Kitchen Culture Cooking Club
EXPLORE and PRACTICE Japanese cooking in your own kitchenAbout 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 Flavored Miso
PROJECT Flavored Miso
This Kitchen PROJECT is about making flavored miso in YOUR kitchen. This page introduces two new flavored miso mixtures, one redolent with fruity kabosu, the other infused with smoky katsuo-bushi flakes. In addition, many recipes for flavored miso can be found on other posts to this website:
Black Sesame Miso Tōfu Dengaku
Fuki no Tō Miso Dengaku
April (2022) Kitchen Culture blog entry is about urui, a springtime plant that can be enjoyed various ways (including served with flavored miso),
Yet more ideas and instruction can be found in KANSHA: Miso-Slathered Nama Fu (page 148) and Miso Oden (page 171).
There are LOTS of options when it comes to flavoring miso.
Citrusy Miso
One way to flavor miso is to incorporate citrus ZEST. If you can source kabosu you are in for a special treat. If Japanese citrus fruits are difficult to source, try a combination of grapefuit and orange instead. You need to use organically grown fruit to be sure the skin has not been sprayed with chemicals.
I love the combination of biter-and-tart kabosu with yeasty-salty mugi miso. It is a terrific dip for cucumbers or celery. Or, try a dab of kabosu miso spread on rice (mini-omusubi) or tōfu, broiled dengaku-style.
Smokey Katsuo-bushi Miso
Another way to flavor miso is to incorporate katsuo-bushi. Roast a small handful in a dry skillet set over low heat; roast until aromatic. Stir constantly to keep the flakes from burning. Set aside until cooled, then crush the roasted flakes to a powder.
In a small saucepan combine 1/4 cup Sendai miso with 1 tablespoon sake and 1 tablespoon sugar. Stir to blend and set on the stove over low heat. Stirring to keep the mixture from scorching, cook until the sugar is completely dissolved and the sauce is thick and glossy. Remove the saucepan from the stove and and the crushed katsuo-bushi flakes. Refrigerate (up to one month) any miso you don’t use on the day you make it.
The theme of my April 2022 newsletter is URUI, the elusive flavor of springtime.
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.
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