Tag

Chestnut

Autumn Food, Blog

Kabocha yokan 羊羹

11/11/2021 Leave a comment


Yokan羊羹 is a Japanese wagashi ( sweet ) and are typically eaten with tea. Yokan is a type of jelly confectionery normally made with red bean paste. The jelly is made with agar not gelatine so is a perfect tea time treat for the vegan diet. You may sometimes see yokan with seasonal fillings like persimmon, sweet potato or chestnuts.

This is a different kind of yokan instead of using bean paste I used Kabocha. Sometimes this is called Kabocha kan. It’s a delicious treat for an autumn tea time. Kabocha is a sweet pumpkin and works so well with desserts as well as savoury dishes.

All you need is to cut a Kabocha in half and scoop out the seeds. Steam the Kabocha until the skin is falling away from the flesh. Let the Kabocha cool and weigh the flesh you will need 300g

Cream the Kabocha with two tablespoons of maple syrup.
Add a cup of cold water to a pan and sprinkle in two teaspoons of agar agar powder. Give it a mix and bring the water to a steady simmer until the agar agar powder has dissolved. Take the water off the heat and mix in the Kabocha. The Kabocha will dissolve into the water as you keep stirring.
You can then pour the mixture into a container or if you have one you can use a Nagashikan. This is a stainless steel container with a removable inner tray. It’s one of my favourite kitchen gadgets.

To make the yokan even more seasonal I dropped in some whole roast  chestnuts. You could also use the candied kind that are preserved in syrup called Kuri no kanroni.

Let your container cool a little then put it in the fridge to set. If using a Nagashikan this will slice it for you into six individual pieces, however if your not ease the yokan out of your container by going round the edge with a knife.
Slice to reveal the hidden chestnut inside, and serve with some sweet bean paste and your favourite tea.


You can also make this into a dessert by pouring the mixture into individual bowl instead of a container.

Autumn Food, Blog

菊の節句 Chrysanthemum Day

08/09/2021 Leave a comment


Chrysanthemum Day 菊の節句 Kiku no Sekku also known as Chōyō no sekku (重陽の節句) is the last of the five ancient sacred festivals of Japan (Gosekku 五節句).

The 9th of the 9th is said to be very auspicious in Japanese culture . It coincides with the blooming of the chrysanthemum and is a time when festivals took place at the Japanese imperial court.

The chrysanthemum is the symbol of the emperor of Japan and is the official flower of Japan.. You will see it on the imperial seal, you will find it on the Japanese passport, the 50 yen coin, and you may see the emblem at shrines like the one on the gates at the Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo.

Chrysanthemum growing is a much practiced hobby with people entering contests for the best blooms. It takes lots of love and care to grow the perfect flower.

Chrysanthemum Day is observed by drinking chrysanthemum sake sprinkled with chrysanthemum petals. This is known as Kikuzake. These flowers were said to bring longevity, so drinking the sake was a symbol of a long and happy life. I have served the sake here with some chestnut wagashi ( recipe for this can be found on my autumn recipe pages.

Other things  for this day we’re bathing with chrysanthemum flowers much like the bathing with Yuzu for the winter solstice  A practice of covering the flowers over with a cloth over night outside and wiping your face with the dewy cloth in the morning for young looking skin was also observed.

On this day it is tradition for people to eat chestnut rice “Kurigohan”. In order to celebrate the harvest, people will cook the kuri (chestnut) and Japanese rice with dashi, and then enjoy such kurigohan as a traditional food, other foods eaten today could be eggplant and In some regions, soba and amazake are also enjoyed.

I thought it would be nice to make Gomoku Gohan a five ingredient rice which included chestnuts to celebrate the last of the five seasonal festivals. There are also recipes for this and takikomi Gohan (mixed rice ) on my recipe pages. For this I added chestnuts, aburaage,carrots, kiriboshi daikon and shimeji mushrooms. I soaked the rice in a kombu shiitake dashi including some of the water from reconstituting the dried daikon adding tamari and mirin to the soaking water. Just add the ingredients on top of the rice but do not mix. Cook the rice and when done gently fold in the ingredients then put the lid on to steam for a further ten minutes. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
Another food to eat on the auspicious day is eggplant so to go with the rice I simply steamed a whole peeled eggplant and made a delicious sesame miso dressing for it. Served as a Teishoku set meal on a tray with chilled tofu and a simple broth with vegetables, pickles, chilled tofu and for dessert the September seasonal  star figs with a sweet miso glaze.



As they are such auspicious flowers, chrysanthemums often appear as a motif on pottery So why not use this pottery today to serve your food. 

I have spoken before in previous posts about the Japanese word Fu-bu-tsu-shi the little things that signal the changing seasons. The key part of focusing on the here and now and celebrating the passing of time. I think this micro season is one of my favourites, already there is a mist across the fields in the early morning the name of this micro season (Hakuro meaning white dew breaks).  The sky is dappled with altocumulus clouds ( also known as mackerel sky) they are a sign of changing weather.

With the arrival of the autumn equinox and the moon viewing festival Tsukimi, it will be time to make Ohagi and Dango once again. So much to enjoy this month. Celebrating the abundance of nature’s harvest with late summer early autumn vegetables and fruit. In Japan the rice fields will begin to turn gold and the spider lilies will bloom once more.

Autumn Food

Chestnut truffles

24/10/2020 Leave a comment

Chestnuts or Kuri as they are known in Japan are very popular in autumn. Japanese people like to cook them with rice and you will also find them in many desserts.

This is a quick recipe to make your own chocolate truffles. Perfect as a wagashi with a matcha tea.

You will need a pack of already cooked roasted chestnuts. Tip them out into a bowl and start to mash them.


Add two tablespoons of coconut palm sugar and start to cream the chestnuts with the sugar. This can take a little time. Add to this one heaped tablespoon of cacao powder and one tablespoon of melted coconut butter and again start to cream it altogether. Add a teaspoon of water at a time to make a dough. Do not add to much water you do not want a wet dough. Roll into balls and then roll the truffles in cacao powder.

You can also dip them in melted chocolate like my pumpkin Halloween truffles on another recipe on this website or why not add a centre of your choice it could be a nut or nut butter maybe even marzipan. You could even add chopped fruit to the dough or roll the dough in chopped nuts.
Why not experiment and give them a try. I would love to see anything you make so please tag me on Instagram and I will feature what you make.
Have fun in the kitchen.

 

Blog

Moon viewing and celebrating autumn

30/09/2020 Leave a comment

As the shades of autumn are becoming even more apparent now with fields turning as golden as the evening light. It is an important time in Japan for the rice harvest. The first of October is known as world sake day “Nihonshu no Hi” and is the New Year’s Day of  Sake. It marks the first day of the sake making season as it is a time when the rice is gathered from the fields to start the production into sake.
The morning sky is laced with the fish scale cirrocumulus clouds and I can understand why the Japanese call them Uroko gumo (uroko meaning scale)

There is a bountiful harvest of foods the most popular in Japan at this time being sweet potato, chestnut, mushrooms, pumpkin and edamame. Mixing some of these with rice is one way to enjoy both at the same time, also using seasonings like soy sauce and mirin.

As the evenings darken we draw our attention to the moon. One such event in Japan is known as Tsukimi or Jugoya  which is a moon viewing festival that dates back over a thousand years.

This year it falls on October 1st to coincide with the sake new year. It is custom to drink sake at tsukimi and eat the foods of the season. Another food that is popular to eat is Dango. Round rice dumplings in the shape of the full moon. Piled into a pyramid shape they are made as offerings at this time.

People may decorate their houses with susuki ススキ (pampas grass) . Pampas grass symbolises the coming of autumn and was once used to thatch roofs and feed animals.

Near the well known Heian shrine in Kyoto tucked away is the Shinto shrine Okazaki, dedicated to childbirth and conceiving, the symbol of the shrine is a rabbit and you will find many statues and images of rabbits there.

Another symbol of Tuskimi is the rabbit, this is because unlike some people who see a face in the moon the Japanese see an image of a rabbit in the moon pounding Mochi with a huge mallet.

You can find more information on previous posts I have made  by searching Otsukimi or microseason posts 15 or why not take a look at my autumn recipe section there you will find takikomi gohan a mixed rice dish, or lots of ways to enjoy Kabocha.

With many festivities cancelled this year this is one that you can definitely enjoy either on your own or with family.
Happy moon viewing.

Autumn Food, Blog

Kabocha Bread & Butter Pudding

29/09/2018 Leave a comment

Bread and butter pudding is normally made with bread,butter,eggs and milk ( so much dairy ! ) I decided to make a vegan pudding that was so comforting and no diary needed.

First you will need about a quarter of a kabocha Japanese pumpkin. Scoop out the seeds and steam in a steamer until tender. Leave to cool a little and then take off the skin. Add this to a food processor or blender. To this add some plant based milk ( around one cup ) then add a tablespoon of sweetener of choice like maple syrup and some cinnamon, pumpkin spice and nutmeg. I will let you decide how much you want to put in. Process until smooth if it’s to thick to pour add a little more milk. It should be the consistency of thinner pouring custard.

Take a loaf of uncut bread. I used a nice white sourdough and cut up some slices. Then cut each slice into two. Butter each with coconut butter or vegan spread. Butter a small ovenproof dish and add your first two slices butter side facing up. Pour on some of your pumpkin mixture and scatter with a few raisins,sultanas or cranberries. Layer like this until your dish is full and finish with topping it off with the final pumpkin mixture. I added some chestnuts to the top but pecan would be nice also. Sprinkle a little nutmeg or pumpkin spice on the top and bake in a moderate oven until the bread is crispy on the top.

Cut and serve warm with some vegan cream.

Autumn Food, Blog

Chestnut Autumn Wagashi

19/09/2018 Leave a comment

This is a simple wagashi for autumn made of only three ingredients,chestnuts,sugar and koshian a smooth sweet bean paste.

First either roast and shell your chestnuts or like I did you can buy them already done in packets like this.

You will need around 15 whole chestnuts,add these to a bowl and start to mash them if you have a suribachi ( mortar and pestle ) use that. I used the flat end of a rolling pin to mash my chestnuts. Add to this two tablespoons of organic unrefined cane sugar and cream the sugar into the chestnut mash. Then divide your mash into three and put in separate plastic wrap roll into a ball and flatten out. Undo your wrap and in the middle of each place a ball of your bean paste. Gather up the sides of your flattened chestnut and make sure you cover the bean paste roll up in plastic wrap again to shape. I dipped mine in some sesame seeds for extra flavour and to make them look pretty but you don’t have to do this.

Lovely served with green tea as they are very sweet.