Where is the Japanese autumn?

One thing that is really beautiful in Japan is the autumn sunny days called akibare-秋晴れ. They are usually warm and the blue of the sky contrasts vividly with the changing colors of the nature. This period usually streches until mid-November even December sometimes. This year, after the rainy summer we had, I was longing for this period, enjoying gardening and walks in the nature. But after just a very few days, we’ve entered a series of rainy days that seem simply endless. And any time I watch the weather forecast it seems it is stuck with the rain mark… but not only does it rain, it is also chilly. So nothing better to warm up than a little soup and some brown rice. For the soup I chose a cauliflower. Simply blanched it until just tender, not over cooked otherwise the taste changes. They blended it with the water and added some soya milk. Finished with salt, pepper and curcuma. The cauliflower just cooked as above, and well blended is creamy enough and doesn’t need further addition of cream or whatsoever ingredient. The brown rice, I took the time to cook it in the rice cooker, on the brown rice menu. It takes about 2h30 but it is worth doing so because it becomes very soft. Then I made rice balls, topped them with a small table spoon of miso just to cover them thinely and grilled them in a fry pan miso face down. You can also grill them in a grill or an oven. That’s it!!

Have a beautiful week! And don’t forget your umbrella if you’re in Tokyo!! 

Grilled miso onigiri – 味噌焼きおにぎり

The other day while browsing my IG feed, I saw the beautiful picture of grilled onigiri (rice balls) from my IG friend Junko @junkikat. And instantly I wanted to eat some. I love grilled miso onigiri, but for some obscure reason I never make some… Junko nicely gave me her recipe and I slightly adapted it to what I had in my fridge and my pantry. So here is what I did: first cook some Japanese rice. While it was cooking I prepare a mix of miso, I had only rustic granulous miso, so I used that one, 2 tsp. Then instead of the mirin I used a little bit of rice oil and vinegar, just a few drops. Vinegar can be replaced by a few drops of sake. And then added 1/2 tsp of sugar. Stir well to obtain a homogeneous mixture. Make the rice balls by taking 1/2 of rice in wet hand and shape them as you like with one flat surface for the miso. Spread the miso on the flat surface and then grill them in the oven or in a fry pan. I used the pan because I have a huge oven and I found that silly to turn it on just for that. So I flipped the onigiri miso side on the heated pan (grease it a bit if it is not anti-adhesive) and wait a few minutes until the miso starts to golden. Serve with what you like. For this time it was scrambled eggs and a simple salad with tomato, carrot and ice plant.

Picnic Japanese style

When I have guests from abroad I try to cook Japanese as much as possible except for breakfast. So when we decided to take a walk to the beach and picnic there I decided to prepare some bamboo shoots onigiri or o musubi. This is just the end of the season of bamboo shoots, so I wanted to take the most of it. It is extremely easy to prepare and super fresh and delicious. I prepared the bamboo shoot as usual, first boiled in rice water, then in a light dashi: konbu, katsuo, iwashi… Cook some Japanese rice too, all white, or half brown. Add a bit of salt once cooked, some kinome leaves. Chop the bamboo shoot in dice of less than 5mm. Insert in the rice and stir well, then start preping for the balls. Finish with a little branch of kinome, or a thin alice of bamboo shoot. Have a nice golden week!!!

Okaka yaki onigiri – おかか焼おにぎり

Out of the multitude of recipes and usage of katsuobushi, one thing I love is okaka. Okaka is basically a mix of katsuobushi flakes and soya sauce, sometimes a few sesame seeds. It is often used as a filling of onigiri (rice ball). Today I tried a slightly different manner to serve these onigiri. Instead of using The okaka as a filling I decided to mix it directly with the rice and they grill the balls in a fry pan (small oven or grill can do too) to make yaki-onigiri. I served them with grilled vegetables: tomatoes, okras, shiitake, and with some marinated mackerel.

I baked 1 cup of rice, added 4g of katsuobushi flakes and a tea spoon of soya sauce, stirred well. Them I prepare the balls and flattened them in patties and grilled them in a greased fry pan until golden.

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