Monthly Memo From Doi's Culinary Philosophy
Original text by Doi Yoshiharu
Translated by Yoshiko Fukuda
April - Uzuki
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*Uzuki means "the month in which the deutzia blooms". In April the gradual temperature change settles down and the weather becomes more summer-like. In Japan, because the school year starts in April, all the opening ceremonies for school take place during the period when sakuras (cherry blossoms) are in full bloom.
(Information on Uzuki - "Calendar, dates, and time." JAPAN: An Illustrated Encyclopedia 1 A-L. 1993 ed. )
●The Method of Cooking Spring Vegetables----'Boiling'
Just like last year, the yatsugashira (a kind of taro; smaller taro form off of the parent taro) that is placed under the window has started to grow out its buds. Over the last past years, I buy one extra yatsugashira at the end of the year and place it in a pot with some water. Then from around the beginning of spring, it starts to sprout young buds and continues to fascinate us. Up until October, about a half a year from the middle of summer to fall, the swaying vivid green leaves by the window side exhibits a comforting view, becoming something I cannot part with. Although I do not give it any fertilizers the buds grow to be about 40cm and new ones continue to come out by simply cutting the old ones off. This shows how much nutrient the taro contains and it truly is amazing.●Morning Picked Bamboo Shoots
Finally during this season, in markets of Osaka and Kyoto, crops grown in that region start circulating and the "morning picked bamboo shoots" fill the counters. Since freshness is crucial to bamboo shoots, at vegetables stores where fresh bamboo shoots arrive, the atmosphere becomes so tense between the buyers and sellers that for a while no one can order anything other than bamboo shoots.
As soon as the weather gets warm, bamboo shoots begin showing themselves down from the ground. They sometimes appear overnight. The astounding speed of its growth and its energy makes one picture the bamboo actually giving birth to a young shoot down from the soil. With remarkable force, the cells multiply and create a white and soft shoot. The young bamboo shoots, however, lose their freshness and get prone to damages in also a startling rapidity, after they are cut apart from the parent bamboo. Similarly spring vegetables, which mostly are new and young buds from plants, are all apt to losing their freshness quickly.
These days, cooking a raw bamboo shoot and eating simply that, is thought to be very unusual and a form of new delicacy. However, cooking a newly dug out bamboo shoot and eating it at the mountain site is indeed a very rich and delicious meal, not when it is fancifully done at a restaurant. Without knowing the nature of bamboo shoots, one will only get a whole cooked bamboo shoot with lavishly assorted bamboo leaves on a large plate which with no doubt has too strong of an after taste that will disappoint the individual.
●Bamboo shoots must be boiled as soon as possible and even a second will make a difference. By doing this the freshness is preserved so it can be cooked after it is boiled. By the way, bamboo shoots collected during the winter seem to lose their freshness slower compared to the spring ones, since they took longer to grow. Early harvested winter bamboo shoots are less poignant in taste so they can be enjoyed differently than the "shun" bamboo shoots.
●Boiling bamboo shoots is not hard. But when cooking bamboo shoots, their freshness should always be considered so boiling length will vary. At homes, boil the bamboo shoots still with its outer skin but with some notches, in a big pan with rice bran and about two to three red cayenne pepper. For a bamboo shoot that weights about a kilo, boil with a drop lid for an hour. After it is boiled then cool it along with the pan. Afterwards peel off the skin then put it in water until it is going to be cooked.
But mothers of 'Takeyama' (mountain from where bamboo shoots are harvested every year) do not put either the peppers or the rice bran but that is because the bamboo shoots are extremely fresh and very "shun". At restaurants, because they must boil great amounts of bamboo shoots, they probably have the water boiling first, and then they wash and cut the notches into the bamboo. Then when the water is boiling, they add the rice bran and then the peppers, dissolving them and begin boiling the bamboo shoots. After an hour when the shoots are boiled, the cooks do not leave them to cool down but will scoop them up with a screen wired ladle, and place them on colanders for draining. When the bamboo shoots cool down, then skins are peeled off and the shoots are placed in water.
The difference between homes and restaurants is quite obvious. If the bamboo shoots are left in the pan to cool down at restaurants, they will be boiled even longer from the remaining heat in the water. Therefore, the bamboo shoots must be taken out of the boiling water at an appropriate time. The same kind of reason is applied to the difference between placing bamboo shoots before the liquid in the pan actually comes to a boil and adding the bamboo shoots when the water is boiling. Placing boiled bamboo shoots in water getｓ rid of some of its harshness in taste. However, if that is done for a long period before they are boiled, then that ruins the taste completely. If the bamboo shoots are not fresh since they were brought from afar, then they are harder. Therefore, they are boiled for about two to three hours, or placed under running water overnight just to get rid of their strong taste.
Bamboo shoots do not always have to be boiled. Professionals are able to decide what the best cooking method is by looking at the condition of the bamboo shoot. The cooking or preserving method varies, but one must carefully think which is the most appropriate.●Green Asparagus
In Iiyama of Nagano, the arrival of spring is relatively late, and even in April there are remnants of snow. In midst of the left over snow, green asparagus starts to show its buds. Those kinds of asparagus are very thick and are exceptionally delicious. I would love to eat those asparagus in Nagano some day.
Usually green vegetables are boiled in heated water with salt and then cooled hastily with water so that the vegetable would not discolor. Some vegetables can be made into a salad immediately after it is cooled, and others can even be eaten without having cooled down, but while it is still hot. The hot vegetables can be mounted on a plate and eaten as it is. They are very delicious since the natural flavor lasts in one's mouth. Kamaage (eating directly from the pan--- in this case, vegetable that is not cooled after boiling) of fresh green asparagus served with mustard mixed in olive oil and shoyu is extremely tasty. If one does not intend to eat the boiled asparagus immediately afterwards then it should be put in water or else they will discolor. Like excessive boiling, if the appearance is unappealing then it shows that the vegetable has lost its nutrients.
●Broad Bean
Broad beans, after notches are cut in its thin outer layer, are boiled in water with a bit of salt. But in order for it to not lose its flavor, it is cooled down by fanning. Or cold water can be poured on it to get rid of the heat quickly. If the outer layer is not hard then it also can be eaten. Because boiled beans are too plain to be served as one dish it can be stewed in a stock and is made into a sweet and sour flavor. In addition, broad beans can also be pan-fried. Although it may be time consuming, the thin outer layer of the beans should be peeled off. Then they should be browned in a small amount of olive oil to make the taste of beans even stronger.
●After a vegetable is boiled, it is always essential to eliminate all water droplets. Even without the water remains, boiled vegetables are apt to go bad after a short period of time. That is why at restaurants, boiled vegetables are immersed in "umadashi" or stock that is lightly flavored by salt. However, this obviously means that the vegetables are tasty because of the stock and not because of its natural flavors. The taste from stocks is never good enough to satisfy customers. Boiled fresh vegetables that were immediately served with no additional seasoning but only the unaffected taste pleases the customers.
Professional chefs must serve the best food just like at individual homes. However, there are limitations since they must make mass amounts of the "best food". Therefore, during the preparatory stage, vegetables are boiled and then are put in to stock, hours before they are actually served. Of course what professionals truly want is to serve vegetables immediately after they are boiled.
●Green Peas
I absolutely love rice with green peas. When it comes to rice with peas then the "usui edamame" of Wakayama is the best of all. Because the original taste of peas is essential to rice with green peas, the salt seasoned peas are usually added to the rice and are cooked together. Through this method, the green color of the peas is lost and when the rice is done, the peas are blanched. But needless to say, the taste is just splendid. On the other hand, to make rice with peas that retains the original green color, one must immerse the peas in water and then in stock. Afterwards, when the rice is done, heat the peas with the stock and then just add the peas into the rice. Lastly mix the peas and the rice well.
Because restaurants are expected to do something different compared to homes, they tend to make rice with peas that have a vivid green color. However since lesser homes make green pea rice, it seems better if restaurants start serving green pea rice that cooks the peas with the rice from the very beginning. When green peas are rapidly cooled after they are boiled, the outer layer shrivels up. The lines would disappear if the peas are put in stock for a long period of time but that the way of restaurants. Therefore, after the peas are boiled, hot water should slowly be poured out, then the peas should be placed under dripping water along with the pan, so they are cooled very gradually. By this method which is called yudecoboshi (literally boiling and pouring), the peas will not lose their color nor adopt any wrinkles in the outer skin. At Japanese homes those peas are immediately used for 'tamagotoji' (a meal in which different ingredients are held together by a beaten egg-a kind of scrambled egg that is not exactly scrambled), or 'enndoumamenoaoni' (stewed green piece).
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