One more kuri gohan (chestnut rice)

Kuri gohan is one of the many classic Japanese rices, and well there are different versions.

Kuri is Japanese chestnut, slightly different from the European one (see here).
Sometimes it’s called gohan, as it’s standard rice. Other times, it’s okowa, which means it’s steamed sticky rice.

yaki kuri gohan (grilled)

kuri okowa

A more common style (from a commercial site I am not related to, I just needed to borrow a photo for a while) :
source
That’s white rice cooked with chestnuts in syrup. That’s more like a dessert version. I like it too that’s I also… no, I’ve never cooked it so far. I eat it with pleasure when it’s served but I always end up with a grilled version.

The list is open… Add your oen version.

This time, it’s yaki (grilled), of course.

I have soaked the rice (half brown, half white) in water 24 hours, then added the grilled chestnuts with their inner skin, a glass of white wine, a dry chili pepper and a pinch of salt, and let one more night. Before starting the rice cooker, I’ve added goji berries.

Banana-coco smoothie and seven treasure waffles

A simple fruity brunch, easy to prepare and plant based.

To a simple batter (flour, potato starch, baking powder, brown sugar), I’ve added these 5 and 2 spices : nutmeg and cinnamon.

I’ve eaten the konatsu pomelo while the waffle was cooking.

The smoothie is very basic. The banana was just cold, the coconut cream was frozen. 30 seconds in the blender. Enjoy !

Gâteau de la bergère. Rum raisin shepherd cake.

Why shepherd ? You could think it’s because it looks like a sheep. It’s a woolly moist cake, deliciously flavored with the liquor infused fruits.

There is a relation with the shepherd pie too. The recipe is a little unusual. Apparently that was done a lot in France in the early 19th century as this ingredient had not been yet type-casted as savory side. Yes, a potato dessert ! And it’s delicious. Actually this is a great base to bake cakes without gluten nor grains nor nuts, so that may be a useful recipe for people with certain food intolerances. Anyway that’s good for everybody to vary.

RECIPE :
Beat in that order :
1 egg yolk + 1 or 2 tbs of sugar
+ 2 tbs of coconut cream + a splash of vanilla extract.
+about a cup of mashed potato flesh
+ water to get a creamy texture.
Mix in 1/4 cup of raisins soaked in rum overnight (there were goji berries too).
Add in 3 times the egg white (beaten and sweetened with 1 tbs of sugar).
Bake at 160 degrees Celsius till top is firm and golden.

Let cool a few hours. Serve chilled.

Nobody will guess what the main ingredient is. That appears like some baba au rhum soaked biscuit.
Well, the presentation could be better. That’s not a good idea to take it out of the mold. Next time, I’ll serve in individual cups or cocottes like a flan.

A bowl of vitamins…

A fruity brunch is magical. It uplifts the mood.

The base is oatmeal, soaked with coconut milk and cream and some yuzu citrus juice. A few dried grapes inside. Let one hour or more.

On top : mikan mandarin oranges, goji berries, yuzu citrus peel.
And some freshly ground sesame, a little black sugar to add before mixing.

Koya-dofu soup. Reviving dry food.

A Winter soup made from a good old style broth, and a selection of dry food from my pantry.

高野豆腐 kouyadoufu
These blocks are hard, a dry moss like the green one you get to pick flowers in it, but in white. It’s tofu. Dried tofu.

Source Koyasan HP

Mount Koya, or Koyasan, is the name of a mountain, inhabited by a community of Buddhist monks, near Nara. They had the idea (or they imported it from China) to dry the tofu on freezing days, and it seems they invented the freeze-dry technique.
The dried tofu changes of textures, becomes like a sponge and it can be stored many months. It’s also very light in weight. It’s very convenient to stock tofu, and to take some when you travel.
When rehydrated, it doubles of volume, and I could cut it slices with scissors as contrarily to fresh tofu, it doesn’t crumbles. The taste is a little different too, more milky.

Here the items of my soup. There is also wakame sea weed, not on this photo.

TIPS :
To rehydrate dry food, cover it with lukewarm liquid. If possible, the liquid should not be salted otherwise it slows the process.
To speed it up, in the case of dry plants like fruits, mushrooms, even rice, you can add a little honey or diluted sugar.
To speed it up in case of protein-rich food like this koyadofu or beans, it’s better to have alkaline water. If yours is acidic, you can add baking soda to it.

more info about dry food

Home-made broth. I have well broken the bones so they released their extract and made the broth very white, full of nutrients.
Then it’s very simple :
-put the dry items, and some fresh minced ginger in a pan/bowl. Cover with warmed broth, add a pinch of sugar.
-wait 20 minutes
-cut the tofu. Add salt to taste. Re-heat.

Mmm… a delicious soup full of juicy items.