Hijiki Chikuwa Nimono ひじき竹輪煮物

One more attempt to get out of our routine of hijiki nimono made with abura-age. This time with chikuwa. Our last version was made with Satsuma-age fish cakes (recipe).

The major difference between chikuwa and Satsuma-age is that chikuwa is toasted while Satsuma-age is fried. This chikuwa comes from a popular brand called Kibun that is also sold outside of Japan.

After reconstituting the me-hijiki (bud hijiki).

30 grams hijiki
2 slices chikuwa (toasted fish cakes)
100 grams carrots, julienned

vegetable oil

broth:
2 Tbsp. sake
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. mirin
salt to taste

Rehydrate the hijiki in water for 5 minutes. Then quickly blanch in boiling water and strain. Julienne the carrots and cut the chikuwa into thin slices.

In a saute pan add a little bit of vegetable oil and cook the hijiki, chikuwa, and carrots until the carrots over medium heat until the carrots start to soften. Add the sake, sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and salt to taste to the pan. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for about ten minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Be careful to watch the pan so that the sauce does not evaporate completely. If the carrots do not soften, add a small amount of water or dashi and continue to cook.


Serve at room temperature. Will keep in the fridge for about five days.

Satsumaage Hijiki Nimono さつま揚げとひじきの煮物

A friend gave me some Satsuma-age fish cakes and the brilliant idea of making nimono of the cakes with some hijiki. I added some carrots and made the dish as we usually do using the fish cakes instead of abura-age (thin, deep-fried tofu). We loved this dish and will be making it again and again.

Hijiki is one of the dried sea vegetable that is always in our pantry. But we have fallen into the a rut with always making the same dish, simmered hijiki.

In the photo I've left one of the Satsuma-age cakes uncut so it will be easy to recognize in the market. It comes in different shapes, but this is a popular one. It sometimes is in the freezer section if you are shopping at an Asian market outside of Japan. Just let it defrost in the fridge.

30 grams hijiki
2 slices Satsuma-age (deep-fried fish cakes)
100 grams carrots, julienned

broth:
2 Tbsp. sake
1 Tbsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. mirin
salt to taste

Rehydrate the hijiki in water for 5 minutes. Then quickly blanch in boiling water and strain. Julienne the carrots and Satsuma-age fish cakes. It may be best to cut the fish cakes in half once before julienning.

In a saute pan simmer the hijiki, Satsuma-age, and carrots until the carrots start to soften. Then add the sake, sugar, soy sauce, mirin, and salt to taste to the pan. Put a lid on the pan and simmer for about ten minutes or until the vegetables are cooked. Be careful to watch the pan so that the sauce does not evaporate completely. If the carrots do not soften, add a small amount of water or dashi and continue to cook.


Serve at room temperature. Will keep in the fridge for about five days.

Simmered Squid and Daikon いか大根の煮物

Simmered squid and daikon is a great first dish for cooks new to squid. The best part of this dish is how tender the squid is. The hardest part of making this dish was cleaning the squid. If buying your squid from a good fishmonger you can ask them to clean it for you.


400 grams daikon
1 surumeika
20 grams ginger, cut into thick slices
vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups dashi
1/4 cup sake
2 Tbsp. mirin
1 Tbsp. sugar

Peel the daikon and cut into large chunks.

Clean the squid. Remove the head from the body. Remove the innards from the squid body and discard. (In our house, if the squid is fresh, Shinji keeps the liver, slices it, and eats it with soy sauce. I'll take a small bite but am not a big fan unless I've had some sake or shochu to warm me up to the idea.)

Carefully clean the legs and be sure to scrub carefully to remove the hard bits on the tentacles. Cut the legs just below the eye and be sure to remove the squid's beak or mouth. Separate the legs by cutting the meat.

For the body, be sure to remove the cartilage inside and carefully rinse the squid. Slice into rings.

In a pot saute the ginger in some vegetable oil for a minute. Add the daikon and squid and saute.

Add to the pot the dashi, sake, mirin, and sugar.

Simmer for 15 minutes or until the daikon is tender. Ideally with an otoshibuta (drop lid) or paper lid. Alternatively, a lid.

Garnish with julienned yuzu and shichimi togarashi (both optional).