The Japanese Kitchen

Nimono (simmered)

Hijiki Salad with Bacon, Carrots and Soy Beans

by Leave a Comment

Even folks who turn their nose up at the thought of seaweed will probably like hijiki. It’s a dried, twiggy marine algae that’s delicious and healthy.

The fist thing you have to do is soak the dried hijiki in cold water for about 20 -30 minutes. Rinse it out and drain the excess water.  At this point you’ll likely  simmer the hijiki with some vegetables in dashi, soy sauce, sake and mirin. Here is my recipe for hijiki with bacon, carrots and soy beans.

Ingredients
Can of Organic Soy Beans
Bacon
2 oz of dried hijiki
3/4 cup sliced carrots
1 2/3 cup of dashi
2 tablespoons sake
3 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce

1. Drain and rinse can of soy beans.

2. Mix dashi, sake, mirin, soy sauce together in a bowl.

3. Cook bacon in a large frying pan. Remove and cut into small slices.

4. Add hijiki to frying pan and saute over medium high heat for several minutes.

5. Add carrots, bacon, soy beans and dashi mixture from #1 to frying pan. Reduce heat and simmer until liquid has been fully absorbed/reduced (about 20-25 minutes) . At this point you many need to add a little more soy sauce depending how salty your bacon is.  After tasting for the correct level of salt, remove from heat and let rest for 10 minutes.  You can eat hijiki warm or cold.

Kinpira with Parsnip & Carrot

by 1 Comment

kinpira1

This dish is typically made with burdock root and carrot. It’s a very popular side dish named after a mythical hero. Here in Minnesota, the Farmer’s Market is still open, but all that remains are root vegetables and squash. In this version, we use parsnips from the Farmer’s Market instead of burdock. The results are delicious.
Ingredients:

  • 2 medium carrots, peel and julienne (matchstick cut)
  • 2 medium parsnips, peel and julienne (matchstick cut)
  • Sesame oil

For simmering:

  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons sake
  • 1 tablespoons brown sugar

Garnish:

  • toasted sesame seeds
  • shichimi pepper (red pepper flakes)

Directions:

  1. Heat about 2 tablespoons sesame in a large frying pan until almost smoking.
  2. Saute cut parsnips and carrots about 2 minutes over high heat.
  3. Add simmering liquid and reduce to medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionnally, until liquid is completely reduced.
  4. Remove from heat and garnish with sesame seeds and shichimi.
  5. Serve hot or cold.