鍋 :: Nabe :: Hot Pot

 Now that the season is getting colder, I’m going to post various ideas and recipes for nabe!

The most basic ingredients are:

Broth

-hondashi and/or konbu (kelp)

-a splash of soy sauce

-some sake, if that suits your fancy

Ingredients:

-Carrots. Usually the Japanese cut them into pretty little flower designs, but I just cut them into medallions, but at an angle so they are oval and not so perfectly round (that way they don’t roll off my cutting board so much!). Carrots take a long time to cook and don’t lose their shape, so I add them first.

-Negi, or leeks. Leeks are long like green onion, but very thick, thicker in diameter than my thumb, and the leaves are fleshy and firm. The Japanese cut the leeks on a diagonal, into about thumb-length sections. If you wish, you can use an onion, though I find it gives the broth a strong onion-y flavor while leeks have a milder flavor. Because they add flavor to the broth, I add them early.

-Konyaku, or gray… jelly… stuff. (Wikipedia says it can be "devil's tongue" or "snake palm," though I've never said it in English before. Anyone know?) Lots of people don’t like konyaku, but I do! Konyaku stinks mightily right out of the bag, so it is good to let it sit in water, or perhaps boil it once and throw out the used water before putting the konyaku in your nabe. I cut the konyaku into triangle chunks because that’s what Japanese people do and I think it’s pretty, but if you’re fancy you can make konyaku bows, like this.  

I’m not sure what the optimal cooking time for konyaku is, so I put it in before the meats and soft vegetables and after the hard vegetables.

-Meat! Various kinds of meat taste good in nabe. Ground chicken meat balls, shredded pork, different kinds of fish. I usually only use shredded pork in my nabe, because I love it so. Pork will make a mucky yucky mess on the top of the water. I don’t think it’s bad for you, but I also don’t think it’s delicious or pretty, so I scoop that off with a small strainer or spoon and throw it away.

-Hakusai, Chinese cabbage, cut them into two-inch by two-inch squares.. Chinese cabbage is very plentiful and cheap in Japan during winter time, and it has a mild, pleasant taste. It is softer than cabbage, and the head is about twice as long as it is wide. It cooks well, and can be cooked as long as you like (I prefer my greens more wilted than I do well cooked, though some of my friends are opposite). Side note: Chinese cabbage is the vegetable used to make kimchee in Korea. If you can’t get your hands on Chinese cabbage, or you just have a lot of regular cabbage on hand, you can use regular cabbage. The leaves are tougher so they take longer to cook, so I cut them slightly smaller than I would Chinese cabbage, and add it early on, right after the carrots.

-eringi. These are little, long white mushrooms that look like little bundles of spaghetti growing all in a row. They are delicious in nabe. The cook rather fast, so I add them later on, and they are done when they are limp and noodle-like.

-Tofu. If tofu is boiled it will fall apart, and it really only needs to be warmed through, so I add it last. I recommend a firm tofu, since it will hold it’s shape better, but softer tofu is okay. Another tastey option is agedofu, a tofu that has been fried and has a firm, golden yellow exterior and a soft tofu interior.

Alternative ingredients:

-Gobo, burdock root. I like the woody flavor of burdock, but you have to be careful with it because it can be very bitter. The way to get rid of the bitterness is to soak it in water. I peel the root and then cut it into medallions on an angle, then let it sit in water while I’m prepping other ingredients. The water will start turning a purplish color, and I will pour that out and cover it with clean water and let it sit again. After two soakings, all the bitterness should be gone, and it’s ready to be put in the pot! Burdock takes a while to cook, so I put it in early and let it cook the longest, right up there with the carrots.

-Kabocha, Japanese squash (sometimes called kabochi in America?). Kabocha are a squat, orange-fleshed pumpkin that is very hard. If you cook it for a long time it will start to melt off of the peel, which can result in a kabocha-paste soup instead of a nabe (but I think that is delicious, too).

-Satsuma imo, Satuma yams. These are the purple-peeled, orange-fleshed potatoes that are abundant around Japan. I scrub the peels well, make sure all roots and eyes (the little rootlets that haven’t become roots yet), blemishes, and dirt are cleared away or cut off, and then cut it into 1-inch cubes. They need a cooking time of 15-20 minutes, depending on how hot the water is. But, be careful! Like kabocha, these potatoes will melt away if they are cooked for a long time, but also like kabocha, I think the resulting sweet paste-y soup tastes delicious. If you want to, you can add other kinds of potatoes—I prefer golden potatoes, or a potato with a colorful peel. All potatoes will reduce to potato mash if cooked for a long time.

-Renkon, lotus root. A strange vegetable, these are hard roots with long, large holes all the way through. They usually come muddy (lotus grow from the bottom of ponds), so be sure to wash them well (including the tubes inside!). They need to be peeled, and I have found the best way is to drag the edge of my knife along the tuber, scraping off the peel. Trying to cut it off is dangerous for my fingertips, and a potato peeler gets frustrating. Once cooked, they have a nutty flavor, and they maintain their crunchiness. I cut them into 1cm (1 finger width, or a half inch) medallions, and they need to be added early on because they take awhile to cook.

-Moyashi, bean sprouts. These little guys taste springy and fresh, though very woodsy and earthy. I don’t usually add them to nabe, though they are regularly found in ramen. Be careful with them! Since they are sprouted in the dark, damp places, they can have more bacteria in them than most other foods, and they are not good if you have a compromised immune system.

-Spinach. For all your dark green, vitamin-y, health-lover needs. I don’t usually add spinach because of its strong flavor, but, when I do, I add it last, and just let the spinach wilt on top. That way the dirt-like flavor of the spinach doesn’t get into my other vegetables. XD

-If you're feeling brave, I have helped make enringi mushrooms wrapped in bacon! We pushed toothpicks through the rolls, and then just threw the whole thing in the nabe.

-I don't know if the green is called nanasai-- but there is a lacy green that tastes delicious in nabe. I will ask my friend and update here when I've confirmed the name.

-Another interesting green I've had in a nabe was, I think, chrysanthemum greens. (I will also confirm this with my friend.) They were bitter and strong, but not objectionable.

Ponzu

After cooking the nabe, I take the cooked ingredients out with my chopsticks and then dip it in a sauce, shabu-shabu style. One sauce is goma-dare, or sesame salad dressing. The other is ponzu. Ponzu is basically vinegar and soy sauce, and it is tastey on gyoza [pot stickers]. I have a tastey homemade recipe for ponzu here, and some of my friends also use it as a salad dressing.

BUT, sometimes I’m lazy and scoop everything into a bowl and pour ponzu on it all, and then drink the broth afterwards. Whatever suits your fancy!

Variations—

Soy milk kimchee nabe.

You don’t want to over cook soy milk, so I add the kimchee while things are cooking so the flavors have a chance to mix, and then pour in a cup or two of soy milk at the end, after I add the tofu. For the basic broth, I just use equal portions hot water and sake, flavored with konbu, and skip out on the soy sauce.

Do you know any other tasty ingredients? Do you cook things differently and find it works better? Let me know!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
-rice
-Bell Peppers
-minced onion
-eringi mushrooms
-ground beef
-diced tomatoes
-minced garlic
-fresh basil (if you have it!)
-spinach
-cheese

Cook the rice, it can be the day before or in the morning. (Yay! Something for used rice other than chahan! [fried rice]) I used white rice with a small packet of beans and sesame and black rice. I'd be interested in trying with brown rice. You only need a cup or two.

Stir fry the onions and the eringi mushroom (trying a different mushroom would be fine, but I like the meatiness of eringi), and once the onions are turning clear add the ground beef and the garlic. After the meat has browned, add the tomatoes (I used boxed canned tomatoes with sauce) and the basil, and cook down. Turn off the heat and let cool a bit.

Cut out the tops of the bell peppers, and put in a table spoon of rice at the bottom to catch the juices. Then mix the rest of the rice to the sauce, and add as much cheese as you like (a lot if you're me!), mix well, and then stuff the peppers. When it was nearly full, I stuffed some cheese in and then covered it with another spoonful of stuffing.

Put in a baking tray with an 1/8th of an inch of water at the bottom, and bake at 170C for 30 minutes.

Daniel's Banana Bread

Banana Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

METHOD

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Pancakes in Japan Idea

I keep kinako powder-- ground soy bean powder that is typically eaten on mochi-- in my kitchen, because it is tastey in a banana and yogurt smoothie. Today I tried cooking it into pancakes, because I have so much and move through it so slowly, and I don't want it to go bad.

It was tasty, but it would probably be better with white flour (I did it with whole wheat), and no cinnamon.

Mushroom, tomato, bell pepper, kimchee, basil omlette.

Surprisingly yummy. Another example of "let's throw what I have together in a skillet and see."

1 tablespoon sesame oil
fry 1 cubed eringi mushroom (some onion optional). When it gets soft, add
1 cubed red bell pepper. when it is soft, add
3 cubed cherry tomatoes.
1 teaspoon soy sauce.
When it's stewed for awhile, add a scrambled egg. Push all ingredients into the egg so they get coated, but try not to move the egg around until it's firmed up, then flip.
When finished, garnish with kimchee and shredded basil.

Yum!

(I ate it so fast I have no picture. Sorry!)
(Sausage would possibly be an excellent addition.)

Summer Recipes

These are some good foods for the hot summer months:

Frozen Fruit
Frozen watermelon (~courtesy Dana), grapes, bite-sized chunks of banana. Great icecream substitutes!

Fruit and Veggie Smoothies (~courtesy Ron and Vicki)
1.) carrot, spinach, strawberry, blueberry
2.) carrot, tiny bit of ginger, cucumber, banana, apple, spinach, half a lemon, a bit of yogurt for creaminess
3.) carrots, cucumber, bell pepper, strawberry, banana, ginger, yogurt, pineapple juice, protein powder, aojiru.
Ideas: Watermelon is abundant, but it has a rather delicate flavor, so I'm trying to find good matches for it. Watermelon and tomato, or watermelon and cucumber? (Please don't try it with yogurt or tofu! My attempts have been disgusting at best.)

-Mary's Smoothies:
1.) yogurt, an 8th of a brick of tofu, frozen blueberries, banana
2.) yogurt, banana, kinako powder.

Cold Soups
-Gezpacho: Blend five small tomatoes, an 8th of an onion, two cloves of garlic, a bit of celery and red bell pepper, a splash of lemon juice, and a cucumber together in a blander, and serve chilled. Good also with some black pepper and salt.
-Veggie Juice Soup: Marukyo sells a no-sugar, no-salt 100% veggie juice (primarily tomato and carrot juice) at the market, and it is a great base for a cold soup. I blend in a bit of garlic and onion, sprinkle on some dried basil [because my fresh basil was eaten by a happy caterpillar :'( ] and then drop in leftover stir fried mushrooms and potatoes that have been chilling in the fridge. Great served with a fried egg, or some macaroni noodles!!


-Alternative Tuna Salad: tuna (that is stored in water, not oil), olive oil, balsamic vinegar, capers, a chopped onion, chopped pickles, sometimes mayo, sometimes chopped olives, fresh thyme, lemon juice. Serve over lettuce or chopped spinach. Side with red bell pepper or cucumber.

I want to look up:
-Vegan frozen banana and soymilk "icecream"

Homemade Peanut Butter

http://www.abeautifulmess.com/2012/03/make-your-own-peanut-butter.html

Vegan Banana Bread

From Daniel:
http://dairyfreecooking.about.com/od/breadsbakery/r/Recipe_LowFatVeganBananaBread.htm

18 Recipes in a Mug

http://www.buzzfeed.com/arielknutson/delicious-snacks-in-a-mug

Enchiladas

Enchiladas
Ingredients:
 250 grams of ground beef or pork
 Shredded cheese
 1 ½-2 tablespoons of chili powder
 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
 2 teaspoon salt
 2 teaspoon of garlic powder
 400 grams of tomato puree (The bottles often
look like ketchup!)
 1-2 tablespoons of water
 Tortillas
How to cook:
1. To make the enchilada sauce, mix the tomato
puree, chili powder, cumin, salt, garlic powder,
and water together in a medium saucepan and
heat on low. If you like your sauce spicier, add
chili powder to taste.
2. Brown the meat in a skillet on medium heat.
3. In a casserole dish that fi ts your toaster oven
—glass or metal is fi ne—spread a thin layer
of sauce on the bottom. Arrange one layer
of tortillas. Next, layer the browned meat,
shredded cheese, and enchilada sauce. Cover
with another layer of tortillas. Spread one fi nal
layer of sauce, and top with more cheese.
4. Bake in your toaster oven for 15-17 minutes at
240 degrees Celsius. Let cool, cut, and serve!
Finally, if you don’t even a toaster oven, but still want to
entertain, you can bu

Flour tortillas

Simple Flour Tortillas
Ingredients:
 2 cups of fl our
 3/4 cup of water
 1 teaspoon of salt
 3 ½ tablespoons of olive oil
How to cook:
1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a
large spoon until they form a large, doughy ball,
then switch to kneading with your hands. Add a
little bit of water if the mixture is still dry.
2. When the dough is smooth, roll on to a fl oured
surface and divide into equal portions—maybe
6 or 7 pieces at the most. Flatten each piece
with a rolling pin until they are thin and round.
3. Cook in a skillet with a thin layer of oil or butter
on low heat until they start to turn golden- fl ip
to make sure both sides are cooked. When done,
put on a plate with a paper towel and let cool.

Carne Adovada

Carne Adovada
This is a really simple but delicious meat recipe that is
really popular where I’m from. Some people like it with
pulled pork, but I enjoy making it with cubes.
Ingredients:
 2 potatoes
 About 250 grams of pork, cut into cubes
 1 teaspoon garlic powder (Can be substituted
with fresh minced garlic.)
 1 teaspoon salt
 2 teaspoons red chili powder (You can generally
find this in the seasonings aisle. I’ve even found
packets at the local drugstore and 100 yen
shop! If you don’t have powder, or really can’t
fi nd it, you can use dried red chilies, and blend
them in a blender with a little water to make
chili paste, which you can use instead!)
How to cook:
1. Peel and cut the potatoes into medium cubes.
Place potatoes in a saucepan, and fi ll with water
until potatoes are covered. Boil at medium heat.
2. When the consistency of the potatoes becomes
somewhat mushy, make sure the water has
boiled down below the potatoes. This isn’t a
stew, so you don’t want it too watery, but you
want it watery enough to keep the potatoes
moist and to cook the pork in.
3. In a separate bowl, season pork cubes with the
garlic, salt, and red chili powder. Add to the
potatoes when completely blended.
4. Continue to cook at low to medium heat until
pork cubes are fully cooked and potatoes are
good and mushy. If you like things a bit spicier,
you can always add extra chili powder to taste!
Carne Adovada is my favorite when I don’t feel like
spending a great deal of time preparing. Because it’s so
simple to make, it’s also great for cooking for a group of
people!

Baba Ghanoush

Baba Ghanoush

4 small eggplants, sliced lengthwise

3 tbsp olive oil

2-3 tbsp tahini, roasted sesame paste (Japanese kind comes in a white tube)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Juice of one lemon

Salt and cayenne pepper to taste

1 tbsp chopped parsley (or use mitsuba, the Japanese version!)

Preheat oven to 180c. Poke the eggplant in several places with a fork. Brush the cut sizes lightly with olive oil and place cut side down on baking tray lined with foil. Roast until very tender, or 3-0-45 mins (less if using a toaster oven). Allow to cool for 15 mins.

Scoop the eggplant flesh into a large bowl and mash will with a fork. Combine the eggplant, garlic, remaining olive oil, tahini, cumin, 2 tbsp of the lemon juice, salt, and a punch of cayenne. Mash well then leave to cool until room temperature.

Season to taste with additional lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. If you want, swirl a little olive oil over the top. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and serve with any type of bread or veggie crudités!

Microwave Brownies from Daniel

1 Cube of Butter/ Margarine-softened

1 cup of Sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

 

Cream these together, then add

1/2 Cup Cocoa

3/4 Cup Flour

 

Stir in, then add

2 Eggs

(Optional cup of chocolate chips)

 

Mix till combined, then

Pour into greased 8X8 Glass Pan

 Nuke for about 4 minutes in most Microwaves

 

Let cool if you can stand it till they're not gooey.

 

Hugs,

Auntie Kit

Kirsten's Butterscotch Brownies

http://www.food.com/recipe/betty-crockers-butterscotch-brownies-441026

Banana Bread

Banana Bread Recipe

• Prep time: 5 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour

Add to shopping list

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

Curried Lentils

(prep-- if using dried lentils, sort out the lentils to remove small rocks, or discolored beans. Soak lentils for about 8 hours in fresh water. They will absorb water, so be careful that your bowl is big enough.)


Ingredients:
  Main Dish:
-lentils
-1 or 2 carrots
-1/2 onion
-curry powder


  Optional:
-garlic
-bay leaves
-other spices (chili powder, cumin)
-mint garnish
-hard boiled egg side
-rice
-dark greens garnish (bok choy or spinach)
-tofu
-cheese topping

Directions:
-chop ½ a head of onions 1cm x 1cm and sautee on low heat in a big pot with a tablespoon of oil, until they start turning clear.
-put in 3 tablespoons curry powder, cook stirring occasionally for about 3 minutes.
-add chopped garlic (1 teaspoon) and 1 or 2 chopped carrots.
-add a bag of soaked lentils (pour out water they were soaked in and rinse), and enough water for the beans to be covered by about an inch of water. Bring to a boil. Add a bay leaf, and a dash of salt.
-simmer on low heat for an hour

Serve on rice (let's make 4 cups in your big cooker, so we can give some to hungry people and freeze leftover), or greens (steamed hakusai, 3 1-inch slices, I think it'll use the rest we have which is good), and garnished with a boiled egg (please boil 5, if we have them. If not, whatever we have left), and cheese (Vicki will buy).

Tatara - Poteto - Sarada

This is a recipe for potato salad, Japanese-style, from my friend, Tatara-san.

Potato Salad ingredients:
-4-5 potatoes
-mayonaisse
-1 cucumber
-dash of salt

Garnishes:
-3 boiled eggs
-ham
-apple

1. Peel potatoes, and put in a pot. Fill so the potatoes are just submerged/floating. Boil like crazy.
2. Take out excess water and keep in a cup (you might use it later if the potatoes are too dry). Let the potatoes cool. (In summer, setting them down in front of your fan will help cool them down faster.)
3. Slice your cucumber very thinly. (I use a mandolin, but watch your fingertips!) Put in a bowl with a dash of salt, toss to cover the cucumber evenly, and set aside.
4. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, put in mayo to taste. Squeeze cucumber out over the sink to get rid of excess water, and put in with the potato. Squish with your hands, yay! (Or, if you don't find squishing things with your hands as fun as I do [stay away from handmade gyoza (pot stickers) then], stir with a fork.)
5. Good garnishes: apples sliced incredibly thinly and small go well mixed into the salad if you want a sweeter potato salad. Ham (lunch meat style), sliced thinly, is also delicious. Mashed up boiled eggs go well on top, or with the whites chopped and mixed into the salad and the yolks mashed and sprinkled on top.

MeriPon

This is a recipe for my homemade ponzu. I never make the same batch twice, but here's a general recipe I follow:

Base: 1/2 vinegar, 1/2 soy sauce.
Spices: 1 fair sized lobe of ginger (approximately 2x2x2 cm), grated. 3 cloves of garlic, minced. The juice of 1 citrus; in Japan I use yuzu or kabosu, but in America a lime would do well. You want something less zesty than a lemon, but not sweet. (I don't recommend mikan, oranges, or grapefruit, but if you try it and find it delicious, let me know!)
Mix and serve!
I find it gets tastier the longer it sits, so I mix it when I have free time in the kitchen, and then let it sit in the refridgerator.

Tatara-san's Umepon
This is an idea from Tatara-san for an alternative to the Ponzu above.
Put 8-10 unripe green ume (Japanese plum) in soy sauce, let it sit for a month or two in the refridgerator, and then serve.
I will test this recipe out in May, when ume grow.

Snickerdoodles

• PREP TIME 40 Min
• TOTAL TIME 50 Min
• SERVINGS 4

1 1/2 cups sugar  (360 mg sugar)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (120 mg butter)

1/2 cup shortening (120mg)  [or, if you don't want to use shortening, just put in another 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened (120 mg butter) ]

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose or unbleached flour (660 mg )

2 teaspoons cream of tartar [can be replaced with baking powder (maybe equal parts?)]

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 

 

 

• 1 Heat oven to 400ºF. (200C)
• 2 Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar, the butter, shortening and eggs in large bowl. Mix with a hand mixer.
• Stir in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Add a little bit at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. When the dough becomes too tough to mix with the handmixer, hand mix in.
• 3 Shape dough into 1 1/4-inch balls. Mix 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon. Roll balls in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• 4 Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Expert Tips

To ensure recipe success if using a vegetable oil spread, use a spread with at least 65% vegetable oil.
Rise to the occasion! If using self-rising flour, there is no need to add cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.
These rich cinnamon-sugar cookies make a great gift! Place a bag of them in a small basket along with packets of cappuccino or hot chocolate mix.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/snickerdoodles/7ffc92a9-d847-4869-9ecb-99de3b751b14


From Kirsten:
Shortening = butter
Cream of tartar = some baking powder (didn't realize we could substitute this until we had already put baking soda in)
Sugar = only had 1 cup of sugar, so we did the rest with dark brown sugar.  (dark brown sugar always makes things more yummy)

Mom suggests next time to put cinnamon in the dough, as well as the outer coating.