Showing posts with label tsukemono. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tsukemono. Show all posts

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Barbecued Blackened Rockfish

While shopping the other day at Costco, I came upon a package of wild caught rockfish. We were going to buy the farmed salmon, but after having seen the Salmon Confidential Documentary my brother linked to on Facebook, we opted for the wild caught rockfish instead.

My first thought was to fry the fish, but the ease of sprinkling on some spices and putting it on the barbecue prevailed. I keep a jar of spice rub in my pantry that I used on my Easy Oven Baked Chipotle Wings recipe, used that, and added a sprinkle of Old Bay seasoning, dried oregano and thyme for the blackening spices. I think a seasoning the rockfish with lemon pepper and paprika would be good too.

I barbecued the fish on the low heat setting for 5-6 minutes on each side, or until the fish has a little color--I don't like it to get too charred.

Simple as that!

The rockfish was served on a bed of blanched kale--we bought this big bag of baby kale at Costco too--and have been putting it in everything. I'm surprised we've almost finished the whole bag!

I prepared the kale by boiling about an inch of water in a pot and adding a few big handfuls of kale, turning the kale with tongs until it was just wilted. It took about 1 or 2 minutes, then I removed the kale to a small colander to cool, squeezed the excess water out of it and gave it a rough chop before plating. The taste reminded me of eating the tsukemono my grandmother used to make when I was little, from turnip and daikon greens--a little bit chewy and not unpleasant. Eating a little bit of the kale with a bit of tsukemono--Japanese pickled vegetables--was delicious.

The barbecued blackened rockfish was garnished with a bit of chopped chives and served on a bed of blanched baby kale with a bowl of brown rice, lemon wedges, and some tsukemono.

Itadakimasu!
***

In my Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs post, I showed you a photo collage that we had made into a 2000 piece jigsaw puzzle for my mother-in-law.

She finished the puzzle relatively fast, not taking the 9 months (or so) that it took to finish her first puzzle of this era--she quit doing puzzles for about 20 years--and now spends a big chunk of her day contemplating the pieces. It's amusing to see her sometimes using her fist to pound in a piece because, "some time it doesn't fit right".

This puzzle was fun for the whole family to work on since everyone was in it--and it's enjoyable to sit around the table with Obaachan, reminiscing about the events in the photos while perusing the pieces. When you make your puzzle, set the dpi to 300--this one was 180 dpi and it came out a little grainy and the colors not vibrant.

Obaachan was so happy to have her puzzle done and hanging in her kitchen's eating-area. She looked at the puzzle and counted 12 pictures of herself (not counting her hand in the upper left) and said, "I won't be lonely anymore."

Turns out my husband likes to do puzzles too--I had this one made for him for Christmas. The colors look much better in 300 dpi. Putting the puzzle together on a piece of foam core posterboard makes it easy to move around if necessary.

Here's the original photo.
I haven't tried any other puzzle companies--you can find pages of them online. I liked Venus Puzzle because once I got my photo quality up, the puzzle came out much better, and I liked the shape of the puzzle pieces. Sometimes the puzzles we've done have really strange shaped pieces. 

Obaachan has about 15 puzzles completed, all stacked on top of the other on posterboard, and has been working on them for the past three years. I think she likes looking at all of them with a feeling of accomplishment. She says they keep her going even though each one is, "so, so hard," and each current puzzle is, "hardest one."

No printable recipe.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Takuwan-Japanese Daikon Sweet Pickles

Takuwan, also spelled takuan, is a Japanese pickle made from daikon, the long white radish frequently used in Japanese cuisine.

I remember eating takuwan my grandmother made when I was little, she cut the daikon in small spears and didn't use much food coloring--hers was light yellow in color.

Recently I was invited to make it with our friend Robert's mother, Masako Miyake, who's famous for making tasty takuwan.

Robert's been sharing her takuwan with us for years, so I was happy to go to her house and help her make some for her church bazaar.

Robert is featured on our Sesame Balls post, after the cooking instructions.



Mrs. Miyake's takuwan is the yellow one, and mine is the white one in the background.

My husband prefers it without the food coloring and I'm happy to oblige.



Making the takuwan yellow comes from the artisan method or old fashioned method of making takuwan in Japan, this longer method can be seen on Takuan/Japanese Pickled Daikon: Basic Recipe by the Shizuoka Gourmet.

Mrs. Miyake's recipe is sweet and takes a lot less time.



Ingredients:

5 daikon (long white radish), about 9 cups sliced or cut into short spears
3 tablespoons salt
3-3/4 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar
a few drops yellow food coloring
4 one-quart jars with lids



This is a Japanese-style peeler.

I like this type best for peeling daikon.



This is Judy, Mrs. Miyake's daughter, peeling daikon.

She finds it more comfortable to peel the daikon in this position.



Then cut the daikon into pieces, whichever shape you prefer.



Mix 3 tablespoons salt, 3-3/4 cups sugar and 1 cup vinegar into a bowl.



Mix well.



Add the sliced daikon and mix thoroughly.

Let the daikon mixture soak on the counter overnight, stirring occasionally.

In the morning, squeeze the daikon and pack it into jars.

Then boil the juice and add a few drops of yellow food coloring.

While boiling, remove any scum that may appear and boil until the juice is clear.

Cool.

Pour the juice into the jars over the daikon.

Refrigerate.

The takuwan will be ready to eat in two weeks.



I'm always so happy to receive a jar of Mrs. Miyake's takuwan.

Her favorite jars to use are the ones that come from Knott's Berry Farm jam.

That's her favorite shape.

I'll have to save them for her whenever I get them.

She likes the shape and the amount of tsukemono it holds.



I'm excited to taste mine in two weeks!



Put a few slices of takuwan into a bowl of ochazuke (rice with tea).

Comfort food.


Itadakimasu!



***




This is Mrs. Miyake.

She was down to the business of making takuwan.



Judy's friend Jean was there to help too.



We first peeled the daikon--which wasn't optimal--and Mrs. Miyake had to inspect each piece and cut away the bad parts.



I think Judy shows a strong family resemblance to her dad, Shump.

I've seen Mr. Miyake have this same expression many times.

Seeing Judy make this expression makes me smile--I like seeing him live on through his family members.



Mrs. Miyake is measuring the sugar for the marinade solution.



Choose daikon that is heavy for it's size--then there's less chance that the middle will be pithy as shown in the picture above.

Those are the pieces we didn't use.



This is Jean and her granddaughter.



Jean's granddaughter was so cute.

She'd cuddle up behind her grandma, grab a strand of her hair and that would comfort her.

All in the midst of making Mrs. Miyake's Sweet Takuwan.


Here are some photos of Mrs. Miyake courtesy of her granddaughter Lauren.



Mrs. Miyake has such a nice smile.



She's 93 years old.

If I ever get to be 93 years old, I'm going to wear it like a badge.



She's adventurous and likes to travel.

Robert sent me a photo of his mom sitting on a motorcycle--I wish I could find that one--it was the perfect example of how adventurous she is!

I think I remember seeing one of her sitting in a helicopter, too.



Here's Mrs. Miyake with her great-grandson.

She's got two great-grandsons.



Mr. & Mrs. Miyake used to pop over to my house occasionally for a visit--on their way to their son's home.

On those visits, I remember Mr. Miyake was pretty quiet and Mrs. Miyake was chatty.

I really like that about her--I love chatty.



Here she is with her grandkids.



This is Mrs. Miyake's whole family on a trip they all took to Hawaii.

They look like a really fun group, don't they!



Thank you, Robert and Mrs. Miyake for thinking of me and inviting me to come make your delicious takuwan.



***





Mrs. Miyake's Sweet Takuwan

Ingredients:

5 daikon (long white radish) about 9 cups, sliced
3 tablespoons salt
3-3/4 cups sugar
1 cup white vinegar

yellow food coloring

Wash and peel daikon. Slice into thin pieces. Mix salt, sugar and vinegar. Then add daikon to this  mixture. Soak over night, stirring occasionally.

Squeeze daikon and pack into jars.

Boil juice and add a few drops of yellow food coloring. While boiling, remove scum and boil until it is clear. Cool. Pour juice into jars. Refrigerate. Takuwan should be ready to eat in two weeks.