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Obon & How you can celebrate even if you are not in Japan.

11/08/2023 1 Comment

The 13th-15th of August marks a period in japan known as Obon お盆. A Buddhist custom to honour the spirits of ones ancestors. The Buddhist festival has been celebrated for more than 500 years. It is a time of celebration as people feel they are reunited once more with loved ones who have passed away. It is a time for sato-gaeri, or “returning home” not only for departed friends and family but for living people in rural areas that may have moved to cities for work or education that return home to visit family.

Obon starts with welcoming fires (mukaebi 迎え火) lanterns known as chochin may also be lit outside people’s houses to guide the spirits home.

Food offerings (osonae/ozen お供え／御膳)  are made maybe on a family alter or tokonoma. It could be the person favourite food or seasonal produce. As well as food offering mukaé bi (welcoming) rituals  are practiced and you may see cucumbers and eggplants made into animals by giving them legs made of tooth picks. These are called Shouryouma 精霊馬 and are said to depict horses and ox that spirits travel on two and from our world. The horse is said to ward off evil and serve as fast travel to earth where as the cow is slower to travel back when the spirits depart. On the last day of Obon the cow and horse will be left by the river bank. Why eggplants and cucumbers? I think it is because these vegetables reach their peak season  during the summer around the time of obon. This is known as shun ( peak seasonal produce).

As well as making cucumbers and eggplants in to spirit vehicles I thought it might be nice to share with you an easy recipe you maybe might like to make over obon to utilise these abundant veggies which can be used in a multitude of ways.
山形だし Yamagata Dashi
This is very different to the dashi you might be aware of that’s made as a soup stock from things like shiitake and kombu. This dish is an iconic specialty from Yamagata prefecture mainly eaten in the Murayama region, which is surrounded by mountains and has extremely hot and humid summers, and was initially a popular dish for farmers to make as they picked their crops fresh from the fields.
Nowadays you will find this enjoyed in restaurants even outside Yamagata prefecture. This healthy and refreshing vegetable dish is a bit like a Japanese equivalent of a salsa. With raw finely chopped eggplant, cucumber, Myoga ginger and Shiso leaves and sometimes other vegetables like green onion, okra, corn, chives, edamame and shishito peppers.
Yamagata Dashi is commonly seasoned with soy sauce but is also very light and refreshing with a citrus ponzu to pour over noodles and tofu.
Ingredients:
1/2 a small eggplant
1 small cucumber or 2 mini cucumbers
1 bulb myoga ginger
1-3 fresh Shiso leaves
Plus any other vegetables and herbs listed above .
Salt and soy sauce
Method :
First slice and chop up finely your eggplant add this to a jar or bowl with water and 1 teaspoon of salt . Keep the eggplant submerged to soften by putting a plate on top leave for an hour then tip out the water, squeeze the eggplant and add to a  bowl.
Slice your cucumber in half and scrape out the seeds. Dice the cucumber and place in a bowl with a teaspoon of salt gently rub in the salt and leave for half an hour then rinse the cucumber and add to the bowl with the eggplant.
Wash the leaves of the Shiso and trim off the stem, pat them try with kitchen towel, slice in half stack them on top of each other, then roll them up tightly and cut into thin slices. Add them to the bowl with the cucumber and eggplant and toss them gently.
Cut the Myoga ginger in half then slice into thin shreds and add to the bowl. 
Add any other ingredients you like. You could maybe substitute shiso leaves for fresh basil. I have found shiso and myoga in places like natural natural in London and ichiba so try your own local asian supermarket.
Add a few tablespoons of soy sauce and maybe a some fresh yuzu juice or a squeeze of sudachi or lime. And you’re done.
As temperatures and humidity rise on hot summer days it can be enjoyed on top of chilled somen noodles
or cold silken tofu
or enjoyed simply on fluffy rice.
It’s even delicious stuffed into vegetables why not hollow out a tomato or pepper and add your dashi inside.


There are a number of theories as to the origin of the word “Dashi” (soup stock), for example, because “Dashi” brings out the best in other ingredients; “Dashi” comes from the word “Kiridasu” (cut from) used when vegetables are chopped into small pieces and “Dashi” comes from the word “Dasu” (serve) used when vegetables are quickly served at the table after being chopped and seasoned.
As well as using this recipe to utilise eggplant or cucumber you could also try “Eggplant Agebitashi” a fried and soak summer dish or “Nasu no nimono” (simmered eggplant) or “Kyuri Itame” a cooked cucumber dish. All of which can be found on this website.
During this period people pay respects at family graves this is known as  (ohakamaeri お墓前り)
It is not a somber time but a time to reflect and celebrate some one’s life. The obon celebrations often involves a  special matsuri where people may dress up in their finest Yukata and dance a celebration dance known as ( bon odori 盆踊り). This matsuri is a time for families to get together and enjoy lots of street food like Okonomiyaki, yakisoba and takoyaki.
You could also think about cooking up one of your favourite Japanese street foods if you cannot visit a bon odori festival yourself at home and put on your favourite music and have a dance!
Lastly at the end of Obon are farewell fires & lantern processions known as okuri-bon (送り火、灯籠流し) to guide the spirits back for another year. In recent years floating lanterns (toro nagashi) have gained popularity. The lanterns are lit and placed in a river that runs to the sea to symbolically send their ancestors spirits home.
In the UK we do not have such a tradition but I thought it might be nice to make Shouryouma and light some incense to remember my father, cat and good friend who have passed away and place photos of them on my tokonoma, in my tearoom at home. A tokonoma is a recessed space it could be an alcove or a special corner in your home. It is normally a place that would have a hanging scroll and a ikebana display of seasonal flowers. 
I also have a lantern which I will be leaving on to guide their way.
You could do a similar thing yourself maybe by just having a photo of someone who has passed away whose life you wanted to honour. Why not light a candle or incense and add some flowers by the side. Maybe they had a favourite chocolate bar you could add that too. If you’re wanting to welcome home pets that have passed, do you still have something that belonged to them? A collar or a favourite toy. However you want to celebrate it is a wonderful way to remember loved ones that have passed don’t you agree?
Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

Kuwa Matcha Buckwheat Biscotti

27/07/2023 1 Comment


Kuwacha is mulberry leaf tea. It has been traditionally drunk in Japan for many years for its health benefits being rich in calcium, iron, magnesium and zinc. The most interesting compound in kuwacha is DNJ which has shown to inhibit intestinal glucose absorption and accelerate hepatic glucose metabolism, hence it maybe helpful for people with diabetes.

Kuwa (桑) is Japanese for mulberry and Matcha (抹茶) is Japanese for powdered tea. Clearspring Organic have a brand new tea added to their extensive range of products “Kuwa Matcha”. In fact their Kuwa matcha is the first naturally caffeine-free matcha in the U.K. Just like traditional Matcha, Kuwa Matcha is a vibrant green, finely ground powder which has been widely enjoyed in Japan for centuries. It is made using the finest organic and sustainably grown mulberry leaves from Kagoshima Japan. Kagoshima has volcanic soil and a humid climate making it ideal growing conditions for the mulberry plants. Once harvested the leaves are steamed, dried and ground into a fine powder which is just as versatile and delicious as traditional Matcha. The powder is not only delicious for a caffeine-free hot drink or lattes but is perfect for smoothies.


So with that in mind I decided to bake with it much like you would do if you were using regular matcha.
I decided to take my matcha biscotti recipe one step further and used buckwheat flour as a naturally gluten-free alternative. Buckwheat is not related to wheat despite its name and has been grown for centuries as a nutritious staple food. Originally from Central Asia it is actually related to rhubarb and sorrel, has high levels of fibre and is a good source of protein. You may be familiar with soba noodles a thin noodle enjoyed in Japan made from buckwheat. The seed of the plant has a triangular inner groat and a dark outer hull, after the hull is removed it gets processed into flour. This flour has a mildly sweet, nutty and earthy taste similar to wholewheat flour. I thought using the Kuwa matcha which has tasting notes smooth savoury sweet hay- with honeyed notes, would be great to use in baking as the Japanese suggestion of food pairing with drinking the kuwacha is cookies.

Recipe for Kuwa Matcha Buckwheat Biscotti

Preheat your oven to 180 fan assisted and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In one bowl add:

1 and 1/2 cup of organic buckwheat flour (I used Doves Farm)

2 tablespoons of already sifted Kuwa matcha

2 teaspoons of baking powder

A handful of sliced blanched almonds

In another bowl add:

2 tablespoons of apple purée (check out Clearspring fruit purées)

1/2 cup of unrefined sugar

1/4 cup of melted coconut butter

1 teaspoon of almond essence

1-2 tablespoons of water (added later if needed)

Add the wet mixture to the dry to form a dough use your hands to work the dough together adding a little water if needed but don’t make your dough wet.

Form into a log and flatten to an oval about one inch thick.

Bake in the oven until golden then take out and leave to cool completely  ( if you don’t it will crumble when you cut it)

Cut into slices using a sharp knife and turn onto their sides and bake again for a further ten mins in a cooler oven about 150. Take them out and flip them again for a further ten minutes.

Take out the oven and leave to cool completely before storing .

Enjoy with a delicious Kuwa matcha latte.

You can also make this recipe with regular matcha and Clearspring do a great Premium grade matcha green tea powder which is perfect for culinary use from baking and smoothies to ice cream it is made from organic tea leaves grown in the hills of Uji.

I also have a promo code you can use against anything on the Clearspring website to get a one time 15% off on your purchase use tokyopony15 at the check out. You can find the link to the Clearspring website at the bottom or side of the page depending on your browser. 

 

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

Tofu Taco Crumble introducing “Shizenno Megumi Tofu”

14/07/2023 Leave a comment

Meet Shunzo Horikawa managing director of Shizenno Megumi Tofu.

Shunzo arrived in the U.K. in April 2022 from the parent company Hikari Miso (you may been using this lovely organic miso already) which they had been making since 1936. Born in Kawasaki his first job out of university was working for House Foods America one of the largest Tofu manufacturers in the world and in 2019 joined Hikari Miso Co Ltd. Dragonfly Foods Tofu original brand since 1984 was bought by Hikari Miso in 2015 and decided to upscale production capacity by shipping massive equipment made in Japan and set up a new purpose built facility for making tofu in Devon in 2017.

Shunzo started to travel back and forth from Japan to Devon to help with supporting the production of tofu. In 2022 Shunzo moved to Devon with his family to start a new challenge with the Dragonfly team. “Shizenno Megumi” means natures best, the brand was started to follow the traditional style of tofu making in Japan. Working as a parent company with Dragonfly Foods in Devon they are BRC A+ soil association approved. Using Nigari as a coagulant the tofu requires intensive control to coagulate the rich soymilk. Nigari naturally promotes umami and sweetness, Nigari derived from the Japanese word for “bitter” is a product created through harvesting sea salt and letting the water evaporate. Nigari contains a high concentration of minerals such as magnesium, potassium, calcium, iron, copper, zinc, selenium and chlorines. The delicate soft tofu is hand crafted in Devon using Japanese techniques by a small group of passionate members bringing traditionally made Japanese style tofu to the U.K.

I was so humbled when I was approached by Shunzo who asked me to try out their range of Shizenno Megumi tofu. The range is firm, super firm and soft tofu. So what can we use each tofu for you might wonder. The soft tofu is wonderful cut into cubes and used in miso soup, Shunzo even recommends using it in smoothies and desserts. The super firm is good for dishes like a grilled sandwich or anything that might require the tofu to keep its shape in frying or sautéing.
I have decided to use the firm tofu to bring you a versatile recipe for a kind of taco style vegan mince that can be used in so many ways.
Let’s get started using Shizenno Megumi tofu !

Tofu Taco Mince

You will need:

x1 pack of Shizenno Megumi firm tofu (open the pack drain the water and wrap in a cloth or kitchen towel top with a weight and leave for an hour to drain) I use my heavy cast iron Japanese teapot lol.

You will also need:
1 cup of walnuts pulsed in a food processor to fine crumbs.

Spices: x1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika, x1 teaspoon of mixed herbs, x1 teaspoons of cayenne pepper.

x1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast

x1 tablespoon of toasted sesame oil

x2 tablespoons of tamari or soysauce

x2 tablespoons of tomato purée

x1 tablespoon of miso paste

A dash of chilli oil and vegan Worcestershire sauce

Method:

Unwrap the tofu, place into a bowl and mash it with a fork.
Add the pulsed walnuts and the rest of the ingredients and give it all a good mix.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread out the mixture.
Place in a preheated moderate oven and bake for 30 minutes, then take the baking sheet out of the oven and give the tofu mixture a good mix round and spread it back out again. Place the tray back in the oven for 10 minutes and repeat again until all the mixture is dried out. Now your tofu taco mixture is ready to use.

How to use:

The tofu mixture can be used in a multitude of ways but keeping things Japanese here are three ways you can use it.

The first is soboro don そぼろ丼.
This meal is classed as Japanese comfort food. Normally beef Mince and scrambled eggs on top of fluffy rice. This is another perfect way to use the soft tofu, as you can use this to make the scrambled eggs part, to make it a vegan meal. Like before drain and wrap the soft tofu but do not weight it. Leave it to stand for 30 minutes to drain then add to a bowl and mash it with a fork, add x1 teaspoon of turmeric, x1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast and x1 teaspoon of ground kala namak black salt (this will give it a slight egg flavour). Give it all a mix and lightly scramble it in a frying pan. Just add a flavourless oil like coconut oil to the pan then wipe clean so the egg mixture is not sitting in oil. Cook some Japanese rice. You will have made enough tofu taco mince for many meals, I like to section mine out into sealable containers and freeze it as needed. Spoon some rice into a bowl and top one half of the rice with warmed through tofu taco mince and the other  half scrambled tofu. It is customary to add green vegetables like peas or beans in the middle.

Second meal idea is of course taco rice

(takoraisu) タコライス.

Taco rice is a Japanese fusion meal from Okinawa, normally consisting of taco ground beef on a bed of rice with lettuce, tomato and cheese. It owes its existence to the military presence in Okinawa in the 1960’s. Nowadays it’s a firm Japanese favourite. I have already got a few different recipes for taco rice on here so you could also check those recipes. This one was just lettuce rice and the taco mince on top. I made a delicious salsa for this one using roasted tomatillos, blistered pardon peppers and sliced myoga ginger.

Tomatillos, padron pepper and myoga salsa:

I had just recently acquired some tomatillos that come wrapped in a papery inedible husk which you must remove first.

Wash them and slice into halves or quarters depending on the size. Toss lightly in olive oil and a little sprinkle of salt and roast in the oven.

While that’s being done toss some padron peppers in a little olive oil and blister them on high heat in a pan.

When they are done leave to cool. Slice one small red onion and one bulb of myoga ginger and add to a bowl.  Myoga ginger can be found in some Asian super markets I have seen it in Ichiba in London and I buy mine from a Japanese store called Natural Natural in London. Myoga ginger doesn’t taste like ginger and is an edible flower bud. Add to this the juice of half a lime and 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Give it a mix and let it rest. When your tomatillos are ready leave to cool and chop finely your padron peppers then add both into the bowl with the onion and myoga. Finally add some chopped coriander and give it all a final stir.

Assemble your taco rice and add your salsa on top.

The final way I recommend using your tofu taco mince is with a creamy and flavourful Tantanmen ramen 坦々麺.

You will need 1 cup of shiitake dashi (leave a a dried shiitake in water over night)

First you will need to make goma dare this is the base of your sauce.

Add to a bowl x1 tablespoon of Neri goma (white sesame paste) if you have not got this you can use tahini. To this x1 tablespoon of white miso paste. Then add x1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, x1 teaspoon of brown rice vinegar, x1 teaspoon of chilli oil and x1 teaspoon of mirin.
Give it all a good whisk and put aside.


You will also need a packet of vegan ramen and toppings.

My toppings were vegan tofu taco mince, steamed bean sprouts, chingensai (pakchoy), Hokusai (Chinese cabbage), sweet corn, pea shoots, sliced pickles, lotus root, padron peppers and chilli threads. Choose what toppings you like and prepare these in advance.
When you’re ready start to cook your ramen. Add to a pan 1 and a 1/2 cups of soy milk 1 cup of shiitake dashi and 1/2 a cup of water. Add your goma dare mixture and start to heat it gently stirring to combine.

When your ramen is ready drain and divide into two bowls and pour over your sesame soy milk. Drizzle with extra chilli oil for heat. Add your toppings and you’re done.

Just on a final note you can add extra things accordingly to your tofu taco mince depending on what you’re making. You could add extra tomato purée or tomato passata to make a bolognaise sauce for pasta or maybe  sautéed onions chopped mushrooms or peppers.

And now a treat for you Shunzo has very kindly given me an exclusive discount code for you to use on their website to purchase their delicious tofu. Just head over to www.dragonflyfoods.com click shop choose your items and put them in your cart, check out and input the promo code TOKYOPONY20 under coupon code on the delivery and payment section. This will take 20% off your bill. This offer will run until the 11th of August 2023.
Have fun in the kitchen.

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

Summer Citrus Scones

02/07/2023 Leave a comment


Scones are the quintessential British tea time treat. Known as a cream tea the scones are served with whipped cream, jam and tea. These All Vegan summery scones have a Japanese twist using Yuzu juice and Yuzu lemonade, to make them light and soft. Serve with Yuzu jam and green tea for an extra Japanese/ English fusion on a British favourite. With only five ingredients no Dairy or eggs are used, you will be surprised how amazing they taste and how easy they are to make.
You will need:

400g of self raising flour plus extra for dusting

A pinch of salt

25g of unrefined caster sugar plus extra to sprinkle on top of the scones.

Two tablespoons of yuzu juice

125ml of Yuzu lemonade

125ml of soy cream

Whipped cream and jam to serve

Method:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Sift the self-raising flour into a bowl and add a pinch of salt.

Pour in the Yuzu lemonade, Yuzu juice and soy cream and give it a good mix to form into a sticky dough.

Dust the top with flour and turn out onto a work surface and dust again and give it a knead so it’s less sticky and comes together.
Make the dough approximately 1 inch in thickness and start to cut out your scones with a 2 1/4 inch cutter.

Place each scone on your baking sheet. Keep cutting and gathering the dough until it’s all used up.

Using a pastry brush lightly dust the tops with Yuzu juice and sprinkle on some extra sugar. Bake in the oven until risen and golden around 15 minutes.
Leave to cool and slice in half adding whipped cream and jam.

I used Oatly creamy oat fraiche as it’s nice and thick and you don’t have to whip it.

Why not try Yuzu jam from the Wasabi Company ( link at the side or bottom of the page depending on your browser.

 

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

Tangy Soy Milk Cheese & Dillon Organic Bread

01/07/2023 Leave a comment


I was interested in trying the range of breads by “Dillon Organic”, their range of breads focus on using seeds and husks like flax seeds, sunflower seeds and psyllium husks to make a delicious healthy vegan and gluten free bread that is also low carb, keto, high fibre and high in omega 3. They are also yeast free and and have no additives or thickeners. The breads are super filling and keep you full for longer and are perfect with a topping like avocado or nut butters. I decided to take my original soy cheese recipe and make it extra tangy for a delicious soft cheese topping for the bread.

You will need:
200ml of good quality soy milk

x4 tablespoons of brown rice vinegar ( I used the one by ClearSpring)


A tablespoon each of Shio Koji , White Miso, Nutritional Yeast, Melted coconut butter. And a teaspoon of onion powder.

You will also need a sieve and a piece of kitchen towel.
Method :

Pour your soy milk into a pan and add your brown rice vinegar, start to gently simmer the milk until it starts to separate and thicken. Do not let it boil but keep it gently simmering.
Lay a piece of kitchen towel in a sieve and pour the soy milk into it, you can do this over a bowl or into the sink. All the solids with stay in the kitchen towel.

Fold the corners over and add a weight ( I like to use my cast iron tea pot from Kyoto. Leave to drain for around 30 minutes.

Then tip the soy milk solids out into a bowl and add all of the other ingredients and give it a mix. Add to a bowl and leave over night in the fridge.



I’m happy to give you this exclusive opportunity to buy some of the Dillon Organic breads with a 20% discount off your purchase. You could choose from Beetroot Flax, Chia flax, Original, Olive or Gluten Free seeded. Just use my discount code Justine20 at the check out by visiting www.dillionorganic.co.uk why not buy all five and pick your favourite! Mine is the Chia flax what will yours be?

 

 

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

Making Edamame Tofu & Using Meditation While Cooking

04/06/2023 Leave a comment

You may of heard of the Shojin ryouri, Zen Buddhist temple cuisine and goma dofu. A classic side dish a little like pan a-cotta that looks like tofu, made with ground sesame and kuzu flour, served at the beginning or end of a meal.


The very act of preparing this dish exemplifies a virtue of  Zen Buddhist practices. Making the pudding from scratch requires, patience, time and attention to the task at hand. As with many forms of Zen practices like ikebana flower arranging, Shodo the art of calligraphy, Chado tea preparation and Kodo incense preparation, the aim is to rise above the self to be completely at one with what one is doing. Eating and preparing temple cuisine is a mental attitude maintaining a calm open mind, treasuring each ingredient and gratitude of the meal. The act of grinding the sesame in a suribachi into a paste to make goma dofu has a very meditative effect and I believe that making my recipe for edamame dofu has a similar focus. Instead of grinding sesame seeds you will be shelling edamame.
I first started making Japanese food as a way to focus my thoughts from anxiety and depression, while I’m cooking I try to focus on not things I cannot do, places I cannot go or things I cannot have but enjoy my time in the moment. Focusing my energy into my food to help me have a healthy, mind body and spirt.

Edamame Dofu えだまめ豆腐
You will need 120g of edamame out of their pods. If you have fresh edamame cook them first and pop them out of their pods dropping them into cold water to stop any extra cooking. In my recipe here I used 120g of frozen edamame boiled for around 4 minutes then dropped into a cold bowl of water. (Save a few whole ones for later).

Now here comes the part that takes a little time. Each edamame comes with a thin membrane you will need to slide this off.

Do this until you have finished all the edamame. Use this time to really focus on the task and try to clear your mind of all other thoughts.

Put your edamame into a blender something like the ones used for smoothies works best.
Add to this 2 cups of dashi, 1/2 a teaspoon of salt and 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar and blend well until as smooth as possible.

Then tip out the liquid through a strainer retaining both. Add your edamame pulp back to the blender and blend again as fine as possible, finishing off by adding back the liquid again to combine.

Add to a pan 40g of kuzu root (if it comes in chunks grind it into a fine powder first. Then add a little of your liquid to make a paste then add the rest of the liquid to the pan.

Give it all a good mix and turn on the heat. Heat the edamame and kuzu liquid stirring continuously until it thickens to the consistency of thick custard.

You will then need a container to pour your edamame dofu into and another dish for it to sit in filled with ice water. I like to use my Nagashikan, a stainless steel container made in Niigata with a removable inner tray. It’s one of my favourite kitchen gadgets that I often use to make jellies and yokan with.

You can purchase these from Global Kitchen a great place for all Japanese kitchen utensils and more. If you don’t have one you can use a plastic container.

Pour out your edamame dofu into your container and chill in an ice bath.

When cool it should already be set. Cover with some plastic wrap and chill further in the fridge for a few hours. When ready take your set edamame dofu and cut it into squares.

Serve with a sweet soy sauce.

Mix soy sauce with a little sugar and heat in a pan until the sauce has dissolved, leave to cool to pour over your edamame dofu. You could decorate it with a few edamame that you saved from earlier.

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House Vegan Tamago Sando & Crust Rusks

26/05/2023 Leave a comment

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

舞妓さんちのまかないさん A series on Netflix about Food & Friendship set in a Maiko house in Kyoto.

Photo Credit: The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 2023. Netflix

From acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda

Adapted from the manga series “Kiyo in Kyoto”by Aiko Koyama,

season 1 episode 9

“Passage”

Part 1 Tamago Sando たまごサンド

A year has passed since Kiyo & Sumire arrived to the Maiko House and Sumire prepares to be officiated as a Maiko which is is called MISEDASHI (見世出). The first time Sumire wears the black formal kimono and tortoiseshell hair ornament.

Kiyo prepares her most important meal yet, tiny bite sized sandwiches that Sumire had requested Kiyo to make for her when she became a Maiko. The tiny sandwiches can be eaten in one bite so as not to disturb the maiko makeup. As Sumire eats the sandwiches you can tell that she has been waiting for the time she could finally have them.

Maiko Vegan Tamago Sando たまごサンド:

A rich, creamy sandwich normally made with egg, kewpie mayonnaise and fluffy soft shokupan bread.
Both the bread and filling are not vegan. However I do have a recipe on my recipe pages for vegan shokupan if you would like to try it although you can just use regular white fluffy thick sliced bread if you prefer.


The filling is simple to make with just tofu, vegan kewpie mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, turmeric, nutritional yeast and kala namak (fine black salt).

You will need:

150g of medium firm tofu

150g of silken tofu

Drain the tofu and wrap in a paper towel to absorb moisture for about 1 hour. Be careful with the delicate silken tofu. Then add both to a bowl.
Add to the bowl
1/2 a teaspoon of kala namak salt, this is what will give you your egg flavour. If you buy the kind that comes in large crystals you will need to grind it down into a powder other than that you can buy it already in powder form.

Add also 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon of turmeric

2 tablespoons of vegan kewpie mayonnaise (this used to be difficult to get outside of Japan but now places like natural natural in London sell it. If you are somewhere else try requesting it from your local Asian grocery store or just use ordinary vegan mayonnaise adding 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of brown rice vinegar.

Mash up the ingredients with a fork leaving a few white chunks so it looks more like an egg texture.

Chill in the fridge for a few hours if possible.
You will notice the mixture has now turned a nice yellow.

Next take your bread slices. First you will need to cut off all the crusts, put these to one side in a zip lock bag or container to keep them fresh. (You will be using these for a tea time treat later)

Using vegan butter or margarine and spread the slices on one side.Then add your egg mixture closing the sandwich with another slice of buttered bread ( you know how to make a sandwich right ! )

Cut the sandwich into small bite sized squares. Perfect for an afternoon teatime.


Kiyo by now has obviously found her purpose in life, when speaking to Tsurukoma one of the characters she has a conversation with her about how she has found her passion in cooking. Tsurukoma realises that being a maiko is not her passion and tells Mother Azusa that she has decided to leave. Kiyo and the rest of the girls make her nabekko dumplings in red bean soup to say farewell. You may recall right back in episode 1 Kiyo’s grandmother makes this as a good luck meal before Kiyo and Sumire leave on their journey from Aomori to Kyoto. You can find my recipe for nabekko dumplings on my first The Makanai blog post.

Part 2: Crust Rusks パンの耳ラスク

We see Kiyo deep frying in hot oil the crusts that she had cut off from the bread to make the tamago sando and then rolling them in sugar.

That evening Sumire makes her official Maiko debut. On her return Kiyo is waiting with a treat of crispy hot sugar coated crust rusks.

Remember the crusts you put aside? Now is the time to use them. Normally the crust rusks are coated in butter and baked, so I decided to sauté them in some melted vegan butter until nice and coated

then lay them out on a baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven  until dry and crispy.

Then remove and roll them in sugar. Eat them while warm.

Until I made these I wondered what all the fuss was about making baked left over crusts as a treat for someone on such a special day but oh my goodness are they delicious! It wasn’t what I expected at all. Of course they are not the healthiest snack but a real treat indeed.

Some spots to look out for from the series when your next in Kyoto.

I briefly mentioned this in episode 8 talking about the Sanjo-Ohashi bridge  (三条大橋) which we often see Kiyo walking merrily over to and from buying provisions. The bridge is famous for giboshi (擬宝珠) its onion shaped posts and rails made of wood spanning the Kamo river.
It is unclear when this bridge was first built, but there are records of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Chief Advisor to the Emperor) orders for it to be repaired in 1590. The current concrete bridge, which includes two lanes for driving and a walking path on either side, was built in 1950. As mentioned in my last post it has one of my favourite Starbucks at the end of the bridge with views over the river. Perfect for relaxing with a coffee.

The Kamo-Gawa river (鴨川) is a popular destination and is perfect for a leisurely stroll.

In episode 7 we see the girls on a day out crossing the Kojin Tobiishi  stepping stones ( 荒神飛石) this is where Kamo River begins.

The stones lie just north of the Kamo Ohashi bridge, near where the Kawaramachi and Imadegawa roads meet, close to Demachiyanagi train station. It is line of giant turtles which stretch across the waters. A fun place to hop along the river playing on the stones.


Tatsumi  Daimyojin Shrine (辰巳大明神) is a quaint little shrine that sits in the Shirakawa District, on the corner of one of Kyoto’s backstreets., close to the river with the same name. It is said that in the past, the area was haunted by a tanuki who used to prank the passersby, making them fall in the river. To make him stop, the people decided to build this shrine, and the tanuki stopped behaving badly. This local shrine is often frequented by neighborhood geisha and is a perfect photo back drop.

In the same place is Tatsumi Bridge(祇園巽橋) which stretches over the Shirakawa canal, that connects to the Kamo river, and runs through the Gion district.

You can also wonder down the Shirakawa-Sui 白川筋 which Kikuno, Tsurukoma, Kotono, and Sumire walked down.This is Kyoto at its most picturesque lined with willow and Sakura trees and dining establishments


In episode 2 Kiyo, Sumire and the Maiko left for Yasaka shrine (八坂神社) also once known as the Gion Shrine. They went pray to improve their Maiko skills. The legacy of Yasaka Shrine goes back one of the most over 1350 years ago, the shrine is located between the popular Gion and Higashiyama districts. Yasaka Shrine is well known for its summer festival, the Gion Matsuri, which is celebrated every July.

In episode 6 Mother Azusa, Sumire, Tsurukoma, Kotono and Kikuno went to the Minami-za theatre  (南座) to watch the Kabuki annual beginning performance. The current Minami-za theatre was built in 1929.

Despite the considerable decline in the number of geisha in Gion in the last century, the area is still famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment. Part of this district has been declared a national historical preservation district. The City of Kyoto has undertaken a number of restorative projects to enhance the beauty and historical authenticity of Kyoto’s Gion Hanamachi a district where geisha live and work.

 

I hope my Makanai series has given you some inspiration to make some Japanese style vegan home cooked food for yourself and encouraged you to watch the series if you haven’t already done so. I also have two Kyoto walking tours recommending vegan cafes to visit along the way on my travel pages.

If you would like to support me and the site you can do so my clicking the Ko-fi button. Arigatō.

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House Vegan Tonjiru & Yudofu

19/05/2023 Leave a comment

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

舞妓さんちのまかないさん A series on Netflix about Food & Friendship set in a Maiko house in Kyoto.

Photo Credit: The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 2023. Netflix

From acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda

Adapted from the manga series “Kiyo in Kyoto”by Aiko Koyama,

Season 1 episode 8

“Carnival”

Part 1 “Yudofu” 湯豆腐

In this episode we see lots of different Japanese cuisine being eaten by the characters from deep fried oysters and spaghetti to udon.
In one of the scenes we see Yoshino and Koji eating Yudofu at Nanzenji Yachiyo. Many places in the series can be visited if you are travelling to Kyoto. Or if you have already been it’s fun to pick out places that you might recognise. I will go into this further in my final blog that goes with the series.
Yudofu is a speciality of Nanzenji serving up seasonal appetisers of hot water tofu, sesame tofu, soup, rice and pickles. Thanks to centuries of preparation by Buddhist monks in Kyoto, the dish is emblematic of Zen cuisine, which focuses on cooking natural foods with simple techniques. At Japanese restaurants, the hot simmered tofu is served in the centre of the table where diners can serve themselves.

In a previous blog I used momen (firm) tofu but this time I decided to use silken tofu known as kinugoshi which seams more popular to be used in Kyoto for Yudofu.
Kinugoshi Tofu (絹ごし豆腐) has a smooth texture like silk so it’s named kinugoshi (in Japanese, kinu 絹 literally means silk).

Yudofu is  a simple nabe (鍋) hotpot, using a handful of classic Japanese ingredients. It’s healthy, light and packed with nutritious umami flavour. Japanese hot pot is usually cooked in a clay pot called donabe (土鍋), however if you do not have one at home, you can make it in a regular pot.
All you need to do is simmer tofu in water konbu (昆布, kelp) and then eat it with a tsuyu dipping sauce and various condiments known as yakumi 薬味. I talk about yakumi in another blog post, but basically they are used to bring out the umami of a particular dish, some of the most common are chopped green onion, schichimi pepper, shiso, oroshi daikon (grated daikon), sesame seeds and grated ginger. Yudofu is about one of the simplest forms of Japanese cuisine you can make, it is sometimes referred to as boiled tofu, although it is actually cooked at just below boiling to avoid the bubbles breaking apart the fragile silken tofu pieces.

To make Yudofu you will need a piece of dried konbu kelp left to soak in water for a few hours. One – two cartons of silken tofu drained and left on kitchen towel to absorb liquid. Also if you would like to add some greens like watercress or mizuna that’s nice also.
You will also need your Yakumi any of the ones listed above.
Also you will need a dipping sauce. I find the tsuyu already made up by Clearspring is so easy to use just dilute and you’re ready to go. Why not add a citrus variation by making a ponzu by adding some Yuzu juice or sudachi juice. If you want to make your own simply add 4 tablespoons of soy sauce and 1 tablespoons of mirin to a bowl and dilute with some kombu dashi, adding a little citrus juice is definitely recommended.
Put your dashi with the kombu in a donabe or pot turn on the heat and when you see bubbles take out the kombu. Now gently add your silken tofu in one whole block. I find the silken tofu when heated firms up a little and is easier to cut. This is easier than cutting it into square and trying to pick it up and putting them individually in the pot. Let the silken tofu simmer gently with the lid on for the tofu to warm through. Don’t let it boil as this will break apart the tofu. Cut trough the tofu whilst still in the pot into squares. Add any greens to wilt in the hot water I think watercress works well or mizuna.  With a slotted spoon or ladle transfer to your serving dish. Serve with your sauce poured over and Experiment with flavours by adding condiments of choice.

Part 2 “Vegan Tonjiru”

We see Kiyo coming back from buying groceries walking over the Sanjo-Ohashi bridge (you can see Starbucks in the background).

This is one of my favourite Starbucks to visit for a morning coffee as it has views over the Kamo River.
Kiyo returns to the house to make tonjiru a classic comforting dish which translates to pork (ton) soup (jiru). The soup is full of seasonal root vegetables. She makes it while the characters are practicing for “Obake” a seasonal annual performing carnival event involving geiko and maiko houses.
Again we see a crossover of meals to the series Midnight Diner. Tonjiru is one of only four items actually on the menu there. You can find my step by step recipe for vegan tonjiru on the Midnight Diner recipe collection using other vegetables like burdock and lotus root and adding aburaage instead of pork. The tonjiru in the Makanai has simpler ingredients, so I have made it again using fu (wheat gluten) instead of the pork this time.

For the vegetables I wanted to make it as near to the original one Kiyo made so I used onion, carrot, daikon, green onion, taro ( satoimo), konnyaku and miso.

photo minus the daikon as I forgot to put it in the photo.

In the episode we see Kiyo using a spoon to cut the konnyaku, she then rubs in salt before simmering in hot water to remove the smell.
She says in the episode “you can’t have tonjiru without konnyaku, it has a very unique texture, it’s healthy and can change a lot depending on how you cook it”.



Vegan Tonjiru:

First you will need a kombu dashi by soaking a piece of kombu in water over night. Peel the satoimo (taro root) and soak in water to remove the starch. Cut the daikon and carrot into wedges, slice an onion and green onion and set aside. Soak some wheat gluten in warm water to reconstitute. Drain a pack of konnyaku and rinse in water I cut this in half to use the other half in something else. You can keep it in the fridge in a jar with water changing the water every day for up to a week. Cut pieces of konnyaku using a spoon and rub the pieces with salt, drop the pieces into boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes drain and rinse in cold water before adding to a pan. Squeeze out the liquid from the fu and add to the pan with drained satoimo  along with all the root vegetables except the green onion. Sauté in some toasted sesame oil.

Add 500ml of water to the vegetables and the same in kombu dashi. Gently mix and simmer with the lid on until the vegetables are tender adding more dashi if needed.
Turn off the heat and add a tablespoon of miso. You can use what ever miso you like but earthy ones like brown rice or barley work well. To add the miso either ladle some of the broth and mix in to the ladle before adding it to the vegetables or use a misokoshi . I have recommended this before for adding miso to broth which you can buy from www.hatsukoi.co.uk.

Finally add your chopped green onion and spoon in to a bowl to serve.

 

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House Kitsune Udon

08/05/2023 Leave a comment

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

舞妓さんちのまかないさん A series on Netflix about Food & Friendship set in a Maiko house in Kyoto.

Photo Credit: The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 2023. Netflix

From acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda

Adapted from the manga series “Kiyo in Kyoto”by Aiko Koyama,

season 1 episode 7

“Illness”

When Sumire falls sick Kiyo decides to make her rice porridge. However when mother Azusa asks what she is doing she explains that in Kyoto they serve udon when someone isn’t feeling well. Udon is a soul food in Japan. It is easily digested and simple to make. The perfect comfort food when someone is sick. Mother Azusa goes on to say that Kyoto’s udon is not dark like the ones served in Kanto. Kiyo looks puzzled.
Udon noodles are served with a broth which has soy sauce (shoyu) as one of the ingredients. You are probably familiar by now with soy sauce as a cooking ingredient adding umami, with its salty, sour flavour to soups, stir fries and nimono (simmered dishes). Soy sauce is made by fermenting soaked and steamed soybeans then mixing with roasted ground wheat and aspergillus oryzae a culturing mold. Then salt brine is added and is left for several months until it is then pasteurised and filtered. Usukuchi Shoyu (薄口醤油) is a lighter coloured soy sauce which has additional salt which is used in the Kansai region. The lighter colour does not darken the final dish quite as much, so when Kiyo is told the Udon are not dark, this is what they are referring to.

Kiyo sets off over the Sanjo-Ohashi bridge to find the perfect ingredients to make the udon extra special for Sumire. She goes first to a shop keeper on Demachi-Masugata shopping street.

The shop keeper asks if Kiyo would like Kitsuneきつね or Tanukiたぬき for her udon. Kitsune you may have already come across. The name Kitsune means fox, it is believed that the favourite food of the Shinto messenger fox god is deep fried tofu, another theory is that the aburaage 油揚げ fried tofu is the same colour as a fox . The exact origin of kitsune udon is unknown but it is thought it may have originated in Osaka in the Edo period. Tanuki is the name for a raccoon dog. Tanuki udon is udon noodles with a topping of tenkasu 天かす also called agedama (揚げ玉) tempura batter crumbs). The Japanese word for without main toppings is Tanenuki タネ抜き so as the udon has no other toppings other than tempura crumbs the word was changed to Tanuki for this topping this has nothing really to do with the raccoon dog. It is widely thought that Tanuki udon originated in the Kanto region again in the Edo period (1603-1868)

“I’d like some Oage-san please”. Oage-san is a term of endearment used for aburaage, thin deep fried tofu that has already been seasoned with a sweet savoury flavour using sugar soy sauce and mirin. You can do this yourself by pouring boiling water over the fried aburaage blotting it with kitchen towel and then simmering in 1/2 cup of water 1 tablespoon of soy sauce 1 tablespoon of mirin and 1/2 a tablespoon of sugar. Simmer for 15-20 minutes with a drop lid on top called a otoshibuta, if you don’t have one place a cut piece of parchment paper on top, then remove and squeeze out the liquid. Put to one side. However for my recipe later on you can do this included in the recipe.

“You had better make it delicious” said the shop keeper “ I’ll do my best” said Kiyo.
Kiyo then sets off to buy items to make her dashi, first she goes to Tanaka dried bonito shop. As bonito is made from dried smoked fermented fish fillets, being vegan we will not be using this for our dashi.

She then finds her way under the recommendation of the bonito shop owner to the Okada-ya Konbu seaweed shop. Kiyo says to the shop owner that it was her first time buying natural kelp and had planned to use powdered dashi from the supermarket. The shop keeps comments “that’s like eating a luxury kaiseki feast with broken disposable chopsticks”. Kiyo goes for the recommendation of the shop keeper and picks up some rausu kelp the shop keeper says this is natural and very flavourful. Rausu is known as the “queen of kombu” a high quality kelp rich in minerals and other nutrients, it has outstanding umami and will enhance the flavour of a dish. Even though Kiyo is making a humble meal she is still making it extra special with the ingredients she is choosing to use.
We are then back in the kitchen of the maiko house. We see Kiyo simmering her kombu to make her dashi, she chops diagonal slices of naga negi long green onion and slices up strips of the aburaage and adds the strips to the dashi she has made. Kiyo boils up some udon and adds them to a bowl adds the broth green onion and aburaage, finishing off with some grated ginger.

Kiyo serves the udon to Sumire “This udon I could eat forever”

Again there is a cross over of meals from The Makanai to Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories and you can see this in season 2 episode 7. The show has a nostalgic feel and for anyone who loves food in Japan it’s a must to watch. You can find lots more information and vegan  recipes I have created to go with the series on my midnight diner pages.

I wanted to make this kitsune udon as near to the way that Kiyo made it minus the bonito flakes. I picked out the best ingredients I could find at the time or I already had. As I didn’t have any of the usukuchi lighter coloured soy sauce I decided to purchase an organic one made at the Shichifuku brewery in Aichi prefecture.

They are masters of brewing this particular soy sauce and rely on traditional principles of giving the soy sauce time to mature in wooden barrels under strict temperature controls. Thus producing a lighter soy sauce that is sweeter in flavour. I bought Udon noodles by Clearspring which are organic and are vegan and made by an artisan family producer in Japan. The kombu I had was also from Clearspring  and is a sustainable harvested kombu from Hokkaido. I managed to get some naga negi from natural natural an amazing Japanese super market in London and also picked up some frozen aburaage.

Kitsune Udon きつねうどん

You will need:

x1 piece of dried kombu kelp

x1 piece per person of aburaage fried tofu defrosted if frozen

naga negi or similar green onion

per serving:

1 tablespoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon mirin

x1 teaspoon sugar

grated ginger (using a Japanese grater  like an oroshigane or kyocera if possible)

Udon noodles of choice

Method:

First make your dashi using a piece of kombu kelp. Soak the kombu in a pan with a litre of fresh cold water for at least three hours. Then turn on the heat to a simmer as soon, as the water starts to produce bubbles around the kelp remove the kelp and put your dashi to one side. Do not boil the kelp in the water as this will make the kelp slimy.

Prepare your aburaage from defrosted. Place your aburaage in a colander and pour over boiling water to remove the excess oil then blot with kitchen towel. Slice your aburaage into strips like Kiyo did with hers.

Slice your green onion diagonally.

Per person you will need 3 cups of dashi add this to a pan with soy sauce, mirin and sugar. ( This is why I decided not to pre season my aburaage as it will be cooking in this liquid). Bring your dashi to a gentle simmer and drop in your sliced aburaage.
Cook your udon as the package instructions direct. Drain and divide into your bowls. Pour over your hot dashi broth with aburaage and add your green onions and grated ginger.

A perfect hearty noodle dish full of rich flavour you can serve at any time but especially when you’re in need of some series comfort food.

Blog, Spring Food

Yatsuhashi for Midori no Hi みどりの日

01/05/2023 Leave a comment


Greenery Day (midori no hi) みどりの日 also known as Arbor Day on the 4th of May is part of a string of holidays and celebrations over a week long period in Japan called Golden Week.
On Greenery Day, it is customary to visit a garden or a tea room for a tea ceremony . It’s a great opportunity to try the best green tea and celebrate nature.
Around the time of Golden Week is Hachijuu Hachiya (八十八夜) and is one of the most important dates for Japanese farmers. It means eighty eight days (it depends where we look at it as it is also translated into eighty eight nights) after the start of the spring (risshun 立春). This is typically when the first crop of green tea is harvested, known as first flush (Ichibancha, 一番茶), the green tea harvested during this time is widely regarded as the tastiest of the year many claim that even a single cup of fresh Hachiju-Hachiya Shincha can promote health and longevity.
(the other two, nibancha and sanbancha occur in July and September).

If you have ever visited Kyoto you maybe familiar with a Japanese wagashi ( confection) mainly sold as an omiyage (souvenir) known as Yatsuhashi 八ツ橋 (八橋). It can come in two types baked hard like a senbei or soft known as Nama Yatsuhashi which is a soft mochi made from Joshinko (non-glutinous rice flour). The unbaked yatsuhashi is cut into a square shape after being rolled very thin, and folded in half diagonally to make a triangle shape, and filled with red bean paste inside. Unbaked yatsuhashi may also come in a variety of different flavours from cinnamon, matcha and Yuzu to even chocolate. It is pretty difficult to find this wagashi outside of Kyoto and I often buy it to bring home.


I have recently started selling a range of organic tea in my shop by a Japanese company called “Nodoka”. It is something pretty special a luxurious genmaicha tea powder. Where as before you may have tried genmaicha which is green tea with roasted rice in its tea leaf form, you can now get the nutritional benefits of 100% tea leaf by using the whole ground tea. As you can use it pretty much like matcha for not only making delicious lattes but also in baking, I decided to use it to celebrate greenery day and try making some yatsuhashi with it. They turned out so delicious.
Want to enjoy the taste of Kyoto in your home why not give them a try. You can purchase the Genmaicha from my shop or just substitute it for regular matcha. Obviously the taste will be different.
Gather your ingredients (you should be able to get these from an Asian grocery store or on line)

You will need:

30g Shiratamako (glutinous rice flour)

50g Joshinko (non glutinous rice flour)

60g of unrefined caster sugar

150g of tsubuan (chunky bean paste)

1 tablespoon of kinako (roasted soybean flour)

2 1/2 teaspoons of sifted genmaicha or matcha powder

65-70ml of water

You will also need : a microwaveable bowl, muslin cloth, steamer a piece of card cut into a 3×3 inch (8x8cm) square and a knife.

Method:

Add your Shiratamako to a microwaveable bowl and add 65ml of  water, whisk well until it’s nice and smooth with no lumps. Then add your sugar and Joshinko, mix until you get a thick smooth batter consistency adding more water if necessary.


Place some plastic wrap over the bowl and microwave for 3 minutes with a 600w microwave. Take out of the microwave and spoon out onto a muslin cloth.

Place this inside a steamer basket loosely covering over the top of the mochi. Heat up some water in a pan and place the steamer on top. Steam for 15 minutes.

Tip out the mochi into a bowl and let it cool slightly so you can handle it. Add your tea powder and start to knead the mochi until all the tea powder is incorporated.


Scatter some kinako onto a cutting board and roll out your dough with a rolling pin thinly. Start to cut out your square shapes using your stencil.

When you have finished cutting out, add a teaspoon of anko to the middle of each mochi square.

Fold the mochi over corner to corner and gently seal the edges together by pressing slightly. Do this with all the remaining squares and you’re done.



Yatsuhashi often has a slight cinnamon flavour if you would like this I recommend either adding a little cinnamon to your tea powder or sprinkling some cinnamon mixed with kinako on your cutting board. I like to serve with either a sprinkle of kinako or sieved matcha over the yatsuhashi on top.
Best eaten on the day of making but can be stored in an airtight container for up to two days. Do not put in the fridge. They can also be frozen, defrosted and eaten straight away. Enjoy with your favourite tea while enjoying nature. Happy Greenery Day.

If you would like to make Yuzu yatsuhashi use 1/2 Yuzu juice and 1/2 water and omit the tea powder. Just use kinako again to dust your surface to stop it from sticking.

Blog, Spring Food

Shōwa Day & A Taste Of Nostalgia with Pizza Toast

26/04/2023 Leave a comment

At the end of April beginning of May marks one of Japans biggest holidays known as “Golden Week”. It is a string of national holidays  starting with “Shōwa Day”. Many people take this time off to visit families, book a trip away, or simply take the time to enjoy the gorgeous spring weather by visiting a flower park or garden, before the temperatures start to rise and the rainy season comes.

Shōwa Day is on April 29th 2023. Shōwa 昭和 means “Bright Peace”  and was a unique period in Japanese history from 1929-1989, corresponding to the reign of the Emperor Hirohito the 124th emperor of Japan. This period was described as a significant breaking point in Japanese history that followed the “Taisho” period, with many events that happened over the 63 years. From World War II and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to Japan experiencing the largest economic growth outside of the USA between 1950-1970. Bringing with it a flourishing economy. Places like 7 Eleven opened and the Shinkansen train network grew. Tokyo hosted the 1964 summer Olympics and became the first city in Asia to do so. Also technological advancements like the Nintendo console was released in 1983.

From the 1970’s Japanese people started to take an interest in a variety of new dining options. Family restaurants, convenience stores or “konbini” and fast food chains spread across the country.


Despite being known for its green tea coffee culture started to become popular, with the birth of the kissaten in the Shōwa era. Kissaten is derived from three kanji  喫茶店 “consume” “tea” “shop” but is more widely known today for being coffee shops even though you can also buy tea and light meals. Why did the Kissaten grow in popularity throughout the era ? In fact it was in the 50’s a place that someone could go and listen to music, as people then still didn’t have the money to buy records. As time moved on corporate brands started to take over with chains of coffee shops and the Kissaten fell out of favour.

Now people again are looking for that piece of nostalgia and are finding relaxation in the dimly lit retro atmosphere of the Kissaten. With its old china cups, dark wood furniture, leather and velour upholstery and antiques, which have kept the Shōwa era vibe. In such Kissaten today you may see generations of families working in the same place, even the grand children helping out. The older generation visitors seam to have a strong attachment to these places, reminding them of a bygone time.

Menus in a Kissaten are quite similar offering coffee usually made with a drip machine which makes either a whole pot or dripped into a cup.
Nostalgic home cooked simple food is normally on offer with a “yoshoku” 洋食 western influence like spaghetti naporitan, Omurice, thick slices of ogura toast (toast with anko) sandwiches like fruit sando and tamago sando, curry rice, pancakes, melon cream floats, coffee jelly and purin.

Take a stroll through some of the Shitamachi old quaint neighbourhoods of Tokyo like Yanaka, Asakusa and Golden Gai to find nostalgic influences with buildings that survived World War II.

Shitamachi means lower city opposed to Yamamoto which means higher city. The term Shitamachi used to refer to places where lower classed people lived but nowadays for an area to be classed as Shitamachi it must have lots of alleys, many small workshops, flowerpots in the street next to the houses, curly shaped streets and many cats!

One such place that has many of these characteristics is the area “Yanesen” an area consisting of Yanaka, Nezu and Sendagi.

There is something quite comforting about the past which connects us to the present , with these places that have faced the challenges over decades of change, affectionately looked upon by the Japanese people as living culture from a bygone age. I am very fond of Yanaka and you can read more in previous posts with food inspired by the area and a walking tour.

Pizza Toast was created by a kissaten in Ginza Tokyo called Benishika which opened in 1957. It was made by baking cheese, onion, salami, sweet green peppers, mushrooms and thick slices of bread. Pizza toast is a very popular menu item in Japanese kissaten thick slices of shokupan milk bread topped with tomato sauce vegetables and melted cheese. Why not try making this snack for yourself . You don’t have to use shokupan just a nice thick slice of bread will do.
Back in 2017 when I first started this blog and vegan cheese was still something of a rarity I used to make cheese with mochi . You may even recall my mochi cheese on toast as one of my first ever recipes. So I decided in true nostalgic form to bring it back for my pizza toast recipe. Of course you have a lot more vegan cheese to choose from as things gladly have moved on quite a bit since then, but you could always give this a try for something a bit different and a little extra Japanese ingredient touch, as it gives that lovely melted cheese look.

Pizza Toastピザトースト

You will need:

An uncut white tin loaf  (cut a thick slice around 2 inches thick)

x1 piece of dried Mochi rice cake  (the kind you get in packets you put under the grill)

soy milk

turmeric

nutritional yeast

white miso

tomato purée

mixed herbs

Vegetables of choice like sliced mushrooms, sliced onion, green pepper, sliced cherry tomatoes.
Put your oven to warm on a moderate temperature

First make your mochi :

Put your dried mochi in a bowl and cover with soy milk, microwave for 30 seconds and then break it up with a fork.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, mix and put back in the microwave for another 30 seconds. The mochi will go gooey and sticky. Mash with a fork then add a teaspoon of nutritional yeast and a teaspoon of white miso. This will give your cheese flavour.

Add more soy milk to give the desired melting cheese consistency and put back in the microwave. Then mash with a pestle if you have one or add to a blender to get rid of any lumps. Then put aside.

Assemble your pizza. Take your bread and thickly spread the top with tomato purée add a sprinkle of mixed herbs, then place on your vegetables starting with sliced onion.


Warm your mochi cheese again in the microwave for a 15 seconds and pour over your vegetables adding sliced tomatoes on top and maybe a sprinkle of cracked black pepper.

Place in the oven on a wire rack so the bread can bake evenly and bake until the bread is crispy. Finishing off by browning the cheese under the grill.

Served of course with a coffee.

If you would like to know more about the Japanese golden week holidays I have lots more information in previous posts or why not try one of my other nostalgic recipes for vegan coffee jelly

Omurice

spaghetti naporitan

and purin for a taste of nostalgic Japan.

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House “Vegan White Stew”

20/04/2023 Leave a comment

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

舞妓さんちのまかないさん A series on Netflix about Food & Friendship set in a Maiko house in Kyoto.

Photo Credit: The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 2023. Netflix

From acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda

Adapted from the manga series “Kiyo in Kyoto”by Aiko Koyama,

season 1 episode 6

“One-sided”

Part one : Amazake

Sumire is now officially an apprentice Maiko for this she gets her hair done in the traditional maiko style. To keep this style from becoming messed up when they sleep maiko have to sleep on a special wooden pillow. Kiyo knowing that Sumire will not get much sleep on her first night makes her a comforting drink of amazake waiting for her in the kitchen. Even though Kiyo  has to get up early to prepare food the next day this was truly a selfless act of friendship and simple act of kindness.
Amazake or sweet sake is a fermented rice drink made from koji (kome koji). The koji mold or Aspergillus Oryzae is used in the making of miso, soy sauce, sake and mirin. The mold causes the rice enzymes to break down and ferment into unrefined sugars. The sugar makes a sweet drink or can be used in desserts, smoothies or dressing. Amazake was was actually consumed in the Edo Period in the summer to battle against the hot Japanese summers and reduce fatigue. You can find a recipe to make your own in my recipe pages. Also I recommend the amazake from Clearspring which you can just add to a pan with water or plant based milk and a little ginger to make a comforting drink.

Part two: White Stew ホワイトシチュー

Kiyo is in the kitchen preparing a meal and talking to Momoko. Momoko asks Kiyo if she gets board making meals for the girls in the maiko house. Kiyo explains that she doesn’t because every time she goes to collect ingredients according to what is in season she can decide what she is going to make. She also explains that every time she goes to the market there is always some different, even the same vegetables tastes can change depending if they are early or late in season. This is why she greets the vegetables with “ Hello there and thanks” “ nice to see you again”.

There are words used in Japan like Kisetsukan basically meaning attention to the seasons or Fubutsushi the little things that signal the changing seasons. This could be from the cherry blossoms in spring or seasonal foods appearing at the market. Hashiri is a word meaning that eagerly awaited produce that is coming soon into season, where shun refers to the produce in peak seasons. Why not read more about this on my four seasonal posts called “Live by the shun the philosophy of seasonal eating”.

Kiyo puts all her love, attention and enthusiasm into making her meals even though they might be thought of as mundane or ordinary dishes. In this episode we see her preparing a meal called “white stew” sometimes called “cream stew”. A family, home cooked (yōshoku) 洋食  dish meaning Japanese with a western influence. In Japan it is pronounced “Howaito Schichu” appearing in Japanese school lunch menus in 1947 when the government wanted to introduce nutritious meals to children. I even remember having something similar myself at my own primary school for lunch. The stew is made with carrot, potatoes, onions and chicken in a Béchamel sauce . Made using milk, Japanese families often use cream stew roux (a bit like curry cubes) to make this a quick and easy meal, but as neither are vegan I wanted to share my vegan recipe with you all omitting the chicken for tofu and using plant based milk and cream. This may not look like the most appetising dish, but I make this often as it’s so delicious, creamy and comforting. Cream stew has also appeared in another favourite Japanese drama of mine “Midnight Diner” season 2 episode 6 titled “Cream Stew” for which I have done a series of vegan recipes that go with the series.

White Stew

You will need:

A handful of small button mushrooms kept whole.

Three medium potatoes with skin on cut into chunks

One onion cut into slices

Two carrots peeled and cut into wedges

Broccoli florets

One block of medium firm Tofu cut into cubes

Two cups of vegetable stock keeping more for later if needed.

Method:

Add the onion to a large pan and sauté in a little melted vegan butter then add your carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and tofu.


Then add your vegetable stock, the stock should just cover the vegetables. Put a lid on the pan bring to a boil then simmer on a low heat for ten minutes.


While that’s simmering make your sauce mix.

Three tablespoons of vegan butter

One cup of soy milk

Three tablespoons of plain flour

One 250ml carton of vegan cream

1/4 teaspoon each of ground white pepper and nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Warm up one cup of soy milk either on the stove or in the microwave.
Add to a pan three tablespoons of vegan butter heat until melted and then turn down the heat to low. Sprinkle the flour into the butter stirring constantly. Start adding the warm soy milk gradually whisking as you do.

Check your vegetables at this point your potatoes should be nearly cooked but should not fall apart. Turn off the heat.
With a ladle spoon some of the vegetable stock into your flour roux and start to whisk.


Gradually keep doing this until your sauce can be poured into your vegetables. Add the sauce to your vegetables. Then add one carton of plant based cream to your pan with the vegetables and roux and gently stir it in. Add your white pepper nutmeg and salt. Do not omit these as it gives the stew its distinctive flavour. If you feel at this point your sauce is too thick add a little extra stock.

Turn back on the heat and simmer for a further five minutes. At this point just before serving blanch your broccoli in boiling water. When ready to serve drain the broccoli and add to the dishes after serving keeping the lovely bright green colour visible.


You can serve this on its own in a bowl like Kiyo did for Momoko with maybe some crusty bread. Or along side rice.

This meal can be enjoyed all year round, Kiyo suggests turning any left overs into something called “Doria” a Japanese take on a gratin, but made with rice. It is believed that Doria was invented by French chef Saly Weil at the New Grand Hotel in Yokohama back in 1930. It is a rice gratin dish in again in the Yoshoku style. I also have another Doria recipe on my recipe pages for curry Doria.
Add to a gratin dish some butter and smooth it around all the sides. To this add a layer of already cooked rice. Then spoon over your white stew. Finally finish with a layer of vegan cheese and some panko bread crumbs sprinkled on top. Place in the oven until warmed through and your cheese has melted and breadcrumbs crispy and golden.

I suggest serving this with a nice salad.  I hope you will give this recipe a try it has definitely become one of my favourite meals perfect for a family or giving you left overs to use or freeze for later. Enjoy.

Autumn Food, Blog, Spring Food, Summer Food, Winter Food

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House. Vegan Tempura

14/04/2023 Leave a comment

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

舞妓さんちのまかないさん A series on Netflix about Food & Friendship set in a Maiko house in Kyoto.

Photo Credit: The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House, 2023. Netflix

From acclaimed filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda

Adapted from the manga series “Kiyo in Kyoto”by Aiko Koyama,

season 1 episode 5

“Choice”

Do you believe in destiny? Many of our choices in life take us on different paths. For me, when I started following a vegan lifestyle over twelve years ago now, I became interested in cooking. This then lead me to start to try and create vegan (plant based) recipes for Japanese food which wouldn’t normally be vegan. This incorporated my love for Japan, animals and food.
Even though Kiyo was told she would never be a maiko she found that rather than it being a set back, it lead her into a new life’s path. She discovers new pleasures in every day life, from shopping for seasonal produce at the markets to deciding what she will make for food for the maiko house.
In episode five which it titled “Choice”, we see lots of characters reflecting on the choices they need to make or have made. A lot of them are over love interests.

At the beginning of the episode we see Kiyo making tempura, all the girls are discussing love interests while they eat. Tsuru asks Kiyo if she has any love interests and for a moment Kiyo shocks everyone with her reply , “You know what? I’m actually in love…. with my frying pan Tetsuko”. Kiyo is also asked how she makes her tempura batter so crispy she explains she keeps the batter in the fridge. Keeping the batter extra cold is indeed key to making the perfect tempura batter.

The perfect tempura vegan batter:

You will need a selection of vegetables for your Tempura you could choose sliced kabocha, sliced Japanese sweet potato, lotus root, shiitake, bamboo shoots, shiso leaves, and maybe asparagus.  Prepare your vegetables and put them to one side, keeping potatoes in water to remove the starch, lotus root is also best kept in water once sliced.

I like to slightly steam or microwave root vegetables so they do not take as long to cook, just 1-2 minutes in the microwave. So just before you’re about to cook your tempura drain the sweet potatoes and lotus root pat them dry with kitchen towel and slightly cook them with kabocha squash if using.

Make your batter:

Add to a bowl 1 1/4 cup of plain flour, 1 tablespoon of potato starch, 1/4 teaspoons of salt and 1/8 teaspoons of baking powder and mix.

You will then need to add to your dry ingredients 200ml of ice cold carbonated spring water. Stir in the water to make a lumpy batter but do not over mix. Chill in the fridge while you heat up your oil.
You will need to heat four cups of cooking oil suitable for a high heat like rapeseed, vegetable or sunflower oil, in a deep pan. Heat the oil and test it by putting a chopstick in the oil if you see little bubbles gather around the chop stick it’s ready.

Put a wire rack to one side of the pan and your vegetables and batter to the other side. Remove your batter from the fridge give it one final mix and then start to dip the vegetables into the batter and then drop them into the oil. Do not over crowd your pan just cook a few at a time for 1 minute until golden and crispy and transfer to your wire rack.

Finish with the shiso leaves if you have them. Dip the underside of the leaves in potato startch before  dipping one side only in the batter. Drop them for a few seconds in the oil until the batter is crispy then remove.


Now your Tempura is ready to serve. You can serve them just simply with a dipping sauce known as Tsuyu .

You can make this with 1/2 cup of dashi (kombu and a dried shiitake left over night in 1 litre of water then discarded.) Add to 1/2 cup of dashi, 3 tablespoons of tamari and 2 tablespoons of mirin. I also love the concentrated noodle broth by clear spring just use four parts water to one tsuyu which makes it super easy and quick to use.
You can also add your tempura on top of rice this is known as “Tendon” Tempura rice bowl.
I definitely recommend making more tempura than you need and freezing the rest. Just defrost on a wire rack when needed and place in the oven to crisp and warm back up (do not microwave as it will go soggy).

Tempura is also delicious with soba noodles. A popular dish is “Tenzaru” cold soba noodles served in a sieve or basket  with tempura and a dipping sauce “Mentsyu” or for short “Tsuyu” served in something called a“Choko cup” with condiments like grated daikon and ginger and chopped green onions, maybe even a little wasabi. Just dip the soba and tempura into the dipping sauce.

Another variation could be Tempura soba in a hot broth. Just use the clear spring concentrate for ease or make tsuyu and add more dashi and tamari to taste. You can also add maybe some steamed greens and chopped green onion. Be sure to add your tempura at the last minute.

This whole episode seamed to be about fried food tempura then croquettes and finally karaage (fried chicken) please see my vegan recipe made from wheat gluten on another recipe page.

Kiyo makes karaage as a surprise for Sumire but it turned out to be a celebration meal as Sumire is told she will be officially a maiko earlier than expected. As they both sit in the kitchen it is then that Sumire asks Kiyo that when she is officially a maiko she would like the tiny sandwiches eaten by maiko that do not ruin their makeup. She explained she had always dreamed of having them. It was decided that Sumire will have a maiko name “ Momohana” taken from sister Momoko and combined with hana. Momo means peach in Japanese and hana means flowers so Sumire’s new name is peach blossom.

Photo taken in Kyoto