May 18, 2012

Aburaage/油揚げ

One thing I didn't know about aburaage is that there is a bigger aburaage than Tochio aburage.
Tochio aburage is approx. 20 cm in length, 6 cm in width, and 3 cm in height, and is 3 times bigger than normal aburaage, while aburaage in Fukui prefecture is approx. 14 cm square and 4 cm in height, and is 5 times bigger than normal.
I didn't know either that the aroma of aburaage contains more than 200 components, such as those in yogurt, cucumbers, button mushrooms, nuts, and even moss.
These and other impressive facts I learned from the May 16 edition (Japanese only) of Tameshite Gatten, a famous TV program on NHK.

The program introduced an interesting recipe for making regular-size aburaage feel and taste like the large-size aburaage in Fukui prefecture:
Cut each aburaage into three parts, large, middle, and small.
Put the small part in the middle part, and put the middle part in the large part.  That's all.
油揚げに関して知らなかったことの一つは、栃尾の油揚げより大きな油揚げがあるということです。
栃尾の油揚げは長さ約20 cm、幅6 cm、高さ3 cmで、通常の油揚げの3倍の大きさですが、福井県の油揚げは約14 cm四方で、高さは4 cm、通常の5倍の大きさです。
また、油揚げの香りには、ヨーグルト、きゅうり、マッシュルーム、ナッツ類、また苔にある成分を含んでいるそうです。
このような印象深い事実は、NHKの人気テレビ番組「ためしてガッテン」の5月16日放送分で知りました。

番組では、通常サイズの油揚げを福井県の大型サイズの油揚げのような食感や味にするためのレシピを紹介していました。
油揚げそれぞれを、大中小の3つに分けます。
小を中に入れ、中を大に入れます。それだけです。

I applied this recipe today.
First, I combined 600 ml water, 1 tsp instant dashi, 75 ml soy sauce, and 75 ml mirin in a pot, brought to a boil, poached four eggs one at time, and simmered them for 4 minutes.  (This is not part of the recipe.)
今日はそのレシピを応用しました。
まず、水を600 ml、出汁の素を小さじ1、しょう油を75 ml、みりんを75 ml、鍋に入れ、沸騰させ、卵を1個ずつ、4個入れ、4分煮ました(これはレシピの一部ではありません)。


Now, according to the recipe, I cut four aburaage into three parts, large, middle, and small.
次に、レシピに従って、油揚げを4枚、大中小の3つに切りました。


Put each small part in the middle part,
小をそれぞれ、中に入れ、


and put each middle part in the large part.
中をそれぞれ大に入れます。


I transferred each egg into a separate bowl.
卵はそれぞれ別の器に移しました。


I put all aburaage into the pot and simmered for a few minutes.
油揚げをすべて鍋に入れ、数分煮ました。


I transferred the aburaage into the bowl.
油揚げを器に移しました。


After one bite:
一口食べた後:


The egg was rather hard.
卵は固めでした。


I have never tasted Fukui aburaage, so I can't say if this recipe can really make regular-size aburaage feel and taste like Fukui aburaage, but the resultant dish was tasty.
福井の油揚げを食べたことがないので、このレシピで通常サイズの油揚げが福井の油揚のような食感や味になるのか分かりませんが、出来上がった料理は美味しかったです。


3 comments:

  1. You will not believe me, but I have never tasted aburaage. It is available here (frozen or in a kind of liquid in a plastic bag), but somehow I never have to courage to make it.
    I have never tried it in a restaurant either (they sell it in one of the Japanese fast food shops here stuffed with rice).
    Your photos really make me hungry and I can imagine it tastes fantastic! Especially with eggs (anything tastes better with eggs).

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  2. Here they sell the smaller type of Aburaage but it always tastes very good (usually I put rice and something in it or just cut it into stripes for the soup). Aburaage filled with Aburaage, soaked in a nice soup broth, seems to be yummy too - definitely.

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  3. Sissi and Kiki: I also learned from the TV program that there are 300 different dishes using aburaage in Fukui prefecture, including pizza and shiraae (aemono usually made with tofu). You can also use aburaage instead of croutons.

    Sissi, I hope you try inari zushi 稲荷寿司(aburaage stuffed with vinegared rice) and other aburaage dishes some day!

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