Most Japanese people don’t celebrate Easter as it is one of the few festivals in the Western calendar that is still predominately religious and has no significance outside the Christian religion.
However, if you travel to Japan at this time of year you will see window displays in the shops with chocolate Easter eggs and bunnies and this recipe sticks with the seasonal theme by using eggs and a tasty treat for dinner parties or a spring snack.
Chawanmushi means steamed in a tea cup and unlike the sweet, desert custard we are more familiar with, it is a savoury egg dish, served as a starter in many Japanese restaurants. Recipes vary but underneath the rich, golden egg, seasoned delicately with Japanese condiments, is a delicious combination of savoury ingredients.
Chawanmushi is a classic Japanese dish and is served in small, earthenware soup bowls, often with matching lids but the easiest thing to use is a set of ramekins. You will also need a large bamboo steamer.
- Mix three eggs loosely in a large bowl or jug with chopsticks but don’t beat them too hard.
- Add 350ml of dashi soup stock, 1 teaspoon each of soy sauce, sake and sugar and a pinch of salt.
- To get a smooth and rich custard, strain this mixture through a sieve.
- Divide eight small prawns between four ramekins along with a chicken thigh chopped into small, bite size pieces and finely chopped shitake mushrooms.
- Fill each cup ¾ full with the egg mixture and cover with a piece of tin foil.
- Steam the custard in the bamboo steamer over high heat for about 5 minutes then turn down the heat and steam for another 15 minutes or so.
You can test if the custard is ready by prodding it gently with a toothpick or the prong of a fork – if the liquid runs clear, it is done. Serve hot or chilled depending on weather for the ultimate in Japanese comfort food.
The days are getting shorter and the weather’s getting colder, making it the perfect time of year for enjoying a warming soup.
In Japan, Miso soup comes with everything, whatever the weather. In fact, along with rice it is one of the key ingredients of a traditional Japanese breakfast and most of the 128million or so people that live there will have Miso soup at least once a day.
It is a clear broth which sometimes has chunks of seaweed or tofu in it and has a distinctive smoky taste. It normally comes served in a small, lacquered bowl with a lid and is drunk straight from the bowl with the solid ingredients eaten with chopsticks.
The Miso stock is known as dashi and is a fish stock made from dried fish and kelp. Miso itself is a seasoning made from a base of barley, rice or soybeans which are fermented to form a salty paste. For the soup, Miso paste is softened and mixed into the dashi. The other ingredients are added according to taste or regional variation and can include mushrooms, vegetables, tofu, daikon radish or wakame seaweed to name a few.
There are different types of Miso pastes which give a different character or flavour to the soup which, again, vary according to the region you are visiting and the season.
Miso soup normally comes at the start of your meal and, in Japan, usually precedes a salad course. It is surprisingly filling, even though it is mostly a broth, and is known for being very low in fat and having a high a high vitamin content.
If you don’t fancy making a dashi from scratch, there are a number of delicious instant Miso soup brands available which just need a kettle and are ideal for lunch. Tasty Miso paste can also be used as a marinade for meat, fish or vegetables or as a stock for noodle soup.
It is a versatile and unusual flavour that’s quite unique but can add a rich smoky dimension to your meals this autumn.
Chopstick Guide
The first thing to remember is practice makes perfect. In Japan, it is good manners to use chopsticks. However, learning how to use chopsticks does take some practice. Here we have a few tips to familiarise you with the use of chopsticks. Go on give it a try!
1. Place both chopsticks in the “V” between your thumb and your index finger of your favoured hand.
2. Next close your hand loosely, so that the chopsticks are supported on top by your thumb. Your ring finger, middle finger and index finger should automatically close around the chop sticks. Rest the chopstick that points towards you on your ring finger. Support it by exerting a little pressure with the bottom part of the thumb. The other chopstick should rest softly on your middle finger. The index finger and tip of the thumb keep it in place. Only the top chopstick is moved by the index, middle finger and thumb to pick up small pieces of food like a pair of pincers.
Important rules for using chopsticks
- Never stick your chopsticks in your food. Put the chopsticks on the edge of your bowl or table and point the tips left. Sticking chopsticks in the rice is associated with a burial ritual.
- Never use the chopsticks to skewer sushi or any food!
- Do not pass pieces of food from chopstick to chopstick. This is also associated with funerals.
- It is not polite to point at people with chopsticks or to wave them around in the air.
- After the meal, place the chopsticks in the position that you found them in.
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