Comfort healthy food-peasant/home Asian style

[badger]

mmm, I haven't had bibimbap in a long while. I love the little pickles they serve while you wait for your dishes.

[smilingcat]

Our favorite sushi joint does a very nice chawan mushi. Their normal one has a shrimp, a small piece of chicken, a slice of kameboko (fish cake) and maybe a slice or two of shitake. In the fall for a short period of time only he does matsutake chawan mushi - oooooooooh heaven.... the only thing better that you can do with those shrooms is shred them up and quickly broil them with just a little salt and yuzu juice.

I like bok choy fine, but prefer sum choy (often sold as "baby" bok choy). Little tiny ones stir fried whole in a little sesame oil - tasty indeed.

Waaaa!!!!! they are the betest mushrooms ever. But at nearly $100 per pound I can't afford it!! I went mushrooming for those in Colorado but the squirrels, bunnies and all the other forest creature would get to them before I got to it. Waaa WAAAAAA!!!!

[Eden]

Waaaa!!!!! they are the betest mushrooms ever. But at nearly $100 per pound I can't afford it!! I went mushrooming for those in Colorado but the squirrels, bunnies and all the other forest creature would get to them before I got to it. Waaa WAAAAAA!!!!

Yoshi spoils us

Uwajimaya (a large local Japanese grocery) up here has piles of them in the fall. They range from about $48 to $90 per pound depending on the grade. If you only buy one or two (mushrooms that is - not pounds!) it doesn't seem so outrageous..... (Yoshi tells me the big ones, while not being the favored A grade, taste just as good).

I can also get *real* fresh wasabi root there. Now that is something special - absolutely nothing like the green colored horseradish that every restaurant serves. I can understand - the stuff is way, way too pricey to give away like that, also around $90 a pound, but again you only need a little piece and its worth it once a year or so. It's grown down in Oregon. There was even an article in Saveur magazine about the owners of the farm and how they employed Japanese women to do a bit of undercover work for them to find out how to grow the plants. The farmers wouldn't tell them the Americans anything, but couldn't fathom that these Japanese ladies could possibly be doing a bit of "agricultural espionage".

[smilingcat]

Yoshi spoils us

Uwajimaya (a large local Japanese grocery) up here has piles of them in the fall. They range from about $48 to $90 per pound depending on the grade. If you only buy one or two it doesn't seem so outrageous..... (Yoshi tells me the big ones, while not being the favored A grade, taste just as good).

I can also get *real* fresh wasabi root there. Now that is something special - absolutely nothing like the green colored horseradish that every restaurant serves. I can understand - the stuff is way, way too pricey to give away like that, also around $90 a pound, but again you only need a little piece and its worth it once a year or so. It's grown down in Oregon. There was even an article in Saveur magazine about the owners of the farm and how they employed Japanese women to do a bit of undercover work for them to find out how to grow the plants. The farmers wouldn't tell them the Americans anything, but couldn't fathom that these Japanese ladies could possibly be doing a bit of "agricultural espionage".

Real wasabi is very different than the green colored horseradish very true. Its milder and has a bit of citrusy feel to it. Natural habitat is on a edge of a clear cold stream. The tap root takes like 5? years to grow.

Well for consolation I do have sansho trees. They were illegal up untill 2005 to grow here in the states.

I think you'll really love the ground sansho pepper. Nothing like it. Bit of sharpness like ginger but not as strong. it is very aromatic, intoxicating-ly refreshing scent similar to citrus scent yet very different. SPICE hmmm sounding lot like Sci Fi novel "Dune".

[OakLeaf]

Can you freeze wasabi?

[smilingcat]

don't think its a wise idea to freeze any vegetables. Wasabi is a root just like carrots. and the water inside the plant may destroy the wasabi when it freezes.

Like any root vegetable, if you want to keep it for a while, wrap in dark heavy paper loosely and store it in cool damp dark place in your fridge. I think they hold up as well as carrots.

[shootingstar]

Real wasabi is very different than the green colored horseradish very true. Its milder and has a bit of citrusy feel to it. Natural habitat is on a edge of a clear cold stream. The tap root takes like 5? years to grow.

Well for consolation I do have sansho trees. They were illegal up untill 2005 to grow here in the states.

I think you'll really love the ground sansho pepper. Nothing like it. Bit of sharpness like ginger but not as strong. it is very aromatic, intoxicating-ly refreshing scent similar to citrus scent yet very different. SPICE hmmm sounding lot like Sci Fi novel "Dune".

What type of dishes is sansho pepper used for? Maybe someone else here might know if there is a Chinese name equivalent. (As I said, I don't always know what I'm eating, but I usually agreeably eat it anyway. I'm a good guest. Truly.)

Wonder if the real wasabi root would have the same effect on me as the horseradish with green colour that we often see --if I take in a large swab with sushi, the concentrated bomb gives me a temporary headache for 5 seconds. Then I recover..

This is not wasabi..but there is a traditional German horseradish soup that dearie tried making once. Once. Whoaaaaa.. He used a real horseradish root.

[Eden]

Well for consolation I do have sansho trees. They were illegal up untill 2005 to grow here in the states.

I think you'll really love the ground sansho pepper. Nothing like it. Bit of sharpness like ginger but not as strong. it is very aromatic, intoxicating-ly refreshing scent similar to citrus scent yet very different. SPICE hmmm sounding lot like Sci Fi novel "Dune".

I think I was first familiarized with it as "Sezchuan pepper". I used to work with some people from China and people in the company traveled back and forth a lot. One of the Chinese employees brought some back once (I think it was still illegal at the time! - apparently because of the possibility of spreading a tree disease). She said that all the Sezchuan food in the states was just wrong because they couldn't get the pepper. Now I can get it locally. It is very interesting. It kind of numbs your tongue a bit. The aroma is amazing. I have it in a spice grinder like regular pepper and grind my own.

[smilingcat]

Yes.. its part of the chinese 5 spice pepper ingredient. Had to check first

Shootingstar so it is in part of your heritage.

Japanese use it on grilled eel sushi with the sweet savory sauce. We sprinkle bit of the powdered pepper on the eel. The pepper and the sweet savory sauce creates a wonderful contrast in taste sort of Yin and the Yang.

We also use it in miso soup.

I would have to ask my mother for more uses. What I really need to do is sit with her and write down lot of her "old" knowledge before she loses them. From what it was like growing up in the 1930's through the war ... the recipe for family dishes... family history...

[OakLeaf]

don't think its a wise idea to freeze any vegetables. Wasabi is a root just like carrots. and the water inside the plant may destroy the wasabi when it freezes.

It just breaks the cell walls, is all, doesn't "destroy" anything else - if you plan to grate it before serving, then cell walls aren't necessary. I often use frozen ginger in Indian dishes where it's grated then fried, and don't notice a difference in the flavor. Ginger tends to sit a long, long time between orders in our local grocery, so I like to buy a lot when it's fresh and freeze it.

Reason I ask, is it's a long drive to the Asian market in the "big city" and they don't always have fresh wasabi when I go there. I might be able to get it once or twice a year tops. Eden Foods has powdered dried real wasabi, but obviously fresh is way better.

[Eden]

Wonder if the real wasabi root would have the same effect on me as the horseradish with green colour that we often see --if I take in a large swab with sushi, the concentrated bomb gives me a temporary headache for 5 seconds. Then I recover..

I hesitate to call it more mild, but rather I'd say real wasabi has more flavor and less punch than the horseradish based concoction. It still has some spiciness to it, but doesn't get up your nose quite the same way.

[PamNY]

This thread is going to cost me money. I'm trying to be frugal but the Korean restaurant is calling out to me, and I may need a trip to the Japanese grocery store. I've always wanted to try real wasabi.

We've been making ankimo when I can find monk fish liver and now I've started craving it quite seriously.

Pam

[Eden]

It just breaks the cell walls, is all, doesn't "destroy" anything else - if you plan to grate it before serving, then cell walls aren't necessary. I often use frozen ginger in Indian dishes where it's grated then fried, and don't notice a difference in the flavor. Ginger tends to sit a long, long time between orders in our local grocery, so I like to buy a lot when it's fresh and freeze it.

Reason I ask, is it's a long drive to the Asian market in the "big city" and they don't always have fresh wasabi when I go there. I might be able to get it once or twice a year tops. Eden Foods has powdered dried real wasabi, but obviously fresh is way better.

The same company that provides the fresh wasabi roots does little tubes of grated wasabi - they sell it frozen, so it sounds like grated at least it will keep OK frozen. It only keeps for 30 days after you open it though. They don't mention if you can re-freeze it. Looking at the site a bit more it looks like they've stopped actually growing wasabi . They used to even sell seeds and wasabi plants along with grow your own instructions. Makes me wonder if I'll even be able to get fresh roots any more.

[shootingstar]

: Ginger tends to sit a long, long time between orders in our local grocery, so I like to buy a lot when it's fresh and freeze it.

Reason I ask, is it's a long drive to the Asian market in the "big city" and they don't always have fresh wasabi when I go there. I might be able to get it once or twice a year tops. Eden Foods has powdered dried real wasabi, but obviously fresh is way better.

It does surprise me at least in many medium-sized or small cities in Canada that fresh ginger root can be found at least in a national/large grocery chain store. But your area may be different.

We've done alot of cycling through different parts of Canada and including a long drawn out car trip across Canada when I moved to Vancouver, where we hit alot of smaller cities. We often go to grocery stores to save some money (or get fresh fruit, etc.) instead of constantly eating out at restaurants /cafes.

Methinks my tastebuds have become overly acclimatized to ginger root. We use it nearly daily for Asian and non-Asian dishes. We buy approx. 1 pound since it's cheap for us locals, which sits on kitchen counter up to over 1 month before getting too dried out. As a teen, I used to slice finely and mince 3-4 slices for a dish serving 8 people since ginger root used to be hardly available. I could really taste the ginger then. Now same amount of ginger for dish serving 1-2 people, I barely taste it.

I seldom use Sezchuan pepper simply because I haven't taken time to explore the whole breadth of Chinese cooking. Parents are from the province southwest of Sezhuan province where cuisine is less spicy/chili hot.

Interesting info bits in this thread ...on some stuff I didn't know what I knew all along.

N.B.: This steamed egg savory custard dish which can be a steamed only chicken breast dish..same steaming technique used for steamed sliced chicken liver, kidney, etc. that I did have as a kid. No, I don't prepare these dishes now.

[Biciclista]

That's one of the great things about my neighborhood. I can be fussy about asian vegetables. My favorite is Gai choy and i use it to make soup. We have giant piles of ginger in all the supermarkets.
I LOVE vegetables. I have to try that custard-thing, Eden the restaurant, it's called Yoshi's? (or is that Yoshi Aoki?)