Tomato Somen

To beat the summer heat we often have cold noodles. Often soba or sōmen noodles with some iced tsuyu sauce. Tsuyu is made from soy sauce, mirin, and saké cooked with katsuobushi. It's a sweet and smokey soy sauce. It's a great dipping sauce for the noodles, but we are always looking for some variety and lately have made a cold tomato sauce for sōmen.

This first one above Shinji made by sautéing in a pan onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and eggplant in some olive oil and then adding tomatoes to the mixture. Then cooling the chunky tomato sauce in the fridge before serving. It's put over cold sōmen noodles and then topped with a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Very Italian in flavor and I'm sure this would also go well with cold angel hair pasta.

This second tomato sōmen dish is more Japanese. We saw it on NHK one night. Simply add tomatoes to tsuyu with some finely chopped shiso and ground, toasted sesame seeds. Very refreshing with the shiso and we loved the addition of the nutty sesame seeds. I think next time I'll add some chopped myōga.

Corn Rice

Growing up in Minnesota my summers were filled with corn. One summer I even had a part-time job detasseling corn. Most of the times we bought our corn directly from the farmers. Big paper bags of corn picked just hours before for only a few bucks. In Tokyo I am paying anywhere from one to two dollars for one ear of corn. It kills me and I don't have the luxury of eating ear after ear after ear of hot, buttered corn. 

Recently, at Den in Jimbocho, chef Zaiyu Hasegawa served corn and scallops cooked with rice. It was so delicious I knew I had to try and recreate it at home. I didn't have scallops at home so tried making it just with corn and loved it.

Simply slice the corn off the cob. Prepare the rice as you normally would at home. Then put into the rice cooker and add the corn. I also like to add a little bit of salt. And cook as usual. No need to add any extra water because of the corn. The corn cooks as the rice is steamed. After the rice and corn is cooked, stir it up with a rice paddle to incorporate the corn into the rice.

Hiyashi-jiru Chilled Miso Soup

Summer has officially arrived in Tokyo and it's been unbearably hot. While we like to start our mornings with miso soup, a hot bowl of soup just is not appetizing in this weather.

Hiyashi-jiru is a cold miso soup. I first had it when visiting Miyazaki prefecture. It's a regional dish that is popular in Miyazaki. Miyazaki is on the southern island of Kyushu. When I first heard about the dish, before my trip to Miyazaki, I couldn't imagine that it would be delicious, but it was surprisingly refreshing. It was a hit this morning, and I have a feeling we'll be eating a lot of it before autumn comes.

The miso soup starts with dashi. Before adding the miso to the dashi, it is cooked in a non-stick pan to bring out some roasty notes. Once the miso is incorporated into the dashi put it in a metal bowl and put the bowl into a larger bowl that had ice water in it to cool down the miso soup. Then add a thinly sliced cucumber, myōga, and a can of tuna.

Toast some sesame seeds in a pan and then grind the toasted sesame seeds.

Check the temperature to see if it is chilled. If not, feel free to add a few small ice cubes to the soup.

Pour the miso soup over rice and garnish with the ground, toasted sesame seeds.

Variations: add shredded shiso, okra, or cooked chicken.

Myoga, Okra, and Cucumber Miso Soup

The markets are overflowing with crunchy vegetables like crisp cucumbers, myōga, and okra. The combination in miso soup is a nice break from our routine of wakamé and tōfu. The myōga, like a gentle ginger, is aromatic and is crispy. A great contrast to the okra that becomes a bit slippery when warmed up. Thin sliced cucumber added at the last minute adds a unique flavor to miso soup.

Tarako Potato Salad

I love Japanese potato salad. The potatoes are boiled (or steamed) and then mashed. The classic Japanese potato salad includes cooked carrots, cucumbers, and ham. That recipe takes a bit more time so I was thrilled when this version was on NHK the other night.

This version reminds me of being in Greece and having the meze taramasolata. This is also made with fish eggs, tarako. Quick and easy to put together. Great on its own, or good with some crostini.

mashed potatoes

tarako (or mentaiko)

mayonnaise

July Seasonal Japanese Seafood ７月旬の魚

Simmered ma-anago

Seared katsuo

Some of our personal favorites include ayu (salted and grilled), shitabirame (meuniere), shijimi (miso soup), benisake (salted and grilled), and for sashimi – surumeika, kinmedai, takabe, and isaki.

Ainame 鮎並 fat greenling (Hexagrammos otakii)

Akashita birame 赤舌鮃  red-tongued sole (Cynoglossus joyneri)

Awabi 鮑 abalone (Haliotis sorenseni)

Ayu 鮎 sweetfish (Plecoglossus altivelis altivelis)

Benisake べにさけ　紅鮭 sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

Dojou 泥鰌 loach (Misgurnus Anguillicaudatus)

Hamo  鱧 pike eel or pike conger (Muraenesox cinereus)

Inada イナダ young Japanese amberjack (Seriola quinqueradiata)

Isaki 伊佐幾 chicken grunt  (Parapristipoma trilineatum)

Ishidai 石鯛  barred knifejaw (Oplegnathus fasciatus)

Ishimochi イシモチ nibe croaker (Nibea mitsukurii)

Iwana 日光岩魚 whitespotted char (Salvelinus leucomaenis pluvius)

Kamasu 大和叺 barracuda (Sphyraena japonica)

Kanpachi  間八 amberjack or yellowtail (Seriola dumerili)

Katsuo 鰹  skipjack tuna or oceanic bonito (Katsuwonus pelamis)

Kawahagi 皮剥 thread-sail filefish (Stephanolepis cirrhifer)

Kihada maguro 黄肌鮪 yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares)

Kinmedai 金目鯛 splendid alfonsino (Beryx splendens)

Kisu 鱚 Japanese whiting (Sillago japonica)*or shirogisu

Kochi 鯒 bartail flathead (Platycephalus)

Kuro maguro 黒鮪 bluefin tuna (Thunus thynnus)

Maaji 真鯵 Japanese jack mackerel (Trachurus japonicus)

Maanago 真穴子 whitespotted conger (Conger myriaster)

Maiwashi 真鰯  Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus)

Makogarei 真子鰈 marbled sole (Pleuronectes yokohamae)

Masaba 真鯖 Pacific mackerel (Scomber japonicus)

Mejimaguro めじまぐろ young tuna (genus Thunnus) if it is a young bluefin tuna it will be called honmeji, if it is a young yellowfin tuna it will be called kinmeji.

Niji masu 虹鱒 rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

Oni okoze  鬼虎魚 spiny devilfish (Inimicus japonicus)

Shijimi – 大和蜆 corbicula clams or water clams (Corbicula japonica)

Shima aji  島鯵 striped jack or white trevally (Pseudocaranx dentex)

Shiro ika 白いか  swordtip squid (Loligo (Photololigo) edulis)* or kensaki ika

Shitabirame 舌平目 (or ushinoshita) four line tongue sole(Arelia bilineat)

Surumeika 鯣烏賊  Japanese common or flying squid (Todarodes pacificus)

Suzuki 鱸  Japanese sea perch (Lateolabrax japonicus)

Tachiuo 太刀魚 cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus)

Takabe たかべ yellow-striped butterfish (Labracoglossa argentiventris)

Tobiuo 飛魚 Japanese flying fish (Cypselurus agoo agoo)

Unagi 鰻 Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica)

Summer Tomato Somen

Tokyo is finally heating up and it's that time of year for cold sōmen noodles. With a bottle of tsuyu, the seasoned broth for noodles, in the pantry, this dish is on the table in less than 10 minutes. The only thing that really takes time here is boiling the water.

While the water is coming to a boil, chop up a ripe tomato, julienne some green leeks, and grind some toasted sesame seeds. Add tsuyu to taste.

Boil the sōmen, usually only about one or two minutes. Rinse thoroughly in cold water.

The dish can also be made with cold udon noodles.