Satsumaimo Gohan 薩摩芋ご飯

Satsumaimo (sweet potatoes) are in season at the moment. Usually we make a sweet dish called daigaku imo from the starchy sweet potatoes. Looking to spice up our donabe of white rice with something new I cooked the sweet potato with the rice. A nice change-up when topped with some toasted sesame seeds.

Using this recipe for cooking rice (from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari), simply add some salt to the rice pot. For the sweet potatoes, wash carefully (but leave the skins on), cut into slices, about 1/2 inch, and let rest in a pot of water to rid it of its excess starch.

Add the sweet potatoes to the rice pot and cook as you would cook white rice normally. No need to add extra water. Just use the amount based on Nonaga-san's recipe in the link above.

When serving top with toasted sesame seeds.

Lekue Steam Roaster スチームロースター

Note - the first three photos come from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga's website. Click here to see more recipes that he created for the Lekue.

I received one of these Lekue steam roasters. It can be used in the microwave or in a regular oven. It's ideal for assembling and cooking in one dish, making cleaning easy. Steam can escape from the side vents but it will cook and steam at the same time.

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari's recipes for seafood and some side dishes that are seafood friendly was included in the steam roaster.

Here is a professional photo of okra, nori, and mushrooms. Below is my dish that I made at home.

It took less than a minute to assemble, a few minutes in the microwave, and then it was done. We loved this as a side dish and will make it again.

This was another one of chef Nonaga's side dishes in his cookbook. Simply slice up some cabbage and a chikuwa (toasted fish cake), add mayonnaise and miso then cook in the microwave.

Also a big hit and a dish we will make again as these are items that are usually in our fridge. Also, it gives me inspiration to make other similar dishes.

Lekue is originally a Spanish product and is available in major countries. It is easy to clean as well. My only advice is to be careful when removing it from the microwave. Once I was caught off guard by the steam coming out of the side vents and it was very hot.

Basic Miso Soup - Lessons from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari is sharing with us lessons on how to make miso soup. This recipe first appeared on the Lohas website and Lohas has given us permission to translate this into English.

Miso Soup
10 minutes preparation time
127 calories

Miso Soup Ingredients (Serves four)

900 ml dashi (click here for Nonaga-san's dashi recipe)
60 grams miso
1 block tofu
1 onion
shichimi togarashi (Japanese seven spice) - optional

Put 900 ml dashi in a soup pot.

Peel and cut the onion. First cut into half and then into quarters. Then cut into thin slivers.

Key point: when cutting into quarters, cut from the outside (as shown in the first photo). When cutting into thin slivers, cut from the inside of the onion (as shown in the second photo).

Most important is to cut the onion into equal widths as it will cook evenly.

Cut the tofu into bite size pieces.

Key point: place the tofu in your hand and let the weight of the knife cut the tofu. If done properly you will not cut yourself. If you pull or push the knife you may cut your hand. (Yukari's note - tofu is much easier to manage if you can learn to cut it while holding it in your hand.)

Add the onions to the dashi and turn on the heat.

Key point: only turn on the heat after adding the onions. If you turn on the heat before now you may become anxious as you are cutting the onions or tofu and may lose your concentration.

Bring the dashi to a boil and when the onions are half translucent lower the heat to medium high. Add the tofu slowly to the pot.

Let the pot come to a boil and after the tofu is warmed up and the onions are soft, turn off the heat. Add the miso by either using a miso koshi (a miso strainer) or by mixing it in as the photo above shows. Put some dashi in a large spoon and dissolve the miso into the dashi using your chopsticks.

Key point: add the miso only after turning off the heat. If you add the miso while the pot is still cooking you will lose some of the delicate aromas and flavor of the miso.

You can garnish the miso soup with some shichimi togarashi if you would like.

Yukari's note: once you have mastered this soup, you can do many different variations by using different vegetables or including sea vegetables. Some options include potatoes, carrots, daikon, cabbage, wakame, and abura-age (deep-fried tofu).

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga on cooking Japanese rice.
Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga on making Japanese dashi.

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga was 2002 Champion of the original Japanese Iron Chef program. He can most often be found behind the counter at Nihonbashi Yukari. A third generation kaiseki restaurant in Nihonbashi, just minutes from Tokyo station's Yaesu exit (and also around the corner from Nihonbashi Takashimaya).

Japanese Rice - Lessons from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga

Rice is a staple of the Japanese meal, yet how confident are you when it comes to washing, measuring, and cooking rice? Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga shares with us the proper way to rinse and cook Japanese rice. The results is rice with a gorgeous sheen and each grain cooked just right.

This information is translated from the Lohas website which has given us permission to put this in English.

Washing the rice.

In a large bowl place your rice and add a good amount of cold water (about three times the amount of water to rice). With your hands mix the rice in the water and discard the cloudy water. Repeat until the water rinses clear, usually about three or four times.

POINT: Use good water, but not too expensive. Filtered or tap water is fine.

If the rinsing water is clear, put the rice in a strainer for ten minutes to rest. This allows the water on the surface of the rice to be absorbed.

Put the rice into your rice cooker. Add water. The amount of water should be one part water to one part rice. The key point here is to measure the rice after the ten minute rest in the strainer, not the original measuring before rinsing.

(Yukari's note: When we tested this recipe at home, two cups dry rice measured to about two and a half cups after rinsing and resting for ten minutes. It made a huge difference in the rice after cooking, a big improvement. The rice was fluffy and tender. Also, it was much easier to get the rice out of our ceramic rice pot. Uusally, rice is stuck to the bottom of the pot.)

Cook your rice as you normally do, or by turning on your rice cooker.

(Yukari's note: At our home we cook our rice in a donabe or ceramic pot. I let the rice soak in the water for about an hour. Turn on the heat to high for nine or ten minutes. The key is to listen for the water boiling. Then reduce the heat to low and let it simmer for twelve minutes. Then, I turn on the heat to high for one minute to try and make a nice crust on the bottom of the pot.)

You too will love this way of cooking Japanese rice, as taught to us by Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga.


You may also like this post on how to make dashi from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga.

Japanese Dashi - Lessons from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari has some great information on basic Japanese culinary skills online. Unfortunately, it is mostly in Japanese. I am translating it into English to share his wealth of knowledge. He is a great teacher and makes learning easy with his key points. I hope this helps others out there who want to learn more about Japanese cuisine. This comes from his post on Lohas.com, a Japanese website.

Dashi 101

Dashi is the basic building block for which many Japanese recipes are based upon. There are many types of dashi, such as a kombu (Japanese kelp) dashi that is strictly vegetarian, excellent for use in delicate dishes, or ago (tobiuo or flying fish) dashi that is more commonly found in the southern island of Kyushu. This dashi from chef Nonaga is the traditional dashi made from water, kombu, and katsuobushi (bonito flakes). Sometimes it is referred to as ichiban dashi (the first dashi). Niban dashi (or the second dashi) is a weaker version, made from the leftover kombu and katsuobushi from the first dashi, that is still flavorful enough to be used in some simmered dishes. Nothing goes to waste in the Japanese kitchen. Great care and attention is made to use each item to its fullest.

If you note the color of the dashi in the champagne glass you will see that it has some color to it, both from the kombu and the katsuobushi. Unfortunately you can not smell it or you would smell the minerality of the ocean and the smokiness of the bonito flakes.

1800 ml water

25 grams kombu

20 grams katsuobushi

Chef Nonaga suggests making a big batch of dashi and saving it in a pet bottle in the fridge. It will keep for up to three days.

Rinse the kombu in water. Add to cold water in a pot.

POINT - add the kombu to the water before you turn on the heat.

Turn on the heat to medium low until 60 degrees C (140 degrees F). It will take about ten minutes to get to temperature.

At this temperature the rich flavor of the kombu is released into the water.

The top photo shows water at 60 degrees C (140 degrees F). The bottom photo shows water at 75 degrees C (167 degrees F).

POINT: At 60 degrees C (140 degrees F) the color and umami from the kombu comes out. You will see the color of the water change and if you look carefully you can see tiny bubbles from the cut edge of the kombu releasing its natural umami into the water. Keep the water between 60 degrees C (140 degrees F) and 75 degrees C (167 degrees F).

Let the kombu simmer in the water for about 25 to 30 minutes and then taste the water to confirm you are getting a nice taste of the kombu. Then quickly raise the heat to 90 degrees C (194 degrees F) and remove the kombu. Before it comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add the katsuobushi.

POINT: At 95 degrees C (203 degrees F) the dashi may lose its aroma and bitterness may come from the katsuobushi. So be careful not to let it get this hot.

The katsuobushi will start to settle to the bottom of the pan. Once it has settled then strain using a cheesecloth.

POINT: You can squeeze the katsuobushi,  but at ryotei they do not squeeze the katsuobushi but the flavor is released naturally from gravity as it settles in the water.



You may also like this post on how to rinse and cook Japanese rice by Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga.