A Fish Out of Water

Hello from Canada

Just in case you were wondering why I haven't been posting lately.

Spring Dinner

This was one of the few meals I've cooked this season that really took advantage of the delicious ingredients that show up in the spring, in this case new potatoes, new onions and fresh bamboo shoots. Clockwise from left: tako to daikon no nimono (octopus braised with daikon), shinjaga no nikkorogashi (new potatoes simmered in dashi and soy sauce with new onions), yaki-takenoko (sauteed bamboo shoots), rice, miso soup with wakame seaweed, bamboo shoots and mitsuba (trefoil), and daikon no happa itame (sauteed daikon leaves and peels with sesame seeds). The new potato dish is a favourite, and because it's easy and makes good leftovers I make it often. Recipe here if you're interested.

The tako to daikon no nimono is not really a spring dish, but a simple and hearty simmered dish like this is welcome at any season.

Takenoko (bamboo shoots) are definitely a spring ingredient, and the difference between the pre-boiled shoots available throughout the year and the fresh ones are dramatic. Freshly cooked bamboo shoots have a fresh and delicate aroma and a crunchy texture that don't survive long-term storage, but I usually only get around to preparing them about once per year.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that spring vegetables tend to require lots of work, and bamboo shoots are a perfect example: most types are inedible fresh and need long and careful preparation to remove their ample aku (bitter properties). They must be be partly peeled, then trimmed and scored, then simmered for an hour or so in water with rice bran and a dried chili pepper or two. And then they have to sit around in the simmering water for at least another hour until cool enough to handle (taking them out too early turns them bitter), then peeled and sliced. And only then are they ready to be cooked.

I like them best simply simmered in dashi and soy sauce, but since I already had two simmered dishes I decided to add the smaller bits to the soup, then sautee the rest in sesame oil, finishing with soy sauce and sake, and garnishing them with kinome (prickly ash leaves, from the same plant that gives us sansho pepper).

It was a lot of work for one meal, but with my first crunchy, fresh-tasting bite I knew it was worth it.