Mrs. Takahashi's Cooking Lesson
02 December 2008
The first time I ever got to cook something Japanese was more than 6 years ago, on my very first trip to Japan. I was visiting my dad, who was staying in a small town somewhat north of Tokyo for a temporary work assignment. It feels funny to think back to that time – by now I have become quite familiar with all the things that seemed so exotic to me back then. I very vividly remember my excitement when I first entered the local supermarket… I was completely thrilled by just everything! And I would never ever have imagined that I might be living in that country 6 years later…
Anyway, during that first trip of mine one of my dad’s work colleagues invited us to his home, where his wife treated us to a superb dinner - a vast variety of elaborate dishes, all beautifully arranged in the typical Japanese pell-mell of colourful little bowls. But the best about it was that I had had the chance to spend the whole day with Mrs. Takahashi and assist her in the kitchen while she prepared all her delicacies. Whereas I was struggling with the huge cooking chopsticks I had never used before (I doubt I was much of a help to her…), it was fascinating to watch her handle every single step so skillfully, while she patiently explained to me what she was doing.
Among other things, this is where I learned how to make the egg roll, a "classic" in Japanese cuisine. The most memorable part of the dinner, however, was a dish Mrs. Takahashi called "country style sushi", which consisted of a big bowl of sushi rice mixed with sake-stewed vegetables and topped with strips of cooked prawns and the mentioned egg rolls. To eat, everyone just took a big nori leave, filled it with the rice dish and wrapped it as a hand-made roll. Essentially a very straight-forward dish, which however has such an elegant taste (it is particularly the sake-steamed vegetable that adds the special touch).
I have tried to recreate Mrs. Takahashi’s "country style sushi" on a few occasions since, and I just cooked it again last weekend. I don’t remember the exact measures of the original recipe, nor which vegetables she used, so I just made it to my judgment and taste. Also, I used crab meat instead of prawns (had just come across it and thought it might be a good fit), and I left away the egg roll strips on top (I made some egg rolls separately instead). In any case, variations to this recipe are unlimited!
Country Style Sushi
| serves 4 |
| 250g cooked crab meat (or prawns) |
| 400g root vegetables; e.g.
200g carrots 200g lotus roots |
| 200g shiitake mushrooms |
| 200ml cooking sake |
| 60ml soy sauce |
| some nori leaves |
for the sushi rice |
| 400g Japanese rice (4 measure cups) |
| 5 measure cups of water |
| 1 measure cup of Japanese rice vinegar |
| 4 teaspoons of fine white sugar |
| 1 teaspoon of salt |
First wash the rice thoroughly, let it drain well, and then cook it in a rice cooker or in a covered saucepan, using 5 units of water for each 4 units of rice. Combine the sugar and the salt with 1 unit of Japanese rice vinegar and stir until completely dissolved. Once the rice is done, carefully stir in the mixture, while taking care not to mash the rice grains.
more details on how to make sushi rice
While cooking the rice, peel and chop the carrots as well as the lotus roots (or whatever other root vegetables you choose to use) into bite-sized bits. Put them into a saucepan, pour over the cooking sake and the soy sauce, cover with a lid and let simmer gently for a total of about 45 minutes. Wash and chop the shiitake mushrooms and add them to the simmering root vegetables after the latter have been cooking for about half an hour; like this everything should be cooked to the point at the same time.
When done, fold the simmered vegetables into the sushi rice until well combined, again trying not to damage the rice grains while stirring. Fill into a big bowl. Cut the cooked crab (or prawn) meat into long strips and arrange on top of the rice. Serve simply in the big bowl with some nori leaves on the side for everyone to help themselves. The concept is to fill rice and seafood into a nori leave and eat the hand-wrapped roll with the hands. It is of course just as legitimate to leave the nori away and just eat the rice mixture out of little bowls (personally I prefer the combination with the nori, though).
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