2 (4-inch) square pieces kombu (dried kelp)
2 1/2 quarts water
2 cups (1/2 oz.) shaved bonito flakes or katsuobushi (dried bonito)
vegetarians can sub 6 or 8 dried shiitake mushrooms
Takes about 35 minutes
Dashi Instructions:
Wipe kombu with a clean damp towel (do not remove the flavorful white powder; only remove the sand).
0) (It is optional to soak kombu for 30 minutes)
1) In a 4-quart saucepan, add the water and the kombu...turn up burner to high.
Just before it boils, remove kombu.
Tiny bubbles will form but if you don't want to watch a pot, just use a thermometer with an alarm set to 150 degree F.
2) When water is boiling, add bonito flakes. Remove from heat and let the bonito flakes sink; steep for 2 minutes.
3) Strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer lined with coffee filter or several layers of cheesecloth. Be gentle, you can save the bonito flakes for another use.
Refrigerate. Use within 1 week or freeze for up to a month.
Dashi turns into Miso Soup
12-ounce block firm silken tofu
2 quarts dashi
6 tablespoons dark or red miso
2 tablespoons light or white miso
4 scallions, thinly sliced
[Can add two stalks of broccoli and cook for 2 minutes.]
Wrap the block of tofu in 2 layers of paper towels and lay on a plate. Invert a second plate on top of the tofu and weigh down with a 28-ounce can. Leave for 20 minutes then cut the tofu into 1/4 to 1/2-inch cubes.
Heat the dashi in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. When the dashi reaches 100 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, ladle 1 cup into a small bowl. Add the miso, and whisk until smooth.
Bring the remaining dashi to a bare simmer, approximately 10 minutes. Add the miso mixture and whisk to combine. Return to a slight simmer, being careful not to boil the mixture. Add the tofu and scallions and cook for another minute or until heated through. Remove from the heat, ladle into soup bowls and serve immediately.
Leftover bonito flakes from making dashi, about 1/2 cup wet
2 tablespoons White Grape Juice &
1 tblsp lemon juice
-or- 2 tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons white sesame seeds, toasted
Finely chop the bonito flakes and add to an 8-inch nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until the flakes are fragrant, dry and toasted, approximately 4 minutes. Add the mirin, soy sauce, and sugar and continue to cook stirring constantly until the mixture is dry and appears glazed, approximately 2 to 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the sesame seeds. Transfer the mixture to a plate and spread out to cool. Serve over rice, noodles or fish.
Poached Salmon & Dashi
2 salmon filets
1.5 Tbs soy sauce
1 apple sliced (instead of sake)
1 hunk of ginger, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
enoki mushrooms, trimmed
snipped chives for garnish
Pour broth back into pan and add mirin, soy sauce, and ginger. Over medium-low heat, bring to a low simmer. Add salmon, cover, and cook 2 minutes. Add mushrooms, then turn off heat. Put the cover back on pot and let coast for another 4-6 minutes. Total cook time will depend on the thickness of your salmon and how cooked you like your fish.
Serve in shallow bowls with a good bit of poaching liquid and snipped chives for garnish.
This dish would taste great alongside rice or soba noodles, plus broccoli or spinach sautéed with soy sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil.
from vicarious eating
SIMMERED TOFU WITH VEGETABLES
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Recipe from Leslie in Japan
Cook Time: 8 minutesTotal Time: 18 minutes
INGREDIENTS
3 cups Napa cabbage (shredded)
2 small carrots (roughly chopped)
4 scallions (roughly chopped)
1 tablespoon ginger (peeled and finely chopped)
10 ounce silken tofu
1 apple sliced (instead of sake)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/3 cup Dashi
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
chopped cilantro for garnish (for garnish)
INSTRUCTIONS
Put all the ingredients in a deep sautee pan, except for sesame oil and sesame seeds.
When the broth is slightly boiling, cover and lower heat to a simmer for 8 minutes.
Turn the heat hot, add sesame oil and sesame seeds, stir well.
Season with salt and pepper and garnish with a few cilantro leaves. Serve hot.
Dashi Steak
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1 1 lb Steak
1/3 cup Dashi
3 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
Preparation:
In a zipper bag, combine olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice and the contents of 1 sachet of Kuze Fuku & Sons Dashi Soup Broth. Blend well.
Add the steak, mix the contents well and refrigerate overnight. In a pan, melt 1.5 tbsp of butter. Add steak and cook as desired. In a small bowl, combine the contents of 1/2 sachet of Kuze Fuku & Sons Dashi Soup Broth with 1.5 tbsp of melted butter. Mix well. Pour atop the steak and serve
Soba in Dashi Broth
INGREDIENTS
4 shitake mushrooms
1 tbsp wakame
12 oz soba (340g)
1 medium carrot (peeled and sliced thinly into rounds)
Broth
6 cups water (1.4 liters)
1/3 cup soy sauce (80ml)
1 chopped apple
2 tsp dashi
Salt to taste
Garnish (optional)
3 green onions (finely sliced)
Toasted sesame seeds
Katsuobushi (shaved bonito flakes)
INSTRUCTIONS
Rinse and soak shitake mushrooms in a bowl of warm water for about 30 minutes to soften. Remove stalk and slice cap thinly. Reserve soaking liquid. Rehydrate wakame by soaking in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes. Drain.
Bring a big pot of water to boil. Add soba, reduce heat, and stir frequently to prevent noodles from sticking. If it looks like the water is going to boil over, add ¼ cup (60ml) water to lower the temperature. Soba should be done in 5 to 6 minutes. Remove and drain. Divide soba into 4 bowls.
To make broth, bring 6 cups (1.4 liters) water (including reserved mushroom soaking liquid) to boil in a medium sized pot. Reduce heat, add soy sauce, mirin, dashi, sugar, mushrooms, and carrots. Allow soup to simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Taste broth and add salt if required. Add wakame. When broth comes back to a boil, turn off heat.
.
Tan Men
Easy, Fast
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
6 pieces dried wood ear mushrooms (6 pieces = 4 g)
3 green onions
4-5 leaves cabbage
2 inches carrot (2" = 5 cm)
4 oz bean sprouts (4 oz = 114 g)
1 Tbsp neutral flavor oil (vegetable, canola, etc)
4 oz pork belly slices (4 oz = 114 g)
1 Tbsp sake
Freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt
1 tsp sesame oil
water (for boiling noodles)
8.5 oz ramen noodles (8.5 oz = 240 g)
Chicken Stock (3 1/3 cup or 800 ml)
4 tsp Dashi
3 1/3 cups water (3 1/3 cups = 800 ml)
ather all the ingredients.
Tan-Men Ingredients
Make the soup. In a medium saucepan, dissolve 4 tsp of Chuka Dashi in 3⅓ cups (800 ml) of hot water. Mix well and bring to boil then set aside. Alternatively, you can use my homemade Chicken Stock recipe.
In a small bowl, add dried wood ear mushrooms and add just enough water to cover them. Re-hydrate until soft and squeeze to remove the water. Cut green onion into 2 inches (5 cm).
Cut the cabbage leaves into bite size pieces. Cut the carrot into thin slabs and then cut them in half. Rinse the bean sprouts under running water.
Start preparing a big pot of water to cook noodles. While waiting, heat the wok or large frying pan on high heat (if non-stick frying pan, medium to medium high heat). Once it’s hot, add oil and swirl the oil around to coat the wok. Then add the pork belly and cook until no longer pink.
Add 1 Tbsp sake. Then add wood ear mushrooms, green onion, and carrot.
Add the cabbage and bean sprouts.
Season with freshly ground black pepper and pinch of kosher salt.
Once the cabbage is tender, add the chicken stock and sesame oil and bring to simmer.
When the water is boiling, add the noodles by loosening them up with hands. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Drain well and divide the noodles into two bowls.
Pour the toppings and soup over the noodles and serve immediately.
Dash of white pepper is great for enhancing the noodles' flavor.
Just One Cookbook
Oyakodon (親子丼), literally "parent-and-child donburi"
because the chicken and the egg...
Donburi=rice bowl
Ingredients
2 jumboeggs
1/2 cupdashi
2 tablespoons sake-I'm using a tsp of sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
One apple
1.76 oz onion (1/4 small onion, sliced)
4.41 oz boneless skin-on chicken thighs (cut into bite-size pieces)
1 serving cooked rice
Scallions for garnish
shichimi togarashi (optional)
Whisk the eggs in a measuring cup until they're about half mixed, but there are still some areas with pure egg white and egg yolk.
In a small frying pan, oyakodon pan or , add the dashi, soy sauce, xx, and apple, breaking up any clumps of onion as you add them.
Onions cooking in dashi broth for making Oyakodon
Bring the stock and onions to a boil and continue to cook until the onions are starting to turn translucent.
Add the chicken and turn down the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, turning the chicken over
regularly until the surface is opaque, and then cover with a lid and cook until the chicken is cooked through (another 4-5 minutes).
For the best Oyakodon, poach the chicken gently in Dashi.
Remove the lid and turn up the heat to bring the mixture to a boil. Drizzle the egg over the chicken in a figure eight pattern to ensure it's evenly distributed.
Shake the pan to redistribute the eggs.
Cover the pan with a lid and turn off the heat and let the egg steam while you serve the rice.
Cover the Oyakodon with a lid to cook the egg through.
Add one serving of rice to a large bowl while the egg steams. When the egg is cooked to your liking, slide the chicken and egg onto the rice. Garnish your Oyakodon with scallions or Mitsuba and shichimi togarashi to taste.
Chicken and egg going over a bowl of rice.
Plum Sauce
11 prunes (for sweet)
3 dates
1 tblsp Sesame Oil
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (instead of Rice Wine Vinegar)
1 tsp Sea Salt
3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp hot sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp cinnamon
1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder
Bring to boil, then simmer for 20min. Blend in Blender
Hoisin Sauce is spicier than Plum Sauce, but very similar.
Main ingredient is fermented soy bean paste aka bean paste.
Of course, bean paste has sugar in it. You can get salted
fermented black beans without sugar.
Hoisin
1 tablespoon Chinese fermented black beans, soaked in 2 teaspoons boiling water
1 1/2 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
Heat and put in Blender
1/8 tsp Xanthum Gum will thicken or simmering
for a long time.
Takes about 35 minutes