Two kitchen failures this week! The kagamimochi became infested with a terrifying amount of mold while my kuromame burned (trial 1)1 and emerged glossy but tasteless (trial 2). With regards to kagamimochi, it seems that mold can be prevented by; 1) rubbing the mochi with a small amount of shochu (or other high proof alcohol); or sandwiching them with a thin layer of wasabi (tube is fine).What did go well!
The shiniest (and blandest) kuromame
While it’s been the mildest winter (tragic, as we will soon have no snow according to this piece in The Atlantic) I was moved to make a pot of oden🍢 - a braise of daikon, konnyaku, and nerimono (fish cakes) in a dashi broth (dashi, mirin, shoyu, and sake). So beloved as to have an emoji, the daikon, konnyaku, and nerimono are nonnegotiable, but everything else is up to you. My dad loves potatoes and adds them always while other families add octopus, rolled cabbage, and chicken wings.
Some possible additions - atsuage tofu, octopus, beef skewers
As daikon is the star, it is critical that it be appropriate for the braise. So many of the farmer’s market daikon that I have purchased have been stringy and tough, so I source mine from Suzuki Farm (lol I love this place). I love potatoes in oden because my dad’s version. isthe most familiar to me, but did not have potatoes so added a satsumaimo - Japanese sweet potato).
Oden🍢🍢🍢 - with atsuage tofu, daikon, carrots, satsumaimo (Japanese sweet potato), hard boiled eggs, and nerimono.
Prepare your broth by making a dashi base with katsuo and kombu. Prepare a fairly well seasoned broth (so be generous with your katsuo and kombu). I used two dashi packets for about four cups of water, 2 tablespoons of mirin, and 2 tablespoons of shoyu. This is to taste - I dropped in a Medjool date for extra sweetness.
Slice daikon thickly - two inch slices and peel them generously. We will repurpose the peels in a kinpira - a stir fry with sesame. Score the daikon and simmer in boiling water for 10 minutes (this helps the dashi permeate the daikon).
Slice konnyaku into triangles and add it to the pot with the daikon for 5 minutes.
Boil eggs
Add daikon, carrots, and konnyaku to broth and simmer until the daikon is soft. Add potatoes. At the end, add hard boiled eggs, nerimono, and tofu. Let sit for 1-2 hours (preferably overnight).
Kinpira with daikon peels
Heat your skillet (I love my carbon steel pan now that it is finally seasoned!) and add a generous amount of sesame oil.
Thinly slice all of your daikon peel into 1/4 inch.
Add chili flake to taste
Add daikon peels, season with shoyu, mirin, and sesame
Gifts from Japan
I caught some time with my brother, Kaz (of the most amazing ramen eggs), the day after he flew back from Japan and before I fly out. Among the treats he flew back was a truly enormous (like at least 10 lb box?) of Toraya yokan. It came with this charming pamphlet description of their offerings.
He also brought back a box of monaka from our local favorite, Kikuya that were adorably decorated with the Chinese zodiac.
He also packed a Nenrinya baumkuchen (apparently available at Narita) and a box of Yoku Moku cookies (and critically, no Tokyo Banana) because he is my brother and shares my good taste.
Finally, the thinnest and most gossamer of noodles, Miwa somen.
With that, I am off to my flight! Tip, if you fly ANA from JFK you can get Seafood cup noodles in the lounge.
Kuromame recipes call for , I have learned, call for an amount of superstition and lore. Soak the beans! says one expert, while another warns that soaking the beans will leach all their color. In addition to the rusty nail (or iron egg iron pot), there are also so many cycles of simmering and skimming. Seasonings are simple, an equal amount (in weight) of sugar. to beans, a splash of mirin and shoyu. On my second round, I used an equal amount of maple syrup in lieu of sugar and kept the beans largely alone. They turned out photo ready, but so insipid. How do people make these?
Happy New Year! We got a Toraya box for New Year's too and inhaled the Monaka :-) The yokan didn't last long either. When we first moved to Tokyo I purchased a bag of black beans thinking they were Mexican black beans and treated them as such - soaking overnight, etc and then preparing them the next day whereupon it became very clear they were NOT Mexican black beans (and why would they be?) I buy kuromame fairly regularly at the grocery store but haven't tried to make it at home - I'll give it another try thanks to your post!