Welcome, friends, to the inaugural edition of the Japanese Food Report collaborative newsletter! Every month I’ll share recipes, ideas, links and other Japanese cooking-related goodness that I dig up.
I publish this newsletter using Dropbox Paper because it was created for collaboration, so: Please share your wisdom, know-how, thoughts, questions, links, videos and Japanese cooking experiences in the comments. I want to hear from you, and learn from you.
Whenever you see something highlighted in yellow, that’s an invitation to comment. Roll over the right side of the page to see the comment symbol and go to town!
(And even if you don’t see a yellow highlight, please comment anywhere in this newsletter to contribute! 🙂)
Download this newsletter or save to your own Dropbox account. And please feel free to share!(Subscribe here) I will also compile the newsletters into annual editions, so you’ll be able to search them all at once.
Strap in and enjoy the ride…
Summer miso soup… and more
My pal Isao Yamada is an accomplished Japanese chef, and also he’s my neighbor—a little fact we discovered only after living nearby for five years! Typical New York story. He dropped by the other day and we got to talking about miso soup.
I love miso soup because in that one humble dish everyone from chefs to home cooks can express all the beautiful sides of Japanese food, its seasonality, respect for ingredients, endless variety, playfulness, and more. There are so many delicious varieties of miso soup beyond the typical wakame seaweed and cubed tofu we usually encounter in America. When we spoke, Yamada san described the soup below, and a tasty variation using somen noodles. I’ve turned his thoughts into recipes. Thanks, Yamada san!
Wakame and Okra Miso Soup
Yuzu kosho is an amazing fiery condiment from Yamada-san’s hometown of Hakata, cured from yuzu citrus peel, chilies and salt. One of my favorite Japanese ingredients, it adds fragrance, heat and pop to this soup.(And check out another use for grilling, below!) If you can’t find yuzu kosho, substitute with freshly grated ginger, that’ll work great too.
Serves four
1/2 pound okra, trimmed
1/2 ounce or so of dried wakame(generous fingerful)
1 tablespoon thinly sliced scallions for garnish
First step, blanching and shocking the okra, which cook off its raw taste and turn it bright green. Ready an ice bath and set aside. Place a pot of salted water on high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the water boils, drop in the okra. Cook for about 2 minutes, strain and transfer the okra to the ice bath. When the okra cools, remove it from the bath. Slice the okra and set aside.
Now soak the wakame in warm water for about five minutes, until it becomes hydrated and pliant. Drain and squeeze out excess water, and set aside.
Ready four soup bowls. Divide the okra and wakame seaweed between the bowls.
Pour the dashi into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the dashi boils, turn off the heat. Add the miso and yuzu kosho to a strainer that fits inside the saucepan. Dunk the strainer into the dashi and use a spoon to dissolve the miso and yuzu kosho. Taste and adjust the broth as you see fit.
Pour the miso broth over the okra and wakame and garnish with the scallions. Serve immediately.
Bonus Recipe: Cold Somen with Wakame and Okra
Somen is the go-to Japanese noodle in the summer — super fast to prepare and so tasty eaten cold. In this dish, Yamada-san extends his miso soup to create a full-on delicious and refreshing meal.
Serves four
Dashi, miso, yuzu kosho to make a miso broth following recipe above
Okra as in recipe above
Wakame as in recipe above
2 small Japanese or Persian cucumbers, chopped and set aside
Summer miso soup… and more