Nanakusa-gayu (Seven herb porridge)

Eaten and drunk too much over the past couple of weeks?  Feeling a bit lardy, lethargic and lumpy?  Have a bowl of Nanakusa-gayu (seven herb porridge)…

After indulging too much over ohshogatsu (new year), a long standing tradition in Japan is to eat nanakusa-gayu on 7th January.  Not only is it a simple low-calorie food after all that richness over the previous few days, but importantly it is believed to bring longevity and health, and also intended to ward off evil for the coming year.

The tricky bit if you’re not in Japan (where you can actually special packs at this time of year in the supermarket) is how to get the 7 herbs, traditionally (but with local variations):

• seri – Japanese parsley
• nazuna – Shepherd’s purse
• gogyo – Jersey Cudweed
• hakobera – Common chickweed
• hotokenoza – nipplewort
• suzuna – turnip
• suzushiro - daikon

Your best bet is to therefore replace these greens with whatever locally available green leaf vegetables you can easily get hold of, and more importantly like.  So, armed with some lovely fresh greens how do you make this porridge?

Well, first things first, its not porridge in the western rolled oats sense of the world, this is an Asian rice porridge (in Japan referred to as okayu – but not much different from what you would find in China as congee or similar dishes elsewhere throughout SE Asia). 

In a rice cooker its an absolute breeze to make…

…wash the rice thoroughly, then put 1 cup of rice into the rice cooker with 7 cups of water, press “Congee” and leave the rice to cook.  Probably takes about 40-minutes or so and then it will have a nice porridge consistency (see top photo).  At this point ,add your chopped greens and leave it on “Keep Warm” for a few minutes – but not too long as you don’t want everything to wilt too much.  Add a little bit of salt and serve…how easy is that!

RICE COOKERS are BACK IN STOCK

There is nothing more disappointing than realising that the rice on the stove is burnt or worse still has turned into a gooey mess.  For so many people, the task of making rice is one fraught with difficulty and despairing hope…

…but help is at hand with a Rice Cooker from Cook Japan – http://www.cookjapan.co.uk 

With a rice cooker it doesn’t have to be this way…in Japan, and elsewhere across Asia, a simple-to-use hi-tech computer controlled rice cooker is a sight in every kitchen, ensuring perfect rice at the push of a button every time…

…and not only can they cook perfect rice, but rice cookers from the Cook Japan shop can also be used as a slow-cooker or steamer, to make porridge, congee, soup, and also to braise. This makes it a great multi-purpose rice cooker so there’s really no limit to what you can make. In fact, Cook Japan rice cookers have the functionality and fuzzy logic technology you would expect to find in a Japanese rice cooker:



So does it do anything else?

Well, not only do Cook Japan rice cookers make great rice, with their range of other cooking functions and programmes, a 24-hour timer, and automatically switching to “keep warm” when the cooking cycle is finished, there is no limit to what you can cook. Some of our most recent dishes have included:

For more recipes and to see some of the culinary fun we have with our rice cooker read the rest of the blog or visit: http://www.cookjapan.co.uk/article/rice_cooker_recipes

Oh and with Christmas coming, you can even make mulled wine in your rice cooker!


“So, how does it work then?” I hear you ask, well…

…by using computer controlled technology, commonly referred to as fuzzy logic, the rice cooker is able to make adjustments to both temperature and cooking time to cook perfect rice, for example if the rice is too hot and heating too quickly the heating element will be turned down slightly to balance this.  With fuzzy logic the cooking process is improved in 3 key ways:

1. The temperature sensor control is more accurate and can therefore allow for fine adjustments to the cooking temperature
2. The heat distribution and conduction around the entire bowl produces more evenly cooked food
3. The computer can instantly strengthen or weaken the heat ensuring a controlled cooking process

For more information about rice cookers and how to use them, please visit www.cookjapan.co.uk
Thanks, now, I’m off to make some rice…

Curry and Rice

Unfortunately Mrs Cook Japan has a cold at the moment…but is this a bad thing?  Well to a degree, but that is until you realise her medicinal take on combating said lurgy is to indulge in a fiery curry.  So in a way its true, “every cloud does have a silver lining”.



As regular readers will have realised by now, I’m a pretty honest and upstanding chap, so I won't pretend that I made the 3 curries – that would be just too extreme, but the trusty Cook Japan rice cooker was called into action for the accompanying rice…



…so basmati rice went in the rice cooker, along with a bit of salt and a drizzle of oil to keep its delicate grains firm and tender, and then for a bit of added vavavoom we added some mung beans and fresh herbs – yummy!  Again another sterling performance by our favourite kitchen appliance.

Its a great rice combination and an absolute winner alongside this plethora of curry delights…chicken chat (below), prawn methi (bottom) and the house special which is a lamb meatball curry (top).



…i feel hungry again just blogging it…

 

Kind of like dry-curry (and a bit like kedgeree), but also a bit like neither…

…you know how some days there’s nothing really in the fridge, freezer or cupboards from which to concoct dinner?  Well that’s where this came from and thankfully was jolly tasty as well.

As you would expect, and know by now, there was the typical abundance of rice to be found in the cupboards.   It wasn’t to difficult to find an onion, couple of beans and lentils, eggs and the random element in the dish, a frozen “chip shop” battered cod piece from the dark recesses of the freezer.  As for seasoning, curry powder, cumin and some of the usual suspects from the spice rack were roped in for the task as well.

So the idea was something like a Japanese dry curry (basically a kind of curry-flavoured fried rice) and a bit like kedgeree. 

Onions were fried, battered cod went in the oven and then was chopped up, and while all this was going on the trusty Cook Japan rice cooker was busy cooking up some rice with beans and lentils.  Once the rice was cooked, in went the onions, fish pieces and some seasoning and the whole thing mixed up and left on “keep warm” until it was time for dinner…

 

…so as you can see its a bit like a dry curry and kind of like kedgeree, in fact a pretty good random combination that worked out really tasty, full of flavour and a great way to use up a bunch of bits and bods to make dinner…

…ooh, then I thought “i know”, and cooked up a nice hard boiled egg to give it a bit more of a kedgeree feel (well kind of, if you don’t look to closely)…

Basmati Rice with Mung Beans (topped with fried onions and hummus)

Today, felt like a healthier more simple day after a bit of excess over the weekend – a bowl of miso soup did feature!

This was a recipe my sister very kindly passed on, she even bought us the Moong Dal/mung beans to go with it…



This is so easy to make, washed basmati rice is mixed with the mung beans (split green beans) and put in the Cook Japan rice cooker.  All you then have to do is press “Start” and wait for it to finish cooking – talk about simple and my word is it tasty.



Rather than cooking my normal “x” number of cups, this was made with 2/3 cup of rice and 1/3 cup of mung beans as the ratio to which water was added.  While the rice cooker was working its magic, I leisurely fried some onions and grabbed the remaining hummus from the fridge.

Hey presto, the rice is cooked, the onions go on top and hummus makes a great accompaniment…



…the rice cooker is sitting there on “keep warm”, think i’ll pop back to the kitchen and have a bit more!
For more information visit: www.cookjapan.co.uk

Tofu, Minced Pork and Cabbage

One of my favourite dishes is Mabu Dofu, which I’ve loved every since I lived in Japan and always end up eating on my birthday.  Japanese mabu dofu is much milder than the original Chinese Szechuan dish – although I’ll more than happily eat either.

This isn’t quite mabu dofu, but is not a million miles away and still extremely tasty…




While the rice was happily cooking away in the Cook Japan rice cooker, I turned my attention to rest of the dish…mixing a bit of water, miso, sugar, mirin and salt in a bowl, then frying the cabbage over a low heat with the minced pork.  Once the mince starts to change colour in comes the mixed seasoning and then the tofu cubes for a final 10-minute simmer and the whole thing goes on top of a steaming bowl of rice.



Although the miso gives the dish a nice deep flavour, I love my mabu dofu a bit spicier than my children so in goes a really good dollop of gochujang (korean spicy miso paste) to give the whole dish a kick…

…as I say not really a “pure” traditional Japanese, Chinese or Korean dish, but one where having robbed bits and pieces from each kitchen the resulting dish is lovely.
 

Ottolenghi Roast Chicken and Three-Rice Salad

We’re going a bit Ottolenghi crazy at the moment…the cookbook is amazing!!

Sunday night (and yippe, left overs for lunch today) was Ottolenghi’s Roast Chicken with Three-Rice Salad.

First up, roast a chicken that has been liberally rubbed with olive oil and salt and pepper then when cooked put to one side at room temperature and let cool, and keep the juices.  While the chicken is roasting you start making the rice salad…first in the pan (or in our case the Cook Japan rice cooker) was the basmati rice which once cooked was then put to one side to cool, and into the rice cooker went the brown rice and wild rice to be cooked together, and then put the combined rice aside.

Carve the meat, or tear off in chunks, then mix lemon juice, sesame oil, thai fish sauce and olive oil and pour this dressing over the chicken. 

Heat some olive oil in a pan and fry sliced onions until brown and let cool.  Add the three rices, fried onion, spring onions, chopped chillies and coriander, mint and shiso (or rocket) to the chicken.

Absolutely delicious…

Three rice salad

For more information visit: www.cookjapan.co.uk

A beautiful bowl of Kosheri

We recently got the Ottolenghi Cookbook which is full of fabulous dishes, one we tried last night was KOSHERI…although we didn’t have all the ingredients so had to cut a few corners, but the result was still delicious.  Kosheri is a traditional rice and lentil dish from Egypt that is usually served alongside a spicy tomato sauce…



What you should do is fry some garlic and oil then add tomatoes, water, vinegar, salt and cumin and bring to boil, then simmer seasoning with coriander and a bit of salt ‘n pepper.  Then wash and cook lentils until tender, and then wash some rice, fry some vermicelli noodles in butter until golden brown, add the washed rice and cook.  Leave to steam then sautee the onions and add these plus the lentils to the rice, garnishing with a bit more coriander.

Takes a bit of pan juggling, but is a simple dish to make and tastes wonderful.

What we did, was basically as above, but didn’t have any tomatoes to hand (and couldn’t be bothered to go shopping at night for more) and our lentils were more yellow than green, but other than that we did what the book told us – and anyway, good cooking is always about tweaking things a little…

Its a great dish and a great cookbook if you don’t already have a copy…


For more information visit: www.cookjapan.co.uk

Unagi-don (grilled eel) for lunch

Had to some left over rice in my trusty Cook Japan rice cooker and thanks to my giri-no-haha (mother-in-law) back in Osaka one last packet of unagi (grilled eel) with sauce – perfect for making one of my favourite dishes…Unagi donburi.

In Japan the hottest day of the year is known as Ushi-no-hi, if you eat unagi on that day it will strengthen your body so you don’t get ill as the year starts to get colder.  Unfortunately, here in England its already cold, but any day is a good day for unagi donburi…


 
 

Cooking perfect rice in a rice cooker…

Here’s a simple easy to follow run down on how to cook rice in a rice cooker.  Following these easy steps (or using the more detail guidance at www.cookjapan.co.uk) should ensure that you can make perfect rice everytime.
Happy eating…

For more information visit: www.cookjapan.co.uk