November 26, 2012

Shougoin Daikon, etc./聖護院大根など

Today, I got another box of foodstuffs from my father, which included one shougoin daikon and more than ten yuzu.
今日は、また父から食料を1箱もらいました。聖護院大根が一本と柚子が10個以上入っていました。
I phoned my father to thank him, and he said that shougoin daikon was best in miso soup.  So, I decided to put some of it in miso soup.  As you can see from the photo below, shougoin daikon is dense.
お礼を言うため、父に電話すると、聖護院大根は味噌汁に入れるのが最高だと言うので、少し味噌汁に入れることにしました。次の写真で分かるように、聖護院大根は身がしまっています。 
I also added some komatsuna (a type of green) to the miso soup.
小松菜も少し味噌汁に入れました。
Despite what he said to me, I think shougoin daikon is better in simmered dishes and when pickled.
父はそう言ってますが、私は聖護院大根は煮物や漬物にしたほうが美味しいと思います。

A fukusai (side dish) I made for supper tonight was simmered hijiki.  As usual, I added some uchi mame.
今日の夕飯の副菜として、ひじきの煮物も作りました。いつも通り、うち豆を入れました。  
As I mentioned several times in my blog, uchi mame (lit. beaten beans) are soybeans beaten flat. They are a specialty of Niigata that I learned about after I came here.  A great advantage is that they can be cooked in a short time of about 5 min.
このブログで何回も述べているように、うち豆とは、平らに叩いた大豆のことです。新潟の特産で、私はこちらに着てから知りました。大きな利点は、5分程度という短時間で煮えることです。
The same old simmered hijiki
いつものひじきの煮物
You can also make hijiki salad, using mayonnaise.
マヨネーズを使って、ひじきサラダも作れます。

Another dish I made was kabocha soup.
他には、かぼちゃスープも作りました。
The shusai (main dish) was ground beef-and-pork hamburgers (scorched a little).
主菜は牛と豚の合い挽き肉のハンバーグです(ちょっと焦げちゃいました)。
I made grated daikon sauce with mentsuyu (noodle soup) concentrate, grated daikon, and vinegar.
濃縮タイプの麺つゆと大根おろしとお酢で、大根おろしソースを作りました。

I will add yuzu peel to pickled hakusai (Chinese cabbage).
柚子の皮は白菜の漬物に入れます。

8 comments:

  1. おお、かぼちゃスープは私だけ一番好きです!あなたの料理はとても美味しそうです。記事をありがとうございます。
    Fabian

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  2. Fabian: Thank you for your comment. We still have a lot of kabocha, and I have to use them up before they go bad!
    コメントどうも。まだかぼちゃがいっぱいあるので、悪くなる前に使い切らないと!

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  3. I feel that I could visit your blog for 20 years and would learn something new at least once a week... The radish looks so cute and I would love to taste uchi mame one day.

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  4. Sissi: My father-in-law makes uchi mame by himself even today. I don't know the exact procedure, but soybeans are first soaked in water, and then beaten with a mallet(?) one by one. They are then dried.

    I think I'll pickle the other half of shougoin daikon in the "senmai zuke" style.

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  5. It sounds time consuming, but totally feasible (dried soy beans are easily available here). One more experiment to attempt!
    Talking about pickles, do you remember my young ginger pickles I made a couple of months ago? I pickled several jars in a long-term, Western way (I processed in hot water bath and left in my pantry). I opened one jar last week and finished it in one meal! It was extraordinary. Even softer and more delicate than when tasted after a couple of days.
    I'm looking forward to see your daikon pickled.

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  6. This radish looks huge. Never seen such radishes before. I googled a bit but found no greenery in germany selling seeds or providing information about this radish (totally unknown variety) - but I found a black japanese variety. Right, nearly everday we can learn something new.

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  7. Sissi: Consuming a jar of gari (pickled ginger) in a single meal? Sounds incredible (laugh)! I hope your stomach is OK (laugh).

    Kiki: Sakurajima daikon is even bigger.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakurajima_daikon

    Shougoin daikon, as the name implies, is one of the so-called Kyo yasai (京野菜), meaning the traditional vegetables of Kyoto.
    http://www2.ocn.ne.jp/~greenfrm/kyou.html
    Japanese only.

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  8. Actually I find that it improves digestion... especially with heavy meals. (The jar was small though!).

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