Nemoto Kiko’s Na-no-hana and tomato pasta

I recently got my hands on some frozen na-no-hana (flowering canola), which to me is a real symbol of Japanese spring. So, yes, a weird thing to be buying at the onset of autumn, but I couldn’t resist.

I’d wanted to make a recipe from her book Uchi No Shuumatsu Gohan (Homestyle Weekend Meals) that combines na-no-hana with a tomato-based pasta sauce. Now was my chance!

I had some homemade tomato pasta sauce crying out to be used, so I used that as my base, adding the grilled spring onions and na-no-hana to it. Nemoto Kiko’s recipe follows:

Na-no-hana Tomato Pasta

1 tomato

3 sun-dried tomatoes

the white stem of 1 large spring onion

½ a bunch of na-no-hana (approx 150 g)

160 g spaghetti

3 Tbsps olive oil

salt and black pepper to taste

Remove the stem from the fresh tomato and roughly cube. Soak the dried tomatoes in water to plump, then slice finely. (Omit this step if using oil-packed dried tomatoes). Cut the spring onion into 3 cm lengths.

Heat the olive oil in a frypan and fry the tomatoes over a low heat until lightly crushed.

Grill the spring onion and na-no-hana until lightly browned.

Cook the spaghetti to packet directions, then add to the tomato pan. Adjust flavours with salt, then transfer to serving dish. Top with the grilled spring onions and na-no-hana and freshly ground black pepper.

Serves 2.

Jam Buttons

For a recent playdate I made some Jam Buttons, another recipe from Yamazaki Shizuka. These cookies are a really delicate shortbread, filled with jam – I used raspberry.

Jam Buttons

100 g unsalted butter (room temperature)

35 g icing (confectioner’s) sugar

¼ tsp salt

150 g baking flour

30 g ground almonds

150 g (approx) jam of your choice

Cream the butter, sugar and salt.

Sift the flour and ground almonds together and mix together with the creamed mixture to form a dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and refridgerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough between two sheets of clingfilm to a thickness of 2 – 3 mm. Cut circles using a 3 cm circle, then transfer to baking sheets lined with oven paper.

Make four holes in each cookie using a bamboo skewer or toothpick, then bake at 160C for 15 minutes.

Cool the cookies on a wire rack, then sandwich together with jam.

Makes 30 3-cm cookies.

Note, these cookies quickly soften due to the jam, so eat them up quickly!

Nemoto Kiko’s Mexican Brown Rice Salad

In the process of indulging my cookbook obsession, I’ve bought lots of books by Nemoto Kiko, a food coordinator and writer who runs a café called Coya in Zushi, not far from Tokyo. Her books feature simple, tasty recipes that are ‘new old fashioned’ – by which I mean she takes traditional ingredients and gives them a twist. Her style is very much neo-japonica – rediscovering beautiful, rustic and simplistic Japanese design for today.

I recently made her Mexican Brown Rice Salad from her book Uchi No Shuumatsu Gohan (Homestyle Weekend Meals) which was simple and delicious. The leftovers kept well for lunch the following day too, which was even better!

Nemoto Kiko’s Mexican Brown Rice Salad

2 rice bowls of cooked brown rice
150 g chickpeas
130 g corn kernels
150 g flaked tuna (note, I replaced tuna with extra chickpeas)
1 celery stick
2 tomatoes
1 avocado
cubed cheese to taste (parmesan, mozzarella etc)
2 Tbsps olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2 tsps wholegrain mustard
½ tsp sea salt
black pepper to taste
mint or oregano to taste

Put the rice in a large sieve or strainer and rinse under cold water to remove any stickiness. Set aside to drain thoroughly. Drain the chickpeas, corn and tuna (if using).

Cut the celery into 1 cm cubes. Cut the tomatoes in half and de-seed, then cut into 1 cm cubes. Cube the avocado and cut into 1 cm cubes, sprinkling with lemon juice or vinegar to prevent it browning. Cube the cheese.

Put the rice into a large bowl and add the cubed vegetables and cheese, then mix. Combine the dressing ingredients and mix with the rice mixture, then top with fresh mint or oregano as desired.

Sesame Spinach

Some of my favourite Japanese food is the simplest. Sesame Spinach or Hourensou no goma-ae is one example – lightly cooked spinach in a salty-sweet sesame dressing. This a standard homestyle Japanese recipe and so easy to make. Before you know it you’ll be eating as much spinach as Popeye!

Sesame Spinach

1 bunch spinach (approx 200 g)
3 Tbsps toasted sesame seeds (white or golden)
½ Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsps dashi (Japanese soup stock) or water

Wash the spinach well and trim any roots off. Cut partway through any thick stems with either a line or cross-hatch.

Add the spinach to a large pot of rapidly boiling water and boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain and rinse in very cold water. Once cold enough to handle, squeeze out excess water and cut into 3 cm lengths.

To make the sesame dressing, partially grind the sesame seeds in a small mortar and pestle and then add the sugar, soy sauce and dashi. Continue grinding until well mixed, then stir through the spinach.

Serves 2. Approximately 120 kcal per serve.

Note, this sesame dressing works with a range of green vegetables, summer beans being top of the list.

Addiction : recipe books

I’m the first to admit I have an acquisitive, magpie-like nature. I love buying new cookbooks, my collection of OPI nail polish borders on excessive and shoes, well, let’s not go there.

Last week I was killing time at Book First, waiting for the tracks to be cleared after an accident. Book First is my favourite bookstore – the shelves are crammed with beautifully produced, affordable books.

Japanese cookbooks have long been an obsession of mine. I love the way they’re produced and the way the authors sprinkle essays about their philosophy throughout the books. So, I came home with three new books last week, one of which is Watashi no o-yatsu, kodomo no o-yatsu (My snacks, kids’ snacks), by Yamazaki Shizuka, a food-coordinator, blogger and author.

I want to make almost every recipe in this book! She uses simple ingredients, and has an interesting way of adding Japanese flavours to ‘western’ style baking, with recipes like Kinako Shortbread and Miso Biscuits.

Surprisingly, the first recipe I made from this book was not biscuits, but Daikon Mochi, or Daikon Fritters. We had a massive daikon that needed to be used up, and I’ve always loved the daikon mochi that you get with dim sum.

I made one small change, as noted below:

Daikon Mochi

300 g daikon (approximately 1/4 to 1/3 of a whole daikon)
1/2 large spring onion, finely diced
3 Tbsps sakura-ebi (tiny dried shrimps) – I substituted 3 Tbsps frozen organic corn kernels
1/4 tsp salt
4 Tbsps flour
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Finely grate the daikon and lightly squeeze the moisture from it. Add the spring onion, ebi (or corn), salt and flour and mix together.

Heat the sesame oil in a medium – large frypan and add spoonfuls of the batter (I found it easiest to use two dessert spoons to lightly shape each mochi). Fry over a low – medium element for 3 minutes with the lid on.

Flip the mochi over and fry the other side for 3 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid, increase the heat and fry until lightly golden and crispy.

Serve with a dipping sauce made with white rice vinegar and soy sauce as liked. Chilli is good too – but not for kidlets!

Makes 8 fritters.

Baking Bread

I’ve loved making bread since I had the good fortune to have Mrs Hamilton as my intermediate school home economics teachers. She taught me the basics of bread making, and now I’m a pretty confident baker. In fact, we rarely buy bread – apart from some speciality breads – because I try and bake my own.

Last time I lived in Japan I bought a bread machine, but I wasn’t a fan of the bread it made. Also, it felt like cheating. One of the best things about bread making is seeing the magic happen in front of your eyes. Another is of course the kneading, which is a great way to work out frustrations!

A couple of years ago Healthy Food Guide featured a basic bread recipe that could be easily tweaked to make white – wholemeal – multi-grain or fruit bread. I’ve made some adaptions of my own to the basic recipe, playing around with the sugars and volume of flours, and now use this recipe 99% of the time I make bread.

Of course, making multigrain bread in Japan is not as simple as in New Zealand. There just isn’t the same baking culture here, and certainly a limited but growing awareness of the variety of grains available. Let’s just say this – you can’t buy wholemeal flour at the supermarket!

Luckily there are several baking supply companies that deliver. I’ve found both Cotta and Kikuya great – they have a massive range of baking suppliers, from ingredients to tools to packaging.

Anyway, here’s the recipe for multigrain bread. The basic rule is to keep the flour at 7 cups (unless adding lots of extra grains as below. Then 6 cups is fine).

Mixed Seed Bread

2 level tsps active dried yeast
1 ¼ cups hot water (boiling)
1 ¼ cups cold milk
1 ½ Tbsps raw sugar
2 cups white flour
3 cups wholemeal flour
½ cup rye flour
½ cup rolled oats
½ cup cornmeal
1/3 cup amaranth
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
4 tsps salt
¼ cup olive oil

Combine water, milk and sugar, sprinkle yeast on top and leave aside till frothy.

Combine dry ingredients in a big bowl.

Add frothy yeast mixture and oil to dry ingredients, mixing to form soft dough.
Turn dough onto a floured board and knead well, stretching and turning dough for 5 - 10 minutes until it becomes smooth, elastic and satiny. Add flour as required during kneading to prevent the dough sticking. Less and less will be needed as the dough is worked.

Place the dough into a clean greased bowl, flip it over once to grease the top surface to the dough, cover and leave it to rise. (Placing in a large plastic bag can improve rising times). Leave in a warm place until doubled in size.

When dough has risen to double its bulk, knead it lightly and shape as required.
For loaves, divide the dough into two, roll or press the dough into rectangles slightly longer than the tin. Roll up tightly from the long edge, tuck the ends under and place, seam side down, into a well greased loaf pan. Cover loosely with a clean cloth or return to plastic bag.

When loaves have risen for about 10 or 15 minutes, cut diagonal slashes in the top with a serrated knife.

Leave until doubled in size then bake at 200°C for around 40 minutes, until golden and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Makes 2 loaves. Slice and freeze if you don’t plan to eat within a few days.

Language Milestones

Since we’ve been back in Japan (approximately two and a half months), Isaac’s language skills, in both English and Japanese have blossomed. While he’s always understood Japanese, because we’ve made an effort to talk to him in it since he was born, English has always been his language of choice.

Cut to this week, when suddenly he’s making his toys talk to each other in Japanese! A leap in both language and imaginative play. He starting to create scenarios for his toys now too, which is interesting to listen to. Inevitably, they involve crashes – I’m sure it's the influence of Thomas The Tank Engine – every tank engine on that island seems to have crashed at least once. Thank god Japan Rail’s a bit more reliable….

Steiner and snacks

I’ve been using my time as a stay at home mum to do some research about different early childhood education philosophies. I started by picking up a book about Steiner principles and how to bring to life at home. At the same time I picked up a book on Steiner Snacks, by Jinda Yasuko.

Apparently in Steiner kindergartens/preschools, the kids have a different grain snack each day of the week, giving them carbohydrates for energy and lots of minerals and fibre. I was interested in these recipes because they use unrefined grains and no eggs, milk products or refined sugars.


Ignoring the days of the week rule, I made a couple of recipes from the book – Rye Crackers and Ginger Cookies. Both are very simple to put together and interesting to work with. The dough had a texture almost like modelling clay – slightly tacky, but easy to handle. I rolled both doughs between cling-film before shaping and baking.

Steiner Rye Crackers
From Steiner Snacks by Jinda Yasuko
75 g rye flour
75 g rice flour
½ tsp salt
2 Tbsps canola oil
80 ml pure apple juice (organic is possible, not from concentrate)

Measure the flours and salt into a medium bowl and mix well, then cut in the oil.

Add the apple juice and mix to combine. The dough will look wet, but is surprisingly easy to handle.

Roll the dough thinly between two sheets of cling-film and cut into 2 cm squares (remember they’re crackers for kids!).

Bake for 12 minutes in an 180C oven.

Makes enough for approximately 6 – 7 kids. These crackers are very plain and slightly chewy.

Steiner Ginger Cookies
From Steiner Snacks by Jinda Yasuko

60 g rye flour
140 g unbleached white flour
(I added a dash of ground cloves and ground nutmeg too)
1/3 tsp salt
3 Tbsps canola oil
1 ½ tsps ginger juice (squeezed from freshly grated ginger)
2 Tbsps pure maple syrup
2 Tbsps soy milk or pure apple juice

Measure the flours and salt into a medium bowl and mix well. Cut in the canola oil.

Mix the ginger juice, maple syrup and soy milk/apple juice in a small bowl then add to the flour, stirring to combine. (If the mixture is too dry, add a little more soy milk or apple juice. Note, the dough will look wetter than a ‘regular’ dough).

Roll the dough out to approximately 3 mm thick between two sheets of cling-film and cut out cookies. I used cookie cutter approximately 6 cm in diameter.

Bake for 10 minutes in a 160C oven, then increase the temperature to 180C and bake for a further 8 to 10 minutes.

Makes 20 – 35 cookies, depending on cutter size!

The cookies are only mildly sweet and pleasantly spiced. Perfect for the whole family.

Oola’s Creamy Sesame-Eggplant Spaghetti (Eggplant Mayonnaise Sesame Spaghetti)

Okay, in English, that maybe doesn’t sound so good, but remember, we’re using delicious Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise. Yum.

This a recipe by food writer and blogger Oola, featured in Radish Lad’s monthly magazine Salad. This recipe is from the July issue and is super simple and quick to put together. Perfect Friday dinner.

Creamy Sesame Eggplant Spaghetti

160 g spaghetti
2 eggplants (Asian/ladyfinger)
2 large cloves garlic, finely cut
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
soy sauce
mirin (sweet cooking wine – check your local Asian supermarket)
3 Tbsps hot water (from the spaghetti pot)
2 Tbsps mayonnaise (Kewpie mayonnaise)
2 Tbsps toasted sesame seeds
red pepper threads, finely cut green shiso

Cook spaghetti as directed.

Cut the eggplants in half, and then cut each half into four lengthwise slices. Place the sliced eggplant on a sheet of tinfoil, sprinkle to salt and pepper to taste and ½ Tbsp of olive oil, close the tinfoil tightly, and bake in a toaster oven or under a medium grill for 10 minutes.

Add the remaining ½ Tbsp olive oil and garlic to a large frypan and heat over a low flame until fragrant. Add the eggplant, soy sauce, mirin and water and stir-fry.

Add the cooked spaghetti and mayonnaise to the eggplant, sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve topped with chilli threads and finely sliced green shiso as desired.

Serves 2. 663 cal per serve.

Radish Lad

In New Zealand we used to get an organic vege box delivered each week – seasonal, great quality veges. During winter it got pretty dull though – beetroot beetroot turnip beetroot.

Since coming back to Tokyo, we’ve started getting a weekly vege box from Radish Lad (Radish Boya in Japanese), a company that’s being going for over 20 years that delivers organic or low pesticide fruit and vegetables. It’s brilliant. There is a huge range of ‘boxes’ (they call it a palette) available, they sell free-range eggs, and have a massive catalog of low environmental impact products.

Each week there’s a catalog, including seasonal specials, and once a month Salad magazine arrives with your vege palette. Salad introduces the suppliers, and includes a series of recipes. Since we’ve been getting the palette delivered, I’ve made a bunch of the recipes, particularly from food writer and blogger Oola, and they’re all brilliant. Simple and delicious.

Can’t recommend it more highly!

Jinshin-jiko

For most Tokyoites, the words jinshin-jiko are a pain in the butt. Jinshin-jiko is Japan Rail speak for a commuter vs train accident. Unfortunately a relatively common occurrence, particularly in tough economic times.

Today I had the bad luck to be at the station when and where just such an accident occurred. Approaching Gotanda station on the Yamanote line, I noticed the train was still on the overpass, for a very long time. Uh-oh, that doesn’t look good. As I walked under the overpass a patrol car pulled up, and the officer sprinted into the station. Sirens wailed in the distance, as several fire engines and ambulances followed.

The station notice boards were running a note about the accident, so I hightailed it to Book First to wait out the confusion. Even an hour later the trains were still out of whack. Such an awful feeling, knowing that someone has been hit by a train.

Fried rice. You’d think it would be easy

A couple of weeks ago I was checking Nicole’s Bites From Other Blogs, which mentioned Eat Me, Delicious. OMG, how had I not found Eat Me, Delicious before! Brilliant vegetarian recipes AND baking.

I found lots of great looking recipes which I’m looking forward to trying, but the first one I tried was Fried Brown Rice with Spring Onions, Edamame and Tofu. Yum! Ingredients I love and on hand too. I’d forgotten how hard it is to get fried rice just right – hard to get the right ‘para-para’ texture to the rice.

Mine turned out more like an ojiya than chahan, but still tasted great – and Isaac was very impressed with all the edamame hiding in his rice!


Fried rice with spring onions, edamame and tofu

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp canola oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp peeled and minced fresh ginger
4 cups cooked brown rice
3/4 cup seeded and finely diced red bell pepper
3/4 cup frozen shelled edamame, cooked according to package directions and drained
1/2 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) corn kernels
170 g firm tofu, cut into 1 cm cubes
2 large eggs, beaten
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a wok or large skillet over high heat until very hot but not smoking. Add the garlic, half the scallions and ginger and cook, stirring, until softened and aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the rice, red pepper, edamame, corn and tofu and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Make a 7.5 cm well in the centre of the rice mixture. Add the remaining teaspoon oil, then add the eggs and cook until nearly fully scrambled. Add the remaining spring onions and stir through the rice mixture. Add the soy sauce and incorporate thoroughly. Serve hot.

Kasai Sealife Park (Kasai Rinkai Kouen)

Another weekend, another visit to one of Tokyo City’s various nature parks.

This time we headed east to the Kasai Sealife Park, an aquarium on the edge of Tokyo Bay in what was once a seaside clam fishing village until industrialisation destroyed the fishery. Considerable work has gone in re-developing the area, which now has a large park, complete with the aquarium, giant ferris wheel and bird watching area.

A short walk from Kasai Rinkai Kouen Station on the Keiyou/Musashino Line from Tokyo Station, the Sealife Park boasts an impressive three-story high tuna tank.

A recent television feature talked about the Park’s goal of giving the Japanese the chance to learn more about the fish they love to eat so much. I won’t eat tuna (despite loving the way it tastes) because of the state of the fisheries, but it was amazing to see them swimming. They’re very impressive fish and the exhibit is very cool.

Also impressive is the large penguin colony and the shark tank. Hammerhead sharks and what looked like mako share the tank with a massive school of sardines. I guess the sardines hate it, but it makes for an interesting exhibit!

Isaac was very excited about the fish and managed to wriggle his way up to the glass to get a close up look, bellowing ‘fishies ippai look sakana!’ in his garbled Japanese/English, much to the bewilderment on many Japanese families!

I enjoyed seeing the puffins too – such cute wee birds.

Kasai Sealife Park
http://www.tokyo-zoo.net/english/index.html

Inokashira Nature Park

Our first relatively free weekend in Tokyo, we headed to the Inokashira Shizen Bunka-en (Inokashira Nature and Culture Park). Of course, we managed to choose the first really hot summer’s day of the year to do it – the temperature made it to 34 degrees!

Inokashira Nature Park was perfect for Isaac. Most of the animals (apart from 62-year-old elephant Hanako) are small, and there are lots of bird and amphibian exhibits that the kids can get really close to.

To get there we took the Yamanote line to Shinjuku and changed to the Chuo line local service heading for Kichijoji. Taking the Chuo line local service meant that the change was easy – we stepped off the Yamanote and onto the Chuo on the other side of the platform – no stairs, which is a real blessing in Japanese rail stations!

The train trip was probably more exciting for Isaac than the zoo, as we boarded right at the front of the train behind the driver’s cabin and could see the express trains and the long distance train for Matsumoto zooming past. Every train is ‘Thomas’ to Isaac (apart from the shinkansen, which he calls planes), so he was busy calling out ‘hello Thomas’ ‘bai bai Thomas’.

To get to the park from Kichijoji Station, follow signs out of station, then follow everyone else! This side of the station heads away from the very busy (and rightl so, Kichijoji is a shopping haven) shotengai (shopping street), past Marui and a bunch of restaurants, then very quickly leads to the far side of the park. Either go straight down the steps towards the lake, or if you have a buggy, detour to the left about 50 m for a ramp.

The first part of the park with the lake is in fact not the zoo proper, but an annex. This is where the ducks and frogs are – very exciting for Isaac. And, to our pleasure, an ensemble was playing Okinawan music as we arrived. So nice.

To get to the main zoo, either take the pedestrian bridge over the road, or walk along the street to the zebra crossing.

The zoo has lots of great areas for resting in the shade, lots of shops selling refreshments and a great range of smaller Asian and Eurasian animals, including raccoons, tanuki, foxes and badgers.

Highlight for me was the Squirrel Street (an enclosed squirrel haven), although most of the squirrels looked like they were feeling the heat!


Inokashira Shizen Bunka-en
http://www.tokyo-zoo.net/english/index.html