Nancy Singleton Hachisu

My interview with Nancy Singleton Hachisu in Metropolis magazine.

tastemaker

Nancy Singleton Hachisu

Sourcing up farm food

Food provenance has received a lot of attention in Japan over the last year. A good way to be sure of what you are eating—as well as have a healthier diet—is to source your own vegetables and learn how to cook them. Take full advantage of your seasonal greens via a new recipe book by Californian Nancy Singleton Hachisu.

Hachisu came to Japan in the late ’80s to study Japanese and never left. Now, she is resident of a farm in Kamikawa-machi, Gunma, where her husband grew up. There, she runs an English immersion program in an 85-year-old farmhouse for kids aged from 18 months to teenage. The students help to grow and harvest fresh produce from the farm that they then enjoy every day for lunch. This idyllic life living off the fat of the land led Hachisu to write Japanese Farm Food, to be published this fall.
Her mother-in-law often made udon noodles from scratch using wheat from the farm, while her husband Tadaaki, an inspired cook, raises free-range chickens and eggs. In her book, Hachisu has adapted old family secrets and introduced her own to compile this compendium of 160 recipes, displayed alongside lush photos of her countryside home and surroundings by Kenji Miura.

SIMPLE STIR-FRY

Heat a small amount of good quality canola oil in a large pan with a couple of broken dried red peppers, add julienned or sliced vegetables such as carrots, lotus root, green peppers, celery, or okra with a little slivered ginger and stir-fry for a few minutes until just done. Flavor at the end with a little soy sauce, sea salt, shottsuru (Japanese fish sauce), or miso thinned with sake.

Though some dishes include bonito-based dashi, most recipes are vegetarian, and place a heavy focus on “fresh and thoughtfully sourced ingredients.” Easy seasonal recipes include the simple kinpira—sautéed and simmered root vegetables—or a carrot salad dressed with canola oil and yuzu. Another crunchy option is a crudite of fresh radish, bell peppers, cucumbers, and thin green onions dipped in miso. See the sidebar for her quick and easy stir-fry recipe, to tide you over until the book’s publication.

• Japanese Farm Food, Andrews McNeel Publishing, September 2012, pp.400, ¥2,951. Available at major bookstores, or buy through Amazon.
• www.nancysingletonhachisu.com
• Link to the Metropolis article.

Ika Ninjin from Kibo by Elizabeth Andoh

Elizabeth Andoh's newest cookbook, Kibo, documents recipes from Japan's Tohoku region which was most affected by the triple calamity of 3/11. Some of the recipes are dishes that we often make at home. And some are new and that always means an adventure in the kitchen. We are always looking for new ways to include seafood in our diet so the Ika Ninjin (Squid Jerky and Carrot Strips) dish immediately caught our attention.

As Elizabeth explains in her well-detailed book, this dish from Fukushima is often included as part of the osechi New Year's cuisine as well as during the fall. It uses surume ika which is a dried squid that is sold in many Asian supermarkets overseas. Growing up my brother and I often chewed away at surume ika while watching television. My husband also likes it so it is something that is often in our kitchen. Along with carrots and a simple marinade of soy sauce, dark brown sugar, sake, rice vinegar, and togarashi. I left out the togarashi as I wanted to share this with friends who have kids.

We love the dish and when I brought some over to my friend's house she commented that it reminded her of matsumae zuke, a similar looking and tasting dish that includes kombu.


I won't include the recipe here as I hope many of you will pick up Elizabeth's eBook. It is only US $3.99 and part of the proceeds will go to a charity in Tohoku. It's a great book and as food lovers of Japan we can make a small contribution by purchasing the book and then by cooking up some of the food from Tohoku. Even better, pick up some Tohoku sake and have a few friends over to share some of the dishes in the eBook.

Kibo by Elizabeth Andoh

The food of Tohoku is near and dear to my heart as my mother is from Yamagata and I grew up eating many dishes from this region. For days after 3/11 we prayed to hear that our relatives in Sendai were safe. We count ourselves among the lucky to have finally received the good news that everyone was fine.

After the triple calamity Elizabeth Andoh took it upon herself to, in her words, "chronicle the culinary heritage of the Tohoku - especially of the three prefectures that where hardest hit: Fukushima, Miyagi, and  Iwate - before traditional foods there morphed into unrecognizable fare, or disappeared entirely". Like her other cookbooks, this is "information dense" and that is part of why this makes this a great book. Andoh goes into great detail documenting techniques, and the food culture and traditions.

Some of the dishes are already staples in our kitchen like the Salmon Rice Topped with Red Caviar, Pressed Rice "Sandwiches", Ordinary Miso Soup, and Miso-Seared Scallops.

Other dishes include Tohoku classics like Sasa Kamaboko (Fish Sausage Patties) and Shiso Maki (Walnut-Miso Stuffed Shiso Leaves) are dishes we eat from time to time, but have never attempted at home. We will now with these recipes. Other interesting recipes include a nabe hot pot of oysters and miso as well as straw-wrapped tofu.

The book includes great photos, especially helpful for those new to Japanese cuisine.

The first recipe we tried was Ika Ninjin. It uses dried squid, surume ika, and carrots in a vinegar and soy marinade. Very interesting recipe and unique as I never would think to cook with surume ika.

I contributed to the book with a short section on sake and some food and sake pairing suggestions. Having worked at Takashimaya's sake shop for two years I had the great privilege of trying many of the sake mentioned in this section.

One more good reason to invest in this eBook is that part of the proceeds go to a Tohoku charity.

Kibo "Brimming with Hope"
Recipes and Stores from Japan's Tohoku
by Elizabeth Andoh
Ten Speed Press
$3.99 in the USA

Five Questions for Debra Samuels

Debra Samuels is the author of My Japanese Table, published by Tuttle. The cookbook is filled with treasured recipes that are genersouly shared from Japanese friends of Debra's over many years in Japan. My copy has many dog-eared pages. Some of the recipes have already become staples in our home kitchen including an addictive salad dressing of garlic, soy, sesame oil, sugar, and rice wine vinegar. Shinji calls it the yakiniku-ya dressing as it is similar to the salad dressing found at many barbecue restaurants in Japan. Another favorite recipe is simple kinpira made from celery. The ingredients are always in the house and the dish can be whipped up in minutes. If you like Japanese home-style dishes or want tips on making bento, be sure to pick up her book.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Debra for Metropolis magazine where she shares her favorite shops and restaurants in Tokyo. She has piqued my curiosity to visit Sugamo. I had more questions for Debra that space didn't permit to print in Metropolis so have continued the conversation with her here. Also, she shares a recipe at the end.

1. Your book is filled with great bento tips. What are your favorite tips? 

I am really bonkers for bento. I love the boxes and the whole concept.

When introducing this to an American audience I had to be very aware of what would or could be embraced. My main point for people starting out is to think of using 5 colors which automatically increases the variety of food. Greater variety and smaller portions make for a balanced and satisfying meal.

The tip I think makes sense in being able to pull off a nutritious bento on a busy morning is preparing ahead of time. I particularly like making the chicken meatballs and storing them in the delicious stock in the fridge. Then it is just one step to simmering them in teriyaki sauce before placing them in the box. 

2. We love the desserts chapter. Any tips for someone wanting to make something Japanese and sweet at home?

Making Japanese sweets at home can use both familiar and unfamiliar ingredients.  For example a fusion dessert like matcha marble cake uses green tea powder with regular flour – so that is familiar and your results will be like a western cake.

But if you choose to make something with sweet rice flour, like  shiratama (mochi dumplings) or strawberry mochi dumplings, the process for handling the dough, the texture of the product is not familiar.  You should be prepared to experiment a bit.  

3.  Any tips for someone wanting to host a Japanese party at home?

Don’t get overly ambitious!  By which I meant don’t try to pull off 5 or 6 new dishes at once.  Mix them with other dishes that would work well with them, like a plain baked fish. 

The best and most fun way to throw a Japanese party is have a hand roll sushi party – temaki zushi.  The prep is all done ahead of time. You prepare a gorgeous display of vegetables: cucumber, avocado, sprouts, simmered shiitake and fish:  raw tuna, cooked crabmeat, smoked salmon and salmon roe  arranged on large platters.  Prepare the sushi rice, provide crispy nori  - roasted seaweed and everyone rolls their own creations into a cone.  And you enjoy the party.

I like to serve one salad with this to fill out the meal – a spinach, tofu and beansprout salad with sesame dressing. You will have  a big hit! (See recipe below.)

4. You spend part of your time in Boston. Any suggestions for sourcing Japanese ingredients in America?

I live in an area with many Asian supermarkets so it is easy for me to get anything I want, both fresh and dried.  Many well stocked American markets now carry Japanese ingredients because of the increasing popularity of Japanese food. So you can get short grain rice, nori, decent soy sauce, even mirin and wakame.  But if you aren’t near a market there is always the internet. What a difference that makes.  There are some great pan Asian markets who sell on line as well as Japanese markets like Mitsuwa that have online stores. 

The only thing one should never compromise or buy without knowing the source and preservation methods is raw fish.  And I mean NEVER.  All fish is not suitable for sushi. It must be sushi grade and that often means super frozen. 

5. Tell us about your other great book, The Korean Table.

I had the great fortune of co-authoring a Korean cookbook with my friend Taekyung Chung. I met her in Japan about 17 years ago.  Our common language is Japanese!  Korean food is now hugely popular in the United States in part due to large Korean American populations and the restaurants that grew up around them. The robust flavors and dishes are now familiar to Americans, like kimchi, bibimbap and of course Korean bbq.  

There weren’t many Korean cookbooks in English, so we thought it would be interesting. Both Taekyung and I are cooking teachers so we knew how to explain about ingredients and cooking techniques. I chose recipes I thought would be authentic and popular with Americans without frustrating them.  My favorite chapter in the book is the Basics chapter because it teaches you how to make so many different sauces that are so important in Korean cuisine.  The book is now in its 3^rdprinting so I think it achieved our goals of being accessible.

 Spinach, tofu and beansprout salad with sesame dressing

Serves 4

One 12-14 ounce cake of soft or medium tofu, drained

16 ounces fresh spinach or 10 ounce package of frozen spinach (defrosted)

2 cups water

2 cups fresh bean sprouts

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sesame oil

3 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds     

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1-2 tablespoon soy sauce

1 scallion, minced

Sesame oil for drizzling

Salt

1. If using fresh spinach, fill a large bowl with cold water and set the spinach into the bowl.  Lift out the spinach and place in a large sauce pan with a lid. 

2. On medium heat, steam the spinach, with only the water clinging to the leaves, for about 2 minutes, or until the spinach has wilted.

3. Pour the spinach into a colander and rinse under cold water. Drain and squeeze out the water (if using frozen spinach squeeze the excess water from the spinach).  Place the spinach on a cutting board and cut into 2-inch pieces and place in a serving bowl.

4. In the same pan add 1 cup of water and the bean sprouts and a pinch of salt. Cover the sauce pan and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes.  Drain the bean sprouts and set aside.  

4.  Crumble the drained tofu on top of the spinach and mix together, until thoroughly incorporated.

5. Set the beans sprouts in a mound on the top of the spinach mixture.

6. In a small frying pan, on medium heat add the sesame seeds and toast for 3 minutes, stirring periodically with a wooden spoon to keep from burning, Fry until the sesame seeds begin to pop, darken and the aroma is released. Reserve 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds for garnishing and pour the remaining sesame seeds onto a cutting board. Chop finely. If you have a mini food processor pulse several times.   

7. In a small bowl combine the crushed sesame seeds, sugar and soy sauce. Mix until the sugar is dissolved.  Pour over the spinach. Sprinkle with reserved sesame seeds and drizzle with sesame oil.

Garnish with sesame seeds.  Toss together just before serving.