Takiawae: Hirousu (ganmo), Tofu mashed & Deep-fried and Braised in Shojin-Dashi Stock with Pumpkin, Sun-Dried Shiitake and Snow Peas
炊き合わせ 飛龍頭 (tofu balls, flying dragon head) かぼちゃ 干し椎茸 絹さや
Ingredients Serves 4
4 bite-size pieces of pumpkin
5 sun-dried shiitake mushrooms
8 snow peas (trimmed and blanched, green beans, broad beans or green asparagus can be used)
To make Kombu and shiitake dashi stock (Soak 20 g kombu and 5 shiitake in one-litre water overnight)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon mirin
canola oil as needed
To make hirousu (ganmo, or tofu balls, flying dragon heads or ):
400g momen tofu (hard tofu)
40g yamaimo (mountain yam potato to bind mashed tofu and to give softer eating texture)
20ml vegetable oil (to oil your hands when shaping the mashed tofu)
4 boiled ginkgo nuts (sliced thinly)
1 sun-dried shiitake mushroom (soaked overnight and sliced thinly)
10g carrot (shredded)
10g kikurage (木耳Judas's ear soaked in water and sliced into thin julienne)
If ginkgo nuts or Judas’s ear are not available, no problem, you can do without them.
1/4 of one egg white and 1 tablespoon cornflour can be substituted for yamaimo, mountain yam.
Kinugushi-tofu, soft tofu is not good for this dish. It has more water than momen-tofu, hard tofu.
Cut half a packet of tofu into two equal parts and wrap with sarashi, or cheesecloth on a cutting board. Then put another cutting board on top. Put one or two stones on top for about 15 minutes (or until the tofu becomes harder) to drain the excess water from the tofu. ]
Mash the tofu well with a Japanese mortar and pestle (suribachi and surikogi), grind the mountain yam potato on the inner wall of the mortar and mix well with a pestle.
If you do not have a Japanese mortar and pestle, you can mash the drained tofu with a potato masher and add 1/4 of one egg white and 1 tablespoon cornflour and mix well, and add the shredded carrot, julienned kikurage, sliced ginkgo nuts, and shiitake and mix well with a spatula.
3. Wet your hands with oil and hand-mould 4 tofu balls with each ball weighing 60g then deep fry them in oil heated to 160 degrees Celsius. Turn them over as they surface and keep cooking until golden brown and take them out to drain the oil.
4. Put the deep-fried tofu balls into a sieve and pour boiling water over to remove any excess oil.
Method
Soak the dried shiitake in water overnight. Remove and discard the stems. Save the soaking water for cooking.
Cut the pumpkin into bite-size cubes and trim the edges with a peeler.
Blanch the snow peas in salted boiling water and dunk them into cold water then drain them.
Cook the deep-fried tofu balls (hirousu), pumpkin and shiitake in shojin-dashi (stock made from the shiitake soaking water and kombu sun-dried kelp from Hokkaido), bring it to a boil skimming the froth. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and simmer for a few minutes or until the pumpkins are soft. Add 2 tablespoons Koikuchi all-purpose soy sauce (濃口醬油) and 1 tablespoon sake, put an otoshi-buta (a wooden lid which can go into the saucepan and sits on the food when braising. It helps thicken the sauce and infuse the flavours), and simmer for about 10 minutes. Taste the broth, add 1 tablespoon mirin, if needed. And keep simmering for a few minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to infuse the flavours.
Reheat before serving and arrange in serving dishes with the blanched snow peas and pour the broth into the dishes.
Kimpira Lotus Root 蓮根のキンピラ
A photo of this dish will soon be posted.
Ingredients Serve 4
100 g lotus root (julienned carrot or gobo, burdock root can be substituted)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil or as needed
(A) 2 tablespoons sake, 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons sugar
chilli powder as you like
2 teaspoons toasted white sesame seeds
Method
1. To make the sauce, mix well all (A) to dissolve sugar in a mixing bowl.
2. Wash to remove dirt and peel lotus root with a peeler, cut into 2 mm thick medallions, and soak in cold water with one tablespoon vinegar. Blanch in the soaked water for about 10 seconds, dunk into cold water, drain water well in a sieve and dry with kitchen paper. Stir fry on high heat with vegetable oil for 15 seconds and pour into it the sauce (A). Serve with chilli powder and toasted white sesame seeds.