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The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House A Japanese Style Breakfast & Caramel Bread Pudding

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 3

“Taboo”

Part one: A Traditional Japanese Breakfast.

Have you ever visited Japan and been served a Japanese breakfast maybe in a “traditional Japanese inn with tatami floors and an onsen communal bath”?

A Japanese traditional breakfast normally consist of rice, miso soup, tsukemono (pickles), a main meal like grilled salmon and some side dishes like tamagoyaki ( Japanese rolled omelette) and gomaae.

Waking up early before anyone else, Kiyo sets to work on making one such meal for the girls breakfast in the Maiko house. She puts on her apron and ties back her hair in preparation. She greets the dashi stock that she made the night before as she opens the lid on the pot “ Hello there and good morning”. 

First she starts to slice okra to make a simple side dish with sesame “Okra Gomaae”.

This side can also be made with green beans or spinach. Kiyo doesn’t cook the okra where as if I was using green beans or spinach I would blanch them first.

Goma 胡麻 means sesame and Ae 和え means to dress. To make this you can toast and grind your sesame seeds but for ease in the morning I like to use Surigoma which are already toasted and ground . Slice your okra with diagonal cuts like Kiyo did and place to one side. Add to a bowl two tablespoons of surigoma and to that add one tablespoon of soy sauce or tamari and one tablespoon of sugar, mix well into a paste, then add your okra to combine and your done. You might wonder about the raw okra but believe me this side dish is lovely and crunchy with out the slime of cooked okra.


Next Kiyo makes a simple miso soup with silken tofu and cherry tomatoes using a special sieve to dilute the miso with out clumps called a Misokoshi. I love mine and they are available to buy from www.hatsukoi.co.uk 

Kiyo opens her rice cooker and fluffs up the rice, then starts on grilling the salmon.

Obviously we want to make a vegan version of this so this takes a little preparation starting the night before with marinating some tofu.

To make your marinade:

Add to a jug or bowl, x1 tablespoon of shredded nori (kizami nori), x2 tablespoons of brown rice vinegar, x2 tablespoons of tamari, x2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoons of liquid smoke, x1 tablespoon of beetroot juice, x1 tablespoon of coconut palm sugar, a one inch piece of peeled and grated fresh ginger and a 1/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes. Leave this to soak for a few hours and then pour the liquid out through a sieve. Pour the liquid into a dish for your tofu to sit in.

Prepare the tofu:

You need to get the water first out of a block of firm tofu. You can do this by pressing it or you can steam it for five minutes or microwave for one minute wrapped in a paper towel. Let the tofu cool, then cut the piece of tofu in half and slice the top of each piece at an angle making a wedge shape. Make diagonal slices in the tofu be careful not to cut all the way down.

Place into the marinade turning it over a few times and then leave over night cut side down.

In the morning remove the tofu and place a piece of cut nori to fit  the uncut side of the tofu then lightly dust in starch and fry on all sides in a pan with hot oil. Remove and put to one side.


You will notice kiyos breakfast consist of two other sides as well as quick pickles.

Another popular side dish is hijiki no nimono simmered hijiki seaweed salad.

First soak two tablespoons of dried hijiki seaweed in hot water for 30 minutes.

You will also need to remove the oil residue from a piece of aburaage, to do this put your aburaage in a sieve and pour hot water over it then blot with kitchen towel, after that slice into thin strips and put in a pan. Drain a can of precooked soy beans or if you can’t get soy beans something similar (I used cannellini). Put half the beans in the pan with the aburaage. Julienne or grate one carrot and add this to the pan. Drain the hijiki and add this to the pan. Give everything a quick stir fry in a little sesame oil, then add to the pan, x1 teaspoon of dashi powder, x2 tablespoons of mirin, x2 tablespoons of tamari or soy sauce and 100ml of water. Simmer for about five minutes until all the water has gone. Place to one side.


I also made a vegan tamagoyaki using a vegan omelette mix called “Nomelette” which you can purchase from www.sunandseed.com. I made up the desired amount instructed to make one omelette and added a piece of nori before rolling it then cut it into slices.

Finally no Japanese meal can be without tsukemono or quick pickles called asazuke made with salt or vinegar and they are super easy to make. Just add chunks of carrot, cucumber and daikon to a zip lock bag. Then if you want to make salt pickles known as shiozuke just add a few teaspoons of salt and rub the salt into the vegetables. I like to use Japanese salt from Okinawa but I understand this is not easily come by. Do this at the start of making you meal in the morning and then they will be ready to serve when everything else is done.

Kiyo served her Japanese breakfast with onigiri rice balls so I decided to do the same with my breakfast.

I had just recently received this beautiful solid ash wooden serving box containing mino ware plates and dishes that fit inside. It is called a Hibino Modern Shokado Bento Box. I love how this can be used from using the dishes and plates that come with the box or adding your own. The lid can be also used as a tray. If your interested in this it is from www.musubikiln.com

I thought this would be the perfect way to serve this very special breakfast.

A further note in this episode:

Kiyo goes grocery shopping at the local market, she buys silken tofu and is delighted to find daikon radish grown in Aomori. The store owner points out that the leaves attached are edible. If your lucky enough to ever find this you can lightly blanch the leaves or stir fry them  or why not try my furikake recipe found in my “Live by the Shun” blog for summer.


Part 2 Caramel Bread Pudding also known as  (Pan Pudding)

パンプディング, pan means bread in Japanese. 

Tsurukoma one of the girls in the Maiko house is upset to find her caramel pudding missing from the fridge. It was just an ordinary caramel pudding from the convenience store, but Maiko are not allowed to enter when their hair is done so she would have to wait all week for another.

It’s early morning and Kiyo is washing rice, Tsurukoma comes down before anyone else is awake requesting bread for breakfast, but there is only one slice. What can be done with it ? As Tsurukoma was so upset over her missing caramel pudding, Kiyo sets out to make her a caramel bread pudding.

The bread pudding is made with shokupan パン Japanese milk bread. Even if it is available for you to purchase it is very rarely vegan as it’s made with milk and butter.

If you follow my shokupan bread recipe you can make your own.

The next problem with  making the bread pudding are the eggs used. So I decided to give the new liquid egg vegan substitute a try called “scrambled oggs”

To make vegan Caramel Bread Pudding:

Preheat your oven to 165 dregrees C

You will need a gratin dish greased on all sides with vegan butter.

You will need one slice of shokupan around 3/4 inch thick cut into six  pieces. Add this to your gratin dish leaving space in between.

In a bowl add  100ml of vegan egg mixture to that add two tablespoons of sugar, 3/4 of a cup of soymilk, 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla essence and a pinch of salt. Whisk up the mixture and pour half over the bread and let it soak in then add the rest. I actually sprinkled a little nutmeg on the top of mine but that was just personal taste. Put your gratin dish in the oven and bake until golden brown around 30-40 minutes ( keep and eye on it.)  

During the episode Kiyo receives a parcel from her grandmother it’s a heavy cast iron pan called Tetsuko. Tetsu meaning iron in Japanese. She uses this to make the caramel sauce. I had recently bought some oat syrup by Clearspring when I tried it I thought how much it tasted like caramel so I decided instead of making a caramel sauce to warm up a tablespoon of the oat syrup and swirl that onto of the bread pudding when I removed it from the oven.

This pudding is just as delicious as one made with diary and eggs, it melts in the mouth and feels luxurious and comforting at the same time. Crispy on the outside and soft inside. Like Tsurukoma did in this episode just take a spoon and dive straight in.

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

Ganmodoki

Ganmodoki or Hiryouzu are tofu fritters or balls with vegetables often found as one of the ingredients for oden Japanese hotpot dish.

They are crispy on the outside and soft inside. They are mostly bound with egg but I’m going to let you into a Japanese secret to help you bind them together.

First you will need a block of firm tofu mashed with something like a rolling pin or pestle. Then for the secret ingredient. In japan they normally use a Japanese yam but I could not find this in the UK so I used something else that had just as a sticky texture ( taro potato ). As it’s a starch it will help to bind all your ingredients together. Chop off the outer skin and grate three small taro with a Japanese ginger grater.

Add this to your mashed tofu,then add your vegetables. I used grated carrot,chopped green onion,diced shiitake,chopped hijiki and some grated ginger.

See below ( the white in the middle is the taro )

Mix together

Then to a bowl add some starch (I use potato starch from Hokkaido)

Take a heaped tablespoon of the mixture and form into a ball in some plastic wrap then add this to your bowl with the starch and roll it around until covered. Do this until all the mixture has gone.

Heat some oil and a few at a time fry your tofu balls until golden on the outside. And they are done. These balls are sometimes referred to as flying dragons head.

You can then add them to a hot Dashi Stock with sautéed mushrooms like I have done below and serve with rice.

Or as part of a meal below I have added some hot chilli sauce.

I think you will find these quite versatile.

 

 

Blog, Summer Food

Macrobiotic Nourishment Bowl

This is a wonderful way to get a balanced meal. Called a macro bowl because you hit all the nutrients carbs,protein and fat with plenty of vitamins and minerals. There are many things you can add to your bowl if you just follow a simple guideline .

You need some kind of grain this could be brown rice,quinoa,millet,amaranth,buckwheat etc.

Then you need carbs think sweet potato but carbs can also cross over into your grains.

What about protein ha ha . Well we all know there no shortage of that ! Tofu or tempeh are my favourites, but again beans are a great source of protein so it’s good to add some beans in there as well like kidney,Lima,black beans etc.

Add some good fats with avocado,olives,nuts or hemp hearts.

Plenty of veggies and salads ( Go wild ) there are so many to choose from. Spinach,kale,sprouts,carrot,bell peppers,cucumber,watercress,broccoli the list goes on.

Why not add some probiotics in the form of sauerkraut or kimchi?

Dont forget sea veg also as it’s a wonderful source of iodine and good for the thyroid wakame,hijiki,kombu and nori.

Lastly it’s always nice to make a dressing maybe a simple miso dressing with miso paste mixed with mirin,brown rice syrup and little lemon.

I think it’s a good idea to have cooked brown rice ready in your fridge especially if your heading into a busy week . Just throw some rice in a bowl add some beans veggies and tofu and you have a meal in under 10 mins.

Hope you now have inspiration to make  some macro bowls for yourself.

Blog

Simple Tofu Salad For Lazy Summer Days

When the weather heats up the last thing you feel like doing is slaving over a hot stove or having the oven on

This is just a refreshing salad to satisfy you but with out all the effort.

Start by adding some parsley and mizuna to a plate then top this with some chopped juicy tomato then sprinkle on some sliced red onion, cooked and chilled edamame beans and hijiki seaweed some finely chopped chives and some chilled silken tofu cubes. I like the tartness of adding Ume dressing to my salad and a squeeze of lemon.  Maybe a scatter of sesame seeds.

I think this is nice as a main dish but you could equally use it as a side.

 

Blog

Udon Hot Pot

A lovely udon hot pot to night in a miso broth with vegetables and tofu . Also a few onigiri with hijiki.

うどんと野菜と豆腐と味噌汁鍋物.
おにぎりとひじき

Blog

Miso Soup & My Bento

Oh my goodness I nearly got blown away this morning the wind is quite scary .
Warming up with a miso soup and my bento .
I made onigiri and I had some of those sweet potato okara balls from last nights dinner left over so put in a few of those along with a grilled shiitake and mochi cheese,salad and fruit.
ここの天気はとても風が強く、嵐があります??
私の弁当
みそ汁,
おにぎり,サツマイモとおからのボール,焼きシイタケと餅チーズ,サラダとフルーツ。

Blog

Salad Donburi

Salad donburi .
I’ve been wanting to recreate a salad I had in Kyoto at Kousocafe85
I enjoyed the salad don so much .
Underneath all that salad is warm rice with azuki beans.
The salad was a mix of lots of different leaves spinach,baby red leaf,mizuna,chive,parsley,baby coriander,salanova,butterhead,
Rocket and celery leaf.
Mixed in to the leaves were chiquino peppers,chopped celery,cherry tomato,grated carrot,radish,cucumber wedges,raw cauliflower florets and raw tender stem broccoli and asparagus tips,blanched beansprouts,lotus root and burdock,hijiki seaweed and avocado. I also remembering how nice it was to have a bit of mango in my salad I threw in a few pieces of chopped mango . In fact I only had half this salad as it was so filling and saved the rest for lunch tomorrow.
I made a miso dressing and had this with a simple miso soup and a small dessert of yuzu ice cream with sweet bean paste.
Mixing in the salad in to the warm rice was so delicious. A little bit like having a scattered sushi bowl.
If your in Kyoto I really recommend finding kousocafe85 I found it by accident it’s a vegan organic cafe and was a very memorable visit .

Blog

Inari Sushi

Inari sushi
いなり寿司
Seasoned Japanese rice with @clearspringuk sushi seasoning then filled pockets of aburaage topped with :
1:Hijiki and furikake
2:Cucumber and pickled ginger
3:Clearspring Umeboshi
4:Black sesame seeds and sliced shiitake
5:Avocado and ginger

Some edamame on the side.

I picked the little fox up at the Inari shrine in Kyoto .

Blog, Summer Food

Japanese pizza

Japanese style pizza using sliced lotus root and hijiki and sprinkled not with herbs but with ao-nori which is an edible green sea weed known as green laver which is dried and ground into a powder and used as a seasoning. It is rich in minerals and vitamins often seen sprinkled on Okonomiyaki and takoyaki .

和風ピザ

First use a plain pizza base and cover it with tomato purée then grate on some vegan cheese.

Add sliced lotus root ( you can either get this fresh from Asian super markets which you simply peel and slice ) or you can buy it in packets already peeled .

After this sprinkle on some already washed soaked and cooked hijiki sea weed . ( hijiki comes dried take a little and soak it in warm water for 20 mins it will double in size.  Then wash it well in a sieve then adds to a pan of hot water and simmer for 10 mins.  Drain . At this point I like to add a little mirin and tamari )

Then finally sprinkle on your aonori and bake until pizza crisp .

This is something a little different to the normal pizza toppings .

Blog, Summer Food

Sushi Jar

Not got time to make sushi ?
Stick the contents in a jar .
This is my sushi jar perfect to take out to lunch .
Seasoned sushi rice and gomashio with :
Edamame,hijiki,peppers,avocado,pickled ginger,carrot,cucumber,radish and nori .

A really healthy simple meal for on the go .

simply make your sushi rice and layer in your chosen sushi accompaniments
瓶の寿司

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。
味噌ドレッシング,
みそ汁
マッチョチョコレートトリュフ