Autumn #11: Going Underground with Wasabi / 秋＃１１：地下に潜る、わさびと

As autumn evenings get colder and colder, and we edge into the winter months, root vegetables really shine. There are lots of radical roots, of course. But nothing quite as extreme as the infamous wasabi.
だんだん秋の夕方は寒くなって、もうそろそろ根菜類の季節だな。地下からいろんなおいしさもらえるけど、過激さで言えばわさびが一番でしょう。

This was the line-up facing me on my recent visit to the farmers' market. The farmer himself was grating a stick of wasabi at the stand and offered me a smudge. "Go ahead, it won't kill you," were his words of encouragement.
市場で容疑者の列。農業さんにおろしたばかりわさびをもらちゃって。口を入れたら、「大丈夫よ。死なないよ。」っという励まし。

I liked the bite, and the very green flavor of an absolutely fresh wasabi. It was exciting.
緑の味！鼻に来るぴりぴり。

I decided to take one into my home.　一個を持ち帰り。

Cut in half...半分にしたら。。。

I decided that I would grate up some wasabi meat and make a dressing: a radical use for a radical root, with which I could very lightly dress some naked veggies. Kind of a return to my own California roots...
わさびおろしでドレッシングを！

Fresh wasabi renders a much softer kick than the tube kind, and the color is also more delicate.チューブで買うわさびより味も色も穏やか。

I added some lemon juice, salt, sugar, and olive oil.
これにレモン、塩、砂糖、オリーブオイル。

Totally radical. 過激な緑！

As a side dish to the salad, I made a little flavored rice, based on the recipe found here. サラダに合わせるご飯でキノコご飯を作った。

More than once, I've been captivated watching a Japanese friend wield a knife to render slices of carrots into sakura blossoms. My own efforts were less fluent.
何回も日本人の友達が人参を桜形に切ることを見るだけで夢中という体験あり。自分の手際は。。。

Maybe if I sent it home to my parents, they'd put it on the fridge. Only after asking me if it was supposed to be a fat man running to catch the bus, however. A crowd of these fat men would put anyone off of their meal. So I went abstract.
桜より走っているデブさん？やだね。それで、さくらを抽象的なチェル的なように。。。

Not my proudest moment, but I did manage some kind of flower-like shapes. 何となく。


These went into my rice cooker with some soy sauce, konbu, sake, mirin. Also I included some lovely fall mushrooms.
この曖昧に花のような形の人参と醤油、昆布、酒、みりん。キノコも。

The result was a happy little side bowl of rice. It was content to play the silent support to my more outspoken salad.
これでぴりぴりわさびサラダぴったり。

意義なし！

Autumn #10: Cream...Get on Top/秋＃１０：ミルクの魅力

There are certain foods I give up on while I'm in Japan. I don't really eat cheese. I don't really drink wine. There are more than enough other delicacies to distract myself with anyway.
日本に滞在する時に西欧のようなチーズとワインより日本のおいしい納豆、焼酎。

Happily, Japan has plenty of locally produced animal-based creaminess just in case my cholesterol levels plummet. Aside from its world-renowned marbled beef, Japan boasts high-quality dairy, much of it from the northernmost island of Hokkaido. When William Smith Clark of Massachusetts helped found an agricultural college in what was then, in the 1870s, Japan's wild wild north, his advice was: "Boys, be ambitious!" Judging from the reputation Hokkaido has cultivated as a creamy wonderland, the boys did just that.
幸いに日本でもとてもおいしい日本産牛乳を手に入れるので、せめてそれでコレステロールもたっぷり食べれます。１８７０年代に北海道の農産大学を作るために来日したウィリアム・スミス・クラークの有名な言葉は「少年よ、大志を抱け！」その北の搾乳場は確かによくできたね。

I thought it might be kind of funny to set up a kind of "Got milk?" photograph to illustrate these musings:
子どものころからずーっと見えた牛乳キャンペーンをまねして、ミルクの口ひげの写真を撮ろうと思いながら。。。

The results were pretty lewd. Leading me to wonder what exactly the "Got milk?" campaign was really selling me. As I pondered how truly disturbing the image of a disembodied mouths can be, and as I debated whether I should post these photos, I also wondered...
気味悪いね。いったいなぜそのキャンペーンに人気があったの？

...if I should invoke the term "vagina dentata." Too late. I already did. Hi, Mom!
ただ口を映ると気味悪い。失礼しました。食べ物に戻ろうね。

Back to the matter at hand, Japanese milk is sweet and creamy. It reminds me of some cold glasses I've had in the American Midwest.
手短かに言えば、日本のミルクに魅力があります。甘くてクリーミー。アメリカの農業地域も思い出す。









For mayonnaise, too, I am spoiled here. Kewpie turns out a nice one. The secret ingredient? Maybe monosodium glutamate, which was isolated and patented by Ajinomoto, a Japanese corporation, in the early 20th century. MSG also goes by the name ajinomoto--the root of flavor--in colloquial speech. If youtube would cooperate with me, this would be the sentence in which I would offer a link to a clip from the television show in which I witnessed Japanese schoolgirls squirting Kewpie mayonnaise into their mouths. Thwarted, I will now turn to a more tasteful presentation of Kewpie mayo.
日本にいる間にマヨネーズの心配もないね。我の友にキューピーがあるから。キューピーの秘密は何でしょう？味の素？アメリカに広く嫌われた味の素かな？ま、口に合うから私は文句を言いません。

Don't gaze too long into the vortex of mayonnaise. There's more to come!
驚嘆の念でいっぱいですか？

Tonight I basically enlisted the help of the creamy ingredients celebrated above to transform the food already in my fridge into a feast.
今晩は日本産牛乳、マヨネーズの手伝いで冷蔵庫にあったものをごちそうに変革しました。

I had pasta dough left from my chestnut noodles (see Autumn #9). I thought ravioli might be a nice variation. For that, I'd need to make ricotta. I slowly brought some whole milk mixed with cream and a pinch of salt to a rolling boil.
秋＃９のポストからパスタの生地が残って、それをラヴィオリーにしよう！まずはリコッタチーズを作る。そのため、牛乳とクリームと少々の塩をゆっくり沸かした。

When it was going hot and heay, I added some lemon juice, and reduced the mix to a simmer as it curdled. The mix went through a cheesecloth (that's what they are for!), and waited patiently for an hour as it dripped dry.
よく沸いていた時にレーモン汁を少し入れて、凝乳になるまで２分間ぐらい混ぜた。このミルクをガーゼで液体を抜けた。

"Real" ricotta may actually be made with rennet, but until I can get my grubby hands on them, the lemon juice done good.
本当にチーズを作るならレネットという材料が必要かもしれない。でもレネットがどこで買えるか分からない私にもレーモン汁で結構だ。

Okay, maybe this spoonful went directly into my mouth. But I was able to reserve some for the pasta dough, which I rolled out and cut into circles with the help of a rice bowl.
実言えば、この写真を撮ったとたん、このスプーンは直接に私の口に入れたしまった。できるだけ我慢して、チーズをパスタに使わなきゃーと思って、パスタ生地を薄くして、茶碗を使って、まるい形にした。

To this, a little ricotta, with a little impression in the middle.

これに、リコッタ：

In this little valley, an egg yolk.

リコッタの真ん中の谷に、卵の黄身：

Another round of pasta dough.

もう一枚のパスタ生地：

Boil it until it goes belly up. I found four minutes to be the best.

それで４分ほど茹でる。

Please note how the pasta clings to the fillings, revealing yet concealing the gooey goodness within.

外面から挑発的に中身が見えるね。

Topped with a little browned butter...

バーターを載せて。。。

And some ginger-garlic-bacon ratatouille on the side.

しょうがとニンニクとベーコンのラタトゥイユと。

 I haven't forgotten that mayo. It found its way into some mashed kabocha, which I had simmered with soy sauce and mirin. I added some yuzu kosho (citrus ground with pepper) for an extra kick.

マヨネーズを忘れずに、煮たカボチャとゆずこしょうにすりつぶした。

This, alongside a sesame coleslaw of sorts... 
これと薄切りにされたキャベツサラダ。。。 

And avocado (because I can't resist) made for a nice side dish.
とアボカドでおかず。

With all these flavors at my command, I was able to build such beautiful bites as this:
これでこの贅沢な一口が作られた：

Sure, I play with my food...
そうね。子供のように食べ物で遊びするね。。。

And I lick my plate clean...
その上、動物のようにお皿までなめる。。。

But at this point, I can't see any reason to resist these impulses. I'm busy eating.
でも大人さえ知らない満足。

Autumn #9: Noodlin' / 秋＃９：栗に狂った

My Japanese language dictionary gives just one example sentence for the entry "chestnut": "This potato eats like a chestnut."
「栗」を電子辞書で調べたら、英語の例文を直接に翻訳と「この栗はイモように食べる」になる(??????)

Well, this girl eats like a chestnut mare. And tonight she ate chestnuts!
ま、この女はイモのようより、馬のように食べれるので。。。今晩は栗を！

They've been gleaming at me as I pass the greengrocer's for a little while now, so I finally gave in.

何日前から八百屋さんから「やっほー」って言ったように待っていた栗を！











Having no open fire upon which to roast the little gloating globes, I opted for pasta instead.
栗をパスタに！

In the meantime, I marinated the marbled beef strips I'd purchased.
共になるお肉をマリネードにいれた。

I have yet to meet more lickable meat.
なめたかったけど、我慢した。













I also prepped my lotus root:
レンコンも準備した：

Lotus root is lovely and crunchy, but a bit bitter and easy to brown. I peeled and sliced the root and put it in water with a touch of vinegar to wait.
レンコンを酢も入った水に入れて、待たせた。

I simmered the chestnuts, peeled them, crushed them first in the blender, then pressed them through a sieve. Placing these actions side by side in one sentence, separated by only one naked comma makes it seem like this process did not take a long time. Uh: it did.
栗を煮て、皮をむいて、ミキサーで粉にした。ここで３０秒で書いたけど、結構時間かかったなあー

In the end, the chestnut meat looked something like the above.
結局上のようになった。

After introducing it to some egg yolks and flour, and forcing it to suffer some heaving petting, punching, and poking, I eked a dough out of the chestnut paste. I rolled it out (not owning a rolling pin, I used the ubiquitous umeshu bottle) and cut it up.
それに卵の黄身、小麦粉。こねて、薄くして、切った。

Then things got busy: I had caramelized onions and maitake mushrooms sauteed in butter awaiting the noodles. The lotus root and some kabocha squash found themselves pan fried in the juices of the seared beef.
パスタを炒めたタマネギと舞茸、レンコンとカボチャを肉のマリネードで。

A little dab of yuzu-kosho (citrus chili paste) on the beef:
お肉にちょっとだけのゆずこしょう。

I'm not really into jam bands. I can't appreciate guitar noodling and aimless riffs. But with these noodles...
このパスタを一口で分かった。。。

                                  I can get into it. 栗に狂った。

Autumn #8: Bibimbap of Love and Pain / 秋＃８：愛と苦痛のビビンバップ

This greeted me at the supermarket today:
今日スーパーに入ったら、この挨拶で迎えた：

A bouquet of chili peppers! It felt like I was being courted by Mother Nature herself. And how could I refuse the great lady?
唐辛子に作られた花束！これで自然の摂理になんぱされた。

Of course I had to make a chili sauce. I got a modest blender and set to work seeding and blending the peppers.
もちろんチリソースを計画した。ちっちゃいミキサーを買って、唐辛子を混ぜた。

Everything seemed to be going well: I caramelized some black sugar and thought of what sweet heat this little sauce was going to bring into my life. I added the pepper puree (to which I had already added ginger and garlic), and was simmering this brew with a touch of soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar when the trouble began.
最初はうまくいった：黒砂糖をカラメルにして、それに唐辛子、ショウガ、ニンニクのペーストと少々の醤油、みりん、酢。でも、その時：

My hands started to burn. I thought perhaps I'd gotten them too close to the flame, so I put ice on them. That alleviated the sensation a bit, but as soon as I removed the cold, the burning began again. There didn't seem to be any external signs of a burn - Ah, but how could I forget? Mother Nature was the same bitch who brought about earthquakes and hurricanes; her little romantic overture was not without its painful side effects. The pepper juice on my hands was crippling them with pain.
手に燃えたのような痛みが始まった。火に近すぎたかな？でも外面で火傷はどこでも見えなかった。そうだ。地震と台風も与える自然からの贈り物にも思わぬ結果があったね。唐辛子のジュースはこの苦痛の原因であった。

At least the chili sauce turned out well, although I find it appropriate that it resembles fresh blood:
せめてチリソースはうまくできた。流れ血と似てるところも適当かも：

 After a few sessions of soaking my hands in milk, the pain subsided. By that time I felt that I'd completed an entire love affair, from my usual naive enthusiasm through to the pain of reality crushing my illusions. At least the delicious sauce was no illusion. I was able to recognize in the end that Mother Nature, like any other woman, just demands a little respect. Next time, I will come prepared to the battlefield of love. In the meantime, this household will respect the Hague Conventions on Warfare and avoid pepper spray.
 何回も牛乳に手を入れたら痛みを和らげた。まあ、自然の力を尊敬しなければね。





Now, to make a meal to go with this sauce!
でわ、ソースに合わせて料理を作ろう！

I thought I'd like to do a "bibimbap" of sorts. Of course it would be a freestyle fusion cheruteki invention. I marinated eggplant in a soy sauce, sake, garlic, sugar, sesame marinade. Then, I grilled maitake mushrooms and kabocha squash, sauteed fresh garlic stalks, steamed some greens, and cut some cucumbers and avocado. I finally sauteed my eggplant. I assembled all the various ingredients about a serving of rice like so:
チェル的なビビンパップはいかがですか。いいでしょうね。それで、なすを醤油、お酒、さとう、ニンニク、ごまのマリネードに漬けて、焼いた。舞茸、カボチャも焼いた。茎ニンニクを炒めて、キュウリとアボカドを切った。結局この材料をご飯の上にこのように載せた：

 

 Hm...something's missing... なんか、足れないね。

There we go! これだ！

Full of respect for the powers Mother Nature wields, both for good and ill, I tucked into my bowl. 自然の力に対する深く尊敬を込めて、いただきまーす！

All's well that ends well...in my belly.

ごちそうさま！

Autumn #7: Akebi, Strange Fruit / 秋＃７：アケビのあくび

A few days ago, I came across this at a local greengrocer:
この間、八百屋でこれを見かけた：

My first reaction was: what the heck is it? My second, naturally, was: I want to eat it.
最初の印象：いったいなーに？２番目の印象：食べてみたーい！

So I bought one, and asked the name: akebi. Until recently, it was a fruit limited to the northern region of Honshu (Tohoko), but now enjoys the honor of being a commercial crop. Turned out my desire to consume the little thing had to be postponed, however. My newly acquired akebi would not be ripe for a few days yet.　それで、名前を聞いた：アケビです。まだ未熟みたいで、一個買って、熟れるまで待っていた。

Apparently, I would know when it was ripe when it got soft and wrinkly, and kind of looked like it was smirking at me. 柔らかくなるまで待って、結局アケビがちょっとにやにや笑いしている時に熟したことがわかるはずだった。

Today I woke up to discover that my akebi was kind of screwing up its "mouth," as if it were trying to repress a laugh. ほら！今朝私のアケビの「唇」がちょっと笑いそうに歪んでいた。

I didn't have any jokes good enough to get the thing to give me a belly laugh, so instead I used a knife.
笑いそうなアケビでも、口を開けるに私の冗談よりナイフの方は鋭いね。

Nice to meet you, my akebi said. 「どうも」って言いました。

Of course I'm kidding.　もちろん何も言えなかったけど。

I guess the idea is to eat the goop inside, apparently much beloved by Tohoku children...
まず中身を味見。。。

Er... do they not have candy in Tohoku? The white part was sticky and sweet, yes, but the large seeds were quite bitter, and swallowing them whole felt like consuming bb gun pellets.
まあ。。。身が甘くないと言えないけど種より少なくて、種の方はちょー苦い！

Well, I wasn't too disappointed, since the most culinarily valued part of the akebi is its skin, which can be used in savory dishes. 大丈夫、大丈夫。中身より皮が使いたかったからだ。

That's more like it. この皮。


To fill this little guy, I turned to another darling of autumn: the mushroom. In particular, I thought that maitake and shimeji mushrooms would make a good stuffing.
詰めことにキノコでいいんじゃないかなと思って、舞茸とシメジにした。

maitake mushrooms

shimeji mushrooms

 I chopped them up, and added them to the pan with sauteed onions and bacon. For the fun of it, I also added some crushed walnuts.
細切りにして、炒めたタマネギとベーコンと一緒にフライパンに入れた。くりも入れって、またしばらく炒めた。

With this savory mix, I stuffed the mocking mouth of my little akebi. これでアケビのあくびを詰めた。

I'm no great aficionado of bondage, but I did the best I could to truss the thusly stuffed fruit.

このアケビを糸で縛った。

 Into the frying pan it went! それで詰めたアケビをフライパンに！

 

Voila! How to tame the wild akebi!

おとなしくなったアケビちゃん。 

 I served my akebi with a fig compote made with simmered figs, ginger, star anise, Okinawan black sugar, and sake. Also with roasted enoki mushrooms, roasted kabocha pumpkin, and mashed purple sweet potatoes flavored with miso. Oh, and because I couldn't resist, some diced avocado.
今夜のメニューは詰め物のアケビにイチジクジャム（煮たイチジク、ショウガ、スターアニス、黒砂糖、お酒）、焼きえのきとカボチャ、紅サツマイモに作られたマッシュポテト（みそ味）。

 The result was a meal in which every piece complimented the others. It was a veritable montage of flavors on a fork.

その結果？よく調和した味ばかりで、お皿一つで、おいしさがいろいろ。

ごちそうさま！