Category: Vegan

The magic of the pain d’épices

A few weeks ago I started to think about how much I love the French gingerbread called pain d’épices, that I don’t recall seeing any in Japan and that I never made some… It is heavy in the hand, yet light when eaten, with a beautiful golden color and flavors and aromas that sparkle in the mouth, and the texture is a very melting one. One of my favorite pain d’ épices of all time is that of my horse ridding teacher. She has a gift not only for gardening but also for cooking sweets. In summer during intensive training camps, she would bake while we would play around with the horses, and make fruits charlottes with the fruits from the orchard. In the fall or winter she would make pain d’épices. I was so found of it that I remember asking her the recipe, and she told me she just mixes 1kg of flour with 1kg of honey. I was probably 12 when I asked but I still remember this recipe because it didn’t make sense for me at the time, honey and flour, that’s it, really??? and I never tried, too scared of wasting 1kg of honey!

But when I started to look at how to make pain d’épices how surprised was I to see that, this is indeed the recipe for classic pain d’épices from Reims. What I didn’t know then was that the mix, with spices added, should be kept days or weeks to start the fermentation that will guarantee the fluffiness. Last year I would probably have been very skeptical trying such an attempt, as I was not very sure how all this fermentation worked, but since I made my sourdough Lois I feel a lot more confident to do flour base fermentation. Finally, last week I decided to start the experiment and prepared a mix of 600g of flour and 600g of honey together, some said that adding the spices at that stage would increase the development of aromas, so I added them too. I left the preparation in a container under a lid the whole week at home (with the winter temperatures settling in, the house temperature is about 5 to 9 now, so no big risk of seeing things rotting, or mold developing!!!!) And today I just found my mixture, it hasn’t changed much but it is not looking bad at all so I prepared it and baked it. The result???

A perfect pain d’épices! The look, the color, the texture, the smell… Exactly as you would find on in France, a happy A. and a happy me, eaten it with a cup of Christmas tea at tea-time or for breakfast. We even used it for toasts with cheese for me and some pork paté for A. and we were very satisfied. The recipe is very simple and except for the one week wait it is very simple to make. Definitely a must do again one. This recipe is will become a new classic like my pompe a l’huile.

Pain d’ épices (1 big loaf or 2 smaller)

  • 600g of flour
  • 600g of pure honey (liquid is easier but creamy can work too)
  • 1tsp of ground cardamom
  • 1tsp of ground cloves
  • 2tsp of cinnamon
  • 1 ping pong size piece of fresh ginger, pealed, grated or chopped thinly (I use fresh ginger because it is easy to find and I just chopped it roughly but you may use ground ginger, then 1/2tsp should be good enough)
  • water
  • additional 1/2tsp of baking soda (if your rise time is short)

About 5days to two weeks before you want to bake your pain d’epices prepare the dough. For that, in a container with a lid mix the honey the flour and the spice. If your honey is really to creamy and hard too work you can melt it in a pan at very low heat to liquify it. Stir to incorporate all ingredients. I used a spatula to do that as the mix is way to sticky to put hands in. One everything is well incorporated put the lid on the container, and let rest for as long as you want, but at least a few days.

After a few days, the spices may have start to color the dough a bit but it may not have changed much otherwise. When you want to bake your pain d’epices, pre-heat your oven to 150deg, just add a little of tepid water to the mix to soften it and knead. The dough is sticky but not terribly sticky. If you think your rise time is rather short (just a few days), you may want to add a little of baking soda now, to ensure perfect fluffiness. Knead and add water to obtain a compact yet smooth dough. Using parchment paper set in a cake dish or split in two and make two, or more. And bake for about 2h if you make a big one (check with a knife or stick if the dough is well cooked inside), for 2 smaller, about 1h should be enough.

I made a very large one and baked about 2h at 150deg, but wasn’t sure it was perfectly baked so I finished with 10 min at 180deg just to be sure. Let cool down before cutting and eating.

Pain d’epices normally keeps well, this is tone he purpose of the original recipe. But in our house, we didn’t had time to see how long it can keep!!! We’ve eaten it in a snap!!!

Look at this beautiful color and perfectly dense but bubbly texture!!!

Faraway from the Christmas frenzy

I always feel excited when the days are becoming short and colder. Spending time outside when the sun is high, and as soon as the sun sets down, it is time to sit for hot spicy tea, a slice of cake or a piece of something comforting. I bake Provencal pompes a l’huile, panettone, or brioches. This is an habit I took when we were in Florence, and I cherish it very much. I also like to go for a walk at night and see the illuminations. Tokyo is really good at creating a festive atmosphere, would it be for the new year, the cherry tree blooming, the summer fireworks… there is always a good reason to decorate and makes us feel like little children.

Christmas decorations at Mitsukoshi Nihonbashi

But when I look at western magazines and IG feeds, it is all about festive food, or so-called, but it is just an accumulation of decadent food, that I must say is a mood killer for me. Rich buche de Noel or Christmas cakes, menus with heavy terrible food such as foie gras, or very creamy things I am just running away from these. I don’t like most of the fancy food: truffles, caviar, oysters, foie gras. and all these pictures instead of appalling to me they only make me crave for simple food, nourishing and warming yet elegant.

This is when I make more often than ever ochazuke and soups with vegetables and grains. I really love a warm bouillon with some nourishing pasta or rice or chickpeas, lentils, spelt, beans… Today I came up with a super delicious recipe, so I am very happy to share it now!

Farro winter soup

  • 1cup of farro
  • 1/4 of Chinese cabbage
  • 1/4 of butternut squash
  • 8 shiitake
  • 1tsp of turmeric
  • 1/2tsp of ground cumin
  • 1/2tsp of cumin seeds

Wash the cabbage and chop it. Same with the shiitake. Peel and cut the butternut. Put them all in a pan and amply cover with water. Add the farro. Cook at high heat to bring to a boil, then cook for 30min at medium to low heat. Verify that there is still enough liquid, add some if necessary. Add the turmeric, the cumin powder and seeds, a big of salt and pepper. Give a good but gentle stir and serve. Eat hot. No need for an drizzle of olive oil in my opinion but you can add one if you want !

Chickpea velouté

Every time I receive a parcel from my parents from France, there is inevitably some of my favorite staples in it. Chickpeas and chickpea flour are part of them. They are made by an acquaintance and I love cooking with them. So yesterday I decided to cook a big batch of chickpeas and I used most them in raggu with other vegetables etc… but I ended up with about two handfuls remaining and it was lunch time… and it was a bit of a chilly wind outside, I have had a long walk so wanted something warming… it would be soup. While minestrone with chickpeas is quite common in Italy, I opted for a version where the chickpeas are blended to obtain a creamy consistency. I added an hard boiled egg on top may be because I wanted one but it is totally optional.

Want to try my recipe of the chickpeas velouté? Here it is!!!

Chickpeas velouté (1 serving)

  • Two handful of boiled chickpeas
  • Water
  • 1tbsp of olive oil
  • Cumin powdered
  • Paprika
  • Turmeric
  • Black pepper grounded

In the bowl of your blender put the chickpeas, 1 glass of water and 1tbs of olive oil. Blend. If it is too thick add a bit more water. Add the spices and blend again. Move to a pan and heat slowly. Serve and enjoy!

I am sure you could add cream and other things to make the soup richer and silkier, but I like simple things and I prefer olive oil rather than cream… so that’s my way of doing it!

Peanuts…

It may seem strange but peanuts grow quite easily in Japan and peanuts from Chiba are among the most famous. Peanuts in Japanese is called rakkasei 落花生, which literally means the falling flower’s life or something of the kind… because peanuts are a very intriguing plant indeed! It looks like a low pea, with nice flowers, which then stem underground, where the peanuts actually grow. My curiosity, the fact that they are local so normally adequate for the weather, and that I am slightly better at growing underground things than overground, peanuts were definitely on my list of things to grow. I did a first attempt in 2019, more or less successful, and tried again this year, more successfully. I harvested a little basket of fresh raw peanuts.

After debating about what to do with them… we usually don’t eat peanuts… I decided I would simply boil them… simple enough and actually really super delicious. So here is my recipe.

Salted boiled peanuts

  • Fresh raw peanuts
  • Salt
  • Water

Remove all the soil and dirt of the peanuts. I gently washed them while shaking them. Then I let them rest overnight in water, and rince again. But if yours are clean enough just go ahead.

In a pan set the peanuts, cover with ample water, add one tea spoon of salt and set to a boil. When it boils cover and let cook for 3-4 hours a low heat, checking once in a while that there is still water. And that it! Let cool and start eating!

I kept them refrigerated, but they were gone in a few days!!!

Chestnut rice – 栗ご飯

When autumn arrives, sweet chestnuts 甘栗 – amaguri are a must eat. We have a chestnut tree in our garden which usually produces just enough chestnuts for us and the rest of the animals: racoons, kions… A. doesn’t like chestnuts too much so it is usually the right number. Except this year, I wasn’t quick enough in harvesting them, and the other animals didn’t have the slightest pity for us, and left us nothing but empty spiky shells. I had two options: forget about chestnuts this year and be more greedy next year, or wait a bit and buy a bag of local chestnuts whenever I would find one. Bags of chestnut are usually much bigger than what I need, but still eating a few chestnuts, and in particular a bowl of chestnut rice was too tempting. Chestnut rice like many of the traditional Japanese rices, is just too delicious, and the perfect food to enjoy the transition between summer and autumn. This time of the year when days are still hot but shortening quickly, the sky has this special blue color, soft and bright at the same time, and evenings are getting chillier. The cicadas are becoming silent or distant and leave sound space for more delicate voices.

So, it wasn’t long beforeI found local chestnuts and start working with them. Though I had a few ideas of recipes in mind, I opted for the classic chestnut rice 栗ご飯 – kurigohan. It is a bit tedious to make, but not more than anything else with chestnuts, and it is super very delicious, packed with energy. So let me share with you my recipe.

Kurigohan (3-4 servings)

  • 2 cups of rice (I use new rice)
  • 10 raw sweet chestnuts
  • 2tbs of soya sauce

Start by preparing the chestnuts. In a pan put the chestnuts, cover generously with water and bring to a boil. Add a bit of salt if you have some. Bring to a boil and let cook at low heat for 50min. Let cool down. Then peel the chestnuts. You can do this step up to two days before actually.

Once you have peeled the chestnuts, it’s time to prepare the rice, and it’s really simple. Use a rice cooker or a regular pan, or a cast iron cocotte… wash the two cups of rice, set the amount of water you would for cooking it normally. Add the chestnuts, it is good to have some whole and some crumbled. Add the soya sauce, and cook just as usual. Enjoy while hot, and it is even better re-heated the next day!

Aibika – 花オクラ🌸

Do you know this flower named aibika or hana okra 花オクラ?

I didn’t until yesterday, when I found it at our local vegetables shop. First time ever I saw it, it’s grown locally, so I bought it. No idea how to prepare it nor how it would taste., but my IG feed was full of zucchini flowers earlier this summer, and more recently of pumpkin flowers, that the idea of having a chance to eat some flowers too was really too tempting!

A quick reading of the most popular recipes on the Japanese cookpad website didn’t not tempt me, so I decided to go for something I barely do, but believe would be great, and a substitute for my mother’s zucchini flowers fritters: super light tempura. And it worked really fine. So if you see this pale yellow flowers at a farmer’s market (I doubt you can find them at a supermarket…) just get them.

I guess the name of hana okra or flower okra in direct translation, comes from the fact that they are, like okra, a bit slimy. So if you don’t like slimy food pass on that one.

Aibiki tempura

  • A few flowers of aibiki, and some other vegetables if you want. I did shishito and red bell pepper
  • 3tbs of flour
  • 1cup of water
  • 1/2 tsp of vinegar
  • A pinch of salt
  • Cooking oil

Wash and pat dry the vegetables.

In a frypan heat a bit of oil (I don’t deep fry, but if you do heat your oil). In a bowl, mix the flour, the water and the vinegar. Stir well. Dip in the vegetables and put in the pan right away. Cook a few minutes before flipping. Serve with a pinch of salt and eat immediately. That’s it!

Oh no! The pantry is empty!!!

Welcome September!!! Honestly, I don’t remember there was a month of August this year… and September starts in quite a gloomy mood… bye bye summer vegetables and welcome autumn!!! With the first butternut squash in and no more korinki… rain and chilly wind.

But while when I open my fridge it is, somehow, always easy to think about something to cook… my pantry recently has been rather empty. I was so much waiting for the new rice to arrive, and for my favorite flour too, that I completely forgot that we were running out of everything: no more pasta, no more regular flour, very little olive oil… 🤭

Our bread are now whole wheat bread as this is the only flour I have left. And so our our pancakes and crepes! Not that I dislike it, but A. sometimes prefers a mix of flours.

And last night when it was time to cook dinner, after another long day of work, you know, when you are starving and you want something quickly ready so that you can sit back and have a nice break… the very last thing I had was a pack of dried soba… I was dreaming of pasta, but soba would be a good alternative, well the only alternative! Because there is no meal if there is no carb in our house!

The plating was made in a rush and the picture taking in a rush too, but the recipe ended up being perfectly balanced and taking advantage of the end of summer vegetables that are bell peppers and the nalta jute. So let me share my recipe with you, in case you are in a rush and have soba noodles nearby.

End of summer sautéed soba (2 servings)

  • 2 portions of soba noodles (dry, fresh, semi dry…)
  • 1 bell pepper (color of your choice)
  • 2 big handful of nalta jute
  • 1tsp of olive oil
  • 2tbs of soya sauce

Boil the soba as indicated. Rinse well after they are cooked and keep in water.

While the soba are boiling, wash and chop very thinly the bell pepper. In a large heated pan, add the oil, the bell pepper and cook at medium heat until it soften. Wash the nalta jute and add to the pan. Continue cooking at medium heat until soft too. Drain the soba and add to the pan. Stir well. Add the soya sauce and stop heating. stir again well and serve immediately.

If you manage well you should have your meal ready in 15min!

Better love eggplants!!!

While the summer plays hide and seek, the summer vegetables are still around and should be for a few more weeks.

The great star of the summer in my kitchen this year is eggplant 🍆. We always eat a lot of eggplants in the summer, but this year it looks really like we are eating even more. Last week recipe was a great example but there is much more to do. And today I share with you another Japanese eggplant recipe, vegan this time, as simple as the previous one but with a different set of flavors.

Sautéed eggplants Japanese style

  • 2 Japanese eggplants
  • 1 aburage pad (thin fried tofu sheets)
  • 1 tsp of sesame seeds
  • 1tsp of soya sauce
  • 1tsp of cooking oil, I usually use olive oil no matter what but sunflower or rice oil are OK too

Wash the eggplants and dice them. In a pan set the cooking oil snd heat. When hot add the eggplant and cook at high heat while stirring often. Slice thinly the aburage. Add to the eggplants. Cook and stir until the eggplants are creamy. Add the sesame and soya sauce, stir and serve.

While the base is the same as the perfect eggplant recipe, the flavors are very different. I actually recommend to cook both and compare. It’s perfect to understand umami.

Coral lentils spicy stew

I love lentils of all sorts, but when I see coral lentils on a shelf, I can’t help being attracted by their beautiful color. And every time I forget that the color will somehow fade away when cooked (contrarily to some fancy pictures you see on the internet… or they have a well kept secret…)

So I usually get excited starting cooking them and thinking about the beautifully colored dish… and 20 minutes later… damned! It’s yellowish brownish… Nonetheless the recipe I came with yesterday was really delicious, and worth remembering. So let me share it with you.

Coral lentils spicy stew (2 servings as whole meal)

  • 100g of coral lentils
  • 5 little potatoes
  • 1 onion
  • 1 eggplant
  • 1tsp of curry powder
  • 1tsp of turmeric
  • Ground black pepper
  • Salt

In a large pan put the lentils and cover generously with water. Cook at low heat for 15min or until the water is gone.

Peel the potatoes, cut them in 4. Cut the onion in bites, and the eggplant. Add to the lentils. Almost cover with water, add the spices, salt and pepper and cook at medium to low heat for 10min, or until the water is almost gone. Serve and enjoy!!

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