Well, well, well… this time of the year has come again and for me golden week means first ocean bathing, the beginning of the bodyboarding season and the beach season. This year the weather has decided differently and it is so cold that I spend my evenings curled in my cashmere or under a plaid, with heater still on. Not only is it cold, it is also raining quite a bit some days Limiting all outdoor activities. So I decided to think of the summer and get ready for it, and took on the challenge my neighbor gave me: sew my own yukata!
My first challenge was to find the proper fabric in colors and patterns that I would actually wear. I opted for online shopping at Hotta-shop and found a cheap roll of yukata fabric 100% cotton and made in Japan, and delivered in a decent amount of time. I’m actually very pleased with fabric and think of ordering some for my next projects. Then during 3h with my 88yo neighbor I learned how to measure and cut the fabric for making the yukata, and starting sewing. I’m still halfway through, as we had friends from France over for a couple of days, I will likely finish today or tomorrow…
Sewing is a great challenge for me as it is a very twisted way of thinking that I need to acquire, and my teacher prefers spending time in small chitchat than the long explanations I would actually need. Anyway I’m having fun and can’t wait for the summer to come!!!
Oh… but don’t worry I haven’t forgotten to cook! For our friends, after our little hike I baked my new scones in a white chocolate, and milk chocolate and miso peanuts, they simply loved them!!! I cooked plenty of other things, some coming soon!
It’s been a few years now that on Saturday afternoon I make crepes. Our Saturday from November to April, when not working, are filled with many activities, gardening in the morning and playing tennis or going for a hike or bicycle ride in the afternoon. The rest of the year we also go to the beach swimming and bodyboarding…
Around 17:00 is always a time we get hungry and since we dine late a little snack is never bad. I found that crepes were actually the fastest thing I could make in small quantity. Crepes look tedious to make and I had this image that should be made in large quantity but actually it is not the case. We usually have 2 crepes each, that we eat in the kitchen while chatting and having tea. I found a perfect recipe that makes just the right amount of dough for 4-5 crepes and we fill them with chocolate, almond butter, or just lemon juice and a bit of sugar. Here is my recipe, and it’s so simple and quick that I’m sure you’ll start making crepes often!!
Crêpes (4 pieces)
– a handful of white flour
– one egg
– 1 tsp of sugar
– 350ml of milk
In a bowl mix the flour, the sugar and the egg, add the milk slowly while stirring. You should easily obtain a smooth and rather liquid mixture.
In a greased heated pan pour a thin layer of mix and cook until you can flip it easily. Flip and add filling of your choice, fold in four and enjoy!!!
I went to pick leekswith my neighbor in her garden. She grew plenty but doesn’t seem to eat as many as she has, so she gave me plenty. I also found some fresh salmon from Miyagi, that I am quite found about, so I decided to prepare a leek and salmon quiche. I revisited this classic quiche with a very simple twist. Indeed leek and salmon quiche, like leek and bacon or spinach and salmon are ultimate classic quiche recipes. They are all delicious but they sometimes need to be revisited with something new.
The something new was really simple. I prepared a brisé dough and rolled it on black sesame. Then grilled the salmon and blanched the leek and prepared the rest as usual. The result was a crispy dough and a golden top. Delicious to finish the weekend. Have a good week!!
There are recipe stories that are longer than others and that reflect how “agile” I manage my cooking!!! Last week I was telling you how much I love new onions and that you will see more recipes with them because I had in mind to prepare some ravioli filled with new onion. Everything was clear in my head and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. Sunday late afternoon taking a break from work I went to my kitchen to prepare the pasta dough. Not the classic one, my ravioli would be infused with Japanese flavors. So I made a soya sauce pasta base. Then I started thinking of the filling and boiled a potato to smooth the filling that would consist in chopped new onion slightly cooked in a pan with katsuobushi flakes. And while the potato was boiling I went back to work and worked worked worked, with our new stray cat all cuddled on my laps… and I forgot the potato, time and preparing dinner. At almost 21:00 A. reminded me that we should actually go back to Tokyo… oups… nothing was ready and it was too late to start making ravioli. So we ate the potato, I packed my pasta dough, my new onions and we drove back to the city.
Monday night I came back home around 22:00 and it was really not a descent hour to make ravioli… I knew it… so I decided to roll my pasta manually and make tagliatelle and use the onion just as a topping. The result was so awesome that I am now thinking of making it a new entry to the Soya sauce contest…
Here is what I did:
Soya sauce pasta
– 1egg
– 120g of flour
– 3tbs of soya sauce
– 1 new onion
– 2-3 shiitake
In a bowl knead the flour, soya sauce and egg together to make the pasta dough. Keep for 1h.
Roll the pasta, and make tagliatelle.
Wash the vegetables and slice them. In a pan greased with a bit of oil, throw the vegetables and cook at low heat. Boil the pasta and drain them. Add to the vegetables, stir well, serve and eat immediately. You can add a bit of grilled pork to the vegetables…
Spring and fall are the perfect seasons for hiking in Japan. The temperatures are just right not to get a sweat but not to freeze or die of over heat, bugs are fewer and either the flowers and tender greens, or the crimson colors of fall make a picturesque scenery. There are plenty of options to go hiking in Chiba and I won’t overview them here. There are few things I take in consideration when searching for a hike: the path needs to mainly be a non drivable road. What’s the point walking on the road side?? The path should be a loop or as much as possible not use twice the same route. There are very few hiking trail in Isumi to my knowledge, and one of our favorite is now impracticable as bamboos grew all over the path. So our favorite options are in Otaki and Katsuura. We’ve been to Yorokeikoku 養老渓谷 in the fall many times, for the maple trees, the monkeys… and for the spring we could never find something that was satisfying. I usually like the sight of the ocean in the spring as a remembrance that the swimming and bodyboarding season will start soon for me (though some people surf all year round, I find it hard to get in the water when it’s freezing cold outside). Actually Katsuura, about 20-30min drive south of Isumi, has quite a few hiking options, and this time we found a scenic short hike I thought was really worth mentioning.
South of Katsuura is the small town Ubara 鵜原 mainly a fishing port and a nice little hike called Ubara utopia 鵜原理想郷 that takes you up the hills with a stunning view of the ocean and the cliffs and down the beaches and tiny fishing harbors in coves.
The hike is rather short, count 1h maximum, but is really worth. It takes you through tunnels carved in the very soft rocks and going up and downs in a beautiful vegetation and to scenic views. Everything is very well indicated so no headache about which way to go, and the parking space at the starting point is large enough and easy to find (other parking options are also possible on the beach side). We came by scooter so it was even easier for us to park.
If you plan to come for the weekend, there is a small ryokan just at the beginning of the hike: Ubarakan 鵜原館 which seems to have a nice rotenburo (outdoor bath) and a few bathes in the carved stone caves and room with ocean view!!! We haven’t tried it yet so I have no idea how good it is…
Starting point of the hike
On top of one of the cliffs
After the hike we rode back home and it was time for tea and a little snack, so I decided to make one-bite scones. I am recently testing a new scone recipe and I think now I have the perfect balance to share with you. And with all the spring greens around I prepared a seasonal classic: macha white chocolate. Here is this version but it works with anything.
Scones
– 150g of flour
– 30-40g of sugar (depending on what you use for flavoring, for white chocolate use 30)
– 1tsp of baking powder
– a pinch of salt
– 40g of butter at room temperature
– milk (quantity will slightly depend)
– 2tsp of macha powder
– 2 handfuls of white chocolate chips
In a bowl mix the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, add the butter and knead to mix everything together. Add the milk slowly while kneading. If you want a uniform green color add macha now, otherwise wait until the end. Stop adding milk when the dough is moist but not sticky. If you’ve added to much milk just add a bit of flour!!!
I wanted a non uniform green color so I added the macha at the end and the white chocolate. Shape the scones and bake at 180deg for 10-15min depending on the size of your scones.
As soon as the first new onions appear I have to cook some! The season just started and will last a few weeks, hopefully 6 or 10, and you will see a lot of new onion recipes, even maybe a whole week if work give me the time to post that often. New onions are soft, melting in the mouth, with a very sweet taste. Incomparable and inimitable. I love to cook them in spring vegetables mix, in Japanese style, in quiche… But to start simply, I used my new onions in a simply pasta sauce together with ashitaba. I simply remove the external layer, cut in quarters and cook in a bit of olive oil. Add chopped fresh ashitaba, add some more olive oil, salt and pepper and serve with pasta. Top or not with fresh Parmigiano. Wasn’t that recipe too simple?
This is far from being the first time I post about ashitaba (明日葉), or if you prefer angelica. I love this herb and the magic combination with potatoes and pork. I know I should be trying new combinations, but you have a solid recipe, it’s great to do it again and again with small variations. This new gnocchi recipe is even simpler than the previous one I posted a couple of years ago and as delicious! I served with pork filet cooked in olive oil and use the cooking juice as dressing for the gnocchi, with just salt and pepper. Of course olive oil is enough!
Ashitaba gnocchi (4 servings as side)
– 3 large potatoes
– a bouquet of ashitaba
– flour
– salt, pepper, olive oil for the dressing
As usual boil the potatoes with the skin. When the potatoes are tender, let them cool down a bit, peel them and mash them with a fork. Blanche the ashitaba and drain them very very well (as soon as they are cool enough squeeze them in your hands), then chop them finely with a knife or scissors. Add to the potatoes. The mixture should be creamy. Add flour and knead until the mix is dry enough to shape the gnocchi. As always the less flour the better, hence the need to avoid excessive moisture. When dry enough shape your gnocchi. I usually line them on a piece of cooking paper. Boil them until they float when you want to eat them. Dress with olive oil, salt and pepper or like me this time with pork filet juice.
As I was writing last time, it’s just the peak season for sakura viewing. And therefore I thought of using sakura flowers in some recipes again. The classic would be sakura rice or sakura rice balls, but since my parents are staying with us and my dad was crying for a risotto, in remembrance of the first risotto: porcini risotto, I cooked when I was still in high school… So to please him a risotto I cooked, with carrots, a few shiitake and leeks for the base, some turnip tops for the green, and a sakura broth as seen below. Given how quick the plates were wiped, I guess everyone liked it!!! So here is my recipe (below the picture)
Sakura risotto (4 servings)
– 1 cup of rice, either Japanese or Italian
– 2 or 4 new carrots depending on size, mine were big so I used 2
– 2 small leeks
– 2 shiitake
– 12 sakura flowers in dry salt
– olive oil (not too fruity)
– 10 pink pepper seeds
– a bit of ground pepper
Start with the base: wash and cut the leeks and the shiitake in small pieces. In a heated pan add some olive oil and the vegetables and stir once in a while until slightly golden.
In a cup put the sakura flowers in salt and fill the cup with water to make the broth.
Wash and dice the carrots, add to the vegetables in the pan, and add the rice, roast for some time. Add the sakura broth and cook at low heat until the water is almost gone. Add then 3-4 cups of water, the pink pepper, some ground pepper, 8 of the sakura flowers. Cook at low heat. When the water is almost gone add the turnip tops cut in 2cm long pieces. Cook and stir until all the water is gone, but the whole thing is still moist. Serve immediately and use the remaining flowers to dress the plates.
I surprise myself with this title actually! Yes all the young leaves start to sprout and the cherry trees are blossoming, but the blossom are lasting for a rather long time just because the sunny weather keeps going on but it is actually freezing cold these days! The city has turned pink and green and with my parents visiting I couldn’t help going for a walk with them to the nearby park to see the cherry blossoms. It turns out that the closest park to our place is Chidorigafuchi 千鳥ヶ淵, one of the most famous spot to see cherry blossoms and stroll under a pink tunnel of flowers. Blossoms are going to last a few more days in Tokyo so enjoy them!
Cooking wise, things have been a little more quiet since they arrived with some of their favorite classics: buta shoga yaki, gyoza… and mum who can’t help wanting to cook for dinner while I’m at work!!!
But I wanted to go back to that recipe of somen 素麺 with vegetables I prepared because it was so simple and delicious that it is worth sharing. Somen are thin wheat noodles eaten often in the summer in Japan, but I see no reason why not to eat them in other preparations all year round. They are something just in between spaghettini and vermicelli. In the summer they are eaten with cold broth deep and cucumber etc.. but I prepare them in many different ways. This time for the beginning of spring I decided to prepare them with sautéed carrots and spinach and plenty of fresh coriander, dressed with a bit of white soya sauce. Oh!? Can you guess what is the pink thing in the plate?
