Donabe(土鍋)

 I'd been eyeing the donabe available at my local grocery store and finally caved and bought a smaller one to play around with before committing to something bigger or fancier. It's pretty cute, and a good fit for bibimbap!

A donabe, or whatever you want to call it as, like many things, there are a lot of names available, is basically just a clay pot that you can use cooking directly on the stove/over fire. Donabe is literally 土(do)- earth/clayware and 鍋(nabe)- a pot for cooking in.

Similar to with hagi or any porous clayware used for consumables, it's best to boil a new donabe in water for a couple hours and allow to completely dry before using. This basically helps remove any dust or  any other unwanted things that can effect taste that might have accumulated within the piece from storage/packaging.

Now ready to use, some basic precautions should be followed:
1) Avoid heating a clay pot when empty.
2) Increase the heat gradually. It needs to warm up slowly to prevent cracking.
3) Make sure the outside(which is typically porous, unlike the glazed interior) is completely dry before heating.

Donabe come in a variety of sizes and styles, some even with predetermined uses(ex. one made especially for steaming) in mind. While I've yet to play too much with mine, they're good for pretty much everything from cooking rice to noodle and hotpot dishes, stews, and just about anything you cook with a pot! I've even heard them being used for casseroles.

Can't wait to play more!

Shincha 2012

Long time, no post, and it's shincha time again! 

Got my orders in and ready for tasting(from left to right, all shincha varieties: Maiko's Shuppin Gyokuro and two of their Kinari and O-Cha's YM, Aoi, and two of their sakura sencha)

Reviews up soon, in the meantime, a short list of online shops offering shincha:

Maiko

O-Cha

Ippodo

Zencha

Den's Tea 

Break Room Tea

Work has been stressful lately. More hours, twice the actual working, and trying to learn a million new things that totally fall outside the range of my specific position.

So, I finally caved and brought in some proper brewing utensils. My portable gong fu set and a kettle, as opposed to just a tea bottle before. While this does little for the added pressures, it does give me at least thirty minutes a shift just to relax and enjoy a good brew and that's something.

Durian

One woeful thing about living where I currently do is the complete lack of durian outside of a small window around this time of year.

For those of you who are familiar with this fruit you're probably either feeling sympathy for me or have a reflexive look of disgust at the mere mention of it. Durian seems one of those things that elicits rather extreme reactions. Either you love it or you hate it, rarely does there seem much middle ground.

That aside, this post is for those who's reaction to mention of it was confusion, having yet to be acquainted with this spiky fiend. So an introduction, these pictures? Durian.

Durian is a fruit that, like coconuts, grow in trees and are commonly harvested via the good ol' fashion method of waiting for it to fall to the ground. As I've stated already, it's also a fruit with a mixed reputation, largely stemming from its infamous and unmistakable scent.

While I, and many others, find it to be merely a fruity/citrus scent with a bit of an onion undertone, much like the flavor, others will liken it to rot, compost, and other foul smells. Either way it's strong, so much so that in areas in which durian are common(re: Thailand and Malaysia) there are often bans on bringing the fruit in any form on buses, subways, hotels, and other enclosed public areas.

That said, the only way to know for certain how your nose will react would be to give it a whiff! Until then, let's talk cracking them open, health benefits, taste, and use.

One good way to tell when a durian is ripe and good for eating, aside from it's fall from the tree, is that it has a seam. That is, an opening running from end to end. It's with this that you open a durian, simply wedging your fingers on in there, being mindful of the spikes, and pulling it apart(note: though you might still need a knife if yours doesn't open in a way in which all the pod chambers are accessible!).

Inside each durian you'll typically find 1-5 chambers each containing 1-3 pods(those large mushy yellow things in the picture). Inside most, though not always all, pods there will be a seed roughly the side of a shelled walnut and reddish brown in color. These can be eaten via boiling or roasting while the fleshy yellow pod, often with a custard-like consistency, can be eaten fresh, used in baking, frozen for an ice cream like treat or to be used in (soy)milkshakes/smoothies, used to create sauces and soups, (if unripe) used like a veggie in stir fries and the like, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

That said, what does durian taste like? Well, like the scent, different folk's take on it varies. Personally, I think it matches up with the smell, a fruit/citrus taste with a hint of onion and a gushy/pulpy custard-like feel. It's rather enjoyable to slurp, lol, and I enjoy sucking the pulp off the seeds. Om nom nom.

So, given it's mixed reviews, why should you give durian a go? For one, it's rich in fiber, vitamin B, C, and E, iron, protein, and potassium. It also contains tryptophan which is known to alleviate anxiety, depression, and insomnia and all around just make you feel great! That said, one shouldn't eat much more than two pods a day as consuming durian in excess, like most things, can negate any good it might do for you and even be harmful.

Though don't worry too much, so long as you aren't eating large amounts of it every day, durian is more good than bad for you and generally quite tasty!

Ice-brewed Sencha

I've half-way typed up so many posts for here but the heat just puts me in this state of 'don't wanna' and leaves so many things unfinished. So, a post about something cool.

All those flavored iced teas and tisanes are well and good, but for a hot day nothing beats ice-brewed sencha, imo. It's cold, it's sweet, and it's just caffeinated enough to give you a little perk up. No contest.

The only downfall, as with all iced-things, seems to be time. For the best results, use a medium to high quality sencha with nothing but ice(meaning you have to wait for however long it takes the ice to melt). Yet, given my heat-induced state of 'don't wanna' as in 'don't wanna wait that long', I tend to go halfway on the ice.

That is, about 9 grams(you can use less, around 5, if going with just ice) in a 9oz. kyusu. Filled half the pot with ice cubes, then poured cold water to fill the rest, and sat down with a sketchbook and tried to

ignore the slow melt of the ice.

In all, using today's batch for reference, it took about half an hour per steep(two good ones and one 'eh' one), and a brief bout of rain, but came out magical* in taste. Heavily concentrated and without even a trace of bitterness, ice/cold-brewed sencha tends to be very sweet and very refreshing.

That said, I'm sure using my new icy-looking hagi certainly didn't hurt.

*Translation: grassy, sweet in a pleasant non-sugary way, and delivering of a bit of a heady feeling

Octopus Tea

One evening I doodled an octopus drinking tea and then I drew a variety of octopus/tea-related things.

Considered posting them all here or all at my art blog thingie, but then they got a little out of hand and since I plan on adding even more later(re: once my computer stops revolting on every program I try to use), I gave them their own blog.

Enjoy?

Shiboridashi Test Drive

TC TASO #3

a.k.a. 'Petr Novák Wood Fired Shino Collection'

So, I got a package today...

They're all so pretty! <3

More/better pics later, playtime now.

:D

Mugicha(麦茶)

Or damaicha, maicha, or boricha, depending on where you are, is a tisane made simply from roast barley.

A drink known for being both refreshing and thirst quenching, mugicha tends to be fairly popular in the summertime. So, with temps heading toward the 90s and humidity pushing past 50%, I figured it was high time to pick some up.

Available in most Asian or international grocery stores, mugicha comes in a variety of forms. For one, there's the pre-made, in a bottle and read to drink. In most east Asian countries you can walk into almost any convenience store and have yourself a bottle without a second thought(well, unless you lack the ability to pay). Some stores Stateside or in the West have this option as well, though it is considerably more rare.

So, moving on, there are two forms for brewing it yourself. Loose, a bag of roast barley or non-roasted barley which you can roast yourself, and tea bags. Unlike with tea, of the camellia sinensis variety, you really don't have to avoid barley in bag form for fear of poor quality as it's pretty hard to get wrong and doesn't need the space tea leaves do to expand. Or, I'm just justifying my penchant for going easy on this and buying it in bagged form, lol.

Either way, brewing is fairly straightforward. Regardless of brewing temp, the measurements tend to be about 10g to 1 liter of water. That said, for hot-brewed, resulting in a stronger taste and bolder color, brew with just above boiling water for about 10 minutes then strain out the barley and stick it in the fridge or freezer until cool(unless drinking it hot appeals to you). Since it's going to end up that way no matter how it's done, I tend to just go with cold-brewed. Using room temp or cold water, allow it to brew in a large pitcher, or similar, in the fridge for about 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on taste(longer obviously meaning stronger), then strain and serve.

For some it can be acquired taste, yet for many it's just plain delicious and a great part of a hot summer day.

Just Batty

And that brings me up to three bat-related pots(on top of several other bits of bat-related teaware). I know what I like. This one was marked as 100ml, though it feels a little larger than that, might measure later.

Review of Den's Tea's Shincha Kunpu and a few other things soon.

Eating Tea

I suppose a blog on vegan food and tea should have at least one post on combining the two. That is, about, more or less, about eating tea.

First of all, as some know, you can easily use tea, as a liquid, in cooking by simply...

* Replacing any water in a recipe with tea(especially in baking).

* Using it as a baste(ex. I tend to use a slightly oversteeped black tea to baste tofurkey).

Yet, this is merely the beginning in use. Since it's typically considered wasteful to toss the leaves and not everyone has a compost heap/garden they can feed with them, here are a few things I've been known to do...

* Eat them as is. Japanese teas, especially good quality ones, tend to taste pretty fantastic on their own or with just a dash of soy sauce. When feeling lazy, I've been known to take a spoon or chopsticks and eat them straight out of the pot.

* Make tea leaf pancakes. (1 c. flour, 1 c. water, all the leaves from one session mixed together then cooked over med. heat in a frying pan with veg. or canola oil. Use a spoon or fork to spread out the batter so the pancake ends up rather thin. Flip a few times until brown on both sides, makes about 3, cut into fourths or bite-sized pieces. Serve with dipping sauce of your choice-as always, I like chopped garlic + Korean soy sauce).

* Combine them with other tasty things to use as a filling for onigiri, buns, or jiao zi.

* Dry or just set aside the leaves to use as topping for ochazuke.

* Toss them in a stir-fry/fried rice. Greens and oolongs especially.

In short, you can throw them into almost any dish, so definitely play around to see where they add the most to your meal.

Though wait! There's more! Most people who think of cooking with tea tend to think of matcha, with good reason, there are grades of matcha marked only suitable for such(typically cheaper and sold in larger portions than drinking matcha). So, a few suggestions...

* Blend a teaspoon or so with fruit, tofu, soy milk and yogurts for smoothies.

* A few dashes in any baked good adds a green tint and underlying tea taste to the final product.

* Same goes for making sweets, such as green tea mochi.

* Sprinkling it over meals bound for the oven can add an interesting flavor.

As always, the key is to experiment.

O-Cha's Shincha Yutaka Midori

After hearing about the folks of TeaChat rave over this sencha for sometime, I finally decided to use the shincha as an excuse to give it a shot. This being the only fukamushi I've ordered this year so far, as I'm more of an asamushi girl.

First impression was pretty good. The leaves smell wonderful. Not as good as the Kinari, which I could probably just sit and breathe in all day if it wouldn't pose any issues to the tea, but still splendid. Very green, vegetal.

Using 170° water, I've heard lower temp water does good things to it so I'll play with that later, and steeping for 45 seconds with the lid off, the first cup was a little pale, though offered an introduction to how delicious it is. Sweet, rich, decent umami, with an underlying almost spinach? taste to it.

The second steep was rapid, pouring the water in, putting on the lid, and pouring the tea out into a glass fair cup to admire the color and cool it down. Appearance-wise, I was wary, this cup taking on the soupy and thick look that is part of the reason I like asa more, yet the taste and smell easily pushed any concern aside.

That is, folks, this is easily the best fukamushi, and one of the best senchas, I've ever tasted. Even the leaves afterward taste delicious. It's just fantastic. Tends to drop off sharply at the fourth steep and isn't worth much more from there, but my only remorse with this tea is my having not tried it sooner.

I definitely plan to grab some more of this shincha while it's around, and continue to order YM in general, and recommend others do the same.

That said, I think this is my first decent shot of this cup, so I'll bring it up for the closer. Nothing too special, origin-wise, though a favorite. Gotten from a ceramics booth at the Highlanders Festival at Radford University. Not sure of the artist's name as I'm bad at making things out, anyone care to take a shot?

Back!

Lost track of my camera for a few days there, though it's found and some posts will be going up soon!

In the meantime, a quick shot of the lovely chawan I got from tjkoko of TeaChat. While it's average-sized, it has a big feel to it. So, when using it, I'll double the amount of maccha I normally use(so, 2/3 c. water and four scoops). Doesn't foam as well, though still tasty(pictured is Matsu no Midori from Maiko, for the record).

O-Cha's Sakura Sencha

Got my third shincha package, this time from O-Cha. Along with the Kirameki, which I set aside for when I'm further along on the Kinari, I decided to pick up a package of their Sakura Sencha.

Like shincha, sakura sencha is a once a year type of deal, coming out in the spring. It combines sakura, cherry blossom, leaves with sencha stems and leaves(some also include the petals, others flavor it with oils, I'd avoid those ones-re: oils, petals are fine) and tends to be relatively affordable.

While I'm not a fan of combining things with tea, this is one of those exceptions I'll always make. It's quite pleasant and, as the listing on O-Cha suggests, a great sencha to share with those who might not think themselves fans of green tea.

While, to be honest, I'm not sure how to describe the taste, my first impression is that of graham crackers. Just this honey, sweet, tiny touch of cinnamon, breadish quality. It feels like a snack, both in taste and lasting about 3 really good steeps, and that's what I treat it as.

That said, I don't think I've ever heard someone speak poorly of sakura sencha, and, given it's limited run, if you can catch some still this year, I'd definitely recommend it!

I mean, even Batman likes it and he doesn't like much. ;p

Maiko's Shincha Kinari

Another day of work done, I came home and settled in for the first of the shincha and, as a bonus, my first time brewing with my new lil' kyusu.

As planned, I've started with Maiko's Kinari. Pushing aside all prior reviews I'd read of past years of it, I went with about 2 grams(hard to measure for that size) of it in the itty bitty 2 oz. pot and water at 150° F.

For the first time, I went by the book. First steep at 60 seconds, left the lid off to watch the leaves, the small size of the pot definitely made it easy to see them as they awoke.

The pour was quick and efficient, coming out a pale yellowish green with a nice vegetal scent to both it and the leaves in the pot(not as pleasant and strong as the dry leaf smell, though still very nice and spring-like).

As for the taste? Delicious. Lots of umami, a touch of astringency that was dispersed in later brews by sweetness, and a generally grassy tone. I can't say I could really compare it to anything though I'm not sure how much of that is my own inexperience or its uniqueness.

That said, I feel overall it to be a good shincha and asamushi and definitely one I'm likely to try and snag some more of before its gone.

As for the pot? It's cute. I bought it to bring into my work for mini-break time sessions and, hopefully, handling any upcoming sencha OTTIs. After a thought, I might order another to do dueling brew sessions with, though for now the one is good for me.

~Mail Time~

And shincha is in the house!

Specifically, Kinari from Maiko and Kunpu from Den's Tea. Will be trying the Kinari first, and putting Kunpu in the tea box in the fridge, since I want to see if it lives up to the hype(re: if I will be ordering more ASAP along with some Shincha Shuppin, an oversight on my part).

Also, coming from Den's Tea, a new baby. Den's mini green kyusu. At 2 oz. I just had to give it a shot.

No tasting or brewing yet as I have to be off to work in a moment, though I plan to do posts as I get to each.

Still, very happy for the first two to arrive!

Shincha Season

Okay, so this post is actually a little late given it's been at least a month since the first shincha preorders started popping up, but I figured I might as well make a post before any of my orders arrive anyway.

Shincha is first harvest tea put up for immediate sale. While the name can be used by any first flush sold in this manner, it tends mostly to refer to first harvest Japanese greens. These tend to be treated a bit special as, being the first harvest, they're the freshest and greenest of the lot. A once a year treat, typically coming out in Spring(around May).

Due to the demand of such, many online teashops allow for preordering of the teas and set up special pages just for shincha. So, a list.

Den's Tea shincha

Maiko shincha

Yuuki-Cha shincha

O-Cha shincha

Hibiki-an shincha

Maeda-en shincha

Obubu shincha

Sugimoto shincha

Obviously this is not all that is out there, just companies I'm familiar with from word of mouth or ordering myself. For this year I pre-ordered from Den's Tea, Maiko, and O-Cha. Can't wait to taste!

((the picture is Shincha-ken)))

Stuffed Veggie Buns

Breakfast settled, another thing I'm trying to keep on top of is making sure I'm eating on time. That is, I have my meals around the same time each day(chaotic schedule, you shall be defeated!).

So far, it's actually worked out. Yet recently I snagged some extra hours at work and, as a result, now find myself with a shift that overlaps one of those times and is too short to take a break to have my normal second meal.

This called for something not too messy I could kinda eat "on-the-go". My first thought was onigiri, but then I was reading Huntress and reminded of something I really love for on-the-go style eating yet hadn't made in awhile. That is, stuffed, steamed or baked, buns.

Since I clearly made the baked variety, that's the recipe I'm going to go with here. Steamed is a tad different and I might cover it later. Things you will need for this bun: flour, olive oil, quick-rising yeast, sugar, salt, and soy butter(optional). For the filling, it's very open-ended, yet for what is pictured I included tumeric powder, onions, curry powder, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, potato, snow peas, and parsley.

To start, pour 2 cups of flour into a medium to large bowl. Move the flour around to create a little bowl-like area in the center of it. In this area pour 1/2 a packet of yeast, 1/2 tsp. of sugar, and 1/2 cup of warm water. Let sit until the yeast starts to froth, shouldn't take more than ten minutes. From there add 4 Tbsp. sugar, 1/4 c. olive oil, 1 tbsp. salt, 1/2 Tbsp. soy butter(optional), and about 1 c. water, stirring it all together. If it's looking dry, add a little more water as needed.

Once it's looking relatively moist though still sticking together, gather the dough into the center of the bowl then cover it with a damp towel for at least an hour, allowing the dough to rise.

As this is happening, I suggest preparing the filling. For this batch, since I was planning on making a few smaller ones filled with anko for a treat, I used about 1/2 a carrot, 3 mushrooms, 2 bulbs of garlic, 8 snow peas, 1/2 a potato, 1/2 a red onion, and a dash of the tumeric powder, curry powder, and parsley. So, assuming you're filling them all rather than making a side-snack as well, double that.

Dice all the filling ingredients into tiny pieces then fry them together in a pan for about ten minutes, then set aside to cool until the dough is ready.

Preheating the over to 450F, and when the hour is up, spread out some flour and dump out the dough onto it. Roll the dough in the flour creating a log-like shape then, using a knife, cut the dough into 6 to 8 portions(depending on how big you want them) and roll each portion into a ball.

Going one at a time, flatten each dough ball out(try not to make the center too thin!) then place an even portion of the filling in the center of each. To close, merely fold the sides over the filling then roll it in your hands into a bun shape. Place each bun, folded side down, onto a non-stick pan, leaving enough space between them so that they don't stick together.

Bake for 30 minutes or until they begin to brown.

Once done, allow them to cool down then dig in!

Some alternative filling suggestions: Japanese-style curry, shredded carrots/bok choy/daikon, scrambled tofu w/ veggies. As I said, it's very open-ended.

Breakfast Miso

I've been busier than expected, one thing keeping me on my toes is my trying to change a few things with how I eat(mainly to account for the extra exercise I put in with the weather growing warmer). One of these things is making sure I eat something for breakfast, a meal I'm sorry to admit I tend to skip.

That said, I've adopted a matcha, miso, and fruit(and if I'm still hungry some rice from the steamer) breakfast habit.

I've already covered matcha and I'm pretty sure fruit is self-explanatory, so that leaves the miso.

Miso is both pretty simple and offers a wide variety of options to taste. Personally, I'm a fan of shiro(white). It tends to be sweet and light. Others prefer aka(red) which is a little heavier and salty. Others still will swap or mix the two according to taste or prefer any other number of varieties miso comes in.

Miso paste, like anything really, can be made at home, though I just buy mine in a small resealable carton(it's also, more often, sold in pouches. Either way, between use store sealed and refrigerated) from the local shop. Also, while more known for it's use as a soup base, it can be used as a seasoning for any number of dishes. Explore with it.

That said, for soup, boil about one and a half to two cups of water with your choice of ingredients for the day* for about five minutes. After that remove it from the heat and allow it to cool, once the water is low enough it doesn't scold without being too chilly, mix 1 Tbsp miso paste per cup of water.

*Some ingredient suggestions(mix and match according to your tastes, I tend to go for around three for morning soup): Dried wakame, cubed tofu, diced scallions, chopped carrots, cubed potatoes, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, garlic, ginger, bok choy, grilled onions, grated daikon

Pour into a bowl, grab a spoon(or chopsticks, drink the soup right out of the bowl and use the chopsticks for the solid ingredients) and enjoy!

The Simplest Way to Japanese Curry

I have a recipe for homemade curry roux, the stuff in the picture, to share as well, though I figure I'll go for the simple way first.

In short, this was the first thing I learned how to make on my own involving an oven/stove and, as a result, is pretty much a comfort food for me. It's my go-to for when I come home after a long day and don't feel up to making anything yet still need to get some food in me.

If you're not familiar with this type of curry, especially if you get a box lacking English/can't understand Japanese, it might seem intimidating at first. That or the roux might make you think of it as a weird smelling chocolate(one of my cousin's impressions of it). Don't fret though, it's pretty straightforward.

While you can use any veggies that sound good, I tend to go with onions, carrots, potatoes, and tofu. Using a small pot, chop enough to fill it halfway. Typically one carrot, one potato, half a cube of tofu, and quarter of an onion or one scallion stalk. Fill the pot with enough water to cover the veggies then boil it over medium heat for the amount of time it takes for a rice cooker to cook two cups of rice(or until the potato and carrots are soft... don't you love how vague my instructions tend to be? Sorry, I rarely cook with timers and eyeball most measurements).

For a little added/personal taste, you can also choose to fry the onions/other veggies before adding them to the pot, though since this is my definitive lazy meal, I tend not to.

Once the veggies are ready, add the roux half a bar at a time, I find that a small pot filled roughly to the top takes 2 and a half bars to get it just right though this may vary by the size of your pot. Mix each until it's fully dissolved and keep adding until the curry is a thick, almost batter-like, paste.

Congrats! You've got curry! Serve over fresh rice or udon and dig in!