Salmon Nanban Zuke
The arrival of Copper River salmon in May gets Seattleites delighted and excited because it means the kickoff of summer in the Northwest, the long-awaited joyous season of sunshine and blue skies for the next three months. Local grocery stores and restaurants start showcasing Cooper River salmon, known for its succulent texture and rich flavor. It’s pricey (although buying a whole fish can save you a lot of money) but definitely worth trying while it’s available (for season updates, see http://www.copperriversalmon.org/press-news). And even if you miss the opportunity to taste Copper River salmon, there is a wide variety of other wonderful kinds of salmon that can inspire you to cook numerous recipes through summer and into fall — from simple grilled fillets or steaks to super-fresh sashimi or sushi.
Now here is a great summery recipe that I love and highly recommend that you add to your salmon repertoire. Nanban Zuke is often made with small fish like Aji (Spanish mackerel), smelt, and sardine, and it works wonderfully with salmon as well. Fried salmon is marinated in sweet vinegar called Nanban zu along with fresh summer vegetables that add bright colors and flavor. You can serve it chilled as a refreshing appetizer on a hot summer evening. I hope there will be many occasions on which you can make Nanban Zuke, the perfect addition to your dinner menus this summer.
Crazy about Corn
I don’t even know how many “boxes” of corn I consumed this summer. There is a farm stand called Country Farms up north on HWY 99, and their corn is a great find. Started at 2 for $1 about a month ago, and now it’s 4 for $1. I scored some super-sweet Yakima corn there and enjoyed cooking so many corn recipes.
My favorite corn recipes that I repeated a number of of times in the season include corn and rice, corn silk tea, chilled corn soup, and corn miso soup! I’ll update the recipe page on kozmokitchen.com soon, but you can access some of the recipes directly through the above links.
Thank you corn, for maing me and many customers so happy with your wonderful sweetness! Love, Kanako
Hiyashi Chuka, Please!
My latest article for the North American post is Hiyashi Chuka recipe. Make your own and beat the heat!
Kozmo Kitchen on Seattle Kitchen!
It was just five minutes, but it was a “huge” five minutes for me – the first radio show appearance in my life!
I was invited to KIRO Radio’s weely program “Seattle Kitchen” hosted by the two celebriy chefs Tom Douglas and Thierry Rautureau last weekend and talked an introduction to Japanse home cooking and my upcoming cooking classes at Hot Stove Socieety in August.
It’s still pretty embarrassing and makes me self conscious to reveal how nervous and disorganized I sounded on the radio, but it’s a process to overcome my fear and shyness about being on audio (and visual) media, so here it is. Enjoy and come to my classes 🙂
http://kiroradio.com/listen/10020984/ (my segment starts around 54:50 toward the end of the program)
New Cooking Classes in August!
The bento class in June at Hot Stove Society was a full house. Everyone enjoyed making their own rice balls in the hands-on session! So the popular class will be back in August if you missed it the last time. I will teach some simple techniques to pack your bento to look beautiful and appetizing, along with mouthwatering bento recipes!
Sign up for the class here today!
And there will be a new class introcuded in August – sushi making hands-on! You will learn popular homecooking sushi recipes out of dozens of sushi dish varieties including Temari zushi (sushi rice balls), maki zushi (traditional and reversed) and temaki auzhi (hand rolls). It will be a lot of fun! The registration is here!
Free Workshops at Japan Fair!
Japan Fair 2017 is a two-day interactive event that showcases Japanese cultural heritage through various seminars, workshops, demonstrations and many more.
This volunteer oppotunity came up recently to teach simple onigiri and sushi making workshops to those who are new to Japanese home cooking. I am honored to be part of this community event to share Japanese culture through my passion, cooking! Both workshops are free and fun to participate in for all ages. Come stop by and say hello to me 😀
Onigiri making workshop (for all ages): http://www.japanfairus.org/page/workshops#Onigiri
Sushi roll making workshop (for adults): http://www.japanfairus.org/page/workshops#SushiMaking
Sansai Okowa (Sweet Rice with Edible Ferns)
A Big Night with A Big Guy
What an amazing night it was! I got the opportunity to participate in the food event called Food Lover’s Weekent at Tom Douglas’ Hot Stove Society on April 28th for the opening night as the Japanese cooking instructor featuring some Izakaya food.
In the demo sessions, I was next to Tom Douglas, and Thierry Rautureau(the chef in the hat)’s segments! Tom made a few Chinese dishes and Theirry demonstrated how to make Coq au Vin, but my heart was beating so fast that I couldn’t remember many details except that Thierry remained very cool when the pan caught a flame on the stove top. He was it was not unexpected and just needed to put it out. His professional demeanor kind of calmed me down, and I felt ready for my demos.
Now my turn – Chicken Karaage and Butcher’s Croquette in a paper bag. My cocktail partner is Nick Jarvis from Carlile Room. His presence gave me so much comfort and helped me grealy to maintain my composure, thanks Nick! But of course the big guy is standing in the audidenc with a microphone, as a facilitater, and he was always in my vision. Tom asked, “the audience is wondering how you could peel the skin of the super hot potatoes right out of the steamer with bear hands.” Well, I was screaming inside. I couldn’t find a towel but tried look calm! He asked more questions throughout my demos, but I got used to it and acutally appreciated him making the atmosphere more relaxed and intimate.
The second part was a hands-on session. There were 4 stations with different izkaya/street food themes – Takoyaki, Yakitori, Yaki Onigiri and Okonomiyaki. My station was Okonomiyaki. My friends know my relationship with Okonomiyaki. It’s not a good marriage. I don’t care for pancakes of any kind, okonomiyaki included. So I rarely make it at home. So this was a big assignment for me. I must say I am so glad I took the challenge. I have never eaten that many okonomiyaki pancakes in my life and am not so confident that I can teach making it again! Big thanks to my friend Yuta (the owner of Issian) for his consultation and hands-on training! And thank you my friend Yukari for bringing all the coold okonomiyaki gadgets from Japan!
Note: The okonomiyaki mentioned here is Kansai style (the cabbage mixed in the batter). To master Hiroshima style, I still have a long way to go but am optimistic now 🙂
Lastly, the Hot Stove Society crew was AMAZING. They were hard working and the critical part of the entire team. Outside the kitchen they went out and bought all the funky ingredients for my class that are usually not available in the kitchen. I couldn’t be more grateful for them being there to help me get through the evening.
Now I am ready for a couple of my classes coming up next month at Hot Stove Society!
Detox with Azuki Magic
Azuki beans (in the US often spelled “adzuki”) are the stars of Japanese traditional confectionery, used as in sweet bean paste or sauce. Or we have “Sekihan”, steamed sweet rice and azuki beans. Sekihan is served mainly on celebretory occasions. When we are so excited with great news, we shout, “We should celebrate with sekihan!”
These days, it seems that the health benefit of azuki is getting more attentions in Japan. Azuki is known to be super rich in polyphenol, fiber, and saponin, among other good things. And people started using azuki more on non-dessert recipes in Japan.
I have an upcoming in-home cooking class at a client’s home next week and was asked to include an azuki recipe. What a great timing to introduce the power of Azuki!
This is Azuki bean rice, not quite the same as Sekihan. Used to be a substitute for white rice, when people couldn’t afford white rice (my mother says it reminds her of the war time), but nowadays it’s considered a healthier choice for everyday rice options. And Azuki rice works with brown rice too!
Azuki rice recipe is here.
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