VeganMoFo 2019 #13: K is for Kansha (Recipe Round-Up)

I love Japanese food, and while there are several great options for eating out (see my post for day 11 of MoFo) it is nice to make things at home as well. So I was very excited when I received a copy of Kansha. It is a beautiful book, with lots of very traditional recipes, but it is not the most accessible book in terms of ingredients or techniques, so it just lurked on my shelves and I'd pull it out every now and then to look at it. But eventually I decided that, even if I can't make everything, I can still make somethings! Thankfully I have a Japanese grocery store not that far away from me, because honestly I would struggle finding ingredients without it (and even with it there are lots of things I just can't get). But anyway, here are some things I made!

Soy-Braised Kabocha and Wheat Wheels, Rice Tossed with Radish Greens, and Sweet, Spicy, and Tart Sun-Dried Radish: This meal definitely required some special ingredients. First up, the kuruma-bu, or wheat wheels, which are dried 'wheels' of gluten. I made them a bit too squishy because I followed the instructions on the packet rather than the instructions in the book because I got very confused. As a result, the braising liquid didn't fully absorb into them. It also has kabocha and green beans. This is served at room temperature to allow the flavours to meld, but I would have preferred it warmer (the recipe does say you can zap in the microwave to heat it up. The main liquid part of the braising liquid is a Sun-Dried Radish Stock, which was very easy to make but again needed special kiriboshi daikon also from the Japanese shop. This was served with Japanese rice tossed with homemade furikake. To make the furikake (dehydrated greens), you can yse daikon tops, turnip tops, kale, collards, or beet greens. I used kale, and I made a half batch of it. The kale is blanched, blotted, finely blotted, and baked. Once cooked and cooled, they are mixed through cooked sushi rice. The final part of this dinner was the pickled sun-dried radishes. These used the kiriboshi daikon that was leftover from making the stock, so it was a good way to not have any waste leftover (this book is big on using up everything you can). I didn't have any yellow colouring to add to them, so they are just natural beige colour, but that is fine by me as the taste was not affected. I left these in the fridge for 8 hours before serving, and the flavour was great afterwards.
Rating: Braise :), Stock :), Rice :), Pickles :)



Two Kinds of Tofu, Amber Braised with Carrots and Rice Tossed with Radish Greens: This recipe calls for grilled tofu and thick fried tofu. The Japanese grocery store sells both kinds, but they didn't have any grilled when I was there. So I bought a block of firm fresh tofu and followed some simple instructions online to make it grilled. The recipe calls for blanching the tofu, but I didn't bother doing that with the grilled tofu. This is a lovely braising sauce, based on kelp stock (I only needed 1 cup rather than the full one and a half cups) with a few simple things added. I served this with some leftovers of the rice and greens I mentioned above.
Rating: :)



Mixed Vegetables Braised with Thick Fried Tofu: This stew has shiitake, fried tofu, burdock (I used parsnip as an alternative), carrots, edamame, and konnyaku (which I got from the Japanese shop, but is also found in most Asian grocery stores these days). The konnyaku is kind of squidgy and a bit fishy, you could leave it out if you are not a fan or can't find it. I served this over some plain Japanese rice.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Dim Sim decided to try out the wheelbarrow bed exactly once. She seemed comfortable enough in it, but once was enough for her. You can see how tiny she is!