Donabe "Wakatake-ni"...Classic Simmered Bamboo Shoot

Pre-cooked packaged bamboo shoots are available all year round. But, they are nothing compared to freshly-foraged bamboo shoots, which are only available in the short window of the spring time.

So, now is the time...with Penryn Orchard's bamboo shoots...fresh from their farm in California.


I decided to make "Wakatake-ni", which is an extremely classic bamboo shoot dish. To best showcase the fresh and pure flavor of bamboo shoot, making the rich pure broth is extremely crucial. So, I shaved a generous amount of my special "honkare-bushi" dry bonito to make dashi stock. It was the end of this piece, so shaving a little piece was quite tough and time consuming (because you don't want to shave off your skin!). At the end, instead of cutting my finger with the bonito shaver's blade, I had a small blister in my finger and a part of skin peeled. I've been through so many dry bonito pieces over years and it happens every time I deal with a last leftover piece. But, it's worth it.

Once you make nice dashi stock. Making "Wakatake-ni" is very easy.


Combine the ingredients for the broth with cut bamboo shoot (and abura-age). Simmer with additional shaved bonito flakes ("katsuobushi"). This process is called "Oi-gatsuo", or literal translation is "chasing with more bonito". When cooking ingredients with very clean or less strong flavor, dashi stock is further fortified with additional bonito flakes for more umami flavors and most importantly for the aroma. I used a large tea bag and put freshly-shaved bonito flakes to infuse in the broth.


Once the bamboo is simmered and seasoned long enough, "katsuobushi" bag is removed and wakame seaweed is added to finish.


The simple and classic "Wakatake-ni" is ready. Traditionally, the dish is garnished with "kinome" leaves, but it's hard to find them in Los Angeles. So, no garnish:-)

For this dish, I used a mini-size classic-style donabe, "Yu Kizeto". Here's my recipe.

Simmered Bamboo Shoot in Dashi Broth ("Wakatake-ni")

Ingredients:
8 oz (240 g) bamboo shoot, cut into smaller pieces
1 rectangular piece fried tofu pouch ("abura-age") blanched and cut into strips
1 3/4 cups (420 ml) dashi stock
1 tablespoon sake
1/2 tablespoon raw brown sugar
1 tablespoon mirin
1 tablespoon light color soy sauce ("usukuchi shoyu")
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/6 oz (5 g) dry bonito flakes ("katsuobushi")
2 oz (60 g) fresh wakame seaweed, cut into bite-size pieces (or you can use rehydrated dry wakame)

Procedure:

1. In the donabe, combine the bamboo shoot, "abura-age", dashi stock, sake, sugar, and mirin. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer for 3 minutes.
2. Add the soy sauce and salt. Put "katsuobushi" in a sachet and add. Put a drop lid ("otoshibuta") on the surface, cover with lid, and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.
3. Remove the sachet of "katsuobushi". Add the wakame seaweed. Simmer for a couple of minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and let it rest for 15-30 minutes. You can enjoy it at a hot, warm or cool temperatures. 

Happy donabe life.

How to Prepare Bamboo Shoot in Donabe

I got a really great gift the other day.


It was a package of extremely seasonal, bamboo shoots...these are grown by Penryn Orchard (yes, the same grower who makes awesome hoshigaki) in California.


For (almost) any Japanese people, bamboo shoot is one of the most highly-praised seasonal ingredients in the spring. During the season, in Japan, we eat tons and tons of bamboo shoot. As I had never tried California bamboo shoot, I was so thrilled to cook it myself. These American bamboo shoots are much smaller than regular Japanese bamboo shoots, yet they look really fresh and pretty.

Because freshly foraged bamboo shoot contains toxic hydrocyanic acid, before it's ready to be used in cooking, bamboo shoot needs to be pre-cooked with rice bran flour ("nuka") to remove the toxin. By cooking bamboo shoot with rice bran, bran's starch removes the toxin from bamboo shoot and absorbs it. Also, by adding dry red pepper, it helps removing bitterness from bamboo shoot. It's a traditional simple process, which we still practice every time we get fresh bamboo shoot. And, every time, I feel high respect for our ancestors with such wisdom. It's also very important to do this process as soon as you get the fresh bamboo shoot, whether you use it soon or not. The longer you keep it (without pre-cooking), the more the bitterness in bamboo shoot increases.

Here's how you can prepare fresh bamboo shoot in donabe. For this process, I needed a large-size donabe, so I used donabe steamer, "Mushi Nabe" without the grate as a classic-style donabe.


How to Prepare Fresh Bamboo Shoot


1. Cut off a tip from each bamboo shoot at an angle. Slash to make an incision just deep enough to barely touch the tender part lengthwise.


2. Combine the bamboo shoots, and enough amount of water to cover them in the donabe. Add a big handful of rice bran ("nuka") and a couple of dry red peppers. Bring to simmer and put a drop lid ("otoshibuta") on the surface. Simmer over low heat until the thick part of a bamboo shoot is just tender when inserting a skewer. (35-40 minutes for a small to medium-size bamboo shoot.) Turn off the heat and let it cool down completely.


3. Peel the tough leaves of each bamboo shoot to reveal the tender interior. Cut off the firm tip and bottom parts. Also, shave off the bumpy part from the bottom part's outer layer.


4. Once all the bamboo shoots are peeled out of tough leaves, soak them in cold water for 30 minutes to remove any excess bitterness. Pre-cooked bamboo shoots can be kept in water and refrigerated for up to 1 week. Meanwhile, water needs to be replaced once a day.


Because, I couldn't wait until I use the freshly prepared bamboo shoots for cooking later, I sliced and ate one of them just as is. The tenderness, sweetness, and all the natural pureness of the bamboo shoot was just so special. Amazing.

In the next postings, I would like to introduce a couple of donabe dishes with bamboo shoot.

Happy donabe life.

Donabe Cooking Class Report...Spring Nourishing Dishes

On May 4 and May 11, we hosted donabe cooking classes with the new theme, "Spring Nourishing Dishes".

We had wonderful guests who brought really nice energy both dates.
In this class, we made 5 different dishes with many seasonal ingredients. All dishes are made in donabe!


Steam-roaste kabu and asparagus with yuzu-kosho vinaigrette. The texture of donabe steam-roasted vegetables are always so special. With the sauce made from yuzu-kosho and yuzu juice, the dish brought a nice refreshing accent.


Stewed hijiki salad. We used long hijiki seaweed ("naga hijiki") in the class, and cooked with burdock root ("gobo"), dry shiitake mushrooms, fried tofu pouch ("abura-age") and carrot. This dish tastes wonderful whether  warm or cold.


Sake-steamed clams. I got really big and beautiful clams which came from Washington State. The broth was rich in sake and all the juice from the clams and finished with white soy sauce ("shiro-shoyu"). Everybody drank up the last drops of the broth!


Simmered chicken and tofu in daikon sauce. Organic jidori chicken was marinated in shio-koji overnight and pan-fried before being added to the sauce. The sauce is mostly grated daikon and a little dashi stock. For the seasoning, I also used rice vinegar for accent.


"Shirasu" baby fish and wakame seaweed rice. Very seasonal Japanese dish. Baby anchovy ("shirasu") came from Shizuoka, Japan. The dish was finished with sliced shiso leaves...shirasu, wakame, and shiso are golden combo.

Here's the full menu.

Theme: Nourishing Spring Donabe Meal

Menu

Steam-roasted kabu and asparagus with yuzu-kosho vinaigrette

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Stewed hijiki salad

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Sake-steamed clams and broccolini

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Simmered chicken and tofu in daikon sauce

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“Shirasu” baby fish and wakame seaweed rice

Wine Selection

2011 Weingut Salomon – Undhof, Stein.Terrassen, Riesling (Kremstal, Austria)

Happy donabe life.

Crab & Napa Cabbage Donabe Stew

I was in a mood for crab meat tonight.
So, I decided to make a donabe hot pot dish with crab, napa cabbage, and some bacon!


Bacon was sautéed with ginger and garlic. Wood ear mushrooms and abura-age (fried tofu pouch) slices are added.


A big amount of napa cabbage was added, and sautéed until wilted.


Vegetable stock was added and simmered for about 15 minutes. Then, crab meat was added and stirred.


That's about it, and really nice hearty stew was ready. The broth came out so flavorful. Napa cabbage was really soft and delicate. Crab added the nice pure flavor. The wood ear mushroom gave nice crunchy texture. This dish was great with plain donabe rice!

To make this dish, I used medium-size classic-style donabe, "Hakeme".


Crab & Napa Cabbage Stew

Ingredients: (4 servings)
3 slices (about 3.5 oz or 100 g) bacon, cut into thin strips
1 clove garlic, minced
1 knob ginger, thinly-sliced into shreds
1/3 cup wood ear mushrooms, thinly-sliced
1 rectangular piece, fried tofu pouch ("abura-age"), blanched and thinly-sliced
19-20 oz (about 500 g) napa cabbage, thinly-sliced
1/4 cup (60 ml) sake
2 cups (480 ml) vegetable stock
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons light color soy sauce ("usukuchi shoyu")
6 oz (180 g) crab meat
2 teaspoons potato starch ("katakuriko") plus 1 tablespoon water
some black pepper
some thinly-sliced scallion

Procedure:

1. In the donabe, sauté the bacon over medium heat until it's mostly cooked through.
2. Add the garlic and ginger, and sauté until aromatic. (1-2 minutes.) Add the wood ear mushrooms and "abura-age" and continue to sauté for 1-2 minutes.
3. Add the napa cabbage, and stir until it's slightly wilted.
4. Add the sake, followed by the vegetable stock, oyster sauce, and soy sauce. Cover and bring to simmer. Simmer over medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until the napa cabbage is very soft. Add the crab meat and stir.
5. In a small cup, dissolve the "katakuriko" with the water. Drizzle in to the broth and stir gently until the broth is slightly thickened.
6. Adjust the flavor by adding a pinch of salt, if necessary. Sprinkle some ground black pepper and scallion and serve.

Happy donabe life.

Iga-yaki Grill Recipe...Grilled Seafood with Ponzu Sauce

After the meaty "yakiniku" night, we decided to do grilled seafood.
With Iga-yaki grill, "Yaki Yaki San", we can enjoy table-top grilled seafood dinner with very easy preparation.

Here's how we do our Yaki Yaki San seafood.


First, get the ingredients to cook on "Yaki Yaki San" ready. Sashimi grade salmon (sliced and seasoned lightly with salt), jumbo shrimp (tail on), calamari legs, cut asparagus, baby bell peppers, and enoki mushrooms.


Sauce and condiments. Homemade yuzu ponzu with grated daikon, lettuce wrap, sliced scallion, daikon sprouts, garlic, and lemon wedges. Very simple.


Get "Yaki Yaki San" ready by pre-heating and brushing oil on, and start grilling. Lightly-seasoned jumbo shrimp.


Calamari legs and vegetables.


Salmon sashimi slices are grilled to rare. It's good in a lettuce wrap.

This Iga-yaki grill, "Yaki Yaki San", which is made from ancient clay doesn't release smoke, and it does a nice and calm grilling. I love it so much.

Happy donabe life.