Hot purple marron pie

That’s a Japanese meal. Yes, you can see natto. That’s not the criteria as I’d fusion natto into any cuisine style. Well, I have rice, a soup, okazu dish, sides. The rice is part of the pie, which is a azuki bean and chestnut toasted rice tart, with hidden fire. That’s a long title but that was really yummy.

These are sorts of hot Habanero hot peppers cultivated in Kyoto and they are hot. Yes, I’m repeating because they are made of fire. I used 2 mm of one and I like my food spicy. I really wish I could use more as they have a really charming flavor.

The base of the pie is freshly cooked brown rice. I’ve added a little potato starch, a little water, squeezed between 2 molds to shape and toasted with the molds, then without.
The filling is made in the mortar : a little dry garlic, miso, very small bits of hot chili, azuki beans (boiled)…

And wined chestnuts.

You could see on the tray a bowl of greens, it’s kikuna, chrysanthemum greens. I have slightly steamed them, just to warm. On the plate, you can see natto, with shiso, ika shiokarai, walnuts. All this is mixed and eaten with the greens. This salad is not plant-based as it contains seafood.

The rest is salty, I wanted a neutral soup. I’ve put dry mushroom (mix) in lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar, let 30 minutes. Then reheated and added sesame seeds.
Oboro kombu seaweed ribons completes it. It’s on the side :

As soon as you put the oboro kombu into the soup, it softens and becomes like this.

Blue fish for blue Japanese lunch

Today, I’m eating イワシの塩焼き iwashi no shioyaki , salt grilled sardines. It’s a cheap local fish that brings a good amount of healthy fats. And it’s very tasty.

Simple : clean the fish. Sprinkle a little sea salt. Place on a grill and grill.

Rice of course.

Natto, today with mustard and a few flowers.

A stir-fry of bean sprouts and kikuna greens.

Miso soup. On the side, it’s oboro kombu, it’s made of seaweeds.

When you put it in the soup it becomes like that in a few seconds.

It is also used to wrap sushi.

Well that was another tasty Japanese lunch.

Kale rice

Not kare rice (kare raisu)… That’s childish wordplay. The Japanese for kale is keeru not kare.
Well the tittle says, it’s rice in kale sauce.

I’m a beotian foodie… So kale is simply chou frisé in French, totally ordinary curly cabbage. When I think I was envying the bloggers that had kale. I badly wanted to try fresh kale. We only see it in aojiru (herb juice). And I complained recently that my kale aojiru tasted of cabbage. Why wouldn’t it ? I should have looked for the French name. I did. Stupor : I have eaten kale, well refused to eat some, all my childhood. That was commonplace in potée (veggie stew).

So, it’s hot genmai brown rice, mixed in kale juice spiced by wasabi, with a few capers. A green rice salad.

A boiled egg.

And the heat : Shichimi togarashi spice mix, ground black sesame, whole white sesame, natural sea salt.

Miso soup with carrots and :

Oboro kombu. It’s made of kombu seaweed and vinegar.

Put it into the soup…
(This image was rejected by moderation of the photo host… I guess the moderator is a robot or a martian. Who else would see a problem here ? )

It melts !

A basic Japanese breakfast, isn’t it ? Miso soup, rice, seaweed and an egg. That’s just a different styling…

You wondered ? That’s delicious. Really, that’s the stinky boiled kale that I had issues with. This ways, that’s a great fresh tasting cabbage.

Cosy sushi, many ways

Are not visitors disappointed ? A food blog from Osaka with so few sushi… It’s Japan, so we are supposed to eat some at every meal.
That’s not really the case, but we have some. I don’t try to replicate the restaurant style, but anyway what we are proposed here tends to differ from the horr… , I mean, the offer, in the West. There are many regional variations. I try to prepare the original home-made ones…

Definition : vinegared rice, with toppings.

If there is no rice or nor no vinegar (citrus juice/fermented sake), it is not a sushi. Consider using another name. Well, the concept is large enough to play around with shapes and toppings.

Personal opinion : what makes a good sushi, is :

ONE : the rice, quality (Japonica or Arborio, which is a Japonica anyway) and good preparation.
TWO : there should be a way to distinguish a sushi and a hamburger (I mean no ketchup, no cheese, no fries…)

Enjoy the visit…