White tamari

Tag Archives: White tamari

Bottarga and Matsutake Rice

Karasumi Matsutake Gohan

When I’m lucky enough to have these special ingredients at the same time, I love making this dish. The earthy perfumy aroma of matsutake mushroom is so elegant and there is nothing equivalent to it. The umami-packed and slightly chewy character of karasumi (cured mullet roe, a Japanese delicacy, and it’s also a famous Italian ingredient, called bottarga in Italian.) You can substitute matsutake mushroom with a different kind of mushroom such as shimeji (although the aroma is very different, it’s still tasty) when matsutake is out of season. For karasumi, instead of slicing it, you can grate it to mix in the rice, too.

The dish shown in this photo is made in 1 rice-cup size Kamado-san.

Earthy Burdock Root Rice

Gobo Gohan

Gobo (burdock) has a natural sweet earthy aroma, and I love the combination of minced gobo with rice for its hearty taste. Daikon leaves add a layer of earthy flavors and texture. If you can’t find daikon leaves, kale can work nicely, too. With this rice dish and a bowl of miso soup, it will make a happy donabe meal for me.

Soup Udon with Steamed Vegetables

Mushi Yasai Udon

This vegan treat is so easy to make and very satisfying. You just prepare the dashi broth for the udon in the bottom bowl of the Mushi Nabe, set the steam grate on top to steam the vegetables first. Once the vegetables are ready, remove the grate and cook the udon in the broth. Because the vegetables are steamed, they tend to retain more nutrients and taste very pure. The ginger-scented broth stays also very clear and the flavor is so rich in kombu‘s umami. So, this is a win win dish. In this recipe, I used Bistro Mushi Nabe, but you can make this dish with any donabe which is equipped with a steam grate. Adjust the recipe amount according to your size of donabe.

Japanese-style Simmered Kabocha

Kabocha no nimono

This is a classic Japanese home-style dish, and we love the full flavor of nutty kabocha with light seasoning of soy sauce, etc. This dish is almost ridiculously easy to make. Once you arrange the cut kabocha pieces with seasonings in a donabe, you heat it and let the donabe do the work for you. You don’t even need to stir the contents. With Miso-shiru Nabe, the delicate kabocha can cook so tender without falling apart.

Soba Noodle with Hot Mushroom Dipping Broth

Kinoko no Tsuke-Soba

I love making this dish especially when I am feeling a little weak and need something gentle for my stomach. Once you simmer mushrooms in a rich dashi-based broth, pour it into serving bowls and dip cold noodles in it to enjoy. The mushrooms adds the nice savory flavors to the broth. And, I love to use a generous amount of thinly-sliced ginger for both flavor and helping my body stay warm after having the dish. It’s so soothing and you can keep eating more and more. This dish is also nice to serve for a larger group. You can also change around the ingredients to cook in the broth for fun. For a vegan version, you can make with kombu dashi or vegetable dashi instead of kombu & bonito dashi.

Chicken Meatball Hot Pot in Miso Broth

Tsukune Miso Nabe

This simple miso-flavored hot pot is always so popular among my family and friends. By adding grated ginger and egg, the chicken meatballs becomes so fluffy and flavorful. The other main ingredients are tofu and mushrooms, which complete the dish to full satisfaction. The suggested shime (finishing course) to cook in the saved broth is udon or ramen.

Mixed Mushroom Rice

Kinoko Gohan

I love the earthy treat. I like to use a few kinds of mushrooms such as shiitake, king oyster, and shimeji. You can try with your choice of mushrooms. By adding sweet rice, the dish becomes nice and slightly chewy texture, but you can also make it only with short grain rice and it will taste very nice, too. For seasoning, I love white tamari, for its mellow and slightly sweet aroma, but you can substitute with usukuchi shoyu or regular soy sauce, too.

English Peas and Hijiki Rice

Ao-Mame Hijiki Gohan

During the spring time when the English peas are in season, I make this dish often. The shelled fresh peas are added to the donabe after turning off the heat and cooked only with the carryover heat. When the dish is ready, the peas are nicely cooked through while they bring the beautiful fresh sweet aroma and retain the beautiful color and texture. This dish is also great for onigiri (rice balls) to take to picnic, as it tastes delicious at a room temperature, too.

Somen Noodle and Cherry Blossoms Hot Pot

Sakura Nyumen

I always get so excited when the spring season comes and make a lot of cherry blossom-theme dishes. This is one of them and I add salt-preserved sakura (cherry blossom) flowers to the broth, and I even use the pink sakura-flavored somennoodles made from flour and sakura from Japan. The aroma of sakura in this dish is just so beautiful. But, don’t worry if you don’t have any of them! You can totally make the delicious somen hot pot without the sakura flavors, and this dish can be enjoyed all year round. You can also change the other ingredients to cook with the noodles by using different kinds of mushrooms or tofu, if you like. It’s so gentle on the stomach and always comforting.

Clam Rice

Asari Gohan

This is a popular Japanese dish and we love it especially in the spring time when the clams are in the top season. Plump sake-steamed clams are folded in to the donabe rice, cooked with the combination of clam juice (from steaming) and dashi. My version uses extra amount (almost double or more) of clams compared to normal clam rice recipes, because I like to really enjoy the meaty clams in the rice! But, you can also make the dish with less amount of clams, and the dish would still taste delicious.

I also like to cook this dish with the addition of Mochi Mugi barley. If you would like to cook with the Mochi Mugi, add a packet of Mochi Mugi to the rice and extra 1/2 cup (120 ml) of dashi and a pinch of salt in Step 3 of the recipe.

Egg Drop Vegetable Soup

Kakitama-jiru

This soup is full of flavors and very satisfying. The addition of the black vinegar gives the nice umami-rich accent to the dish. The fluffy egg with vegetables make wonderful layers of textures, too. I like to sprinkle some sansho powder to the soup for extra kick, but it’s totally optional.

Taro and Konnyaku Stew

Sato-Imo to Konnyaku no Nimono

Sato-imo (Japanese taro) is one of my favorite ingredients in the fall to winter seasons. When it’s simmered in broth, it becomes creamy inside and flavor becomes rich. This goes well with konnyaku (yam jelly) and makes such a hearty healthy treat. I used ball shape konnyaku in this recipe, but you can just get a block of konnyaku and tear into bite-size pieces by hand, so they will absorb the flavors from the broth well. This dish tastes delicious right when it’s ready, but I like it even more after a few hours of resting. If you let it rest for a few hours or longer. You can reheat it or serve at room temperature.

Sweet Potato & Walnut Rice

Satsuma Imo to Kurumi no Takikomi Gohan

Satsuma-imo (Japanese sweet potato) and roasted walnuts bring rich earth and sweet flavors to this dish.

Bamboo Shoot Rice

Takenoko Gohan

Spring is the high season for freshly foraged bamboo shoots and they taste really wonderful. They are crisp tender and full of sweet spring flavors. In Japan, people enjoy so many different kinds of bamboo dishes while the fresh shoots are in season. Bamboo shoot rice used to be my favorite bamboo dish my mom made when I was a child. This dish also tastes great at room temperature or even cold. If fresh bamboo shoots are not available, pre-cooked bamboo shoot can be found at Japanese grocery stores and they are sold all year round.

Egg-topped Garlic Chives & Shiitake

Nira Shiitake Tamago-toji

Nira (garlic chives) and shiitake mushrooms are quickly simmered in kombu & shiitake dashi-based broth, then finished with eggs. I like the very soft and slightly runny stage of the eggs, so let it cook for a short time once the eggs are added. This dish is great as an appetizer (served as a soup), side dish, or I also like to pour over rice. If you can’t find nira, you can substitute it with spinach or pea shoot. You can also add rehydrated dry shiitake used to make the dashi for extra flavor and texture.

Mushroom & Mizuna Hot Pot

Hari Hari Nabe

This simple vegan hot pot is so rich in flavor and satisfying. I like to slice the abura-age very thin, as these slices soak up the broth and taste like juicy noodles. If you don’t have access to abura-age, thinly-sliced tofu can work, too. The key for the rich broth flavor is to add the mushrooms before heating up the kombu-soaked water, so the mushrooms release all the umami flavors during the slow heating process. For the shime (finishing course), I like to add udon noodles to the remaining broth, but soba is also good, too.

Chicken Wings & Daikon Hot Pot

Teba Daikon Nabe

Chicken wings and daikon are a classic combination in Japanese cooking. By pan-frying these ingredients before adding to the broth, the flavor of this simple dish enhances dramatically. Because the chicken is already marinated in shio-koji, this dish doesn’t require much more seasoning. Feel free to use fingers to savor the wings, as it’s part of the fun of this dish!

Japanese Beef & Potato Stew

Nikujaga

This hearty beef and potato stew is such a popular Japanese home dish among people from little kids to elders. While there are countless variations, for my nikujaga, I like to caramelize the onion before adding other ingredients. The onion gives nice rich layer of umami flavor to the dish. Miso-shiru Nabe always makes the perfect caramelized onion without having to constantly sauté it. I also add a lot of thinly sliced gingers for the accent.