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This is kinda of a mix between a pizza and a toasted open sandwich . Toasted bread topped with sweet tomato purée then spread with mochi cheese and roasted veggies . Veggies were red and yellow peppers,aubergine,lotus root, eryngii mushroom and snap peas and cress. Served with salad and miso tofu dressing .
ピザオープン野菜サンドイッチ
餅チーズ
サラダ
豆腐みそドレッシング
Another Osechi Ryori
お節料理
O’zoni お雑煮
Namasu and Kiriboshi
紅白なます
Nishime (simmered vegetables) 煮しめ
And kuromame with candied yuzu peel
黒豆
For the simmered vegetables I used taro,carrot,daikon,freeze dried tofu
shiitake,mangetout and bamboo shoots. I did mean to use lotus root and completely forgot so will use it in another dish .
It was a lovely sunny day to day much better weather than yesterday so we went for a lovely walk in the countryside. I hope everyone is enjoying their New Year so far.
This is a traditional Zen Buddhist shojin Ryori cuisine which originates from the Kencho-ji Temple in Kamakura . Jiru means soup and Kenchin is derived from the temple name.
This soup is full of umami flavour using kombu,shiitake mushroom,toasted sesame oil and tamari ( or soy sauce )
The soup consists of root vegetables in a shiitake kombu stock ( you can also add miso if you wish .) This soup also has tofu it is said that you tear the tofu into the soup instead of cutting the tofu as it is supposed to be divided equally between the residents of the temple regardless of status. This dish contains no onion,devout Buddhists believe that onion is not good for your peace of mind so not good for meditation.
First make you stock
I normally leave a piece of konbu to soak over night in water the konbu comes with a white powder on its surface do not wash this off as this adds to the flavour just simply wipe with a cloth. ( for this recipe I used 3 cups of konbu stock and 1 cup of shiitake stock .
After you have soaked your konbu place the water and konbu in a pan and turn on the heat remove the konbu just before the water starts to boil. Make shiitake stock by soaking a few dried shiitake in one cup of water for around 20 mins ( place a small bowl over to submerge the shittake to stop them from floating. After 20 mins take out the shiitake and slice them and add the stock to the konbu soaked water .
Now you need to prepare your vegetables
You can use a variety for vegetables Burdock root,daikon radish,carrot,lotus root,taro komatsuna or any leafy green vegetable,you can also add konnyaku (konjac) but I just used tofu in this recipe . I didn’t use burdock root as I couldn’t find any and I didn’t use taro .
chop your vegetables and add about a tablespoon of toasted sesame oil to a deep pan sauté your root vegetables for a few minutes then add your stock but do not add your leafy greens until the soup is nearly ready to serve. Simmer until the vegetables are tender then add 1 tablespoon of tamari or soy sauce and one tablespoon of mirin .
take a block of drained tofu and crumble it into the soup in large pieces and finally add your chopped leafy greens .
Now your soup is ready
In the winter in Japan you can often walk in to stores and find lots of things simmering in piping hot stock for you to choose and have a hot meal . This is called Oden . I made my own oden winter stew.
It is traditional to use a donabe pot but if you don’t have one you can use what ever you have .
First make your broth to simmer your vegetables in I used water that had been soaked over night with a piece of kombu kelp about 1 litre add to this some mirin and tamari ( or soy sauce) about one tablespoon .
In your donabe set out your veggies I used sliced daikon ,tofu,bamboo shoots,lotus root,tofu sausage,shiitake mushroom and aburaage parcels filled with cabbage bean sprouts and vegetables. These pouches are called kinchaku or fukuro.
If you do not have a donabe you can use another pot or even a steamer and arrange them after. If you decide to use a steamer steam your vegetables and make a separate broth to add your vegetables to after . I prefer to cook the vegetables in the broth as they soak up the flavour.
Pour in your stock and simmer your pot on low with the lid on if it looks like the water is running low add a little more stock.
When your vegetables are tender take a little stock and in a bowl add a little miso . Dissolve the miso and then pour this over your vegetables to finish.
I would of liked to of added a few other things that I didn’t have but I’m glad with how it turned out.
Served with rice it was a delicious filling meal for a cold winter evening
A super delicious filling curry using pumpkin to thicken the sauce .
you will need a quarter of kabocha squash ( Japanese pumpkin) this has a lovely nutty flavour steam the kabocha until tender scoop out the flesh and discard the skin.
Cook your Japanese rice and leave on warm in your rice cooker or pan with lid.
In a pan add the kabocha and some of the cooking liquid from steaming about one and a half cups , add to this one tablespoon of S&B Japanese curry spice mix or any Japanese curry spice you can find ( I get mine from the Japan centre in London ) and simmer the kabocha down . If you need to thicken it you can add a 1/2 teaspoon slurry of kuzu powder.
Steam some lovely vegetables until tender I cut the vegetables nice and chunky to really get the flavour I used zucchini,peppers,daikon,carrot,lotusroot and more kabocha.
Add some rice to a plate or bowl and laden your curry sauce around and top with steamed vegetables and a sprinkle of sesame seeds.
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 .
