January 10, 2012

Su Kombu (Vinegared Kombu)/酢昆布

I made su kombu.
酢昆布を作りました。

40 g kombu, cut into appropriate width strips
1 cup (200 ml) vinegar
In Japan, 1 cup is equivalent to 200 ml.
4 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
Combine them together in a container, let stand in the fridge for a whole day.

昆布 40 g、適当な幅に切る
お酢 1カップ(200 ml)
日本では、1カップ=200 mlです。
砂糖 大さじ4
塩 小さじ1
容器に全部混ぜて、冷蔵庫で丸一日寝かせる

Just combined together:
混ぜ合わせたばかり:
I let them stand in the fridge for two days.
冷蔵庫で二日間寝かせました。
I transferred the kombu to a bowl, one strip at a time, using a pair of chopsticks, and put them back to the fridge. I got this amount of liquid in the container.
昆布をボールに、箸で一枚づつ移し、冷蔵庫に戻しました。液がこれだけ容器に残りました。
Maybe 1 cup is more than enough. I won't throw the liquid away. I store it in the fridge.
1カップでは多いのかも知れません。液は捨てません。冷蔵庫に入れてあります。

Note that commercially available su kombu has white powdery substance on the surface. According to several sites, su kombu is dried and then coated with this substance. But some sites like this one (Japanese only) says that even home-made su kombu will develop white powder when stored in the fridge. (Visit this site and view the last photo.)
市販の酢昆布には表面に白い粉状の物質がついています。幾つかのサイトによると、酢昆布は乾燥させてから、この物質をつけるそうです。でもこのサイトなどでは、自家製の酢昆布でも冷蔵庫に入れておくと、白い粉ができるそうです(上記のサイトにアクセスして、最後の写真を見て下さい)。

To be continued.
続く。

Edited to add this photo on Jan. 12:
1月12日にこの写真を追加:

I dried some kombu strips for more than one day. There were no signs of white substance appearing on the surface. I gave up the attempt and had one strip and found it simply had become tough again.
昆布を少し一日以上干しました。表面に白い物質が現れる気配はありませんでした。あきらめて、ひとつ食べてみると、ただまた硬くなっていただけでした。

8 comments:

Fräulein Trude said...

The "powder" on the kombu displayed on the japanese website looks like a fungus spreading. If the powder is salty it may be salt emerging from the cellular liquid of the kombu - I guess.

Hiroyuki said...

Kiki: Maybe or maybe not. I still keep mine in the fridge. I think I'll dry some of it indoors and see what will happen. (Wet su kombu is tasty enough.)

Sissi said...

Very interesting recipe! I don't think I will ever make it though: konbu is so expensive here!

Hiroyuki said...

Sissi: Kombu is expensive in Japan, too, but I have to use up all the kombu given to us more than two years ago!

You can use used kombu, too, but as you can easily imagine, the resultant su kombu will be less flavorful.

Just in case you are not familiar with su kombu, Miyako Kombu is a very famous snack for children (dagashi). I liked it a lot when I was small, and I still like it.

You can view some photos showing how to make Miya Kombu here:
http://www.nakanobussan.co.jp/miyako/index.html

Fräulein Trude said...

Sissi: Dried Kombu is expensive - that's true. But I found rather cheap vinegared Kombu in our asia store: Ready prepared chinese Kombu knots. Better than nothing.

Sissi said...

Thank you, Hiroyuki, for the link. I have never heard of miyako konbu.
(Actually the msot expensive Japanese restaurant in my city is called Miyako; I have never been there).
Thank you, Kiki. I will try to look for it here.

Hiroyuki said...

I added another photo today, together with some description.

Sissi: Miyako means capital city.

If you ever go to that restaurant, be sure to show us your wonderful meal in your blog!

Sissi said...

Hiroyuki, thank you for the translation. If I ever go there I will take photos of course!
The drying konbu looks like modern art :-)