Cooking with Taberu Rayu and Ika 食べるラー油といかのレシピ

Today is my birthday. And while Shinji and I talked about going out for dinner this evening, our refrigerator is full of seafood leftover from New Year's Day. So Shinji grilled up some fish no longer fresh enough to be eaten as sashimi. And, the big hit of the night was Shinji's impromptu dish of ika (squid) cut into thin slices, blanched briefly in hot water, and the tossed in taberu rayu and yuzu zest. So yummy and perfect with the Shiranami Kuro Koji shochu (sweet potato shochu made with black koji).

I contributed with a very simple uni pasta, which we always make on the rare occasion that uni is in the fridge and we've already eaten it as sashimi. The uni pasta recipe is here.

Thanks for following this blog. Best wishes for 2012. One of my resolutions for this year is to be more active in posting.

Yoroshiku onegaishimasu,
Yukari

Toshikoshi Soba Tsuyu Broth 蕎麦つゆ

Toshikoshi soba are buckwheat noodles traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve in many households throughout Japan. The long soba noodles have the significance of longevity and are part of the rituals associated with ushering in the New Year.

The soba tsuyu or soba broth can be purchased in bottles at most supermarkets now, even in America. It is an intense, slightly sweet soy broth. I prefer to make this at home as it is easy and will keep in the fridge for a long time, although we usually go through it in about a week.

This soba tsuyu comes from Kazunari Yanagihara.

Soba Tsuyu
3 Tbsp mirin
2 Tbsp sugar
3/4 cup soy sauce

Bring the mirin to a boil and then add the sugar and soy sauce. Stir until the sugar dissolves and then remove from the stove.

Allow to cool and it is ready to use.

When serving, cook the soba noodles, add your toppings and in a separate bowl make your soba sauce. I find it easier to dilute the soba tsuyu in hot water this way. In the past when I tried to put the soba tsuyu in the bowl with the noodles and dilute with hot water it is hard to control.

For toppings for this year's toshikoshi soba we served broiled chicken, spinach and shiitake mushrooms. The spinach and shiitake were cooked then marinated in a soy and mirin broth. Garnish with yuzu peel and shichimi tougarashi.

Best wishes for 2012. Japan has had one of its most trying years with the triple disaster in Tohoku. We are all hoping for a new start and for a better year this year.

Shirasu Pasta しらすパスタ

Yesterday's post was on ikura pasta. We were so happy with having pasta and Japanese ingredients that our next version was shirasu pasta. Shirasu are tiny anchovies that have been quickly blanched in salt water. Usually we have it on a bowl or rice as shirasudon. Or, sometimes we'll grate some daikon to make daikon oroshi and add the shirasu to it.

This pasta was simply some angel hair pasta with shirasu and extra virgin olive oil. Again, easy, quick, and delicious.

I would have liked to have added some pickled takana leaves or nozawa if I had some on hand to add some color. But this was a spur of the moment throw together dish and it wasn't necessary. This dish went very nice with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

You may also want to consider making an uni pasta.