Braised Kabocha

This is one of my favorite dishes of my childhood. My mom used to cook it for me and my sister all the time.

Ingredients

1 ea. Medium-size Kabocha (about 1lb)

2 tbsps. brown sugar

1 tbsp. light soy sauce

1/2-1 tbsp. dark soy sauce

yuzu rind, thinly sliced (optional)

salt to taste

Prodedure

Cut the kabocha into half and scoop out all the seeds. Cut each half into large pieces and trim the edges.

In a pot, place the kabocha pieces and water. Water should just barely cover the surface of the kabocha.

Bring the mixture to boil, reduce the heat to low. Cover the surface with the parchment paper and close the pot with a lid. Let the ingredients to simmer for about 10 minutes or until the kabocha is tender.

Discard half of the cooking liquid and the parchment paper. Add the sugar and soy sauces. Continue to cook the kabocha for another 5 minutes or so. Adjust the seasoning by adding a little amount of salt. Add the yuzu rind (optional) 1-2 minutes before the end of the cooking.

This dish can be enjoyed either hot or at a room temperature.

Grated Daikon and Crab Salad

Daikon is so versatile and I love it so much.

I simply tossed the ingredients in home-made ponzu.

Ingredients (for 2)

2-3" length medium-size daikon, peeled, grated and its juice drained

4 ea. relatively thin asparagus, cut into 2" length and blanched

1 ea. abura-age (deep-fried pressed tofu pouch), pan-fried both sides and sliced into thin strips

1/3 to 1/2 cup lump crab meat

(ponzu sauce)

1.5 tbsps. soy sauce

1 tbsp. rice vinegar

1/2 tbsp. grapefruit juice

1/4 tsp. sesame oil

katsuo-bushi (bonito flakes)

Procedure

Mix the ingredients for ponzu sauce and set aside.

In a bowl, combine grated daikon, asparagus, abura-age, and crab meat with the ponzu.

Garnish with katsuo-bushi.

Vegetable Chap Chae (Korean Stir-fry Noodles)

Chap Chae is a very popular Korean noodle dish. The good chap chae has the bouncy texture of the noodle and not soggy. It's not a difficult dish to fail. I like to make it with just vegetables and tons of mushrooms.

Ingredients (for 2 main servings or 4 appetizers)

200g (about 6.5oz) bean thread noodles (glass noodles)

1.5 tbsps. sesame oil

3-4 ea. shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced

2 ea. medium-size king oyster mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 ea. small carrot, peeled and julienned

1/2 ea. medium-size red bell pepper, julienned
1 small bunch yellow or green nira (Chinese chives), cut into 2-3" length

1.5 cup soy bean sprouts

2 tbsps mirin

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp sake

1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

salt and pepper

la-yu (hot chili sesame oil)

Procedure

Cook the bean thread noodles in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse, and cut into bite-size lengths with scissors. Set aside. In a cup, combine the mirin, soy sauce, sake and rice vinegar and set aside.

In a wok, heat the sesame oil and saute the mushrooms, carrot, and bell pepper at medium-high heat for about 2 minutes. Add the nira and soy bean sprouts and cook for another minute.

Add the sauce mixture to deglaze the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Add the cooked bean thread noodles and toss all the ingredients for 1-2 minutes.

Serve in a plate and drizzle la-yu and garnish with dried chili threads, scallion, and cilantro (garnish is optional).

Wines We Drank at Bazaar

This past week, I was lucky enough to dine at Jose Andres' Bazaar twice in the same week. I love everything about this restaurant. It's so gorgeous (but not cheesy), service is very sophisticated, and the food is tryly exciting. I totally splurged!

Their corkage fee is $30 at Bazaar, so it's not outrageous for the class of restaurant. Their wine list is also wonderful, too. Also, I love their creative cocktails...lime sorbet cocktail made by using liquid nitrogen was such a great scene to watch, and exquisit to taste.

1996 Ployez-Jacquemart, L. d'Harbonville, Champagne Brut

It really shined with the Kumamoto Oyster dish. 70% Chardonnay with the rest is Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The wine was aged in a cask but didn't go through the MLF to retain the clean acid even after aging for many years. It was so gorgeous!

2001 Domaine Ramonet, Chassagne-Montrachet, "Les Ruchottes"
It was so rich and round, yet the wine had the beautiful elegance. That's Ramonet's magic.


2006 Bruno Colin,Chassagne-Montrachet, 1er Cru "Chaumees"
Very sexy but not overpowering. Great minerality with the complexity. It was almost like the "liquid mozzarella".


1994 Vega Sicilia, Tinto Valbuena, Ribera del Duero
There was so much going on in this wine. Rich and complex with chocolate, dark berry, and slight smokiness. Wow.

Ni-Buta (Braised Pork)

This is a great party dish, as it's easy to make the big portion with the simple preparation.

This time, I made it with the pork butt, but you can also make it with the pork belly. The key is to finish it in the oven with the yuzu-cha (yuzu jam).

Ingredients

3-4 lbs. Pork butt
salt and pepper

1C sake or Chinese rice wine

water

3-4 ea. scallions (green part only)

3 ea. garlic cloves

1-2 oz. ginger, peeled and sliced

1 tsp. black pepper corns

1tsp. Szchechuan pepper corns

(Sauce)

2C braising liquid from cooking the pork

3 tbsps. sake or Chinese rice wine

2 tbsps. course brown sugar

3-4 tbsps. soy sauce

2 ea. star anise

1/2 tbsp. fresh sansho berries (optional)

yuzu jam

scallions (bottom 5"), sliced thin

shiso leaves, sliced thin

Japanese karashi mustard

Procedure

(a night before)

season the pork (all sides) with salt and pepper and rub well. Cover and let it rest in the fridge overnight.

In a large pot, sear the pork (all sides) at medium-high heat.

Deglaze the pot with 1C of sake and add the water. The water should barely cover the surface of the meat. Bring the pot to a boil, reduce the heat to low. Skim if necessary. Add the garlic, ginger, and peppercorns. Cover the top and braise the meat over low-heat for 2.5 hours.

Remove the meat, cover with the foil and cool it down.

Strain the braising liquid (stock).

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients for the sauce in a sauce pan and let it reduce to half over medium-high heat.

45 minutes before the serving, rub the yuzu jam on the top of the meat. Put it in the 375F oven (uncovered) and cook further for 30 minutes. Remove the meat from the oven, cover with the foil, and let it sit for 10-15 minutes. Serve as big blocks or sliced with the sauce. Serve with thinly sliced scallions, shiso leaves and Japanese mustard.

You can prepare a variety of yummy dishes with the leftover pork and the stock you made (if there is any!).


The other day for lunch, I made Cha-Shiu Mein. You can simply season the broth with the salt and pepper (plus the reserved lard - pork fat if you like) and serve with the Chinese egg noodle with the topping of sliced leftover pork.

It's such a simple preparation, and the taste is amazing!

Korean Soy Bean Sprouts Donabe Rice

This is a Korean-style rice dish. it's called Kongnamul Bab. You cook the rice with the soy beans and other ingredients, and eat the rice mixture with a drizzle of soy-based sauce over the rice. I think the more popular versions are mixed with meat, but I like it lighter, so made only with vegetables.

I think the authentic Korean version uses hot chili peppers in the sauce, but my version doesn't have the heat and it's mild. The rice turns so shiny and it's really tasty. I almost finished the full 2 cups of rice myself! I posted the recipe on toiro's website.

Lotus and Pork "Sliders"

They look so cute, and the texture is really nice. Jason named this dish.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. lotus, peeled, sliced into 3/8" thin, and soak in water for 15 minutes

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 tbsp. sake

1 tsp. miso

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. grated ginger

1/4 tsp. black pepper

potato starch

lettuce leaves

Procedure

Mix the pork, sake, miso, soy sauce, grated ginger, and black pepper in a bowl by hand. Knead until the texture is smooth and the mixture becomes shiny. Cover and let it rest in the fridge for 15-30 minutes.

Pat dry the lotus slices and place them on a large plate. By using the sifter, sprinkle the potato starch over the surface of each slice.

Make meat balls by hand and make "sandwiches" with lotus slices (potato starch side should face inside).

Place the "sandwiches" on plates over lettuce leaves and cook in the steamer for about 10 minutes or until cooked through at medium-high heat.

Sauteed Asparagus, Shiitake, and Iwanori

This is another "Shojin" (Buddhist-style vegetarian) style appetizer.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. asparagus, trimmed, blanched, and cut into 3"-long

4 ea. shiitake mushrooms, sliced

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1/2 tbsp. soy sauce

salt

handful of iwanori (rough-texture nori seeweed)

Procedure

Heat the sesame oil in a pan and saute the shiitake mushrooms at medium-heat.

Add the asparagus and continue to saute for another minute.

Add soy sauce, and a pinch of salt (if necessary).

Add iwanori right before turning off the heat and toss well. (Add more sesame oil if necessary.)

Pork Lettuce Wrap

Ground meat is so versatile. This is my whimsical lettuce wrap.

Ingredients

1/2 lb. ground pork

4 ea. shiitake mushrooms, cut into small dice

1 tsp. garlic

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. tobanjiang (Chinese hot bean paste)

1 cup soy bean sprouts

1 tbsp sesame oil

(sauce)

2 tbsps. sake

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. tian mian jiang (Chinese flour paset)

1 tsp. sugar

Butter lettuce

Chopped herbs

Procedure

Combine the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

In a wok, heat the sesame oil and saute ground pork at medium heat. When the pork is almost cooked through, add the shiitake mushrooms and continue sauteing for another couple of minutes. Make a small empty spot in the wok and add tobanjiang and heat it until fragrant, then stir with the pork mixture.

Add the sauce mixture and stir. Turn the heat to high. When the sauce is well blended with the other ingredients, add the soy bean sprouts and stir for another minute.

Enjoy with the lettuce and the chopped herbs.

Medicinal Herbal Chicken Soup

One of my friends brought back a wonderful souvenier from her last trip to Singapore.


It was a package of the medicinal herbal mix for the chicken soup. These herbs are: honey dates, goji berries, jujube, fragrant solomonseal rhizome, rhizoma dioscoreae (Chinese yam), lily bulb, lotus seed, astragalus root, Szechuan lovage root, angeliai sinensis (female ginseng), and tangerine. Mmm...I love medicinal food for the better health. So I tried cooking the chicken with it.


I placed the whole chicken in a pot with the water (just enough to cover the meat), sliced ginger, garlic, scallions, and all the herbal mix. Then, I brought it to boil, reduced heat, skimmed the scum, and simmered with the lid on for 3 hours. It's really like, Samgaetang, which is one of my favorite Korean dishes.


After 3 hours of simmering, you can see the broth is extracted with all the good stuff! I strained the broth, then cooked some sliced daikon, carrots, Napa cabbage, and wood ear musorooms in it. I didn't even add sake to it. At the end, I only seasoned the broth with the salt.


What a wonderful soothing dish! The flavor of the broth was so deep and complex. The chicken was very delicate. The every sip of the soup was so delightful and felt like it's doing something really good for my body (and the skin).

I'd love to make it again, so next time, I'm going to check out Wing Hop Fung to see if they carry all these herbs.

Brussels Sprouts and Chicken Liver in Miso Sauce

If you do it without the chicken liver, this will make a wonderful "Shojin" (Buddhist-style vegetarian) dish. But, I somehow really like the combination of the brussels sprouts and the liver.

Ingredients

3/4 to 1 lb. Brussels sprouts, halved

2-3 oz. chicken liver, rinsed and cut into bite-size pieces

3 medium-size shiitake mushrooms, sliced

(Sauce)

3/4C konbu dashi stock

2 tbsps miso

1 tsp sugar

2 tbsps sake

2 tsps soy sauce

2 tsps juice from grated ginger

1 tbsp sesame oil

Procedure

Steam the Brussels sprouts in a steamer until they are tender (about 7-8 minutes) and set aside. Combine the ingredients for the sauce and set aside.

In a pan, saute the chicken liver with the sesame oil at medium-heat for a couple of minutes.

Add shiitake mushrooms and continue to saute for another couple of minutes.

Add the steamed Brussels sprouts and the sauce into the pan and continue to cook for another 8-10 minutes.

Crispy Skin Duck Breast with Grated Daikon & Ponzu Sauce

It takes very little time for the actual cooking, but for the best result for the crispy juicy skin, I like to season the duck breast 2 days in advance. I simply season both sides of the meat with salt and pepper, and rest it skin-side up in a plate with the cover for the first 2 nights, then uncover in the morning of the cooking and let the skin air-dry in the fridge until 1 hour prior to cooking. If you don't have time, you can season the meat just a couple of hours before the cooking and it will still be good.

Ingredients

2 pairs of duck breast

salt and pepper

(Ponzu Sauce)

3 tbsps. dark soy sauce

2 tbsps. black vinegar

1 tbsp. grapefruit juice

1 tsp. sesame oil

sliced dried red chili peppers

daikon, peeled grated, and drained of excess juice

chopped mixed herbs, such as daikon sprouts, ginger, shiso, and scallion

Procedure

Season both sides of the duck breasts and let it rest in the fridge for 2 hours to 2 days. Take them out of the fridge 1 hour before cooking. Score the breast skin with a knife (about 1/2" wide).

Meanwhile, combine the ingredients for the ponzu and set aside.

To cook the duck, heat the pan to medium-low. Place the breasts skin-side down on the pan and cook until the skin is golden-brown (about 10 min). By then, the duck should release a lot of fat grease. Discard the fat grease or save it for another use.

Turn the meat over and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes. Transfer the meat to a cutting board, cover with the foil and let the meat rest for 5 minutes.

Slice the meat and enjoy with the ponzu sauce, grated daikon, and mixed herbs.

Duck dinner was served with donabe rice, made by Jason.

Jason - Donabe Rice Master

My husband, Jason, basically cannot cook, although he loves to eat good food.

But...he makes great rice!!! For a rice fanatic like me, if my husband can cook the great rice, I really don't care if he can't cook anything else.

Jason totally mastered to cook rice with "Kamado-san", which is a Japanese donabe (clay pot) rice cooker with double lids. You can find more info about "Kamado-san" on toiro's website.

Tonight, he cooked 3 rice cups (1 rice cup = 180 ml or 3/4 US cup) of mixed rice (2.5 rice cups of white rice and 1/2 cup of multi-grain rice).

After measuring the rice, he rinsed the rice in running water.

Instead of cooking the rice with only water, Jason likes to add a little amount of sake (1 tablespoon for each rice cup) for the extra complexity and the shiny result.

Then, fill out the measuring cup with the addition of the water. For 3 rice cups of the rice, he measured 600 ml of liquid (water+sake). That means, for each rice cup of the rice, you need 200 ml of water to cook with.

Once the rice is soaked in water for 20 minutes, cover the donabe with both lids, then cook the rice for 15 minutes over medium-high heat on the stove top, and let it rest for 20 minutes uncovered.

Voila! This is the beautiful shiny multi-grain rice made by Jason.

Two Quick Vegetable Appetizers...Winter Melon Soup, and Wok-Fried Nira & Bean Sprouts

The light vegetarian appetizers I made last night are so easy, tasty, and cost next to nothing.

Since I had a big chunk of winter melon (or "togan", in Japanese), I decided to whip up a healthy soup with it. Winter melon is used in many "Shojin" style (Buddhist-style vegetarian) or "Yakuzen" (medicinal - cooking for health benefits) dishes. I love it so much. This soup is a completely vegan dish. Just 3 ingredients!

Ingredients

3/4-1 lb. winter melon, peeled, seeded, and cut into cubes

konbu dashi stock

salt

Procedure

In a pot, pour just enough dashi stock to cover the winter melon. Simmer at medium-low heat for 15 minutes or the winter melon is cooked through.

Transfer the winter melon and the dashi stock into a blender and blend until smooth. Season with salt.

*******************

I totally love the simplicity of stir-fried bean sprouts. When I go to a hole-in-the-wall kind of ramen stand in Japan, this is something I order to start with. Including the preparation, it takes less than 10 minutes to make this dish, so this is a "bachelor-friendly" dish, too.

Ingredients

Bean sprouts

Nira (Chinese chives), cut into 5" length

Dried red chili peppers, seeded and sliced thin

Salt

Black pepper

Sesame oil

Procedure

In a wok, heat the sesame oil at high heat. Add the bean sprouts and stir for 45 seconds.

Add the nira and dried red chili peppers and continue stir-frying for another 45 seconds or until nira is wilted.

Season with salt and pepper.

Pork Pulkogi with Donabe

I made my version of Pulkogi, which is one of the most popular Korean dishes, tonight. Instead of cooking it on the grill or the in the iron pot, I made it with the donabe (clay pot). My "donabe pulkogi" is cooked with a lot of vegetables, so this one dish (with the side of rice, cooked with donabe rice cooker) creats the wonderfully balanced meal. All you need to do is just assemble the ingredients in the donabe.

Ingredients (2 hearty servings)

1/2 lb. sliced pork belly, cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 ea. medium-size cabbage, cut into strips

1 ea. medium-size carrot, peeled and cut into match-sticks

1/4 lb. nira (Chinese chives), cut into 2" length

1/4 lb. shiitake mushrooms, sliced

(Marinade for the pork)

1 tsp. grated garlic

2 tsps. grated ginger

2 tbsps. kochujang

2 tbsps. sake or Chinese rice wine

1 tsp. soy sauce

1/2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1/2 cup Chinese-style chicken stock

Procedure

Mix the ingredients for the marinade and marinade the pork for 15-30 mintues.

In donabe (clay pot), put the marinated pork in the center of the bottom. Place the cabbage, carrot, nira, and shiitake, so that they can surround the meat. Pour the chicken stock (this will prevent the bottom of the donabe from burning.

Close the lid of the donabe and cook at medium-heat for about 10 minutes or until the ingredients are almost cooked through.

Open the lid and mix the ingredients with the chopsticks until everything is cooked.

Serve pulkogi with the rice.

Maison Camille Giroud Tasting + Dinner at Palate Food + Wine

I attended a fabulous wine tasting and dinner event at my fav hangout, Palate Food + Wine last night. David Croix, the winemaker of Camille Giroud, was the guest of the event, and he gave us the comprehensive tasting of the 2006 vintage of Camille Giroud, followed by the sit-down paring dinner.

Beaune-based Camille Giroud, established in 1865, is one of othe top negociants of Bourgogne. They source from the first-rated growers such as Armand Rousseau, Comte Lafond, Meo-Camuzet, Comte-Armand, Emanuel Rouget, and even Henri Jayer (before he transferred his vineyards to Emanuel Rouget). Giroud tends to use less new oak in the wine making and the wines are very terroir-oriented.


























It was a sold-out event with seemingly 50+ Burgundy enthusiasts attendees. The tasting+dinner was $175 (plus tax and tip) per person. For everything you taste and eat, it's still a wonderful deal. At the walk-around tasting, we tasted 6 wines from Giroud's 2006 vintage.
Bourgogne Rouge
Cote de Beaune Villages
Maranges 1er Cru Le Croix Moines
Gevrey-Chambertin Les Crais
Vosne-Romanee
Corton Rognets

Everything was obviously still very young, but overall I thought 2006 was a good vintage for Giroud. The wine pairing dinner was really excellent, too. Here's the menu we had.


1er...Day boat scallops, preserved meyer lemon + a trilogy of cauliflower.

2006 Meursault La Barre
2006 Corton-Charlemagne

The scallops were excellent. Meursault was extremely ripe and tasted kind of fat. I wonder if the grapes are from Lafon's Clos de la Barre vineyard? Corton had the great body and structure.



















2eme...Local halibut, cock's combs, duck tongues, crosnes et cardoons

1995 Santenay Grand Clos du Rousseau
1988 Beaune Bressandes

Wow, I loved the cock's combs! It was so delicate. Crosnes is in the tube family, and cardoons is the family of artichoke. Santenay was showing really well and elegant.



















3eme...Whole roasted goat, ceci, spigarello _ sweet pea pistou

2006 Corton Clos du Roi
1976 Corton Clos du Roi

They cooked the whole goat and served by slices, so it seemed some people got the very tender loin cuts while the others got the tougher cuts. I think my dish had the both kinds and I enjoyed everything. 1976 Corton was so beautiful with the deep-flavored goat.

Assiette de fromates

2006 Chambertin

All goat cheesees. Chambertin was gorgeous and I thought it should be a keeper. (Retail $210)

Everybody including myself was very happy tonight.

2001 Luciano Sandrone, Barolo "Cannubi Boschis" with Piemontese Porterhouse

The other night, I had dinner with friends at Drago Centro in Downtown . Among all the wonderful wines we had that evening, 2001 Luciano Sandrone, Barolo "Cannubi Boschis" shined so much with the Grilled Piemontese Porterhouse.

Although, I tend to prefer "old school" Barolo producers, I like the modern style of Luciano's Barolo also. Maybe it's because he doesn't use barrique, so you don't taste the tannins from the barrel even when the wine is young. Luciano is a suparstar of "Barolo Boys". I visited him at his winery a few years ago, and I was so impressed by the beautiful modern facilities he had.

His 2001 Cannubi Boschis was still at its bright youth, yet it was well-balanced and wonderfully drinkable. The aroma had the dark berry, with a hint of mocha. The texture was dense and the finish was long. The wine coated the juicy grilled porterhouse meat so well.

Braised Winter Melon and Shrimp

I found Winter Melon (it's also called White Gourd, or Tung Qua in Chinese) at a Chinese store, so I made this healthy hearty dish. In Japanese, it's called "togan (冬瓜). The real season of the winter melon is actually summer to late summer, but since this can be kept fresh until winter time, it was named such way. Almost 95% of winter melon's content is water, so some people enjoy it as a "diet" food. It's also supposed to have various health benefits, such as helping the healthy blood circulation, etc.

I made this Chinese style winter melon this.

Ingredients

1lb Winter melon, seeded, peeled, and cut into large cubes

2C Chinese-style stock (I used my homemade pork stock)

1tsp. each minced ginger and garlic

1Tbsp. fermented black beans, rinsed and reconstituted

1tsp. tobanjan (Chinese hot bean paste)

3-4 ea. shiitake mushrooms, quartered

1/2lb shrimp

1tsp. soy sauce

1tsp. oyster sauce

black pepper

sesame oil

Procedure

Combine the winter melon and the stock in a medium-size pot. Bring to a boil, reduce to heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the winter melon is tender.

In a wok, saute ginger, garlic and fermented black beans in 1.5Tbsp of sesame oil. Add tobanjan and stir. Add the shiitake and continue stirring until it's almost cooked through.

When it's fragrant, add shrimp and quickly saute. Add the winter melon-stock mixture to the wok. Season with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and a pinch of black pepper.

The dish is really soothing and you feel so good after eating.

Chinese-style Crab Soy Milk Chawanmushi

It's another whimsical dish I quickly fixed on Sunday evening. I had the leftover of lump crab meat, very flavorful pork stock from cooking the pork butt the night before, as well as the straight soy milk (the un-flavored pure kind), so I came up with this recipe. This Chawanmushi is a slightly runny kind (which I like), but if you prefer the custard to be harder, you can use less liquid. Also, i don't add any salt in the egg mixture, as the salt could separate the soy milk during cooking. Instead, the sauce is served with the finished Chawanmushi.

Ingredients

1/4C crab meat

200 ml pork stock (or any kind of your choice)

200 ml soy milk

2 large eggs

(Sauce)

1/2Tbsp soy sauce

1/2Tbsp oyster sauce

Procedure

Beat the eggs in a medium-size bowl until smooth. Add the stock and soy milk and whisk together.

Divide the egg mixture into two serving bowls. Top each serving bowl with the crab meat.

Put the bowls into a steamer and steam at medium-low heat for 15 minutes or until the custard is set.

Meanwhile, blend the soy sauce and oyster sauce and set aside.

Serve chawanmushi with the sauce.

Yuzu-Kosho Lotus

This is another appetizer which you can enjoy either warm or cold. It's my whimsical creation as I wanted to fix something quickly as an appetizer.

Ingredients

1 ea. lotus root (about 10 oz), peeled, sliced (about 1/8" thickness), and soaked in cold water for 15 minutes.

olive oil

yuzu-kosho

water

Procedure

Pat-dry the sliced lotus. Heat about 1.5Tbsp of olive oil in a pan. Saute the sliced lotus at medium-heat until nicely-colored (both sides).

In a ramekin, dissolve about 1 Tbsp (or more if you like it hotter) of yuzu-kosho with the half amount of water.

Turn off the heat. Pour the water-dissolved yuzu-kosho over the lotus and toss well.

That's it! It's so simple and the taste is great.