toasted sesame oil

Japanese mushroom risotto, or kinoko gohan

by Heguiberto on April 16, 2012

With this unusually cold and wet spring in San Francisco, I feel like I want to eat hearty, earthy food. Something flavorful that fills you up and makes you happy and satisfied. Something like mushroom risotto.
Initially I was going for the Italian approach. The thing with the Italian approach is all that cheese and butter.

Japanese mushroom risotto, or kinoko gohan

Japanese mushroom risotto, or kinoko gohan

I wasn’t feeling dairy-ish. Inspiration struck when we went to a Korean market in Daly City.

The market has a huge assortment of fresh mushrooms for sale. I settled for the shimeji, button and shiitake types. I also bought some aanori seaweed salad, a couple of servings of cucumber and cubed daikon kimchi to serve as side dishes to jazz up our meal a bit more. I served the Japanese mushroom risotto with pan fried mahi-mahi steaks and kabocha pumpkin wedges cooked in dashi-shoyu broth, so we had fun.

Mushroom risotto is still English-Italian. This is originally called kinoko gohan in Japanese. Kinoko stands for mushroom, and gohan, for rice. The dish is rich and flavorful yet does not use a single drop of fat.

Japanese mushroom risotto, or kinoko gohan

1 tray (100g) fresh white shimeji mushrooms, aka beech mushroom, rinsed and very bottom discarded
1 tray (100g) fresh brown shimeji mushrooms, rinsed and very bottom discarded
8 large fresh shiitake mushrooms, rinsed, cut into ½ moons, stems chopped and reserved
1 lb fresh white button mushrooms, rinsed and quartered
3½ cups dashi broth (see below to make fresh)
2 cups Japanese sushi rice
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp sake
4 tbsp soy sauce
Kosher salt to taste
scallions
toasted sesame oil
Ponzu-soy sauce
1 4×4 inch piece dried kelp (kombu)

Wipe white layer of salt off the kombu leaf using a wet paper towel. Put it in a sauce pan with 4 cups of water and shiitake mushroom stems. Let soak for 30 minutes. Place saucepan on stove top, and bring to a boil. Immediately turn it off, remove from heat and let kelp and mushroom stems continue soak for another 15 minutes. This is your dashi broth. Discard mushroom stems. Kelp can be stored in the fridge and reused another time soon, otherwise simply discard it.

Bring three cups of prepared dashi to a boil. Add ginger, mirin, sake and soy sauce, a sprinkle of kosher salt and all the mushrooms. Cook mushrooms for a couple of minutes. Scoop them out of the broth and set aside. Top up broth with hot water (if needed) to make up for 3 and ½ cups then add rice. Bring temperature to a boil. Turn it down to medium low. Stir rice to prevent sticking. Cover and cook for about 14 minutes, lid on, until liquid absorbed. Stir occasionally. Top with mushrooms and their liquid. Cover and cook on low for another couple of minutes to warm through. Remove from heat and keep pan covered for another 5 minutes.

Transfer rice to a serving platter. Scatter with chopped scallion. Serve with toasted sesame oil and ponzu-soy sauce on the side.

{ 3 comments }

sweet and sour tofu

by Stevie on February 17, 2012

This recipe comes from an enjoyable blog that we’ve recently begun following, almost veg. Sweet and sour sauce is a classic that’s often popular with kids, as it is so yummy and not particularly spicy. I found it especially appealing because there’s no pineapple. Almost-veg writes “I like pineapples but not in savory foods.” Well, I like them too, but they don’t care for me. I’ve a terrible allergy and get hives all over my body in a matter of hours after eating even a tiny mouth-watering morsel of this glorious tropical fruit. Not a pretty picture. Or appetizing, so to move on…

sweet and sour tofu

sweet and sour tofu

I changed around the recipe a little by adding more veggies and using hoisin sauce instead of plum. I had the first and not the second, but no time to shop. I used poblano with the sweet bell peppers since we really enjoy its smoky flavor.

One final note before I give the instructions: I was amazed by the tofu! I had always wondered how Chinese restaurants get that thin crispy coating over soft tofu. And now I know. I will definitely make that again.

sweet and sour tofu

1 package tofu (I used regular)
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine
1 green bell pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 poblano pepper; stem, seeds and ribs removed; cut into bite-sized chunks
1 onion, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
3 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt to taste
6 tbsp canola oil
¼ cup cashews (optional)

for the sauce:

2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1½ tsp rice vinegar
½ tbsp oyster sauce (veggie)
½ tsp sugar
4 tbsp water
½ tsp toasted sesame oil

Cut tofu into 1 inch cubes. Toss with cornstarch then mix with rice wine. Add 4 tbsp canola oil to a large non-stick skillet and fry tofu for a few minutes on each side to brown. Set aside.

Mix sweet and sour sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

Add remaining canola oil to skillet with onion and garlic. Add a bit of salt. Sauté for a few minutes until the onions become translucent. Add remaining veggies and continue to sauté. After they’ve softened a bit, add tofu, cashews if using, and sauce. Fold together gently and allow to warm through for a few minutes. Adjust salt if needed.

Serve with rice.

{ 3 comments }

sesame and onion seed crusted swordfish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

by Heguiberto on December 29, 2011

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

I know eating swordfish is supposed to be naughty. But per our fish monger, this one was line caught off the coast of California. So that’s good. It looked super fresh with that beautiful seafood aroma and so after listening to his explanation he convinced me. I lost my guilt and purchased 3 steaks for our dinner party. The whole dinner had a Japanese, South East Asian flair to it. It is pretty easy to make and delicious.

sesame and onion seed crusted sword fish with buckwheat soba and chard sauté

for the fish:

3 swordfish steaks or other similar fish steaks of your preference
1 tbsp sesame seeds (or more)
¾ tbsp black onion seeds (or more)
Lime juice
Nori strips (edible seaweed strips)
Olive oil

the noodles:

buckwheat soba noodles for 4 people cooked per package instructions, rinsed and kept warm

for the veggies:

1 bunch Swiss chard, leaves roughly torn
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil

for the sauce:

1 clove garlic grated into paste
1 tsp fresh ginger grated into paste
1 tsp chile garlic paste
3 tbsp soy sauce (or more)
¾ tbsp rice vinegar
¼ tsp sugar
¾ tbsp toasted sesame oil
3 whole scallions, sliced

Prepare the sauce mixing all the ingredients together, except for the scallions. Taste it and adjust flavors. It should be bold a bit salty, tangy, smoky, sweet and spicy. Drop in scallions then set aside.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Put chard in and cook for about three minutes. Drain and squeeze as much water as possible from it. Add olive oil to a skillet, then garlic and cook until garlic is aromatic. Add chard and cook for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle with some salt and black pepper. Transfer to a bowl, keeping it warm.

Rinse and pat dry fish steaks with a paper towel. Sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. Mix seeds together and sprinkle on both sides of steaks. Using the same skillet, add a tad of olive oil, bring temperature to medium high, add sword fish steaks and cook for 3 minutes on each side (if your pan is too small do it in batches). Remove from pan and let rest for a couple of minutes, keeping it warm. Cut into bit size strips. Squeeze a few drops of lime juice over the fish.

Place soba noodles on a serving platter. Toss with sauce. Top with sautéed chard, then the fish, nori and serve.

{ 4 comments }

vegetarian bi-bim-bap

by Heguiberto on December 2, 2011

I’ve wanted to make bi-bim-bap at home forever but have always been put off by the amount of work involved. All that chopping, individually cooking everything then assembling the dish seemed monstrously time-consuming and a bit annoying. The bi-bim-baps I’ve had at Korean restaurants are all served in one of those really hot stone pots (dolsot). Often you just crack a raw egg over the dish, mix all the lovely ingredients together and enjoy. The egg cooks perfectly in the hot pot and the rice at the bottom forms this marvelous toasted crust of which I’m particularly fond. Delicious!

colorful and flavorful vegetarian bi-bim-bap

colorful and flavorful vegetarian bi-bim-bap

I remember as a kid every now and then my mother would burn her rice and get super upset about it. What to her was a disaster to me was a treat because I loved eating the slightly burned and smoky crust. Anytime I eat bi-bim-bap I feel that there is somehow a bit of Brazil in the dish.

I regard bi-bim-bap as a version of paella or pilaf. All of them are rice dishes mixed together with other ingredients. Here are some other recipes for it: here, here and here.

fern brake

fern brake

My dish calls for what to me is a novel ingredient, fern brakes. I found these dried and rehydrated at my local Korean market. I bought both types but since they need to soak overnight, I used the rehydrated ones. They have a lovely tea-like aroma and mild flavor, somewhat like subtle fiddlehead ferns.

To make this vegan, simply leave off the eggs.

vegetarian bi-bim-bap

1½ cups Thai Jasmine rice
3 small zucchinis – julienned with a bit of salt sprinkled over
2 medium carrots – julienned
1 cup broccoli florets
2 bunch spinach
3 eggs
½ red bell pepper – julienned
½ orange bell pepper – julienned
1 container brown beech mushroom
1 cup of soy bean sprouts (nato sprouts)
1 cup fern brakes
1lb firm tofu cubed
8 cloves garlic minced/smashed
2 heaping tbsp Gochujang hot pepper paste
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
olive oil
toasted sesame seed oil
sea salt

To make the rice:

Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a saucepan on temperature high. Add rice and give it a good stir. Add 2½ cups of water, stir again. Bring to a boil, stir again. Reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes, until water has been absorbed. Remove from heat let it rest, lid on for another 15 minutes.

To prepare veggies:

slicing all the veggies for vegetarian bi-bim-bap

slicing all the veggies for vegetarian bi-bim-bap

All veggies must be cooked separately.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop in broccoli florets and cook for a minute or so. Transfer to a bowl.

Drop in spinach and let it blanch for a minute or so, transfer to a colander, allow it to cool down a bit. Squeeze to remove as much water as possible.

Using the same saucepan add soybean sprouts and a dash of salt and cook for 10-12 minutes. Strain and squeeze to remove water.

Add 1 tsp of olive oil to a skillet, 2 cloves of garlic minced and sauté until aromatic. Add bean sprouts and cook for few minutes. Season with one tablespoon of soy sauce and ½ tsp sesame oil. Set aside.

Wipe skillet and return to burner. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 garlic cloves minced and mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms on high heat for a couple of minutes. Sprinkle with some salt, cover the pan and let the mushrooms sweat. Set aside.

Wipe Skillet with a paper towel. Add ½ tsp of olive oil, 1 clove of minced garlic and sauté. Add spinach and cook for another minute, season with 1 tsp of soy sauce. Set aside.

Wipe skillet off again. Add ¼ tsp olive oil. Drain zucchini; add to skillet and sauté for 1 minute. Set aside.

Repeat process, this time with no oil with peppers and carrots.

Return skillet to stove. Add 1 tsp of olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic minced, cook until aromatic. Drop in fern brakes and sauté for a couple of minutes, towards the end add 1 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil. Set aside.

layering some of the veggies over the rice

layering some of the veggies over the rice

adding the soy bean sprouts to the bi-bim-bap

adding the soy bean sprouts to the bi-bim-bap

To prepare pepper sauce:

Meanwhile, mix rice wine vinegar, 3 cloves of garlic minced and Goshujang pepper paste together. Once all mixed it should have the consistency ketchup. Taste it and adjust flavors if necessary. Look for spice, sweet, umami and sour flavors. The paste will be used as a condiment to the Bibimbap at the table.

To assemble dish:

Add a few drops of sesame oil to a non stick paella pan. Using a paper towel rub oil all over its surface including border. Add cooked rice and press with a spatula, making sure the surface and borders are filled. Cover, bring temperature to high and cook for about 10 minutes. This is where rice develops the smoky, brown, nutty slightly burned crust.

Time to assemble the dish! Place cubed tofu in the center over the toasted rice; arrange mounds of each of the ingredients interchangeably along the border, forming a kind of flower pattern. Cover and let it warm through. Serve with fried egg sunny side up and dollops of Goshujang sauce on top of everything. The flavors are out of this world!

rewarming everything before serving

rewarming everything before serving

You can serve this dish with banchans, or side dishes, like pickled cucumbers or/and kimchi. I was going to serve both but forgot to bring the kimchi to the table.

{ 4 comments }

grilled Chinese eggplant in teriyaki sauce

by Heguiberto on August 5, 2011

I can’t think of a vegetable that is as versatile for so many different cuisines as eggplant. We’ve made it in so many delicious ways: Kashmiri, Szechuan, North African, Macedonian, Italian, Lebanese; and that’s just scratching the surface.

grilled Chinese eggplant in teriyaki sauce

grilled Chinese eggplant in teriyaki sauce

This dish is inspired by Japan. I made the teriyaki sauce myself since I wanted better control over the amount of sugar. The result is sweet, salty, tart, toasty, spicy and yummy.

grilled Chinese eggplant in teriyaki sauce

 

4 Chinese eggplants, woody ends removed, cut into ¼ inch thick, long slices
Kosher salt

For teriyaki sauce:

½ cup sauvignon blanc
½ cup shoyu (soy sauce)
2 garlic cloves minced
1½ tsps fresh grated ginger
3 tbsps canola oil
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsps rice wine vinegar
3 tbsps sugar

Place sliced eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with some salt and let it sweat for 15 minutes. Rinse and pat dry using a paper towel.

Pre heat grill to high temperature.

Mix all teriyaki ingredients together. Brush eggplant pieces with teriyaki sauce. Grill them for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Transfer to a bowl. Add more of the teriyaki sauce, cover with plastic and let it finish cooking in the steam. Serve warm or at room temp.

{ 4 comments }

Enoki mushroom pancakes

by Heguiberto on February 18, 2011

Enoki mushroom pancakes

Enoki mushroom pancakes

Lately, I’ve been in a toasted sesame oil mood and where else to gain cooking inspiration other than Japanese or Korean foods? Toasted sesame oil lends this unique smoky flavor to food that I adore. It flavors classic dishes like: wakame salad, soba noodles, Szechuan eggplant and pickled seafood. Yumm.

This recipe was adapted from My Korean Kitchen. I thought it would look cute because of the shape of the enoki mushrooms. What do you think?

fresh Enoki mushrooms

fresh Enoki mushrooms


fresh nira is related to spring onion, leek and chive

fresh nira is related to spring onion, leek and chive

Enoki mushroom pancakes

1lb Enoki mushrooms, cleaned, base discarded
2 tbsp flour
2 eggs
2 tbsp water
6 nira stems (light and dark green parts) chopped fine
½ white sweet onion chopped fine
2 small carrots cut into tiny cubes
dash of crushed red pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste
¾ tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp canola oil for pan-frying

Spread enoki mushrooms flat on a platter. Sprinkle flour evenly over them, followed by pepper and sesame oil. Mix nira, carrot and onion together then spread over enoki, leaving the tips of the mushrooms exposed. Break eggs in a bowl, add water, a bit of salt and whisk to combine. Pour egg mix over mushrooms.

Add canola oil to a non-stick skillet. Using a spatula or chopstick, break Enoki clusters into 4 to 6 sections. One by one add to hot skillet and cook for about 5-6 minutes, turning them half way through.

I love this dish. It can be served as a side or main course.

{ 4 comments }

yummy wakame salad

by Heguiberto on December 31, 2010

yummy wakame salad

yummy wakame salad

I completely agree with the post on girlie girl army about sea veggies. She claims that sea vegetables are overlooked in terms of taste and nutritional value, at our loss. Here’s what she writes:

Sea vegetables contain high levels of calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, iodine, chlorophyll, enzymes and fiber and offer more vitamins and minerals per ounce than any other food and are one of nature’s richest sources of proteins, having up to 48% of plant-based protein! Sea vegetables are also high in vitamin b-12, which is usually only found in animal-based sources and is responsible for regulating the central nervous system and blood cell production. Ounce per ounce, they are higher in vitamins and nutritional value that almost any other food!

I didn’t need any convincing because I adore sea veggies. They just have that marvelous oceanic flavor you can’t get anywhere else. When I eat sea vegetables I literally feel I am getting a slice of the ocean. Plus they’re good for you! Eat more sea vegetables! On that note here’s a simple, delicious recipe for a salad made of reconstituted wakame and lettuce:

dried wakame

dried wakame

yummy wakame salad

40g. dried wakame (I get mine at Nijiya Market)
1 small head lettuce, cleaned and torn into bite-size pieces
1 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp light shoyu (soy sauce)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp pan roasted white sesame seeds
red pepper flakes to taste

Place wakame in a large bowl and cover with about 2 pints of water. Let it re-hydrate for about 30 minutes. Drain, rinse and squeeze as much water out as you can. Transfer to a serving bowl with lettuce.

Meanwhile to make the dressing add mirin, shoyu, rice vinegar, sugar and toasted sesame oil to a jar, cover with a lid and shake to combine. Taste. It should have a pleasant salty, briny, tart, sweet and toasty flavor. Add more of any ingredient if needed. Toss with wakame and lettuce. Sprinkle with pepper flakes and sesame seeds.

I made a similar Japanese sea vegetable inspired salad before check it out here

{ 2 comments }

tofu salad with sweet -n- spicy ginger mustard rice vinegar sauce

by Heguiberto on December 20, 2010

tofu salad with garlicy spicy mustard vinegar sauce

tofu salad with garlicy spicy mustard rice vinegar sauce

I was excited by the idea of this recipe when I saw a tofu salad at my local Whole Foods. It was in the salad bar, sold by weight. Helpfully, they listed all the ingredients that they used, though not the quantities or directions (that must be a trade secret.) In particular, their ingredient list called for rice syrup, which was something new to me.

How is it that I’d never heard of this, what with me being such a rice-lover? I brought home a jar of rice syrup immediately, to further my culinary/gustatory education. Rice syrup has a nutty taste. It’s lightly sweet, too. Both of these tastes were noticeable in this final dish.

So here’s my go at the WF tofu salad. It is very simple to make and you will not be disappointed with the end result.

tofu salad with sweet -n- spicy ginger mustard rice vinegar sauce

for the tofu:

300gr firm tofu, cut into bite-sized triangles, pat-dried
1 tbsp canola oil
salt (optional)

for the sweet -n- spicy ginger mustard rice vinegar sauce:

1 tsp stone ground mustard
3 tsp rice syrup (AKA, rice nectar)
4 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp light shoyu (AKA: soy sauce)
½ tsp grated fresh ginger
Crushed red pepper to taste
1 clove garlic pressed
1½ tbsp toasted sesame oil

for garnish:

1 scallion thinly sliced
Black sesame seeds

Place canola oil on a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Lay tofu triangles gently in pan, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pan fry them for a couple of minutes on each side to slightly brown. Remove from heat and arrange them cutely on a serving dish. Be careful not to burn your fingers.

Meanwhile prepare dressing by mixing all the sauce ingredients together. Adjust flavors if necessary. It should be a bit tangy, toasty, salty, sweet, garlicky and with a little kick from the pepper flakes.

Pour sauce over warm tofu and sprinkle with scallions and black sesame seeds. Serve as a snack or a side dish. This dish is vegan, and loaded with wonderful flavors and lots of protein. Yumm!

{ 2 comments }

Japanese inspired “sea vegetable” salad

May 21, 2010

I prepared this Japanese inspired salad with home-cured gravlax and white rice. The gravlax had dill and was Swedish inspired. The “sea vegetable” salad was Japanese inspired. Despite being from two far distant culinary traditions, they seemed to match well together. Perhaps because they’re both “ocean foods?” This salad is easy to make and would [...]

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scallion pancakes

December 17, 2009

Last night I was feeling peckish for Asian food. Immediately I was drawn to memories of scallion pancakes. I’ve not made them in a while and it was time. I first tried these savory wonders at a Korean restaurant in New York City a few years ago. We were there to celebrate Steven’s birthday with [...]

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