Tag: shiitake

Ravioli with Japanese flavors

By now you must know that I love ravioli, that I love both making and eating them. With the end of year/new year holidays in Japan, most of the farmers market were off until today, so I had to buy some long lasting vegetables that would last 7-10 days and enough for having friends at home and unscheduled meals to cook, just in case… so I packed on shiitake, spinach, sweet potatoes, daikon, cabbages and carrots mainly. So when I wanted to make ravioli I was a bit falling short of options at first… but then I decided to use the ravioli recipe I learned in Florence last year: a base of potato and a sauce with mushrooms. I just twisted the recipe enough to make it Japanese style: filling of Japanese sweet potato and soya sauce, and the sauce with shiitake, spinach and a bit of grilled pork for those who like it. The result was really up to my expectations, even though I could have added a little more soya sauce. But each vegetable flavor and texture was remarkable and I and A. were both very happy with the result. So here is my recipe:

Sweet potato ravioli (2-4 servings depending on serving size, for it was 4)

For the pasta as usual:

– 100g of flour

– 1egg

– a bit of olive oil, a bit of salt

Mix all and knead until soft. Wrap and leave to rest for 30-90min.

For the filling:

– 2 medium sweet potatoes

– 2tbs of soya sauce

Boil them, when soft, drain, peel, and mash. Add a bit of water if too dry.

For the sauce:

– 1 bundle of spinach

– 4-6 large shiitake

– olive oil to your liking

– thin slices of pork if you like

Wash the vegetables, chop the spinach and slice the shiitake. In a heated pan with olive oil cook the vegetables, add the pork if you want. Add a bit of water if too dry. Keep.

Roll the dough and fill the ravioli. I used a 12-ravioli rack which has fairly large size ravioli (the dough quantities make for two racks: 24 ravioli). Mezze lune are also easy to make as in the recipe here. Fill them and boil them. Once they come to the surface take them out and add to the sauce. It doesn’t matter if a bit of cooking water comes too, on the contrary. Stir gently to cover the ravioli with the sauce and serve to eat right away.

Autumn…

November has arrived in a flash… and with it the first chilly evenings that make you want to roll yourself under a plaid with the cat and drink hot yuzu with honey. It’s also the perfect time for long walks to the beach, gardening and receiving guests. This time guests were my sister, her husband and my nephew. In order to have plenty of time to go to the beach I prepared a very simple grilled vegetables with mustard dish inspired by a photo I saw on IG (recipe below) and because my nephew wanted to eat some tonkatsu I ordered a few pieces of filet-katsu at our favorite local meat shop Genji.

Walking to the beach we could enjoy seeing the persimmons on the trees and those prepared for drying already. Something I want to try to prepare once, but this year there was only a few fruits only on our tree… maybe next year…

Autumn vegetables grilled with mustard

– 1 sweet potato

– 1 lotus root

– 1/2 burdock

– 1 carrot

– 1/4 kabocha

– 4 shiitake

– a bit of mizuna

– 2tbs of seeded mustard

– 1tbs of olive oil

Wash, peal when necessary the vegetables, and cut them as you wish, except the kabocha, slice it. In a large pan heated add the olive oil and the carrot, the lotus root, the burdock. Cook at high or medium heat and stir often. Add then the sweet potato, the shiitake, cook at high or medium heat to roast the vegetables add the mustard and stir well yet gently not to break the vegetables. In a pan or in the oven roast the kabocha slices. In a serving bowl add the vegetables then the kabocha slices and top with the mizuna. Enjoy!!!

Chickpeas flour

Chickpeas flour is a very typical staple in the south east of France, in Provence we use it for panisses, more east on the Cote d’Azur for socca, and it is always delicious!!!

I always have chickpeas flour in my pantry, I use it to prepare socca and panisses for sure but not only! I use it for making pasta and pie crust. For this quiche recipe, with shiitake and spinach, I wanted an oriental flair so I added cumin powder. Here is my super simple recipe:

Chickpeas flour, shiitake and spinach quiche

For the pie crust (vegan)

– 80g of chickpeas flour

– 80g of regular flour

– 1/3 cup of olive oil

– water

– 2tbs of cumin powder

In a bowl mix the two flours, add the olive oil, stir. Add a bit of water at the time while kneading to obtain a smooth dough. Add the cumin powder and knead a little more. Roll and set in the pie dish. Bake at 180deg for 7min.

For the filling

– 4 fresh shiitake

– a bundle of spinach

– 3 eggs

– 1/3 cup of milk (I used almond milk)

Wash and dice the shiitake, wash and chop the spinach. Cook quickly in their own water in a large pan to soften the vegetables. In a bowl mix the eggs and the milk, add the cooked vegetables. Pour in the pie crust and bake for 30min.

Butternut squash week day 3

Most of the butternut squash recipe I make are not really Japanese style. Indeed, butternut squash is not really a traditional food in Japan, it’s little cousin the kabocha is more common, with a green skin and a typical taste it is used in many places from traditional cuisine to more contemporary recipes. But butternut squash could also replace kabocha in some more traditional recipes. One recipe idea I like with kabocha is kabocha salad, but it often contains too much mayonnaise. Taking inspiration from a classic Japanese recipe based on tofu I prepared a new butternut squash salad that could also be called butternut squash ae. This recipe uses only 3 ingredients and is very simple while having a great Japanese flair. It is perfect as a side or as a starter, eaten in one plate meal too. Here is my recipe:

Butternut squash ae:

– 125g of butternut squash peeled and boiled

– 3 fresh shiitake

– 100g of spinach

it’s so simple you’ll be impressed!!!

Wash and slice the shiitake, wash and chop the spinach. In a pan cook the spinach and the shiitake until they are soft and just a little moisture remains. Stop heating. Add the butternut squash and purée it while stirring with the other vegetables to obtain an homogeneous texture. Serve and enjoy!!!

Mushrooms already…

Though it’s still hot in Tokyo, evenings are getting chillier and mushrooms are proliferating on the market shelves… impossible to resist to the temptation and difficult anyway to shop something else as the summer vegetables are finished and there is little transition between the summer vegetables and the autumn ones. It’s either okra and tomatoes or mushrooms and pumpkins or other orange squashes. So mushrooms are a way to slowly enter the new season.

I love the classic chicken and mushroom takikomi gohan and always tale the opportunity to cook some when I miss Japanese food. It is so simple. And it is good hot or cold, so it makes the perfect content for a lunch box.

But mushrooms are also delicious with pasta! And to try the delicious pine nuts from Pisa I decidedly to make a JapanesexItalian recipe with linguine. And because mushroom only may be boring, I added burdock for it has a little bit the taste of artichokes and makes a rather nice replacement (though it doesn’t have the tenderness). So here is my new recipe!

Linguine for the early autumn (for 2 people as main)

– 120g of dry linguine

– 4 shiitake

– 4 white mushrooms

– 1/2 burdock

– 1 handful of pine nuts

– olive oil

Wash and cut the mushrooms. I like to cut the different types in different shape for a nice texture and taste experience. Peel and cut in small sticks the burdock. In a heated pan with olive oil cook all the vegetables. Add the pine nuts. Boil the pasta as you like them, drain and add in the pan, add a little olive, salt and pepper if you like and stir well before serving. Enjoy!

Romanesco

 

Every one knows this fractal cabbage that is as beautiful as delicious: the romanesco! It is now not too difficult to find it in Japan too, and they even grow some in Isumi. Since I want to keep it simple and to be able to admire its beautiful shapes that usually I use it simply steamed, or roasted. And sometimes in quiche (all the romanesco recipes are here). I find that the oven slow roast and the quiche overall suit very well this cabbage, and its flavor suits the flavor of buckwheat and shiitake very nicely, so I made a quiche half flour half buckwheat flour, and in the egg base I added plenty of turmeric and pepper and slices of fresh raw shiitake and raw romanesco. And it gave a very subtle combination that was very pleasing.

Have a great week! 

Half risotto

In Japan people born from one Japanese parent and one foreign parent are called “half” (ハーフ) by Japanese people. Using the same idea I use like to use this word for my cooking recipes. Some would use different words such as ethnic food, fusion food or any other that means nothing to me. But “half” really captures my way of cooking. Whether it is French-Japanese or Italian-Japanese, it’s cooking “half” to me. When I make a Japanese quiche, or foie-gras suigyoza… This time, it’s a risotto I prepared, that is perfectly half, in ingredients and inspiration. Half Japanese and half Italian. The rice: 1/2 brown Koshihikari 1/2 Carnaroli; the vegetables: 2 small leeks for the base, then fresh shiitake and some olive oil preserved Italian purple artichokes (you can use fresh one if you can find some… but really in Tokyo it’s not easy…). I topped my risotto with some freshly gratted Parmigiano but it’s optional, A. prefers his risotto straight!

Half risotto (for 2 servings) :

– 60g of Carnaroli rice (or any risotto rice of your choice)

– 60g of brown Japanese rice  (I use Koshihikari from Isumi, but it’s up to you to use the brown rice you like)

– 1 or 2 leeks depending on size

– 4-10 shiitake depending on size (I prefer smaller ones)

– 10 small purple artichokes  (I used olive oil preserved ones)

– olive oil, salt, pepper, Parmigiano…

First chop the leek and cook in a large pan at low heat in a bit of olive oil, stir regularly so that they don’t change color. Wash and cut the shiitake. Prepare the artichokes if fresh and cut in halves unless very small and tender, if in olive oil drain them. Add the rices in the pan and a bit of olive oil. Increase the heat and stir often. When the rice becomes translucent add about 600ml of water (I don’t use broth because the leeks and mushrooms are alrrady bringing enough flavor), salt, pepper, the mushrooms and the fresh artichokes (if in olive oil, wait until the end). Cook under cover at medium-low heat until the liquid has almost disappeared. Add now the artichokes if they were in olive oil. Stir and serve rapidly. Add gratted Parmigiano if you like!

Home-made tagliatelle

As planned there will be a lot of pasta in 2018, and it has already started! For Xmas I received a motor for my pasta machine!!! Not that I am a big fan of going mechanical, I prefer to knead manually, to chop manually, to ground coffee manually… but I must admit that with the pasta machine three hands rather than two were neededto hold the pasta in, hold the pasta out and manipulate the handle, so it was really tricky and to get things done by myself I was flouring generously the whole top and I was making a real mess actually! The motor makes things much cleaner, and the pasta is great: thin and not too floury. I’m starting to be really good at making pasta!

For a change I didn’t make ravioli though I was quite tempted to, instead I made tagliatelle, and simply prepared them with buttered leek and shiitake.  I used the same preparation steps that for the ravioli. I prepared the leek and shiitake in a large pan with a bit of butter and at low heat and used the boiling water to keep the mix moisten, and when the pasta were ready I just drained them and added them to the vegetables, added a little of olive oil and pepper and stirred well just before serving. So simple and delicious, invigorating before going back to work!!!

Polenta “pizza”

Maybe it’s because we’re going to Italy soon, maybe just because I love it, but there are two things I am craving for: Italian food and Japanese food. So I alternate Italian inspirations and Japanese ones, and sometimes mix the two. When you need a rapid base for dinner polenta is much better than rice. It cokks in no time and it is very versatile and fun to arrange with many vegetables. One of the things I like to prepare it with are mushrooms and tomatoes. Somehow very classic. But you can give it a twist and prepare it like a pizza (vegan, gluten free). Here is my recipe!

Polenta pizza (4 servings)

– 100g of polenta (more or less depending on the size of your pie dish, the thickness of the polenta you want etc…)

– 2 large shiitake or 5 small

– a bundle of rucola

– a hanful of cherry tomatoes

– a branch of rosemary

– olive oil

– salt and pepper

First cook the polenta, you want it slightly dry to hold when it is cold but not undercooked.  Then pour the hot polenta in your olive-oil greased pie dish to obtain an even layer. Since I’m making a “pizza” I don’t want it to be thick, but neither too thin. 5-8mm is the right thing for me. Let it chill. Wash the vegetables and cut them. Add a bit of olive oil on top of the polenta, rosemary, salt and pepper. Then add the tomatoes and shiitake. Pre-heat the oven 30min before serving to 180deg. and cook the polenta and vegetables. Finally when done, just before serving add the rucola. That’s it!

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