Saturday 22 November 2008

Obimaki Enokitake anyone ?

Together with the mushrooms from my post on Japanese hotpot , I also bought these.

The enokitake ( the ones on the right ) I split in 8 bundles about 2 cm thick, wrap them tightly in a thin slice of bacon and grill them on a very lightly oiled very hot grill plate both sides till the bacon is crisp ( eight minutes about). Cut them in half , arrange them like in the picture. Serve with some ground white pepper and a slice of lemon.
This is an original Japanese dish called obimake enokitake (obimake because the bacon resembles the obi that is wrapped around a kimono ).

( click on the picture for a larger view : you can almost smell them! )

The insides are juicy and go quite well with the saltiness of the roasted bacon.
Easy to make and a lovely appetizer before a larger meal. I love eating these!

The large ones are king oyster mushrooms. These were new to me so I sliced them in half from top to bottom and grilled them slowly on a lightly oiled grill plate for at least 10-15 minutes till they felt softer to the touch. Nice taste.
(Sorry no pics of the cooked ones : they were eaten too quickly :)

( Tip : if you want to photograph foods that cool down quickly like these for your blog , arrange the camera and the lights at the table before you start cooking, so you can arrange the food on its dish , whip it in front of the camera and take your pictures right away without your lovely food going all cold.)
Bye!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This looks yummy!
As a Japanese, I would use sliced pork back ribs that in advance are soaked in soy sauce and cooking sake (white wine) and maybe a little bit grated ginger instead of bacon to make the dish Japanese style *^_^*

Walter said...

That's an interesting suggestion , Kirin.
Obimaki Enokitake as I have prepared it here is an original Japanese recipe by Kazuko Emi from the book "Japanese Food and Cooking" written by Fukuoka Yasuko. Half of the book explains ingredients ( aha ! Now you know why I recognize ingredients like Abura-age )
I also have books by Konishi Kiyoko and by Kurihara Harumi.

Anonymous said...

Hi Walter.
You like Japanese cooking! Is there any special reason for that? I don't think it's familiar out there, but do European people enjoy eating Japanese cuisine these days, or are you special?

Walter said...

Hi Kirin,

Yes, I like Japanese cooking. Give me a few days to give a proper answer to your questions , OK ?

See you !

Anonymous said...

Sure!
It's interesting to hear your answer. :)
Take your time!

It'd be much fun if I learn other countries' cuisine from blogs, exchange messages with blog authers, and do cooking by myself to taste something new...

I have too much stuff to do in a day, and it's too bad I have to give up several things in my life..., but at least, I'd be willing to make friends by blogging. :)

Walter said...

The special reason is basically , that I got interested in Japanese via the following path : Akiro Kurosawa movies, Tampopo ( THE foodie movie to end all other foodie movies which left me shell-shocked : awmygod, Japanese movies can be totally humourous ?!) via Ghibli movies to manga to cooking.
All these made me curious and I've learned a lot about Japanese cooking and society, which puts the movies and books in a new light. I see things I didn't get before.
Japanese dishes don't require hours in the kitchen and are (mostly) well balanced and healthy. Lots of fish.

For me , cooking is a natural extension of traveling. I've cooked food from countries I've traveled to or from restaurants I've been to.
These are a few of my other cookbooks : "The fine turkish kitchen", " Wonderful recipes from the Russian kitchen " "Tajine" " "Italian cooking with less fat" "Flemish local dishes" "Mediterranean cooking".
Good cookbooks will also explain some of the history of the land, where the dishes originated. reading them is a bit like traveling.

I can't speak for all Europeans , but Japanese food is still quite unknown here.
There's only about 80 Japanese restaurants in Belgium ( for a population of 10 Million people ). The 6000 Japanese nationals living here probably fill up most of those.
But things may be changing. Teppanyaki restaurants have boomed the past few years ( mostly run by Chinese ) and several have started offering sushi, sashimi and original Japanese dishes.
Check out the menu in one ( http://www.asahi-restaurant.be/) that opened last year near where I live (http://www.asahi-restaurant.be/asahimenu.pdf).

As for cooking Japanese at home , I'm probably an exception. No one I know cooks Japanese.
With so many popular European cuisines to choose from for which the ingredients are easy to find , it's hardly surprising.

Funny you should mention learning other country's cuisine . I've been wondering about challenging you to cook a local Flemish dish. I haven't decide which one yet :)
Would you like to try, Kirin ?

Anonymous said...

Hi Walter, thanks for your reply and I'm finally here again!

I like the idea that cooking other countries' cuisine is a bit like travelling in other countries.
So you like cooking! Sounds nice. :)
The menu of the Japanese restaurant varies from sushi to donburi, which was fun to look at.

Steamed rice is always the basis of our meal.
Rice does not need oil, which is unlike pasta or bread.

Learning other country's dish is as much as I want;
-to do Yoga for my health,
-to update my blog more frequently,
-to learn French or Italian language to prepare for travelling in Europe next year or so,
-to watch movies or read books for my heart,
-to visit my old friends,
-to have relaxed dinner with my partner

etc., etc...as you can see, I have so many things I think of but always are given up in order to prioritize my job and study. :(

I think the opportunity comes when I visit Europe, and taste something good there, then I'll want to have it back by myself! :)

Walter said...

Hi, Kirin
Thanks for your comment. So sorry that I didn't get to publish it till now. too busy :(
I'm having holiday now till New Year so I hope next week I'll be able to make some new posts.

I have made more nabe ryori. Last week at the Chinese supermarket I found brown shimeji, fresh shiitake and Abura-age (aha!) and at the biofood shop I found genmai mochi (like yours but made from brown bio-rice).
I thought "This cannot be just luck or coincidence : this is fate ! The gods are telling me I am destined to make Nabe-ryori with mochi !" haha.
Anyway, I heated mochi before simmering in the broth and they get nice and soft and chewy !
Wonderful taste! Only 7 Euro for 300 gram

I also found natto-miso. Tastes very nice with rice, but still different from 'real' natto , which I still hope to find.

Bye!