Dal: Vegetable Chaunk version

For my own reference:

Chaunk:
2 tablespoons ghee
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon black mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon red chili powder (and/or fresh chili)
2 bay leaves
Pinch of hing (asafetida)
1 medium size chopped tomato
1 small courgette chopped into cubes
6 string beans chopped (optional)
1 carrot (optional)

Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add hing, cumin seeds, mustard seeds. After seeds crack add bay leaves and chili powder, stir for few seconds and add the vegetables. Stir the vegetables and cook for 4 to 5 minutes till the vegetables are tender, add chaunk to dal and mix well.

I used yellow moong dal, which is split and dehusked mung beans. Simply boil the dal with some salt and a tsp of turmeric.

Sauvignon 2006, Loire Valley

Sauvignon 2006, French white wine. Producer: FOURNIER Père et fils, region: Loire River banks. Grape-variety: Sauvignon. A simple white table wine. Bought for cooking mussels. It’s July and the mussels are just in season, until March next year. [a very nice wine for 8,50 euro, it was the right choice for mussels, would buy again]

More photo's on my Flickr photostream.

More wines
Pinot Blanc Bonheur Convival 2007. White wine. Grape: Pinot Blanc Producer: Domaine Rieflé. Region: Vin d’Alsace. [very fruity, I'm drinking it without food, one glass per day. However it's better to drink with a meal. Won't buy again as an evening wine, but will buy again for dinner: sauerkraut would be nice.]

Bourgogne Aligoté 2006. White wine. Producer: Catherine et Claude Maréchal. Grape: Aligoté. Contains no sulphites. [A very, very dry wine. Nice. Drank on August 30]

Royal St-Charles. Vin Mousseux sec. A French sparkling rose. Not much information on the label, but I found this wine on a Dutch website under the name: De Neuville, Royal St. Charles Rosé. [a little too sweet for my taste, drinks easily but won't buy again. The color is pretty dark red for a rose]

Chai Recipe

For my own reference:

Boil 5 min. then steep for 10 min.:

1 tbsp fennel or anise seed
6 green cardamom pods
12 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
ginger root, sliced thin
1/4 tsp black pepper corns
2 bay leaves
7 cups of water

Add, bring to a boil, and simmer 5 minutes:

2 tbsp Darjeeling tea

[Filter]

Add:

6 tbsp honey or brown sugar
1 cup milk

Junmai ‘extra dry’ sake, Harushika

A Junmai ‘extra dry’ sake brewed by Harushika. It’s one of the six sake’s Harushika brews for export.

Commercial Description:
日本の名: 春鹿　純米　超辛口
Rice: Yamada Nishiki
Nihonshu-do: +12
Seimaibuai: 58%

Very dry sake with medium body. Refreshing earthy aroma with hint of flower, combined with crispy citrus fruits flavor and clean bitter finish. [Drunk before and after pasta bolognese, it seemed pretty dry indeed although I have little to compare. I believe the pitch "goes well after a big meal" (see below) is correct. Will buy again, but only to accompany a full dinner.]

Marketing pitch:
“This is about as dry as they get and is nonetheless pleasant and finishes grassy and light bodied. It goes well after a big meal.”

Harushika, or "Spring Deer," takes its name from the deer that roam free in Nara Park. Harushika began by brewing sake for the well-known shrine Kasuga Taisha. Seventy percent of Harushika's brew is junmai and is quite dry indeed. A very subdued nose and clean, smooth flavor combine to give a non-obtrusive flavor profile. Although Harushika is quite pleasant slightly chilled, it goes down smoothly when gently warmed as well.

Tengumai sake

A 720 ml bottle of tokubetsu junmai-shu sake: Tengumai, brewed by Shata Shuzo Co. Quality: Junmai-shu, taste: full flavoured, slightly tangy, medium dry. Rice polishing ratio: 60%, alcohol content: 15,9%, origin: Ishikawa. Only naturally cultivated lactic acid bacillae are used. [excellent sake, although I don't have much reference. For the time being: will buy again. Much better cold than at room temperature]

Founded in 1823 in the late Edo period. At the time it was founded the Kura (brewery) was surrounded by dense forest where Tengu, long-nosed goblins seemed likely to exist. Tengu, according to Japanese tradition, possess mysterious powers. The sake's name, "Tengumai", is derived from the meaning that even Tengu would dance after drinking this sake because it tastes so good. Since its foundation the Shata family has operated the brewery in this beautiful pastoral setting and the present head is the 7th generation. [source]

Zen Blackness, lost in the mail

I bought a black chawan (see photo) made by Seigan Yamane but it seems it has been lost in the mail somewhere between Japan and Amsterdam. It should have arrived almost 3 weeks ago.

Oh well, I still have this to read: Zen Blackness,
The Beauty of the Dark Side by Robert Yellin.

Update July 21
Still no black chawan in the mail. I’ll probably have to buy another one. Maybe one of the Rikyu Shichi-shu, the seven 16th century raku bowls Sen no Rikyu owned made by Chojiro, the first Raku potter.

Only three are black, the other four are red.



The kuro (black) raku chawan are called: Hachibaraki, Oguro (‘big black’) and Toyobo (named after a Zen monk of Shinnyo-do temple, who was a good friend of Rikyu).

The red chawan are called: Hayafune (‘fast ship’), Kengyo (‘blind monk’), Kimamori (‘tree guardian’) and Rinzai.

The workshop of Sasaki Shoraku produces copies of all of these chawan. Quite cheaply as well (around 50 - 60 euro). However, if you want a raku chawan made by Sasaki Shoraku III himself (and not by one of his assistants) these chawan will be roughly three times as expensive (around 200 euro). That's (much) more than I'm willing to pay at the moment.

A Chinese classic

Quick, simple and tasty.Apart from the dried shrimp you can buy all the ingredienst in a normal supermarket.

Just 4 ingredients:

25 gram dried shrimp
4 thin slices of fresh ginger
1 Chinese cabbage
4 spring onions cut in 2 centimeter sections, seperating the white from the green

Soak the shrimps in boiling water for 30 minutes, drain and preserve the water

Chop the cabbage in thin bite size strips

Heat oil in a wok, fry white spring onion, add ginger. Shortly afterwards add the shrimps, stir for a few seconds.

Add the cabbage, toss and add the shrimp water, season with salt. Cook until the cabbage is tender yet crunchy.

Add green spring onion and serve immediately. A few drops of sesame oil will enhance this dish.

From Yan-Kit So’s Classic Chinese Cookbook.

A Chinese classic

Quick, simple and tasty. Apart from dried shrimp you can buy all the ingredients in a supermarket.

Just 4 ingredients:

25 gram of dried shrimp
4 thin slices of fresh ginger
1 Chinese celery cabbage Dutch: Chinese kool
4 spring onions cut in 2 centimeter sections, seperating the white from the green

Soak the shrimps in boiling water for 30 minutes, drain and preserve the water

Chop the cabbage in thin bite sized strips

Heat oil in a wok, fry white spring onion, add ginger. Add the shrimps, stir for a few seconds.

Add the cabbage, toss and add the shrimp water, season with salt. Cook until the cabbage is tender yet crunchy.

Add green spring onion and serve immediately. A few drops of sesame oil will enhance this dish.

From Yan-Kit So’s Classic Chinese Cookbook.

In season: tuinboon (Vicia faba)

The broad bean (Vicia faba) has been cultivated for around 8000 years. Typical harvest time in The Netherlands is June and July.

How to prepare? Shell the beans and blanche for 30 seconds in boiling water. The outer skin of the shelled beans can be pretty bitter, so after blanching you need to take off the light grey skin. You’re left with the bright green inner part, which has a wonderful flavor. But taste first! When the beans are really young, the skin is much less bitter and can be used.

Recipe for 2 persons:

200 gram of bulgur. Take the water you have used for blanching the broad beans and peas, this will add extra flavor to the bulgur. Pour 400 ml of this boiling hot vegetable water on the bulgur and wait for 15 minutes. Don’t boil the bulgur.

Mix the bulgur with:
Shelled, blanched and skinned broad beans
Fresh shelled and blanched peas (also in season)
Diced Greek feta cheese
Sweet cherry tomato’s, halved
50 gram pumpkin seeds

Make a dressing with:
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
garlic, pepper and salt

After mixing the dressing into the bulgur, add a hand of fresh mint leaves, roughly cut, and toss everything over until the flavors are mixed. This recipe only works when everything is fresh. Canned broad beans and peas are no substitute, I'm afraid.

Ao Hagi Yunomi by Seigan Yamane

An Ao Hagi (blue Hagi) yunomi made by Seigan Yamane. The blue glaze is called 'Seigan blue', his trademark glaze. The greenish blue color really shines when it's hit by direct sunlight.

The shape is different from the usual tsutsugata (cylindrical shape).

GOHONDE-Yunomi, Seigan Yamane

Another Hagi GOHONDE-Yunomi made by Seigan Yamane. The spot pattern is called GOHONDE or HOTARU (firefly).

This cup is somewhat larger than a standard yunomi, so I'm using it for houjicha and herbal tea.

A little background story on yunomi: Fired with Flavor by Robert Yellin.

Pouilly-Fumé, Michel Langlois

Pouilly-Fumé 2007. Grape: Sauvignon blanc. Producer: Michel Langlois. Region: Pougny, Cosne-sur-Loire. What is Pouilly-Fumé?

A gift from my neighbour for watering her plants on the rooftop terrace during her holiday. Vigneron Michel Langlois should not be confused with Langlois-Chateau, a different wine producer. [not opened]

Pouilly Fumé can be kept for five to ten years, according to the year and vintage. It normally peaks in its second or third year. [source] I guess I should keep this bottle for another year or so..

Korean BBQ: bulgogi

This couldn’t be simpler.

Slice good quality beef, like sirloin steak (Dutch: lendelapje), in very thin slices and marinate in bulgogi sauce for half an hour. When pressed for time buy a jar of bulgogi sauce from an Asian food store.

These are the basic ingredients for the marinade:

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons rice wine
2 tablespoons sesame oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
4 scallions, minced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, salt

When the BBQ is hot, place heavy tin foil on the grid and fry the marinated meat. At this point you can add mushrooms and sliced onion.

Grilling without tin foil is also possible, but the meat has to be sliced much thicker.

When the meat is done, take a leaf of lettuce (or any other large leavy vegetable), put some rice on it, the hot meat, a little fermented soy bean paste (sunchang ssamjang), slice of garlic, kimchi, and fold the lettuce leaf to form a small package. Eat.

The fermented soy bean paste provides for a great umami taste and can also be used as a dipping sauce for cucumber, raw onion or carrots.