Tag: rice

Planned leftovers…

While in Japan we are far from being locked down like many in the west, the spike in covid-19 cases in Tokyo has pushed us to action. In the lab I’ve been preparing for weeks for telework and remote access to our equipment, and also consignment out of some devices to our teams to limit the impact of a possible lockdown on our activities, the university finally decided on Monday evening to close down all research activities on campus starting the next day, and that meant telework for all students. I decided that should also apply to me and my secretaries, so since Tuesday, it’s been telework everyday! I must say that taking the train to commute didn’t make me happy, and when I could I would cycle, but going to the uni. By bicycle is not an option. So, at home I stay. A. is basically following the same regimen, so we’re two at home for breakfast, lunch, teatime and dinner! Luckily I had prepared a bit (actually I was more thinking of a city lockdown last weekend than just telework!!!) and I had packed a little more than usual on fresh vegetables at the local farmers last weekend, so we were not in need for any food. Actually, given that eating out is not recommended, and having friends over either, planning food quantities becomes a lit easier! But the logistics of it requires a bit more planning than usual, as I make lunches for two while working and A. and I didn’t have time to synchronize our agendas, our window time for lunch was quite small. When I’m alone I just eat what and when I want/can. It’s easy, it’s only me. So to avoid wasting time waiting for each other to eat, overcooking or undercooking food, rushing lunch, I decided to do something I rarely do: generate leftovers. Actually it’s not only time efficient, but probably energy efficient as well, but it requires planning ahead… and requires a bit of creativity as you use ingredients you’ve eaten the previous meal and that is no longer “freshly” cooked… I don’t talk about leftovers of a fully prepared dish (that would be totally boring to eat twice the exact same thing…) but rather leftovers of an ingredient that otherwise would take 30-120min to cook. Generally carbs: pasta, rice, brown rice (which takes the most time to cook), sometimes meat, or broth… and to cook things that can keep warm, and require little attendance once in the pan or the oven. Today I’ll share two recipes made with brown rice and rice. They are really simple and quick and provide a perfectly balanced meal. The first one is a quiche with a brown rice crust and Japanese flavors, the second is a vegan sautéed rice or chahan (top picture). I hope you’ll enjoy them.

Brown rice crust Japanese quiche: (makes a Φ28cm quiche)

For the pie crust:

– 1/2 to 1 cup of cooked brown rice

– 1/2 cup of flour

– 50g of butter

– a bit of water

– a pinch of salt

For the filling:

– a few shiitake

– a piece of lotus root

– a few spinach

– 1/2 cup of dashi

– 3 eggs

Make the pie crust by mixing all ingredients. Roll with a pin or with the hand to the size of the pie dish you have with a 2cm high edge. Bake in the oven for 10min at 200deg.

In the meantime, wash the vegetables, peel the lotus root. Cut the vegetables and cook them a bit to soften them. In a bowl, mix the dashi and the eggs, add the vegetables. Pour in the pie crust and back in the oven at 180deg for 30 to 40min. Better eaten warm for maximum crust crunchiness.

Rice sautéed (2 servings)

– 1 cup of leftover rice, white or brown

– 1 little leek

– a little piece of lotus root

– some greens: radish tops, spinach, cresson (I used the latter)

– a piece of thin aburage (leftover as well)

– a handful of snap peas

– a tsp of sesame seeds

– 2tsp of sesame oil

Wash, peel if necessary the vegetables. Cut them in thin or tiny pieces. In a pan, heat the sesame oil, add the leek. Then the lotus root, the greens, the snap peas. The aburage. Stir gently. When all warm add the sesame seeds, stir again gently. Add a little of salt if you need. Enjoy warm.

Have a good Sunday!!!

Ochazuke – お茶漬け

Those who are familiar with Yasujiro Ozu’s movies must know “The flavor of green tea over rice” or “お茶漬けの味”, while being a cinematographic beauty and a brilliant socio-cultural representation of the the Japanese society transition of the time, it also introduces to a large audience ochazuke. Literally, as in the movie, it’s a dish that consists of pouring green tea over rice. A warm and comforting dish. While for westerners this might sounds odd, this dish, well prepared is actually delicious. It is also very simple if you have the right ingredients: rice, a hot tasty liquid, some topping eventually.

Ochazuke as you can imagine, is not supposed to be eaten with freshly cooked rice, while it is ok to do so, it is rather a recipe to use rice leftovers that have cooled down. So what I usually do is cook more rice than I need once to guarantee leftovers and then keep them for the next meal. Of course I mean Japanese rice cooked the Japanese way!!! You can use white rice or brown rice, it is equally delicious.

Then you need a hot liquid. As the name may be misleading, the liquid can be, but does not limit to green tea. Of course a nice and tasty green tea will work very well, yet my favorite recipe is with a flavor-rich dashi. A dashi made from konbu and katsuo, or from shiitake for a vegan version. The liquid must be hot enough to warm the rice if you use leftovers as it might be just at room temperature.

Finally you need a topping. Something that brings in a new texture and a new flavor. The topping is in rather low quantity, about one~two table spoon for one bowl. And as the rice and the liquid have quite a fine and light flavor you can use a topping that contrasts vividly such as umeboshi, salty salmon, mitsuba or create new combinations. Well, to be honest umeboshi is one of my favorite, and it can be used with some other toppings as well.

Why is that that I suddenly I talk so much of ochazuke when in the past 15 years I barely made one and only have them in restaurants? I think its just a matter of interesting circumstances: (1) Finding a nice dashi made from natural ingredients (dashi bars and tasting are becoming more trendy but not all dashi are made from simple natural ingredients) (2) Having leftover rice (when I was sick I would cook rice for 2 or 3 meals to have always something ready in case I would be hungry) (3) Wanting to eat a warm meal (with the temperature changing rapidly and the days becoming chilly one needs a warm, light and comforting meal…)

Here are the ochazuke I made in the past couple of weeks, top to bottom: umeboshi and pickled red chiso, umeboshi and mitsuba, 7 herbs and salmon, umeboshi grilled mushrooms and salmon.

For all the principle is the same: serve the rice in a large bowl such that it uses not more than half of it. Top with the topping of your choice. I blanched the round turnips in the 7 herbs version and slightly grilled in olive oil the long ones. Same for the mushrooms, I grilled them before. Prepare the dashi of your choice and pour while hot gently to cover the rice. Eat right away!

Sakura risotto

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.

Spring is here!

After the fukinoto and the canola which both announce the arrival of spring and the cold unstable weather that usually accompany the plum blossom end, the next step is the real arrival of spring in late March or early April with the famous cherry blossoms of course, Mole’s quince and the jonquils putting beautiful colors in the garden but also the bamboo shoots (takenoko 筍)and the other wild vegetables: fern (kogomi こごみ), horsetail (tsukushi つくし), angelica tree buds (tara no me タラの芽)…

We don’t have kogomi and tara no me in our garden, or not that I know of yet (I discover new things each year!), I found a few tsukushi in the past but never enough or at the right time to harvest them. This year I found really plenty, enough to consider cooking some. Tsukushi are a bit of a delicate plant and their pollen is not very good so it’s better to harvest them early. The one on the picture below is for example a bit too old, this can be seen by the dark color of the head: the pollen is already about to go out! The pollen of tsukushi is blue to black, and looks like mold!!! I have never seen tsukushi in supermarkets, I assume they are too delicate for transport and shelf time. Their flavor is very subtle so I like simple preparations: quickly sautéed, or simply blanched in dashi. To prepare them, simply wash them and remove the corollas parts using your thumb by simply rolling the stem with the corolla on top of your nail. Then cook them in a pan with a bit of butter or as said above blanched them in a regular dashi. Serve them right away with rice, scrambled eggs… nothing too strong.

I my case I made a simple fried takenoko rice with sesame oil, scrambled eggs season with a few drops of soya sauce. That’s it!

Italy meets Japan again

Saturday I spent some time browsing cookbooks, looking at their beautiful pictures and slowly moving from the winter mood to the spring mood. I was focusing on two very different books: a Japanese macrobiotic cookbook from Brownsfield owner elder daughter Shinema Nakajima, and a Sicilian cookbook by bloggers Maria Teresa di Marco and Marie Cecile Ferre. The first one reminded me its been too long since we last ate brown rice, the second one made me crave for tomatoes, fresh anchovies, fennels and artichokes. But from the mix of both came this very simple recipe of a macrobiotic risotto made from Japanese brown rice and fresh local vegetables. Here is my recipe.

Italian x Japanese risotto (2servings)

– 70g of brown rice

– 3 shiitake

– a handful of fresh rucola

– 3-5 small tomatoes, ripe

– olive oil, salt and pepper

First of all cook the brown rice in the Japanese way. Use left over if you have some.

In a large pan heat some olive oil, wash and slice the shiitake and cook them at low heat in the oil. That will make the base of the risotto stock. Add the rice and stir well, add a 2tbs of water. Then wash and chop the rucola and the tomatoes, add and stir well. Cook for a few minutes while stirring. Add salt and pepper. I served it with daikon pickled with yuzu, that was perfect!!

Simple food: rice

Though when we were first traveling to Japan about 20 years ago, I would get tired of eating rice 3 times a day after one week, now I think I eat rice not enough and I am never tired of it, be it 3 times a day, every days!

It can be plain white rice with just a pickled plum, konbu, miso or salmon, or more elaborated recipes. Everything is good for me as soon as the rice is good. My favorite rice is Koshihikari, as I’ve earlier said, be it from Tsunan or Isumi. But one thing I love to do is to cook more rice than needed so that the next meal can be prepared rapidly using this extra rice. Because if plain boiled rice is amazingly delicious, sautéed rice is also amazing. I love it prepared with sesame oil, and many different seasonal vegetables, it is as versatile as risotto. This time I cooked it with shiitake, carrots and cabbage, and added some sesame seeds and a few lemon peels from the last lemon of these season. A perfectly light combination for both lunch or dinner where the sesame and the lemon are well balanced and the vegetables textures play with crisp and melt…

How do you like your rice???

Moyashi – soya sprouts

Soya sprouts (or moyashi) are one of these things I love but I hardly buy and cook because it’s hard to find some that are made properly. I remember reading about how they were made and stopped eating some. So last night when We went shopping after flying back from France, and I found organic moyashi at our local Seijo Ishi supermarket I couldn’t help buying them. Moyashi is a super food: easy to prepare, packed on protein and nutrients, and also it is very very cheap!!!! One of my favorite combination is moyashi and fried tofu. I love the mix of the crunchy and watery moyashi, with the soft oily tofu. This goes super well with simple rice or in chahan (fried rice). Here is one version of my recipe, it’s a vegetarian option that can be turned in a vegan one by removing the eggs or turned into a plain one if adding thinly cut chicken breast or pork slices.

Sautéed moyashi (for 3 small portions or 2 large portions)

– a bag of organic moyashi

– 2 slices of aburage

– 1tbs of sesame oil

– 1tsp of sesame seeds

– 2tbs of soya sauce (light colored recommended)

Optional: 2 eggs, 1 chicken breast or 5 thin slices of pork meat

Wash and drain the moyashi. In a pan greased with the sesame oil and heated add the moyashi. Cut the tofu in thin strips, add to the pan. Stir and cook at medium heat until l the moyashi is getting softer. Add the eggs or the meat if you want, and stir very well. Finish with the sesame seeds. Serve warm with rice.

Butternut squash love

Since the very first I saw this season I have bought butternut squash every week and I am not yet tired of it. Whether it is with Japanese rice, risotto, faro, pasta or quinoa, it is always great. In jumbo ravioli also it is perfect. I love the taste and the texture and I love it because it cooks super quickly, it keeps quite long even after cut open. It is the perfect ingredient for me this week since A. is away on business and I cook only for myself. Oh! And I was forgetting that it suits very well melty cheese be it cheddar, Parmigiano or gruyère.

So I’ve tried faro risotto style pure and simple. Topped with plenty of grated red cheddar. For that I first boiled the faro a bit before cooking the butternut squash in olive oil and added the faro.

I did tagliatelle with butternut squash, when it was really late and needed to eat quickly. For that I added the butternut squash cut in bites to the boiling water of the pasta 5min before they were supposed to be done. Topped with grated Parmigiano and a bit of olive oil.

And finally I added it to some quinoa soup, a recipe that over the years has been a classic of the chilly season. I just tossed the quinoa with a carrot, a piece of lotus root, chunks of butternut squash and winged beans in gently boiling water, in order of cooking time. Added some curcuma, salt and pepper and ate all warm.

There are still a few more recipes I want to try with butternut squash, but it will be next week until I buy a new one…

Orange risotto

Sometimes the weather feels like eating something warm and with vibrant colors… this weather is just now! Rainy, getting chilly and tired… a bright orange risotto was just what I needed!!!

Carrots for the crunch, butternut for the soft, salmon for the salt and kabosu for the fresh and acid taste. That’s as simple as this! I cut the vegetables in rather small pieces to obtain a good mix and balance of texture in the mouth. I used olive oil as a base and a little of pepper. Nothing else. No broth, no salt. And just the time to have a call meeting and it’s ready to eat.

Have a great Friday!

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