After Japan's earthquake, tsunamis, aftershocks and explosions at the nuclear power plant, I kind of feel a little strange that my first few posts are about Japanese food. It just worked out that way.
So ... Udon night! Scott and I both love Japanese food - back in October 2010, he took me to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater, NJ for the first time - it is one of the largest Japanese groceries in the US! While I was there, I picked up some Udon noodles and aburaage (among many MANY other lovely ingredients!) for the first time, and next thing you know - tradition was born! We tend to eat Udon every Thursday - we both love it, it is so satisfying and ... I make damn fine udon! Scott tells me that my udon broth is some of the best he has ever tasted and our friend, Fred, always tells me he feels like he should have had to take an airplane to taste something like that! (And Fred and Scott are excellent cooks in their own right! These are compliments of the highest order!)
I make udon weekly not only because I enjoy it, but also because I enjoy the process of making it. It starts on Wednesday night, when I make the dashi I need for the broth. If you don't already know, dashi is ubiquitous in Japanese cooking - it is an ingredient, a stock, a cooking liquid and so many other things! I used to use a method that involved simmering to specific temperatures and carefully adding the katsuobushi at just the right moment, but now it is as simple as adding the kombu and katsuobushi to a pot of cold water and refrigerating overnight. It's not a huge step and the hardest part is digging out the measuring cup to make sure I add the right amount of water to the pot, but it means something to me that I am making my dashi from scratch instead of using instant. I cast no aspersions on the cook who goes with instant dashi (hon dashi) - I certainly take shortcuts from time to time - but I love to cook from scratch.
One of the things I like best about making udon is the creativity. When I first started making udon, I wanted a recipe to work from - Japanese ingredients and their flavors were new to me and I was afraid of getting it wrong. But I didn't really need a recipe ... I needed some confidence! Once I gained a little experience with the ingredients and flavors, I was off and running! I developed a love of shiitake mushrooms (slice them about 1/4" thick and then toss them in a skillet with about a Tbsp of butter and they smell and taste heavenly!) and I began to not only consider taste, but aesthetics as well! I love the pretty pink and white naruto, I love the deep green wakame seaweed, I think renkon (lotus roots) sliced thin, floating like a piece of lace in the broth is beautiful. I like eating beautiful food - perhaps that is one reason Japanese cuisine really appeals to me.
I will also admit that I like the idea of Udon Night - something that Scott and I can look forward to each week. I like the shape that Udon Night takes - I come home from work and take the dashi out of the fridge where it has been steeping and becoming flavorful all night and day. I start washing and slicing and chopping ingredients and putting them in individual prep bowls, waiting for final assembly. I put a large pot of water on to boil for the noodles and I add all the ingredients to the dashi to transform it into udon broth! I enjoy the prep work and it is the kind of prep work that can be done as quickly or slowly as needed, in advance or at the last second according to what works best for the cook! Some nights we are hungry and I get right to cooking, but most nights we relax, fix a drink, talk and laugh for a while before we even think about eating. We can spend the evening as we like without having to worry about timing and checking on a dish in progress.
So ... Udon night! Scott and I both love Japanese food - back in October 2010, he took me to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater, NJ for the first time - it is one of the largest Japanese groceries in the US! While I was there, I picked up some Udon noodles and aburaage (among many MANY other lovely ingredients!) for the first time, and next thing you know - tradition was born! We tend to eat Udon every Thursday - we both love it, it is so satisfying and ... I make damn fine udon! Scott tells me that my udon broth is some of the best he has ever tasted and our friend, Fred, always tells me he feels like he should have had to take an airplane to taste something like that! (And Fred and Scott are excellent cooks in their own right! These are compliments of the highest order!)
I make udon weekly not only because I enjoy it, but also because I enjoy the process of making it. It starts on Wednesday night, when I make the dashi I need for the broth. If you don't already know, dashi is ubiquitous in Japanese cooking - it is an ingredient, a stock, a cooking liquid and so many other things! I used to use a method that involved simmering to specific temperatures and carefully adding the katsuobushi at just the right moment, but now it is as simple as adding the kombu and katsuobushi to a pot of cold water and refrigerating overnight. It's not a huge step and the hardest part is digging out the measuring cup to make sure I add the right amount of water to the pot, but it means something to me that I am making my dashi from scratch instead of using instant. I cast no aspersions on the cook who goes with instant dashi (hon dashi) - I certainly take shortcuts from time to time - but I love to cook from scratch.
One of the things I like best about making udon is the creativity. When I first started making udon, I wanted a recipe to work from - Japanese ingredients and their flavors were new to me and I was afraid of getting it wrong. But I didn't really need a recipe ... I needed some confidence! Once I gained a little experience with the ingredients and flavors, I was off and running! I developed a love of shiitake mushrooms (slice them about 1/4" thick and then toss them in a skillet with about a Tbsp of butter and they smell and taste heavenly!) and I began to not only consider taste, but aesthetics as well! I love the pretty pink and white naruto, I love the deep green wakame seaweed, I think renkon (lotus roots) sliced thin, floating like a piece of lace in the broth is beautiful. I like eating beautiful food - perhaps that is one reason Japanese cuisine really appeals to me.
I will also admit that I like the idea of Udon Night - something that Scott and I can look forward to each week. I like the shape that Udon Night takes - I come home from work and take the dashi out of the fridge where it has been steeping and becoming flavorful all night and day. I start washing and slicing and chopping ingredients and putting them in individual prep bowls, waiting for final assembly. I put a large pot of water on to boil for the noodles and I add all the ingredients to the dashi to transform it into udon broth! I enjoy the prep work and it is the kind of prep work that can be done as quickly or slowly as needed, in advance or at the last second according to what works best for the cook! Some nights we are hungry and I get right to cooking, but most nights we relax, fix a drink, talk and laugh for a while before we even think about eating. We can spend the evening as we like without having to worry about timing and checking on a dish in progress.
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