for the salad.  Add 1/4 cup each finely chopped mint and parsley while the meat is resting. To serve put the sliced beef on a serving plate and top with sliced roasted red pepper  - I use the jars because it is easier and they taste great. Spoon over the pomegranate salsa and some microgreens.
For the salad cut up a variety of tomatoes (roughly a handful per person), so they are about the same size.  Mix 2 tsp za'atar with 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and set aside.  Add the other half of your pomegranate (if you are not making the salsa use the whole fruit), 1/2 a thinly sliced yellow capsicum, 1/2 a thinly sliced red onion, 1/3 cup torn basil, 1/3 cup torn mint, 1-2 tsp lemon juice and some sea salt.  Gently mix through and drizzle over the za'atar mix.
For the festive pudding I made a strawberry granita.  You'll need to do this in the morning or the day before.  I made a quantity for 12 because it seemed easier but you could just as easily halve it.
Combine 1/4 cup caster sugar with 1/2 cup water and bring it to the boil stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Take it off the heat and add a dozen roughly chopped strawberries, 1 tbsp each rosewater and lime juice.  Leave for 10 mins to cool and process in the blender until you have a smooth puree. Add 2 cups Prosecco and pour into a shallow metal dish and freeze until it is firm around the edges.  My dish was about 20cm x 30cm. Use a fork to scrape through the ice crystals a couple of times during the freezing process. To serve, put a layer of fresh berries in the base of a serving glass then a layer of whipped cream.  Scrape the granita again with a fork and spoon on top of the cream.
While we're talking pomegranates, I have discovered a wonderfully simple fish dish with pomegranate. We use fillets of a firm flaky fish such as purse seine caught trevally or kingfish. Use the Forest and Bird Best Fish Guide 2017 to ascertain a sustainable fish.
Mix the seeds of a pomegranate with 1 tbsp lemon juice and a pinch of salt.  Just before serving add 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley (or coriander if you must). Mix 1/4 cup lemon juice with 2 tbsp finely chopped dill, 1/2 tsp sea salt, 1 tbsp olive oil, and marinade the fish around 30 mins. Pan fry the fish or cook an a large grill plate on the stove top or barbecue.  Transfer the fish to a platter and garnish with thinly sliced red onion and spring onions, and some think slices of tomato.  Spoon over the pomegranate mix and then sprinkle over some sea salt and sumac powder.
These meals are really quick and easy to prepare and will get your New Year off to an excellent start.