Sw’hits 2013

Favorite desserts and sweet treats of the passed year.

Musubi mean making a knot. They are also packages of rice, to take with you as lunch pack. The plastic film gives the shape to the ball.

A mix of genmai (brown rice), mochigome (sticky rice), kurogome (black rice, sticky too) and takakibi (sorghum).

Pickled sakura leaves, rinsed.

Wrap. Keep a few hours, or better the next day. The leaves are not very tasty but give a sakura flavors and saltiness to the rice.

Walnut crust blue sweet potato pie

It’s very a simple and delicious coffee cake. Few ingredients, little process and full flavor.

Purple satsuma imo sweet potato. The potato has already a flavor of almond cream cake, so not much is needed.

I took the flesh of a baked potato, and smashed it with a little coconut cream, a little Grand Marnier liquor and very little sugar. Just mixed.

The crust is walnut, oatmeal, a little sugar, a pinch of salt and very little water, together in the blender. Then put in molds and dried in the oven. Well I should have taken it out before filling…
The taste is really pure walnut

So just fill the crust.

Serve chilled or warm. And enjoy with your coffee.

Aka endo mame tortilla, and veggie plate

A nice plant-based brunch to enjoy season local produce.

Do you remember these aka endo mame red peas ? I soaked them and made this batter :

Adding hijiki seaweed, grated turmeric, chili pepper and soy sauce.

Cooked like a pancake. It’s possible to flip it, but it breaks when you fold it.

That’s it. On top, drizzles of balsamico sauce.

The red carrots of Kyoto.

Just grated them. They have a sweeter and fruitier taste than average carrots.

Leafy daikon radish.

Just steamed.

Big daikon. I cut, salted, let 30 minutes and rinsed.

Yuzu dressing : yuzu citrus juice, grated peel, salt and sesame oil.

Crunchy, yummy, filling…

Zu zu zu lemon tartelette : yuzu, kuzu, anzu

A delicious fresh dessert for all the lovers of sour sweetness.

Why zu zu zu ?

Zu or su, is sourness. Many acidic ingredients have this sound in Japanese. Today :
Anzu : Apricot.
Yuzu : yuzu citrus.
Kuzu : kudzu is a root resembling arrow-root and similarly used as a jelly starch.

About 1 volume of dry apricot for two of oat meal in the blender, then just a little water. Put in the mold, dried in the oven.

Yuzu. I’ve really discovered something here : yuzu and apricot are one of those rare matches made in even. Paired they become something else, a richer fruit flavor.

Kudzu as it is sold. It is 本葛 Honkuzu, pure kuzu. There exist others (explanation here).

For more : kudzu recipes.

I mixed the kuzu powder with the juice and zest of a yuzu, a little yellow cane sugar, enough water (as suggested on the package of kuzu) and cooked while stirring, till it became transparent.