I have already posted about this recipe here, but it's so good I can't resist posting about it again this year.
This is the second time I have made this dish this year. For the first time, I removed the stone from each apricot, and somehow, I was a little disappointed with the lack of stones, so for the second time, I intentionally left the stones unremoved.
このレシピは既にここに書きましたが、とても美味しいので、今年も書きたいと思います。
今年この料理を作るのはこれで二回目なのですが、一回目は種を取りました。なぜか種がないとちょっとがっかりしたので、二回目はわざと種を残しました。
14 apricots, about 770 g in total.
杏（杏子、あんず、アンズ）14個、全部で約770 g
Start making a cut along this vertical line, and continue to make the cut all around the fruit.
この垂直の線に沿って切り始め、一周切り続けます。
Twist and open in half.
ひねって、半分づつにします。
Put in an enameled pot, and add sugar. (Add a very small amount of water, if required.)
ホーロー鍋に入れ、砂糖を入れます。（必要に応じて、水をごく少量足します。）
I added 250 g sugar (30% of the apricots in weight)
私は250 g （あんずの重さの３割）入れました。
Simmer on very low heat. Once enough water has come out of the apricots, you can change to low heat. Turn off the gas in a few minutes.
ごく弱火で煮ます。水が十分出たら、弱火にできます。数分後、火を止めます。
My family like to have it with yogurt.
私たち家族はヨーグルトと一緒に食べるのが好きです。
Apricot compote goes very well with plain yoghurt - we have this too very often during apricot time.
ReplyDeleteIt is very tricky to get some good apricots: aromatic and perfectly sun riped fruits are expensive and therfor they often sell unripe or boring tasting fruits (low quality and not very juicy), only the colour and the size are o.k - I often wonder who buys those and what for. My only good sources for apricots are turkish grocery stores.
Kiki: Come to think of it, I have no idea if the apricots I bought were of good quality or not. When I was a kid, I was told by my father and relatives that apricots were not to be eaten raw and they were as perishable as peaches, so almost all apricots produced in my father's home town were immediately canned or processed in other ways.
ReplyDeleteI did some googling and found fully ripe apricots cost AT LEAST 1,000 yen per kilogram!
Anyway, the apricots I bought at the supermarket are very, very tasty when simmered with sugar, and I have already bought three packs this year. I think I'll keep buying them until the short apricot harvesting time is over.
Hiroyuki, do you mean you never eat raw apricots now too? Do you have dried apricots in Japan? These are one of my favourite dried fruits: very tangy and good for digestion (probably like most dried fruits).
ReplyDeleteI love roasting pork with dried apricots: I make small "tunnels" with a knife, put cut up apricots inside and the taste is wonderful: a bit acid a bit sweet and the pork doesn't dry out.
Sissi: No, because I know that apricots won't taste good when eaten raw. Yes, we do, but almost all dried apricots sold in Japan are imported ones.
ReplyDeletePork with dried apricots? That sounds delicious! I hope you will post about it in your blog some day! (As you may know, the Japanese don't use much fruit in meals.)
Hiroyuki, the photo is old and awful, but here is the recipe: http://www.withaglass.com/?p=4051
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you would love it because I have noticed pork (and meat in general) is often sweetish in the Japanese cuisine... and slightly sweet pork is irresistible.
I often do it also with prunes.
Maybe in Japan it is different. All apricots we may buy or not are imported from different southern countries. Some are great and some are not that good. It depends on the use too: for cooking a firmer fruit is better (I use small turkish sugar apricots for cooking), for eating raw french apricots are unbeatable, for jam slightly overripe but very aromatic fruits are the best (buying lots at the fruit market near closing time is best...). And I agree with Sissy dried apricots are very nice with pork! But you can use fresh apricots too: delicious simmered with chicken and spiced up with herbs, honey and hot peppers.
ReplyDeleteSissi: Thanks for the link. Quite interesting. I think I should try the apricot and pork combination soon.
ReplyDeleteKiki: Not "maybe". It is certain that the use of fruit is quite different in Japan.