December 22, 2011: Christmas Bark

This is a treat I used to make my students at Christmas. I used to put pieces of Christmas Bark in small plastic bags with a Christmas quote of some sort attached to the tie sealing the bag. Then I put the whole bag into a Christmas coffee mug. I used to enjoy this making Christmas Bark and I do miss the tradition. It’s pretty easy to make and has generated a lot of fans over the years.

Christmas Bark:  Toast @ 325°F 1C. whole Pecans and 2C. whole Walnuts on a cookie sheet covered in parchment for about 20 minutes, turning often. Cool and coarsely chop. Also chop 1C. Craisings (or you could substitute Dried Cherries.) On a double-boiler, over medium heat, melt 7C. semi-sweet chocolate chips. When chocolate is melted, add nuts and craisins and stir until both are coated with chocolate. On a 10″ X 15″cookie sheet, covered with parchment, pour the chocolate mixture and use spoon to level. Cool at room temperature and then further cool in fridge. Chocolate will harden in about 30 minutes. Break, by hands (covered with rubber gloves to keep both you and the chocolate clean, but also to insulate the chocolate from your hands’ warmth) into chunks and bag. Use the tines of a fork to break the tougher pieces. Keep all pieces that you are not working on breaking, in the fridge, as your hands will start to melt the chocolate if it is at room temperature.

Simple. Tasty. Quickly made. An original Christmas treat!

August 25, 2011: Talk at Showa Institute

"Colcannon" (Kale, mashed potatoes, cream,& spices) Photo by Y. Saito via IPhone

A quick “thank you” to Showa Institute of Boston, Yoshio, Michelle, and the students from Japan for having me out, to once again talk about Irish Cooking. A perfect day of organizing my notes by the koi pond, cooking with Yoshio (always a pleasure) and meeting and talking to the students. Once again, Yoshio and I made a variety of Irish dishes showing the range of influences of different cultures on Irish cuisine. We made:

Corned Beef and Cabbage

Colcannon

Codling Cream

Irish Soda Bread

Recipes are available on last year’s entry “August 26, 2010: Irish Cuisine at Showa”

August 26, 2010: Irish Cuisine at Showa

Photo by Ayuka; student at Showa

Thanks to Yoshio for once again inspiring me to push my ideas about cooking..and yes, Yoshio…you are truly the master in any style of  cuisine! Your corned beef and cabbage was perfect! Thank you to Showa for having me, and special thanks for the young women of Yoshio’s class that were so cordial listening to my talk about Irish-American and Irish cuisine. I really enjoyed meeting you all and your help with the setup and breakdown of the meal was especially gracious! I had such a fun day!

Here the recipes (and the influences) we made for you:

Corned Beef and Cabbage (Irish-American, a variation of New England Boiled Dinner)

• 4 lb “Corned” Brisket of Beef (“corned” is Anglo-Saxon for “salted”)
• 6 Large Carrots-peeled, ends taken off
• 3 Small Parsnips-peeled
• 3 Large Turnips-peeled and halved
• 1 Head of Cabbage-cored and quartered
• 6 Medium-sized Potatoes-peeled (Yoshio had a variety of types)
• Spices/Flavors: 1 heaping Tablespoon of each: Whole Pepper, Juniper Berries, Cloves and Corse Salt. A few sprigs of fresh Parsley-chopped

What you want to do is get each of the harder veggies (carrots, parsnips, turnips and potatoes) in about 2-3″ chunks. Yoshio cooked this dish in a pressure cooker. If you’ve never used a pressure cooker before, please, PLEASE get someone who knows, to show you!!!! You can get same results with a steady boil & simmer in an open pot, but this takes about two hours! Either way, please consult “The Joy of Cooking (JOC)”, p.412 for cooking all the ingredients, in their proper  order for both pressure cooker and open pot.

Colcannon (Irish: “cál ceannann” a truly Irish dish. Essentially, mashed potatoes, onions and/or leeks and kale or cabbage.)

• 2 Lbs. Potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 Lb. Kale (best) or Cabbage (OK), washed, cored. chopped well
• 2 Leeks OR 1 Leek+1 Medium Onion, peeled washed really well (see below);  chopped well.
• Spices/Flavors: Salt & Pepper, 1/4 Lb Butter, 1/4C Milk

I love leeks, but they can be the most dirty of the onion family. It takes a couple of washings, but they are worth it. First chop off the “beard” end (roots) and the green top (save for soup broth…yumm!) and wash stalk well in H2O. Chop well and wash the pieces in a colander and dry by putting colander in bowl for 10 minutes. When leek and kale are dry (I use a salad spinner) fry in wok with a little oil or butter until leeks are wilted…almost brown. Put aside. Boil cubed potatoes until soft. Remove from H2O and dry potatoes in a pan in 300°F oven for 10 minutes. Add to a bowl with S&P, butter and ,milk, mash, then beat until whipped. Fold in kale/leek. Put in buttered pan and bake @ 350°F oven until top is browned.

“Quick” Soda Bread (Irish: “arán sóide” a traditonal Irish and Irish-American dish.) I was pleased how this came out. I followed JOC p. 575 verbatim. Why fool with success?! Remember to cut a cross to “let the fairies out” and find someone else (like me!) to drink the rest of the buttermilk!

“Codling” Cream (also: “Coddling” Cream; f/ 1600′s; Irish w/British influence)

• 8 medium peeled, cored, sliced green apples
• 1+1/4C Wine (recipe called for white, I used port for that pink color)
• 1+1/4C H2O
• 3 Tblsp. Sugar (I used brown sugar)
• 1 Pint Heavy Cream
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 1 Tblp. Rose H2O (optional, if you can find it)

Again, while working cutting the apples, I keep them in H2O to keep from browning. Heat H2O and Wine with apples until they are soft. Strain and discard liquids. Add sugar to apples, mash and cool. Whip cream until stiff. Whip egg yolks separately until foamy, fold into whipped cream. Fold egg/cream into cooled apples. Add rose H2O last. Keep cold.

June 15, 2010: Kazari Zushi

Today’s specialized sushi dish from Okonomy is “Kazari Zushi” or decorative sushi. “Decorative” can mean many things. Chef Saito has created this dish, which is really a combination of the culinary and visual arts, in many forms. In the traditional style these are usually done in patterns of leaves or a flowers, but Chef Saito has made Kazari Zushi in the shapes of plums, pandas, people’s names…really,  the sky is the limit. Chef uses natural flavors to color the rice. In this one he used avocado for the green color and “denbu” (dried codfish) for the red. The “eyebrows are nori. It takes a good imagination, a master chef, time, and a good sense of humor!

May 15, 2010: Cooking with Okara

Okara patties, sliced mango, and spinach/broccoli pasta

Being a vegetarian for a number of years, I thought I had tried just about every soy product around. Not so. Two weeks ago, Yoshio presented me with a about a half pound of Okara. Yoshio explained that Okara is a by-product of making soy milk. Essentially, it is the soy curd left over from the process. It is considered waste material despite Okara having a good deal of soy protein and plenty of fiber. Yoshio say that he can usually get it free from the people who make soy milk. It has the look and texture of ricotta cheese. Like most soy products it has no distinct flavor of its own but, with a good chef, can be made into something tasty. Yoshio suggested I try my hand at making a Okara “burger” and gave me a basic recipe:

1/2 lb. Okara; 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. corn starch or potato starch, a little flour

He said to use my imagination when it came to flavor and texture. Being a fan of veggie burgers I added: finely chopped carrots (about 2-3), little bit of chopped kale, roasted sesame seeds, chopped toasted almonds, soy sauce, chopped parsley, finely chopped elephant garlic. This Okara recipe made about 20 1″ thick, 2″ circumference patties. I pan-fried them in olive oil. I noticed two things: the patties soaked up a lot of the oil and they tasted very good but the cracked and split while cooking. I brought a few over so that Yoshio could tell me what was wrong. The oil was not much of a problem. Just add a normal amount and they will cook fine. Yoshio cooked these patties in a little bit of butter. The cracking he said was because I was cooking them too fast. I was trying to sear them like I do a soy burger. He explained that the starch that binds the Okara needs time to warm up slowly so that the slow heat will allow it to do its job. The patties pictured above were the ones he made. He also deep-fried one and that also came out well, but Yoshio said the shape was wrong for deep-frying. He suggested that I make a ball of the Okara for deep-frying. He also thought a cheese sauce would go well with these. As it was, the patties went very well with a touch of lemon and a tiny bit of Tonkatsu sauce.

Yoshio thought my additions to be very good. He liked the crunchy-ness of the vegetables I added and especially the toasted almonds. Having a knowledgable master chef critiquing your first try at a recipe certainly shortens the road!

March 11, 2010: The “Ten Commandments of Okonomiyaki”

An edited excerpt from Chef Saitos’ book “Way Beyond Sushi, A New World of Okonomiyaki”

OK. There’s really 11.

Commandment #1: Have a hot griddle

The griddle temperature should be from 320°F-410° F (160°C- 210°C) You can test your iron griddle by dropping water droplets on the Griddle’s surface. If they move around very rapidly, it is too hot.  If the droplets stay in one place and make a water puddle, the heat is too low.

Commandment #2: Spread the batter in a circle

Use a ladle to pour the batter on the heated griddle.  Using the round bottom of the ladle, move in a circular motion from the center towards to the outside, increasing its circumference.

Commandment #3: Use the proper cooking oil

To make the cooked surface crispy and prevent it from sticking, Okonomiyaki Restaurants often use lard for its flavor and appearance. Since I already have high cholesterol, I use vegetable oil. Non-stick cooking spray works well. I do not recommend an oil with a strong taste such as olive oil.

Commandment #4: Cut the cabbage in thin slices

Cut the cabbage in quarters from top to bottom. You will see a hard core. Cut out the core and then cut the cabbage cross-wise, cutting from the top to the bottom. This helps to maintain the crisp texture of the cabbage. Cut as thin as possible. Also, cabbage is sweeter close to the bottom.

Commandment #5: Don’t push!

After turning over the Okonomiyaki, don’t push it down with your spatula. Pressing squishes the small air bubbles and makes Okonomiyaki a heavy texture instead of light and pleasing. Also, not pushing down allows steam from vegetables to circulate better because air spaces can move around. That brings out the sweetness of the cabbage.

Commandment #6: Perfect timing

For Hiroshima Style Okonomiyaki, cook at 390°F for 4 minutes on one side and 8 on the other to accommodate the extra thickness of cabbage & bean sprouts.

Commandment #7: For speed, use the quick method

If you have a Panini machine, a Foreman grill, or sandwich press you can cook a quick Okonomiyaki.  Due to the pressure from top, I recommend you put more vegetables than usual so the Okonomiyaki won’t be too flattened by the top griddle.

Commandment #8: Trap the heat

For Kansai Style, you can put a lid on the griddle when you first turn over the Okonomiyaki.  This will help to steam the cabbage on top while maintaining the crispness on the bottom.

Commandment #9: Put air in

Wait until right before you are ready to cook to mix the ingredients.  Then try to turn as much air into the mixture as possible to ensure its fluffiness.  The best method is to mix the ingredients from bottom to the top in a circular motion for 30 seconds.

Commandment #10: Get the right thickness

The thickness of the Kansai Okonomiyaki should be around 3/4 inch, which is the best thickness to maintain its correct doneness.  Hiroshima Style may be as thick as 4-6 inches, depending on the ingredients added.

Commandment #11: Decorate the top of the Okonomiyaki

There are a few methods of decorating with toppings and sauces.  A typical one is a drawing lines on top of sauced Okonomiyaki.  You create a thin lines every quarter inch and draw a think lines perpendicular to mayonnaise lines with a chop stick or a back of knife.

February 22, 2010: Meeting with (Chef) Yoshio

I know this is going to be confusing, at some point, so I will try to explain as best as I can: I will sometimes refer to Okonomy’s Chef Yoshio Saito as just that “Chef Saito” and sometimes just “Yoshio”. With Yoshio being a complex man and with my having a diverse and rich history with the man, he’s hard to categorize: is he a friend? A mentor? An artist? My boss? Teacher? Fellow chef? Well, the truth is that Yoshio is ALL of these things (except he is far above my skills in the latter!) So, when I refer to him as “Yoshio” I guess that is the friend, that i am referring to, who has influenced and guided me for so many years, as only a friend can do. For the rest, he’s “Chef Saito”!

We got together on the 22^nd to get a few of his Okonomiyaki dishes photographed. I will post these presently, but as always, time with Yoshio (AND Chef Saito) is always so much more than merely “time spent”, I felt compelled to have a separate entry.

It was great that in-between my photo activities, I got to watch Chef Saito in action making the assorted Okonomiyaki dishes. I’ve heard a lot from Chef Saito on the making of Okonomiyaki, but have never seen it. I can only hope that the photos capture his care and craft as he assembled each one in delicious layers of assorted seafood, vegetables, with that unique Japanese crepe and sauce! I don’t think that the whole process will truly sink in until I am able to watch him make these, step-by-step. Someday, when there aren’t photos to take, but I feel that we only captured a few of the hundreds of variations of Okonomiyaki!

Even with all the work to do, Yoshio finds time for the things that are equally important.  First, he never fails to feed me very, very well!!! He made me a vegetarian “instant” curry that was the most sublime dish ever. When Yoshio said “instant”, I was picturing something from a box. Not so…the curry was a perfect blend of stock, coconut milk, and spices that rode a perfect limen between hot enough and too hot. Hot enough to excite the taste buds, yet mellow enough for the creamy coconut and the slightly musty Shiitake mushroom to be sensed. Served with his delicious rice, he was clever to put small sections of mandarin orange around the dish, which made it, not only decorative, but were also there to help cool you when the heat built up a little too much.

Also, with Yoshio there’s the discussion of food that is so enlightening! I learned that he comes from a family of gourmands. He told me stories of how his dad would take him out, when he was young, and instruct him on the best of foods. His sister is a French chef, trained in the Cordon Bleu style and he recalled when he was in the fifth grade, her teaching him to make curry (I bet it wasn’t “instant” then either!) I found that we had a lot in common, as my first foray in the culinary world happened in fifth grade also, when I skipped school, for the first and only time, to make Shrimp Newberg, trying to duplicate what I saw MY sister (another awesome cook) make that week!

A night of fine food, photography, good company, watching an artist create this unique line of foods, so foreign to me, but so interesting! I fell asleep that night, quite happy, appropriately enough, to a line from the “Hagakure” (The Book of the Samurai)

“Money is a thing that will be there when asked for. A good man is not so easily found”

I’m not so sure about the money thing, but Yoshio, Chef Saito…by any name…a good man indeed.

Hello and Welcome to the World of Okonomy!

Dear Readers,

Welcome all to the World of Okonomy! This blog will follow an aspiring chef (Stephen Vedder) as he learns the methods and techniques, in general, of the Japanese Fushion culinary style, and in particular, Okonomiyaki arts from Master Chef, Yoshio Saito.

Chef Saito is owner of “Okonomy” a Japanese-fusion catering business, located in Jamaica Plain, Ma. Chef Saito has just finished a book introducing the delicious and versatile Japanese dish Okonomiyaki to the west, named: “Way Beyond Sushi: A New World of Okonomiyaki”.

The breakdown of the word okonomiyaki is such: “okonomi” means “your favorites”, “yaki” meaning “grilled”. So, Okonomiyaki is “your favorites, grilled”. There are three basic styles of Okonomiyaki:  Toykyo-style, Hiroshima-style, and Osaka-style, but there are literally hundreds of variations within these three styles, depending on what “your favorites” might be. The principal component of Okonomiyaki is a kind of a Japanese crepe covering vegetables, seafood, or meat, grilled on a grill-pan and covered with a special sauce. Okonomiyaki is healthy, versatile, simple, uses few cooking tools, and is very tasty!

If you would like more info on Japanese-fusion cooking or Okonomiyaki, while we are building this site, visit Chef Saito’s website:  www.okonomy.com