[Sca-cooks] Japanese Feast

[ekoogler1 at comcast.net]

Sounds wonderful.  The only question I'd have is how period the maki was...sushi really isn't period, as we think of it...it was originally a way of preserving fish in the vinegared rice.  But no big deal....

The sorbet is definitely a modern dish, but sounds wonderful.  

You know...I've known about jicama for many years, but never made the connection to Japanese references for mountain yam.  Sigh.  I will now...thanks!

Kiri


> Well, Raid or Trade: Nippon is done and over with.
> 
> The following is the menu we ended up with:
> 
> First Service
> 
> Miso Soup
> Yakitori (chicken) with teriyaki sauce
> Salad (red radishes, red and green cabbage, lotus root slices) with sweet 
> gingered sesame dressing
> Salt-Pickled cucumber
> Somen Noodles
> Melon (Honey dew and Muskmelon)with a sliced plum
> Maki Rolls (with fillings of cucumber, fresh spinach, grated carrots, daikon, 
> pickled beet, and jicima - in various combinations)
>  
> Second Service
>  
> Cold Smoked Salmon
> Beef Rolls with wasabi with red radishes for decoration
> Mountain Yam(Jicima)  w/ sweet plum sauce
> Shiitake Mushrooms
> Daikon (pickled yellow)
> Pickled bamboo sprouts (sweet vinegar)
> Rice with Black Sesame Seeds
> 
> Final service
> Green Tea Sorbet
> 
> Drinks: iced gingered water (water with ginger slices), iced lemon water (water 
> with lemon juice added) and plain iced water.  
> 
> Site limitations (ie: 1 barely working refrigerator) and 1 stove and 1 
> double-sink (apartment sized), in a non-air conditioned 10 by 8 room. 
> 
> I cooked everything before the feast as I didn't want to deal with a dozen or 
> two grills (we weren't allowed to dig a firepit). And reheated them in roasters.
> 
> We used sources and inspiration provided by Mistress Kiri and Dame Hauviette 
> d’Anjou as taught in their class at Middle Kingdom's Cooking Collegium last 
> December.  
> 
> The green tea sorbet was a modern recipe - but I knew it was going to be a very 
> hot day and would be a refreshing treat for everyone.  It took me a month to 
> make it. I used my ice-shaver freeze cups (just five of them) and made a batch a 
> night for four nights a week.  It had a gritty (what I think of when I think of 
> granita) texture, but the flavor and cold were just wonderful in the heat. 
> 
> And the day was hot.  Heat index was approx 105.  We used five roasters.  1 for 
> rice, 1 for the shiitake mushrooms, 2 for chicken yakitori on skewers, and 1 for 
> the beef rolls.  We rolled up the maki rolls through part of the afternoon, then 
> finished chopping the jicima and cabbage.
> 
> I had put the bamboo shoots in jars with the sweet pickling sauce two days 
> before and refrigerated it.  The pickled yellow daikon was bought commerically 
> prepared, and then chopped to matchstick size for serving.  The radishes were 
> finely cross-hatched and kept in cold water to open into a vague flower-like 
> structure.  
> 
> The chicken and beef ended up being way overdone.  The hickory-smoked salmon was 
> to die for (I thought it was good). Good smoked flavor, but still very moist and 
> flakey. But, several tables didn't even try their fish. Several other tables 
> took from the tables that weren't eating theirs.  I brought home enough for two 
> weeks eating it for my lunch (yeah! I love salmon)  I got a great deal on the 
> salmon - fresh farmed salmon that had been deskinned and filleted for $3.50 a 
> pound at Costco's. I just lightly salted both sides of the fillet about 10 
> minutes before putting it in the smoker.  Then smoked it for an hour on the low 
> end of safe heat.  I wanted to smoke flavor it - not dehydrate it.  I could eat 
> half a fillet myself.
> 
> The miso soup - we used a block and a half (approx 1 & 1/2 pounds) per large 
> stock (approx 4 gallon) pot of water.  We simmered it for several hours and then 
> added chopped green onions. Then just before serving, we added the cubed 
> extra-firm tofu to the pots.  People raved about the soup.  It was hot and they 
> wanted more.  I ended up with maybe a quart left to take home and try for 
> myself.  
> 
> The feast recipes were for the most part modern - taken from Japanese country 
> and folk cooking books after first consulting with the Ryori Monogotari about 
> ingredient mentions and preparation methods.  
> 
> Yesterday - I cleaned my kitchen (where all the preprep took place).  I can now 
> see table and counter tops again.  I can also walk through my kitchen without 
> weaving a path through all the food and coolers.  I have only the floor to 
> hand-scrub (the hand-mop just doesn't get all the places I want cleaned really 
> clean) and the refrigerator to scrub out and my home will be my own again.  
> 
> Now, I can finally turn my attention to getting things ready for my laureling 
> ceremony this coming weekend.  
> 
> Kateryn de Develyn
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