Kitchen Culture Cooking Club

EXPLORE and PRACTICE Japanese cooking in your own kitchen

About Kitchen Culture Cooking Club

Welcome to the Kitchen Culture Cooking Club, a community space providing encouragement to those who want to EXPLORE and PRACTICE Japan’s washoku wisdom in their own kitchens.

To facilitate this, themed projects will be posted to this page periodically. Project Assignments and links to relevant reference material stored on this site will be posted to this page. Anyone, anywhere in the world, with a sincere interest in Japanese food culture is welcome to browse the contents of this page and then replicate the themed project in their own kitchen.

For those who wish to display-and-discuss their projects with like-minded people, I invite you to join the KITCHEN CULTURE Cooking Club Facebook Group (formerly the TSUDOI Project), an interactive community space.

 

PROJECT Enjoy Junsai

PROJECT Enjoying Junsai

潤菜料理 (junsai ryōri)

JUNSAI (water shield; Brasenia schreberi) grows naturally in lakes, ponds and slow streams in many parts of the world but only Japan and China have a long history of cultivating the plant as a food. Young, unfurled sprouts covered in slippery, transparent jelly, are especially prized by the Japanese.

Junsai can be enjoyed in soups, salads or as a topping for chilled noodles, sushi rice (easiest to eat as a gunkan wrapped in nori), tofu or egg custard.

Using the recipes below as a point of departure, create your own JUNSAI dish…

Prepping JUNSAI

じゅんさいの下ごしらえ

Download  general guidelines for preparing junsai to use in a variety of dishes.

 

 

Chilled Tofu with Toppings

冷奴 hiya yakko, chilled blocks of tofu topped with junsai and okra enhanced by seasoned soy concentrate — either the VEGAN version or UMAMI Essence.

Junsai as a Topping for Tamago-Dofu Custard

玉子豆腐、じゅんさい添え

Make tamago-dofu custard according to instructions on page 285 of WASHOKU.

Spoon prepped junsai over each portion and drizzle with either Umami Essence OR Vegan Seasoned Soy Concentrate.

 

Standard Sea Stock (this recipe includes a variation known as oigatsuo or “extra smoky sea stock”) is made with kelp and fish flakes.

A simple vegan broth,  Kelp Alone Stock is, as its name suggests, made from just kombu.

A more complex broth called  Sankai Dashi is made from dried shiitake mushrooms and kelp.

Visit my Kitchen Culture blog to learn about JUNSAI, a summertime delicacy.

Read my June, 2024 newsletter about the texture of food, mouthfeel.

Recipes and Resources

Stock (Dashi)

Dashi stock is essential to making soups and simmered or stewed dishes. Dashi is also used when making many egg dishes and all sorts of sauces, dips and dressings. Using good dashi will make a noticeable difference in the outcome of so many dishes you prepare.

Click to download recipes for (vegan) Kelp Alone Stock or Standard Sea Stock + Smoky Sea Stock

How to Cook Rice

In Japanese, the word for cooked rice, ご飯 GOHAN, is the same as the word for a meal, ご飯 GOHAN. Indeed rice is central to the meal.  Download the Rice with Mixed Grains recipe.

How to Prepare Sushi Rice

Sushi dishes are made with rice that has been seasoned (with sweetened vinegar) AFTER being cooked. Download the Classic Sushi Rice recipe.

Quick Pickles

The Japanese enjoy a wide variety of tsukémono pickles, many can be assembled quickly and are ready to eat within a short time.

Download a recipe for Quick-Fix Hakusai Cabbage.

Kampyo

Kampyo

干瓢・かんぴょう・KAMPYŌ What is kampyō and how is it processed into edible ribbons? Bulbous fukubé gourds are harvested in the summer and set on a spinning wheel against a sharp blade. The ribbons of gourd that get shaved off are then hung to dry in the sun or well-ventilated...

PROJECT Kampyo

PROJECT Kampyo

干瓢・かんぴょう・KAMPYŌ This Kitchen PROJECT is about using KAMPYŌ, sun-dried fukubé gourd ribbons in YOUR kitchen. Be sure to source UNBLEACHED (無漂白 mu hyō haku) gourd ribbons so that you can use the softening liquid as a tasty stock. Gourd ribbons are used to tie up any...

PROJECT Yakumi

PROJECT Yakumi

This Kitchen PROJECT is about making YAKUMI, fresh herb and spice mixtures, in YOUR kitchen.Use yakumi to top dishes such as chilled tōfu, fresh tomatoes or stewed eggplant. Cold noodles served with yakumi to be added to soy-based dips are a Japanese summertime...

Yakumi condiments

Yakumi condiments

薬味YAKUMI A Lively Mixture of Aromatic Herbs Food cultures around the world employ various aromatic herbs and spices to stimulate the appetite, maximize flavor and promote healthful eating. Japan has a long history of using yakumi, condiments, to provide benefit to the...

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