Free Japanese Cooking - Contemporary & Traditional by Miyoko Nishimoto Schinner

poured over something). Very simple to make, this is a one-bowl meal. This recipe is great for using up whatever vegetables you may find around the house. You can use just about any kind of leafy green or nonroot vegetable, except for tomatoes or avocados.
     
    Yield: 4 servings

Fried Tofu Dumplings
     

Hirosu
     
    4 taro roots
    8 ounces regular tofu, drained in paper towels for 30 minutes
    2 shiitake mushrooms, minced
    ¼ carrot, minced
    ½ teaspoon sea salt
    1 tablespoon flour
    Flour for coating
    Oil for frying
    Approximately ¼ cup daikon-oroshi (grated daikon radish)
    Soy sauce, to taste
    Peel and simmer the taro root until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain, place in a bowl, and mash well. Add the tofu, mash, and mix well. Mix in the shiitake, carrot, sea salt, and the 1 tablespoon of flour. Form into little balls the size of ping-pong balls, and coat in more flour. Heat the oil until a little piece of dumpling dropped in rises steadily and quickly to the surface. Fry a few balls at a time until golden brown, turning once or twice. Drain on paper towels. Serve 2 to 4 balls per person, topped with a little grated daikon radish and soy sauce.

     
    These delicately textured and flavored dumplings can be served as is or simmered in dashi (stock) and seasonings.
     
    Yield: 3 to 4 servings

Freeze- Dried Tofu
     

Koya Dofu
     
    1 box (approximately 3.5 ounces) koya-dofu (freeze dried tofu)
    2 cups dashi (stock)
    3 tablespoons soy sauce
    2 tablespoons mirin
    2 tablespoons sake
    Reconstitute the koya dofu by soaking it in tepid water for 10 to 15 minutes. Press each piece between the palms of your hands, squeezing out the water. In a pot, combine the dashi (stock) with the soy sauce, mirin, and sake. Add the koya dofu (freeze dried tofu), cover partially, and simmer gently for 15 to 20 minutes, until it turns a light tan color and the flavors have been absorbed. It can be eaten as is, added to udon or soba noodles, or used as an addition to a nabe dish.

     
    These are fun to make and very tasty. Differing in texture from frozen tofu one might make at home, this has a much finer, spongier consistency and absorbs flavors well. Highly versatile, this is the most traditional way of cooking koya dofu.
     
    Yield: 4 servings

Fried Dishes
     
    I n this age of fat-free consciousness, fried dishes are taboo. However, the Japanese believe that there is a place for them. Of course, the traditional Japanese diet is overall much lower in fat than the American diet. When fried foods are served, they are offered in much smaller quantities—usually two to three morsels to round out a meal, the rest of which would most likely be fat-free. The exception is perhaps tempura, which is by far the most famous fried dish from Japan. Anyone who has enjoyed it prepared well will understand how it can constitute an entire meal. There are others, too, such as tonkatsu, or deep-fried pork, and kushi-age, deep-fried, breaded skewers of various vegetables, meat, and seafood. Here, however, we will introduce simply a handful of tasty morsels for those who would like a small, albeit rich, addition to their meal.

     

Fried Natto
     

Natto-Age
     
    Two 3-ounce packages natto
    3 green onions, thinly sliced
    3 tablespoons cornstarch
    2 teaspoons soy sauce
    1 to 2 teaspoons Japanese hot mustard
    2 sheets nori
    Oil for frying

     
    Natto is a fermented soybean product towards which people generally have a strong liking or disliking. Whereas people from Kanto, or the Tokyo area, tend to enjoy it, those from Kansai or the Osaka area often do not. It has a strong odor,somewhat reminiscent of limburger cheese, and a sticky, stretchy consistency that many object to. (It forms “threads, ” they say.) I, for one, love it, as do my children. Frying it, however, rids it of most of what some consider an objectionable smell and texture, and yields a crispy, tasty product.
     
    Mix the natto with the onions, cornstarch, soy sauce, and hot mustard. Cut the sheets of