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Blog, Spring Food

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House Season 1 Episode 1 Nabekko Dango & Tomato Curry

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 1

“Change”

Two 16-year-old inseparable friends Kiyo and Sumire leave their town in their home city of Aomori after seeing maiko, (apprentice geishas or geiko, as it is called in Kyoto) in the street on a school trip.

Leaving behind Kiyo’s supportive grandmother and their baseball player buddy Kenta, the two girls head to Kyoto on a bus warm baked sweet potatoes in hand to chase their dreams of training as maiko.

We join them as they adjust to life in the maiko house. A communal all female Saku House living quarters where this story takes place. They call each other mothers and sisters despite having no blood relations to each other.

Sumire is a natural and embraces life as a trainee, Kiyo however is clumsy and finds she is not suited to life as a trainee maiko.

Ms Sachiko, who is the house makanai when they first arrive sees Kiyo’s enthusiasm and interest in food and takes her under her wing. Makanai means both the cook and the meal served in the boarding house or other place of work.

Ms Sachiko is forced to leave to rest a back injury, Kiyo then finds her passion as she steps in to be the in house’s Makanai. The two girls decide to pursue different passions while living under the same roof. Sumire in the pursuit of being a “one-in-a-million” maiko and Kiyo starts to prepare the meals for all the women who reside there. She seams effortlessly happy and engaged with her work enjoying grocery shopping and deciding what meals to cook that will appeal to everyone from different regions of japan with their own distinct food cultures and various levels of seasoning. What I like the most is the sense of nostalgia in the series with humble, home cooked freshly prepared nourishing food. Kiyo even says “nice to meet you” to her ingredients as she begins each day.

It also relates to something I’ve spoken about in my blog post “Natsukashii & Ofukuro no aji” A taste of home.

Ofukuro no aji which translates “Mothers Taste Meal “. Linked to family relationships these are Japanese home cooked meals that your mother used to make. Eating them later in life can bring back memories and comforts from home. Natsukashii (an adjective) derived from the Japanese verb Natsuku which means to become familiar with. The word is used to express emotion, fondness and gratitude for the past in a kind of nostalgic way.
I think when we are talking about food we can relate to Natsukashii, like sounds and smell can bring back memories so can taste.

You may know I have adapted quite a few recipes from the “Midnight Diner” series and thought this a wonderful opportunity to make not only these humble Japanese home style cooked meals but to make them vegan. (Some are already vegan)

At the beginning of the first episode it starts on snowy Aomori and Kiyos grandmother is making nabekko dumplings in red bean soup a local traditional dish in the southern area of Aomori Prefecture. So what makes this dish different to zenzai ? Well it’s mainly down to the dango the dango balls are pressed in the middle to look like a nabe (pot). They are also made from kneaded non glutinous rice flour.

(Joshinko (上新粉). It is made from milled short grain rice which has been washed, dried, and ground down into flour, whereas mochiko and shiratamako are both made from glutinous rice.

Kiyos grandmother makes the dish as a good luck meal before Kiyo and Sumire leave on their journey, however this meal is often made as an offering to Agricultural Gods during celebrations, such as “Tenorie,” a festival praying for a good harvest after the completion of the rice-planting.  It’s a comforting sweet dish perfect on a cold day.

Let’s make nabekko dumplings in red bean soup

You will need :

For red bean soup

200g of azuki

1/4 teaspoon of salt

200g of granulated sugar

200ml of water for cooking

For nabekko dango dumplings:

100g of Joshinko non glutinous rice flour

Around 100ml of just boiled hot water

Method:

  1. Wash the azuki beans and place them in a pot with just enough water to cover, and bring it to a boil. When the water turns red, drain and discard the water. Replace water and repeat this process a second time.
  2. Place the parboiled beans and the measured 200ml of water over heat. When the water comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45-60 minutes until beans become tender.

Make your nabekko dango

Add Joshinko flour to a bowl and gradually start to add the hot water until everything comes together into a dough a little firmer than and earlobe. Form into a log shape and cut into sections to roll into balls.

When you have rolled them into balls push your thumb in the middle to make your nabe shape.

Continue simmering your azuki beans adding more water if needed when they are tender mix in the salt and sugar and simmer further for five minutes. Then drop in your dango. Let the dango cook adding more water if needed to make a nice soup consistency. The dango May take at least 15 minutes to cook though properly.

Serve in your favourite bowl.

Later, on the bus to Kyoto, Kiyo shares with Sumire the baked sweet potato their close friend Kenta gave them as a snack for the journey, the girls fall into grateful giggles. You can find the recipe for these on my recipe pages (Yaki Imo).

Finally from episode one I decided to make the tomato curry that was kiyos grandmothers recipe. She makes the curry while visiting Ms Sachiko the former Makanai. You see her using a method of removing the skin from tomatoes that I’ve shown before in my poached tomato recipe. Scoring a cross in the skin and dropping the tomatoes into boiling water boil for a few minutes until the skin starts to come away . Drop the tomatoes into ice cold water you will find then the skin is easily removed.


Adding tomato to the curry adds a sweetness to the curry instead of adding something like honey or apple which is common in Japanese style curry.

As the curry normally has some kind of meat as an ingredient you could use something like soy protein as a meat substitute, you could also use seitan or in my case this time I used Maitake mushrooms.

This is how I made Vegan tomato curry inspired by The Makanai.

x2 tomatoes

First skin your tomatoes as explained above. Then cut into quarters.

Then you will need:

x1-2 carrots chopped in to wedges

x1 medium white onion sliced finely

x2 potatoes peeled and cut into chunks

Some maitake mushrooms . ( if using soy protein reconstitute this in water and squeeze out liquid before adding to the curry. You can also use seitan.

One of the most important aspects of making Japanese curry is to sauté the onions until they are caramelized, which can take up to 20 minutes. Most of the curries from Asian countries are prepared by sautéing the onion until translucent only. The onions should be cut into thin slices so that they can caramelise quickly.

When you onions are nice and browned add potatoes meat substitute and carrots then add water to cover and simmer for around 15 minutes.

While they are cooking make your curry roux.

Curry Roux

You can use curry roux cubes but I wanted to make this how I thought was more in keeping with how Kiyo might of made. This recipe uses S&B Japanese curry spice powder.

A traditional blend of natural herbs and spices for Japanese curry. This curry powder is fantastic for making Japanese style curry from scratch. Ingredients Turmeric, coriander, fenugreek, cumin, orange peel, pepper, chill pepper, cinnamon, fennel, ginger, star anise, thyme, bay leaves, cloves, nutmeg, sage, cardamon.

Heat 60g of butter over low heat in a pan.

Add the equal amount of sifted flour and stir constantly. Let the butter combine with the flour, and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes until it turns to medium brown. Keep stirring so that the roux will not stick to the pan. Keep the heat low so that the butter does not burn.

Add two heaped teaspoons or one tablespoon of the S&B Japanese curry spice powder and mix well until it forms a thick paste.

Add the paste to your vegetables and stir to thicken adding  extra water if needed to get your desired thickness of sauce.

Finally add your tomatoes. I like to add those last so they don’t turn into mush, it’s nice to keep some of the form of the tomatoes.

Cook until the tomatoes are soft and then serve with Japanese rice and vegetables if you like. Serving like this will feed at least x4 people.

More recipes to come in my next The Makanai blog.

If you haven’t already watched it yet The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House is available for streaming on Netflix. 

Blog, Winter Food

Koshögatsu Little New Year 小正月

You may have thought all the New year celebrations were over in japan but there is one more that you may not of heard about.

Until 1873 the Japanese calendar was closely linked to the moon and before japan adopted the Gregorian calendar Koshogatsu 小正月 or “Little New Year” was always celebrated with the first full moon of the New Year.

Koshogatsu is celebrated on the 15th of  January and was historically a day to pray for a bountiful harvest. As the moon still plays an important role in Japanese culture it is still traditional to celebrate it. At this time people may pray for personal fortune and happiness.
Over the New year families  may decorate their homes with shimekazari “purifying rice straw” or kagamimochi. It is believed that the Shinto Kami Toshigami visits over new year and these decorations are placed in honour.

On the morning of Koshogatsu it is custom to eat azukigayu 小豆粥 a rice porridge with azuki beans it is also known as mochi gayu or full moon porridge.

Traditionally azuki gayu was used in temples and shrines as a divination ritual called Kayu ura (粥占) or Mi kayu ura (神粥占) This was done by placing bamboo in the porridge over night. In the morning the more rice that had stuck to the bamboo the better the harvest that year would be.

Today many families still eat azuki gayu on the 15th of January and some temples and shrines still perform the divination ritual, keeping alive old customs passed down for generations.

It is also today that you will take down your New Years decorations and in some cases they may be burned on special bonfires at temples and shrines in japan.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy year ahead .

Blog, Winter Food

Matcha Scones with Yuzu Drizzle & Sweet Red Bean Jam

Move over mince pies there’s a new Christmas tea time  treat in town.
I decided to make matcha scones as I thought they would look pretty festive.


Filled with sweet azuki bean jam but you could make them look even more festive if you used say a strawberry or cranberry jam instead.
Heat your oven to 200 c fan oven
You will need:

350g of self raising flour sifted into a bowl

to this add 1tsp of baking powder, 3 tablespoons of caster sugar and 1 heaped tablespoon of sifted matcha powder . Mix together.

Chop into squares 85g of vegan butter and add this to your matcha flour and thoroughly rub the butter into the flour very well.

In a jug measure 175ml of soy milk and warm it slightly in the microwave for 30 seconds then to this add 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence and 1/2 teaspoon of Yuzu juice.
Add this to your flour mixture and mix in.

Tip out onto parchment paper flatten and fold the dough a few times and then leave in the fridge for 30 mins.
Add some plain flour to a surface and tip out your dough. Flatten and fold again a few times. Then put your dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Depending on what shape you want you scones either make your dough into a circle to make triangle scones or a rectangle to make rectangle scones. Cut your dough to make your scones and separate them from each other.

Brush each scone with soymilk

Bake in the oven for 10 mins

Remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Make some icing from icing sugar water and Yuzu juice and drizzle it over the scones.

Cut in half length ways and fill with red bean jam.

The easiest way to make red bean jam is to use a tin of precooked azuki beans. Drain the azuki beans and tip into a pan with water and sugar. Simmer down and mash the beans, then chill in the fridge to set.

Summer Food

Hiyajiru ( cold summer soup ) & Kohaku-Kan ( Brown Sugar kanten jelly )

Even though there is still ranging heat in Japan I am beginning to see a shift in the seasons here in the UK. The nights are getting shorter and the weather cooler. The swallows are getting ready to migrate and the fields are being harvested. With that said I wanted to make one final summer Japanese dish before I start to think about heading over to making autumn meals.
This is something I have tried making in the past but it didn’t turn out to my liking but when I saw an NHK programme dining with the chef I knew I could try to make a vegan version.

Hiyajiru is a Japanese cold summer soup with rice. Traditionally with flaked mackerel and miso. Instead of the mackerel I decided to use flakes of jackfruit with aonori seaweed mixed in.

First you need to make a dashi, soak a small piece of kombu kelp for a few hours in 150ml of cold water, after bring the water to a simmer over a medium heat for ten minutes ( do not boil) then remove the kombu.

Add to the water, 1 tablespoon each of soy sauce or tamari and mirin then chill in the fridge.

Make some Japanese rice in advance and tip out into a bowl and allow to cool. I used 1 rice cooker cup – 2 rice cooker cups of water.

Emty the contents out of a tin of jackfruit rinse and drain, you will only need to use half a tin so transfer the other half to a container to use in something else ( you could try one of my other recipes like vegan crab sushi). To the other half of the drained jackfruit add a teaspoon of aonori.

Finely grate a 1 inch piece of peeled ginger.
Slice in half a bulb of myoga ginger and finely slice.                            Slice into rounds a two inch piece of Japanese cucumber, or similar.  Half a lemon length ways and remove the skin and any seeds and dice into small cubes.
Chop half a green onion.

You will also need miso around one tablespoon, about a heaped teaspoon of vegan butter and a tablespoon of ground sesame.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the grated ginger and green onion and sauté, then add the jackfruit and miso keep stirring as it burns easily, add the ground sesame and stir in. Sauté for a few minutes then transfer to a dish, add your cubes of lemon and put in the fridge to cool.

Make a ball with your rice ( to fit in the middle of your bowl ) press the rice so it doesn’t fall apart. Pour around the rice your chilled dashi and then add around your rice slices of cucumber and myoga ginger. Finally top the rice with your jackfruit miso mixture, and maybe some sliced shiso leaves. Then add any remaining dashi over the rice. Eat by taking a little rice, mixture and dashi in each spoonful.


Hiyajiru is the signature dish from Miyazaki in southern Japan and  has been selected as one of the top 100 countryside recipes making it the perfect summer meal as temperatures rise.

For dessert why not make Kohaku-kan brown sugar jelly.

Kohaku-kan mean amber relating to the colour of the jelly.

For the jelly we use Kanten which is made from seaweed and traditionally you would use raw cane sugar but I am using coconut palm sugar. This dessert is so easy and quick to make.

Depending on how many people you are making it for just double the recipe. This makes two servings if you decide to put the jelly with other things like sweet red beans and fruit.

For the jelly
125ml cold water

1.5 gram of powdered kanten

30 grams of coconut palm sugar
Plus a small container to pour the jelly into around 3×3 inch

You will also need to make kuromitsu which is a brown sugar syrup, simply made with brown sugar and a little water heated in a pan until it thickens and if you wish some sweet azuki beans to add over your jelly plus any fruit of choice. I added a few pomegranate seeds.

Add kanten to a pan with the cold water and stir to dissolve. Turn on the heat and bring to a boil then turn the heat to a simmer until the liquid looks clearer, then add your sugar and mix in. Turn up the heat and wait until your mixture starts to bubble then turn off the heat.

To a large bowl add some iced water then fit a small bowl inside. Pour your sugar jelly Into the empty bowl this will help to cool it down. Keep stirring this will stop the sugar sinking, when it starts to set at the edges pour into your mould. Allow to cool at room temperature then set in the fridge for a few hours.

Loosen the edges and tip out onto a plate and cut into squares.

Serve in a glass dish or bowl, with sweet azuki beans and pour over kuromitsu.

There you have it Hiyajiru cold summer soup and Kohaku-kan sugar jelly dessert

Let’s say goodbye to the summer and welcome in the new season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Food

Minazuki Wagashi ( the Japanese sweet to eat in June)

I have talked a little about minazuki in a previous post but I thought you might like to try making this Japanese wagashi for yourself. It’s really easy to make with a few ingredients. This wagashi is traditionally eaten on June 30th to ward off evil, ill health and bad luck for the second part of the year. The colour of minazuki is said to resemble ice to cool you from the hot summer heat.
This makes x4 triangle pieces.

You will need a square container around 4×4 inches and something to steam the wagashi in (I used a bamboo steamer)
You will also need:

15g of kuzu root ( if it is not in a powder and more in chunks crush into a powder)

15g of  glutinous rice flour ( the kind for making dango )

30g of sifted plain white flour

30g of unrefined caster sugar

100ml of water

x1 can of sweet red beans

Combine the kuzu powder and dango flour then add a little of the water to make a paste, then add the rest and mix together. Then add in your flour and sugar and mix to combine.
Fill your container with water and tip it out ( this will just stop your wagashi from sticking ) then fill your container with your mixture, keeping a few tablespoons for later.

Place your container in a steamer and steam over simmering water for about 20 minutes.

After this time take out your container from the steamer and add around 3/4 of the can of your sweet red beans to the top, spreading them out. Add the few spoonfuls of remains mixture you saved over the beans and pop back in the steamer for a further 10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool in the fridge. I then cut the wagashi while it was still in the container into x4 triangles and eased out the first piece, once you have one out the others are easily removed. I wouldn’t recommend tipping it upside down as you may spoil the look of your minazuki.
There you have it. They are nice enjoyed with a matcha tea you could even dust the top with matcha or kinako if you like.

Blog, Winter Food

Awa-Zenzai あわぜんざい

Most of you are familiar with Zenzai but do you know awa-zenzai ?

あわぜんざい. Warm sweet  azuki beans with slow cooked glutinous millet grains. This is known as mochikibi. There is a place in Asakusa Tokyo called Umezono 梅園 which was established in 1854. This long serving confectionary shop cooks up awa zenzai in the winter.

This dish is perfect for cold winter days as it’s sweet and comforting and super filling.

Use around a cup of millet and wash well through a sieve then add to a pan with water. I start with just covering the millet with water and bringing it to a boil,then turn down the heat to your lowest setting pop on a lid and let it simmer. You may need to keep adding water so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom . Keep checking and add water when needed until it’s cooked. It will resemble porridge consistency.

Warm your sweet beans ( you can either make them yourself or I buy the ones already done in a can for quickness)

Serve together warm with a sweet chestnut if you like and green tea.

You can use any remaining cooked millet to make Ohagi ( Botamochi )

See previous Ohagi post ( just pound the millet like you would the glutinous rice.) I will do a new post for making millet Ohagi around the spring equinox when it is traditionally eaten.

Blog

Kagami Biraki Zenzai 2019

On the 11th of January in Japan is kagami biraki. Which is the breaking of the Mochi of the Kagami mochi, which literally means “mirror mochi rice cake,”. Kagami mochi is two round mochi, the smaller placed atop the larger, and a daidai Japanese orange with an attached leaf on top. You can buy plastic ones like this in many convenience stores leading up to New Years in Japan and inside you will find the Mochi rice cake. 

Today it is tradition to eat your rice cake often in a dish called Zenzai ぜんざい or Oshiruko お汁粉 a sweet azuki bean soup . Zenzai is a traditional Japanese dessert.  It’s a thick sweet soup consisting
of boiled azuki beans and often served with mochi (rice cake) or shiratama dango (  I had a delicious Zenzai in Kyoto on my last visit so this meal really takes my thoughts back there. Oshiruko is more watery in consistency.

This is a comforting dessert in Japan sold hot in winter and in the summer you can see similar desserts with sweet beans dango and agar jelly called anmitsu . See a previous post . Also I have a previous Zenzai post from 2017 but thought you might like to see this years .

I used sweet red bean paste in a pan simmered in some  water and added grilled Mochi and a sweet chestnut often used in Osechi which I had a few left over from.

Blog, Summer Food

Soy Milk & Matcha Purin With Kuzu

The macrobiotic root known as kuzu has great nutritional and medicinal value it is especially good for the digestion. Kuzu has been commercially produced in Japan from as early as the 1600. Did you know the kuzu root is one of the largest in the world? Make sure when buying kuzu that is is 100% and not mixed with other starches to get the best medicinal effect.

Kuzu is a wonderful thickening and jelling agent and I always use it in my curry sauces . So with that in mind I decided to make this soy milk matcha purin using just a few ingredients.

Purin プリン is a Japanese dessert or pudding normally like a creme caramel sometimes using eggs.

For this recipe all you need is to add 165ml of soy milk to a pan and add 10g of kuzu starch and mix well . Add some sweetener if you wish a teaspoon of rice syrup maybe. As I was adding a matcha syrup at the end I didn’t add any sweetener. Then add a teaspoon of sifted matcha powder and whisk well. I use one of those small battery operated small milk frother whisks for this. Then turn on the heat and start to heat gradually stirring all the time if it doesn’t start to thicken turn up the heat a little more . Do not be tempted to leave it as it thickens all of a sudden. When it’s thick pour out into two small glasses  it should be thick like custard. Chill in the fridge preferably over night.

To make the syrup just add 2 teaspoons of rice syrup and 1 teaspoon of matcha to a pan with 2 teaspoons of water and heat a little then chill in the fridge. You will have enough for at least two puddings here.

When you want to serve add some vegan whipped cream ,soy yogurt or ice cream ,some sweet azuki beans ( to give your Purin that real Japanese flavour) and pour over your matcha syrup. Finish with a dusting of matcha.

 

Blog, Winter Food

Kagami Biraki Zenzai

in Japan on the 11th of January is Kagami biraki the breaking of the new year Mochi for luck and good fortune .
It is traditional to make  zenzai a sweet red bean soup with the toasted Mochi on the top.

This can be made as simple as you wish you can buy a tin of sweet red beans and add a little water and cook up into a soup. Zenzai is also available in a pouch just simply heat and serve .  Or you can buy a can of azuki beans drain and simmer in water with a sweetener . After this it gets a little more complicated if you want to cook your beans from scratch so for ease I do one of the above .

I cooked my mochi rice cake under the grill and topped this onto my zenzai

 

Blog, Summer Food

Salad Donburi

I love making these salad donburi ever since I came back from Kyoto and was inspired by my visit to kouso cafe 85 . (See reviews)
This one is sekihan ( grain rice with azuki bean ) topped with salad leaves, vegan kimchi by @bionaorganic avocado,cherry tomato, raw cauliflower, hijiki , shredded carrot, watercress, raw broccoli, celery, cucumber and cubes of mango .
Served with miso soup and a miso dressing .

Miso dressing : a teaspoon of white miso with a teaspoon of each of brown rice vinegar,toasted sesame oil and mirin . Mix well . I normally use a small jar put on the lid and shake well .
サラダ丼,
赤飯,サラダ葉、キムチ、アボカド、チェリートマト、生のカリフラワー、ひじき、細断したニンジン、クレソン、生ブロッコリー、セロリ、キュウリ、マンゴーのキューブなどがあります。
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