Udon with Shrimp, Renkon, Wakame, Scallion and Naruto

This is an Udon inspired by what I happened to have in the house. I followed the Udon Soup Base that I always use, but to each bowl after popping in a generous serving of noodles (follow package directions) added in about 5 pieces of prepared Renkon, 3 pieces of sliced naruto, a handful of boiled shrimp (I was going to boil them in the soup base, but the soup base was slow to heat and the water for heating the udon was at a raging boil, so I used that water!), a heaping tsp of dried Wakame and roughly cut scallion greens (the whites were tossed into the soup base while it heated for extra flavor. As always, the Udon is assembled with the noodles at the bottom of the bowl, all of the additions resting on top and then the soup is poured over everything. It tastes as good as it looks and I am not just being an egomaniac. I could eat this every day, but Scott and I have decided that Wednesdays will be Udon night from here on out! And the decent pictures? Scott took them! No more crappy phone pics!

Udon Soup Base

This is more or less the soup I used whenever I make Udon - it is the perfect backdrop to whatever you can dream of adding to your Udon! This is enough soup to feed two people well (and possibly leave lunch for one of them the next day!)

• 4 C dashi
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T mirin
• 2 t sugar
• salt to taste

Put the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar into a pot and heat to a simmer - taste and add salt if needed.

Enoki Mushroom Miso Soup

This is a slight variation on standard miso soup - white Enoki mushrooms were used instead of tofu. Everything is the same except I leave out the tofu altogether and I slice the enoki mushrooms into thirds, reserving the caps to add directly to serving bowls and adding the 2/3 that are stem to the broth while it comes up to temperature. I do this with regular miso soup too, but it is worth mentioning again: I chop the scallions and reserve the green portions to add as the soup is finishing, but I toss the whites in the pot while the broth is coming up to temperature - they add flavor and when cooked like this get really sweet and delicious. I can't wait to try this with Shitake mushrooms and other, more flavorful varieties!

Baked Cod

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (or just a tad shy - might be my oven, but I get a better result) and line a baking pan with foil (this is simply to aid cleanup.)

Put the cod in a bowl along with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix it around to coat the cod.

Transfer cod to baking dish, squeeze half a lemon over it, garnish with a sprig of Italian parsley and a lemon slice. Bake for about 15 minutes - the rule is to allow 10 minutes per inch and fish is done when the flesh flakes and is opaque, yet still moist.

Satsumaimo Oven Fries

Pretty much the same as regular Sweet Potato Fries, only using the purple skinned Japanese sweet potatoes.

Oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Wedge the sweet potato and toss into sip-top bag along with oil and seasonings (salt/pepper - add what you like - remember that spicy compliments sweet ... cayenne would not go amiss!) and shake it around to coat evenly. Spread evenly on parchment and back 20-30 minutes, flipping once.

Satsumaimo Amani

• Japanese sweet potato (1/2 lb) in 1/2" slices
• 1.25 C dashi
• 1.5 T sugar
• 2 t soy sauce

Soak sweet potato slices in water for 10 minutes. Place slices and dashi in a pot over medium heat - bring to a boil. Add sugar and soy sauce and reduce to simmer - heat reduced to low. Put foil or a drop lid over potatoes, simmer on low for 20 minutes or until the liquid is almost gone. Makes 4 servings.

Tamagoyaki

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 1 T sugar
• 1 t mirin
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 t light soy sauce
• oil for cooking

Equipment:

• 8" non-stick frying pan
• heat resistant brush for spreading oil
• fork(s) and/or chopsticks to turn the egg
• sushi rolling mat

Heat the pan on medium-low and have a small bowl of oil and the brush at the ready. Beat all ingredients together - don't use a whisk otherwise it will get foamy, just use chopsticks or fork. Brush the heated pan with oil and put in 2-3 T of the egg mixture. Cook gently until nearly set on top (but not runny), then roll it up to one side of the pan. Brush the exposed pan with oil, add 2-3 more T of the egg mixture to pan (being sure to get some underneath the rolled layer!) Cook until nearly set and roll the whole thing (starting with the already rolled portion) to the other side of the pan. Keep repeating until you have used all of the egg.

Put tamagoyaki on moistened rolling mat, seam side down. Roll it tightly. You can eat it immediately or suspend the mat (allowing air to pass all around it) to cool it.

Or

Sous vide at 170 for 20 minutes

Stir-Fried Renkon (lotus root) with sesame and green onions

• 1/2 of thinly sliced (prepared) renkon/lotus root


• 1 piece of fresh ginger about 1" long, peeled and chopped


• 2 garlic cloves - peeled and chopped


• 1.5 C roughly chopped green onions


• 2 T finely chopped Red Hot Chili Peppers


• Oil


• 1 T sesame seeds


• Pepper


• 1.5 T soy sauce


• 1 t sesame oil

Heat oil in a large frying pan, then add ginger and garlic - stir until the oil is very fragrant. Add the lotus roots in a single layer and cook until they start to turn translucent looking - flip and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the chili peppers and green onions - stir fry - add sesame seeds, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil. The lotus roots should carmelize a little from the soy sauce. Serve hot or cold!

Sushi Rice

Just follow Maki's directions!

But in short:

• Use dashi in place of the water needed to make the rice, then cook as normal


• Use 1/4 C of sushi vinegar for 4 cups of cooked rice


• Turn rice out into large bowl or platter, moisten paddle with vinegar and pour vinegar over the rice


• Fold the vinegar into the rice GENTLY while fanning the rice to help it cool quickly - let it cool to body temperature.

Inarizushi

The aburaage skins should have nice big air pockets inside - if not, before you de-oil, roll chopsticks over them to loosen them up and make them easier to fill. De-oil the skins by placing them in boiling water for a few minutes - wipe with paper towels to further de-oil. Yes. Do this. Seriously.

To prepare the aburaage:

• Cut 6 de-oiled aburaage in half to form 12 "bags"
• 1-1/3 C dashi
• 3 - 4 T sugar (to taste)
• 2 T sake
• 2 T mirin
• 3 - 4 T dark soy sauce (depending on how salty you want them)

Bring all ingredients except aburaage to a boil in a pan, lower heat to a simmer and add the aburaage. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the liquid had reduced by about half. Turn off the heat and let the skins cool in the liquid. They can be stored in the liquid for 2-3 days in the fridge. To use, squeeze out enough liquid so they are not drippy and fill with 1/3 - 1/2 C of sushi rice.

Sushi Vinegar

• 1/4 C Rice Vinegar
• 1 T sugar
• 1/2 T mirin
• 1/2 T salt

Heat over low in small saucepan until sugar and salt is dissolved

Enough to flavor 4 cups of rice.

(Use extra salt and sugar when making filling for Inarizushi)

How to prepare Lotus Root (renkon)

• Peel the skin
  
• Slice about 1/8 " thick and put immediately into vinegared (or lemon) water to keep from turning color


• If using fresh or with only very little further cooking, they must be parboiled in vinegared water for about 4 minutes to get rid of the tannins.

Kitsune Udon

• 4 squares of prepared abura-age (cut into thin strips and/or quarters - halves are delicious, but can be overwhelming. Qty and cut are to your liking, they are not crucial to the recipe!)
• 4 C dashi
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 T mirin
• 2 t sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 scallions cut on the bias
• 4 slices of naruto or kamaboko (fish cakes), cut on the bias (or more - I love the naruto for the taste and because it is adorable.)
• Blanched Kale - about a handful per serving - removed desired amount from stalk, cook in boiling water for about 3-4 minutes, remove and drain.)
• Enoki Mushrooms about 3.5 oz for 2 large servings - trim the ends, cut the stalks into thirds. The top third with the cap waits in the serving bowl to have broth poured over it, the bottom 2/3 are part of the stock!
  

Boil a large pot of water and cook the udon as instructed on package - they should be al dente so they don't get soggy in the soup. Run them under cold water to stop the cooking! Put the dashi, soy sauce, mirin and sugar into a pot and heat to a simmer - taste and add salt if needed. Add the noodles to heat through, then divide into 2 bowls. Top the noodles with the scallions, fish cakes, kale, Enoki and abura-age and then pour the broth over everything.

Abura-Age for Kitsune Udon

Pictures! I remembered to take pictures!!! These were taken on 12/28/10 - I made the aburaage the night before I intended to use them - saves time and effort! I also made the whole package instead of just the quantity I wanted to use - they freeze like a dream!

The first image was taken right after I got done de-oiling the aburaage. That rack is actually from my mini-grill - I figured that the rack would cool them faster and let the excess water drain a tad. (This is also the cooling rig I use when making tomagoyaki!)

The second image is during the flavoring step - those aburaage are boiling away in the soy sauce, mirin, sugar and niboshi! (If you look carefully, one of the niboshi is sitting on top of a square!)

The third image was taken last night while I was putting the udon together - I just slice them thin and it makes these easy to eat rings!

This picture was part of the original post - the only picture I remembered to take! Those are the niboshi - they really look like something bad happened to an aquarium, but I was thrilled to be using them. I figure that "intimidating" looking foods persist and make their way into other cultures because their taste outweighs the squick factor. I couldn't tell you exactly what the niboshi added to the mix, but I can tell you the Aburaage were delicious - the niboshi were part of the umami!

Would have been nice to remember to take a picture of the aburaage. sigh. (edited - yay! it IS nice! :) )

• 1/4 C H20
  
• 15 niboshi


• 2 T soy sauce
  
• 1 T mirin


• 1 T sugar


• 4 squares of abura-age
  

You need to de-oil the aburaage before anything else. It's simple - put them in boiling water for a few minutes, flip them around a few times, drain and even blot with a paper towel - you want to get a whole bunch of the oil out of them! Then I squeeze them out before I flavor them.

Bring everything except the abura-age to a boil in a small pot. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the abura-age and simmer - flip it several times. It is finished when most of the liquid is absorbed and the abura-age is a deep brown color. Allow to cool and then press out excess liquid so it is not too salty

Dashi

Dashi is easy enough to make as needed, but freezes well for up to a month. Frozen dashi is very convenient and has several times spelled the difference between cooking the Japanese meal I would like to eat and cooking something else because I didn't think ahead to make dashi! I know you don't have to soak the konbu quite so long - some Japanese cooks say 20 minutes are enough - but I initially made dashi soaking the konbu for 30 minutes and then made another attempt after soaking it overnight. Perhaps it was some other beginner's mistake I didn't notice I made that accounted for the lack of flavor and color, but my latter attempt with the long soak was VASTLY superior.

• konbu - about 2/3 sheet, broken only enough to fit in pot
• 2.5 Qt of H20
• 1/2 oz katsuobushi (bonito flakes)

Soak Konbu is the water for at least 8 hours. Over medium heat, bring the water/konbu to about 150 degrees (small bubbles appear around the sides of the pot - about 9-10 minutes) Remove the konbu (and save it!!!) and increase heat to high and bring to a boil - about 5-6 minutes) Reduce heat to low and sprinkle in the katsuobushi. Keep stirring at a gentle simmer for about 10 minutes, then strain out katsuobushi (but keep it!!!)

Use now, refrigerate for a week or freeze for a month.

Miso Soup

• silken tofu, pressed and cut into 1/4" cubes


• 2 quarts dashi


• 6 T akamiso (red)


• 2 T shiromiso (white)


• 4 thinly sliced scallions (toss white ends in along with miso - they get sweet!)

Heat dashi to 100 degrees over medium heat. Ladle about 1 cup of dashi into bowl containing all the miso and whisk until smooth. Bring the remaining dashi to a light simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the miso and return to simmer - DO NOT BOIL!!! Add tofu and scallions, cook additional minute to heat them through. Serve

For a variation, see Enoki Mushroom Miso Soup.