September 23, 2016

Ways to Store Fresh Enoki/新鮮なエノキの保存方法




Yesterday, I got three clusters of enoki mushrooms from the friend of mine who runs an enoki factory.
昨日は、エノキ工場を経営するお友達からエノキを3つもらいました。


Probably the very best way to consume them is to have them all as part of last night's supper while they were still fresh, but unfortunately, my wife had already made the soup for the supper.
So, I decided to store them all.
この新鮮なエノキを消費する最善の方法は、まだ新鮮なうちに昨晩の夕飯に全部食べてしまうことでしょうが、あいにく、妻がすでに夕飯の汁を作った後でした。
というわけで、全部保存することにしました。 
CAUTION: DO NOT RINSE CULTURED MUSHROOMS WITH WATER. YOU DON'T HAVE TO.
注意: 栽培されたキノコは水洗いしないでください。水洗いする必要はありません。


Cut the enoki to the desired lengths.
えのきを好きな長さに切ります。 
Put it in an I-Wrap bag and store in the freezer, not the fridge.
アイラップに入れて、冷蔵庫ではなく、冷凍庫にしまいます。 
What to do with the rest near the bottom? I decided to dry it.
底部に近い残りはどうするか?干すことにしました。 
Left: Portions to be dried.
Right: Portions to be composted (I mean, to be simply tossed on the ground)
左:干す部分
右:堆肥にする(というか、ただ地面に捨てる)部分  
 
I later broke them into smaller pieces to accelerate the drying.
乾燥を速めるため、小さく割きました。
I'm going to use the dried pieces like "hoshi kaibashira" (dried adductor muscels of scallops).
干したら、干し貝柱のように使うつもりです。

6 comments:

  1. It's so good to see this. I just bought enoki mushrooms. I am going to make nametake again. I really enjoy it. That's very interesting to dry the parts near the bottom! I have not heard of this, and it sounds very good.

    Thank you again for your blog!

    Take care,
    Erin from California

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  2. I will try this as well. I could really use one (or more) of those hanging nets like you have for drying foodstuffs, must keep an eye out. Cheers, Philip

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  3. ErinBear:

    So, you like nametake? I'm not very fond of it myself.

    Philip:

    After the enoki is dried, don't forget to microwave it until light brown to bring out the flavor!

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  4. Dear Hiroyuki,

    Yes, I do like nametake. I don't make it very often, but it is nice once in awhile. I really love mushrooms; usually I saute them. They taste good with steamed rice and tofu. I also like to make rice porridge with lots of different mushrooms - that may sound very odd, but it has a very good flavor. I also add a nice piece of konbu when I cook the porridge, along with the soaking liquid from the dried shiitake mushrooms. I use my rice cooker to make it.

    Take care,
    Erin from California

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  5. ErinBear: You sound very Japanese (laugh)!

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  6. Dear Hiroyuki,

    I'm not Japanese, of course, but I enjoy Japanese food very much, and I try to keep learning about Japan. I always wished I could visit Japan. I don't think it will be possible now, but I can still keep learning about it. It's a beautiful country with so many wonderful cultural traditions.

    Please enjoy your weekend!

    Take care,
    Erin

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