Konnyaku and eringii in ginger nikomi

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An easy Japanese dish.

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Konnyaku (konjac). You can use blocks too, just cut them in slices or cubes.

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Eringi mushrooms, cut in cubes.

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Ginger. Minced. I put a good amount.

Kombu seaweed. A small cut. Later after cooking, I cut it into ribbons.
Soy sauce and mirin (or sake + sugar), 3 tbs of each. A little red hot chili if you want. Cover with water. Let simmer. I cooked 30 minutes.

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Reheat the next day. Enjoy as a rice topping, a side dish or in negiyaki.

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Fêtes . Dinners of Holiday. Many IDs, change of style.

A few ideas for holiday menus. Japan has a month to celebrate the end of the year with Bonenkai (funerals of the old year) parties. In other places, Yule, Noël, Xmas and New Year in many places. Add, yours…
I like trying different dishes and meal styles.

Take a hot cup of thé de Noël and enjoy :

Rétro Christmas, candlelight and rustic.

Simple appetizers.
Jambon en croute aux marrons (chestnut ham pie)
Provence’s style : 13 desserts of Christmas night
Nougat glacé (iced nougat)

Kani Nabe (crab hot pot)
Winter Japanese home parties are often nabe (hot-pots)
Japanese hot pot with Winter crab
Other nabe (hot pots) :
Nikomi Udon
Duck and veggie nabe
sukiyaki

Noël blanc
Everything white, and French flavors…
Full Menu White French Christmas
Boudin blanc (white pudding sausage was little people’s Xmas treat, DIY)
Blanc-Manger (Middle-Age style, not a dessert)
Canard aux airelles (duck with cranberry sauce)
Gateau Mont-Blanc (coconut Antilles’ whiteness)

A Japanese Christmas menu
chicken and sesame cooking class
marmalade and sesame wings
chicken slices with wine sesame sauce
tofu with wine sesame sauce
decorative potato sarada. (pote sarada)
sesame fruit cake

Mexican Navidad, Tamales
pickles and chicken tamales
yellow grits tamales
tamale pie

Islands
Christmas ham, from the Antilles (French Caribbean islands).
Petit jambon antillais (pineapple baked ham)
féroce d’avocat (cod fish spicy guacamole)

Classic French
potage Choisy
Le poulet de Gaston – Dijon chicken (mustard sauce)
bûche aux marrons glacés
Douceurs de beurre et marrons…

Osechi Ryori, a feast of good luck dishes for Japanese New Year, with the recipes. Click here.

Alsace influence. French and light.
Full Menu
Blinis with smoked salmon
Choucroute de la mer (seafood Sauerkraut)
Bûche forêt noire Blackforest log Yule cake
Bredele (season cookies)

Petit Jésus en brioche…
About this one, posts showing up soon :
Colorful first dish
Saucisson en brioche au safran (salami saffron pie)
Red wine red cabbage in rice cooker. The same in cocotte.
Chestnutty no-bake croquettes
Flocon de neige (streusel flocken-sahne). Berry Flockensahne.
Black sugar Nonnettes Kaki nonnettes. Mandarin nonnettes.

Sansho no nikomi – Sansho peppercorn fish stew

Another easy Japanese recipe of this season. Nikomi is a stew. Sansho is Japan’s species of Sichuan pepper. It’s the season for the green peppercorns. Actually, you can do a version of this recipe using “sansho no tsukudani” sold in jars instead of the fresh product.

Sansho no nikomi

Take fish… sorry, they have no name. Oh, I forgot the Japanese one, I’m not sure I’ll hear it again. White flesh local seafish. Clean them, take off the scales, the heads, the inside. Cut them in a few chunks.
Sauce : 1/4th low-sodium soy sauce, 1/4 mirin, 1/4 sake, 1/4. Depending the quantity of fish and size of the pan, you need more or less. The sauce should arrive at half the height of the pieces of fish.
Rinse 2 leaves of kombu seaweeds. Add them to the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes. Add the fish, a fistfull of fresh sansho peppercorns. Cover. Simmer on low heat 10 minutes, return the fish. Cover. A few more minutes.
Diluate 1 tbs of cornstarch in a little water, add it to the sauce. Brings it to a boil.
Then, you can take off the fish, and let the sauce reduce 10 minutes, reheat the fish. Or serve with only 1/2 of the more liquid sauce.

Simple Akita-komachi rice. With sesame.

Steamed green beans. Tomato. Japanese black vinegar.

2 servings of fish and rice:
Cal 633 F2.4g C93.4g P 49.8g

Second half of June 2010 : Illustrated Menu

First half of June 2010 : Illustrated Menu