Chirashizushi is a traditional Japanese sushi served on happy and celebratory occasions. It‘s a bright and festive dish of sushi rice mixed with seasonal vegetables and scattered with colorful toppings. In Japanese, this dish is called Kogomi Bara Chirashi-Zushi (sushi rice decorated with fiddlehead fern, shrimp, egg and nori seaweed). I enjoy fiddlehead fern in many dishes. Tempura, chirashizushi, ohitashi salad, and gomaae salad. This chirashizushi is a celebration of early summer.  The essential five colors, which represent the five elements of the universe, are all here: Red (shrimp) Green (fiddlehead fern) Yellow (egg) White (rice) Black (nori seaweed) If you are allergic to shrimp, replace it with already-cooked, seasoned, commercially available unagi, eel.  You will find the preparation of Sweet Simmered Shiitake, Thin Omelet, and Sweet Pickled Ginger, separately.    Ingredients (6 servings) 3 rice cooker cups (2 ¼ cups) short-grain or medium-grain polished rice Sushi rice seasoning: 5 tablespoons rice vinegar 2 tablespoons sugar 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt 12 large shrimp, deveined, boiled, shelled 30 pieces fiddlehead fern 2 persian cucumbers Prepared thin omelet from 4 eggs 6 simmered shiitake mushrooms, minced 8 shiso leaves, minced, or 12 blanched snow peas julienned ¼ cup pickled ginger, minced 3 tablespoons toasted white sesame seeds Instructions Cook the rice in a rice cooker or in a pot with a heavy lid. Rice cooker method: Rinse the rice several times and drain. Transfer the rice to the rice cooker and add the water. Cover the lid and choose the Sushi Rice function, and cook the rice. If there is no Sushi Rice function, remove ¼ cups of water from the rice cooker and cook.The pot method: Add the rinsed and drained rice to the pot. Add 2 ¼ cup water to the pot and soak the rice for 30 minutes. Cover the pot with a lid and cook it over high heat until the inside water boils. Turn the heat to very low and cook 10 to 12 minutes. Mix the sushi rice seasoning in a small bowl with a whisk until the salt and sugar dissolve. Devein the shrimp with a bamboo skewer while cooking the rice. Place each shrimp on a bamboo skewer. See instructions here. Bring water in a medium pot to boil. Add the shrimp and cook over medium heat for 2 -3 minutes. Have a large bowl of cold water in the sink. Drain the shrimp and add them to the cold water.  When the shrimp is cooled, remove them from the water and remove the skewers. The shrimp is cooked straight. Cut each shrimp into quarters crosswise. In a bowl, toss the shrimp with a pinch of salt and mirin/sugar. Bring salted water (1.5% salt to the weight of water) to a simmer. Add the cleaned fiddlehead ferns and cook for 2 minutes. In the sink, place a large bowl of cold water. Drain the fiddlehead ferns and cool them in a bowl of cold water. Drain and toss them with a little shoyu. Cut the cucumber in half. Remove the seeds with a small spoon. Cut the cucumber into ½-inch disks.  Cut the omelet into 3-inch-long julienne strips.  Mince the mushrooms and pickled ginger.  Cut the nori sheet into julienne strips. Transfer the hot cooked rice to a large unglazed wooden or ceramic bowl. Add the prepared seasonings and toss and mix.  Add the minced ginger, shiitake mushrooms, and shiso to the rice and mix them thoroughly.  Divide the flavored sushi rice to 6 soup/cereal bowls. Sprinkle and cover the surface of the sushi rice in this order: Nori, omelet, shrimp and fiddlehead ferns. 

Ingredients 14 ounces young ginger or ordinary mature ginger ½ cup rice vinegar 2 ¼ teaspoons salt  ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar   Instructions Peel the ginger and cut it lengthwise into paper-thin slices, 2-inch long. I use a Benriner slicer. Mix the vinegar, ¼ cup of water, 2 teaspoons of the salt, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Turn off the heat and pour this pickling liquid into a 2-cup-size-jar. Bring about 1 ½ quarts of water to a boil in a pot. Add the ginger slices all at once and cook them for 40 seconds. Drain the slices in a colander, sprinkle the remaining salt, tossing them thoroughly. Shake the colander and remove as much water as possible from the ginger. While they are still hot, transfer the ginger to the jar and pickle.    Note: Pickled ginger tastes better after resting overnight or for two days. Remaining pickled ginger keeps in the refrigerator for three weeks.

Ingredients 2 oz dried shiitake mushrooms ¼ cup sugar 3 tablespoons shoyu 1 tablespoon mirin, if available   Instructions Rinse the shiitake and soak in cold water overnight. The next day, transfer the mushrooms with soaking liquid to a medium pot. Add extra water if necessary to let the mushrooms barely cover with the water. Place the pot over high heat and bring it to a boil. Turn the heat to medium, cover the shiitake with a parchment paper lid, and cook for 30 minutes. Skim off any foam that rises during cooking. Add the sugar and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Add half the soy sauce and continue to cook, covered, for 10 minutes, or until about 85 percent of the liquid is absorbed. Add the remaining shoyu and mirin. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook the mushrooms, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the liquid is almost absorbed. Turn off heat & cool   Note: The remaining mushrooms may be frozen for a later use.

Ingredients 4 eggs 1 tablespoon dashi stock or water 1 tablespoon sugar ¼ teaspoon salt Vegetable oil for greasing the skillet   Instructions Crack the eggs into a bowl and beat thoroughly with chopsticks or a fork. Add the dashi stock, sugar and salt and mix well. Transfer the eggs to a measuring cup and figure out how much one-quarter of it will be. Heat a 10-inch skillet, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and when the oil is hot, swirl it to coat the entire inside surface. Pour off the excess into a cup and reserve. Add one-quarter of the egg, about ¼ cup, and swirl it to cover the bottom. Turn the heat to very low and cook the omelet until the bottom is firm but not browned. Turn it over with a spatula and cook the other side for 3 seconds. Transfer the omelet to a cutting board and make three additional omelets in the same way. Let them cool and cut them into 3-inch long, julienne strips.   Note: The prepared omelet keeps frozen for future use.

Nikujaga, a Japanese simmered dish, means beef and potato. There are a few stories about how this dish came into being. One of them is that before World War II, a military general who returned from England ordered his military cooks to replicate a dish he ate in England—a British stew dish. Without proper ingredients, cooking tools, and a recipe for such a European dish, the cooks produced the one in which potato, carrot, and onion were cut into bite-sized pieces and the beef into thin slices, cooked in dashi stock, and flavored with Japanese seasonings.  Beef, potatoes, carrots, and onions are available at any food store. Here is where you can learn how to make dashi stock. Nikujaga is a fun and delicious dish to try in your kitchen. To enhance the color of the prepared dish, I add cooked seasonal green vegetables at the end: Winter: Chinese broccoli, spinach, snow peas Spring: Asparagus, fiddlehead ferns, ramps Summer: Green beans, okra, snack peas Autumn: Brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale The best cut of meat for the Nikujaga is beef short ribs without bone. Ask a butcher to slice it thin (1/10th of an inch), or partially freeze the block in your freezer for about half an hour and cut it into thin slices with a well-sharpened knife. The easiest way is to purchase sukiyaki sliced meat at Japanese food stores. A potato can be a low-starch, waxy potato or a high-starch russet potato. I chose the waxy one so that the potato pieces kept their clean shape until the end of cooking. Nikujaga, a simmered dish, tastes better when reheated.    Ingredients (4 servings) 10 ounces beef short rib without bone 1 pound yellow potato 3.5 ounce carrot 7 ounces yellow onion 12 pieces snow peas 1 tablespoon cooking oil, such as canola or olive oil ½ cup sake (replace with dashi stock if you don’t have) 3 ¼ cups dashi stock 3 tablespoons sugar 30 ml mirin or 20 ml maple syrup 5 tablespoons (koikuchi) shoyu Parchment paper   Instructions Cut the meat into thin slices, 2 inches long. Peel and cut the potato into bite-sized pieces (about 1 ½-inch pieces). Peel and cut the carrot into the same size as the potato pieces. Peel and cut the onion into ½-inch wide wedges. Separate all of the onion slices. Cut the rectangular parchment paper into a round circle slightly larger than the pot size. Cut out a small hole in the center of the disk.  Heat the vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook until they are well coated with oil. Add the beef and the sake and bring it to a boil. Add the dashi stock, sugar, and mirin. Place the parchment paper disk on top of the meat, vegetables, and stock, and cook over medium-high heat for 8 minutes. While cooking, remove the foams with a spoon. Add 4 tablespoons of the shoyu, remove the parchment paper disk, and cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.  Before serving, reheat the Nikujaga and divide it among 4 dinner bowls. Pour some cooking liquid over the meat and vegetables.

Dashi stock replaces cooking oil in the Japanese kitchen. Many of the recipes I introduce you to and introduced here use dashi stock, so let me first explain how to make it both professionally and avocational method. Avocational Method I strongly recommend you, home cooks, use instant dashi stock materials packed in a tea bag-like pouch. The reason is that the ingredients for dashi stock—quality kombu (kelp) and katsuobushi (shaved skipjack tuna shavings)—are expensive. Even though they are expensive, you have to use the proper weight of these ingredients to produce good-tasting dashi stock. The preparation also takes a commitment.  Japanese food stores and online stores carry diverse dashi-pack products. The choices are ‘natural and chemical-free’, ‘semi-natural’, and ‘highly processed’. Check the ingredients list on the bag and choose the one you like to use. Here is the typical cooking process of dashi pack products. Add a pouch to a suggested volume of water, bring it to a simmer, and cook it over medium-low for 3 to 5 minutes. Please check the instructions on the very product of yours. Remove the pouch from the water and discard it, and your dashi is ready.   Here are the names of some of the dashi stock pack products: Yamaki Katsuobushi Shop Dashi 100% Natural (kombu, katsuobushi, niboshi (dried small anchovie)- shipped from Japan Shimaya Dashi Powder No MSG Tebiyamaya (kombu, katsuobushi, shiitake mushroom) Kyuuemon Awasedashi Mutenka (kombu, katsuobushi, no chemical additives) Mixed Kombu and Katsuobushi Dashi Packs (by Kokoro Care-distributor) Kayanoya Dashi (kombu, katsuobushi, agodashi, yeast extract) Professional Method I use Rishiri kombu, Kuragakoi (two years cured). Rishiri kombu produces a clean-tasting, clear dashi stock. Makombu and Rausu kombu produce a too-sweet stock for my cooking. Hidaka kombu is OK for home kitchen use.  I chose the katsuobushi, whose flakes are faint pink and not dried out. As the package is stored longer, the inside flakes turn dull brown and look brittle.   Ingredients Here is the 5,000 ml water recipe: 5,000 ml water 60g kombu  90g katsuobushi  Instructions Soak the kombu in water for about 30 minutes (1 hour in wintertime). Turn on the heat and bring the water and kombu to 60° C/ 140° F. Keep this temperature for one hour. Remove the kombu from the water, reserving. Turn on the heat to high and increase the temperature to 85° C/ 185° F. Turn the heat to medium and add the katsuobushi at once. Wait for all the flakes to hydrate. Turn off the heat and leave it for 2 to 3 minutes. Strain the dashi through a fukin-quality cotton cloth-covered strainer (or use the large coffee filter). Dashi is ready for use. Prepared dashi can be used for 2 to 3 days (stored in the refrigerator), but the freshness decreases as a day passes.  Prepare the second dashi stock with used kombu and katsuobushi. Add the used kombu and katsuobushi to the new 4,000 ml of water in a pot. Cook the mixture over moderately high heat for 15 minutes. At the end of cooking, add 2 cups of new Katsuobushi. When all is hydrated, turn off, and after 3- 5 minutes, drain through a foil-covered strainer. The second dashi is good for daily miso soup.

Pomegranate season is here. This is a festive dessert with a Japanese spirit. I make mini mochi balls—one colored with pomegranate juice and another colored with matcha powder. I serve these colorful mochi balls with vanilla ice cream, Pomegranate seeds, and juice. I sometimes add chunky azuki paste to this dessert. Shiratama (mochi) balls and azuki paste are inseparable partners to the Japanese! Ingredients (Makes 3 to 4 servings) 3 pomegranate 100g (3.5 ounces) Shiratamako flour (Shiratamako rice flour)  1 teaspoon matcha powder 1 large ripe pear, peeled and cut into cubes Vanilla ice cream Chunky azuki bean paste (optional) Instructions Remove the pomegranate seeds from the fruit—reserve 1/3 cup of the seeds for decoration. Process the remaining seeds in a juicer-mixer until they are liquid. Strain the liquid through a paper towel-covered strainer. Press the ground-up seeds to extract the maximum juice. In a small bowl add 50 g (1.7 ounces) shiratamako flour.  Add 50 g of pomegranate juice. Mix the flour and juice with your hand until it becomes a smooth ball. In another small bowl, add 50 g (1.7 ounces) shiratamako flour. Add 50 g of tap water to the bowl, and mix until it becomes a smooth ball. In a small cup, mix the matcha powder with the same volume of lukewarm water. Mix and stir until smooth. Add the matcha paste to the shiratamako ball and knead to distribute it evenly. Make 18 small balls from the pomegranate-added shiratamako ball and the matcha-added shiratamako ball. Press the center of each ball to make a slight depression. Have a medium bowl of cold water at hand in the sink. Bring a medium potful of water to a simmer. Add the shiratamako balls to the pot. The balls sink on the bottom and then float to the surface. Cook the shiratamako balls 2 minutes. Remove the shiratamako balls from the hot water and drop them in the bowl of cold water in the sink to stop cooking quickly. Finish cooking all of the shiratamako balls. Lightly drain and transfer the cooled shiratama balls to a container. Cover the container with a lid and store until serving time. Serve the shiratamako on the day of making. In 3 to 4 dessert bowl divide the pear, shiratamako balls (pink and green), pomegranate seeds and ice cream.

To my surprise, the non-astringent fuyu variety of persimmon, which is golden orange and has a squarish and pressed-down appearance, is available at many food stores today. So, I weekly enjoy this dish. I thought of you and that you would enjoy it with this still rare (?) fruit to Americans. This is a persimmon and green daikon salad. You may choose another ingredient for this dish, such as turnip or rutabaga. This is a winter salad, so there is no place for tomato, cucumber, or other summer ingredients. This recipe has a similar flavor profile as my mother’s Persimmon and Daikon Namasu. The only difference is how I cut the persimmon and daikon. Against my mother’s julienne slices, I cut them into small cubes. My mother’s version of the Daikon Namasu is a very popular end-of-year dish, and each family has its own flavor. The dressing used is sanbaizu sauce, recipe available here. I add dashi to the sanbaizu to add umami, thus elevating the savory sensation – it is not just tangy, sweet, and salty sanbaizu.  Prepare the salad half a day or half an hour in advance. If you don't have persimmon, replace it with a crisp, sour apple such as Granny Smith. Ingredients 1 fuyu kaki persimmon (about 4-5 ounces) 3.5 ounces daikon radish, either green, purple, red, or white Sea salt 2 to 3 tablespoons Sanbaizu Half lemon rind, julienned 1 tablespoon dashi stock (optional) Instructions Remove the top part of the persimmon, peel, and cut it into 1/3-inch cubes. Transfer the persimmon in a small bowl.  Peel and cut the daikon into 1/3-inch cubes. Toss the daikon with 1% salt against its weight in a bowl. This is a Shiomomi technique. Leave the daikon for 20 minutes, then pick up a few at a time and squeeze in your hands to remove excess water. Transfer the squeezed daikon to the bowl of persimmon. Finish squeezing all of the daikon pieces. Add the Sanbaizu and lemon rind to the bowl. If you have it at hand, add the dashi stock, and toss the mixture well. Adding the dashi elevates the flavor of the salad. Divide and serve the salad into two to three small serving bowls.

Zosui is a rice dish in which boiled and rinsed rice is added to a dashi stock and cooked tender. The amount of liquid used per rice volume and cooking time determines the texture of zosui, similar to risotto or wet paella. After the nabemono, hot pot, we make zosui using the delicious liquid left in the pot. The rice cooked in the liquid acquires phenomenal flavor and nutrients from everything else cooked. Zosui is also a body-warming and quickly prepared winter rice dish that is perfect for your lunch using cooked rice and dashi stock stored in the fridge.  Ingredients (Makes 4 Servings) 2 cups cooked rice – polished white or brown rice – stored in the fridge; thawed and rinsed under cold water to remove extra starch 2 1/2 cups dashi stock, chicken stock or leftover cooking liquid from your nabemono dinner the day before 4 eggs ¼ cups thinly sliced green part of scallions 3-4 tablespoons ponzu (store purchase) Scallion slices (optional) Instructions Heat the stock to a gentle boil in a medium pot. Add the rice, level it, and cook until it is heated for about 2 minutes. Add the ponzu.  Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add four pinches of salt to the egg liquid. Swirl and add the egg liquid over the rice, covering the whole rice from the center to the outer. Cover the pot with a lid, turn the heat low, and cook for 30 to 50 seconds. The egg should be barely cooked. Remove the lid and serve in four bowls. Sprinkle a scallion slices if you are using.

Winter is the time when I can get colorful daikon radish at the market. I use three different colors of daikon in this pickles – white, red and green. With the Japanese Benriner slicer, cut the daikon into thin slices. Read about the Shiomomi technique to learn the next step. After the shiomomi process, you have squeezed, pliable, and crunchy daikon, which tastes a hint of saltiness.  In a bowl, mix the daikon thoroughly with rice vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, koikuchi shoyu, lemon rind and ichimi togarashi. Refrigerate the pickles for half an hour. The pickles are ready for the meal. Ingredients 10 ounces daikon 2 to 3 tablespoons rice vinegar 1 to 2 teaspoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons julienned lemon rind (optional) 1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional) 1 teaspoon koikuchi shoyu  Pinch of ichimi togarashi (Japanese hot pepper powder)

Here is the body-warming hot pot with chicken thighs and dumplings. Napa cabbage, carrots, Naganegi (Japanese thick and long scallion) and daikon are traditional vegetable choices accompanying the chicken. In this recipe I pair the chicken with readily available baby kale, leek, and carrot. However, any vegetables in your refrigerator will work. Nabe dishes, nabemono in Japanese, are cooked in a shallow pot over a portable butane gas stove, and consumed at the table. It is a fun eating experience.  Check out the Cassette Konro article for tips on how to use the portable gas stove.  Double the chicken ball recipe and freeze one portion to prepare quick Chicken Balls and Winter Vegetable Miso Soup.  Ingredients (Makes 4 Servings) 1 pound chicken thigh with bone and skin attached, cut through the bone into about 2-ounce pieces 8 ounces white part of leek 5 ounces carrot, cut into ½-inch thick slices diagonally 1 pound ground chicken (fattier is better) 1 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper powder 1/4 cup roughly chopped white part of scallion (leftover green part reserved for the zosui rice) 2 tablespoons finely minced ginger  One egg 1 teaspoon sesame oil (optional) 5-inch square kombu (optional) 8-10 ounces baby kale or other greens Ponzu sauce Instructions In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add the chicken thigh and cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Drain the chicken and discard the water. Rinse the chicken under cold tap water & drain.  Add 6 cups of new cold water and the cleaned chicken to the pot, and cook for one hour (longer is better). During cooking, add water to keep the water level the same as in the beginning. Remove any foams. Add the leek and carrot 15 minutes before finishing cooking. Remove the leek and carrot from the cooking liquid, drain. Cut the leek into bite-sized pieces. Arrange them on a large platter.  In a medium pot, bring plenty of water and the kombu to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat.   In a large bowl add the ground chicken, sea salt, black pepper, scallion, ginger, egg and sesame oil (if you are using). With a hand, stir the mixture until the mass develops a sticky texture. Don’t give up doing it in the mid-way. It will take about 5 minutes until the mixture feel very sticky. Remove the kombu from the gentle-simmering water. Make small chicken balls - about 2/3 ounces each – from the mixture. You can make 14 balls. Drop half of the balls into the water. The balls sink to the bottom and then come up to the surface. Cook the chicken balls for 4-5 minutes or until the outside is firm. Remove the chicken balls from the boiling water and drain. On the large platter arrange the chicken balls next to the carrot and leek. Add baby kale.  Set up the butane gas stove at the table. Transfer the pot where the chicken thigh is cooked to the table and turn on the fire. Transfer the big plate with the chicken balls and vegetables to the table. Set up small cereal bowl-sized dishes at the table. Add 2 tablespoons of ponzu to each bowl. Now, the cooking and eating begin. Pick up and enjoy a couple of tender cooked chicken thigh meats dipped in the ponzu sauce. Add the baby kale and part of the already-cooked leeks and carrots. After enjoying the vegetables, add the chicken balls to the pot and enjoy them hot. If you need more ponzu add to the bowl.

This is a meal-in-a-bowl soup dish. The carrot, daikon, shiitake, and potato mingle with chicken balls (see the Chicken Hot Pot recipe) in a lightly sweet miso soup. A bowl of rice with goma-shio (toasted black sesame seeds mixed with sea salt), quick asazuke pickles (see the Quickly Pickled Colorful Asazuke Daikon), and this soup will make a hearty lunch or light dinner. This is a winter miso soup, so please use the short-fermented sweet white miso, such as Saikyo Miso, Miso Master brand’s Mello White Miso, Namikura brand’s Kyoto Shiro Miso, or Marukome brand’s Ryotei No Aji Shiromiso. Ingredients (Makes 4 Servings) 14 chicken balls (see the recipe in Chicken Hot Pot) 7 ounces russet potato or other potatoes 7 ounces Napa cabbage 3.5 ounces daikon radish 3.5 ounces carrot 2 teaspoons olive oil or other cooking oil 3.5 ounces broccoli 2 tablespoons julienned ginger 4 cups water or dashi stock if you have at hand 3 tablespoons sweet white miso Chopped scallions both green and white parts as a garnish (optional) Instructions Prepare chicken balls. Peel and cut the potatoes into small, bite-sized pieces. Cut the Napa cabbage into halves lengthwise, then cut each half into ½-inch thick slices. Cut the daikon and carrot into the same sizes as the potatoes. Cut the broccoli into bite-sized pieces. Heat a medium pot over medium heat. Add the oil and cook the ginger for 20 seconds. Add the potato, cabbage, daikon, carrot, and stir-fry for 2 minutes.  Add the water or dashi to the pot and bring it to a boil. Add the prepared chicken balls and cook for 15 minutes. One to two minutes before the cooking is finished, add the broccoli. Turn off the heat and add the miso. Divide the soup ingredients and soup into four soup bowls. Sprinkle with some scallions and serve hot.

This is a winter-time sauce in my kitchen. I dress winter root vegetables, especially colorful daikon radish, rutabaga, apple, pear, persimmon, and pomegranate with snow white dressing. I parboil the tofu before using it. This process removes excess water from it. Ingredients for Half Silken Tofu 1 tablespoon sesame paste or tahini 1 tablespoon usukuchi shoyu (light color shoyu) 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar ¼ teaspoon sea salt Instructions Bring a small pot of water to a gentle boil. Remove the tofu from the package and cut it in half. Store the one-half in a container with cold tap water in the refrigerator. Carefully drop the other half in gentle boiling water. Cook for 2 minutes over medium-low heat.  Drain the tofu, cool it to the touch, and drain again. Wrap the tofu in a doubled paper towel and leave it on a plate for 20 minutes. In a food processor, add the tofu, sesame paste, usukuchi shoyu, sugar, and salt. Process until pureed and all the ingredients are mixed well. Sesame paste tends to stick to the bottom of the processor bowl. Blend it into the sauce with a spatula. Dress any prepared vegetables and fruit you may wish.

Sanbaizu is a vinegar-based, traditional Japanese sauce made from rice vinegar, shoyu, and mirin.  The type of shoyu can be koikuchi shoyu or usukuchi shoyu. Sanbaizu is versatile. It can be used as a grilled fish or chicken sauce, non-oil salad dressing, gyoza dumpling sauce, or fried food sauce. Here are the ratios when making your own: ½ cup rice vinegar 1½ tbsp sugar ½ tsp salt ½ tsp soy sauce Recipes include the Kaki (Persimmon) and Daikon Salad, in which persimmon and daikon are dressed with sanbaizu sauce.

I love to cut vegetables while prepping with my cooking knife, however, this is not always the best option. When it comes to cutting vegetables into thin slices for quick salads and pickles, the Benriner Slicer does the finest job.  When I use it, I remind myself to remove everything that I am thinking at that moment so that I can concentrate on slicing the vegetables carefully. I cut myself several times without that mindset!

The Iwatani Cassette Konro is a type of tabletop cooking equipment. This allows you to have a fire to cook hot pot at the table. This one is from the Iwatani company, which makes pretty good equipment. This will be your once-in-a-lifetime investment to bring delicious and fun nabemono meals to your family and friends' table. There are cheaper varieties, but this one lasts and does a very good job. Perfect for communal meals, it provides consistent heating throughout the whole life of the butane canister. It disperses heat evenly among the bottom of the pot, reducing hot spots and scorching. The construction is also incredibly sturdy, and easy to clean! Perfect for communal cooking with vessels such as donabe or fondue pots Heats equivalent to 12,000 BTU Requires a compressed butane canister (not included) The fuel comes in a small, portable canister filled with liquefied butane gas. It is used to fuel portable stoves, torches, or other outdoor cooking equipment. It is easily available online. One butane cassette gas lasts, when it is used at maximum power, 55 to 70 minutes.  Many of the prep – making a stock and pre-heating part of ingredients, especially pieces of chicken, or root vegetables such as napa cabbage, daikon or carrot – are done in the kitchen. So, the fire is used to cook additional leafy vegetables and warm up pre-cooked items.

I need to scale a whole fish, but I have misplaced my fish scaler and cannot find it! You may have this kind of panicky situation or don’t own one. Daikon radish will take care of our scaling process. Get a hardy and crisp daikon – not the soft wimpy one – at your local store. Cut the top of the daikon and expose a sharp cutting edge. As we scale the fish the surface of daikon gets rough. Cut it off again, and start with a clean sharp cutting surface.

Shiomomi is a method of massaging thinly sliced or julienned vegetables with sea salt. Remember to use this technique to prepare crunchy and delicious Japanese quick pickles, asazuke. The Shiomomi process removes excess water and bitterness from the vegetables, adds a hint of salty flavor, and prepares them for the next pickling process. First, rinse the vegetables – daikon, carrot, cucumber, Napa cappage or turnip - and cut them into thin slices or strips. I use a Benriner slicer. This is a great tool to use to speed up preparations in any kitchen. Next, transfer the vegetables to a bowl and add 2% of salt to the weight of the vegetables (10 ounces/300g needs 6g of salt). Toss and massage the vegetables with salt with your hands. Leave the vegetables for 15-20 minutes. The water seeps out from the vegetables quickly. Pick up a small handful of vegetables in your hand and, with the help of another hand, squeeze them firmly to remove excess water. You find that the crispy slices transform into pliable and crunchy slices. Transfer the vegetables to a clean new bowl. Finish squeezing and transferring all of the vegetables to the bowl. Almost 2/3 cup of water, with sodium and bitter flavor, is squeezed out of the vegetables. This recipe is continued in the Asazuke Quick Pickles article.

I use three different salts in my kitchen. For cooking green vegetables and pasta, I use inexpensive refined salt. I use moderately priced arajio (粗塩) sea salt in most of my cooking, including salting fish and vegetables. Arajio is an imported natural sea salt, first rinsed to remove biological impurities and then fortified with minerals in Japan. Sea salt generally has a much higher mineral content (about 3.5-4%) than refined salt. Minerals such as potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and calcium chloride are responsible for bitterness, spiciness, acidity, and sweetness. Good sea salt, therefore, adds round saltiness and balanced flavor to the prepared dishes. If arajio is not available, I recommend Baleine brand sea salt. The third salt is artisan-made sea salt, in which deep sea water is boiled over a fire for crystallization. It is expensive but has the best balanced flavor and nutritional value. I use it in small quantities to finish flavoring a soup, simmered dish, or salad or sprinkle it over finished dishes. Clockwise, from the top: Artisan-made sea salt Refined salt Arajio sea salt

I use two types of shoyu (soy sauce) in my kitchen: regular koikuchi shoyu (shown left) and usukuchi shoyu (shown right). Both shoyu are made of soybeans and wheat in an equal proportion. Different production methods produce shoyu in different colors, sodium contents, and tastes. Koikuchi shoyu is richer in taste, darker in color, and slightly lower in sodium content than usukuchi shoyu. Usukuchi shoyu is lighter in color and flavor, and slightly saltier than koikuchi shoyu.  I use koikuchi shoyu for dishes and sauces that need stronger flavor and color, such as teriyaki sauce, nikujaga dish (beef and potato), tentsuyu (tempura dipping sauce), ohitashi sauce, and ramen stock. I use usukuchi shoyu for dishes that need lighter color and lesser shoyu flavor, such as chawanmushi (savory egg custard), traditional Japanese clear soup, udon noodle hot broth, hot pot broth, tofu dressing, and fish marinating sauce. If you don’t have usukuchi shoyu, I recommend buying a small bottle and keeping it in the refrigerator. My recipes, which you will be making, often use usukuchi shoyu. Here is the sodium content of the two shoyu (soy sauce), compared to refined salt: Koikuchi Shoyu 1 tablespoon (18 grams) has 2.7 grams of sodium Usukuchi Shoyu 1 tablespoon (18 grams) has 3 grams of sodium Refined Salt 1 teaspoon (5.6 grams) has 5 grams of sodium Learn more about the different kinds of salts I use in this article.

When the air gets colder and drier as autumn progresses, I must take care of my lungs. Pears, both Asian and Western, can soothe lungs from dry air, so I particularly enjoy pear smoothies during this season. I add ginger to the juice to counter the cooling characteristics of pear. Banana adds its friendly flavor to the drink. The weight of these fruits does not need to be precise. One peeled small banana is just about 3.5 ounce. One medium peeled and seeded pear is about 5 to 6 ounces. I just add ¼ cup water, but can be ½ or more to loosen it. It is all one’s own preference. Which pear do you choose? Asian pear is super crisp, fragrant, and juicy. Red Anjou is mildly sweet and juicy. Green Anjou has a refreshing lemony aroma and mild sweetness. All make delicious drink. Ingredients 3.5 ounce peeled banana 5 to 6 ounces peeled and seeded pear ¼ cup water Pinch sea salt 1 teaspoon grated ginger 2 teaspoons lemon juice 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey Instructions Place all ingredients in the juicer mixer, and process until smooth. Serve the smoothie in a tall glass or in two short glasses.

Gingko nuts are an autumn delicacy! Here is how I forage them and enjoy them with moderation every November. Foraging in New York City: Female gingko trees drop their mature fruit onto the sidewalks, streets and parks from the beginning of November through the end of the month. Every year the timing is a bit different, though. Most of the fruits which hit the ground break and expose its flesh inside. The flesh releases a very strong disagreeable smell. But this hideous smell is not the issue here. The remarkable thing about this plant is that gingko trees have been on earth since the dinosaur’s age. They have high tolerance for drought, physical abuse and air pollution and thus have been planted as decorative trees along streets in many cities. Maybe, that strong smell repels the devil, bad fortune and predators and is responsible for the survival of this ancient plant. To forage for gingko nuts you need one or two disposable plastic bags. If you are conscious about the environment, bring a plastic or steel kitchen bowl with you. Wear plastic gloves. Now go out into your neighborhood and first look up to see if there are gingko trees. And then find the fruit-bearing female trees. They are far fewer than the male. This may be because no one wants to plant a female tree that produces such stinky fruit. Indeed, I have been told that the female trees we find in the city are the result of mistaken sexual identity by those who planted the trees many years ago. At the same time use your nose to detect the unusual pungent smell. Once you find the ground, concentrate on picking the stinky, smelly nuts. Some passersby hurrying past the stink look down at us and have confused, bewildered expressions. Others totally ignore us. Be prepared for these two reactions. After confirming that you have filled the bag or bowl, head back to your kitchen without stopping at your favorite coffee shop to get a cup of coffee. Remember that you are carrying a good number of smelly nuts and you are surrounded by the smell. Gingko nuts are delicious and good to our health, but moderation is necessary. Raw gingko nuts contain toxins, so they must be cooked before consumption. Cooking does not degrade the toxin, but you can enjoy it in moderation. Adult: up to 10 nuts; children 5 nuts 0 gingko nuts for under 5 years old. Please check this link before enjoying this seasonal delicacy. Removing the flesh and drying the shells: They are very smelly, so immediate cleaning is necessary when you bring the forged nuts back home. At the sink in your kitchen with a cold tap water running, remove smelly flesh with your glove-worn hands. Make sure that all flesh is removed from the nuts. Now you have gingko nuts which are covered with hard shells. You may wash the nuts in lukewarm water with a little detergent. This removes complete off-flavor and any remaining smell. After rinsing the nuts, drain them well. Spread them over a fish grill, which is placed on the sheet pan. The hard shell will completely dry in a day or two, and the nuts are completely odorless. Now you can enjoy the nuts in moderation. How I remove hard shell from dried gingko nuts: There is a special tool to make this process easy and effort free, but there is no need for you to purchase. You can use a nutcracker or part of a pair of scissors. The important tip is that you apply gentle pressure on the device, or nuts are squashed and cut in half. We want to break only the outer firm shell in half and remove the whole nut from the shell. At this state the nuts are covered with thin brown skin. How I enjoy Gingko nuts in many ways: With a Beer Sauteed gingko nuts in little oil and sprinkled with little salt served hot is so delicious over a glass of beer and is a popular izakaya restaurant snack item during autumn in Japan. On Egg Custard You always find savory Chawanmushi egg custard served in autumn time that has one or two gingko nuts in its custard. Deep-Fried I deep-fry the gingko nuts at 350-degrees F for 2 minutes until the thin brown skin will start to peel off during cooking. I remove the nuts from the oil and wipe off any brown film with a paper towel. Sprinkle it with sea salt and they are ready to consume. It has a pleasant slight bitterness in sweet nuts. The texture reminds us of the one like ‘mochi’. It is super delicious. 10 pieces for adults, 5 for children and 0 for under 5 years old. Cooked with Sea Salt Add the sea salt and the nuts in a skillet (no oil) and heat until the salt and nuts are heated up. Turn the heat to low and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. They are ready to consume. Mind the numbers which you and your family members consume. Boiled in Water Cook the gingko nuts in water, barely covering the nuts in the skillet. Bring the liquid into a simmer and cook the nuts for about 4 minutes; towards the end of cooking gently roll the beans with a skimmer-like tool. This helps to remove the thin brown skin of the nuts. Partially Cooked for Alternate Use Partially cooked gingko nuts can be frozen at this stage for later use. Or, these nuts can be used in chawanmushi (savory egg custard), gingko nut takikomi gohan (rice cooked with gingko nuts), and in stir-fried and soup dishes. Mind the numbers which you and your family members consume. Thank you, autumn; thank you, nature; and thank you, gingko trees.

Chawanmushi is a savory egg custard. No oil is necessary in this Japanese style egg preparation. I start preparing chawanmushi in my kitchen when the cool air starts getting in the air. Hot, smooth, nourishing and umami rich egg custard is one of my important autumn repertoire. There are only two major ingredients in Chawanmushi: They are eggs and dashi stock. You can make dashi stock using instant dashi stock powder which is available at Japanese food stores or online stores. Or, you can replace dashi stock with chicken stock or vegetable stock. After diluting beaten egg liquid with dashi stock, I flavor it with usukuichi shoyu (light color shoyu) and mirin. I cook it in the steamer - I have a professional large steamer for making dozens of chawanmushi at one time. When I cook one or two chawanmushi, I make a makeshift steamer with a deep pot, a bowl and strainer. You need to be careful about maintaining the right temperature. The result is umami rich, delicate flavored & colored, velvety smooth and elegant egg custard. Stuffings for chawanmushi: You may add something like cooked gingko nuts (true autumn chawanmushi!), parboiled pieces of chicken, parboiled pieces of shrimp, or sliced shiitake mushrooms. I mostly enjoy chawanmushi without stuffing. The reason is that small portions of shrimp or chicken are not always available in my refrigerator or freezer. If you are using the stuffing the volume should be up to, about 25% of the one of the egg liquid. Chawanmushi cups and lids: In the Japanese kitchen, we have special chawanmushi cups which come with lids. They are dedicated to making chawanmushi dishes. You can use your tea/coffee mugs (steamer tolerant) for the chawanmushi cup. Find a small plate which you can use as lids for the mugs. This unconventional structure may look strange to you but the small plates keep your savory egg custards warm and delicious. Here's the recipe: One large egg, beaten with a pair of chopsticks or fork in a bowl; avoid creating fine foam (one egg is about 60ml) Ingredients: 180ml prepared dashi stock 1 teaspoon mirin 1 teaspoon usukuchi shoyu Instructions: Set up a steamer at high steam production. In a bowl break the egg and beat with a pair of chopsticks. Break the egg white by lifting it up several times. On confirming that egg white is dissolved, add the mirin and usukuchi shoyu and stir well. Strain the egg liquid through a fine sieve set over another bowl. Transfer the egg liquid to a steamer resistant cup (your mug) – how about your morning mug? Cover the cup with a square piece of aluminum foil which is large enough to completely cover the surface of the cup. Transfer the cup to a steamer which is producing high steam production. Be careful. Hot steam can burn you. Cook the custard for 2 minutes at high heat; reduce the heat and cook for 10 minutes. The end custard should be smooth and velvety. If you find any bubble holes in the custard, it means that the temperature was too high for too long. Egg protein quickly coagulates at high temperature and leaves the air pockets in the custard. Well, with holes or without, it is delicious.