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January 24, 2007
natto nonsense
The first time I went grocery shopping after returning from L.A. a couple weeks ago, I noticed the nattō shelves were absolutely bare, with only an apologetic-looking sign informing buyers of the situation. It turns out there was a mad run for nattō in Japan right around the time I posted about my own nattō battle because a popular TV program had done a show about the miraculously slimming effect of eating nattō twice a day. But wait! Don't go out and clear the supermarket shelves of all its smelly soybeans just yet! Because a couple weeks later it came out that the whole thing was just a crock (of beans?) and the weight loss results had all been fabricated. Oh, the shame.
This scandal has made the Nattō (Nonsense) Diet my second favorite Japanese fad diet, bested only by the Dark Chocolate Diet, which is still going strong, judging by all the new dark chocolate products popping up in the candy aisle every week. My favorite is the Meiji Chocolife Line, which seems like it should be eaten while wearing a velvet smoking jacket and sitting in a leather armchair somewhere. I aspire to live a chocolife....
Posted by anjali at 9:04 AM | Comments (3) | Categories: Soy
January 15, 2007
buri is good
It's wintertime and buri is king. Buri is yellowtail, that pink-edged sushi staple also known as hamachi. But buri is a grown-up hamachi that has eaten too much over the holidays and is now cloaked in a warm layer of yummy fat that it swears to god it is going to shed once the weather warms up and it can make it to the gym. For now, buri is buttery. Raw, it nearly melts in your mouth. Cooked, it is meaty and flavorful, especially when coated in a dark miso marinade and grilled, which is how I eat it about once a week during the winter.
Hatchō miso, favored by those in the central part of Japan, is so dark it is almost black. Hearty, salty and strong, this is not the sweet, pale stuff most often served at Japanese restaurants abroad. I remember my first bowl of miso-shiru (miso soup) here in the heartland of Japan. I felt like I had been punched in the tongue. But, you know, in a good way.
Another dark-food favorite of mine is kuro-zu, brown rice vinegar, which is the good-boy vinegar to Hatchō's bad-boy miso. Extremely mild and supposedly extra-nutritious, kuro-zu is hyped here as a healthy drink and all-around tonic for what ails you. I like to sprinkle it on raw vegetables. If you can't find it, about half the amount of regular rice vinegar is a suitable substitute.
And finally, if you don't have any buri nearby, you can try this recipe with salmon, black cod, swordfish or other meaty, oily fish.
Buri no Hatchō yaki (Miso-marinated grilled buri)
Makes 2 servings
2 buri fillets
1 tablespoon dark miso, preferably Hatchō miso
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon kuro-zu (brown rice vinegar) or 1 1/2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons mirin
Chopped green onions or pickled ginger shoot, for garnish
Make marinade: In a shallow container, stir together the miso and soy sauce until smooth, then add the vinegar and mirin. Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce or mirin as needed. Put the fillets in the marinade and coat completely. Cover the container and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. (Or, if you live in an unheated Japanese apartment, just leave it on the counter while you assemble the rest of your meal.)
Grill the fillets on a grill or in the broiler for 6-10 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking. Test for doneness by pressing the fish with a finger or chopsticks. It should be firm with some give, like a medium steak.
Posted by anjali at 5:00 PM | Comments (1) | Categories: Ingredients | Recipe | Winter
January 13, 2007
my chopsticks are crying
In Japan, the way you handle your chopsticks makes or breaks your etiquette at the table. As previously mentioned, there is a dauntingly large number of ways to be offensive with your chopsticks. A sampling:
1. Cramming chopsticks (komi-bashi)
Using the chopsticks to stuff food into and already-full mouth.
2. Dragging chopsticks (yose-bashi)
Using chopsticks to move or pick up a plate or bowl.
3. Piercing chopsticks (sashi-bashi)
Piercing food with one or both chopsticks in order to pick it up.
4. Raking chopsticks (kaki-bashi)
Holding a plate or bowl up to your mouth and using the chopsticks to rake the food into your mouth.
5. Hesitating chopsticks (mayoi-bashi)
Indecisively hovering your chopsticks over various dishes before choosing.
6. Scooping chopsticks (yoko-bashi)
Holding the chopsticks together and using them as a spoon.
7. Crying chopsticks (namida-bashi)
Letting soup drip from the tips of the chopsticks.
8. Striking chopsticks (tataki-bashi)
Tapping a bowl with your chopsticks to get someone's attention.
9. Licked chopsticks (neburi-bashi)
Licking off food that is clinging to the chopsticks.
10. Seeking chopsticks (saguri-bashi)
Poking around in soup with chopsticks, looking for its contents.
11. Pointing chopsticks (yubisashi-bashi)
Pointing at someone or something with your chopsticks.
12. Carrying chopsticks (mochi-bashi)
Picking up or carrying a dish in the same hand that you are holding chopsticks.
13. Roving chopsticks (utsuri-bashi)
Eating only non-rice dishes. It is polite to alternate a bite of a non-rice dish with a bite of rice or sip of sake.
14. Probing chopsticks (kara-bashi)
Touching food with your chopsticks, then putting it down without eating it. To do this indicates distrust toward the one who provided the food.
15. Groping chopsticks (koji-bashi)
Using your chopsticks to poke around in a pile of food, looking for your favorite item.
And that's only fifteen of the taboos! Though I've been told I am a polite and proper user of chopsticks, I am still a frequent offender of numbers 3, 9, 10, 11 and 12, though I've probably done everything on this list at some point. But obviously I'm not the only one whose chopstick etiquette is sadly lacking -- a school in Japan has begun testing chopstick skills as part of its entrance exam. I'd like to think I'd pass such a test, but my roving, pointing, groping, cramming chopsticks tell another story.
Posted by anjali at 2:05 PM | Comments (5) | Categories: Tools
January 10, 2007
me vs. natto
In the showdown between me and Japanese food, there was one foe that could always best me: nattō.
Nattō. Fermented soybeans. You've probably heard of it. It's a divisive comestible, in that way only things that are called "food" yet smell like rotting feet are. While nearly everyone in Japan will lecture you on the health benefits of eating nattō (lowered risk of osteoporosis and cancer and blood clots and obesity and maybe...death?), there are actually a fair number of Japanese people who find the stuff repellent. The thing that makes nattō so disgustingly special is its texture, which manages to be at once slimy, slippery and stringy. This is a byproduct of the fermenting and aging process, during which the beans are soaked, fermented under heated conditions, then aged at a much cooler temperature. Meanwhile, Bacillus subtilis natto, a rice straw bacterium, does its not-so-subtle work and a pile of sticky, odiferous beans results.
But my cowering at the sight of nattō wouldn't do. I refused to be bullied, especially by something made of beans. Beans are small. Beans are innocuous. Beans are even kind of wimpy. So I armed myself with a fistful of green onions and a bowl of hot rice, excellent allies in any Japanese food showdown, and set to work.
Although I entertained thoughts of wimping out and starting with the black soybean nattō, which is supposed to be less strongly flavored, I decided to instead go for an all-purpose brand that had always caught my eye when I peeked fearfully at the nattō section of the grocery store. It came with small packets of tsuyu and karashi (mustard). I planned on using the tsuyu and forgoing the mustard, as its strong flavor might overpower the nattō-ness of my nattō. I chopped up some green onion and took a deep breath before lifting open the Styrofoam lid. It would be the last nattō-free breath I would take all day.
And there it was. You don't really need to ask why I was so afraid of nattō, do you?
The deep stink of fermented protein filled the kitchen. But the slippery adventure was only beginning -- I still had to mix my nattō, stirring it around with a pair of chopsticks to make it even more stringy. I wasn't too clear on why this was the desired result, but in the spirit of no-holds-barred nattō consumption, I did it.
After mixing, the beans looked even worse, foamy and viscous, like something you might find on the underside of a lily pad or see in a movie about spawning aliens. Undaunted, I piled them into the small bowl of hot rice, sprinkled on the tsuyu and covered the whole mess in a thick layer of green onions.
And finally, I put the first stinking bite into my mouth. I chewed. It was nutty. Slippery. There was a faint taste of rot, but it was rot I knew I could come to accept and maybe even love, like a very stinky cheese or a friendly zombie. After a couple bites, I added to some daubs of karashi to the mix and found the occasional burning bites even better. Toward the bottom of the bowl, I needed something more, so I pulled out my final Japanese food ally, the mighty umeboshi, and alternated the last bites of beans and rice with nibbles from the tart pickled ume. It was exactly right. I cleaned the bowl.
I had bested nattō. Or had I? My entire apartment reeked of the stuff for the rest of the day. I declare this match a tie.
Posted by anjali at 8:16 AM | Comments (12) | Categories: Firsts | Soy | Weird
January 3, 2007
happy new year!
If you aren't in the habit of reading the weekly Japanese candy reviews on my other blog, you should check out the special New Year's entry, which includes a wagashi wallpaper you can download.
