Mushrooms Grilled in Foil

Earthy mushrooms are hard to miss in the market this time of year. At our local supermarket we can find brown and white shimeji, brown and white enoki, shiitake, eringi, maitake, nameko, and maitake. At the upscale department store we can find a few other types including the aromatic matsutake.

We like to keep mushrooms on hand as they are easy to add to miso soup, sauteed and served over salads or with pasta.

This recipe is not very Japanese, but easily finds its place on the Japanese table. Shimeji mushrooms are cut at the base and then separated into pieces and put in an aluminum foil packet. This is topped with butter and garlic slices, seasoned with salt, and grilled over the barbecue or in the toaster oven.

Kinoko Mushroom Soba きのこそば

The earthy buckwheat soba noodles are our favorite. It often becomes a last minute lunch meal as there is always dried soba noodles in the pantry as well as a bottle of men tsuyu concentrate. In this simple recipe mushrooms are simply cut into bite-size pieces and blanched in hot water and then put onto the soba. The earthy mushrooms are a perfect partner for the noodles.

Kinoko (Mushroom) Soba

Serves 4

½ cup shiméjimushrooms

½ cup shiitakémushrooms

½ cup maitakémushrooms

½ cup namékomushrooms

4 bunches of dried soba

bottled men tsuyu 麺つゆ orめんつゆ

shichimi (seven spice), optional

Heat up a very large pot of water for boiling the soba. Heat up a second large pot of water to cook the mushrooms.

Place the namékomushrooms in a bowl. Cut off the stems of the shiitaké mushrooms and cut the cap into thin slices. Cut the base of the shiméji mushrooms and break into individual pieces. Cut the base of the maitakémushrooms and break into smaller pieces. Put all of the mushrooms in a bowl.

Quickly blanch the mushrooms in hot water and set aside.

In a pot prepare the soba broth according to the directions on the tsuyu bottle.

In the very large pot of boiling water cook the soba according to the packet, usually about 4 minutes. Be careful not to let the pot boil over. Add cold water if needed to prevent them from boiling over. After it is cooked strain. Put the noodles in a soba bowl, top with the hot soba broth and the cooked mushrooms. Garnish with shichimi (seven spice).

Gomoku Gohan 五目ご飯

Changing up our routine of white rice I like to make takikomigohan. Rice steamed with toppings that are mixed into the rice after it has cooked. Some of my favorite takikomigohan are made with grilled fish like salmon or tai (sea bream). The salmon takikomigohan is especially nice when topped with ikura. Most important is to grill the fish before adding it to the rice pot to rid it of its fishiness.

Julienne the fillings. Here I have used (clockwise from top left) gobo (burdock root), abura-age (deep-fried tofu), konnyaku, carrots, and rehydrated hoshi shiitake (dried shiitake).

Here is the master recipe I use for rice, from Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga of Nihonbashi Yukari. Most important here is his technique for rinsing and measuring the rice to determine the amount of liquid needed.

3 cups of rice
100 ml soy sauce
50 ml mirin
1 tsp. salt
water (as needed by using Chef Nonaga's recipe)

After rinsing the rice add to your rice pot. Top with julienned fillings. Add liquid and salt. Cook rice as usual. Stir up the rice pot after cooking to incorporate the fillings.

Key point here is that the amount of liquid remains the same as if you are making white rice. Just substitute some soy sauce and mirin. I also sometimes like to add a splash of sake. Another option is to add some sugar. Just be careful as the rice pot may scorch so monitor the heat carefully.

Takikomigohan is a free for all. Many different ingredients can be used including chicken, hijiki, kiriboshi daikon (dried daikon strips), mushrooms like maitake or shimeji, kombu, and much more.

Kinoko Takikomigohan きのこ炊き込みご飯 Mushrooms and Japanese Rice

Who doesn't love a change-up? So many times in our house it is white rice for dinner. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Especially when our table is topped with a variety of dishes that call out for a simple rice that can go with any food. However, sometimes I get the urge for some variety in our rice pot. Takikomigohan is quick and can often be made with whatever leftover bits of vegetables are in the house. The rice is still washed and made the same. The only difference is that some vegetables are put in the rice pot at the end, and a bit of soy sauce, sake, and mirin are included with the water for steaming.

And the rewards are lovely. Mushrooms cooked with the rice bring a nice earthiness to the dish. The soy, sake, and mirin season the rice lightly. The following recipe from Chef Nonaga is the best I have found for cooking rice.

Iron Chef Kimio Nonaga's rice recipe.

Takikomigohan
2 cups of rice
150 - 200 grams of chopped Japanese fresh mushrooms (shiitake, enoki, shimeji, etc.)
1 Tbsp. each of soy sauce, mirin, sake
pinch of salt

Wash the rice as normal and put into rice pot. Top with mushrooms. The amount of liquid to add to the pot is as usual, just substitute in 1 Tbsp each of the soy sauce, mirin, and sake for some of the water. Add a pinch of salt to the pot and cook as usual.

Garnish with mitsuba or toasted sesame seeds (optional).

Feel free to add other ingredients like carrots, abura age (deep-fried tofu), or konnyaku. Chicken can also be added, just be sure to cut into bite-size pieces first. If adding seafood like fish (salmon), be sure to cook the fish first, ideally grilled.

Other takikomigohan recipes:
Scallops Takikomigohan
Salmon and Ikura Takikomigohan
Clean the Fridge Takikomigohan