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This is the Japanese Cuisine Archive Page
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- Dashi (1)
- Miso Soup (2)
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- Taiyaki (1)
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Archive for the 'Japanese Cuisine' Category
Contents
Posts
Miso Soup Traditions
Sunday, May 24th, 2009I recently posted a recipe for miso soup that Ayako Egawa from Japan helped me with. When she saw the photo of the bowls and spoons I used to serve it with, she made this comment: "It is interesting you use a spoon for Miso soup, because we use chopsticks for it. And we usually put it in a deep bowl. But of course it is all right! It looks yummy!"
Ayako said (regarding the photo above): "This is my Miso soup bowl. Most Miso soup bowls have beautiful pictures and they have covers."
I said to Ayako: "That’s interesting that you eat miso soup with chopsticks. Do you drink the broth at the end? Here, in restaurants, we use big, deep spoons to eat it."
Ayako replied: "We drink the broth at the end by putting our mouths on the bowl. In Japan, it’s not against good manners to do that, especially when eating Japanese food such as Miso soup, Udon or Soba. We drink western soup with spoons. In some restaurants, Miso soup may taste better than ours at home. But the important point is that each family has its own tastes. Generally people in northern areas prefer red miso and ones in western areas, especially Kyoto areas prefer white miso. But it depends on each family. It’s interesting"
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako! Very interesting!
Mama Lisa
Hat tip: Thanks also to Linda Austin of Cherry Blossom Memories for sharing her Miso traditions too. Linda’s Mom is from Japan. She wrote, "My mom insists on using red miso, someday I’ll try white."
Recipe for Miso Soup
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
Miso Soup is pretty quick and easy to make! I made it for the first time this past weekend. My whole family liked it, though my 7 year old daughter only ate the broth with rice (no seaweed!).
The one possibly tough part of making miso soup is finding the ingredients. I got mine at a Japanese specialty food store in a nearby town. The owner also gave me tips about making the soup! So it was an interesting trip. If you don’t have a store like this nearby, you can get the ingredients on the internet.
I made a large pot. So I’ll give you the quantities I used for the recipe. Then I’ll tell you how much you need to make a small quantity and you can double it or triple it or whatever you want. It’s good to learn how to adapt recipes to your own needs.
Here are the quantities I used to make a large pot of soup:
20 cups of water
5 cups of Dried Bonito Flakes (mackerel)
1 1/2 cups White Miso Paste
1/4 to 1/3 cup Dried Chopped Seaweed
1 to 3 bunches Thinly Sliced Scallions
1 (4 to 8 oz) package Cleaned White Mushrooms, Thinly Sliced (If desired)
1 to 2 (14 ounce) Packages Firm Tofu, Cubed
Salt to taste (you can also use a little sea salt if desired)First you make the Dashi which is the the broth for the soup. Ayako Egawa from Japan gave me instructions for making this. The rule of thumb is to use 2 cups of water to 1/2 cup dried bonito flakes (pictured below).
1. Here’s how you make the Dashi Broth:
Boil the water. Turn off the flame. Put dried bonito into the water and stir. Let sit for 10 minutes. Then you want to take out the bonito. You can do this by straining the broth through a colander and into another pot. I did the straining twice to get rid of all the bonito. Then you discard the bonito. The broth that’s left is the Dashi.*
2. Put the broth in the pot back on the stovetop and warm it up on a medium to medium-high flame. But do not boil it – especially after the miso has been added. Many people believe boiling miso ruins its beneficial health effects.
3. Add the miso paste (the rule of thumb is 1 Tablespoon of miso paste per 1 cup of water.) Stir in the miso paste to dissolve. Add the other ingredients (feel free to leave out any if you don’t like them). Note: I used the seaweed in the photo below – a little goes a long way! I originally put in 1/2 cup and you can see how much is in the bowl at the bottom. That’s why I changed the amount in the recipe to 1/4 to 1/3 cup. (I think a rule of thumb would be about 1 teaspoon dried seaweed per 1 – 2 cups of water. I would start with less, you can always add more!)
You can adjust the amounts of the mushrooms, tofu, scallions and seaweed used to suit your family’s taste. (Some people even put in carrots, buckwheat noodles and even a little sesame oil and soy sauce.) We wanted a lot of scallions – and I think it added flavor to the broth. Whatever you choose, simply warm up the final ingredients, add salt to taste, and voila, it’s ready to eat!
*FYI Ayako and the man in the Japanese food store both pointed out that you can alternatively make the Dashi (broth) by using Dashi powder – but the versions of Dashi powder that I found had MSG in it. That’s why I made it with the Dried Bonito Flakes instead. The man in the store insisted that restaurants use the powder, making me wonder if we’re eating MSG when we have miso soup in some restaurants. I guess that’s all the more reason to learn to make it yourself! This way you know exactly what’s in it!
Many thanks to Ayako Egawa for teaching me how to make dashi!
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
PS Here’s "The Miso Soup Song" – a Korean Folk Song
UPDATE: Check out this later post to learn about some Miso Soup Traditions!
Taiyaki – A Japanese Sweet
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
I think it’s interesting to learn about different foods eaten around the world. Here’s one that’s eaten in Japan. Ayako Egawa shared this photo with me, with the note:
This is a fish shaped sweet called “Taiyaki”. It’s a popular sweet in Japan. Usually Azuki (red bean) paste is stuffed inside it. But this one has custard cream inside of it. It’s yummy!
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako!
Bunny Bento
Wednesday, April 1st, 2009Check out this post for making bunny bento. What’s bento? A Japanese lunchbox!
You can buy Japanese Bento Boxes at:
Ayako Egawa wrote from Japan: “Hi Lisa, bunny bento, which is the cutting style of an apple, is very popular in Japan in lunchboxes!”
A couple of days later, Ayako wrote to me: “Hi Lisa, those are my bunnies! (See photo below.) I put them in my lunchbox today.”
Thanks for sharing that with us Ayako!
-Mama Lisa
Fun Sweet “Sushi” to Make for Kids
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
Yuta, Yoji and Miki made this awesome “sushi” for a school birthday party. It’s made out of homemade rice crispy treats, gummy fish and fruit roll-ups. How cute and cool!
The one question everyone’s asking is: How did they get the rice crispy treats to be soooo pure white? Any ideas? If so, please let us know in the comments below! (I also wonder where you get the faux lacquer boxes?)
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Sushi Kids
Monday, February 26th, 2007I’ve noticed that kids many kids now like sushi. At least the vegetarian type you find in New York. Here you can get Avocado Rolls, California Rolls (made with avocados and imitation crab meat) and Kappa Maki (Cucumber Rolls). One of my daughter’s friends loves sushi so much, she told me she wants it on her birthday cake!
I think Japanese restaurants should get more creative about making meals specially for kids. They can take a page from the book of Japanese Moms. Check out how they decorate their sushi for their children’s lunch boxes!
If you’d like to see more of these pictures, you can visit Devon’s blog at Head, Shoulders, Knees and All That for a sampling of what Japanese children eat for lunch. They look yummy and funny!
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