Japanese Oshinko "Coleslaw"

This is something that I am improvising. It is a hybrid mix between a tsukemono quick pickle, oshinko, a salad and vinegar coleslaw. It starts with one of the "Asian chopped salad kits" you can get at the grocery store.

One bag of supermarket "Asian chopped salad kit"

I started off taking half the bag and putting it in a ziplock, and then I added a generous amount of seasalt to wilt the cabbage and  make a light brine. I then leave it in the fridge for a few hours.
I then drain any excess water and there was not much. I don't have ginger or green onion at the moment.
I will add some rice vinegar, soy sauce and a drop of sesame oil, and some sugar - not much, just a pinch and some red pepper flake.

I think I am going to add some wakame to this batch to get some umami flavor in it.

Hiyayakko - Chilled Tofu

1 block silken or firm tofu, chilled
Katsuobushi - dried bonito flakes
Grated ginger or daikon radish
Thinly sliced scallions
Toasted sesame seeds
2 tsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sesame oil

Drain the tofu and cut into blocks. Combine the soy sauce and sesame oil; drizzle over tofu.
Top with desired toppings.

Mayo Harusame Salad

This is a mayonnaise-based version of the traditional harusame salad.

2 bundles of bean thread noodles
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded & julienned
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 lb ham or imitation crab sticks (surimi), cut into strips
2 hard-boiled eggs, finely chopped - optional
Salt and pepper to taste

Rehydrate the bean thread noodles according to package directions; you want them to be clear and soft, but still chewy. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water. Drain well, cut into manageable lengths with kitchen shears, and add to a bowl.
Meanwhile, mix the cucumber sticks with a pinch of salt and set aside for about 5 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid and add the cucumber to the noodles.

Whisk the sugar and rice wine vinegar together; pour over the cucumber and noodles. Add the mayonnaise and mix well. Add the ham/imitation crab and egg (if using); mix well. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. Let chill for about 1 hour before serving.

Horenso no Ohitashi - Spinach Salad

1 lb fresh spinach, washed and trimmed
1/2 cup dashi
2 tbsp. soy sauce
Pinch of salt
2-4 tbsp. katsuobushi or sesame seeds

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Add the spinach and blanch for about 1 minute or until just tender. Drain and soak in cold water for about 5 minutes to stop the cooking process and retain the spinach's color. Drain the spinach and squeeze out the excess liquid; traditionally this is done by rolling the spinach in a bamboo mat or makisu rolling mat.  Lay the drained spinach onto the mat.
Roll up the makisu, squeezing any excess liquid from the spinach while rolling.
Once completely rolled up, give the roll a good final squeeze.

Carefully unroll the makisu and transfer the spinach to a cutting board.
Cut the rolled spinach into short lengths and place on small plates. Combine the dashi and soy sauce.
Pour this dressing over the spinach and then top with katsuobushi or sesame seeds.

Zaru Soba - Cold Soba Noodles

The tradition of eating soba originates from the Tokugawa period, also called the Edo period, from 1603 to 1868. In the Tokugawa era, every neighborhood had one or two soba establishments, many also serving sake, which functioned much like modern cafes where locals would stop for a casual meal.
At that time, the population of Edo, now modern Tokyo, being considerably wealthier than the rural poor, were more susceptible to beriberi due to their high consumption of white rice, which is low in thiamine.
It was discovered that beriberi could be prevented by regularly eating thiamine-rich soba. Soba is the traditional noodle of choice for Tokyo residents.

Chilled soba is often served on a sieve-like bamboo tray called a zaru, sometimes garnished with bits of dried nori seaweed, with a dipping sauce known as soba tsuyu on the side. The tsuyu is made of a strong mixture of dashi, sweetened soy sauce also called "satōjōyu" and mirin. Using chopsticks, the diner picks up a small amount of soba from the tray and dips it in the cold tsuyu before eating it. Wasabi and scallions are often mixed into the tsuyu. Many people think that the best way to experience the unique texture of hand-made soba noodles is to eat them cold, since letting them soak in hot broth changes their consistency. After the noodles are eaten, many people enjoy drinking the water in which the noodles were cooked "sobayu", mixed with the leftover tsuyu.

First make the Mentsuyu dipping sauce:
1/2 cup sake
1 cup mirin
1 cup soy sauce
One 2x2 inch kombu
1 cup packed katsuobushi
In a medium saucepan, add sake and bring it to a boil over medium high heat. Let the alcohol evaporate for a few seconds. Add mirin and soy sauce. Then add kombu and katsuobushi.
Bring it to a boil and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside until cool down.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and now the Mentsuyu is ready to use. For a dipping sauce, you dilute the concentrated mentsuyu with water, either 2 or 3 parts water. For a soup base, you will likely dilute the concentrated with 4 or 5 parts water.

14 oz. dried Soba noodles

Zaru Soba toppings:
2 green onions, finely chopped
Wasabi paste
Kizami Nori - finely shredded nori sheet

To make the soba noodles, boil water in a large pot. Do not add salt to the water. Add dried soba noodles in the boiling water separating the noodles from each other. Boil soba noodles according to the package instructions - usual is 4 minutes. Stir the noodles so they don’t stick to each other. Check the tenderness and do not overcook. Drain the noodles into a colander and wash the noodles in a cold running water to get rid of the excess starch. This is very important and key to great tasting noodle.
Put chopped green onions and wasabi on a small plate. Serve soba noodles on a tray or dish. Sprinkle Kizami Nori on top right before you serve.

Kyuuri to Wakame no Amasuzuke

These are probably one of my favorite pickles or tsukemono. This is a classic sanbaizu preparation, of course. The marinade is enough for one large English-style or "hothouse" cucumber - the long, relatively thin kind that often comes shrink-wrapped in plastic. If you're using other cucumbers, aim for about 4 to 5 cups cut up. Other than just cucumbers you try sliced turnips, carrots, daikon radish, regular radish, etc.
If you have made this before and it was missing "something" try using the Hon Dashi granules, and you will likely find the flavor other recipes miss with this.

8 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. Hon Dashi dashi soup stock granules, or one 4 inch square of kombu seaweed
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. sea salt
4 tbsp. boiling water
1 whole dried red chili pepper - optional
1 large English-style cucumber
2 tbsp. dried pre-cut wakame seaweed the "fueru" type that just requires soaking.

Combine and mix until the sugar is melted to prepare the vinegar dressing.
De-seed and cut up 1 English-style cucumber or equivalent other kind of cucumber into thin coins.
Put the marinade in a small glass, ceramic or plastic bowl - but not metal or a ziplock plastic bag. Put the cucumber and wakame seaweed in. Stir or shake around, seal well and let marinade in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight. Drain off the marinade and serve in small bowls. This should be eaten within 2-3 days. Here is the wakame you want to use..

Vegetable Miso Soup

5 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp powdered or 3 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/4 cup carrots, sliced
2 cups portobello mushrooms, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
1/4 cup miso, dissolved in 2 tbsp broth
2 cups spinach
Cooked soba or noodles of choice

In a large pot, combine the first three ingredients and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and add all remaining ingredients except the miso, spinach, and noodles. Cover and cook on low for 12 minutes or until the carrots are soft. Turn off the heat and add the spinach, stirring until it wilts. Immediately stir in the miso paste. Also stir in noodles if desired.

Tenzo Kyōkun

Tenzo Kyōkun or "Instructions for the Cook"
- by the monk Dōgen of the Kannon Dōri Kōshō Hōrin Zen Monastery

http://www.pvzen.org/biblioteca/Textos/tenzokyokun-eng.pdf

Pickled Daikon – Takuan

Takuan is a popular Japanese pickle traditionally made once a year and left alone for months fermenting to allow the flavor to fully develop. The fermenting process results in the a flavorful yellow colored pickle.
This is a super easy way to make takuan. If you want these to be yellow, you can add a few drops of food coloring to the vinegar, or mix in a teaspoon of turmeric. I, personally do not find it necessary. I also find I prefer daikon this fresher way, compared to the month's long fermented version.

1 long daikon radish
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sake - optional

Peel the daikon and cut into thin rounds. Sprinkle daikon with salt and let sit for 2 hours to pull out moisture. Add sugar, water, vinegar and sake to a small pan to bring to a boil. Stir until sugar dissolves and remove from heat. Squeeze excess water out of daikon with your hands. Place daikon in pickling container. Add liquid to container and let pickle for at least 2 days to develop flavor.

Sanbaizu Tsukemono Cabbage and Carrots

This is more of a vinegar pickle than a salt pickle. It adds the vinegar, mirin, sugar making it a "sanbaizu" flavored dish. It is really a sanbaizu tsukemono strictly speaking. Some sanbaizu recipes would substitute the Hon Dashi with shoyu or soy sauce. Sanbaizu gets its name from an old way of measuring. Ippai, nihai, sanbai means one bowl, two bowls, three bowls – hai (or pai/bai) is the specific Japanese counter suffix for bowls. When measuring out liquid ingredients for sumono, people would traditionally use very small sake cups, so sanbaizu was originally a vinegar sauce made up of one small sake bowl of each of the typical sumono ingredients: vinegar, mirin and soy sauce. Over time the recipe ingredients and ratio changed a little, but the name stayed the same. There is also a traditional nihaizu consisting of equal parts of vinegar and soy sauce.

1 head of napa cabbage
2 small carrots
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 cup white or rice vinegar
1/4 cup mirin
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. pickled ginger, shredded
1/4  tsp. Hon Dashi granules
1/2  tsp. black sesame seeds

Rinse and chop the cabbage into half inch to one inch strips.
Use a vegetables shredder to cut the carrots into about three inch match sticks.
Put the vegetables in a bowl and sprinkle them with the salt. Toss to distribute the salt over the vegetables.Put the vegetables in your pickling container and let them sit for at least one hour.
For ichiyazuke, let the brined vegetables sit under pressure for 24 hours.
Put the vegetables in a bowl and rinse them well in cool water to remove most of the salt. Squeeze as much liquid out of the vegetables as you can.

Put the vinegar, mirin, and sugar into a small pot and bring it just to a low boil to dissolve the sugar.
Remove the pot for the heat and stir in the ginger and Hon Dashi.
Put the salted vegetables in your pickling container and add the dressing. Use the press to submerge the vegetables completely and let them sit for at least one hour.
If you are going to marinate the vegetables overnight you may refrigerate the container, but you want the finished pickles to be at room temperature when served.
Transfer the pickles to a serving bowl and garnish with the black sesame seeds.

Hakusai no sokusekizuke

Now we get to a topic that I love - pickles. I am going to post a good deal of different pickle recipes on here. I believe the ancient monks loved these too. With the bland rice, these give a meal some zest and a pique of flavor.
This is a quick and simple salt pickle dish made of lightly salted hakusai cabbage which is often mixed with carrots and cucumber and seasoned with yuzu zest, konbu and togarashi pepper. The result is a salty, crisp pickle with a slightly spicy citrus flavor. It is one of the most common pickles found in Japan and is often served alongside set menu meals

About 2 lb Napa cabbage
1/2 tsp vegetable stock granules or about 1/2 a Knorr-sized stock cube
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. orange zest in thin strips
1 tsp. lemon juice - optional
1 tsp. dark sesame oil - optional
Drop of shoyu for serving - optional

Wash the cabbage leaves, and discard any discolored parts. Dry by spinning in a salad spinner or in several layers of paper towels. Chop up roughly. Mix together all the dry ingredients and orange zest in a bowl. If you're using a stock cube, crumble it up finely. Put the cabbage in the plastic bag, and the dry ingredients + orange zest. Close the bag with plenty of air in it and shake all around until the ingredients are evenly distributed. Open the bag, expel as much air as you can, and close again. Massage and toss the bag around, bruising the cabbage. Quite a lot of moisture will come out of the cabbage and melt the salt etc. Try not to burst the bag with over-enthusiastic kneading. You can eat this right away, or leave in the refrigerator in the bag for about an hour. To serve, drain off the excess moisture which is delicious, but rather salty...though some people like to drink it off. Drizzle with the optional lemon juice or sesame oil. Serve with any Japanese style meal. Makes a great bento box item.

Kenchinjiru - Buddhist Soup

This recipe for vegetable soup comes from Kenchoji-ji Temple
There is a story behind the soup. It would appear that a temple acolyte dropped a block of tofu, shattering it to pieces. Instead of wasting it, he cooked it with some vegetables and the monks seemed to like it.

4-6 dried shiitake mushrooms (fresh are okay too)
5.5 oz gobo or Burdock root
2.5 cups water
10.5 oz daikon, peeled and cut to bite sized wedges.
1 block of konnyaku, cut into bite sized pieces
7 oz carrots, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 tablespoons sesame oil
3.5 oz lotus root, peeled and cut to bite sized pieces.
2 tablespoons shoyu for sautéing
2.5 cups konbu stock
4 tablespoons saké
1 block firm tofu
4 tablespoons shoyu for soup
2 tablespoons red miso or 3-4 tablespoons white miso, optional but recommended!
Handful of greens - baby spinach, collard greens, etc.
Small amount of ginger juice

Soak the shiitake in the water for 10 minutes. Drain. Soak for another 30 minutes in the 2.5 cups of water. Remove the mushrooms but keep the water as you will use it later. Remove the stalk and cut into bite-sized slices. Peel the gobo and cut into thin bite-sized slices. Soak them in cold water for 5 minutes to remove bitterness. Drain and put aside. Cut the daikon into bite sized pieces and soak in cold water for 10 minutes to remove bitterness.

Cut the konyaku into bite sized pieces and boil for a couple of minutes. Drain and remove.
Heat up the sesame oil in your soup pot (or in a separate pan) and stir fry the gobo, shiitake, konyaku, daikon, carrot, lotus root, and shoyu for around five minutes.
Add the shiitake water, konbu stock, and sake. Bring to a boil. Cook on low heat until vegetables are tender (30-45 minutes). If there’s any froth forming on the top, remove it with a spoon.
Crumble the tofu block into the pot and mix it in. Add the shoyu and miso. Stir gently for a while until you think the miso is dissolved. Add your greens and cook them lightly. Add a small amount of ginger juice to taste.

When you serve this, you can add a little more shoyu to individual bowls as well to taste.
Goes really well with a side of freshly cooked rice. A lot of ingredients here, but the important thing to know is that you can substitute many of them.

Traditional Miso Soup

There are countless variations on this. This however, is the basic, simple recipe for it. The overly fussy tenzo or cook, might decide to grind the miso paste in a suribachi mortar, to make it more smooth - but that is a totally optional step. You can also press the tofu down with a weight to remove some of its excess moisture.

1/4 cup dried wakame
1/4 cup shiro miso (white soybean paste)
6 cups dashi
1/2 pound soft tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallion greens

Prepare dashi:
6 cups cold water
1 oz - about 30 grams kombu or dried kelp, about 20 square inches
Two 5-gram packages katsuo bushi or dried bonito flakes), about 1 cup

Bring cold water and kombu just to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Remove from heat and remove kombu, save it for pickled Napa cabbage pickles. Sprinkle katsuobushi over liquid; let stand 3 minutes and, if necessary, stir to make katsuobushi sink. Pour through a cheesecloth-lined sieve or a coffee filter into a bowl. Reserve katsuobushi for rice with soy-glazed bonito flakes and sesame seeds .

Prepare wakame:
Combine wakame with warm water to cover by 1 inch and let stand 15 minutes, or until reconstituted. Drain in a sieve.

Make soup:
Stir together miso and 1/2 cup dashi in a bowl until smooth. Heat remaining dashi in a saucepan over moderately high heat until hot, then gently stir in tofu and reconstituted wakame. Simmer 1 minute and remove from heat. Immediately stir in miso mixture and scallion greens and serve.

Cooking Japanese Gohan or Short-Grain Rice

Gohan or Meshi is plainly cooked white rice. It is such a staple that the terms gohan and meshi are also used to refer meals in general, such as Asa gohan/meshi (朝御飯, 朝飯, breakfast), Hiru gohan/meshi (昼御飯, 昼飯, lunch), and Ban gohan/meshi (晩御飯, 晩飯, dinner). Raw rice is called kome (米, rice), while cooked rice is gohan (ご飯, [cooked] rice). Nori (海苔), and furikake (ふりかけ) are popular condiments in Japanese breakfast.

Japanese short grained rice - Japonica
Water
Heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid
Strainer
Dry measuring cup
Liquid measuring cup

With the dry measuring cup, measure out the rice grains. One cup of dry rice will make approximately two cups of cooked rice. Pour the rice into the pot.

Fill the pot with enough cold water to cover the rice and use your hand to vigorously swish the rice around. Pour out the water, which will be cloudy with starch. Repeat this step 3 to 4 more times, until the water being poured off is almost clear. Removing as much surface starch as possible ensures that the cooked rice is not too sticky.

Pour the rice into the sieve and let the excess water drain away. Transfer the rice back to the pot.

With the liquid measuring cup, measure the water. For each cup of dry rice, you will need 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of water. This ratio can be adjusted to your preference. If you like a slightly drier rice, use just 1 cup of water per cup of rice. Add the water to the pot.
As an optional step, you can let the rice sit in the water for at least 10 minutes, which will allow the grains to absorb water and cook more evenly. If you are short on time, this soaking can be skipped.

Over high heat, bring the covered pot to a boil, which will take about 3-5 minutes, depending on the strength of your stove. Listen for the chattering lid or other sounds that indicate the water is boiling. Don't lift the lid to peek inside.

Reduce the heat to low and let the rice cook for about 5 more minutes, or until the water has been absorbed. Listen for the hissing and crackling that indicate the water has been absorbed, or if you must, quickly lift the lid to check inside. Crank up the heat to high for about 30 seconds to dry the rice.
Remove the pot from the heat and let sit, still covered, for 10 minutes. This step is essential for getting the correct texture and cannot be skipped. After the 10 minutes is up, gently stir up the rice and serve.

Okayu

This is the quintessential Zen Buddhist monastery rice gruel that has been served for a thousand years. Served at breakfast and lunch.

1/3 cup brown short or medium grain Japanese rice
2 cups water

The night before, wash the rice well, drain it, and place it into a small saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Let sit, covered, all night. In the morning, place the covered pot over medium high heat and continue cooking, stirring from time to time and adding more water if needed until a porridge consistency is reached. Now spoon it out into bowls and add any savory condiments:

Tamari
Toasted sesame seeds
Nori, shredded
Scallions, thinly sliced
Kimchi