Persimmon and Chicken Teriyaki

Recipe adapted from Today’s Cooking

My husband’s co-worker gave us persimmons harvested from her own tree…my favorite, Fuyu variety with no seeds. As child, I would climb on a stone fence and snatch one…maybe two from neighbors. Some persimmon varieties are very astringent and inedible yet I knew the way to remedy the problem – peel the fruit leaving the stem intact then string it to dry in the sun. They turned very sweet…where did you get those? I don’t know why my mother bothered asking the question when she already knew the answer? I’m sure the neighbors would have gladly gave us of the abundance of the fruits since they can’t eat them all but perhaps pretending to be a shinobi (忍び /incognito) girl was thrilling…occasional scratches and bruises were part of the occupational hazard.

I like to eat these like an apple, maybe with cream cheese though,  I would like to venture out for savory dish. Again I’m on the internet, search for savory persimmon recipe. Today’s Cooking caught my interest. Luckily, I have almost everything to make it happen and it seemed very easy. I also love the speedy clean-up at the end of the meal!

Ingredients and Instruction for two servings (Print Recipe Here)

Sauce

• 4 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari soy sauce
• 4 Tablespoons mirin
• 4 Tablespoons sake
• 2  teaspoons sugar

Other ingredients

• 10-12 green beans, cut both ends off, then cut in half
• 300g boneless chicken thigh (about 2 chicken thighs), cut in one inch cubes.
• 1 Tablespoon flour or cornstarch for gluten free version
• 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 fairly firm persimmons (Fuyu variety recommended), cut in 4ths, peel skin (remove seeds if they have) then slice in 1/2 inch slices so that it will be a triangular shape.
• 1/4 cup shelled walnuts, roughly chopped if they are whole
• Juice from 1 kabosu (かぼす)  Note: I was not able to find this type of citrus, I substituted lime and satsuma orange.

1. Mix sauce ingredients in a measuring cup or small bowl. Set aside
2. Ready ice cold water in a bowl. Blanch green beans in salted (approximately 1 Tablespoon salt to 3 cups of water) boiling water about 1 minute. Drain water then quickly submerge the green beans into the prepared cold water bowl. When the green beans get cold, remove the beans. Set aside.
   
3. Lightly coat chicken with flour or corn starch. Heat oil in large non-stick frying pan at medium heat. Brown chicken until golden in color.
4. Push the chicken to the side of the pan and spread persimmons in the rest of the pan. When browned, flip over to brown the other side, about 3-4 minutes per side.
   
5. Add blanched green beans and walnuts to the pan and stir.
6. Pour in the prepared sauce, simmer at low heat until sauce thickens. It takes only 1-2 minutes so keep an eye on it so as to not let it burn.
7. Squeeze lime and orange juice in. Stir. Serve warm.Voila!

 Other persimmon recipes we tried and  I posted on Instagram(#todaystapas,#todayssweets) are great I think.

Caramel persimmon and banana bread…next time I have to double the recipe and would like to share with neighbors…I follow the Japanese recipe and barely filled 3x5 pan. No-wonder Japanese people are skinny (me not included).

Persimmon Bread by my husband….so many persimmons so little time. Next stop - Angie’s Persimmon Streusel

We like persimmons yet a change of pace was inevitable….oven baked cheesy meatloaf in a kabocha bowl.

My mischievous Shinobi girl days are long gone…I can’t climb any fence over 3 feet tall now.

Chicken and Mushroom Sweet Rice

鶏ときのこの炊き込みおこわ

White rice was valuable and hard to obtain long ago in Japan. Putting ingredients in a stone pot along with seasoning added to the rice cooking method was welcomed because you could use less rice. It has evolved since then and hundreds of recipes are available now days but my favorite still is the five ingredients rice(五目ご飯), because I get nostalgic about my late mother…she made the best seasoned rice…my complaint was that she only made it on special occasions; 1-2 times a year.

It tastes great even if it gets cold, plus no need for side dish…maybe some pickle or salted plum(梅干)?…clear broth is not too bad a combination either…mmm…baked egg(卵焼き), I must add.

Ingredients and Instruction  for 3-4 servings (Print Recipe Here)
Revised recipe of Masahiro Kasahara

Necessary equipment –rice cooker

• 2 cups (rice cooker cup) sweet rice (もち米)
• 1 package shimeji mushroom, cut off ends, separate
• 1 package enoki mushroom, cut off the ends, cut in half then separate
• 4 shiitake mushroom remove stems, chop cap into 4-5 pieces
• 2 chicken thighs, boneless, skin on, butterfly the chicken so that the chicken is mostly flat.
• Combined seasoning (3 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari, 2 Table spoons each of mirin and sake) mixed in a measuring cup.
• 2x4 dried kelp sheet, clean the surface with moist paper towel
• 1-2 stems of mitsuba/Japanese parsley (optional) roughly cut leaves.

1. Wash rice and soak in plenty of water. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours. If you are using regular white rice then soak just 30 minutes.
2. Put all mushrooms in a non-stick frying pan. Dry sauté mushroom at low- medium heat until the volume goes down to about half and it becomes aromatic, about 3-4 minutes. Set aside.
3. Heat another pan (or quickly clean the same pan used in step #2) at medium-high. Place chicken skin side down to brown the skin only, about 4 minutes then remove from heat. When the chicken is safe to handle, cut in chunks. Set aside.
   
4. Drain the rice and put in the rice cooker, add sautéed mushroom, chicken, mixed seasoning, 1 cup water* and push kelp in the liquid. Cook as normal (if you have a ‘Quick’ feature in your rice cooker, you may opt for that). * if you like softer rice, add another 1/4 cup of water.
5. When it’s done, remove kelp, stir to combine with rice spatula, top with mitsuba and serve.

 

Some of my Today’s Sweets instagram post (#todayssweets…do not confuse with Today’s TAPAS) – Soy milk pudding with dark brown sugar syrup…not bad!

Some of my Today’s Sweets are store bought. This fruit tart from Saint-Honoré French pasty shop in downtown Lake Oswego. I liked it!

Speaking of French, oui, oui, we dined at Cocotte – Fried frog legs! Son goût comme le poulet (It tastes like chicken)!

Our Anniversary and my birthday were both last week. I received bouquets of flowers, a plant and some chocolate from my husband, friends and neighbor. I’m flowered…I mean, floored with gratitude!

Chicken Miso Hot Pot

鶏みそ煮込み

Here we are in the middle of May, having iffy weather…particularly  last Saturday, Trying to decide whether I should grab the jacket or not when we head out the door…a bit nostalgic, almost melancholy for the perfect 82 degree Ishigaki weather.

This simple hot pot (basically miso soup with chicken) dish seems like it has comfort agent and is soulful…how blessed we are to have made the trip to my home country though…phew…to do list is getting lengthy and wish to linger in residue of the memories rather than to tackle it.

Our weekend is packed with errands and yard maintenance…dang! Those noxious weeds are overtaking our yard!…once again!

Ingredients and Instructions for enough for two people (Print Recipe Here)

• 3 cups water
• 2x3 sheet of dried kelp, wipe the surface with damp paper towel
• 1-1/2 cups bonito flakes
• 2 chicken thighs bone-in, skin-on, roughly cut
• 3-4 Tablespoons white miso paste   Note: I used Koji Miso in the bottle – handy, has rich yet mild flavor.
  
• 3 cups Chinese cabbage roughly chopped
• Seven spice red pepper (optional)

1. Pour water in a stone pot or thick bottom pan. Soak kelp in the water for say…30 minutes? Put the pan on the burner and start to boil at medium heat. Remove the kelp and discard just before full boil.
2. Put bonito flakes in mesh sieve which fits in the pan you’re using. Cook to extract flavor about 3-4 minutes. Lift mesh and press with wooden spatula to get the juice into the pan. Discard bonito flakes.
3. Place cut chicken in the pot and cook for 30 minutes (or so) at lowest heat setting.
   
4. Dissolve miso paste into the pot, check the flavor, add more miso to suit your liking. Add water if it’s too salty but remember that the cabbage will dilute the saltiness later.
   
5. Mound the Chinese cabbage on but not disturb the chicken with stirring and cook at lowest heat until the cabbage eventually cooks down. Have as is or add a few drops of ponzu soy sauce, seven spice red pepper (optional).
   

I bought the award winning  Nitamai(仁多米) rice at Shimane Fair (products on sale that were made in Shimane prefecture 島根県) at Japanese Supermarket. 2kg(4.41lb) for $15.99. Holy macaroni! Gleaming white rice I think has great flavor!

Here is the Shimane’s yurukyara (mascot), Shimanekko…right.

More pictures from our trip – We took a walk near the Japanese style Inn we stayed at on the outskirts of Fukuoka.. We saw this orange tree in someone ‘s back yard…naturally we click, click over the fence…what kind of orange is that? asked my husband ‘I dunno…’ I crooked my head slightly to the left and appealed with my cuteness…just kidding, of course.

‘ May I help you?’ an older gentleman opened the back sliding door hearing our commotion. We’re just admiring your orange! said my husband  apologetic. ‘Would you like to have some? Why don’t you come in?  My husband and I looked at each other Really?..’Should we?’ my husband said telepathically. ‘He seems harmless’ I beamed back.  And he was. Musician/composer nearing his retirement, offered us coffee which we declined…his wife was in a care home, he was perhaps a bit lonely. 

We found out that this is called Amanatsu orange(甘夏みかん). He cut open the hard skin and put it in a bowl for us to have…interesting, cross between grapefruit and pomelo? He put four more in the plastic bag as a parting gift which we lugged all the way to Tokyo.

From Today’s TAPAS (#todaystapas)– As a Mother's Day gift, my daughter sent us a box full of beautiful apricots from Frog Hollow Farm. Apricots? Not really my usual go-to fruits… I made an apricot and sesame seed mini pie. It was very successful pie, this could be a future blog post…I was thinking…Thank you for your visit to my blog. Have a wonderful week!

FRIED CHICKEN HOT POT

Kara-Age Sleet Nabe/ から揚げみぞれ鍋

It does not make sense, when you fry chicken nuggets until crispy then put them in the dashi soup, right? No, not a whole lot. but this is our favorite hot-pot dish. Although I don’t mind having this dish every week in cold months, it’s not so fun to fry the chicken pieces before hand every time.

According to the original recipe from ‘NHK Today’s Cooking magazine, it’s a speedy nabe/鍋 (earthenware pot) dish because you are supposed to use store purchased ‘ever so popular’ kara-age/ seasoned Japanese style fried chicken nuggets which are readily available in any convenience store or grocery store… if you live.in Japan. I get that the nice umami flavor rendered from kara-age thus the cooking time is short. The grated daikon (in nabe term, this is called mizore/みぞれ, means sleet) tames the otherwise oily soup.

Gazillions of kara-age recipes are floating around on-line and I have my own recipe too…the freshly fried piece is most desirable…just be careful..it’s very hot! Warning: too much test munching while frying results in fewer pieces to go into the pot.

Marc’s kara-age recipe is one of my favorite. It’s a little sweeter. While you are at his site, check out his Orange Chicken; read the charming story and be awed by great photos. This recipe also requires kara-age…why not shoot two birds with one oil… oops, one rock?

Nipponnin’s Basic Kara-Age recipe- (Print Recipe Here)

• Boneless chicken thigh about 450g cut in 2 inch chunks.
• Marinating sauce – 2 Tablespoons of sake, mirin , soy sauce. 1 tablespoon each (or more/less) of grated ginger ( you may use grated ginger in tube for convenience) and grated garlic.
• Potato starch (I recommend this) or corn starch approximately 1/3 cup
• Oil for frying

Put all marinating sauce ingredients in a zip-lock bag, add chicken pieces. Massage well over the tightly closed bag. Rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Drain any juice in the bag and add 1/3 starch, close the bag and shake well to coat chicken with starch. Add a little more starch if it’s too wet or if you want to have more body. Heat oil in thick bottom pan to 320F. Fry 2-3 pieces at time to avoid crowding until crispy and golden brown about 3 minutes. Receive in paper towel to absorb oil.

Basic with twist – Add 2 Tablespoons mayonnaise (preferably kewpie mayonnaise) in marinate sauce for rich creamy flavor or 2 Tablespoon rice vinegar for tanginess.

Option #1– For crispier chicken, Fry them twice, I recommend this if you just making kara-age. (Fry for 2-3 minutes first in 320 F. Rest chicken pieces on paper towel. Heat oil up to 390F and put the chicken back in oil and fry for 40 seconds)..

Option #2 – Mix potato starch and 2Tablespoons of jyoshinnko (上新粉/type of rice flour) for extra crispy texture.

Ingredients and Instruction for Kara-age Hot Pot for 4 servings

• 10 to 14 pieces chicken kara-age
• 4 to 8 pieces ganmodoki (がんもどき/ tofu fritters)
• 1 bundle mizuna,(水菜/Japanese mustard leaves)
• 4 cups dashi stock, I used NO-MSG granule dashi dissolved in 4 cups of hot water
• 3 Tablespoons sake
• 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon mirin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups grated daikon /white radish with juice 
• Yuzu pepper or yuzu paste, optional

1. Prepare the ingredients and set aside followings – 
   Put tofu fritters in very hot water to remove some of oil.
   Cut off stem from mizuna then cut in 3 inch lengths.
   Mix dashi stock, sake, soy sauce, mirin and salt in a bowl.
2. Pour dashi stock mixture in the stone pot and boil.
3. Turn down the heat to medium, add tofu fritters and kara-age pieces and cook for 2-3 minutes
   .
4. Add mizuna then grated daikon and it’s juice. Cook for 1 minute and it is done!
   
5. Serve with yuzu pepper (optional)

Following night’s supper – Kara-age Udon  All your hard work is done the night before, just put quickly rinsed frozen udon noodle in the hot-pot left over (add more dashi stock if needed and adjust seasonings) and voila!

Flavorful Korean seaweeds sheets are always welcome – my husband received it from a co-worker. Isn’t that nice? Wisely made into Kara-age rolls!

I was doing really good last week…eating right/light until my husband made shokupan, Japanese style loaf of bread. Thank you Bake for Happy Kids! Nostalgia set in….Nous sommes contents (we are happy)!